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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1970-11-26, Page 1Inside . Town Talk 2 itOtiAls Spa rts High 8dhOol 800tt5 ' „,Pg, 4 „orig. 7 Shirie-y Kellar . „,Pg„ A Firemen roll up hoses at the height of the fire Friday night which destroyed Brucefield United Church. Crews from Brucefield, Seaforth and Clinton were helpless to fight the fire in the church itself and after vain attempts, moved their hoses and concentrated on saving nearby houses. Ironically, the gusting west winds that blew the fire out of 'control in the church may have helped protect the houses on the north and south because all sparks were blown harmlessly into the empty field behind the church. Election for Board of Education necessary linton -Record 105 YEAR — NO. 40 Ot.INTON •, ONTARIO THURSDAY, NQVgIVIOER ?0, 1970 PRICE PER COPY i5P1 11 nn 1 1 I II 111111 1111 I 11 No plans yet to rebuild United Church The first column Well, the half of the townsmen Who like snow because they can use their snowmobiles, are now • happy- The half that hate saow•because they use their snow shovels are now dreaming about the West Indies. * * Those snowmobilers certainly are dedicated. In the middle of a raging blizzard that had most cars travelling at 30-40 m.p.h. we met some nut travelling north with a snowmobile on a trailer behind his car on Monday afternoon just south of Londesboro. Little did he know that as he travelled north he was going to find less snow than he'd come through. * * * After a storm like this everybody seems to have their Own stories about their experiences. Doug Norman told us on Tuesday morning about driving in from 'his home in Holmesville' and taking longer to find a parking space in town than it had taken to drive in from the village, Hisi problem seems to be a common one. Those whci lived close enough to walk were the lucky ones on Tuesday because they could leave their cars at home. * * One of the funniest sights we saw during the storm was seen Tuesday morning when Doug Andrews, Clinton's Recreational Director was seen driving down main street on the town tractor with the lawn mower attached to the back. * * * A big problem with early storms like this one is that highways and streets departments just aren't ready to handle the conditions. We can understand their problem, but we hope snow removal will improve greatly before the winter gets toll Old; 4s of Wednesday Rippling when this was written, none of the big banks on Albert St. had been touched by snow removal crews. * * * Our complaint last week about the small number of women who attended the Clinton nomination meeting seems indicative of ' a general problem. Reports of most area nomination meetings show women are scarce at the meetings. One, big exception was in Bayfield where 18 women were present, nearly as many as the number of men. * * * We had planned to have a poll of candidates here in town this week as to where the3%stand on various issues of interest but what with the storm and the number of '-other nomination meetings being held, we just couldn't get around to interview all of the contenders. We will complete the interviews so you can get some idea of where they stand next week before the December 7 election. * * Most subscribers in town wouldn't have noticed the difference but rural subscribers round they didn't get their NeWs-Retord on Thursday Morning as usual last week. Tire delay was caused by a breakdown in , printing equipment that meant the paper was not printed until the early hours of Thursday Morning, teo late for labelling and mailing for rural routes. However, extra hours and hard work by the' girls here at the office assured that the papers for those in town and for the local stores, Were out at almost the usual time. Rural papers were Malted out for the Friday morning delivery,,. We are lorry if anyone was inconvenienced and promise it won't happen again if we can help it. No Plans have yet been made rebuild Brucefield United Church, the Rev. Donald $tuart, Minister of the church said Wednesday. The 62-year-old church was almost completely destroyed by fire on Friday eight. Rev. Stuart discovered the fire about 9;30 p.m. He reported hearing a "bang" while in the manse a few feet away from the church on the north side. The reflection of light from the church was first thought to be .a light left on, but it was actually flames. Brumfield firemen answered the call and requested help from the Clinton and Seaforth brigades, One member of the Clinton brigade said the flames were only coming out a baseinent window of the church when he arrived and he thought it might be possible to save the building. However, he said, the heat got to the large windows on the front of the church and they An Ontario Equalization of Industrial Opportunity loan has been approved for a $60,000 expansion to the plant and facilities of C. H. Epps Manufacturing Limited, Clinton, the Hon. Charles MacNaughton, MPP for Huron announced yesterday. The loan was one of two loans granted to area industries this ,week. A loan of $100,000 was also granted to Standard Products (Canada) Limited to help it produce plastic extruded products in the former Boshart Furniture plant in Seaforth. The Huron M.P.P. said the expansion at the Epps plant will create a"total,Of 13 new jobs in 'the Clinton community. The company plans to develop a more extensive line of products including plastic components for BY WILMA OKE There will be an election in Tuckersmith this year. Four persons offered themselves as councillors with three positions to be filled. Reeve Elgin Thompson and deputy reeve, Alex McGregor were unopposed in their bid for re-election. Nominated for council were two men of last year's council seeking to retain their seats: Councillor Ervin Sillery, RR 1, Brucefield and Councillor Cleave Coombs, Egmondville. Two new faces are Mrs. Anne James, Egmondville and Lambert Branderhorst, RR 1, Hensel, All four have qualified for three seats to be filled. Election date will be December 7. Nominated to represent the Townships of Tuckersrnith and Stanley and Bayfield and Seaforth to the Huron-Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board, were trustee Michael Connolly, RR 3, Kippen, who served on the board this past term and John Lansink, Seaforth. At a meeting following these nominations, the candidates spoke to the 35 or 40 persons who braved the snowstorm to attend. James McIntosh was 'named chairman of the meeting which was held at Heron Centennial School, Brucefield. Reeve Thompson, in his acceptance speech, spoke mostly on county business. He stated pumps and pumping systems which it manufactures. The expansion is assisted by the loan of $20,166 from the Ontario Development Corporation. The loan will not have to be repaid providing the recipient meets certain conditions over a six-year period„ Employment at the new Seaforth plant is expected to total 50 persons when full production is reached. The firm, whose headquarters is in Stratford, will be the only Canadian producer of a line of plastic molding for automobiles, now being manufactured in the United States. The Huron MYY.- says -the resulting exports will help to improve the Canadian trade balance with the U.S. Equalization of opportunity there are 255 residents at Huronview which has a capacity of 310, Of these, 12 are from Tuckersmith. He informed the audience that Bob Taylor of Varna is the new recreation supervisor there. Chairman of the county road committee, Reeve Thompson said the road program totalled $1,750,000. The highlight of the year was the construction of the new Benmiller bridge at a cost of $293,500. He noted the bridge deck was constructed at a cost of $15 per square foot which is considered a low price. Two smaller bridges were built at Benmiller at a cost of $101,000 bringing the bridge project to a total cost of $394,500. 'One more bridge will be built at Benmiller next year if money is available or may be left for another year, depending on the highway budget for 1971. Reeve Thompson reported on other roads constructed in the area, mentioning especially the finishing of the development road through Egmondville which amounted to $505,000, the five-Mile stretch from Brucefield to Varna at a cost of $195,000. and the county road from Khoeva to Mount Carmel at a cost of $101,000. Reeve Thompson reported on the numerous aspects of county work such as library, health unit and county museum. He noted that 25,000 persons toured the museum in Goderich this year. Deputy-reeve Alex McGregor, in his remarks, said he Served on the develophient committee of county council. This committee WorkS with the reforestation department. He commented on the Wildlife area in Mullett, The committee is concerned with development at CM Clinton when it is phased Out next Pall. Councillor Ervin Sillery reported he had completed nine years -on council and hoped to terVe another term Councillor dove Coombs, Who has completed five years as a councillor, said he Was looking forward to another term, 4tier. 10 ,yearn on School ace Pape Dizree) although it would take much more: ,than that amount to build a church today which would seat the 550 perwris the old church could bold. It was partially covered by insurance, A fire department spokesman said a defective furnace has been blamed for, the outbreak. Loss was partially covered 'by insurance. No plans have yet been made to rebuild, Provincial • pOlice from -Goderich probed the ruins of the fire, The church was built in 1908 at a cost of $10,239. Some of the bricks used were from the original Presbyterian church built on the same site in 1876, Brucefield United Church has a congregation of almost 300 persons involving 110 Mr. Stuart said members of the congregation will decide whether to rebuild. The ultimate decision will require approval of the church's Huron-Perth Presbytery. loans are provided by the ODC and, as in the case of the Clinton plant, are forgivable if certain conditions are met. Standard Products Canada) Limited also operates automotive parts plants in Stratford and Mitchell. Acclamation in 'Goderich All positions on Goderich Township Council were filled by acclamation at a meeting in Holmesville on Monday night. Despite the blustery weather, a good crowd, including several women, was in attendance. Reeve E. U. Mcilwain will be reeve of the township for the next two years. His deputy is G. G. Ginn with the three man council made up of Wayne Horner, Garnet Wright and Jake Reder. Credit Union dividend is 6.5% More than $133,631 in dividends were paid out by Clinton Community Credit Union Limited it was learned as members gathered Thursday night for their annual meeting. The 19th annual meeting of the organization also learned that a dividend of six and one half per cent will be paid. Hector Kingswell and Thomas Sadie were re-elected by the members to another three-year-term on the Board of Directors and Gerald Holmes and Arthur Coombs were given another three-year term on the credit committee. John Lavis, a member of the credit committee for many years, felt he wasn't able to attend enough meetings due to the pressure of his business and withdrew his name from re-election for another term. Hector Kingswell was re-elected president for 1971 and Ernest Williams vice-president. Arthur Ball was elected secretary. In his opening remarks Mr. Kingswell stressed the fact Clinton Community Credit Union Limited was a good little industry for the town, increasing asSests by close to half a million dollars each year. Richard Brophy of G. H. Ward and Partners presented the auditors report and also advised Members • the old accounting Machine could net handle the volume of 'bust and would soon have to be replaced. Reeve Hugh Flynn of Hullett Township will be challenged this year for the reeveship by -Councillor Leh Archambault, The fight for the top will be the only Conte* in Hallett. The position Vault-Al by' 14- Areliairibatilt Will be filled b Milton Dale and all other Hullett and Clinton voters will have a choice of four men this year for the two positions on Huron County Board of Education which they control. John Henderson, presently one of the trustees for the area, will be running again for his position and three new men will also be in the race after nominations for area representatives were held in Londesboro on Monday afternoon. " Dr/ A. Addison, Clinton doctor, Norman Counter, Clinton businessman and Tom Cunningham, of Hullett all threw their hats in the ring. John Lavis, one of the present trustees and present chairman of the board, has retired. Mr. Levis, however, was at the meeting and gave a report of board activities in the past term. He sail if there was a fault in the Operation of the board in the past, it was that it failed to establish sufficient communications with the ratepayers. He said it was his personal councillors were returned by acclamation. The other councillors are Joe thinking, Charles Scanlon and John Dewitt. HeCaiise of the limited space available this Week stories on' the speeches Of the Mundt Will be carried next Week. opinion that the county board worked best in the saving of money through volume buying. He said $30,000 had been saved in trustees and administrative salaries against which had to be weighed the loss of autonomy and communication which had been in effect with the old area boards. He said $18,000 had been saved in insurance and that local agents were still getting some commissions, Between $60,000 and $70,000 had been saved by centralized buying he said. But he added that in some areas county boards were no real saving in his opinion. One such area was in salaries for custodians which had risen sharply and would continue to rise now that the custodians were unionized: The main reason for the fortnation of the board was to achieve equality of education he Said. This had been improved through the completion of kindergarten ( souts.ee in all _ elementary schools, the improvement in libraries and the addition Of another; retarded school. In some area he said, equalization was more difficult. He pointed out that schools in the Clinton area had oral French instrttetiOn while others ih the eAtinty did not. He felt that it should be all Or nothing. The present eystem Was an advantage to those who had the emir* and a disadvantage to others. He criticized the News-Record for an editorial earlier this year which commented on the addition of administrative staff which this paper called "already top-heavy". He said that Huron had fewer persons on the administrative staff than any other county around. He said Huron had one of the most economical school systems. Because of this, he said, imposition of ceilings on county boards as announced by the province some time ago had little effect on Huron. He said he could see no end to the increasing costs of education since the cost of labor, including teachers salaries, continued to spiral. 110 paid tribute to Muriel `Trott, London Free Press reporter, and Shirley Keller, reporter for the Huron County newspapers, for their good work in the past, John Henderson, the first of the candidates to speak, said that Mr. Lavis deserved praise for his work on the board. He recalled when the board started the first problem was to Organize a staff and appoint an admieistrator. He praised John Cochrane for the work he had done in the past. Questions from the floor prompted considerable discussion at this time. The high salaries of adininistrative staff were discussed. Mr- Lavis pointed Out that Mr. Cochrane had been the firSt Choice of both the Perth and Huron county boards when the administrator's job became open. Peth had already ottered him $27,000 he said. Mr. Cochrane was working with the Huron board for more than a month before his salary was finally settled. Mr. Henderson pointed out that Hullett Township had been keeping costs down before the county board took over by using up a surplus it had, so that when the county board took over the costs of education seemed to rise alarmingly. He said this hadn't presented a true picture and that in the future, cost rises would be reflected more truely in the mill rate. Norman Counter in his speech, pointed out that he had served Seven years on the Central Huron Secondary School Board and for the past two years on the county advisory vocational committee. He said he felt it was time to make every effort to dub rising costs, Tom Cunningham Said that he was the father of young children and vitally interested in education. lie said he wanted the bestpossible education for his children but that costs must be kept in Mind. Weather 1970 1960 HI LO HI LO Nov. 17 43 32 48 35 18 43 84 50 44 10 49 36 50 2d 20 52 41 20 22 21 8'1 25 fl 22 45 23 40 8- 23 8 21 bif 2r7 Snow 13" Rain 2" show 12" shattered, allowing the strong westerly Winds tq fan the fire. The winds were so strong that bystanders had to *ape t hemselves against _guts. Firemen, with no hope of saving the building, could only turn their attentions to the manse and another nearby house on the south which was in danger of catching fire. Ironically, the strong winds • that fanned the flames of the church, may have helped save the other buildings. The wind carried burning embers directly to the back of the building into an open field instead of to the sides where they might have done damage to the houses. The fire took only about 45 minutes to gut the building, leaving only the brick walls standing. Firemen knocked down parts of the walls that were in danger ofq falling and hurting passers-by." A figure of $150,000 was set on the value of the church, Four men stand in Tuckersmith C. H. Epps gets expansion loan Flynn challenged