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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1966-12-08, Page 1119th Year Na. 48 qCJ�'n17THE GO,hSDERIC H S..'.ICNALLSTAR THUR SDAY DEC 8 1966 �} �xayzaiqqMMP,2qfWaO�zu/W.4G4yFAGVLf+iLG14hD4Gu{L.rd�CJdG4InhY1rYNc`wlDO='r4t 1v 4:dW,qAg4h/RN:IhGhdTG7ltltFo9zMlgC1M..rG1t.KMtNG+-.QC+a,� SI74.- S�hl/[{nG�df✓4(F* �7iP/wR�/q�1� �T p = R/Wc. =l.....zi �D2.4="4'oP"'a'7'' • 1. .14141-44 4741)=0449004004aillriVals*lataireltatY4' By BILI,, KEARNS • . Mayor Walkom, Reeve Jewell and Deputy Reeve Moody were swept out of office Monday by Goderich voters who went to the polls in record numbers. Elected to the position of mayor was Dr. Frank Mills; to the position of reeve Herbert Such and as deputy reeve Harry Wor. sell. With three veteran and three new members of town council they will serve the town's first two-year terms during 1961 and 1968. The council veterans heading the polls were Walter Sheardown, Bruce Erskine and William Schaefer. New members are B. R. Robinson,- Robert Hays and Bruce Howlett. All sitting members of the Public Utilities Commission, W. J, Mills., George.Filsinger, Brace Ryan and Gerald Whaley, 'were returned to office. Returning officer Sherman Blake said he does not believe as many persons have voted in a municipal election in Goder. ich before. Well over 50 per cent of the 4,093 eligible voters cast ballots; Although sloppy winter weather might have kept voters at home in other years, a high level of interest in the election brought the record turnout. The overwhelming manner in which voters supported Dr, Mills and Coun. Worsell, and the de- feat of Reeve Jewell came as a surprise. Dr. Mills polled 1,417 votes to Mayor Walkom's 913 and Coun. Worsell received a deluge of 1,985 votes to ,Deputy. Reeve Moody's 316. These contests had been expected to have closer results. Colin. Such defeated the reeve by only 26 votes in a race that hung in the balance until the last poll was heard from a»oUt 11 p. m. From the beginning it was a campaign in the three top offices of retired men againlit those still active.. !'They don. t like these grey hairs," said Reeve Jewell to the mayor a.114 deputy reeve as they watched the results being tabulated at the town hall, Dr. Mills said he felt the vote for him was a mandate to carry out the program he has of tlinod in his pre-election advertising and speeches. He said he felt there is a wave of interest in his desire to advance Goderich. Mayor Walkom said he was not upset about his loss, and said that the years he spent in office were good years. Deputy Reeve Moody said he does not expect he will run for public office agaii... '4I'll be 77 by the time the next election rolls around," he commented. The contest b. tween Coun. Such and Reeve Jewell provided the real race of the election, a brief cheer broke the tension as the last poll was reported. "Don't ask me for any .brill- iant statement," said Coun. Such "I'm too shook up." He figeted out the last nail-biting moments at the town hall until Poll s No. 1 and No. 13 were heard from, giving him his margin of victory. Coun. Such underwent the add- ed strain Monday of having to take one of his children to Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto for tests and observation of a recurring ailment. His was a hard sell campaign, and included a program of telephoning voters in their homes 'Soliciting support. ' Coun. Sheardown headed .the council voting with 1, 611 and coun- cillor Erskine and Schaefer tied with 1,468 votes eacn. Mr. Rep. .inson received 1,395 votes and Mr. Hays 1,219. Mr. Howlett grabbed the last council seat by aone-vote margin. over Coun. James Johnston, who has vigil today to seek a recount. Harvey Johnston received 734 votes and Fred Fester 728. Mr. Mills headed thePUC roll. ing up a total of 1,607 votes. This victory will give him a total of 15 years' service on the PUC. Others elected tothe corimmiss. ion were George Filsinger at 1,48a, Bruce Ryan at 1,410 ant Gerald Whaley at 1,444. WO Johnstone, the loser, received 877 votes. „ In the five voting divisions 283 ballots were rejected or not marked including 40 council, 90 for PUC, - 39 for mayor, 61 for reeve and 5 3 afo r deputy reeve. At the town hall citizens started gathering soon after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Many remained Until the last poll was reported. The town's smallest poll with 140 eligible voters was the first to report. Poll 13 with 331 eligible voters elided the evening, Sleigh Lands On Truck d Reeve Reg Jewell looks grave as he watches returning officer Sherman Blake (on phone). tabulating election results that eventually swept he, Deputy Reeve Joseph Moody (ex- - Vandalism Charged • treme left) and. Mayor Walkom (behind Reeve Jewell) from office. Reeve Jewell led most of th evening, but lost on the last two polls. Santa: Totes Ton Santa Claus carne to Goderich last Saturday weighed down with a ton of candy. "It was one of the heavier loads I've had, to contend with ho, ho, ho," . said Santa.' 'ortun. ately I was able to carry it easily on that large truck provided by Goderich Manufacturing Co. Ltd., on which my 'sleigh landed, ho, ho, ho." Santa distributed the 2,000 bags of candy, and it worked out just right; each girl and boy received a "treat. Asked if he -would come back next.-. year- -for •,.another --parade Santa passtetrInt"isuck, "You rt►ttittgavA" better ask him, ho, ho, ho," said Santa pointing to Goderich Businessmen's Association pre. sident Fred Salter. "I would think so," said Mr.' Salter quickly. Santa was beseiged by the child - re n aS he stepped, down from his sleigh in front of the court house and took his seat in a shanty affair with his name across the front. The line of children waiting to give their regards to theburly old fellow stretched from the court house steps to the edge of the square three, four and five abreast. The weather came on particul- arly pleasant for the parade; bright sunlight and temperatunes kept the overnight snow firm under foot. The parade started exactly on schedule and wound its , Cil3A president Salter said he was disappointed that the bands were not able to be present because of the weather.- "But it was one of those things over which we have no control." f om the arena_ to The, Sgttare�1 after --a circuit, the floats were judgedandmgved off leaving, Santa to an hour and a half session with his fans, Then laying his finger along side his nose, and giving a nod from his shanty he rose. The parade was composed of 15 floats, and the only thing miss. ing was the bands. Goderich Boy Scouts' float, an elaborate dinosaur, took the $75 first prize. The Snow White and Seven Dwarfs by Beta Sigma Phi Sororoity took second prize $50 and $25 went to the nativ. 0 ity scene of the Knig;►ts of Colum- bus and a sick room vignette by nurses from Alexandra Marine and General Hospital thanking the • litiblic-,for its enerosity-'•in" hospital building fund. Mr. Salter said improvement next year could be expected by more participation. • "The reason it was so success- ful this year was because of the co-operation of many different persons and companies," he said. Grove Group Speaks The mayor, reeve and deputy reeve are scheduled to ,'meet three members of a 10 -person delegation, th a t approached town council last week, to decide what should be done at the Bing. batik Grove. The delegation, led by. Mrs. Harold Hibbert, appeared before council after a bulldozer was sent into the grove Nov. 30 and started knocking down trees..• Three housewives stopped the bulldozer and called , Mayor Walkom and deputy Reeve Moody to the scene. Thursday Mrs. Hibbert told council that the residents who ' live near the grove were pleas- ed that it had been purchased by the town, but hoped that it would be kept in a natural state. • "It has been referred to as a jungle, but those of us who wander in it in summer don't think of it as that," she said. She said she has seen as many as 50 species of . birds in the grove and numerous wild flowers. She suggested that the fallen tries and brush should be cleared • manually, paths widened, benches provided and the fallen trees replaced. No grass seed would be necessary since there is na. tural ground cover she said. • Mrs. Hibbert also recommend ed that the park be placed under direction of some person inter- ested in maintaining a natural park. The Bingham Grove was pur- chased by the town earlier th's year for $11,000 and is one of three Centennial Parks. Another member of the al- egation, Mary Howell, president of Goderich Horticultural,Society accused council of "vandalism" in Harbor Park and the two Centennial parks at Gloucester and Caledonia terraces. She said she had toured the three parks and found a "con- sistent pattern Ealiounting to van. dalism." She predicted that the results will cost money. She said the fill being bull. dozed over the brow of the hill bordering the park will event. ually erode onto the road below, Original sod was good she said andmoney is now being spent with poor results. "During Centennial year will we have a sign saying please keep off the grass?" she asked. She laid the blame forthework at the parlc-including Bingham Grove -on the members of town council's Centennial committee, the mayor, reeve and deputy reeve. She said the mayor had dec. lined an invitatibn tobe a member of the horticultural society group which visited the Royal Botann. ical Gardens in Hamilton and received advice on the Uevelop. ment of the parks. The expert opinion that dump. fill over the edge of'the parks otrld be retrograde was offered to the committee, but ignored she said. Coun. Such asked the mayor why the advice was ignored. Mayor Walkom said the com- mittee believes the band can be extended without danger:. He said a man 100 miles away could not be as familiar with conditions in Goderich as persons on the scene. PUC Reduces Rates Electricity will cost less in Goderich beginning Jan. 1, 1967. Goderich P u b l i c Utilities chairman W.J. Mills said Monday that rate -reductions for all God. eritch customers have been _ap• proved by Ontario Hydro. Truck Transmissions Protected Council Bypasses Department. In Stop lign Council has agreed to replace a Stop sign , at the junction of North Harbor Road and Highway 21 with a Yield Right of Way sign without approval of the de. partment of transport. The sign change was recom- mended by Coun. Sheardown who said Police Chief Fred Miri. shall was "100 per cent behind it." • The councillor also suggest- ed the eventual installation of a turn lane and a Merge sign for traffic coming up the hill on North Harbor Road turning right onto the highway. He told council truck drivers from the salt mine are having trouble starting after stopping on the brow of the hill at the in. tersection. Biased on 1966 condictions the new rates will reduce revenue 'from electricity ' 3.8 poor cent, more than $16,000 Mr. Mills said. The new schedule will result in an average reduction of 2.3 Shuffle Plead For District In Ottawa Committee Goderich lawyer `D. J. Murphy and Harry Bridle, of Mount Forest , are appearing before a Parliamentary Committee on Industry in Ottawa today. Mr. Murphy and Mr. Bridle were invited to appear before the committee by its chairman Richard Cashin after a dele. gation representing 45 municipal- ities in central Western Ontario meet Drury in The with Industry Minister Ottawa Oct. 24. municipalities in an area that extends north from Goderich to Mount Forest and southeast to Orangeville art seeking govern. ment incentives to help them with industrial development. Although Industry Minister Drury told thedelegation the pre. sent program of giving "designat- ed area" status was confined to aiding areas of high unemploy- ment, Mr. Murphy in a private brief had, argued that the aid should also be available to areas of slop industrial development. The Huron .unit of the Canadian Cancer Society officially open- ed a new office at Clinton Tuesday. it will provide out-patient facilities. Harvey Johnston, chairman, discussed plans with Mrs. M. W. Durst, secretary. Big Paper He said Chief Minshall had given one truck driver a ticket for not stopping. "If I stop Pll take .the transmission out of the 'truck," he quoted the truck driver as telling the chief. Deputy Reeve Moody said he feared traffic other than trucks will abuse the Yield sign by tak- ing the corner at high speeds. Today's edition of The Goderich Signal -Star is the largest regular edition of this publication in its 118 - year history. The paper this' week con- tains 28 pages in three sec- tions. - Signal -Star publisher R. G. Shrier said the increase in the size of the paper re- sulted from an unprecedent- ed interest in Christmas ad- vertising. "It's wonderful to be able to give the public a product of this nature," Mr. Shrier said. 'Snug Harbor Officials of the department of transport, department of, public works and the town are scheduled to meet here Dec. 15 to discuss improvements at Snug Harbor. The federal government has announced plans to spend $120,000 repairing and existing wharf. A - group of 'town • residants want the plans expanded to make snug Harbor more attractive to the Lake Huron yacht traffic. t d Ron Feagan Passes 200 -Victory Mark CAMPBELLVILLE - Ron Feag. an, an articulate 'L4 -year-old who is one of the most successful horsemen in standardbred rac- ing, has hurled the 200 -win barn - ler for the- second year in a row. He did it with ,three ex. citing triumphs here last week . at Mohawk Raceway. The Feagan touch propelled Miss Angela Mary (in the third race), Babe (fourth) and Starlite (eighth) home in front to bring his seasonal total of winning drives to 201. It was last season that Feagan roared to the front in the harness sport with 213 wins tobecome the first Canuck to accomplish the feat in his native land. His near- est rival . .and the' only other "200" man -was another member of the "young breed," Gilles LaChance of St. Andrews E., Que., who piloted 206 winners, 18 of them in the U.S. Feagan, who wears a diamond ring in 'the form o3 a'horseshoe, a gift from satisfied owners of horses he trained and drove last season,- was all smiles in the winner's. enclosure after the fourth- race. Ed. Bradley, the Jockey club's standardbred rac. ing manager, W. the first on hand to congrat : to him, along per cent in residential rates, .8.7 per cent in commercial rates and 3.15 per . cent in industrial rates. ' Revenue from 1,750 electric water heaters in Goderich will be reduced by 4.8 per cent. In 1965 the average resident. ial customer used 490 kilowatt hours of electricity a month at a net cost of $5.78. The new net cost will be $5.58. Mr. Mills has said that the rate decrease results from the new 110,000 -volt, $600,000 trans- former station built at Goderich by Ontario Hydro and the PUC's acquisition of some internal lines previously owned by Ontario Hydro. "The rate structure is design- ed to provide a sharing 0! the total cost of supply on•an equit. able basis to all classes of cus- - tomers," Mr. Mills said. "Rate studies .,are made from time to time to ensure that the Goderiph P.U.C. is supplying powerat the lowest possible cost consistent with good service.", Building Booms Building permits issued in God. erich During' November repre- sented construction valued at $1,- 150,000 bringing the year's total to $1,823,000. At the same time last year building permits valued at -$406,800 had been issued. The major permit this year for $1,000,000, issued duringNovem. ber was for an addition at God- erich District Collegiate Institute which will cost $1,395,454 when furnished. Goderich's mayor for 1967 and 1968, Dr, Frank 'Mills, receives a victory kiss from his wife. The 41 -year-old physician piled up 1,417 votes to defeat Mayor Frank Walkom who polled 913. Retired " Huron Judge Frank Fingland Dies A funeral was held yesterday in. Wesley -Willis United Church ,Clinton, for retired Huron County Judge Frank Fingland, QC, 72, who died Sunday at his home in Clinton: . JUDGE FINGLAND Judge Fingland was born at Auburn, son of the late Mr. and "Mrs. John Fingland; of Hullett Township. He attended schools in Goderich and Clinton, He wa s wounded during the First World War and spent two years in 'Christie StreetHospital, Toronto, before resum'.ng his studies. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1922 and from Osgoode Hall in 1925. After practising law in Toronto for five years he bought theClin. ton law practice of the late Will. iam Brydone in 1930. He was Clinton's solicitor for 25 years. He 'was made a King's Counsel in .1937. He was appointed Hunan County Judge in 1954, and retired from this position in May, 1964. Judge Fingland organized the Huron County 'Tuberculosis. As- sociation, and was its honorar: president for many years. He was past charter president of Clinton Lions Club, a member of Clinton Branch 140 of theRoyal Canadian Legion, a past president' of the Clinton Hospital Board a member of Clinton; Londesboro and Seaforth Masonic Lodge AF and AM, a former chairman of the Clinton Collegiate Board, and a member and elder of Wesley - Willis United Church. He is survived by his wife, the former Elisabeth Dorothy Chow - en; a son, Frank, Whitehorse, Yukon; a daughter, Mrs. C. K. (Catherine) McNight, Clarkson; three brothers, Rev. Dr. Will. iarn Fingland, Niagara Falls; Colin, Wingham, Murray, Coch- rane; three sisters Mrs. Robert (Mary) Grierson, Toronto; Mrs. Norman (Jemima) Townsend, All- iston; Mrs. William (Flora) - Jones, St. 'Thomas. •Rev. Andrew Mowatt officiated at the funeral. and burial was in Clinton Cemetery. The Ball and Mutch Funeral Home, Clinton, was in charge. with Ray Gemmill of Cobden, owner and trainer of Midnight Babe, a 7 -year-old Mighty Billy. Babe. C. Lee mare. "Im glad it is over. Now we can get down to business," said Feagan, who stands 5 foot -7, weighs 142 pounds and once play- ed layed junior hockey at Goderich. Two of his teammates in those days were Paul Henderson and Larry Jeffrey. Ron's No. 1 fan is his grand. father, George Feagan. The 71. year -old dean of the clan gave him his first standardbred, Atom Lee, when Canada's leading team. ster was just 16 years old. Regarding his plans for 1967 Ron Commented over a cup of coffee in the driver's room_.a.t Mohawk: "My future lies in Can. ada. This is my • home and I'm going to continue to strive to attain new heights in the sport here." One of sportsdom's most eligible bachelors, Feagan has little time for romance. His dawn - to -midnight schedule and deter. minatlon to do the complete job of training and driving standard- breds' is known to all the re. gulars in the sulky game. Horses are a way of life for Don." Ronnie Feagan, (right) fhe 24 -year-old driv- ing ace, from Goderich, who .has been re- writing Canadian harness racing records, added another chapter at Mohawk 'Raceway in Campbellville Nov. 30, when he became the first Canadian driver to register 200 wins in 1966. Feagan tallied his 200th victory with Midnight Babe, a pacer owned by Ray Gemmill (left), Cobden. Last season Feagan became the first Canadian and the fifth harness driver in the world to reach the exclusive 200 plateau. He currently tops the driver in the Dominion with ' mor. than 205 trips down victory lane.