HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-04-24, Page 5THS ADVAACE -T'mE,: ,4 p�gQ of editorial. opinion
April 24, 1985
QCic Wingfjam Cabance 4 (mcg
Published at Wingham, Ontario, P.O. Box 390 - NOG 2W0
by Wenger Bros. Limited
Barry Wenger, President
Barry Hens, Eor Robert O. Wenger, Sec.-Treas.
Audrey Currie, Advertising Manager
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations
Member—Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc.
Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc.
Subscriptions $21.00 per year Six months $12.50
$23.00 beyond 40 -mile zone
Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821
Return postage guaranteed
A ludicrous proposal
The suggestion that a town the size
of Wingham should have to hire a
meter maid to enforce its parking by-
laws is so patently ludicrous it scarcely
deserves a response — were it not for
the fact it is being taken quite seriously
by some highly -placed members of
town council.
Both Mayor William Harris and
Finance Chairman Jack Kopas last
week proposed that the town will have
to consider employing either a meter
maid (the mayor's term) or a bylaw
enforcement officer (Mr. Kopas' de-
scription) to make sure cars do not
overstay their welcome along the main
street.
The suggestion was put forward In
connection with the decision to remove
parking meters from the shopping dis-
trict, but the idea of hiring an officer to
enforce zoning and other municipal
regulations has been heard before from
this council. Clearly some council
members still do not take seriously a
fact which is painfully evident to many
of their constituents: judging from
local mill rates, we are already paying
for all the staff and services we can af-
ford.
For all its brave talk of restraint
and budget -slashing, council recently
passed, virtually without opposition, a
budget with spending increases in
many departments far above the rate
of inflation — and requiring yet another
tax increase.
True, much of this spending is nec-
essary and unavoidable. But it is hard
to understand why, in the absence of
major projects such as the fire hall and
Leopold Street reconstruction which
hiked taxes last year, it wouldnot have
been possible to hold the line.
It has -frequently been noted that
although employment here has In-
creased, the population of Wingham
has grown scarcely at all during recent
years— largely because many of those
who work here choose to live in the sur-
rounding villages and hamlets where
taxes are lower and regulations fewer.
With a dam replacement and other
costly projects looming on the horizon,
councils would do well to concentrate -
their resources on those things which
will make the town a more attractive
and pleasant place in which to live. Ad-
ding still more staff is hardly one of
these. With municipal elections ap-
proaching this fall, it is something local
ratepayers would do well to consider.
Salute to volunteers
Although last week was officially
designated as Volunteers' Week, it is
never too late to express appreciation
to the dozens of people in every com-
munity who give freely of their time to
make life better for their fellow
citizens.
The difficulty In writing a com-
mendation of this sort lies in the fact
that there are so many volunteer work-
ers the writer is bound to leave out
some of them, perhaps even some of
the most important. In fact, it is hard to
imagine just how our communities
could exist without the free help which
is made available by so many selfless
people, doing their particular "thing"
quietly and cheerfully.
Firemen come quickly to mind,
probably because they are officially'
designated as volunteers. True, they
get some money for their efforts but it
is peanuts, considering the fact they
are willing to be called out of warm
beds or away from their regular work
to protect our property. In the course of
their volunteer service they are fre-
quently exposed to considerablerisk
but we never hear a complaint.
Then there are the .legions of people
who deliver meals -on -wheels, the girls
who work as "candy stripers" at the
hospitals, the parents and friends of
young hockey players, driving all over
the country on cold and stormy winter
nights; And how about the members of
the horticultural society who take the
time and trouble to, plant flowerbeds
which add beauty to our town and the
Boy Scout, Guide and Brownie leaders?
There are the coaches and man-
agers of the young people's ball and
hockey teams, the ladies who regularly
help out at the cancer clinic at the hos-
pital, and on and on. These are only a
few of the groups who are always will-
ing to do whatever they can to make a
good community even better. We all
owe them a deep and lasting debt for
their assistance.
Not much excitement
With a provincial election facing us
in only eight days, one might expect at
least some political excitement to be
evident, but the fact is that there is vir-
tually none. The most one hears is the
casual question, "Well, who's going to
win?"
Unlike recent federal contests
which were dominated by the person-
alities of the, various party leaders, in
this race the leaders are not uppermost
in the minds of most voters. Rather, it
appears, party policies seem to be
more important — unemployment, day
care assistance, gasoline and heating
oil prices, separate school funding —
and on these important questions there
have been few clear-cut promises.
It is quite possible that the PC's big
majority will be whittled down in next
week's voting. Many constituencies
will vote for the man rather than for the
party, which is really the way it should
be done in a democracy, particularly
where the candidates are well-known to
the voters.
Perhaps what appears to be apathy
in regard to this election is simply
boredom with too many elections and
too many leadership races in the last
couple of years. After all, the poli-
ticians have some competition for pub-
lic to mention the NHL playoffs.
Who's equal to whom?
Looking at the incoming classified
ads last week one of our staff pointed
out that an ad which began:, "Young
person wanted for ..." was not accept-
able. It's against the law to discrim-
inate on the basis of age. Right. The ad
was re -written to say "Person wanted,
etc."
That started a train of thought.
How about that nation-wide campaign'
which uses the slogan "Hire a stu-
dent"? Isn't that discriminatory? Is it
really legal to urge employers to hire
ttudents when there are so many un-
employed people around who are no
longer students? Should the entire
campaign be overhauled and a new
slogan devised?: That could be really
exciting. Great big headlines reading
"Hire a person".
The newly -promulgated laws on
equality are about to pose myriad
questions which never before have ap-
peared significant. But never mind,
there is ari over -supply of lawyers at
the present time. The problems created
by the equality laws will probably pro-
vide employment for every last one of
the legal beagles.
11 f%e Worst comes
-to worst, posher, qou
can a1W 'q Sell Pep5t
like Gerry Ferraro
A note to
4-H club
reporters
While we are happy to help
promote your clubs by
carrying reports of your
meetings and activities, we
do make .one request: get
your reports to us promptly.
All too frequently we
receive a meeting report,
prepared with care but three
or four weeks out of date,
and we are forced to give
over the space to more
recent news.
In order to use your
reports we must have them
by not more than one issue
past the date of your
meeting. If your club meets
between Monday and
Friday, we must have the
report by not later than the
Monday immediately
following the meeting. If you
are not sure how to get your
reports to us, contact the
newspaper corresefiident in
the community nearest you
for help.
Items from Our Old Files
APRIL 1938
At the annual meeting
the Retail Merchants'
sociation, George King
elected president of the
sociation. Earl H. Gray
secretary and H. E. Isa
treasurer.
Fleming Black has p
chased the Metcalf farm
the Bluevale Road. The s
was made by T. Fells.
Wingham is about to to
one of its promising b
players as Billie Groves w
leave for Chatham where
has secured a, position. Bi
should develop into a hig
class pitcher
fret E di
wassole nized a the ti hom
of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Dan
Howick Township, when
their elder daughter, Elva
Mae, became the bride of
Lloyd Randall Jacques, son
of the late Mr. and Mrs.
William J. Jacques. They
will reside on the groom's
farm.
R. Richardson; who has
been superintendent of the
Bell Telephone here for the
past two years, has been
transferred to Stratford.
Malcom Graham of Durham
is taking over Mr. Richard -
son's position here.
Howard Machan has
purchased the residence of
Mrs. James Fowler on Dia-
gonal Road. Mr. Machan's
cottage.. on Frances ..Street
has been sold to Howard
Fuller.
Mrs. William Elliott was
named president of the
Belmore Women's Institute.
Vice presidents are Mrs.
Harry Mulvey, and Mrs. Tom
;
MetcalfeMrs. Georg
Inglis is secretary -treasurer
APRiL 1951
The Wingham Kinsmen
Club has acquired four more
hospital beds and now has
six beds for the use of needy
sick people in the Wingham
area. Two of these beds were
donated to the. club by the
Wingham, Kinettes who
purchased them with money
made in a. recent fashion
show.
A quiet wedding took, place
in Fergus when Flora Edna
McTavish of the fourth line
of Turnberry became the
bride of Jack M. Willitts,
ninth line of Turnberry. They
will reside on the groom's
farm in Turnberry.
Last Wednesday saw, the
first volunteer work party on
hand at the new golf course.
The course is in fine shape.
The work to be done this year
includes fencing, clearing all
the' fairways of stones,
laying the pipes for the water
system, cleaning up the
remaining brush and
completing the final
grooming of the greens.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur
Rom') and far'nily have
moved to Gorrie from
Jamestown. They sold their
farm recently to Joseph
Chapman.
. Charlie Currie, son of Mr.
and Mrs. George Currie of
East Wawanosh, who spent
the past few weeks at the
O.A.C.,Guelph, where he
took a special course in dairy
products, received 100 per
cent for making ice cream.
He works with Roselawn
of Dairies, Toronto.
As- Harry Elliott of Bluevale
was started this week to drive a
as- truck for the Texaco Gas
is Company with headquarters
rd at Wingham: He will con-
al tinue to reside in Bluevale.
ur-
on APRIL 1961
ale At a meeting of the
Wingham Kinsmen Club Dr.
se Stewart . Leedham was
all elected president of the
ill organization for the 1961-62
he season. Matt Boyd was
11 named first vice president
h- and Bob Wenger was named
• second vice president.
ng John Crawford, student
e minister, left for Cadillac,
e, Sask., where he will spend
the summer in a three-point
charge in the Cypress Hills
district. John has completed
his second year at Emman-
uel College in Toronto.
The engagement is an-
nounced of Elizabeth Anne,
daughter of Mrs. William H.
McKinney and the late Mr'.
McKinney, to John Douglas
Congram, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Wilfred Congram.
Just at press time word
was received that J. A.
"Jud" Foxton of Wingham,
an employee of 11 years
standing with the Wingham
Rural Hydro, was , fatally
electrocuted near. Ripley.
Jack VanCamp has started
work at his new house in
Belgrave, the excavating for
the basement having been
done.
"Construction work started
Monday en the road on the
Ninth at Marnoch,
e eliminating the two sharp
•
turns into a curved slope
down to the bridge. The
sharp turn into Wawanosh at
the bridge, will also be
changed to a curved corner.
Workmen have been busy on
the river sideroad at Zet-
land, levelling the Green-
away Hill in Wawanosh; to
be used as a detour when
they start work on the Zet-
land bridge.
APRIL 1971
Ross Davies has joined J.
H. Crawford and Alan R.
Mill in the practice of law.
Mr. Davies is single and has
taken up residence in
Wingham.
John 'Brent of Wingham
was re-elected for a fifth
term on the Ontario Hockey
Association executive at a
meeting held at Toronto. He
was named senior executive
member, putting him in line
for the position of vice
president of the OHA next
year.
A service of worship in
loving memory of Rev. W. A.
Beecroft was held in Willow -
dale. Several Wingham
friends attended. '
The Canadian Radio -
Television Commission has
approved installation of a
cable television system at
Kincardine. Licence to carry
o�n a CATV undertaking at
the lakeside town was
granted to a company to be
incorporated and represent-
ed by Eric Walden of Wing -
ham.
Mr. and
Carmichael
•
Mrs. Lorne
a r'e'",`
owners of the Stedman store,
working with the Stedman
organization as an authoriz-
ed dealer. Mr. Carmichael
was with Henry Morgan Ltd.
of Montreal for 25 years.
Mrs. Norman Coultas was
installed as president of the
Belgrave Women's Institute;
succeeding Mrs. Ivan
Wightman. Vice presidents
are Mrs. Clarence Hanna
and Mrs. Stan Hopper and
Mrs. Wightman is district
director.
A new addition to the staff
of F. E. Madill Secondary
School is Cheryl Hayes who
'dies English.
Huron County budget
increases by 5.56%
Huron County Council re-
cently approved a budget for
1985 totalling $17.8 million.
Of this amount, the 26 mu-
nicipalities in the county will
be responsible for raising a
total of $4.1 million, com-
pared to $3.9 million raised
last year. This is an increase
of 5!56 per cent.
I creases for individual
mal icipalities range from a
high of 14.3 per cent for Bay-
field to 1.24 per cent for the
Township of East Wawa -
nosh.
Levies to the municipali-
ties are as follows:
Clinton, general levy, $60,-
868.; highways levy, $65,-
1 574., fora total of $126,442;
Exeter, general, $110,-
839.; highways, $119,407., for
a total of $230,246.;
Goderich, general, $224,-
990.; highways, $242,382., for
a total of $467,372.;
Seaforth, general, $51,597.;
highways, $55,585., for a total
of $107,182.;
Wingham, general, $70,-
421.; highways, $75,865., for
a total of $146,286.;
Bayfield, general, $28,076.;
highways, $30,246,, for a total
of $58,322.;
Blyth, general, $18,804.;
highways, $20,258., for a total
of $39,062.;
Brussels, general, $18,-
463..; highways, $19,891., for
a total of $38,354.;
Hensall, general, $39,876.;
highways, $42,959., for a total
of $82,835.;
Zurich, general, $14,751.;
highways, $15,890., for a total
of $30,641.;
Ashfield, general, $99,962.;
highways, $107,689., for a to-
tal of $207,651.;
Colborne, general, $69,-
076.; highways, $74,416., for
a total of $143,492.;
Goderich Township,
general, $105,501.; highways,
$113,656., for a total of
$219,157.;
Grey, general, $74,455.;
highways, $80,210., for a total
of $154,665.;
Hay, general, $108,993.;
highways, $117,418., for a to-
tal of $226,411. ;
Howick, general, $86,837.;
highways, $93,550., for a total
of $180,387.;
Hallett, general, $85,733.;
highways, $92,631., fora total
Canada Post to changeof $178,094.,
McKillop, general, $79,-
short- aid m it
Canadians will no longer
be charged double the
postage owing on mail they
receive with insufficient
postage, if a proposal to
modernize Canada's postal
regulations is adopted.
Under the proposals an-
nounced earlier this month,
the corporation would return
mail tothe sender to make
up any postage owing in-
stead of penalizing the
recipient. The recipient is
now charged double the
amount owing.
J. R. Taylor, vice presi-
dent of marketing and
sales, said the regulation
change will be part of a
program to be implemented
in September to help reduce
the estimated $50 million
losses incurred every year
due to short -paid mail.
"The new program will be
better understood and fairer
to all our customers„" he
said, adding that shifting the
responsibility for correct
payment to the user, "where
it should be", will increase
customer awareness of short
payment, reduce losses and
keep postal rates down.
Canada Post estimates
that three to four per cent of
Canadian mail is underpaid. ,
Mr. Taylor said the major
causes are carelessness or
lack of awareness of the
correct rate, but some is
deliberate.
Under the revised regula-
tions, which would not take.,
effect until Sept. 1, returned
mail could be reposted after
the postage owing had been
added to the item.
The practice of charging
the addressee for short -paid
mail was introduced in 1875
and was specified in postal
legislation until Canada Post
became a Crown corporation
in 1981
492.; highways, $85,637., for
a total of $165,129.;
Morris, general, $60,627.;
highways, $65,314., for a total
of $125,941.;
Stanley, general, $83,405.;
highways, $89,853., for a total
of $173,258.;
Stephen, general, $219,-
009.; highways, $235,939., for
a total of $454,948.;
Tuckersmith, general,
$92,155.; highways, $98,279.,
fora total of $191,434.;
Turnberry, general,.
$44,753.; highways, $48,213.,
for a total of $92,966.;
Usborne, general, $82,583.;
highways, $88,966., for a total
of $171,549;
East Wawanosh, general,
$39,014.; highways, $42,029.,
for a total of $81,043;
West Wawanosh, general,
$36,585.; highways, $39,413.,
for a total of $75,998.
Some municipalities will
receive an estimated guar-
antee payment to reduce the
mill rate for county purpo-
ses. In Huron these will in-
clude:
Hensall, $2,581.; Goderich
Township, $11,259.; Hullett,
$27,612.; McKillop, $27,195.;
Morris, $4,179.; Stephen,
$48,031.; Tuckersmith, $898.;
Usborne, $19,522.
o6eIttm--tlee/Elitav
A pat on the back
for Legion supporters
Dear Editor,
We would like to take this
opportunity to give a big pat
on the back and a sincere
thank -you to the good
citizens of Wingham and
surrounding districts for
their wholehearted support
of our many functions at
Branch 180, Royal Canadian
Legion.
In the last 12 months we
have been able to pass on to
local endeavors something in
the region of $8,000 to help
further their aims in our
•
community.
A detailed list is displayed
on the bulletin boards in the
180 Branch for anyone in-
terested and even if you are
not a member we are always
more than happy to receive
guests .and explain these
donations.
Remember, none of this
could happen without your
wonderful and generous
support, sometimesin the
most adverse ' weather
conditions! So, once again,
thank you.
Comrade Steve Trapp
PRO, Branch 180