Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1981-06-17, Page 13if Board sailing... 1J Anyone can do it! By Mary Alderson When you first approach a board sailer, you figure that there's no way you could ever stand on it and glide across the water. The laws of gravity just won't permit it! But the instructors assure you that it can be done, and by the end of a two hour lesson, you're doing it, much to your surprise. Believe me, if I can do it. anybody can do it. The instructors, with their immeasureable patience. say that they haven't yet had a pupil who didn't catch on. I feared I was to be their first failure, but even I succeed- ed. Board sailing — it's simp- ly a surf board with a sail stuck in the middle of it. You stand on it, and away you go, across Lake Huron's shimmering waters. Many people call the sport wind surfing or surf sailing — but those are product names, and the real name of the sport is board sailing, accor- ding to instructor Kim Adams. Kim along with Richard Kellem, is operating a board sailing school in Pinery Provincial Park this summer.They work for Wind Leisure Sports of Toronto. who have acontractwith the Ministry of Natural Resources to operate board sailing schools and rental in Ontario Parks. The Pinery is one of five locations where the board sailing is available in provin- cial parks. A mobile board sailing school will be visiting 11 more parks during the summer. It is scheduled to be Ipperwash August 20 to 25. Kim and Richard have set up their business on the Pinery day use beach in Pic- nic Area Nine Change rooms and washrooms are nearby, and a refreshment stand next door is open on weekends. So far. they have been busy during the good board sailing weather. They have 15 boards, and they ex- pect all of them to be busy when summer rush arrives They feel that their loca- tion in area nine is perfect Campers can come over from the overnight area. while day visitors can rent the boards, too. They are hoping area residents will take advantage of the lessons and rentals. A two hour lesson costs $20.00. To rent the boards for an hour is $8. Or you can take them out for a half day at $18 or a full day at $30 Included in the rental is a wet suit (Lake Huron is still pretty chilly) and a lite vest Kim, 22, a student at University •of Toronto in landscape architecture. and Richard. 20, a Geology stu- dent at Sir Sanford Fleming College in Lindsay. run the board sailing operation daily form 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p rn or dusk Kim and Richard say that they have been given full co- operation from park stall Ministry officials feel that the board sailing. a clean. safe sport. will provide family entertainment. and will be something which teenagers can enjoy. In the past. provincial parks have been behind in offering ac- tivities for teenagers. Richard said that he likes to encourage families to come for board sailing lessons together. He stress- ed _that it is something anyone can do. not just a men's sport as shown in the Labatt's television commer- cials. He said that anyone who weighs over 70 pounds can operated a board sailer the board and sail weigh less than 45 pounds together. If you can walk, you can board sail," Richard said. The sport does not require strength, because hoisting the sail is done with the en- tire body, not just the arms. All that is required is a sense of balance, he added. I stopped by to interview the young men last week. When they insisted that anyone can do it, I was a bit skeptical. They suggested that I bring my bathing suit the next day and fry it. Still not believing entirely in their optimism, I found myself in a wet suit and life vest the next afternoon. The lessons start with about 15 minutes of training on dry land. Kim demonstrated the procedure which would take place in the water, then made me go over the steps. He also pointed out parts Please turn to page 3A Imes - vocate BOARD SAILERS, NOT BORED SAILORS — Richard Kellam and Kim Adams are teaching board sailing this summer at Pinery Provincial Park. Staff photo Break world record ? Preparations for. Burgerfest History may be made at Grand Bend's Burgerfest this year. Hopes are high that our resort will end up in the Guiness Book of World Records. CKSL radio and Waterbed World, both of London. are sponsoring a contest and they hope to set a record. They are going to see how many people they can pile on a water bed before it breaks. Volunteers who want to take part in setting the record are asked to show up on Grand Bend's beach this Sunday. CKSL's morning man Peter Garland will be on hand for the record setting event. Also this Sunday will be a new, improved Bathing Beauty Contest. Rather than crowding into the tent at Burgerfest, the Chamber of Commerce will be holding ''the contest on the cement platform in front of the old casino. Sponsoring the contest is Sewer Rats ready for ball tourney "Tell them the Grand Bend Sewer Rats will be there," was the response of deputy reeve Harold Green, when a letter inviting Grand Bend council to play baseball in Forest was received at Monday night's meeting." Green volunteered to act as captain for the baseball team, and named his crew the Sewer Rats. The Forest town council is sponsoring the baseball game as part of their Civic Week activities. The game will be played at Coultas Park, Monday June 29 in the evening. Forest deputy reeve Leigh Crozier sent a letter to Grand Bend inviting them to the game. The letter also invited council to come early for the greased pole contest. "That's for clerks," councillor Dennis Snider said about the greased pole contest, indicatin clerk Louise Clipperton. Other council members suggested that taking part in the greased pole contest was in her contract. Later in the meeting, Reeve Robert Sharen volunteered to attend a meeting with the Lambton County Board of Education that same night. He said that since Green was captain, and Mrs. Morenz was sub - captain, and Crawford and Snider were such good batters, he would give up the ball game and attend the meeting. The winning team at the ball tournament will take home the golden pitchfork, suitably engraved as the "Piled higher and deeper" award. It hag been rumoured that Lambton MPP and Minister of Agriculture, Lorne Henderson will be the um ire. Nick Carter of the Sun Shop. along with Native Tan and Jo Penney, Inc. Mrs. Penney, a summer resident of Grand Bend, operates a Toronto modelling and talent agency. She was featured in the March issue of Playboy, and has provided many Play boy models. Judging the contest will be three models from Mrs. Penney's agency. The models, who have appeared in some CBC television productions and on commer- cials are Cindy Girling. Dorothy Goulah and Christine Cattell. They have appeared as the "Shoppers three" on the Shoppers Drug Mart commercials. The beauty contest winner will have a chance to audi- tion for a job with Mrs. Penney's agency. She will also receive valuable'prizes. The contest is open to anyone 16 and over, and en- try forms are available at the Sun Shop. Burgerfest opens Friday with a businesspersons lunch at the tent. Music in the tent is provided by Freaz. On Saturday. the action continues with the bed race on Main Street at 10:00 a.m. The hotel challenge cup is expected to be the most ex- citing race, as the arch - rivals Colonial Hotel and Sanders Tavern vie for the trophy. Two years ago Sanders won the trophy. while last year the Colonials took It. Races in a general class, ladies and juniors and also planned. Following the bed race. the SWOOP club (South Wes ern Ontario Or aniza- •UROIRPIST TREAT — Members of the Grand Bend and area Chamber of Commerce wen given an advanced taste treat at their meeting Tuesday night. The Chamber met at Pinerld a Zoo in preparation for their annual Burgerfest which takes place this weekend. Gene Grenier borbequas some samples. Staff photo tion of Parachutists) from the Grand Bend airport will be sponsoring a sky diving competition on the beach. Jumpers will get three chances to hit a three inch marker on the beach. The parachutist with the least total distance away from the marker on the three jumps will win. At 1:00 p.m.. chain saw and cross cut saw com- petitions will be held. After that, the Grand Bend Op- timists will again be hosting a junior Superstars competi- tion. Children will run obstacle courses for prizes. The Chamber of Commerce is asking for volunteers to help out with Burgerfest activities. The huge tent is to be erected Thursday evening. Also needed are volunteers for security. Anyone interested is asked to contact Gene Grenier at Rollie's Sports and Cycle. Those wanting to work in food preparation should get in touch with Lil Best or Norma Baird. Ruth Dunlap. who was in charge of the food tent. is ill. Page IA ctrm D JUNE 17, 1981 Price Per Copy 40 Cents Not in SWOTA tourist guide, Grand Bend Chamber angry More than 100,000 copies of a beautiful tourist guide of southwestern Ontario have been sent out to the various information booths and border crossings in the province. That's the good news. Now the bad news -- there's no mention of Grand Bend in the' guide. 4 While th ll colour guide book features r copious in- formation on Thedford's Lumberjack Days, and detailed facts on Harbours in Port .Franks and Bayfield, not a word has been included 'about Grand Bend. The book, published by SWOTA (South Western Ontario Travel Association) was the topic of much discussion at Tuesday's meeting of the Grand Bend and area Chamber of Commerce. When Chamber president Mac Dunlap held up the guide book and an- nounced that there was "not one thing about Grand Bend in it, " there were audible moans from the Chamber members. Dunlap said that Grand Bend had been left out by mistake. Ruth Lemon of the Book Store on Grand Bend's Main Street called the oversight "inexcusable." Chamber secretary-ma- mager Bob Simpson said that he was "disgusted", and added that a letter had already been sent to SWOTA voicing the Chamber's displeasure. Nick Carter of the Sun Shop volunteered to sit on the SWOTA organization to look after Grand ,, Bend's in- terests. It was suggested by some members of the Chamber that "a bit of politicking was going on " when Grand Bend was left out of the guide. They pointed out that Lambton County Council had not made donations to SWOTA, while most other counties gave $4,000. When contacted by the T -A Grand Bend deputy reeve Harold Green, who sits on the Sarnia Lambton Tourist Council said that any suggestion that the omission was deliberate is "a bunch of garbage." Green said that the Sarnia Lambton Tourist Council which is funded by the city of Sarnia and Lambton county council donated 82,000 to SWOTA. He said that grants to the tourist council had been cut back, and 82,000 was all that they could afford. Green explained that when the proofs of the tourist guide were presented to SWOTA, Grand Bend had been in- cluded in the section on Huron County. He pointed out that Grand Bend should have been in Lambton County, and was advised that the change would be made. As a member of the Sarnia Lambton Tourist Council, Green sits on SWOTA. In moving Grand Bend from Huron County to Lambton, it was lost in the shuffle. Names of members of SWOTA from Grand Bend area are included in the Mary's mg timings BY MARY ALDERSON Canada's Wonderland Normally, hanging upside down is not my idea of a good time. But something happens to you. and before you know it, you find yourself on Dragon Fyre. We visited Canada's Wonderland last week, and went on no less than four (count 'em four) roller coasters. It's not that I'm a big rollar coaster fan -- in my previous 26 years, I think I had only been on a grand total of two, and one was a rather small one in Grand Bend. Riding roller coasters is sort of like feeding an addic- tion. Each one must be bigger, to give a greater thrill. And once you start, you can't stop. Canada's Wonderland is an ideal place for a roller coaster addict to get fixes. You start out on the Ghoster Coaster in Happyland. It's behind the haunted house, with the grave stones in front. The gravestones bear the names of such folks as Sally Mander, Chuck Roast, and Walter Mellon. Anyway. the Ghoster Coaster is really rather tame. There's only one drop. and you take it relatively slowly. So from there you move up to the Wild Beast, over in Medieval Faire. It features a faster ride and a bigger drop. But you want more — so you head across to the Mighty Canadian Minebuster. There you get a longer ride and two big high speed drops. not to mention a view of the entire park. And finally it's time to tackle Dragon Fyre. As you stand in line and watch the riders and hear the shrieks. you wonder what you're do- ing there. Before you know it you find yourself in a seat with a protective bar to hold you in place whileyou're up- sidedown. You find yourself hanging upside down on four different occasions. There's .two loop -de -loops. a barrel run. and curves bank so steeply that you see the world sideways Your heart's in your mouth. and your tummy's in your throat -- lets hope it stays there. I wouldn't recommend a piz- za dinner before you ride Dragon Fyre. The ride is over in just a few seconds I climbed out and heaved a sigh of relief Then I realized the reason for my big sigh -- I had been holding my breath for the entire ride' No. I wouldn't go hack on the Dragon Frye --- once was enough. thank you But I'd ride the Minebuster again any time' We enjoyed the visit to Canada's Wonderland very much. We arrived in a downpour. which cleared the crowds away nicely. Then the sun came out. and we were able to enjoy the rides and attractions, with virtual- ly no line-ups.' and no more than a five minute wait for anything. The place is geared to han- dle 40.000 people a day Late - Please turn to page 3A Lambton page. Several hotels, motels 'and other tourist businesses in Grand Bend are SWOTA members. It was pointed out at the Chamber meeting, that of the 13 SWOTA members in Lambton six are from Grand Bend. Chamber members wondered why proof reader's hadn't noticed the lack of information on Grand Bend. Ted Mandy, of the visitors services in London, and secretary treasurer of SWOTA, said that they were "very embarassed" about leaving Grand Bend out of the book. "These things happen," Mandy added. Mandy said that this was the first attempt at a large guide book and several mistakes had been made. "We located a city in the middle of Lake Ontario, too," he said. Mandy said that when any requests for information are received, SWOTA includes a brochure of Grand Bend with the guide book. He said that SWOTA is trying to distribute the pamphlet put out by the Grand Bend Chamber of Commerc€ with the guide. Mandy said that he didn't know how the information on Grand Bend was lost in moving it from the Huron to Lambton section. "We apologize, " he said. Mandy said several im- provements to the guide have already been planned for next year. He stressed that Grand Bend will be included. Other area represen- tatives on SWOTA are Petrolia deputy reeve Glen LaPointe, who is president of the Sarnia-Lambton Tourist Council, and Bob Austin of Arkona, who is od theAusatile Conservation Authority. Green stressed the Lambton County had always contributed to SWOTA, except one year when "it was going on the rocks." Green said that the city of London had saved SWOTA. NEW COUNTY BUILDING -- lambton county off Cally opened its new administration building in Wyoming Monday. In front of the new offices and council chambers are Grand Bend reeve Robert Sharen, Bosanquet deputy reeve and reeve B�I1 Lindsay and Charlie Srokosz and Grand Bend deputy reeve Harold Green Cutting the r.bbon of the opening ceremony were P.remier William Davis and lambton MPP and Minister of Agriculture Lorne HendersonStaff photo 0