The Huron Expositor, 1996-02-07, Page 44—THR HURON IXPO$ITOR, February 7, 11194
Your Community Newspaper Since 1860
TERRI-LYNN DALE - General Manager
& Advertising Manager
MARY MELLOR - Sales
PAT ARMES - Office Manager
DIANNE McGRATH - Subscriptions
& Classifieds
DAVE SCOTT - Editor
GREGOR CAMPBELL
- Reporter
JOAN MELLEN
- typesetter, proofreader
BARB STOREY
- distribution
A Bowes Publishers Community Newspaper
SUBSCRIPOON RATES: LOCAL - 28.00 a year, in odvonce, plus 1.96 G.S.T.
SE 9 ch: • 25.00 o year, in advance, plus 1.75 G.S.T. •
a . Stratford addresses: 28.00 a year, in advance, plus 7.28 postage, plus
2.47 G.S.T
Out -of Of-Areo: 28.00 o year, in advance, plus 11.44 postage, plus 2.76 G S T
USA & Foreign: 28.00 o year in advance, plus 576.00 postage, G-5 T. exempt
SV RIPTION RPTES:
Pubished week y by Signal -Star Publishing at 100 Main St., Seaforth. Publication
mail registration No. 0696 held at Seaforth, Ontario. Advertising is accepted on
condition that in the event of o typographical error, the odvertising spoce occupied
by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not
be charged, but the balance of the odvertisement will be paid for at the opplicable
rate. In the event of a typogrophical error, advertising goods or services at a
wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely on offer to
sell and may be withdrawn of any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for
the loss or damoge of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for
reproduction purposes. Changes of oddress, orders for subscriptions and undeliv-
erable copies are lo be sent to The Huron Expositor.
Wednesday, February 7, 1998
Editorial and Business Offices - 100 Main Street.,5eaforth
Telephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527-2858
Mailing Address • P.O. Box 69,
Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1WO
Member of the Canodion Community Newspoper
Associotion, Ontario Community Newspapers Association
and the Ontario Press Council
•
Letters to the Editor
"Chihuahuas bite more often than Pit Bulls!"
Unfair to judge a
dog based solely
on its breed
Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter
concerning the , proposed
bylaw requiring that all Pit
Bulls and related breeds be
'nuzzled and that the owners
pay -4100-a- year- to register.-
the
egister-•the animal.
I arm the owner of an
American Staffordshire Ter-
rier, the most, wonderful
family dog you could ask for.
have eight younger brothers
and sisters ranging in age
from 1 to 15. Hogan loves the.
kids, and is very careful
around the baby. When he
was a puppy he would some-
times knock her over, but that
is the worst he has ever done.
Recently he was injured
pretty badly, and even when
he 'was in pain, when my
baby sister started climbing
up on him, all he did was get
up and limp away. He has
never growled at any of the
children.
We have a second dog, a
Bouvier cross, and she and
Hogan get along wonderfully.
Recently we got a Dalmatian
and after introducing Hogan
to her, they spent the night in
the same room, and about
three nights later, the Dalma-
tian was sleeping with Hogan
in the closet with her head
resting on his back. Even
with strangers, after being
introduced, Hogan is line. He
-has been examined by the vet,
and stands there as patient as
any dbg.
I gucss what I'm trying to
say is that it is unfair to judge
a dog, based solely .on .its
breed. We once adopted a
Golden Retriever (the so-
called 'perfect' dog) and it bit
everyone in our facility before
We finally had it put down.
, Chihuahuas bite more often
than Pit Bulls! The only '
problem is, a 90 lb Pit Bull
docs a lot more damage than
a 10 Ih'Chihuahua. I think the
problem tends to stem_ from
the owner, not the dog. Pit
Bulls arc usually owned by
someone who just wants a
scary looking dog. But if they
arc raised and trained right,
they arc wonderful pets.
If makes no sense to require
that Pit Bulls be muzzled. It
is very rare that someone is
bitten by a dog being walked
by its owner down the street.
It is more likely that they are
bitten when trespassing on the
owner's/dogs property. .
.A; for the registration fee, •
do. ,it't that sound a little bit
like discrimination? If owners ,
of Pit Bulls are. charged an
extra 5100 dollars, then the
owners 'of any breed over 50
lbs shout(' be charged.
. I think the whole thing is
rub; ulous. I think if there is a
problem with a dog, then it
should be required that that
specific dog be inuzzled,
whether it's a Pit Bull,
Golden Retriever, Poodle or
whatever. But it should not be
mandatory.
Sincerely,
Heather Lynne Billson
and Hogan
Former editor writes
from sunny Mexico
Dear Editor,
As I sit here in the sunny
days of Mexico City, I think
of all the friends I made in
Seaforth. I would like to
thank them for making my
three years there wonderful.
1 would especially like to
thank those who nominated
mc for the Humanitarian
Award which I was proud to
accept on behalf of all those
who volunteer for Seaforth
,Community Hospital.
I am currently a guest of
the School of Communication
at the- Universidad
Intercontinental in Mexico
City where 1 hope to organize
conferences and seminars on
journalism in Canada and
Mexico.
I would encourage any of
your readers to send me
clippings that concern
Canada, Mexico, journalism
or the North American Free
Trade Agreement. My address
is: Tim Cumming, Escuela de
Cicncias de la Comunicacidn,
Univcrsidad Intercontinental,
Av. lnsurgentes Sur 4303
Tlalpan. C.P. 14420
Mexico, D.F.
I would also like to take
this opportunity to thank the
Homecoming Committee for
giving me the opportunity to
prepare a commemorative
video. Special thanks go to
The Huron Expositor, Bob &
Betty's Variety ' and
Stedman's who agreed to sell
the video despite the ('act they
would receive no profits from
thc video.
Once again, I would like to
pay respects to Seaforth,
which was very good to me.
I plan to return often to
Seaforth, at the very least as
a visitor.
Best of hick to everyone.
Yours truly,
Tim Cumming
Mexico City
Hockey is a quagmire (and getting worse)
What if you were offered
something new, for a lot more
money than you were already
getting it for free?
Triple A and some new rules
in amateur hockey could end
up this kind of deal for
Scaforth.
Triple A hopes to skim the;
cream of the crop from minor
atom to midget . in 31
municipalities in Huron -Perth
and form what it figures will
be. -a "Super League", a fast
track to the top for young
hockey players with stars in
thier eyes.
Opponents say it is all smoke
and mirrors, -and new clas-
sifications and rules will strike
to the heart of hockey for
players 11 to 21 -years -old in
rural Ontario, watering down
the local game when there is
no need for it:
Outsiders can be excused for
wondering - how adults can
make kid's game so
complicated.
Players and parents now
rising through the ranks should
be aware of what's coming. •
Seaforth takes a back scat to.
nowhere in rural Canada when
it. comes to developing young
hockey players, and good ones.
Nobody docs it better. There
isn't another community of
similar size in the OMHA or
Of -1A that has a longer or more
consistent record.
Our colourful hockey roots
go back well before the turn of
the century, almost back to the
origins of the game itself way
back, when a Hall of Earner
called "Cooney" and the Reids
and Sills, ruled the river.
A lot of gleet players learned
how to play the game here.
Some came, some stayed and
others still go as far as breaks
and the game take them.
The names of one generation
are on the trophies of the next.
Seafonh's system works:
A pair * that stared here' have
made it to Canada's national
junior team in the last decade,
and you can bet the mortgage a
third will do so soon, if the
puck bounces his way and
barring injury. Four former
"Rookies of the Year" with the
Seaforth Centenaires have
ended up - dratted by the
National Hockey League in the
last 10 years. Another player
went fifth overall in the first
round of last suinmer's Ontario
major junior. draft.
The list of all the players
froin around here who learned
the basics in Scalorth and
played or continue to lace on
the blades from junior B to the
National Hockey League (and
all points in between) can clog
up your. train of thought with
memories.
Whatever its ups and downs,
.which depends on the people
(who aren't always angels),
the relationship between the
Seaforth and District Minor
Hockey • Association and
Seaforth- Centenaires Junior
"D"cvclopment Floc key Club
ain't broke so 'don't 'need
fixing. -
One of our biggest strengths
in the Seaforth system: is its
continuity. It attracts new
blood, and old players come
back as executives, managers,
coaches, stick boys, trainers or
as fundraisers on booster clubs
.to .liclp the next generation
follow • the dream of many
Caiiadian young inen, of
someday, starring in - the
National Hockey League.
PIOUS COOTS
Btut- off the ice and
"upstairs", .amateur hockey in
Ontario • is a real hotbed of
potter politics these days.
Recent wheeling and dealing in
back rooms of the -various clas-
sil'irations and their or-
ganizations (OMHA, WOAA,
Alliance; MTHL, AAA, CC,
Juuiior "D"cvelopmcrd,.OHA,
0111:, RUFF -RUFF), much of
it by a bunch of pious coots
often more interested in getting
their names on leagues or
trophies and protecting their
respective turfs than they are in
des eloping young hockcy
players, has led to the major
changes: -
• triple "A" hockey; . -
♦ and, a new rule already ap-
proved by the OH', the body
that oversees all this bush-
GREGOR CAMPBELL II1•H0T0-
NEW RULES AND ZONES - may make it impossible for talented young hockey players
like Dave Williams (left), Mike Watt and Danny Wildfong (all 14 or 15 -years -old at the time)
from playing junior with'the Centenaires 'n future y All threehave g - h
.I ears. ve one on Int a game
since when jhey posed for this shot five seasons back on Seaforth's "Twiple Twouble" line.
•
league confusion, that will
prevent players who don't have •
a season of midget under their
telt (in most cases 16 -year-
olds) from playing junior.
Last week, triple A hockey
for elite players Was sanctioned
by the OMHA for a Huron-.
Perth zone including Seaforth,
where the spark for triple A in
the two counties sprung. Const.
Charlie - Akcy is president and
the new classification is
completely separate from .the
WOAA, the organization that
now oversees "CC" minor
hockey in Seaforth. The "te-
ntative" triple A registration
fee - here in Huron -Perth is
$600, but this remains to be
seen because in all existing
OMHA - or Alliance triple A
zones the actual registration fee
is far . higher, upwards of
51,000. -
.Organizers and parents will
have to raise big bucks to
cover travel and. ice -rental.
These new emperors say
"AAA" attracts - more scouts -
and fills a gap because cxcep-.
tionally talented players need
somewhere to Ro to step up
from the average: The minor
and major teams up. to midget
(up to 18-years=old) call them=
selves Lakers and expect to
play 60 to 70 games -a season.
Home games and practices will
be smack dab in this neck -of
the woods, at Clinton and Hen -
salt. -
"DEVASTATING AFFECT"
Stratford,- although far bigger
population -wise, as much as
Seaforth has always been a
good "hockey town . Alliance
(this is a minor hockey group ,
that, recently split from the
OMHA) triple A hockey was
introduced there several years
ago and it has made a mess of
it, according to the president of
that city's minor hockey as-
sociation.
Triple -A zones "basically
don't' care what happens to
community organizations,"
SMH_ A president Dan Morris
told The Beacon Herald last
week. •
"They're biting the hand that
feeds them because they are
eroding the grass roots
. programs where they're getting
their kids from."
Randy Petrie, who has been
in the trenches with minor
hockey. in the Festival City for
20 years and is still on 'its
executive, says all the new
zones and levclshave made the
future grim for that local minor
hockey • organization. He
- predicts triple A' will be even
less of a blessing for smaller,,
surrounding towns like
Mitchell, Tavistock, Brussels,
• St. Marys - and Seaforth. •
"I believe they're (triple A)
pulling the wool over people's
eyes," he told the Stratford
newspaper. -
"What I • really have a
problem with is these .zone
teams sticking their chests out
and ,saying 'look what we've
donel," he continued.
CONTINUE!) on PAGE 9
Hockey action at Winthrop Palace- Rink
FROM 'I'HI? l'A(;l'.S OF
THE HURON EXPOSITOR
FEBRUARY 14, 1896
A SLEIGHING PARTY -On
Tuesday evening of last week,
two sleighs laden with young
people from, the 10111, utd I I th
concessions of McKillop, and
one from Brussels, drove to the
residence of Mr. A. Carter, of
Morris, for an evening's
amusement, and to say the
least, they enjoyed themselves
thoroughly, as the welcome
given by the. worthy host and
his amiable partner, and the
efforts put forth by thorn on
behalf of the young people,
soon made all feel at home.
• Early in the evening dancing
commenced, with - Messrs
Fulton and Rands wielding the
bow and accompanied on the
organ by, Misses Scott and
Henderson, and Mr.
Henderson; and dance Iilllowcd
dance without intermission
until nearly midnight, when tea
was served. Alter supplying the
inner wants, the dancing was
renewed with increased vigor,
and they "hoed it down" until
past the "wee seta' hours"
when all departed for home
satisfied,' and fully convinced
that it was one of the best
parties ever held iii this neigh-
bourhood.
FEBRUARY 18,1921
GOOD HOCKEY IN
WINTHROP - In one of the
hottest -fought games in the
Palace Rink this winter, the
In the Years Agone
Winthrop Wolves this- winter,
the Winthrop Wolves defeated
the Wonders from 'fuckcrsinith
in a twenty minute overtime
affray. Heavy ice made -the
going .hard but the game
proved interesting to the huge
crowd of spectators. -Winthrop
opened the scoring in the first
five minutes of play alter a
clever piece of playing. The
period ended I-0.
In the second period
Tuckcrsmith had a slight.
advantage, scoring twice. It
was in the third period that the
excitement was highest. Indi-
vidual plays of the highest type
were indulged . in: It ended
three all, quid 'by, mutual con-
sent it was arranged to play off
the tic. Then Billowed twenty
minutes of real fierce hockey
before Smith, on a nice pass,
managed to teat McGeo c.h with
the winning counter. Wright
and Nicholson of Tuckcrsmith
were thc bright lights of the
game, anti only for the brilliant
work of Montgomery in goal
the score might have been
reversed. McGcoch also was a
bright spot for Tuckersmith:
FEBRUARY 15, 1945
An' enthusiastic meeting was
hell in • the Town Hall,
Seaforth, on Wednesday. even -
int. at which representatives of
the councils of- Seaforth,
Tuekcrsmith, McKillop and
Hil•hert • were formed into thc
Mu,,icipal Veterans' Reception
Con and ittee.•
Mayor John J. Cluff, of
Se.,furth, E.P. Chesney, of
Tut kersmith, were appointed
ch.tarman and secretary,
redo.ctivcly, of the general
meeting at which reeves and
cou:acillors of the lour munici-
pal., ies spoke in regard to ways-
and
aysand means of providing a suit-
able reception for the veterans
of \.'orld War II. Members of
the aforth Legion were pres-
ent • and gave many helpful
sug!-estions. • -
II was unanimously decided
to include all s 'Terms of the.
mut.icipaliiics ni;.ntioncd,
regaudless of whetli,r or' not
th. - belonged to a Legion
dist' icl apart from Seaforth, .
and committees were named to-
arrange
oarrange details. - Committees
nan.ed were as follows (first
mora:J is chairman):
• Einertainment - ('.P‹ Sills,
Walker Hart, M.R. Rennie, Jas.
F. Scott.
Supper - M.A. -Reid, C.M.
Smith, I. Hudson, D.I I: Wilson. -
'Dance - H. Jackson, N.
Hu; :rt, - A. -Nicholson; R.
Bula.►n. -
'I::ekets - Clini Snaith, Ed.
_ Struala, Frank Silts, • \layor J.J.
Glut 1.
I4:11RUARY lti'. 1971
:\ • highlight oI' il.is year's
Mia,ur Hockey Das. - was the
gala.; between the SI)IIS Girls
•All 'tars and the "Ladies" of
the Minor Hankey e xccutivc:
Captain Thotnasuna "',Where'd it
go.' ' Phi IIMs, Jacqueline
"ciusher" Eisler. Lt. "Flash"
Phillips, ..Wilhelmina "Steve"
Ilenacrson, Jackie -Goggles"
Mu:, and Jacqueline "Bomber"
Labs-. Thi "Ladies salvaged a
9-9 Iic with OK'.1. !II School
Gitt� in spite of an incredible
nu,:.bet• of penalties for such
oli: noes as Iitterine .and dress-.
Mg un the ice. -
'Jaw customer. oI" the PUC
wet:. 'without m. abet for about
the. a hours Tuesda, when a six
inch water mairrburst on North
Main Street at the- Godcrich
Street- intersection during, the
night. •
The break was reported w •
PUC Manager, Walter Scott,
about seven a.m. Tuesday
when town police noticed water
oozing to the surface. .
PUC workers, faced 'with
heavy snow and winter condi-
tions, dug dawn to the main'
and by 9 o'clock discovered a
large crack and a scam which
was -leaking in seven or eight.
places. It was necessary to
replace 14 feet of the main. -