HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-06-02, Page 1Price Per Copy IS Cents
MPPs deny reports of Hydro of office relocation
Ontario government officials
stoutly denied this week recur-
ring rumors that the Exeter area
Ontario Hydro operation will be
relocated.
Huron MPP C. S. MacNaughton
was ada.inent Tuesday in a state-
ment that no relocation of the
local office "is presently con-
templated nor is anything im-
minent for the foreseeable fut-
ure'''.
He was supported fully by R.J,
Boyer, M. P. P., vice-chairman of
Ontario HEpc.
Suggestions of centralization of
hydro operations, probably in the
Clinton area, have been made off
and on for a number of years.
Rumors of such a move became
rampant again in April and were
discounted at that time by the
Huron MPP,
The latest reports emanate
from a recent meeting here at
which, it's indicated, regional
Hydro officials told area em-
ployees that a relocation to Clin-
ton will take place within two to
four years,
Although the employees were
told that this information was
confidential, it soon leaked out to
the community.
Both Mr. MacNaughton and Mr.
Boyer told the T-A Tuesday that
the suggestion by the regional of-
lice, if it was made, was not
correct, The regional office has
declined comment.
Mr, MacNaughton said the situ-
ation remains exactly the same
as that outlined in his letter to
R. Ross Tuckey, chairman of the
Industrial development corpora-
tion, on April 28,
The MPP said he had discuss-
ed the matter with Mr. Boyer.
"I have his assurance that
no reorganization, regrouping or
relocation of any kind involving
the Exeter area is presently con-
templated nor is anything im-
minent for the foreseeable future.
"I have no knowledge of where
such rumors really originate oth-
er than to say that regrouping
has taken place in certain areas
of the province and probably this
has led someone to assume that
it would take place in our area,
However, I am able to assure
you that such is not the case.
"Ftixther, Mr. 'Boyer „assures
me that if at any stage Of the
game such a move Is contem-
plated that I will be the first to
hear of It which,. of course, will
provide us with ample ,00por,
tunity to undertake appropriate
representatIons,
"I think we cap all safely as-
sume that any reason for the
natural concern this would. cause
ourself- anti members of your
commission does not exist,"
About 24 employees are on
Staff at the area office here,
Ninety-third Year EXETER, ONTARIO, JUNE 2, 1966
Lions put town on the map
Exeter Lions Club float in the pre-convention parade in London Sunday was 254 in a line-up of over
300 entries, but could measure up to any from the smaller centres, Hundreds of flowers, pretty girls,
and a good design were the result of hard work and planning on the part of Jack Smith, the man in charge
of publicity for local L,ionism. (Citizens News Photo) OMB CONFIRMS REJECTION OF HS
Townships question
Exeter's position
not be reached Wednesday to
comment on the situation but it
appears that no action will be
taken until the board's regular
meeting June 13.
In answer to the board's re-
quest for clarification, the OMB
informed business administrator
E. D, Howey this week that Ex-
eter's decision to rescind its
motion supporting the addition is
regarded as a withdrawal of the
town's original application for
debenture issue to erect it.
"The application of the Town
of Exeter having been withdrawn,
the board's record has been en-
dorsed accordingly," wrote Sec-
retary B. Vickers.
Said the property chairman of
the high school board, John C.
Boyne: "1 think the town has made
an awful mistake which they will
come to realize later".
The board, he said, was almost
Ontario Municipal Board has
confirmed that application for ap-
proval of the long-proposed Sli-
DHS addition has been withdrawn.
And where that leaves the high
school board seems to be an
unanswered question at the mo-
ment.
It would appear, however, that:
(a) The board's latest request
for approval from the dep't of
education for a modified addition,
agreed on at last week's meet-
ing, will be held in abeyance;
(b) The board will have to
await the outcome of meetings
of other district councils who are
expected to discuss their support
of the addition at their June ses-
sions;
(c) If over 50% of the partici-
pating municipalities continue
their support, the board will have
to request Exeter to submit an-
other application to OlvlB for
approval. The town would have
no alternative, it appears, but to
re-submit the application.
(d) In the meantime, it's likely
that delays will force the board
to call tenders again since the
60-day deadline for acceptance
of bids will have lapsed.
Chairman K. H. Johns could
unanimous at the last meeting in
its decision to proceed with an
addition.
"Now," said Boyne, "if we
have to call for tenders again,
they'll come in at a much higher
price. We'll probably end up with
less school, which is what they
want, but it will cost them that
much more".
Following last week's board
meeting, at which the decision
was made to cut two classrooms
from the addition plans, the
architects submitted the revised
proposal to the department of
education. No word has been re-
ceived regarding this submission
and officials doubt that there will
be, in view of the OMB's decision.
The school board's latest pro-
posal provides for a rated capac-
ity of 1130 students, compared
to the 1190 capacity contemplated
— Please turn to Page 2
HS principal decries
critics of addition
motion to rescind its support
constituted a withdrawal of the
appl ication,
Exeter's original application
was made as the initiating muni-
cipality for the expenditure on
behalf of the school district for
the first addition planned back
in February, 1964.
While the town's rescinding
motion was taken as a single
municipality, the board apparent-
ly sees it as a withdrawal of the
initiating body and, therefore, of
the application.
Councillor Jack Tinney of Hay
interpreted the situation this way:
"Unless some other municipality
initiates it now, it will just stand
still".
And Reeve Etherington felt that
Exeter had stopped the project.
Reeve Hayter said Stephen
council had discussed the ad-
- Please turn to Page 2
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Summer winter resort in parade
Grand Bend Lions decked the boards of a truck owned by Lee Jennison applied liberal amounts of sand,
and included lawn chairs, lifeguards and, pretty girls to make the summer resort scene come alive.
They did not omit winter sports from the thought, either. (Citizens News Photo)
Teacher shares honor
Town seeks higher rates
for area fire protection
A teacher shared the honors Friday night when the Archie
Etherington family celebrated the end of eight years of successful
university study.
The dinner followed the graduation of John, last of the Osborne
township reeve's three sons to receive a degree from UWO.
Mrs. Mervyn Carter, now on staff at the township's central
school, taught all three graduates at Hurondale school. She was one
of the guests at the dinner,
John graduated in geology. He plans to study for his master's
degree at University of Alberta.
James, the eldest, received his degree in journalism in 1961,
He's now chief of the London Free Press bureau in Sarnia. His wife
and son, David, joined the family celebration.
Bill, the middle son, graduated in engineering and now works
for IBM in Toronto. He was accompanied by Miss Barbara Stewart,
Cornwall.
The three sons presented their parents with a framed scroll
expressing their appreciation for the sacrifices made on their behalf,
Other guests at the dinner were the sons' grandparents, Mr. and
Mrs. Albert Etherington, and their mother's sisters, Miss Mary
Abram and Mrs. Margaret CoundweIl, and niece, Miss Maxine
Abram, all of London.
PICTURES OF AREA GRADUATES APPEAR ON PAGE 3.
Fire Chief Ford reported that
each time the brigade goes out
some members must remain as
a standby crew for a possible
second call in the town or other
municipalities. He said these
standby members were paid for
the first hour only.
Mayor Jack Delbridge of Ex-
eter, who reminded the councils
that "this is a non-profit deal",
chaired the meeting,
Principal L. D. Palmer con-
tended today that some members
of his HSDHS staff are opposed
to the provision of vocational
facilities here for area students.
He suggested this as one of the
reasons for Exeter's move to
stop the addition.
"Some of the' people on the
staff do not believe this school
should become a composite
school," he said Wednesday,
"They think we should remain
strictly an academic school and
ship our slow learners off to
Clinton."
The principal announced the
resignation of the HSDHS tech-
nical director, Percy Atkinson,
a key person in the development
of the vocational program. Mr.
Palmer suggested the director
is leaving because of the pos-
sibility that the addition will not
proceed.
Mr. Atkinson's resignation
poses the problem that there will
be no one on the staff who has
had experience with the operation
of a composite school,
The principal also commented
on reaction to the number of
shops proposed for the addition.
Exeter council received some
reaction from area municipali-
ties Monday night over its with-
drawal of support for the propos-
ed addition to Huron South Dist-
rict High School.
Reeve Jim Hayter of Stephen
suggested that the town repre-
sentatives shouldn't be telling
the school board what to do.
Reeve Archie Etherington, Us-
borne, also appeared to object to
Exeter's move. "You can go to the
cities and see schools that make
this one look like a brick barn.
And we're helping to pay for
them", he said.
Mayor Jack Delbridge defend-
ed Exeter's position.
"If they come up with some
realistic enrolment figures to
1972 and a realistic addition,
we'd go along with it. We're
not objecting to an addition."
The town's original position
was that the addition be delayed
until the uncertainty over the
closing of CFB Centralia is clari-
fied.
The mayor introduced the sub-
ject at a meeting with Usborne,
Stephen and Hay representatives,
called primarily to discuss fire
protection.
He said he wanted to clarify an
impression, suggested in The
T-A report of last week's board
meeting, that Exeter might be
acting for all of the municipali-
ties involved in the school dist-
rict.
"All we did", he explained,
"was rescind our portion of the
share of the cost which we ac-
cepted some time ago. You peo-
ple are free to do what you want
and we will have to go along with
our share if you go ahead with it',
Clerk Eric Carscadden read
a copy of the letter from the On-
tario Municipal Board to the high
school in reply to the board's
request of last week for clari-
fication of the OMB's acknow-
ledgment of Exeter's action.
The OMB's letter indicated
that, since Exeter had applied
for approval of the capital ex-
penditure in 1964, the town's
"The community and teaching
staff don't understand that you
need so many shops as we have,
to provide a fairly well-rounded
program in the technical and
commercial fields. Even with a
1200-capacity school, we know
that we can't hope to provide all
the courses. All we can hope to
do is give the students a ground-
ing in grades 9 and 10, then
send them to Clinton or to Beal
in London for the other grades."
The principal emphasized the
point he made at last week's
board meeting that area students
will not go to Clinton for the
vocational training.
This is shown, he stated, by
the fact that 54 students entered
the four-year business and com-
mercial course last year when it
was started at the local school.
This year, however, after it was
made known that students would
have to go to Clinton to start the
same course next year, only 15
have applied.
Advancing his case for the ad-
dition, the principal said he felt
that students in this area should
have the same opportunity for
vocational training as do children
in other districts.
MODA fetes
former heads
Discuss possibility
of adding tank truck
Jack Tinney, said his township
charges the cost of the fire back
to the owner. He indicated, how-
ever, that the township had had
difficulty in making its collec-
tions.
Under the original agreement,
Exeter and Usborne each contri-
buted 40% of the cost of the
truck, Stephen paid 12% and Hay
8 %. Exeter is responsible for
maintenance and operation.
The agreement called for a
review of the rates charged the
townships every three years.
Since this June 30 will be the
fifth anniversary of the agree-
ment, there was some discussion
over whether the town could ask
for the increase at this time.
Exeter council agreed that,
if the townships accepted the
proposed increases, they would
remain in effect for another five
years. Councillor Ross Taylor
opposed this condition but it pass-
ed by a large majority.
Reeve Jim Hayter of Stephen
estimated from the cost figures
presented that the Exeter brigade
must pay almost all of its mem-
bers on each call.
Town Councillor Joe Wooden
said the average would be 15
men for two hours at every fire.
Possibility of securing a tank
truck to supplement Exeter
area's f i r e-fighting equipment
was discussed briefly by local
councils Monday night during
consideration of the long-propos-
ed Huron County mutual fire aid
system.
' The province, it appears, might
pay 45% of the cost of the ad-
ditional equipment if the area
joins the mutual system.
Mayor Jack Delbridge and Fire
Chief Irwin Ford reported to
Three neighboring townships
who share ownership with Exeter
of the local fire truck were ask-
ed by town council Monday night
to consider higher fees for fire
runs.
The town proposes that the
rates be increased to $75 for
the first hour and $60 for suc-
ceeding hours at calls in the
rural areas.
The former rates were $60
for the first hour and $35 for
the remaining time spent fight-
ing any one fire.
The three township councils
involved — Usborne, Stephen and
Hay — will consider the request
at their June meetings,
The town based its need for
an increase on the higher wages
now being paid to the volunteer
fire brigade which operates the
mutually-owned truck. The fire-
men receive $3.00 per hour now,
compared to the $2.00 rate which
was in effect in 1961 when the
agreement was signed.
Figures supplied by Fire Chief
Ford showed that a total of $3,-
600 has been paid in wages for
the 39 fires which have taken
place in the townships over the
past five years.
Revenue from the townships
has totalled $3,775, leaving a
balance of $175 toward cost of
gas, oil and maintenance of the
equipment.
The chief's figures showed
that, since 1961, the brigade has
answered 26 calls in Usborne,
seven in Stephen and three in
Hay.
He did not include the number
of calls the brigade has answer-
ed in Exeter because, he said,
"I don't think that has any bear-
ing on the situation".
However, the township repre-
sentatives felt they should have
the figures to compare costs.
Since the agreement was sign-
ed on June 30, 1061, the fire
brigade Cost to Exeter has risen
from around $2,000 to over $5,-
000 In 1965. Last year's high
total, however, included the ma-
jor fire at the turnip plant here.
Reeve Archie Etherington of
Usborne revealed that ever since
the agreement was signed the fire
insttrance companies have reftiS-
ed to pay a grant toward the cost
of fire protection for the town-
ships.
Previous to that, at least one
company was paying as high as
$75 per fire,
flay representative, Couneillor
the area councils on a recent
meeting at which the proposal for
a county aid system was resur-
rected.
"It seems that Huron", report-
ed the mayor, "is the only county
which doesn't have this system".
The mutual aid program estab-
lishes a network of assistance
under which neighboring fire-
fighting units back up each other
in times of emergency.
A simple bylaw authorizing
—Please turn to Page 2
Saddle Club hosts quarter horse show
Cowponies are coming!
"Cowponies" from all over
Ontario and the eastern U.S.
will invade Exeter the June 18
weekend in what may be a pre-
liminary of a major western
celebration here.
The event will be the first an-
nual Mid-Western Quarter Horse
Show, sponsored by the Exeter
Saddle Club. Entries already have
been received from Michigan,
Ohio and New York States.
Exeter board of trade, at a
Meeting last week, agreed to as-
sist In the promotion of the show,
A number of other town otgaidza-
tions are to-operating.
The quarter horse show will
be staged Saturday, June 18, on
the saddle Club grounds, 21/2
Miles west of Exeter on Huron
St. Competitions include calf rop,,
ing, barrel race, western riding
and working cowhorse,
Although it's the first such
attraction here on the western
theme, probably in connection
with the rodeo in the fall. The
June weekend is looked upon as a
preliminary endeavour.
Towns in the west and U.S.
have had exceptional success with
community promotions along the
cowboy theme.
Judge for the quarter horse
show here will be Frank A. Carv-
er of Crookston, Nebraska, The
show has been approved by both
the American and Canadian
quarter horse associations.
Show manager is Len Veri,
town, who recently won the East-
ern Canada quarter horse cham-
pionship. His trophies, and those
of other area owners, will be on
display at Hopper-Hockey Furni-
ture.
Mrs, \Teri is acting as secre-
tary for the show, John Burke
IS president of the local saddle
club.
show sponsored in this area, it's
expected to attract between 100
and 150 horses from the growing
ranks of cowpony enthusiasts.
It precedes by one day the
Lambton county show at Sarnia
and gives the quarter horse peo-
ple an opportunity to enter two
competitions the same weekend.
Since Sarnia doesn't have much
stable space, competitors will
spend most of the weekend here.
A major parade Friday night,
June 17, is being planned to
kick off the show. Most horse
owners in the immediate area, in-
chiding those with heavy teams,
have Indicated they will partici-
pate, displaying a vatietyof rigs,
wagons and costumes. A number
of floats are planned.
Town stores have been asked
to decorate their windows for
the event.
Sonic enthusiasts see a strong
possibility of promoting a major
Cubs provide tree for Centermid park
Exeter Centennial chairman Ted Pooley assists Jeff Lindonfield and I3ruce Tuckey in planting the Cub
tree, an almoy crabapple at Riverview Park, improvement of which is the town's project marking Can-
ada's 100th birthday. The boys are members of the 1st Exeter A Cub Pack.
Two past presidents from Ex-
eter were honored Tuesday at
the tenth anniversary celebration
of Mid-Western Ontario Develop-
ment Association at New Ham-
burg.
Murray A. Greene (1964-65)
and the late William McKenzie
(1960-61) were among the nine
former chairmen presented with
awards.
Mrs. Stanley Love, the former
Mrs. McKenzie, accepted the
award for her late husband at the
anniversary dinner.
Two other Huron county men
have been president of the four-
county organization. They are P.
S. MacEwan, Goderich, and R.
Savauge, Seaforth,
Guest speaker at the anniver-
sary dinner was Stanley J. Ran-
dall, Ontario minister of eco-
nomics and development, who
lauded the new "MODA means
business" slogan of the organiza-
tion,
He said the Mid-Western On-
tario region has been enjoying
a booming economic expansion
but not all municipalities are
sharing equally,
The anniversary comes at a
time when IvIODA, which has had
its struggles in the past, is
undertaking an ambitious new
public relations program. Mem-
ber municipalities now stand at
67, compared to 27 a year ago.
W, C. Gerth, Milverton, was
re-elected president. Reeve O.
J. Wassmann, Grand Bend, is a
vice-president,
Named chairman of the Huron
county zone committee was Rob-
ert Squire, Goderich. Mr. Greene
is a inenther of the zone execu-
tive.
John Stephen, RR 1 St. Marys,
is on the Perth tone executive,