HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1987-03-18, Page 1NOol l 121 YEARS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1987
50 CENTS
Square dancing's for everyone
By Anne Narejko
CLINTON - No equipment is needed, you
don't have to have any special skills and no
university diploma is required - "just learn
your left from your right."
Every Wednesday night. 36 couples in the
Clinton Wheel 'N' Dealers square dancing
group get together in We Clinton Public
School gymnasium and follow the calls of
their caller, Les Greenwood.
"It's a night of fun. We're finished early
and are usually home by midnight," said
Helen Trewartha, who, along with her hus.-
band Ross, are two of the original members.
The Clinton Wheel 'N' Dealers started in
October of 1963 at the IOOF Hall with Earl
Jokingly, some square dancers say one
of the good things about square dancing
is you get to change partners often. At
the Clinton Wheel 'N' Dealers invite a
friend night on March 11, Edward Wise
Above. and his partner showed their
great concentration while square dan-
cing. Norman and Florence Wightman
take part in a round dance.
(Anne Narejko photos)
Bowles of the Clinton Air Force Base as
their caller. In January they moved to Cen-
tral Huron Secondary School (CHSS) where
they danced weekly until May of 1964.
In 1966 the dancers made the air force
base their meeting location and there they
joined the Clinton Cross Trailers.
The following year, the Clinton Wheel 'N'
Dealers joined the South Western Ontario
Square Dance Association (SWOSDA).
It was during 1970-71 that the dancers
moved to their present dancing location,
Clinton Public School, and couples from the
Clinton, Goderich, Seaforth and Londesboro
area came to join in the fun. It was also at
this time that the group changed back to
their original name.
To mark Clinton's centennial, a square
dance was held at CHSS on July 26, 1975 with
former and present Wheel 'N' Dealer
dancers and callers participating.
Of the original members, 12 are still danc-
ing today. They are Mr. and Mrs. Ross Mer-
rill, Mr. and Mrs. Ross Trewartlia, Mr. and
Mrs. Edward Wise, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Woods,
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Falconer, Charles Mer-
rill and Roberta Plumsteel.
Commenting on why they joined, Lois and
Edward Wise said they spotted an adver-
tisement in the paper. They agreed with the
Trewarthas when they said, "We thought it
would be good to go to the same meeting at
the same time."
This year's presidents, Deb and Ian
Hulley, started modern square dancing in
1979, and it was Ian's interest in the activity
that prompted them to join the Clinton
Wheel 'N' Dealers.
"I'd been interested in square dancing
since back in my high school days and this
was something we could do together," Ian
said.
To get started in square dancing, a person
must advance through the levels. First
there is the beginners' class where you are
taught the bas . movements such as
allemande left and allemande right.
From the b>sginners' level, a square
dancer moves up to mainstream, then
mainstream plus, advance and challenge.
Although knowing your left from your
right is of great importance in square danc-
ing, one also has to be a good listener.
"You can't talk," said Helen. "And you
can't daydream," added Lois.
Not For The Barn
The modern square dancers describe
their activity as a "participation sport" - a
sport that can be done by people of all ages.
Over the years, the club has had members
as young as 25 and up to over 80 years old.
"We'd like to educate people so that they
know that square dancing is no longer done
in the barn," said Lois.
Modern square dancing is done around the
world, and Lois and Edward plan their
holidays around the square dancing
schedule.
Explaining this point, the dancers said
square dancing is the national dance in the
United States, and in Japan and Germany
the callers learn to call in English.
"They're friendly people no matter where
you go," they all agreed.
New Language
"Once you learn the language, and it is a
whole new language, you can dance
anywhere," said the club's caller, Les
Greenwood of Parkhill who has been calling
for 19 years both in Canada and the United
States.
To become a caller, a person must attend
callers' school and Les recommends going
to callers' clinics so ideas can be traded.
According to members of the club, Les
has many ideas.
"He's' very humorous," said Ian. "R's
nothing for him to stop in the middle of a
song and tell a joke."
Turn to page 2
What wouldyou like to see •
during municipal government week
CLINTON - April 13 - 17 has been
designated as municipal government week
and the town council here would appreciate
your input.
Last year Clinton. did not hold any special
events during the week because they receiv-
ed notification too late. However, this year
they would like to mark tle occasion with an
activity of some sort. The question is, what
would the public be interested in?
Clerk Marie Jefferson received several
ideas and Councillor Case Buffinga thought
the idea of holding a council meeting in a
large area• was good. The only problem he
Foodland Hydro to preparf appealeal
success as it would he seen as undermining farmer explained, while the London lawyer
the hearing process and cabinet would be said there was certainly no guarantee of
very reluctant to throw out a 180 -page report winning either case and it would be only a
submitted by the three members of the matter of buying some time. He cautioned
hearing board who heard testimony for 130 they could be held liable for costs brought on
days. by a delay in construction and that could be
The groups's lawyer. Peter W. Kryworuk, in the millions.
of Lerner & Associates, backed McQuail's After taking a break and meeting in their
opinion by noting cabinet would not want to respective township gropps, the members
second guess the hearing board. • overwhelmingly adopted the plan to prepare
By initiating an appeal, it could open the an appeal to cabinet and to use it only if
door for Hydro to follow suit and ask that some other group initiates the action.
some of the benefits won by farmers be However, the land owners let it be known
removed. they were not prepared to back down from
McQuail said he had no difficulty agreeing their fight with Ontario Hydro and will turn
with those who found fault with the final their energies to getting the best possible
decision on the line. "it's a real disappoint- deal for owners who will be affected by the
ment to have any line to London," he ex- transmission line.
plained, but quickly added that it was still It Was unanimously agreed to restructure
better than having two, lines. the organization so the board represlen-
Two other options were outlined at the tatives will be primarily from the townships
meeting: to appeal to the divisional court or -directly affected. That is expected to take
to start an action with the National Energy place within the next two to three weeks.
Board. Although there was some minor opposi-
While there were calls for taking the mat- tion, the membership also agree to accept
ter to the "highest court in the land", those new members at the current rate of $1 per
alternatives received no support after the acre or $50 per household.
ramifications were outlined. McQuail said the alternatives were to
Both were seen as being very costly (one deny new memberships, allow them under
in the $100,000 to $200,000 range) and both the existing terms, or allow them with a
were also seen as being nothing more than premium being charged.
delaying tactics. "The reason for the line One audience member argued against
continues to be there," the Lucknow area Turn to page 8 •
EXETER -- Members of the F'oodland
Hydro Committee agreed in Exeter this
week to prepare an appeal to the Ontario
cabinet over the recent decision allowing
Ontario Hydro to build a major new
transmission line from the Bruce nuclear
plant to London, but the appeal won't be
presented unless other parties, particularly
Ontario Hydro, make an appeal.
Noting that he was Considering the matter
with kis head and not his heart, chairman
Tonf McQuail advised that action in his
comments to about 400 of the 1,200 -member
committee in attendance at the Wednesday
session at South Huron District High School.
He said preparing the appeal would he a
"safety precaution" and would only be
presented if Hydro appealed the decision or
it appeared that some other group had
started a lengthy appeal process.
It was explained that Hydro was unhappy
with the joint board hearing which approved
a single line which will pass through prime
agriculture land in Bruce, Huron and Mid-
dlesex and there was a possibility the utility
could appeal in an effort to get a different
plan more to their liking or at least to
change some of the terms and conditions
handed down in the board's ruling.
The audience, constituted primarily by
land owners who will be directly affected by
the new line, were told that any appeal to
cabinet would not have a great chance of
could foresee was getting the public in-
terested in attending.
Mayor John Balfour thought the sugges-
tion to hold a mock council meeting with
students playing the part of council was
another good idea.
At the conclusion of council's discussion
on March 16, they had not yet come up with
an event to hold. If anyone' has a suggestion
as to what they would like to learn more
about, let Clerk Jefferson know.
The week has been designated to educate
the public. Let your municipal government
know what you are curious about.
Daylight saving time extended
Thanks to the wisdom of the Ontario
government, we will soon be able to enjoy
daylight for two extra weeks.
Instead of turning our clocks ahead in
mid-April, legislation has been passed to
allow Ontario residents to put them forward
by one +he first Sunday of April.
Town receives
However, the time to turn the clocks back
to standard time has remained the last Sun-
day in October.
As this is the first year for this legislation,
don't forget to turn your clocks ahead by one
hour at 2 a.m. on April 5.
X50,000 grant
By Anne Narejko
CLINTON - The .town has received a
$50,000 grant from the Ministry of the En-
vironment for the sanitary sewage works
project, and at council's March 16.meeting,
the decision to pay the town's share of
$30,000 was made.
For the past few years, the Town of Clin-
ton, under the direction of the Ministry of
the Environment, has been undergoing
preliminary work on their sewage facilities
in an attempt to make the system run more
efficiently. This preliminary work has in-
cluded the use of underground television
monitoring tests of sewage lines to detect
breaks in tile or unnecessary seepage and
extra run-off.
After a joint Clinton Public Utilities/Coun-
cil meeting, which was attended by the
town's consulting engineers B.M. Ross and
Associates Limited, a decision to accept the
grant and commit the town's share was
made at council's March 16 meeting.
In a letter to council from B.M. Ross, a
suggested work schedule listed March/April
' of this year as the startingpoint. During this
period, a confirmation of the plant effluent
quality criteria with the Ministry is advised.
The cost of this is estimated at $5,000.
The second portion of work is scheduled
between May and September and calls for
additional sewer investigations to confirm
expected storm water flow reductions. The
price tag on this is $50,000.
Also in May, a public meeting is to be held
so residents can gi as their input.
From October/December, it is recom-
mended a conceptual design be completed
and perhaps a detailed design of the sewage
works project be started. This is estimated
to cost $25,000.
BIA in Bayfield
gets one step closer
By Shelley McPhee Heist
BAYFIELD - Council here has given a nod
of approval in principle to the suggestion of
forming a Business Improvement Area
1 BIA) in the village.
Proposers of the BIA concept, which
would incorporate 39 Main Street
businesses, met with council on March 16.
The preliminary discussion focussed on the
formation of the BIA area, funding and
council's role in the operation of the
organization.
Spokesperson Charles Machen said that --
the primary aim of the BIA is to provide a
unified business group that would work
towards promoting and beautifying the
village.
"The BIA will bring business people
together. It will encourage new businesses
to establish in the municipality ... Anyone
with a sound business mind would be willing
to join the BIA," he said.'
The BIA concept has been proposed to
some 39 businesses along Bayfield's Main
Street corridor. The proposed BIA district
will take in shops from The New Ritz to The
Albion Hotel and The Little Inn to May's
Decorating.
Council members voiced some concern
that other potential members would not be
included in the BIA scheme. Reeve Dave
Johnston noted that the Highway 21
businesses would be excluded, along with
other commercial operations in the village,
some 29 in number.
Mr. Machen told the reeve that Clan
Gregor Square was an obstacle in the con-
tinuous line of businesses within the
municipality. He said that the BIA should
not be broken up into pockets because the
unified linkage between the members would
be disrupted by physical barriers.
He suggested that if the Highway 21 mer-
chants were included in the BIA concept,
they would not have an equal voice in the
plans and promotions because of their
minority position.
Reeve Johnston warned, "Be careful you
don't alienate certain businesses. You may
find someday you will need them. 1 don't
want to see two BIA groups, two business
cores. We need to keep harmony in the
business community."
Mr. Machen said it was not his intention to
ostracise some businesses. He suggested as
that the BIA develops over the next few
years more commercial opportunities will
arise and additional businesses outside the
Main Street core could be included in the
overall plan. Until such expansion takes
place, the BIA delegation has proposed that
outlying businesses in the village can
become "Friends of Bayfield," whereby
they may take part in any of the promo-
tional work being done.
The BIA is financed by the businesses that
are located within the designated area.
Each business is required to pay an annual
levy that is based upon their business tax
assessment. No business in the BIA region
may be exempt.
BiA monies are collected and controlled
by the municipality and the BIA board of
management must have council's approval
of an annual budget.
A sample BIA budget was presented to
Bayfield Council by Gayle Gundy The pro-
posal called or an $8,000 budget, to be thus
divided $750 for administration costs;
$2,000 for promotional brochures; $1,500 for
magazine advertising; $1,500 for newspaper
advertising; $1,250 for special events; $1,000
for a sign at the marina.
The next step in the BIA formation plan
calls for council to approve the concept and
pass a bylaw. First, council must send let-
ters of intent to the businesses in the propos-
ed area. Those businesses have a 30 day
period in which to raise any objections:
Council may proceed to clear these con-
cerns, or they may be taken .to an Ontario
Municipal Board hearing. If there are no ob-
jections, council may pass the bylaw. If one-
third of the businesses object and they make
up one-third of the total business assess-
ment in the BIA area, then the plan must be
shelved for two years.
Mr. Machen urged council, "It's impor-
tant that we proceed as soon as possible,"
noting that the group did not want to be
burdened with any objections from tran-
sient summer, businesses.
"That may sound inconsiderate," Mr.
Machen said, "but we have to be realistic.
We want a BIA that will work to improve
business in the spring and the autumn."
CLINTON PUBLIC
HOSPITAL
BUILDING FUND