HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1968-10-17, Page 1Three-car crash kills vomen
Clinton• N.QM7 Fippprci, Thursday, .0c.t. 17, 1900 THE NEW .Ei3A, 121st YEAS — THE HURON. RECCORTI :/i7th Year SINGLE COPIES 1,2e
Two of the three cars involved
ommunity .Centre to .
clitv:0, ice by November
The first
column
A Trap $hoot for the Huron
County Championship will be
held at Kippen Sunday October
20, 1 p.m. 100 target for Kippen
Gun Club Trophy.
* * *
Doug Andrews is going back
to school. Doug will be
attending classes at Conestoga
College for the next 30 weeks.
The purpose of 'the course is to
upgrade his qualifications as
Recreational Director.
* *
A winter carnival is planned
at the Community Centre from
,February 3 to 9, k meeting will
be held at the centre tonight at 8.
p.m. to start laying plans for the
event.
* *
The , International Plowing
Match is now under way near
Guelph. Inside the paper you
will find a map showing the
location of this year's event,
* * *
At a general meeting of
Goderich and District
Association for the Mentally
Retarded held in MacKay Hall
plans for a nursery for
pre-school retarded children
were announced by Russell
Archer, of Clinton, President of
the Association.
* *
Preparatory to launching a
full-fledged power squadron here
next spring, the Canadian Power
Squadron is sponsoring a 20
week course this fall and winter
on boating at MacKay Hall.
Registration night was held
last Friday with 22 persons
registering. These included B. R.
Robinson, Murray C. McGill,'
Fred W. Fester, M. 'S.
Sutherland, D. E. McArthur, B.
Y. McCreath, C. H. Prouse, R. G.
MacDonald, C. Bannister,
Stewart. Knight, Donald
Langridge, 'George Robinson,
Mrs. Ruth Robertson; Kevin P.
Wills, Robert Hirst and Madeline
Naftel, all of Goderich; Ronald
J. Carter, Edward A. Roberts,
John R. Elder and William Beck,
all of Clinton; Emerson Shera,
Wingahm and J. E. Longstaff,
Seaforth.
Officers of the Power
Squadron Study Groupn elected
at the meeting Friday were: Dr.
G. F. Mills, Goderich, chairman;
R. S. Atkey, Clinton (S),
secretary-treasurer; H. R.
Corbett AP, Goderich, E. B.
Menzies (S), Clinton, K. S. Wood
(S), Clinton, and Alex Wilkins,
Goderich, all members of the
committee.
The course gets under way
this Friday, October 18 at 7
p.m. in the basement of MacKay
Hall. Qualified instructors will
be present from the London and
Sarnia Power Squadrons.
Chairman Dr. Mills said this
week registrations will still be
held for the next two. weeks. •
The course concludes in
March with examinations to be
held in Goderich.
* * *
The Walk-a-Thon undertaken
by the Hi C Group on Saturday
was quite successful.
Twenty-one young people took
part in the walk to Clinton and
back to Londesboro; all had
sponsors.
Mr. and Mrs. David Mair of
Detroit spent Thanksgiving
weekend with Mrs. Fairservice
and Ann.
Mrs. William Hunking is a
patient in Clinton Hospital.
Visitors with Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Thompson on Sunday
were Mr. and Mrs. Will
Hamilton, Moorefield, Mr. and
Mrs. John Laurie of Kitchener
and Beth Thompson, London.
Miss Doris Colbeck of
Toronto spent the weekend with
her friend, Miss Edith Beacom.
Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Bryans
Of Mitchell spent Sunday with
Miss Beacom and Miss Colbeck.
Mist Kimberly Livingstone of
Exeter. spent the weekend with
her grandmother, Mrs.' Harold
Livingstone.
WEATHER
1968 1967
liI Loy,r HI LOW
Oct, 8 61 37 65 43
9 62 44 58 47
10 58 41 49 43
11 60 34 46 40
12 67 40 51 40
18 69 42 58 33
14 77 52 59 47
Rain .26" Rain 1.71"
Two former Clinton area
women were among three who
died as a result of a three-car
crash on Highway 8 about two
miles east of Dublin Monday
night.
Dead are: Miss Violet Velma
Watkins, Lonedsboro and Mrs.
Roy Lawson, 75, of Seaforth.
Mrs. John Shannon, 73, of
Seaforth also died in the crash.
Miss Watkins, formerly of RR
1, Londesboro, a native of
Goderich township, had been
'alone in her car returning home
after spending the Thanksgiving
Day holiday with her brother,
Harry Watkins, of RR 1,
Londesboro.
A Grade 3 teacher at King
Edward School, Kitchener,
scheduled to retire next spring,
she had taught in elementary
schools for 24 years.
Besides her brother, she is
survived by a sister, Mrs. William
(Hazel) Draper of Toronto.
Funeral service will be held at
2 p.m., Friday at the Ball
Funeral Home, Clinton. Burial
will be in Clinton Cemetery.
Mrs. Lawson and Mrs.
Shannon, first cousins, were,
returning home after visiting a
relative in London hospital.
They were passengers in a car
driven by Mrs. Herta Pethick,
36, of 75 Vivian Street,
Stratford.
Mrs. Pethick, a
daughter-in-law of Mrs. Lawson,
is in Stratford General Hospital.
Relatives said Tuesday morning
the hospital had reported her
condition as serious. She has
head injuries, facial lacerations
and possibly a broken jaw, a
relative said.
Mrs. 'Lawson, the former
Mabel ' Elizabeth Armstrong, is
survived by her husband;
brothers, W. Howard Seaforth,
Fred, Hamilton, James, Clinton,
John, Lonedsboro;" sisters, Mrs.
Thomas (Theresa) Pryce, RR 1
Dublin, and Miss Ella, Seaforth.
Service will be held 2 p.m.
Thursday from R. S. Box
Funeral Home, Seaforth -with
burial in Avondale Cemetery,.
Stratford.
The women were killed when
To bid for
new offices
Clinton Town Council is
making a strong bid to have the
new County School Board
administrative offices located in
the town.
In making a motion to have
the office located in Clinton,
Clarence Denomme suggested
that Clinton was the logical
choice for the offices as it is the
central community in the
county and its location here
could save considerable money.
Mr. Denomme pointed out
that the Town has an excellent
office building already available
for the Board. This building,
although not serving its original
purpose now, is being
maintained through subsidies
received from the Government
of Ontario.
Council will make their
proposal to all parties directly
involved in the final decision
including the Minister of
Education, Hon. C. S.
MacNaughton, chairman of the
steering committee, for the new
board as well as to John Lavis
Clinton's representative on the
steering committee, '
hired. A second motion was then
made which stipulated he move
to Clinton within one year and
this too was withdrawn. The
final motion stipulated that they
hire Mr. Westlake and that he
move to Clinton within one
year.
During the two-hour debate
Connell digressed from the point
of order as to whether Or not the
Original motion could be
Withdrawn and took issue, with
the selection of the Committee
as well as their handling of the
hiring of the new Chief.
The committee was criticized
two cars collided head-on after
one had reportedly turned out
to pass a slow moving farm
tractor hauling a wagon.
The crash occurred on a
straight stretch of highway.
Police, unravelling the
sequence of events late at night
did not know how the third
vehicle became involved.
Between 100 and 200
motorists stopped along the
highway after the pile-up. Some
of the spectators taunted and
jeered police as they attempted
to rescue the injured.
Sebringville OPP, who
investigated the accident,
requested Stratford fire
department to aid in the
operations. Firemen rushed a
portable generator, search lights
and a rescue saw to the scene.
At one time during the
investigation police feared a
fourth person was missing and
used search lights to sweep the
long grass along the roadside.
Sgt. Fulton of the
Sebringville OPP said there will
be an inquest.
Fire truck
this year
Clinton will have its new fire
truck before the end of the year,
says Town Clerk John
Livermore.
The final reading of the
motion authorizing the issuance
of debentures totalling $28,500
was made at Monday night's
council session.
In addition to the acquisition
of the new fire truck extensive
renovations will be made on the
present fire hall Which includes
the extension'of the building.
saends
for not asking for letters of
reference and thoroughly
investigating the final selection.
Mayor Symons, head of the
Police Committee, pointed out
that a letter of reference was not
considered netessaary as a careful
investigation' Showed Mr.
Westlake to be the man for the
job.
The Mayor disagreed with the
procedure followed and at one
point called for the bylaw book
of proceedings which dated back
to 1922. The Mayor Said it was
outdated and should not be
looked to for guidance in 1968.
At ohe point in the
The Clinton Recreation
Committee is working hard to
solve problems which forced it
to delay putting ice in the
Cornmunity centre this fall.
Committee members hope to
have the rink ready for use early
next month.
The delay stems from a need
to correct conditions which
caused cracking in the arena's
floor and walls last winter,
according to Don R, Kay,
committee chairman.
%Mr. Kay told The
News-Record that Shantz and
Hicks, the Waterloo contractors
who built the centre, were
informed of the cracking early
this year, but failed to
investigate or remedy the
situation.
The committee then decided
to act on its own, Mr. Kay said,
and engaged James F. MacLaren,
Ltd., a London firm of
consu-lting engineers, to
recommend a means of
preventing a* recurrence of the
Cracking.
The engdneers made
"exhaustive" tests, said Mr, ray,
and returned a report which
indicates that "fissuring or
cracking occurred as the result
of frost-heaving due to water
'table and soil characteristics of
the building site."
The MacLaren firm
recommended several immediate
steps to be taken, including
installation of additional drains
around the perimeter of the
structure's foundation or
footings, Mr. Kay said.
LLOYD WESTLAKE
Name Westlake
chief of police
Lloyd Westlake, a Clinton
constable since last March, has
been hired as police chief,
effective November 1 on a
six-month probationary period.
He replaces Chief H. Russell
Thompson who has resigned due,
to poor health.
Chief Westlake was born in
Bayfield and spent his early
years in that village.
Clinton's new chief spent
four years in the service and 21
years with the OPP. In 1956 he
was promoted to the rank of
Corporal which he held until he
resigned. His final few years
were as District Instructor
teaching police procedures.
Chief Westlake is married
with three children and lives in
Bayfield.
November
11 Holiday
Remembrance Day will be a
holiday in Clinton this year.
Council declared that November
11 be a holiday and has
requested that all places of
business observe it as such.
two
order
proceedings Mayor Symons
stated that if, after careful
investigation, the motion was
not in order, he would
personally rescind the whole
motion.
Council finally stipulated, by
a six-to-two vote, that Mr.
Westlake be hired providing he
move to Clinton within one
year.
Town con table Lloyd
Westlake assumes his duties as of
November 1 on a six-month
probationary period,
The police coMmittee of
council received 10 applications
It is the committee's hope,
explained the chairman, that the
contractor will co-operate in
carrying out the consultants'
recommendations and that
ice-making will begin as the
drain installation nears
completion.
The engineers estimate that
putting in the drain will take
only three or four days, Mr. Kay
said, and we are currently
drawing specifications and
estimating cost of the project.
Mr. Kay said that cracking
Rev. Neil Libby, who
founded a national movement to
help ex-convicts adjust to the
outside world, will address the
joint Thankoffering meeting of
the Ontario Street and
Wesley-Willis UCW, Sunday,
October 20.
Starting at 7:30 p.m. in
Ontario Street Church, Father
Libby will detail his experiences
in opening and operating against
strong opposition St. Leonard's
House in Windsor, a "halfway"
house that helps ease
ex-convicts' adjustment to the
outside world.
Mrs. Donald Lloyd, of
Win gham, the former
Alice-Louise Thompson, of
Clinton, will be guest soloist.
Although Father Libby is
now a popular hero in Windosr,
and was named last year one of
the three most outstanding
young men in the province —
alongside Education Minister
Davis and Opposition Leader
Nixon — by the Ontario Junior
Chamber of Commerce, his fight
to establish St: Leonard's House
was a bitter one.
Neighbours, the mayor and
most of the city council battled
fiercely against the- idea, fearing
a concentration of proved
lawbreakers in a residential area.
But Father Libby, then 31,
an assistant at All Saints
Anglican Church, fought back
and finally got permission to go
ahead after council was
deadlocked three times in tie
votes.,
St. Leonard's was' opened in
May, 1962. There are now at
least five such halfway houses
across Canada, and others are
planned.
Although Father Libby is a
profoundly religious clergyman,
he is very hip, and talks easily to
thieVes, safecrackers, men of
violence, criminals of all stripes,
in the jargon of their
underworld.
He pulls no punches.
A former prison chaplain, he
admits that he would like to
take the entire prison system
apart and' put it back together
again so that it would make
more' sense in terms of
humanity,
hut he is a'realist.
After a man is released from
prison and shows up at St.
Leonard's House, Father Libby
and his helper's must deal with
the product of the system as he
stands.
was first noticed as early as last
February, but the problem could
not be assessed until the ice was
out of the arena and frost out of
the ground beneath it.
When the contracting
Company was informed of the
trouble, it expressed a
willingness to co-operate, Mr.
Kay said, but never took steps to
ascertain the cause of the
cracking or to find a solution.
The committee is now
renewing its efforts to get the
contractors to correct the
Guests of the house are
expected to pay $2 a day for
room and board, look for work,
and help with chores. No liquor
is allowed, and drunks must stay
away until sober. Women can be
entertained downstairs only.
Otherwise, there are no
restrictions not imposed on all
of society.
Success of St. Leonard's is
measured in the fact that none.
of the guests has ever broken the
law during his six to 12 week
stay at the house.
And only 27 percent have
returned to prison after leaving
St. Leonard's, compared to an
80 percent national recidivist
average.
Translated into tax dollars
the saving is enormous.
It costs taxpayers more than
$4,000 a year to keep a man in a
federal penitentiary, and
probably twice that if welfare
payments to an inmate's family,
court and police expenses, and
manpower loss to the economy
is included.
Legion Banquet
set for Oct. 19
Plans are nearing completion
for one of the most important
evenings in the history of
Clinton Branch 140 of the Royal
Canadian Legion.
On Wednesday, October 20
the local Legion will be
presented with a Victoria Cross
and Croix de Guerre. These two
military awards were won by
Corporal Harty G. R. Miner in
World War T. They Will be
officially presented to the
Legion by Ira Miner of Detroit, a
nephew of the late Cpl. Miner.
The night will take the form •
of a Remembrance Day banquet,
with full Legion ceremonies,
Guest speaker will be Rev.
Clifford Waite, IRO., MA,, BD.,
M.Ed., of Forest, a former padre
in the Royal Canadian Navy.
Cpl. Miner was working on a
farm in the Clinton area when he
enlisted in the Army in World
War I.
Legionnaires have Until
Saturday, October 19 to
purchase tickets for the banquet',
after that date a limited number
of tickets will be available to the
general public, Tickets are $5
situation, the eh-airman said.
Mr. Kay noted that most of
the cracks closed considerably
once the frost melted and the
ground settled back. There has
been no structural damage to the
centre, he added, but the
engineers believe there would be
was
put
serious damage if ice
put down this year without first
solving the frost problem.
The centre, with its
auditorium and 80 by 1.80-foot
ice surface,_ was __completed in
June 1967
At St. Leonard's, it costs
about $8 a day to keep a guest,
or if he stays for the full three
months, a total of $240.
Father , Libby bars sex
offenders and other persons with
chronic psychiatric problems
because he is not equipped to
deal with them.
He has no use for "young
punks who steal for a lark"
because he says there is little he
can do to straighten them out.
Father Libby, assisted by Lou
Drouillard, 26, a former
penitentiary official, and John
Lindsay, 34, a maintenance man
and reformed alcoholic, finds his
best success with armed robbers,
safe crackers, and murderers
because these men have usually
served long prison terms.
As Father Libby says: "Time
is running out on them, and they
are willing to try harder."
Both of the sponsoring UCW
units welcome the public to the
Thankoffering meeting to hear
Father Libby.
School board
nominations
Nominations for positions on
the new County school boards
will be held on November 18.
The bylaw was given its third
and final reading Monday night.
The Public School board
nominations will be held in the
HulIett Community Hall in
Londesboro.
Separate School Board
nominations are to be held in
the Hay Township Hall at
Zurich,
The Orange Hall in Winthrop
will be the scene of nominations
for positions on the combined
Huron-Perth Separate School
Board.
If an election is necessary it
will be held on December 2.
Interview
applicants
Ontario Housing Corporation
officials are to visit Clinton early
next week to interview 47
applicants Who replied to ah
OHO questiOnnaire this =inner
on proposed dccomenodation for
senior citizens, About 400
persons were surveyed,
neW police chief Monday night
and it took them more than two
hours -CO do it.
The time Spent on the hiring
of the new chief was mostly on a
point of order. After hearing the
recommendation of the Police
Committee a motion was made
to accept it,
Some members of council felt
that if Mr. Westlake were going
to assume the duties of Police
Chief he should move from his
native hayfield and reside in
Clinton: After considerable
discussion it Was decided to
withdraw the original motion
own council •
ours on 'a p
Clinton Town Connell hired a which simply stated that he
• • • • • • omt
• , • -
Father Libby (left) and Allen J. MacLeod, com-
missioner of penitentiaries: during the crucial six
to 12 weeks following release from prison, St.
Leonard's helps a man stand on his own feet.
father Libby is guest speaker
At UCW Thankoffering meet