Location

In the late 1950s some Mennonite families moved to Fort Stewart from Kitchener Waterloo. Maureen Huber and her husband Samuel were one of the families. Maureen (nee Douglas) had grown up in Fort Stewart. Maureen nee Douglas grew up in Fort Stewart and married into the Mennonite faith. Her mother Kathleen Douglas still lives on the McPherson Kin family farm she came to Canada as a war bride.

Some of the Mennonites came as they had a wanted to return to earlier non-conformist standards of dress, politics, hair cutting, and jewelry and in the 1960 joined of the Conservative Mennonite Church. The women wear their long hair tied back with simple head coverings and plain dresses with out ornamentation.

One of the minister Elvin Burkholder started a camp for young people on his farm by Fraser Lake Fraser Lake Camp,, which is still going strong.

The Mennonite families needed ways of increasing their income. so Maureen Huber started making jam. Her mother Kathleen Douglas has grown p during the war in Britain, when every one had to make do. She must have passed on these skills to her daughters. Maureen and her six children and the other Mennonite families got involved making jams in the Stone Kitchen alongside their log cabin. Maureen started by selling jams and preserves at farmers markets and then to the local IGA. The business grew and grew. Maureen and some of her family moved to the States and there are now Huber Family Preserves and Huber Jams in Kentucky and Idaho. According to MaryAnn Rutledge of Jessie’s Jams, Maureen younger sister, two of Maureen’s daughters are in Calgary and may be making jam. In Hastings County, Jessie’s Jams and The Stone Kitchen are the two thatarryon the Huber jam making traditon carry on the tradition.

John and Kathy Pires are following in Maureen Huber’s footsteps. They own The Stone Kitchen. The Pires have had a house in St Ola in 1989 and moved there from Burlington three years ago with their seven-year-old daughter. They spent three months learning how to make jams and preserves and how to follow the Huber recipes carefully. They now make 33 varieties of jam in their kitchen in Bancroft. They get hand-picked wild blackberries (black caps) caps for their Blackberry and Mint Jam and local crab apples for Crab Apple Jelly.

“Rhubarb is another favourite and we use locally grown rhubarb,” said John.

They make novelty jams like Toe Jam, a purple marmalade and Middle Aged Spread, a bumble berry jam. They have the same distributor as the Hubers for their jams, which they sell Hubers Home Made Jam all southern Ontario. The Pires also make a range of Stone Kitchen Gourmet Jams with varieties like Lime and Ginger Marmalade and Cranberry and Orange Jam, and a range of four sugar-free jams sweetened with apple juice.

As well as making jams and preserves they run a gift shop with gourmet food, kitchen equipment and other gifts.

The Stone Kitchen, 33 Sherbourne N. Bancroft ON K0L 1C0