HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-06-24, Page 1WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1987.40 CENTS
Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
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Wing ham Hospital amasses surplus for year
Not all the entertainment was inside Blyth Memorial Hall Friday night
when the Blyth Festival opened its 13th season. Blyth Festival Singers
entertained outside on the lawn before the curtain, making use of the
new fire escape as a stage. Angus Sinclair conducts the choir in a
performance for theatre goers and passersby. [Theatre review on page
19.1
BY BOB MURPHY
Despite the pessimistic promise
at its outset, the fiscal year 1986-87
has been described as a good one
for the Wingham and District
Hospital.
That message was one given to a
small gathering of approximately
35 people who turned out last
Thursday for the annual meeting of
the Wingham and District Hospital
Corporation.
At the beginning of the fiscal
year, the hospital’s board of
governors was anticipating a defi
cit by the end of the 1986-87.
Dedication of park
in Ethel Thursday
On Thursday, June 25, Grey
Township will be holding a dedica
tion ceremony to dedicate the J.
Melvin Carnochan Memorial Park
in Ethel.
The late Mr. Carnochan, who
lived beside the Ethel park, took a
great deal of pride in this park and
spent many hours maintaining the
park by cutting grass, planting
trees, etc. In June of 1985, the
Township purchased the Petro
Canada property between the park
and County Road 19 and this was
added to the park property.
Mr. Carnochan generously left a
Instead, however, the hospital
finished the 12-month period with
a surplus of slightly less than
$308,000. In her report submitted
to the annual meeting, Board
Chairman Mary Lou Thompson,
credits careful planning by the
hospital’s financial and admini
strative staff for the financial turn
around.
In his report, Executive Director
Norman Hayes explained the year
began on a pessimistic note for the
hospital as it was once again faced
with watching health ministry
funding decline on a percentage
sum of money to be invested to
assist the future maintenance and
improvement of Ethel park, and a
dedication ceremony has been
planned in honour of Mr. Carno
chan on June 25. Softball games
will be played from 7:00 to 8:00
p.m. with a dedication and plaque
unveiling ceremony at 8:00 p.m.
which will be followed by refresh
ments and a fireworks display.
Grey Township Council would like
to extend an invitation to the
residents of the T ownship to attend
this event in honour of Mr.
Carnochan.
basis below the hospital’s actual
cost of providing service.
This meant that more and more
of the hospital ’ s expenses had to be
Homecoming X- .f'
Update
Only 8 days left to go?
BY TOBY RAINEY business of working on our Souve-
These days, the hardworking
members of the Brussels Home-
coming Committee seem to be
everywhere at once, and more and
more people are being caught up in
the excitement every day and
pitching into make our birthday
party the best seen anywhere in at
least 15 years. Many downtown
stores and businesses have decor
ated their windows with flags,
memorabilia and old photos, and a
slow walk down Turnbeny Street
has become an evening’s pleasure
for the many who take time to
inspect the displays.
At The Citizen, we are delighted
with the astounding treasures
some of you have brought in, and
find it hard to tear ourselves away
from some of the old stories and
photos in order to get on with the
met from resources earmarked for
the future, Mr. Hayes said in his
report. For example, interest
Continued on page 6
nir Issue, which is almost certain to
be the biggest and best we have put
out in our short lives.
Jeanne Kirkby of Walton has
offered to write the history of
Brussels in book form, “if the
funding can be found, ’ ’ and I think
itisanofferweshould seriously
consider by one means or another -
all the items The Citizen has on
lean are far too valuable (and
delightful!) to languish in closets
until the next Homecoming, when
ever that is. Jeanne compiled the
1981 history “Morris Township,
Past to Present,’’ and it would be
hard to find a better organized or
more thoroughly researched book
of its kind anywhere.
While we are on the subject,
there is still time to get stories and
pictures of your family, home,
Continued on page 2
Postal service
continues
despite strike
Despite picket lines that in some
cases turned violent in larger
centres, postal service continues in
local municipalities.
A strike by letter carriers and
their attempts to keep mail trucks
from moving in and out of postal
plants in Kitchener, main distribu
ting point for the northern part of
the county did cut off service to
Brussels, Belgrave, Bluevale,
Wingham and other parts, on
Monday but Tuesday morning mail
was flowing again, Elizabeth
Sholdice, Brussels Post Master
said. She termed the flow of mail
“pretty good.”
In Blyth and other areas such as
Londesboro, Walton and Auburn
which are served by the Stratford
office, mail flow continued both
days although striking workers in
Goderich apparently attempted to
impede the delivery truck- there on
Monday.
Dorothy Oster, acting postmas
ter in Blyth said that the mail flow
was about half of what is normally
coming through but said this may
be due to the fact many people just
aren ’ t mailing items because of the
uncertainty of the current situa
tion.
The strikes are part of a rotating
strike pattern by mail carriers
which hit southwestern Ontario on
Monday and Tuesday and involved
violence between police and
demonstrators on picket lines in
London as picketers tried to
prevent the Post Office from using
ikers to move the mail.
Blyth architect
hired for Festival
expansion
Blyth architect Christopher
Borgal has been hired by the Blyth
Festival to come with practical
plans for expansion of Festival
facilities, Marian Doucette, Board
president announced at the Festi
val’s opening dinner Friday night.
Ms. Doucette said the Festival
had received the report of the study
group looking at the future needs of
the Festival that emphasized a
three-part program dealing first
with public safety aspects at
Memorial Hall, secondly with
rehearsal and workshop facilities
and thirdly with improvement of
production facilities at Memorial
Hall itself.
Tim Chapman, Festival general
manager explained later that Mr.
Borgal’s firm was hired by the
Festival’s board to refine the needs
report and find solutions to
problems that are “more practical
for the community and the festival
itself.” Some of the recommenda
tions of the report were just not
practical, he said.
Priority items are scene produc
tion and rehearsal facilities and
some of the public safety items, he
said. Already the Festival and the
Village have gone ahead with the
installation of a new fire escape to
the south side of Memorial Hall. A
grant has been applied for from the
Ministry of Citizenship and Cul
ture and although no word has
been received, Mr. Chapman said,
he does not forsee problems. The
decision was made to go ahead and
get the job done before the season
opened.
Improvements in production
and rehearsal facilities will likely
centre on the Festival’s property
on Dinslev St. East, the former
Doherty garage and the large lot
behind it.
Further details are not yet
available.