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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-05-02, Page 1UP, UP AND AWAY. — The elusive pink flamingo avoids photographers and would-be captors alike by flying about 50 feet into very muddy territory.. T-A photo County okay lease An unusual visitor draws area interest By MARY BLEWETT If your neighbours tell you they’ve been seeing a long- legged pink thing out in the field, don’t tell them they’ve been drinking too much and they’re seeing elephants. Because there is a long- legged long-necked pink thing roaming the bog near the tri-county bridge-- namely, a flamingo. The big pink bird seems to have made his home in some mud and brush about three miles Candidates to air views The Huron County Federa­ tion of Agriculture is spon­ soring an all-candidates meeting for the Huron- Bruce federal riding. The meeting will be held Thursday, May 3 at 8:30 p.m. at the Hullet Central School at Londesboro. Huron F of A president Merle Gundy urges all members to come out and hear the views of the can­ didates and ask questions. The candidates are incum­ bent Progressive Conser­ vative member Bob McKinley, Liberal can­ didate Graeme Craig Mrs. Moira Couper, NDP candidate. I from Greenway. Grand Bend zookeeper Ted Relouw says the scarlet run­ away isn’t a member of his flock, nor is he an escapee from Storybook Gardens, in London. In fact, Relouw doubts if any zoos in Canada would have their flamingos outdoors this early in the season. Relouw speculates that the big bird may be from a zoo south of the border, and was blown here in a storm. Or he might even be all the way from Florida, and now completely lost after his long journey. In any case, Relouw has invited the lost flamingo to join his menagerie, but as yet, the pink bird has given the zookeeper the cold shoulder and resisted his advances. Relouw fears that the bird won’t find the right kind of food required to keep the bright pink color in his feathers. Flamingos kept in captivity are usually fed a special diet to retain their color. But even if the nights are cold, and he isn’t eating right, the flamingo seems to be enjoying the mud and water around his new home. And he’s really having fun leading bird watchers and photographers on a wild­ flamingo-chase. By JEFFSEDDON If Shell Canada doesn’t find oil in Huron County it won’t be because county council stood in the way. Council agreed Thursday to lease mineral rights on 1,186 acres of county owned land to Shell. The lease, for one dollar per year per acre, is a ten year pact. Shell leased all county owned land between the Lake Huron shoreline and Highway 4. The bulk of the property is in Colborne, Ashfield, East Wawanosh and West Wawanosh townships. The lease on most of the plots is subject to the ap­ proval of the ministry of natural resources. The land is used for county forestation projects and the province picks up part of the costs for those projects. The provincial govern­ ment does not advocate private leasing arrangements on publicly owned land and in the past has refused to permit such leases to be granted. County clerk Bill Hanly said no word has yet been received from the province as to whether it approves of the leasing. But he explained that the lease with Shell may not upset natural resources since it contains a no-entry clause. He said the ministry is anxious to protect the forest land pointing out that the Shell lease does nothing to ' upset the natural growth on the property. He said the lease is for mineral rights only and does not permit Shell to go on the land for any reason. Hanly said he did not know how county council would react to a ministry disap­ proval. He said council may just go ahead with the lease contrary to the province’s- wishes or may forget the whole thing. David Johnson, a spokesman for Shell, told the development committee his firm was anxious to get a handle on the lands in Huron near the lakeshore. He said much of the land had already been leased but explained that if oil is found on one property, neighboring properties must be credited with that find. Because of that any money arising from oil found on land Shell had leased would have to be shared with neighboring landowners if Shell did not have leases on those properties. Johnson told council his firm was not interested in drilling test wells if it did not have land surrounding those test sites leased. He in­ dicated at the March session of county council that unless the county granted mineral leases no test drilling would be done. Johnson told council seismic testing done in the county last summer had indicated there may be oil deposits here. He said it was impossible to tell how much very competitive and he could not, for those reasons, give anything away. Hanly said the committee did not really press Johnson ___ for any particulars on the would not even tell the .test well, development committee. He said the search for oil was oil was here or if there was any ... just that there may be some. Johnson refused to say where Shell was interested in drilling its test well and HURON HISTORIAN DIES Funeral service was held Monday for Huron County historian and author James Scott of Seaforth who died Friday in a Guelph hospital. Scott, 63, author of The Settlement Of Huron Coun­ ty, was former assistant to the president of the Univer­ sity of Waterloo. At one time he also taught creative writing at the University of Western Ontario and was a member of the English department at the Universi­ ty of Saskatchewan. He also was literary editor for the Toronto Telegram and author of scripts for the CBC. The lion’s share of the leased land is in Colborne township. Almost one third of the total acreage, 594 acres, is in Colborne. Another 250 acres is in East Wawanosh township, 150 acres is in Ashfield, 99 acres in West Wawanosh, 84 acres in Stanley township, seven acres in Goderich township and two acres in Hay. Speculation in the county offices indicates that the test well will be drilled either in West Wawanosh or Ashfield township. A SATISFIED CUSTOMER — One of the many persons at the annual smorgasbord luncheon held Thursday at Exeter United Church was three year old Chris Passmore, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Passmore. T-A photo € if *"»life imes -i Serving South Huron, North Middlesex dvocate & North Lambton Since 1873 £ ■■ CHIEF VISITS EXETER PUBLIC SCHOOL — Joan Kells and son Doug listen to Chief William B. Dolson of Muncey as he tells of his experiences as an Indian chief for more than 30 years. Chief Dolson visited Exeter Public School Thursday night. District teachers discuss role in teaching morals “Morals are caught rather than taught.” That was the message from Bill Black, principal of Blyth Public School to the elementary school teachers of Huron County. Black who has been doing post-graduate work in moral education spoke to the teachers during a professional development day meeting Friday at South Huron District High School. Parents from each school, some teachers from separate schools, and teachers from SHDHS were invited to attend the seminars on morals and values, along with the coun­ ty’s elementary school teachers. Paul Carroll, principal at Seaforth, Public School ex­ plained ’that at present Huron County has no guidelines for moral educa- any curriculum in this area. Moral education was chosen as a subject for the professional day because it is timely, according to Carroll. “The topic is really relevant locally,” he said. Black explained that even though moral education is not scheduled on time tables, it is taught through the teacher’s actions. For example, he said that if a child is slow coming in from recess, he is told to speed up. This teaches the child punctuality. Black said that children learn moral values when they are punished for using foul language, or making racial remarks. Another difficulty in teaching moral education is deciding whose values are right, said Black. Parents and teachers do not always hold the same value system, tion set down on paper, nor Representatives from boards of education in Lon­ don and Hamilton also attended the meetings. These cities have developed guidelines for moral educa­ tion, and were presenting their ideas to Huron County. Representatives from the 24 schools in Huron County will evaluate the professional development day, and decisions as to whether or not Huron county teachers should do more work in moral education will be made. Superintendent for educa­ tion in Huron county, Jim Coulter, says that Huron county elementary school teachers have Seven professional development days during the school year. This is One of the lowest numbers of P.D. days in the area, and the board has not received any complaints from parents about the number of days off. EXETER, ONTARIO, MAY 2, 1979One Hundred and Fifth Year OPP VISITS MT. CARMEL — Constable Glen O'Rourke of the Mt. Forest Ontario Provincial Police detachment and his police dog Baron paid a visit Tuesday to Our Lady of Mount Carmel School as part of Education Week activities. Getting to know Baron are Pete Conlin, Bruce Andrews, Dennis Brennan, Lori Glavin and Katherine Calliere. T-A photo I ?|||K ■ rt 31 it* wF -IB n,S' 'iSV No big jump in taxes Price Per Copy 25 Cents Suspend sentences over tire slashing ■ . r • II I < Kg k.7 .’’11 Pi H * JR® 1 n 1 K$ CL ■ fi' MbF ■ ■ -I1 ’fw' Plan enthuses merchants A report calling for exten­ sive changes to Exeter’s down town core was greeted with enthusiasm by members of the town’s business community Wednesday evening. The report which was done by Project Planning Associates of Toronto recommends that the redevelopment of the business core be centred around the town hall-library area, and the PUC and municipal buildings. Chairman of the business improvement area Bob Swartman recommended that these three areas be completed first as they were highly visible and would show to outside shoppers that Exeter was concerned about creating a hospitable shopping environment. “Exeter is the most progressive town in Huron county and I want to keep it that way”, Swartman told the 70 people who attended the presentation at the town hall. Vern Olson in charge of the project for the planners said a survey early in their study indicated that shoppers and merchants desired more parking and additional shops and recrea­ tion facilities. The basic problem which the core area faces is a lack of adequate parking, he said. At present there are 106 parking spaces on Main Street between Gidley and Huron streets with possible street widening in portions of downtown taking away 15 spaces, Olson said if the rear lots behind the stores could be developed as customer park­ ing, in excess of 500 spaces could be created. When the parking lots behind the stores are utiliz­ ed, it was important that a circulation pattern that would encourage shoppers to use the back lots be es­ tablished. Olson said where it was possible, it would be a good idea to have a customer entrance for their store at the rear of the Vandalism continues police will get tough “Do you know where your children are and what they are doing?” Police Chief Ted Day asked local parents this week in the wake of several more acts of vandalism in the community. He quickly added that “it’s quite apparent to the police that some parents really don’t care what their children are doing,” In view of the mounting increase in damage to private and public property, Chief Day noted that the police will not give any warnings to anyone ap­ prehended, regardless if they are adults or juveniles. “Charges will be laid against anyone ap­ prehended,” he advised, adding that penalties for mischief can lead to sen­ tences up to five years in jail. Mischief that causes serious damage or endangers lives can result in terms of up to 14 years. An Exeter OPP cruiser was the target Of one van­ dalism attack this week. The vehicle had been parked overnight at Walpef’s BP and a side-view mirror and fender light had been broken off. A window in the PUC pumphouse near the Exeter dam was smashed and a car owned by Lome Haugh, Carling Street, was damaged while parked at the rec centre. This week’s incidents also included the theft of two fire extinguishers and a metal loading cart from the new apartment building Carling Street. building. In reply to a question from Mrs. Chan Livingstone, Olson said residents whose property abuts property owned by Main street merchants that would be used for parking, had been given the opportunity to come in and discuss the proposed parking changes when the planners had their store front operation in the fall. Jay Campbell of Campbells’ Jewellers said many of the residents on William Street who he had talked to were pleased that the back lots would be im­ proved. Olson said another thrust of the report was to create a more hospitable environ­ ment for the downtown shopper such as green areas and a common theme for the store fronts. Please turn to page 2 Two Huron Park men who slashed the tires on 18 cars parked at the Hensail arena on November 25 were given suspended sentences and placed on probation for one year when they appeared before Judge W.G. Cochrane for sentencing in Exeter court, Tuesday. John Wayne O’Neill and Benjamin Stephen Hillman, had pleaded guilty a month ago to the charges arising out of the tire slashing spree and the sentence was delayed pending a pre­ sentence report. The court learned it was the first offence for either of the two men. However, O’Neill ended up with a fine of $200 or 20 days on a charge arising from the break, enter and theft at the Hensall Abattoir on the same date, and another fine of $100 or 10 days laid after he caused damage at the cells at the Exeter OPP office. All three incidents oc­ curred on the same night, as the duo used knives stolen from the abattoir to slash the car tires. A set of scales at the abattoir was also damaged. Hillman also was fined $200 or 20 days on the break, enter and theft at the abat­ toir. Damage in the tire slashing incident was close to $3,000 and the matter of restitution was discussed at the court session. No action was taken when it was learn­ ed that the insurance com­ panies involved in the claims expect to seek some restitution from the ac­ cused. O’Neill and Hillman were given 60 days in which to pay their fines. Get discharges Two other area men charged with theft and damage incidents in recent weeks were given absolute discharges by Judge Cochrane. Larry Gerald Moir, Hen­ sail, was given an absolute discharge on a wilful damage charge laid after a plate glass window was smashed on January 25 at the Bonthron Furniture store in Hensall. The court learned that restitution had been made. An absolute discharge was also handed out to Glenn Henry Pfaff, RR 3 Dashwood, who was charged on April 13 with the theft of a mailbox. The item had been replaced by the accused. In the only other case heard on Tuesday’s docket, Peter Scott Angus, Exeter, formerly of Markham, was fined $100 or 10 days on a charge of driving while dis­ qualified. He also had his licence suspended for an ad­ ditional three months and was given 60 days in which to pay the fine. He had been charged on February 13 and told the court he had been moving and did not receive notifica­ tion of his licence suspen­ sion, which had been levied due to default on the pay­ ment of fines. In a short session this week, Justice of the Peace Douglas Wedlake heard only three cases. Edward Elliott, Goderich, was fined $28 for failing to provide a driver’s licence and another $58 for failing to provide proof of insurance. A fine of $54 was levied against David W. Stilson, RR 2 Lucan, for having li­ quor readily available in a vehicle he was driving on March 27. Three hurt in collisions Three injuries, all of a minor nature, were sustain­ ed in the three accidents in­ vestigated this week by the Exeter OPP. A five -year-old Huron Park girl, Barbara Stiles, 262 Algonquin Drive, had minor scrapes after her tricycle ran into a vehicle operated by Lorna Irwin, 284 Algonquin Drive. There was no damage to either vehicle. The other two injuries were the result of a two- vehicle collision on Highway 4 just north of the intersec­ tion in Hensall, on Thursday. The vehicles were driven by David Soudant, RR 1 Varna, and Myrtle Dick, Hensall. Damage was listed at $1,- 900 and the injuries were sustained by Ms. Dick and a passenger in the other vehi­ cle, Ronald Soudant. Constable Jim Rogers in­ vestigated. The other crash of the week was investigated on Friday by Constable Bob Whiteford. It involved vehicles driven by Ronald Beierling, RR 2 Zurich, and Larry Moir, Seaforth. They collided at the intersection of Queen and Nelson St. in Hensall with resulting damage of $900. FINAL STUDY PRESENTED -- Before about 70 Exeter merchants the final study of Exeter's business core was presented Wednesday at a meeting of the Business Improvement Area. Going over the plan for the area by the town hall and library are BIA members Bob Swartman, Mike Williamson, Vern Olson of Project Planning Associates, Ron Cottrell and Getty Gray.