HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-05-06, Page 1A;e
i
x.ositor
Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth. Ontario May 6, 1998 -- $1.00 includes GST
Board•
ng for calli� a truce
Fate of
school
delayed
Board won't close any
school for one year
BY TRISH WILKINSON school.
CintonNews-Record Staff After several reports,
public meetings and
community input, a board
site -review committee bad
recommended closing
Seaforth District High
School and turning the
building into the new
headquarters.
However, this
recommendation was later
withdrawn and instead,
trustees agreed
unanimously to defer all
discussion and decision
making on both the new
headquarters and school
closures for an indefinite
period of time.
Now, following the
approval of this latest
report, the board has
narrowed this period of
time down to a two-year
study period where they
Aiillialtsditettaythomphthlif
Ands}ystematie scl:ios
review process" for all sites 1
where enrollment, building
capacity or other
circumstances may be
creating a concern.
"The review of school
system accommodation
needs to be conducted in an
informal fashion, in
partnership with the local
school comtitunities,
resorting only to a formal
review where serious
concerns are raised at a
future date," the report
.continued.
Trustees also recognized
the necessity to re -organize
headquarters .staff in order
to conduct the business of
the new board, and
approved the
recommendation that
"senior administration be
authorized to redeploy staff
and re -locate various
departments within the two
existing Education Centres
or to other appropriate
locations to address current
operational problems." •
Seaforth District High
School has been spared for
at least one year.
In a report that outlined
strategies for dealing with
ache. Avon Maitland District
*Awl Board's (AMDSB)
lquarters question and
School accommodation
review, one of the approved
recommendations was that
there would be "no action
taken on any school closure
matters for the school year
1998-99."
`The board is trying to act
in a sensitive manner,"
Board Chair Abby
Armour* said. "We'd like
people to know what is
haPPenin&"
The report, ,which was
t' ne t n4oraa
rmanent headquarters
be taken for at least
two ';.years, pending the
availability of an
appropriate alternate site."
"T isplanning framework
is presented to the board to
help trustees and
administration define
.apeeific.courses of action,"
-Armstrong noted in the
information report. "It is
designed also to alleviate
public anxiety about .a
atuntiter of critical issues
and to re -assure the
community of Avon
:Maitland that a longer term,
.consultative approach will
;;he: taken on the matters of
hecto (quarters location and
School accommodation
"
veview.
rte recommendations
How months of
it atroversy regarding
(Shiite the board's new
"iiiiiiidquarters would be
located, and if it would
involve the closing of a
Chair sets up meeting to find high s icor alternatives
BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Expositor Editor
Eccles. Supervisory Officer in Charge of
High Schools, Jim Moore. Paul Carroll.
director of the hoard. Maureen Agar.
A truce could be to the works between chair of the high school's school
the Avon -Maitland Distnct School Board advisory council. Dick Buutgess of
and members of the Seaforth community Friends of Seaforth Distract High School
fighting to keep its high school open. and Mayor Dave Scott.
"I'm quite hopeful we can come up The, meeting comes after the hoard's
with something positive." said Ahhy decision at its meeting last week•to delay
Armstrong. chair of the hoard and any decision •affecting the Seaforth
Seaforth's school hoard trustee. • . District High School until 1999.
She called for an informal meeting Since the hoard began deliberations
between herself. SUNS Principal Bruce about closing the school several weeks
ago. the issue has been extremely
emotional in -the community,and.led to
Carroll's resignation from two town
committees. .
This marks the first time the two sides
have come together since the- fight to
keep the high school open began.
Armstrong said it's a chance to find •
some common ground between the hoard
and the community....
"We really do all have the same goal."
CONTINUED on Page 6
Just ducky - A111.000 ducks were sold for the Seaforth Legion's annual duck race held Saturday afternoon at Silver
Creek. As the ducks reached the finish line, rain started to pour but it didn't chase away the crowd that gathered to see
whose duck would take first place. Dave Watson waited at the finish line.to scoop the first three ducks opt_ of the water.
PHOTO BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Work on Seaforth water tower almost done
Scatorth's new water tower
is 86 per cent finished and ft
could be in use next month.
Right now. PUC manager
'Iona. Philips said workers are
preparing the inside- of the
towc,r. sandblasting and
getting ready to coat the
inside with a •protective
sealant.
He said the project. for
which plans had begun about
14 years ago. 1s running right
on schedule.
Work began last summer
with Seaforth residents seeing
the steel bowl placed on top
of the tower around
November before progress
slowed. as expected. for the.
winter.
Since then. work has
continued on other aspects of
the tower from placing an
identification light on the top
to work on the control room
Area cops face close shave
Familiar faces shave heads to raise funds for cancer research
By SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Expositor Editor
Not only will Huron OPP
officers. be recognizable by
their uniform but many will
be sporting thc same, new
hair style next week after a
special fund -razor for cancer.
On May 9, 30 OPP officers
will be gathering in Goderich
to have their heads shaved
after collecting pledges for
cancer research.
Its part of thc Cops for
Cancer program and marks
the first time officers from
the Huron detachment have
taken part in the program.
"Wc want to raise public
awareness. Wc want to show
cancer patients we're
thinking of them," said
Const. Steve Beasley.
Beasley is one of the
organizers for the event and
said they were originally
hoping to find 20 officers
from across the county
willing to take part in the
program
The list
reached 30
and already
the officers
have raised
about
$10,000 in
pledges.
Beasley
hopes they
can double
that - by
Saturday.
Three heads familiar to
Seaforth residents will be
shaved: Hal Claus. Harrow
Maydell and Chuck Akey.
"It shows people we're
involved with them, not just
writing tickets." said Maydell
The program first came to
Ontario last year when two
officers had their heads
shaved at centre ice during a
Senators/Bruins hockey
game. At the same time, 51
other officers were taking
part in the event at another
Ottawa location. The
program evolved from a
situation
where an
oft icer was
having his
photograph
taken with
. child who
had cancer
and lost his
hair to the
treatment.
In support
of the
child. the
officer had his head shaved.
The boy had been the victim
of teasing at school and
several other officers also
shaved their heads to show
support.
Locally, officers arc taking
part in the event for a number
of reasons.
Some have family members
who have had cancer. others
are taking part in the
camaraderie and to' help the
community.
.Officers at the Huron
detachment have patrol areas
across the county and
Beasley said this is also a
chance for them to come
together in a mutual event for
a good cause.
• "We're a team. This gets us
all together." he said.
At the same time. he said
they arc doing it to help raise
awareness of the needs of
cancer patients.
Most of the money raised
goes directly toward cancer
research. Some of thc
projects funded arc
developing effective
treatment for children with
eve tumors. finding ways to
improve survival and quality
of life for men with
aggressive prostate cancer
and improving. treatments for
people with cancers caused
by viruses.
Locally, the shave -off takes
place at thc Canadian Tire
Storc in Goderich on May 9
between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
There will be food and
drinks, and other events.
CONTINUED on Pagc 6
for the tower. Performance
testing has -also been done• on
the town's two wells.
Work.will soon be finished
on the inside of the tower and
Seaforth residents will soon.
sec priming and painting
happening outside:
"At the present .time. we're
looking into the lettering."
said Philips. The PUC still
has to determine the style and
size of the lettering for the
outside o1; the tower.
The computerized controls
that will allow the tower and
water to he controlled from
the PUC office were ordered
in January and should he
arriving this month.
Performance testing has
been done at the town's two
wells.
The tower itself is costing
CONTINUED on Page 5
Buchanan named
to broomball hall of fame
BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Expositor Editor
As Janet oucnanan
prepares to wrap up her
career in broomball, the
Seaforth woman is seeing it
conclude on thc highest note
possible.
She has already seen the
,team she coached take a
-provincial championship and
place fourth at the national
level but now, Janet
Buchanan is being inducted
into the Ontario Broomball
Hall of Fame in Orangeville.
"It's a pretty big honor in
my mind.: It's the highest
honor you can get." she said.
But that's not why she's
been involved in broomball
.for about 25 years.
"With or without thc
,award, I'd do the same
,thing." she said.
"It gives much more than
you give it."
The sport has taken her
across Canada from
Newfoundland to the
•
1
Janet Buchanan
Northwest Territories.
While Buchanan said it's
not a high profile sport, the
people involved arc one .of
the attractions.
She only played the spore
for three years before a knee
injury forced her to quit
playing.
.But she didn't give up the
sport. spending 23 years
coaching the Parr Line team;
CONTINUED on Pagc 6