HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1971-02-11, Page 1Reception Marks
50th Anniversary
,.1.1^111
TROUBLE WEST OF S'EAfORTH
A full week after the recent storm passed through the area, district highways were still
treacherous. This' large diesel, pulling two trailers, 'jackknifed on a bad stretch of highway
number eight about a mile west of Seaforth last Tuesday. The rig, which was prOteedint
spun around on the highway and ended up in the north ditch. The4,ruck clipped a CO at' it
spun in the road, but damage was light and Once the truck'had been pulled front the bitch it'
(stet continued on its way.
Whole No. 5370
1.12yh Year SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1971
District Battles - Snow
As Roads, Schools Closed •
Huron covoty- Atta.0
Education will etdie4fai/O.sfrO41
the municipalities twice: during
1971 - on June 30 and .1)APOPIt'qt
15.•
Even though Superintendentet
Business Affairs Roy B. DUniep -
estimated it could cost the board
of educatim a minimum df
02,090 or a maximum of $24,00Q'
to collect taxes on these •4044•
as opposed to May 17 and. Hoy".
ember 8, the board r menlik5
agreed by recorded vote
votes to 6 - to collect taxes
June 30 and December 15.
Those in favor of the May 17
and November 8 dates were Mrs. ,
J. W. Wallace, Garnet Hicks,
Dr. A. B, 15eathe, John Taylor,
James Taylor and Mrs.Warren
Zinn.
Those who voted for the later
dates were John Henderpon, Dr.
Alex Addison, Don MeDonald,
Clarence McDonald, Alex Cor-
rigan, Mrs. Marilyn Kunder and
Wilfred Shortreed.'
It was Dr. Deathe who asked
for the recorded vote.
"I 'would like to represent
the taxpayers to the best
of my abilities while I am on.,
this board," stated Dr.Deathe
"There is no way I'm going to
throw away $24,000."
"You wouldn't be throwing
it away," retored Dr. Addison..
"The same ratepayers are
volved and what •is lost in one
place will be gained in another."
"There is no *reason for us
to be inefficient," continued Dr.
Deathe, "just because - the
municipalities collect taxes on
those dates. Let them change
their collection 'dates. I under-
stand there is some chance that
all municipalities in Ontario will
'go to four times„ a year collec-
tions in the future."
Mr. Dunlop told the board
that collecting, twice annually on
May 17 and November 8 would
be as helpful to the beard as
'quarterly ,,, collections would be.
He said that the teachers are
given three cheques In June to
cover June, July and Auguat. Hie
. said that if the !honey, fro* t14
'Municipalities • defiff liproot0e-.143
until Junp 30, it is necessary for
the board to borrbw one and a
half million dollars to cover the
cheques.
Bohrd- chairman, Robert
Elliott said that June 30 and
December 15 were a "long in-
grained set of dates" for payment
of taxes in the municipalities.
He said the administration was
not involved politically as are
members of the board and the--
added that board members would
expect no less of the adminis-
tration than to be advised how to
operate as economically as pos-
sible.
"It isrfor this board to decide
whether it is more interested in
(Continued on page 7)
Seaforth council Monday night
agreed to ask the Ontario Fire
Marshall to carry out a survey
of fire protection procedures in
Seaforth.
The study as outlined by fire
services advisor D. R. Owens of
Guelph will encompass all
aspects of the fire brigade as
it affects -the town including
administration, duties• and pef--
sonnet as well as make sugges-
tions for-the-future.
There is no obligation to the
town, Mr. Owqns said.
The survey has" been com-
pleted in 47 of the 91 municip-
alities for which he is respon-
sible.
Asked why the survey could
not include the Seaforth fire area,
Mr. Owens • told council each
municipality must . make a
request. Similar surveys could
be carried out in the townships
in the fire area if each made a
request.
Councillors Betty • C ardno arid
,Dave Tremeer, who represent
Seaforth on the area board ;agreed
the survey would be helpful. While
there was no obligation to accept
the findings ,78% of the surveys
completed had been adopted by
the municipalities concerned.
Mrs. Robert Campbell, deputy
clerk, was on duty at the meeting
in the absence of Clerk E.- M.
Williams who recently underwent
an operation in Stratford. Mayor
Sills said Mr. Williams was re-
covering satisfactorily-and• was
expected back horne„in a week or
so.
Provincial restrictions onthe
sale of a lot from a larger parcel
of land led council to suggest
discussions with the Planning
Boarthde.
natter arose when Sandy
Doig and Gerald Van deli Henget
appeared and asked concerning
the sale of a lot by Mr. Doig
on North Main Street. „In
addition- to severance, access
and a street allowance were in-
volved.
, att. meeting with the Planning
Board will be arranged as soon
as possible.
Provision of VON services in
Seaforth were approved in prin-
-cipal when Brian Garrett
and Miss Ruth Zink of Stratford
representing the Victorian Order
of altirses in Perth told council
of the work being done in that
county and of the-desire to extend
into Huron.
M. Oa rett said already
ry
s being orbvided _to
patientssei from Seaforth Com-
niunity Hospital resident in Perth
and for this reason it seemed
desirable that the first move be
.to Seaforth. The service could
only be offered with the cp-oper-
daoticotnoros.f the Hospital and area
In the event the service is
proceeded With a grant of $500
was suggested.
SeafOrth will apply for a
Driving snow Tuesday morn-
ing brought traffic to a standstill
op area roads as visibility was
reduced to zero.
Wednesday wasn't any better.
01 Snow which fell intermittently.
through the night filled freshly
plowed roads. Ticked up by high
winds the driving snow made
travel of any kind dangerous.
Area schools released pupils
in mid morning Tuesday to permit
buses to complete their rounds
lo before roads were completely
filled and to avoid being faced
!it
Separate schools may be used
for Social' functions as well as
meetings by parish councils,
• Catholic Women's Leagues,
Catholic Youth Organizations and
similar grounds without a fee
was the decision reached by the
Huron-Perth County Roman
Catholic Separate School Board
when an amendment was made to
the by-law covering the use of
schools. •
Vice Chairman Joseph Looby,
of Dublin, presided in the absence
of the chairman.
In -other business at the meet-
ing, held in Seaforth-Monday night
• Et of E Budget
Nearly Perfect
''Unaudited figures of expendi-
tures versus budget estimates for
1970 show that the Huron County"
Board of Education came'
surprisingly, clpse to .being 100
percent correct.
--Budget estimates for the year
called -.for spending of
$10;212,625. Actual expenditures
were $10,260,064 or 100.5 per-
cent.
Major item, of course, was
teachers' salaries budgeted at
$6,087,174 and costing.,
$6,058,701.
Asked to what he attributed
such close calculatibns, Roy B.
Dunlop, superintendent of
business affairs quipped, "Very
•' efficient administration."
The -whole board smiled• and
nodded its approval.
•
•
. Mr. and Mrs. Adin Forbes, of
EgmOndville, were guests of
honor at a family dinner Satur-
day evening in the Legion Hall,
• when their family honored them
on the occasion of their 50th
wedding anniversary. Mrs.
Forbes was the former Leila
Smith,--Ilatighter 'of the late Mr.
and Mrs. James S. Smith and-
Mr. Forbes is the son of the
late Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Forbes,
• all of McKillop. They were
married at the bride's home on
February 2; 1921 by Rev. J. A.
Ferguson of Cavan Church, Win-
throp.
Felloiving their marriage,
Mr. Forbes, a veteran of World
• War„,1, and his bride farmed in
with rural students stranded in
school or town, In some cases
pupils were quickly taken home
again within minutes of arrival
at the school.
Seaforth buses didn't try to
go out Wednesday. Some buses
serving Huron Central School
at Brucefield operated on main
roads but for many rural students
it was another day at home.
The enforced holiday was the
eleventh day in which students
have been absent for all or most
of the day.
Mitchell buses operating in
Hibbert and Logan began to pick
up pupils but found much of
their route impassable. The
buses turned around and took the
pupils they had picked up back
to their homes again.
Rural .mail couriers were
unable to make their round Wed-
nesday. Two of the couriers
who live outside Seaforth were
not _al?le to get to the posy office.
The snow choked roads and
blinding blizzard resulted in a
number of accidents.
Paul Ratr, Seaforth, an em-
at 1:30 P.M. on February 12.
Reporting on the pick-up C on-
ference on school board operat-
ions conducted--by the •Ontario
Separate School Trustees Counci
in Toronto' recently, Truste
Joseph Looby and Vincent Yo
spoke of the value of such m t-
'ings and how the Huron-Perth
Board compared favourably in its
progress with other boards in On-
'
After Fall
•
Elmer Cam eron`ls in Victoria
HoSpital, London, suffering from
head injurieS.
The accident ' occurred
Saturday afternoon while walking
on Main Street. He slipped and
fell, his head • striking the icy
pavement.
Chairman Robert Elliott had
to use the gavel to bring members
of the Huron County Board of
Education to order following a
heated discussion concerning
future academic plans for edu-
cation in Huron.
The administration had listed
several items for discuision in-
cluding libraries for all elemen-
tary schools, conversation
French in all elementary schobls,
speech therapy available where
needed, psychological services
and 'provision of an audio-visual
centre for the county.
The Big Storm of 1971 will
long be remembered by thead-
ministrative staff of the Huron
.County Board of Education as
well as the 14 trustees who
represent the ratepayers.
At the suggestion of Chair-'
roan Robert Elliott, the board
will 'send scrolls to each, school
where staff were involved 'during
'the storm with stranded students,
commending each pritiCipal and
teacher for his ,or her actions.
mr. Elliott claimed he was
completely satisfied with the way
the situation was handled
throughOut the blizzard. Hesaid
he was confident that the safety
of the county's children was up-
permost in the minds of county
school staff and that the very
fact that all principals and
teachers could contact the board
office 24 houfe a day for advice
and comfort was a tremendous
advantage.
John Cochrane, director of
education for Huron County, said
he was never prouder to be a
teacher than he was during the
storm. He told the board he was
thoroughly protid of each and
every teacher in the county
and had "begun to compile a book
recounting some of the
'experiences of teachers who were
responsible for students stranded
in schools.
Mr. Cochrane ;was especially
complimentary of the persons
who assisted the teachers at the
schools by' bringing food and
blankets to make their unexpected
"holiday" as comfortable as
possible. 1.•
He also noted that the Storm,
had fostered some suggestions
which would be useful in event
of another such emergency.
Among the ideas, he said, was the
need for a two-way radio system
in the event that telephone ser-
vice was interrupted for a long
ployee of Bell Telephone. is in
Goderich Marine and Gener
,Hospital following a pile-up
Taylors Corners, five miles
of Goderich. Involved in
accident series were seve
cars, a school bus and the Bell
Telephone vehicle.
, Rev. Bruce Morrison of
Seaforth escaped injuries •when
his car was in collision with.44,..
Stacey. Bros. milk truck on the
Brodhagen road east of Winthrop
Wednesday morning in the midst
of the storm.
permit for the existing garbage
disposal area as required by
statute. In the meantime Reeve
Flannery said informal dis-
cussions had been held with
neighboring municipalities in an
effort to locate a suitable area
that would be common to all.
COuncil reappointed A. Y. Mc-
Lean and Don Kunder to three
year terms on the planning board.
Reeve John Flannery and Councs.
Wm. Pinder were named to re-
present council and Lloyd Rowatt
• was. appointed to complete the
term of Les Habkirk who
resigned. ,
a John E. Longstaff was ap-
pointed to the board of Seaforth
Community Hospital,
Named to the recreationaP
committee were: Mayor F.Sills,
Dep. Reeve Wm. Cuthill, C ouncs.
Betty' Cardno and Bill Pinder
and Maurice Huard, Gary Gray,.
Miss Mary Anne Weiler, Marlen
-Vincent, Don Bode, Chas.Camp-
bell and Mrs. Roger Whitman.
Reporting for the streetcom-
mittee, the chairman, Reeve
Flannery said the emphaSis had
been on snow plowing and snow
remoVal,
Members joined in congratul-
ating town maintenance staff on
the work they had done during
and following the storms.
Reeve Flannery said the
committee was , considering
changing trucks and since the
work involved was, somewhat
limited they were looking at used
trucks ranging from 1964 to
1969 models and from $1300 to
$4000 in price.
It was intended to carry on
With the .tree planting program
and thought was being given to
reopening Jarvis Street between
Brahtford and George Street
South since there were a number
of possible building lots in that
area.
Constable Keith Ruston was
appoined acting Seaforth chief.
He will continue in that ca-
pacity until" Chief Gordon Hul-
ley, who is in St. Joseph's
Hospital, London, for back
surgery, is able to return to
work.
' Counc. George Hildebrand,
chairman of the protection to
persons committee said the
chief's illness had resulted in a
• shortage of staff. Negotiations
regarding salaries which had
been planned with police had been
postponed because of the storm.
It was hoped to meet next week.
Seaforth Lions at a meeting
Monday evening approved a re-
commendation of its BOya and
Girls Committee that the Main
Street building, which has
accommodated scout activities
for several years be offered for
sale.
The committee has had the
matter littler active considerat-
ion for some months. Decision
to sell was based on the cost of
annual maintenance coupled with'
the necessity of an expenditure
of several thousand dollars be-
fore the property could be adopted
to scout requirements, Marlen
Vincent, committee chairman,
told the Club. •
At the same time he said
discussions were going on with
other organizations in4own which
• It will-be hard for motorists who a day before had fought blizzard conditions along Goderich
Street to realiie that the water that covered the street on Thursday and mirrored adjacent
buildings and snow banks was real. It all came about as mild temperatures moved in. However,
the milder weather brought rain with it and along with melting snow caused-flood conditions in
some areas. The return of freezing temperatures on Friday left roads treacherous from yet
another meteorological menace, ice, (Staff Photo)
Seaforth Requests Survey
the board approved continuing the ,
honorarium of $30 per month to
Harold Ducharme of Stratford
who had, been an employee with
the previous Stratford board for
over 20 years.. •
The following delegates will
attend the annual Ontario
Separate School Trustee
Association convention in
Toronto March 31, April 1 and 2;
Superintendents of Education,
John Vintar "and Joseph Tokar;
Business Administrator, Jadk
Lane; and Trustees Howard
Shantz, James Morris, David
Teahen, and F. J. Vere all of
Stratford; Vincent Young of
Goderich; Francis Bicknell, R.R.
• 5, Seaforth; and'Oscar Kieffer of
R.R.1, Bluevale.
A rider is to be added to
the contract of Tony Denomme of
Zurich that he be paid at the
rate of $2,60 Per hour for extra
curricular transportation as
approved by the administration
or by the principal.
A letter from the Ontario De-
partment of ' Education was
received by Mr. Vintar informing
him it' will grant recognition to
Teachers for courses lareligiou's
education - conducted by the
Ontario Separate SchoOl Trustees
Association and the Ontario
English Catholic Teachers
Association.
Mr. Vintar invited board
members to attend the public
speaking contests to beheld for
Huron County separate- school
studentS' In St. Mary's School in
Goderich at 1:30 P.M. on Feb-
ruary 19-and for Perth students in
St. Michael's School in Stratford
McKillop moving to Egmondville
In 1944.
• The anniversary event
planned for• a week earlier had to
be postponed because of the
weather.
Following dinner the 150
guests danced to the music of
the Tru-Tones.
Members of their family in-
clude Thelma, Mrs. Ken Coombs,
Seaforth; Kenneth, Breslau;
Gladys, Mrs. Ross Tithe%
Phoenix, Arizona; Avis, Mrs.Arta
Parker, London; Phyllis, Mrs. -
Wes.Coombs, Seaforth; Marlenel —
Mrs. C. Robinson, Collingwood;
Miss Leona Forbes, Stratford and
Miss Lynda Forbes, Kitchener.
A daughter, Verna, Mrs. Earl
Deans, died in 1948.
Change Enlarges Separate School Use
To Include Added Social Functions
• i n . Hospdal mentioned especially the assist-
ance given by the radio personnel
operation of people. M:
in passing out information. 1.1,•
said that letters of thanks were
being sent out where possible and
a thank-you notice -put in the
newspapers.
Mr. Vintar • reported to the
• board 'that Dr. K. W. Hampson,,
„ M.O.H. for Perth County and his
staff will be using the separate
schools in Perth for audio-yisual
and dental screening and to carry
out the immunization program.
.tario. Mr. Vintar, who had
attended the meeting as well,
commended the board for being
able to' work out problems in a
harmonious manner during tia,'
past two years.
Mr. Vintar commented on the
fact that about 1000 separate
school students in Huron ano
Perth Counties had been snow-
bound in the storm, and that the
majority of them have been
billeted In private homes. He
"spoke of the generosity and co-
Discussion Warms
Over Future Plans
Board members were 'not
agreed on which items had the
highest priority and their varied
opinions formed the basis for
the discussion.
Director of •.education, John
Cochrane stressed that he and
his staff-Aid not expect the board
to make a decision on all or any
of the proposals. He said .the
subject matter was presented to
the board only as a matter of
information, a guide to determine
those things in which the board
was interested and those things
for which it had small concern
at present.
School Scrolls to
`Recall '71 Storm
period.
Dr. A. B. Deathe, Goderich,
thought it would be wise if stu-
dents" with particular health
problems requiring regular
special medication would be re-
gistered in the school office so
that principals and teachers
would know a problem could exist
if the student was stranded over
night.
Wilfred Shortreed' felt this
would just ad unnecessary
paperwork for the teachers. He
said that concerned parents would
see to it that their children
received medical attention if it
was required. -
"What if you couldn't reach
the school?" asked Dr. Deathe.
Mr. Shortreed replied that if
the parents couldn't contact the
school or go there it would likely
be just as impossible for the
school to get the ailing child out
or medical attention in.
The board .alsb discussed the
fact that some parents were ex-
tremely critical of the' schools
when childreti did not get home
during the storm. Mr. Cochrane
told the board that principals
after consultation with the school
bus operators lad the privilege
to close the schools if the weather
was bad. He 'also said that
*sing the schools did not affect
the grants. He said grants were
paid on enrolment, not on per
diem attendance. He noted as
well that teachers are paid
whether school is open or closed
during a storm.
The director also said there'
was no truth to the rumor in
some parts et the county that the
Easter vacation would be cur-
tailed because of time lqst during
the Storm. He said the break
would be during the last full week
in March and that 'school would
let out March 19 and begin again
March 29;
- -Of Town Fire Protettion
it was hoped would lead to a
rejuvenated scout organization.
The committee recommended
and the club agreed that revenue
derived from the sale of the
building be set-aside for scout
activities.
The' meeting in charge of
President John W. Talbot heard
Harold Knis ley of Goderich, a
, Huron Board of Education super-
intendent, compare education in
Ontario with that of Russia. He
had been one of a number of
educationalists who had visited
Russia three years ago. Ross
Scott expressed appreciation*
Plans for an agricultural night
on March 9th were reviewed by
G. A. Whitney and for a ladies night
on April 3 by Elmer Larone.
Lions Move to
Re-organize Scouts
I i