THE GEORGE BUSCH STORY by Margaret Busch (1967)

    George Busch opened a general store in Shellmouth, Manitoba in 1905. He and his bride, nee Elizabeth Haas, who had come from the same district in Austria lived in an apartment above the store for several years.

    Business flourished despite the fact that freight and mail had to be brought from Russell. Long hours of toil, dogged determination, a pleasant personality and a hospitable home brought customers from far and near.

    Much of the early trade was in barter and the family well remember unpacking pails of thin shelled eggs which had been packed in rough barley chaff. Transport by wagon and buggy over prairie trails didn't help!

    Mr. Busch was a charter member of the Shellmouth Board of Trade, a member of the School Board for many years and an enthusiastic worker in all coznmunity projects.

    Following his death in 1935 his son, Albert carried on the business for many years. He and his wife Belle (Patterson) still live in the original store. This has been converted to pleasant living quarters and a studio for his wife who is a well-known Manitoba artist.

    Two of the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. George Busch, Amelia, an Art teacher in West Kildonan, and Margaret with Rehabilitation Services for the Province of Manitoba, still visit the home in Shellmouth for their vacations. The other two daughters, Georgina, now Mrs. W. G. McKenzie, a Home Economics teacher in Vancouver, and Elizabeth (Mrs. B. Fingas), Principal of General Vanier School in Windsor Park, St. Boniface, and their respective families also love to visit the old home at Shellmouth.

    Memories and stories abound in the lovely valley.

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