By James Bowler

PHOTOS: Little shop of treasures celebrates 99 years

Aug 28, 2014 | 7:21 AM

Self-proclaimed treasure hunters who are looking to meticulously hunt for hidden treasures may find it on the shelves of Prytula’s General Store, tucked away in a dusty community named Tway.

The historian or general interest tourist may also find a piece of Saskatchewan history that dates back a century ago. It’s also the only shop in town.

The store’s owner, Victor Prytula, 86, will gladly tell you a story about how his father John, tried to etch out a living for himself and his young family in the old Saskatchewan frontier in 1915.

“He came from Ukraine and got a homestead, the store was five-and-a-half miles away on the farm,” said Prytula. “His first big purchase was tobacco.”

The post office in Tway was first located in Prytula’s General Store on the farm as well.

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For the first 14 years, the store stayed on the farm until a year after Victor was born and the railway started making its way across Saskatchewan.

Prytula’s father wanted to be close to the train route for trade purposes.

He picked the location in the community now known as Tway, which Prytula said was named by his father.

“It was ‘To What’, but maybe in French it sounds like Tway, so he named it that,” said Prytula.

At the age of 10, Prytula began to help out with his father at the shop being given small jobs to do around the store.

“[I would] do little things,” said Prytula, who added he remembered his father as a man who was aggressive in business but was a hard worker who wanted to grow the community he had helped create.

In 1947, John H. Prytula died, leaving the store to his son Victor.

Prytula kept the store in business as mostly a grocery and supply store, and at one point sold veterinarian medical supplies. As the population of Tway dwindled, he finally turned it into the antique store that it is today.

Over the years, Prytula and his wife also had three children before she died in the 1980s.

Now, Prytula lives alone, and shares his stories with tourists.

Looking towards the future, Prytula said he definitely will be looking forward to hitting the century mark.

“Try and go for the 100 now,” said Prytula. “I can’t plan too much really, it’s the health… from now on it’s the health.”

And if anything were to ever happen to Prytula, he believes his one daughter would be interested in taking over the old historic store.

“I’ve got a daughter in Prince Albert, she’s got an interest in antiques,” said Prytula.

While planning for the future isn’t a priority on his list, Prytula said he has thought about retiring.

“I think I would move away,” said Prytula. “Maybe have a home where they would serve meals or a condominium. I have to look in that direction now, it’s not an easy place to live.”

“They don’t even have bingos,” he joked.

For now Prytula will continue to take every day as it comes, opening his shop to any tourists that sift through and taking enjoyment in some of the simpler things in life, like seeing his family and once in a while heading up to the casino in Prince Albert on senior’s night.
 
“I met a lot of friends up there,” said Prytula. “We all get together, not that I’m there all the time, but I like the casino.” 
 
If you’re looking to take a trip up to Prytula’s General Store it’s only a short distance away from Birch Hills on Highway 20, just look for the sign for Tway.  
 
As Prytula will tell you, it’s the only shop in town. 

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @journalistjim