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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1966-12-29, Page 1THE GODERICH You Ofe E. By Bill Kearns • QederiOli citizens Who are faint Qt heart or haVe tender earsbettr er bury their head In pillows or t• a10 an eXtra, tot of New Year's - cheer Saturday beforemaidnight. AU heck is set to bust loose. The town is in for the biggest noise anyone now Jiving Can remember unless they were standing' by the wrong' end of a cannon in some war, pc, pa* up the crystal, theCcili tennial celebration is coming * Bow noisy .will it be? yOU believe the' fire siren, all. church bells, factory • aud ship. whistle's and, 100 gunk; plus citizens vocal efforts and any noise makers available either .natural or manufactured? ' And for five full minutes. yet, The hullabaloo is. due to start as tbe clock strikes the final "bong" 'of the final hour of 1966. When 1967 arrives it may goback where it came frOrn. The eye of this storm of scum**. will be the Court House Park in. Goderich where brief ceremonies will mark the start of the Cen. tennial year. The ceremony starts at 11:45 p.m. Saturday with Rev. G. L. Royal.- Rev. Fr. Raymond Moynahan, Mayor Frank Walkom, Confederation, Utitl • 6 o, O 000,1/4 ,0 <5-o a' o oral ,olit 0-0 -o-do .-0<3 (Y04 -0-o 0-04, fry•tr tits tr.04. "0"7:14 77:34 rra 0 Peter McCauley, a member of Goderich Cintennial Committee, examines the ingredients of a 100 -gun salute. Each tube contains a cii4n3e that will he discharged at midnight Saturday to wel- ;mil 1907. The firing site is Court House Park and celebrants are invit'id to bring ear muffs. Former Earlier this' year The Signal - Star published a photograph of Junior Grade 4 at Goderich Cen- tral School when it was on North Street. It was supplibd by E.J. now in Florida. The teacher in the photograph was Mrs. Samuel T. Armstrong, the former-I:aura Brydges, who is living in Nanton, Alta. The Cal- gary Herald recently carried the following article on Mrs. Arm- strong written by Ken Liddell. "What with her speech lessons for children, her scrabble sess. ions with her contemporaries, and her letter -writing and read- ing, Mrs. Samuel T. Armstrong, who is 83 years of age, puts in a busy winter, but she does find that winter certainly inter. feres with her fishing: i4bne daY last summer she slipped from a -rock while engag- ed in whit to her is a wOnder. ful pastinfb, but after drying out she went back. to complete a catch of seven. "She has never mastered the technique of fly fishing, so she The import' of the year 1867 in Canadian hlstory received only passing Mention by the Semi. Weekly Signal And Huron And Bruce AdVertiser in its first issue of that year. The newspaper published in Goderich Jan. 1, 1867 dealt main. ly with the technical. advances of the world during 1866. The main wire under the Atlantic cean item was laying of a teleraph between Europe and North mer - Near the end of the editorial - the only locally written %tat"- erial in the four-page edition -it mentioned confederation: Little Noted "Our commerce is findingneW thannels, our Manufactures are, in a flourishing condition, °Ur farmers are rapidly working °lit of debt, new resources are being opened up, and as the time approaches vihen all the British American Provinces will be uni. ted into one grand nationality Uncle Sam bites his nails with vexation that his" 'retaliatory' policy has injured no one but The real celebration fol- lowed on July 1, 1867. The Semi -Weekly Signal And Huron And Bruce Advertiser's report on that•will be retold at a . later date. Mrs.,Donnelly Elected First VVoman Trustee 'Wednesday's snow storm can- celled one separate school board election, but two others were held with better „than -average • Roman Catholic School Section No. 9 Colborne Township had been scheduled to elect one trus. tee in tlie halL at St. Peter's Church. Neither the electots nor the trustees got there. • Present trustees are John Buchanan, John Redmond and John Connelly. -Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Redmond still have terms to serve. Mr. Connelly's term ex. pires at the end of the year. At the same location 20 per- sons turned out to elect the first woman trustee to Goderich Sep. arate School Board. Mrs. Jamet ,Donnelly was elected a, two-year term along with Al Selinger and Gerry Den. omy. Vincent Young, Larry Plouffe and Tom Campion still have a-3year to serve. . About 20 persons attended the meeting, many of them women. One observer said this was a - reasonably good Armul some meetings .have seen. much_ _ _ _ _ _ smaller attendance. At Kingsbridge 70 ratepay,ers veted for the board of the newly formed Combined Roman Cath. olic Schools of Ashfield and West Wawanosh. whose students now attend the central St. Joseph's school at Kingsbridge. Trustees elected were Mrs. Leonard Chisholm, Frank Doher. ty, John Howard, John Austin and Martin Heindriks. Mayor»sleet Dr. Frank Millsand Coun,-Elect B. R. Robinson, chairlman, of Goderich Centennial Committee. The ceremony is expected to take about• 20 minutes including the noise and the illumination of the Centennial cake. "We encourage all citizens to break -away from their parties for 20 minutes and come to The Square for the celebration," said Ed. Stiles, who is in charge of arranging the program. The 100 guns are actually a 100 -barrelled howitzer .manufact- ured by a fireworks company. Its • dischargeis expected to occupy the five minutes. Oh well, who needs ear drums, anyway? Home Lost To Fire 'It Could Have Betn Worse' By Bill Kearns. Mrs. and Mrs. John E. Scott have always faced misforfime and difficulty with the attitude, "it could have been worse." This is how Miss Clare Mc- Gowan, director of HuronCounty4, Children's -A id Soc,iety, described the Scotts who lost their home BULLETIN John Connelly was re-elected to the board of Roman Catholic School Section 9, Colborne Township, at a meeting chaired by Mrs. Richard Buchanan Thursday afternoon. Teitther Still .40gles uses live bait and 'just throws in the line and as soon as I have a strike I throw it back.' "So there are occasions when she retrieves the bewilderedfish from a tree. "The Nanton area has grown up around thia delightful racont. eur, who nurtures a hatred of the way radio announcers- and people in general, for that matter. use the English language, or fail to use it. "She came West from Goder- ich, Ont. to attend NorinalSchOol at Regina (she taught at Goder. ich but had not graduated), and then 'continued westward to Nan. ton where she taught at Broadview school. "Between lessons and home- work she was courtea by Samuel T. Armstrong,. the town's' merr chant tailor Of the day , who is deceased but whose name is still a prominent one in the town's business world. • "While at Normal' in Regina she played hockey ("mostly hor. tizontally") and until it became too arduous she enjoyed seeking' the game birds in the fOOthills duging the hunting season. Moving Force In Huron "Now she confines her sports to fishing, and to keep her sup- plied with grasshoppers and worms' for bait keeps the rest of the family pretty busy ih sumther. "There was a time when, more women fished than do today but she feels ,many gave it up be- cause they' were 'getting up in years'. One winter she went to Florida to fish, of course, but she found it ."so darned hot" she got on (Continued On Page Eight) Winner A rink, skipped by Howie Kuen. zie,.,with Bill Gardner, Colin Mc - Mill& and Bill Curry, won the men's A, flight of the first draw at Maitland Country Club. Ralph Kings'well's rink with Marion McLeod, Carl Vasella and Fran Morris won ,the A flight in mixed curling. Men's B flight • winner was Ralph Wiegel 'with Harold Hib- bert, Tim Elliott and Bob Cook. Mixed winner was ti3 ill Schaefer with Mrs. Shaefer, Ron McGee . Men's C flight winner was Bob Wier with Walter Weet. brook, Ken Miller and Bill Kearns. Mixed winner was George Robertson with Mrs. Rob. ertson, John Morris and Mrs. Morris. • Eye Lost of Ashfield Township, has return- ed home from hospital in Chatham following removal of an injured eye. . Mr. Penich was injured in a combine accident during the 1966 harvest season. Satur'clay Night And Sunday Morning 'Saturday night and Sunday morning Goderich citizens, along with many other Canadians, plan to make a joyful noise as an intro- duction to the year in which the 100th anniversary of the Confedera- tion of the Dominion will be cele - That is good. The bigger the noise the better, especially if it sends a shiver of patriotism down the spine of the maker and the hearer. If an unbiased observer passed through our midst with the com- mission of gauging patriotism; the report might well be, "a phlegmatic people of undistinguished national That is the Canadian people. If the average individual Canailian carries with him in his generally tight-fisted control of his emotions a spark of patriotism it is well banked, requiring considerable draft to bring it to flame. Maybe a mid New Year'i eve bay at the moon could be the cathai- tic that would relieve this sluggish- ness and allow Canadians to express their love of country more positively than the'y have in the past. (Continued on Page Two.) in a fire at Nile Monday night. Mr. and Mrs. Scott, their four . children, Sandra 12, Susan 10, Peter 5, and Janet 2, were in, Toronto visiting Mrs. Scott's sis- ter and parents.. at the time of the fire., The family had gone toToronto Friday. They returned to findnot only their home gone, but . their every household possession in. -Chiding Christmas giftnliat bad been left tO opeil when -they re. turned. Cause of the fire has not been determined and estimates of the loss have been up to $50,000: Goderich Fire Departinent an. swered the alarm turned in by neighbors just beforell p.m. Fire Chief Ted Bisset said half the house was engulfed by flames when his men and equipment ar- rived. Firemen drew water from a nearby creek after they chopped through ice, but only walls of the two-storey brick house were left standing. Flames from the fire lit up the night . sky and drew a large crowd of. spectators. "It looks like half of Goderich is MO, said one Nile resident. The Scotts have provided a re. ceiving home for CAS wards since 1958. During that time they have cared for 28 children having up to four at a time plus their own. "They are one of the best fam- - Gowan. '"TheY have jugrbeeli-Wori---- The Scotts have cared for child- ren from baby stage up to teen age including those 'conSidered problem children, Miss McGowan said. "We have never had a child'in their home who didn't -love being there -even difficult children and that's saying a lot." Mrs. Scott was also a visitor for the CAS Christmas bureau. This involved visiting needy fa. milies to determine what help they needed at Chri,stmas, food, gifts or clothing. “She also delivered die gifts.” Miss McGowan said. "It wag hOurs of work." The Scotts had their own'e.hild. ren's illness to contend with late this year said the CAS director and Mr: Scott has been busy renovating their home. Miss McGowan said she had been talking to Mrs. Scott early Wednesday and Mrs. Scott had reported,,response to their pre.° in A small house near the burned out dwelling is currently provide ing shelter for the Scotts. In addition to helpfromprivate individuals aid has alsobeen sent by the CAS, the Salvation Army and Mrs. Robert- Bell, wife of the governor of .auron County • Mrs. Bell said shebelievedthe family was well provided for, at least temporarily. Spe be. lieved the asSistance is well deserved. "They are the kind of people who help everybody," she said. Only portions of walls ,weie left standing Monday night. Embers still smoldered in the when fire demolished the two-storey brick ruins Wednesday. The Scotts were in To - home of Mr. and Mrs. John E. Scott in Nile ronto at "the time. To Consider Dump Relocation Mayor -Elect Sees New Year Time Of Significance For Goderich The year 1967 will be a year of great meaning to Goderich believes Mayor -Elect Dr. Frank Mills. In an interview With Signal -Star man- aging editor, Bill Kearns, Dr. Mills answered questions on what lies ahead for Goderich as the mayor and other elected municipal of- ficials 'prepare for the town's first two-year terms of office. Dr. Mills looks upon Goderich as the mov- ing force in Huron County. He outlined muni- cipal improvements that he feels are neces- sary, predicted changes in committee coin- , position, relocation of the dump; and explain- ed his support of industrial expansion. These are the questions put to Dr. Mills, and his anSwers: Q.—Canada is embarking upon the cele. bratiOn of 100 years of Confederation with great expectations. Can Goderich residents expect 1967 to be a year of particular signifi- A. Yes, a; a result of the efforts" oPthe Goderich Centennial Committee, Goderich will celebrate Canada's Centennial , of Con- federation with a well planned schedule of events to cover everyn month , of the year, and starting with a "100 -gun salute" at the light- ing of the Centennial Birthday Cake in Court House Square at midnight Deco 31. . 13-. R. Robinson and his committee have developed a complete and outstanding pro- gram for the Centennial yeak, and a published program of events will be available from -the committee very soon. Q.—Is Goderich moving closer or draw- ing away in its relations with Huron County? Can this trend be expected to continue? do not feel that Goderich is either moving closer, or drawing away from Huron County. Goderich as the county seat, is an integral part of Huron County, and at this time, • I see' no reason to think that this re- lationship will change. Howevier, 1 do not feel that Goderich sho"uld be' thought of as jot another part of Iluron County, but rather, as the moving force, the leader, of this County. In other words, .our efforts mast be for our town, and certainly our accomplishments no matter what they may be, can only benefit our county also. Q.—According to the Ontario Municipal Board, Goderich has reached the limit of bor- rowing in regard to its debt to assessment ratio. Do you see this as an obstacle to the community's progiess? A.—No. It is unfortunate, that our assess- ment debt has reached this point, and we as taxpayers, must bear this debt, but our pro- gress does not hinge on this assessment debt. We must be prepared to pay as we go from now on, for all the necessary developments in our town. It is obvious that the town is in immediate need of road and sidewalk repairs; of increased, and adequate lighting of our streets; of faster, and more complete snow removal, particularly in our business sections, and high activity area; of traffic control, and safety.. measures, of many things that have , been allowed to be left undone to this time, and now must be done. Q.—You have noted that town council has no harbor committee, such duties being lumped in with lighting and water. There are jother indications that council's committee structure could be brought up to date. Have you any recrmendations aIohg these lines in mind? A.—Definitely. 1 i3.elieve that we must examine and realign the cominittees of coun- cil to our present time, and full statement on this will be 'made after' the inaugural of the new council. Q.—The Signal -Star has been critical of council's use- of committee -of -the -whole dur- ing the past year. DO you believe the public would benefit from more open discussion of municipal business? A.—I agree. Municipal business since it is always for the betterment of the. town, should be discussed openly. (Continued On ?age Bight)