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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-09-30, Page 1oaeric i 139 YEAR — 39 CODERICH ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1987 60 CENTS PER COPY Signal -Star changes hands Oct. The Sept. 30th edition of the Goderich Signal -Star is a very special one as it represents the final issue of the newspaper published by Signal -Star Publishing under the owenership of Bob and Jo Shrier. As of Thursday, Oct. 1, the company is owned by St. Catharines Standard Ltd. and its president, Henry Burgoyne. The Shriers came to Goderich in th early 1960s and purchased the Signal -Star from George and Gene Ellis in 1965. Just one year later, the company purchased an off- set press, a risk that mark the beginning of the publishing company's unprecedented growth and success. From those humble beginnings, the com- pany grew and expanded to become publishers of eight community newspapers in Western Ontario, a newsmagazine and a thriving printing and mailing division. So, while one publishing era comes to an end at Signal -Star, another begins and the future looks good. This week we are pleased to present a special 12 -page supplement that deals ex- clusively with the change of ownership of Signal -Star Publishing. The supplement details the involvement of the Shriers in building a successful company and offers the prospects for the future from the new owner, Henry Burgoyne and the com- pany's general managers, John Buchanan and Tom Flynn. Also, the employees of Signal -Star, many of whom were recognized for their service at a company function Friday, are featured in pictures and a listing. The Signal -Star has a rich and colourful history and Bob and Jo Shrier have provid- ed the impetus and leadership behind the company's growth and success. We trust von will find the supplement as enjoyable to read as it was to prepare. As well this week, we feature the annual Commencement and Graduation supple- ment featuring pictures of all Grade 13 and 12 graduates of Goderich and District Col- legiate. This year's edition is an expanded version that features larger graduation photos and pictures of all award and scholarship winners. We would like to extend congratulations to all the graduates of GDCI and wish them the best in their endeavors. We hope you will enjoy the edition. D.S. Valerie Anderson, of Goderich, has gained increased independence since obtaining Josh, her guide dog through the Lions Club I'nternational's Canine Vision program. With Valerie at a recent Lions meeting are her sponsor from the local Lions club: President Mel Bogie, Past Governor Grant Chisholm, Chairman of the Walk=A-Dog-A-Thou for Lions District A-9 and local walk Chairman Ed Hagle. ( photo by Patrick Raftis Canine guide assists blind Goderich woman BY PATRICK RAFTIS Before Josh came into her life, Goderich resident Valerie Anderson, who lost her sight in an explosion at the age of seven, found herself relying on help from others to get around. "While relying on other people, I felt very dependent. I didn't like that feeling at all," Anderson said. Now, with assistance from Josh, "I'm able to go places by myself," she added. Josh is Anderson's new companion, an 80 -pound Yellow_ Labrador Retriever – her Seeing -Eye Dog. Josh helps Anderson avoid such pitfalls as construction sites, open.. manholes, parked cars and normal traffic hazards. "He's even- taken me around mud pud- dles, and I don't think they're really train- ed to do that," Anderson notes. CANINE VISION Anderson and Josh were brought together through the local Lions Club, who sponsored her entry into the Canine Vision Canada ( CVC) program, run by The Lions Foundation of Canada,. The non-profit CVC was founded by the Lions Foundation in 1983, as a national dog guide training school for visually -impaired Canadians. An old Public schoolhouse in Oakville was chosen for the site. Through the foundation's support, proceeds from the 1984 Walk-A-Dog-A-Thon and cor- porate and individual donations, CVC had a financial base from which to begin renovations to the old schoolhouse. • On November 9, 1985, CVC officially opened and to date, has graduated more than 65 students from across Canada. Anderson is the first such student from Goderich. She applied, through the local Lions Club, to attend the school in October, 1986 and was accepted the following March. She and Josh have been working together since last June, and Anderson has been pleased with the results. "I feel very fortunate to have him,'' she said. It takes anywhere from six months to a year, after the CVC training program, "to become a perfect working team," she notes. "We still have a few obstacles to overcome". DEVELOPMENT STAGE The CVC school is still in a development stage. It is designed to eventually train 120 teams per year. During the training stage, participants are provided, at no cost, with: transporta- tion from anywhere in Canada; team training with their dog, room and board. The actual cost of each dog guide team is approximately' $6,000 per studenr,1,11 of which is paid. by CVC through donations and sponsorships. CVC .commonly use three breeds for their dog guides: German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. The majority of the puppies come from professional breeders. These eight to ten -week-old puppies are placed in foster homes for a one-year "socializing period". CVC also receives adult dogs bet- ween one and two -years -old, that have spent their first years in a family environ- ment. Currently CVC has more than 100 puppies placed in foster homes across the country. FINAL TEST After their first birthday, dogs are returned to the school for an' extensive three-month training program. At the end of this program, the dogs are put through their final test to ensure their capabilities as a guide dog. The dogs are then matched with newly - arrived students. As a team, they work and live together for four weeks, building their trust and experiences in day-to-day situations, such as crossing streets, boar - Turn to page 2 • Aquatic Centre Committee seeks support for proposal The Aquatic Centre Committee is look- ing for community participation and sup- port when they make their recommenda- tions to Goderich Town Council, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Don Neal, chairman of the commit- tee, told a meeting of the Goderich Rotary Club, Monday, the committee will make eight recommendations to council. Recommendations concern funding, costs and site location. Neal declined to give details until coun- cil had had a chance to study the prot posals, but said the committee looked at funding from municipal, provincial and federal governments and fundraising ef- forts within the community. They talked to service groups, local business and in- dustries to see how much support would be available. The committee was formed in the spring after Goderich coucil turned down the original $3.6 million proposal. They were asked to study a number of methods of reducing costs including • phasing and down -sizing. "Council \hCwed'it (original proposal ) around this Spring and I think they chok- ed " said Neal. ex` orders hav or layoff i n a: ed teaidett t` obi oy. all rtterrlrla� conal Acrolspace. a l t6 the airtit with the. Without giving details, Neal said, "It is no secret we will be going to council with a trimmed -down proposal." The site has remained unchanged from the original location-- just west of Goderich District Collegiate Institute on Huron County Board of Education proper- ty. The committee has spoken to the board and they remain interested, said Neal. This location gives access to high school students for swimming lessons and is close enough to area elementary schools, he said. The original proposal and feasability study, prepared by John Stevenson and Associates, called for a 25,000 square foot complex containing a leisure pool, weight training facilities, squash courts, sauna, whirlpool and activity area. The feasabili- ty study targeted four main sections of the commuity – elderly, preschool, teenage and handicapped residents. A telephone survey was taken of 10 per cent of the population and 80 per cent favoured the facility. The committee has circulated ques- tionaires and staffed an information booth at the Festival of Arts and Crafts. The survey indicated continued support for an off 73 workers 1 raderl have not met +rte no choice hut to our wkforce, " he .ost of the workers :fired Within' the last t t'he job development 'dcklog strengthens by the gild the employees would tke this for quite .a while and actually we've hired about 100 employees since the last layoff, he said, .On the positive side, our build. rate is'higher now than it was a year and a half ago „ Alb, negotiations between the company and its unlonzed employee§ have stalled. and Local 1863 president, Don Goddatd;. said the union has applied to the Depart. ;rnent of Labour for conciliation. The corapa'tnv's latest offer was ttnangtously reteeted by the 540 unionized employees in the manufaeturing facility and the 75 unionized office 'etaployees. f' Goddard said the differences centre oh monetary issues and contract language and that it 'c'oold be two to three weeks Wore a conciliator is appointed, The union's two-year agreement with the 'company expired Aug. 1 and the 'com- pany's latest two-year offer was soundly rejected. There has never been a strike at Champion in its association with the. union.,..; (4 aquatic centre. Neal pointed to Seaforth where the town raised $670,000 for a $1.6 million communi- ty centre. There • is community support for the weight and squash facilities as well, said Neal. He said the Goderich Squash club has incresed its 'membership by 150 per cent and the East End Gym has grown by 170 per cent. The squash club has the max- imum number of members its single por- table court can handle and they are look- ing to expand, regardless of the aquatic centre construction. Neal was also encouraged by the response of local industries who, he said, recognize that fit, healthy employees means fewer days off and more productivity. 1'he committee has held 11 meetings and they will be as specific as possible, concer- ning numbers and cost, when they make their recommendations to council and en- courage residents to attend .the rneeting. Originally from Toronto, Neal moved to Goderich five years ago. He received his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario and is in family practice. Marine engineers strike A legal strike by marine engineers, who are needed to operate large ships earring commodities on the Great Lakes and in the St. Lawrence Seaway began Monday, but is not expected to have an immediately noticible impact on the Goderich Harbor, according to the two main local users of Great Lakes shipping. "We don't expect it to have any effect, because the shipping companies have assured us they will continue to keep ships moving," said Bill Rutledge, manager of marine transport at the Domtar Sifto Salt Mine. Rutledge said the shipping com- panies plan to use retired engineers and other replacement workers to keep vessels on the lakes. Since the Goderich Elevator Co., is not expecting any ships in the next two weeks, Elevator President George Parsons said he expects this strike to have no im- mediate effect on local business. "if it dragged on to, say, the end of Oc- tober, then we would begin to get a little panicky, ne noieu. However, 1'arsons said he expects the strike would either be settled, or the workers legislated back on the job, before then. Parsons also noted that the strike could not cut off shipping completely. The Elevators here are serviced mainly by two shipping companies, M. M. Paterson and Sons Ltd., whose engineers are striking, and P and H Shipping, whose engineers, "by a quirk of unions," are not. Despite his optimism about the current situation, Parsons said, "the whole outlook is not that great," because of impending labor problems with other marine unions, notably the Deck Officers and Seaway Workers, who could be in a legal strike position by November. The 265 enginees, striking for higher wages, cannot abandon their ships until the dock. About 80 ships could be affected, although many can be kept going by using retired engineers and non -unionized chief engineers. Goderich receives job funding The Town of Goderich will receive funding under the Unemployment insurance Job Creation Program, Huron -Bruce MP Murray Cardiff has announced. The program gives people presently collecting UIC benefits the opportunity of maintaining, or enhancing their work skills while continuing to collect benefits. The town will receive $18,951 to create five jobs and 42 work weeks. The project will be utilized to make parks improvements, including: painting, fencing, planting and clean-up of construction work in the area. Extra maintainance will be done on town woodlots, such as removal of deadfalls, thinning of trees, planting and clean-up. Erosion control and repair work, made necessary by damage from high water levels and storms at St. Christopher's Beach and the main beach, will be completed. Also, a new boardwalk will be constructed at St. Christopher's Beach. Discussion on Dunlop's tomb The condition of Goderich founder Tiger Dunlop's tomb site, will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of the Huron County Museum Committee. Representatives of the Town of Goderich and the Township of Colborne have been invite to attend the Oct. 13 museum com- mittee meeting, to discuss the deteriorating condition of the'histori.c site. The path leading to the tomb is overgrown with brush, wooden steps which once led up to the tomb no longe exist and the site is often strewn with beer bottles, left by partiers. The condition of the site became a concern this summer, after several vistors sent letters admonishing the site's condition to Goderich Town Council and The Goderich Signal -Star. There is also some confusion about who – the town, the township or the county – has prune responsibility for maintaining the site. Man's garage to come down A Goderich man, who went ahead with construction of a garage on his property without proper building department authority, has been given two weeks to rec- tify the situation. Juergen Becker appeared before council at their Sept. 28 meeting, to appeal charges pending against him as a result of an apparent zoning by-law infraction at his Oxford Street property. Becker presented council with a building permit, authorizing renovations to his ex- isting house and the exterior of same. No mention of a garage was made in the permit. Becker has already torn down an ex- isting garage on the propert and replaced it with a new one. "I went and got the building permits and I thought everything was legal and pro- per," explained Becker. To have built the garage legally, Becker would have needed not only a specific building .permit, but a zoning change on the property and he had applied for neither, said Building Inspector Doug Harrison. "I don't feel council has any choice but to ask that the building be removed and there will be no charges laid under the by- law," said Mayor Eileen Palmer. "I believe the Town of Goderich has bylaws, duly passed by town council, covering these matters and I'm concerned that this type of thing would' even come before council," said Councillor Bill Clif- ford. "If these by-laws were not upheld, you could just imagine the kind of mess our town would be in, with people putting things up here and there – wherever they wanted," he added. Councillor Stan Profit disagreed with Clifford's statement about such matters not coming before council. "In this situation'we become the body of appeal and if a person has to come to coun- cil to do that (appeal a decision), that's his God-given right in this country," Profit said. Council passed a motion giving Becker until Oct. 15 to tear down his garage, ad- ding that if Becker makes an applicaton for a zoning change in the meantime, that charges will be held in abeyance until a decision on the application is made. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Air Cadets Since re -introducing the Air Cadets program to Goderich in 1978, more than 400 young men and women have taken advantage of the leadership training pro- gram and the opportunities it presents. For story and pictures on the Goderich' Air Cadet program, see the front page of the Community section. GDCI volleyball The Huron -Perth Boys Volleyball Tournament was held at GDCI last Thursday with both junior and senior teams participating. The seniors and juniors gained. experience in their mat- ches. For story and pictures, see the Sports section. Cake Hall of Fame it was a magic night in August that former Goderich resident Russell Bloom- field is not likely to forget. The Ottawa resident was inducted into the Cake Decorator's Hall of Fame. For a story on Mr. Bloomfield, see inside this section.