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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-08-31, Page 1CO Ft 2 tE Q 3 W r t_ z....: Lai i� M Wutings Phone 235-1964 Now boaters face a problem Pollution warning Fina//y /shed There was good news and bad news for Grand Bend last week. The good news came from the Lambton County Health Unit, Friday, whentests proved that the pollution which had haunted the resort for the past two weeks had gone. The bad news came Wednesday when it was reported that the har- bour was once again full of silting sand. Jubilant Grand Bend coun- cil members and merchants gathered on the main beach Friday afternoon to.meet a representative of Lambton's Medical Officer of Health, who arrived shortly after 2 p.m. to remove the warning signs from the beach. Reporters were hard press- ed to find a sign. It had been a battle by health authorities to keep the beach posted. In spite of instructions on the signs that there could be a fine of $1,000 if they were taken down, the signs were constantly removed by unknown hands. Finally, one of the bath house staff produced a bat- tered sign, which had been found one morning in the sand, and it was attached to the building by a Times - Advocate reporter for the benefit of media persons in at- tendance to be taken down "officially". It was a light- hearted finish to the two week saga which had all of Grand Bend alerted to the vulnerability of the tourist - dependent area, and, to the importance of Lake Huron as the main attraction for those tourists. From the time the bacterial levels were found to be dangerous to health. accor- ding to accepted levels, the health unit tested constantly only to find constant incon-• sistencies in the samples. Seagulls , were blamed for high bacterial counts near one spot on the beach. People concentration. because of the long hot sum- mer, and dogs were also blamed. Run-off from farm fields into the Ausable River system was cited as a cause for concern. Village storm drains were considered and neighboring developments were questioned about septic tank systems. A call for help brought in of- ficials from the ministry of the environment. There was more intensive testing. Tests showed that the bacterial count in the river was low. Then it was realized that the tests were taken after the break in the Lake Huron Water System pipeline when about eight million gallons of purified water made its way into the Walker Drain and back into the main stream of the river. There were verbal rumbl- ings from seasoned Grand Benders saying that. while the lake looked clean and WE'LL BE LATE Due to.the holiday. Monday. The Exeter Times -Advocate will be published one day later than usual next week. 11 will be printed Wednesday night for Thursday morning delivery. clear. the warning continued. People questioned the testing at the two provincial parks to the south, leaving them with a clean bill of health. They were tested by officials from the ministry of natural resources using a slightly dif- ferent testing system. The health unit stelod firm about public beaches. While Grand Bend was closed Fri- day, public beachess at Ipper- wash and Port Franks re- mained posted throughout the weekend. Grand Benders swam anyway. It was the casual .tourists, mostly families who stayed away. "We could tell by the ( beach) parking lots", said councillor Bruce Woodley. "Even tthis past) Saturday -there were only 100 cars down there." Both lots hold over 400 cars when the Please turn to page 3 imes FESTIVAL QUEEN — Alice Dietrich was chosen to reign over the 1983 Zurich Bean Festival. She was attended by first runner-up Pom Bregmon (left) and second runner-up Joanne McBride. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One Hundred and Eleventh Year voca & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, August 31, 1983 Price Per Copy 50 Cents Post -stimulant slump is blamed ACCURACY - Frog jumping contest organizer Dr. Charles Wallace measures David Thiel's frog prior to the jumping contest at the Zurich Bean Festival. Schools open Tuesday Several teaching changes The number of students ex- pected to answer school. bells Tuesday morning in Huron county will he down only slightly from a year ago. Huron Board of Education superintendent Peter Gryseels said Monday that figures show elementary school enrolment down 1(1 from the last terra to 6.2(r2 and secondary enrolment • would be down about 20 students to 3.824. Gryseels added. "The decline in elementary school population has pretty weft levelled out and in high school • ranks we are still going through a small drop." According to Gryseels the number of secondary school students was under•projected for the 982-8:3 school year beeause a number of students returned lo classes when jobs could not be found in the ear- ly fall and he said this situa- tion could occur again this year Thieves, bees hit in Exeter Exeter residents ,uttered probletm at the hands of thieves and bees this week. The thieves entered Pat's Pets on Tuesday night and made oft with a small amount of cash from the till. while two residents reported the loss of hula .alis from their vehicles Vicli►nized 10 the hubcap thefts were Frank Brintnell. 111 Main St. N . .and .Jacob Kallumadvih. RI Alexander SI Those thefts oc•curi•ed F'ri day night Residents of I'ryde limilevard advised police that a swarm of bees had taken up residence in the neighbourhood on Friday A call was put out to Bill Ferguson of Ferguson Apiaries and he removed the bees. Onix collision was in vest igated on Tuesday Drivers involved were Thomas Rapson, Seaforth, and Helen Bischoff, Exeter The collision on Gidley St. W. resulted in damage of $3'50. Over the weekend, police charged three males with li quor offences. The number of students ex- pected at South Huron District Hign Schaal Tuesday merning is 873, a drop of 50 from last year. There is quite a change in teaching staff at SHDHS where Exeter mayor Bruce Shaw takes over as principal from Joe Wooden who moves to Central Huron in Clinton. Also moving to Cinton from South Huron for the new school year are teachers Keith Crawford. Pete Zankowski, Pat Wilson and Carol Bishop and Harry Dougherty goes to Seaforth as the commercial department director. - Brian ('Connell is transfer- ring from Seaforth to South Huron and Pat Quigley and Marilyn Thompson are retur- ning from leaves of absence while Colin Lowndes begins a leave of absence. Teacher Keith Wonnacott will be half time in the technical department. M Exeter Public School, enrolment is the same as a year ago at 422 and a half- time teacher Judith Thurston has been added because of special learning needs The enrolment at .1 A.1) McCurdy school at Iluron Park will be up by three to 209 with one new full time staff member Wayne Nicholls who will be joined by Chris Eagleson who will share duties at McCurdy and Stephen Central. • Al Ushorne Central the number of students has decreased by five lo 186 Teacher Al Beattie of Osborne and Neil Straw of Iluron Centennial have Trad- ed schools for one year and last year's teacher Lowell Mount has transferred to Vanastra. The Stephen Central population is expected to he down to 259 with the only Alai} change being Chris Eagleson on a half-time basis replacing Lorene Gill who has retired Al Iluron Centennial al Brucefield enrolment will he down by eight to 467 and the new teachers are Al Beattie and Donna Shaddick on a transfer from Victoria in Goderich. The Zurich Public School enrolment will go up by four to 150 and Diane Culbert is new on staff and at Hensall Public School population is down one to 119 and Eric Please turn to page 3 It layoff hits 107 people "We've gone from feast to famine," commented Dashwood Industries presi- dent Michael Shure;y- in ex- plainin.' ! i. firm's decision to lay of f 1 employees u•om its Centralia plant. Friday. While noting there was generally an increase in de- mand for product in the fall that could result in some recalls, Shurety did not ap- pear to be overly optimistic in that regard. He said the underlying ac- tivity level was significantly better than last year• but the - economic recovery is not • coming as smoothly as expected. To explain the feast to famine situation, Shurety said the federal and provincial governments' assistance for new home owner's had • created unusual stimulants to the market this spring. In fact, Dashwood Industries set a company sales record this past June which was marked by a giant. celebration for all employees. "Now we're suffering a Jakerli1/4 FUN WITH CRAFTS - Theresa Van Wieren (left) and Wilma Tuck help with crafts at the DVBS organized by Bethel Reformed and held in the Christian Reformed church with members from both churches participating. Zurich area girl suffers broken leg :1 12 -year-old Zurich area girl sustained major injuries in one of the three collisions investigated this week by the Exeter OPP. Calla Leitch, daughter of 1)r. and Mrs. Garnet Leitch. 1(R 2 Zurich. was riding her bicycle on highway 8.1 west of Zurich around noon on Friday when she turned in front of a vehicle driven by Landa Visscher. RR 8 Parkhill. The cyclist sustained a broken left leg. facial cols and multiple bruises and was taken to (iniversity Hospital in London Her another tolyl the T -A on Monday that the grade seven student was in satisfactory condition annd was expected to he home later this week. The driver of the vehicle suffered minor injuries and was treated at the Zurich Medical Clinic. Damage in the mishap was listed at 81350. on Sunday at 11 00 p.m , a transport driven by Wayne Cunningham. ('redilon. struck two cattle which had wandered onto Highway 8:: east of Exeter. 1)ue to dense fog, I he driver did not see the anima IS until it was loo !alp In Take evasive• action. and lx►th animals were killed. They were owned by Ross Hodgert. RR 1 Woodham and were valued al $1.0no each. Damage to the (ruck was listed al 81.000 - The other collision occurred' in dense fog at 2: 311 a.rn .Sun 1 day on the R Line concession al Gore Road in Stephen Township. A vehicle driven by David Tuckey, London. slid Through the T -intersection and struck a sign. causing damage of 81,000. Minor injuries were sus- tained by his passenger, Des- mond .Johnston, Belfast. North Ireland. post -stimulant low." he said, suggesting it was the same predicament being experienc- ed by those in the appliance and furniture business who are now suffering after the stimulant of tax concessions to customers which ended earlier this month. "Our orders dropped off like going over a cliff," he said in reference to the DECORATION AT CEMETERY — Annual Decoration Day exercises were held at the Exeter Cemetery, Sunday afternoon. Shown preparing for the program are Exeter Legion president Jim Barnetson and padre Rev. Jim Sutton and Exeter Oddfellows Noble Grand Norm Whiting. T -A photo prinking drivers pay; several thieves don't An Exeter man who plead- ed, guilty to two charges in Exeter court, Tuesday, was. fined a total of 8600 by Judge W.G. Cochrane. Leonard George- Smale, Sanders St.. was fined 8300 or 10 days -on a charge of driving with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit and an ad- ditional $:300 for not having in- surance on the vehicle which he was driving when involved in an accident on June 19 in Stephen Township. A breathalizer lest gave a reading of 140 mgs. Smale and the driver of the other vehicle and Iwo passengers in (he latter sus- tained injuries in the collision and damage was set :0 $4,000. The Exeter man was given 90 days. in which 10 pay the fines. Also fined $:300 or In days for driving vehicles while their blood alcohol content was over the legal Ionil of 80 mgs were Douglas R Ford, RR. I Hay and Paul Clarence Stephenson, RR 4 Clinton. Ford was charged on August 4 following an acci- dent in stephen Township in which the driver and a passenger in another vehicle were injured and damage was A breathalizer test gave a reading of 180 mgs Stephenson was charged on July 23 after being stopped by a policeman who noticed a vehicle proceeding in an er- ratic manner. A breathalizer test gave a reading of 160 mgs Judge Cochrane adjourned sentencing on a charge of driving with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit against Ivan Coleman, 173 King Sl., llensall. Ile was charged on July 31 and a breathalizer test gave a reading of 340 mgs. Judge Cochrane suggested that the accused should have legal counsel as it was his third offence, the previous ones being in April 1980 and .January 1981. Sentencing was set over un- til September 27. Two London teenagers were fined 8300 or 10 days each after pleading guilty to a charge of stealing a garden hose valued at 817.96 from a residence at Grand Cove Estates on July 7. Robert Norman Dawh and Larry Mole were also fold to repay the owner of the hose for his loss. Each of the accused had previous convictions and was given lime in which to pay his fine Richard .John Forrest, Brucefield, was fined 8250 or Fall victim is improving Local beat builder Karl Vertnaeten is now listed in satisfactory condition in University Hospital where he is recuperating from injuries suffered in a fall from a boat last week. Vermaelen, RR 3 Kirkton. suffered a concussion and multiple fractures when he fell about 12 feet from a boat on which he was working at Nordica Marine Products on Highway 83 East. He is expected to be in hospital for another six weeks due to a broken hip and shat- tered wrists. eight days for having stolen property in his possession. He was charged on August 17 after a tape player' and amplifier that had been stolen from a car in Zurich were found in his possession. The items were valued at 8480 and were recovered. The accused was given 30 days in which to pay. A Hensall resident, Bever- ly Gardner, formerly of RR 3 Zurich. was given a suspend - Please turn to . . ge 3 decline in demand since the government stimulants for new home construction were removed at the end of May. "We've -had to reduce our staff to meet the reduced level of demand," the company president noted. explaining that while there are definite signs of economic recovery. they are coming slowly and inconsistently. The firm has traditionally had to lay off workers through the slow winter months and has changed tactics this year by :cutting down deeper in staff now in the hope that they will not have to make further reductions in 'the coming weeks. In addition to the layoffs, the firm will move back to a four-day week and has ap- plied to the government work - sharing program again whereby employees receive partial payment for the day - they are not working. "We have to manage tight this year," Shurety conclud- ed, adding that the general trend for the firm is con- c'drred quite satisfactory. Just 'apprehensive' during Soviet chase' Lucan resident Don Mercer returned to his home this weekend after a month and a half outing with the, Greenpeace organization, that included an incident in Soviet waters when the ship on which he was serving as an engineer was pursued by the RusSians. They were in Soviet waters attempting to get documenta- tion that whales were being used for mink feeding. They managed to get that proof, but al the same time, had three members of the group captured and detained by the Russians while their boat was pursued by three helicopters and a marine vessel. Mercer said that during.the 10 -hour escapade he was "ap- prehensive, but not scared". He was al his post for the entire 10 hours and he described the incident as "playing chicken on the high seas". The protest was staged to coincide with the interna- tional Whaling Commission meeting and he noted his group had some success in that Peru has joined the coun- tries agreeing to a total moratorium on killing whales by 1986. Only the Russians, Norwegians and Japanese re- main to be convinced. Mercer said Greenpeace has a tentative plan to protest in Japanese waters in t'ebruary and he may be part of that expedition as well. His boat tied up in San Francisco after a stop at the Pribiloff Islands where they discussed sealing with the natives in the hope of ending that practice. The Lucan man said he came home "even more dedicated" to the ecological conservation work of Greenpeace. Noting that many. species of whales are facing extinction, he said that "it's (killing) got tostop". He notes that if the whales become extinct, countries may start harvesting smaller mammals such as dolphins. He indicated he would t:on- tinue to support Greenpeace through fund-raising efforts to get the money needed to wage the protest campaigns to bring world pressure against countries which harvest whales. READY TO I,RAD PARADE - Reg McDonald of the Exeter Legion talks to Ban- nockburn pipe band members Peter Malcolm and Ken Smith prior to the pored. to Sunday's Decoration Doy service at the Exeter Cemetery. T•A photo •