HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-09-30, Page 17D
ing her part for the hospital
BY JOANNE BUCHANAN
"Nobody knows how close I am to this
hospital," says 90 -year-old Ruth E. Orr.
Mrs. Orr, a patient at Alexandra Marine
and General off and on since February,
recalls that she was one of the first
patients in the old hospital when she gave
birth to : : by girl in February of 1925.
It see ".. only natural then, that when
Mrs. Orr heard the hospital was trying to
raise money to build a new Intensive Care
Unit i ICU i, she should want to do her
share to help.
In May she began tatting a set of five
pretty white lace doilies which -she com-
pk•tcd and turned over to the Hospital
Ruth E. Orr, a 90 -year-old patient at Alexandra Marine and General Hospital, holds a mat
displaying the five doilies she made to be raffled off to raise money for the hospital's new
Intensive Care Unit (Photo by Joanne Buchanan)
Auxiliary last week. The Auxiliary.ptans to
display these doilies in a store window, sell
tickets on them and hold a draw October
31. All money raised from the ticket sales
will be turned over to the ICU fund.
Mrs. Orr says she realizes the draw may
'only raise enough money to buy 'a few
bricks' but she explains that she just had to
do something.
She says she was first struck with her
fund-raising idea after receiving so many
compliments on her doilies from the
nurses on her' floor. She figured a draw
would give these nurses and other people a
chance to own a set of her doilies for
te1
133 YEAR -39
themselves. She had given many sets
away in the past to her nieces apd gran-
ddaughters as wedding gifts, so why not
give a set to the hospital?
Although she can also crochet and knit,
Mrs. Orr says she enjoys the dying art of
tatting doilies the best, The looping and
knotting comes so easy to her that she
hardly has to glance at her hands as she
works.
"Besides," she explains, "making
doilies gives me something to do. I'm not a
person yvho can just sit and do nothing."
That's an understatement coming from
a woman who ran a 290-ajre farm in
Goderich Township for 16 years all by
herself after her husband, J. B. Orr, died
in 1926.
Those were the days before tractors,"
she explains, stating that she didn't have
time to do any 'fancy work' again until
moving into Goderich in 1942 when her son
took over the farm.
The publicity -shy Mrs. Orr says that any
story about her efforts to help the hospital
shouldn't 'spread it on too thick'. But it is
difficult not todo just that. Her doilies may
be just '$10 worth of thread' to her but the
thought behind them is worth a million.
She is an inspiration to everyone con-
nected with the ICU campaign.
SIGNAL—STA
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1981
SECOND SECTION
Ripping. out the insulatiob..rip-off
After that
meeting, I didn't
,,
sleep too well.
BY JOANNE BUCHANAN
When Don and Diann Kellestine bought
their first home in August of 1979, they
knew it was insulated: What they didn't
know was that two years later they would
be ripping out that insulation at great
expense to themselves because of potential
health hazaards. •
Don and Diann's two-storey brick home
• located on Cambria Road in Goderich had
been insulated with •urea formaldehyde
foam. in 1978 by the previous owner who
had used a -Canadian Home Insulation
Program (CHIP) grant. . .
Urea' formaldehyde foam insulation
(UFFI) is made from a plastic resin, a
foaming agent and compressed air. It is
prepared on bite and forted through a tube
into the wall cavity where it hardens in
less than a minute. It has been used in
Canada for a number of years but its use
increased after 1977 when it was approved
by the Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation for use under CHIP. Between
80,000 and 100,000 homes in Canada are
insulated with UFFI with about 30,000 of
them in Ontario.
Problems occur'
Problems with UFFI occur when the
foam breaks down and releases for-
maldehyde vapors into the air. In
December of 1980 it was teniporarily
banned and then later permanently
banned when it was learned that it can
cause eye, nose, throat and skin irritation,
breathing problems, coughing,
nosebleeds, dizziness and headaches. It is
also suspected of being a genetic mutant
and may even he a cancer causing agent.
UFFI can also evidently lead to.
corrosion of electrical fittings, increasing
the risk of fire and it can cause damage to
mortar and metal straps in brick -veneer,
increasing the risk of structural collapse.
For all of these reasons and reinforced
by the fact that Don and Diann are ex-
pecting their first baby in March, they
decided to move out of their home and
have the insulation removed.
Their fears were confirmed at a
Homeowners with Urea Formaldehyde
Insulation (HUFFI) meeting three weeks
ago in Lucknow. They found out that UFFI
was only meant to be used in empty ver-
tical stud spaces of frame homes. It was
not meant to be installed in houses with
siding or brick houses like their own.
"After that meeting, I didn't sleep too
well," admits Don.
Added up
•
While many homeowners are waiting for
nment to make a move on compensation f
with urea formaldehyde, the Kellestines
Goderich are removing the insulation from
Spaniel had had a persistent cough for two
years. When the dog stayed with Diann's
parents while they were on holidays for
three weeks, his cough cleared up.iFour
days back home and he began to cough'
again.
These things may or may not have
anything to do with UFFI but Don and
Diann aren't taking any chances.
"I'm not blaming anybody," says Don.
"My main concern is just to get the in-
sulation out."
Looking back over the past two years, a Don started this job i. mself last Week
few things began to add up. Don, who had and expects it will take at least another
never had unprovoked nosebleeds as a three weeks to get most of the insulation
child, was now having them regularly, out. It is in all of the north and east walls of
sometimes as often as two or three times a the house and in a portion o the west wall.
ee1i: Aad, qtr `std -lei rr"s -'maker—Reemov he• -1 hs -a d ;-'ea-must
the federal gover-
or homes insulated
of Cambria Road,
their home because
of health problems. Once the plaster and insulation is removed
the studding and walls have to be scrubbed to remove all
remnants of the foam insulation.( Photo by Dave Sykes)
wear rubber gloves and a mask to com-
pletely remove the 'foam by brushing it
out, vacuuming and then treating the walls
with a two to three per cent sodium -
bisulphite. There is a one inch space
between the brick and interior framework
where it will be impossible to get'the foam
out without taking the brick off and
scraping the wall so Don will be rigging up
some type of ventillalion system whereby
fumes can be carried out of the house into
the open air.
Meanwhile, Don and Diann have moved
all their furniture into two rooms of the
house and have temporarily moved
themselves in with Diann's parents. They
reaiize they are lucky to have somewhere
to-sta'v "frrvirrz- eurti-'f one ear n— te'srys'
Mitchell who had to camp out in a tent
ile emoving their insulation.
Besides the inconvenience of it all, there
is a lot of expense involve1. With Don
doing the work himself, smile money is
being saved. He figures he has invested
about 130 manhours. At a contractor's cost
of $10 per hour, this would mean $1,300.
And about $600 has been spent on
materials.
"So there you have almost $2,100 and I'm
not nearly finished," says Don.
He has also had to take some time off his
job to do the work and there are trucking
expenses, etc.
"The government may be compensating
us but who knows how long that will take,"
Urea formaldehyde foam insulation was applied in many homes across the county, and
sihile it can be practically applied in some homes. it is causing severe problems in others.
The insulation is prone to deterioration and shrinkage in brick holrres, releases gas and
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