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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-09-22, Page 28Ira _wimp armor. Page 10A Times-Advocota, September 22, 1982 Lucan firm Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream An Olympic gold in a Kaschper shell Could be more than just a dream. The reputation of Kaschper racing shells has been grow- ing as steadily as the com- pany established 13 years ago on the eastern fringe of Lucan by Jacop Kaschper to build the slender, lightweight boats. "We are the only Canadian Brownie & Guide REGISTRATION September 23 7-8 p.m. at J.A.D. McCurdy Public School $10.00 registration fee Brownies 6-9 yrs. Guides 9-12 yrs. Please bring OHIP No. with you Happy 26th Birthday (Roof) Veronica PINERIDGE SUNDAY, OCTOBER company producing a full line of racing shells in all sizes and singles and pairs to fours and eights in both wood and plastic", vice-president Jurgen Kaschper remarked, his pride in his father's ac- complishments very evident. And with good reason. • Forty-seven year old com- pany president Jacob Kaschper reached his present position the hard way, step by step, through hard work and sacrifice. Kaschper was first in- troduced to the art and science of building racing shells in his native Germany during a three-year appren- ticeship with the Empacher company, still one of his ma- jor European competitors. He stayed another four years after receiving his journeyman papers before deciding to emigrate to Canada in 1958, arriving in London in April and joined by Wife Annemarie and son Jurgen on July 1. (Canada's birthday holds special significance for the Kaschper family, reinforcing their ap- preciation for "this land of opportunity". ) While working full time in construction, Kaschper began building boats on order during his off hours in a former cow barn, now the Western Row- ing Club, on Lake Fanshawe. In 1969, taking a carefully calculated risk, he started up a boat -building company on Concession 4, Biddulph township, about 500yards east of the main street of Lucan. At first the company's work force consisted of Jacob and one of the shareholders who took an active part in the business. Thirteen years. later, after buying out- the Sept. 30 The WNo Concert Pontiac $38 Call Ellison -Tray.el 235.2000 1-800-265-7022 HOUSE PARTY 24 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. • 2 Bands: Joe Overholt and Spirit • All You Con Eat Hot and Cold Buffet 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. • Ice and Pop Available $10.00 per person Tickets available at: Veals Meat Market George Beer 262-2277 Don Mousseau 236-4610 , �t Family business builds racing shells hopes products will be in Olympics other backers, Kaschper Rac- ing Shells Limited is a family- owned and managed firm employing 19 people in a plant that has grown from an original 3,000 square feet to the present 13,000 on two acres of land. Kaschper chose the Lucan location because of the prox- imity to rowing clubs in southwestern Ontario, and the reasonable cost of land com- ly beneficial. The employees pared to similar acreage in turn have steady jobs and secure incomes turning out racing shells sold to customers in north and south America, Mexico, Europe and halfway around the world in South Africa and New Zealand. Business has steadily in- creased each year, with sales for 1982 levelling out but not closer to London. An unexpected benefit was the labour supply. As soon as we hired local people, our staff turnover rate dropped drastically" Kaschper said. "Our Lucan workers are stable, reliable .and loyal". • The relationship is mutual - FAMILY BUSINESS — Jacob Kaschper and his son Jurgen check one of the racing shells being manufactured in their Lucan plant. Public tells ministry - Wan t stronger stand The Ministry of Natural Resources isn't taking a strong enough stand on. the loss of habitat in the Wingham district according to members of the public. Such comments were received at three open houses. where the ministry explained its draft strategy for the next 20 years. The open houses were held in Wingham on August 20, Stratford on. Aug. 24, and Goderich on Aug. 26. Objections were raised from a few private cam- pground owners complaining of competition from the pro- vincial parks system. They maintained it is unfair that their provincial tax dollars go towards their competition. Concerns were also noted from commercial and sports fishermen. Each side main- tains the other is taking too many fish from the waters in the district. The ministry used the open houses asa tool to inform the public of the draft strategy. In the works for several years. a background report was distributed to interested par- ties in the spring of 1980. The present draft strategy, taking into consideration' the public comments, will possibly be finalized by the end ofthe year. There were 31 people in at- tendance at Wingham, 17 in Stratford and 34 in Goderich. Wingham district encom- passes both Perth and Huron counties, the townships of Huron, Kinioss, Culross, and Carrick in Bruce County and Minto Township in Wellington County. The draft strategy covers program policies and strategies in the areas of forest resources,'mineral ag- gregate resources, non - aggregate mineral and fossil fuel resources, fisheries, wildlife, provincial parks, general recreation and land administration. In this district unlike the districts in the northern part of the province, only 1.3 per- cent of the land is publicly owned. Therefore, the ministry must work closely with municipalities, conser- vation authorities and private landowners to reach the goals of the 20 -year strategy. Forest resources The proposed target for the ,Wingham district is 4.1 million cubic feet of Saleable wood per year by the year 2020. Ministry data shows the current actual on. Saleable wood to be about 3.36 million cubic feet. This data also in- dicates a potential of 7.10. million cubic feet' of saleable wood per year. To achieve the goal and maintain the acres of woodland, the ministry will encourage increased planting and woodlot management. Marvin Smith, a forest techni- cian with the ministry, said private landowners will be en- couraged to plant trees on idle, unworkable farmland and manage woodlot�. Municipalities through coun- ty bylaws will be encouraged to strengthen and enforce these under the Trees Act. Huron County owns 1,400 acres of forest land which the ministry manages for it. Also in Huron, the Ausable- Bayfield Conservation Authority has 2,500 acres of forest land of its own, but within its boundaries, the Up- per Thames Conservation Authority has about 3,000 acres of forest land under agreement with the ministry. Smith said about 1.)0,000 acres in the Wingham district could be reforested without interfering with crop lands. At 1,000 acres a year, it would take 100 years to complete the reforesting. There are numerous benefits in planting trees. Smith said in the long term, a crop of trees has a better financial return that a current crop of corn. The only pro - 'item is waiting around for 80 or so years until the crop is mature enough to harvest. Other benefits include decreased soil erosion and in- creased energy savings by sheltering farm buildings from the hot sun, winds and snow. Each year the ministry plants trees for farmers on plots of land five acres or more. Mr. Smith said they are already booked up for the planting season next year. Aggregate With a goal of producing 148 Live Entertainment Friday pnd Saturday his weekend enjoy the sound o Odds 'n Ends Coming Soon Euchre Tournament Saturday afternoons 2 p.m. Commencing October 2 Everyone welcome Also commencing October 6 Wednesday evenings Shuffleboard Tournament Everyone welcome Come in and enjoy great TV viewing on our 2 large satellite screens. Featuring Video movies and Sports Specials All day - Every day 1 .r .• 4 million tons of aggregates (sand, gravel and stone) from 1982 to the year 2000, the ministry is now working on encouraging companies pro- ducing aggregates to return -the used land to its original state. There is no specific goal in the area of non -aggregates and fossil fuel resources. The district's draft policy is to en- courage the most exploitation of mineral and fossil fuel resources while minimizing di§ruptions of the environment. No policies have been set out in the draft strategy which will effect the salt production at Goderich or the one pro- ducing oilfield in the district, located in Stephen Township. Fisheries Divided into three categories, the goals for the Wingham district are 65,000 pounds of fish per year for sports fisheries, 880,000 pounds of fish per year for commercial fisheries on Lake Huron and 81,400 dozen bait 'fish per year from natural sources for bait fisheries on inland waters. The goals for sports and commercial fisheries have been changed from the original assigned goal for the district. Sports fisheries numbers were reduced because stream quality in the district is of poor quality, most streams are not accessi- ble to the public and access to Lake Huron is limited and subject to its weather conditions. The goal for commercial fisheries has been increased from 464,000 pounds per year. Data shows an annual average yield of 835,000 pounds. The ministry will monitor the situation to en- sure that harvests of such species as chub and whitefish stay within allowable limits. Also it will encourage increas- ed harvesting of such species as sucker, shad, smelt, alewife and drum. Wildlife Wildlife is also divided into separate categories including deer, small game, waterfowl, wildlife viewing and fur bear- ing animals. The proposed goal for deer is 3,500 hunting opportunities per year by the year 2000. Us- ing partial data from the past two years, •the average an- nual harvest was 127 deer giv- ing 1,748 hunting opportunities ' The small game goal is to provide 81,000 small game hunting Opportunities per year by 2000. This will be an increase over the 1976-79 an- nual average of approximate - 4 (-� Moes Munch dropping. "Rowing is a specialty market", Kaschper said in explaining his company's suc- cess. "Very early in the com- pany's history we recognized there are a limited number of rowing clubs here. In order to sell our product, we had to spread to different corners of the world. Winning a few prestigiousevents helps sell our product." Wooden -hulled Kaschper shells have crossed the finish line to receive gold and silver medals at the Pan American games, gold for an American crew at Henley's Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup and gold in the eights class at the world rowing champion- ships in the USSR in 1980. New Zealand won silver and bronze at the 1978 meet, and the East Germans took home a gold from the singles in Montreal in 1975. Recently the company has added carbon -reinforced fibreglass shells to its product line. These still experimental craft received their first inter- national exposure when four Top bids at fair Brenda Leclair of Dover Centre was all smiles follow- ing the market livestock sale at the Western Fair on Friday ' night. A & P Food Stores paid $7.50 a pound for her grand champion market steer, weighing 1,265 lb. This is the sixth year' in a row the grocery chain has purchased the champion steer at Western Fair. Ralph Bos Meats, Ltd., Strathroy purchased the reserve champion steer from Hillcrest Farms of Kerwood. They also purchased three other animals. United Co- operatives, Ilderton paid $4 a pound for the grand champion market barrow shown by McCallum Brothers, Iona Sta- tion. Ralston Purina Ltd. and Wayne Mitchell Feeder Ser- vices, Glencoe bought the reserve champion barrow from John D. •Mitchell, Glencoe. Lobo Abattoir, Ilderton bid $5.50 a pound for the grand champion market lambex- hibited by Peter. Kudelka, Gadshill. Norwich Packers bought the reserve champion lamb shown by Gerald Com- fort, St. Ann's. Wood Lynn Farm Markets Ltd., ,London paid $3.25 a pound for Scott Oliver's grand champion 4-1-1 market bar- row, and Quality Swine Co-op of Shedden bought the reserve champion 4-H market barrow exhibited by Kevin Bell. Quality Swine also purchased six other market barrows in the sale. ly 76,800 small game hunting occasions. Waterfowl hunting oppor- tunities are proposed to reach 23,000 by the turn of the cen- tury. The 1976-79 annual average was 21,861. No goals have been set for wildlife viewing. A long term average of 36,000 pelts per year by 2000 is the proposed fur production goal. The annual average harvest from 1973 to 1981 was 32,570. Hullet Wildlife Manage- ment area' fits into this category. Not completed as yet, it is expected to provide waterfowl hunting oppor- tunities in the future and pro- vide wildlife viewing. (Tits Family of Jim & Marg Ryan RR 3, wish to Granton invite relatives, friends and neighbours to a Social Evening on Sat., Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. Ilderton Curling Club to Celebrate their parents 30th Wed- ding Anniversary Your friendship and presence are their cherished gifts. We respectfully request ,10 other. Mobil. Watch for our noon hour SPECIALS Open Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Homs Pressed Hamburgers Locat • across om RSD Sports Den Homemade French Fries Schneiders Hotdogs Kasch boats were used by -tants In the world champlonships in Lucerne, Switzerland, last month. The Canadian men's team sculled too fourth place in the doubles, their best showing in 20 years. At the same event, the US national women's coxed four team won a silver medal in a Lucan boat borrowed from the Canadians; the Americans remembered win- ning a silver in a Kaschper shell at the 1979 world championships. The best Canadian women's rowing team, past • winners of two silver and two bronzes, missed the gold by hundredths of a second in 1981: This year the team swit- ched to another company's product and won a bronze. However, supplying racing shells for world champion- ships, glamorous as it sounds, accounts for only five percent of the enterprise's sales. Jacob and Jurgen singly or together attend many small regattas and almost daily submit quotes on boats to university, high school and other rowing clubs. This is the company's bread and butter. "We have captured a large portion of the North American market, and could blindly go on building the same product if we didn't go back to the grass roots of the small clubs", Jurgen remark- concluded. ed. "We must be innovative, willing to change as the market 'changes." Besides, its at the local regattas where boat builders can see what their com- petitors are doing. As in any other business, companies don't mind displaying new adaptations and variations; only the manufacturing and production techniques are closely guarded secrets. "If a crew wile, they credit themselves. U they lose, they ask themselves if they had the best boat. This argument as to which is more important, crew or boat, will go on as long as rowing exists", Jacob said philosophically. After accompanying his boats to Lucerne in August and talking to representatives of 38 nations, he is waiting for orders for shells to be raced in the 1983 world champion- ships at Duisburt, West Ger- many, and dares to hope that Kaschper shells will be part of the the competition at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. Jacob Kaschper is confi- dent of the future of his fami- ly business; whether working on a double for a high school rowing club, or an eight for a national team. "With the competent staff and a good product at a reasonable price, there should be no problem", he Cancer Society ANNUAL MEETING Monday, Oct. 4 Pineridge Chalet Speaker: Father Joe Milligan Tickets available at Victoria & Gray Trust, !motor The family of Jake & Elsie Reder Wish to invite relatives and friends to a recep- tion inhonor of their 40th wedding anniversary. Sat., Sept. 25 Holmesville Music by Whiskey Jack Best Wishes only September 24, 25, 26 Progress Building, Western Fairgrounds Sept. 24...6 p.m. -10 p.m. Sept. 25...11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sept. 26... Noon -5 p.m. Admission $2.00 -Adults $1.00 -Seniors Children under 12 accompanied FREE Maximum family charge $5.00 Colonial Hotel Grand Bend What a fall we have scheduled for you Commencing Thursday, September 30 Movie Night "On Golden Pond" Specials: Hot dogs, pop corn, chili dogs, draft beer Movies Shown at 8 and 10 p.m. Early Bird Fun Friday evenings g Pool Tournament - 6 p.m. Don't forget every Friday and Saturday night Rock 'n Roll with "M" TV on our Satellite Screen Cheap Fun • Cheap Prices 1 •