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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 1981-03-19, Page 11 Seaforth fireman Blll Eisler struggles to get his breath after he was overcome by thick smoke while fighting a fire in the Kinburn Forester's Hall on Tuesday. As well as dense smoke, firemen were hampered by blizzard conditions and wind chill factors of -35 C. The building was heavily damaged in the blaze (James Fitzgerald photo) Fire guts Kinburn Hall By Jim Fitzgerald The future of the Kinbum Hall is un- certain at this after firms -last Tuesday heavily damaged the interior of the one - storey, former school house. The former. SS No. 3 Hallett School house, converted in 1966 to the Forester's Lode Hall for Court Constantine and the Constancelodges, suffered in estintated" Polling spot is moved A polling station for Thursday's provincial election has been moved at the last minute. All those voters hr the Huron -Bruce riding who would have normally voted at the Kinburn Hall in Constance, that was burned in fire on Tuesday, will now vote at the home of Tom Whyte, at lot 3, con- cession 4 of Hallett Township. Mr. Whyte's farm is located 1% miles south of Kinburn, turn left (or east) and it's the first farm on the right (or south). Polls will be open from 8 am to 7 pm. $50,000 damage from the fire that was caused bya faulty oil furnace. Custodian Eric Anderson said . he discovered the fine ab 110:30 Wffwhetrhg---- came to turn up the furnace for the St. Patrick's euchre party scheduled for Tuesday night He said it started in the oil furnace and quickly -filled -the nmunity ha 1, built in 1900, with smoke. Seaforth firemen fought the blaze for nearly five hours, facing blizzard conditions and a -35 C wind chill factor. With help from the Clinton tanker truck, they successfply prevented the fire from burning the building down, but a polling station for Thursday's provincial election had to be moved to the nearby farm of Tom Whyte, south of the hamlet. 116th year —No. 11 Thursday, March 19, 1981 Weather 1981 1980 MARCH 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 HI LO HI LO 3 —1.5 0 —4 8 —5 2 —6 1 —11 9 — 3-- 2 —12 Snow lc) cm 4 —3 —2 —10 —8 —17 —3 —13 0 —4.5 —2 — 8 5 — 10 Rain 20 mm uestions asked as voters decide Historically the voters of Huron - Middlesex have supported a man rather than a party and that support has remained loyal. Liberal MPP, Jack Riddell was first elected in 1W3 byelection and has represented the rung in Queens Park' since that time as a member of the op- position. Federally, the riding has sup- ported Conservatives in Bob McKinley and now Murray Cardiff. Cutbacks hit local college By Shelley McPhee One Manpower retraining program at Clinton's Conestoga College has been dropped, two others have been reduced and half of the full time instructors have been laid off. Recent federal government budget cutbacks for social and educational programs at the post secondary level has resulted in lay-offs of three of the six full' time faculty members at the Clinton campus. A fourth instructor has been re- assigned to another area and one part-time counsellor has been laid off. While one new instructor will fill a position left open, the college will now be • operating without the Construction Trades Helper program. As well, the Clerical Secretarial and " Academic Upgrading courses have been forced into a 20 per cent reduction because of the cuts in financial assistance. As a result of the goverment cuts the entire college system, including Clinton, has been forced to lay off 14 faculty v_.:members,and.nine..faculty_members have been advised that they will be given transfers within the college. Three • courses, Journalism • and Newswriting, Environmental Horticulture I and Industrial, . Tecfuuques are beiingo.,, drop] at me.W"aterloo canvas: At the Guelph campus, the Electronics - Cable TV course has been cancelled and the General Carpenter program at the Cambridge campus has been cut. Along with the reduction in the secretarial and upgrading courses at Clinton, other campuses will see reductions in the ad- vance carpentry, appliance servicing, furniture upholstery and retail meat cutting courses. Cable viewers get treat Viewers of television in Clinton and Goderich hooked up to the Bluewater TV Cable network may have noticed a slight Well, here it is election day (although because of earlier deadlines many people will be reading this Wednesday night), and we'll all be flocking to the polls to pick a government. Hopefully, we won't be as stupid as we were last February when we put Trudeau back it with a mandate to blunder, and this time give the Davis Big Blue Machine a majority he seeks. The recent minority government was one of the most productive in recent memory. This agent will go out on the limb and predict a Conservative minority government, with the NDP slipping to a poor third place behind the Liberal opposition. Jack Riddell will win Huron -Middlesex by at least 3,000 votes, but the race in Huron -Bruce is too close to call at this point. Maybe a slim win by liberal Murray Elston. Anyway, the polls open at 8 am and close at 7 pm, so there's plenty of time to mark your ballot. I always say t1 at if you do n't vote, don't bitch afterwards. There is a fly inthe ointment, however, as locally a six-inch snowfall has covered the area, making it much harder for some of our indigents and seniors to get out to the polls. So if you have a neighbor or know of someone who might be in such straits, phone them up and offer to give them a ride to the polls. I know, I know, it's been a dull campaign, and it's confusing to know who' to vote for, but just pick up the daily paper or look at the TV news to, see how hard the people of Poland or San Salvador are fighting to get the right to vote, and you'll realize just how preciousyour franchise really is. + + + First it was two Friday the 13ths in a row, and now this. If you're the least bit superstitious than this Friday will be even lousier. Sure, spring arrives at 12:03 pm on Friday the 20th, but it's also the full moon that day, the first time the two have conincided in 100 years. And if that isn't bad enough, ac- cording to tradition in these parts, the direction of the wind on that day will set the tone for the rest of the spring. So with a strong northwesterly predicted by the weatherman for Friday, it looks like tough seeding weather for the farmers. That's if you believe all this malarky! + + + At thetzge ra1d house, we wear rose colored glarsses and are convinced spring can't be far off. Already the basement is half full of seedlings of half a dozen different vegetables and flowers, and looking back at an old diary, I see that we planted the garden on April 6th one year, so there's always hope. + + + Says the Main Street Wit this week: "March comes in like a lion and goes out like tc lamb. You could say as much for many an administration." + + + Quote of the week, courtesy of the dry wit of Goderich Township Clerk Robin Thompson: "Why is it that clerks have to keep minutes why councils waste hours" + + + As well as the first day of spring, this Friday also marks the first day of the winter break for local school kids, and one kid told me, when I asked if all this new snow would spoil his holiday: "Better this week then next." + + + Besides the week off school there are other treats to take in, including an exhibition hockey game this Monday night at 7 pm between the Clinton Pee Wees and a team from Schubinacadie, Nova Scotia. I wonder if they have their town's name on their sweaters? + + + Remember, says the Wit, the only job where you can start at the top is digging a hole. change in programing on their sets in the last couple of weeks. Instead of the regular Channel 9 Win- ` dsor, viewers have been treated to a host of American stations, including Atlanta, Georgia; a New York City station; one from Chicago, and The Movie Channel, a station that shows nothing but recently made movies, 24 hours a day, with no commercials. Don Stinson, general manager of Bluewater Cable said in a recent interview that he is showing the other stations to illustrate to customers the variety of programing that is available on satellite. The signals are picked up from the satellite by a dish antenna at Holmesville and Mr. Stinson admitted that he wasn't quite following the letter of the law for his licence. The stations that Bluewater is allowed to carry-wreregulated -by the Canadian Radio and Television Corporation (CRTC) and so far, the CRTC hasn't told him to shut down his 'dish'. "We just want to show the people what they can't have," Mr. Stinson said. "We (the cable TV owners in Canada) are trying to create some public interest in the stations and then we'll see if we can't get some support to put them on." "We've pleaded to the government to let us use some of those stations but they're just not listening," he noted. Mr. Stinson said there were some 20 stations available from the satellite, ranging from the all -family WTBS, to an all -religious station, to Home Box Office, to even an all -blue movie station, but Mr. Stinson said the later would never be shown here. There is no agreement between the U.S. and Canada on using the stations, Mr. Stinson said, so it's costing cable viewers nothing here so far. But should public support force the government to change their stance:: the public would end up paying extra for some of the satellite stations. He said the CRTC will eventually find out about the "new" stations and order him to shut down the receiver, but until then he says he wants to give the people a taste of what's available. Mr. Stinson said he is seeking letters of support on the matter to present to the Francis Fox, federal minister of corn- munications, who are responsible for the CRTC. Indeed, the battle lines may already be drawn if history and loyalties play a major part in the predominantly agrarian based riding. But incumbent Jack Riddell may get a bit of a scrap front Conservative candidate, Jim Britnell, a 52 -year old foriiiner County e'ng -teem. In the 1977 provincial election, Con- servative candidate Anson McKinley ate into Riddell's plurality, losing by little more than 3,000 votes. Also, if leadership is an election issue it may not be as big a factor in the riding of Huron -Middlesex. The loyalties can run deep. At the beginning of the campaign, Britnell thought he might have a chance but now "enthusiasm is catching and it's more than a chance." Britnell admitted there ,are no burning issues in the campaign but stressed the need for a candidate to be cognizant of the little concerns of the electorate. "What I can do for the riding is most important," he said. "It is the little con- cerns of the people here that are more important." Although he has been actively involved in county business for over 20 years, Britnell conceded that gaining recognition was a tedious task in a large riding. While he is confident of a Conservative victory member of the governing party could ,. better sefve the riding. "There are advantages to a member being in government and those who deal with government directly prefer to have their member in the governing party," he said. "It allows access to caucus and gives people a chance for input before policy is committed." While many economic policies fall under federal jurisdiction, Jim believes the Conservatives can play a vital role in the promotion of small industry for Ontario and lauds the premier's B.I.L.D. program for taking steps in that direction. "Small industry is definitely what we need in this riding because communities with one industry are too vulnerable," he said. "The opposition has accused us of a branch -plant philosophy but there are a few industries in this riding with branches Standing beside the nine -foot hooked tapestry, Marlyn Forbes of the SS No. 4 Communis Club presents the replica of the Goderich Township crest at the official opening of the new hall last Saturday. Hand -hooked and designed by the club, the multi -colored work, containing 200,000 pieces, depicts the different aspects of the township. Games Fit- zgerald photo) Township hall unveiled By Shelley McPhee After two years of plotting and planning the Goderich Township Hall is finally a reality and on Saturday, nearly 500 people came out toe celebrate the official opening of the community centre. The afternoon and evening celebration began at 2 pm with a special musical prelude presented by Elmer Trick, at the piano and Mrs. Alberta Driver, playing her violin. Goderich Township Clerk Robin Thompson acted as master of ceremonies for the official opening and dignitaries taking part in the event included Goderich Township Reeve Grant Stirling, Huron County Warden Fred Haberer, MPP Jack Riddell, Al Sinclair from the ministry of culture and recreation, C. Dendekker and representing Muer Construction. Jack Van Egmond unveiled a special memorial plaque and Ben Whitely un- veiled th.e construction plaque while_ Rev. Stan McDonald offered the prayer of dedication. The afternoon program included donations made by Mrs. Jean Lobb for the Enterprising Seniors, the Taylor's Corner Community Club, the Goderich Township WI: Mr . and Mrs. William Batlan; Mr. and Mrs. Bert McCreath and the Gliddion family. An impressive donation was the nine -foot hooked replica of the Goderich Township crest. Created by the No. 4 Community Club, the hanging will be mounted in the hall. Following musical selections given by Hugh and Marty Lobb,an open house was held and in the evening area residents attended a dance in the centre for the music of Jim Medd and the Pleasure Paks. The $200,000 hall, located in Holmesville, was bout atter the township received a large bequeath in 1978 from the estate of the late John and Pearl Woon to be used to build a hall. The Woons were longtime residents of Goderich Township and the couple believed that a community hall could benefit the people in the area. Mr. Woon's father, John Woon Sr. came to Goderich Township in 1878 from Tavistock after he bought lot 42, B.L. concession. John Woon was born in the log house that his father had built on January 26, 1 >.;9 and the family continued to live in the original home until 1912, when a new house was built. He and the former Pearl Farquhar were married on December 18, 1913 and lived in the township until 1951, when they sold their farm to the Stryker family and moved to the south half of lot 26, con- cession 4 in Hullett Township. Mr. Woon died on October 16, 1964 but his wife continued'to live on their Hallett farm until 1974, when she sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Ken McNairn. Mrs. Woon moved into Clinton and lived there until her death on January 17, 1978. The Woons affection for Goderich Township was shown by the large surra of money they left to the township and through their generosity, coupled with grants received from the ministry of culture and recreation and from Wintario, the new Goderich Township hall is now a reality. The hall has been in constant use since its completion this fall. It includes a large auditorium, the township clerk's office and storage room for municipal files, a kit- chen, smaller meeting rooms, washrooms and cloak rooms. in the States." Britnell says his contact with farmers through county business is a big plus and adds that his engineering training will lend itself to the political process. "Because of my training I am methodical thc)rougtr and- planzarefa.g which stops waste," he said. "I have benefitted from my association with the county job, and municipal affairs. I know the problems of farmers and know where to get help." Riddell has served the riding of Huron - Middlesex since his byelection victory in 1973. He has been active on provincial committees and is a respected member of the opposition. In a conversation early in the campaign he indicated the Liberal party was more than optimistic about the election. "I haven't seen as much optimism in the party. It's time fora change." Riddell maintained that economics and leadership were the basic issues of the election and claimed the Tories had fallen flat onbothcounts. "We are the slowest growing province with the highest rate of unemployment," he said. "We are losing Or young people by the thousands and the province lacks industrial strategy." The wester campaign favored the Conservatives, Riddell said, but added that leadership could be the determining factor. "Money was plentiful in the 60s but now under Premier Davis times are tough," he said. "The Liberals have the policy, to turn the province around' Much of the economic malaise results from the province's dependence on the federal government and private sector•, ho said adding that 1977 election promises contained in the Charter for Ontario were never carried The Stephen Township farmer reiterated Liberal party leader, Stuart Smith's .sentiments in calling the Con- servativle„adlf ; „et'tsing campaign an insult totheintelligeneeltthelieopler., New Democratic Party candidate, 69 - year -old Gwen Pemberton of Bayfield, admitted that her campaign was late starting and has been low key. Turn to page 3 0 Although spring is still several days away yet, young people still like to frolic, and last weekend, Lo Ann Nicholson of Clinton hitched a ride from her boyfriend, Dave Prom of Goderich. Both were home for the weekend. (James Fitzgerald photo)