HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1977-07-21, Page 3CLfNTONNI i..'S•i.R
,coRP-TRIM$PAY, JULY. 21 1977 P4q: '3
Peoph
in Profde Reg tells
'
By Shelley McPhee
Reg Smith has been telling people
where to go for the past 31 years, and he's
been getting away with it.
The reason why Reg can do this is
because 'Clinton and area people. know
Reg as a sign maker. He made his first
sign in Clinton in 1946 for Lorne Brown
°Motors, which, was taken down` a few
'4 years ago and he's been directing, in.-
dicating, guiding . and showing petople
where to go ever since: .
"I always loved to draw, said Reg, and, his first, major assignment.
1 always wanted to go into sign painting, Since that, time, Reg has•s painted
but I had to wait until the family grew
LW „ thousands of signs and been involved in
1n 1940 when Reg was other interesting spots.
However,One time he, was offered a job to paint
overseas in the war, he began what the name of a boat on the side of -a
would become his lifetime work and freighter in the Goderich harbour, "I
ambition come true. Regi was a" wasn't cut out for that bind of thing," he.
Ak dispatcher with the Royal Canadian
explained.
Engineers for five years and during this �,
° time he began numbering vehicles with You run into some pretty funny
a professional sign painter. situation's and it never gets
them where to
After the war, Reg returned to Clinton
and in 1946 built his shop at his residence
on 223 High Street. After quitting his job
at the post office, he did some work in
Clinton with signs a4141 wo: 4•ed full-time
with a Stratford Sign shop for two years
in the early '60's.
' The last plowing match 'held in 1966
gave Reg his opportunity to work full -
'time in Clinton.
"I''bad to p,aint signs With the cham-
pionship sows in the pen," noted Reg of
•
monotonous," said Reg, "you're always
on a different job, from painting
motorcycle helmets to 30 foot signs."
For such -.I uge signs, like the ones he
pa -i -n ,ted at the outskirts of the Town of
Goderich, he ,must set up scaffolding to
do the job.
Other work includes painting names
and logos on the side of trucks and vans,
cloth banners and show cards.
The price for each job often differs bAut
the most unusual pray Reg has received
was an 18 -pound artillery shell from
World War I. Reg took the shell for two,
show cards he had made for a man.
Of course like any creator, Reg has his
favourite design. This he has decided,
was a pair he made this spring for
Debbie's Custard Cup. The eight foot
signs were figures of a boy and girl.
However both were stolen several weeks
later and now Reg will make two more,
this time to be put in concrete to ensure
County refuses to give up rights
Huron County Council voted not to give
up the rights to a gravel pit in Usborne
Township despite" the objections of
Usborne Township Reeve Bill Morley
who claims the county is`being'`unfairu'.
At a meeting Monday evening in the
council chambers in Goderich, it was
learned' that Raymond Cann of Usborne
Township had requested the county to
sign a Quit Claim Deed releasing the
county's interests in about three -acres of
land on Lot 26, Con. 7 of the Township of
Usborne. The agreement,'signed May 31,
1931 gave the county the. rights to
remove gravel from the property
"starting from the tree by the side of the
laneway". The sum of $1,000 was paid to
John Cann,at that time owner of the
property.
According to the Huron County Road
Committee, the agreement had no time
limit and since it has been estimated
that as much as 100,000 cubic yards of
gravel it on the site, it was agreed not to
sign the Quit Claim Deed and to. exercise
the county's rights to remove gravel.
"This seems a little bit unfair," Reeve
Morley argued. He said that at today's
prices for gravel, the agreement is
definitely to the county's advantage. He
suggested itwouldbe in the county's best
interests to sign the Quit Claim Deed.
Britnell,, county engineer,
disagreed. He said that $1,000 was a good.
$rice at the time the agreement was
made and that the county had every
right now to exercise the agreement.
Britnell felt that to sign the ,Quit Claim
Deed would be against the county's best
interests_s4.n-ce--gravel isr so expensive at
the present,ti,me.
The engineer admitted that irr 2,1 -years
in.the county's employ, he had not known
• about the agreement. He said that if'
Raymond Cann bad not asked for a Quit
Claim Deed, the 'county still would not
have known the gravel belonged to the
county.
Reeve Morley said the owner of the
property, William Cann, had recently
died, but added that the deceased was
under the impression before his death.
that the agreement was no longer in,
effect. Reeve Morley said it was the
intention of William Cann's widow to
give the township sole rights to the
gravel on the property, at the going rate.
Britnell said there had been no offer of
money made for the release of the
agreement. He said the committee was
agreed the agreement was worth a good
deal of money to the county, and that it
would be good business to exercise the
county's rights to,the gravel there.
Reeve Bob Lyons, chairman of the
road committee said, ".J,,don't think the
county can afford to give away $65,000.
By exercising this agreement, the
county would be saved a .considerable
amount of money.,"
John Jewitt, reeve of Hullett said, "It
appears to me it is our gravel and I don't
see how we can jusfgive it up
Si Simmons, reeve of Exeter,
suggested an agreement without an
expiry date can be broken. Britnell said
`he was unaware of that,
"There have been two generations and
this estate has not been settled, "Reeve
J.ack Tinney said. "The agreement was
made with John Cann and stated 'his
heirs and assigns'. To me, that sounds
like forever."'
Britnell told council there may be
some negotiations that .could be con-
sidered between the road committee and
the solicitor for the widow of William
Cann, but pointed out it was up to council
to decide on the matter. Council made no
mention' of any negotiations to be un-
dertaken when approving the report as
presented.
In other business, members of Huron
County 'CQuncil hired an engineer to
replace Jim Britnell who is leaving the
county 'employ this summer, Robert
Alexander Dempsey, who was born and
raised in the Stratford area, and who is
presently deputy city engineer for the
City of Stratford, was hired effective
August 29, 1977. His salary will be $25,000
per annum and he will have a car sup-
plied by the county. That salary is to
increase to $26,500 per annum on
January 1, 1978.
Mr: Dempsey is 28 years old and has
'been' active in the Kinsmen Club and
community affairs in Stratford.
Hensall arena demolition to start soon
Demolition of the old
Hensall arena should begin.
within the next two weeks
according to Reeve Harold
Knight.
Knight said demolition
'would probably begin when
the arena manager Rollie
Vanstone returns from his
holiday at the end of the
week.
Volunteer labour will likely.
work on the interior and hired
labour will probably tear
down the arena roof and
exterior, said Knight. �.
Knight estimated that
$32,000 had been spent on
renovating the old arena
between 1972 and 1975.
Referring to the cost of the
Hensall's new arena, Knight
said the total cost may be
reduced to $660,000 to
$6':0,000.
Council has accepted 'the
lowest bondable tender for
construction of the arena
which set total cost at
00,450. The original
estimated total arena cost
was $600,000.
"It's unfortunate that the
first engineer we talked to
pretty well said we could do it
for that (:$600,000)" said
Knight..
Knight said other things
could be removed from the
proposal tender to lower the
arena cost "but we want to
take full advantage of the
grant system as it is and get
as much -as we can";
A fund-raising dance was -
held in the old Hensall arena
Saturday but fund chairman
Eriq Luther said the total
amount �of money raised
could not be known until all
ticket proceeds had been
collected.
•
their performance.
Along with his favorite sign, Reg's
favorite medium is acrylic since it is
smooth and easy to paint on. Presently
he is working on - an aery1ic sign tor—
Mary's
orMary's Sewing Centre.
Reg is also in the process of making an
eight -foot by 24 -foot sign for Huly 'Gully.
The materials used in the sign painting
come from Stratford and London and
according to Reg, there are new
materials corning in all the ;time. One of
the latest materials hp is ung is called
magnetic sheet, which fQels like extra
heavy plastic and is most commonly
used by horse race owners who have an
illustration of a horse and other in-
formation on the' side. The material has
a magnetic surface and it is washable.
The artistic talents in the Smith family
are not confined to Reg,.as,his daughter
Denise has filled the. house with et-
chings, charcoal paintings and a variety
of others. She now lives in Palmerston
and has taught art to the mentally
retarded at the regional centre there.
As for Reg, there is never any shor-
tage of work and although a sign outside
his shop says, Breakfast Special, -bacon
and eggs' for 99 cents Reg does not run' a
restaurant but_ makes his living by
showing people the way.
1Vith a little dab here and a stroke up there Reg Smith puts the finishing touches
pn one of the many signs he has created over thle past 15 years. (News -Record
photo)
Tuckersmith asked zoning change
'Sy Wilma Oke
two Egmondville residents were told
by Tuckersmith Council on Monday
night, to ask for a- meeting with the
Huron County Planning Board Com-
mittee to express their objections to the
township zoning by-law. The by-law
applies to a triangle bounded by Clinton,
Brucefield , and Seaforth and was
initiated. in 1972 in order to allpw
Vanastra residents to be.given deeds to
property they had purchased there.
William C. Brown, owner of a
wrecking yard and Louis McNichol, a
trucker, both of Egmondville attended
the council session at Brucefield, con-
cerned that their properties were zoned
as residential along with the other
properties in Egmondville. While their
business places are legal, should they be
destroyed by a tornado or burned they
would be'unable to rebuild.
Brown was also.. concerned as he is
considering selling his wrecking•yard of
:'5 acres.
Councillor Frank Falconer suggested
that the men get up a delegation of other
commercial businessmen and go as a
body to the Huron Planning Board
Cornmittee to ask for re -zoning of their
properties tocommercial. f,
Ben Bridges, president of the
Vanastra Community Association at-
tended the council meeting to complain reported that the township garage roof is
about the unsightly areas in Vanastra, leaking and he was told to ask for ten -
There are buildings which arg partially ders to repair it. '
demolished and not cleaned up, Passed for payment were the
discarded refrigerators, old store signs, remuneration fees paid to members of
garbage and uncut grass. council amounting to $2,018.75 for the
"We have the name of a ghetto," first half of the year.
Bridges said. Council passed a by-law, giving
He said that police are now charging authority to the fire chief in each town,
drivers for speeding, ignoring stop signs --with `a fire bd'ard agreement with the
-and several other things to'help improve township, to act in the township in cases
the traffic situation in Vanastra. . of fire. They also outlined the fire area.
Clerk Jack McLachlan was authorized Requests fpr building permits were
'to list township telephone numbers, such granted to: Robert Kinsman, Kippen
as the township garage, the clerk's of- and a granary and James Brown,
fice, the Vanastra Rec Centre and the Egmondville a porch.
Vanastra Day- Care Centre in the
Clinton, Seaforth and Hensall listings for
the new directory which is coming out in Heat wave.,.
October.
He was also authorized to order a new
sign for the township officein the former
Bank of Montreal building in Vanastra.
Reeve Irvin Sillery noted that con-
formation has not come through yet
from the bank head office, concerning
the lease arrangements and rental fee of
the former bank building.
McLachlan will be hiring Helen Colson
who -works part time at the Vanastra
Rec Centre to do typing in his office two
afternoons a week. His office hours were
set from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.,m.
Road Superintendent Allan Nicholson
(continued from page 1
pasture land and lowering milk
production.
Even with a good season, though, corn
farmers are in for a "terrible year," as
'corn futures for October show only a
$1.75. return for a bushel of -corn, well
below the $2.35 Martin said the farmers'
need to recover production costs.
The weatherman said Wednesday the
heat wave should break today (Thur-
sday), but offered no relief for the dry
conditions except • for widely sc'httered
thundershowers.
El mer's six rules
1. Look alt ways before you
cross the road.
2. Keep away from all
parked cars. -
3. Ride your bike safely and
obey all signs and signals.
4. Play your games in a safe
place away from traffic.
5. Walk, don't run, when you
cross the road.
6. Where there are no side -
walks, walk off the road to
the left and face oncoming
traffic.
HOW TO ENTER
MAIL BEFORE AUG 1 TO
ELMER CONTEST
409 King St. W
Toronto; Ont. M5V 1K1
ADDRESS
(Town or city, postal code)
TELEPHONE
1. Show which Elmer rule is being
broken and colour the
picture.
2. Fill out entry,forrn. Pr -int clearly.
3. Cut out along dotted lines and
mail to address shown.
4. Any Ontario child between 6
and 14 may enter, All •entries
become property of Eln'ier the
Safety Elephant, Judges' deci•
sion final.
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