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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-06-27, Page 1re- Godenc SIGNAL 136 YEAR -26 $T ALL ROUN601 OI IVIIVNNI'TY NIONSPAPISR 1109 cANA®A (Circulation Class 3500 - 4500] C.C.N.A,' tetter Newap per Competition 1984 GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1984 50 CENTS PER COPY Theatre on the Move visited Colborne Central School last Wednesday to perform PROUD BEGINNINGS, an historical play about the United Empire Loyalists. The theatre group is being sponsored by Parks Canada as part of the province's Bicentennial Theatre on the Bicentennial pl Theatre on the Move of Etobicoke has been visiting several Southwestern Ontario communities in June to perform PROUD BEGINNINGS, an historical play with music, sponsored by Parks Canada as part of the province's Bicentennial celebrations. On Wednesday, June 20 the theatre group performed at Colborne Central School. Robertson, Brookside and Holmesville senior grades also attended the perfor- mance. celebrations. Three sttgdents from Colborne pchool also appeared in the play. They are, front row, left to right, Shelley Adams, Wayne MacVicar and Kristen Egener. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Move performs ay at Colborne School PROU several m the fiddle, set in Canada, in Crysler, Din the Sinclairs of their settlin of lost farms, Royal Yorkers Ontario's proud Although the D BEGINNINGS is highlighted by usical numbers accompanied on mandolin and guitar. The play is ohnstown i Cornwall I, Upper 1794. The audience joins the gwall and Sinclair families as celebrate the 10th anniversary g in Upper Canada. They hear the Butler's Rangers, the and many more stories of beginnings. characters in PROUD Hospital is env Alexandra Marine and General Hospital is try of a number of hospitals in southwestern Ontario. according to hospital board chairman Bob Dempsey's annual report. "The dedication and aggressiveness of our hospital staff and medical staff has kept Alexandra Marine and General Hospital a very functional and modern facility which, I may say with modesty, is the envy of a number of hospitals in southwestern Ontario," he said at the board's annual meeting held June 18. He reported that the hospital had realized an excess of revenue over expenditures of $143,000 during the past year and said that this was approximately $9,000 above what had been projected in the budgets prepared a year ago. "Naturally that is good news," Dempsey continuted, "The 1984-85 allocation of subsidy monies from the Ministry of Health has increased approximately six per cent which we anticipate will once again see our hospital through the year with a surplus." Dempsey complimented the employees and administrative staff who manage the finances at the hospital. He also complimented the maintenance staff of the hospital which has undertaken a program of refurbishing and upgrading the patient rooms in the 1957 wing. The maintenance staff, over and above their regular maintenance duties, has also undertaken the industrious projects of renovating the Recovery Room and Day Care Surgery area of the hospital complete with new lighting and medical walls. There is no doubt that our hospital has realized a great economical benefit from this work being carried out by our capable staff." Dempsey said the Board of Governors had not only undertaken programs to meet the immediate needs of the hospital during the past year, but is attempting to develop a long range plan of capital expenditures BEGINNINGS are fictional, alt of the in- cidents described are drawn from the actual history of the Loyalists. Three young people from each host com- munity appear as the children of the celebrating families. They rehearse with the cast of PROUD BEGINNINGS for about an hour before the performance, and are costumed in period clothes. At Colborne, the three young people to perform were Shelley Adams, Wayne MacVicar and Kristen Egener. Let's have a goodime! Plenty of activities this weekend Goderich is celebrating Canada Day this year with a wide variety of music, dance, and food to be enjoyed over the long holiday weekend. A highlight of the weekend, as in past years, will be the Optimist Music Festival and Friends. The festival, now in its fifth year, will again offer a wide variety of bluegrass, folk and country over a four day period. The festival opens on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Optimist Riverside Park, and goes on all weekend until Sunday at 10. Music is also prominent in the Legion's activities over the weekend. Both Friday and Saturday nights the Goderich Legion will be hosting a dance. On Friday, Branch 109 will be welcoming the Post 18 branch from Bay City, Michigan. The next afternoon at 2 p.m., the Legion will be holding a reception to greet the provincial president of the Royal Canadian Legion, and that night the Johnny Tocher Band will b entertaining in the Jubilee Room. CIVIC C REMONY AND PARADE -The big celebraticns will be on Sunday, Jbl.y 1. The Goderich Legion Branch 109 and Bay City's Post 18 will play a major part in the Civic Ceremony to be held at 1 p.m. in the Courthouse Park. Local politicians and dignitaries will also attend, to welcome Bay City to Goderich, and to recognize the town's 157th birthday as well as Ontario's 200th birthday. Following the civic ceremony at 2 p.m. on Sunday the fifth annual Canada Day parade will get underway, starting at Elgin St., going up South St. to the Square, and then down West St., and along Wellington to end up again on Elgin. The parade has a bicentennial theme this year to honour Ontario's birthday. There are five categories in the parade, including Industrial; Service club; Church, school and family; Antique vehicles; and Horse and horse drawn vehicles. There will be cash prizes for the first and second entry in each category. Bay City will be represented in the parade with a colour party and other entries, and of course there will be music from four area marchingbands. There are ow up to 40 parade entries, and rnore are expected to regisicr before Sunday. Special events on Sunday will keep Goderich and guests busy all day. The Goderich Lion's Club is holding a pancake breakfast at the Lion's Harbour Park from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Later on in the afternoon, from 3 to 7 p.m. the Lions will be cooking supper, holding a beef barbecue again at Harbour Park. Right after the meal will be the weekly Harbour Park Sunday evening concert. This week, the Walkerton Legion Pipe Band and the Bluegrass Music Makers will be entertaining. The Legion will also be holding a friendship breakfast from 9 to 11 a.m., and a friendship levee in the afternoon following the parade. The Livery will also be providing refreshment in the afternoon with a strawberry social. Fresh strawberries can be enjoyed from 2 to 5 p.m. The day will end gloriously with a fireworks display at the Goderich Harbour. The show will begin at dusk. 150TH ANNIVERSARY This weekend will be particularly special at St. George's Anglican Church because it will mark the culmination of their 150th anniversary celebrations. Their Homecoming Weekend will start off with a special buffet supper at the church on Saturday, June 30. Former members of the parish will be coming from across Canada to attend; everyone is welcome. Sunday morning there is an anniversary service at 11 a.m. at the church, with special guest the Rt. Rev. D.D. Jones, Bishop of Huron. Over the weekend a historical display showing the history of the parish can be seen in the parish hall. Other events over the weekend in Goderich include a tennis tournament on Saturday and a men's golf tournament Monday, both at the Maitland Golf and Tennis Club. And airplane lovers can have a pancake breakfast Saturday morning at Sky Harbour Airport with the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 205. Airplanes will be flying in early from around the area, and breakfast begins at 8. y of others in Ontario Dempsey says enciscn 'ear with a heal th ,v surplus and equipment needs so that the hospital may better plan for its future expansions. The long range plan, or Role Review as the Ministry of Health wishes it to be called, will be prepared over the next several months. In order to assist the administration of the hospital to accumulate all the data required, Dempsey explained, two students under a Canada Works Program have been hired to carry out most of the clerical work involved. "At its completion, it is hoped the hospital will have a comprehensive plan as to which services we should continue to expand and maintain and what new services we should consider developing the future. The Board sees this document as a support document when approaching the Ministry of Health in the future for assistance in capital funding," Dempsey said. He noted that a Public Relations and Community Health Committee had been established during the past year to identify and introduce the hospital to the public. He praised the committee for its active solicitation of funds to provide furniture for the 1957 wing and also noted that the committee was working on a video of the hospital to use as a promotional package available to service groups. Dempsey mentioned that the hospital is presently, along with the other hospitals in Huron, undertaking an in-depth study into the feasibility and economic benefit which computerization would be. In reporting on the speech therapy and palliative care programs, he said, "We are pleased to report that both these programs are still on-going, and in actual fact, have grown beyond our wildest expectations." Ile praised Connie Osborn for freely volunteering her time to the palliative care service. "Her enthusiasm in this area has brought our hospital to the most fortunate position of receiving a 12 -week Canada Works Community Development Research Grant to study the feasibility of a free standing hospice in the Huron County area to better meet the needs of the terminally ill patients and their families," he said. in mentioning the accreditation survey which had been conducted at the hospital, Dempsey expressed disappointment that the hospital had received a two-year instead of three-year rating. 'Somewhat frustrated, the hospial board knowing the efforts that had been put into the survey by the staff, have requested from the Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation, some explanation or advice as to how we ean achieve a three year rating," he stated. In conclusion, Dempsey said it was with a great deal of regret that the board had accepted the resignation of hospital administrator Elmer Taylor. "Mr. Taylor, over the past seven years, has guided our hospital from a financial crisis to the envious financial surplus position which we now experience. His diplomacy, fairness and overall managerial abilities will be sorely missed by the staff and the board of this hospital." Administrator's Report In his annual report, Taylor said that increased work loads were experienced by almost all departments at the hospital during the year. Total in-patient days increased by 740 from the previous year to 28,986. This represented an overall occupancy rate for in-patient accommodation of 85 per cent. The number of out-patient visits to the Emergency Department was 16,426, this being an increase of five per cent over the previous year and a continuation of the upward trend in the demand for out- patient services. Other departments such as physiotherapy, laboratory and radiology experienced similar increases in levels of activity. "As a result of this increased activity, the cost of providing services also increased. This is reflected in a reduction of the hospital's excess of revenue over expense to $143,335 for the fiscal year 1983- 84 as compared to $204,093 for 1982-83," Taylor said. "Without additonal funding from the Ministry of Health for fiscal year 1984-85, and with a similar increase in the level of activity, it is anticipated that this surplus wil be eroded further. With the Ministry o Health restricting the amount of money avallabfe for capital projects, it is important that the hospital accumulate funds through surpluses in the operation of the hospital." Taylor also noted that changes to the physical plant of the hospital were not as extensive as during past years. However, he said, some significant changes and improvements were made. "During May of 1983, the new Day Care Surgery Area was completed and this has greatly enhanced our services for patients having surgical procedures completed on a one day basis. A new ambulance office was constructed at the back of the ambulance garage, thereby freeing space for the speech therapy and palliative care programs in the hospital. Another significant improvement was the installation of new electric doors at both the main entrance and the emergency entrance." Taylor also noted that the telephone system of the hospital had been completely updated during the past year, allowing for the installation of individual patient telephones in the medical and surgical wards of the hospital. He said the hospital had been well represented on the Huron -Perth Mental Health Task Force and the report from this group should be beneficial for future planning of mental health services. He noted that senior and department head staff of the hospital had remained the same as in the previous year and that approval had been granted for the hospital to hire a full-time director of pharmacy to commence duties in August. He reported that employees having completed long service with the hospital were given pins on the anniversary date of their service during the year. Receiving 15 year pins were Mabel Clark, Muriel Reinhart, Kay Seers and Joanne Duckworth from the nursing department and Lenore Cook from the dietary department. Mary Daer, storeskeeper for the hospital, received her 25 year pin. Other Reports The Director of Nursing, Joyce Shack, reported that during the past year, 24 new staff were welcomed to the nursing department, the majority of these joining the ranks of the casual or regular part- time category of both RNs and RNAs. At the same time, she said, 18 nursing personnel resigned and 11 transferred_. She also noted that 1983 saw the retirment of Mrs. Muriel Reinhart and Miss Kathleen Shortt, both RNAs who had worked at the hospital for many years. She said that Joanne Jasper, the infection control nurse, had accepted the responsibility of doing discharge planning Turn to page 2 Street dance may move to North Street 'The works committee will recommend to council that a street dance planned for Friday, July 20 be held on North Street rather than on The Square. The dance, scheduled to coincide with the Festival of the Arts in Courthouse Park and ea fish fry that same evening, was, originally planned for The Square between Kingston and East Streets. But when Police Chief Pat King mentioned that the parking lot of the Livery could be an alternate and attractive site for the dance, it triggered a discussion on the matter. Committee members Jim Seeds and Harry Worsell argued that that section of the Square was not in good enough shape to dance on and suggested that North Street was a more suitable location. Mayor Eileen Palmer said it was the committee's intention to hold the street dance opposite the fish fry but her motion to have the section between East and Kingston blocked to traffic was not seconded. A second motion to holdethe dance on North Street was carried 'and will be considered by council at its July 16 meeting. Only two sessions of town council Goderich town council will now shift into its summer schedule with only two meetings scheduled over the next two months. Council will hold one meeting in July, on Monday, July 16 and the August session is schedule for Wednesday, August 15. Both meetings will be held in the council chambersat the town hall on West Street beginning at 7.30 p.m. While only one meeting is scheduled in both July and August, special meetings will be called at the discretion of the mayor should business dictate. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR i3 Play Day Robertson Memorial School held a play day last week for the primary students. A number of activities were set up for the children to take part in during the afternoon as the teachers tried to add some variety to the school schedule. For more pictures of the event, see the Recreation section. Play reviews The Blyth Summer Festival and Huron Country Playhouse opened their seasons last week with comedy hits. The Playhouse opened with A Thousand Clowns while Blyth opened with Garrison's Garage. Reviews on both plays can be found on page6A. Ladies' slo-pitch Ladies' slo-pitch teams are well into their season now. Last week Ron's Shell defeated Meneset with a 10-3 score, however, there were some very close, competitive games. For more details on ladies" slo-pitch, take a look at the Recreation section.