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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-03-29, Page 7n the Street Mixing enthusiastic fans and pressure -packed hockey playoff games often has the same results as playing with matches and gun powder at the same time. This was evident in Creemore Saturday night after the Exeter Mohawks thumped the Creemore Chiefs on their home turf. The game was over but the fan action wasn't as a disturba 'some- where between a scuffle and a brawl resulted between oping sup- porters. Quick action by a couple of local peacemakers averted what could have been a nasty situation. No chances were taken in Exeter Sunday night that a repeat perfor- mance might happen. Local police were highly visible having the desired effect of cooling any additional fan action. If you've ever asked yourself what type of person gets so worked up during a hockey game that they're ready to fight you might be in for a surprise. Do you have to be strong? Is fighting experience a requirement? What type of marl does it take to wade into the opposition camp not knowing for sure how many of the enemy you'll be taking on? Oops, sorry. Scratch that last question. These fans were female. If I ever get in any trouble I can't talk my way out of, Iwknow a " couple of gutsy people to have on my. side. 1 * * * * * * * * Tuesday is the day seniors interested in good dining have been waiting for. That's when the Town and Country Homemakers start the "Dining for Seniors" program at the new Lions Youth Centre. the meals start at noon for $5 with reservations needed by noon on the previous Friday. For more information contact Grant or Vera Mills at 235-0461 or Jeanne Gladdiftg at 235-0258. * * * * * * * * Ron Heimrich will be opening Exeter's newest business this weekend in the former Beat location on Main St. The store will be called Exeter Paint and Paper and will feature Benjamin Moore Paints. * * * * * * * * Exeter's newest commercial and office building has both retail and office space available beginning May 1. Jack Taylor has completely renovated both the main floor and second floor of the former A & H building. Downtown merchants will be looking forward to seeing this prime location occupied once again. * * * * * * * * C.G. Farm Supply in Zurich is holding an open house next Thursday, April 6 at the Zurich Community Centre from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. * * * * * * * * Invitations have gone out for an event the Exeter Lions Club have been working toward for some time. It's the official opening of the club's new Youth Centre this Friday at noon. The general public is invited to an open house on Saturday any- time between 10 a.m. and three p.m. The building will certainly be an asset to the community and is worth seeing. * * * * * * * * Next weekend, April 7,8, and 9 is one of the major local events of the year as the Optimist Club of Exeter District presents their fourth annual Home and Garden Show. Visitors to the show have touted the Exeter show as being better than many found in much larger centres. * * * * * * *;* Bob Becker and the staff at.Becker Farm Equipment will be busy today (Wednesday) until 9 p.m. hosting their parts trade fair at the Rec Centre. Twenty-four major parts suppliers will be featured at the event. * * * * * * r. * If you've been waiting for the fust monthly large garbage pickup don't forget.these dates. Pickup begins April 6 on the West side of town and April 13 on the East side. 1 Back in time 10 years ago -While it had been suggested Grand Bend might be in line to lose its public school, the Lambton Board of Education Insisted the school was not scheduled to close. •The Exeter Hawks once again advanced to the Ontario Semi-finals after beating the Belmont Bombers 10-4. '•Maple syrup producers in Ontario were caught off -guard as the sap began to flow two weeks earlier than expected. •The Huron County Federation of Agriculture told the royal commis- sion on electrical power planning that hydro lines should not be placed across farm land. The•Wingham hearings were held to determine Ontario Hydro's plans over the next 20 years. - 20 years ago •Exeter council endorsed a Tuckersmith Township resolution oppos- ing the establishment of regional government in Ontario. •The Times Advocate ran a feature story on the Hall Lamp Company, a Huron Park industry supply:ing_auta,manttfactimrs with lamps and bulbs. •The Exeter Hawks qualified for the Ontario Junior C'finals after It . ,Ibbs of the championship title were the New Hamburg Hahns. •A safe in the Hensall Town Hall was robbed in the early hours of the mfmij, t\Toon.4 —with-she-.akt.of.acptyle.ne tanks from Orville Ford's blacksmith shop. The takings were said to be about $2 in cash. 70 years ago •"A public meeting of the citizens of Exeter was held in the Town Hall last monday night to discuss the building of a permanent Main Street in Exetcr....The reeve stated that it would be impossible to do the work this year, but he suggested that it would be a good idea to proceed with the building of a cement curb and gutter from the south boundary to the Presbyterian Church." •The Dome Theatre was presenting in "Gigantic Spectacle'Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp': Greatest picture ()fits kind ever produced, Wonderful scenes; Crossing Deserts on Camels, Terrific Sand Storms, Princess cast into den of Lions etc." •A dispatch from Paris announced that ai for anything othef than commercial use in Germany. All forms of war p hn"s and dirigibles were banned. •The Advocate published drawings of a British plane to be used in the Daily Mail competition for the first trans-Adantic flight, the prize for wvhich was £10,000. •Another fantastic report suggested a railway tunnel could be built under the Bering Strait to connect Russia to Alaska, with the idea that a passenger could make a rail journey from London to Canada, the United States, and South America. - Nurseries gearing up for spring planting season By Yvonne Reynolds ST. JOSEPH - Mike and Dianne Miller, co-owners of Lakeview Nursery at St. Joseph, began.plan- ning for this spring last fall. That's when they started ordering stock for 1989. Over 500 bare -rooted roses were put into soil -filled containers last week, tagged and priced. (The tags give the name of the plant, size at maturity, and ideal growing condi- tions.) The shrubs and evergreens will arrive ready for the same treat- ment next week. This year the Millers expect to pot 2,000 units altogether. The nursery will offer customers over 100 varieties of roses and shrubs, and an equally broad assort- ment of deciduous, evergreen, orna- mental and fruit trees. Some ever- greens are grown right on the site; a large portion of the stock comes • from as far away as Oregon and California. Most of the roses are from Strathroy. A new line of better quality, low- er priced lawn ornaments will be available this year, as well 'as gar- dening supplies and hardware. Mike- Miller will soon begin building a patio to both demon- strate the landscaper's art through a skillful blend of interlocking stones, water in fountain or pond, and a ,variety of plants, and to give customers and browsers a place to rest and enjoy the scenery. "Enjoy" is the key word at Lake- side Nursery. Miller is one of those fortunate few who earn their living doing what they most want to do in life. He was first intro- duced to the pleasures of working with growing things while em- ployed at an Ingersoll nursery one summer. He quit his factory job in Sarnia and stayed in Ingersoll for over four years. University courses • horticulture added to the practical - erience. i he birth of their first child made the Millers decide to move back to the countryside where Mike had grown up. They purchased their present property just north of St. Joseph on Highway 21, built a store -storage -workplace shed and opened for business in the spring of 1981. "The first years were tough", Miller admits. Dianne returned to work as a reg- istered nurse, and Mike was on the go almost continually, operating the nursery and fulfilling lawn maintenance contracts for customers in a wide area extending as far as London. Now Mike concentrates more on landscaping during the week, and is at the nursery on weekends. Dianne has exchanged nursing for the nur- sery. The spring season means 18 - hour days, but the hard work has paid off. Miller now considers his business recession -proof, explain- ing that "even if the economy is bad, people still buy shrubs and fer- tilizer, as landscaping increases the resale value of a home by at least 25 percent". The nursery's location has also contributed to its success. Custom- ers have dropped in from as far away as Windsor. Others stop by on their way to their cottages. In addition, being in the country means savings realized through lower overhead costs are passed on to the customers. Although the nursery is open of- ficially from Easter to Chnstmas, customers are served in the winter months if the Millers are home. People are welcome to come and browse throughout the summer and fall. - Miller discussed some of the cur- rent trends in landscaping. Weep- ing trees, Chinese dogwood, Japa- nese Ivory silk trees and dwarf Blue Spruce are very popular. Specimen trees tan also be espaliered, or shaped into fans, pompoms, swirls and other atitactive shapes. Water - fountains, falls, or ponds - and lights are being used exten- sively in private gardens. People are more environmentally aware these days, Miller observed. They know plants absorb some of the pollution in the air, and give out oxygen in return. Plants are used to control erosion along the Lake Huron shoreline, as screens to block out noise and wind and pro- vide privacy, and to attract and feed birds. The Millers are always willing to talk about what they sell. "We have two main purposes in life: to educate the public and to beautify man's environment through nature", Miller said. lt's • Your Business Preparing for spring - Mike and Dianne Miller, proprietors o Lakeview Nursery at St. Joseph, were potting roses while the snow was still on the ground. Inspecting the crop - Dave Steckle, co-owner of Huron Ridge Acres, examines a bunch of bananas growing in the greenhouse near Blake. This crop should be ready by mid -summer. Steckles' greenhouses full of colour HAY TWP. - Dave Steckle has been experimenting with plants ever since childhood on the farm north of Blake that has been in his family since 1864. He recalls plant- ing seeds shaken from spruce cones, and wondering why the seed- lings died. He knows now they "damped off". He recently, and re- luctantly, chopped down a giant weeping willow that was interfer- ing with drainage; he had brought the tree home as a branch while still a teenager. The greenhouses began as a hob- by for Steckle, an adjunct to the fruit trees and mixed farming. The original 2,000 square feet construct- ed in 1973 has now grown to 40,000. "It gradually built up as I grew in knowledge", Steckle said. - David's wife Carol is in charge of a retail flower shop that opened for business last Thanksgiving, and "has succeeded beyond all our ex- pectations", according to Carol. The Steckles are thinking about spring long before the sun crosses the vernal equinox. Assisted by a staff of three, which gradually in- creases to 12 at the height of the season, the Steckles begin planting fibrous begonias, impatiens for hanging baskets, and geranium seeds in December while the green- houses are still glowing with the hundreds of poinsettias produced for the retail and wholesale trade. This year 900 Easter lilies were grown, and that was not enough. "It's hard to get it just right. Poinsettias and lilies are seasonal, and if you have some left over, the only place for them is the compost pile", Steckle said. All seeds are started on a strict schedule, worked out after years of careful record-keeping. This year 20,000 tomato plants alone will be cultivated, plus pep- pers, melons, and all the other va- rieties you expect to find when shopping for your garden. Three- quarters of the vegetable seedlings are -sold whotesalc to i ardcet—gar- deners, and the rest are retailed at nowoargil-tStecklo, cietor of -Huron Ridge Acres Flow- er Shop in Zurich, holds one of the many beautiful plants for sale in the store. Dr. O'Connor and Dr. Englert Are pleased to announce that Dr. Mark Tomen - --wit ileibining their practice March 27, 1989 at the Grand Bend Medical Centre 238-2362 and the Hensall Medical Centre 262-3140 By appointment the greenhouses. Steckle is excited about the showy new floribunda and multiflo- ra petunias available this year. Cus- tomers will be able to choose from 50 name varieties and colours. Huron Ridge Acres also offers a full range of roses, shrubs, trees and other landscaping material for the do-it-yourselfer. Browsers are welcome to come in during regular hours and wander through the greenhouses, admire the banana plants and drink in the beau- ty of blooming plants and the air that smells like a flower garden af- ter a refreshing rain. The annual Open House that draws hundreds each year is planned for the end of April. As Steckle pauses in the midst of a busy day to survey his domain, he smiles contentedly and confirms that "what started as a hobby has become my whole life". All Ontario Financial Consultants Ltd. "THE MORTGAGE PEOPLE" We arrange and buy mortgages 1st, 2nd and 3rd Residential, Commercial, Vacation and farm When your banker says. NO Call Us - Local 238-2081 w•,----. o-(319) 743-53 . - Lydia C. Martin Home (619) 745-7888 B. Comm.. LL.B. is pleased to announce the relocation of his prac- tice effective March 20, 1989, to spacious_nelvage— __-...-. ,, fices at: J. Robert Benner Barrister and Solicitor 200 Main Street Lucan, Ontario NOM 2J0 Telephone: 227-4441 Fax: 227-1701 Branch Office: 176 Main Sti'eet, Ailsa Craig, Ontario NOM 1A0