May 2002 - Nr. 5
40 years German Delicatessen
in Toronto
Celebrating a 40th anniversary, the Lein Family held an open house on Sunday, 14th of April 2002. Three generations of Leins were on hand to greet the visitors, actually four generations, since Frank Lein’s wife Maria and young son Mathew (8 months old) made a guest appearance.
It was the year 1962 when Helmut and Charlotte Lein arrived
in Canada from Schwarzenberg, near Dresden (Saxony). Their first job was at
"Bittner’s", a famous Meat & Delicatessen store, for about a year and the
next step was the opening of their first store on
Lakeshore
Blvd. West - in the same plaza where they are presently located. When the
furniture store in the plaza went out of business the Leins moved the store
to the current location. They have been there ever since.
With the help of son Dietmar and his wife Gerda they managed to create a great reputation based on integrity and quality in the community. The third generation Lein, sons Frank and Ron, were born in 1968 and 1970 respectively. Both went to Germany for training and became masters at their chosen craft. Frank trained as a butcher and Ron became a "Chef". Frank married Maria in 1982 and their son Mathew was born almost eight months ago. That makes it four generations now. Charlotte – known as "Oma" to friends and customers – still helps out in the store, but Helmut (Opa) has retired.
Lein’s
is also famous for an outstanding catering business throughout Ontario. Some
of the events catered annually have a very high profile such as the
Horseshows in Palmgrave and Newmarket, Stritzl’s and Konzelmann’s Summer
festivals, parties at Greenbelt Motors and many of the clubs in the area as
well as private parties, weddings etc. The reputation of Lein’s Delicatessen
is legendary in the region.
Since the 25th of April 2002 Lein’s also has a liquor licence for wine (Konzelmann’s of course) and beer. Beck’s and Warsteiner are available already. This should help to round out the delightful lunch and dinner selections available in the restaurant section of the recently re-furbished and modernized store.
People
came from as far away as Milton and further. They came in droves but didn’t
stay too long since the temperature was only 9 degrees Celsius with a cool
breeze. The tent was up outside the store and this helped in cutting the
wind, Karl and a great selection of CDs provided the musical entertainment,
the barbeque was in full swing with these specialty sausages – that
conquered Ontario - being grilled to perfection and the guests – coupons in
hand – did not wait too long to take advantage of this treat, which was also
available with sauerkraut.
Whole
families including children and grandchildren came out to celebrate.
Shopping was brisk; most of the guests took advantage of the opportunity of a Sunday opening and stocked up on missing food items in the well-assorted store.
Most
of the visitors offered congratulations to the family and one visitor even
brought a bouquet of flowers for Dietmar Lein. The success story of the Lein
family goes to show that you can cram a lot of history and a lot of living
into 40 years.
We also offer our congratulations to the family for a job well done, with our best wishes for the future. r.k.a.
