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Times Advocate, 1989-09-27, Page 1A good seat - Stacey Pfaff of Exeter enjoys her perch on the largest pumpkin in the school fair sec- tion of the Exeter Fall Fair. Fair survives Hugo backlash EXETER - Despite the effects of Hurricane Hugo, the overall attepp dance .at the three -day -Exeter Fail Fair was comparable to regent years. . Secretary Gwen Coward. said Monday "an excellent crowd Sunday aftemoon upped the total attendance to about 3,500.- Hugo slowed things down on Saturday." The fair was officially opened Fri- day night by Josh Watson from his. wheelchair. Josh is a member of the Special Ability Riding Institute and he fit in well with "Focus on Hors- es." Assisting Josh in the opening were MPP Jack Riddell MP Murray Cardiff, Exeter mayor Bruce Shaw,. Deputy reeve Loss)/ Fuller, Stephen reeve Tom Tomes and Usborne councillor Pat Down. Entertaining Friday night were the New Huronia Singers and the Thames Road Guild. A highlight of the Huronia Singers presentation was a singing horse. Filling out the costume were Carol. Stuart and Brenda Triebner while Doug Mock was the ringleader and groom. The Saturday morning rain did very little to dampen the enthu- siasm of the many entries in the an- nual fair parade. Winning the Presidents Choice Focus on Horses was the float en- tered by grade eight from Stephen Central School. The best Wild West costume cat- egory was won. by Rick Skinner and his son Brandon was best in the comical costume category. In other- float- categories, the South Huron Blg Brothers and Big Sisters were best for organizations, Stedman's had the best business entry and Allan Horseburgt won for the best agricultural. entry. In antique vehicles the winner wis Ray Morlock of Crediton. Winners for children under 14 were: Best cowboy on foot - Re becca Prout, decorated wagon - Mi- chael and Marc Hodgins; decorated bicycle Justin Hoy, best cos- tumed character - Jennifer Case and best costume Focus on Horses Amanda Campbell. Schools participating in the pa- rade were Sunshine Nursery, Ste- phen Central, Exeter Public, McCurdy Public and Centralia College. Features Sunday included' a heavy horse pull and a toddlers trotting race. One of the reasons for a good Sunday crowd was the fact all ex- hibits and displays were in place until 4 p.m. Sunday, for the first time. Winners in the annual fair draw were Phyllis Prophet, Hawkestone, Robert Bray, Kirkton; Don O'Rourke, Dashwood, Harry De Vries, Exeter; Lillian Latulippe, Exeter; Cecil Pepper, Hensall; Anne Kcrnick, Kirkton; Tom Eller- ington, Exeter and Rick Elliott, Zurich. A large number of area young- sters participated in Saturday's mini -tractor pull. Winning in the up to 49 pound class were Samantha Gibson, Exet- er; Elliott Evans, Dashwood and John Rogers, Lakeside while Shawn Simpson, Kirkton, Adam - Higgs, Exeter and David Oke Exet- er- were best in 50 to 74 pounds. Excelling in the 75 to 100 pounds division were Cathy Oliver, Huron Park, Mark Mahon, Staffa and Jeff MacLean, Exeter. Winners of $25 each in vouchers from Bakclaar Jewellers in the Fri- day night draw were Tony Zwam; bag, Kathy Hayter, Anne Delbridge and Dayid Shapton. Wa I k-A- Dog-A- Thon Sunday Oct. 1 Gaiser- : eale Insurance Exeter 235-2420 Grand Bend 238-8484 Hensall 262-2607 Clinton 482-9.747 Inside Hobby blooms Into a custom knitting service page 5 More Ice Time? Minor hockey . looks for answers page 13 School Fair Results of Exeter School Fair page 18 Fair Fotos Picture page of Exeter Fair page 19 Three mishaps EXETER - Officers from the. Ex- eter OPP detachment investigated three accidents in the past week in which vehicles struck animate or inanimate objects. In all three, damage was moderate, and no inju- ries wre reported. On Sunday, September 17 Floyd Fields, RR 2 Hensall, struck a deer on Highway 84 in Hay township. Friday, a vehicle driven byChris- tina Roth, Kitchener, went out of control on Highway 83 and hit a tree. The followingday a vehicle driv- en by Gregory Fisher, Goderich township, left Highway 21 in Hay twonship and went into a ditch. During the week, the OPP issued three 12 -hour suspensions, and laid one charge of impaired driving and one of driving while under sus- pension. North Middlesex & Lambton Since 1873 Wednesday, September 27, 1989 '5 cents School year-round, under consideration in CLINTON.- The Huron Board of Education is taking a look at reor- ganizing the school year so that students remain in class year-round,, giving up the two-month summer vacation in favour of shorter breaks throughout the year. . The subject of the 12 -month school term came before the Board. at their September meeting when they were informed of a ministry of education study aimed at improving education and getting the most out of Ontario's school resources. The Board turned the report over to its education committee to in- vestigate the matter, and to put year-round education into a 1-luron County context. Graeme Craig, education commit- tee chairman and Seaforth/McKillop trustee, said his committee will be looking at the ministry study as early as October, but didn't see 12 - month education as a pressing is- sue. ' "It's more of a concern in high growth areas that need maximum use of their buildings, but that im- pact will affect us eventually," ex- plained -Craig. "You think these things are going to happen down the road, but they can happen fast." Craig said as early as 1991 there will be pilot projects in metropoli- tan areas to test full -year schooling, based on both three and four month semesters. Other models the com- mittee will be looking at include those schools in the United States which have switched to 12 -month systems. Staffing, enrollment, transporta- tion, and curriculum are among the aspects to be examined by the com- mittee, and other factors outside schools will also have to be consid- ered. The education committee plans to consult with the public, and explore such issues as part-time employment, effects on agriculture, and the impact -on tourism. The ministry's Select Committee report suggests that the current -10- month school year was established at the end of the 19th century as a response to the needs of an agricul- tural society where children were required to work on the farm during .the summer months - adding that the rationale for keeping this sched- ule today is not clear. The school year varies in length around the globe. Japanese stu- dents are in classes for 240 days, whereas those in France only attend for 155. The United States has a 180 school year, but Canada's is consistently - longer, ranging from 187 to 203 days, depending on the province. The hours spent in class also range from 4.6 hours in Japan, to 6.0 in some European countries. In Ontario, the school year is 194 days long,ppine days of which can be professional development days. The school day is typically more than five hours long. The report suggests a longer school year promotes continuity in education. In a year-round system of educa- tion, the usual two or three month summer break is replaced with Huron shorter vacation periods during the year. In some variations, students and teachers are in school for 45 days and then have 15 days off. By staggering class time and breaks so that not all students are in school at the same time, more stu- dents can be accommodated in schools without need for expansion. The United States experience has found 20 to 50 percent more stu- dents can attend the same school. - The report notes that main criti- cisms against year-round education arc such life-style issues as vacation scheduling, arranging for childcare, and recreational activities. Agriculture. industry, or retail? New scenarios for Exeter's growth EXETER - While a public meet- ing last week failed to attract much public attention, organizers called the presentation of the Industrial and Economic Development Study for Exeter a good discussion period for targeting strategies for the town's future growth. Four options which could be pur- sued by the town were presented by consultants Jean Monteith and `Associates to- the Industrial - opment Committee. Inc first scenario is a "status quo" approach whereby the town do no more than maintain their $15,000 a year budget for promot- ing the town's growth. The second envisions Exeter as a centre for the agricultural region, providing facilities for processing and distributing food, while provid- ing services for farm equipment. Town administrator Rick Hundey said this approach takes advantage of Exeter's location in Canada's . richest farming community. . The report, however, notes that an agriculturally - based economy would —entourage...., more _ employ- ment, hot at Inwer averagr wage than other industries. The third alternative suggests Ex- eter develop itself into a regional re- tail and service centre, basically a consumer -oriented approach. Hundey noted Exeter is far enough away from London and al- ready has a strong enough down- town to make the concept viable. The last scenario aims at promot- ing the small business sector of the town to attract new small to medi- um sized industries. "These scenarios are not mutually exclusive," said Hundey, noting The next meeting of the commit- tee is October 5 when they will ad- dress the issue of which plan best fits Exeter's future. "This isn't a prescription of what's going to happen," said Hun- dey of the scenarios. "It's a pre- scription of how we're going to try to promote some growth." that the committee would be choos- Jean Monteith's report suggests ing..one_simply for focussing its ef- all alternatives will require Exeter forts. 1 lundey also puintat -0171----feel} Fr { r most investment for growth usually expansion, along with expansion of comes from within a town's boun- the town's sewage treatment capaci- daries and Exeter already has what ties to meet the demand of new res - he called an "entrepreneurial atti- idents and businesses. tude". - Walk-a- dog-a- thon Sunday Exeter's white squirrel will be on a leash for Sunday's fundraiser, walked by Dolly Creces (centre). Uoness Laurie Dykstra (right) will be walking mayor Bruce Shaw., raising money for Canine Vision. Students sharing August second best month for building EXETER - August was the sec- ond best month this year as far as the issuance of building permits in the town of Exeter was con- cerned. Chief building official Dave Moyer's monthly report to coun- ciI showed the total value of per- mits issued was $872,729. additions totalling $94,600. �.: 1K -Tit %9iri3"'vlrrtie tit— • - - - • - construction to date this year to $4,946,072. That's an increase over the same period last year of more than $450,000. Of the 21 permits issued during the month of August, one was for a single family dwelling valued at $80,000 and 10 for single family i Sewage capacity could slow growth EXETER - Even though a sew- age' lagoon expansion project was completed only a few years ago, Exeter council arc already worried the system may be falling short of the town's development needs_, _. torthrin-s--- --Couircii raised questions las Monday evening about' how Exc was dedicating its §em; : .' • • ty to development projects, and whether or not some developments were getting premature consent from council without concern for future capacity. Reeve Bill Mickle was worried council was not closely monitoring how the town's sewage capacity was being tied upin lands already zoned for development, even though that construction might not be realized for some years. Mickle speculated builders prepared to start new projects might not get a chance if council had already set aside all Exeter's sewage capacity EXETER - A severe shortage of text books for.two grade 10 sub- jects at SHDHS has been attributed to a lack of funds. , Principal Joe'Wooden told the TA Tuesday morning there are only about 20 booksto be shared by 120 students. The textbooks for ad- vanced mathematics and science car- ry a price tag of about $6,000. "They should have been ordered last spring but apparently this was not done," Wooden said. The principal said books must have a priority. They have now been ordered and are expected to be m use at the school soon. r to Tong -term subdivision develop- ment. Councillor Dorothy Chapman agreed with Mickle and wondered if a system could be put into -effect to, l;mit development of a subdivi- sion to a few units at a time, asking the builder to return to ctuncil for approval to proceed. Administrator Rick Hundcy told Chapman this was possible, but argued such a system might discou- rage large-scale development. Mayor Bruce Shaw reminded council that lands presently com- mitted to future development were given such approval because of pent-up demand for building. "Once the freeze was lifted a few years ago, none of us thought we would be into a shortage so quick- ly," noted Shaw. "We thought we were good until the year 2000." "Now we're right back in a situa- Please turn to page 2