Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize a company in my riding of Sarnia—Lambton, Van Tuyl and Fairbank Hardware of Petrolia, Ontario, for passing the milestone of 150 years in business.
Founded in 1865, the same year that Petrolia was being organized as a town, Van Tuyl and Fairbank today, as their website puts it:
...has one foot in the 1800s and another in the current millennium. Now owned by the fourth generation of the Fairbank family, it sells solar thermal panels for outbuildings and nails by the pound.
The store is one of a kind. In the early years, it carried hardware used by oilmen, as well as groceries, liquor, and wine. As Petrolia blossomed and grew with the drilling of the first commercial oil well in Canada, it expanded and flourished.
Van Tuyl and Fairbank has outlasted six monarchies and has been a pillar in the community throughout technological advancements and cultural shifts.
Congratulations to Van Tuyl and Fairbank for this outstanding achievement.