Florence Diggs

Florence Diggs was born in East Preston and attended the Partridge River School. This was a one-room school which went up to grade 10. Florence Diggs completed grade 8. She remembered the name of one of her teachers, Miss Florence Hawkins who, according to her, married a man whose family name was Evans.

The interview was centered on the one feature for which Florence Diggs is remembered in East Preston. She kept a grocery store for forty-three years. According to her, this was "a good way of making you independent and helpful to the community.'

Her store catered for the community and especially for children. Her hours were from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 'but I opened at 8 a.m. when I saw more children depended on my store." (As well, the little store became designated as a community post office, where mail was delivered and sorted. Residents would pick up their own mail when buying food).

Her store kept the usual stocks in a grocery store. In later years her children and grandchildren helped out. But the years caught on and Florence Diggs had to shut down., At the interview in 1982, the store was no more:

               'I miss it now.  The reason I closed was

                because of my eyes- I think back now 

                and remember some time when I couldn't

                see, how I might have over-charged or

                under-charged.'

It required courage and determination for a pioneer business person to do what Florence Diggs did. As she went about her work, other thoughts never entered her mind:

               'I remember when I was busy, the thought 

               never, crossed my mind how dangerous it

               was by myself.  I never got broken in or 

               held up in all those years."

She dealt with her customers every day and with the businessmen mainly on Wednesdays and Fridays:

             'I dealt with many and I was sure a brave

             girl then.  I could have been hurt.  I remember

             one time in the winter.  I had stocked up earlier

             that week.  On Saturday a big storm came and

             no one could get into the city.  Everyone came

             to the store.  We sat down and figured it up 

             that night.  It totaled over two hundred dollars. 

             It was quite a bit then.  They bought out 

             everything until Monday when the salesman 

             came back.'

Apart from all this, Mrs. Diggs brought up a family. Her husband of many years, Bill Diggs, supported her efforts and kept the home in good repair and provided the essentials necessary for a comfortable home.

As at November, 1986, they still live in East Preston though no longer in the little house where the store was kept. A senior citizen's manor has been their new residence for a few years now.

Health reasons have been hampering their total independence. Nevertheless, their spirit remains strong, even as the flesh gets weaker.

Mrs. Diggs' recipe for good living is:...'You gotta have faith in God to overcome your hardships'. And it seems her faith has stood the test and continues to serve her well.

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