HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-24, Page 1See page 9 See page 19
Vol. 9 No.12 Wednesday, March 24, 1993
600 GST included
Snow castle
Do Eskimos live here? Upon viewing this creation, one might wonder. This colossal snow fort
was built by Shane Hesch (top, left) B.J. Cullen (top, right) and Greg Cullen (middle) who
were later joined by Danny Cullen (bottom) in the Cullen backyard. Using a shovel to cut out
blocks, the boys managed to build the castle in about eight hours during the March break
holiday.
HFH builds homes for needy
Special occasion
Couple marks
60th anniversary
by renewing vows
See page 2
Milestone
Blyth woman
celebrates
90th birthday
See page 3
Sports
Blyth Bantams
sweep Ontario
E semi-finals
Entertainment
Many turn out
to be part of
Many Hands
HCBE gets funds • •
Llzen for transportation
By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot
A Brussels man is hoping to form
a chapter of Habitat for Humanity
in Huron County to build afford-
able housing for the needy.
Allan Dettweiler is hosting a
meeting March 27 at 9 a.m. in the
Blyth Christian Reformed Church
to explain the concept of Habitat
for Humanity and drum up interest
in the idea.
The ecumenical Christian hous-
ing ministry seeks to eliminate
poverty housing, explained Mr.
Dettweiler, who belonged to a HFH
chapter in Waterloo before moving
to this area.
"It isn't a give-away organiza-
tion," says Mr. Dettweiler. "We
help people who can't buy homes
through conventional mbans."
Through volunteer labour, effi-
cient management and tax-
deductible donations of money and
material, Habitat for Humanity
workers build and rehabilitate
homes with the help of homeown-
ers. The houses are sold at no profit
to families who've been screened
by a selection committee and no-
interest mortgages are issued.
"Most of us go to a bank to get a
loan to buy a house," says Mr. Det-
tweiler. "But some people can't
afford a down-payment to get a
loan."
HFH doesn't require a monetary
loan but does stipulate the prospec-
tive homeowner pay $500 of 'sweat
equity' in place of a conventional
down payment, he says.
Mr. Dettweiler believes there is a
need for this program in Huron
County.
"I've seen a study on housing by
the Huron County Planning and
Development Department which
identifies various problems in hous-
ing such as bad plumbing, electrical
work and overcrowding," he says.
"There are people who are living in
conditions that are unacceptable."
Currently, a Habitat Canada
house costs from $50,000 to
$80,000.
If there is sufficient interest in
the county to start an HFH chapter,
Mr. Dettweiler plans to host an
organizational meeting in April or
May.
The Huron County Board of Edu-
cation received a $79,000 cheque
from the provincial government
Friday to research ways to improve
the school bus transportation sys-
tem.
The money will cover the costs
of a study which will research pos-
sible ways to organize the school
transportation system more effi-
ciently, explained Bob Allan,
HCBE's director of education.
The study will also incorporate
the Huron Perth County Roman
Catholic Separate School Board's
(HPCRSCC) transportation system
and possibly also involve the Chris-
tian and Mennonite schools.
"The project will save taxpayers
money and direct resources to the
Think BIG!
That's the theme of a proposed
group whose goal will be improv-
ing the Blyth community.
BIG stands for the Blyth Idea
Group. Organizer Keith Roulston,
publisher of The Citizen and The
Rural Voice, has planned an organi-
zational meeting for March 31 at 7
p.m. at the art gallery in Blyth
Memorial Hall.
He says the objective of the
group is, "to bring innovative
minds together to work out solu-
tions to our problems."
The group will look at barriers to
growth in the community, growth
opportunities and find innovative
ways to make things happen, he
says.
There are many resources the
For the second year in a row,
Royal Homes has been chosen to
create the Dream Home at the
National Home Show.
The home show, which runs at
Exhibition Place in Toronto from
April 9-18, features a dream home
every year but has never asked a
builder to design one two years in a
row.
Vaughan Taylor, general manag-
er of the home show told The
Wingham Advance-Times "Royal's
building technology has so many
advantages, we just had to break
with tradition. The modules arrive,
are completed and we're ready to
go in record time. It saves us time
and money."
Royal's dream home is estimated
at $350,000 for the building alone.
Once furnished and landscaped, the
estimated value of the home would
be in the $1 million range Doug
Penson, vice-president of sales and
marketing told the Wingham paper.
The home has been described as
whimsically Victorian and is 3,300
square feet in size.
The entire home will be assem-
bled and decorated before arriving
at Exhibition place. Work began on
it March 1. It will take several days
to complete the home's brickwork
schools and classrooms," says
Huron MPP Paul Klopp, who pre-
sented the cheque.
Transportation costs make up a
large portion of the board's annual
budget and trustees had looked into
ways of reducing this cost last year.
The county was broken into seg-
ments so trustees and board admin-
istration could concentrate on
improving the system in one area at
a time.
Examination of the Hullett seg-
ment resulted in a reduction in the
number of routes, says Mr. Allan.
The $79,000 grant from the
province is one of 103 projects
totalling $20.6 million from the
province's Transition Assistance
allocation.
group will be able to make use of,
such as the Huron Small Business
Resource Centre and the Communi-
ty Futures program, says Mr. Roul-
ston.
"There are places we can turn to
for advice and perhaps even invest-
ment money available to help make
our projects happen."
He doesn't believe BIG will
require a major time commitment
from its members as long as resi-
dents with various strengths, be
they financial expertise, practicality
or marketing, combine their talents
for the good of the community.
"BIG will hopefully find ways of
people contributing to the growth
of their community without making
a huge commitment of their own
time," he says.
and landscaping once it's set up but
only 48 hours will be needed to dis-
semble the dream home.
It's estimated over 100,000 peo-
ple will walk through the home at
the home show.
After the home show, the house
will be permanently set-up in the
Ottawa area for the couple who
bought it.
Huronlea
Open House
Sunday
This Sunday afternoon, March
28 people will get an opportuni-
ty to see Huronlea, Home for the
Aged, located at the south end of
Brussels in Morris Township.
The Open House will be from
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and everyone is
cordially invited to come and
tour the new facility.
The following Sunday, there
will be an Open House during
the afternoon for Huronview,
located in Tuckersmith Town-
ship adjacent to Clinton.
The North Huron
Time to think BIG!
Royal Homes builds
second Dream Home