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Clinton News-Record, 1979-02-08, Page 1114th year -No. 6 All kinds of tourists come to Clinton'every year to see the town, but two of the strangest visitors are seen here sightseeing on Victoria Street last Wednesday night. The two heifers were part of a load of seven that fell off a thick that was going through town. All were captured after a three-hour round -up. (News - Record photo) Thursday, February 8, 197? 111,, "tuommon....immommersm, 35 cents Weather 1979 1978 MI 10 HI (0 5 —9 --I 4 3 —6 —7 4 —5 ---12 2 —5 —18 Snow 18 cm .Sow 6" 15. 8 20 3 16 —16 8 —24 JAN.', C C F P 30 —2 —4 20 16 31 —3 —8 19 6 Feb. 1 —6 --9 19 9 oard won't reopen debate on book BY JEFF SEDDON The Huron County Board of Education was served notice Tuesday that the battle of the books is far from over. The board received a letter from the Huron Freedom of Choice Society asking that Margaret Laurence's novel The Diviners, removed from the board's list of approved English literature books, be reinstated. The letter also asked that anytime a trustee ikt4'041t*,,Wq. • WU1' tTi‘oxizut 444 MItikUlitli LIWArrt IMIt'ktt ' 4. It looked more like a Western round -up in Clinton last Wednesday night than a peaceful, qtiiet Canadian small town, as dozens of police, would-be cowboys, and spectators watch the great cattle round -up. Seven heifers owned by Now be The Goderich OPP have discovered that there were three men involved in last Tuesday's bank robbery in Lon- desboro. Investigating officer Constable Doug Spitzig reported that although only two A4P4.,14„, Jim Radford of Londesboro roamed town for three hours after they escaped from a truck. Here one heifer is caught in front of the Muffler Hut after an hour's tour of the to00,,1 lt • 'Avtp . (News -Record iihoto) men entered the bank, when they left the scene in a green car, a third person was believed to be in the vehicle. The car, which had been parked behind Thompson's General, Store headed east and despite massive Get along little doggie! The streets of Clinton took on a western mood last Wednesday night as dozens of area residents got in on a cattle round -up. Seven feeder heifers, on their way to the Hensall Livestock Auctions got loose in Clinton's main core area, halting traffic and luring dozens of would-be cowboys , police and spec- tators out into the cold night air. The carnival -like event started at the north end of town about 5:30 p.m. when a pin on a tailgate of a 5 -ton stake truck driven by Howard Adkins of R.R. 1, Zurich, broke, allowing the gate to open first column and the cattle tumbled out one by One in a path from th.e North End Store to Harold's Shell. The first heifer was stunned and quickly roped by Bruce Lockhart and tied to a tree at his R.R. 4, Clinton home, but the remaining six ranged over most of the town until they were captured by a host of helpers about 8:30 p.m. The cattle, which were owned by Jirn Radford of Londesboro, were none the worse for the venture, except the one that fell out at the North End, which suffered a leg injury and lacerations. One of the real benefits of working on a weekly newspaper is the variety of situations an editor or reporter runs across. Just when you think things .are getting boring and dull, all hell breaks loose. Versatility is one of the weekly reporters most important assets, as he -she must be equally at home in the boardroom or the barnyard. I've talked to cabinet ministers in the House of Commons, and helped a dairy farmer pull a calf into the world, but I never thought I'd be chasing cattle down the main street of Clinton in the middle of the winter! 'Who says life is dull'? And life wasn't dull for any motorists- or snowplow drivers lase • Sunday night and Monday, as a one - day blizzard ripped through the area, closing everything down temporarily. Although winter started off on a good foot in December, .January and February have so far reminded us of how . rough a good old fashioned winter can really be. According to Tony Chir, keeper of the weather records up at Goderich, January 1979 was much colder than normal with it mean of minus 7.2 degrees C., compared tO the average of minus 5.8 degrees C. We ahio had far more snow than normal getting 108 m compared to the average of 66 cm, while.the rainfall was only 9.2 mm compared to the average of 23.4 mr" y says it was also a very cloaudy month, with very little sunshine, but because they have no instruments for measuring old Sol's, presence no records are available. And oh yes, the groundhog saw his shadow in Clinton last Friday. Better phone the oil man. Because the debate has been raging for centuries, it is not likely that the ancient dispute over the true meaning of the Bible will be solved in the "readers write" columns of the News -Record, so after this week, this paper will cease to publish letters on either the Trinity of the existence of Jehovah, and those involved can -carry on their debate by private mail. + With Valentine's Day coming up next Wednesday, it's time to let thoughts , of spring flowers, soft green grass and love float through our minds, and as is the occasion in the past, we have written a poem to Pierre expressing our sentiments: "Roses are red, Violets are blue I have a buck That's worth 83 cents too." is involved with a decision tb approve a textbook that the trustee be made to read the book before making that decision. The board shuffled the issue off refusing to re -open the debate on ap- proving or disapproving of books for classroom use in county schools. The novels became the centre of a bitter and emotional contraversy in 1978 and resulted in the board taking The Diviners out of the classroom. The Huron chapter of Renaissance International, headed by Blyth resident Lloyd Barth, started the issue boiling last year when it asked the board to ban three novels, The Diviners, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The request brought book supporters and opponents to the field of battle and culminated in a highly emotional public meeting in Clinton that attracted about 500 people. The board reacted to the issue by taking The Diviners off the list of approved texts. That meant that the. book could not be used in classrooms but would be left in the school libraries. The board did not consider the move a ban on the novel. Freedom of Choice members felt different. The group formed a few months ago .with the idea of forming an organization similar to Renaissance International but with opposite aims. Members hoped to gain enough representation to have the same im- pact on trustees as Renaissance sup- porters. Some of the members of the Freedom of Choice were willing to leave The Diviners off the approved list of texts and concentrate efforts on future issues. But in its January meeting the group decided to ask the board to re -instate The Diviners. Board chairman John Elliott was not interested in re -opening the book issue and asked the board for a motion to recieve and file the letter from Freedom of Choice. Elliott indicated roadblocks set up by the police, the robbers escaped. "We've run down a bunchof suspects," Constable Spitzig reported, but the investigation continues and no .arrests have been made. The police have also learned that the masked robbers got only $1,600 not $2,000 as earlier thought, from the small bank, manned by a lone teller Pat Thomas. "It was hardly worth the effort," Constable Spitzig said. The Londesboro bank, which is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays is a sub- agency to the Clinton branch of the Bank of Montreal. It is usually only staffed by one person. Earl Hilderley, manager of the Clinton bank; said the Londesboro branch is still open. He. added, "We haven't discussed the closing. It's up to the divisiOn but I doubt if it will happen." Dozens of cars involved in blizzard Monday crashes The Goderich OPP were kept busy during Monday's. snowstorm,. in- vestigating accidents as well as stopping and diverting traffic. Highway 8' between Clinton and Goderich was opened and closed several times after blowing snow and poor visibility caused a. number of crashes., The highway was closed around 9 a.m. , after . a crash, just north of Holmesville left a number of cars and trucks scattered across the road. Although the police report hasn't beencompleted on the multi vehicle accident, a series of minor rear end crashes took place involving a number of cars, trucks and semi -trailers. Some people received minor injuries and the Goderich ambulance service attended the scene. As well, the am- bulance turned at least a dozen vehicles around and led them back to Goderich through poorand nil visibility weather. The highway was cleared arid re- opened and by' noon hour a second multi -car crash _occurred at the same spot. 6, car driven by Oswald Rudi, 60 of Hyde Park received $500 in damages. A car driven by Fritz Peterson, 35 of 'London received $800 and a third car driven by Leo Krohe, 49 of Woodstock had $1,000 in damages when the three northbound vehicles collided. , Highway 4 was also the scene of a Monday morning accident that resulted in $750 damages. A vehicle driven by John Caldwell, 40 of Blyth and a second driven by Murray Wilson, 21 of Shedden were both travelling southbound on the highway, just south 'of the Vanastra corner Mien they collided due to the poor visibility. No injuries were sustained but damage to the Caldwell vehicle was set at $500 and $250 to the Wilson ear. , As well, the highway, was closed at Brucefield and Kippen. The Clinton police reported a hit and run on February 3. .A green Ford backed into a pole at 330 Victoria Street, broke it off and then drove away. Damage to the cement pole, owned by the PUC, was see at $500. • Chief Lloyd 'Westlake reminds drivers that there will be no more free parking at Clinton's downtown meters. Cars parked at the meters without paying will be issued a $2 fine. later that his intention was to have the request dealt with according to board policy, policy adopted after the last book fiasco. The chairman said the board had adopted definite policy to handle such requests and he felt that policy should be followed. He said English depart- ment heads, superintendants of education and some teachers will be meeting with tilt board's education committee in June to approve t'xt- books and the board will look at a recommendation from that committee at its August meeting. Elliott said if Freedom of Choice members wanted to meet with the education committee to make a presentation they could request such a meeting. Zurich trustee Herb Turkheim felt that the letter deserved more than that. He asked Elliott if the board intended to acknowledge the letter or "com- pletely ignore" it. Elliott pointed out that the board acknowledges every letter it receives. He said he felt the board policy adequately covered the situation and that action to acknowledge the suggestions . from Freedom of Choice was an "adequate reply". "When the book banners came along we gave them two audiences and now the other side comes out and we are saying no thanks we're not interested," said Turkheim. • Lucknow trustee Marion Zinn said all she got from the Freedom of Choice letter was that the group was asking trustees to read books before taking any action. "There's a lot of stormy days ahead we should be able to read a lot of books," she quipped. Goderich trustee Dorothy Wallace suggested that the board's action was "giving an impression of being a fairly autocratic board". She pointed out that a group of citizens is making a request and the board is "just filing it". Exeter trustee Clarence McDonald asked that when a letter of reply is sent to Freedom of Choice that it be ex- plained that "the book is not banned it is de -listed". McDonald said the word banned is not the proper expression and asked that the letter explain that. • Margaret Rivers, author of the letter, said she was dissappointed with the board's action. She said she did not think the board would re -instate the novel but she did think the matter would be sent to committee. Rivers said she did not know how Freedom of Choice would react to the board's move adding that the group is meeting later this month and further action will be planned. She said she understood the board's action adding that in a way it was fair. She conceded that the issue can't be debated "over and over". "I feel it's time the biard put its foot down and said this is the way we are going to deal with this but it didn't do that the last time," said Rivers. She pointed out that the Renaissance group was given an opportunity to address the. board the last time ,it brought the matter up. She said the board discussed the matter with the Renaissance group adding that it "irritated" her that that opportunity was denied Freedom of Choice. High school to host province -wide workshop • School is no longer just a place to learn the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic. On April 20-22, 35 high schools from Sarnia to Kenora will be studying a new subject, newspaper work. ' Central Huron Secondary School (CHSS) in Clinton has set up and will be hosting the two day workshop for some 65 students. As well as producing a weekly page of news and features for the News - Record, the students of the Newspaper club also publish a 1,000 circulation monthly tabloid paper distributed in the school. As well as writing and laying out the "tab" they also sell and compose advertising to pay for it. The CHSS in -school paper, which,has been in full operation for over a 'year, will combinewith the other schools to create a.24 page tabloid edition over the weekend. Over 7,000 copies of the paper will be printed and sold in the schools who participated in its making. Rick Brown, editor of the CHSS paper, explained that each school delegation will send in news copy as well as bring $20 worth of advertising for the paper. Once the workshop is in session, the 65 students will be divided into groups and each given two pages to work on. With this, they will edit copy that has come in, design the layout, make up the advertisements and put the pages, together. Rick went on to say that workshops will be held on editorial writing, news writing, interviewing, photography, layout, advertising and graphics. Along with help from other students in the school and CHSS teachers, Rick hopes to have representatives from the Toronto Star, the Canadian University Press, papers from Guelph University, University of Western Ontario, Mohawk and Centennial College at the workshop. To help funthe' ambiti dous project., each student will pay a '$30 fee and Rick is looking for $1,200 in sponsorship. Each sponsor will receive an ad- vertisement in the paper. The CHSS student council will help pay for the paper costs until money from advertising is collected. The paper will be printed at Signal -Star Publishing in Goderich. The students attending the seminar will be billeted in Clinton over the weekend. The girls will stay at the Ontario Street United Church and the boys will be sleeping at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. "I'm really looking forward to it," Rick said,, "but I hope it's not a flop." ST. JOSEPH'S SCHOOL What a wa' to spend a recess, relaxing in a fprt. Tie Gr de and 8 boys at ge Joe's think let great. The Milti-holed Ovation was Made. by 19ck Gauntreau,Steve ilubert, Wayne Smith, Jeff Gauntreau, Billy Van Nnhuys, Paul Van Boers and Kenny Brideau. The boys admitted with some reluctance that the grade 8 girls started the fort. On Friday afternoon, they used the snowy domain to pay tribute to the groundhog. (News -Record photo)