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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1967-07-27, Page 1Ninety-third Year Price Per Copy 15 Cents EXETER, ONTARIO, JULY 27, 1967 Seek rezoning for auto agency despite opposition of residents At a special meeting, Friday, Exeter council decided to go against a recommendation from the planning board and the wishes of the majority of northend resi- dents and start proceedings to rezone the area north of the Brewers' Retail to general com- mercial. The property in question in- volves seven lots that extend to Alexander St. and are presently zoned as residential, The recommendation from the planning board to leave the area zoned as it is, came after an informed hearing on the matter Thursday night. The board received a petition signed by 23 residents within 400 feet of the property who asked that the present zoning be maintained. Members of the planning board Pair get heavy fines for noise at hospital Doll buggies join march Many children's entries featured the Centennial Day parade at the police village of Centralia, Saturday afternoon. Above, Ruth Noels and Pauline Overholt are shown with their doll buggies and each caught the eyes of the judges for a first prize. — T-A photo gave no reason for his actions. In handing down the $200 pen- alty, Magistrate Hays said he did not appreciate the "strong army tactics" displayed by the London man. —Please turn to Page 3 Places second at Kirkton Jacqueline Hodgins, Lucan, was the only area performer to win a prize at the Kirkton Garden Party. The young soloist placed second and is shown on the left with her pianist, Gayle Mardlin, Granton. The annual event was held at the St. Marys Collegiate due to threat- ening weather and while 1,600 attended, an equal number were turn- ed away due to the lack of accommodation. (Ed note — This photo was taken by Harold Irvine of the St. Marys Journal Argus who suffered a heart attack on the weekend. We wish him a speedy re- covery.), Turn1,600 away as party held inside They came in style The Hicks family of Centralia led the village's mammoth Centennial Day parade on Saturday in a stage coach owned by George Beer of Hensall. In the front seat at the controls are Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hicks with Mr. and Mrs. George Hicks, Mrs. Lorne Hicks and Mrs. Andrew Hicks completing the party. T-A photo Co-op won't bid on Hensall mill Members of the Hensall Dist- rict Co-Operative decided at a special meeting, Tuesday, not to submit a tender for the E. L. Mickle & Son bean and grain mill in Hensall. Allan Hill, president of the Co-op, reported about 160 mem- bers attended the meeting and indicated the financial backing required to undertake the pro- ject was not forthcoming. He said it was a poor time of the year as farmers usually don't have that much cash available until after harvest time. Mr. Hill indicated he was dis- appointed that the financial back- ing could not be attained, noting purchase of the facilities would have been good for the Co-op and the Hensall community. He reported the public trustee has called tenders on the mill. Deadline is July 28. Centralia opens centre with centennial parade outpulled Bob Blair's Centralia squad in a two-of-three match. Blair's men had downed another Centralia team captained by Norm Tripp to earn the right to meet the Stephen champs. The Shipka team,. winners of the $10 prize, turned their money over to the Centralia Community Centre fund. A softball game closed out the more strenuous sports events of the day. The Centralia Old Timers met a group of much younger fellows from the vil- lage. As to the final score, that remains a mystery as both clubs claim a victory. The parade was judged by two former Huron County Wardens from Stephen, Jack Morrissey and Glenn Webb and a former Centralia resident Frank Sagraff. The parade winners were as follows: Centennial floats, Dashwood Industries; Stage Coach owned by George Beer driven by Frank Hicks; SS No. 14 school; comic float s, Clandeboye Hillbillies; n k s Plumbing, Bluewater Shriners; clown, Homer Camp- bell on a penny farthing bicycle; children's entries, all first, Joan Klemke, Pauline Overholt, Ruth Noels, Robbie Essery and Brian Hicks. The prizes for the eldest lady and gentleman present went to Mrs. Andrew Hicks and Geoge Hicks, respectively. Bradley Shoebottom, the son of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Shoebottom was the youngest person present. Robert Tripp and family from Frobisher Bay travelled the longest distance to attend. The Ray Shoebottom family were judged the best cen- tennial dressed family. Several rounds of euchre were played while some of the other more active sports were taking — Please turn to Page 3 appeared surprised over the op- position to the rezoning, which had been planned to make way for a new$45,000 General Motors car agency to be built by Robert Hamather and Al Taylor on property owned by Milt Keller. One of the few persons present at the hearing to express approval of the plan to rezone the land was Harry Mathers, a garage oper- ator in the area. He was critical of the fact the persons circulating the petition had gone to his 85-year-old mother and had her sign. He claimed she didn't know what she had signed. He also claimed the property is not suitable for residential property in view of the fact it has a main highway running past it. "That's not residential prop- erty," he stated. Elmer Willis, one of the objec- tors, asked members of the board why they had zoning regulations if they were going to change them. Board chairman Al Pickard pointed out the board had no authority to rezone the land, as this could only be done by the Ontario Municipal Board and Ex- eter council, However, he pointed out the town couldn't remain static and towns in which growth took place had to have continual rezoning. "Would you like to have a home in a commercial area?" Willis asked. "Many people do," Mr. Pick- ard replied. Stan F rayne asked if the town was running short of commercial property and Mr. Pickard re- plied it was difficult to get the 150-foot frontage required for a garage. "There are enough garages up there now," exclaimed Wil- liam Ferguson, whose property would adjoin the service station and who admitted he had been responsible for circulating the petition. Board member Ted Pooley ex- plained that the plan was not to build a garage, but only a show- room and warehouse. "Our understanding is that there won't be any gas pumps," Mr. Pickard added. Proponent Harry Mathers told the delegates such an outlet could employ from five to 15 men and said this "would be good for the community". Mr. Pickard added the tax revenue would also be of benefit to the town. Several of the delegates ex- plained that the garages in the area already contributed to con- siderable noise and they didn't want any more noise and con- fusion than they had now. Mayor Delbridge interjected that if the noise and confusion was so great, he couldn't under- -Please turn to Page 3 Two Exeter men received a severe reprimand and fines when they pleaded guilty to causing a disturbance in the area of South Huron Hospital in the early hours of June 18 before Magistrate Glenn Hays, Q.C., in Exeter court, Tuesday. Gerald D. Cooper was fined $150 or 30 days in jail and Gary L. Heywood was fined $100 The penalty for Cooper was heavier because he had a previous conviction of obstrucingi a police officer about four years ago. Evidence revealed the two men had been in the parking lot area of the hospital around 4:00 a.m. and were creating a disturbance by shouting. Cpl. Harry VanBergen was called to the scene and a chase of almost an hour ensued and at one time the officer fired two warning shots from his gun. Magistrate Hays termed the action of the two men "utterly irresponsible" and suggested a jail sentence would be ap- propriate. He was particularly critical of Heywood, whose wife was working at the hospital on the morning in question. Magistrate Hays hesitated in giving the two time in which to pay their fines, explaining they should have known what was coming and been prepared to pay. However, he did give them 15 days in which to meet the fines, but warned that he couldn't think of any circumstance by which he would extend the time. Charges of littering the high- way and causing wilful damage were withdrawn against the two accused, and all three charges were withdrawn against Donald Wray Cooper. It was indicated in testimony presented to the court that a window had been broken at a nearby flower shop and large stones rolled across the high- way. PAYS $100 EACH A London man who hit two Clinton area residents with his fists on July 22, ended up pay- ing $100 for each charge. Evidence revealed that Jack Ackworth had been in a truck passing through Clinton and he made some remarks to people on the street. There was a return remark and Ackworth got out of the 'truck and a fist fight ensued. He erally generated in its open-air surroundings. The committee this week placed an advertisement in area newspapers thanking the area residents for their understanding of the situation and expressing regret more could not be ac- commodated. District competitors in the juv- enile contest were outclassed by more distant performers, as youngsters from Listowel and London walked off with the major prizes. Jacqueline Hodgins, Lucan, was the best from the district as she placed second with her singing of "0 Lord Correct Me". She was accompanied on the piano by Gayle Mardlin, Granton. The Trebles from Listowel placed first and the Stepettes from the same community were fourth. Third place went to a dance trio from London and Nathalee McCarty, also of Lon- don, was fifth. Nancy Nickles, Granton, re- ceived an honorable mention, as did Roger Brown of Moncton. For the first time in 23 years, the Kirkton Garden Party had to change sites. Due to heavy rain last Wed- nesday morning which ap- peared as though it would last throughout the day — organizers of the popular event decided to take no chances and moved the party to the auditorium at the St. Marys Collegiate. Unfortunately, accommodation at the school was not sufficient for the large crowds who now make the Kirkton event a must, and while 1,600 attended, a simi- lar number had to be turned away. To make matters slightly worse, the weather cleared later in the afternoon and the event could have been staged outside in its usual surroundings. Those who managed to arrive in St. Marys in time to get seating were again treated to some top-notch amateur and pro- fessional entertainment, but most agreed the program lacked the enthusiasm and atmosphere gen- Fun and contests for all feature McGillivray event born on May 25 of this centennial year. Picking out the eldest persons present was a harder task. There were eight ladies and four men who were 80 or over, Former reeve Dave Sheppard was the Exeter resident wins Kin prize The Exeter Kinsmen draw for an expense-paid trip to Expo 67 was delayed, but it didn't bother Hugh K. Wilson, 227 Andrew St., Exeter. It was his ticket that was finally drawn by Reeve Derry Boyle at a ball game at the community park, Thursday. Wil- son decided to take the cash equivalent of $500. The draw had been planned for July 1, but several Kinsmen were out of town on holidays at that time and had forgotten to hand in their tickets. Gib Dow, chairman of the pro- ject, indicated profits were small on the draw. Only one crash —many speeders The Exeter OPP report only one accident during the past week. It took place at the intersection of Highway 4 and the Kirkton Road on Thursday at 12:35 a.m. Involved were cars driven by Lloyd Morgan, RR 1 Centralia, and Andrew Carter, Albert St, Exeter. Both had been westbound on the Kirkton Road and Morgan had stopped and then pulled onto the highway. Carter failed to get stopped and ran into the other car on the highway. Damage was estimated at $500 by Constable Ed Wilcox. However, while the OPP didn't have many accidents, they were certainly kept busy cracking down on speeders and other highway infractions. A total of 37 drivers were charged under the Highway Traf- fic Act and about half that num- ber were caught speeding by the OPP air patrol. Many of the speeders have been charged with speeds in the 80 m.p.h. range, while one was caught doing 96 m.p.h. The officers spent 47 hours on patrol and covered a distance of 1,886 miles. Two persons were charged under the Liquor Control Act and three under the Criminal Code. Some 30 occurrences were in- vestigated. The officers also had two blood escorts, one to Goderich and the other to Wingham. Car, cash, radios loot in area thefts An estimated 3,000 persons attended various portions of the centennial celebrations held in McGillivray Township Saturday afternoon. A parade of some 70 entries started proceedings off as it wended its way from the Lieury ball park to the grounds at the township's central school. From then on there was entertainment for young and old that didn't end until midnight. Floats from the neighboring communities of Parkhill, Ailsa Craig and West Williams joined township entries in the parade headed up by the Strathroy Legion pipe band. Master of ceremonies Bill Amos, clerk of the township, introduced the various floats as they made their way into the school grounds. Reeve Grant Amos welcomed the large number in attendance and noted it was gratifying for the committee in charge to have such a good turnout. MP William Thomas com- mended the organizers and the people of McGillivray for going all out tO mark the centennial. Also speaking was the Hon. William Stewart, in inister of agriculture and food, who noted it was the first centennial event in North Middlesex which had been blessed with dry weather, Awards were presented to the youngest and 'oldest in attendance and Bonnie Jean Lewis, daughter of Mr, and Mrs, Norman Lewis, RR 2 Ailsa Craig, won the prize for the youngest person. She Was Thieves were busy in the area Over the weekend and two places of business were found broken into Monday morning. They made their biggest haul at South-End Service in Exeter when they made off with a 1967 Cougar. The office at the service station had been broken into and the own- ership papers for the car stolen, The car was found near Strath- ray Tuesday and has been return- ed to Exeter. During the investigation the po- lice located a stolen car on Waterloo St. near the garage. It had been taken from Goderich. The other entry was made at Drysdale's Crest Hardware in Hensall, where the thieves made off with approximately $200 in goods, Stolen were a tape recorder, transistor clock radio and a num- ber Of other radios. The office oldest man at 88 and Mrs. Amanda Reid, 87, was the oldest lady. She is presently in residence at Strathmere Lodge, Strathroy. The other ladies over 80 were Mrs. Nina Holt, Sadie Wilson, — Please turn to Page 3 The population of the police village of Centralia was more than tripled for a few hours on Saturday as the small communi- ty made its contribution to Can- ada's birthday celebrations. Probably the largest and best parade the village of about 200 has ever had , wound its way from the CNR station to the Main Street and on to the Centralia Centennial Community Centre. The parade was led by a stage coach owned by George Beer of Hensall and driven by Frank Hicks of Centralia. Many youngsters on tricycles and bicycles joined with the num- erous floats, ancient automobiles and horse drawn vehicles to pro- vide a parade that took a half hour to pass any given point. The highlight of the afternoon for the residents of Centralia was the official opening of the Centralia Centennial Communi- ty Centre, Formerly the C entral- ia Public School, officially known as SS 14, Stephen, the building has been renovated to accommo- date the recreational and social needs of the community. A joint effort of the village of Centralia and the Township of Stephen, with the co-operation of the governments of the prov- ince of Ontario and the Dominion of Canada, the new centre was officially opened by Mr. & Mrs. George Hicks and Mrs. Andrew Hicks. A variety program featuring local talent entertained the visitors throughout the afternoon. Percy Noels was master of cere- monies. Huron MP Robert McKinley, Provincial Treasurer Charles S. MacNaughton, Stephen Reeve James Hayter, Edmond Hendrick, deputy-reeve of Stephen and Don Pullen, Huron County Associate Ag Rep spoke briefly during the afternoon festivities. Cliff Russell's team of strong men from the Shipka area, win- ners of a tug-of-war contest at Stephen township Centennial celebrations a few weeks ago, Joins police OPP Constable Robert Higgins has recently graduated from the OPP College, Toronto, and has been posted to Chatham. He was born in Paisley, Scotland, and is the son of Mrs. Julia Higgins, 312 Main St., Exeter. While at- tending SHDHS, he was active in sports and was a member of the football, wrestling and bad- minton teams. They pulled hord....but still lost The McGillivray Township tug-o-war team failed to win the champion- the McGillivray team were Don 'McAlpine, Kelly Robinson, Gus Van- ship at the centennial day activities, Saturday, but it wasn't from lack Ma.ssenhoven, Henry Jensen, Clair Adair.George Lee, Gerald Hodgins of trying, The team members are shown here giving everything they and truce Hodgins. had in a pull against West Williams, who won the event. Members of T-A photo was ransacked and two tills brok- en into. Entry was gained by breaking through the front door. The Exeter OPP officers also investigated a theft from an Ed- monton car, which had been park- ed at the new Hay Township *Mc .pavilion at Lake Huron, while the driver enjoyed a swim, The car had been locked and the window was forced open and the man's wallet stolen. It con- tained $21 in bills, a traveller's cheque, credit cards and other papers. OPP Cpl. C. J. Mitchell advised persons to take their belongings With them When they go to the beach and leave their cars open, He explained that a 'locked car indicated that something valuable was inside, 'the entry occurred on Wednes- day and on the same day a Que. please turn to Page 2 One more issue before holidays The Exeter Times-Advocate will be closed during the period of August 4 to 12 inclusive and there will be no issue on Au- gust 10, Persons wishing to advertise special events during this period should plan insertion of these ads on August 3. The next issue after that date will be August 17. The office will also be closed during the holiday week and per- sons wishing stationery or other supplies are asked to fill their requirements next Week,