Mike Violette, in town recently for the annual North Shore Jaycees reunion, took some time to reminisce about the life he left behind.
For close to 25 years, he was the face of Edgemont Jewellers and a well-known fixture on the North Vancouver community service circuit. The end of October will make it five years since Mike and his wife, Jean, handed the keys of the shop to daughter Sherry and embarked on the next chapter of their lives.
Mike's family, originally from New Brunswick and, a couple of centuries earlier, from France, moved to Toronto in the 1940s, when wages for war effort work were high. Growing up, Mike had an after-school job at the local drugstore and played ball on the neighbourhood team. Baseball would be his entry into the jewelry business.
A neighbour involved with the ball team found Mike a job in his company, an international diamond wholesaler. He started out collecting shipments from customs, carrying a fortune in diamonds in a brown paper bag through the streets of Toronto.
The delivery boy learned the business from the ground up - grading and sorting diamonds, fulfilling orders called in by the company's sales reps, working with customers and with experts in all aspects of the jeweller's art and craft - a thorough education in the business that culminated with Mike's graduation to a sales territory of his own.
During those years, life was not all work and no play for Mike. He played in a band called The Prisms and met Jean Eadie, his wife to be, at an ice-skating rink. They had been married 11 years in 1971 when the family relocated to Vancouver with Mike as the company's Western sales manager.
The Violettes, now including daughter Sherry and son Tony, searched the city until they found North Vancouver, "and then we just gravitated to Edgemont," recalls Mike. "We liked the village atmosphere and the sense of community."
Success in sales requires experience, knowledge and the ability to relate to others. Mike Violette has it. He also understands that service is the key factor in the success of any business.
There's more to the concept of service than customer satisfaction.
"My father organized and volunteered at many community events, the Edgemont harvest festivals, summer festivals, Bavarian festivals, Jaycee sea festivals, the Rotary wine tasting, the Great Duck Race and the Great Duck Splash to name a few," says Sherry.
Mike was a dedicated duck launcher and a versatile flipper: pancakes for the Rotary breakfasts, sausages at the Bavarian fests and innumerable hot dogs and hamburgers over the years. Perhaps Mike's most memorable contribution to his community is the Friday night concert series, an Edgemont summer tradition that may have its roots in Mike's own musical history.
When the Violettes opened Edgemont Jewellers in 1985, Jean handled the books and Sherry managed the front of the store. Son Tony had established his own career in construction. Mike kept making the rounds, visiting his wholesale customers for another five years. When Sherry got married, Mike took over the store, giving up the road with some relief. In 2009, when Mike and Jean were ready to retire, Sherry returned to the business.
The Violettes' Vancouver Island home is similar to Edgemont in many ways - community spirit, nature nearby - without the urban bustle.
Jean is active with their community association and Mike manages the house and garden. His culinary skills have progressed far beyond flipping flapjacks and there is ample time to appreciate the beauty and tranquility of a corner of the world where the ducks are real.
Back in busy North Vancouver, Edgemont Jewellers is preparing for Vintage in the Village, a show and sale of vintage pieces from the 1970s all the way back to the 1900s. Vintage in the Village opens on Oct. 14 and closes Oct. 29 to make way for another Edgemont community tradition.
"We're closing the show before Halloween," explains Sherry, "because we had 700 children come through our store last year - it's bedlam but it's great!"
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. 778-279-2275 [email protected]
