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Clinton News-Record, 1985-2-6, Page 1INCORPORATING -THE BLYTH WEEKLY WEATHER JAN. 1985 1984 -1 -7 -3 -8 -4 -20 29 -5 -11 30 -5 -13 31 -2 -14 FEB. 1 -5 -14 2 -9 -22 3 4 -5 -22 2 -9 -10 -23 5 -2 -9 -18 1 -2 Snow 9 cm 5 cm Rain 6 mm 50 CENTS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6,1985 Dolly and Queenie, owned by Bob and Muriel McLachlan, were the children's favorites at the Vanastra Lions Winter ,Carnival on February;. Horse drawn sleigh ridesprovided hours of afternoon entertainment. Shelley Kyle, Heather Gahwiler, Trisha Smith and Jason Anderson and Paul Sherban enjoyed meeting their the two new friends. (Shelley McPhee photo) 120TH YEAR ANO.6 No immersion in '85 for Huron schools Local folk make the best of winter with snow games and daylong entertainment at Vanastra VANASTRA - The sun was shining on Vahastra on February 2 as the District Lions, Lioness and Leo Clubs staged their winter carnival. • The day started with with a pancake breakfast and game of baseball, snow -pitch style. While Lions Kim and Bernie were kept busy frying and flying the sausage and pan- cakes, and Leo Frank mixed up the batter, four teams battled in the snow to play a chilling game of ball. By 11 a.m. four more games of ball were unuerway and youngsters were tined up to enjoy the kiddie corner, where treasure hunts, balloon breaking and fish pond games were played. Snowmobile rides and sleigh rides kept Ralph, Hank and Lion Don busy for the afternoon. Bob and Miuriel McLachlan pro- vided horse drawn cutter rides. Children and adults -enjoyed riding along Vanastra's streets as horses Dolly and Queenie led the way and sleigh bells sounded their" ap- proach. Snow -pitch competition continued throughout the afternoon. The Seaforth Op- tirnists Won the A championship in ex- hausting tournament play and Nile Service Centre took home the B trophy. The Goderich Old Timers were awarded the prize for the most sporting team. Later that evening a dance was held at the Recreation Centre and the Singing DJ pro- vided the entertainment. Organizers report thatahe carnival was a great success and thanks goes out to the peo- ple who supported the event. "We couldn't have done it without you," organizers said. "Hope to see you all again next year." By Stephanie Levesque Huron County Board of Education closed the door ,on French Immersion at its February board meeting. The board agreed to leave the Core French program as it will be at the end of this year and will not consider the criteria for a voluntary late French Immersion pro- gram in Grades 7 and 8. There was only a handful of ratepayers at the meeting to hear the verdict. Some parents were from a group calling itself the concerned parents for better basic educa- tion and others were from the group which asked the board a year ago to consider put- ting French Immersion in Huron County schools. II The only reaction from the audience came when Clinton area trustee Frank Falconer finished a prepared speech. "To all board members, it is your decision which way you vote, but remember one thing, who won the war between Wolfe and Montcahn," said Mr. Falconer. He was ap- plauded by some of those in attendance. He represents the taxpayers in the Tuckersmith and Clinton area and he said there were only about five residents in- terested in French Immersion. "I am almost certain when they elected a Scotsman, they were sure they were not go - going to get French 'Immerse' with his vote," said Mr. Falconer. The ad hoc committee recommended the board leave, Core French • as it will, be in September. The board previously approved extending Core French in Grades 7 and 8 from 20 minutes per day to 40 minutes per day. The Grade 7 expansion took place in September of 1984 and the Grade 8 extension will take place September of this year. The school board again agreed to continue with the expansion. The ;ad hoc committee also recommended establishing criteria for late immersion. This was turned down by the school board. Ad hoc committee chairman Tony Mc - Quail said the cost of French Immersion in Grades 7 and 8 could range from $1,000 to $90,000.. However, he pointed out that the committee was recommending that late im- mersion only be offered in Huron if it did not cost the board any money. Trustee Joan VandenBroeck said it would be difficult for the board to not pick up costs for French Immersion. Mr. McQuail said he would vote with the committee's recommendations, however, two other trustees on the committee, Mr. Falconer and John Elliott both said they would vote against the late immersion pro- posal. "My real sorrow is that this has become a Quebec and Ontario confrontational issue," said Mr. McQuail. Trustee VandenBroeck disagreed. She described the turning down of a late French Immersion program as an "educa- tion dilemma that cannot be met at this time." Snow and illegal parking raise discussion at. council CLINTON - Winter brings with it an vehicles will have to be towed away," he unique set of problems and Public Works suggested. foreman Harold Gibbings is concerned Council agreed that the bylaw should be about two specific' areas - overnight parking 'fully enforced and Deputy Reeve Frank Van and snow removal. Altena was asked to advise the, pence . Mr. Gibbings told Clinton Council at their ^ "dlepartment•ofthe concerns. last meeting that he is looking for increased police enforcement of the town's overnight parking bylaw. "If the bylaw .is no good it should be changed," he told council, and noted that other towns are experiencing siinilar problems. Overnight parking is illegal inClinton and becomes a major problem in winter. Mr. Gibbings told council that cars parked on the streets overnight make it hazardous for public works crews on their early morning snow removal operations. He suggested that overnight .parking on streets is "habit forming," when vehicles park on the streets, ahead of using available off-street facilities. Mr. Gibbings further suggested that street parking caused greater hazards fpr other traffic and pedestrians. "Perhaps the perpetual illegally parked Mr. Gibbings also reminded council that a town bylaw restricts private citizens from clearing snow from their properties onto streets. • "It makes me mad when we've done a good job and someone comes along and chucks out their snow," he told council. Mr. Gibbings urged townspeople to keep snow off the streets because, "it makes a mess and creates a hazard." Mayor Archibald supported Mr. Gibbings' argument but said he had heard complaints from people who didn't like snow blown into their driveways and from other people who said that their streets and sidewalks were not being cleared. Mr. Gibbings emphasized that the public works department's priority is to clean streets and sidewalks on main thoroughways first. Another Vanastra fire VANASTRA - The Clinton Fire Depart- ment answered a call from another Vanastra business at about 8 a.m. or. Feb. 5. „Newly appointed Fire Chief Fred Lobb said there is no connection between the latest Vanastra blaze and others Which destroyed Vanastra Home Furnishings and much of Bayfield Boats. Chief . Lobb said the building housing Stelarc Metal Products of Vanastra, a cou- ple doors down from Bayfield Boats, which incurred around $1 million damage due to fire about three weeks ago, 'received some damage to the ceiling and rafters as a result of chimney problems. "I imagine there's anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000 damage to the building but that's strictly an estimate," said the fire chief. The department was at the scene of the fire for about an hour said Chief Lobb. Hospital seeks buyers for Medical Centre site CLINTON - The Board of Trustees of the Clinton Public Hospital is.fulLy committed to providing a medical building for the Town of Clinton;, The board had previously hoped that the Town of Clinton would participate with the financing of the Medical Centre through the ONIP program but after a complete in- vestigation of this avenue of funding the ,result was that this source could not be used for this purpose. The town's involvment in the project is no longer a feasible alter- native for the board to explore, therefore it had to focus on other avenues. The original method oLa_chieving this end has changed and the end result will be attained under a new direction. In'the past years the Board of Trustees had been advised by its auditors as well as by the Ministry of Health ( MOH) to try to relieve itself of the Nurses' Residence which was a burden to the operations of the hospital. The Nurses' Residence has been valuable for the much needed space the hospital required, but since the new emergency wing has been established this is no longer a necessity. In spite of the forego- ing the board has looked for a way in which the Medical Centre could be built. Recently, the board explored the possibli- ty of building the . Medical Centre using private funding assistance. This presented two problems. First, the initiative for the future success rests entire- ly with the Board of Trustees and secondly, the management and mortgage reduction is the prirne responsibility of the board when it should be concerned with supplying ade- quate health care to the residents of Clinton and surrounding area. Another alternative would be to find a private developer who would take on responsibility of the project and bring it to reality.' The board has taken a major step in deciding that it should not be it the real estate business. Instead, r.•..•.»,ers believe that their energies should be primarily directed at running the hospital, which is the board's original mandate. The board has decided to sell the property designated for the purpose of having a Medical Centre erected andlwill be accep- ting proposals from interested parties. The board is hoping that within the very near future several proposals, preferably from local developers, can be entertained. With this approach the site can be developed to the advantage of private enter- prise and also to the betterment of the com- munity at large. The board knows that building a Medical Centre- is a realistic and paying develop- ment for some willing entrepreneur(s) in the Town of Clinton and preliminary plans have been drawn up and designed in such a way that future additions could be added with very little difficulty. The board knows of the problems and time needed for it to be involved in before, during , and after construction and also of managing a rental facility on an ongoing basis. The board has in its wisdom taken the only viable approach from its point of view. The board is confident that a Medical Cen- tre will be on site within the year and is com- mitted to achieving this end for the Town of Clinton and surrounding area if at all possi- ble.