Community Builders is brought to you by Timʼs Truck and Equipment Services.
The McPherson name is well known in the community for so many reasons, one of which is their constant giving ways. Bruce Sr. was the owner of Gibbard Furniture and was always immensely proud of the community that he lived in.
He was heavily involved with the golf course, Gibbardʼs playing field and the arena. He helped so many local organizations with two of his noted passions being ARC (now known as Community Living Lennox and Addington) and family services.
Bruce Jr. remembers fondly how much his dad loved to support local young athletes and says they use to create plaques at the factory and his father always looked forward to presenting them to the high school students.
Bruce Sr. was very instrumental in ensuring the rink was built in Napanee and often said how difficult it was to be raising enough funds to build the facility. Bruce Jr. shared fond memories of the process and said that he remembers Jack Adams (owner of the Detroit Red Wings) told Bruce Sr. that if he was able to get the arena built, the Red Wings would come play the Napanee Comets. The man held true to his word and the Detroit Red Wings visited Napanee not just once, but twice.
He loved Napanee and that was demonstrated in every aspect of his life. Gibbard furniture was synonymous for high quality, fine furniture and McPherson ensured that everyone knew that Gibbardʼs was in Napanee, referring to the business as Gibbardʼs fine furniture of Napanee.
When asked what one of the biggest challenges that Bruce Sr. ever experienced, Bruce Jr. said it was most definitely the decision to shut down the factory, he said that his father was heartbroken over it. Bruce Jr says his dad would certainly be happy to see what the Doornekampʼs are doing with the Gibbard District.
He said that it was truly a great fit to watch them take over the property and development as the Doornekampʼs are synonymous for quality, and Gibbardʼs was known for that as well.
