HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2000-12-20, Page 1December 20, 2000
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Tre trimming traditions
Orname is create special memories for Seaforth residents
By Sloan Hutrdertmark
Exposi$or Staff
Heather Robinet never has any.
presents cinder her Christmas
tree at her John Street home.
Instead. she's carrying on a
three -generation tradition, begun
by her paternal grandmother. by
creating a winter village scene
under the tree.
A:cardboard farmhouse filled
with candy' that Robinet's father
received as a gift when he was
one year old close to 65 years ago
was the first piece of the
collection.
Robinet's grandmother placed
the farmhouse under the tree that
Christmas, on some white quilt
'batting along with some toy farm
animals and began adding pieces
each year such as glass ponds and
wooden fencing.
"That was back when you
couldn't just buy any of these
decorations at the store so a lot of
it was homemade;" says Robinet.
When she was a child, she
remembers her father. who
carried on the tradition. searching
constantly for houses and
miniature people to add to his
scene at model train. stores and
toy stores.,
"I remember him carving
people' because he couldn't find
any to scale with. the houses," she
says.
' When Robinet married, her
father gave her some of the
pieces from her grandmother's
collection and she began
collecting pieces of het own. She
. made some of the buildings
herself in a ceramics class.
"h gets bigger and bigger every
year and my. Dad's collection is
huge. He comes up to Seaforth
every year, to see my scene. And,
my Dad's scene is the first thing
my kids head for when we fro to
niy parents' house," says
• T.
4
Susan Hundertmokr photo
Rachel Robinet explores the many "treasures' collected beneath the tree; 0 three -generation tradition in
morn, Heathers•family.
Robinet.
She says that while she Used to
be very protective of the
'Christmas scene when her- thYee
daughters were very young,
they're now old enough at ages 8
and 10 to set it up themselves.
"Sammy and Rachel are.
spending hours under the tree this
year moving. the figures around •
and playing with them. I guess
I'll be passing the collection
down to my daughters some day.
she says.
Everytime. Madelon Maloney.
puts up her Christmas tree on
West William Street, the. faces of
children she taught. through her
23 years as a Kindergarten
teacher float into her mind.
Creamery.
employees strike
w Ston rfllyandorff
Expositor Editor
One hundred and ninety
Seaforth Creamery employees
have gone on strike, just on
week before Christmas.
"We had given them a final
offer of what we fele was a
fair deal and they turned that
down," said Clarence
Murphy, general manager at
the creamery.
Management and the union
IUFCW/ were unable to reach
•
a deal Dec. 12 through a
concilliator and employees
voted to strike on Sunday.
Murphy said the strike
follows about a month and a
half of negotiations trying to
work out the employees'
second contract following
their first three-year contract
since the union's Local 125
was first formed.
Union representative Al
Sherman could not be reached
for comment Monday, the
first day of the strike hut
Soo CONCLUATOA, Pogo !
#41;4,
That's because the tree . is
almost completely adorned with
ornaments she received as gifts
from her students before she
retired in 1997.
"I've thought of redoing the
tree .completely in whites and.
blues but 1 just can't do it because.
of the really, really specials
ornaments I got from the
children," she says. •
Among the various ornaments
labelled with teacher are several
teddy bears and angels along with
many handmade ornaments
crafted from pipe cleaners, beads
and paper. •
Maloney points to a ceramic
Santa and Mrs. Santa set hanging
from the tree which were made
by a mother who had three of her
six children in Maloney's class
'Those kids were little devils
but they were so.cute. 1 always
wondered how their mother had
time to make the ornaments with
three in school and another three
at home," she says.
A few of the handmade,
ornaments are inspired by
Christmas stories Maloney .used
to read to her class every year.
A crocheted mouse in a
' stocking comes from a little girl
called Jean•who loved to hear the
book Santa Mouse, a fat Santa
Claus made by another student's
mom because of the book Pat
Soo ORNAMENTS, Pogo 2
Pig barn collapses
in Brussels area
'Illy Scott HlIgandorff
Expositor Edda •
A pig barn at RR 4 Brussels
collapsed last week but little
information can be obtained about
what and how it happened. • .
Rumour suggested the property
belonged to a Terpstra, The
Expositor called Acre T Farms;
owned by an arca Terpstra family
and while a receptionist said none
of the Acre T barns had collapsed,
one owned by Charlie Terpstra did
come down.
The Huron Expositor tried
calling Terpstra Monday but when
it identified itself 'and explained it
was looking for information about
the collapse, the. telephone was
disconnected.
• A second call was answered and
subsequently disconnected and a
third call was simply cut off.`
Police were not called to.the
scene but were aware of. the
collapse.
The Blyth Piro Department could
not be reached Monday but it is
unknown whether or not they
responded.
A Seaforth area resident who
may have helped at the scene last
week also could not he reached for
comment Monday.
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