HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1997-07-23, Page 1VOL. 124 WK, 30' . .
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23,1997
65' INCLUDES G,S,T,
Teen pulls family from current
by Scott Hilgendorff..
He migh. t not consider
himself one, but Port •
Albert residents think 18 -
year -old Bill Draper a
hero after using his per-
sonal watercraft to help
pull a family from the
Nine Mile River current:
It started with : calls for
help while Bill, his father,
Brian and a. friend were
using the new personal
watercraft they . had
`.. brought tothe beach for
the first time.
It was around. -thesup-
per hour on July 15 when
they heardthe calls from
the: beach. Two children
,had been playing.i,n,-th e
r(ver when the current'.,;.
caught . hold . of .them. The
parents ran into the, water
to helpand were . also
swept away, through the.
channel. w,here they
became trapped between,
the current and waves
from Lake Huron.
Draper waved his
friend in to shore and
jumped on the machine to
help.
"I didn't know what
was going on," he said,
but knew the calls for help.
were serious.
The father Was farthest
into the lake and Draper,
brought the personal
watercraft to him to grab
onto.
Thenhe went for the
wife who was panicking in ,
the water..:
Glen Gardiner was in
the water helping .hold the
woman but she wouldn't
grab hold of ,the water-
craft.
ater-craft.:
"I had to' jump in and
pull her,to the personal
watercraft," Draper said.
":The: children were also
able to grab . hold of 'the
;machine:
"We: brought them, back
be id the i ," D a. ,
•
From there, he said he
didn't.talk to the family
but went home, not think-
ing what he did was a big
deal,.
But Gardiner says oth-
erwise.
"He was basically
responsible forr preventing
a tragedy," Said Gardiner.
"The shock and panic
had set in to such an
• extent the woman kept let-
ting go [of • the: personal
watercraft]," Gardiner
said.
"[Bill}: dove off .the
machine and pulled the
woman out of the cur-
rent," said Gardiner.
He said the family,
whom' no one at The scene -
knew where they were,
from, were at. Port Albert
for the .first time and
weren't familiar with the
dangerouscurrents in the
river
• He Said: .the: current
said. .. !see 'Current' page 2
Bill Draper, , •i a ,of ; the PortAlbert area, . helped.
pull a family to safety, when they ;were caught.
in• the current of the• Nine Mile River.
-(Hilgendorff; photo)`
1
aver
by Scott Hilgendorff
Some Port Albert resi-
dents aren't sure what else.
they can do to protect peo-
ple from thedangerous
current of. the Nine Mile
Fiver.
The. .river- flows into.
Lake Huron at . Port Albert
and: at the best of times •
has a strong current that
can sweep people into'. the'
lake. After a 'rainfall,`it•
becomes that much worse
`41t can•be'dimn treach
erbus,'4 said Pete Petrie, a
long-time resident of the
° 'small community north of
Goderich,
-Guide groups:in the Beaver. Division of Mapleway Area 'enjoyed a week
at Camp Keewaydinlast week: Here a local; leader, Joanne Atkinson, pre-
pares a ground pit for' cooking a roast, WhileNicole Proctor of Belgrarve,
and Sarah Irwin of Lucknow watch, her "hot". attempts. Joanne's daugh
, ter,.Emliy,haccompanied her mom, to camp too. (Livingston photo)
Hesaid local residents
know the dangers of the
deceivingly quiet' looking
river.. •
"The local people don't
swim in the river," Petrie
said
But visitors don't- real-
.ize how:treacherous the
water can be. and Petrie`
said a couple times a year,
lives are almost lost.
Adding to the danger of
the current is the river
mouth which can actually
move from day to day:
The mouth is usually a
narrow opening. and the
•see 'Sand' page 2
Local ambassadors.
in amiss Mid -West
this weekend
The Ontario Miss Mid -West' Pageant takes place On
July 26 at the Walkerton District Secondary School,
This is the fourth year it has been hosted by Walkerton:
The Queen represents the five counties of Bruce,
Huron, Grey, Wellington and Perth. •During her rein she
will attend as many parades, looal events,• spe ial meet-
ings,'etc., as possible. .
Two area ambassadors Charlene Burgess represent
ing the- Lucknow Agtiltural Society, and Kelly
McNee representing the Dungannon Ag'riculture'Society
will betaking part in the pageant.: �.'
•
Early
bird
winners
The early bird win-
ner_ s in the "Another Way
to Play" lottery were
drawn last Friday.
Tom Thompson,
Phyllis Helm and Pat
Livingston, holders , of
ticket. 1001, shared. the
lucky $500 cash. prize.
Other ...winners of free
tickets can be found in an
advertisement- ' on the
classified . pages this
week. . " . i.
There's still Lots of
tickets available at $50
each.
Weekly draws begin
Aug.' 1 • and run to May
29, with the. grand prize
bf t . $7,500 and five
$1,000 " prizes being
drawn ' at, adance 'next
June
`:Tickets °can be:
obtained from any of the
local municipal!. offices
or from' the recreation
coordinator,. ,Dave Black..
W1k wi11
raise funds
for local
fire dept.
Some folks from.
•Fisherman's ' Cove will
head out on a .12; km
walk 'this Saturday' to
raise ..funds for equip-
ment for the ' Lucknow
and - District Fire
Department.
This is just one of the
summer 'fund-raisers at
thecamp that Will benefit
the local fire department.
Bob McCausland, of
Fisherman's ; Cove, is
working " really hard' at;
gettingsponsors and he
has a challenge to.
area firefighters: "Conine
out andequal or better
me in ,pledges . for this
great cause says' Bob.
Walkers leave the
Cove Saturday, at 9:15
a.m. and head " for
Lucknow, with stops,.
along the' • way.
Montgomery Motors will
provide a bus td take the
walkers' back. F o r'
More'. information, call.
Mandy at.the Cove.
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