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Clinton News-Record, 1980-09-25, Page 1J • A car parked in the Steve Brown tideway on Kirk Street was, heavily damaged when a lar$e tree limb fell across it during Monday evening's storm. Power was also out for eight hours alter the same limb brought down three hydro poles and wires. (James Fitzgerald photo) Area lashed Severe than Fail officially came the ar'a Monday afternoon, and was welcomed by a severe thunderstorm that dumped up to 75 nun (3 inches) of rain on the area and lashed parts of the county with 100 km per hour winds (60 mph), knocking down tree limbs on telephone and power lines and ...flattening crops. Worse hit appears to be the county's grain cora crop, with some field completely flattened, while others escaped with only minor damage. Clinton Public Utility crews and Ontario Hydro crew worked in the early morning hours restoring power to scattered points throughout the area, Worse hit in Clinton was part of a block of Kirk Street between High and f1 Townsend Streets that was blacked out for eight hours. Power to the area was knocked out when a. large --limb on--a-tree on the property of Steve Brown was blown onto power lines, and then went crashing across a car in the Brown. driveway: The force of the limb falling onthe wires caused them to snap off three hydro poles on Kirk Street, and one fell on the Brown boat, parked beside the house. Although the boat suffered only Thursday," September 25, 1980. Vanastra to fight rec bylaw By Shelley McPhee Vanastra residents are preparing to oppose the Tuckersmith Township council. Tonight, Thursday, ' Sep- tember 25, a public meeting has been scheduled in the community to gain support and defence for the alarmed Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). hearing. The public meeting, which will take place in the Vanastra Church, will be held in preparation for the OMB session when community members will oppose a Tuckersmith Township Robbers chicken out A suspected robbery at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Com- merce in Auburn Friday didn't quite go off as planned. If it was planned at all. On. Friday morning the Goderich detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police received a call from Auburn claiming there was suspicious ac- tivity around the bank. The women who phoned police said a gold colour, full-sized model car pulled up in front of the bank at 10.30 a.m. _Two men with masks, and one with a shotgun, got out and the car left the scene. first column The two men apparently talked for a bit in front of the bank and then went to the rear of the building where ti ,ay , left the gun and masks. They returned to the front of the bank, and one of the men went into the bank for a look around. He reappeared and joined his mate at the front of the bank and when the car returned, all three men left after retrieving their masks" and gun. Goderich OPP set up roadblocks around the village but they were removed Friday afternoon. The criminal investigations branch under Inspector Judson is investigating the case. It seems we have two seasons around here, winter and summer, and some years there doesn't even seem to be a transition period. It seems -'.like only a week ago that we were . dipping our toes in Lake Huron and this week, hockey started at the arena, the frost is on the pumpkins, and all the Christmas toy books hit our homes. And at our house, the arrival of all those, colorful catalogues filled with eye-catching pictures of all the latest Barbie dolls, Fisher- Price toys, and the newest Lego cite -a stir, not -to mention the occasional fight between our five-year-old Andrea and three-year-oldKris (also know during trying times as Screamer and Hellen). The only toy the four- month old is interested in right now usually has a nipple on the end of it, so there's only two-way battles to see who can drool over the pic- tures . 'Even though they can never have even a fraction of the hundreds of requests they make, I think looking at the catalogues does serve to satisfy some of their longing for toys. And if they did have them all they'd only be played with for a few minutes and then tossed ° into a corner. + + + a Another sure sign of fall is the beginning this week of the annual hospital auxiliary penny sale over at the town hall. It's one of our last chances to really use a penny for something before inflation com- pletely wastes it away. + + + Fall also brings the annual International Plowing Match, and again this year, it's not too far from Huron, in fact just a short drive away in Woodstock. Despite all the talk of doom and gloom in the farm sector, this year's match is the biggest ever, and this agent has never missed one in 10 years, except for the ".mud" Match in Kingston a couple of years ago. Kinda gets in your blood. 4- 4- 4 You can probably count on a couple of fingers the number of days this newspaper office has been closed in the last 10 years and we've never missed publishing a single edition of the paper, a record that not even the strike -prone post office can come close to now. But we're going to have -to close the end of next week. That's right. Although there will be no disruption of publication, the News -Record office will be closed next Thursday, Friday, October 2 and October 3 so all those nice -------work-m-en- can- --co-, —Ie-to--o-ur - renovations (hopefully). It's getting to be quite a mess around here now and its nearly impossible to put out a paper with all the noise and dust that is a frequent companion to such work. So, if you have an emergency request to make next Thursday or Friday, call either 565-5034, or 482- 3890. We'll be back in the office on Monday, October 6 and should be completely back to normal in a couple of weeks. Then we'll be into our new quarters before the. fall rush starts. The one distinct advantage of having renovations done . is the chance to clean up all those years of accumulated junk. I'm one of those people infected with the pack rat disease and tend to save everything I think might come in handy some day. But after coming across some of this old junk for which I can see no use whatsoever, I'm beginning to wonder. if I'm all there. + + -I- The The Wit says I'm kind of like a dog chasing ears, I wouldn't know what to do with them after we caught them. + + + With the price of gold and silver starting to make dramatic climbs again, the Main Street Wit says that the best way to double your money is to fold it once and put it back in your pocket I council's proposed bylaw amend- ment. The bylaw chance, which has been in effect for the past for the past six years, could leave the cost of the Vanastra Recreation Centre on the shoulders of Vanastra community residents and ease the tax bills of other township residents. The original bylaw, passed in 1974 called for the $130,000 debenture debt against the Rec Centre to be paid by all the township ratepayers. Contrary to the bylaw, council• has only been charging the debt to Vanastra property owner's.- , Apparently this was the orgin,al tention of council and they plained that it was agreed to in' a petition signed by a reported 70 per cent of the landowners in 1974. ' Since that time many Vanastra residents havemoved and most of the people who signed the original petition no longer live in the area. Instead, present home owners in Vanastra are opposed to the extra costs they have had to pay for the Rec Centre and 83 -'signed a new petition voicing this concern. The opposition to township bylaw and its amendment has led to an OMB session which will be held in the building of concern, the Vanastra Rec Centre on October 23, beginning at 10 am. • The Vanastra residents feel that they have little say in the operation or management of the complex and say Turn to page 3, Final races to be featured Officials at the Clinton Kinsmen Raceway are hoping that extra features at the track this Sunday will lure bigger crowds to the final day. There have been some di pointing crowds and mutuel handles during September and the track hopes to recoup some of their losses. Highlight of the day will be the Clinton Centennial Pace for a purse of $2,000, continuing a tradition started in 1974. The finals of the Molson's Drivers Awards will also.be held with- the trophies presented late in the program. In the running for the silver trays and $50 awards are teamsters such as (in no particular order) Terry Kerr, Don Larkin, Larry DeCalawe, Fred Sadler, Wayne McLean, Randy McLean, Randy Henry, Art Abbott, John Muir and Jim Wallace. As well, Anstett Jewellers of Clinton will give a watch to every winning driver, as well as the winner of the gate prize draw.. erstorm heralds. Fall 'several hundred dollars damage, the 1977 model car was. heavily : dainged A by the limb. Worse hit in the county was the corn crop, with some fields almost com- pietely flattened, while. others_ escaped with only minor damage, according to Huron's ag rep, Don Pullen.The high winds delivered the knockout punch to.. some fields that were already suffering from stalk damage from the corn borer, or were weakened by extensive feeding by the corn root worm. Weather 1980 1979 1HI 10 SEPTEMBER HI 10 . 16 20 8 17 17.5 6 18 17 2 1920 23 19 159 21 27 16 22 23 13 Rain 71 mm 22 24 22 14 21 17.5 16.5 No rain 7 8 11 5 1 9.5 1 Mr. Pullen said many old-timers 3 have said. they have never seen.the corn borer -as prevalent as this year, and it has even heavily damaged fields that weren't in corn for some years. Except for some later maturing varieties, Huron's white bean crop was mostly in the storage bins when the storm hit, said Mr. Pullen, and ;it will be at least a few days before. the remainder of the crop can be ,har- vested . "Those beans not pulled yet will dry out sooner than t 'ose already win- drowed," Mr. Pullen said. He said the yield ranged from 15 to 40 'bushels per acre, with the higher yields corning on "new" land in the north part of the county. Mr. Pullen also said that the winter wheat that was sown before the rain will be germinating nicely, but those who- didn't get--the--crop--in- before Monday may have to wait a week until fields dry up, depending on the weather. County apple growers also reported heavy fruit drop from trees, mostly McIntosh, caused by the high winds, The dropped apples are only worth a fraction of what they would bring if° they had been left on to be picked later. Separate board, teachers sign pact By Wilma Oke A 1980-81 contract that gives teachers an 8.7 per cent salary in- crease' was ratified by the Huron - Perth County Catholic school board and its 155 teachers last week. Terms of settlement give the teachers an annual increase of 8.7 per cent. With annual experience in- crements and responsibility allowances, increased ` 'cost to' the board will be 10.3 per cent for a total of $3,000,535. The annual average salaries improve from $20,631 to $22,745 for the contract year, 1980-81. The new salary grid ranges from ,$12,325 for level D teachers with no experience to $31,465 for teachers having attained level A4 and 12 years experience. Qualifications Evaluation Council of Ontario (QECO) Program III is being used to determine teacher level placement commencing September 1, 1980. The school board and teachers had been negotiating since late January and reached a tentative agreement last Thursday. Teachers ratified the contract Wednesday afternoon and the board Wednesday night (Sep- tember 17). Truestee David O'Reilly, .Stratford, was chief negotiator for the board and Ed Cappelli, Stratford, for the teachers. Board chairman Ronald Marcy commended the committee for the excellent job and for the manner in which trustee O'Reilly presented the schedule to the board. Thi presen- tation was made in close session with only a brief discussion following it. A recorded vote was called by Trustee Arthur Haid of Listowel and there were three voters who indicated their opposition to the settlement as presented by the chairman -- Trustees Ronald Murray of Dublin, , John O'Leary of Staffa and.Tim McDonnell of Gadshill. Coming elections could mean races By ShelleyMcPhee The upcoming November 10 municipal elections may see some interesting political competitions' and "races in the Clinton ,area murk - Changes e ar cipalities. Changes in councils are expected in Stanley, Hullett, Goderich, Tuckersmith and McKillop Town- ships as well as the village of Bayfield and the town of Clinton. Residents in Stanley are likely to see an interesting race in the town- ship this year as the 10 year tradition of acclamation to council will be broken. , There will be a race for the reeve's position this year as the present reeve Tom Consitt and Paul Steckle contest for the position. Mr. Consitt has held the position as reeve for the past two terms and -Mr. Steckle has been the council's "deputy reeve for the past four years. Also in Stanley, Councillor Don Brodie has announced that he'll run for the deputy reeve's seat. Mr. Brodie is a long-time council mem- ber, working with the municipality for the past eight years and each election he was acclaimed to the position. Councillor Brodie explained that his decision to seek the deputy reeve's position was not an easy one. He said that he is disappointed that he won't have the opportunity to work on county council since deputy reeves will no longer serve on Huron County Council. The county council made this decision after they decided its sap- membership had grown too large and will be making -this changer November 10 election. In Tuckersmith Township, .Reeve Er win Sillery has not decided whether he will run for the position another term. Reeve Sillery said that he was still available and was concerned that the position was, "too big a proposition to throw open to an out- sider." Reeve Sillery noted however, that he would not stand in the way of another council member who wished to step up. And it looks like a member of Tuckermsith Council will be looking at for this position. Deputy Reeve Robert Bell has announced his in- tention to run for the reeve's chair. Councillor Frank Falconer hopes to fill the vacancy left by the deputy reeve and Councillor Robert Board mediator appointed Malcolm A. Stockton has been appointed as fact finder by the Education Relations Commission in the contract negotiations between the secondary school teachers and the trustees of the Huron County Board of Education. As a fact finder, Mr. Stockton will, meet with the parties and make a '''report stating which tnatters have been agreed to and which matters remain in dispute. 1 The report may aL o contain recommendations for settlement. A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in 1973, Mr. Stockton taught secondary school for two years after graduation form* Queen's University (B.A) in 1968. Mr. Stockton has an extensive background in teacher -board relations. Since 1977, he has . had 16 fact finding appointments. His most recent appointments were: Haldimand (secondary), Lambton (secondary), and Brant R.C.S.S. This appointment is made under Section 15 of The School Boards and Teachers Collective Negotiations Act, 1975. Fotheringham intends to run again, either for the position of councillor or deputy reeve. Councillor William. Brown is undecided whether he will seek another term in office. Members of Hullett Township council are unsure whether they will be taking part in the November election. Reeve Yoe Hunking, who has held that position for the past two years, said he won't be reaching a decision on seeking re-election for a couple more weeks. Reeve Hunking has served on council for 13 years, one term as reeve and four years as deputy reeve. Hullett's- Deputy Reeve Tom Cunningham is still undecided as to his election nomination and said at an earlier date that he wouldn't be back as deputy reeve. He has work on the municipal council in Hullett for four years. Clinton's Mayor Harold Lobb has announced that he won't be seeking re-election this year. Mayor Lobb has led the Clinton council for the past four pears and has been on council for atotal of 13 years. Although his name won't .be on any nominationballots this year Mayor Turn to page 3 • Pool party raises !lO,000 The recent Gala Pool Party to raise funds for Clinton's new swimming pool raised about $10,000 not $3,000 as reported in last week's paper. Party chairman Dave Hanley said that 295 meals were served at $25 each, but many more tickets were sold, and many people donated more than the minimum of $25. He said the group had hoped to raise $25,000 at the party to help reduce the amount still owing on the $227,000 pool, which is slightly more than $50,000. "Surely there are 500 couples in town who could have each bought a $25 ticket," he commented. Although last `Monday's high winds knocked off some of the county's apple crop, it didn't seem to hurt those trees on the farm of Pete Cundy in Stanley township. Here Mr. Cundy is shown picking, Spartan apples from his, young dwarf orchard, which came into heavy bearmg'this year. (James Fitzgerald Wit) fi