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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1977-11-10, Page 14 0 Clinton., Ontario 30 cents Thursday, November 10, 1977 112th Year -No. 45 , Weather 1977 1976 HI 10 HI 10 NOVEMBER 1 56 46 45 2 64 49 46 3 65 54 46 4 60 45 39 5 52 43 6. 60 48 7 55 51 .48" Rain 23 28 30 27 37 31 45 33 40 26 .25_". Rain Bullen acquitted of manslaughter BY DAVE SYKES A supreme court jury rendered a verdict of not guilty on Terrence Lloyd Bullen, 45, facing a charge of man- slaughter and ending the four-day trial in Goderich last Thursday. The jury deliberated for less than two hours before reaching a verdict at ap"- proXimately 6:15 p.m. Bullen, a Bayfield school teacher, was charged with manslaughter following an incident in the secluded laneway leading to the Bullen home in Bayfield on May 22 in which Ronald Dejong, 25, R.R. 2 Bayfield was shot and killed and his brother Leroy Dejong, 22, was wounded in the shoulder and wrist. After the jury foreman had delivered the verdict, a distraught Bullen quietly asked, "What did he say?" He later commented, "I was listening so hard I couldn't hear it." Mr. Justice William Maloney of the Supreme Court of Ontario said after the verdict was given, "The verdict was a proper one and I am in complete agreement." He then turned to Mr. Bullen. "You are an intelligent and sensitive fellow and T am sure the events of that night • will be with you as long as you live," he said. "I believe the jury was saying you are innocent in the true sense of the word. You are free to go Mr. Bullen." A second charge of attempted murder ,has been withdrawn. Earlier in the trial under examination by defense counsel J. M. Donnelly, Bullen stated that after a day of working around the yard of his home he fell 0 0 Bolton wins title It may sound repetitious, but we are glad to report that once again, Russell Bolton has brought home the World Hay CharnpionShip to Huron County. This is the sixth year in a row that the RR 1, Seaforth farmer received his trophy at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. Mr. Bolton, 76, has won the World Hay Championship in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, and now 1977. This makes it 14 times that the Hay Crown has been taken by a Huron County citizen. In 1971, Russell Dallas of Brucefield won the title for his third time, he also won it in 1963 and 1969. Robert Allen of Brucefield was the Hay King in 1958 and 1962; Robert Fotheringham was the winner in 1965 and 1966; and. Wilber Keys of RR 4, Seaforth brought home the title in 1964. 1SI Coll/ n by Jim Fitzgerald For many in the area, the passing on Sunday of Guy Lombardo has been personally felt, and means the end of a • musical era. Guy was a Canadian, true, • but no matter how great he became, he never forgot those people in the smaller areas who loved his brand of musicwith deep affection, Guy and His Royal Canadians were well-known in Huron County, and he was here just last May in Goderich, and also played to packed - 110 houses in Seaforth in 1975. Along with Guy, Bing and Elvis have also gone to that great musical "hall of fame" in the sky, and 1977 will be remembered for the loss of those artists. + ++ And although those three may be forgotten in several years by many, our fallen parents and grandparents, uncles and brothers will be remembered this Friday as we hold our annual Remembrance Day Services, beginning at 10:30 a.m. with the parade to the Cenotaph. Most businesses in town will be closed until noon, and the schools and post office will be closed all day. + + + The Minor Hockey Association too, are hoping that everyone will remember their fund raising dance being held this Friday night at the White Carnation with another well-known local , band, the "Star 'Trex" providing the shoe shuffling music. 4 040 + ++ We notice too, that the merchants are already starting their Christmas campaign, which reminds us of the joke 410, that "Just about the time most of us get our summer vacations paid fit's time to start worrying about Christmas." + ++ Editors seem to be popular people with the stork lately. Two weeks ago it was yours truly, editor of the Clinton News - Record, and .last week Susan White, editor of the Seaforth Expositor, and husband Andy were presented with a new six pound 51/2 ounce girl by the big 0 bird. Now, let's see what you can do, Batten. asleep on the couch in the television room on the second storey. He was awakened abruptly by a noise outside. He said the noise seemed close and consisted mainly of shouting and a thumping sound. He then heard a noise behind him and in the darkness made his way across the room and ran into his son, Terrence Bullen Jr., in the doorway. He said his son acted in a 'frenzied manner' and pushed him aside while saying: "Help us. You have to help. They are going to kill us." In the brief encounter with his son he also noticed that he held his gun, a .22 calibre pistol which Bullen Sr. kept in the top drawer of his dresser. He took the gun from his son and said, "You won't need this." His son ran downstairs and he followed across the kitchen and outside to the Yard. TERRENCE BULLEN Board of Ed • "I still didn't know where the trouble was and kind of stumbled ahead," he said, "We approached the van and I could see car lights behind it and there was more shouting." He stated that because of the bright car lights he could only detect two people closing the car doors and he shouted for them 'to get out of here'. He then claimed the car started coming back towards him at great speed with the headlights blinding him. Bullen stated he thought the car would hit him and braced himself but the doors of the car opened and two forms leaped out at the same time the vehicle came to a stop approximately three to five feet behind the parked van. "I stepped back and there were two enormous people, two giants coming towards me," he said. "I told them to get back off the property and one of them said 'he's got a gun, a real god damn gun'." Bullen said he was holding the gun by the barrel since taking it from his son in the house. He turned it around in his hand and said, "Yes it is a real gun, get back." He stated he ' was backing up at the time and 'thinks' the gun went off twice because he remembers seeing the flame and someone said 'those bullets are real'. Bullen testified that the two forms kept coming at him and began taunting him to shoot while pointing out targets on their chests. In unison they said shoot, shoot and I must have waited too long because I remember a gun going off," he said. They turned and faced each other and took a .few steps towards their car but, one collapsed." Bullen estimated that the whole sequence was over in 15 seconds. Earlier in the trial Leroy De.Iong had testified that Bullen fired the warning shots while Favours drinking age of 19 The.Huron County BOard of Education supported a move to raise the legal drinking age in Ontario to 19. The board agreed with the raise in the drinking age and will send its feelings on to local and provincial government officials sup- porting legi4lation now in provincial legislature. The Oxford County Board •of Education sent •a letter to the Huron board asking that it support changes in legislation which would result in raising the drinking age. The Oxford board felt that the present legislation has resulted in "an unacceptable situation in terms of its effect on health, safety and morality". The request from Oxford was ac- companied with comments from Remo Mancini, M.P.P. for Essex South, who has introduced a private membe,rs' bill in the legislature to have the legal drinking age raised' from 18 to 19. The province lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18 in 1971 but in repent years there has been pressure for a raise in the age. Mancini cited a 1976 •Addiction Research Foundation Survey showing that among a sample of 1,439 high school students in Ontario, 86 per cent drank although less than 25 per cent were of legal drinking age. Mancini said his bill would remove the practice of drinking from the province's high schools. Despite increasing support for the raising of the drinking age the bill is likely to pass according to a survey of cabinet ministers. The argument most frequently used by thescabinet ministers is that it would not be fair to allow a person to vote at 18 yet not drink until he turned 19. Director of Education John Cochrane supported that reasoning and told the board that the bill may be defeated on the basis of the voting age being 18. But Cochrane pointed out that during the war there was a law telling youngsters they had to fight when they were 18 but couldn't drink until they were 21. they were backing out of the driveway and they then pulled the car back into the driveway thinking the gun was 'loaded with blanks' and to 'throw a scare into Bullen'. The DeJongs were attempting to get into a van parked on the Bullen property to get an apology from Greg Nielsen. Nielsen and three friends, Terry Heard, Paul Payne and, Peter MacVean had locked themselves in the van after the driver, Terrence Bullen Jr. ran into the house. Bullen Jr. reappeared from the house at one point but was chased back in by Leroy. The next time he appeared his father was with him and Leroy claims that is when they decided to leave. "I didn't hear him say get off my property but we didn't •want any trouble," Leroy said. "We were not afraid of Bullen but we were leaving out of respect for the man." Leroy said he and his brother..heard Bullen fire the warning shots as they backed out of the driveway and im- mediately pulled the car back in quickly to find out what was going on. Under cross examination by defense counsel Donnelly, Leroy said he and his brother came back into the driveway, after they had prepared to leave, to talk to Bullen and to see why he had pulled a gun. He said their first reaction was that continued on page 3 Santa comes early Who says Santa Claus is only for kids? This statement proved to be wrong at the Wesley -Willis Morning Market held on Saturday when Mary Jamieson along with many other people, young and old, got their first glimpse of jolly old St. Nick, who took time out from his very busy schedule at the North Pole to visit Clinton. (News -Record photo) Council will meet over town hall study After probing from Councillor Ron McKay, Clinton council decided - last Monday night to meet with local ar- chitect and planner Nick Hill of Auburn and inquire about the cost of a feasibility study on Clinton's 90 -year-old town hall. McKay had wanted to go ahead anddo "gtUdy, which; would determine if the hall.would be worthwhile restoring, but all he could talk council into was the meeting with Hill. McKay has also assembled a group of people who want to start a local Architectural Conservancy Society, but he told council they should "give the committee a job to go ahead with." Council had met in September with officials from Heritage Foundation of Ontario, who said a new feasibility study should be carried out before any more steps are taken. "We should make a decision right now to go ahead with the study," McKay said. Mayor Harold Lobb said council should meet with Hill in a closed meeting to find out first how much the study would cost, even though the government pays for half of the cost of the study. Council had spent $12,000 on a study in 1974, that just looked at the renovation of the library„ and building a new senior citizens' centre, while recommending tearing down the old town hall. Voters in the 1974 municipal elections rejected tearing down the old town hall in a referendum. Reeve Royce Macaulay said he would want soil studies done first to see what condition the footings are in. "Our first priority is to see that the footings are strong enough. There's no sense spending money fixing it (the town hall) if it's sinking into quicksand," Macaulay said. In other business, council recom- mended that Bill Fleming meet directly with the Clinton Public Utilities Com- mission over a request for a six-inch water main to service Fleming's Feed Mill. • Council was told by town solicitor Beecher Menzies that they can't enter into any agreement with Fleming to help put the main in, that is the responsibility. of the PUC. "I think .we should do everything we can to keep industry in town," Mayor Lobb said, "but the PUC was set up by council in 1909 and they have to do the job." "Well, how do we make the PUC do it?" asked deputy -reeve Frank Cook. "If after Fleming goes to the PUC and they still won't do it, then we should act on their (the PUC's) behalf," reeve Macaulay said. "It (the PUC) was voted in by council, arid "it can be voted out again," said clerk Cam Proctor. "We have enough to do without run- ning the PUC," said Mayor Lobb, "I'm sure this whole thing can be straightened out' to everyone's satisfaction." Christmas plans set by Business Ass 'n. A Santa Centre, the Grand Christmas Give -a -way, in store decorating, and seasonal decorating will set the mood for Christmas in Clinton this year as the town's Business Association is underway with their Christmas campaign. A small group of 13 business people and merchants met in Bartliff's Restaurant Tuesday evening to make and finalize plans for the holiday season. The main proposal brought forward at the meeting by Clinton News -Record representative was a joint Christmas promotion for store owners in town, the Grand Give -a -way. Gibb explained that the draw will be similar to last year's but noted, "Last year the draw was a trip to Florida, but this year it goes inward and stays within Clinton." Instead of one grand prize winner, this year's winners will. consist' of five merchandise certificates. Tickets are available from all participating mer- chants for each $5 of merchandise purchased. , The first draw for $200 of merchandise Top 4 -Hier 'Sharon Colclough of 'RR 1, Clinton, right, was chosen the top 4-H member for Huron County at the annual Achievement night held last Friday night in Clinton. Miss Colclough was presented with the Robert McKinley Citizenship trophy by Huron ag. rep. Don Pullen. (photo by Oke) will be held on Saturday, November 19, the second draw for a $1000 certificate will take place on November 26. Similar draws will be held on December 3 and 10 and. the final draw for $500 will take place on December 17. Stores will be posted with pennants and signs advertising the draw and explaining it. In addition, draws for free turkeys will be held on December 1, 2 and 3 and from December 5 to 10. Gibb of the News -Record will be picking a merchant's name from the,membership list and the next customer making a cash purchase in that store will. receive a voucher for a free turkey. Gibb explained, "There will be more turkey draws this year to sustain in- terest." The business people in Clinton will be out with decorations on Tuesday, November 15 for the annual store decorating party and as last years, they will all meet in Bartliff's Restaurant afterwards for a Christmas party. The , decorations, will almost be complete by Wednesdny, November 16, when the PUC will put up the street lighting. However Bob Campbell explained to the business people that the PUC said that the lights could not be turned on until December 1, according to a ruling from the Ontario Energy Board. Al Mathers objected to the energy board's ruling and noted that Kincardine has had their lights on for a month. The Santa Centre will bo open again this year in the small room at the town hall. Helen Tench, committee member, told the group that' letters had been sent ode to the Lions, Kinsmen, Legion, Huron Fish and Game and one would be sent to the Town of Clinton asking for a $50 donation for candy and other costs. She noted that Nancy Stubbs, a CHSS - marketing teacher and some of her students, will begin decorating the centre on .Decemberl. The centre will _ open on Friday and Saturday, December 2 and 3 and will be open each Friday and Saturday until Christmas Eve, and of course Santa Claus will be there. own committees want payment The very thorny problem of pay or stipends to volunteer committee members reared its ugly head at Clinton council last Monday night, and council, wishing to take the right track, deferred a decision until next year on the question. The problem arose when the cemetery board wrote cOurcil asking that all members be given a stipend of $12 per meeting, ,and $15 for the chairman, retroactive to last January. Council appoints the five members, who in the past/were all volunteers, with an additional two members coming frorn council itself.' "Just a minute", councillor Ray Garon said when the motion was in- troduced, "if we start paying them, then we'll have to pay all the other com- mittees such as planning, recreation, etc,, and it will end up costing the town a fortune." "I say we should forget about it (paying the cemetery board) for 1977 and reconsider it for 1978," Garon said. "We should vote on whether all should be paid or none," said ' Councillor Rosemary Armstrong. Currently, town councillors,get $40 per full meeting, PUC members get $300 per year, Huron County school board members get $3,600 per year, while other committees like hospital board, cemetery board, planning board, committee of adjustment, etc. receive nothing. "The committees should put it in their budgets, it's not up to us to decide," councillor Ron McKay said. In Other business, council decided at a special meeting on October 26, of which the press was not informed, to purchase a new Champion road grader for the town at a Costt of $51,360 to replace the 1966 mode1.61.tftently in service. On Monday night, council concurred with two motions from other municipalities, one to raise the drinking age to 19 and the other to have. the government investigate the increasing spread of pornography. Council also told Paul Goldsworthy to apply Or a minor variance in order that hemay add an addition to his Victoria street service station, and turned back to committee a request from John Parker he have two lots on Victoria Terrace rezoned from holding to residential. The town had offered Parker $5,000 fqr the two lots in order to retain them for it park, but Parker wanted $12,000. "We shbuld only rezone it if sewer lines are jut in," said councillor Roy Wheeler,0 no cost to the town." "We shouldn't allow any more septic tanks next t� the river," Mayor Lobb said.