Times Advocate, 1997-07-02, Page 141
4
Page 14 Times -Advocate, July 2,_1997
1
This Week in Sports...
• Midget coaches have their say - page 15
• Nationals blast Zurich 24-5 - page 16
s
Swoop taking off from the 'Bend
Neighboring farmers' complaints about crop damage have been successful in getting
the skydiving club to try and start again in Chatham
By Craig Bradford
TA Reporter
GRAND BEND - Nearby farmers seem to have won
their battle to ground Skydive Swoop.
Swoop. a non-profit skydiving club -established at the
former Grand Bend Airport in 1979, and its members
are packing up their parachutes and hope to start over
again in Chatham.
Swoop president Mike Crow said "It's private,
the move was inevitable.land and _they
"At some point we would have to
find a new home." he said. are walking on
-Swoop, started negotiations -.with ' - it after
Chatham in mid-March and is eek- . can do: anything about the jumpers dam-
ing a 10=year lease at Chatham Air- weekend." aging their crops, he and other finers feel '
port. jumpers are in the wrong. • '
Grand Bend Motorplex, Swoop's landlord: has not - "it's about the .principle (of trespassing): ',Love said.
renewed Swoop's lease but is giving the club enough Farmers continue to confront jumpers after they've
time to set up shop in Chatham where negotiations are • landed in their fields to get their names and addresses.
in theplanning stages. !tut Holmes 'said because there .is no intent and .the. ,
"1 don't blame the landowners at all." Crow, said. • jumpers leave when asked; "our hands are tied as far as
"They've. invested $i million' in the drag strip:' - . enforcement is concerned.
Grand Bend Motorplex co-owner Allen Stubbs said The OPP- have held talks between- the two sides. in
the raceway has been working on an official plan zon-. an effort to come up with'a'sotution and liave briefed
ing amendment since '1994' to allow racing and camp farmers on the trespasslaw, Holmes said.
ing on its land, because the three-year temporary per- • Farmers Have taken -their fight to Stephen Township
mit expired • recently..Stephen Township has •renewed and have written to variousprovincial and,federal min-
. the temporary permit until the amendment process is istries with their concerns. in addition; the Ontario
complete.
winds and other factors. Crow . said Swoop offered
compensation for the damage but farmers eventually
rejected the cash because they thought it gave jumpers
the go-ahead to land in their fields.
"it's private land and -they arc walking on it weekend
after weekend," Love said.
There have been several confrontations between
Swoop jumpers and farmers. Huron County 'OPP Sgt.
Paul Holmes said heated words have been exchanged.
Jumpers can't be charged under the•Tres-
pass and Properly Act because it Can't be
proven they intentionally, land in farmers'
fields and because they leave when farmers
ask. ' '
But Love said' whether' or not the OPP ..
Federation of Agriculture. is lobbying the government.
"From our perspective we are ,going through zoning on creating laws so, that parachuting.clubs must have a
changes at the township level and we want a good tap-, ,-buffer zone between drop zones and farmland.
port with the surrounding neighbors.' Stubbs said. ad- Stephen Township Reeve Bill. Weber said'there is lit -
matting racingand rock concerts have "a big, impact on . ale the municipality can do- and that the issue is be-
the area." 'tween the landlord. tenant and neighbors.. '
swoop's neighbors, mostly cash crop farmers, have - "I don't blame the neighbors; ' Weber said. "There is
been fighting to have the club move for more than twq crop damage being done and 'very little regard for the
years. Gerry Love, whose 140 acre ,farm borders - neighbors has been shown'
Swoop's drop zone, said between five and 12 jumpers But Weber admits club members have tried to ,work .
land in his fields every weekend. The landings cause things out to no'avail. • _ ' . ,
damage to Love's soybeans, wheat and corn.., . "We don't like to see any business leave the mu -
Crow said landings in farmers' fields is closet to benieipality but there is always two sides to the issue." '
tween 25. and 30 times per year: Grand Bend Mayor Cam Ivey said that while Swoop
The crop landings have escalated in .the last .two . is not a Grand Bend business, it his sent -a, letter Of rec-
years with the club growing and doubling the amount ommendation about the club to Chatham Council.
of jumps to nearly 6.000 per year. "Clearly you don't wain to "see an :operation leave
• Sometimes jumpers, :especially ones new to the that has an economic impact." Ivey said.
sport, can't help landing off course due to shifting "
111' 11,1; ill t: 1 Ii:(1.(+0°
(1 ( ,
Ajt �•..I � � ,t,�
�r.
11'1>'
+,i>. (r e'J'i (cI1-1, l(+ (+1f+tl+lr •is i;'(•
Exeter racer burning up drag strip
By Craig Bradford
.T -A Reporter
— he prefers to build -his own from the
ground up.. - ,
But don't look for him to move
GRAND BEND - Exeter's -Peter
VanderBurgt feels the need for speed.
Not on the highways and byways of
his hometown and area, but on the -
drag strip at Grand Bend Motorplex in -
his '77 Chev Vega that has a 427 cubic
inch Chev motor under the hood.
VanderBurgt, 40; is still in first in
the Super Pro division standings after .
Thunder Beach Nationals action on the
weekend. He leads London's Bill Wil-
son by a sole point after he dialed out
in the fourth round.
VanderBurgt was running a 10.10
• second, 136 m.p.h. heat on the week-
end, faster than the 10.25 sec-
ond and 134 m.p.h. he was:-
•
running the week before. Heat
and humidity has had a lot to
do,with his car's performance
- the higher the humidity,—
the
umidity-,--_the more water in the gas -air
mixture and therefore poorer
performance.
He first caught the racing
bug in '77 when he put a '63
Studebaker with a 396 cubic
inch engine "stuffed" under
the hood. .
"It sort of grows in your
blood and never leaves," Van-
derBurgt said. "My theory is
you have to enjoy yourself
someday and not look back
with regrets."
But what attracts Van-
derBurgt to the deafening,
smoke-filled sport?
"I guess it's the thrill of
speed and the thrill of beating
someone," he shrugged.
Racing seriously since '92,
VanderBurgt has steadily add-
ed to his win column to be
where he is today. Finishing
as high as second in final sea-
son standings, VanderBurgt
was stymied last year with a
blown engine and electrical
problems. A mechanic by
trade, VanderBurgt has ironed
out the bugs on his car, al-
though he says he'll never
buy a complete engine again
away from Exeter or the
Super Pro division. '
"I'll always be in Su-
per Pro," he said. "I '
won't go any higher. It's
too expensive." -
VanderBurgt runs with
mufflers on his car, some-
thing most other dragsters
don't feature. Though .
neither Grand Bend's In-
ternational Hot Rod As-
sociation track (sanctioned by the In-
ternational Hot
n-ternationalHot Rod Association) or
London Motorsports Park located out-
side Sparta (sanctioned by the Na-
tional Hot Rod Association) require
mufflers, VanderBurgt believes both
. will adopt the rule soon.
The mufflers slow cars
"It sort of down slightly, but make
cars quieter. In fact, Van -
grows in derBurgt said he can '
your blood -start up his car at home
without a lot of com-
and never • Plaints' from neighbors.
�� VanderBurgt couldn't
leaves. • race as often.as he does '
without the supportof
his family wife Cindy
and daughters Katie, 12, Kendra, 11,
and Keri -Ann, 9.
Working at top speed. Exeter drag racer Peter VanderBurgt adjusts the 427
err:-te in his '77 Chev Vega. VanderBurgt led all super pro division racers in
fore the Thunder Beach Nationals on the weekend at Grand Bend Motorplex.
cubic inch
points be -
1.I111i ,`; it .•1,(; :-('1+1,(1 Ili
?'),1'. i:1,1. , i'( ,.1• +11;
f./(1%,1•111i,I,u-)„l': i l,t+l',
Fury trampled by Bosnia
LONDON - The Exeter- Senior
• Mens • SoZ;cer team struggled , on
. the road last week versus East divi-
.cion -leading Bosnia on their way -to -
a 6-1 loss. . . .. -
The 'Fury fell behind 5-0 before
they could score a marker of their
• own nearthe time the halftime
• whistle blew. A shot by Pete MCAT=
lister was mishandled by Bosnia's
goalkeeper • and Jason McFalls de-
posited. the ball into • the corner for•
the Fury'sIone goal. •
Exeter played a strong second
half limiting Bofinia to one goal
while
generating. a - few offensive
chances for themselves. -
"They are a good leam." McFalls
said. "They move the ball around
well: We have 'a couple more
games with them coming up and
hopefully we give a better effort."
Exeter ' players get. their chance
while on the road versus Bosnia on
Sunday.
The Fury's next home game is to-
night, 6:30 p.m.. versus Kurdish.
Baseball roundup
Exeter Rookie Bali
June 28
Purple Rockets 22 vs Blue .I S
Runs for Purple: Jayden Desjardine i?,.
A.J Miller (4). Staci Miller Ilk Jake Ho-
muth (2). Shawn Morgan (3), Aleisha
Heywood: Kyle Bryson (2). Kelsey Hem.
Steve Morgan (3):
Runs for Blue: Ashley Gallagher (2). .
Ryan Jacobe (3). Chad Hackett (4). Ryan
Brintriell. Mitchell Paitridge; t et Boar-_."
• nell. Steve Maas (3)
Home run: Steve Morgan •
Next game: Purple vs. Green. 9 a.m.:
, Blue vs. Yellow. 10:30 a.m.
Dashwood Peewee
June 26
Mitchell 4 at Dashwood 5
Pitchers: Mark Lajfe Jr. 13'k's in 4 in-
nings): Jesse Schroeder (5 k's in 2 in-
. nings); Steven Chandler (1 k in 1 inning)
Top bitters: Justin Hayter (2 singles).
Jonathan Brand. Schroeder, Laye Jr.. A.J:
Ferguson (singles)
Play of the game: Chad Masse covering
• , first base for the -out.
Usbome Minor Bali
June 24
Usborne Mite Boys 17 vs. Fullanon 17
Home runs: Nathan Cann. David Jordan
• .Ttiplesi Justin Cann: lan'Osgood •
N Cann pitched a no-hitter inning
June 24
Ushorne Mite Girls 20 vs. Hibben 11
Home runs: Sarah Neeb. Ashley Rogers.
..__ Sfiawna 3kmner•
Triples: Kirsty Ortmann. Skinner
Ortmann pitched a no-hitter inning. -
June 25
Usborne Squirt Girls 28 vs. Crediton 2
June 25 . •
Usborne Peewee Girls 21.vs. Btodhagen 7
• Triple: Kristen Tompkins
June 26
Usbome Peewee GitIs 24 vs. Z,unch 15
• June 23 .
• Usborne Bantam Girls 13 vs. Hensall 17
etilditon Funky
Monkeys Peewee Gins
June 24
Hensall (1 ) 15 vs. Crediton 13
Stars of the game: Kristine Regier (great
cleanup batter): Margaret Geurts (double
play in one inning combined with strong
hiving)
Roofing & Shf•et MOM Inc.
FOR ALL YOUR ROOFING NEEDS
FLAT AND SHINGLE ROOF EXPERTS
(FULL COLOUR SELECTION)
(519) 235-3645 Fax (519) 235-0053