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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-02-06, Page 15The readers write Times -Advocate, February 6, 1985 Page 15 CriticaI of storm travellers; Exeter's proposed zoning changes Dear Editor: On Behalf of the Family and Children's Services of Huron County. the Exeter Lioness Club would like to thank the people of the South Huron area who so generously donated cash or cheques to the bureau. Local merchants, business firms, schools and churches all contributed by giving clothing, produce, toy drop boxes and White Gifts. Many women knitted caps, mitts, scarves, slippers and sweaters. Gen's Singer Sewing Centre, Exeter Mall, are providing wool for knitters who wish to use spare time in the winter months knitting for next year's bureau. Thanking everyone again! . Sincerely, Lauretta Siegner Bureau Co-ordinator * * * Dear Edithr: Where oh where has democracy gone? It is sliding away if we don't try and do something about it. We the residents of Exeter who have our properties designated for core commercial, found out at a January 31st meeting that petitions don't mean a thing and don't even get looked at. We were told that it is call- ed lobbying! We were also told that we can send in individual papers noting our pros and cons and these will be looked at individually. I wonder? So all residents of William SL, North Main St., and Andrew St., please, please get busy and send in these pieces of paper, which have to come from the Town Offices. Another thing that we were told was that the downtown area had become too expensive for more businesses. What do they expect to get our houses for? Maybe $6,000.00 to $8,000? Retail stores are not going to locate on streets away from down town areas. Perhaps they are counting on our pro- perties for parking lots, hamburg stands or more variety stores? We have always been proud of our residential Andrew St. It is a lovely street to live on with all the children playing in the summer and going back and forth to school in fall and winter. safely. 1 would venture to say that is it one of the best locations, for children going to school, the Rec cen- tre, the swimming pool and Mac - Naughton park. Our Andrew St. residents have chosen older homes and gradually modernized them rather Than locate in a new subdivision. Respectfully yours, Bonnie U. May * * * Dear Sir: Re your editorial of January 23 tell- ing citizens it is their responsibility to check out any changes proposed and the ramifications to their property or neighborhood now or in the.future. How many people living in the area - Andrew St. West, Main St. east and west side, William- -St. east. t this covers area from Sanders St. to the river are aware that Exeter is con- sidering a major zoning change later this month that will affect properties in the above area'' If they are not aware I wish to sug- gest that they contact the town office and find out how it might affect their property. Helen M. Bridges Legion women aid Big Brothers group The Ladies Auxiliary of the N.E. Pooley Exeter Br. 167 Royal Cana- dian Legion held their regular meeting, January 28 with 35 members - present. • President Irene Jackson chaired the meeting. Betty Bowerman, Cathy Pfaff and Maria Wall were initiated into the Auxiliary, and welcomed by all. Irene Jackson won the mystery prize. Barbara Hearn, sports officer. reported an invitation bowling tour- nament in Goderich Saturday, April 20. The Auxiliary are sponsoring a 50/50 draw for 1585. A draw to be made the fourth Monday of each month for 10 months; the first draw to be made in February. A donation of $50.00 was made to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Bowlathon. Lynda Parkinson reported on the Sportsfest to be hosted by Exeter August 16, 17 and 18. Darts and cards to be held at the Legion Hall. President Irene Jackson closed the meeting after which lunch was serv- ed. February 25 is the next meeting. Sir: For the past 15 years I have lived on Highway 23 among hard-working, caring people who would never see anyone in need. The patience of these people is. however, wearing thin. Every winter we anticipate at least one major storm and try to prepare accordingly. Contrary to popular belief, when a storm hits we do not throw an extra log on the fire and put our feet up to wait it out. The work we do every day, seven days a week, I might add, just becomes much more difficult. In addition to the countless pro- blems these storms can cause farmers, we are faced with a far greater problem and that is looking after the alarmingly increasing number of senseless people who ven- ture out in such snowstorms. We are forced to provide free food and accommodation for these people - our only alternative being that we send them back to their stranded cars to freeze to death. They come streaming"through our doors, inadequately dressed for winter weather, much less a blizzard, and not one with a legitimate excuse for being out there. We have had as many as 28 people in our home at one time. I have seen my husband out till all hours shovell- ing out and helping restart stranded cars after the snowplows do get through. In many cases, if you don't do this you will be saddled with these people until they jolly well decide to leave. We feed them till our cupboards are bare and our freezers are emptied but then I'm sure they believe we get all our food free, for rare are the ones who will reimburse you for a weekend in the country. Some of them are too busy to even say thankyou! To add to this problem we have our very responsible media, who send photographers and TV cameras out in these storms to record their "cute" human interest stories. The London Free Press, CFPL-TV and various radio stations combine forces to make it appear that we welcome these stranded motorists in- to our homes and that it's just one big party until the storm subsides. This may come as a total shock to you, but we do not live such boring lives out here that we.need a house full of uninvited guests to have a party. We do, however, have the common sense to cancel many engagements and make sure that our children are safely at home before these storms hit. Ideally, we should then be able to look forward to spending some quiet time with our family as a refreshing change from the hectic pace we nor- mally keep. Instead, in addition to caring for our family and our livestock, we are fac- ed with problems like how to strech a week's groceries for six far enough to feed up to five times that many people. Let me tell you, there is little time or desire to party! Might I also suggest that you sharpen your skills at writing obituaries, because if you continue to report in this fashion and thereby en- courage these people out onto the roads in a storm you will have many more of them to write. Perhaps it will be the obituary of one of my neighbors who risk their lives to go out in these storms to haul cars off the road and drag people out of stranded vehicles who, having decided to sit it out, have faUen asleep and are well on the way to freezing to death. Has this thought ever crossed your mind? f tried to point this out to a Free Press reporter a couple of years ago when he did yet another "cute" story on four people who had been strand- ed at our home for a weekend. This group came marching into our home, dropped their rifles on the floor and proceeded to laugh and brag about running not one, not two, but three roadblocks to get this far. This is the mentality of some of the people we have to deal with and the news media encourage them by com- ing out to take their pictures. Forget your "cute" stories. If you want to know how we really feel about these people, come out and interview us as we try to clean our homes, do mountains of extra laundry and rush to the grocery store to stock our emp- ty shelves. Incidentally, I did just that four weeks in a row a couple of years ago and every storm had been ac- curately predicted. Four weekends in a row ! Try to pic- ture this folks. You have just started to eat dinner with your family while the storm rages outside. Perhaps you feel badly that you are missing a func- tion that you had looked forward to at- tending for weeks, but that function is miles away and you know that even if you were able to get there you would never make it back home. So you content yourself with the fact that you are warm and comfortable and about to have a nice dinner. Suddenly someone starts pounding on your door, seeking refuge from the 110 to hel upuiIIiie storm, you just get them inside and they are followed by group after group. These people are total strangers. You have no idea who or what they are. They are cold and wet and some are hysterical, realizing just how dangerous it really was out there. You hear comments like "1 told you we should never have started out in. weather like this," But they' are here, folks, and until that highway out there is passable they are all ours! They take over your home, literal- ly. You line up to use your own bathroom. One night my husband was patiently waiting in line and the man next to him asked him where he was from. My husband replied, "Most days I live here." There is humor in any given situa- tion, but when you find this scenario repeating itself time after time, the humor wears thin. Several ytars ago, when we first started rescuing these people from the storms, we felt good that we were able to help someone in need - but the frequency with which it happens now and the increasing number of people we are forced to deal with is causing us to become bitter and resentful. I would ask the police to get those roadblocks up earlier before this highway is jammed with.these people and their cars and if possible to man the roadblocks - as most of these peo- ple appear to be unable to read. To you, the motorists, who think you are invincible and can go where a snowplow wouldn't dare, I say this, "If you knock on my door, be very sure that you are warmly dressed because the reception you receive here will be far colder than anything you have experienced outside." Lucan M. Monica Porter electric water heate. 1 KEEN ACTION Several Grand Bend area adults have been enjoy- ing the Wednesday night volleyball action at the public school. All eyes are up as these players get set to play a ball. Grand Bend By Lynne Mrs. Elizabeth Norris. of Grand Cove, spent the weekend of January 26-28 at her son's home. Jack and Gloria Norris and her grandson Scott. Sarnia, hosted a birthday party for Elizabeth's granddaughter Kathi. and her husband Roger VanDenlfeuvel. Jack was chef for the dinner party. Connie and Hans DeJong have returned from their vacation in Mexico. The Golden Agers are reminded of their meeting this afternoon. February 6. at the St. John's Parish hall, GB. Community sympathy is extended to Elsie Keyes. Leroy. Scott and Susan. in the death of her father. Everard Miller, Exeter. last Friday. hocky weekend in ADAMS Hooting & Cooling • Heating Systems of all types INSTALLED, MODERNIZED and MAINTAINED • General Sheet Metal Work • Air Conditioning • Humidifiers • Ventilation 235.2187 133 Huron St. E., Exeter Desiordine Parkhill. the tykes met Watford at 9:00 a.m. Watford edged the tykes 3-2. Goalgetters for Parkhill were Simon Desjardine and Justin Michelson. Last Saturday. the tykes edged SI. Marys 5-4. Grand Bend goalgetter was Matthew DeJong, with assists go- ing to Simon Desjardine, JJ Anderson and Tommy Maguire. Saturday. the GB Girl Guide Com- pany went on a cross country ski hike in the Pinery Park. The girls worked on their skiers badge and hikers badge. Hot chocolate and some homemade cookies. made by one the Guides. were enjoyed by all. A special thank -you to the extra helper that we had' The Grand Bend fire brigade were summoned to assist the Parkhill fire department last Tuesday. A fire at the Scott residence on concession 17 in Stephen Township got out of hand and the fire fighters contained it from spreading. Mount Carmel PTA Last Friday night. the MI. Carmel P.T.A. held their second annual fun night at the Pinery Park. About 200 children and adults attended. They enjoyed the skating rink, tobogganing hills and sleigh rides. After braving those freezing temperatures. people were only too glad to come inside the chalet. They warmed up with hot dogs. chili. cof- fee and hot chocolate. PTA president Bill Uniac thanks all the parents who helped and he pro- nounced the event a great success. $li�off � 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 the cost of installation when you switch to a natural gas rental water heater. { - There's nothing like a cold shower to wake you up to the need for a new water heater. If you're ready to pull the plug on that tired old electric turtle, now's the time to turn on the speed and economy ofa natural gas rental water heater. Consider these facts: • natural gas heats water almost 4 times faster than electricity • if you're already enjoying the benefits of heating with natural gas, it is also the most economical way to satisfy your hot water needs • and with a rental water heater from Union Gas, you'll never have to worryabout costly repairs because ourlow monthly rental fee covers everything. Act between December 1,1984 and February 14,1985 and save! Calla Union Gas Pro today at 1-800-265-4173 *$110 off when switching from an alternate fuel togas. *Applies to residential customers only. (All installations must be completed by March 15, 1985.) 1 1 c1nhI,ncRs We're bringing home the future. 116 i.