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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-11-14, Page 22THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1990. PAGE 23. Entertainment Huron Museum to run Huron Historic Gaol Theatre review Puppeteers tell tale BY NICKI GROPP Join Hands Puppeteers present­ ed their production of “The Tale of the Name of the Tree’ ’ to a capacity crowd of young and old alike at Blyth Festival on Saturday. Margaret and Matthew Romain were the puppeteers and did various singing and voice changes to fit all the puppets. The different puppets included paddle dancers, hand puppets, and stick puppets. The main puppets that were used were hand puppets. Margaret played numerous in­ struments including the accordian and flute. A few of the instruments Margaret played many have pro­ bably never seen before. Matthew played the guitar and worked most of the puppets. The performance begins with Matthew working the paddle dan­ cers and Margaret playing the accordian. Then the story begins telling of a famine in a forest. The only tree left with food on it is under a spell and the only way the animals can get the food is to say the name of the tree. The gazelle is the first to make the great journey to see the great chief, the only person who knows the name of the tree. On the journey home the gazelle gets caught in a tree and after strugg­ ling to get out he forgets the tree’s name. The owl is the next to make the journey because he is the smartest animal in the forest and the lion thinks he will be able to remember the name. However, on the journey back the owl is chased by a larger bird and he also forgets. The lion, who is king of the forest, decides to go on the journey by himself. After receiving the name of the tree he returns home but falls asleep on the way and when he wakes he has also forgot- ■h w w i i Puppet tale Margaret and Matthew Romain performed “The Tale of the Name of the Tree’ ’ to a packed house at Blyth Memorial Hall Saturday. ten his name. The tortoise then volunteers to go. No one thinks that the tortoise will even be able to make it to the great chief, but he does and he also remembers the name and the animals are not hungry anymore. When the play was over eight children were invited to come on stage. The volunteers were given a puppet to work and dance with. The children seemed to enjoy themselves very much. Margaret and Matthew have performed in children’s festivals and concerts, young authors’ con­ ferences, libraries, day care cen­ tres, hospitals, schools for handi­ caps and senior citizens’ centres. They are very talented people and those talents appeared to have been appreciated by the Blyth audience. Huron County Council approved amalgamating the Huron Historic Gaol with the Huron County Museum at the Nov. 8 meeting of council. The move had been recommend­ ed by the county’s museum com­ mittee at its April 16 meeting but the move had been deferred at the September meeting of the full council pending formulation of a policy regarding acquisition and management of other heritage properties. That policy was presen­ ted to county council at the November meeting. Damned if you do... Huron County road department has forwarded to its insurance company a request for compensa­ tion from a boater for an accident that took place at the time of construction of the new Ball’s bridge. Questioned at the Nov. 8 meet­ ing of county council Denis Mer- rall, county engineer explained the complicated circumstances of the accident. Because the workmen building the bridge would be working over water, a Ministry of Labour inspector insisted that a rope be strung across the river so the workmen could grab it if they fell into the water. Mr. Merrall said he disagreed with the rope when it was put up because the water was so shallow at that point in the river that anyone who fell would simply have to stand up to save himself from drowning. Still the Occupa­ tional Health and Safety Act clearly gave the inspector the right to order the rope to be put up. But, Mr. Merrall said, he felt the ruling under the labour act was in direct conflict with the Navigable Waters Act which forbids putting anything across a waterway that can impeded travel. “Welcome to municipal life,’’ Mr. Merrall told council. “You’re The merger of the two facilities will take place January 1 pending an audit of the assets of the Gaol. Zurich Reeve Robert Fisher said he fully agreed with the motion to amalgamate the two museums but he wondered about staffing. “I was opposed to having a full-time staff member for the gaol,’’ he said. Claus Breede, Director/Curator of the museum said staffing would depend on the new budget. Mr. Breede said he felt the amalgamation would have a “very positive effect’’ both for the museum and the Gaol, allowing for joint promotion. in violation if you don’t do it and in violation if you do.’’ The boater was overturned in the river at the site where the rope was strung and demanded compensa­ tion for the accident. The Ministry of Labour denied any responsibility for the accident leaving the boater to apply to the county for compen­ sation. Blyth 523-9381 WEEKEND SPECIALS Old survey methods involved in argument Continued from page 1 completed the survey. He explain­ ed the history of the township surveys dating back to the original survey in the 1830’s. Those survey­ ors did a job that was remarkable under the circumstances but he termed the work as “accurate but not terribly precise.” He explained that the surveyors marked off the corners of lots along the concession but when they came to a sideroad corner, they left corner posts on the concession but locating the property line at the back of the farms was left to the landowners clearing the land. In addition the original survey posts, made of wood, had long since disappeared. He explained it is accepted surveying practice to locate signs of old fence posts on either side of the road and give “equal weight” to each in deciding where the 66 foot road allowance should go. Using this system, however, the survey showed that the township property extended further from the roadway on the Greidanus side of the road and that the neighbour on the other side of the road had more land than he had been using. But Mr. Greidanus disputed the survey saying the survey conducted by the county highway department along concession 10 at the front of the farm showed things exactly as he saw it. The lot lines were exactly opposite where the present proper­ ty lines were. Mr. Kiar looked at both sets of surveys and felt they were compatible, that the county survey didn’t contradict this. He explained that the survey goes in a straight line at the front of the farm to the best evidence of a corner post at the rear of the lot, not from the corner of the front of the lot on one concession to the corner of the front of the lot on the concession behind. This meant that there could be a discrepancy in where the lot lines would have been if the survey was done with today’s accurate instruments, and where it was by the lines set by pioneers when they cleared their land. Mrs. Greidanus got into the argument saying a lawyer had told her that the property line could be set by measuring 33 feet from the centre of the road. Mr. Kiar pointed out that 33 feet from the centre of the road allowance not the road itself would work since there was nothing that said the road was in the centre of the road allowance. Mrs. Greidanus claimed that 33 feet from the centre of the road is exactly where the old fence was. It was suggested to Mr. Kiar that he could go back to highway 4 and survey the road all the way west but he said that because the original surveyors often threw in extra land in a kind of “bakers dozen” method of making sure no one would be short changed of land, if he did an accurate survey there would be so much change that “I would be shot by the time I got to the Base Line.” It was Mr. Kiar who suggested that the accuracy of the survey be taken to a hearing of the Director of Titles under the Boundaries Act. The hearing would look at the survey and hear arguments by Mr. Greidanus and decide once and for all where the boundary would be. While councillors seemed ready to make that move, other side issues in the dispute kept cropping up. The council had planted trees just on its side of the boundary as laid out by the survey, as living markers of where the boundary was. Mr. Greidanus, claiming the trees were on his property, wanted the trees removed. Some were causing problems with his drain­ age, he said. Reeve Tom Cunningham said the council didn’t want to cause pro­ blems to drainage so would remove any trees that were planted on top of tile drains. He wanted other trees that had been knocked down by wind and rain to be staked up that had been knocked down by wind and rain to be staked up again, however. Constable Scott working as mediator felt he had an agreement that the township would be allowed to stake up the trees and leave the trees where they are until the boundary decision is final, but the Greidanus family, in an open letter to council (see letters to the editor) later demanded all the trees be removed until ownership of the property is settled. The contentious survey, ironi­ cally, was undertaken after the township council tried to settle another complaint of Mr. Greida­ nus. Mr. Greidanus had complain­ ed that work done by the township road crews in the area had blocked up an old stone catch-basin in the area. While councillors didn’t ac­ knowledge the township had dam­ aged the catch-basin they did agree that they could have contributed to the failure of the catch-basin. With more construction planned in the area more damage could be done. The township agreed to purchase a new catchbasin but where to put it started the whole dispute. Mr. Greidanus wanted it exactly where the old catchbasin was but the township, because of the future construction wanted it moved back further from the edge of the road. 'Mr. Greidanus claimed this loca­ tion would be on his land so council decided to conduct the survey to determine where the boundaries were. 5:00 p.m. - Midnight WINGS ALSO AVAILABLE FRIDAY & SATURDAY 5:00P.M.-MIDNIGHT EAT IN OR TAKE OUT FRI.& SAT. SPECIAL CHICKEN & CHIPS BUY 1 GET ONE FOR1/2PRICE EAT IN OR TAKE OUT Served 5:00 p.m.-12 Midnight $5.95