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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-01-10, Page 1WAITING FOR THE PUCK — Not quite NHL calibre,WAITING FOR THE PUCK — Not quite NHL calibre, but Colin Kobe and Billy Jennison are on the way, as soon as they find a puck. The two boys got in some hockey practise on the old river bed at Grand Bend. I it Double number of BIA directors Two district firms exhibit in Toronto You may be worrying about snow and frostbite, but some people have visions of sunny skies and warm lakes. The Toronto International Boat Show starts tomorrow. Thursday and runs for ten days at Ex­ hibition Park. Two area boat manufacturers will be show­ ing some of their models there. Hughes Boat Works at Huron Park is displaying four of the five sail boats they make. Included will be a proto-type of their new 31- foot sloop. This new model features an interior design for greater living space-and roominess. It will sell for $29,850, Also showing will be their 36-foot sail boat which starts at $16,000. a 35-foot for $39.- 000 and a 38-foot for $49,000. They are unable to show their 40-foot sloop because .the boats sell as fast as they can make them. () David Weakley, a saleman for Hughes Boat Works says that they are known for the nice displays at the boat show. Mr. Weakley says that is a good time to buy because the boats aren’t going to get any cheaper,” he said. Exe-Fiberqraft is sending two of their models to the boat show. Both are small boats, which they call fami­ ly cruisers. They have a 16- foot sail boat for $3,395 and a 20-foot for $7,995. According to Karl Ver- maeten at Exe-Fibercraft, the sail boats are selling well in the United States. Boat sales in Canada peak in April, May and June. The purpose of the boat show is to display this year’s models first tb the dealers and then to the general public. As well as the boat dis­ play, there will be sporting accessories such as fishing and water skiing equipment. Information on all kinds of boating will be available. Maple Leaf captain Darryl Sittier has been nam­ ed commodore for the show, and will be at the opening ceremonies Friday, evening. Sittier owns a 25-foot power boat, fishes for salmon, and is a water skier. Exeter’s downtown merchants easily solved the problem of having a long list of candidates seeking positions on the board of directors of the Business Improvement Area. At a special meeting Thursday, they decided to increase their number of directors from seven to 15, making it unnecessary to eliminate any of the names which had been presented by a couple of factions within the group. Those names will now be submitted to council for their official appointment, Acting chairman Gerry Gray told the represen­ tatives of 13 businesses at the meeting that the limit on the number of directors had been lifted due to a change in the local bylaw and said the present directors were suggesting that the 15 be named because that’s how many candidates there were. There was some discussion ‘ on whether the 15 would be too many, but Gray said that if itprovesunweildy.itcan be adjusted for the next term of office. About 85 businesses are members. He also suggested that in the future, merchants merely supply council with the names of candidates and let council pick those who will serve rather than the merchants having their own election. Bob Swartman said he thought tHe increase in numbers was a good idea. “The more people who take an interest, the better,” he opined. He said it was time con­ suming work for a small number. “The more the merrier,” he commented, saying he didn’t think 15 people should find it difficult to agree on topics. Gray said the increased number could result in longer meetings, but that was the only thing that could hamper the larger directors. “One of the aspects is that 15 businesses will be 'the thinking that went into decisions,” said Councillor Jay Campbell, a present board member. - Gray said the present seven members were “never enough” to carry out the functions of the organization and noted that this showed up quite visibly when it came time to stage this year’s Christmas parade. When the list bpard of positive different aware of of nominations was presented to nomination chairman Mike Williamson, only 13 names were on it. However, the other two were named from the only two in the audience who hadn’t been nominated in the first place. The list of directors which will be presented to council for their consideration in­ cludes: Mike Williamson, Norm Tait, Joanne Dinney, Gord Ross, Jim Beckett, Mary Fisher, Warren May, Ron Cottrell, Mel Gaiser, Gerry Gray, Bob Swartman, Chan Livingstone, Earl Campbell, Edith Boyle and Jim Russell. Harold Pat­ terson represents council, bringing the total mem­ bership to 16. At the conclusion of the meeting, some discussion was held on the lack of in­ terest in the Downtown Business Improvement Area. Earl Campbell said notices At the meeting, was held terest in the Downtown Business Improvement Area. of meetings were sent to each member during the past two years, but no more than six people had come out in all that time to see what the board of directors were doing. “It never ceases to amaze me how few came out,” Gray added, notipg that the board has spent almost $25,000 of the members’ money in the past two years. He also commented on the fact that most members never communicated their complaints, taking the suggested Christmas store hours of this year as example. He explained that board of directors had presented their suggestions last January, but no com­ plaints were received until early this December, some eleven and a half months later. It was noted that the board had no control over store hours, but were interested only in ending the confusion for the shoppers. Still hopeful! Things are quiet at Bell Aerospace near Grand Bend right now, but manager Jim Mills says they are looking forward to a busy year. Ac­ cording to Mr. Mills, Bell Aerospace hopes to finalize a contract to sell a number of air cushion vehicles to the United States army by this March. Mr. Mills says the U.S. army buys all over the world, and it is not at all un­ usual for them to purchase the vehicles here. Although things have been quiet at the plant for the last year, the 16 employees are now preparing for the manufacturing of the vehicles. “We’re very op­ timistic we’ll be busy bv the middle of the year,’’ Mr. Mills said. One Hundred and Fifth Year conclusion of the some on the discussion lack of in- PENSIVE MOOD — Mike Williamson, right, acted as nomination chairman for the election of the board of directors of the Ex­ eter Downtown Business Improvement Area, Thursday. Sitting at the table are some of the current members of the board, from the left: Councillor Harold Patterson, Harold Gunn, Earl Campbell, Gerry Gray, Marilyn Williamson and Jay Campbell. imes - Advocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex. & $ & North Lambton Since 1873 Mt Price Per Copy 25 Cents BUNDLING UP — During the extreme'cold weather of recent days, youngsters were forced to bundle up when coming to and from school. Shown above are Katherine and Kristine McDonald. T-A photo B ■ ' Crippled kids' day will be cancelled Dog catcher is required Stephen township officials are currently advertising for a new animal control of­ ficer. Judy Finch of Huron Park who has held the dog catcher position for almost a year resigned recently. She has moved out of the area. At the latest meeting, councillors authorized the township solicitor to proceed with the closing of a road in the westerly section of the municipality. Clerk Wilmar Wein said the road in question has not been actually used as a public road but was a 33 foot reserve. The reserve has been known as the Old River Road and is adjacent to Lots 2 to 6 on Ausable Conces­ sion. It runs west of Sauble concession road and north to the limits of the village of Grand Bend. Roman Duaz of the Huron planning division, Stephen building inspector Arnold McCann and Dashwood in­ spector Irvin Rader met with council to review and update the president building by-law. Council has agreed to an amendment to the Huron of­ ficial plan changing the status of Grand Cove Estates near Grand Bend from Agricultural to residential mobile. > Two tile drain applications totalling $27,500 were approved, subject to the funds being availalbe from the province. A resolution from the town of Oakville was filed. It called for legislation to prohibit the exploitation of women and sex as a means to financial gain by any business or individual. The regular council meeting scheduled for February 4 has been chang­ ed to January 30 at 1:30 p.m. due to municipal conven­ tions. I EXETER, ONTARIO, JANUARY 10, 1979 TALK THINGS OVER — The discussion was naturally all about hockey when these men got together during the junior tourna­ ment at the rec centre, Saturday. From the left are Clare Stanley, Lucan; Belmont coach Brian Abbey; time keeper, Bob Osgood; Exeter Hawks manager, Fred Mommersteeg. Staff photo Tokyo quieter than here, Pullen predicting 'very good year' After nine successful years, one of the area’s top winter attractions--the annual crippled kids’ week end at the Pineridge Chalet--/ has been cancelled. However, area snowmobilers will still have an opportunity to assist crippled children as the Pineridge Snowmobile Club have arranged for a “Bunnirama and Poker Rally” on January 20. Proceeds will go to the Cripp'led Children’s Treatment Centre in London. In explaining the decision to cancel the normal week end activities for crippled children, George Beer said it was getting to be “too much work for the same people each year.” He said the same people were being asked each year to donate goods or services and not enough funds were being realized to make those efforts worthwhile. “We hope to raise just as much money, but without the hard work,” he said of the new program, The Bunnirama will be held over a 50 km course and pledge sheets are available at the chalet or from area snowmobile dealers. Beer reported that the number of snowmobiles at Pineridge this past week end was at an all-time high. He said that even despite the limited amount of snow in this area, it is still con­ siderably more than in the southern part of Western Ontario and enthusiasts were looking for an outing. Many moved onto the Hensail area facility after finding there was not enough snow at the Pinery for their activities. Rabies shots are available Free rabies clinics will be held in six different com­ munities in the north part of Huron county between January 10 and 22. Dr. Brian Lynch, medical officer of health for Huron county, says that the clinics are being held because of an increased incidence of rabies in Grey county. Dr. Lynch says that the rabies have been found in wild animals such as skunks and raccoons. Some cattle have also been affected, but as yet there have been no reports of rabies in cats or dogs. The clinics should prevent any house pets from con­ tracting rabies, Dr. Lynch says. but it's By MARY BLEWETT Exeter seems pretty quiet after the noise and crowds of Tokyo, but Kotaro Watanabe likes it here anyway. Kotaro is an 18-year-old Japanese exchange student taking grade 13 at South Huron District High School. When he came in September he was a guest of Bill and Jenny Huntley and staying with the Raymond family. A group called national Fellowship organized the exchange and through them there are 115 Japanese students in Canada and the United States. Kataro says that the only trouble he’s had since he came to Canada is the weather. “I think it’s too cold here,” he says. He recently received a letter from his sister in Tokyo saying that the temperature was plus ten degrees celsuis there. Kotaro says that it never gets as cold in Japan as it has been here lately. Kotaro hopes to return to Japan this summer and take economics at university. He eventually wants a career in business, and that is his main reason for coming to Canada. In Japan it is necessary for a good businessman to be fluent in English, he says. He thinks that his English hds improved a great deal since he came to Exeter, Kotaro enjoys sports very much, and has been active since coming to SHDHS. In the fall, he joined the cross country running team, and is now is Peter Inter- not nearly as cold now working out with the wrestling team. He has a black belt in judo, but hasn’t been able to do much of that. He says he doesn’t want to play football because the Canadian boys are so much bigger, and “I don’t want to hurt myself.” He tried skating once at the arena, but decided that he’s not good at that either. In Japan, the main sports are baseball, volleyball and gymnastics. One thing that surprised him when he arrived at the high school here was that the students had a smoking This visitor unwelcome Beware — Russian flu may be headed this way! Dr, Brian Lynch, medical 'of­ ficer of health for Huron County says that a few cases of Russian flu have been identified in London and it may be creeping this way. The Russian flu was first spotted in the United States, and now that the flu season is upon us, it won’t take long to move about Canada. Russian flu is no more severe than the kinds we are used to, but it does drag on for about two weeks. “It’s not devasting,” Dr. Lynch says. There are also a few cases of measles ahd chicken pok in the area, but that’s fairly common for this time of year. area. In Japan, he says, it is illegal for people under the age of 18 to smoke, and smoking is never allowed in the high schools. “It’s just common sense, too,” he says. He finds Math the easiest subject, but is having a struggle studying Canadian history in English. He is also taking French, English, typing, physical education, architecture and drafting. He was very impressed with Niagara Falls and Toronto on a recent trip there. From the top of the CN tower he says that he could see Toronto was organized, not like Tokyo where buildings are scattered over. Toronto didn’t have as much air pollution as Tokyo, nor was it as dirty, Kotaro says. People have been very kind to him since he came to Exeter, and especially Mr. Wooden, the principal at the high school, he says. One of his duties as an exchange student is to in­ troduce Japan to the people he visits. Kotaro says he spoke to one group at the United Church, and he would like the opportunity to tell more Canadians about Japan. “If they want me to make a speech, I will be glad,” Kotaro says, He’ll talk to anyone, from children to senior citizens. The year 1979 should be a good one for farmers in Huron County according to Agricultural representative Don Pullen. Pullen told the T-A this week, “our farmers should get off to a good start this spring. Because of excellent late fall weather all fall plowing and other work was completed. If it wasn’t it should have been.” The Ag Rep continued, “Spring seeding should start on time because the land is prepared and weed control should also get off to a good start.” Pullen added, “There is a bit of physcology connected with getting the fall work completed which a lot of people don’t think about. When work is done on time it creates better family relations during the winter and also gives farm families to get their records up to date.” The farm outcome for 1978 was much better than was anticipated at one time according to Pullen. Some farmers were depressed when corn plantings were late but killing frosts didn’t arrive until November. Due to wet weather and late harvesting of some of the white beans, winter wheat planting was reduced to about 75 percent of a normal year. In 1977 that figure was cut to about 40 percent because of the disastrous bean crop when some fields were never harvested. Pullen lists the Inter­ national Plowing Match as the highlight of 1978. About this he said, “You know it’s amazing. We had nine in­ ches of rain from early September to the first week of October but only a small amount fell during the match.” He attributed the success not only to the good weather but the great community participation. Due to late planting Pullen said some of the winter wheat is “pretty short.” He suggested the number of acres of white beans for this year could be reduced saying, “some have been caught two years in a row with harvesting problems.” Sod crops are being used more often in Huron in rotation. Seeding of clover in the spring and plowing in the fall improves soil structure and yields. Pullen said much more farm building took place in 1978. These additions in­ cluded implement sheds, grain storage buildings and additions to broiler barns. Beef cattle prices were higher than ever in 1978 but Pullen cautioned, “at the same time replacement costs went away up so far­ mers were not much better off.” He continued, “There is a risk situation in beef like never before when farmers could be caught with the high cost of replacement stock.” Huron continues to lead all Please turn to page 2 EXCHANGE STUDENT — Except for the cold weather, Kotaro Watanobe, an exchange stu­ dent from Japan, is enjoying his stay in Exeter. He recently moved in with the family of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Raymond and is shown here with his two hosts, Doug and Tom Raymond. No injuries in collisions No injuries were reported in any of the three accidents investigated by the Exeter OPP this week. Damage was also comparatively low. On Wednesday, vehicles driven by Carl Gower, RR 1 Centralia, and Johannes Alblas, RR 1 Kirkton, collid­ ed on concession 10-11 at sideroad 2-3 in Usbome. Damage was listed at $750 by Constable Larry Christiaen. The other two accidents occurred on Thursday, the first when a vehicle driven by Michael Rau, Dashwood, struck a mailbox on County Road 2, just north of Highway 83 in Hay Township. Damage was es­ timated at$480by Constable Al Quinn. The second crash involved vehicles driven by Richard Skinner. RR 1 Centralia, and Wallace Seldon, Exeter. They collided on the Kirkton Road, just east of conces­ sion 4-5 in Usborne. Constable Christiaen in­ vestigated and set total damage at $1,650. One theft was also in­ vestigated by the OPP this week, involving a 1978 Lin­ coln owned by Frank Regier, RR 2 Dashwood. It was stolen from the Kirkton- Woodham community cen­ tre, Saturday night and was recovered later in Woodstock. Constable Jack Straughan is investigating.