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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2005-09-21, Page 22 - September 21, 2005 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR Car Oiling at Lee's Service Centre Hood Inner Fenders (Midirside Doors & Door Panels Dog Legs START1NO SSPTIMBWR 6 Trunk Ud Inner Fenders Vie use Hot. Acid Free. New OfI CARS & LIGHT TRUCKS Hours: Mon. - Thurs. 1 pm - 9 pm; Fri. 1 pm - 6 pm; Sat. 8 am -12 noon (Weather permitting) 348 Dinsley St. E., Blyth 523-9151 ARE U 10 We now offer opti:smooth Permanent Hair,. Straightening. If you re dreaming of silky smooth hair that s permanently 'ght, ask your stylist for an ti.smooth heat -straightening rvice. From Only $140 per treatment TOTAL IMAGE II We create beauty in your life! 59 Main St. Seaforth 527-0780 Len & Donna Teatero are pleased to announce Doug Taylor has joined their sales team! Doug brings with him over 10 years of automotive experience after serving customers at Diamond Dodge and Huron Shores Chrysler. Come & see Doug when you need a new car Car or Truck! TEATERO MOTOR PRODUCTS AUTOMOTIVE SALES & SERVICE 220 Main St. S. Seaforth 819 en-ssal- EY DRAW WINNER Congratsdatlions to Dale Snelgrove of Peterborough, Ontario on winning the Vanastra & District Lions Harley Draw with proceeds going to the Vanastra Recreation Centre. Pictured left to right: Glen McLachlan; Lune Member, Dale Snelgrotr and Lissa Berard; Facility Manager Vanastra Recreation.. Thank you to everyone for your support. `i • Double Trap recounts murder in Seaforth area during the 1860s From Page 1 dead sea scrolls - they were extremely fragile and you had to wear cotton gloves to touch them," he says. The author of a dozen non-fiction books, Melady says Double Trap is his first where he was unable to interview the subjects, an obstacle that was sometimes very frustrating. "At times, it was tough - you'd get snatches of information about a person and not be able to find out anymore. Sometimes, I thought it would have been easier to write fiction," he says. While he had the help of such details as height, weight and eye colour from documents at the Goderich jail, he had to extrapolate more nebulous details of character. Melady came away from his research with strong feelings of dislike for Old Melady. "The man who was murdered was not a very likeable individual. He managed to alienate everybody and even though he became very rich, didn't seem to want his family to have anything," he says. And, despite the obvious guilt of Nicholas Jr., Melady found the son to be a more sympathetic character. "I'm not saying he didn't deserve to hang but I felt sorry for him to a degree in that because two others were with him, they were just as guilty;" he says. "I tried very hard to make it realistic, where the reader could imagine meeting the person in the story. I got to a point where I felt that I knew each of these people very well." As he researched the police investigation into the murder, Melady says he was interested to find that fingerprinting was a tool that wouldn't be available to police for another 20 years. Therefore, bloody fingerprints and footprints throughout the farmhouse were of no use in proving anyone's involvement in the crime. And, he was shocked to discover that the police decided to round up all of Old Melady's family, nursing mothers with their babies and all, and hold them in the Goderich jail for a time to see if they would confess. "I wasn't terribly fussy on the police work. It was pretty hare -handed. And, it bothered me taking mothers with babies into jail. Inexcusable," he says. Melady says it was also interesting to follow the characters throughout Seaforth and Egmondville - to drinking establishments like the Carmichael Hotel and Walsh's Tavern in Seaforth and Bununer's Roost in Egmondville - and the surrounding countryside. He even went as far as going up in an airplane to view the three murderers' escape route along the Bayfield River. "The Van Egmond House assumed an importance I didn't know was there;" he says, adding that two of the three were locked up in the basement jail there during the investigation. He says the house where the murder took place, at Lot 2, Concession 3, Tuckersmith, is no longer standing, the stone foundation can still be seen. "I remember as a kid when the walls were still six feet high but they've crumbled into ruin;" he says. While not all of his relatives agreed with Melady's plan to publish details about the family's bloody past, he says he began to think of the story as important local history. "This is a part of history - it happened," he says, adding it was interesting to find out where family legend and the truth parted company. "I had heard all sorts of stories that weren't true - like the story that Nicholas Jr.'s body was buried at midnight," he laughs. • Published by the Dundurn Group, Double Trap will soon be available at area book stores. A book signing will be held at Fincher's Books in Goderich on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. `I got to the point where I felt that I knew each of these people very well,'— John Melady Council continues dispute over equal funding at Huron East arenas By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor A dispute between Huron East councillors continued lastweek about funding at the Seaforth arena as Tuckersmith Coun. Larry McGrath asked for $25,000 for a new furnace at the arena. While council defeated the motion to provide $25,000, they said they would fund a new furnace once a firm price was established. Despite council's decision to wipe out the deficits at arenas in Seaforth and Brussels with the 2005 budget, McGrath, who sits on the Seaforth arena board, told council that $12,000 promised to replace an aging furnace at the Seaforth arena was taken back when the project was not completed. "We didn't get the heating system done and it was all taken back," he said, adding that costs have gone up with research about what's needed to heat the arena. "I don't think there's a hope in hell that we're going to put a new furnace in there for $12,000. So far, we have Council of the Municipality of Huron East would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Vanastra & District Lions Club for their involvement in the Harley Davidson Fundraiser . This fundraiser was undertaken to assist with costs associated with the construction of the family accessible change room at the Vanastra Recreation Centre. Lions Club Members volunteered a tremendous amount of time and effort in order to make this fundraiser a success. The family accessible change room will provide a great service for many years. Thanks once again for all•your assistance! Municipal Council Corporation of the Municipality of Huron East invested $4,000 in engineers," McGrath told council last Tuesday. He added that if council doesn't want to fund the upkeep of a public building, it should "put a lock on the door and close the place." Grey Coun. Mark Beaven asked McGrath what he thought about the issue of 'equality between arenas. "You can put more money towards the Seaforth arena right now out of your own pocket or start doing some fundraising," he added, referring to the argument that the Brussels community participates in a large number of fundraising projects for its arena. Seaforth Coun. Joe Steffler responded that Seaforth has always gotten involved in fundraising for major projects like a new arena and its hospital and suggested that a way to end the dispute would be to area -rate funding for recreation. "Seaforth has always stood up to the plate and paid its bills. I'd gladly pay more money to keep the arena open," he said. Deputy -Mayor Bernie MacLellan spoke against area -rating but added he could see the merit since there's a different set-up for the north and the south. "We're supposed to be one municipality but there is a different feel in the circumference around- each arena. If the urban area is willing to pay more on its tax bill, that isn't necessarily inappropriate," he said. McKillop Coun. Ferg Kelly said council owes the Seaforth arena a furnace. "I thought council's intention was to bring all the arenas up to par and we haven't brought Seaforth up to par yet. Let's get on the ball and deal with it," said Kelly. But, Mayor Joe Seili said the request for $25,000 is not what council originally agreed to. "What's come to council is a Cadillac system," he said. McKillop Coun. Sharon McClure said area -rating might be a way to solve the argument about arena funding. "We cannot operate an arena without a furnace and it's getting to that season. Area -rating is going backwards but it looks like we can't agree otherwise," she said. Seili pointed to the recent fundraiser by the Vanastra Recreation Centre as an example of community involvement in a recreation facility. "I want to commend Vanastra for the excellent job they did fundraising with the motorcycle," he said. Parrish & Heimbecker Limited WE ARE READY FOR HARVEST RECEIVING • White Beans • Soybeans • Corn Walton Elevators Also — Off -farm trucking available at reasonable rates Everything you need for Preharvest Now Is the time! 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