Huron Expositor, 2001-01-17, Page 1Ibiemiluok
January 17, 2001
si
(includes GST)
oPPm
against
playing on
snowbanks
OPP have received
numerous calls from
citizens across the county
regarding children playing
in large mounds of snow
near roads or in parking
lots.
Children are sledding
and building caves in
many area snowbanks.
Police are asking
parents not to let their
children play in the
snowbanks because of the
risk of serious injury or
death if they slip into the
path of an oncoming
vehicle.
OPP are warning
against children digging
caves or tunnels in the
snow because the banks
are unstable and could
collapse, crushing or
suffocating the children.
"Please parents, caution
your children to stay away
from these appealing yet
dangerous play areas,"
said OPP community
services officer Don
Shropshall in a press
release.
"We would also
appreciate that all
motorists watch for
children walking to school
on these high banks," said
Shropshall.
Snowmobiles stolen
A citizen complaint led
to the recovery of one
stolen snowmobile taken
Jan. 14 or 15 between 5
p.m.and 1:30 a.m.• from a
Tuckersmith Township
property.
A citizen called OPP at
2 a.m. to report two men
driving erratically on a
snowmobile in Seaforth
on Jan. 15.
OPP found the 1996
Polaris Trail Deluxe
abandoned in a field near
Victoria Street after
following its tracks.
Footprints led away on
Victoria Street and the
canine unit and emergency
response team were called
to assist. They were.
unable ' to locate the
thieves. The emergency
response team, seen with
rifles at the incident, are
required to accmpany the
canine unit.
No damage was done to
the snowmobile.
Meanwhile, a black
Arctic Cat Model 440
Cougar was reported
stolen Jan. 14 rom a
Brantford Street home in
Seaforth.
It had been taken from
the front yard of the
residence.
Huron East feels blackmailed
County seeks temporary use bylaw for ambulance station
after it already moves station two miles outside Seaforth
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
Huron East council last Tuesday
grudgingly passed a temporary use
bylaw to legitimize an ambulance
station two miles outside Seaforth
which has been operating since the
beginning of January.
But, before passing the by-law,
several council members chided
Huron County director of planning
and development Gary Davidson for
the county closing the ambulance
stations in Seaforth and Clinton and
moving to the new location on the the ambulance up and running tries to follow local procedures,
south side of Highway 8 on a 3.6 acre without the necessary rezoning, the they're not bound to them.
parcel of land owned by David and county and Huron East are breaking Huron County council, which has
Jill Jervis before receiving approval Ministry of Transportation rules. been in the process of taking over
for the necessary zoning changes. "It really is blackmailing council to responsibility from the province for
"My concern in the matter is the goahead and approve it. We don't ambulance services for more than a
way county council has dealt with it. know the ramifications if we say no," year, decided to amalgamate the
They have ignored policies and said MacLellan. Seaforth and Clinton stations last fall.
procedures everyone else is expected Davidson responded that the time Coun. Larry McGrath, of
to follow. I wonder if they're not lines were very tight since county Tuckersmith Ward, asked why the
compromising their own integrity and council didn't give its approval to county was asking for three years in
their own standards," said Huron East change the sites until Nov. 30. He the temporary use by-law if the
Mayor Lin Steffler. added that with .the hierarchy of county was "in such a hurry to get
Huron East Deputy -Mayor Bernie governments, while senior out of Seaforth."
MacLellan told Davidson that with goverments (like county council)
Susan Hundertmark photo
Sacred Circle dancers from left include Alta Wilbur, of Seaforth, Sandra Johnstone, of Clinton,
Julia Peniston, of Embro and Evelyn Howe, of Teeswater.
Sacred Circle dancing
brings Findhorn tradition
to Seaforth and area
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
Flickering flames dance on the ends of
candles as women step and sway to the music
during a sacred circle dance, now being held
Friday nights at Northside United Church.
Sacred circle dances, some as ancient as the
Greek temples where they were once done as
a sacred rite and some created in modern day,
are similar to folk dances.
Originating in Findhorn, an international
spiritual community in northern Scotland,
sacred circle dancing can be found in many
cities across Canada.
When Alta Wilbur, owner of Sally's Closet,
recently moved to Seaforth, she decided to
bring sacred circle dancing to town with her.
She had been attending dancing circles for
several years in London, Toronto and
Kitchener and asked a dance leader to come
to Seaforth to'run a circle.
"Sacred circle dancing is what I love. It's a
place where the chatter in my head stops and
I find me. I dance for three hours and my
body gets a real workout and it's very
beautiful because everyone's doing the same
steps," she says.
Julia Peniston, of Embro, who leads the
Seaforth circle, says she's been doing sacred
dancing since 1988 when she saw a poster
inviting dancers to a circle, attended and "I
was hooked." Since then, she's attended many
dance workshops, visited Findhorn several
times and led groups as far away as Victoria
Island in the Arctic where she lived for a
while.
"I danced alone for three months there until
I could interest anyone in joining me. It was
just me and the angels at first," she says.
Peniston says the dancing is considered
See SACRED, Page 2
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Unhealthy
turnout
at local clinics
for flu shots
By Susan Hundertmark
Eicpositor Staff
While local flu clinics saw
a great turnout by the elderly
and others who most need a
flu shot, only 33 per cent of
the healthy general public
showed up for a free flu shot,
says Dr. Heather Percival, of
the Seaforth Medical Clinic.
"We saw 300 more people
than we did last year, but we
didn't achieve anywhere near
total immunization. Turnout
for the general public was
middling to poor," she says,
of the several clinics held at
the Seaforth Medical Clinic.
While the medical clinic
administered 1,500 flu shots
at its clinics, only 200 flu
shots were administered at
Seaforth Community
Hospital.
"It was a little
disappointing. We thought
more folks would have
availed themselves of the
service when it was free,"
says Grace Dolmage, of the
hospital.
Of the three clinics
planned, two had to be
cancelled because of bad
weather.
Free flu shots offered
province -wide . by the
provincial government were
a surprise to local doctors,
who didn't find out about the
program until August, says
Percival.
"It was poorly done
initially but it's still being
offered until the end of
January," she says.
Percival says this year's
free flu shot was a hard sell
for young healthy people.
"People are wary and
worried about vaccines and
most of those worries are
unfounded," she says.
She says that people who
say they got the flu from the
immunization most likely got
the flu froth someone as they
were sitting in the waiting
room of the clinic before
they got the shot. Even after
receiving a flu shot, it takes
four weeks to build up
immunity against influenza.
Influenza is a virus that
causes a high fever, aching,
chills, coughing, headache
and lasts for two weeks. Flus
that last for 24 hours are not
influenza, she says.
"One of the biggest
misconceptions is that once
you get a flu shot, you never
get sick again and of course,
you're still liable to get colds
and stomach flus," she says. ,
Percival blames some of
the low turnout on a general
anti -vaccine sentiment in the
public, which she says has
happened since serious
illnesses like German
measles and polio are no
longer being seen in Canada.
Because the serious effects
of many diseases that used to
Quoted
'It was poorly
done initially
but it' still being
offered until the
end of
January' --
Dr. Heather Percival,
Seaforth
Medical ark
be common but are no longer
seen since immunizations
have been developed against
them, she says some people
no longer see immunization
as necessary.
"No one sees anyone die
of tetanus anymore or of
polio. They might get polio if
they go to a third world
country if they're
unimmunized," she says.
Percival says herd
immunization protects those
who choose not to immunize
themselves since if 90 per
cent of the population is
immunized against a disease,
the other 10 per cent will not
get the disease.
"A flu pandemic is going
to happen and even though I
don't think it will be as
serious as it was in 1918
because they didn't have
antibiotics, it's a worry that it
could be a resistant strain of
influenza (that wouldn't
respond to antibiotics)," she
says.
A pandemic is a huge
outbreak of a disease
affecting a large proportion
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