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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1999-01-20, Page 7Wed y, January 20, 1999 10 YEARS AGO January 18, 1989 - As part of a Canada Post plan for improved postal service, a large percentage of Exeter residents will get their mail by group box service in the near future. Chuck Talbot of Canada Post told council members Monday night that the Exeter Post Office would not close as their conversion plan will affect only those smaller revenue and grade post offices. One of the goals of Exeter Area fire chief Gary Middleton is to make smoke alarms mandatory for every home in town. 20 YEARS AGO January 17, 1979 - The "building boom" hit Exeter during 1978 with the value of permits being up a million dollars over the previous year for an all-time record. Gerald Dearing has been named president of the Crediton men's club' and the new Kirkton Horticultural Society president is Mrs. Philip Johns. 35 YEARS AGO January 20, 1964 - Usborne Township School Area Board has purchased its proposed site for the new $180,000 Central School on the Hugh Rundle farm, about a mile and a half east of Exeter on Huron Street. The SHDHS board agreed Thursday to seek approvals from district councils to proceed with a $225,000 six -room addition. Ken Johns was elected chairman of the board. C.H. Lewis and J.B. Ready plan to erect a $200,000 motel in Lucan. A vote in the village this week gave the necessary majorities for a- " dining lounge and cocktail lounge: Exeter District Co -Op directors met Wednesday to discuss plans for replacement of their $80,000 feed mill burned to the ground recently. 40 YEARS AGO January 18, 1959 -The natural ice rink at Dashwood Lutheran Church has been busy over the past week. Raymie Wein has been supervising the rink. A yearling doe was chased into town by two hounds Saturday but it escaped unharmed, thanks to protection from Hank Greene, local game overseer. Shirley Wurm was elected president of Main Street Church Mission Circle at a meeting held Monday night at the home of Marion Belling. A fox hunt organized by Joe Haskett and Earl Greenlee in the Lucan area was unsuc- cessful. The hunters saw and shot at five foxes, they bagged none. 50 YEARS AGO January 19, 1949 - Mr. Ed Hunter-Duvar who recently sold two houses on John Street has purchased property from Albert Mitchell south of the village limits and intends to erect a garage and home on the property. Mrs. Hugh Taylor, formerly of Thames Road was honoured last week when she was elected first vice-president of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America. Salaries set by .Exeter council called for the reeve to receive $4 per meeting and council- lors $3. Bell ringer Emerson Cornish will receive $20 per month and the clerk -treasurer will get $2,000 per annum. A special admission of 42 cents (including tax) was set by Leavitt's Theatre for the show- ing of "Duel in the Sun". 60 YEARS AGO January 18, 1939 - County valuator G. Mogg told Huron county council this week that Exeter was tops in business in the county except for summer months when edged out by Goderich. Huron county council finished 1938 with a surplus of $4,814. 75 YEARS AGO January 19, 1924 - Mr.H. Bierling has pur- chased from Messrs. R. McKenzie and Son the general store and post office. in Exeter Norte. The coldest spell of the season passed over this section on Monday. The mercury dropped to around ten degrees below zero. ROSS HAUGH BACK IN TIME Exeter Times—Advocate cpinion&Forum Ambitious venture appreciated by many Dear Editor: Though a year has passed since a five-day ice storm hit Eastern Ontario, its imprint is still fresh in the minds of those who lived for weeks without electricity. But as life returns to normal, memories of coping in a icy, dark landscape are minimized by those of incredible kindness. It is time again 'to give thanks to those who responded so quickly. While most of our small commu- nity of South Glengarry was still feeling the brunt of the storm, the Exeter area was already mobilizing an effort to bring in much needed relief. The caring and concerned staff at the Hensall Co-op co-ordinated an ambitious venture, bringing crucial supplies to our area some 500 miles away. Through the co-op, your community donated four tractor trailer loads of firewood, batteries, candles, kerosene, blankets and warm clothes, all of which had run in short supply from Montreal to Kingston. Your dri- vers twice braved icy roads, bringing two transport ' loads of supplies at a time. In fact, our community was lucky to have made a connection with yours through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. You took the Foodgrains mottd "A Christian Response to Hunger" and extended its meaning, responding to those within your own province. Inaddition to the co-op, others in Exeter and through- out South -Western Ontario donated the use of genera- tors, propane and kerosene heaters along with bundles of socks and gloves. The response was astounding and humbling. Be assured that your example will remain with us and come to light when another community is in need. A sincere thank you, THE COMMUNITY OF SOUTH GLENGARRY Flooding problems Dear Editor: First and foremost on behalf of the seniors and their families, staff and management of. Exeter Villa, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Town of Exeter offi- cials and their engineers and our neighbours for trying to solve the inherent problems connected with the storm sewer and the related suffering of our neighbours, espe- cially our seniors in die Villa. This is not the time to point fingers, which is not going to solve the recurring flooding problems. However, f want to state some facts, with regard to Exeter Villa and, its development. In 1984-85 the land was part of a farm: John Street was not open to Pryde. The storm sewer was designed only to handle the Exeter Villa property and to further expand to handle 180 to 200 beds. Since Exeter Villa opened up in 1986, many new homes have been built along both John Street and Pryde Blvd. Every time a new home was proposed or beingconstructed along John Street, I raised the question of the drainage problem starting with the first home next to our Exeter Villa sign. The homes backing onto our property are partially draining into the Exeter Villa property. We are all for improvement and development with. a proper infrastructure with a better ,safety margin to. avoid recurring flooding, especially for our frail elderly in the Villa. Exeter Villa is designed and constructed under the supervision of a well experienced and reputable archi- ' tect, Eric Smith Architects who has an excellent track record, having constructed 60 or more super facilities in this province over the past 30 years. The management of Exeter Villa also has an excellent record in providing superior service to our seniors in this province for the last 25 years. Exeter Villa is currently paying $73,000 a year in real- ty taxes, and employs between 70 to 80 people from Exeter and surrounding area, while providing excellent service to our seniors. Our neighbours are very hard working, respectable and reputable members of our community, the homes are number one in quality and do not deserve any kind of flooding problems because of the infrastructure deficiency. My suggestion to the Town of Exeter officials and their consulting engineers is to look into the existing storm design and maybe redo the storm sewer to match the present needs of the neighbourhood keeping in mind a greater margin for safety and some consideration for further development, thus preventing ow- seniors and our neighbours from having to deal with recurring, messy and unsafe flooding problems in the future. I am quite sure that whoever makes the final decision will do it for the common good for our community at large. THOMAS KANNAMPUZHA, President and C.E.O. of Exeter Villa 7 Cost to taxpayers TORONTO -- As he nears an election, Premier Mike Harris is steadily reducing the ability of people to speak against him. The Progressive Conservative premier, in his latest manoeu- vre to stifle voices other than his own, has replaced a non- partisan board that ran the Trillium Foundation, which dis- tributes grants from lotteries to groups considered worthy, by one stacked with Tories. This will enable Harris to refuse funds to any of these groups which he feels is likely to criticize him, directly or indirectly. Those likely to lose grants include a coalition against poverty which demonstrated outside the legislature against Harris's cuts in welfare. Another, called a network for social justice, sup- ported marches and rotating strikes against - Harris's cuts in services. A third recently produced a report which claimed that the number of children living below the poverty line has increased sharply since Harris became premier and urged him to build housing for families on low incomes, which he halted, and provide money for early childhood: care. The Tories feel groups receiving public funds should not criticize their government, but it also can be contended groups should express the views of those they represent and previous gov- ernments, Tory, Liberal and New Democrat, were. able to live with them. But Harris has a deep dislike of such organiza- tions. Almost his first words on being elected pre- mier in 1995 were that he would not bow to what he calls "special interest groups," although he is always ready to listen to such as the Chamber of Commerce, which gives him the . views of busi- ness. Even with the lottery grants, the threatened groups operate on miniscule budgets, so cutting them off will make it still more difficult for them to be heard. This is part of a pattern Harris has established of trying to hush the views of those who disagree with him, although he already has the big advan- tages of having cut taxes and collected election donations from business that make the opposition Liberals and New Democrats look like paupers. Harris has also deprived the opposition parties of the opportunity to ask him questions about his policies by staying away from the legislature, where his attendance in the past year has been the worst of any premier in memory. This may be seen as tactically smart, but a pre- mier also has a duty to be in: the designated forum reasonably often to face questions. Harris has reduced the election campaign from 37 to 28 days, which gives the opposition parties fewer opportunities to raise their voices at the only time they are noticed as much as govern- ment. Although Harris has complained that many in the news media express "contrary views" to his own, to drown them his party has paid for TV commercials and "infomercials" in which he uninterruptedly tells it his way much earlier than any previous premier. Harris also has taken incomparably more gov- ernment money than any predecessor and spent it on advertising which flatly promotes his party's policies. The latest shows a smiling Harris congratulat- ing companies on how well they are doing, but there have been no ads in which he laments such recent setbacks as a farm equipment manufactur- er in Hamilton closing costing 450 jobs and a glassware maker in Wallaceburg shutting at the cost of 560 jobs. Harris also spends huge amounts sending gov- ernment news releases on the Canada NewsWire, which distributes any message that is paid for and would send out "Harris is a world leader in free speech" for a fee. This means he gets them to many newsrooms first worded his way instead of filtered through reporters at the legislature who would rewrite them to take out distortionsthey contain and dis- seminate them at no cost to government. While muffling the voices of rivals, Harris is making sure his own gets heard, no matter what the cost to taxpayers. ERIC DOWD A VIEW FROM QUEEN'S PARK