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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1985-10-23, Page 1• fl'CORP(»RTUNG-TH 113LYTH STANDARD -THE BAY BEL D BUGLES: NO, 43 - 120TH YEAR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23,1985 50 CENTS Residents step forward and declare intentions to riain for council It was a proud moment for the owners and employees of the Bayfield Boat Yard Ltd. as the business was Officially re -opened during the open house on October 18. The .Vanastra company suf- fered a devastating fire in January which destroyed most of the building and equipment at a cost of $1 million. On hand for the rib- bon cutting ceremony were, John Sully, long time owner and good- will ambassadorof the Bayfield •Boats; owner Jake Rogerson; Tuckersmith Reece Robert 13e11.; owners Gary Lawrence and liob Spears. Alan Riveti photo). Bayfield g stats bac By Alan Rivett VANASTRA - The disastrous ,►circumstances of the .fire at' the Bayfield {boat Yard Limited earlier this year might ,rave caused some businesses to call it quits. But, the Vanastra business has weathered ilthe storm and is hack in the water once more. Li The fire, which caused $1 million damage, roc.curred on .January 20 of this, year - one of the stormiest clays of the winter. The fire I partially destroyed the building and 14 of the molds, used to the manufacture the luxury yachts, A total of 65 people • were left unemployed. . Now,,reports Jake Rogerson, part owner • of the company along with Rob Spears and (lacy t,aw•rence. the fire is behind them. '•My -first impression when looking at the rubble was 'we've got to get going again': There was never anyc doubt that we wouldn't get back in business•" said Mr. Rogerson, in retrospect. `` In order to show the public that the 4 business is alive and well, the company held an open house 00 October 18 and 19, Mr. Rogerson says the company has held iiopen houses inthe past, but this one was s extra special as it marked the re -opening of 4110 the company. ' 'l'here's no question about it, we couldn't is wait: to have it to let people know that we're back in business," he said. A number of people from the community alas well as specially invited guests from the sailboat industry toured the facility to see the sailboats take shape. The event kicked off with a ribbon cutting; ceremony involving rthe three owners, along with Tuckersmith Reeve Robert hell and ,John Sully. longtime patron of the Rayfield Boats. The company had to make 0 few re- ad jUstments e-adjustments in order to operate after the fire. said Mr. Rogerson. The molds lost in the fire had to be rebuilt using their already y made yachts as models. A suitable place for soaking the. molds was found in Rayfield which had the proper heat and ventilation for the making of the molds. Through the aftermath of the fire. a lot of 1 people including customers, dealers, the bank, and e. ;recially the company's @ employees stuck by the company. Steve 1 Rogerson, a sales representative with the company and Mr. Rogerson's son, said some of the customers with boats on order have l!'.T9f,gVF!611194,74M-'T4!.aaf�au*'G•. C:d?n1::WTa"•`2L?IX'R"u+7r.'wP&,�,Gt. Signs in Bayfield stripped from. posts in full say Eight municipalities in the News -Record readership area are gearing up for municipal elections on Tuesday, November 12. There are elections for mayor, reeves,. deputy reeves, councillors and board of education trustees. Clinton Elections are in the offing for all positions, in the Clinton race. For the mayor's seat Councillor John Deeves will be challenged by businessmen John Balfour. In the reeve's race, Deputy Reeve Frank Van Altena and Councillor Bee Cooke will be looking for a win. Running for deputy reeve are Councillor Charlie Burgess, Clarence Neilsans and former council member Rosemary Armstrong. Up for six council seats are incumbents Ross Carter, Gord Gerrits and Jim Hunter, along with Case Buffinga, Ken Holmes, John Cochrane, Bonnie Jewitt and Brad )ing. Public Utilities Commission candidates are present Mayor Chester Archibald, Don Symons, Lawrie Slade, A.L. Lobb and Bob Irwin. Board of Education trustee Frank Falconer is being contested by Sally Rathwell and Nico Peters. An all -candidates' meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 30. Blyth The Village of Blyth is facing non -election year for council, but voters will go to the polls to choose a representative on the Huron County Board of Education. In a revolving chair move, Councillor Albert Wasson has stepped up to take the reeve's position and current Reeve Tom Cronin will be taking a seat on council. Other positions on council remain un- contested and Bill Manning, Lloyd Sippel and Bill Howson will be back for another three year term. Public Utilities Commis- sion members are Don Noble and Jim Howson. In the race for Board of Education, 'voters in Blyth, East Wawanosh and Morris Townships will be choosing between incum- bent John Elliott of Blyth and newcomer John Gaunt of RR 1, Belgrave. A ratepayers' meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29 at 8 p.m. Bayfield • Reeve Dave Johnston has been acclaimed as coi...ricil head in the village for another three year term. One of the four positions on council will be contested with political newcomer Clifford Freeman running against incumbents Lloyd Huffman, Helen Owen,' Jim Quick and Reg Wilson. Voters in Bayfield and Stanley Township will be seeing a four-wayirace for Board of Education . with newcomers 'William McGregor, Abby Champ and Audrey McLellan-Triebnelr contesting incumbent Bob Peck. An all -candidates' meeting has been set for Friday, November at 7:30 p.m. Stanley Township Reeve Clarence Rau has been acclaimed for another term. Two are in the running for deputy reeve incumbent, Don McGregor and Councillor Howard Armstrong. Four candidates are seeking three council posi- tions, Bill Harrison, Bill Dowson, Jack Col- eman and Richard Erb. Tuckersmith Township Nominations will re -open today for two council positions. Newcomer Rowena Wallace is the only candidate in the running. Present council members are all seeking higher council seats, with a three way race for the deputy reeve position by Bob Broad - foot, John Brownridge and Bill Brown. Bill Brown is also contesting Bob Bell for the reeve's chair. Brown .had until 5 p.m. Tuesday night to make his choice between the two positions. Hullett Township Nominations will re -open today in Hullett Township for one council position. Ron Gross is back on council and newcomer Harvey Stewart is on the slate, but the retirements of Councillors Clare Vincent and Mel Knox leaves the council table one short. Reeve Tom Cunningham has been ac- claimed for another three year terns, as is Deputy Reeve Joe Gibson. 'Also back on the slate are board of educa- tion trustees Graeme Craig and John Jewitt. Goderich Township Grant Stirling will continue his long stan- ding political career for another term as township reeve. Pat Osborn and Laurie Cox are up for the positions as deputy reeve. An election here may be cancelled when Cox makes his choice between a position on council or as deputy reeve. Other council candidates are Case Brand, John Rodges and newcorner Carol Wammes. Board of Education incumbent for Goderich and Colborne Townships, Joan Vanden Broeck will be challenged by Alfred Etzler. East Wawanosh Township A former reeve, Ernie Snell will be con- testing incumbent reeve Neil Vincent. Up for, positions on council are in- cumbents Don Schultz, Fred Meier, Vaughn' Toll and . Jim Taylor, • and election newcomers John A. Currie and Ray Hallahan. Morris Township An election race for reeve will be held between Councillor Doug Fraser and incum- bent reeve Bill Elston. Councillor Clens McLellan has stepped • up to the deputy reeve's chair, replacing retiring Deputy' Reeve Tom Miller, Bob Grasby incumbent councillor will face Robert Elliott, Howard Morton and Sam Pletch on •the voters' ballot for three • —council positions. All , .all -candidates' meeting has • been, • scheduled for October 28 at 8 p.m. Fire levels barn, d ills pigs TUCKERSMITH TWP. - Fire destroyed a barn and approximately 40 pigs, on Wed., October 16. Brucefield firefighters, . with some assistance from the Seaforth fire depart- ment were called out to battle the blaze around 8, p.m., but were unable to save the building or the animals. The fire was brought under control and not allowed to spread to other buildings on the farm of Peter Postill, RR 3, Clinton, Mr. Postill and his father ,Joseph Postill, of RR 5 Clinton noticed the fire when they drove. into the laneway, returning from another farm. The fire apparently broke out while they were away:from the property, a period of about 30 minutes, said Joseph Postill. Cause of the blaze is still unknown, but Mr. Postill said he suspects bad wiring was the culprit. Rayfield Boat Yard Ltd. employees Lein Le and Karen Dunbar work on the deck of one of t he luxury sailboats. ( Alan Rivett photo l w cited upwards of a year to take delivery until the company got back on its feet. When looking for a place to begin reconsllruction of the mold, Mr, Rogerson said a number of places were offered free of charge, but because of special requirements for making molds, the offers were turned down, Mr. Rogerson says the company is back in full swing with a 60 employee work force producing three of the five lines of sail boats. Currently in production is the 25, 29 and 36 foot models while the 32 and the 40 foot models are now returning to production. The five lines sell for between $53,000 and $140,000. One of the most regretable side-effects of the fire was the stop' in production of the Bayfield' 36. the 36 foot sailboat offered by .iw the company. Mr. Rogerson says they had made three prior to the fire which were. well received by dealers and customers alike. Now, it's a matter of catching up with the back -orders for the vessels. Mr. Rogerson said the news of the re- opening is especially good news for their dealer network throughout North America who; have been "hurting bad" because of the temporary halt in production of the company. Steve Rogerson, while attending various boat shows, across the country and in the the United States where 75 per cent of the sailboats are sold, said he has heard many favorable comments about Bayfield Boats. "We're known for building good, quality boats which -has earned us a good reputation among the customers and dealers, "he says. RAYA'iELI) - in what was descrit •d as planned act of vandalism, council reported at the council meeting on October 21 the theft of 10 road signs in the village over the Thanksgiving weekend. Road superintendent Rick Penhale said the signs of various types were stripped off the posts with wrenches while the posts were left untouched. ()ne of the signs was the Use at Own Risk sign on the bong Hill Road beside the eroding portion of the road. He reported that the Goderich OPP has been contacted concerning the matter, Clerk -treasurer Pat Graham said the theft of the signs was obviously planned in order to use these signs as decorations for a dwelling.. Although sign stealing in Rayfield is rare, a similar incident occurred in 1967 with the theft of. the street signs erected for Canada's Centennial. The road signs will be replaced within the next two week at an estimated cost of $250, said Mr. Penhale. "It's unfortunate, but we can only proceed with replacing them," said Councillor Jim Quick, who chaired the meeting in the absence of Reeve Dave Johnston. Mr. Penhale said there is little the village ran do to prevent the signs being stolen,. especially when wrenches are used to remove the signs from the ,posts. One method of using a steel U -flange attached to the sign with a locking device could be used to prevent theft, but the cost would be about the same as the replacement value of the sign, he said. The village has erected large cedar sign posts rather than steel sign posts which prevents the destruction of the signposts. Robbie Walker, a Grade 1 student at Vanastra Public School, avoids a branch while reaching for an apple during a visit to Art Bell's apple orchard on October 16. The students also watched apple cider being made and gladly accepted a glassful of the frothy juice and a few apples to take home. ( Alan Rivett photo) I 1