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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-02-14, Page 1-AN One Hundred and First Year EXETER, ONTARIO, FEBRUARY 14, 1974 Price Per Copy 25 Cents Man badly burned in fire; 12 rescued from another Wegg family is staying with us temporarily. They are looking for a home to rent. With the added family we now have 14 in our house. Various church groups in the area are sponsoring campaigns for clothing and furniture. The four school-aged Wegg children Were back at classes at Usborne Central school Monday morning. — Please turn to Page 3 FIRE DESTROYS HOUSE .- An early Sunday morning fire completely destrOyed the home of Mr, and Mrs. Bob Wegg in Woodham, Twelve occupants of the house were able to reach safety. The above picture shows the house ablaze shortly after Exeter firemen arrived. T-A photo When the fire broke out Mr. and Mrs, Wegg and six children along with four visiting relatives were in the house. They were able to get to safety but only with clothes they were able to put on quickly. The Exeter firemen stayed at the scene until 9 a,m. Sunday. They were called back to the Wegg home about 5.30 Sunday afternoon when they received a call from a neighbour, Dennis Richardson who feared sparks may reach his home, Loss was estimated at $20,000. It was partially covered by in- surance. Immediately after the fire the Wegg family moved into the Kirkton area home of Mr. Wegg's brother and sister-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Fred Steele. About 11 p.m. Monday a chimney., fire broke out in the Steele home which is located on Concession 14 of Usborne township, a mile and a quarter west of Highway 23. Mrs. Steele told the T-A, "I heard the chimney roaring and sent a son upstairs to see what the trouble was, He reported flames upstairs. Because of the other fire I guess we panicked a bit," She said there was little damage to their house. It was confined to smoke and soot in the upstairs, Mrs, Steele continued, "the To cost $144,000 Stephen to replace bridge Plans jail alternative to $225 court fines list of tile drainage contractors as licenced through the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. In future tile drain applications will be accepted only if a qualified contractor is being engaged, breathalizer test gave a reading over the 80 mgs allowed by law. He was charged after OPP Constable Mason found the ac- cused trying to get his car out of the ditch on January 27 in Stephen. Fines of $100 each were levied against James, R.. Roberts, Stratford, and Danny • C. Stuckless, Parkhill, Each pleaded guilty to charges of careless driving, — Please turn to Page 3 Many apply for rec job A Hufon Park man is in critical condition in Victoria hospital London and a Woodham area family lost their home as the result of two fires this week. Another blaze near Kirkton was brought under control with little damage. Early Saturday morning, Wayne McCormick was severely burned during an explosion in the basement of his home at 320 Algonquin Drive, Huron Park. The home of Mr. and Mrs, Bob Wegg located on the south-east boundary of Usborne township at the southerly edge of the hamlet of Woodham was completely destroyed by an early Sunday morning fire. The fire at the Wegg residence is believed to have started in the chimney. It was first noticed at shortly after 4 a.m. by a passerby Brian Amos who saw flames leaping from the roof. He quickly knocked on the door and told Mrs. Wegg who hap- pened to be up with a nine month old baby that the house was on fire. She wakened her husband and he first called the St. Marys fire department. On being told it was not in their territory he called Exeter and answering service operator Mrs. Ron Dale alerted the fire department, Mrs. Dale said Mr. Wegg made the call through a Bell telephone operator. at 4.13 a.m. Snowmobilers CROWNING THE QUEEN - The 1973 Kirkton-Woodham Winter Car- nival Queen had the honour of crowning this year's winner Saturday night. Above, Dianne Walker crowns Donna Switzer. At the right is Princess Debbie McIntosh. T-A photo Exeter's RAP committee have received 15 applications to date for the position of recreation director and chairman Gord Baynham indicated Monday night there may be up to 20 by the time the deadline is reached this weekend. Baynham said that only one or two . of the ,applicants "are workilig in flielTeld:" RAP will meet February 21 to consider the applications and choose those applicants with whom they wish interviews. Rustlers are butchers too A bylaw was passed authorizing Huron County weed inspector to enforce the provisions of the Weed Control Act within the township limits. Land severance applications from Prosper Van Bruaene, Lot 4,, LRW Concession and the Estate of C, Scatcherd at Lots 1, 2 and 44 Plan 22 in Oakwood were tentatively approved. The Exeter and area fire board will be asked to enlarge the area in Stephen township which the Exeter fire department covers. The territory is to be increased to include all properties on Concession 4 and 5 as far south as the South Boundary at the Mount Carmel road. A grant of $50 to the Huron County Plowmen's Association was approved. Clerk-treasurer Wilmer Wein reported -the 1973 arrears totalling $32,000 had been for- warded to the County of Huron for collection. This amount is somewhat less than other years. Budget will depend on hockey playoff Cattle rustlers hit in the area this week. Earl Heist, Crediton, reported that thieves butchered an eight- month-old Hereford steer in a barn he owns at lot 7, concession 5, Stephen. The 500-pound animal was valued at $225. The butchers apparently performed their work in the early morning hours on Saturday. While the outcome of a hockey series may not be important to all citizens in a community there was a clear indication this week it certainly effects them all. Arena manager Alvin Willert told RAP that to date the arena has taken in just over $700 as their share of the Exeter Hawks home games this season. In comparison, last season the arena share hit $3,750 much of that coming in the various playoff series in which the team per- formed before being sidelined in the group final by Mitchell. The Hawks are now in a series Stephen township council is making application to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communication for the necessary funds to replace a bridge on sideroad 14 which collapsed last summer. Council is asking for a supple- mentary expenditure approval in the amount of $117,600 to take care of the costs of the proposed bridge. Cost of the new structure is expected to be, slightly more than $144,000. A total of $26,475 to complete the monies needed for the work is being taken out of the regular construction budget of $29,515, The Ministry has already given approval to the regular con- struction budget and $103,760 for maintenance.' At the same time an additional $15,000 is being asked for maintenance. If all requests are approved, the total road expenditures for Stephen for 1974 would be $265, 875 with subsidies amounting to $173,930. The original bridge collapsed in the early afternoon of April 25, 1973 when a trailer loaded with 20 tons of cement block went through. Only temporary measures were put into effect for the balance of 1973 to allow farm vehicles of the Brand brothers to cross the Ausable River, The township has received a Dinner nets $3,000 profit An Exeter man fined a total of $225 in Exeter court, Tuesday, indicated he would probably choose to serve the alternative of 22 days in jail. Bruce L. Vincent appeared before Judge F.S. Gregor-y, pleading guilty to a charge of causing a disturbance, com- mitting common assault and stealing a quantity of gasoline. The charges arose from -in- cidents in January. The assault charge was laid as a result of a scuffle in which Vincent, was engaged with Donald Foster near the Exeter PUC building. Evidence revealed the accused threw Foster against the building. The theft of gasoline occurred at the Usborne farm of James Prout. Entry was gained to a padlocked pump. Exeter lawyer P.L. Raymond §aid the scuffle resulted when things were said against his client's character and added that the theft of gasoline had been undertaken because no service stations were open. The Judge replied this was no excuse to steal from a locked pump. He fined Vincent $75 on the assault charge, $50 on the disturbance and $100 for the theft. A fine of $200 was levied against Edward A, Skerry, Bramalea, who pleaded guilty to a charge of refusing to take a breathalizer test after being involved in an accident in Stephen on October 20. Frank Vernice Paff, Ailsa Craig, was fined $150 on a charge of driving while impaired. A with those same Hawks and should they be eliminated, the RAP budget will have about $3,000 in revenue to make up over last season. In addition fewer playoff sets also reduces the amount of money taken in at the arena snack bar. Last year Willert reported 'the arena snack bar showed a total profit of $3,800. The snack bar at the pool had a profit of about $600. Another major revenue producer was the local horse barn at the community park. Revenue in 1973 was $1002.00. Only a small portion of that was paid out in expenses although Willert explained that in past years much of the revenue had gone for repairs to the building, RAP, also learned that in- surance expenses for the past year were down to $1,500. They are normally over $4,500 but a rebate had been received, he said, because the premiums had been overpaid in recent years. He gave no further explanation of the situation. Grant money still available HOLIDAY FOR KIDS Schools under the jurisdiction of the Huron County board of education will be closed Monday. The February closing is being taken in lieu of Easter Monday on a "trial basis" to give students and staff a break in the long stretch between Christmas and spring break. The date is approximately that which has been considered by the federal government for a federal holiday in the future, However, for this year students and teachers are the only ones who will get a February break. Puckster suffers unhurt in crash Two snowmobiles were in- volved in one of the four ac- cidents investigated by the Exeter OPP this week. At 9:30 p.m. Wednesday snow machines operated by Howard Schenk, RR 1 Crediton and Barry Campbell, RR 2 Ailsa Craig, collided on the Crediton Road east of the village. Damage was listed at $1,000 by Constable Dale Lamont,. There were no injuries. At 3:00 p.m. the same day, trucks driven by Harold Parsons, RR 2, Kippen, and Benjamin O'Tollola, London, collided on Mill St. in Hensall. Constable Bob Whiteford set damage at $700. Highway 4 north of Hensall was covered with corn after an ac- cident at 8:45 a.m., Monday. A tire blew out on a truck being driven by Michael Snobelen, RR 1 Ripley, and the vehicle careened onto its side in the ditch, spilling its load of corn. Damage to the vehicle was listed at $250 by Constable Bill McIntyre. The other crash of the week occurred at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, at the intersection of concession 12-13 and sideroad 4-5 in Usborne, Involved were vehicles driven by Gerrard VanHees, Huron Park, and Edwin Miller, RR 3, Exeter. Total damage was estimated at $1,400 by Constable Whiteford. During the week the local detachment officers charged six people under the Highway Traffic Act and issued warnings to another 14. There were four charges under the Liquor Control Act and eight under the Criminal Code. bad eye injury Financial returns from the Exeter Lions first annual Sportsmen's Dinner indicate the event was an unqualified suc- cess. Lions spokesman Ron Cottrell announced this week that net profit from the evening would be $3,000. This amount will be turned over to aid Crippled Children, About 250 people attended the dinner and heard celebrities from most major sports. Mr. Cottrell reported the Lions have already started to plan for next year's event. At their last meeting, the Exeter Lions welcomed two new members, Ken Pettigrew and Jack Fuller. The local service club now stands fifth out of 47 clubs in the zone for the number of new members. They were commended for this at a recent district governor's zone meeting attended by Lions • president Peter Raymond and secretary Jack Malone. PRESENTS SERVICE DIPLOMA -.Retiring president Bob Down of the Exeter Agricultural Society presented a diploma to Exeter Fair secretary Garnet Hicks at Friday's annual meeting. Hicks was an associate director in 1935 and has been secretary for the past 11 years. From the left are Bob Down and Mr. and Mrs. Garnet Hicks. T-A photo Present ideas for fair improvement Think flowers should be free Exeter's RAP committee has grant money sitting in Toronto and officials there are wondering if the cash is going to be used. The money was approved for alterations to the local bowling green clubhouse and to repair the roof of the arena. While the money was to be spent in 1973, it can still be made available for the present year. RAP chairman Gord Baynham indicated this week his group still wanted the money, but had not completed plans yet on the two projects. At Monday's RAP meeting, arena manager Alvin Willert said the leaking roof at the arena "is serious", He said water is soaking the timbers and trusses. "We should push for something," he suggested. Plans for the two projects are being drawn by RAP member Jack Underwood, He was not present at Monday's meeting to indicate progress to date. listed profits at the fair dance of $576.98 and $459.50 from the ticket draw. Poultry director George Tieman had the distinction of selling all four of the - winning tickets in the meat draw in- cluding one to himself. — Please turn to Page 3 start until after dinner, By the time the ribbons are on the cages, there is nobody left to see them," In regard to the parade Tiernan suggested it could be more successful if held Friday night. The financial report given by secretary Garnet Hicks showed a book balance of $1,983.32. He Exeter's RAP committee hope to get flowers for their parks at no cost this year, That will come about if others agree with their opinion that one town group should not have to pay another for services or goods received. RAP gets flowers from the cemetery board and in the past have been charged about the same as they have to pay at local retailers for flowers. RAP chairman Gord Baynham said it always appeared ridiculous to him that each department had to pay the other. "We end up paying through the nose," he suggested ,in backing Bruce Shaw's suggestion that a letter be sent to council asking for free flowers from the cemetery, For the second time within a month, a player of the Ausable Rec league has suffered an eye injury. John Bierling, the goal tender for Brinsley is in St. Joseph's hospital London after being struck in the face with a puck Sunday night. He is expected to be in hospital for the rest of the week but doctors are hopeful the sight in his left eye can be saved. The young goalie was wearing a mask and helmet when the accident happened. Arena at- tendants say the puck appeared to hit him in the forehead area and apparently the impact forced the mask into his eye. The shot was a slap shot from outside the blueline but an ob- server said it may have been deflected before it reached the net. He was first taken to South Huron hospital and then tran- sferred to London. In early January, Wayne Desjardine of the Shipka team lost an eye when struck by a skate. Only last week, an inquest jury in Clinton recommended that slap shots be banned from recreational hockey leagues. The inquest concerned the death of Philip Evans of Goderich who died almost immediately after being struck in the chest by a puck during a rec league game in Clinton. Plenty of ideas aimed at im- proving the Exeter Fall Fair were tossed around at Friday's annual meeting of the Exeter Agricultural Society. A panel of four persons engaged in lively discussion with the audience which was made up mostly of Fair Board directors. Making up the panel were Mayor Jack Delbridge, T-A editor Bill Batten and Exeter businessmen Ben Hoogenboom and Bill Dinney. Newly elected Fall Fair president Bruce Shapton was the moderator. Mayor Delbridge suggested /special events such as a tractor pull and steam engine show which would be geared to draw higher attendance. Bill Batten said most events on the program back 30 and 40 years ago were still in existence, He suggested special educational and entertainment events. Included on his list were a cake baking contest, sheep shearing contest, a quilting bee, special creamery and cheese exhibits, batten said in recent years area school children have eagerly participated in the Vegetable animal Contest. He DISCUSSING FAIR IMPROVEMENT - A panel discussed ways and means of imptoving the Exeter Fall Fair at the annual meeting of the Exeter Agricultural Society Friday night, shown in the above picture from the left are, panel members Bill Dinney and Ben Hoogenboomi Pair president Bruce Shapton, panelists Mayor Jock Delbridge and Bill Batten and secretary Garnet Hicks. T-A photo there should be more specializing in entertainment, He suggested a bingo, possibly on the Thursday night and a quarter horse show. He also would like to see the commercial display areas ex- tended. The two businessmen suggested a liquor licence be obtained to help attendance at the fair, Retiring fair president Bob Down said he felt the weakest part of the fair was the annual parade. He wondered how suc- cessful the change of dates to a weekend was. He continued, "while most fairs are going to the weekend, it didn't seem to bring us any great influx of paying customers." Down said, "the 4-II clubs and feeder calf club continue to give us a good show. Last year's special entertainment seemed to go over very well." The former °resident added, "we haven't been getting the best of co-operation from area schools. I think the educationists are missing a good bet," Poultry director George Tiernan asked for earlier judging of his department. tie went on to say, "the judging doesn't usually added, "give the kids a chance to use their imagination in other classes". He went on to say, "How about one year dropping the class for sheep exhibits and have Donald and Gerald Dearing actually put on a sheep shearing contest." ' "Fairs were born of com- petition between neighbours, let's get this rivalry back again." continued the T-A editor. He continued, "I question the value of the annual baby show. Let's replace it with a talent show for youngsters from 10 to 14 years of age. In summing up Batten suggested prize lists should be available to exhibitors a lot earlier and thought prize Monies for the first prizes in the field crop competitions and in the fair parade be increased, Ben Hoogenboorn suggested the fair which now opens Friday bight should get underway a night earlier to allow merchants with displays more time to at- tract customers. He suggested a tent be put up to house some of the exhibits allowing for more display space in the arena. Bill Dinney said he thought