Written by Dan Archer
I drove to Big Beaver on May 12 with the air conditioner turned the highest, steering my Fusion along emaciated roads through the dust, heat, alkaline-tinged air, along the prairies, travelling 106.5 kilometres from Assiniboia to Big Beaver to photograph a south Saskatchewan institution 鈥� Aust鈥檚 General Store.
Big Beaver, a hamlet near the Big Muddy Badlands, survives on tourist money during the summers. The rinks are gone, but a popular rodeo by the Saskatchewan High School Rodeo Association still happens every August with the promise of more grant money to support the event.
Still, Big Beaver is shrinking. A general census in 2006 listed the hamlet鈥檚 population as 15. Undeniably, many of Saskatchewan鈥檚 rural communities have been lost as farms corporatize and expand, but Aust鈥檚 General Store, built and rebuilt since 1928 and run by the Aust family since 1959, remains a destination for many travelling from the Badlands or crossing the border.
General Stores, once customary in rural Canada were replaced by Walmart, Canadian Tire and other box stores, many built on the edge of suburbs and meant to attract rural customers since the latter 1970s. Now, big box stores struggle with internet shopping.
Excuse this superfluous observation but driving into Big Beaver then walking inside Aust鈥檚 General Store is a walk-through time. I remember biking to the Neapolis General Store in Mountain View County, Alberta in the 1970s with my pal Brian, where I might have 鈥� stolen 鈥� a pack of Vicks Lemon Cough Drops as he tucked an Oh Henry and a pack of Hostess Dill Pickle chips underneath his Levis jacket. With some guilt, as we rolled back on gravel to his farm. Walton memories.
Like the Neapolis, Aust鈥檚 sells an assortment of goods, including soft drinks, fruit, vegetables, sausages, fireworks, candy, boots and clothing. Aust鈥檚 also carries Big Beaver Apparel, a line including T-shirts and bunnyhugs. A former co-worker from Saskatchewan, named Carla, once told me the people in her province called hoodies 鈥渂unnyhugs鈥�. I honestly didn鈥檛 believe her.
鈥淚f We Don鈥檛 Have It, You Don鈥檛 Need It,鈥� goes the store鈥檚 slogan, one of Canada鈥檚 last general stores featured throughout the media, including Macleans, Western Producer and CBC. Drive to Big Beaver and see for yourself.
