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Posted by: furlong on 02/26/2010 01:22 PM
Updated by: furlong on 02/26/2010 01:26 PM Expires: 01/01/2015 12:00 AM Good-hearted butcher has a bad heart A delicate touch is necessary when the knives come out. Vegetarians need not apply... By Ryan Williams theclaw.ca His job might make your stomach turn and might even make you queasy, but for Ken McLaren, owner of Kens Fresh Cut Meat, it’s just another day at work. “Cutting meat is my life,” McLaren said. McLaren suffers from a heart condition which affects the lower part of his heart and means he must leave his not-so-usual office of dead animals to head to Ottawa for treatments. “They say I don’t have one (a heart),” laughed McLaren, proving he hasn't lost his sense of humor despite his health problems. “I have to go for a heart transplant or a defribillator (implant) - whichever I can get first,” McLaren explained. “I am not as strong as I used to be, so picking up stuff (like a side of beef) is hard,” McLaren added. McLaren relies on his gang of butchers and staff members to carry the workload in the shop while he is out of the office. “They (his half-dozen workers) treat me not like I am their boss, but like I am their friend,” McLaren said. Marion Robertson, a Timmins native who just moved to North Bay, noticed Ken's shop and started buying burgers from him. “I wonder if I could leave my resume here,” Robertson said she thought one day. She was unemployed at the time and had experience working with fresh, dead things that people eat - in this case, fish. “After talking to Ken and his wife for about 20 minutes I was hired on the spot. I left with my steaks and a full-time job,” she laughed. The butcher shop strives to make the customer feel like the TV show bar Cheers did for Cliff and Norm, a place where everybody knows your name. “We joke around and have fun, but when it comes time to work we do what Kens t-shirt says ‘Git-R-Done’” Robertson laughed. It wasn’t always as fun and as easy-going as it is now. McLaren had to put his personal life on hold to get the business up and running. “I gave up a lot I worked 12 to 15 hours a day, for no pay, for three years. “You have to be dedicated, whether you do this or anything, you have to be dedicated to stay in business,” McLaren added. McLaren first learned to cut meat on his family farm when he was younger, but ironically he didn’t want to continue. He told his mom he was leaving to find work. “I came to town to get a job so I didn’t have to work around the farm anymore and I ended up a butcher,” McLaren explained of how he got into the business. The butcher shop takes in all different kinds of animals, not just the typical barnyard animals you might be used to. The store accepts wild game such as moose, bear and deer. “The weirdest thing I have had brought in is a beaver,” laughed McLaren. McLaren enjoys working on his truck when he is not in his ‘bloody’ office and also likes to keep his hands busy by building 'stuff'. “Well they don’t go hungry, that’s for sure, so they must like it,” laughed McLaren about his family’s attitude toward his profession. His favorite cut to eat is hamburger and his favorite piece of meat to cut is a strip loin, but that doesn’t beat his favorite thing to do. “Making nice stuff for good people to make them happy." |
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