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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-08-13, Page 13'o v.7.7.1,7n-wrrT.,frq.^,er", Students 'tdig' Indian history Riverside Nature Trail, just along the banks of the old Ausable River. It wasT first discovered in 1969 by a amateur archaeologist Colin Cutler. Part of the area was again excavated in 1973 by David Stothers an ar- chaeologist hired, by the Ministry of Natural. Resources. The area, as well as some 80 other areas which May have been Indian camps,' were surveyed in 1976 and 197' by Ian Kenyon, who was working for the Ministry of Culture and Recreation. Pihl says that his, group has the' full co-operation of the interpretive staff at Pinery, because they want to use information he gains in their programmes •at the park. The group is finding remnants of two settlements in the area which Pihl describes as prehistoric and historic. He explains that those are terms which ar- chaeologists use. Historic sites are ones which have occurred since a written history of the area has been recorded, while prehistoric sites contain artifacts from an era before any written history. Pihi and his crew have found artifacts from both segments of the past, in- dicating two occupations of the area. In the first layer of digging, rusty old nails, nuts and bolts were found. lay the styles of the items — such as square nails -- Pihl estimates them to be about 100 years old. He says theyare remnants of a logging can* The Pinery area was cut down for lumber in the late 1800's. The place where an old roadway must have been is • visible in the wooded area near the,excavating site. Pihl says i is a logging road way. The artifacts which really interest the archeologists are located in the layers of sand underneath. Pihl says they are from the Saugeen culture - a name given to early Indian groups because of the similarities in their lifestyles. These people were hunters and fishermen; as well as gathers. They had not r yet, 'discovered., agriculture. The Saugeen culture is not necessarily an ancestor to ,the Neutrals or Attawandrons which oc- cupied that area in later years. Pihl says that the Saugeen culture is the earliest known Indian culture in southwestern Ontario. The settlements date back to the years bet- ween 500 B.C. and 800 A.D. Busy in the 'Bend While some workers at Pinery Provincial Park pick up empty beer bottles and garbage scattered on the' ground, another group is digging for litter left at a campsite about 2000 years ago, A crew of six students and an instructor have been excavating for remnants of an. Indian camp in the Pinery: Long, before the province ever thought about creating a park, it was 'a favourite campground. The students are there on a two week archaelogical field Police at Grand Bend have reccommended a St. Marys nursing assistant for a commendation after she saved the life of a Stratford woman Saturday. Shirley Scheuermann gave artificial resperiation to Dorothy Romphf, 58, when she was choking on a piece of steak at a barbeque, Constable Marlene Caldwell of the Grand Bend detachment reccommended that Ms. Scheuerrnann be given the Ontario Provincial Police commendation. Ambulance driver Jim Hoffman of Dashwood was able to dislodge the meat which was obstructing Mrs. Romph's throat when he arrived, but he said that Ms. Scheuerman's actions kept her alive. Hoffman took Mrs. A • record number of visitors strolled through Lambton Heritage Museum Sunday, for the first craft school, sponsored, by the faculty of part time and ,continuing education at the University of Western Ontario in London.„ The in- troductory course iS put on with the co-operation of the Museum of Indian Archaeology, also at Western. Their instructor is ,Robert Pihi, 'Curator of the museum, 'No previous knowlege of archaeetogy Was requirectfor the ,course. The students are camping at Pinery for the two week duration, Pihl said he is very pleased Van Romphf to Exeter by am- bulance where a doctor gave her dedication. He then took her on to University Hospital in London, where she is now recovering in good condition. , Mrs. Romphf had been visiting with Margaret and Tom Salters, of Stratford at their mobile home inWon- dergrove. The Salter's son is married to Mrs, Romphf's daughter. They were being entertained along with other relatives at the barbeque when Ms. Romphf began to choke. Various methods of dislodging the meat failed, and finally the help of Ms. Scheuermann, who was staying with her parents at their trailer next door, was sought. 13y this time, Mrs. Romphf had turned blue and become show and sale. More than 1500 people visited the museum, which is located on highway 21 south of Grand with the enthusiasth of the would-he archaeologists, but he wishes. the class was large. The course began August 3, and Pihl thinks that many people were reluctant to join because they had made plans for the, holiday weekend. Ile hopes the two week.summer course will become annual, and they will try to avoid holidays in future plans„.he says.. The group, is digging at what is called the Cutler Site. It is located in in the north. part or the day use area of the park, The site is near the unconcious. Ms. Scheuer- mann gave her mouth to mouth artificial respiration while others continued to try to dislodge the meat. Hoffman praised the nursing assistant's work, saying that he understood she took charge of the situation. Hoffman said that this kind of choking is generally known as a cafe coronary, and that Ms. Scheuermann used the obstructed airway routine of artificial respiration. Hoffman said that cases such as this where a life was sav,ed gives him en- couragement to continue teaching courses in CPR (cardi pul=monary resuscitation). Learning the obstructed airway routine is part of the CPR course. Pihi estimates that the Pinery sites are not as old as others because the area was all under water for some time after the ice age. The glacial water, which formed, the great lakes, covered the surrounding area for many centuries afterwards. Older Indian camps have been discovered as near by as Parkhill, Pihl says, No exact date can be,established until he sends' artifacts to a laboratory for radio carbon dating. Pihl says that the Indians probably never lived year round at the. Pinery. He says that they likely just came there in. The spring and the fall to catch the fish, He hopes that their findings will confirm when the campsites were used, Many fantasies about archaeology can be destroyed by visiting an excavation site, People who pictured it ° as an exotic career where the ar- chaeologists uncover the treasures pf King Tut will be disenchanted. It it is, in fact, hard, back-breaking, exacting labour. And the rewards are much less spectacular' then the treasures of Tut. • The items being found at Pinery would not excite an onlooker. Tiny bits of pottery followed byl a fiSh fry. Spirits were dampened Only slightly when mention Was made of their "problem". The club is still waiting for zoning changes from the planning board of the village, and some neigh- boring home owners have' complained about the club moving into the residential area. Reeve Robert Sharen spoke during the ceremony, and reassured the club that any problems will be solved. magalat Bend whether the beer store and liquor store are open or not. What did the holiday switch accomplish? Not much, the way I see it. The post office, medical centre and drug store were closed anyway - so much for the idea of offering full service to the resort. The village clerk and her assistant worked all day - when I'm sure they would have preferred to take the holiday with their families - and all they heard were complaints about that lack of parking. And there's nothing they can do about that anyway. The two banks only stayed open til noon, and said they weren't busy. So the real change was keeping the beer store and the liquor store open. It can't be proven, but how do we know that having them open didn't hurt business at the hotels and taverns in town? Shouldn't we want our local businessmen to get first crack at the spenders? And again, I'm sure the beer and liquor store employees would have preferred the day off with their families and friends. One other question - does Grand Bend really need or want the kind of people who would only come to town to buy booze? Let's hope the beach is enough attraction to bring out the crowds. And then there's dollars and cents. The village ac- tually lost money by not declaring Civic Holiday. You see, the cost of parking goes up on holidays, but on August 4 they couldn't charge the extra buck because it wasn't a holiday. A friend of mine who works in Grand Bend recently had a very elderly gentleman as a customer. In order to pass the time while she was waiting on him, she mentioned something about it being very busy in the resort. The old man allowed that it was "right busy", and then went on to say that it had been "a real long time since he'd been to Grand Bend." He came from Zurich, and they never got down that way very much. My friend, thinking that Zurich was only a stone's throw away, asked how long it had been since he'd been to the `bend.' "Well," the old Man thought, "Let's see, the last time I came I brought the team." "What team was that?" my friend asked, "Bowling? Baseball? Hockey?" The old man looked . at her quiz- zically. "No," he replied, "It was two horses, with the buggy." SCREENING FOR ARTIFACTS — in Indian Archaeology at Pinery Park. Part in the hunt for artifacts. Pat Nurse to get commendation SaVes. chokirig TIN SMITH — Eric Rabe of Amherstburg makes reproduc- tions of tin antique items such as candle holders, lanterns and pitchers. He was one of 40 artisans displaying wares at lamb- ton Heritage Museum Sunday. Staff photo Dyk of London is taking a two week field course of the course is learning how to sift through dirt Staff photo Museum craft day draws record number ' Bend. The previous record for the number of visitors in one day was set in May when the museum hosted a gas engine and antique car display. About 1000 people attended that day.. Curator Bob Tremain said that 40 artists from the area demonstrated ,and explained their drafts for the visitors. Among the artists were water colour painters, potters, leather workers, weavers, tin smiths, as well as people who Made apple head and clothes peg dolls. Cloudy skies forced the craftsmen to set up their tables indoors among the museum's displays. Plans had been made to have the craft tables outside, along the circle drive behind the main building. ° Tremain said that he hopes it will become an annual event. One artist, Jane Danis, commented that the' museum provided an ideal setting for crafts, and that the atmosphere was very friendly. Tremain said that the crafts people gave the museum 10 percent of the money raised through their sales. That should cover costs for advertising the event, Tremain said. Admission fees Made up the major part of the fund raising. Page 'I A Mary's BY MARY ALDER$ON The beach parking lot was packed tight, and so was the lot behind the village office. The Brewer's Retail lot was full, and so was the area from the Bank of Montreal to the Legion Hall. Every .sidestreet was lammed tight with cars along both sides parked in any direction. It was im- possible for pedestrians to get around safely, not to mention the hazard there could have been if a firetruck or ambulance were needed. People were even parked around the cul-de-sac at the end of Main Street, but police soon had them towed away. I heard a story about one family that brought a boat to town, hoping to launch it at the ramp on River Road. That wasn't a problem, but what would they do with the car and trailer once the boat was in the water? They figured they'd have to park in Shipka to go boating, I guess their cruise on Lake Huron was postponed. Reeve Bob Sharen will soon be calling a meeting to I sure hope there were reveal the results of a plenty of hitching posts so he recently completed traffic could park his team. If he and parking survey. Let's' had driven his car to town oh hope the experts call ,for August 4, (which was the day more parking spaces and that wasn't Civic Holiday) he council gets the certainly would have had a businessmen's support to tough time finding a place to park it. There was Simply not a square inch of spade So why were all these cars, available in that village, and of course people, Anyone who doesn't think crammed into the village? Grand Bend needs more Was it because it wasn't municipal parking lots must Civic Holiday, or was it not drive a car. There wasn't because they had the day off even room to park an Austin and it was hot and sunny so Mini. I saw a Mini wedged they went to the beach. into a' spot so tight that it t think it Was probably the mug have been lifted in latter. On a sunny day people sideways. are going to come to Grand create them, ' Flags • , were unfurled in breeie ' and the Grand tiviSinrClub Was declared officially open in a special ceremony Sunday ' afternoon. Commodore John Bowman of ,Woodstock welcomed mei'nbers and , guests to their new iodation along the old Ausable River in Green Acres on what used to be known as the Sherwood property, About 50 people were present for the ceremony which was `VataMMOVNERAMMOMINEDW and flint are the main finds. section to be excavated, and begins to carefully scrape The work begins by using strings to line it up.° away the first five cen- carefully measuring off the. The archaeologist then timeters of soil with a small. mow -4 i VW, ,;% he 'S.,. , ,,.. t .....,40..A. 1 i..< -11.0 ,c, .,,,s, , ...::$ p . A. '4. *.Cre • 11, KEEPING EXACT RECORDS — When' an archaeologist finds something as ihteresting as a camp fire hearth which was abandoned over 2000 years ago, an exact record must be kept. Instructor Robert Pihl charts the location of the hearth on graph paper as Lorraine Van Vlyman measures its dimensions. Staff photo trowel. The soil is put in a bucket and eventually lease turn to pa e 4A AUGUST 13, 1980 Price Per Copy 35 Cents Bosanquet reeve Charlie Srokosz jokingly told the group that they would be welcome in Port Franks, if Grand Bend was unable to accommodate them. In a later interview, Bowman said that the club was trying to be a good neighbour, He said that they are keeping the speed of their cars down as they drive through the subdivision, and they will not be making any excessive noise. He said that seldom would there be a big crowd at the clubhouse at one time. He added that 'if the club wasn't located there, it could be sold for a commercial marina. Bowman described the club as mainly a social group, and family oriented. It is not necessary to own a cabin cruiser, and some members don't even own power boats. It is a private club and new In February of this year, they bought the Sherwood • property from Don South- cott. "We didn't know how much work was ahead, Bowman said. Two couples from the club are delegated to look after the park-like grounds and the round clubhouse each week. Future plans include making a parking lot, and perhaps building a run for pet dogs, while the family goes boating. Keith Beetles, commodore of the Oakville Power Boat Club congratulated the Grand Bend club on their progress, He told them that they will still suffer "growing pains". His club recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. He( also commended Bowman for his work, saying that a com- modore is often "skirting divorce, cracking the whip, facilities, and ruffling feathers." members have to be invited by two existing members, They 110Y have 34 family members and plan to limit it to 40. Bowman says that they have some of the best docking facilities in Ontario for a private club. Members pay extra to the club to dock boats. Docks have both electric and water hook ups, and storage bins are located along the walkway. The club was formed in 1977 by a group of boaters who got together for Wed- nesday night barbeques. Ray Sloman was the first com- modore. In 1978, they rented facilities from Manore, Marine and Tom Lawson was commodore. In 1979, with Jack Woods as com- modore, they incorporated the group and decided that they would purchase property With docking 'f-11 CRUISING Relouw pull the rope to unfurl the flags, marking the opening of the cruising club's new facilities. CLUB OPENING--- Commodore John Bowman and Vice Commodore Tony Staff photo Cruising club officially opens espd e hint of zoning problem .