Clinton News-Record, 1980-06-05, Page 1At Huronview
fw�C.i. s ss ,tea.kk
The antics, of a dozen Shrine Temples from Canada-and–the Untied States
thrilled thousand§ at the Shriner Parade held at Clinton on Saturday afternoon,
and there was a good turnout of Clinton members of the Bluewater Shrine Club
who helped organize the extravaganza and participate in the parade, like Doug
• Morgan, who is in the clown patrol. (News -Record photo) .......
ew hea
BY
SHARON DIETZ
The new Clinton branch office.of the
—Huron County Health Unit will be an
'ti . n to the onvi , o,_Lc:
the Aged rather than. ' a separate.
building on the Huronview property.
Huron County Council made the
decision on a recommendation from
their property committee at their
May meeting last Thursday. When the
last additton_ was buift onto Huron-
view, provision was made to add a
further 75 -bed, wing : extending to the
east. The property committee decided
it would be more economical to attach
the Health Building to the present
Huronview in place of the. originally
proposed 75 -bed addition.
Should it. become necessary to
provide additional home for the aged
beds, county council decided a new
building would be built in either the
south or north end of the county. It is
the policy of the Ministry of Com-
munity and Family Services that any
additional beds required should be
built in either the north or south end of
Fair hoping for "fair" weather
By Shelley -McPhee
Everyone -at the Central Huron
Agricultural Society in Clinton has his
or her fingers crossed, hoping that the
overcast skies and the cool weather of
the past week will hold its own for the
three-day spring fair that opens this
Friday afternoon. -
The 126th Clinton Spring Fair is one
of the biggest annual attractions that.
the town and .Agricultural Society
hosts and is billed as the largest class
"B" spring fair, in Ontario.
Last year th:e fair celebrated it's
125th birthday"in a big way and over
8,00,0 people turned out to enjoy the
midway, parade, grandstand show,
livestock competitions and , ladies'
handcrafted goods.
Special attractions lined up for this
year include a sanctioned mini
tractor pull on Friday night in front of
the grandstand and an exciting
display by the Trans Canada Hell
Drivers on . Sunday evening: The
Clinton Pipe Band will be performing
on Saturday night and a special
feature as the grand finale to the
horse. show wills be held with the
Sunfield Equestriannettes, a
precision drill team of young people
from Benmiller and Machie, the disco
dancing horse.
And if that's not enough, the Clinton
Kinsmen Club will be operating their
annual beer tent under the grand -
first column
- Finally, I'm back, after three
weeks off and an enjoyable time
with my family, including the
newest member, little Fraser who
put in a belated, but joyful ap-
pearance during my last week off.
Fraser joins Screamer and
Terror at home and believe me,
there's nevem a dull moment
around the Fitzgerald abcxle.
Thankfully, Lois and I have many
very helpful relatives, neighbors
and friends, so things went` very
smoothly.
+ + +
While I was away, Shelley and
Cath sure did an excellent job on
the old rag, and it just goes to show
you that -no one is irreplacable. And
by the looks of those papers, the
gals were kept pretty busy.
According to one story, the BIA
is finally. getting the town off its
collective butt and their im-
provement scheme would sure go a
long way to dress up the town and
make it more attractive for both
residents and visitors alike.
But having lived in Clinton for
eight years, and knowing the way
some people think, my guess is that
half the plan will be vetoed, and so
watered down that the impact will
be far less than hoped for. I -'d sure
be glad to be proven wrong,
however.
Judging by the activity on main
street, and the renewed en-
thusiasm shown by the BIA,
Clinton seems to liave a... very
positive attitude lately. Several
new businees have opened up,
there are' rumors of several more,
and even the tree planters look
stunning this year, thanks to the
junior horticulturalists.
The wit is in a pretty good mood
again this week, and reminds us
that happiness is living every day
as if it were the first day of
stand and will also be holding a Monte_
Carlo Casino tent, during the three
day fair. ,
For the younger generation and the
young at heart, they're be the midway
and the popular Old . MacDonald's
Farm. Draws for school aged children
will be held and a bicycle and
calculator will be given away, as two
of the prizes. As well, young fair goers
can enjoy a s'peoial puppet show on
Sunday afternoon.
The ladies' baking and handcrafted
goods will be judged and their
exhibits can be viewed from Friday to
Sunday. The Ontario Spring Jersey
show and the Huron County Holstein
Show will be judged on Friday,
beginning at . noon. Many"` other
livestock competitions are also
scheduled and include poultry, swine,
sheep, the horse and western games
show. w�p
And don't forget the parade on
Saturday. It begins at 1 pm and winds
- its way down -the main, streets to the
fair grounds' for a 2 prn official
opening:
Mothers will get a chance to show of
their little ones in the annual prize
winning baby show which is held on
Saturday and 11 area girls will vie for
the honor of Queen of the Fair in .a
Friday night pageant in the arena.
Merchants will also be setting up their
displays in the arena for the three
days.
The weekend showwill also
maintain its rural image as over
$22,000 in prize money will be given
out to classes ranging from the best
hairpin lace article to the top hackney
fine harness team, from the best
homemade rhubarb pie to the finest
grand champion bulls.
The Clinton Spring Fair gets un-
derway Friday at noon and continues
non-stop with events for all ages and
interests... until Sunday evening. c ;,,..to------ ---
No mixed busing ,in Hallett
An aura of confusion surrounded a
motion by Huron County Board of
Education Trustee John Elliott to
rescind immediate plans .for in-
tegration of busing in Hullett
by
jim fitzgerald
marriage and the last day o
vacation.
Well, the Shriners have left town,
and we no sooner have time to
catch our breaths than the town is
knee deep in more activity, in-
cluding the spring fair this
weekend, the monster bingos
which start on Monday night and,
the big Kinsmen barbecue next
Saturday. a .
At the end of June, the horse
races .tajce over every Sunday until
the end of the summer, and there's
scads and scads of baseball and
soccer to the played. Who said
things were dull around here!
And don't forget to mark, Sep-
tember 13 down on your calendar,
'cause that's the date of the big
gala pool party here in town. By the
sounds of things, it will be a big
event, all for the pool fund.
+ +
And if you're still looking for
something to do, you could help out
with the planning for the Klompen
Feest which will be inaugurated
next spring. They're looking for
volunteers to come to a meeting at
the town hall on Tuesday, June 17,
at 8 pm.
+ + +
Don't forget the Londesboro
Lions either, as they'll be around
this corning Saturday morning for
their annual monthly newspaper
pick-up.
+ ++
Apparently, the newest pastime
in the area is comparing black fly
bites, as the little critters are so
thicit that they are proving more
than a nuisance this year. Some
little children. are so badly bitten it
makes them sick, and no one can
explain why the insects are such a
problem. According to older poeple
in the- area, they were almost
unheard of until a, few years ago, so
why the invasion, no one knows.
Township and include them in a long
range plan for the whole county.
Elliott said his reasoning behind his
motion was that the integration of
high school and public school students
travelling on buses to Londesboro and
then to Clinton would only include the
centre strip of Hullett. He said that
the same result (the elimination of
one bus, thus • saving about 5,000)
could be achieved another way with
less disruption to the students.
One of the two express buses that
take secondary school students to
Clinton would be eliminated since
student poputa-tfan from that area is
diminishing. The overflow, he
suggested, could be picked up by one
of the country drivers.
Elliott said that it would make more
sense for the board to look at the in-
tegration ' aspect when the whole
county is examined. The
management committee plans to
introduce to the board an ongoing
plan of bus route integration of
elementary and secondary school
routes this November. • •
After considerable attempts to
understand and compare Elliott's
proposal and the plan for integrated
busing laid down by transportation
manager R.L. Cunningham, the
board passed Elliott's motion to
delete one of the express buses from
Blyth to Clinton.
His main concern about the 'in-
tegration, said Elliott, was that
"whenever you have high school
students hanging around a public
school for more than five minutes,
you have trouble." He said that the
time between when high school
students arrived at the public school
in Londesboro and when the younger
children were dismissed, and then
were bussed home with the high
schoolers, was too great. However,
Elliott did not know what time the two
schools dismissed.
None of the trustees knew when
Hullett Central in Londesboro
finished classes, but superintendent
W.D. Kenwell said that Central Huron
Secondary School in Clinton
dismissed at 3:15. This triggered a
complaint from Trustee John Hen-
derson that CHSS does not r have
enough class time with activity
periods twice a week.
"Vou see two or 300 of them walking
down the road at 2:30 in the afternoon
on those days when they can be in
learning something."
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1980
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unit office to4be addition
the county so that residents could
remain closer to their own com-
rhunity.
Tom Consitt, reeve of Stanley,
,..=asked -.__ how- ._,seem -the-- -c-o tvt-y--would-
require additionalbeds. County clerk -
administrator Bill Hanly told council
that the waiting list for Huronview
has remained stable around 30-35
people waiting for admission.
Hanly said the home has been able
to accommodate any emergencies up
to this point. He said the home
operates with 300 beds occupied when
they have a total of 310 beds. Hanly
suggested the home care program
should alleviate any, immediate
problems with shortage oT beds. He
added there may eventually be an
elimination of normal care beds at
Huronview as chronic care becomes.
the emphasis.
Admissions to Huronview are on an
average older and -or require more
care than had previously been given
because of the many community
The man riding high in the convertible at the beginning of the parade was the
main reason nearly 2,000 Shriners came to Clinton last Saturday. R. Spence
Cummings is the Potentate this year of the Mocha Temple out of London that
covers a wide area in southwestern Ontario. The town was' packed for the
parade, which was followed by Shriner ceremonies all evening at the Clinton
Community Centre. (News -Record photo)
support services which come into
being,. such as the chronic and home
care programs. Huronview has been
granted ,an increase of extended care
beds. The total capacity of 310 beds
has not changed but the allocation of
beds has. There are now 171 beds set
aside for extended care.
Dr. Brian Lynch, Medical Officer of
Health, pointed out that the ad-
ministrators of hospitals in Huron and
Perth counties recently completed a
survey which indicates the • 2 is no
need for additional chronic care beds
in the two counties until 1985.
Lynch said this will be a busy year.
of planning to implement the chronic
care program because everything is
based on estimates. He said he has
met with the hospital administrators
in Huron and Perth to discuss the
program to avoid overlap and
duplication of services provided by
the hospitals and the health program.
Lynch said he has been in contact
with Peterborough County and their
experience has been that more people
avail themselves of the chronic care
program when it becomes available,
Lynch said he is not contemplating
a __shift __.of..._ staff._.fr_om... Goder.ich.- to --
Clinton.
Clinton. He said the new health
building. in Clinton will be the Clinton
branch office as it is now and Clinton
staff will be moving to the new
building. Lynch explained that the
Clinton office has difficulty housing
its 15 -member staff. The Victorian
Order Nurses are using a house next
door to the nurses' residence where
„the health office is located and there
is no room for any increase in staff.
The inclusion of a chronic care.
program by 1981 will mean a
dramatic increase in health staff said
Lynch. He met with the provincial.
home care consultant in April to'
discuss the initiaLplanning for the'
inclusion of ,a chronic care program
and estimates indicate a possible
patient load of 350 per month. The
health .unit's current case load is 60
patients per month. Experience with
other chronic home care programs
suggests a home care staff of between
10 and 15 full-time, said Lynch. The
current home care staff in Huron is
four.
Lynch said he is delighted with the
choice of location for the new Health
Building attached to Huronview. He
said the health staff would be able to
share space, maintenance and
cafeteria services with the Home.
There may also be a useful mesh with
health, home and chronic care
programs as Huronview becomes
more chronic care oriented,
suggested Lynch.
County wants rail service improved
BY SHARON DIETZ
Huron County Council has
suggested rail service be improved in
the county to provide a more
economical and energy . efficient
method of transportation.
The suggestions are contained in a
brief sent by the County to the Ontario
Task Force on Provincial Rail Policy.
The brief, prepared by the county's
development committee, suggests the
time of travel must be cut down and
the cost of this travel lowered.
The brief points out that discon-
tinued rail passenger service has had
a detrimental effect on the young and
old, those who cannot afford the
luxury of automotive transportation.
Transportation of raw' material in
and out of the county is steadily in-
creasing and the cost of this tran-
sportation makes the establishment
of manufacturing in Huron unlikely,
states ' the-, brief. Transportation
therefore, should be as inexpensive as
possible to the residents of the county
and industry.
Perhaps, suggests the brief, it is the
role of, rail in this province to help
achieve an inexpensive tran-
sportation of people and material.
The county also suggests the rail
lines would be used by passengers if
the service established was reliable.
No one would take a car to Toronto or
Hamilton if a good rail line or airline,
at reasonable passenger rate, were
established with a dependable
schedule.
Modern technology, says the brief,
could cut down the time in. travel for
passengers. The county of Huron
makes the suggestion that a one car
service from Goderich to connect with
the present service in either London ,
or Stratford would make available a
service which would be used. This in
effect would take automobiles off the
road and conserve needed energy.
If a new technology system was
implemented for freight, says the
brief, the county is sure that part load
shipments of material would more
than pay for the service. This would
also take off the road many trucks
which haul steel or a like product into
this area. Thisagain would be a
saving in energy.
Reeve Calvin Krauter of Brussels.
' commented that a one -car servic»
should be established along the north
rail line through the county as well as
along the line between Goderich and
Stratford. He said people in the north
part of the county would like to 'use
rail service as well, and he would like
to see the suggestions presented in the
county's brief implemented.
Merchants object to closure
By Shelley McPhee
The possiblity of closing the north
end of Isaac Street through a
revitalization_ scheme for Clinton's
downtwon area has eesulted in
complaints from some Business
Improvement Area ( BIA) merchants.
At the Clinton council meeting on
June 2, a petition signed by several
Isaac Street merchants, including
Alex Verbeek, Arnold Riley, Grant
Irwin, Bryan Lavis and the Gaiser-
Kneale Insurance Company was read.
The merchants are opposed to the
proposal to close Isaac Street to
create a large pedestrian area. Plans
for the BIA, prepared by architect
Nick Hill, show a Corner's Park being
developed with the a;ea consisting of
a backdrop of trbes to the west, a
brick paved courtyard in the centre
and a raised podium with some sort of
sculpture or town symbol.
The Isaac Street merchants are
firmly against the closure of the north
end of the one way street. In a letter to
council, they noted that the street is
already isolated from the rest of the
downtown area. They explained that
the steeet carries a"heavy amount of
truck traffic and parkifig spaces
along the street,\would be lost.
The petitioners are also concerned
that they will lose out-of-town
customers and effect their sales. They
noted that customers would "have to
fight their way through a maze."
The Isaac Street merchants noted,
however, that they support the BIA
and the rest of the improvement plans
that have been suggested.
Council decided to walk down Isaac
Street to assess the situation and
planned to discuss the matter with the
BIA at a meeting last night (Wed-
nesday)..,