HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-02-16, Page 12AGENTS
Po, a 12 Times -Advocate; February 16, 1983
Reach tentative agreement on sewer dispute
What became public
knowledge as a result of a
hearing conducted by the On-
tario Municipal Board in
Grand Bend last week was a
very small tip of the iceberg
dispute between the village of
Grand Bend, Stephen
Township and Ridge Pine
Park Inc. (developers of
Grand Cove Estates east of
the village.)
The dispute was over
charges for the subdivision in
using the sewage system in-
stalled primarily for use
within the village limits.
Grand Cove Estates is in
Stephen Township.
Grand Bend insisted the
subdivision should pay the go-
ing rate of;1,376 per thousand
gallons of sewage plus a 20%
surcharge. Ridge Pine Park
Inc. rath r than pay, placed
certain mo y in a trust ac-
count with S phen Township
until a judiciary body deter-
mined the rate of payment.
Co-chairmen of the hearing
D. Rogers and J. Dobbs, who
never did determine whether
or not the dispute should be
heard by the OMB (since the
system is in fact owned by the
ministry of the environment),
adjourned the hearing after
the first 45 minutes Tuesday
morning to allow lawyers and
principals time in private to
try to work the problem
through to some conclusion.
So, for the hour before the
public, there wet e about eight
READY FOR A PARTY — Residents of Grand Cove Estates, Grand Bend are seers
in the kitchen of the club house preparing for a valentine party Saturday. They
are from the left, Mary Mallin, Dolly Abbott, Norma Brown and Joan Gosselin.
Grand Cove Estates
a real hive of activity
Grand Cove Estates is a
lively community of about 500
persons situated just to the
east of the village limits of
Grand Bend. Residents are
quick to point out that it's not
a community of elderly
regimented persons with no
interests. The only stipulation
of residency is that there are
no children living there
permanently.
In the clubhouse Saturday,
president of the residents'
board of directors, Ted
Jackson explained that there
were as many activities as
could be used by such a com-
munity. Apart from enjoying
the proximity to Grand Bend,
the residents, all of whom
have a key to the club house,
can enjoy any of a dozen or
more facilities.
Saturday, the clubhouse
was a hive of activity in
preparation for a valentines
party. In one corner of the
main hall a group of five men
were playing cards. In
another area residents were
relaxing and reading beside
the fireplace and in the kit-
chen a group of ladies were
working on sandwiches for
the evening.
A tour of the building
revealed an exercise room, a
ceramics room with a kiln, a
room with two pool tables, a
well equipped kitchen and
another well equipped and
bright laundry room. Outside
the south door is.a good-sized
swimming pool and within the
housing area is a building
equipped for woodworking.
While the lots are small and
the houses compact they al'e
fastidiously kept by the
residents. The land is owned
by the developers (Ridge
Pine Park Inc.) and the units,
double -wide prefabricated
homes, are owned by the
residents themselves.
Jackson said it was the ap-
pearance of the small
gardens and homes which
drew him to the community
when he decided to give up his
apartment in Guelph some
years ago. Ile golfs at
Oakwood Golf Course across
the road in the summer, curls
in Exeter during the winter
and enjoys the activity of the
village in the summer and the
quiet in the winter.
It's a mobile community. In
the winter about 40 percent of
the residents travel, many of
them to Florida. There's a car
in every driveway.
While the development
began wittLaWut 100 unsold
units, WC company Ridge
Pine Park Inc. puts in units
now only on demand.
Manager„is Bert Pearce.
Jackson speaks with great
affection for his neighbours. If
they don't see one another out
and about the usual routine,
there's always someone close
to check.
Mostly the air of fun and
friendship is the thing which
makes the community attrac-
tive. As well there is attention
to civic matters. Before the
last municipal election the
community had chosen a can-
didate to run for Stephen
Township Council. Unfor-
tunately she became ill just at
election time and her doctor
advised her not to tackle the
job.
Jackson commented that
the new three-year term was
a bit discouraging but
"there's so much talent here
it seems too bad".
READY FOR PARTY — President and vice president of
the board of directors of Grand Cove Estates, Grand
Bend, Ted Jackson, right, and Ted Hunt are seen at one
of the tables in the club house of the community.
Decorations for a valentine party were being prepared
Saturday afternoon.
Greenway ladies meet
Sy ANNE WALPER
Greenway
The Februarymeeting
opened with the Auxiliary
prayer and the Lord's Prayer
repeated in unison. Jeanette
Hodgins read from Good
News for Modern Men, Luke
2 verses 22-35. Doris Hodgins
read, "A Thought for Today"
from the Friendship book.
The secretary's report was
given by Donna McLinchey.
Joyce Hodgins gave the
report of the treasurer. Fees
and roll call showed seven
Resort comes to life
ladies were present. Jeanette
Hodgins reported that three
parcels had been sent to
Uganda.
Committee members are
busy making plans for the
75th anniversary to be held at
the church May 29. We are
hoping that all former
members will attend. The
meeting closed with grace.
A delicious lunch was serv-
ed by Della Jean Hodgins and
Marilyn Rock. Marion
Hodgins won the prize for
having a birthday nearest to
the meeting.
Grand Bend 4-H clubs
organize, choose officers
number one, have held two
meetings, one at each of the
leader's homes, Nancy Stok-
kermans and Rita Smits. '
Officers elected were:
president, Theresa Baltessen,
vice-pres., Tania Johnson;
secretary -rotating and press
reporter, Jenny
Mommersteeg.
The girls have chosen the
club name "Super Chefs", for
this Ontario Heritage course.
Recipes tried were .pum-
pkin soup, Anglesey eggs,
Irish soda bread, maple bak-
ed apple, celery soup, potato
pancakes, deli special and
Dutch Kuchen. Some of these
are Indian, Mennonite and
Jewish recipes, and some
from countries of France, Ita-
ly,. Wales, Holland and
Ireland.
The girls enjoyed sampling
their cooked dishes for lunch.
At 4:15 p.m. February 17,
the, Grand Bend 4-11 club
number two met at Bonnie
Turnbull's home. The leaders
are Marg Turnbull and Bren-
da Love. We made pumpkin
soup, Anglesey eggs and
maple baked apples.
Officers elected were:
president, Bonnie Turnbull;
vice-pres., Lori Hutchinson;
secretary, Patti Love; press
reporter, Heather Love.
Susan Janssen, Stephanie
Woods nad Wanda Turnbull
are also members of this club.
The food was sampled, and
notebooks completed. The
club name is to be discussed.
Meeting closed at 6:15 p.m.
Next meeting will be at
Heather Love's at 4:15 p.m.
February 14.
The "International
Eaters", Grand Bend 411 club
number three, met Wednes-
day at Christine Boogemans
home. President, Kim
Boogemans -opened with the
411 i;ledge and minutes were
read by Julia Brown.
They read pages 11-18 from
their manuals on, "Learning
to like new foods."
At this meeting they made
Deli special from Italy, Dutch
Kuchen from Holland, and
potato pancakes that they ate
with apple butter. The girls
tell me the best part of the
meeting is to sit down after
cooking to sample and .,eat
what they made.
Press reported by Julianne
Rader. Next meeting is
February 16 at Julianne's
home.
Dart score
In the Legion dart game
Tuesday night at Grand Bend
the scores were: first, Gene
Grenier and Marg Hedley; se-
cond, Kevin Henry and Lori
Hamilton.
Couples club
The Couples club met at the
United Church Saturday
evening with 12 in attendance.
During their business
meeting it was decided to hold
the annual Easter Sunrise
service and breakfast.
Jean Weigtind led a discus-
sion on the real causes of
world hunger.
' In the social time all en-
joyed a fun game where the
men and ladies dressed in
coveralls, stuffed with blown
up balloons and each rolled on
floor till balloons broke. This
caused hilarious laughter
from all participants.
A box social was held for
lunch with the boxes auction-
ed off.
Beaconaires meeting
Nineteen Beaconaires met
Monday night at the Church
of God for a carry -in supper.
Mrs. Irene Read led the
devotions period, using scrip-
ture from Luke 11-33-36 on the
theme, "A little light in dark
places can brighten many a
life."
Hymn choruses were sung
accompanied with piano by
l irs. Leila Finkbeiner.
All enjoyed a film on, "The
rise and fall of the Great
Lakes."
Personals
At the progressive euchre
party held Monday night at
St. John's Parish hall, and
sponsored by St. John's ladies
group, there were 12 tables in
play.
Winners were: high lady,
Janie Grenier; Jow lady,
Grace Vibert; high man, Bill
Fell; low man, Ernie Pilk-
ington; lone hand scores went
to Dolly Abbott and Tom
Baxter.
eleven ladies attended the
Bible coffee• hour Tuesday
afternoon at the home of Nita
Sinclair in Southcott. The
lesson was led by Betty
Campbell and was a review of
the study book, Learning to
talk with God.
Meeting will be same time
1:30 p.m.- and place next
wool( t .vervnne welemmn
Nineteen were out Wednes-
day afternoon to St. John's
Parish hall for a fun and
games afternoon. The hall is
being made available as a
dropin centre for any age
group, Wednesday after-
noons, through courtesy of the
Parks and Recreation Board
of Grand Bend.
In the social time they
played Uno, crokinole, ag-
gravation and euchre.
The Grand Bend and area
quilting ladies have been
quilting this week at Norma
Walper's and Mabel Gill's.
Clarke and Irene Kennedy
are home again after a few
holidays. Irene with her sister
Mrs. Mary Barbour, in Toron-
to, Clarke and his sisters in
Lindsay, also in Owen Sound
with Mary Lynn and Jim
McGregor and grandsons
Brent and James.
Mr. and Mrs. Gary Bren-
Community spirit thrives
Winter Time for activities, not doldrums
While the fast food places in
Grand Bend are closed on
Main Street and the pitf'ball
machines are gone for (he
winter. the resort is far from
dead, as is the popular belief.
Vetranmainstreeter, Griffin
Thomas will attest to the fact
that it's in the winter when the
activity of the village
becomes interesting.
Griff has watched the pass-
ing scene from his desk in the
Furniture Store for almost 34
years --longer than•any other
merchant on the street in
Grand Bend and has par-
ticipated in the triumphs and
agonies of the unique resort
as closely as any resident.
Those triumphs and
agonies reflect the contrasts
to which Grand Bend has
always been subjected. One
third of the village's boundary
is controlled by irascible Lake
Huron. The mile of sand
beach can be a paradise of
sun and water or a place from
which to flee, depending on
the weather. To accom-
modate good weather, mer-
chants in the summer are
prepared to work 18 hours a
day. If the weather is bad and
the lake is "up" they can he
left with their adrenalin hang-
ing for days at a time. To sur -
INN KEEPER Bonnie Klapp is seen behind the
counter in the familiar lobby of the Colonial Hotel,
Grand Bend. Her father opened the establishment for
business under the family name 25 years ago.
vive, it takes a steadyheart-
beat and a calm philospohyr
Perhaps because of the con-
trasts, and the small popula-
tion of the three-quarters of a
square mile village proper,
the volunteer burn -out syn-
drome takes it's toll. "They
come and they go," says
Griff, "and people forget the
thousands of hours and
thousands of dollars donated
by Grand Bend residents over
the years."
He recounts with pride that
the first meeting to form the
Grand Bend Lions Club took
place in his store. He was the
charter first vice-president.
The legendary Eric Mcllroy
was the charter president. 1t
was the first group to have a
collective vision for the future
of the village,
Duringthe summer of 1966
when the Riot Act was read on
the main street, Thomas was
president of the Chamber of
Commerce. "1 spent more
time trying to sort that out
than I did with my business",
he commented.
Ile looks at the extremes of
activity in the village in the
summer as just passing fads
"One year the kids were
bouncing up and down all
summer on trampolines,
another they were hoola-
hooping all the way down the
street. Last year it waselec-
tronic games." They come
and they go.
He paid tribute to Harold
Klopp, another stalwart, and
owner of the Colonial Hotel on
the corner of Main and On-
tario street. There has been a
Colonial sponsored sports
team in the village since
Klopp took over the old Bren-
ner House 35 years ago. Now
he has four daughters involv-
ed in the business.
They have learned the skills
of hotel -keeping by living with
the business from the time
they were small. They are
Linda (Anderson), Bonnie
(McCann) Jane (Musser) and
Judy (Mason). For their
business, a good winter
means lots of snow for winter
sports to bring people to their
establishment.
This last winter they have
run a successful euchre tour-
nament in the Gables next
door for area residents. There
are movies shown oncea
week in the Colonial bar and
their special menu includes
Lake Huron fish. -
Dennis Mathers, of the well
known Cheryl Ann, is another
second generation owner of a
long established business on
main street. It isn't officially
summer until the Cheryl Ann
is open for business. For 10
years Mathers organized a
"super" Santa Claus parade,
according to Thomas. This
past year Mathers has
become leader of the Beaver
pack in the village. '
Some of Thomas' happiest
years were spent when he
coached tykes in hockey.
Speaking of organized sports
he said "It's an education
they can't get anywhere else.
Kids should be in some sort of
organized sport as they grow
up. It's a great way to learn
the facts of life."
What brings people hack
again and again to Grand
VETERAN MAINSTREETER - Griffin Thomas stands in
front of his store on the main street of Grand Bend.
He has watched the passing scene in the village longer
than any other merchant.
Bend? People watching is one
factor, Thomas feels. "People
draw people" and "the lake of
course" but there's an "air"
about it he says, an "in-
describable thing" which
makes people feel at home in
the village.
"We are lucky to have the
outlying developments", he
comments. Any community
in the world would feel good
about a development like
Southcott Pines and Oakwood
with that golf course". He •
spoke also of the unique set-
ting in Beach 0' Pines and the
"wonderful" people in Grand
Cove Estates.
He speaks about the sense
of community. "When our
family was stricken with
hepatitis we didn't make a
meal for a month. There was
always someone with food pt
the door."
Grand Bend may be a small
town but it's big in communi-
ty spirit.
'Diana's
BULK FOOD
Fleischmann's
Yeast
30C es.
sit
00/010 srN0
2
hours behind closed doors
with lawyers from the
ministry of the environment,
the village, the township and
Ridge Pine Park working at
formulating some policy
which would be satisfactory
and publicly presentable.
What they came up with
was an agreement stated by
the developers' lawyer Ken
McCabe, that sewage from
the development would be
metered. Response from
village solicitor D. Murphy
was that, with the sanction of
the environment ministry, the
rate per thousand gallons
would be the same for sub-
division residents as it is for
vallage residents. It was also
apparently decided that there
would be an agreement in
writing from the minstry.
The problem has been
festering since the subdivision
hooked into the system in
March 1982 and released an
accumulation of nine months
of sewage (previously held in
small lagoons) into the
system. Because of the densi-
ty of the development its
growth has depended on such
a sewage system.
A village spokesman com-
mented that the village was
willing to cooperate in .gay
way with did not adversely af-
fect village taxpayers.
When there seemed to be an
impasse, Stephen Township
requested the OMB hearing.
Chairmen never did come to
terms with the jurisdictional
issue but simply proceeded in
a manner which would lead
toward solution.
One. shocking discovery
which became public at the
beginning of the hearing was
that neither Stephen officials,
nor their solicitor Peter Ray-
mond, remembered that
there was already an agree-
ner, of St. Augustine Florida,
flew home to attend the
funeral of his father, Glen
Brenner last week.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Nancar-
row, of Southcott Pines have
returned from a visit with
their son, in Yellowknife.
Turnbulls Grove news
Last Saturday evening ten
year round residents of the
Grove went to visit one of
their summer neighbour
residents of the Grove, Mrs.
Dorothy Mitchell at her farm
home near Granton.
Those attending were Ina
and Alex Russell, Ann and
George David, Jean and Art
Chambers, Eva and Harold
McGonigle and Marg and Bob
Hedley. Other summer
residents who attended the
get together were Betty and
Emil Wydareny of London,
Rene and Ken Woods, Lucan.
In the social time they en-
joyed card games and
dancing.
Mrs. Mitchell and her
sister-in-law Doris, of London,
served delicious lunch
refreshments.
Church of God ladies meet
The women of Church of
God met Thursday evening at
the church. Fifteen answered
a roll call on, "A good
neighbour deed."
In the study time Millie
Desjardine did a study on
Churches of God in Europe,
how they started and how
they are progressing. During
the business a completed quilt
was shown to the members
which was later presented to
Ivan and Shirley Grigg.
In a period of craft time
they learned to cover coat
hangers.
Lunch hostess was Irene
Reed
COMPt, FIEIAO
BOOKKEEPING
INVESTMENTS
IN LEADING TRUST ('O.HP.4.VII
ART READ
Chartered Accountant
(319) 238-2388
Grand Bend,
Ontario
39 Woodpark Cres.
�1, IN 83
BUY OR LEASE
CHRYSLER
OUR LOW PIKES WILL
OIT YOU, OUR SERVICE
WILL KEEP rOUI
COME 1111 US TWAY
E' IWARNER
AU10 MARINI
ment between the township
and Grand Bend to handle
sewage at the going rate in
another part of the township
in the location of Iluron Coun-
try Playhouse.
The meter system was re-
quested by Ridge Pine Park
to begin with but the rate was
never settled.
The chairman adjourned
the hearing sine die ( without
a date) until February 9, 1984
or until the application should
be dismissed or brought on by
those involved.
Just spent a week in friend-
ly Manitoba — actually I
didn't get outside of lovely
Winnipeg, or Winterpeg, as
those of us from warmer
climates call it.
The Winnipeggers tried all
week to convince us that they,
too, were having a very mild
winter. I admit that they
didn't have any more snow
than we have, but it was still
cold. How cold was it? Well,
that's the kind of cold that
freezes your nostrils the
minute you try to breathe once
you step outside.
'It seemed colder, too,
because of the amount of time
they spend in the dark. You
see, they are just that much
further north and their days
are shorter. While we in
southwestern Ontario are en-
joying our lengthening days
and longer sunlight as spring
approaches, it is still quite
dark in Winnipeg at 8:00 a.m.,
and gets dark again at about
4:30 p.m. It makes you ap-
preciate our longer sunlight
hours!
But Winnipeggers are well
adjusted for the cold climes —
I noticed many beautiful fur
coats on Portage Street, on
both males and females.
Almost makes you wish the
thermometer did drop a little
lower here so you could
justify the purchase of such
beautiful apparel.
They also compensate for
the cold temperatures by
keeping the indoor
temperatures down. A note on
the hotel room door asks that
the room temperature be
maintained at 68 degrees F.,
and I noticed the convention
centre was seldom warmer
than that.. Shopping malls -and
stores also seemed cooler
than they are around here.
But I'm certainly not com-
plaining about that — I wish
some of our mall managers
and restaurant operators
would set the thermostats
back. It makes more sense to
keep things at a comfortable
68 degrees F these days. Most
people' wear sweaters or
jackets and are prepared for
cooler temperatures.
I really don't have any right
to complain about the outside
temperatures, either. I was
actually only outside for a
very few minutes during the
entire week. I was attending
a convention at the Winnipeg.
Convention Centre and stay-
ing at an adjacent hotel which
is connected by a skywalk.
KS
Mary's
•
musings
By Mary Alderson
Shops and restaurants are alo
connected, so that virtually
everything one needs is under
one roof.
No, I wasn't at the famous
Conservative convention
where Joe Clark resigned. In
fact, the PC's were just mov-
ing out as we arrived. I was
at a convention of the Western
Fertilizer and Chemical
Dealers Association. You see,
I write for the WFCDA Com-
municator - a magazine
published for the association.
And while we missed the
excitement of the PC conven-
tion, we certainly made our
own. At the trade show, you
could see exhibits of
everything connected with the
industry — from gigantic
floater applicators right down
to tiny grains of fertilizer. And
there was entertainment
galore, from Ukrainian folk
dancers to singer -songwriter
Hoyt Axton. Fertilizer and
chemical dealers sure know
how to have a good, and busy,
time!
And as if our arrival in Win-
nipeg wasn't enough for the
city to handle, our visit coin-
cided with a huge curling
bonspicl.`The airport was
crowded with happy curlers
mixing with happy ceemical
and fertilizer dealers. Arid the
cabs were full of curlers, go-
ing from bonspiel to bonspiel,
arena to arena.
But the curlers took
themselves seriously too, as
evidenced by four ladies I
noticed in the airport. We flew
from London to Winnpeg with
a brief stop in Windsor. These
four women got on the plane
in Windsor, all discussing
curling. They were from
Detroit and this was to be
their first competition with
Canadian curlers.
We got off the plane in Win-
nipeg and crowded around the
baggage claim area.
Everyone's suitcases carne
along promptly, but still these
ladies stared at the rotating
platform. Finally, I overhead
them discussing their pro-
blem. Their curling brooms
hadn't arrived!
After seeking out some Air
Canada officials, the brooms
were traced and they arrived
safe and sound — each wrap-
ped in sponge, and tissue
paper and then surrounded in
brown wrapping paper. When
your brooms come gift-
wrapped, you know you're a
serious curler!
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