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Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario
mer
eaforth
principal
to visit
with Queen
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
When well-kriqui n Huron
County educatoihtllid former
politician Bruce Shaw returns
to school in a couple of
months, his students might tie
wise it twist the tables and
ask their principal toy_ a
o
traditional essay, althe
li-nes of that old standby
"What I did with my summer.
_vacation."
Their "boss' will probably
have an -interesting tale to
spin.
Shaw is scheduled to meet
Her Royal Highness Queen
Elizabeth II. at Buckingham
Palace in England this Friday,
He's not exactly sure how
this meeting with Canada and
the United Kingdom's head
of state came to be.
Shaw, who was vice-princi-
pal for two years then princi-
pal for eight at Seaforth's
high school from 1973 to 83,
says he was surprised when
he first got wind of the royal
invitation after the RCMP
unexpectedly touched bases
with him for security pur-
poses.
He had planned to be in
England for five weeks any-
way this summer, including a
fortnight as an' exchange
principal. His English coun-
terpart was on exchange here
earlier, last April.
. Shaw is still a Huron
County Board of Education
principal, responsible for
both Goderich and Bluewater
secondary schools.
He was also Exeter's mayor
for 18 years before stepping
down last year.
But he says this latest
arrangement "hit him out of
the blue" and he hasn't got a
clue whether it was education
or politics. or what exactly
has been going on behind the
scenes that would have led to
his meeting the Queen in just
a couple of days.
He expects it to be a '`mas-
sive" occasion with many
people and says his biggest
worry has been what to wear.
But with a bit of advice he
had settled on a suit by the
final day of classes last
Friday. when he flew away
for his little summer adven-
ture in Great Britain.
Local farmer
wins tractor
in Ag Society
annual draw
A local farmer won the big
price at the Tractor
Elimination Draw Saturday
night in Seaforth.
The winner of the Seaforth
Agricultural Society's annual
draw for 1996 was Bill
Flanagan of RR 1 Seaforth.
Bill has chosen a John
Deere tractor as the one he
will take home. Hundreds of
people enjoyed thc music of
two hands and a roast beef
dinner at thc Seaforth arena
Saturday night.
•
July 3, 1996 75 Cents Plus GST
1 - PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT
BATTLING BLAZE - Members of the Seaforth Fire Department had their hands full on Sunday morning when a fire broke out at the Something for
Everyone general store on Main Street. Here the,Clinton Fire Department arrives, in foreground, to lend assistance. The,cause of the fire is yet undeter-
mined but may possibly -be electrical: None of the second floor apartments were occupied. Neighbouring businesses suffered extensive smoke damage.
Neighbouring businesses Suffer smoke damage
P
ire destroys Main Street building
BY DAVID SCOTT
Expositor Editor
Luckily no one was injured
in an early morning fire
Sunday in Seaforth which
destroyed a Main Street
building and left neighbour-
ing businesses.with extensive
smoke damage and some
water damage.
The fire was still smolder-
ing'Monday morning.
The alarm was called in at
6:16 a•.m. Sunday by
Constable Dave Dale of the
Seaforth OPPwho was walk-
ing down Main Street and
noticed smoke coming from
the front of the building
owned by brothers David.
Anstett, of Clinton. and
Michael Anstett. of Exeter
(Anstett Jewellers).
When the Seaforth Fire
Department arrived. the three
storefronts (a vacant store on
the left, Something For
Everyone craft store in the
centre, and the Women;s ,
Resource Centre. at' the right)
were smoke-filled and the
windows were hot, said Fire
Chief George Garrick. The
fire originated from
Something For Everyone.
When the front door was bro-
ken in to gain entry. smoke
and fire quickly spread and
•the rest of the glass in the
storefront was blown out.
The five apartments above
the stores were vacant.
At 6:40 a.m. the Clinton
Fire Department was called
to assist. They sent six men
who hooked up hoses to
Main Street hydrants. The
Goderich department was
also called in. at 7:40 when '
the fire had spread to the roof
of the building on the east,
side of Main.
Four Goderich firefighters
used their aerial ladder truck
to spray water straight down ment bedding department.
The upper tlocw storage area
,was the most heavily .smoke-
damaged. The main floor
received smoke damage as
well but it was less the fur-
ther away from the fire. The
business is insured but po
dollar estimate has yet been
made on the damage.
Anna's is also insured but
no figure on smoke damage
has yet been determined.
,Needless to say, Something
For Everyone, i)wni.4d by
Karen Campbell -Taylor, was
completely destroyed by the
fire, including the crafts of
over 20 local vendors.
Campbell -Taylor 'couldn't be
reached for comment before
press time Tuesday but com-
mented in a `Tuesday London
Fress Press article that she
had insurance. The store had
just been open since May.
"People were just starting to
hear about it. she told the
onto the flaming roof. The
Seaforth PUC bucket truck
was also used to fight the
blaze on the secondfloor and
roof top. Twenty-two volun-
teer Seaforth firemen helped
fight the fire.
SMOKE DAMAGE
Tremendous amounts of
smoke from the blaze were'
carried by 'a'northwest'wind.
Shinen's Men's & Ladies'
Wear, to the south of the fire,
received smoke damage.
Box Furniture Store and
Anna's Dress Shoppe. to the
north, both received smoke
damage.
"We have considerable
smoke damage," said Barb
Betties of Box Furniture.
"The fire wall saved us.
We're pretty fortunate there's
not more damage. At least
we're not having to rebuild."
The furniture store received
water damage in their base -
PHOTO BY DAVID scoTT
AERIAL SPRAYING - The Goderich Fire Department sent its aerial ladder truck to help control Sunday's fire when it.
spread to the roof of the Main Street building. The Seaforth PUC truck was also used to douse flames. The fire, which
was called in at 6:16 a.m. wasn't extinguished until about 1:30 p.m. And then it started smoldering again on Monday.
1
Free Press.
The Wdmen's • Resource
Centre, operated by the
Worhen's Shelter in-
'Goderich. received.heavy
damage-in the fire.
Smoke from the fire also
caused unknown damage in
the Victoria Street area to the
St. James Catholic" Church
and neighbouring homes,
said Garrick.
The Clinton and Goderich
Fire Departments stayed until
after t2 noon: The tire was
pretty well extinguished by
1:30 p.m.. but Seaforth fire-,
fighters didn't leave the
scene until 3:40 p.m.
BARRICADE BUILT
A barricade was• then con-
structed•in front of the build-
ing on advice of insurance
adjusters. There are concerns
the brick face may collapse.
Chief Garrick said there are a
few loose bricks but the wall
CONTINUED on page 2
Burnt building
built in 1877
The heritage building that
was severely damaged by in
the worst Main Street fire in
13 years in Seaforth on
Sunday was built a decade
after Confederation. in 1877.
The current owners are
Dave and Michael Anstett, of
Anstett Jewellers. Dave lives
in Clinton and Michael in
Exeter.
Occupants of the building
up till this weekend were a
recently opened general store
for crafts. and the local
Women's Resource Centre.
Another store, most recently
occupied by a computer store
and used for penny sales and
the like, was vacant at the
time of the Sunday's blaze.
Accordirg to Seaforth
Local Architectural,
Conservation Advisory
Committee (LACAC) docu-
ments at Town Hall the origi-
nal owner last century was
Sam Stark.