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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-04-20, Page 1MORE SHOPS — This is an interior view of the new mall area. The stairways shown at the left lead to the two-level shopping area to be housed in the former Chainway building. Developer Len Veri said this week there could be from eight to 12 stores in the new facility, most of them being small speciality shops. Should start this weekend Plans for new mall outlined Hawks play waiting game About the only thing certain at press time about the pending OHA junior “D” championship is that the Exeter Hawks will be one of the teams involved. Their opposition will be provided by either the Wingham Ironmen or the Lakefield Chiefs. That series is currently tied at three games each and the deciding game will be played tonight (Thursday) in Lakefield. TRANSFERRED — OPP CpI. Dave Woodward has been transferred to the Exeter detachment. He has been with the OPP for 20 years, marking his anniversary on April 3. CpI. Woodward has been with the Niagara Falls detachment and is the father of three children, Carol, 18, David, 14, and Frank, 7. He is presently looking for ac­ commodation in the area and plans to move his wife and Tamily at the end of the school year. T-A photo Sewer count hearing set It’s finally happened! An Exeter homeowner has been charged with failing to hook into the existing sanitary sewer system. Council members have threatened for more than a year to bring charges against people who con­ travene the bylaw which requires them to hook into the system, but those war­ nings have never been backed up with action. However, this week, works superintendent Glenn Kells said a property owner has been charged on two counts under the bylaw. A court date has been set for May 16. Mayor Bruce Shaw commended the action in laying the charges. “There’s no sense having bylaws if they’re not enforced,” he noted adding he was glad to see the municipality taking action. Madness hits again! Exeter's Main St. merchants will be hosting their se­ cond late night shopping promotion this Friday as "Moonlight Madness'' gets underway at 6:00 p.m. and continues through to midnight. A similar venture last November turned out to be an overwhelming success, catching many store operators off-guard as they weren't prepared for the rush of shoppers who stuck it out to the stroke of midnight. Once again the stores are offering extra values as an inducement to shoppers, many of them listing their special offerings in this week's edition. The Chiefs won the first three games and appeared headed for the final set with the defending champion Hawks, but Wingham came back with three straight wins to push the series to the limit. They won the fourth game on their home ice, Friday, and then scored a 7-5 overtime win in Lakefield, Sunday. They tied the game with only five seconds left in the third period. Tuesday night, Wingham scored a 5-0 win on their home ice, a game witnessed by several area fans who took the opportunity to see the teams from which the next Exeter competition will be decided. On the basis of that game, the local fans couldn’t un­ derstand how Wingham lost any games to Lakefield. They dominated play throughout and could have won by double the actual verdict with more accurate shooting. One of the problems being experienced by the two teams on their opponent’s ice is the lengthy bus trip. Lakefield were on the road sfor almost five hours before arriving in Wingham and their players appeared to be suffering from that long trip when they took to the ice only minutes before game time. While most local observers wouldn’t make predictions for publication, they felt the Hawks would have little trouble with the Chiefs based on their inept play, Tuesday. Most predicted the Exeter team would also Wingham, with prognostications the oust the ranging from four to six games. One fan, a little less optimistic, figured the Hawks would have trouble keeping up with the speedy Wingham team. In a pre-season contest, with several regulars missing, Exeter beat Wingham on the latter’s ice by a 7-3 score. Unfortunately, management of both teams wouldn’t negotiate a starting time for their series with Exeter. They said they wanted to wait until after Thursday’s deciding tilt. Manager Fred Mom- mersteeg was in contact with the OHA in an effort to get some indication when the series could begin, but at press time he still hadn’t received any word. The Hawks hoped to have Lakefield here for a two- game set this weekend and then back to the Peter­ borough area centre for two games next weekend. The proposition Wingham was to play Saturday and Sunday as well this weekend, with a game in each centre. At any rate, the large contingent of area fans should be advised that neither the Wingham or for ~ e Lakefield arenas have large seating capacities. Serving One Hundred and Fifth Year imes - Advocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex ■ ' ■ . ■ ■./ ' •-'IM & North Lambton Since 1873 •I- EXETER, ONTARIO, APRIL 20, 1978 Price Per Copy 25 Cents AS BAD AS IT SEEMS? — The expression on Don Lewis' face would indicate it may be too late for a checkup, but his son Larry decided to undertake the task anyway. Don was com­ peting in a hockey game when the parents tackled the Exeter atoms last week. Larry was the assistant trainer, being kept busy looking after the huffing and puffing parents. T-A photo Frightened off at Kippen Armed trio escape Kippen grandmother her 16-year-old grand- few A and daughter spent a harrowing minutes Monday night when they were con­ fronted by three youths in an attempted armed holdup. The incident occurred just before 6:00 p.m. at the Kippen General Store, which is operated by Ken McLellan . Mr. McLellan and his wife were in Toronto for the day and the store was being operated by Mrs. McLel­ lan’s mother, Mrs. Ida Dickert, and the owners’ daughter, Robin, a student at South Huron District High School. Three youths, two males and one female, described as being 16 to 20 years of age, entered the store, and‘ when Robin asked if she could help them, the female said they were just looking. The latter then said she wanted a package of cigarettes and when Robin walked back to the cash register with the cigarettes, she was followed by one of Exeter developer Len Veri outlined plans this week for the commercial facility which will combine the former Chainway building and a new structure to be erected on the lot which housed the office of the late Dr. M.C. Fletcher. The building will have 11,- 000 square feet of rental space when completed. The Chainway building has been completely gutted and will feature two shop­ ping levels. The upper level has already been leased to a •Toronto clothing firm, Deb- U-Tot, who had an existing lease with the previous owners of the building. Veri said he is negotiating with six or eight other firms for the remaining space in the building. “We’re looking for something not already in town,” he said. “We’re not trying to create competition for existing businesses, but rather new interest for the town.” Veri said some prospec­ tive tenants have already been turned down because they provided goods already available in the community. The lower shopping level of the Chainway building and the new structure to the south will house boutique­ type stores mainly. “It will be of interest to stores re­ quiring 500 to 1,000 square feet”, Veri said, noting that this type of space is present­ ly not available in Exeter, the men and she noticed he was carrying a hand gun. She yelled, and when her grandmother looked, noticed that the other man was standing near her with a knife in his hand. Mrs. Dickert yelled to “get the dog” and Robin ran and this apparently frightened BRIDGE SUFFERS —- The bridge over the Ausable River at the north end of Exeter was hit by cars twice this week. Monday afternoon a car driven by Maxwell Irvine, Grand Bend hit the northwest corner of the structure. T-A photo While the development is basically two buildings, they will be joined by open doorways making the entire area accessible to shoppers from the inside. Each will also have an entrance off Main St. and large windows on the south side of the ex­ isting Chainway structure will provide a spacious at­ mosphere. from the inside. NEW MALL — This is a sketch of the new mall being developed by Len Veri in the former Chainway building and the lot which housed the office of the late Dr. M.C. Fletcher. While each unit has an entrance off Main St., the entire facility will be accessible the trio off as they left the store. Nothing was taken in the incident. Talking about the at­ tempted holdup, Tuesday, Mr. McLellan said neigh­ bors had noticed a man acting strangely in the area of the Kippen United Church earlier in the day. Veri said the completion of the Chainway structure is scheduled for early July and the entire project should be completed by the middle of August. The developer has purchased a nearby proper­ ty to provide parking for customers of the new mall. Veri, who sold the land which will house a new shop­ Accept recommendations of house numbering group Some Exeter householders could have a change of ad­ dress in the near future, but they won’t have to go to the trouble of moving their possessions. Monday night, Exeter council accepted the final recommendations of a four- member house numbering committee, which had been established in 1975. One of the recommendations calls for a new numbering system on new and existing crescents and cul-de-sacs where they are not a con­ tinuation of a street. This will require changes to the numbering system on Sherwood Crescent and Kingscourt, chairman Den­ nis Hockey advised council. However, the main recommendation outlined in the report is to impress upon home owners the need for erecting suitable house numbers. Many homes in the community do not have visible numbers at present and a brochure will be dis­ tributed pointing out that this neglect could create problems for emergency services to reach homeowners. The brochure is headed up “could they find your house in time?” and goes on to point out the problem the fire department, police or an ambulance driver could have if homes are not properly numbered. The committee, whose other members are Olga Davis, Irv Armstrong and Carol Arthur, suggest the numbers used should be at least four inches high and be placed within five feet of the front door or otherwise be visible from the street. It was also suggested that large maps depicting streets and house numbers should ping plaza now under con­ struction at the north end of Exeter, said his develop­ ment in the core area backs up his earlier comments about most local merchants have nothing to fear through the north end plaza. “Exeter has a very viable core area,” he said, quickly adding he would be in­ terested in buying more be prepared and located in the town area and/or out­ skirts. “It may be beneficial to Reserve still smouldering Members of Exeter coun­ cil aren’t certain what will happen to a proposal to set up a reserve fund for a new fire truck now that Hay Township has decided not to join the other three area fire board members in that ven­ ture. Exeter, Usborne and Stephen have voted in favor of setting aside a total of $4,- 000 each year to defray the cost of a new truck when it is required in the future. Clerk Liz Bell said that Hay Reeve Jack Tinney had wanted his municipality to back the plan, but his coun­ cil didn’t support it. She said that because Hay is involved in five or six fire boards, they had decided to establish their own reserve fund, rather than contribute to several others. “If three out of the four agree, I don’t see where Hay can back off," Reeve Si Sim­ mons commented. However, Councillor Derry Boyle said he didn’t see any reason to try and force Hay into the plan. “They would have to kick through with their share of the funds at the time of purchase,” he explained. Deputy-Reeve Don MacGregor said the Exeter area fire board planned to meet this week and would discuss the matter. He an­ ticipated a report for coun­ cil’s next meeting. Bridge battered in two collisions Two accidents occurred in Exeter this week and in both instances vehicles struck the bridge over the Ausable river on Main street north. Monday at 9.30 p.m. a vehicle driven by Charles Corey, Clinton swerved off the highway and struck the west side of the bridge. Constable Brad Sadler set damages at $3,000. The driver was not injured. Monday afternoon, Maxwell J. Irvine, Grand Bend suffered chest and head injuries as the vehicle commercial space in the downtown area if it was available. He just recently purchas­ ed the former residence of Edgar Squires north of the former Bank of Nova Scotia building and plans to com­ mercially develop it in the immediate future. He’s already looking for prospec­ tive tenants for the develop- approach service clubs throughout the town as to financing of same,” the committee stated. Exeter’s original house numbering system was in­ troduced as a project of the local Kinsmen club in 1950, and while there are some in­ consistencies in the overall plan, it is basically sound. The committee recommends that council appoint someone to be in charge of the numbering system and that they adopt a policy of providing house numbers for new homes through an additional levy on the building permit fee. Hockey said they didn’t recommend a bylaw that would force people to erect numbers, because that could turn people off. “Persuasion is the key,” commented Mayor Bruce Shaw. Shaw said the committee had been working a long time on the project and members probably felt at times they weren’t getting anywhere. He urged them to “keep an eye on us” to make sure the recommendations are carried out. Members of the com­ mittee received a vote of thanks for their efforts. “It was a great service to the town,” commented Coun­ cillor Derry Boyle. Mrs. Arthur said she had benefitted from the task and had come to know Exeter better, having toured all the streets to view the existing plan and determine the changes that were necessary. Residents on streets where numbers are to be changed will be officially notified of their new numbers through the clerk’s office. he was driving south on Main street struck the northwest corner of the bridge. The Irvine vehicle caught fire on impact but the blaze was quickly extinguished by OPP Corporal David Woodward who was driving in the opposite direction when the mishap occurred. Irvine was taken to South Huron Hospital by Constable George Robertson and then transferred to a London hospital. Constable Robertson listed damages at $3,500. ment as well. While Exeter is experien­ cing a large commercial growth, Veri expects it to level off soon. “There’s a limit to what Exeter can handle,” he notes, adding that such development always appears to go in spurts. He said the commercial development now taking place should increase business for most local merchants in that it will make the town a more viable shopping area through an extension of goods available to shoppers. The specialty type stores he envisions for his new mall should make it un­ necessary for shoppers to drive to London for this type of merchandise, he predicts. Only few drop out South Huron District High School lost about 20 students because of the teachers’ strike, principal Joe Wooden said Friday. “I was afraid we would lose about 50 students, but we only lost 20 as a direct result of the disruption. About half of the 20 transferred to other schools and the other half dropped out,” Wooden said. Most of the students who transferred to other schools will likely transfer back to South Huron, Wooden said. Three students transferred back on Friday and three or four more will be back next week. There is no way the time lost because of the strike can be made up in the classroom before the end of the school year, Wooden noted. “We lost about 20 days in­ structional time. It would be ridiculous to say we haven’t missed important work.” The local high school prin­ cipal said adjustments would be made to courses and in some subjects sec­ tions would have to be cut. He said the missed work could have an adverse effect on students going into post­ secondary school. “It will depend on what the student is going into. I don’t think they will suffer in a major way, but they won’t have as broad a background as they would have had,” he said. Teachers of the grade 13 math and sciences courses will concentrate on the areas the students will need to know if they are going on to university. Wooden said there was no tension between teachers and students following the 31 day strike. . “Everyone seems to be pleased to be back and eager to get things done. The at­ mosphere is just great.” The school year at South Huron will not likely be ex­ tended Wooden said. Final exams will be written in the latter part of June by students who don’t qualify for an exemption, he said. Conservation areas aided Nine conservation areas will benefit from a $52,000 Ontario grant to the Ausable-Bayfield Conserva­ tion Authority. In announcing the grant, Natural Resources Minister Frank S. Miller said that the following Conservation Areas — Zurich. Morrison Dam, Thedford, Port Franks, Port Blake, Stephen Wildlife Area, Parkhill, Clinton and Rock Glen will undergo such improvements as general landscaping, trail and picnic site upgrading, construction and repair of campground roads, building winterization and other general developments. Total estimated cost for the work is $104,000. At Morrison Dam, a picnic pavilion is being con­ structed north of the lake on the east side of the Usborne township road and the park­ ing lot at the south side is be­ ing enlarged. Finishing touches are be­ ing made to landscaping at the Port Blake conservation park and additional trees are being planted. In Zurich, the Authority is working with the Zurich Agricultural Society and the Zurich recreation com­ mittee in expanding recrea­ tion facilities and es­ tablishing a picnic area. A-B resources manager Don Pearson said this week that work on the Stephen wildlife area at Crediton has been completed and the property is being turned over to the municipality on a maintenance management agreement.