The Huron Expositor, 1971-08-19, Page 1luron r..
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Seaforth Fireman got an excellent chance for a little
scheduled action Tuesday night. Mrs. Oscar Tebbut asked
them if they would burn down the barn on her Coleman
Street-property to save wrecking costs. The fire department
tibliged and took the opportunity provided to get in a little
practise. Above, It takes two firemen to hold down a high,
pressure hose being used to contain the flames.(Staff Photo)
Whole No. 5397
112th Year SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1971 —12 PAC4E$ 000,0* 15 Ceti
$5,04 A YeAriR44va
• . .
Huron Board Resists Demands
To Alter Kindergarten Schedule
A delegation of interested Mc-
Killop Township parents' were on
hand at Monday evening's meeting
of the Huron County Board of
Education in Clinton to hear the
answers to the questions posed
by them at the July session.
Although the matter took up
the greater part of an hour, there
was little news come out of the
exchange. The parents who were
present in the board room indi-
cated their desire for half-day
kindergarten ,with the board pro-
viding the noon-hour transporta-
tion for the children. In reply,
board members reiterated their
kindergarten 'policy which states
that any additional transportation
other than morning and night bus
routes must be provided by the
parents and stressed the fact
that giving in to the wishes of
McKillop Township parents could
very likely have county-wide re-
percussions which could cost the
taxpayers dearly.
The board representative
from McKillop, John Henderson,
introduced the new thought that
—with- the a.malganeation of high . centered around the value of
school, separate school -61701,111-glitfttlie-r-th-an e_---'
mentary school buses in the fall, turning home each evening and
it could mean that some kinder- reconvening the, next morning,
garters students would halve to
leave home by 8 a,m,y spend a
full at school and not arrive
home until 5 p.m.
buses will receive a raise in
pay this school year. Salaries
will be raised from $1,800. to
$1,900. for 10 months with spare
bus drivers to be paid at the rate
of $9.50 per day. Ten days per
year sick leave will be granted
and all unused sick leave at the
end of the school year will be
paid at a rate of $9.50 per day.
The board approved a recom-
mendation from D. J. Cochrane;
director of education, that Edu-
cation Week in Ontario should be
held in October rather than in
March, The board reasoned that
inclement weather in March
hampers full participation by the
parents.
The board hassled over
whether or not to approve an
estimated expenditure of $1,290.
for a county principals' seminar
to be held during September,
possibly in Grand Bend.
The Associate Superintendent
in charge of planning, W. D.
Kenwell, said that arrangerhents
called for two nights lodging and
meals for two days. Discussion
McKillop
(See page
Members
O Paradise Camp in
park surroundings
For the second consecutive
year, members, of the Huron
County Board of Education have
• given careful discussion to the
matter of English Literature
books to be used in' the county's
five high schools .... aneMonday.
evening' s free-swinging discus-
sion resulted in three board
members voting against the list
as presented.
Those members were Mrs.
,Marion Zinn, , 'Ashfield; John
Henderson, McKillop; and the
Chairman, Robert Elliott, Gode-
rich Township.
In questioning the administra-
tion concerning the wisdom in
putting some of the books on the • list on the course of study for
Huron high school students, John
Henderson claimed that some of
the books studied last year were
"disgraceful".
"Decent girls don't want to
being studied," said Henderson.
rocert. when they are
• He said he was aware of a
complaint which had been made
to the school principal concerning
a certain book studied in class..
The student had been advised
that the board had approved the
list of books for study. "Some
of these books cost only 50 cents
, per unit," argued Henderson,
"what good can they possibly be."
Jarfies Coulter, superinten-
dent of education, reminded
trustee Henderson that these
paperback books would cost a
good deal more If they were pur-
chased in the hard-cover volume.
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He said the books are examples
of modern English literature and
are studied in that light.
Mr. Coulter said he had asked
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content, instructional styles and
school policy generally, High
school freshmen will not learn
how to do these things well until
the school provides practice in
applying democratic theory and
processes to issues that are real
to them 'This is 'unlikely to
happen unless the operative unit
becomes the pupils' home-room
with the home-room teacher a
key person in the moral educa-
tion program of the entire
school".
"The time has come for
Boards of Education, schools and
teachers to adopt a positive and
constructive approach to reach-
ing these goals by means Of a
definite program of moral and
religious education," she con-
eluded. .
egiona
Ontario has accepted the
principle that Regional Develop-
ment in Midwestern Ontario may
not be the same as Regional
Development In other parts of
the Province.
The Honourable Darcy Mc-
Keough, Provincial Treasurer
and Minister of Treasury & Eeo-
Swimmers
Earn Royal,
Recognition
Royal Lifesaving bronze tests
were carried out recently at
Seaforth Lions Pool When
successful candidates included
Mary Margaret Kelly, Wilman
Jansen, Roger Humphries and
Joe McLean.
The examiner was Mrs. Linda
Clarke of Sebringville.
North York
Remembers
VanEgmond
It may be coincidence but at
a time When area councils con-
sider action to renovate the Van
Egmond property in Eg mondville,
the North York 'Historical Society
is acting. to preserve a building
which was the hiding place of
,Col, Van Egmond following his
participation in the 1837 re-
bellion.
The society is working with
North York 'County Council to
establish a special zoning cate-
gory to protect several historical
sites and to provide funds to buy
them if development threatens.
The sites are copsidered as
worthy of preservation to remind
present and future residents of
the area's heritage.
The property associated with
Col. Van Egmond is one of the
35 sites involved and is the
oldest on the list.
It is the Joseph Shepard frame
house on Burndale Ave., Willow-
dale, 'which dates from 1812. It
is now the home of Mr. and Mrs.
R. H. Benson and was the hiding
place of William Lyon Mac-
kenzie's cdmmander, Colonel
Van Eginond,.after the 1837 Bat-
tle of Montgomery's Tavern.
"Now, as a parent, I wouldn't
permit my child to attend kinder-
garten under those conditions,"
stated Henderson, "would you?"
"I would not," agreed board
chairman, Bob Elliott, "but I
can't see the transportation com-
mittee of this board permitting
such a timetable."
It was agreed that the trans-
portation committee at its
meeting this week would study the.
McKillop situation closely and.
advise-the- parents-of all kinder-
garten students In that township
by mail concerning its decision
about bus routes.
Chairman .of that committee,
Don MacDonald, Walton,tsaid he
and his cohorts would endeavour
to work out some arrangement
which would be satisfactory to
all. The chairman urged as many
board members as possible to be
present at that meeting, to voice
any suggestions or criticisms
they may, have.
Bus, drivers of board owned
Kole
'nomics conceded this point while
meeting with the Hoard of Direc-
tors of the Midwestern Ontario
Regional Development Council in
Stratford last week. The Minister
agreed with the assessment made
by the Council that Midwestern
Ontario has a uniqueurban-rural
balance that must be interpreted
in a different manner, to other
areas of the province. '
Mr. McKeough made Stratford
(Continued on Page 12)
St. Joseph's Convent which
has 'been in, e*istance here for
• nearly 60 years .is being closed.
The Convent at the corner 'of
Gouinlock and Chalk Streets was
brought into use at the beginning
of 1913. The building is being
rented as a privat e dwelling.
Reference to the closing was
contained in a report of a meeting
of the Board of AdVisors of St.
James 'Parish.
The report indicated that as
of September the Sisters from
Seaforth would have a change of
convent address, The Convent
in Seaforth is closing and the
Sisters will he living in Zurich
and commuting. In explaining
the future parish involvement,
it was Pkplained that the Sisters
wished to give the same dedication
as at present and would continue
in the Parish activities as at
present,
"The merging of these houses
is to better build their religious
community life and to radiate
Christ better in their work," the
report stated.
The community has expe-
rienced a shortage of Sisters in
the past feW years and this has
reached us in the closi.ng,44 our
School of Music last year, making
the central house more of a
necessity."
In making the announcement to
'the Community of the Sisters of
St. Joseph, Mother Julia, the
Superior General made the fol-
lowing observation, "In any move
of this kind there are bound to be
a few heart-aches. The people
of Seaforth (our home since 1913)
have been our great supporters
over the years .and in many ways
it will be difficult to think of not
having a Conyent there. Yet,,as
this has „not been without prayer
Vacancies
are Filled
on Board
George Parsons, general
manager of Goderich Elevator
and Transit Company has been
appointed to the Huron County
Board of Education to replace Dr.
Barry Deathe of Goderich who
resigned during a 'dispute con-
-cerning secondary teachers'
salary negotiations.
E.C. Hill who was appointed to
the board to replace the other
Goderich member who resigned,
-Mrs. J. W. Wallace, was present
at Monday evening's board meet-
ing and was officially sworn into
office.
With the appOintment of Mr.
Parsons, the board of education
in Huron is now back, to full
strength.
Chairman of the committee to
appoint new board members, John
Broadfoot, commented on the
calibre of men "who have made
themselves available to serve on
this board."
--"1-am very happy_and proud
to have had a small part in it,"
he said.
Mr. Hill was welcomed on
behalf of all the board, members
by the' Chairman of the board,
Robert Elliott. - '
In a brief statement, the new
trustee said he is anxious to as-
sist the board in any way he is
able "particularly with re-
gard to education".
It is expected that Mr.
Parsons will be present at the
board's next meeting, September
7th.
and consultatidn, we hope that God
will continue to bless those who
may find our leaving a hardship."
Commenting on the announce-
ment, Father H. J. Laragh, the
,Parish Priest, said: "This is
indeed a sad announcement. If
you wish to show your care, your
concern or your appreciation,
know it will be-received with con-
sideration by all the Sisters."
"We thank them all for their
love, dedication and all the work
they have done for us. We recall
now with fondness the tender love
they shOwed for over fifty-eight
years they lived as truly noble and
dedicated women a quiet but
gentle influence on the lives of
all who have lived here in
Seaforth,"
"We thank them for all this'
and ,sadly bid them farewell as
residents of our Town."
The Board of Advisors for the
Parish Council of St. James
Parish at a meeting July 18, took
recognition of the decision to
close the convent when it adopted
a motion by John Flannery and
Art Deiereaux that the Board of
Advisors of St. James . Parish
regret the decision of the Sisters
of St. Joseph to close the Convent
in Seaforth but on _behalf of the
for their good service over the
Pari shyear s wish to thank the Sisters .
The opening of the ConVent in
January, 1913, was referred in
the isstxd of the Expositor of
January that year when a state-
ment by Father P. Corcoran,
Church at that time, was repro-
duced.
a sto r of St; James Catholic
Father Corcoran in his state-
ment said: "By the generosity of
two individuals, this parish has
been enabled to procure a hand-
some convent building, beauti-
fully located, and by the assis-
tance of the people it has been
pertly furnished and fitted upand
fobr Sisters of St. Joseph's Com -
munity, London, have been sent to
take, possession."
"St. Joseph's Sisters •have.
charge of various good works,
hospitals, orphan asylums, refu-
gees for old and infirm men and
women, academies for the higher
education of young ladies, music,
teaching, etc., but their initial
work here will be the teaching
of the Separate School. The
teachers engaged in teaching are
all legally qualified, many of them
chairman.
Final decision was for the
seminar to be held as planned
with all expenses for the staff paid
by the board.
Mrs. Marilyn Kunder sug-
gested that students should be
included on the new communi-
cations committees to be set up
ma y ,
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. klk
k .1., .k,',1••
and the teaching staff did not
combine efforts to ensure that
the county's five high schools
would conduct classes September
7th,
in the meantime, the salary
dispute remains unsettled. ' At
the moment, the Huron COunty
Board of Education has been
pink-listed by the teachers
meaning that any teachers seek-
ing employment would be ill-
advised toapply for work in Huron
-C-ountyl-anci-the--Ku-ron--secondar-y-
school teachers have been black-
listed by other boards of educa-
tion in the province meaning that
they will not be considered for
teaching positions in any Ontarib
secondary schools until the dis-
pute is ended.
There has been unofficial spe-
culation that the Ontario govern-
ment would be forc,ed (to settle
the issue in Huron high schools
if classes did not commence
shortly after the 'legal school
opening date - September 7th.
having the degree of B.A. from
Queen's or Toronto University,
and they have been successful
in their work. The two Sisters
who will teach our school were
last year engaged irr leaching
St, Peter's Separate School, Lon-
don, under the, shadow of 30.
Peter's Cathedral, the first and
best school • In London. So we
have every reason to think that
Mother Celestine, the Superior,
has favored the trustees, in send-
ing two such tried and expe-
rienced teachers."
'4 "The children are the first
, who will experiende the benefit of
the new teachersi but they are not
the only ones. The ratepayers
this fall with board members and
teaching staff working toward
better relations. The idea re-
ceived full board support,
The decision -came after ade-
partment of ecluciktion edict
urging more student involvement
in the education process.
Progress on the construction
of the addition to Seaforth public
School was reported to the board.
The masonry. work is approxi-
mately 75 percent completed and
mechanical work, plumbing,
heating and electrical work atthe
45 percent mark.
Preparations are going ahead
for the pouring of the concrete and
terrazzo' floor bases. The steel
deck application has commenced.
The board also learned that
work at South HuronDistrict High
School is progressing well with
completion date likely to be
before school opens.
Accident
Insurance is
Rejected
When school opens next month
parents will not be able to buy
accident insurance for their
children through the school. This
fact was made abundantly clear
Monday evening at the board of
education meeting in Clinton.
The accident insurance which
was available in previous years
has been discontinued because it
wasn't considered too valuable
in Case of student accident. Some
claims 'have been settled only
after considerable dispute con-
cerning legal interpretation of
the policy and the board agreed
that since students are covered
by OHSIP through their families,
the insurance could be dropped.
Some suggestion was made
that• dental insurance would be
useful but it was learedd that
this, too, was unsatisfactory at
this time.
Wrecks car
North of
Seaforth
A car driven by a Stratford,
an was-totally-w-reGkedSaturda
morning in a single-car accident
two and one-half miles north. of
Seaiorth.
John H. Parsons, 19, of 23
Douro St., received bruises in
the accident. He was driving
the car.
Police estimated the daMage
to be $2,500 in the accident
which occurred on Concession
4-5 of McKillop Township.
Provincial Constable Ray
Primeau of the Ontario Provin-
cial Police investigated.
will also experience the benefit,
for the trustees are paying only
$300 a year for each teacher.
The Sisters are not in the teach-
ing profession for the sake of
accumulating money, but are
satisfied with a mere livelihood.
Lay teachers are generally in
the teaching profession as a step-
ping stone to some other sphere,
and they do not average more
than about three years in the
profession. They have to dress
fashionably and mingle in social
gatherings that they may secure
suitable husbands, of whom they
are deserving as they are
educated ladies. It is not to be
wondered at that they demand a
good salary.','
the opinion of the Huron County
librarians concerning the book
lists. He admitted that .the li-
brarians had questioned the value
of some of the books Qn the list,
and said that only one book
The Godfather - had been re-
moved from the list.
"I read it and considered
just one page too vivid," said
Coulter.
"I'd like to hear a teacher
preSent a lesson on one of these
books," said Henderson., Maybe
I'd learn something."
• Although Mrs. Marion Zinn
defended the idea' of the Modern
English course in secondary
school, she expressed the hope
that English department heads
would take greater care in se-
lecting books to be studied..
She said she had had a com-
plaint from a ratepayer concer-
ning a book which was studied in
school last year and quoted from
a brochure, on mind-pollUlan.
The brochure deplored the
fact that "pornography is openly
featured in lewd books used for
English 'courses in high school,
as though there is an insufficiency
of the great , clasSics of our
literature for cultural educatio-
nal enlightenment".
Mrs. Zinn was the author of
a report on Moral and Religious
Education heard later in the eve-
ning.
In the report, Mrs. Zinn
wrote, "Schools and colleges are
already moving in the direction
of sharing with students, or dele-
gating to them, responsibility for
making important decisions in
matters of behaviour, course
of--the -Huron Comity Federation of Agriculture held its annual Picnic at Family
Sunday. Here visitore-enjby-sorne-of the-facilities in-Ine pleasant-
10 for other pictures) (Staff Photo)
Members Refuse Censor Role,
Endorse Staff Book Choice
Considers MODA
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Kenwell claimed the trek
home each day would'i'break up -
the continuity of the seminar".
"As much is tq be gained by
the' informal sessions as the for-
mal sessions," said the director.
"I don't know what' the Good
Roads Convention costs the
county each year," mused the
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The only indication given at
Monday evening's public meeting
of Huron County Board of Educa-
tion that the board is still at-
tempting to reach a salary settle-
ment with its secondary school
teachers came when it was an-
nounced that the salary nego-
tiating committee would meet
Wednesday, August 18.
Since the weekly newspapers
go to press before. the meeting
is scheduled,' the county school
_ news reporter attempted, during
the press question perial te-g-Eit"
some answers from members of
the board' and the administration
concerning whether or not secon-
dary schools in Huron County
will open September '7. The
answer was simply, "No com-'
ment."
Dr. Alex Addison of Clinton
was the only board member to
suggest that the board should be
looking toward a settlement be-
fore school opens. Dr. Addison
strongly indicated 116 would be
entirely disillusioned if the board
The Optimist Club of Seaforth has erected signs at the
Recreation Grounds on Main Street South to acknowledge
their participation in the maintenance of the long established
Seaforth Park. Admiring the colourful sign are Betty Cardno,
town council representative to the recreation committee, Bill
"Wink" Teall who beaded the Optimists $2,000 improvement
program and Randy and Rick Scott, sons of Mr. and Mrs.
Wayne Scott of George Street. Both boys use the park as they
play ball in the minor league teams also sponsored by the
Optimist Club of Seaforth. • (Staff Photo)
o Comment' is answer
to school:Opening Query
St. Joseph's. Convent Closes After 58 Years