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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-07-21, Page 1Firemen quickly It. could have been much worse! That's the opinion held by Many people on the scene ear- ly Wednesday morning when fire broke out in a downtown commercial complex owned by M.J. Geiser. Exeter firemen succeeded in bringing the blazeI-ilk control quickly, despite the fact flames were leaping from the rear of the timber - dry three-storey structure when they arrived around 4:45 a.m. Two men escaped unharm- ed from the building including John Geiser, a member of the volunteer brigade and son of the building owner. "They did a super job," he said this week in reference', to ntain yore area blaze the fire department's efforts. that severe in his unit when dy that sued smoke and "I didn't think it was going to the alarm was activated. water daniege had 'to be be saved.",The hallway was filled with carted off tq the dump and The fire broke out in a dense, black smoke when the bulldozed ceder• second -storey apartment Steve tyio men made their way to "The wStore has to be eupied by 23 -year-old safety and watched on as redecorate' • Mrs. Setdon Smith. He was apparently firemen battled the blaze. said this week. awakened by the smoke, but It was under control in less Sugar &Spice is closed told Gaiser later that he didn't than an hour. temporarily bile renova know what had aroused him. Total damage in the fire is lions are underway and she Smith raced eown the stairs expected • to be -between said the business would be re- mentand fromlled the fire depart-poe $25,000,0and $30.000. - opened as soon as possible. merit from the pay telephone in front of themunicipal office Besides the two apart - and then went back into the ments, four main floor building to warn Gaiser. businesses suffered damage However, Geiser was in the blaze. Most adversely already up, having been affected was Sugar & Spice, a wakened by a smoke detector candy and gift store operated in his apartment ttnit. "I'm by Cherie and Paul Seldon._ 100 percent for them • (deter• Hundreds of pounds of can- tors)," he commented, noting _ that the smoke was not all carpenter Optical also suf- fered considrsrable smoke and water damage and to a lesser extent, Gord's Variety and The Feather Tick suffered some loss from the fire. • "Luckily there was no wind," commented fire . prevention officer Norm Tait, who said it was fortunate the fire didn't spread to adjoining structures. lie echoed the opinions of others that the whole block was jeopardized by the fire. At the suggestion of Coum cillor Bill Mickle, council agreed quickly this week to send a letter of commenda- tion to the fire department for the excellent manner in which they curtailed the blaze. Mickle noted that many times whole blocks are destroyed in towns or cities through such fires and the local firemen did a good job in preventing a similar disaster. here. tlUron, North Middlesex One Hundred and Ninth Year r1� •,1 CARRY POSSESSIONS — Neighbours walk along a ramp above firemen bottling ablaze in downtown Exeter early Wednesday morning. Firemen hod the **under control in short order and the nearby tenants returned to their facilities. d voca & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO; July 21,1982 Ten peoplq sustain injury in area hIhway crashes ,Ten people were •injured and property ; damage amounted to almost $20,000 in six accidents investigated this week by the Exeter OPP. Three people were hurtin the first of the collisions in- vestigated last Monday in. front of Theo's Variety on - County Road 21 at Huron Park. Drivers involved were Lorie Lightfoot, Huron Park, and Theodore Farr, Centralia. Damage was set at $4,000 and the Huron Park woman and two passenger$, Darlene Smith and Tracey Walden, - both of Huron Park, sustain- ed minor injuries. There . Were - collisions on Thursday, first involv- ing a van nd pickup driven . by Glen Schwartzentruber; Tavistock and • Tony Verbernei'RR a Exeter. They :'collided en concession 9-5 of Usborne at the intersection of Sideroa '25-26. Both, ''vers were injured and toff -damage was liste\f • at $8,50 '• • The other Thursday.crash involy : abed Morrissey, • RR 2 '' ton, whose vehicle suits ' : f damage of $900 when ; • - tinto the ditch on Htu`f1Dd:': '• : d 2 south. of the d, A 2;i -aid. cyclist from Nottingham, England, suf- fered minor injuries in anac- cident on Friday when he ran into the back of a car that was making a turn into a private lane off Highway 21 north of Grand Bend. Injured was Michael Broadhead, while the vehicle was driven by William Adomatis, Stirling Heights, Michigan. Damage in the misliap.was estimated at $85. On Saturday. vehicles driven by Gregory Bell, RR 2 Goderich, and Richard Sou - dant, RR 2 Zurich, collided on Highway 83 at the junction of. Huron Road 2. LOOKED BAD — Flames were leaping into the air from the rear of the Main St. commercial complex hit by fire early Wednesday morning. There was considerable fear for a Targe area of the core before firemen brought the fire under control. Four businesses suffered smoke and water damage, as did two second storey apartments from which two men fled into the early morning. Consider monthly .charge for mobile retail outlets Exeter' council decided _ Monday to delay a decision regarding• new fees and regulations for portable, tem- . poraryor mobile retail outlets after being advised, the • Business Improvement Area r BIA )• board of directors planned -to make a presenta= tion to them on the topic. The general government' • committee had recommended that a licence fee of $75 per month be charged_ for the outlets` and also that such retail outlets must be located • on private property in a pro- .perly zoned area but not on town streets, parks, parking lots or other _municipally owned or leased land. In presentating the commit- tee's recommendation, Coun- cillor Lossy Fuller said the - matter was still under con- sideration and the BiA would be coming to council with a recommendation: ' With that knowledgte. coun- cil decided to table the matter until future meeting. • Mayor Bruce Shaw said the committee is also looking at • other matters such as garage and yard "sales. "The whole basis el unfair competition is being looked at." he said. In the past month, two por- table retail outlets have been set up along Main St: and while council delayed ap- prn al on one of thetn, they finally had to consent after AUTO ON FIRE l Inc car fire and Iwo thefts Were reported in the Huron Park area this week. The fire occurred in a car OV red by Jim Miller. Thed-• forst. on Saturday night at the Albatross Club parking lot. it • was caused by defective wir- ing and the -blaze was quick- ly" brought under control by the Huron -Park fire brigade. Thefts involved a 10 -speed bicycle owned by Nancy Bicker. Huron Park, Vv'hile a jacket was reported stolen from a dance at the Huron- Park uronPark annex. The jacket was owned by Paul Brannon, RR 2 Dashwood. . • being advised: that they had no alternative. The fee currently for such operations is $100 per year. Council did approve two recommendations .from the committee this week. The first was to place works superintendent Glenn Kells and Councillor Dorothy Chap- man in 'charge of hiring or' contracting personnel to carry out the projects approv- ed up to the grant allotment of $3,800 received under the pro- vincial work incentive program. Labor rates for the people hired is to be according to prevailing local wage. rates for each job and will range from $4 to $6 per hour. Orae project already under- way is the trimming of trees in MacNaughton Park. The second recommenda- tion was that the town recognize a local youth for achievement at the national level. A plaque is to be hung in the South Huron rec centre in honour of Dave Shaw, a member of the Memorial Cup winning Kitchener Rangers. The general government committee advised council that the Exeter industrial Please turn to page 2 1 - PREPARING FISH - - Friday's Shriners fish fry:during Heritage Days was successful: Helping prepare the food are Charles Corbett, Janet Hood and$Bruce Stanlake: Bell sustained minor 'in- juries and damage was listed . at $1,500. The final crash of the week occurred on Sunday at con- cession 10-11 of Usborne at the intersection of sideroad 20. Drivers involved were Gaye Webber, RR 1 Woodham and Randy Steele, RR 1 Woodham. _ - Steele, his wife and their nine -month-old son, were treated. in South Huron. Hospital for cuts and bruises. Didn't refuse :refuse offer Exeter residents have reacted positively to council's request that all garbage be placed on the north and west sides of the street to reduce ', collection time and costs as . well as prolong the life of the garbage packer. Works - superintendent Glenn Kells reported Monday to council that about 90 per- cent of the garbage has been set ' out in the manner prescribed. He said no major time sav- ing had occurred in the collec- tion as yet, because the department was still working on setting up routes more advantageously. Kells indicated it may be necessary to go door-to-door in certain blocks and advise residents what side of the street would be best for the centralized plan td make it work even better. - He also noted that while people- followed the instruc- tions. there should have been special note made of unique situations. such as crescents. Mayor Bruce Shaw, who questioned originally whether residents would cooperate in the plan. -said Monday night he was "amazed" at how peo- ple picked up on the idea and appeared interested in saving tax dollars. eritage Days unqualified success Based on its initial success, there appears little doubt that Heritage Days will become an annual event in Exeter. • "The weekend was very, very successful," enthused committee chairman Mike Williamson. He said he wasn't in a posi- tion to make an accurate ac- counting of the profit involv- ed in the activities, but noted that the returns should be good. "There were no bum- mer events at all," he said. The weather threatened at times to curtail some of the activities, but it was a mixed blessing in many cases. The hot, humid weather boosted sales at the Lions Heritage Arms and the Kinsman beer tent,• while the intermittent rains put the damper on only one event, the ball games bet- ween the Milverton Suns and the Buffalo squad. Rain fell at times during Saturday's colorful and lengthy parade, but it ap- peared t6 be a welcome cool- ing off for both the par- ticipants and spectators more than a hindrance. "People were very happy. with the program and' the general feeling is that this is something that Exeter need- ed," Williamson indicated. . He said the activities enabl- ed old and new residents to mingle and many compared it to the atmosphere of Exeter's centennial activities in 1973. The activities got underway on Thursday with the local sidewalk sale and most mer- chants reported good sales with extra customers on hand for the festivities of the weekend. "Many reported their sales were as good as last year and in this economic climate, that is good," Williamson commented. The Heritage Arms opened on Thursday and sales were brisk and Friday night's welcoming wine and cheese party was well attended as was the amateur talent show staged at.the public school by the Exeter Agricultural Society.- ' WINNING ENTRY — Reeve Don MacGregor drives the tractor while Louis Zim- mer works on the forge, complete with the spreading chestnut tree. to' combine for the award 'of best float in the Heritoge Days parade. Among the Meets selected to appear in 'a further com- petition at the Western Fair were two local girls. Melanie Lovell,. Kipper. and Joanne Verlinde, Hensen Melanie was chosen 111 the vocal sec- tion and Miss Verlinde played. the accordion. CFPL-TV announcer Ross Daily was emcee .for the show. James Willis. Exeter's first settler. made an appearance at the wine a{{td cheese party. aided by colrncillor Morley Hall. Ile arrived with the hoe he couldn't afford to plant his tirst.crop of ix1tatnes and lit a heritage candle to burn throughout the festivities. Mayor Bruce Shaw and chair- man Williamson were on hand to extend greetings. • The Exeter firemen served over 500 pancake breakfasts to get everyone off 'to a good start on Saturday morning. after about the same number had partaken of the Shriners` fish fry the previous evening. The farmers'. market, craft Show and antique show.were well attended throughout the morning and then Main St. was lined -for the lengthy parade- which :featured a number of Shrine mobile units thatadded to the color and noise.. • Reeve Don_ MacGregor combined with Dashwood blacksmith Louis Zimmer to have the best, float in the parade. • 1t came. complete with a spreading chestnut for the Huron County blacksmith. Over S00 people dined at the Ausahle Nomads' beef barbecue and Saturday night's dance in the rec cen- tre.tvas also well attended. although the heat was blam- ed for a poorer turnout than_ had been expected. About `200 worshippers gathered at the newly named MacNaughlon Park for an ecumenical service staged by .the Exeter Ministerial on Sun- day morning. Rev., Keith Gonyou and Rev. James Forsythe took the • main parts. backed by the musical offerings of- David 'and Beth Prouty. and the King's Edition:. "To forget our history is to . pay the.price of living it over again." stated Rev. Forsythe in his .rnessage. "We must' begin where we are...to lay Please turn to page 2 Price Per Copy 50 cents 44.04, FAIR QUEEN — Vicki Mann, Hensall, was "thrilled" to be crowned queen of the Zurich Fair. She was spon- sored by Jeffrey Bros. Construction, Zurich. Employees at PUC had 14.percent hike. Employees of the Exeter Public Utilities Commission' 'received pay increaserOf up to 14 percent in 1982 according to information made public this week by Exeter council. This compared to a 10 per- cent hike given in 1981. The current salaries. as outlined in a letter to council show the manager at 'a cur- rent salary -of $39,101 com- pared to $34,299 one. year ago: Rates for -the foreman. sub - foreman and journeyman are estimated at $29.979. $27.956 and $26. 422 respectively. The sub -foreman is at an hourly rate of $12.57 and the journeyman of $11.81. A fourth year learner lineman receives 90 percent of the journeyman rate. a third year 83 percent. second. year 76 percent and first year 70 percent. A lineman's helper is paid $8.61 per hour. The three secretary -clerk - typists recieve wages respec- tively of $17,988, $15,809 and $14,212. - NOT FIRST VISIT When Londoner Dan Altan pedalled his wheel chair into Exeter three weeks ago on his - cross-country trek, it wasn't his . first visit to the. community. • Glenn Kells advised council this 'week that Altan was the Timmy who epresented crippled children at the Ex- eter Lion's. first sportsmen's dinner. He was gi'.en $100. by coun- cil when he visited here on June 26 on his travel across the nation in his wheel chair. • Ott Y. NOT JUST FOR THE YOUNG Lorne and Katie Bender proved riding bicycles in a parade was not just for youngsters. The couple participated in Saturday's Golo Days parade in Ailsa Craig. T•A photo • I , 4 K