HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1956-12-24, Page 9Second Section
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EXETER, ONTARIO, OECEMBRR 24, 1»54
nr
Ten-Year H istory Of Area Authority
Reveals Progress Of Conservation
THIS STARTED IT ALL—Flooding.of the Hagmeier. farm,' south of- Grand Bend,
brought, about the birth of the Ausable Authority. The floods, alleged to be aggravate
ed by farm and municipal drainage systems up • the river, prompted Dr. L- G, Haig-,
meier. to initiate a court spit against municipalities upstream. It was this action which
brought' abput*the formation of the Authority, *the first of its kind in the province.
Picture shows soya beans under water. * —T-A photo
Chamber Enforces Store Hours,
Why Not Compulsory Marketing?
1-
Huron Federation of Agricul
ture has told the Canadian Cham*1
ber of Commerce, in effect, to
preach what it practices.
The directors criticised a re
cent policy statement of the
Chamber which said marketing
agencies* should not be able to
enforce compulsory participa
tion by farmers.*
The Federation pointed out
that the*Chamber has been in
strumental in having store hour
by-laws' passed throughout the
country which have made it com
pulsory for merchants to close
their stores at certain hours un
der threat of penalty.
“If it is in order for the Cham
ber of Commerce to restrict the
liberty of the minority, then it
should be accepted by the Cham
ber that farm people should have
the right to regulate their, mar
keting according to the will of
the majority,” the Federation
said in a letter which 'was endor
sed by directors.
The Chamber’s position on farm
marketing was outlined in a re
cent brief to the cabinet. It said:
“The right of farmers to act
together to sell their own prod
ucts and to organize to solve
production and ’marketing prob
lems was , recognized by the
Chamber but all producers should
have complete freedom of choice
in their marketing arrangements
as participation in governmen-
. tai marketing-agencies establish
ed to assist producers should be
Voluntary and not compulsory.”
The Federation’s reply, writ- f^en by fieldman Gordon Gregg. I
“The Huron County Federa
tion of Agriculture views with
some concern the interference
by the Canadian Chamber of
Commerce in what is considered
to be matters of agriculture,
“The Chamber of Commerce
has many branches in towns in
Western Ontario. They have se
cured bylaws in many of our
towns limiting the hours that
business establishments may stay
open for business. Stores that
dare to stay open on Wednesday
afternoons contrary to bylaws
are prosecuted. If a majority of
merchants wish,to stay open on
Friday evening instead of Satur
day night, they seek a bylaw to
restrict the liberty of the minor
ity.
“In a town northwest of Tor
onto, i found that I could not
purchase gasoline after 7 p.m.
I had to drive outside the town
limits to secure gasoline to con
tinue my jdurney. Town bylaws
governing the closing of service
stations presented me from
purchasing gasoline from the
town after 7 p.m.
“If it is in order for the Can
adian Chamber of Commerce to
restrict the liberty of the min
ority, to have them conform to
the .wishes of the majority, then
it ' should be accepted by the
Chamber that farm people should
have the right to regulate their
marketing according to the will
of the majority.
“The Ontario Farm Products
Marketing A c t emphatically
states that*marketing programs
will only be implemented after a
vote by secret * ballot has been
taken by producers concerned
and when two-thirds of produc
ers have voted in favor of the
marketing plan.
“The paragraph in .the Cham
ber of Commerce* brief urging
its .750 - member organization
across Canada to promote closer
understanding between urban and
rural people is commendable.
However, their effort to foster
this public relations program
can be defeated by public, state
ments- which appear in this
brief.
“We request the Ontario Fed
eration of Agriculture through
the Canadian Federation of Agri
culture to voice our objection to
the views expressed .by the
Chamber of Commerce relating
to compulsory farm marketing
programs.”
Down To
By D. I. HOOPER
Ah! Christmas
Do
and
the
like
you think of “Merry Christ
mas!
Do you think of carefree hours?
Trees decked out with lights and
-tinsel?
Music? Candles? Scarlet flowers?
Roasting turkey?. Mince Pie?
Candy?
Presents which surprise
please?
Cheery greetings! May
season* ••
Make you glad with, joys
these!
Christmas was made for—all
their thoughts of the season are
put together in this little verse.
And that is the way a little child
should think of the happy holi
day. ,. • •
Stand a moment and see the
bright and eager gleam that
comes into their eyes when the
outing for the tree is planned,
whether you are lucky enough
to have -a woodlet with Christmas
trees, or whether it is an extra
excursion to town to pick, it out
themselves. Maybe their choice
is a Tittle lopsided, or a little ran
gy, but who would jtiave the heart
to say “no—this one pver here
is better,” if they have already
passed it over in favour of the
plainer tree. Maybe in their in
nocence they are doing some
thing which we in our wisdom
of years should do—choosing the
ugly duckling to make it beauti
ful, instead of the beautiful tree
to make it handsomer. .
Window Shopping
Then the fun they get out of
window shopping without a pen
ny in their pockets to buy their
choice. From window to window,
from store tq store we are
dragged, and invariably in each
shop they pick out the same toy
to gaze at or wish, for silently—
maybe with once in a while a
tug on your coat for' extra atten
tion to something that is particu-
laly striking to a wee one.
How terribly sad it would be
on Christmas morning if Santa
hadn’t had enough of those cer
tain things to go around. Yes,
may your Yu/etM«
be bright with
ptect and happlnt/f.
Exeter District Co-Op
j Jack Partons Corl Hume Bev Skinner
Herold Patterson Kenneth Hern
something else takes its place in
a short time, , but think of the
little heartbreak that is there at
the-first - glance at stocking, or a
tree. Somehow Santa-:doe? his
best to make sure- that one gift;
like- shining armour, is ready for
that early dawn rising;
How- ’ when the ’ radio 'plays
sweetly a certain Christmas song
or carol, childish hands rush'to
turn up the' volume to blare and
sing, along .until the end, enjoy
ing each cadence of the tune,
While Mother and Father have
•learned to hold their heads silent
ly until the noisy beauty ceases.
Candles of course, are, part of
the adventure into Christmas,
and seem associated with the
flowers, be they real or made
from paper carefully at school
and handled reverently until with
eyes watchful they are decorat
ing a part of the main hall for
the Christmas- festivities.
"Htlping” Mother
Little noses quiver with the
smell of roasting turkey—what
fun they, had trying to help stuff
the bird, and what fun Mother
had with maybe three, four or
five chairs pushed up to the coun
ter, blocking all the drawers and
cupboards that were so necessa
ry for the tools of this trade.
(Soon Mother will remember to
get- everything out before the
help arrives). However, it is in
the oven now and a heavenly
scent pervades the house, tongues
start to water,- and feet patter
back and forth to find out when
that‘turkey is going to be done,
and isn’t dinner ready yet. Oh.
the excitement of waiting until
at last the magic words are
said—“Come and carve the tur
key, Father.”
Mince pie—good—but who has
room for that after the dinner
just gone by? Leave it for a snack
later in the day—you know we’ll
probably be hungry again ‘at
three, and although there’s can
dy — bought, homemade, — saved
from the church concert and
from the school concert, a mince
pie wouldn’t come amiss to help
us through until supper you
know.
Wasn’t it worthwhile now to
make those special efforts for
certain presents? At the time
it seemed so hard to find just
the right thing and sometimes
we nearly made do with some
thing else, but now you’re glad
you took the time, especially
when a small voice praises San
ta for taking notice of that let
ter that was penned such a long
time ago, and really brought
that truck, or doll- or guns, etc.
And those presents for the older
members of the family too. They
really were right after all, and
remember the little thrill you got
from having found just the right
gift for old Aunty or young
'nephew.
The day is filled With cheery
greeting and although the plan
ning, work and shopping have
taken their toll by Christmas
Eve, somehow by, Christmas
morning upon hearing all the
lively shouts of dohs and aahs
and rushing hither and yon of
lively little feet the weariness
passes and you, too, .are able to
give a cheery greeting to all who
pass by or drop in and the day
is mefry and bright on all sides.
A day to remember and titit away
with all the other ChfiStmasses
that have passed—some good,
some sad, Some frightening, but
all somehow mixed together into
memories that we would not
forget,
So to all A Very Merry Christ-
mas—and please pahsd add think
and pray for those throughout
the world who will not even have
a Christmas.
............... ................................... T TT .
The ' Ausable River Conserva
tion Authority, had its tenth
anniversary in July.. It ,is the.
oldest Authority in the province,
Of. the nineteen .proteges of the
Department of Planning and
Development it was the first to
come into being, and as happen?
to any fond parent our minds are
filled with disquieting thoughts.
Is our child healthy?- ’
Is its stature equal to it?
years? ■ r
Is it vigorous, -full* of activity
and daring, or'is it listless, am-
bitionless and lacking in imagin
ation?
Does it give promise of a
future of service or will it be a
public charge, demanding much
and returning ‘nothing -but
excuses? Let us consider.
Formation Of The Authority
In July,' 1946, it came into
being, One . might well wonder
Why the Ausable ’ Watershed
should be so conservation mind-,
ed. The river is small, .its current
is sluggish and the land it drains
is fiai. No . great problems of
erosion exist.. There .are few large
unproductive areas’to worry tne
tax collector, no drifting sands
to check and yet the authority
was the first to be formed in On
tario.-It would be flattering to
say that-the valley is filled-with
people so far-seeing that they
decided a community plan for
development would produce a
more desirable district than they
would have if things were just
allowed to happen. Unfortunately
this is not entirely the case. •
Near the river’s mouth there is
a low-lying area known as the
Drowned Lands. Every- year the
Parkhill Creek, a tributary of
Hie Ausable, overflows its banks
and floods thousands*of acres.
This lias happened since the be
ginning of- time, and while the
first settlers removed the timber/
they never successfully tilled the
land and it was used largely as
pasture. With the passing , of the
years, scrub willow and poplar
crept in and it was a nearly-
worthless tract. Then there en--
tered into the community a man
who had foresight and- money. He
bought the • land, over seven
thousand • acres, he bought ma
chinery and he hired men, The
community talked,- Usually in a
derogatory manner, but Dr. -Hag
meier cleared a large area;.tilled
it and produced wonderful crops.
It couldn’t be done but he did it
—< sometimes. The- floods still
occurred, and some very fine
crops-were lo?t.‘ •■* , •
Now- while flooding had oc-;
curred for years and years, the
upper parts of' the stream had
been tampered with — large
ditches had been dug and systems
of tile drains installed so that it
had been estimated that two
hours after a heavy rain one half
of it was' in streams on its way
to the lake. A condition conducive
to serious flash-floods had been
been created. Dr. Hagmeier lost
crops due to the floods. Those
communities creating these con
ditions should pay. Dr. Hagmeier
instigated a lawsuit against the
townships of McGillivray, West
Williams-, Stephen and Bosanquet.
As the damages claimed were
large, the governing bodies were
much disturbed.
To' what extent were they
liable?
What could they do to prevent
the flooding?
What would it cost?
To whom' could they turn to
find the answer?
Is is any wonder that the
Department of Planning and De
velopment found a clamoring
child on its doorstep in July, 1946.
•The Report
The first outcome of the
Authority was the formation of
a plan for the.future development
of the community. For the first
time a map was made of the
watershed with a view to its im
provement. Water — how to con
trol it in times of flood and how
to conserve it for times of
drought; wild life as it exists and
its- possibilities; land, how it is
used and abused; forest develop
ment ' and replacement; historic
sites; picnic aTeas — a whole
new Vista of possibilities which
had never before been pointed
out. The plan does not claim to
be infallible or unchangeable, but
if you read it then start to build
on it, this community could be
made into the finest spot in
Ontario.
■ The survey was completed in
1949 and. the Authority got down
to the business of carrying out
some of its proposals.
Organization
The Ausable drains 665 square
miles, but this area which has a
population of less than, 20,000
people contains no cities. It
drains all dr part of 15 townships
and. . eight municipalities, the
largest with, a population of 2,600.
Each of these appoints a repre
sentative to the Authority with
the exception of L’ondori Town
ship which has two. Thus at a
full meeting there are 24 mem
bers to consider the various
problems-pertaining to conserva
tion. With, this number of mem
bers, and with the many topics to
be considered, the early meetings
tended to become involved, tedi
ous gnd ineffective,
The most progressive step in
organization was taken at the
Match meeting in 1951, At this
meeting the members were
grouped into advisory boards
Which were to consider the prob
lems of a particular phase of
conservation and bring in recom*
mendatiohs to the full Authority,
The boards' that ate now lit
existence are, finance, flood con
trol, ponds and land use, refores
tation, parks and recreation, wild
life, historic Sites and public
relations. A chairman is chosen
fot each of these boards and
are pooled, considered and if
deemed worthy are presented to ’
the full membership of the
Authority. This has proved to be
a. very effective organization and
since its adoption real progress
has been made.
The Port Franks Development ■
This was the first scheme
undertaken. In 1873-75, the Can
ada Company had altered the
main course of the Ausable by I
•digging a channel so, the water!
no longer passed around the loop !
that gave Grand Bend its name, I
but entered the southbound
course about two miles from the
mouth. This last stretch had not
the Highway to the lake was very
winding.
The summer floods of 1948 had
created serious erosion in the
yillage of Port Franks, which
lies at the mouth of the river, so
that it feared serious joss from
future floods. The market garden
area near the village was also
plagued by flooding. Thus at the
request of the village and the
gardeners the Authority decided
that the improvement of the river
Channel from the Bluewater high
way to-the lake would be its first
project. Mr. Archibald was em
ployed to engineer the job, and
in 1952 it was completed. The
channel was ’ straightened, a new
mouth was cut into, the lake and
the old mouth was blocked off.
The “I-told-yoU-so” group then
had their innings. The new mouth
blocked up, the bar built to keep
the river to its new channel
washed out and the river again
emptied into the lake by its old
mouth. However the channel re
mained straight and serious
danger from erosion had been
eliminated. The gardeners
claimed the flooding was as bad
as ever and as Bosanquet bore
90 per cent of the cost of con
struction, it complained bitterly
of the taxes.
The spring flood of March, 1954,
again altered the situation. The
old channel couldn’t carry the
water. Hourly it rose until many
cottages had water on their
floors. It looked as if the village
would be inundated. Suddenly a
loud report was heard and then
a great upheaval was witnessed
at the new mouth. The ice
block \yashed out, the river
flowed over 'the sand bar which
melted away like sugar, the level
SH-AUTHOR — Andrew Dixon.
DHS agriculture teacher and
Exeter’s representative on the
Ausable Authority, wrote "A
history It will be published in
booklet form.
this
of the water fell rapidly and
Port Franks had escaped- from
imminent disaster.
Today the mouth of the cut is
open and the old mouth is silted
up. Cottagers on this portion of
the stream have egress to the
lake only by way of the new
channel.
At the time , of. straightening
the channel the Authority ex
propriated the land bordering the
channel for a-distance of 200
yards from the centre of the
stream.,This gave them. an .area
400 yards wide for a length of
nearly two miles. Various uses
•have been made of this land. A
portion of it is now a public park
with sanitary conveniences, pic
nic tables, a parking area and a
pier for launching boats. An
other section has been subdivided
into lots and these serviced with
roads and electricity. Some
landscaping has been done. Most
of these lots have been rented at
.$50.00 a year and cottage? have
been built upon them. A new sub?
division and a new park are now
being planned and this area
promises to pay its way hence
forth and to reimburse the Town
ship of Bosanquet for increased
assessment of the property. .
However, all is not a bed of
roses. The stream is eroding an
island 'on its south bank near the
lake and property owners are
threatening the Authority with
legal action. Cottagers on the old
channel have their access to the
lake blocked by .a sandbar Which
they claim the Authority should
remove, Some cottagers want
more light in their street?, some
complain of intrusion on tneir
privacy, amorous youth and in
temperate adults overstay their
welcome in the park: and of
course the Authority receives the
criticism,
Rock Glen
In the vicinity of Arkona the
Ausable cuts through abridge and.
has formed a deep gully. A small
tributary entering the stream at
this point has formed a side gully
and we have a pretty bit of
irregular terrain in a scenically
dull countryside. Rock Glen and the “Gorge” have two other
features of interest besides
scenery. A fossil-rich formation
is exposed, which is a mecci xor
geologists' and in the gorge there
is the remains of an old dam that
held water for developing electric
power. . ',
This area" was being visited
more and more: frequently, but
all visitors ‘ were . trespassing.
There was no room for parking, no picnic tables,-no toilet facili
ties and these visitors were be
coming a problem, to the residents
of the area. At. the suggestion of
the : Arkona .Lions ; Club, the Authority, took an interest in: the
property and the two organiza
tions working together have
created a lovely little park com
prising 16 acres presently owned
and in the process of acquisition.
It is becoming increasingly popu
lar,' and one Sunday of "no par
ticular interest, the writer drove
in for a few minutes and found
thirty-two cars parked at the
Glen. .
The Pinery
One of the biggest challenges
to the Authority lay in an un
developed trapt of land lying
between the Bluewater highway
and the lake, known as the
Pinery, it was still owned by the
Canada Company and: contained
a little over 4,000 acres. Thia
land is mostly sand dunes and is
covered with scrubby » trees.
There are four mile? of beach
and it. fronts on the highway.
Running its length is the old
river bed which is navigable to
small boats for about half its
length. The Pinery lies within
forty miles of 200,000 people.
With this group of people with
in two hours driving distance and
with the shprt work week and the
large number of .motor cars, our
existing public* beaches’ are in
adequate. The pinery is, (deal for
a park. It was also a wonderful
opportunity for private .develop
ment.- As a body responsible for
making the best' Use of an area
for the people residing in it, the
Authority could not let this land fair into the hands of.-priyate
individuals. Thus in 1953, the
Pinery development was insti-
'gated. ■
The1 first step was to approach
•the Provincial Government and
ask that they purchase the area and develop R its*.a Provincial
Park. The reply given to this
delegation was that the Govern
ment was going out of the Parks
business and the municipality
would have to purchase and de
velop the park itself. However, if
it could show' the government
evidence that it was sincere in
its desire and if it took steps to
ward' financing and developing
the. project, liberal grants to
assist its efforts - could be
expected.
It was with this’ in view that
the Authority produced the
Pinery report, Which outlined the
possibilities of the area, con
tained proposals for its develop
ment and proposed a plan for its
financing. As the Authority had
only 18,000 people within. its
•boundaries, but several cities
within easy driving distance of
the area, these cities were to be
asked to contribute toward the
cost Or' purchase and develop
ment of the park.
- AR these areas were notified of
the., plan, speakers from the
Authority met with various clubs
and' organizations and public
interest was building up rapidly,
— Please Turn to Page 10
As we approach the season that symbolizes
peace and good will, we recall with gratitude
the friendships we have made in the years that have passed.
May this greeting serve to carry the wish that your Christmat
be joyous and the New Year hold all that you desire*
CANN S MILL LIMITED
CARFREY
Exeter
ALEX
AND EMPLOYEES
ART
Whehn