A Family Business Lighting The Way

“Weaver’s Country Crafts, located on the Nova Scotia Line, is primarily a wholesale candle business operated by the entire Weaver family of nine.

The Weavers, Stuart, his wife Orlena, and their 7 children moved here four years ago from British Columbia looking to begin a new life with like-minded Christian folks.

When asked why they moved from what would seem to us a wonderful life in a log house in the backwoods, he said they were the only ones who were living an Anabaptist Christian lifestyle in their town. Their children were all home-schooled, and the family felt that they were a little isolated from everyone, so they decided to move to an area that would offer Christian Fellowship.

They had friends in Pennsylvania who knew of Christian people in this area who had like-minded Christian views and after some correspondence, they re-located here.

Stuart, being a teacher, felt he could get a job here in a Christian school; however, when he investigated the possibilities, he found that in order to teach at a Christian school, his children would have to attend that school. After much soul-searching, the family decided they would like to continue with their home-school program, so that left them with the question of what they could do as a family to acquire
some income.

Upon their arrival in Ontario, Stuart worked for Janzen Exterior Renovating, giving him skills for the paperwork side of their business.

Stuart’s original thought for the business was to help a single mother in Aylmer, by paying her to make the candles and then the Weaver family would sell them; however, the mom ended up moving away and the whole family pulled together to make it “A Family Business with Old-Fashioned Values”. They all have their parts right down to their 3-year-old who loves putting the lids on the jars when the candlesare finished!

Their candles are made from Soy which is a far healthier product than the regular candles on the market. They burn for hours and hours and are all double-scented. The family makes other candle products such as votives, pillars, and melts made from “Star Burst Palm” wax.

Although they primarily wholesale candles, they do have their candles for sale to the public at the Aylmer Market on Tuesdays and in the area, their candles can be found at Memmomex or Words of Life in Aylmer, and Zellers in Tillsonburg and St. Thomas.

As an afterthought I told Stuart he sounded like a teenager and he laughed and told me that he just turned 40 and his wife bought him a hat that said 18 years old with 22 years experience. Drop by the market and say hello. They will give you a warm welcome.

–Liz Underhill”

This article was was published by permission from the Around About Bayham paper.