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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1981-11-11, Page 1-a 116th year —No. 45 November 1 1981 50 cents Buildingat standstill Except for the building, of a new $100,000, mini -mall this fall, 1981 would have gone down as one of the worst years on record for building since the depression in Clin- ton. Not one new house was built in Clinton this year, and except for the mini -mall, only some renovations were carried out, reports Tom Chuter, the towns's building permit issuer. Last year, over $1 million in permits were issued for a new bank, additions for two large grocery stores, a bank, and two houses, as well as a host of renovations. The lack of building has been blamed on the excessively high interest rates on mortgage money, which touched ,22 per Vanastra curling club opens in new renovated building Approximately 100 people attended the official opening of the new Vanastra Curl- ing Club held Sunday afternoon Nov. 8. Master of ceremonies for this special oc- casion was Reeve Bob Bell, who welcomed everyone and introduced the honoured guests. Messages of congratulations were brought by MPP Jack Riddell, Bruce Pot- ter of Goderich, representing BM Ross Associates, and Bob Wilson Seaforth representing the Ontario Curling Associa- tion! Acting on behalf of, the contractors, Wayne & Harold Smith' Construction who were unable to attend, Bruce Potter presented the keys to Reeve Bob Bell, Township of Tuckersmith, who in turn presented the keys to Ken Rogerson, presi- dent of Vanastra Curling Club. Rev. Bob McMullen of Brucefield was present to offer the official dedication of the new building. Participants in the ribbon cutting ceremony, Reeve Bell, MPP Jack Riddell and President Ken Rogerson then declared the new Vanastra Curling Club officially open. Guests in attendance then entered to in- spect the new facilities and take part in the reception and dinner catered to by the Kin - burn Foresters. Clinton merchants finalize plans for Christmas season A Christmas Blockbuster Party on Friday, November 20 will kick off the Christmas season in Clinton, the Clinton Business and Professional Association decided at their monthly meeting last week. All stores are asked to participate in the special promotion which will see stores open from 7 pm to midnight, following a closing from 6 to 7 pm to mark down prices. The party will be promoted in four area weekly newspapers. But because of lack of funds this year, the town's Santa Claus parade had to be cancelled, and instead Santa will visit on December 13th to give out candy and popcorn, while on December 5th, a special Cm' Although there are few people other than historians and lawyers who un- derstand what is really going on, it appears as if we finally have a con- stitution for Canada, after 114 years of nationhood. In all likelihood it will mean little difference to you and I in our ordinary station in life, but it's slightly warming to know that we do have a document we can drag out proudly during patriotic times. Because it is only a piece of paper, a constitution is only as good as the ap- plication that is made by the people who live with it. It doesn't really guarantee us anything, as proven . by other countries down through the ages who have had outstanding documents. The United States, for instance, had their declaration of independence written in 1796, and even though it called for life, liberty and equality for all, slavery existed there until 1865, and racial discrimination was still alive and well in schooling even until the 1960's. We may laugh at them, but Canadians have skeletons too. Remember the thousands of Canadian born people of Japaneses ancestry who had their property seized and were interred in camps during the last war. And who can forget 1971 when the War Measures Act was declared and all civil rights suspended. Why even recently, the RCMP has confessed to spying on politicians on opposition benches. Freedom of expression is indeed a precious commodity that too many people seem to be willing to give up too easily. We must be on guard at all times. first column kiddies movie afternoon will be presented on December 5 at the town hall. Association president John Balfour also reported that all stores should be decorated by November 15 for Christmas, and that the Business Improvement Area is setting up two Christmas trees and lights in the main parks, while paying for the hydro for the post decorations. All stores will be open Wednesdays starting December 5, and open nights on December 17, 18 and December 21 to 23, with a 6 pm closing on December 24th. For the first time in years, a special "Boxing Day Sale" will be held on Mon- day, December 28, with a town -wide promotion scheme set to go, according to Mr. Balfour. + + + It seems apt that we are talking about freedom on a day that has been set aside in hopes that everyone will remember all those who sacrificed their lives and for those who survived but bear the physical and mental scars of their fiehtforour freedom. "Lest we Forget" is the Remem- brance Day slogan ringing across the land, and for those who do forget, the penalty can be another war that could end all wars. Even now the war dogs talk of "limited" nuclear war in Europe. +4+' Keep you fingers crossed, but as of presstime, the little creatures seemed to be under control over at Clinton Public School and the lousy problem has subsided, hopefully for a long time. But lice, which are a small six -legged insects which can infect the head or the body, or even lower parts, have been with us since the beginning of time, and until the last couple of decades, out- breaks used to be fairly common. The tiny creatures have even enriched our language S?Ime of which is used every day. For instance, when you're under the weather, you say "I'm feeling lousy" (which of course also describes the infestation of the insects), or if your cursing something that's vile, filthy or contemptible, you call it or the person "lousy" or if it's an inferior product you again use "lousy." But it's also used to describe something that is ambly supplied, such as: "the place was just lousy with people." Of course, when you mess something up, you "louse it up" or the someone who is a heel or a burn or a rat is described as a louse. Seldom heard anymore is the word louster, another word derived from the little insect, to describe someone who works very fast and is busy all the time. Even lice eggs, called nits, have added something to the English language. Everybody's used the word "nit-picker" to describe somebody who is over fussy, and interested in too much detail. The word comes from picking the little almost microscopic "nits" out of the hair, and is aptly applied, as it a . very tedious, time- consuming process. + + + In a story in last week's paper on the Aimwell Unit of the Londesboro United Church making a quilt for the hosptial fund, it was incorre ctly reported that the ladies would raffle off the quilt. That is not so. The Unit gave the quilt to the Londesboro Lions club who in turn raffled it off. Our sincere apologies. + + + A chimney fire at the Fabian residence on High Street had the Clinton fire fighters out in full force on Monday evening, about 5:15. Thank- fully, only minor damage was caused. + + + Says the Main Street Wit this week: "Probably the first national resource to become exhausted is the Canadian taxpayer." cent this summer, but have since started to fall. The rates not only discouraged new construction, but real estate agents in town said they nearly halted the resale of older homes. The resulting buyer's market has driven prices down to where some houses have lost up to 33 per cent on their value in the last two years. One older small cottage on a 40 -foot lot sold for only $3,300 last Saturday at an auction, while two weeks ago, bidding could only be coaxed up to $16,000 on a beautiful three-bedroom brick home on a large lot on High Street. It didn't sell because of a higher reserve price. Vanastra is in bad shape as well, as some good, two-bedroom homes are trading for as low as $8,000. But there is hope on the horizon, with interest rates expected to drop during the winter to the 13 per cent level by next spring, according to one local real estate agent. "There's a real pent up demand for housing, and when things turn around there'll be a mad scramble for it," one agent who wished to remain nameless, said this week. The slow -down in housing starts is a nation-wide problem, however, with contractors and building supply dealers - suffering the most. Already, a number of firms have gone bankrupt, including Discount Dave's Home Centres, while other stores have closed, including Counter's Cash and Carry in Clinton, and Ball -Macaulay in Hensall. Ball -Macaulay plans to keep their Seaforth and Clinton Yards open, however. t Weather 1981 1980 NOVEMBER HI 3 13 4 16 5 16 6 10 7 6 8 14 9 3. LO HI LO -2 15 1 -1 14 5 4 7 1 0 6.5 -3 -2 11.5 2 -2 5 -3 -3 11 1 Rain 27.2 mm Rain 17.0 mm 1 About a dozen parents protested outside of Clinton Public School last Thursday morning objecting to the outbreak of lice hi the school, and demanding the school clean it up. By Wednesday of At public school this week, no new cases of lice infestation of the schol children had been reported, but a public meeting is scheduled for Thursday night. (James Fitzgerald photo) "Lousy" problem nearly licked By Shelley McPhee The 412 students at Clinton Public School were all back in class by Tuesday and according to principal Al Taylor, the lice problem may be under control. Mr. Taylor reported that a check at the school was carried out by the Huron County Health Unit on Monday morning, and only two students were sent home. They returned to class on Tuesday mor- ning after another inspection showed that the problem had been cleared up. The lice infestation problem which began in the school in early September and saw more than 80 children affected now seems to be under control, according to Mr. Taylor, but he stressed that the school is still taking precautions to ensure that another outbreak won't occur. ' Last weekend, on the advice of county health officials, the school was sprayed and Mr. Taylor said that the school will be fumigated again this weekend and the public health unit will carry out another head check next Monday morning. Other preventative measures are; being carried out at the school by the can- cellation of all assemblies for November, along with activities of outside groups using the school's facilities. Children have been isolating their jackets and coats by hanging them on the ,back of their seats instead of in communal cloakrooms. With a shortage of hublic health nurses to do frequent inspection checks, parents are still being asked to check their children each day and to take the proper measures if lice, or eggs (nits) are found. Ridding the scalp of lice and eggs requires a four-hour procedure and a parent must wash the child's hair with special sham- poo, then go through it strand by,strand with a steel comb to pick off nits. If one nit is left on the head, warned Catherine Walsh, director of public health nursing for, Huron, the lice will multiply and the infestation recurs. Parents are also ad- vised to dry clean or wash clothing and bed linens in hot water to kill the organisms. More than 30 concerned Clinton parents met with school and health officials last Thursday and discussed the problem at a Saturday meeting of the Huron County Board of Education. Croup spokesman Carol Strickland of Clinton said the board officials denied the parents' request to close the school, but carried out an extensive check on children and some parents on Monday morning before they entered the sprayed school. "The school's done their bit, the health unit's done its bit and.now it's up to the parents," Mrs. Strickland noted, in at+ tempt to break the contagious spread of the lice between home and school. Mrs. Strickland noted that concerned parents have organized an information and prevention meeting for this Thursday night, November 12th at Clinton's Wesley - Willis United Church at li pm. "It's up to the people to realize that there still could be a problem," Mrs. Strickland noted, and urged all parents to attend. With the countywide outbreak hitting Clinton the hardest, Mr. Taylor suanorted the need for further checks and extra Seek funds for hospital Door-to-door canvas begins here The door-to-door canvass for the building fund for the Clinton Public Hospital begins later this week, as volunteers seek to put the fund closer to its goal of $353,000 in donations needed to pay for the $866,000 addition. Before the sod is even turned, the ministry of health as decreed that the board have at least $170,000 worth of donations in the bank. The fund edged over the $135,000 mark last week with the addition of a $10.000 pledge from the Clinton Lions Club. The remainder of the cost of the addition to the emergency facilities will be carried by a $303,000 grant form the ministry of health, a $110,000 grant from the county. and $100,000 from the hospital's reserve fund. The medical and nursing staff are staging a special fun variety night on While campaign chairman Steve Cooke pain in the thermometer in the background, hospital administrator Doug Coventry, left, accepts a $10,000 pledge from Clinton Lions club president Gord llarkes. The fund this week reached the $135,000 mark. November 25th at the Blyth Festival, with all proceeds going to the building fund. Donations to the Public Hospital Building Fund this week include: Mrs. Shirley Haggerty, Mr. Jack Raidt, Mr. John R. Willock, Mr. & Mrs. Gary Haak, Mr. & Mrs. Jim Baker, Bainton Limited, Mrs. Velma M. Naylor, Mr. Jim Towe, Mr. & Mrs. Brock Olde, Mrs. Jacomina Kolkman, Mrs. Muriel M. Grigg, Mrs. Carol G. McInnes, Mrs. Rosemary Arm- strong. Gerofsky Brothers Ltd., Mr. 1- R.J. Homuth, Dr. George S. Elliott, Mr. Alan H. Jewson, Mrs, L. Beatrice Groves, Mr. Oliver Steckle, Mr. Ron McKay, Mrs. Marianne Smith, Mr. Wayne Lester, Mr. Donald Armstrong, Mr. & Mrs. Harold Howard. Mr. & Mrs. Jack Lee, Mr. Harold Hartley. Mrs. Margaret Hale. Mr. Gordon Richardson, Mrs. May Gibson, Mr. John W. Deeves, Mrs. Gwen Watson, Mr. John M. Craig, Dr. Laurene 0. Paterson, Mr. Robert Morgan, Mrs. Karyn Lippincott, Mr. John Campbell, Mr. & Mrs. George B. Beattie, Mr. Ernie Hovey, Mrs. Doris Red - dock. Mr. Doug Sinnamon, Mrs. Charlotte Cook. Mr. & Mrs. Edward Radford, Mrs. Winona McDougall, Mrs. Charolotte Bell, Mrs. Louise Buttell, Mr. John Young. Mrs. Ella Fairservice, Mrs. Alice Slorach, and the Holmesville United Church Women, $100. Huronview resident s get 810 000 grant from NeAN. Horizon A group of retired people at Huronview. will receive a New Horizons grant for $10,364 Health and Welfare Minister Moni- que Begin announced last week. Huronview Residents Council will ex- pand an existing program to include sing- songs, musical entertainment, videotaped movies and educational material, gourmet cooking and dining. New Horizons is a federal government program that offers grants to groups of retired citizens to encourage community participation. The program allows seniors an opportunity to develop interests of their own choosing and at the same time meet local needs. precaution and stressed, "We hope that other groups take action to keep the problem under controL" rCLINTON HOSPITAL BUILDING FUND uit) (IND j25 C:1LLI 350 325 300 275 250 225 200 175 150 125 100 75 SO