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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-01-17, Page 44-T11I HURON EXPOSITOR, January 17, 1111/4 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 PAVE SCOTT - Editor GRCGOR CAMPBEII - Reporter JOAN MELLEN - typesetter, proofreader BARB STOREY - distribution TERRI-LYNN DAL - General Monger & Advertising Manager MARY MELLOR - Soles PAT ARKS - Office Manager PIANt4E McGRATH - Subscriptions & Classifieds A Bowes Publishers Community Newspaper 5USSCRIPTION RATES. LOCAL - 28.00 a year, in advance, plus 1.96 G.S.T. 0 . - 25.00 o year, in advance, plus 1.75 G.S.T. • 28.00 a year, in advance, plus 7.28 pastoge, plus 2.47 S.T - lad of Of -Arco: 28.00 a year, in advance, plus 11.44 postage, plus 2.76 G.S.T 28 00 o year in advance, plus $76.00 postage, G.S.T. exempt y Signal -Star Publishing al 100 Main 5t., Seaforth. Publication mail registration No 0696 held at Seaforth, Ontario Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of o typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with o reasonable allowance for signature, will not be chorged, bid the bobnce of the udvertisement will be paid for at the applicable role. In the event of a typographical error, advertising goods or ser +ices at o wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely on offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time The Huron Expositor is not responsible for Ilse loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes Changes of address, orders for subscriptions.and undeliv- erable copies ore k. be sent to The Huron Expositor. Wsdrissdsy, January 17, 1996 Editorial and sesess Offices • 100 Moin Street.,Seoforth Telephone (519j 527-0240 Fax (5191 527.2858 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seoforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Associot on and the Cn lario rani Council Letters to the EditoiD Re: Home care criticism of all components of - the Editor, The Huron County Board of Health Unit. ;Most Health reviewed recent letters specifically, thigh it was to with regard to the home ('arc space was alkhouse Home Carc, indeed, move. At its meeting on Jan. allocated for all the 10, the board heard from a agencies such as Community Home Care representative on Nursing Services and Town what the concerns were. and Country Homemakers. • The board, would like' to The idea was to have a one ensure that the proper stop- access forhealth-related information is available to die agencies. This was the publicProvince's wish, so they put concerning the Inoue up just under half • of the money with the county corning up with . the remainder. 4. The Huron County Home Care Program will have more space in the Health and. Library Complex than they have now: They will also have access to common, meting rooms arid staff lunch room facilities. 5.. Home_ Care's move is therefore planned and expected. It was always part of thc: plan _ that the Home Care offices would -rnovc to the renovated premises. There will be noincrcasc in cost to either the county or the province with this move. The Board of Health is currently in negotiation with th' • landlord about the lease arrangements. The savings in utility costs alone of approximately S10,000, once Nome Care moves out, and we can go to minimuin utility requirements, will go to offset the cost of the.move. • Oucc the .negotiations with the landlord over the Lease are complete, the rent payments will goto the county for the space occupied in the Health and Library Complex. The total cost of rent and utilities currently paid per square foot exceeds the current rent per square foot charged by the county. If you- require further information, please contact myself or • Bill Clifford, Warden, Huron County. Ron Murray Chair, Huron County Board of Health Majority still favours Tories Polls taken after massive �ecentlx rcicasedplaces support budget cuts and December's for the new • Progressive day of protest in London in- Conservative government at 53 dicate the Ontario Harris per ccnt of decided voters, government's popularity is , down from its highest level of waning only slightly. • 58 per cern in October, but up An Angus Ried poll con- slightly from November when ducted Dec. 13 to 17 and it was measured al 50 ter cent. Education direction.says "spirit" key which will occur the week of January 25, 1996. 1. The facilities at the Health and .Library . Complex • arc fully accessible. Anyone wishing to replenish 'supplies may do so at a -ground Iloor, wheelchair accessible supply arca. Offices are located on both the first and second Moors with a fully •accessible hospital style elevator directly - off the, foyer. 2. The Long Term Care Reform Act speaks to • the concept of a one Strip access for community based health- related services. The Health and Library Complex accomplishes this by providing offices for- the •Public Health programs, Huron Addiction and Assessment Referral Services, Placement Co-ordination Services, Home Care and the opportunity for community- based nursing, therapy and homemaker agencies to locate their offices on the premises. In fact, thc board iti in • negotiation with some of these agencies who wish to rent spacc there. 3. The .renovations which resulted in the Health and LibraryComplex were first discussed some ten years ago when the county was making decisions on whether to build a new Huronvicw or to - renovate. In 1993, the county was successful in obtaining' one million,dollars. from the Provincof Ontario to renovate -the now Health and Library.. Complex for the use "We arc the 'largest' entity, the 'largest' employers, the 'greatest contributor' to the local economy, - the 'key source' for leade i s in or- ganizations 'and worthy coin- * munity causes...in many areas the school IS the base for the community," Huron County Board of Education Director Paul Carroll told trustees, staff and friends of Huron's public education system in his New Year's newsletter. "Let us remember how effec- tive we can be as 0 school system - cach•of us in our own' small corner," he continued. "And as we refine sums aspect • of our own responsibility arca, whether it be a program direc- tion, tin organizational ap- proach, a school policy, and administrative procedure, or even a bus route, let us do so in a spirit that carries us for- ward instead of back, closer to the excellence we seek, • yet recognizing that resources arc quite constrained." Carroll also asked that the system pursue "selective aban- donment of any current prac- tice to ease your current load...sonic of the clutter from our workday responsibilities. "We each need to ask,'Why am I doing this'? What value docs it add to the education of the children, thc young per- sons, and the adult learners we serve," the education director said. Columnist waxes poetic about "Weggie" So whet exactly is a Weggie? My Weggie is a devious little creep who. if human, would be doing community service work by now as part of his probation agreement. Hey, I'm kidding of course. Knowing. Weggie as well as.1 -do. I'm sure he'd he paying two dumb cats to do his community service work while he's away on a hunting expedition. . Not that Weggie looks like a criminal — he's a handsome cat with perfect Tabby markings. green eyes and white fluffy fur on the underside. And he's fit.'Finally fully grown, this cat is long and lean and can leap backyard fences in a single bound. I've never seen a faster cat both on his feet and with his paws. Weggie can pick off a sponge hall inmid-air and come down with it in his paws. I swear if. he could turn a double play and switch hit, I'd need a sharp stick to keep the Blue Jay brass at hay. Wcggic was three this Christmas and he's lived in my house for all but the first eight months. Thanks to Dr. David Thorne's scalpel, Weggie skipped that "sexual maturation" stage of cat development behavioralists call the "juvenile period" and, became a young offender . straight away: • Weggie has the darting eyes of a poker player and the quick gait of a thief. He can sit perfectly stijl for an hour, if that's what it takes to ambush a bird; he can crawl so slow to the ground, a rodent William Thomas only a foot from the nest is considered a certain snack. It would not surprise me in the least if somu'd • where I least expect it. ! di ;cover a cache of tiny burglar tools and a deck of credit cards • belonging to victimized cats. Weggie, however, is not defiant. For the most part, he abides by all my house rules, as a way of.humouring me. In this sense, he's exceptional. For instance, he . 'never walks across the stove 'and along the kitchen counter anymore ... except when I'm not there. He never gets his claws into the leather chair in the living room anymore ... except when I'm not home. He never crosses the road anymore ... except by a different route each time. And he always comes in from outside whenever I call him ... except when he'd rather not. Yes, if Weggie gets any more exceptional, I'm going to present him with a blue ribbon of achievement and put it on very, very tight. Catch him doing something wrong and he's the picture of nonchalance: "Oh boy, 1 - haven't scratched this spot in weeks. What's that? Me? Do that? Do you really think if I actually did something that bad, I could sit here and lick myself like this?" When all this too -cool -for - conviction stuff fails, Weggie simply pretends to be distressed by something off in the distance which is actually invisible and entirely distracts me until I investigate and find it's something that's actually invisible. Weggie's so-called "recreational behavior" is very well developed. He can gallop, roll, jump. climb and fight imaginary opponents through the bottom rung of chairs with the best of them. His ability to hide silently behind a door and attack my ankles as I walk by with something resembling dinner on a platter may be somewhat over -developed. Pretending to be asleep, he'll give me a gentle shot with his paw as I walk by the foot of the bed. Walking past him on the way out, 1'11 gently give him a shot. Then he gives me a shot, and I give him one back and then his nails come out on the next exchange and I give him ' a rap for being too rough, so he bites role and I pick up a big book and then) aguy In a striped spirt blowing a whistle skates into the bedroom and • physically separates us for our • own good. Oh no, he can play alright, which is why I've spared no expense on his Christmas gift this year: a form -fitting . .Rottweiller costume. that comes with a scary harking device Ican activate by slapping my right ear, with my right paw. - At first, colder than the heart of an actuary, Weggie is now beginning to warm up to the idea that it's just him and me and I have the knc,w!PA!gz and tools to open cans. In bed he sleeps on or beside my chest; in from of the. television set he wriggles his body into a crevasse bordered by my knees and lower legs. And lately (this is really ' neat) he's begun to purr. He's so unaccustomed to this habit, the noise of purring scares him so he swallows, coughs and stops until he can't help himself. Then he repeats the routine. And that's really the last thing us guys need is an outpouring of affection. After that it's just a vicious -circle of crying jags and self- help groups with gourmet guilt -getaways on weekends. And that's why I'm so taken by this cat — he's really a guy in fur. (No letters from gay groups, please). And that's also why !think I made a great choice in selecting his name. Because if he wore clothes, that's exactly what I'd like to do — run up 'behind him, yank his shorts straight up and give this little . bugger a weggie. - Snowmobiles a pain, says mysterious letter somebody isn't keen on snowmobiles, and Seaforth officials aren't exactly sure who. . - AIl councillors got a letter in the mail earlier this.manth but the signature is faint and cryptic, and, would need an expert to decipher. - • •• The possible identity of the mysterious wit was briefly discussed at Tuesday night's couricil meeting. The same letter surfaced at the police services board meeting the night before. - Whoever did the deal knows word-processing, the difference between practice and practise, all the moues and where local politicians live, and is knowledgeable _ on the workings of- this town's affairs. . • He or she is also upset. Also, obviously eager for the red, red robins to come bob, bob, bobbing back along. The (unedited) text of this mystery, letter is as follows: - "Dear Councillor, • . I thought you should know the reality of the, snowmobiling laws in the town of Scaforth. - Drive, only from 40 w 90 km per hour. It you arc driving after midnight, up to 2:30 or 3:00 a.m., go faster, to get straight home as quick as possible. - When in town, drive up and down the streets many times and always rev the engine. Don't drive on private land unless•it gook$ like fun or unless•you, would get an extra thrill out of jumping snowbanks onto private property. If you are driving 'on a•sidcwalk where people are walking, slow down to give them time to get to a driveway or private walk. Wave as you pass the walkers and speed up• immediately so the sidewalk area will be , totally wrecked. - - : • • _ The designated trail through town is called THE '401' .TRAIL because there are no stops, arida speed Iimn of 100 km/hour and quick access. I've heard there is a new band starting. up in town, called The Chain Saw Boys. They arc going to practise in the:back of a half - ton truck while driving on the streets from 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. I hope they tune their chain_ saws up so they're not drowned out by snowmobiles. -Sincerely, Hoping Spring Comes Early" Note: Although it is this paper's policy never to print letters to the editor that people aren't at the very least willing to sign their names to, this letter wasn't sent to us, it concerns a matter of public debate, went to town officials who are paid by the same public. and was penned in good taste. - .IGC. Students snowbound in '71 Agone �;; FROM THE PAGES OF THE HURON EXPOSITOR JANUARY 24, 1896 • LOCAL BRIEFS - Two rinks from the Seaforth Curling Club -were to have gone to Guelph on Tuesday last to 'compete in -the bonspiel there, but on Monday night they received a telegram saying that the affair had been postponed for a week on account of the had state of the ice. Our boys have to return the Slentmin trophy, which thcy so gallantly won last year and compete for -it , again. - e e *•• Mr. John- McLeod, son of Mr: Angus McLeod, of McKillop, who has,been sojourning in Los Ageles, California for the benefit of his health, for some trine is, we are pleased - to learn, nearly recovered, and is able to pros- ecute his college studies again. At her Christmas examin- ation. Miss Nettie Ewing, who is taking a course in a New York hospital, passed most successfully. taking a high standing in each subject. eec The Toronto Globe of Wednesday has. the Hollowing comment on a Seaforth boy: "George Ewing., the' crack lacrosse and Association foot - hall player, who made things interesting for Peterb oro, when they met the Granite colts in the final match in the junior hockey series in Toronto last year, is putting' • up a grand game at cover -point for Stratford, which team has beaten London twice • in that group." JANUARY 28, 1921 THE BOY • SCOUTS - At present the Boy Scout.group, it appears, is constantly enlarging in this town. At a recent meet- ing held in the Scout Hall, the Years a,.otlttttlttwm�trt��t► seven patrols wcrc organized. A patrol consists of from seven to ten boys. F.T. Fowler was elected Scout Master, with W. Greig and F. Coates as assistants. In, the near future a town organiz- ation will undoubtedly be formed, and this will prove a ..benefit to all. A concert will be given on Monday night, Jan- uary 3lst. A good programme is being arranged a new feature of which will be the public speaking contest for thc\boys. Three medals are being awarded, and the competition promises to be kecn. e e s JANUARY 25, 1945 ('ANADA TEMPERANCE ACC IS LAW -IN HURON - Ontario's appeal to the Privy Council against the s alidity of the long -contested Canada Temperance Act of 1878 was denied Monday in London. The act was ruled to be valid 'in Ontario, as well as in Alberta,. Saskatchewan and New Bruns- wick, which backed Ontario in taking the. case to the highest court in the realm. In view of the decision of the law lords, • announced by Lord Sinton, denying Ontario's appeal, the Canada Temperance Act remains in force in four Provincial areas, Perth, Peel, Huron and Manitoulin. The Ontario Government's hope was that liquor laws could be made uniform throughout the Province. Ontario was sup- ported in its appeal by the Moderation League and was opposed by the Ontario Tem- perance Federation, which supported the Federal Government's defense of .the . act. - _ Huron County Council spent a busy afternoon at the con- cluding session on Friday last. Committee meetings were held in the morning and it was 3 p:m. before the council session • was opened. A grant of $25,00 to the - board of governors of Scott Memorial Hospital at Seaforth, for an addition to the institu- tion, was endorsed as recom- tnended by the health and hospital committee. JANUARY •28, 1971 BLIZZARD CLOSES SCHOOLS, ROADS - The most severe• winter storm in nearly twenty-five years struck Southwestern Ontario Tuesday morning dumping up to 20 inches of new snow in some areas. Winds running at 3050 'm.p.h. and gusting as high as 90 miles per hour whipped up huge drifts and made all roads and streets in the area impass- able- Visibility, even in the towrfs was at most times nil. While winds had lessened to some degree by Thursday morning snow continued to fall. Highway -crews managed to cut a lane through No. 8 Highway and a few trucks had ventured onto the road by mid- morning. It was the first traffic .in two -days. - ' All ' Huron County schools will remain closed until Mon- day. With hundreds of students stranded officials considered even if the storm abated it would be another day before students would be able to reach their homes. blizzard Schools closed on Tuesday afternoon and rural students were billeted in homes in town - when buses were unable to make return trips. In some cases children- were forced to remain intheir schools: Food and other necessities were beg • taken to the schools by snowmobile. Huron Centennial School in Bruceficld and St. Columban School were fanged to billet students in this man- ner.- : Snowmobile clubs in almost all area centres rallied to, do what they could in the emerg- ency. The Seaforth club made. machines available to run errands for elderly people in the town. Members maintained a fleet of nikhines at the dis- posal of Scaforth Community Hospital. The storm was the worst since March 1947 when Seaforth was isolated for four days. - e e e Near perfect weather condi- tions prevailed throughout last weekend to make the 'fourth Annual Seaforth Optimist Win- ter Carnival the most success- ful in the history of the event. Sunday was the big day with snowmobile races being held - all afternoon on the track at the Agricultural Park. More than 5,000 people took advantage of the sunny 25 degree day to watch the events. Seventeen classes were run and there were s� many entries that up to four qualifying heats were required in some classes. Thc three day event got off to a roaring start Friday even- ing as more than sixty snow- mobiles, decked out with torches, followed the SDHS band from the Topnotch lot to the Arena. Also included in the parade was a float which carried the seven Carnival Queen Candidates.