HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-08-15, Page 13ground with a CO radio
telling the jumper what to do
to steer the chute Into the
landing field, The' beginners
wear one back and another
infront, On top the one in
front is a tiny CB receiver so
that they can hear in-
structions. If the back
parachute fails, they have an
alternative.
The jumper also needs a
jumpsuit--a large pair of
overalls. Most of them wear
hockey helmet for protec-
tion, and heavy construction
boots.
Usually this equipment
isn't needed, and Marshall
says that if the jump is made
properly it is the equivalent
to jumping off of a four foot
wall.
As well as the thrill of
skydiving, Marshall says
that a great social life goes
along with. the club. But, he
stressed that the parties did
not begin until the plane was
down for the night. "When
we're instructing or in the
air, we mean business," he
says.
The club uses a Cessna 182
piloted by Fred Frangekis
for their jumps, The plane
carries four jumpers at a
time, and takes off from the
airport runway. The jum-
pers land nearby in a field
they rented for that purpose.
Originally the field had
barley on it, but it was
recently combined.
During the past weekend
Norm Meyers of Gananoque
was at the skydiving club
teaching pilots how to get
maximum efficiency from
their planes. Marshall
describes Meyers as "the
best jump pilot in Canada,"
Pegs lA
AUGUST 15, 1979
Price Per Copy 25 Cents
Woodworker amazed at requests,
custom makes variety of items
LAST MINUTE INSTRUCTIONS — Lynn Ball receives last minute instructions from Bob Wright and Norm Meyers about
how she stands on the airplane wheel and then falls backwards for her first free fall jump.
• PACKING THE CHUTE— Peter Boshart of St. Thomas and Carole Case of London pack up
a parachute for the next jump. They say a chute takes 20 minutes to pack and about two
seconds to open.
ON THE RUNWAY — The Cessna 1 82 taxis down the runway ready to take the skydivers
for their drop from 7200 feet in the air.
GOING DOWN — Instructor Bob Wright is underneath his square parachute and the tiny
parachute required to open it. Well above him is Lynn Ball in her round parachute.
House trailer and pick - up
• • • I park
Damages amounted to
$21,500,00 when a pick-up
truck collided with a 24 foot
house trailer in Pinery
Provincial Park Saturday,
Matthew Bressette of RR. 2
Forest was the driver of the
truck and the trailer was
being towed by Mike Verkaik
of Chatham, Gertrude
Verkaik, who was a
passenger in her husband's
car, received minor injuries.
The Pinery detachment of
the Ontario Provincial
Police investigated the
accident.
Also on Saturday, Pinery
OPP investigated a single
car accident on county road 5
near the tri-county bridge. A
car driven by Raymond
Gooding, Woodstock, left the
road and skidded into a ditch
causing $1200 damage.
Gooding, who was alone in
the car, received minor
injuries.
On August 5, a vehicle
driven by Marion Quinn of
London skidded into a ditch
on B Concession, Bosanquet
township near Pinehurst
Trailer Park, Damage to the
car was estimated at $1000
Please turn to page 2A
Lorne Wright says he can
make anything out of wood,
anything but money, that is.
Wright has his own wood
working shop about three
miles south of Grand Bend
on highway 21, where he
takes orders and makes the
many strange things that
people ask for.
"I'm so busy that I'm
astonished," Wright says. table top. He does put a
He has stopped taking orders polyurethane coating on the
right now, because he cedar to finish the tables, but
figures he has enough work he prefers to sell them unfi-
to keep him busy. for - tWitia4"nistiedIti1tiakhe-bilatbilier..
years already lined up.
Wright has been a custom
wood worker on a full time
basis for the past four years.
He says he likes the work
because of the variety. "I'm
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SIMIMMORM Mcirce,WSNA,4"
ry'e;
2intuaii
BY MARY ALDERSON
just amazed at the different
jobs I'm asked to do." he
says.
His beautiful cedar table
and chair sets or his coffee
and end table sets are
common requests. Wright
selects pieces of dark and
light cedar and puts them
carefully together alter-
nating the colors to make a
can finish them, to, his own
liking,
Although his style of
furniture is unique, Wright
says that making the tables
and chairs are ordinary. It's
1,4 "s1/4 Ni,. =shri NIA, Nog
.40 W. mia, 110.
DOG PADDLER — Swimming Instructor Janet Allister of
Grand Bend helps Paul Hernacki in Tony Relouw's pool near
Grand Bend.
.First 'free fall' a thrill
and 20 regular members.
Members come from all
over—most are from the
London-St. Thomas area,
others come from Sarnia and
Stratford.
They meet at the old
airport near Grand Bend
every weekend. Many come
for the weekend, camping
out in tents near the runway.
This was actually the 10th
jump that Lynn Ball had
made. Up until now she had
gone "static line"—when the
parachute opens
automatically about eight
feet from the plane. But this
was the first time she had
actually fallen through the
air before the parachute
opened,
One of the founding
members of the "SWOOP",
Wes Marshall says "Now,
she'll be hooked"that's the
difference between
parachuting and skydiving."
Organizers agree that if you
can get a beginner to the
stage where they make their
first free fall jump, they will
stay with the sport.
Lynn says she found the
jump exciting--"My eyes
were watering and I was just
falling", She says she can't
wait to do it again, and her
instructor said that she had
done well for her first free
fall.
Keeping beginners with
the sport through the "static
line" stage until they get
ready for free fall is
sometimes difficult. The
club charges $86.50 for
lessons and the first jump.
Wes Marshall waits on the
I hate to see the end of
summer come. Labour Day
is the most depressing day of
the year. Some people find
birthdays hard to take, while
others get upset on New
Year's Day when they
realize another year has
gone by and they've ac-
complished little.
I used to cry myself to
sleep on Labour Day nights.
I thought it was because I
had the back-to-school blues,
but I still feel the tears
coming on, even though for
the first time in 19 years I
don't have to go back to
school.
I sometimes thought my
deep depression had
something to do with the fact
that summer was over and I
still didn't have a tan. But
I've come to terms with that
problem and accepted the
idea that I am one of those
people whole turn pink when
I'm out in the sun and fade to
white the next day. I've tried
to convince myself that tans
aren't important. I keep
telling myself that all those
people who have deep golden
brown skin are just going to
be wrinkled when they get
old.
I think I've finally ac-
counted for my hatred of
September. I've never
before admitted this to
anyone, but I now realize
that I have a serious ad-
diction. I am a junk food
junkie. And summer is the
season for junk food, I hate
Labour Day because that's
when the withdrawal pains
start.
What better place than
Grand Bend to feed a junk
food addiction, You can go
down Main Street from place
to place and the owners will
never be able to tell that
you're a junkie.
In Grand Bend you can
start the day with a gooey
chocolate doughnut, and
follow that with a mid-
morning chili dog, A bag of
potato chips and a bottle of
pop will see you through 'til
lunch, when you can have a
two layer hamburg with
cheese, french .fries
smothered in gravy, a
burrito with hot sauce and
top it off with a wild cherry
milk shake.
A foot long hot dog covered
with fried onions and an
order of onion rings may get
you through the afternoon.
Then for dinner you can
easily feed your addiction a
super delux submarine in-
cluding salami, pepperoni
and lots of mustard without
the attendant becoming
suspicious.
A dish of soft ice cream
covered in hot fudge sauce
will help you enjoy the
sunset. Then for a midnight
snack you can have a nice
big pizza with three kinds of
spicy meats, mushrooms,
green peppers and some
pineapple, just to make sure
you get your daily fruit
requirement. An ice cream
cone with at least three
flavours—say, mauve, green
and pink--will settle your
stomach before you go to
sleep.
There are many ways to
vary this menu so that clerks
will not become alert to your
addiction problem. You can
switch the foot long to the
mornings, and have the chili
dog in the afternoon.
But with the coming of fall,
many of the establishments
that supply the junk food
addict close up, Another
September of withdrawal
symptoms.
Then, it's back to salads,
vegetables, broiled fish,
carrot sticks and apples for
another winter,. Eventually
my system accepts the
strange nutritious foods.
But I'm always careful to
lose just enough weight that I
can go back to my addiction
next summer, Will I ever
overcome my attraction to
junk food? Not likely!
the other unusual requests
he get that makes life in-
teresting.
Recently he was asked to
make some wooden horses
like the ones used on merry-
go-rounds. The customer
mounted the horses on large
farm implement springs and
set them up in his camp-
aground so that children can
play on them.
Wright has had requests to
make the curved wooden
frames that hold up the cloth
4roof on antique cars. One
customer had him making
the frames for a Gray-Dort,
a very old car that was once
manufactured in Chatham.
In the same way he curves
the roof frames, Wright
makes braces to steady the
seat and backs of antique
chairs. Many of his jobs are
repairing antiques or family
heirlooms.
Another time he was asked
to make a copy of an antique
that was still in use. Wright
fashioned a wooden
sauerkraut cutter from a
very old one, complete with
blade and handle to hold onto
the head of cabbage.
He has also been asked to
make the canopy frame for
antique four-poster beds.
Recently he repaired the
wooden frame used to make
a false wedding cake. The
wooden boxes are stacked up
and then iced.
Wright has also made
fleshing poles--the big
wooden cones that trappers
use to stretch pelts on for
cleaning and drying. Hun-
ters and trappers tell Wright
thatp these poles can no
longer be purchased in
stores and several have
come to him.
Collectors appreciate
Wright because he can come
up with the just the right
shelf to show off their hobby.
Wright has made little
tracks on which to display a
collection of playing cards,
and small shelves on which
to place a collection of salt
and pepper shakers.
He's also make cuppolas to
hold up weather vanes and
wooden carts to hold plants
in a flower shop.
One of the most unusual
requests Wright's had is to
make a coat rack from little
dollies which were once on
electrical wires in France.
The little iron figures
resemble a child's doll and
they held up the wires on
early electricity poles. A
customer brought them to
Wright and asked him to
build something using them.
Wright make an attractive
hall tree and used the dollies
with their outstretched arms
to hold up coats.
It's the unusual things that
make woodworking in-
teresting. Wright says that
the strange requests he gets
from customers make his
work a challenge. "It would
be boring to Make the same
old thing all the time," he
says,
Wright says he always
dreamed of having his own
woodworking business. He
has done carpentry work all
his life. For a while he
managed a basket factory in
Forest, but he preferred to
be out working with the wood
than in the office.
Wright says there are very
few custom woodworking
shops around. Many have
specialized in one item, such
as church pews, and there a
are few places one can go
with a strange request.
Wright also sells firewood,
and his summers are very
busy keeping campers
supplied. He admits that
,
Bosanquet township is
ready to look at alternatives
in their flood plain zoning
now that they have been
faced with law suits
amounting to $500,000.
Deputy clerk George
Eizenga says that an
engineering firm has been
hired to look into the area
now zoned as flood plain and
consider changes. "Some
areas are lower than others,
they can't be treated the
same," Eizenga said.
The law suits were served
when a zoning bylaw made in
the 1950's prohibiting
building in flood plain areas
was revived. The old bylaw
had been ignored for several
years, and many homes and
subdivisions had been made
in the area surrounding the
Ausable River Cut,
The claimants want a
court order to stop the
township from enforcing the
old by-law. Ultimately they
want the bylaw voided.
Lawyer Kent McClure is
acting for the land owners
who want to build on their
property.
Heather Ross, a sub-
division developer is
many of his buyers of the
custom-made wood furniture
stopped to buy firewood.
He's had many ex-
periences with tourists whd
drop in for firewood. One day
a customer insisted on
picking all the pine out of the
various wood piles.
He sorted through all the
piles, and left with two boxes
of what he called pine, very
satisfied. Wright never told
him that there wasn't a bit of
pine in any of the piles, he
only works with hard wood.
claiming $250,000, Albert
Pearce a home owner and
realtor is claiming $200,000
and Harold and Audrey
Coulson are claiming $50,000.
Land owners Timothy Sweet
and Norman James are
demanding that they be
issued building permits,
Eizenga says he wants to
make it clear that none of the
existing homes in the area
will be torn down. An ac-
Wright attributes his large
business to a change in
society's attitude. He says
people now want furniture
that is solid and made to last.
A few years ago people were
buying inexpensive furniture
that they replaced every few
years. "We're not a throw
away society anymore," he
says. Similarly people want
to hang onto antiques now,
where a few years ago they
would have thrown them out.
This accounts for Wright's
big business. in repairing old,
brolen 'furniture.
count on CFPL television
frightened many people into
thinking that their homes
may be demolished and his
office has had many
inquiries, he says.
Bosanquet township reeve
Charles Srokosz and clerk
Bob McCordic who has been
named in one of the writs,
were both away on vacation
and not available for com-
ment.
Lynn Ball owes her friends
a case of beer. After they had
congratulated her and patted
her on the back, she
promised she'd buy it for
them.
Lynn made her first "free
fall" jump from an airplane
Sunday at the skydiving club
at Grand Bend Airport.
Tradition at the club dictates
that when a member makes
his or her first free fall jump,
they have to buy the drinks
for the next party.
The club calls themselves
"SWOOP"--South Western
Ontario Organization of
Parachutists, Chief in-
structor and president Bob
Wright of London estimates
that there are between 15
CHECKING THE RIP CORDS — Lynn Ball of London gets
ready for her first free fall jump, and instructor Bob Wright
checks her alternate parachute.
MAKES ANYTHING OUT OF WOOD — Lorne Wright of RR 2 Grand Bend uses a little
horse as an example of the unusual things he's been asked to make.
Bosanquet to look at zoning