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By Shelley McPhee
Not since the 1975 centennial
celebrations has Clinton seen so thany
people, so much festivities, food and tun.
To the surprise and excitment of many
Clinton residents and business people„the
town came to life in a big way on May 22
and May 23 when the first annual Clinton
Klompen Feest took off with all the thrill
and glory of a giant fireworks display..
The summer-like weather was nothing
less than perfect for the two-day
celebration and more than 15,000 pepple
joined in the parade, the dancing, the
singing, the eating, the shopping and the
non-stop fun.
An astounding success, Klompen Feest
featured a colossal parade that was seen
by an estimated 10,000 people. The
celebration wound up on Saturdayevening
with another record setting event when
more than 3,000 people devored thousands
of pounds of barbecued chicken, baked
potatoes, coleslaw, corn, rolls, cake and
ice_. cream in a giant feast held at thg
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Clinton Community Park. While there
were some 'dial fears that thousands of
people could not be fed at one time, there
was no apparent evidence of
disorganization, lack of facilities or space,
or long slow line-ups.
Klompen Feest got off to a great start on
Friday evening when hundreds of people
gathered downtown for an entertaining
five-hour musical show. The highlight of
the evening came when John Greldanus
and the Clinton Klompen Festival Singers
took many people in the crowd back to
Holland with the well-known Dutch love
song, Dear by die molen. Without a
moment's hesitation the crowd joined in
the song and immediately afterwards
showed their great love and loyalty to
Canada by singing This Land Is Your
Land. The joy, togetherness and feelings of
community spirit where clearly exem-
plified m this emotional moment of song.
Under a beautiful, starllte sky, Friday
night's festivities continued on well after
midnight_ . as , t!re w oden_,shoed crowd__
danced to the oompa, the modern, the Jazz
and the soft sounds of the Tryoler Brass
from Kitchener.
The only tragedy of the evening came
when Ann Bottema, one of the Klompen
Singers, fell off the stage and suffered a
broken arm. However, this lady, who has
worked for the past several months sewing
Dutch styled costumes and dressing dolls,
was not deterred by her in jury and was out
in full force on Saturday to help at the
booths.
It seemed that nothing could hamper the
high energy and extraordinary .en-
thusiasm for Klompen Feest and by l0, am
on Saturday morning, the Dutch music
was playing, the Oliebollen were sizzling,
and everyone was readying to take in a
great day of entertainment.
Booths lined a portico on Rattenbury
Street and offered a variety of articles and
home baking to buy, and pamphlets and
information to give away. The booths
selling honiebaked goods offered what
seemed to tte an endless supply. of_.Ples?
cakes, cookies and squares to tantalize that
tastebuds and the Christian Reformed
Church Ladies worked non-stop cooking
Ditch sweet treats and selling hundreds of
plates of sour herring.
Klompen Feest souvenirs were available
for sale and the Sewing Bee of the
Christian Reformed Church put together a
specfa1100-pa8eKlompen Feest Cookbook.
The book is still available for sale at
several outlets in town.
The high quality parade got underway at
1 pm and featured winners in seven dif-
ferent categories, with $50 going to first
prize winners and $25 to second place
finishers. Bill Gerritts had the most
original float, depicting a Dutch wedding
and second prize went to the Clinton Public
School, with honorable mention going to
the Clinton Kinettes entry.
T.B. Allen and Scruton Fuels had the
best commercial or industrial float, with
second place going to Fleming's Feed .Mill -
Turn to paged
One of the hottest selling items at the Christian Church booth at the Klompen Feest was
the Oliebollens, or deep fried dough balls, filled with raisins and apples. Trying to keep
ahead of the demand are, left to right, Arlene Van Maar of Holmsville, Frances Hummel
of Londesboro, and Femmi Boven of Seaforth. (James Fitzgerald photo)
1 1 6th year.—No. 21
Thursday, May28, 1981
40a
IN CLINTON
FRIDAY. SATURDAY
SUNDAY
JUNE
5, 6 Si 7
Does town want industry?as
By Steve Crossman
Only 25 per cent of Clinton's total
assessment is accounted for by industrial
and commercial concerns. The com-
mercial sector takes up the major part of
this, leaving the industrial portion to ac-
count for only fie per cent of the town's
Town .buys. new truck, wages not settled yet
Buy new truck
At their May 19 meeting, Clinton Council
studied three tenders for the possible
purchase of a new one -ton chassis and cab
for epublic works department.
olden -46e • submitted 'by Lorne
Brown Motors, Clinton Chrysler -Plymouth
and McGee Mot.rs in Goderich. Council
decided to. take the low bid from Clinton
Chrysler -Plymouth for a $8,831.78 chassis
andclub cab. with trade in.
Still negotiating
Clinton town employees are still trying
to settle their 1981 wage negotiations and
Mayor Chester Archibald reported that the
final group would be finished their
negotiating before council's June 1
meeting.
Councillor Wayne Lester said that he
thought the negotiations had been a suc-
first
column
Wow! What a weekend! What a
crowd! Never in my wildest dreams,
did I ever imagine that Klompen Feest
would be suchen overwhelming succes.
Everbody seemed to be having a
terrific time, and what's even more
surprising is that it was done without
booze sloshing all over the place.
No don't get me wrong, a few drinks
now and again has been proven by
scientists, to be actually good for your
health, but in the • last decade or so,
everybody has been led to believe, and
falsely so, that you can't have a good
time or make any money unless
everybody gets half smashed. Klompen
Feest sure proved them wrong. The
only thing missing was all the drunks
wandering around the streets, although
there was still a substantial number of
gravel runners around the countryside,
and we did see a case of vandalism
when a local store had their flags
stolen.
All in all it was well worth the effort,
and the Feest committee and the
hundreds who helped should be very
proud of their efforts. I think it should
definitely bean annual event.
++ +
All this "Feesting" has kept this
newspaper staff on. its toes both before
the event with our special edition,
during the event covering it, and Iong
into the night developing and printing
all those pictures.
Out of the several hundred exposures
Shelley and myself made of all the
events, several dozen highlights have
bei picked out and appear in this
week's paper. We have even added two
extra pages without any advertisments
to try and accommodate the pictures,
but unfortunately, not all of them can
he published, so we hope those who
don't see themselves will wait until the
Spring Fair parade, or perhaps next
year's Klompen Feest.
+ + +
And speaking of the Spring Fair,
there's no rest for the wicked, as no
sooner do things get settled down after
Feest, then alongs comes the biggest
spring fair in Ontario next weekend,
cess and noted, "I very much approve of
what's been accomplished so far." '
Okay severances
Council recommended to the committee
of adjustment three severance, ap-
plications on Gordon' and King Streets. The
applications involve new residences that
were built by Harold White Homes and are
now owned by Walter E. Heller Financial
Co-orporation. The applications ask for
•severances on part of lot 666 -on the, south
side of Gordon Street; part of lot 665 on the
south side of Gordon Street and lot 68 on
the east side of King Street.
Fort no more
Earlier in the year council had written to
Rene Brochu on Dunlop Street, requesting
that a fort, build on town property, be
demolished and the area cleaned up.
by
jirrl fitzgerald
June 5, 6, and 7. For the first time in a
decade, this humble reporter will be in
the Fair instead of covering it, so I'm
taking a week off to do so. But we'll see
you there anyway.
+ +
This weekend is also a busy one as the
fund raising committee for the hospital
addition tries to garner some extra
funds with a rock concert Friday night
at the arena. Now so far the advance
ticket sales haven't been too good, so
we hope things will turn around before
then.
+ + +
And as if that wasn't enough, the
federal government is taking their once
a decade census, trying to count heads
by making us fill out all those forms.
They're being real nice about telling us
to fill them out, but just in case you
don't you could end up paying a $5,000
fine or spending a couple of weeks in the
cooler.
As well, there's a major agricultural
census to which the Main Street Wit
says the government should delay until
the end of the year. That way they'd
have far fewer farmers to count, what
with so many of them selling out
because of the economic situation!
+ + +
The last couple of days, the black fly
population hereabouts is finally
disappearing, and none too soon.
Doctors in the area say they never had
as many complaints about the little
pests than this year, with the bites
sometimes swelling up so much that
eyes are swollen shut.
At least when a mosquito gets you,
she (only the female bites) does it with
delicate class, using her hyperdermic -
like syringe with almost no pain. But
when a black fly goes for you, she's like
a manic with a chainsaw, and I've seen
youngsters with blood literally running
down their heads from all the bites. And
this year, even the repellent doesn't
seern to scare them off, they seem
immune to the stuff. (Do you think
maybe all those crazy science -fiction
writers were right, and one day insects
will rule the world?)
In return, they received a .letter from
Mr. Brochu noting that the area had been "
cleaned, but he asked if other neighbors
and parents of the boyswho build the
structig hadrecefgedsimilarletters ; o,,;,...
While c(t>in t i1 felt tharthe two-storey foe&
would be a possible fire hazard because of
a stove located in the upper portion, Mr.
Brochu pointed out that the strive was
made under the guidance of the Central
Huron Secondary School shop department.
Property complaints
Four letters regarding property at 45
Mary Street were studied by Clinton
Council. .
Dorothy Maclaren wrote, "the view
isn't a pleasant one." She noted that the
house there had been deteriorating for
years and suggested that it be demolished.
Bob Morgan in his letter to council said
that the house had been vacant for more
than 10 years, and Milford and Ina Durst
ti
wrote, "it is no longer fit for human
habitation." The Dursts also noted that
they were concerned 'about the
devaluating effect that the property would
have on the 'possible ;sale of "their own
home.
"Weeds have been allowed to growat
random," Dave Colclough told council,
"and .they can quite easily reseed onto
adjacent property."
Mayor Chester Archibald agreed to talk
to the owner George Levis before any
further action was taken.
Councils greed to donate $200 to the
Hastings County Flood Relief Fund The
area was devastated earlier in the year
when private residences were destroyed
and damaged by river flood waters.
The government named five towns and
villages in Hastings County as disaster
areas and have agreed to offer their
financial support by matching the relief
fund donations in grants.
Klompen Feest opened
By H. Heeneman, M.D.
Vice Consulate of the
Netherlands
"I consider it to be a great honour to
have been asked by your organizing
committee to say a few words to all of you
on the occasion of the opening of this
Klompenfeest T am also pleased that the
emphasis of this,festivity is laid on a bit of
Dutch folklore, which has become, juding
by the number of activities with a Dutch
Farmers have
crops planted
By Jim Fitzgerald
Thanks to their big equipment, 20 -hour
days, and 10 days of dry sunny weather,
most farmers in Huron County have
finished spring seeding of grain and corn
crops.
Don Pullen, agricultural representative
for Huron, said Tuesday that the spring
grain was finally finished last week,
making it the longest sowing season in
memory, stretching back to the first week
in April.
All bit a few acres of corn are also in the
ground, and some farmers have even
started sowing their white beans. About
one-third of the soy bean crop is also in,
Mr. Pullen said.
Some corn fields which had been in since
the first week of May, had to be replanted
because of crusting of the soil after a
62mm rainfall on May 9 and 10th, but those
were the exception, Mr. Pullen noted. Most
other fields, especially those planted on
lighter ground, or not as deep have
emerged.
The heavy frosts of the week of May 10th
also set back the hay and pasture crops,
but with the return of warm weather last
weekend, "they have grown by leaps and
bounds," Mr. Pullen said.
Should the dry weather continue this
week, Mr. Pullen speculated that much of
the white bean crop will be sown before the
end of May, and most of the herbicides will
be applied.
overtone in Southwestern Ontario, a
significant part of the rich Canadian multi-
cultural scene.
"Approximately 20 percent of the
population of Huron County is Dutch or is
from Dutch descent and many came over
in the period between the late 40's and
middle 60's thus breaking the ties with
their homeland to settle in this part of the,
world and to start a new life. Most of the
Dutch have adapted very well to the new
environment and have became successful
farmers, merchants and tradesmen. The
Turn to page 3
tax base, it was teamed at last week at the
third in a series of four public meetings on
the new plan for the town.
A ratio of 410 per twills considered to be
air deal amount, Int in Clinton's case the
low percentage means that the town's
residents must account for the remaining
75 percent of the taxes.
George Penfold of the Huron County
Planning .Department pointed out these
facts when a small group of Clinton
residents met on May 20 to discuss the
town's industrial and commercial future.
The meeting, held in the Clinton arena,
was one of a series of four public sessions,
held to prepare an official plan, for the
town.
Most felt that an industrial base is an
important part of Clinton's future and was
seen by some citizens as a Way of guarding
the town's economic welfare against
agricultural disasters and possible
reloactions in the government service
sector.
Concern was expressed over the recent
-decrease in property -values, a trend that
stable industires could reverse; it was felt.
It was also noted that industry helps to
reduce the emigration of the area's
working age youth. A healthy industrial
base helps to lower the residential taxes
for the town's citizens, because industries
pay more in proportion for the services
they receive.
It was also noted that for every job
created in the industrial sector, four more
joss can be created in the town's service
and commercial sector.
Most of the discussion focused on the
possible effects of a 54 -acre industrial park
proposed by the Clinton Industrial Com-
mittee. Most of the park would be located
south of the CN railway tracks in the south
part of Clinton and north of the Bayfield
Concession. Developing the park is seen by
Industrial Committee Chairman Mike
Falconer and the group as the only way of
entering the highly competitive market of
attracting industry.
It was noted that an industrial park has
several advantages and attracts
businesses by offering available serviced
land. A park can be located so it con-
centrates industrial activity in one par-
ticular • area,, so service costs can ;be
minimized, and residential areas are not
disturbed. A industrial park also allows
diversification and :if one business 4ails
this will not necessarily lead toeconomic
disaster for the town, since dtii+e `"in-"
dustrfes will still be operating in the area.
IVIr.- Falconer explained that Clinton's
proposed park fills many of these
requirements and the area is not close to
' any residential area. He also stressed that
in the past, industries had not locatedin
Clinton due to the lack of available sed-.
viced land. �':
When the question arose regarding' What:
types of industriesshouldhe sought by. tide
town's Iiidustr tee,,, ane elt
tl aL fr" � � _ *Mee
eye
g.
position to be selective. Others felt 't `: t
secondary, labor intensive orso-called dry
industries would be most coriipatible.with
the town's present situation.
The present sewage facilities do limit
the amount and type of industry capable of
locating fn Clinton. These facilities can be
renovated if necessary, however the costs
and the probable benefits will have to be
examined at some future date.
Some felt that the erection of signs
advertising available industrial land could
help to improve the situation in Clinton. It
was also suggested that introductory tax
rates be introduced to entice prospective
companies, an industrial mini -mall be
constructed to attract smaller businesses,
and an active search for prospective in-
dustry should begin.
It was noted that an increase in the
mandatory buffer zones between in-
dustrial and residential areas should be
introduced. Presently, the buffers are 15
feetandthe side and 25 feet to the rear.
With a disappointing turn -out at last
Wednesday's meeting, the Industrial
Committee will be attempting over the
next few weeks to find out how more of
Clinton's residents feel about an industrial
park. They are hoping to get more support
than the unanimous approval they
received from the small group at the
meeting. The Industrial Committee need
the public in -put in the decision to go ahead
with the industrial park, so they can justify
the expenditures that creating such a park
will entail.
of
A crowd estimated at between I2,OQe and 15,11. eagle to Clinton
last Friday and Saturday for the two day Klompen Feest
eelebration. Here is past of the crowd watching the Friday night
show in fit of the stage on Rattenbury Street. ( Shelley
McPheepbsioi