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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-11-28, Page 1 (2)• • Nume citizens of the year Local postmaster Harvey Pfaff was moved to tears, Thursday, when he was named as one of Exeter's citizens of the year, while the other winner, Marjorie Pollen, was totally shocked at her honor. "This is ridiculous," commented Mrs. Pollen as she viewed her plaque after being presented with it at the banquet held to honor the many local citizens who serve on various volunteer committees in the com- munity. Mrs. Pollen had been enticed to attend the banquet to fill in a seat for Police Chief Ted Day, who was unable to attend as he was at a course at Aylmer Police College. WINS HONOR - Marjorie Pollen, right, was named Exeter's female citizen of the year at a civic banquet, Thursday. Coun- cillor tossy Fuller, made the presentation to Mrs. Pollen who is actively involved in church, hospital and cancer work in the community Staff photo Four bands ready to welcome Santa Santa Claus is coming to town, Saturday, and ac- cording to Stu Homuth, the parade in which the jolly gent will ride should be colorful and entertaining for young and old. A record number of bands will appear and Homuth, who heads the committee of Lions orgainizing the event, anticipates there will be a Okay first and last? Work has commenced on Exeter's new $100,000 police office beside the post office on Sanders St. The first "extra expense" on the building was approved this week when council okayed the installation of a footing tile that had been omitted from the original contract. Building inspector Doug Triebner had recommended the extra drainage and Reeve Don MacGregor said it would take care of any surface water ponding. The cost was estimated at $70. "I assume this will be the last unforeseen ex- penditure," commented Councillor Don Cameron. ALVIN EPP In presenting die award to Mrs. Pollen, Councillor Lossy Fuller noted that the recipient had served In most capacities as a member of the South Huron Hospital Auxiliary and also volun- teered her services on a regular basis to help with admitting patients each week. For several years she has also driven many . cancer patients to the cancer Harvesting nears end Despite the extremely wet weather of recent weeks most of the fall farm work in Huron County has been completed. Huron's Ag Rep Don Pullen told the T -A Monday morning, "Most plowing has been completed in the south and overall I would say only about five percent of the corn crop remains in the fields." large number of floats as well. Dashwood Industries Ltd. is sponsoring the Goderich Laketown band, while the Big "0" Tile Drain Tile Company is bringing the popular Seaforth High School band again this year. The local businessmen are sponsoring the two other bands, the Seaforth- Dashwood band and the Mitchell Legion band. One factor that should lead to a lengthy parade is the fact several Lions Clubs in the district have accepted the invitation of the local group to attend. Lions will be bringing floats from Mit- chell, Grand Bend, Vanastra, Lucan, Ailsa Craig and London North. The local Lions have two floats prepared, including the one on which Santa Claus will be featured. The members of the Woodstock Shrine Club will also be on hand in their colorful clown suits to perforni their zany antics. The parade will form on Huron St. East and will proceed up Main St. around 1:00 p.m. and will exit at Victoria St. to move to the rec centre where Santa will distribute treats and meet his young admirers. -Tuckey Beverages will be providing free skating for young and old, as well as beverages. The general theme of this year's parade will be in keeping with the Inter- national Year of the Child, although Homuth noted the committee had not made it a hard and fast rule to stick to the theme. Assisting on the organizational committee are Don Haines, Mike Williamson, Dick Jongkind and Mel Geiser. A large number of area groups and businesses have already made entries for the parade and more are ex- pected before the event gets underway on Saturday. "All we need is a break from the weather," Homuth commented. Pullen added, "Unhar- vested corn in the northern portion of the county could be as high as 10 percent, but, a lot of that is pretty marginal. A heavy frost on September 9 in an area from Belgrave to Lucknow left its mark. Plowing left in the north will be slowed until a frost comes to solidify the greasy conditions." He continued, "Farmers have been working feverishly to complete their work. We have never had so many calls of machine breakage and bunging of combines." One reason for the high rate of completion of plowing according to Pullen was the fact harvesting of corn an¢ soybeans was halted for several days at a time allowing farmers to switch to plowing. One of the bright spots in Huron was the white bean crop. On this subject Pullen said, "It was a record for getting white beans off on time. I can't remember when the weather has been so good. It was a great change after two terribly wet years." Pullen added a warning for farmers who may find some mould in their corn. He went on to say, "Not all of the mould is of a harmful nature. I would caution farmers feeding corn with mould to sows and gilts. Give us a call and we will have it checked for toxidity." The Ag Rep said his biggest concern with corn was the high costs of drying. He continued, "There is lots of corn with moisture in excess of 35 percent. This can be seen with the long lineups at drying facilities." In summing up the 1979 crop year. Pullen said, "Generally speaking aside from the tough struggle with the weather this fall, it was a very good year. We were fortunate that the corn turned out as good as it did." About crop selection for 1980 by Huron farmers, Pullen said,"I would think some farmers will be giving plenty of thought to returning to white beans after swit- ching to soybeans and corn." treatment centre in London and has served on the executive of the local Cancer branch. She is also actively involved in the UCW at Exeter United Church. "She's a good neighbor and a friend of many in the community," Mrs. Fuller noted in telling the audience that the female recipient had done many things to help make Exeter a better place in which to live. In making the presentation to Harvey Pfaff, Mayor Derry Boyle explained that the winner had contributed in many areas to the town in addition to his work as postmaster. He has held a variety of executive positions with the R.E. Pooley branch Legion and currently serves on the service committee which looks after the welfare of veterans and their families. Pfaff also served on the executive of the Exeter Minor Hockey Association and is a past president .of that organization. He has served on the Exeter planning board since its inception and announced his retirement from that position last month. He was also given a plaque in recognition of his services to the planning board. as was former mayor, Bruce Shaw. Deputy -Reeve Don MacGregor said that award to Pfaff was in recognition of the long, hard hours of work he spent on planning matters in the community. In accepting the award, Pfaff said the original members of the board spent many, many nights preparing the first official plan for the community and explained it had been done at considerably less cost than the new official plan and zoning bylaw that was completed about a year ago. He said he was unable to continue at the present, but suggested he may consider volunteering his services in some capacity in the future. "We all one Bruce very much," commented Councillor Ted Wright in presenting a plaque to the former mayor. He said that while Shaw had been faced with many controversial items during his term of office, he always tried to see both sides of every issue before making a decision. In accepting the award for his work on the planning board, Shaw said it was difficult representing the people in elected offices. "you get more grief than praise," he said. "It's hard to please everyone and do a good job," he continued, noting that errors were often made despite the thought and objectivity people brought to their responsibilities. He said that while elected officials make more enemies Please turn to page 3 Ames Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One hundred and Seventh Year PLANNER GIVEN AWARD Harvey Pfaff, left, a member of the local planning board since its inception was named Exeter's male citizen of the year, Thursday. The former Exeter Minor Hockey Association president and active Legion member received the award from Mayor Derry Boyle looking on is former mayor, Bruce Show, who was also the recipient of a plaque for his work on the planning board. Staff photo dvocate & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, NOVEMBER 28, 1979 Price Per Copy 25 Cents FIRE DESTROYS HOME — A twostoreyframe houseadjacent to the Big '0' plant on Highwhaoyt883iy E ee'er Schs veru nteube fire Sunday morning. Cause of the $35,000 blaze has not been determined p Sales reach record $3,616,974 Co-op stays ahead of inflation Members of the Exeter District Co -Operative learned at the annual banquet Friday night that the 1978-79 business year was one of the most successful in recent years. Total sales reached an all- time high of $3,616,974. This was an increase of $702,000 over business generated the previous year. The profit or net savings amounted to $102,524, up almost $57,000 from the 1977- 78 fiscal year. In referring to the ex - DON MacGREGOR HAROLD PATTERSON Epp fills vacancy on council, elevate MacGregor, Patterson The resignation of Reeve Si Simmons resulted in three changes in the makeup of Exeter council this week. At a special meeting, Monday, council named Don MacGregor to fill the reeve's ,post, while Harold Patterson moved up to fill the position of deputy -reeve. Alvin Epp is the new councillor. Epp was the losing can- didate with the highest total of votes in last year's municipal election and he was on hand this week to be sworn in by clerk Liz Bell, who also administered the oath of office to MacGregor and Patterson. A former Mennonite minister, the councillor operates Epp Homes, a home for troubled boys at 388 Albert St. He is a member of the board of the Big Brothers Association and a member of the Exeter Lions. For the past year he has served on the parking authority. In the 1978 election, Epp garnered 747 votes, about 100 less than Patterson who ended up winning the sixth and final position on council. Simmons, who resigned last week due to his ob- jections over council passing the controversial property standards and maintenance bylaw, said in his letter of resignation that he was quitting in the better in- terests of council and the residents of Exeter. in moving to accept the resignation, Mac Gregor said he was verysorrytosee Si going and wished him the best. "it's regrettable that Si has left, we've lost a good man," commented Coun- cillor Don Cameron. "1 agree with you," Mayor Derry Boyle quickly added, and advised later that Simmons had indicated he wished to remain as Exeter's representative on the Ausable Bayfield Con- servation Authority. The procedure of naming the losing candidate with the highest vote total to fill a vacancy on council is one that has been followed in previous situations. cellent • sales, manager Derwood Braithwaite told members. "it's encouraging to report that the percentage of member business is down only slightly from 76.2 percent last year to 74.8 percent this year. This means about 75 percent of the increased sales volume was done by members of the Co -Operative With an in- flation rate of 11 percent. we will still have a growth of 14 percent." Braithwaite. continued, "Our future lies in the ability to grow in sales. Our new lumber division will allow us to generate more gross margin and make full use of the facilities we have. We hope to get the lumber operation underway early in 1980." At a board of direcors meeting October 3, a two and a half cent patronage dividend on all member business was approved along with a rebate of two and a half cents a bushel on grain purchased. Major capital ex- penditures during 1979 were 835,000 for a new fertilizer spreading truck, 819,000 for a petroleum truck and 853.000 for purchase of the Webster warehouse building and property adjacent to the Co - Op property In addition 824,000 was spent on upgrading fertilizer equipment. in presenting the financial statement. auditor Tim Ward said 71 percent of the assets of the Co -Operative are owned by members. Ile added. "You should be very proud of this. Anything over 65 percent is considered acceptable." Bob Down, district director for United Co - Operatives of Ontario also reported on a successful year. Down said UCO sales were up by 13 percent to 8418 million with net savings of about 833 million. He also indicated a patronage dividend of one-half of one percent would be paid back to member coops and in- dividual members in com• mon shares. This will amount towel) over a million dollars. The director said UCO was in the process of completing extensive capital ex- penditures. He continued. "There are already 400.000 bushels of grain in the new Mrs. Southcott dies in Zurich A former women's editor of The Exeter Times - Advocate. and the wife and mother of two former publishers. died Monday at the Blue Water Rest Home. in Zurich. Florence Alma Southcott was the wife of the late John Melvin Southcott. who served as publisher of this newspaper for over 60 years Her two sons. Robert and Donald, acted as publisher and editor respectively Mrs. Southcott was in her 88th year. A full obituary notice appears elsewhere in this issue. More legal action threatened by firm WI::dsur terminal. Elevators there have capacity of 2.7 million bushels. Two UCO feed mills are currently under construction in Wingharn and Peter- borough and the fertilizer distribution system is being enlarged. Bob Down added. "UCO is No 1 in fertilizer We are taking the highest per- centage of the fertilizer business John Alkema, store spectahst with UCO was in charge of the election of three members of the board of directors. Returned to three year terms were sitting members Jack Blair. Jim Morlock and John Oke Other members are current presidnt Stan Francis, who was chairman for the banquet. vice- president Eric Kints. secretar> Jim Dougall. Elson Lcnn. Gerald McBride and Edwin Miller. Catering for the banquet at the South Huron Rec Centre was the Hurondale Women's institute ANNUAL CO-OP MEETING are UCO director Bob Down. Alkemo Solicitors for Hawleaf Developments Limited, owners of the northend shopping plaza. have again threatened legal action over the apparent loss of a tenant for their complex. In a letter to council this week. the law firm of Siegal. Fogler suggested town of- ficials were wrong in in- dicating to a prospective owner of a record store that he could not obtain a business licence due to the fact that the property was not • zoned for commercial purposes. Last year, Hawleaf served a writ on the town when a stop work order was placed on a firm which was plan- ning to open a dress shop in the shopping centre. That matter was turned over to the town's solicitors and subsequently the town's insurance carriers and no one is too certain of what happened. "It could have been settled or dropped and we'd never know." commented clerk Liz Bell when council members asked what had become of the original legal action taken by the shopping centre solicitors. However. she said that the town solicitors had indicated they could not see where the town had done anything wrong in that case and so council decided to take the same action this week...turn the matter over to the Stratford law firm of Mountain, Mitchell. Mayor Derry Boyle said the current matter was similar to the first and "it turned out we didn't have to defend our action then." Building. inspector Doug Triebner also indicated that he had spoken with local lawyer Chris Little. who suggested the town follow the same tactics as previously. "We hava�tnt t done anything illegal," Triebner advised council. Councillor Ted Wright said council could jeopardize themselves if they didn't follow the same procedure as in the original complaint from Hawleaf when the dress shop was blocked by the stop work order. Siegal. Fogler again argued that the shopping centre should be allowed to house any prospective commercial use in that it should he approved through the original building permit for the plaza itself in suggesting they would hold the town fully responsible and liable for the damages being suffered by their client. the Toronto law Ple•'.e turn to page 3 FIRE LEVELS LOCAL HOME Members of the Exeter and area fire department continued to have a busy November with a blaze Sunday morning completely destroying an Exeter home. The two storey frame structure beside the Big 'O' plant on Highway 83 was engulfed by flames by the time firemen arrived on the scene. said spokesman Peter McFalls. The department arrived on the scene at 6:45 after being notified by a passing t motorist that the house which was owned by Lorne Keller. was on fire. McFalls said the house had been vacant for the past month, since it's previous owners. Bob and Alberta Gregson had moved West. Whiie the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Mc Falls said it appeared the fire originated near the furnace of the home. Fire chief Gary Middleton placed a value of 833.000 on the destroyed home. - The annual meeting of the Exeter District Co-operatives was held Friday night. From the left Exeter manager Derwood Braithwaite, president Ston Francis and UGO store specialist John T•A photo