We are very fortunate in the museum to have a number of artifacts which pertain to Louis Café.
There is the original cupboard which was located behind the counter in Louis Café as well as
one of the benches from the booths in the café. They are located in the Merchants area and the
Sports area respectively. There is also a copy of the menu from the café and a calendar which
they gave away to patrons at Christmas. We have some of the original dishes from the café
including a metal sundae cup. Those items are located in the cupboard mentioned above. The
restaurant specialized in both Chinese and American foods and its moto was “Where fine foods
are served.”
Louis King came to Hartney in 1913 and ran a laundry business on main street until he closed
that business and opened Louis Café next door to what now is Hartney Machine and Motors.
During World War II, he rented out the café and lived in Winnipeg. In 1948 he returned to
Hartney and renovated and ran the café in partnership with Charlie Yuen. In 1951, the youngest
son Sai Louis came to Hartney and worked with his father in the café. Sai married Jean Lee
and they raised two daughters and three sons in Hartney. Louis King retired in 1963 and
returned to China. He died at the age of 81 in 1963. Sai sold the café and moved to Richmond
B.C. There is a picture of Sai and Louis and one of the Sai Louis family in the museum.
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE MUSEUM?
The museum will be opened by volunteers if you would like a tour. There is a card in the
window with the numbers to call. We would like to thank everyone who attended the meat draw
and those who worked at it and donated meat. It was a successful evening and we are grateful
to the Legion for giving us the opportunity. The annual meeting will be held late in October or
early Nov. If you are interested in attending, please call Dawne at 204-858-2071 or Barbara at
204-858-2358. Watch for our “In Good Taste” fundraiser in the Nov. edition of the Grassland
News.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR AT THE MUSEUM?
We continue to look for family pictures to fill up our display in the tea room and ask that if you
bring them in you include the names of who is in the picture. If we do not have the names
people won’t be too interested in looking at them. If you have a family picture, we would love to
have a copy of it. You may call Dawne at 858-2071 or Barbara at 858-2358.