Loading...
The Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-07-17, Page 1• If your label rads, July 9484744, your s lblp scription its now clue. FIRST SECTION Muslim, On y, July 17, 1197 Sime Copy ?ot Otter Ac WHEN THESE TWO GIRLS visit senior citizens together it's quite confusing, because both are named alike. Debbie Welwood of Wingham and Debbie Reynolds of RR'�3, Wing - ham are half of the foursome that constitutes' the "Closing the Gap" program in Wingham this summer. usinessman gets answer It's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil, or if you make enough noise, in the right places, you're sure to get an answer. Don Del - mage of Riverview Drive -In is the proof of both these state- ments. Mr. Delmage complained just recently about a situation that re- .curs in Wingham every few years—and he has gotten results. '—.TThB.' fr` o plaint" was the loss of business Mr. Delmage suf- fered when the motor vehicle 41 safety inspection check visited the town two weeks ago. At the time, Mr. Delmage issued a statement to the- newspaper about the situation, expressing his dissatisfaction with the way the checks were set up. "I don't think it should be set up in any town where it'll disrupt anyone's business," he said. Mr. Delmage didn't stop there, however. He carried his com- plaints to Huron -Bruce MPP Murray Gaunt, in the hopes that Mr. Gaunt could do something to help in .the future. Mr. Delmage • said Mr, Gaunt told him he would contact the Minister of Transpor- tation and Communications about the problem. To the delight of Mr. Delmage, and the surprise of many of his friends who said he would never hear anything, Mr. Gaunt did just what he promised to do. Mr. Del - mage received this letter last week: Dear Don This is to inform you that I have had a chance to discuss with the Minister of Transportation and Communications the problems you raised with me in connection with the Vehicle Inspection Pro- gramme when it was in Wing - Area teenager seriously iniured in two -car crash A two -car head-on collision about one o'clock Sunday morn- ing seriously injured a Belgrave area teenager and sent her two companions to a Goderich hospi- tal for treatment. Marjorie Nixon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Nixon, of RR 5, Brussels, was a passenger in a car driven by David B. McCallum of RR 1, Belgrave, which crashed into another vehicle on the crest of a hill on County Road 22, one and a half miles north of Huron County Road 25. She was taken to Alexandra Marine and General Hospital, Goderich, and later , transferred to,,University. Hospi- tal, London. Mr. McCallum and another passenger, April McBur- ney of RR 5, Wingham, were treated in the same Goderich hospital and were later released. Driver of the other car was James Bell of RR 2, Goderich, who was apparently uninjured. The accident was investigated by the Goderich detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police. ROSE OHM gets a few pointers from instructor Susan Burke during tennis lessons at the Sunsperience '75 program in Wingham. Rose is the only girl enrolled in the program so far, but she doesn't mind. It's not that she's a "women's libber", it's just that she has fun. KATHY SCHIESTAL ofAWingham may look as if she's painting herself into a corner, but it's only an illusion. Kathy knows exactly whatshe's doing, and that's working hard to do her part in the' 'Closing the Gap" program in Wingham this summer. from H-BMPP ham. First ef- all the compensation problem is one the Ministry understands, but has made ' no provision for re -imbursement Of loss of business because it is very Damages m inor in car mumps The theft of used lumber from the old Gay Lea building now under demolition is udder in- vestigation by the Wingham Town Police. The stolen property is estimated at $30. Police also reported two acci- dents last week. On Thursday, a car driven by Samuel Hewitt of \ RR 1, Wingham was, in collision with a vehicle driven by Ja Ritsema of Victoria Street, Wing - ham. The. accident occurred on Water Street for damage esti- mated at $175. Wallace Driscoll of Cambridge and David Foulon of Wallaceburg were involved in a collision Friday. Damage in the accident is estimated at $750. On Wednesday, a canopy on a bulldozer ovl►ned by Jack Shaw was slashed with a knife. Police reported the damage at an esti- mated $49. The department also laid one charge under the High- way. Traffic Act, one charge under the Liquor Control Act and one charge of impaired driving under the Criminal Code Act. a difficult to establish the degree and extent due to many other fac- tors involved rather than just the plain circumstance of the vehicle inspection unit being relatively close to the place of business. Concerning the vehicle inspec- tion unit being placed on the ,premises of the Ministry of 'ansportation and Comrntini- cations and also having the police search out the .vehicles to be in- speeted and have them sent down - to the inspection unit is some- thing that the Minister is quite sympathetic to and feels there is no reason why it couldn't be done in that manner. I understand that in certain parts of the province this has already been tried and has worked satisfactorily. There is no reason why it' couldn't be done in Wingham or any other community for that matter. I am grateful to you for raising these problems with me and I hope it will result in a system which is less disruptive and more effective in the long run. Kind regards. Yours sincerely, Murray Gaunt, M.P.P., Huron -Bruce. Satisfied? Mr. Delmage says "yes," for now at least. "It's not all the answers, but it's some- thing," he admitted. The results will be seen only in the future, when the next motor vehicle in- spection check comes 'around. Charges dismissed in fatality investigation The investigation of a fatal car crash March 3 ended in court last Wednesday with a dismissal of charges against the only survivor of the collision. A charge of failing to yield to the vehicle on the right laid against Kevin Byers, 18, of RR 2, Harriston was dismissed after Judge Glenn Hayes of the Pro vincial Court Criminal Division decided he was "not satisfied by any means beyond a reasonable doubt about the guilt of the ac- cused." The two -car collision occurred Monday, March 3, about two miles east of Fordwich at the intersection of Concession 6-7 and Sideroad 30-31, Howick Town- ship. Two Clifford men, Eldon Demerling, 68, and Walter Wallace, 60, were fatally injured in the incident. There were no witnesses to the accident, since Mr. Byers could not testify to the position of the other car at the time of the colli- sion. He had stated previously that he was headed east -bound on Concession 6-7, had slowed down at the intersection, then started to go through: "All of a sudden he (the other car) was there." Mr. Byers said he was going about 25 mph when the crash occurred hut he couldn't say from which direc tion the other ear came. Physical evidence, the only basis of argument in the case, indicated that the point of impact was near to the center of the intersection, with Mr. Byer's car absorbing the damage in the front end. The other car was hit on the left, driver's side. Crown prosecutor Bill Cochrane told the court there were no skidmarks at the scene but that the road sur- face was snowpacked with drifts piled up on the sides. Testimony of a Wingham OPP officer indi- cated the drifts were as high as three feet in some spots. There is no stop sign at the intersection. Defense attorney Robert Campbell used the physical evi- dence to offer the court two alternative explanations consis- tent with the innocence rather than the guilt of the defendant. He said the "inference" that the other car was north -bound on the sicleroad at the time of the acci- dent, thus resulting in the charge against Mr. Byers of failure to yield, was only inference and not supported by anything other than the physical evidence. The physical evidence, however, was also consistent with the two alternatives Mr. Campbell pro- posed. Judge Hayes decided that since the alternatives suggested the "resonable doubt" premise, the charge must be dismissed. • MARY NORMAN of RR 3, Wingham gets some helpful tips from Mrs. William Haney'as she paintsa"railing. This and other jobs are part of the "Closing the Gap" program under- taken by Mary and three other Wingham girls under an Opportunity for Youth grant. Four Wingham girls earn applause through hard work Hard work may be a building block of success, but for four Wingham girls it has turned into the road to popularity . . . with senior citizens. Debbie Welwood, Cathy Schies- tal, both of Wingham, Debbie Reynolds and Mary Norman, both of RR 3, Wingham, are the sum and substance of the "Clos- ing the Gap" program that has made them so popular this sum - ,mer. "Th'ey all want us back after we go," Miss Welwood said. The four girls work with senior citizens in Wingham to help in whatever way is needed. Their list of jobs is varied: washing windows, scrubbing floors,^ dust- ing, gardening, cleaning out cup- boards, polishing silverware, do- ing the shopping and moving the 'furniture. In short, they do any- thing and everything their clients ask of them. Sometimes, however, the wishes of the clients seem rather bizarre. One elderly lady, who has asked the girls back time after time, insists that they paint her trees orange: she says it "makes it look like Florida." SCRUBBING FLOORS and dusting furniture are important parts of a job undertaken this summer by Debbie Welwood of Wingham and three other area girls. The four enthusiasts are sponsored by an "Opportunity for Youth" grant to work with senior citizens in this area. d,. Another of their clients reads poetry to them to make the job go quicker. In yet another home, the girls had their tea leaves `read' by an older woman who wanted to show her appreciation. Strange, but definitely an education, the girls admit. "It has its off days, but so does every job," Miss Rey- nolds explained, then added "We're sure getting to know how to run our own house." The whole project started for the girls toward the end of school, when Debbie Reynolds and Mary Norman were trying to decide what to do this summer. They saw applications for "Opportuni- ty for Youth" grants and filled them out. To their surprise, the project was approved. So the first two collected the other two along the way, and "Closing the Gap" was formed. They started work June 30, and they have about 25 calls to their credit to date. The hours are regular: 9 a.m. to 5 p.rn. every week -day, but they sometimes run into overtime. Many of the senior citizens, the girls explain, just want company to sit and visit with them after the work is done. The girls do have a busy sche- dule, but they enjoy the visiting, too, on their own time. And so it will.go until the fall; when Debbie Welwood and Cathy Schiestal will enroll in the nurs- ing assistants program at the Wingham and District Hospital, while Debbie Reynolds and Mary Norman go on to study business at Fanshawe College. —Mr. and Mrs. John Donaldson have returned to their home on Carling Terrace after a• month- long vacation in England, Ireland and Scotland. They report lovely weather for the enjoyable trip, during which they visited several relatives. They especially liked the verdant green countryside in Ireland and the \tour of Shake- speare country in the heart of England.