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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1977-01-13, Page 1ruxba!*fi, * '111'7" ". • a; aYr 1:1' GROCERY STORE BURNS — Members of the Crediton fire department cover the door and windows of the Crediton Country Grocery shortly after it was gutted by fire early Sunday morning. T-A Photo Some employees willing • • . turfman t invest Need $...700.:,000 immediately, at North Star will re-open AN USUAL SIGHT — Cleaning snow from sidewalks has been the order of the day in recent months. Above, Paul McKnight heads down Main street heading for a snow shovelling chore. T-A Photo Storm blocks roads, closes area schools Area residents, already weary from the steady winter weather which hit in late November, suffered through two days of blizzard conditions this week. Schools in the area were,closed on Monday and Tuesday and many roads were blocked for most of the 48 hours. Driving and visibility conditions on roads that were open were extremely poor and many motorists ended up in snowbanks. Some stores and industries didn't bother to open on Monday. The storm abated Tuesday afternoon, but more snow started to fall on Wednesday and more is expected to day. Many residents are having difficulty in finding places to push snow from walks and laneways as the banks continue to reach staggering heights, M1SeiaMeEgiegiMeatii" Althot411 the 60 employees have be laid off at North Star Yachts T4t.d. of Huron Park and there hati, been speculation that the company may have to go into receivership, et least two of the firm's employees remain op- timistic about the situation. Joe Jackson, chairman of the North Star unit of Local 1620 of the United Auto Workers, said Wednesday morning he is op- timistic that the plant will re- open, That belief was shared by another employee Gerry Sleaford, Exeter, one of about eight employees who have in- dicated they would be willing to invest some money in the com- pany to get it running again. Sleaford attended a meeting this week with company officials and other employees who had indicated an interest in investing, North Star president Ted Lane said Monday many of the supervisors, management, union and non-union staff were prepared to put up money but he would not say how much was required. The provincial government's Ontario Development Cor- poration (ODC), a major secured creditor, has told North Star to raise $100,000 within two weeks for short-term operating ex- penses or face receivership. Mr. Lane last week said he had received verbal commitments from some investors to invest oneohalf of the required $100,000 and was trying to interest others to put up more money. Robert Nickerson, in- ternational representative with the United Auto Workers which represents the production workers, said Monday it appears Mr. Lane is trying to raise $50,000 from the employees. Mr. Nickerson said he un- derstood that if North Star can raise the $i00,000, the ODC might provide an additional $500,000 loan to North Star. The ODC won't say how much it has lent in the past to North Star. Mr. Nickerson said the union's position is that its members should not buy shares in the company when its major shareholders, some of them prominent London businessmen, are not willing to provide the funds. The company suspended operations last Tuesday and asked its creditors to hold off their demands for paymetits for two weeks while it tried to raise funds required to keep operating: The company which produces yachts in the $16,000 to $80,000 range, told its 60 workers they would be laid off for two weeks while North Star tries to raise new capital and reorganize. When the workers, who are represented by Local 162, United Auto Workers (UAW), went to get their regular Thursday pay cheques, they found a message taped to the locked doors asking them to return Monday for their pay. The company's telephone and hydro services were cut off Tuesday. The company had a major layoff of about 25 workers less than four months ago. Major shareholders include Joseph Jeffery, chairman of the board of London Life; Larry Agranove, a London business management consultant; Robert Fuller, president of Con-Eng Contractors Ltd., London; Peter Butler, Design Associates of London and London lawyer William Chizmar. Mr. Jeffery, chairman of the board of North Star, said Thursday there has been "no action" on the company making an application for bankruptcy but there could be unless a new owner "steps in" soon with new funds. N 01 Star presidentba aid ma y erediterS such a the Ontario Development or- poration (ODC) and a bank • ye been asked to "co-operate" While the company tries to find new fonds. Neither Mr, Jeffery nor Mr. Lane would say how much money is owed to North Star creditors but Mr, Lane said the company does have about $1.5 million in An early Sunday morning fire destroyed the Crediton Country Grocery building and left the Hajjar family homeless. Murray and Teresa Hajjar and two small children along with two other relatives were able to'reach safety at about 4:45 a.m. from their apartment above the store. While the owners estimate the loss of stock in the store at about $18,000 they are unable to ascertain damage to the building itself. Crediton fire chief Charles Browning Jr. agreed saying, "It's difficult to know until a cleanup is begun as to how much the building was damaged structurally. Mrs. Hajjar told the T-A Wednesday morning that their plans for the future were in- definite at the moment. Asked as to the' cause of the fire, chief Browning said, "In my opinion there was a problem in the heating system." This theory was supported by officials of the Ontario Fire Marshall's office who inspected the burnt out building Tuesday afternoon. The first indication of any problem occurred shortly before 4:45 a.m. when Mrs. Hajjar's brother, Elie Etschen, smelled smoke and awakened his brother- in-law and the rest of the family, They quickly hurried down- stairs and were able to go across the road to the residence 9f Gerald Schenk to call firemen, Only a few minutes later, the stairway upstairs was in flames. The Crediton volunteer brigade was at the scene in minutes and were able to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading to neighbouring buildings, Public sessions on work project A public information session and workshop will be held in Exeter on Wednesday, January 19, to outline the new Canada Works and Young Canada Works programs. Applications and guidelines nay be picked up at Canada anpower Centre, The deadline for applications is February 4. The Exeter meeting will begin at 7 p,m, at the old Exeter Town Hall. firm orders for yachts, most of it destined for the United States. A spokesman with the ODC in Toronto said it is conducting negotiations with North Star but he would not elaborate. These are presumably over requests from North Star for ODC loans to keep it afloat. The ODC spent about $625,000 in constructing a building for North Star, said the ODC The Huron Park fire depart- ment which is a part of the Stephen township brigade with Crediton was called and brought a supply of water. Chief Browning said the call to the Huron Park brigade is now standard procedure for backup help. He added, "This co- District native Queen's counsel A graduate of South Huron District High School Harold Berry was appointed as one of Her Majesty's Counsel in this year's New Year's Honour list, Berry was called to the bar and admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1964 and has practiced exclusively in litigation since that time. He is a partner of the firm of Aird, Zimmerman and Berlis in Toronto and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. His father Allan Berry resides in Exeter, Exeter firemen called out twice Exeter's deputy fire chief Don Wells was among the local firemen responding to a call early Thursday morning. When he got there, he found it was his snowmobile that was on fire. Wells had problems with the machine earlier in the night and had taken it to Sherwood (Exeter) Ltd. for repairs. However, the machine caught fire after he left it. A faulty ignition was sighted as the cause. The snowmobile was destroyed in the 2:30 a.m. fire, It was outside and no other damage was reported. Shortly after supper, Thur- sday, the firemen were called to a truck fire on Highway 83, about five miles east of Exeter, A Tuckey Beverages truck driven by Doug Heywood had engine problems. The fire was quic,kly extinguished by the volunteer, brigade. Fire Chief Gary Middleton Said damage in the two fires totalled around $2,000. spokesman, and this is rented to North Star. He would not say how much North Star has received in loans from ODC. Mr. Jeffery said North Star is "viable" and he figured about $300,000 would "get us off centre" and back into operation as the company has sizeable orders for yachts. Mr. Lane in August, 1976, was quoted as saying North Star sales operation of the two township departments is proving to be very helpful and has helped us in keeping several fires under control." Mrs. Hajjar said although most of their furnishings and clothes were not burned they are a total loss due to smoke and water damage. She added, "The residents of Crediton and area have been terrific in their offers of clothing, furniture and accommodation," The Hajjar's are currently residing at the Stardust Motel at the west end of Crediton, that year would be more than $5 million, as more families were buying yachts rather than summer cottages, Mr. Lane said the financial problems go back to 1974 when the current owners, headed by Mr. Jeffery, bought Hughes. Boat Works and Hughes Marine Sales, a subsidiary of United States Steel Corp. The sale was made when the Despite the worst driving conditions of the winter, the Exeter OPP were called to in- vestigate only two accidents this week. There were a couple of other "fender-benders" in which damage was minimal. Sports dinner list growing The list of guest speakers at the fourth annual Exeter Lions Club Sportsmen's Dinner continues to grow. Chairman Doug Ellison an- nounced Monday that four more confirmations had been received. At least seven top notch sporting celebrities will be in attendance. Added to the list this week are Jack Kopas, Whipper Billy Watson, Dale Power and Roy Hartsfield. Jack Kopas was named Canadian harness horse driver of 1976 only last week and one of his prized possessions Jade Prince also received a special award. Whipper Billy Watson needs no introduction to sports fans anywhere. Watson who attended the first two dinners here is the number one publicist for the crippled children cause wherever he goes. Dale Power is a top tennis professional and Roy Hartsfield will be the first manager of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. Heading the list of speakers and confirmed earlier are National Football league referee Tommy Bell; Ottawa Rough Rider Tony Gabriel and Darwin Semotiuk, coach of the Western Mustangs football team. Ellison said he hopes that ex Maple Leaf goalie Johnny Bower will be in attendance along with Rusty Staub of the Detroit Tigers along with Olympic swim coach Deryk Snelling andfigure skaters Sherry Biaer and Robin Cowan. The masters of ceremonies will be the popular area musicians and entertainers, Lee and Gerry Paul of Kirkton, Tickets for the Tuesday, February 8, dinner at the Exeter Legion hall are available from any member of the Exeter Lions Club and are deductible for in- come tax purposes. economy was buoyant but a few months later the recession struck the U.S. where most of its customers were, and North Star dealers in Canada and the U.S. were "financially weak." Mr. Lane said while U.S, banks had more flexible rules in financing yacht sales, the 1=10 in Canada did not, Also U,S, dealers backed out of their commitments for orders. Price Per Copy 25 Cents Driving conditions were par- tially responsible for the two crashes that were investigated. On Wednesday, vehicles driven by Marion Duncan, Centralia, and Steve Miller, RR 1, Dash- wood, collided at an intersection in Huron Park when the vehicle driven by the latter skidded into the path of the other vehicle. Damage was listed at $250 by Constable Don Mason. The other Brash was reported at 1:20 a.m„ Saturday. A car driven by Martin J. Doyle, St, Marys, collided with a parked car owned by Daniel Lewis, RR 2, Ailsa Craig. Visibility was poor at the time. A third vehicle driven by Scott McNair Jr., London, ran into a snow bank while at- tempting to avoid the other two vehicles. Total damage to the Doyle and Lewis cars was listed at $1,100 by Constable Bill Lewis. There was no damage to the McNair vehicle. Police report that a number of motorists were stranded in the storms on Monday and Tuesday, but traffic was not halted by police due to the weather. High- way 4 north of Hensall was closed Tuesday morning when a tractor trailer became stuck near Vanastra. Former Hay reeve dies Two Zurich area brothers died within three hours of each other Saturday. Former Hay township reeve Joseph Hoffman died shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday as the result of a fall down a stairway of his home, south of Zurich. His brother Anthony Jerome Hoffman died shortly after 8:30 p.m. at Huronview in Clinton. He had been in poor health for some time. Joseph Hoffman, aged 60 was defeated in the December 6 elec- tion by incumbent reeve Jack Tinney by about 50 votes. He fail- ed to regain the top post in Hay township by about the same number of votes in 1974. Funerals for both .men were held Tuesday morning, More details may be found in the obituary column., Progress slow The weather continues to delay progress on the South Huron recreation centre and building committee chairman King McDonald indicated this week that the opening of the facility could be delayed for at least a month over its projected June 15 date, However, McDonald points out that he is not concerned about the delays. "I'd rather see them wait until good weather so we don't end up with any problems," he said this week. Work on the south wall is nearing completion, but there is still no indioation when the steel erectors will be on the job. They are apparently working on another project, and it too is being held up due to the poor weather conditions. McDonald predicted that the rec centre probably won't be com- pleted now until "well on into summer". The weather is also creating some delays in the fund raising campaign. Volunteers havebeen unable to make calls this week, although they are expected to get back at the task as soon as the weather permits. Marilyn Pym and Pat Down, co-chairwomen for the Usborne campaign, report that the canvass in that township is almost com- pleted and they extend their thanks to the canvassers and con- tributors. Wayne and Jackie Dix Kevin and Amy Vanderlaan Construction John and Maude McDougall Anonymous U.a. 40 Anonymous U.a 41 Anonymous U.a. 42 Anonymous U.a.43 Anonymous U.a.44 Anonymous U.a.45 Anonymous U.a.46 Anonymous U.a.47 Anonymous U.a.48 Anonymous U.d.49 Anonymous U.a. 50 Anonymous U.a. 51 Anonymous U.a. 52 Anonymous U.a. 53 Anonymous U.a. 54 Anonymous U.a. 55 Anonymous U.a. 56 Anonymous U.a. 57 Anonymous U.a. 58 Anonymous U.a. 59 Anonymous U.a. 60 A Donation U.a. 61 Anonymous U.a. 62 Anonymous U.a. 63 Anonymous U.a. 64 Anonymous U.a. 65 25 50 100 110 25 10 10 25 10 50 150 10 5 15 100 10 150 50 1.35 20 50 10 50 5 25 150 25 100 25 15 Total to date $215,626.35 BOTTLE COLLECTORS The Exeter Kinsmen club assisted by the Exeter Cubs and Girl Guides conducted a bottle drive, Saturday. Above, Kin Dennis Hockey helps Cubs Don Kells and Jim Perry pick up bottles. One Hundred and Fourth Year Crediton store gutted by early Sunday fire EXETER, ONTARIO, JANUARY 13, 1977 when the Crediton Country Grocery was destroyed by fire. ►e &der flies-Abut:cafe Only two accidents despite poor conditions STORE STOCK LOST — Groceries and other articles valued at $ 8,000 were lost early Sunday Mornimg T-A Photo i