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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-07-01, Page 1ESTABLISHED IN 1873 "THE SEPOY TOWN" ON THE HURON -BRUCE BOUNDARY '0. • Strike has little affect By Rob Bundy The rotating strike by the 20,000 member Letter Carriers Union of Canada will have little if any affect on mail service in the Village of Lucknow as other Canada Post employees continue with their assigned duties. Win Allen, Lucknow's acting Post Master, says the strike has done little more than affect the volume of mail com- ing into the local outlet. - "Although the volume of mail is down slightly," says Allen, "it hasn't ceased moving. A letter mailed here today still leaves here today." Allen told the Sentinel that any item mailed locally that is to be delivered local- ly will not be affected by the strike in any way. This includes mail to be delivered to areas including Ripley, Kincardine, Wingham, Auburn and Walkerton. The local postal employees are members of the Canada Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA) and are not involved with the stiking union of the letter carriers. The CPAA has never taken strike action and has a very good relation- ship with management says Allen. The closest distrubution centre for mail to this area is Kitcfi nbr and, as before the call to strike, two trucks daily bring in- coming mail to the Village. About 70 per- cent of local mail is handled through the Kitchener office with the remainder com- ing from Toronto. "Since the strike those trucks have been on schedule," says Allen, "and we don't expect that to change." "As an example, I mailed a document by Priority Post (Canada Posts' courier ser- vice) on Wednesday afternoon," says Allen. "It went by mail to Kitchener and then by Priority Post courier to London and arrived at its' destination early Thurs- day morning. This shows that the mail is certainly still moving." The acting post master adds that the local public has been very good about the issue of the postal strike and says their on- ly concern has been whether or not the mail will go out as per usual. "The only suggestion I have is if people have items to mail, they should allow a lit- tle extra time for that item to be delivered," Allen told the Sentinel. "It may take a few extra days to arrive at its destination through some of the affected centres." Now that school is out for, the summer the playgrounds and pools in the area will be very busy providing kids with a safe place to spend their days. Motorists, keep in mind that the little ones are out during the day and watch for them because sometimes they forget to watch for you. United Church Homecoming :3omecoming weekend at Lucknow United Church gave former members, friends and families a special time for fellowship. Visiting, looking at Archive Books, historical articles and memoribilia, purchasing church plates and history books were enjoyed by all. Saturday evening, a variety concert started with Piper Frank MacKenzie entertaining outdoors and then playing Amazing Grace in the church. Rev. Gerald McFarlane welcomed everyone and Lois Walden, Anniversary Committee Chairperson, brought greetings. Musical numbers through the program were a men's brass group with George Anderson, Don Cam : ron, Gordon Cayley and Paul Finlay; wet by Hilda and Raynard Ackert acc v mpanied by Win- nifred Graham; plan' solo 0 Celeste Wilson; piano and organ , 'th Jean and Tony Stickings; a dance n ber by Isobel and Bob Shepherd and the United Church Choir. Ritchies celebrate 50 yea In 1937 gold was $35 an ounze, the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, you could buy a brand new car for $960 and Alfred Ritchie married Ellen Burns at a small ceremony in Lucknow. Today, the ounze of gold has jumped to over $500 and the Ritchies are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. While Ellen and Alf can't quite remember when and where they first met, they do recall that big day 50 years ago. "It was June 10, 1937," remembers Ellen. "We were married by Rev. Tucker at his house just up the street. I think there were only two other people at the wedding." Shortly after tying the knot that would last a half a century, Alf took his new bride and tried farming for a short time near s Lochalsh. When the couple of cows they had failed to pay off, Alf accepted a posi- tion with CN Rail and held the job until his retirement in February of .1976. "I started that job making 45 cents an hour," remembers Alf with a smile, "and at that time we were able to save money on that kind of wage." Making use of rail passes from CN, the Ritchies have travelled all across the country but have always come home to Lucknow. When the family expanded to include a son, Bill and a daughter, Donna, the Rit- chies bought the home -they still live in to- day. At the time taxes on the property were $14 a year. Ellen kept herself busy working at the local library and used her Turn to page 3 • What Lucknow United Church Means to Me was presented by a recent member, Paul Helm, a member "gone abroad", Elizabeth Ann Hunt and a longtime member, Pharis Mathers. Edith Webster gave a reading entitled Grandma Goes Mod. Greetings were brought by former ministers in attendance, Don Darrell, Rev. Robert Nicholls, and Rev. Grant Meilke- john. Former organists and choir directors were recognized. A large congregation attended the Sun- day morning worhship when Rev. Laird Stirling, MLA, of Dartmouth, N.S. was the guest speaker. The choir sang two special anthems. Fellowship followed at a beef barbecue at the Community Centre. May need more beds If present occupancy rates continue, the board of governors at the Wingham and District Hospital may be forced to ask the provincial health ministry for additional treatment beds. The hospital's executive director, Nor- man Hayes, told last Thursday evening's board meeting that the hospital is running at 91.4 per cent occupancy, a figure he call- ed "just unbelievable". Mr. Hayes said the occupancy rate at the hospital never has been higher and the trend must be addressed, even if it means lobbying Queen's Park for more beds than the current 86. In addition to creating staffing pro- blems, Mr. Hayes said he is concerned about what would happen in the event of a major accident.. "If we had an influx of 20 patients, where would we put them?"- he asked. Although the number of active - treatment cases appears to be reasonably constant, the real increase is in the number of chronic -care patients. Wingham Mayor Jack Kopas said the limited number of nursing home beds in the' area creates a problem. People who are unable to remain in their own homes, but want to stay in the community, often remain in hospital until a, n rLOWl ope. bed is available. k� ` .1 . ` When contacted last Friday morning, Gord Baxter, the hospital's financial direc- tor, said the increase in chronic care pa- tients is not a fad, but a trend which has been building slowly for some time, a func- tion of the aging population of the community. Mr. Baxter said the hospital £urrently has 61 beds designated for active treat- ment and the remainder are for chronic care. The process whereby the hospital would apply for extra beds is a lengthy one, he said and something that will not be settled overnight. However, the ministry may decide to provide "growth funding" to the hospital in the interim to cover the extra costs associated with the high occupancy. There is another consideration: even if the hospital were to receive approval for more beds, there is not the physical space for those beds, meaning the hospital would be looking at an addition. No action was taken by the board at last week's meeting on the matter. • The former site of Armstrong's Bakery is quickly becoming a vacant lot to allow ample parking for customers of the new Village Market store next door. Workmen were seen hauling away the debris from the old building last week in preparation for the end -of -the - month grand o nin : .