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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1986-06-25, Page 4Page 4—Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, June 259 1986 P.O. Box 400, Lucknow NOG 2H0 Established 1873 Thomas Thompson Alan Rivett Pat Livingston Joan Helm Merle Elliott 528-2822 A CCNA BLUE RIBBON AWARD -Advertising Manager -Editor -General Manager -Compositor -Typesetter RIFICD CIRCULATION PAID Subscription rates in advance: "1 7." Outsiae Canada S6000 S5&00 Senior Citizen '1 4." Outside Canada Second class mailing reg. no. 0847 Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged , for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicable rates. We don't have the money The Lucknow Arena Board is looking at a proposal which will see the construction of a new arena in three phases. The engineer's timetable calls for the awarding of a contract to begin construction next May. The fund raising campaign has been unsuccessful in raising the money required to apply for a provincial capital grant to fund a new arena. It would appear however, the board plans to take the money already raised and begin construction in the hope that once construction begins, community support for the project will grow and the remainder of the funds will be raised. If the project proceeds in three phases, the dressing rooms and service area will be constructed first. Phase 2, the shell of the arena will be constructed after the service area is completed as money is available. The feeling of the board members is that once people see the new kitchen, dressing rooms and the space for the racquetball court, they will get behind the project and donate the money to see the arena shell constructed. It is difficult to support this theory when it is the leaking arena roof which requires repair and yet, the first part of the new building to be constructed will be dressing rooms, the one part of the existing building which is still adequate. The arena board and the fund raising committee have tried hard over the past year to convince the public that it is less than prudent to spend any more money on a very old building, which has possibly reached the end of its useful existence. Indeed, a consulting engineer which inspected the arena this spring supports a decision to construct a new arena. The board and the fund raising committee and especially the recreation director, Bill Hunter have worked diligently this past year to raise the local share of funds which would make an application for provincial grants for the project successful. The simple fact of the matter is, we don't have the money. The board and the fund raising committee very badly needed public support for this project, if they were ever to be successful in raising the kind of money necessary to build a new arena. Unfortunately, they launched, their campaign and that was the last the public heard about the project. There has been nothing in the local newspaper to inform people about the project or the progress of the fund raising since last November when the door to door canvass was announced. The only information to appear since then has been the names of the winners of the lottery. People have been reluctant to wholeheartedly support this project from the beginning because it is the opinion of many people that we are trying to buy a Cadillac when all we can afford is a Chev. Public support has not been forthcoming, nor has the money from the community because many people do not think it should cost' close to $1 million to build a new arena, especially when the arena floor and ice making equipment is not being replaced. The inclusion of a racquetball court has undermined the project from the beginning. If the money is going to be difficult to raise because the community is not behind the project 100 per cent, then an exclusive facility such as a racquetball court has no place in the project. If the project is to proceed and many people would agree it seems foolish to spend any more money on the existing structure, the board should commission a consulting firm to do a feasibility study to determine the type of facility which will meet the needs of the community, the amount of community support for the project and the ability of the community to pay for the new arena. Once that is done, the board and fund raising committee must keep the public informed and launch a public relations campaign that promotes the project. When the community built a new community centre, the progress of the project was recorded in the local newspaper every week. Stories and pictures about the project kept everyone up to date and informed. Pictures of groups and organizations presenting the fund raising chairman with a cheque abounded and once they appeared, everybody jumped on the band wagon to make a donation to the project. It has been a struggle since day one to get any information from either the arena board or the fund raising committee about the arena project and perhaps more than anything, it has been this reluctance to keep the public informed which as derailed the fund raising campaign. There is still time to stop and consider the project before we jump in with both feet, hoping we can find the money after construction starts. The arena board should commission a feasibility study, determine what we can afford and how and then present the information to the people. A new arena costing close to $1 million cannot be funded in just under a year's time. Since the present structure has not been condemned, there isn't the urgency to borrow money, pay interest and get the project started immediately. We have the time to raise the money and possibly by the time the money is raised, capital grants from the provincial government will become available and the four municipalities involved will be able to participate. If a feasibility study should determine there is community support for a new arena and we have the ability to pay for the project, if the arena board mounts a public relations campaign which keeps the public informed about ,the progress of the project and the fund raisers launch a more active campaign, we may just be able to raise the necessary funds to build a new arena. It will be a major undertaking, however that will require strong community support and everybody working together to achieve this goal. • 0/ • • ":;"..•9 Bike rodeo By Sharon Dietz "This is no a court o' law," MacCrim- mon told the people who had gathered together in the community hall. "We only want tae know if there is any reason tae worry about the disappearance o' Teddy Murdoch." Katie Murdoch jumped to her feet in her best dramatic manner. She had no inten- tion of allowing the community to treat the matter lightly. "Dinna talk as if my poor lad were a magician," she rudely interrupted. "He were murdered! Whoever done it, set fire tae the sawmill and burnt 'is body tae a crisp tae cover up their dreadful crime. Dinna fash yesel' Mister MacCrimmon, I'm gonna make sure the murderer swings by the neck!" She turned quickly around and looked directly at Allan Livingstone. "I ken who done it," she screamed. "And by God I'll 9 The rest of her words were lost by the loud exclamations of the audience and MacCrimmon had to repeatedly pound his gavel to regain order. "Sit down an' keep quiet till I allow ye tae speak," MacCrimmon ordered angrily. "One more peep oot o' ye an' I'll hae ye thrown oot o' the hall!" Katie sat down heavily and puffed and blew in indignation. "I ken who done it," she whispered to the woman next to her. "Twas that raga- muffin who calls 'isel mi son-in-law." When order was res' Dred, MacCrimmon addressed the congregation. "Ignore any remarks made by Katie Murdoch an' address yesel' tae this ques- tion. Does anybody know the whereabouts o' Teddy Murdoch?" There was complete silence and even Katie remained quiet. "Very well," MacCrimmon continued. "We can only assume he hae left the community an' if this be so, sooner or later we will hae news o' him." In spite of MacCrimmon's previous warning, Katie could not allow him to proceed on this assumption. "Och aya," she said pointing upwards. "He's left the community frae sure. But ye'll no hae any word o' him - he were murdered!" Although he knew what Katie said was partially true, MacCrimmon ignored her outburst and continued in a firm tone of voice: "Tis best ye say no mare on the score - ye're wild imagination will serve nae purpose. If we were all as loony as ye, we might guest that Teddy set the fire 'isel an' ran awa frae Redtrees tae escape punish- ment. In any case, wi'oot a body, there is nae reason tae suspect foul play!" "I told yq," Katie shouted. "There's nae body 'cause it were burnt tae dust in yon sawmill!" A hush of horror settled over the audience and MacCrimmon realized it was useless to continue the investigation. "I called this meeting tae put an end tae stupid gossip," he said, looking directly at Katie. "I see nae reason tae continue until we ken what happened tae Teddy Murdoch. In the meantime, an' until we are sure o' the truth, the meeting is closed!" But the matter was not closed for poor Lucy Murdoch. She lay awake at nights wrestling with her conscience. When she could no longer stand the torment, she conferred with Neil MacCrimmon. "Although I am quite sure that the shot I fired at Teddy was not fatal, I still feel responsible for his death," Lucy said, shaking and crying with remorse. "There is nothing more to be done, Mister MacCrimmon, except to deliver myself into the hands of the sheriff." "When you last saw your husband, was he not standing on his own two feet?" MacCrimmon asked softly. "He was indeed sir, but he was bleeding from the wound I inflicted," Lucy said between sobs. "And is it no possible that Doctor Cameron could have removed the ball from 'is belly and saved 'is life?" "I cannot say that for certain, 1 have no knowledge of such things." "But I have," MacCrimmon said. "I can assure you madam, but frae sheer stupidity, Teddy could hae saved 'is ain life. Ye acted in self-defence and nobody in this land would convict ye." "Besides," MacCrimmon concluded with a crafty smile, "The sheriff would hae tae wait 'til Teddy's body was found before 'e could 'old an inquiry. Tis my opinion ma'am, he'll be waitin' till hell freezes over!"