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Clinton News-Record, 1977-09-22, Page 1,Clinton, Ontario 25 cents Thursday, September 22,1977 112th h Year -No. $8 . h 1111 eather 1977 1976 HI 10 141 10 SEPTEMBER 13 62 57 '80 51 ,14 64 46 80 54 15 63 45 66 59 16 74 ' 56 , 69 , 57 ,. 17 70,E 61 70 56 18 69 57 69 58 19 65 58,. 76 .1ZQ 'Rain 2,55" Rain's() ' oom lifted from hospIta The cloudof doom that has hung over the Clinton . Hosibital for the past 18 months has finally lifted following disclosure last week that the Clinton hospital had been given top priority by seven other hospitals in Huron and Perth to go ahead with renovation plans. The cloud had descended on the hospital in February of 1976 when then health minister Frank Miller ordered 4 the hospital closed as part of a cost cutting measure in the ministry of health. Since then, the Clinton hospital .board has taken the battle to court and won a stay of execution from the Appeals court last year that said the government's action was illegal. The government is still appealing that decision, however. But the good news, as far as the ad- ministration and employees are con- cerned, came last week when ,a meeting of the hospitals in two counties put Clinton on top of a list of hospitals to be renovated. "A mood of elation went through the board room," Clinton hospital board public relations officer Bob Campbell said on Tuesday, after the board of governors' meeting on Monday night. "This is a real shot in the arm. Staff morale has really jumped," Campbell said. The renovation plans, which are roughly estimated to cost $350,000, would see the x-ray and emergency depart- ments relocated in the south end of hospital wing, built in 1947, now occupied by administrative offices and the board room. If the plan receives approval from the ministry of health, and Campbell said it was still a big if, then eventually, the old - overcrowded 100 -year-old north wing would be demolished, and a new wing built. Campbell said that the board had similar plans in mind as long ago as 1969, but they were completely shelved when the hospital closing order was received in 1976. The administration offices and board room would also have to find a new home, said Campbell, which may cost another $200,000, The board gave approval Monday night to hire the Stratford architectural firm of Kyles, Kyles and Garratt to draw up plans and specifications and get a final cost figure for the renovations. Construction is not expected to get started until at least April of 1978. et weather plagues farmers Wet weather, combined with cloudy skies and cool temperatures are still causing problems for Huron County's farmers trying to get the annual harvest done. September has taken up where August left off, with above normal rainfalls recorded in most .areas already this month, and there is still ten days left. The wet weather has brought the harvest of Huron's $10 million 'white bean crop to a ,standstill, with only 25 per cent of it off. Mike Miller, associate agricultural representative with the Clinton office of the ministry of agriculture and food; said on Tuesday that the situation is not critical yet, but if sunny dry weather does not return 'by the weekend, then some farmers could be in trouble. Saturated soil and muddy conditions have also halted_the corn silage harvest, „F of A wants corn board The price of corn, which has fallen below $1.70 at times this year, "may be a continuing problem according to Peter Hannam, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Since 1974, when Ontario became self sufficient in corn production, the price of Ontario corn has fallen to levels 20 to 50 cents per bushel, below that paid on Chicago exchanges. Before 1974, Ontario corn had consistently commanded higher prices than corn sold in Chicago, Mr. Hannam told a meeting of the Huron • Federation of Agriculture in Brucefield Thursday night. Mr. Hannam described. a brief the. OFA has submitted to the Ontario government proposing the establish- ment of a corn growers marketing board. Because much of the corn produced in. the province is not sold on the open market, but .goes for feed in farm to *farm sales, the OFA brief proposes a negotiating board rather than an agency type with price fixing powers. The proposed board would have a number of "low level functions" Mr. Hannam said. It would act as a unified voice for corn growers in dealing with the government, and could lobby for transportation subsidies, trade and tarriff equity, and for stepped up research. It would ' negotiate and administer advance payments on crops from the federal government, and would act as a (lobby when stabilization formulas are set and amounts decided on. It would also negotiate province wide, corn handling and drying charges with elevators and would seek to ensure that premium prices are paid for premium grades (Acorn. The proposed board would also supply farmers with marketing and trade in- formation, and would seek out new export markets for Ontario corn, the OFA president said. Mr. Hannam said all of these functions .could be carried out without any ar- tificial disturbance of the • rice of corn. but Miller said the weather is more of a nuisance to silo filling than a disaster. Some second and third cut hay may also be lost because of the wet con- ditions, and many farmers can't sow their winter wheat until the white beans are off. To add further to the farmer's woes, prices this year for some 'crops, especially corn, are at three year lows, with the grain corn price hovering around $1.70 per bushel, far below the estimated cost of ,$2.50 per bushel to produce. Although a stabilization price of $2,30 per bushel has been established, payments won't be made until . after August of 1978 `on this year's crop, and .some farmers may not be able to stay afloat financially until that time. So far in August and the first 21 days of September, an astronomical 12.52 inches of rain (31-3.1 mm) ha's been recorded at the Goderich weather station, and August's total of 0.72 inches (243.1 mm) set an all-time record for any month of any year since records were :started in 1880. At the Brucefield observation station on the Norman Baird farm, 3.11 inches (77.75 mm) has .. fallen so far in Sep- tember, and combined with the 6 inches (150.5 mm) recorded in August, a total of 9,13 (228.25) has fallen on Brucefield in seven weeks. The average total precipitation for the whole year,is 36.87 inches (921.7 m m 1. Somehow, the return of Fall always 4Ikarks a turning point in the year. With 11 arriving officially at 11:30 p.m. tonight (Thursday) everyone suddenly turns to thoughts of anti -freeze, boots, and hockey sticks, The ball, season is over, except for ,the hardy souls in the industrial league, and the ice is going in the arena after the car show next weekend. The Juniors hockey camp is well underway at Vanastra, and ac- cording to the pundits, we'll have our firstsnow this Sunday, • - September 25. But we can hope the soothsayers are wrong on the last count, as the Kinsmen wind up the harness racing season at the .local plant this Sunday. Overall; they have had a banner season, which in- directly benefits the whole town, but there have been a few dismal Sundays �rhen wet weather' scared away the owds. • r + ++ The last day for minor hockey registration is this Saturday at the grandstand from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and" either few boys are going to play hockey this year, or they're waiting until the last minute to register. So far only 55 have signed up, a rather dismal showing, according to organizers. , + + + Saturday is also the big ,draw day for the Hospital Auxiliary's Penny Sale. So you still have a couple of days left to get down to the town hall. It's one of the few places left to spend the lowly penny. And now with the new mood of optimism prevailing at the hospital, it's important once again to get behind these fund raising efforts. "Atitomation is a technological proeess„titat does all the work while you r �itst sit,thete, VAten your wereyounger, thiit..tva4 call7d mother." 0-;/.44110 This won't hurt Lyle Hill looks on while two Red Cross workers prepare him to, give the "gift of life". The blood donors clinic which was held on Tuesday at CHSS saw 225 people come to give blood. The Clinton objective is 200 donors and one of the co- ordinators, Gladys East noted that the turnout was satisfactory h'u't colds and flu kept the people away. (News -Record photo) French atmosphere souIit. The Huron County Board of Education decided last week to accept an offer from the ministry of education to equip one classroom in each elementary school . in the ' county..,,, as a French language classroom. The decision will not cost the board anything since the ministr ' of ed4cation is increasing its support for the teaching of French as a 'second language. ti Director' of .e.ducetion John C,ochrane 01„41 411 board that the ministry offered grants for the classrooms payitg 100 per cent of the costs up to.$1,000. He said he did not know what the equipment would entail but suspected it may include a record player and possibly someEposters and artifacts conducive to a French atmosphere in the classroom. The classrooms follow a pilot project sponsored by the ministry two -years ago that"set up one classroom in the county :for teaching French. The change now increases that number to 24 classrooms • in Huron. Youths are Iucky Four young people miraculously escaped serious injury when the car they were driving glanced off two poles and flipped upside down on the parking lot of Craig's Tire and Auto Centre:,on Albert Street early Monday evening. The car was a total wreck, and police hadn't released the names of the youngsters at presstime on Wednesday. Here Harvey Carter uprights the car. (News -Record photo) uron teachers appoint fact finder The Education Relations Commission announced Monday the appointment of Professor J.W. Samuels as a fact finder to assist the. Huron County Board of E,-iucation and its elementary and. sct.,ondary schoolteachers in their negotiations. A Commission spokesman said that the fact finder will prepare a report on the negotiations, ,identifying the out- standing issues that have led to an im- passe. The fact finder is expected to present a report within 30 days. The report will set forth the positions of both sides and may or may not make recommendations on settlement terms. The report will be presented to both parties. If there is still no agreement within 15 days, or at the latest within 30 days, tbe'report will be made public. The parties can ask for binding ar- bitration, or a selector to decide which of the parties' offers to impose, or the teachers may -decide to take strike. ac- tion. The Commission was established in 1975 under Ontario Government Legislation to foster harmonious collective bargaining relations between school boards and teachers in the Province: Professor Samuels graduated from Queen's University with an honours B.A. degree and law degree. Subsequently, he received his Masters degree in law from the London School of Economics, England., He is currently a professor at Lthe University of Western Ontario where he teaches courses in public international law, international institutions, contracts and environmental law. He is a member of the Arbitrators' Institute of Canada, Inc. Professor Samuels previously acted for the Commission in Middlesex County. Tuckersmith won't aid Seaforth arena Tuckersmith Council refused to send any financial donations to the Seaforth Arena fund, at their regular meeting on Tuesday evening. The decision, came .after correspon- dence was received from the arena board stating that . they wanted a donation of $1,300. However Tucker - smith only offered to give $500, which the Seaforth arena board claimed was in- sufficient. The councillors agreed to send a letter back to the arena board noting that they will not make any donations to the fund. In other business lots 1-15 and lots 108- 118 in Vanastra were rezoned to residential. Previously the land had been zoned as development residential. The land ,severance application by Margaret Forrest Con 2, Lot 7 was ap- proved by council. It will now be sent to the Land Division Committee for final approval. An appeal was heard from Peter LeBeau whose severance on part of lots 36-27, Con. 1 was declined by the Land Division Committee. Council also spent a large part of the evening discussing with a number of delegates the Tyndall and McKenzie drainage works. Hearings were held on both drains and engineer Henry Uderstat was present to explain the cleaning work to be done on each. Courts of revision will be. held on these drains at the next council meeting on October 18. Council, passed a motion supporting the program of the Ausable Bayfield • Authority. In the resolution the council accepted the fill line map. Approval was given for the rezoning of lot 44 in Vanastra as the new site for the industry, Koma Boats. Building permits were issued to: Cornelius Dorssers, lot 8, con. 7, a silo; Ken Jammaat, lot 10, plan 16, Egmon- dville, a house; Ronald MacGregor, lot 16, con 3, a porch. Over 400 attend Huron plowing match Excellent weather conditions at- tracted more than 400 persons to the annual Huron County plowing match held Saturday at the Stephen township farm of Allan Wainer, south-east of Grand Bend. Numerous attractions in addition to the actual plowing events kept the visitors well entertained throughout the afternoon. . One of the features was a demon- stration of the solar heating system which was installed last winter in the Waiper home. Hay township reeve Jack Tinney proved to be the best behind a horse drawn plow in a contest with other politicians and non -farmers. In the serious competition, Brian McGavin, RR 4, Walton was declared the junior champion and Ken Ennes. Stanley to appoint inspector Stanley Township is going to hire a building inspector. It is expected that an appointment will be made sometime in the next two weeks, At its Thursday night meeting council defined the duties of the prospective employee, but did not decide definitely whether he would Work full-time or part- time. He will be expected to enrorce building bylaws, issue permits and in - coni -"tion. sppctt�latildings underu�.. Wilding ��� 'fib `?� �� The °towns'h � i� permits this year, mainly' for cottages, homes, implement shed's and renovations. Now that so much building being done, the need for more control has become apparent. At its previous meeting, September 6, council accepted a petition calling for a cleanout of the Stanley Big brain, which, and 5 of Concession 8. C.B. Corbett and Company, the township's engineering consultants, will examine the ,drain before a s Werk is done, Efdoreetnelt :rs ix' given of resolution hY the Township of 1e1hi, which would require tnat maintenance work on municipal drains become eligible for subsidy. This could result in grants of $1,000 to $2,000 to municipalities for such work, if, government approval is ob- tained. General accounts approved for. payment for the month of August came to ,$12,600 while those for roads totalled $10,000 and those for the Ontario „Home • . �yw Rehabilitation J�� W ixi'e to o to eh� �°` �r �► $ t► �i r ri . itat� Program r `for' � 011W s o'atioirl' A. ti �► �tl e r ° j,ii da Vii` pp also approved. Brussels was the top senior -competitor. Winner of the special International class was Steve Walper, son of the host farmer Allan Walper. In addition to the trophies, cash prizes were awarded to the top five contestants in each of the 10 divisions. Lori Stafford, RR 1, Wroxeter was crowned Queen of the Furrow for the second consecutive year. Her only competition came from another 1976 contestant Kathy Pentland, RR 5, Goderich. • The ,first part of the contest came in the morning when the two girls were judged on their plowing ability. In the afternoon they were interviewed by the judges and delivered a prepared speech and an impromptu one. The j'•dges were Carol Taylor, manager of the Dashwood and Crediton branches of the Bank of Montreal a. Bill Black, principal of the Blyth Public continued on page 3 Night School courses set It's less than two weeks until night school gets underway at Central Huron Secondar,y School in Clinton; on October 3, and principal Tom Fox is looking, for another big enrolment again this year. As well as the return of many of the regular courses, several new courses are planned this year, including chess, furniture refinishing and assorted craft classes which start the first week of evening classes. Japanese embroidery will begin three weeks, later on October 24" Color photography and knitting and crocheting, which were offered for the first time last spring, are being con- tinued this fall, and several other popular courses are being offred on several nights td make the'th rmb'e a'v a tb students. al'labl e Art is being offered on Tuesday evening this year, "while ladies' fitness and flower' arranging are moving to Wednesday night. The courses being offered Monday night, starting October 3, include typing, basic sewing, stretch sewing -basic and advanced, upholstery, gourmet cooking, drafting ' and blueprint reading, ceramics - beginning and advanced, hairdressing, color photography, and grade 13 physics. Tuesday's card, which Starts October 4 includes many popular courses, in- cluding car maintenance and ,.auto mechanics, art and painting, , basic chess, first aid with St. 3ohtAmbulance, welding, interior decorating, hunter safety, machine shop' and metallurgy, and senior mathematics. Beginning on .Wednesday October 5 will be furniture refinlsiring, ' pladieage s�, ' continued on