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Times Advocate, 1984-08-22, Page 1Qua ity Carpet at great prices Professional installation- can be arranged Wldtings Phone 235-1964 Nens.II woman /sods flght over h.tiring class more Marlene Taylor, Hensel!, is heading a hurriedly organiz- ed campaign by a group of parents of hearing,impaired children to prevent a recent- ly proposed transfer of the secondary education pro- gram from the Robarts School Regional Centre for Hearing Handicapped in Lon- don to the E.C. Drury School in Milton as soon as September 1965. Parents were informed of the possibility through an an- nouncement "buried in among other news in a school newsletter during the last week of school" when both parliament and school boards were recessed and most families preparing for or away on annual vacations. Marlene and Bid Taylor are parents of Chad, 8, one of 120 hearing -handicapped children from 14 counties presently enrolled at the Lon- don school. - "It is a very emotional issue", Mrs. Taylor sat 'As a parent of one of the rgident students, I really do w how hard we have to work to keep our family together. We are only an hour away from the Roberts School and are able to attend the swim meets, drama nights, family picnics, parent seminars, parent -teacher meetings, parent -counsellor meetings and so on. Mrs. Taylor and other parents feel more is involved than the matter of losing secondary classes. The secure, healthy educational environment offered to a han- dicapped child from preschool to high school graduation would be broken. , In most cases, the children would also lose the security of a farpily unit. "A move to Milton would destroy that family life.. Telephone contact with most of our children would become prohibitively expensive. And I think it is so important that relatives and friends can re- main part of our children's growing up. Our children would become strangers in their own homes and com- munities. Weekend visits are simply not enough," Mrs. Taylor emphasized. Mrs. Taylor added that pro- foundly deaf children "live with frustrations greater than we with hearing can imag- inge. They can't be expected to handle further pressure - pressure we would not put on unhandicapped teenagers". Mrs. Taylor communicates with her son through sign language. "I can't talk to Chad in a dark room, or if I'm peeling potatoes", 'she said poignantly. Declining enrolment at the London school has been given as the reason the provincial ministry of education is con- sidering transfeti•ring secon- dary students to Milton. The Roberts Centre was built in 1972-73 to allcomelodate 200 residential students plus another 50 day stfidents. Los- ing the 60 secondary school students would cut present enrolment by heli 1t the cur- rent level of 60..elementary school pupils at the school is maintained. A German measles epidemic in the late 1960s brought the total number of children in Ontario with hearing impairments then to 1,030 compared to an average of about 600 now, ac- cording to Bryan Robertson, director of provincial schools. Paul Carroll, supervisor of special education with the Huron County board, has received a letter from Robert- son informing him projections show the Roberts School will have approximately 60 secon- dary pupils in each of the next two years, but this will, drop to the 25-30 pupil range, by September 1966. Robertson said in bi elth he is in the process ' of establishing a committee with representation from •ad- ministrative and teaching staff, residence counsellors and piirents associated with the Roberts School to study the proposed relocation of the secondary program to Milton. He has asked for the report of this committee by October 15, 1984. This worries Mrs. Taylor. She has not had any official word about the formation of such ,a committee, and feels the time allowed is very short for this important issue that will affect many lives. She has just received back the first few of 120 questionnaires she had compiled and sent out to parents of hearing - handicapped students at the Roberts School. Mrs. Taylor.has also writ- ten to t r. Bette Stephenson Please turn to page 3 7 t PAPERWORK — Marlene Taylor and mother Leona Reichert check some returned questionnaires sent out to 120 parents of hearing-impaired children presently attending the Robarts School -in London to ascertain their feelings about moving the secondary students to Milton. & North Lambtoti Siiicel873 -. .,,.ion .• . - ... ,1j ,. A CREDiTON FAIR WINNER — The entry of Finkbeiner Produce was a winner in the commercial category in Saturday's Summerfest parade in Crediton. From the left are Brenda Wilds, Wendi Schwindt, Darrel Finkbeiner and Deb Lord. A SUMMERFEST WINNER – The Little House on the Prairie entry by Barb Wareing and daughters Jillian and Jenna won first prize in the small vehicle class in Satur- day's Crediton Summerfest parade. T -A photo Report suggests high rents and zoning keep firms away The high cost of renting commercial area in the core area and the zoning restric- tions for the highway mall make it difficult for many businesses to establish in Exeter. That's one of many findings compiled in a lengthy 100 -page report submitted this week by Sandra Fletcher. who has spent most of the past three months on a study of the commercial area. In it. she recommends that the zoning bylaw he amended to allow more uses for the va- cant facilities in the Hawleaf Developments shopping centre. She notes that rents in many of the vacant core area stores "are exceptionally high for a small town" Parking was another area detailed in the report and in a survey of 51 shoppers. she found that 33 percent thought parking in Exeter was good and another 36 percent said it was fair. Twenty-five percent listed it as poor. Of those 51 surveyed on Ex- eter's Main SI.. 26 percent said they never shopped at the northend shopping centre, while 37 percent shop there once a month and another 37 percent shep there twice a month. Many of the downtown shoppers felt that a crosswalk was needed on Main St. and this was one of the recom- mendations in the report. Another was suggested at Gidley, primarily for high school students. It was also recommended that a flashing Tight be install- ed near Victoria St. at Main to warn drivers of the public school crossing. Of 26 core business owners surveyed. Miss Fletcher found that 52 percent of them would like to expand their business. but only 38 percent of them had room to expand. Seventy-one percent of the core area merchants said they would definitely not move to a shopping mall. while 10 businessmen surveyed in the highway com- mercial area said they much Please turn to page 3 r One Hundred and Twelfth Year EXETER, ONTARIO, August 22, 1984 Price Per Copy 50 Cents Many area voters still undecided Poll shows PCs with wide With the federal election less than two weeks away, a straw poll conducted by the Bluewater Regional Newspaper Network (BRNN) last week indicates 51.4 per- cent of voters are undecided about how they'll vote. BRNN, of which this newspaper is a member, con- ducted the poll in the federal riding of Huron -Bruce during the week of August 13 to 17. Of the 160 people polled, 82 of them or 51.4 percent said they were undecided when Still debating n44lear , issue. Members of Exeter council are having some difficulty making up their minds about endorsing the concept of a mutual and verifiable nuclear weapons freeze. When the issue was broach- ed at Monday night's session of council it was finally decid- ed to turn it over to a commit- tee for further study. During the last municipal election, there had been some debate about putting the mat- ter on the ballot as a local referendum, but that plan was dropped in view of some question about the legality. While some municipalities did have a question on the ballot, such was not the case in Exeter. This week, a letter was received from Operation Dismantle asking council to endorse a resolution from the City of Toronto. It wsa re- quested that the endorsement be made prior to the September 4 federal election to encourage the national leaders to add the name of Canada to the growing list of nations t 12 to date) who have supported the freeze proposal. However, Councillor Bill Rose suggested Exeter should have its own resolution and not merely endorse one from Toronto. .The matter was then turn- ed over to the general govern- ment committee. 'r' / BIBLE SCHOOL SHARES -- Members of on Exeter Un School class visited South Huron Hospital Thursday on a patient Aljoe "Mike" Sanders are Heather Wagner, Weigand and Jason Wein. ited Church Vacation Bible sharing project. Shown with Mikala MacDougall, Mark T -A photo asked "Which political party will you be supPorting in the September 4 federal election?" The BRNN pol shows that 73 percent of the committed voters polled said they favored the Progressive Con- servative Party, 19.2 percent of the committed voters said they would vote Liberal and 7.69 percent said they would support the NDP. Pollsters indicated that the majority of those polled were women. The calls were made at all times of the day in- cluding the early evening hours. Prof. Ed. Grabb of the University of Western On- tario's science department said polls deal with pro- babilities and it is difficult to know how accurate any poll is. He did, however, say the high number of undecided m voters in the BRNN poll is significant. Prof. Grabb said that in his personal opinion, gained from media coverage of the elec- tion, the high undecided fac- tor in the BRNN straw poll is similar to the national leanings. CREDITON JUNIOR MiSS — Sherri Wells was named Crediton Summerfest Queen Friday night. From the left are master of ceremonies Jim Swan, Junior Miss Sherri Wells, runnersup Christie Mosurinjohn and Jeanette Leibold and last year's winner Christine Glanville. T -A photo Could open before Christmas Clear way for restaurant Members of the Exeter planning advisory committee have offered no objections to the proposed restaurant being planned at the Dr. Ralph Topp residence at 527 Main St., although they have sug- gested a servicing agreement be entered into with the town to satisfy any drainage requirements. Two Goderich men have purchased the property to open Robindale's Fine Dining Restaurant, a facility that will be similar to one they operate in the county town. In response to a question from Councillor Morley Hall on Monday, planning commit- tee member Ben Hoogen- boom explained that there will be parking for about 20 cars provided on the south side of the property. There was some debate about the type of surface that would be required on the parking area and building in- spector Brian Johnston ex- plained that dust -free stone could be used under terms of the bylaw. Construction on the project IMPRESSED Work on the expansion of Exeter's sewage lagoon is progressing ahead of schedule due to the favorable weather conditions. Councillor Morley Hall and Deputy -Reeve Lossy Fuller reported visiting the work site recently and both indicated they were impressed. "If you can be impressed with a lagoon," Mrs. Fuller quickly added in her com- ments to council, Monday. is expected to commence on September 1 and the opening date is prior to Christmas. Council accepted the ad- visory committee's recom- mendation on the project as well as the recommendation that an agreement be obtain- ed for the commercial development being planned at Crash, theft investigated only one collision was in- vestigated by the Exeter police department this week, along with one house breakin and a report of several tires being punctured at the Cana- dian Canners parking lot. The collision occurred on Saturday at the intersection of Highways 4 and 83 involv- ing vehicles driven by David Coghill, London and Mary Kester, RR 2 Dashwood. There were no injuries and damage was set at $1,900 by Constable Brad Sadler. The breakin was reported on Friday by Marg Epp, 313 Carling St. Constable Sadler was given the description of a vehicle that had been seen in the vicinity around 3:30 p.m. and he later located the vehi- cle and a search revealed some of the stolen property' The driver was arrested and will appear in Exeter court on September 25. Chief Ted Day said the police will step up surveillance in the area of Canadian Canners following the report of tires on several vehicles being punctured by a sharp instrument. r the corner of Main and Sanders St. by Len Veri. The committee recommended that an attractive landscape should be provided on the cor- ner in association with the new facility which will house a Big V Drug Store, a flower shop and professional office space. labramma GIFT/ FROM GERMANY — Ernst Beilharz of Boiegsbronn, Germany was a guest of the official open- ing Of Crediton Summerfest Friday night and presented o get to village trustee Bill Wilds. T -A photo $oldan appointed as ftP principal The Huron County Board of Education has announced the appointment of Patrick Soldan as principal of J.A.D. McCurdy/Huron Hope Schools effective September 1. Soldan, a resident of Grgnd Bend, fills the vacancy created when the board nam- ed Arnold Mathers as a superintendent. Soldan brings 17 years of experience as an educator to his new position. During the time he has held the position of vice-principal at Seaforth, Huron Centennial and J.A.D. McCurdy. He was previously a teacher and vice-principal at the Huron Park school from 1968 to 1977. Active in community pro- jects and service clubs in the area, the Hay Township native is married and has two children. Taking into consideration that Huron -Bruce is held by a Progressive Conservative MP, Prof. Grabb said the poll follows the general pattern seen across the country. In this election, incumbent MP Murray Cardiff faces Liberal candidate Bruce McDonald, NDP candidate Valerie Bolton and Liber- tarian Joe Yundt. In ' Huron -Bruce, people were polled in the areas of Clinton, Exeter; Seaforth and Wingham. The PCs led the straw poll in every community .and there were no votes for the Libertarian candidate. Overall,. the PCs had 57 votes, the Liberals had 15 and the NDP six. About 30 people refused to figure has not been a for in calculating the results of the poll. Four hurt in crashes Four people sustained in- juries, all minor, in the five collisions investigated this week by the Exeter OPP. Three of the injuries occur- red in a two -car crash in Zurich on Saturday. Vehicle involved were driven by Paul Cyr and Paul Johnston, both of Zurich. The cars were travelling in opposite directions near the eastern limits of the village when the Johnston vehicle turned to the left and was struck on the rear side by the Cyr vehicle. Damage was estimated at $7,500. Johnston and a passenger in his vehicle, Derek McKin- non, were injured as was a passenger in the other vehi- cle, Martha Cyr. William Talbot, Bayfield, was the other injury victim as his motorcycle was involved in a collision in Hensall on Friday at the King and Albert St. intersection. The motorcy- cle was in collision with a vehicle driven by Glen Nixon, Hensall. Damage in the crash was listed at $750. Also on Friday, a collision occurred on Highway 23 near Woodham when a vehicle driven by Alison Smith, RR 1 Tecumseh, struck a mailbox. The driver had pulled out to pass a vehicle driven by Earl Thomson, RR 1 Granton; but pulled back into the lane and hit the mailbox. The Thomson vehicle was not hit and total damage to the other vehicle was listed at 8715. Damage was set at $300 in a Wednesday collision involv- ing a car driven by Paul Geisler, Ohio, and a farm tractor and wagon driven by Joseph Miller, RR 1 Dashwood. The mishap occured on Highway 84 at the eastern out- skirts of Zurich. The other crash of the week happened on Tuesday at the Bluewater Golf Course park- ing lot. Vehicles involved were owned by Robert Couse, Grand Bend and Joseph Thuss, RR 5 Parkhill. Total damage was 82,000. During the past week, three people were charged by the OPP with impaired driving. 1 1