Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-05-25, Page 17 QUALITY FURNITURE WHY PAY MORE? ►y ...,M..Ap.ieme owl Whitings Phone 235-1964 Usborne taxes take five, percent increase The majority of property owners in the township of Usborne will find an increase of five percent when they receive their 1983 tax notices. At a special meeting Tues- day, council approved an overall farm and residential mill rate of 210. In 1982 the rate was 200 mills. The rale for township pur- poses was reduced from 67.6771 mills a years ago to 63.695 mills this year. The county rate is up 3.199 mills to 34.260 mills while the public school levy is set at 61.482 mills, up from 54.191 mills and the secondary school rate is up 2.586 mills to 50.563 mills. The rate for elementary separate school supporters is RESTORATION FUND — Organist Karen Wallen sits at the keyboard' of the magnificent old pipe organinTrivitt Memorial Church. Proceeds from a'concert by the Strat- ford Boychoir this Sunday will begin a fund to restore the 95 -year-old organ to its original grandeur. HISTORICAL GRAFFITI Anglican rector Jim Sutton points out places in the old organ pipes where boys carved their initials long ago. The graffiti will stay when the Trivitt organ is :restored. about the same as for public school supporters al 61.549 mills. The overall commercial rate in the township is 247.137 mills for public school sup- porters and 247.059 mills for those supporting the Huron - Perth Separate School system. The 1982 budget as presented by the auditor and approved by council calls for total expenditures of 81.000.856. The tender of Mac Hedged for the grass cutting contract at Thanes Road ball park in the amount of $400 was accepted. A fee of ;5 will be charged Please turn to page :3 Fund established to restore organ Establishment of a fund to restore the magnificent.. old pipe organ in Trivitt • Memorial Anglican Church. begins this week with a per- formance by the Stratford Boychoir. ' The approximately 40 -voice choir. with accompanist Dr. Ralph Topp, Exeter, will pre- sent a varied program rang- ing from classicalselections through romantic.and con- temporary, including works by Canadian composers, in the church on Sunday, May 29 at 7 p.m. Rick Topp. Dennis Webster and Mark McDon- nell, Exeter, and Wayne Scot- chmer, Hensall, are members of -the Boychoir. All proceeds from the 85 tickets, aside from the honorarium given to the choir, willbecome the first deposit in the restoration fund. -The red oak organ, made specifically for Trivitt by Ed- ward Wadsworth and Brothers of Montreal; has fill- ed the sanctuary with its un- mistakable, inimitable voice for 95 years. A search through church records shows very little money has been spent on the instrument in that time. Rector Jim Sutton said one estimate, for 820,000, has been received, but the restoration job will be put out for tender. The instrument will be removed from the church for six months to betaken apart, cleaned, rebuilt, returned and restored. "lt should then be good for another 95 years", Sutton remarked. Dr. Topp considers the organ a challenge to play.- It is an old tracker whose mechanism opens the pipes through a series of levers, and some of the action has stiffen- ed and slowed through the years. "It is a lovely instrument with a unique sound► I hope the original beauty of tone is preserved". Topp said. One other unique feature of the Trivitt organ will be preserved. When the organ was first installed. the huge bellows were pumped manually. Boys assigned to that task in the dark, cramped little room housing the organ's working heart relieved their boredom by carving their names and the date in some of the towering wooden pipes. Their han- diwork will remain. TURNING THE SOD — Mayor Bruce Show took over the controls of this huge backhoe to help mark the beginning of the construction of the new Canadian Tire Store, Tuesday. Among those reluctantly standing near the machine with the Mayor at the controls are, from left: Ray Fields, Cliff Marsden, Rick Frayne, Reeve Bill Mickle, Gerry Walker and Mike Williamson. MF Builders and Designers are in charge of construction and Frayne Chev-Olds are the developers of the facility for CTC store owner Walker. 4 One Hundred and Tenth Year Velf v�cate & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, May 25, 1983 Price Per Copy 50 Cents Cold, wet conditions plague area farmers Continued wet, cold weather is. causing area farmers •a ` considerable amount of concern, and while ag rep Don .Pullen shares some of that concern, he re- mains optimistic that the con- ditions will straighten around to reduce some of the pro- blems and the expected losses dueto the lateness of seeding. "There certainly is concern i out there due to the lateness," Pullen said yesterday.' but added that even the obvious plight of some farmers in the county is not as severe as that being experienced in some other areas. While the weather has stall- ed seeding, it has also stalled growth of the crops that have been planted. "Some early crops are not doing much." Pullen said, noting that many grain fields were "patchy" and the hay and pasture cropshave been Driver to ' face • trial Louis Klepic, 37. of 380 Southdale ftd., London, was discharged at a preliminary hearing on a charge of criminal negligence causing death Thursday but ordered to stand trial on counts pf dangerous and impaired driving. Klepic is also charged with • driving while under suspen- sion in connection with a single car crash Dec. 4 which ratan,. injured . Natalie Joe Wooden looks back on 27 years at SHDHS • Leishman. 8. of Dashwood; who was a panger in the vehicle: Publication of evidence at the preliminary hearing before provincial Judge Douglas Walker was banned at the request of defence lawyer Murray Neilson. No date has been set for the trial Klepic was charged after a vehicle left Hyde Park Road about one kilometre north of Highway 22 shortly after. • midnight. stunted. Most of t he grain has been sown in Huron, although some remains to, be planted. and the ag rep said it is getting pretty late for that. Corn producers are also in a quandry and it was in- dicated many may have to consider earlier maturing varieties than they had planned. . Pullen lamented that the late planting may prompt some to consider beans rather than corn, and he notes the market outlook for beans is questionable. He also predicts more soy- beans than ever will be planted, altho\rgh again. unless there is a quick change in the .weather, some may have to switch to earlier maturing varieties. Noting he is not one•to hit the panic button, Pullensaid the start of the 1983 season has been extremely disap- pointing, although he quickly adds that some sun and warm breezes ,would improve the outlook considerably. ASSISTING DONOR — Marie Brunzlow, convener for Wednesday's Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic assists donor Rae Wild. The clinic was sponsored by the Ausable River Nomads. Five await sentencing Five area people will be sentenced- on June 21 on mischief charges related to damage caused to an apart- ment in a- Carling St. home owned by Gus Gregus last JuThl. e five were convicted in Goderich court on Thursday. and Judge Carter reserved his decision. - Those who will be sentenc- ed will be Kenneth Denomme, Zurich; Barry McCallum, • Kippen; Michael Parsons, John Stephens and kialph Bremner, Exeter. Damage to the apartment unit was substantial as holes were punched in the ceilings and walls'and butter and ket- chup were smeared on walls. Charges against seven others were dismissed. Leaves for Clinton position in the fall Today's students work harder, less disruptive, more skillful athletes "Keep our Joe. The man you know.'' That was the wording on one of several placards which appeared on the walls at. South Huron District high School last week as students reacted to the loss of their principal. Joe Wooden, who is being transferred to Clinton 'this fall as part of a major shuffle of high school Principals. While modestly pleased at the reaction of some students. Wooden admits to having se- cond thoughts about accep- ting the voluntary shift to a new school. ;'I'm not leaving easily," he said this week, "I've enjoyed it here." However, he suggests that education in Huron operates as a system, and if there are perceived advantages to hav- ing that, system, the move- ment of staff is one method to see if there are. In the spring of 1955, Wooden hitch -hiked to Exeter for a job interview with ILL. Sturgis, then principal, and •started on staff as geography teacher the following September at a salary of. 82,800. He was one of a record eight new teachers joining the staff that year and one, Ken Ottewell, remains. Others on staff at the time and still liv- ing in this area are Glenn Mickle,' Lauretta Seignor, Morley Sanders, Edith and Andy Dixon. The enrolment Only two collisions on holiday weekend Only t‘%a of the four colli- sion's investigated by the Ex- eter OPP this week occurred over the first holiday weekend period of the current summer season. OPP Sgt. 'Ray (:lover reported a quiet weekend in the area as police were call- ed aIIed out to handle only ,i lew• minor incidents and liquor offences. The first. of the holiday weekend crashes occurred on Friday when d vehicle driven by Gary Dcitz. 92 Brock St.. Hensel!. struck a bridge on concession 2 of Ilay Tdwnship and rolled over. The driver and his passenger. William Rowan. RR 2 Zurich, suffered 'minor injuries in the mishap. Damage was set at 82,000. On Monday. 'a vehicle driven by Christopher Brair. North York. left Iligbway 83 just west of Dashwdod and struck.a tree. There were no injuries and damage was estimated a $900' Last Monday. a vehicle operated by Randall •Pet• tapiece, RR 1 Monkton. struck a -cattlebeast on. Highway 83 east of Huron Road 11. Damage to the vehi- cle was listed at ;900. The animal was owned by Henry • Poortinga. The other crash occurred on Thursday when a vehicle driven by Kenneth McCann. RR 2 Crediton, had a utility trailer it was hauling discon- nect from the vehicle and struck several trees and shrubs along the side of Coun- ty Road 2 south of Zurich. • Damage to the trailer was 82,250. was around 400 and the staff totalled 18. Wooden has seen the second generation of many area families pass through the- local school in the past 28 years and can't really begin to accurately determine the thousands of students who have attended. He does"know that no mat- ter where you go, you in- variably run into a former student of SHDHS. Wooden, only the fourth principal at theschool since World War II, took over the reins in 1967 after the short stay of Douglas Palmer, who succeeded Sturgis. The enrolment at the school hit a high of 1,100, but has since dwindled to under 900 and he expects there will be about 870 on hand when school opens this September. That's about the same number when he became principal. He iuggests the current enrolment would probably be lower except for the scarcity of jobs. This year's grade 13 has a record number of 85 as students stay at the books in view of few job opportunities. There will be less than 200 grade niners arriving in September and a sign of the shift in the school district population is the fact that more than 25 percent of those will be from Exeter. In the past, the town has furnished only about 15 percent of the student population. Wooden sees little dif- ference between the current school popluation and those he encountered during his first day in a new career. There's the obvious change in dress, but he claims the character hasn't changed much, although admits that being so'involved through the years may make it more dif- ficult to perceive changes. One of the other changes is the fact there is little dif- ference now between the students at his school and those in large urban centres. "That wouldn't be true 25 or 30 years ago," he suggests. Having done some practice teaching in Toronto he notic- ed a great difference between the city students and their rural Ontario counterparts, but recent trips to the city • have convinced him there is now little difference. He also sees little difference between the town and rural kids at SHDHS. One of the things that hasn't changed is the fact that SHDHS students are and always were "pretty decent kids;" It may come as a shock to parents, but the veteran teacher claims today's students do considerably more work than those of the past as they get involved in essays,individual projects and seminars. They are, however, involv- ed in fewer non -athletic. LOOKING BACK -- SHDHS principal Joe Wooden, who is being transferred to Clinton in the fall, looks over one of the school's scrapbooks with secretory Doris Schwartz and teacher. Ken Ottewell. The latter joined the staff at the same time as Wooden, whle Miss Schwartz was on hand to greet them. Wooden will be honored at an appreciation night being staged on June 10. events as many of the school's clubs have disappeared. Inter -school competitions on the athletic front are at- tracting more students than ever. A list compiled just . recently•by Ron Bogart shows that one-third of the school population engaged in inter: school athletics during this year. . Former school athletes may also be surprised to know the principal thinks to- day's standard of athletic skill achievement is much higher, due to; improved equipment, coaching techniques and the availability of watching pro- fessionals perform via TV. Today's athletes not only have better skills. they have to pay to participate. This year, SHDHS students raised half the school's 825,000 budget .for inter -school athletics. . While TV may have helped students in athletics, it has had a detrimental effect on their scholastic abilities. In fact, Wooden terms it "pro- foundly destructive" in many ways, not the least of which is it inhibits imagination and the ability to fantasize. It has also had an adverse impact on their reading skills. "They don't read as much or as well," he laments, ad- ding that without imagina- tion, a child is severely handicapped. in that area he feels previous students had skills not possessed by today's students. However, he still thinks the advanced students at the school know more than their predecessors. primarily because the curriculum Is better, although he says to his chagrin, that his own area of geography is one subject where that advancement has not kept pace in the' curriculum. It and history lost out in the credit shuffle," he suggests. Wooden, who has taught , throughout most of his 28 years, finds kids of today less distruptive in class than those Of 25 years ago, although he adds part of that may be cited as apathy or less imagination. However, he also thinks the credit system has helped in that regard as fewer students get lost in courses as they are placed in streams where they can cope. In the past, a student who got lost in math had little else to do in class but be disrup- tive,while today the student is placed in a class where he can keep pace with his/i)er. ability. He cites some problem areas with the credit system, .one being that those in the "middle" have been lost as most students appear either at, the upper or lower end of the spectrum. Wooden is obviously not among those concerned about the academic direction of the system. He claims there have been a great many good educational.things that have happened and adds with some medest pride that SHDHS was usually in the forefront in the changes. "We are usually among the first in Huron to try things," he says, listing timetable in- novations, 8 theatre arta pro - Please Rim to•page :3 New truck okayed by Stephen council Stephen township has pur- chased a new four wheel drive pickup truck for use by the road department. ' The lender from Seaforlh' Motors for $10,500.45, the lowest of five received wasac- cepted subject to Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communications approval. Rental rates to township ratepayers 'for use of the grader was set at $44 per hour and 828 for the backhoe machine. Six tile drain loans totalling $43,900 were approved. A borrowing bylaw on the Gill municipal drain and amending bylaws on the Mud Creek and Faulder-Muller- Nagle municipal drains were passed. The 1982 auditor's report for 1982 was received and ac- cepted. It shows a surplus of 81.469. The Ontario Ministry of Housing has informed council that no- new money will be available this year for the On- tario Home Renewal in Stephen. All that will be available will be funds com- ing back in on repayments. Council has agreed to share advertising concerning Canada Health Day with the town of Exeter. Approval has been given to the Dashwood Friedsburg Days committee to serve alcoholic beverages for the annual event scheduled for July 29 and 30. An agreement has been signed with Ontario Develop- ment Corporation for leasing of the Iluron Park recreation centre annex. In turn i1 will be leased to the Stephen Op- timist *Club.