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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1981-12-09, Page 17MEET THE HOSTESS — Rev. J mesForsytheofthe neighbour- ing United Church took time furing the manor's open house to introduce the owner, Anna Melnick, to the assembled guests. The group home has been under her direction for the past two years. December 9, 1981 ko4. 4,x�( Work together successfully Public sees Braemor-Se Exeter's Braemor Manor and Semi -Fab Industries were open to the public Sun- day afternoon to let visitors see for themselves just how the two facilities operate together to help some 30 peo- ple lead satisfying, useful lives. The James St. home, own- ed by Anna Melnick, is the residence of the workers, who are nut -patients of men- tal institutions and hospitals following treatment for alcoholism. depression and mental illness. During the day they work happily at assembling and packaging small products at the An- drew St. workshop. This productive arrange- ment was the outcome of changes experienced by Russ and Shirley Wilhelm, the original owners of . f imes d6 - Braemor Manor, who wanted tofinda useful outlet for their wards' energy and ambition to work. The anwer was found by opening a workshop in the basement of the home. Two years ago, the home was sold to Mrs. Melnick. Then. due to problems with their health, the Wilhelms decided to sell the workshop, which by this time had been moved to larger quarters on Andrew St. Their desire was to place the building in trusted hands so that the concept of keeping the residents employed would n t cease. That is haw Dave and Janet .Werrett came into possession of the modest business they named Semi - Fab Industries. Work under their supervision began on April 6. • Serving South Huron, North Middlesex Werrett. formerly a super- visor at Dashwood In- dustries. had wanted to run his own business. He was in- troduced to the Wilhelms through Don Campbell at ARC Industries in Dashwood. Under the terms of the sale, the building is rented from the Wilhelms and the Werretts promise to retain the Braemor residents as the permanent work force. "It is a super deal." Werrett said of the arrangement. Werrett himself looks after getting sales from client businesses, while his wife looks after bookkeeping and accounting details. "When we took over the business. we promised ourselves that after three months we would raise the wages as much as possible & North Lambton Since 1873 WriP : 4. 4 : Page 1A Sell third world crafts Zurich business practices self Self help seems to be a useful philosphy for Gerty Gingerich. Gingerich and his wife Pearl, run SHARE Craft Inc. in Zurich. Self help forms the basis of the supply and distribution of the third world handicrafts SHARE deals in. Gingerich began his con- nection with third world crafts in December of 1975 under the auspices of the Mennonite Central Com- mittee. The church was involved in helping people in the third world help themselves. By encourging a cottage in- dustry in poor third world countries like Bangladesh, the self help program promoted trade ,in dicrafts such as basket weaving and macrame. It is "trade, not aid" as Gingerich calls it, adding "We're helping them in their economy". The Canadian govern- ment, Gingerich said, is often leery of suppling aid to the third world directly, so it encourages this type of trade. The MCC, feeling the pro- ject was a bit toocommercial pulled out soon after it began and Gingerich decided to es- tablish SHARE as a private business. Under SHARE, Gingerich now imports large con- signments of goods from Bangladesh and Haiti. He works through existing self help programs, such as a Catholic church organiza- tion which runs the "Jute Works" in Bangladesh. In Haiti, the main source is Comite Artisanal Hatien. The third world economies are based on a pay rate of about 15 cents per hour Gingerich said. Outstanding items can be produced at this rate he add- ed. A tiny macrame Christ- mas ornament is bought in Bangladesh for 5 cents. The biggest cost, Gingerich said is the freight. It costs another 12 cents to import the ornament, which is then sold wholesale for 20 cents. "The markup on the gift trade is horrible," Gingerich said. He noted most retail outlets add a 100 percent markup to the items. offering an ornament for sale at 40 cents. "We don't make the profitsothers do," Gingerich said, "We're trying to keep to the situation where we don't price ourselves out of the market." He noted some retailers will price a 10 cent item at 40 cents. a markup he con- siders unfair. On the other hand, he noted an item may not be popular and may just sit on a dealer's shelf. Gingerich said he could buy his goods cheaper through commercial dealers. rather than self help organizations. But many of these are what he calls scalpers. He recalled a visit to Haiti in 1977. One evening he saw some wood carvings he would like to sell. It was beautiful work, he said, and he placed a large order. Returning to the workplace the next morning, he saw the same mud - floored shelter, but on a wooden walkway through the centre of the work area strolled an overseer with a whip. • He cancelled the order for the carvings. Gingerich bought similar items through the self-help agents. "I paid more for them," he said. "but I also know the workers got a living." In 1975. there were 2,000 women involved in the cot- tage trade in Bangladesh. There are now over 10,000 workers involved. Most of the workers are women. as after the war in Bangladesh many of the men were killed off and the women left destitute. SHARE buys about $60,000 worth of goods from Bangladesh each year. "That's just ourselves," Gingerich said, "we're just a small part." The workers. Gingerich explained. Work on the items in lots of 10. They are ex- amined by inspectors and if one of the items is not up to standard. the buyer will re- ject all 10. They are again inspected before they are shipped out and returned if not correct. Gingerich said he has never received bad work, because of this good quality control. As an example. Gingerich said. a group of 10 macrame hangers will be identical to each other. though the next group may be shorter or longer. SHARE ('rafts Inc. is the importer and wholesale dis- tributer for the Gingerich's business while the retail out- let in Zurich is known as 3rd World Crafts. The shop is filled with wood carvings, baskets, macrame hangers, RE THE �o AT e STUDIO '82 UNISEX HAIRSTYLING 415 MAIN ST.. EXETER 235-1081 APPOINTMENTS NOT ALWAYS NECESSARY OPEN MONDAY TO SATURDAY Stylist: Theresa arImminck placemate. handbags, Christmas ornaments, toys, ("You name it we got it," Gingerich quips) jute cushions. wall hangings, hammocks. "tons of macrame hangings", pottery and wicker hampers... In the basement warehouse there are literal- ly tons of macrame hangers. Also in the basement is a dyeingoperation to color the natural jute hangings and a shipping department where overseas shipments are divided to be sent out to other dealers. Self help applies here too, as Gingerich likes to ship only to small businesses. He avoids- the larger chain stores. There are many other countries involved in similar self help programs. In Africa and Central America, Gingerich said these places do not have the volume out- put necessary for his dis- tribution outlet. Bangladesh and Haiti have their produc- tion systems already set up. Canadian sources are also starting to figure in Gingerich's operation. "(The item) has to be produced by someone help- ing themselves," Gingerich noted. explaining the wooden plaques he now sells. They are made by disabled persons in Welland. He also sells pottery made by psy- chiatric patients and hopes to sell handicrafts made in prisons. Gingerich himself is in- volved in the handicrafts. He had designed baskets made help by third world workers. and is particularity proud of a lighted, macrame plant hanger he designed. A self contained socket and cord quickly assembles with pottery or baskets and a macrame hanger to form Gingerich's gro-garden. The shop also acts as a depot for used clothing and toys to be forwarded to Goodwill. the MCC/ or the Salvation Army. While Gingerich's own self help includes selling Amway. he said the crafts business has to make enough to cover the costs. SHARE stands for Self Help And Rehabilitation Ex- perience. "We don't want to make a lot of money." Gingerich said. "We're happy." tor everyone," Werrett sai The result is that the to wage today is about 11 a hour and the lowest is 20 cents an increase of about 100 percent. The Werrets have permission from the Ministry of Labour under a handicapped work permit to utilize this system of pay. "Some of our workers have shown great progress while on the job. We were surprised in some cases," he said. Semi-Fab'sclients include Fram of Canada, Dominion Chain. Square D, Davis and Stephen passes water laws Stephen township council has given first and second readings to a number of bylaws involved in the proposed water system for . the police villages of Crediton and Centralia. Included in the bylaws are an agreement with the Ministry of the Environ- ment. authority for construc- tion. frontage rates, connec- tion rates. supply and price of the water supply. Approval from the Ontario Municipal Board has not yet been applied for. Drainage commissioner Ken Pickering has been in- structed to proceed with repair of about 2,000 feet of the Clarke municipal drain. The resignation of Cam Stewardson as assistant manager of the Stephen township arena has been accepted. Memberships for 1982 were renewed in the Ontario Good Roads Association and the Ontario Farm Drainage Association. Council has accepted the design for a new township crest as prepared by John Moir from three suggestions made in a contest for township elementary schools. To honour firemen Any members of Exeter's volunteer fire brigade who have served for 25 years or more will be honored at next year's appreciation night banquet. The decision was made this week by council on the recommendation of the executive committee. In 1982, the recognition will be retroactive for all retired firemen who have served for 25 years and those reaching the plateau in the future will be recognized at subsequent town banquets. Council also approved the committee recommendation that deputy -clerk Laurie Dykstra be elevated from step 1 to step 2 in the salary grid. i-Fub operations Henderson. Galt Wood Tool, Schlaegel Canada Inc.. 'Prim(() Robber Division. and Barnett International. Orders are completed on a contract basis. VACUUM PACKER — Tom Brodie operates a packer to seal up sets of fifteen snap honks at a time. The cardboard sheet is then evenly cut up and the hooks are packedin hams for shipment to the client business, Dominion Chain, in Stratford. WHAT'S HE DOING? — Curious spectators at the Semi -Fab Industries watch os Martin Tyers works at nis station in the assembly process. 'MERE IT ALL BEGINS - - Semi -Fab co-owner Dove Werrett shows two buyer, from r, client business exactly where the work is done. Visiting from From of Canada in Strc,tford are Paul Jeffrey and Don Fraser. DESIGNED FOR SELF-HELP — Gerry Gingerich of Share Crafts Inc. in Zurich, displays a Gro -garden macrame hanger he designed. The hangers ore assembled by workers in Haiti and Bangladesh to be imported for the gift market in Canada. Few changes made in standing committees Very few changes have been made in Exeter's standing committees for the final year of the current two- year term. Bill Mickle retains his position of the finance committee, while Gaylan Josephson, Morley Hall and Lossy Fuller continue with police, social services and property respectively. Under the public works, Reeve Don MacGregor retaind chairmanship of roads, Tom Humphreys moves to chair drains and Deputy -Reeve Alvin Epp gets sanitation and waste disposal. Newcomer Dorothy Chapman chairs parks and rki parking. Theexecutive committee consists of Mayor Bruce Shaw, MacGregor, Epp and Fuller. Chapman and Josephson represent council on the employee relations com- mittee with works superintendent Glenn Kelis, while deputy -clerk Laurie Dykstra replaces clerk Liz Bell. Fuller remains as senior citizen liaison and the nursing home committee is Shaw, Hall and Epp, Josephson is the town's appointee to the Huron County police com- munication committee. Named to other boards and committees are: Area fire board - Shaw, MacGregor and Epp. Planning board - Chap- man, Epp, Stu Homuth, Jeff Pearson, Ron Cottrell, Dwayne Tlnney and Robert Spears. Industrial promotion - Mickle, Humphreys, Hall, Bill Milian, Jon Dinney, Mike golden and Bob Swartman. Ausabie-Bayfield Auth- ority - MacGregor. Cemetery board - Hall, Humphreys, Ted Wright, Olga Davis and Bill Musser. Committee of adjustment - Bob Russell, Gary Baldson and Norm Tait. Property standards - Jeff Pearson, Dave Newton and Jay Campbell. BIA - Fuller. Rec centre - Mickle, Epp, Caroline Merner, Gary Birmingham. Mayor Shaw noted that one vacancy remains to be filled on the rec centre board of management and lamented the fact that some of those who complain about the town's operation didn't take advantage of the invitation to submit their names for some of the committee positions. He suggested some of the back -biters should have volunteered their servina. PART OF A TEAM - - Viola Glidden concentrates os she in- stalls the weather-stripping on the frame. Semi -Fab handles contract orders for small finished goods such os these for nine different businesses. I 4 - SORTING THINGS OUT - Martin Tyers. one of the younger workers of the Semi -Fob workshop, separates the English and French instruction booklets to be enclosed with the door bot- toms his co-worisers are assembling. A CLOSE LOOK - - James Forsythe gets a better look at the packaging machine under the care of Toni Brodie THE LAST STEP Murray Middleton slides the finished product into a plastic envelope. These door bottom pieces are an order from an Oakville. Ont. firm.