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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1995-01-04, Page 4E-4 EHuro X • 0 ' 71) rls plus 5 ceneats G.S.T. (75 cenlsJ The Huron Expositor, Seaforth, Ontario, January 4, 1995 MILTON J. DIETZ LIMITED SEAFORTH 522-0608 •Pesticides & Custom Spraying • Spraying Equipment & Parts • Nutrite PremiumFertilizer • Ventilation & Livestock Equipment PURINA FEEDS & PET FOODS RELIGION United Churches in the area contemplate provocative new report: see page two. Your Full Line Dealer Sales - Service - Selection HART FORD MERCURY USED CARS p!g>x:mtJi i. z 7? .c.151.2.11.1M1 'The Friendly Dealer With The Big Heart' Briefly OPP report no drunk driving charges during RIDE check The Goderich Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police stopped 708 vehicles and gave 18 roadside breath tests as part of the RIDE program over the holidays. There were 8 12 -hour license suspensions issued and three liquor seizures but no impaired driving charges. The Goderich OPP report that an unlocked shed was entered and a rechargeable drill stolen on Concession 9 of McKillop Township. Screwdrivers and wrenches were also stolen, for a total value of $400. On Concession 1 of Hulett Township a barn was entered and a 1976 Arctic Cat snowmo- bile engine was stolen. There was a break and enter on Concession 5, Tuckersmith Township, between Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, according to the Goderich OPP. The Godcrich OPP report that from Dec. 25 to Jan. 1, 1995 there were three unlawfully -at - large charges for the Bluewater Youth Centre correctional facil- ity. There were also four assaults, six traffic, complaints and nine motor vehicle colli- sions. Police Chief laments act of vandals The year 1994 ended on a sour note for many of the residents of Seaforth, early Friday morning, Dec. 30, 1994 vandalscaused thousands of dollars damage to the P.U.C. Chalk Street trans- former station. "The damage was done by throwing stolen strings of Christmas lights across the high tension wires of the trans- former," said Chief Claus. "This in turn caused the transformer to short out and cut electricity to two thirds of the town." By 3:30 a.m. electricity was restored to most of the homes. The rest had a wait until a portable trans- former from London was hooked up. This criminal act is presently under active investigation by the Scaforth Police. All citizens who may have witnessed any suspi- cious activity late Thursday night or early Friday morning are urged to contact the Seaforth Police at 527-1500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-265-1777. "On a more pleasant 'note, I am pleased to report that there was only one minor accident reported to police on Dec. 24," said Chief Claus. "The weather co-operated and the roads were clear over the holidays, motorists could travel anywhere to visit friends and family." Police laid only two charges of 'Minor consume liquor' under the Liquor Licence Act. INDEX Entertainment... pages 12, 13. Sports...pages 6-8. Religion...page 2. "Your community newspaper since 1860...serving Seaforth, Dublin, Hensall, Walton, Brussels and surrounding 1 communities." 1 GREGOR CAMPBELL PHOTO NEW YEAR'S BABY - Seaforth's first new citizen of the New Year is named Julianna, a daughter for Seaforth's new dentists on Franklin St., Elizabeth Van Maanen and Gary Hany. Julianna arrived at Seaforth Community Hospital at 6:50 a.m. on Mon. Jan. 2, weighing in at 6 Ib. 12 oz. Vandals cause explosion Vandalism resulted in an explosion, extensive damages and a major power outage in Seaforth early Friday moming. Scaforth Police Chief Hal Claus said Tuesday moming the incident continued to be under investigation. Seaforth Public Utility Commission Manager Tom Phillips says some person or persons stole some strings of outdoor Christmas lights from houses in the area then threw them into the 5,000 volt transformer, across high tension wires, at the corner of Chalk and Gouinlock Streets, blowing a fuse and shorting the system, at 1:20 Friday morning. PUC workers tried to switch much of the Toad to the Walsh Street transformer with limited success because of the cold, but power was restored to two-thirds of the town in about two hours, by 3:30 a.m. The remainder of the town had to wait until Ontario . Hydro managed to transport a mobile unit from London to the Chalk Street transformer and get it operational. All power was restored by 12:15 p.m. The mobile unit is -costing the town $1,000 per day, and its transportation and installation will also be -costly. The PUC manager says the damage to the transformer was "extensive", but a dollar figure can't be,t on it until Ontario Hydro officials take. a better look after the holiday weekend. He adds fixing or replacing the damaged transformer could take several months Philips also says the vandalism was "extremely dangerous" and the Seaforth Police Department was involved "from start to finish" Friday. He adds area homeo*ners witnessed some individuals in the area at about the time , of the Steckle signed petition supporting American con BY MONA IRWIN Signal -Star Publishing "If we were duped, then I guess we were duped," says Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle, about the decision he and seven other Canadian MPs made to sign a petition offering support to a U.S. political leader who was jailed for five years for fraud. The petition, published in the Washington Post as an open letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton, was criticizal of the imprisonment of Lyndon LaRouche, \ who was paroled in January 1994. In Decem- ber 1988, he, was convicted in a Virginia court on 13 counts of tax and mail fraud and conspiracy using fabricated, evidence, for cheating U.S. tax collectors and his sup- porters. He was 66 at the time. LaRouche supports numerous conspiracy theories, and his group is said to have strong ties with Holocaust revisionists, neo-Nazi groups and similar extreme -right organizations. Among other things, he has advanced as fact his belief that Queen Elizabeth II heads up a drug ring. "If Mr. LaRouche is guilty of these things, then so be it, but it wouldn't be the first time someone has been wrongfully incarcerated," Steckle said in an interview yester- day (Tuesday). "It happens in this country; it happens all over the world. We have many people who are political prisoners - think of ,Nelson Mandela as an example of one who, perhaps wrongfully, because of his political , position, was put away for some 20 years." However, Steckle said he's not comparing LaRouche with Mandela. "The only reason I mention that is because he (Mandela) was dis- charged from prison after many years and is now leader of a coun- try. People have claimed him back. "Knowing what I know right now. I wouldn't do it again. But six months from now, I might say.. I would do it again, because we don't know. It's a crazy situation." "Why was someone not up on this at that point in time" when the petition was presented? he asked. Steckle also said he has sent for more information about LaRouche and the charges made against him. "It's a minor error that anyone can make it public life," Steckle said. "Yet it's what we want to make of it. And I guess if the. media want to make a big issue of this thing then it's just going to help (LaRouche's) cause. "All wingg.aE o die and probably forget e about is probably the easiest way/Of dealing with. it." • -A part called the Committee for the Com onwu h of Canada has been li wi ouche's group. 'In electro' s d ng the past decade, the CCC .1 fielded nearly .100 candidates for municipal, provincial and national office. Bill Bohdap, a Calgary adherent of LaRouche, ran for the mayor of Calgary in the late 1980s, under a platform that included the death penalty for bankers convicted of laundering drug money, and an "all-out war" on AIDS. GREGOR CAMPBELL PHOTO RESTORING POW - Officials from Ontario Hydro and the Seaforth Public Utility Commission were hard at it early Friday nstalling a mobile transformer at the comer of Chaps arid Gouinlock Streets, which arrived by emergency shipment from London, to restore power to portions of the town after vandals explosion. caused a big power outage. Local ministers say church must change BY TIM CUMMING Expositor Editor The United Church is at a cross- roads according to a new report and local ministers. The report, called Unitrends, was prepared by Dr. Reginald Bibby, a sociologist with the University of Lethbridge. Among its findings are that the church has a membership which is aging and declining in numbers. It also suggests the church membership is Tess interested in social, economic and political mat- ters than the church leadership. The Reverend Randy Banks, minister at Duff's United Church in Walton, called the new report a —wake-up call" for his denomina- tion. • "This could hit us hard if we don't do anythiig about it," echoed The Reverend•-BB''nicc Cook, minister of the Seaforth Pastoral Charge. "We really have to take stock of who we are...not just saying, 'Restructure a little bit here' and 'Restructure a little bit there." Although Rev. Cook doesn't .. believe the worst-case scenario of Dr. Bibby's report, members of the United Church are "telling by their absence (from church) that we're not meeting their needs." The minister from Egmondville United Church, The Reverend Cheryl -Ann Stadelbauer-Sampa, says Bibby offers the church a challenge. "It's healthy for the church to ask ourselves why we're here, who we are and what we're about," she said. "The report offers as much hope as doom and gloom." Along with the other ministers interviewed she suggests that con- gregations must be ready for .change. "Sometimes we're so tied to traditions and rituals we're not open to new possibilities." Music is the language of our culture and youth in particular and the church hasn't made good use of music developments, she said. The church must appeal not only to those whose lives are settled but to those who are experience loss and division with their (amities, according to the Egmtndville "We have to get excited about a new era..." United minister. As a former President of London Conference she had the opportunity she had a chance to visit many congregations and agrees . with the observation that younger people aren't adequately represented. The report's conclusion that the United Church faces a huge chal- lenge to retain its membership came as no surprise to the minister in Walton. "I'm certainly not surprised by his findings," said Rev. Banks. "They reflect the reality both for the rural and urban church." The report has special relevancy for rural areas because it notes that the church has an aging member- ship. The church will have to become mare relevant, said Rev. Banks, in order not to become extinct in the next century. He said the church mut try new things but cautions that people are often resistant to change in their churches. "The local congregations have got to stop paying lip service to want- ing change and growth and start taking the risks to make it happen." New music and the involvement of lay people in worship are chanes which the church might consider. A renewed emphasis on program- ming will be one of the ways the church must respond to the Bibby Report, according to Rev. Cook. "We have to get excited about a new era and doing things different- ly." The Unitrends report was com- piled from a survey of seven target groups which included Pastors, church members, theological stu- dents, theological faculty, chairs of stewardship committees, General Council staff and General Council elected commissioners. The results of the study were released only recently. Local churches are expected to discuss its findings in the coming months. Here are some of the findings from the report's conclusion: •There was a general feeling that worship and good sermons were important. •Christian education and programs for the family (especially young le) were felt to be important by th ministers and lay people. •Responses to community, national and global needs were valued more highly by church leaders than aver- age members. •One in four members of the church who are donating Tess say their givins have decreased because of negative feelings about the church. One in three of the people giving less say they are giving Tess because they have less money. •Most people say their giving levels have increased since 1985". •In about 20 years the number of people attending United Church services on close to a weekly basis could drop from the current figure of about 380,000 to around 200,000. •The number of church 'workers' is expected to decline. •For related stories see next page. r $r