GRANDSON OF ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF ZEHRS MARKETS
Culinary academy to open in former school on Trussler Road near Ayr
Culinary academy to open in former school on Trussler Road near Ayr
by Irene Schmidt-Adeneyand Helen Hall
Kitchener Citizen
September 12, 2018
Murray Zehr must have been born with a love of food in his veins.
The Burlington celebrity chef, teacher, restaurateur, author, and entrepreneur recently purchased the former Townline School on Trussler Road west of Ayr, and is turning it into the 1909 Culinary Academy.
The building will celebrate its 110th anniversary in 2019, and will come back to life after years of sitting empty - trading pencils for paring knives and welcoming up to 30 student chefs a day.
“When I saw this property, I knew immediately that I had to have it,” said Zehr.
Zehr was born and raised in Kitchener, and his family has a long history tied to the food industry in Waterloo Region.
His grandfather was the late Clifford Zehr, who owned Zehrs Markets along with his brother Lester, who died in March of this year.
The Zehr brothers were raised in Ayr, and worked in a general store on Stanley Street, owned by their father Emory Zehr.
The family left Ayr and opened the first Zehrs Market at 100 Highland Road West in Kitchener in 1950. With their success at that location, they began opening other stores throughout the region into the early 1960s. The chain was sold to Loblaws in 1963.
For Murray Zehr, the joy of food is in the cooking.
Last spring, Zehr travelled along the Oxford Cheese Trail with Bernia Wheaton, Executive Director of the Rural Oxford Economic Development Corporation (ROEDC). Zehr was under contract with the ROEDC and presented a series of canning, preserving, and culinary classes over the summer.
“These classes were wildly popular and had a fantastic response,” said Wheaton. “It is my hope that once the culinary academy is up and running, similar classes for the general public can be offered in the unique setting of the schoolhouse.”
For the next few months, Zehr’s main focus will be the restoration of the schoolhouse.
Workers are busy renovating the building, installing 40 new custom made windows to replicate the originals, along with new plumbing, and telephone services.
“The integrity of the building will be kept intact starting with the name of the school – 1909 Culinary Academy, with 1909 as the year the building was constructed,” said Zehr.
“I couldn’t think of a better fit, it is zoned institutional in the front and agriculture in the back.”
Mostly due to its setting, Zehr says this type of culinary school will be unique.
“There will be a focus on agriculture, including learning to grow your own produce and herbs,” said Zehr. He added that the students will cook with locally-sourced food and take advantage of farm tours offered by local farmers.
The function of the academy will eventually be expanded to include recreational cooking classes and a retail outlet.
He said the 1909 Culinary Academy will be the flagship to launch his “Choose Your Own Adventure”, a variety of schools in different parts of Canada that focus on different types of food preparation.
The next academy is planned for Prince Edward Island, in a former church recently purchased by Zehr. It will specialize in the art of cooking seafood.
Zehr changed his path last year, when he left a 20-year career teaching culinary arts at a Burlington High School. He was also an instructor at Brock University and the University of Toronto.
During this time, he also operated eight restaurants in the Halton area, which were sold to invest in his new venture.
“Murray’s accomplishments in the culinary world are extensive,” said Wheaton, “including working with the Food Network for the popular television show Chopped Canada, cooking for Prince Charles, Gordon Ramsey, and Emeril Lagasse.”
While teaching in Burlington, Zehr took a one-year sabbatical to work for the McGuinty government to become the Chief Education Officer overseeing a new school food and beverage policy, under the Healthy Schools initiative.
The former Townline School was known as Us. SS No. 10 and was used until 1965.
A traditional one-room schoolhouse, it has remained virtually intact with original blackboards, windows, decorative tin ceiling, lighting fixtures, trim, doors, wainscoting, floors, and foyer.
After the school closed, the property was assumed by Blandford-Blenheim Township and became the Townline Community Club. It was mostly used as a community gathering place and for 4-H events.
The property was declared surplus by the Township of Blandford-Blenheim in April 2016 and put up for sale.
Chef Murray Zehr at the former Townline School on Trussler Road, southwest of Kitchener. Zehr is the grandson of Clifford Zehr, one of the founders of Zehrs Markets in Kitchener. He is opening a culinary school.