HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2004-12-29, Page 6'WOG ABOUT VALUE BECAUSE WE WANT YOU TO DRIVE A FORD
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6 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Dec. 29, 2004
News
Snowmobilers getting ready to hit local trails
By Jason Middleton
Expositor Staff
After a massive winter
storm hit Ontario last week,
area snowmobile trails
should be ready to be
opened.
A late farming season,
which extended late into
November and December,
and lack of a heavy snowfall
are causing much
speculation on when local
snowmobile trails will open.
"This here (the storm) is
what we needed and the
traits are getting in good
shape," said Ron
Williamson, director of the
Seaforth Pineridge
Snowmobile Club, adding
that some -of the club's local
trails are now open.
Ken Hunsberger, a driver's
training instructor with the
BW (Brussels Walton)
Trailblazers Snowmobile
Club, agrees that the
snowstorm last week was
just what snowmobilers
needed but said that the
storm's wind was a problem.
"It helped (the storm), but
the wind doesn't help,"
Hunsberger said. "It's better
if it comes straight down we
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don't need all the wind. It
has a tendency to blow these
fields bare again."
Since November, members
of both the Trailblazers and
Pineridge snowmobiling
clubs have been putting up
stakes to post signs on the
trails and making sure they
are groomed properly.
Williamson said that most
of the hold up this year has
been because of a late
farming season.
"They were late getting
their corn off," Williamson
said. "You've got to wait
until it gets off and they do
their plowing."
Hunsberger said the
Trailblazers, who operate
150 km of trails throughout
the Brussels -Walton area
and have close to 500
members, are between 90
and 95 per cent done setting
up their trails.
According to Williamson,
the Seaforth Pineridge
Snowmobile Club operates
between 200 to 300 km of
trails in the Seaforth area.
The Pineridge
Snowmobile Club has close
to 1,000 members up from
750 last year.
Hunsberger said that
although the trails weren't
officially opened last week,
there were still riders
illegally travelling on them.
He said that riders need to
be aware that they are
travelling on farmers' property
Ron Williamson, director
of the club's trails,
accompany him on his
and should respect them.
"Some of the areas we
travel over are wheat
fields," he said. "We want to
be sure there's enough of a
base there to protect the
crop."
Hunsberger said that last
season was a good but short
snowmobiling season.
"It started late but ended
early," Hunsberger said
about the season which ran
from early January until the
first of March. "It was
Susan Hundertmark photo
of the Seaforth Pineridge Snowmobile Club, stands out on one
Marissa Allen and son-in-law Rob Allen
while
his
granddaughter
tour of local trails.
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shorter than normal."
Hunsberger said that an
ideal winter for
snowmobiling would have a
foot -and -a -half to two feet
of snow on the ground at the
beginning with sprinkles of
snow daily.
"We haven't had winter
for the last several years,"
he said. "Not what I call a
good old fashioned winter."
Hunsberger suggets that
everyone should get out and
enjoy this time of year.
"Whether you're cross-
country skiing or you're
snowmpbiling, it's nice for
everybody," said
Hunsberger. "Even just
walking in the snow,
everybody's got their own
thing they like to do in the
winter."
For more information on
trail openings or weather
reports, visit
http://pineridge.hypermart.
net or
http://www.ofsc.on.ca.
Avon Maitland school
board selects chair
and vice -chair at meeting
By Stew Slater
Special to the Expositor
Ever since the Avon
Maitland District School
Board's inception -- through
amalgamation -- in 1999,
the annual process of
nominations and secret
ballots leading to the
selection of a chair and
vice -chair has entailed a
level of suspense.
This year, at the
board's "Inaugural Meeting"
on Tuesday, Dec. 14, that
process seemed more like a
formality leading to a
foregone conclusion.
That's because the
people now serving in those
positions -- as well as the
board's representative on
the Ontario Public School
Boards Association
(OPSBA) -- were chosen by
acclamation.
Those two people
are the exact same people
who served as chair and
vice -chair in 2003-04: Meg
Westley of Stratford and
Randy Wagler of Exeter.
Wagler and past
chair Colleen Schenk of
Wingham were both
nominated for chair, but
both declined. Likewise,
Stratford's Doug Pratley
declined a nomination to
seek the post of vice -chair.
There is a change in
the OPSBA post, however;
North Perth trustee Jenny
Versteeg was the only
nominee to take over from
Pratley in the position.
Pratley said in an
interview that, although he
respects the work being
done by the provincial
lobby group, he was happy
when Versteeg expressed
interest because it will
allow him -- as a second -
year trustee and former
teacher -- to refocus his
energies on some other
areas of interest.
"I'd like to thank
the board for what I'm
choosing to regard as a vote
of confidence," said
Westley, after accepting her
acclamation for a third term
as chair.
In a subsequent
interview, she explained
there has been less
controversy surrounding the
financing of various
programs than in previous
years, though challenges
remain in such areas as
Special Education and
transportation.
"A lot more money
has flowed (from the
provincial government) in
the past year, and that's a lot
of the reason it has been so
quiet," Westley said, in
explaining why her fellow
trustees seem content with
her work as 'chair.
However, she
cautioned her counterparts
that "1 think we need to be a
little bit wary of either
becoming complacent or of
getting up on our chairs and
stirring the pot over
relatively minor issues, just
to create a bit of
controversy."
And in the
interview, she suggested the
board's biggest challenge
over the coming year could
be the renegotiation of
various employee contracts.
She noted the
government has recently
complied with requests
from school boards for
several -year-long
commitments for the
funding of salaries, but that
those commitments aren't
necessarily significant