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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1977-09-01, Page 1u, "r 4 Race track loses liquor licence The Liquor Licence Board of Ontario has suspended the special occasion permit used by the Clinton Raceway, and the local Kinsmen club is upset over the matter. The Kinsmen Club, who have operated the licenced dining room on the floor of tithe arena during Sunday racing for the last three,years; learned of the loss at a special hearing in Toronto on Monday. The ' suspension will mean a "dry': racetrack for the remaining four Sun- days of the Clinton meet, but local members are planning to appeal the decision akd have hired a Goderich lawyer. It will also mean the loss of income for .., e five waitresses and. two bartenders, ' hile the Kinsmen club will lose ,about $200 profit for every Sunday the lounge is closed. Liquor Licence Board solicitor Steven Grannum said in a telephone interview that the board decided to stop issuing the special occasion permit, a rare oc- curence, after it found the club had violated - regulations of the Liquor Licence Act. • But Don Jefferson, president of the Clinton Kinsmen, said the board never even listened to the club's side of the argument, and wouldn't accept any evidence that the four club members had taken with them to Toronto on Monday. "It was all cut and dried before we even got there," said Jefferson, "they • Clinton, Ontario wouldn't listen to anything we had to for new permits in the future. say." , "The board would consider it if they Grannum said local liquor inspector (the club) could come up with some way Charles Newman of Listowel found the of showing they could serve' liquor within club was serving liquor to people at the the regulations," Grannum said. . track without food on Sundays and had The Kinsmen club is still recovering not served food of equal value to the from a larger blow to the raceway liquor sold, contrary to the Act. earlier this year when the grandstand "The way the regulations read, you're was ordered closed by the Ontario supposed to get, your meal before you're Racing Commission in March, less than served liquor and you are not suppe ed three months before the,o,pening of the to get liquor after you have .finished the racing season,. i meal," Grannum said.'''There was some But the club and dozens of volunteers evidence tFat people were .just having in town started construction of a new drinks without eating anything at all." $25Q,000 grandstand, which was.rea,dy on But Jefferson said .the club rents the time, and are now awaiting receipt of arena 5 from. the Clinton recreation provincial government grants to help conimittee, who get all the,receipts from pay for it. The club's $93.000 share of the the food booth in the arena, and that is cost is expected to take about 10 years td why the liquor sales appeared to'be more pay off. than the food sales. The club said they set up the dining room three years ago to stop drinking in the stands and to stop a few race fans from leaving the track and drinking in their cars parked around the racetrack. The club lost money,on the bar the first year, and only this year was realizing a Rene Boogemans of Hensall and his modest profit. brother Xavier Boogemans of Grand Jefferson said the bar was always run Bend won a gold medal at the Ontario `with few problems, and there were never Summer Games at Guelph last Sunday. .any troublemakers. The Boogemans brothers, well-known Grannum said the club has the right to and avid canoeists in this area for a take the suspension to the liquor licence number of years, took home the gold for appeal tribunal and can also try to apply winning the expert class for canoeists. Hensall canoeists win,summer gold 25'cents Thursday, September 1, 1977 ll2th Year -No. 35 9L ' August 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Weather 1977 1976 HI 10 HI 10 66 52 65 45 68 40 77 .49 88 60 89 72 78 62 Rain .57 84 51 81 53 80 50 81 59 85 64 81 63 68 42 Rain 0" Clinton to seek dispatch system Clinton will seek to have a county -wide police radio dispatch system located in Clinton, deputy -reeve Frank .Cook revealed at a meeting of Clinton council last Thursday night.; Deputy Reeve Cook who is head of the town's police committee, saidhis committee had drawn up a proposal SI (T'oIi,ii,n by Jim Fitzgerald It won't come as any surprise to residents of this area, but for the record, August was the wettest month here ever since records have been kept, at least at the Goderich airport. It was much cooler than normal, but because of the above normal temperatures we experienced in Way, June. and July. the summer of 1977 will go down as a "normal" summer, when everything is averaged out. But summer, even ,though it doesn't officially end until September 21, is all over for most people after"this Labor Day.holiday weekend. Most of the kids will be back in school on Tuesday, and many cottages are being closed up for the year. Gee, it went fast. But before we settle back 'into our books and work, there is one final fling to be enjoyed this weekend as the annual • �w ,field fair is set for Friday, and turday. They have an excellent program' and parade lined up, so slip over to the village for some last minute' fun. Naturally, with , Monday being a holiday, most businesses are closed for ,the day, as is the post office, and the local fire -water dispensing stores. -i- -1- + If you still have some time left on the weekend, there are a couple of other events of note taking place right here in town, including an outstanding card at the racetrack on Sunday, and a tentative baseball game between the Colts and either Tupperville or Leamington on Saturday. We didn't have any times for the second round of the Colts playoffs at press time, so watch the posters around •town. Overheard in Clinton on Tuesday-: ell they -couldn't close the hospital, ey didn't keep the raceway closed, but - I 'guess they finally got us (closing the racetrack's lounge)." +++ "A penny for your thoughts," may soon have to be changed to "half a penny,". According 'to news reports, the Federal government is shrinking the size of the lowly .copper by nearly half next year, because it costs more to make the old model than it was worth. Do you 41 think they should call it a halfpenny, like they do in England? +++ • Earlier this year we mentioned in this space that we thought an insect invasion was underway. Well, even though the raspberry beetles and mosquitos have pretty well quit for this year, the ear.• wigs seem to be taking over, as 'there 'appears to be few places the little devils won't invade. Al our house, they pop out it of books, Jump out of tomatoes, and even hide under shingles on the roof of the two storey house! . along with plans,. that would be given to the other four towns prior to a county- wide meeting set for September 14 at McKay Hall in Goderich. Cook said he couldn't release an? more. details of. the plan to the press untir the other towns had seen the proposal, and discussed it at the meeting. Earlier this summer, the Goderich Police. Commission' had initiated a meeting between chiefs of the five Huron County towns - Clinton, Seaforth, Wingham, Goderich and Exeter, about setting up a' central dispatch radio system for use by all the towns, and had suggested locating it in Goderich. But several other towns, including Exeter and Clinton, had expressed in- terest in a more central location, such as Clinton. The mid-September meeting is open to all the elected officials from the five towns. ' "I , hope the whole (Clinton) . council will be there to back us up," Cook said. Currently, each police force has its own dispatcher, and the Ontario Police Commission said ,three years ago that the system was inadequate. In other police 'committee business, council will meet with chief Lloyd Westlake over a complacint from James Boughen of Erie Street about poor dog control at his end of town. Mr. Boughen was present at council and said that he was told the police couldn't trap any dogs with their new $200 dog trap because the police had no • Isaac Street to parallel' parking from way of moving the bulky trap around. angle parking after a number of ac- "I- was told to pick the trap up myself cidents from cars backing out, and also and catch the dogs.- If' I'm going, to do from cars' hitting the stop sign at the that then you should pad Ale to be the dog 1,„ r er of Isaac and Mary Street. catcher. Why should' -I pay dog tax if it The sign sticks out 15 feet into the road doesn't go for dog control," Mr. Boughen and has caused several accidents. told council, "There's been a lot of damage so far Boughen had earlier refusred to pay his ' and somebody's going to get hurt," said • dogtax because -of the dog problem and said that he was plagued with male dogs who were after his two female dogs when they are in heat, Mr. Boughen couldn't understand why he had to pay a bigger dog tax than those owners of male dogs. "My dogs are only in heat twice a year while the males are in heat 365 days of the year," Boughen said. Public works chairman Ernie Brown said that his men had agreed earlier to move the trap. Council also agreed with another police committee recommendation to change the parking on the west side, of Mayor Harold Lobb. The ' move will result in the loss of seven parking spots, and "councillor Ray Garon said that council would likely get a lot of complaints from the merchants in the area, already hard pressed for parking places. . "I think we should provide some alternate parking to make up for the lost spaces," Garon suggested, and proposed the town's vacant lot in front of the post office be pressed into action. Council instead agreed to meet with John Lavis about getting property on the other side of the street behind the Lavis owned block on King Street. Puff ball magic tag The record setting rainfall of August may have played havoc with crops and vacatjons, but to the puffball fanciers, it was perfect. All the damp weather as encouraged a recordpuffball crop in the area, and Steven and Rosy Cooke of Clinton show off five of several dozen specimens they picked at a secret location last week. (News -Record photo) Walton man arrested after fatal accident Only six hours after the body of Jef- fery MacMillan Mayman, 20 .of RR - 3, Bayfield was found, Brian G-regory Marks, 19, of Walton was arrested and, charged with failure to remain at the scene of an accident under the Criminal Code of Canada. The arrest followed a hit and run in- cident on Friday, August 26 at ap- proximately 11 pm when Mavman was walking west on. Huron County Road 3 about '/2 mile east of Bayfield. Mayman had been visiting with a neighbour in the immediate vicinity when he decided to walk home. . As he was walking, an unknown east hound car struck him and knocked him into the east ditch. His body was found shortly after 7 am on Saturday by the boy's mother Margaret Mayman and Thomas Hill both of RR3, Bayfield. Dr, Ray Flowers attended the scene and the investigation was carried out by, Corporal Ray Primeau, Constable Gosse and Constable George Hiles of the Goderich OPP traffic division. Con- stable Jim McLeod of the Seaforth OPP and Constable Lorne Carter of the criminal investigation., . unit of the Goderich OPP also took part. At approximately 1 pni on ,Saturday afternoon Marks was arrested. A 1972 green Oldsmobile was located, hidden in a cornfield at. RR1, Seaforth in McKillop Township. An identification unit from Mount Forest is checking the car for evidence. .Marks will appear in court in Goderich ., on September 8. Approximately $1,300 damage was done to the doors, and windows of the Huron Centennial School in Brucefield after vandals visited the building over the weekend. In the same area a stolen car was recovered which had been taken from Stratford. All of the windows in the vehicle had been broken, apparently by vandals. The' car and the school have been checked over with a fine tooth comb by the OPP identification unit to see if these incidents are connected. Const. Carter of the Goderich OPP is leading the in- vestigation along with the assistance of Const. Hiles also of the Goderich detach- ment. Robert Webster of Varna also lost his car over the weekend. Const. Eric Gosse of the Goderich OPP recovered the car in Brucefield and is investigating the incident. Several youths are suspected. ouncil wants to form heritag 1u Clinton council hopes there will be Councillor Ron McKay, who is hall, but there are otherbuildings as W.,.i town hall. enough interest in town to form a local- spearheading the effort, said he would in town worth preserving,' McKay told McKay also said he hoped the branch of the Ontario Heritage Foun- like to see at least six interested Clin- council. .. heritage committee would have enough dation, or Architectural Conservancy tonians submit their names to get the Council will meet ,,September 7 with volunteers by the end of.September. Society, and has set up a committee to project off the ground. Stephen Otto from the Ontario Heritage Town council also took another step col4ect ect names of interested citizens.p last Thursday night , at their regular "Basically it's because of the.town Foundation of Toronto, to inspect the r;" ~.. .::.• ', ..' , ...:meeting ' to ' stop any further deterioration of the'Town Hall when they accepted tenders for repair of the flat sections of roof on the 90 year old structure. Smith -Peat Roofing of Exeter was awarded $1,980 contract to reseal and tar the tovn Hall roof, and $1,360 to also repair the roof on, the library. �. Getting,.firsi' aId It took two a butanees to carry the injured victims to hospital ,after a crash Monday afteen on tit Highway 4 arid the Vanastra Road,but none ofi .. the injured were seriously hurt. One of the injured, Mike �, - errits, . In Centre with the talks OPP l Wilton", t o� oonstab e 8 l I son . � � White ..,�..... �. „ , .. .:.... ,�. try background af7rihuxanq� at-' tendants remove Ronald Pollack of Ripley to hQtptta1. (News- teeord,photo) order charge reduce In a preliminary hearing held in Goderich last Thursday and Friday, Judge Glenn Hays reduced a charge of murder against Terrence Lloyd Bullen, 45, Bayfield, to manslaughter. Along with the manslaughter charge Bullen still faces an attempted murder charge, which was adjourned at the preliminary hearing and will be " discussed at a later date. He will be tried on the manslaughter charge in Goderich on October 31. Evidence from the preliminary hearing was banned from publication, 'however Bullen's charge resulted from the May, 22 shooting death of Ronald Dejong, 25, RR 2, Bayfield and the wounding of Dejong's brother, Leroy, 22, in a shooting incident outside the Bullen home in Bayfield. Bullen, a French teacher with the Huron -Perth 'Separate School Board, is free on $1,000 bail. Racewayplans big The Clinton Kinsmen and racing secretary Billie Hunt have lined up one of the best racing cards so far this year for the Clinton Raceway this Sunday, and are hoping that a number of records will be broken. ' The track will have three features this' ,Sunday that they hope will attract a record crowd Top feature of the day will be the Crash injures four men Over $6,000 in damages were sustained by two vehicles on Monday afternoon when they collided at the junction of Highway 4 and the Vanastra Road, just west of Clinton. The Seaforth detachment of the OPP were called to the scene when a vehicle driven by Herman Greidanus, 21, of RR 2, Clinton was in a collision with a vehicle driven by John Coiling, 26, of RR 4, Ripley. The Greidanus vehicle was attempting to`eross Highway 4 when it was struck by the southbound vehicle driven by Colling. . Two ambulances arriyed at the scene totake the.drivers and aassen er from the Greidanus vehicle Mike Gegrits 19 of Clinton and Ronald Pollack.. 27. of Ripley from ' the Coiling vehicle to hospital were they were treated and released. The Seaforth OPP estimated that each car received $3,000 in damages. Charges were laid upon Griedanus for failure to yield after a stop sign. The Clinton .Police force spent a quiet week with one theft occurring at Corrie's Red and White Food Store on August 24 when two baskets . of peaches were stolen. ' The police answered a call Tuesday morning' at , the Elm'. Haven where a stolen car 'from the Guelph area was recovered. The car, a 1957 grey Thun- derbird convertible, was discovered in the parking lot the night before, Medie Elliott Memorial Trot for a purse of $2,000 that will bring together seven of the best local trotters. The race is in memory of the late Medie Elliott of Clinton, whose well- known trotter Dapper Dillion, brought fame and fortune to the local area when he finished second in the International Trot in New York earlier this summer, against some of the best trotters in the world. Dapper, who was bred and raised by Medie's husband, George F. (Trucker) Elliott of Clintoh, will also be on hand for parade mile during the races. The horse has made over $100,000 this year. Another feature of the program will be the $4,500 added Ontario Harness Horsemen's Association stake for four- year-old pacers. This leg is the one to be raced in 'Goderich, but that track was closed when their grandstand was condemned in March. A new track record was set in Clinton earlier this summer in the same stake when Scarlet Son toured the mile in 2:02.3 on July 3. Scarlet Son along with several other fast horses will be back. Among the trotters expected to face -the, gate in the Memorial trot are Brent Riddell, Lady' Demon, Burbank -. Hanover, Nigh Lightning, Wish Me tuck, Cann:, Devil, and Honest Mir.