Male Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Sweat Equity – The Grimsby Homebuilding Co-operative 1953

Town Councillors Jack Morrison and Walter Muise

John (Jack) Morrison was first elected to Town Council in 1958, two years after the co-op members moved into their homes. Walter Muise served as alderman for 13 […]

Jim Denvir, Citizen of the year, 1986

Jim Denvir was among a group of St. Joseph’s parishioners who helped in the community, both in and outside of the congregation. At first, they collected food, storing […]

Lunch break on the site

Most often the men would rush home to eat before heading out to the site. On an early spring day, these fellows enjoyed a welcome snack at break […]

The Lakedale Co-operators

Doug Wilson of the Lakedale group captured colour photos of his fellow co-operators. Together with photos collected from families and footage by John Blake of Sherbrien-Cathedral Heights co-op, […]

Awarded for leadership

Many in the co-op neighbourhood took the courses, which included instruction on public speaking. This education only deepened people’s commitment to each other and to the community. Being […]

A visit to the neighbours

Albertine would battle the red clay all the years of tending her magnificent vegetable garden.

Expert shingler John Colleary

Although John was a plasterer by trade, he was very good at shingling during the build. And so he was honoured as the King of the Shingleers.

Wilf Worley wrote a song for John Colleary

Sixty years later, John Blake would sing the song at a “Co-op at 60” information event hosted by the Grimsby Archives. It speaks to the fun-loving guy that […]

John Blake sings at the Grimsby Archives in 2016 in honour of his co-op friends.

The Grimsby Archives hosted an evening in which their members could hear about the “sweat equity” co-op story and meet some of the original builders. John Blake, who […]

Shingling in the Lakedale Co-op

Some jobs were simply backbreaking and others required skill. Sometimes work could be dangerous. Supervisors and inspectors were on hand, but men who had never done construction found […]

Shingling alone or together

Harold works on the roof of a 2-story building illustrating the challenges and dangers facing the builders. Fortunately there were contractors who over saw the day-to-day workings of […]

Teamwork was key

Working 30 hours on the co-op site per week, over and above their regular jobs, the builders focused first on grunt work. Eventually, they took on some of […]