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Times Advocate, 1995-08-09, Page 1SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Agent . Sketcbley bry Cleaners SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 New Release Videos & Games 14,�=`" 2353 Wednesday,August 9. 1995 � SUBSCRIBE! I Grand Bend hosts biggest reception If you aren't subscribing to The I Times -Advocate, you're missing out. Use the coupon below and subscribe today! 1 Name: I Address City Prov._ t Postal Code SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada Within 40 miles - (65 km) addressed to non letter carrier addresses $33.00 plus $2.31 G.S.T. ▪ Outside 40 miles - (65 km) or any letter g carder address $63.00 + $4.41 G.S.T. Outside Canada -$99.00 ice, see 40 Po+w., 1 USE YOUR CREDIT CARD 1 00000000 1 00000000 Card No. 1 I Expiry Date 0 Visa ❑ Master Card ❑ Cheque enclosed Return to; TIMES ADVOCATE ' 424 Main St. Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6 g — 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 nside Frledsburg Days 'Staying Alive in '95' See page 8 Stanley Century Farm See Crossroads Second front Experts page 18 f i sifleds Announcements pages 23-24 Grand Bend OPP lay 84 charges the first week of August GRAND BEND - From July 31 to Aug. 6 police laid 50 charges un- der the Liquor Licence Act and 21 charges under the Highway Traffic Act. There were four narcotic related charges, three impaired driving/ excess blood alcohol level charges and three charges laid under the En- vironmental Protection Act. Police laid one Public Lands Act charge as weal as one Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act charge and one Small Vessel Regulations charge. There were three 12 -hour suspen- sions during the week. Also, nine people were lodged in cells during this period with offens- es including Intoxicated in a Public Place. Dashwood • vehicle vandalized DASHWOOD - A 1984 boown Lincoln Mark VII belonging to Keith Fulker of Dashwood was the target of vandalism the night of Au- gust 5. While the car was parked at 156 Main St., its hood, trunk and roof were scratched. Hensall liquor store robbed again HENSALL - Approximately 54500 in liquor was stolen from the Hensall LCBO the evening of Au- gust 2. • One -day collection record of $20, 000 raised for Jesse's Journey reception we've seen so far," he said. John announced scientists have isolated the gene that causes DMD and they are very close to finding the key vector which will put func- tioning genetic material into muscle cells to halt and reverse the dis- ease. "When you give your dollars they will go towards finding a cure. We are strictly focused in this area," he said. Jesse and John will take a much needed three-day break in Grand Bend and spend time with friends and family before carrying on with their journey. Donatidhs may be made to: Jesse's Journey, P.O. Box 5099, London Ontario, N6A 4M8. Chris Skalkos T -A staff GRAND BEND - Jesse is no longer on the way. He has arrived. Jesse Davidson and his father John arrived in Grand Bend on Fri- day and were welcomed by hun- dreds of people who lined the streets with red balloons and flow- ers cheering them on as they made their way to the village. Jesse, 15, has Du- chenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disorder unique to male chil- dren. Jesse's muscle cells do not replicate themselves normally and the loss of mus- cle strength, which became evident around the age of Live is progressive. Few DMD youths reach their third decade. To raise money for gene therapy and to promote awareness of DMD, John Davidson is pushing Jesse in his wheelchair across Ontario. Dubbed "Jesse's Journey', their trek began on May 20 of this year and John, along with a caravan of volunteers began their push across a meandering trail from the Man- itoba border heading towards Windsor and eventually winding up in Ottawa at the Quebec border in -nn estimated 120 days. The route distance is calculated as 3.300 km (2,050 miles). Jesse and John reached Grand Bend shortly after 3 pm on Friday after leaving Goderich in the morn- ing. They were accompanied by a police escort, a motor -home sup- portunit and'a specially, equied van with an external loudspeaker blaring the song "a Hero in Every Heart", the journey's theme song written for Jesse by Glen Bennett of London. Outside Port Blake on Highway 83 and 21, the caravan halted to be greeted by the first wellwishers ea- gerly anticipating their arrival. The Grand Bend Optimists, the Legion, the Zurich and District Optimist Club, the First Grand Bend Scouts, the Cubs, the Golden Agers, members of the Youth Group and the Rotary Club, the Grand Cove Estates and several other groups were on hand to wel- come Jesse. A group of physically challenged children from the Grand Bend Order of Alhambra also joined Jesse for his march into the village. At one point the line of vol- unteers, followers and news re- porters stretched from Main Street to the Oakwood Golf Course. Peo- ple stopped their cars along the side of the highway to hand Jesse flow- ers and make a donation while oth- ers honked their horns, waived and shouted words of encouragement. Fred Duplan, a cottager from London was waiting along the side of the highway to make a do- nation. He has been fol- lowing Jesse's Journey in the news and was glad to finally see him come through Grand Bend. "This is terrific! I can't get over the fact he just left Goderich this morning," said Du - plan. Nancy Cornwall from Kitchener has also been following Jesse's Journey in the news. She said she drove to Grand Bend to con- gratulate Jesse and John since their journey would not take them through Kitchener. "I think it's wonderful this many people catne out to support Jesse in such a small place like this," she said. Despite the heat and hilly terrain, John's legs are still going strong pushing Jesse an average of 30 ki- lometers a day. Other than stop- ping occasionally for a handshake or to accept flowers John never broke his stride clearing the dis- tance from Port Blake to Main Street Grand Bend in less than an hour. The tour wound its way up and down Main Street before ending in the Lions Club pavilion for a civil ceremony. Jesse and John were joined by the rest of their family in- cluding Jesse's grandparents Mow- bray and Doris Sifton who are sum- mer residents of Grand Bend. Jesse was treated to a live version of his theme song "A Hero in Eve- ry Heart" by the Grand Bend Youth Choir accompanied by singer/ guitar player Dennis Siren. Grand Bend councilors Phil Ma- guire and Barb Wheeldon were among the many speakers giving welcome speeches to Jesse and John. "We take pride in congratulating you and your vision," said Maguire inviting everyone present to "take a page from Jesse's book and see what you can do with your life to "There are so many children who have this horrible disease. I sure hope the money they raise will help find a cure." make this happen." urday and 5625 donated in memory "When this [expected total dona- of Ileane Sigmund who passed tions] came up in a council meet- away last Sunday. ing I said I would be happy if we When John Davidson spoke he raised 55,000," Wheeldon said. "I thanked the many volunteers who started to cry when we reached it, I spent countless hours helping with couldn't ask for a better day." the journey and the overwhelming Wheeldon announced that the reception he and Jesse received in dollar count from donations had Grand Bend. exceeded $6,000 just on Friday and "I've come 2,200 km to be here Jesse's staff estimated they would today and along the way we've met reach 520,000 by the time they many friendly people who have were done counting the money set- come out to see us, but the people ting a one day collection record and here in Grand Bend are twice as bringing the total to $260.000. friendly," said Davidson who has During the ceremony, more last now covered two-thirds of their minute donations were announced route through the province. from various individuals and Jesse agreed and said he was sur - groups including 5500 from the prised at the reception he and his Algarva Caravan #168 Order of Al- father encountered when they hambra, the proceeds from Grand reached Grand Bend. Bend Motorplex's ticket sales from "I knew it was going to be quite a their Thunder Run Event on Sat- big turnout, but this is the biggest John Davidson pushes his son Jesse down Main Street in Grand Bend on Friday. Hundreds of people came out to greet them and to make a donation towards their cause. June was busiest month of year for Exeter Food Bank Brenda Burke T -A staff EXETER - The Exeter Com- munity Food Bank serviced 22 families in July. In June that number was nearly doubled when 43 different families needed its services. "That's unusual," said a food bank volunteer who said it's the bank's policy not to name its vol- unteers • in press articles. "We thought (June) would be down." The number of people using the food bank in June even surpasses the 38 users last January. which had marked its busiest month since it began in July last year. Because less than half of the food bank users rely on its ser- vices more than once, the vol- unteer said June's high numbers followed by July's low numbers may be due to the fact people use the back just as an initial start - off, then don't need to return. "A lot of people aren't coming back," be said. "A lot of people we only see once or twice and that's it." He also said a general fear of welfare cuts may have contrib- uted to June's high levels. The food bank, operated by the Exeter Pentecostal Tabernacle. has provided 143 families with food from the beginning of July 1994 to the end of last June. Generally one box of food per month for each family is donated. However, families that need more food are provided with an extra box when needed. Donations have . remained steady on a month so mom* basis throughout the year. with mono contributions coming in just be- fore Christmas when people often get together and participate in group donations. Besides accepting non- perishable items, the food bank also receives frozen foods and fresh garden items. "Last year we gave away 'amines of cucumbers," said the volunteer adding, "We'll take the garden stuff but the amount we can use is limited." The food bank also has two large freezers to hold meat and other frozen foods. Although meat is something not usually do- nated, the food bank has received a fair amount during the year. The baker Community Food Bank receives a mixture non-perishable and garden items throughout the summer. cf 1 Lucan OPP reports very few traffic problems in village LUCAN - For the second time in a month. Staff Sergeant Bob Erskine of the Lucan OPP detachment has reported to council he does not perceive any hazardous traffic problems in the village. After telling council members a month ago he and his officers failed to find any speeders on a number of specified streets, he was asked to run ra- dar checks again. Erskine said vehicles, especially large trucks appear to be going faster than they actually are because the size and noise of the vehicles is mislead- ing. He added that two of his officers live on one of the streets in question and they did not see any problems. "In response to a request of council, on July 4 the OPP initiated random radar patrols in the village. The specific areas identified, Main Street, Con. 4 north, Nicoline Street and Market Street were patrolled with radar at var- ious times during evening hours," said Erskine. "Over a one week period approximately 300 vehicles were checked and two speeding charges were laid on Main Street. As a point of interest, the speeds of the two persons charged were not excessive. On three occasions officers reported to me in that checking Nicoline street no moving vcehicles were observed. 1 believe that the considerable time spent in monitoring the areas where the perceived problem was alleged to exist has established that there is no consistent. hazardous traffic problem in the village. Therefore, my staff will return to normal patrols and no further special monitoring will be done unless, as a police agency, we identify a specific problem." Erskine had said earlier he has lived in Lucan for eight years and there have not been any pedestrian accidents during that time. There was one fa- tality, but it was weather and not speed related. The OPP sergeant said traffic lights and four-way stops would create problems. "These moves would create more problems than they would solve. It's better to let traffic flow than stop it. We have three vehicles with radar running continuously on area roads every day." In his recent letter, Erskine concluded, "I'm sure that you will appreciate that our current economic condition dictates that we all make the most cost effective use of our resources."