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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-07-28, Page 17i Mary's musings By Mary Alderson This is another of those "by the time you read this" columns-- which means that I'm about to go on a trip and I'm writing this ahead of time so there's something to read while I'in away. By the timeyoureadthis, I'll be in Saskatchewan, driving a sub -compact rental car across the Prairie wheat fields. I'm hitting many of the big spots -- places like Sonn- ingdale, Smiley, Simmie and Crane Valley. Got a map? Look closely they're there. I'm travelling on behalf of the publishing company that employs me, and the purpose of my trip is to collect as many stories as possible for our magazines. For example, in Saskatoon I'm visiting a farm equipment dealer to in- terview him on his tricks of the trade for Farm Equip- ment Quarterly. In Swift Cur- rent I'll be seeing a water well driller who has the biggest boring rig in Canada, which should make an interesting feature story in Canadian Water Well. I'll be interview- ing a couple of fertilizer dealers for the WFCD (Western Fertilizer and Chemical Dealers Associa- tion) Communicator. As well, I'll be spending a few days in Saskatoon at the WFCD custom applicator summer show. But most of my trip will be spent interviewing farmers for stories in Canadian Lan- dhandler. Landhandler is a publication which we put together on behalf of Allis- Chalmers, the tractor, com- bine and farm implement people. In it, we feature A -C farmers from all across Canada. Working on Landhandler is a challenge, because so many people have to be kept happy. First of all the Allis-Chalmers dealers have tobe kept happy becaus&+ they are the ones who are paying for it to be sent to the farmers, and they make up the mailing lists. And of course, the A -C regional of- fices in Toronto and Regina have to be happy; they want all the publicity they can get. Then, too, you must keep the farmer happy -- without him there would be no story. So he gets to read it over to make sure all the facts are straight. Then the package goes to A -C headquarters in Milwaukee,Wisconsinwhereit is checked and re -checked. And all this time, I'm trying to keep my editor, production co-ordinator and printers hap- •pyhere athome asweat- tempt to meet deadlines. Getting a story and a couple of photographs to satisfy all these people Is no easy feat. Come to think of it, just get- ting a story isn't easy. The Allis-Chalmers dealers supply us with names of their loyal customers, who would make good subjects for the stories. I get on the phone and call the dealer to see what ad- ditional information he can give me about the farmer. Then I call the fanner. There are three standard reactions when I explain to the farmer what I want: no, maybe, and sure. Those that say no fear that I am some kind of in- vestigative reporter about to dig a skeleton out of their closet. The idea that some one is going to write a story about them to be published in a Canadian wide magazine ter- rifies them. They usually hang up. Those that reply maybe are usually confused and haven't understood what I am talk- ing about. Once I explain for the second or third time what I want, they begin to warm up. Eventually they say yes, I can cpme to visit, but they don't know what on earth I'll find to write about. And then there are those who don't hesitate for a mo- ment. They say, "Sure, come on out, can you stay for sup- per?" Farm wives generally fall in this category. When they realize that I'm calling from Ontario, they want to know what the weather's like here and how many inches of rain we've had this week. (I tust get a rain gauge.) Then hey go into lengthy descrip- tions of all the Allis-Chalmers equipment they've ever own- ed. And then I get the instruc- tions on how to find their farm. You go north seven miles and turn east two miles -- Prairie folks never give directions in lefts and rights, always in souths or wests. After I take notes on all these directions, they tell me to stop in town and ask for directions -- everybody knows where they live. I just hope I'm not around when the boss gets the phone bill. I am looking forward to one visit in particular. After I went through my introduction explaining who I was and what I wanted, I asked if it would be alright to come and see him. "You sure as hell can," he replied. Plan board okays condominium concept A delegation from Ausable Holdings appeared before Grand Bend Planning Board Monday night to ask for resolution to the problem with zoning and the six unit town house development on Wood- ward Street. Senior planner, Janet Smolders said "We've had a lot of complaints about this project". There was a request for a stop work order from Bert Pearce, manager of Grand Cove Estates. Ile sug- gested that the project did not comply with village bylaws. Services have been com- pleted and the foundations are poured for the Woodward Street buildings. Zoning was changed for the project to allow for the con- dominium concept. Exteriors and grounds would be con- trolled by the holding group and the units would be sold in- dividually. However, Ausable Holdings recently decided to sell the units as town houses (row houses) instead of following the condominium concept. Smolders suggested two solutions. She said that under the present bylaw the units could be rented or that the bylaw could be changed for part -lot control and covenants attached to the deeds insuring that certain standards of maintenance were respected by owners. Builder George Kadlecik, representing the holding com- pany said "We always intend- ed them to be sold". He said that the exterior would be of maintenance -free material. Smolders suggested that the number of complaints about the project would mean that the matter would pro- bably go before the Ontario Municipal Board for resolu- tion but would be expedited because of the Monday night decision by council to recom- The Russians have pie almost as often as cake, Icelanders go for canned fruit, and the Danes hang a flag out the window on a birthday. mend zoning changes to allow the group to sell the units as row houses. Planning Board member Gerald Merner questioned the frontage. He said that the village had been trying for 40 years to do away with narrow frontage in individual building lots. Councillor Harold Green commented that the project would enhance the area. "It's a lot better than what was there before", he said. The holding•company was given the go-ahead to con- tinue building under the original agreement. The houses will not be able to be sold until the zoning is changed. The parking bylaws of the village prevented a solution to the Knapp Enterprises dilem- ma. According to the bylaw, Knapp would need 39 parking spaces for its proposed expan- sion of the . amusement centre. Planner Smolders said that as long as the parking regula- tions remained the same, the Ontario Municipal Board would not consider the re- zoning requested by Knapp. The Planning Board passed a motion agreeing to re- zoning, conditional to proper back and side set -backs and to further consideration by Grand Bend council. MOM AND TOT - Mary Prevett and ten -month-old Shannon are seen at their swim- ming lesson in Grand Bend. Kathy Allister conducts classes in two private pools in the area. Playhouse fetes patrons, Valdy, new play on tap Patrons of Huron Country Playhouse were welcomed by the Board of Directors and Staff to a splendid evening of food and entertainment Mon- day, July 19. Special invitations had been issued to attend a complimen- tary performance of Neil Simon's "I Ought to be in Pic- tures," after being welcomed by Chairwomen Mrs. Bettie Gibbs, the patrons sat back and enjoyed the delightful comedy. After the performance, everyone was invited to a delicious Midnight buffet con- sisting of Turkey Cutlettes generously donated by Cuddy Farms, Strathroy. Various board members cooked and served the tasty repast. Then came the very ex- citing cabaret performance by Aggie Cekuta, a member of last season's Young Players who is currently ap- pearing in The Mikado at Stratford. Aggie's repertoire for the evening consisted of songs from many Broadway shows, all excellently interpreted and delivered. For her well deserved encore, she startled everyone with a spectacular rendition of "Delightful and Gay" from Stephen Son- dheim's Candide. In all, .the evening was a great success and proved to be a most appropriate way for Playhouse Board and Staff members to thank those who have supported them this past season. Nonnie Griffin and Roger Dunn at Huron Country Playhouse Two of Canada's most ac- complished and most ver- satile actors will be perform- ing in Jan de Hartog's The Fourposter at Huron Country Playhouse, July 27 through August 7. Nonnie Griffin, who won the Toronto Star's Best Actress of the Year Award in both 1977 and 1978, has been a great favourite with both adults and children for many years. She has appeared in such noted series . as Jalna, The Col- laborators and King of Kens- ington and has been the hostess of The Polka Dot Door. Roger Dunn is equally well known, especially for his ap- pearances in The Littlest Hobo, Police Surgeon, and Flappers. He has recently completed a series pilot entitl- ed Mouton of The Mounted and, this last year, was nominated for an Actra Award in Radio Drama for a Trip to the Casbah. Both actors .have been eagerly looking forward to their work in The Fourposter, the play about a 35 -year mar- riage with all its ups and downs. Nonnie and Roger have been friends for many years and, until now, have never had the opportunity to work together. Tickets for the Fourposter are available at the regular Huron Country Playhouse outlets in London, Exeter, Sarnia, Stratford and Strathroy as well as at the Playhouse Box Office in Grand Bend. Valdy to sing at Huron Country Playhouse • Valdy, one of Canada's premier folk artists, will be performing in concert at Huron Country Playhouse on Sunday, August 1 at 8:00 p.m. Valdy has been one of the most consistently warm, op- timistic and honest folk ar- tists to be produced by this country. Though he protests vigorously against such dangers as nuclear waste dumping (long before the disaster at Three Mile Island and the tragedy of the Love Canal), his approach to life Colonials continue to hold second spot The Grand Bend Colonials scored a 5-1 Sunday win over Stratford in London and District Second Division play and hold down second place, one point back of Goderich. The Colonials meet Goderich in a battle for first place on August 8. Mike Campbell and Gilbert Quivourin each scored two goals to lead the Grand Bend win over Stratford. John Men- nen added the fifth goal and Rick Helm played a strong Museum craft event attracts good crowd The sun shone on Lambton Heritage Museum, Sunday, so that tables of crafts could be set up under the trees in the courtyard of the museum. There were 72 exhibitors. Sales weren't as brisk as expected although about 1,000 came to look. Cathy Maclachlan from near Exeter was sewing and selling traditional pioneer bonnets fo'r babies. "My three -month-old daughter needed a sun bonnet and I just kept on going," she sato. Kay Penhale of Elimville had a variety of hand -made baskets. There were lots of pots. Grand Bend potter Helen West hada good assort- ment of stoneware pottery and Mabel Gill displayed ceramics. Leita Hill of Crediton was showing quilts and there were other quilted items by Mrs. Leonard Dietrich of Dashwood. Also from Grand Bend Olive Webb had a display of crocheting. game in goal. The only score he allowed came on a penal- ty shot. The Colonials are back in action tomorrow night, Thursday, in Ingersoll in a Level 2 Cup match. The Grand Bend Ausable league team played a 1-1 tie with Wallaceburg. The only local goal was booted by Matt Relouw. Their next match is Sunday in Exeter. Dave O'Connor scored two goals and Colin Kobe and Peter Donaldson added singles as the Grand Bend atoms defeated the Exeter II team 4-1. The Grand Bend . mos- quitoes chalked up two wins. They downed Nairn 7-0 and the Exeter II team by a score of 9-1. Scott Boyd was the top scorer in the win over Nairn with a five goal effort while Stele I.ingard and Jonathan O'Connor notched one score apiece. Jonathon O'Connor tallied four times to lead his team to their seventh straight win. Steve Lingard scored twice and Dave O'Connor, Tim Vlemmix and Peter Donaldson booted one goal each. has been essentially un- complicated and extremely positive. The full, rich body of his voice and the excellence of his music have made him one of our best known, best loved entertainers. Valdy is the third and final artist to be presented in the new Huron Country Playhouse special Summer Concert Series. Other artists have included Hagood Hardy and Jim Galloway and the Metro Stompers. Tickets are available at the usual Huron. Country Playhouse outlets and at the ticket office at the theatre. GB water, swimmers surveyed Best in Ontario When Professor Patricia L. Seyfried of the faculty of medicine, University of Toronto, goes swimming she knows where the cleanest water can be found. That's why she often heads to Grand Bend, which hap- pens to be the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Mennel. Professor Seyfried was in- volved in a health survey of Ontario beaches and found that Grand Bend had the best swimming water of the nine beaches studied in the ex- haustive survey. Not only was the water found to have the lowest bacterial count in the survey, fewer swimmers reported any illnesses after emerging from the Lake Huron water. A total of 1,201 bathers were interviewed in the survey taken at Grand Bend and of those 970 were swimmers. Some 63 reported being sick following their plunge in the lake, or 6.5%, but that com- pares with 3.6% of non- swimmers also reporting some illness. The highest rate of illness was recorded in some conser- vation areas in the Toronto district where incidence was as high as 20.2%. Professor Seyfried gives an enthusiastic and unqualified "absolutely" when asked if she would feel safe swimming off the Grand Bend beach. The Lake Huron resort had • the lowest bacteria count of all beaches studied and in some areas of the bacteriai count the fundings were so low they were not considered relative. I always have the last word in our house...even if I have to go into another room to say it. • 4 A July 28,1982 Pope 17 comm fiEAO BOOKKEEPING INVESTMENTS N [BAD/NG TRUST COMPANIRS ART READ Chartered Accountant (519) 2311-2358 RAND SEND, ONTARIO mer 'Rags fashiOrp bo at-,iq !1c Open 7 days a week 10 - 6 1 : miles south of Grond Bend on Hwy 21 238-2818 • a sun shop ANNUAL SUMMER CLEARANCE 1 1 1 Starts 10 a.m. Friday, July 30th ILK 4 ; ‘ Savings of 20 - 50% off entire stock of summer fashions SWIMSUITS — DRESSES — BLOUSES HALTERS — PANTS — SHORTS SANDALS — ACCESSORIES ALL SALES FINAL OPEN — 7 Days A Week — 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. t, \1, vitt master charge a the sun shop 83 MAIN STREET — GRAND BEND r