Berwick’s first distillery - part one

There have been many celebrations in the town of Berwick over the years, but the passing of a plebiscite by ratepayers in August 1930 created such excitement it was followed by the strangest celebration ever to occur.

Upwards of 100 ratepayers and citizens awaited the result of the plebiscite outside the town hall and, at 9 p.m., it was announced the vote was carried by a large majority. The crowd then moved to Rainforth Park, where a bonfire and corn boil was held as a fitting climax to the keenly contested campaign.

While the committee in charge was preparing the feast and keeping an eye on the six large washboilers containing hundreds of ears of choice yellow corn, a delightful program of old-time melodies was rendered, including “Down on the Brandywine,” “Coming through the Rye,” “Sweet Adeline” and other familiar selections, in which the entire gathering joined heartily in the choruses.

As had been planned earlier, several rockets were sent up as a signal to the people of Waterville, Cambridge and Aylesford the plebiscite had carried, and their hopes of securing a new industry were shattered.

This was the first election in the history of Berwick which was not conducted along party lines. Liberals and Conservatives alike mingled on friendly terms and worked with the objective of securing for their town an industry that would prove a benefit to business and, at the same time, provide a profitable market for large quantities of low grade apples.

The events that led to the August celebration were put in motion by Robert Steppanski from New Jersey, USA. He believed establishing a distillery in the region, capable of producing brandy and champagne, would greatly benefit the apple growers by providing a market for their under-sized cull apples.

The Berwick apple growers were impressed with the efficient manner in which Steppanski conducted his business and were pleased to learn the New Jersey native had previously obtained a permit from government officials to build a distillery in Nova Scotia.

Following the approval to go ahead with the project in Berwick, Steppanski, who appeared to be working alone, secured an option on five acres of land on the extreme eastern part of town where he would establish the distillery. An agreement was worked out in the areas of taxation, electricity, roads, water and security with town officials.

Work on number one unit of the plant began in September 1930, which included storage, press and tank houses. This department made such good progress, before the end of the first week, the walls of cement blocks were nearly completed. Other units to be erected before the plant was completed in every detail were distillery house, boiler house, bottling house, bonded warehouse and office building.

The construction operation furnished employment for a large staff of workmen in the fall of 1930 and, by February 11, 1931, all tanks were full of cider and the supply of apples was practically exhausted.