HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1999-01-06, Page 1Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario
Sandra and Tony DeCorte of Egmondville hold their frist baby, Jenna, born Jan. 4 at
SeaforthCommunity Hospital at 10:03 a.m. Jenna is the. first baby of the new year, born
about five weeks party, weighing five pounds, two ounces.
HILGENDORFF PHOTO.
Snowcross will heat up Walton track
facility out there. We've had
a lot of snowmobiles ask us
about. it," said Chris -Lee
whose family is being
assisted by the Walton
Brussels Trailblazers to get
the parking lot cleared and
the tracks groomed.
There are snowcross
events all over the province
from Ottawa to Sault St.
Marie and Lee decided to
BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Expositor Editor ,
Normally quiet in the
winter, the. Lee family's
motocross park in Walton
will be the site of its first
Ontario . Snowcross
Championship Series. event,
starting this weekend.
"From the motocross,
we've got the track• and
join ,forces, with a Durham
motocross track to hold the
_ Ontario: • Snowcross:.
Championship Series which
began in Durham . last
weekend.
It's a series of five races
between now and the end of
March with Walton's taking
place .January 10 and
January 31. .
CONTINUED on Page 3
January 6, 1999 — $1.00 includes GST
Grant helps hospital fight
Year 2000 computer glitches
BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF
Expositor Editor
A $174,896 Ministry of
Finance grant will help
• Seaforth Community
Hospital solve potential
- computerized trouble from
anti by computers trying to
read the date January 1,
2000.
"The uses will be fairly
focussed," - said
Administrator . Andrew
Williams.
While problems could_
result from any technology
• using computers, including
the hospital elevator,
Williams said the grant is
being' directed at any
equipment that comes' into
contact with patients.
The "overall 'concern
around the world is that
many items from video
cassette recorders to.
microwaves could suddenly
stop working because of a
virtually universal glitch
involving the date. The glitch
could cause: computers to
stop working because they
cannot read the double zeros
in 2000:
• - Municipalities, hospitals,
• public utilities commissions,
corporations and more are
working to -sort out the
potential. problems with their
equipment
Williams said the Seaforth
hospital is progressing well
with the. problem. .
Equipment in question,
such as heart monitors, have
been identified and letters are
- being sentto manufacturers
looking for input on, what
needs to be done to ensure
that next Jan. 1, the
equipment -continues to
function.
"A lot of it will probably
be software upgrades," said
Williams. - -
. With less than a year now
until the potential problems
arise, he said there is a
certain amount of pressure.
"I think Seaforth .is doing
well," he said, where there is
a limited amount . of
equipment that could be
affected. .
"It's a bigger issue, in my -
view, in the teaching
hospitals that have a huge
amount of equipment that's
going to be affected.".. Locally. be said the grant
will at least help with
upgrades and potential
equipment replacements that
might -be needed before next
year but there's no way of
knowing how- much it's all
going to cost at this point.
"Our first priority is the
items that come in direct
contact with patients," said
Williams: r
Then, the hospital team
assigned -to the problem. will
look at equipment like
elevators.
The grant is part. of $300
million made available by
the Ministry of Finance. for
-- medical equipment across the
health sector for anticipated
glitches caused by computers
trying to read the date -
January 1, 2000: .
Tax breaks may be taken back
in provincial clawback, Bill 79
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
'Expositor Staff
Commercial, industrial and
multi -residential ratepayers
whose local taxes went down
last year could')iave some of
those decreases clawed back
so that others in the same
categories won't have tax
increase of more more than
10 per cent.
_The municipal tax cap and _
clawback is contained in
pending provincial
-legislation, retroactive to the
start of 1998.
"It's going to be mass
confusion,"
• clerk/administrator Jack
McLachlan predicted at
Seaforth Council on Dec. 22.
Council resolved, with
encouragement from the
Association of Municipalities
of Ontario (AMO),to write
the Minister of Finance
requesting an extension of its
Dec. 31 deadline for Bill 79
(the Fairness for Property
Taxpayers Act, 1998) so that
the town can "adopt
transition or tax mitigation
methods." •
McLachlan said Monday
that deadline has nowbeen
extended to Jan. 31, but the
problem hasn't gone away
and the exact effect of the
legislation onratepayers in
the three categories is still
impossible to say.
He said a complicating
problem is that any appeals
on last year's assessments
still haven't been heard by
the court that deals• with
them, so that municipalities'
don't know for certain what
some ratepayers in the three
categories are .the
paying in taxes for last year.
McLachlan said he's.
attending a seminar on the
problem next week, and
clerks of all Huron
municipalities will. probably
get together, between then
_and theextended deadline at_
end of this month to ponder
and clarify Bill .79's
ramifications:
"It's the wbrst possible
timefor the government to
do• it because everything's
unstable right now," he said
Monday. •
Area cancer survivor using flail
BY MICHELE GREEN
Special to The Expositor
At the beginning of the 20th Century,
women often met around the frame of a
quilt, stitching the patches together. As the
century draws to a close, that happens less
often:
But a Russeldale woman could be
changing that Carol Miller is encouraging
people across Canada to take their place
__around a quilt for the sake of an issue that
affect all women: -lire -asp cocker ` -
A long-time quitter and a breast cancer
survivor, Miller launched a national exhibit
of quilts entitled The Quilt: A Celebration of
Survivors. It will feature quilts made by
people across Canada and will be displayed
at the Stratford -Perth Museum from April
1999 to October 1999. The exhibit will end
with a gala auction of the quilts on Nov. 12
at the Church Restaurant in Stratford.
Proceeds from the sales will be donated to
breast cancer research through the Canadian
Cancer Society.
"I thought about doing something for
quilts and cancer.' Now's my chance to do
that," said Miller, who is from the village on
Perth County Rd. 83 which is on the border
of Huron and Perth counties.
In April 1997. she went to the doctor for a
routine physical and mammogram which
showed a cancer cells in one of Millet's
breasts. A biopsy confirmed the
mammogram results and the doctor
recommended surgery.
Miller and her husband Tom took the trip
to England they planned first.
Then. she underwent a mastectomy and a
breast reconstruction in July.
"it was scary --the surgery as well as the
cancer," said Miller.
She took six months off from her work as
owner and manager of Miller's Barn, a quilt
and craft store in St. Agatha. to recover. it
was during this time that Mier put together
the idea of a .
national quilt
exhibit to raise
money for breast
cancer research.
She took her idea
to a breast cancer
survivors' support
group, which she
recently joined.
Miller hoped this
Stratford -based
group,w,.ould_make
the first quilt for
the exhibit.
Although the group
was supportive of
the idea, none of
the members could
quilt.
• That didn't stop
Miller. She
selected a quilt •
pattern and a fabric
by Northcott Silk
Inc. which makes a
donation to breast
cancer research
with each purchase
of its Quilt -for -a -
Cure fabric.
Together. the
support group cut
out the patches and
sewed them to
make a quilt top. A
group of quitters in
Monkton agreed to
do the quilting for the exhibit's first quilt.
"You're in a group, laughing and enjoy
something together. It's healthy," said Mille
who fends healing qualities in the activity.
Besides quilting, organizing a quilt
festivals is one of Miller's skills. She was
one of the founding organizers of the of the
Waterloo County and Area Quilt Festival.
She is drawing on her contacts with the,
in fight against breast . cancer
Miller using quilts in fight against beast cancer.
Festival and •
contacts she
made when she
worked in the
store, which she
has since sold to
new owners.
Now, Miller's
national quilt
exhibit is an
official part of
the 4th annual
Waterloo County
event. It is the
first satellite
location for the
festival. •
Miller js
hoping at least
35 quilts will he
donated to the
exhibit and that
each province
will be
represented.
Quilters have
been notified
through quilters
guilds, a national
quilting
magazine and by
word of mouth.
So far, quilts .
have been
donated by
Bradshaws, a
Stratford store,
and Femme and
Co., a Stratford accounting company. A
group of surgeons from Stratford General
Hospital are also working on a quilt together.
Stratford Festival actor Michelle Fisk also
plans to make a quilt from fabric donated by
the theatre's wardrobe department.
Quilters from British Columbia, Ottawa,
Mississauga, Elliott Lake, Winnipeg and
Saskatchewan have all asked for more
information on the exhibit before beginning
their own projects.
They are making the quilts for many
reasons. Some are being made in memory of
someone who fought cancer. An Ottawa
woman is making her quilt to dedicate to a
friend's daughter who is battljng cervical
cancer.
"You don't have to be a quitter to make'a
quilt. There are lots of ways for people to be
involved in a quilt," said Miller.
People can choose to donate the batting or
the fabric, she said. They could make coffee
and refreshments for the quilters,- Most of all-
Miller said people can get involved by
developing their own group of people
committed to donating a quilt to the exhibit.
"If they did it as a group, many hands
make light work," she said.
The group can include people who will
donate the Materials and then branch out to
others who will do the actual quilting.
"it's fun that way. Everyone has a hand in
it."
individuals, groups or businesses can
sponsor a quilt with a donation of $5(X).
$2,000 or $20,000. The money covers the
costs of the material and Miller said the
exhibit committee will find a group to do the
quilting.
Although the exhibit is organized by
Miller and proceeds from the sale of the
quilts will be handled by the Huron -Perth
branch of the Canadian Cancer Society, she
said the money won't stay in this area.
Proceeds from the sale of each quilt will go
back to the home branch of the donors.
"They still have ownership of the project,"
she said.
Potential quilters are asked to complete a
call for entry, declaring their intentions, by
the end of February. They are available at
any office of Canadian Cancer Society in
Huron or Perth counties. Quilts must be
submitted by the end of March.