Mervin MacPhee, 92, still spends his days making deliveries and carving cuts of meat behind a butcher’s block in Clyde River, P.E.I.
He learned the trade from his father, then passed it down to his children and grandchildren. Four generations have kept the family business alive at MacPhee’s Meats, and for 90 years, the shop has served its community and the broader Island, selling beef and pork to commercial and residential customers.
“They don’t start clapping when I walk in in the morning,” Mervin said, laughing.
Walking takes a little more care now, and he holds on to walls when going up and down steps. But his favourite task hasn’t changed.
“I think I can bone as good as any of them. I get the most meat off the bone,” he said.
Mervin says his father opened the shop in the 1930s. Before that, he owned an acreage in Saskatchewan. But when the Great Depression came, the Prairie provinces and Western Canada were hit hard. Farming income dropped, but Mervin’s father knew how to butcher, so he moved home to P.E.I., and started the business.
Now, the day-to-day operations fall to Mervin’s son, Lindsay MacPhee.
“He is some son,” Mervin said, with warmth in his voice, calling all six of his offspring, many who chip in when they can, “quite the crew.”
Lindsay, 67, started work as a teenager and says some of his earliest memories are rooted at the shop.
“I kind of enjoyed it right from the start. I could see a living in it,” Lindsay said.
Like Mervin, he isn’t ready to retire.
“At 67, where a lot of people say, ‘I wonder what I’m going to do today,’ well, I know what I’m going to do today, because there’s lots to do here,” he said.
Lindsay explains the business has changed over the decades. They once did more “custom kills,” butchering animals raised on local farms. It was also common for customers to buy a hindquarter or a side of beef for the deep freeze to feed big families. But over time, the price has climbed.
Nearly 45 years ago, Lindsay says two cattle would cost around $300. Now, they go for somewhere between $7,000 to $8,000. Now the shop has shifted to more retail operations, like selling sausages, bacon and mince.
Lindsay’s son, Ryan MacPhee, 42, will soon take the reins. He has some ideas for the future.
“We want to open up more of a retail spot, for people to come in and be able to grab stuff on their way home, rather than having to place a preorder or everything wholesale,” he said.
Ryan also grew up on the property.
“When you come off the bus at school, you’d have to come in here and package meat,” he said. “It was just part of growing up,” he said.
Now, one of Ryan’s sons is showing an interest in animals – giving the family hope a fifth generation will take over.
As for Mervin, he says he’s not ready to quit. His wife died last year, and the quiet evenings are harder. Despite that difficulty, he finds joy in their memories and a full life lived.
“Life is so interesting to me,” he said. “If you feel as good as I feel today, you feel so good.”
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