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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-08-03, Page 1QUALITY FUR ITURO WHY PAY MORE? Whitings Phone 235-1964 Dry weather sparks wheat fires; then lightning triggers two blazes The remedy turned out to be as . devastating as the malady this 'week. Mid -week, area firemen were kept busy dousing fires in tinder -dry wheat fields and by the weekend they were battling blazes ignited by the lightning which accompanied the storms that brought an otherwise welcome rain. At least five fires were ig- nited in wheat fields in the area and an early morning electrical storm on Friday resulted in the destruction of a Tuckersmith pig operation and the Thames Valley Pi o - duce plant on Highway 83 near Russeldale. A BIG BUBBLE - One of the contestants in Saturday's bubble gum blowing contest at Dashwood's Friedsburg Days was Bill Willemse. T -A photo. Gets 5500 penalty for drinking, driving A Hepsall man who plead- ed guilty to driving with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit was fined $500 or 20 days when he appeared before Judge W.G. Cochrane in Exeter court, Tuesday. It was the second drinking and driving offence for Gary William Deitz and he was given 60 clays in which to pay the fine. Deitz was charged on May 20 after being involved in an accident on concession 2 of Hay Township. His vehicle struck a bridge and rolled over and the driver and a ' passenger sustained minor injuries. A hreathalizer test showed a reading of 190 mgs, more than twice the Legal limit of 80 mgs. Two other drivers who pleaded guilty to driving with a blood alcohol content of over the legal limit were fined $300. or :o days each. They were Harold Herbert. London. and Gerald McBride. Exeter. i lerh rt was charged on Ju- ly 16 atter his vehicle struck a sign on the Crediton Road east of County Road 2, while McBride was charged on May 5 after he was stopped for erratic driving on Highway 4 north of Exeter. All three drivers had their licences suspended tor three months. Seventeen-year-old.1,,ek H. Vermaeten. RR 3 Exeter, was fined $100 or four days on a charge of creating a distur- bance in Exeter on May l8. Court learned that the youth shouted obscenities on Main Street and the incident at- tracted a large crowd. He was given 30 days in which to pay. A Hensall man, Paul 1Villiam Smale, was fined $100 or four days after pleading guilty to possession of nar- cotics on June 19. He was charged after a vial of hashish oil was found in his possession during a search of a vehicle at Morrison dam. Smale said he found the small amount of oil in front of the pool hall. . John Mennen, 206 Columbia Drive, Huron Park, was given a suspended sentence and placed on probation for six months after pleading guilty to the theft of two panels from a van owned by James Parker of the Club Albatross. Evidence revealed that Mennen and two friends were at the Club on May 26 and were asked to leave by Parker when they became unruly. The panels were taken from the van on their departure. Mennen was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $36 to Parker within the six-month proba- tion period. it was his first offence. Mark D. Stephens, Rive - side Drive, Exeter, was plac- ed on probation for one year when he appeared . for sentence on a charge of break. enter and theft to which he had previously pleaded guilty. Some trees were downed in another fierce storm early Monday morning, but damage was minimal. An early morning fire on Friday completely destroyed the Thames Valley Produce and Supply Ltd. on Highway 83 to short distance west of the junction with Highway 23.) The turnip -processing plant, owned and operated jointly by the Don Hocking and Calvin Christie families, was a total loss. A large truck, a fork lift and all equipment were also lost in the blaze. The alarm was phoned in to the Mitchell fire department at 2:58 a.m., but fire chief Floyd Wassmann said the main complex was beyond saving by the time the pumper, tanker and van ar- rived. The Exeter fire depart- ment also responded to the call. Calvin Christie and his son Jack arrived at the fire short- ly after three o'clock. Christie said the entire length of the building was already in -flames, and resembled a fiery wind tunnel. He attributes part of the fire's intensity to the plant's hemlock rafters. Wassmann speculates a belt of lightning from an in- tense electrical storm in the area at the time started the fire. The firemen were able to save a nearby storage shed and old barn on the property. The Mitchell fire department was on the scene for three hours. Ironically, the plant burned down the day the annual meeting of directors was schedule'. The meeting was Authority announce conservation awards The Ausable-Bayfield Con- servation Authority wants to encourage recognition of the efforts of local groups and in- dividuals in promoting con- servation of natural resources. The Conservation Authority has consequently established two annual con- servation awards. One award will go to the group who makes the most significant contribution to the work of the Conservation Authority while the other award will go to the individual who similarity aids the Con- servation Authority in its work. The conservation awards will consist of a certificate and framed print or book. In addition the recipients will have their names added to plaques which will be displayed at the Conservation. Authority's office in Exeter. The Executive Committee of the A.B.C.A. will choose two award winners from among nominations prepared by Conservation Authority staff. The public is encourag- ed to bring the conservation - related efforts of groups and individuals to the Conserva- tion Authority's attention. Dan Kennaley, Watershed Planning and Community Relations Co -Ordinator with TSC store put on hold Jerry Sprackman, presi- dent of Landawn Shopping Centres Ltd., advised Exeter council this week that the pro- posed TSC Store for the north end shopping centre will not be proceeding at this time. Sprackman cited the cause for the change in plans as be- ing "some business problems on the part of the TSC Stores. In his letter to council, Sprackman expressed his ap- preciation for the town's cooperation in the project and added "I hope that we can place TSC or another tenant in the not too distant future." McDONALD'S WIN Kelly, Brent and Jamie Hoffman were on the McDonald's float and won first prize in the small vehicle category of Saturday's Friedsburg Days parade in Dashwood. T -A photo. No collisions over holiday Drivers set a Drivers on.area highways over the Civic Holiday weekend set an enviable record. i•'or the first time in memory, there were no colli- sions reported to the Exeter OPP over that weekend period. despite heavy traffic through the area and some severe weather conditions at t times.. Two injuries were reported in one of the two collisions in- vestigated earlier in the week. On Tuesday, vehicles driven by Elizabeth Green, Sarnia, and Velma Cantin, Michigan, collided on Highway 21 south of Highway 84 with damage amounting to $5,000. record Cantin and a passenger in the Green vehicle sustained minor injuries. On Thursday, a vehicle driven by Darrell Rattra;•, Exeter. collided' with a deer which jumped out into his path on Highway. 4 south of the Crediton Road. Damage to the vehicle was listed at 8450. 1 the Conservation Authority, believes that there will be no shortage of excellent can- didates for the conservation awards. "Many local people have been helping with various Conservation Authority programs each year and we now have a way of showing our appreciation," says Kennaley. "It's too bad we couldn't give out fifty Please turn to page 3 held anyway. Calvin Christie said later the plant wad partially covered by inItirance, and likely will be rebuilt. He estimates the replacement cost at from 8250,000 to $300,000. Lightning wiped out Tuckersmith farmer Jim McIntosh's first venture into pork production before it got off the ground. A fire set off by a severe electric storm early Friday morning leveled a barn containing 400 pigs on the Kippen-Seaforth highway, one and one-quarter miles south of Egmondville. McIntosh, a well-known egg producer, purchased the Don Papple farm last fall. As the original barn and a new addi- tion were already set up for pigs, McIntosh bought some gilts and began a breeding program last October. The first litters arrived in March, and the first shipment of market -ready pigs was scheduled for this week. McIntosh said if the wind had been from the north in- stead of the south, the new ad- dition a least could have been saved. The old barn took the lightning strike and exploded into an inferno, setting the new section ablaze quickly. The loss has been estimated at 8100,000 and is partially covered by insurance, but McIntosh is certain replace- ment costs will be a lot higher if he wishes to rebuild. He has not yet decided what to do. Commenting on the ironical One Hundred and rg� timing of the fire, McIntosh said it would have been dif- ferent if the operation had been in business for a few years. He had made a big in- vestment, and it was wiped out just before it would have begun paying a return. "It's one of those things you can't control. You accept it and . go from there," the former Tuckersmith township clerk said resignedly. Wheat, machines lost Firemen in Exeter, Zurich and Lucan areas fought at least five blazes in wheat fields earlier in the week. Last Monday night, the Ex- eter brigade answered a call to the Kirkton area when a combine ignited. The machine, owned by Fred Maddock, sustained some damage but he managed to get the header off before fur- ther damage occurred and there was no loss of wheat in the field beside the communi- ty park. Thursday afternoon, a farm just,north of that on Highway 23 was the scene of another fire when a combine owned by Larry Selves was destroyed. Quick action by Selves and his two sons averted any substantial loss of wheat. The men quickly hooked onto a plow and circled the burning machine to contain the blaze to a small area in the field. Selves said the combine was COMBINE LOST - A combine on the farm of Larry Selves, just north of hirkton, was destroyed by a fire this week during harvesting operations. Quick action by Selves and his two sons prevented the loss of much wheat. They hooked onto a nearby plow and turned the soil over in a circle around the burning equipment to keep the flames from spreading into the field. Damage to the combine and tires on two wagons was estimated at 520,000 by the owner. a total loss and he estimated DISASTROUS FIRE — The Thames Valley Produce and Supply turnip -processing damage at about $20,000. was destroyed in an early morning fire last Thursday caused by lightning. swi s fix. . al aL Ames Serving South Huron, North Middlesex li. Tenth Year plant & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, August 3, 1983 Price Per Copy 50 Cents Shades of heated B.C. austerity controversy Plan Exeter staff, service study The name of B.C. Premier Bill Bennett cropped up in a discussion on town staffing at Exeter council, Monday, and the reaction of works superintendent Glenn Kells to :he tenor of the debate was similar to that of some people in B.C. who are angered over their government's austerity program which has resulted in decreased services and FRIEDSBURG QUEENS - Carrie Sweeney of Zurich is Queen. Above, she is flanked by runnersup Karen Prout and Irene the 1983 Friedsburg Days Dietrich. Rain for area crops arrives in nick of time For the second time this year, area crops have been saved in the nick of time. After a cold. wet spring. as the deadline for planting drew dangerously close, the sun began to shine. Then it shone and shone and shone, day after hot, humid day. with not a drop of rain to water to slowly parching winter wheat and the shrivelling canning peas. The heads on the spring grains were not filling out. and the corn was at the critically important pollina- tion stage which requires moisture. The pendulum had swung to the opposite. and just as worrisome. end of the spectrum. Once again, only days before the point of no return .had been reached. the weather changed once more. The skies opened up, and most of southwestern Ontario was deluged with rain. The first measurement of rainfall taken last Friday morning at 8 a.m. at the weather station at Canadian Canners in Exeter showed one inch had fallen overnight. An afternoon reading record- ed a further three-quarters of an inch. More has fallen since. Stan Luscombe, area manager for Canadian Can - Doctor files Some Dashwood area residents may have lost more than a doctor when Dr. Gwyn Woodfine departed from the Dashwood Medical ('entre recently. They join individuals and firms in numerous centres who have been advised that Dr. Woodfine filed a bankruptcy assignment on July 25. Shore, Wilkinson Limited. London, have been named receivers and have advised that a meeting of creditors will be held on August 15. The list of creditors is ex- ners, said that though the rain will certainly help the corn. this year's tonnage of early peas is 20 percent lower than last year's harvest due to the planting delay and the drought. He said this area has not been affected as badly as Please turn to page 3 bankruptcy tensive and includes a number bf private citizens as well as a host of businesses. Revenue Canada Taxation is listed as a preferred creditor with a claim of 872,000 and among the secured creditors is the Royal Bank in Pembroke with a claim of $51.019175. A number of pharmacies are included in the list of unsecured creditors. They range as far away as Toron- to and Brantford. Two private citizens are in - eluded in the list with amounts of $5,000 each. staffing. Mayor Brlace Shaw - and Reeve Bill Mickle expressed some dismay at Kells • at- titude on the discussion of local staffing and Mickle at one point described it as a "dog in the manger attitude." The debate erupted when works committee chairman ion MacGregor reported that two members of the staff. Duncan Pennycock and Milt Taylor, would be retiring in August. it was the recommendation of the committee that council appoint Taylor to fill Pen- nycock's position as super- visor at the landfill site and that a full-time laborer be hired to fill Taylor's vacancy. MacGregor's report in- dicated that the committee had decided on hiring a full- time employee after consider- ing the alternatives of reduc- ing services as well as adding only a part-time employee. He said the committee had discussed the alternatives "for quite some time" and felt that a full-time employee was - required. However. when Mickle ask - (A: for details of the reasoning behind the decision, the answers he received pro- mpted him to suggest that the matter should be studied further. Noting that "one night r the committee meeting) doesn't tell us the whole story," he recommended that council not go to a full-time replace- ment until the entire situation of services and staffing be given a full study. He suggested that the study should include a decision on whether the monthly trash pickup could be reduced to every other month, quarterly or even annually and also noted that some in-depth study should be given to con- tracting the park maintenance rather than have it undertaken by the works department. The Reeve said temporary staff could be added at this time to undertake the work required until the decision is made. ' Councillor Gaylan Josephson agreed that now was the time to look at the Please turn to page 3 Fireman's car stolen, Legion entered twice Fireman Bill Smith was among the local volunteers who jumped out of bed to answer a 3:00 a.m. fire call to the Thames Valley Produce plant. Friday. When he returned from the fire scene he found his car had been stolen from the fire hall parking lot. The vehicle was recovered the following day by Goderich OPP just north of Kippen. Exeter police are in- vestigating and contemplate an early arrest in the incident. • Police are also in- vestigating two breakins at the Exeter. Legion hall. The first entry was reported on Thursday when the door to the bar was pried open and thieves made off with some li- quor and beer from the cooler. On Sunday, the second breakin was discovered, with entry being gained this lime via a door On the south side of the William St. facility. Thieves managed to get some beer and a small amount of money by breaking open the coin box on the shuffleboard. However. the damage caus- ed was more substantial than the money and liquor taken. Damage to the facilities was estimated at $800. Constable George Robert- son is investigating. BREAKFAST DELIGHT - - Taking second prize in the bicycle category in Saturday's Doshwood Friedsburg Days parade was Breakfast Delight featuring Samantha Goetz, Jennifer Gielnick and Christine Rumboll. T -A photo. r