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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1989-02-14, Page 25• Council suppol. fa .1,10 in opposing trail prOpq Morris council supports a group of township farmers in a bid to see abandoned railway right-of-ways returned to landowners rather than converted to trails or parkl d. The Ground Hog's Day Com- mittee, a group formed Feb. 2 in Morris to oppose the "Rails-toTrail" movement, attended the first monthly meeting of Morris council. Also in attendance were two representatives of Maitland Trails, David Kilgour and Susan White. Their group is proposing a trail system along abandoned lines between Goderich and Guerph. While council supports the cause of the landowners in their quest to see the railway lands returned to abutting landowners, council members advised the committee to get representatives from other municipalities along the line. The committee will appear before an inter -ministerial committee meeting about railway aban- donment later this month in Toronto. Morris Reeve Douglas Fraser said council probably would be willing to send a representative to the meeting A.4 as well in a show of support The trails group would like to see the province assume- control Of abandoned rail lines for recreational use. However, the landowners want to see the township assume the lands to return them to the farm owners. Emerson Mitchell, one of the Con. 10 farmers attending last week's meeting, said there is seven and one- haif miles of rail_ lands across the township, involving 15 landowners. The rail line divides farm properties in two in Morris, said Mr. Mitchell. He also said that he has the support of every landowner involved to try to redeem the abandoned lines. Jeanne Kirkby, another group member, pointed to other concerns, such as vandalism, weed control, liability and fences, to name just a few. Abandoned rail lines first are offered to the federal government, then to the province and then to the municipality with the actual lan- downer coming several steps down the line. The CPR line was officially abandoned Jan. 1. Belgrave-Auburn Co-op reports a profitable year The Belgrave and Auburn bran- ches of the United Co-operatives of Ontario reported another profitable year at the annual meeting heid in Blyth recently. Although an increase was reported in total sales for the year, the gross margin was down for the year ended Sept. 24, 1988 over the previous year. Sales at the Belgrave branch to- talled 42,94hAle 'Nadia; 'lei the first time, topped the million - dollar mark at $1,084,055, an in- crease of 13 per cent from the pre- vious year. .The gross margin was $448,821 at Belgrave — a drop of. 10 per cent over the previous year — and $139,791 at Auburn, up 22 per cent over 1 7. The net contribution (profit) was $104,840, a drop of 20 per cent, while Auburn increased its contribution 211 per cent from $15,318 to $32,280. • Total member investment in the branches is $170,240. 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL—Junior students at the Wingham Public School marked the 100th day of the school year last Friday. Here Christopher Cameron and -Adam Lipnicki mount 100 letters on a sheet of paper. KELLY ALEXANDER of Wingham practised some of her fancy moves Sunday at the skating party held at the Optimist rink on Jose- phine Street. A good crowd of youngsters enjoyed skating, followed by hot dogs and chocolate milk, all part of Frostyfett • ART ENRICHMENT UNIT — North Huron Public School students took part in an art enrichment unit re- cently at Turnberry Central School. Showing some of their artwork are: back, Craig Lawrence, Kendra Hopper, CurtiR Mudder, Rowland Kim; front row, Jeff Musgrove and Chris Fox. (Turnberry Tidbits Photo) A - • • ••• .."<"'Z'''';n";!niy`M;;;;WO.'>••• AIDSAWA RENE SS BY jA1VIES GREIG In a previous column a reader asked what 'the „Canadian Public Health AssOciation was doing about AIDS education in Canada. Because I was not familiar with all the programs of the CPHA, I referred the reader's enquiry to Dr. David Walters, ' director of the AIDS Education and Awareness Program of the CPHA. The following is his reply: "Thank you for referring to the • Canadian Public Health Associa- tion's role, in AIDS education, and congratulations on your continued success with the AIDS Awareness column. Here are some highlights of the Canadian Public Health Associa- tion's AIDS education efforts: "A national clearinghouse of AIDS education resources has been established with a very active cir- culation of videos, educational guides, newsletters and bibliograph- ies to thousands of interested agencies and individuals. Demand has far outstretched out ability to keep up, but we anticipate expand- ing this service in the near future. 'Secondly, the CPHA has spon- sored a series of regional and national conferences on AIDS, which have brought together experts, professionals, AIDS educators, support groups, and people with AIDS to learn from each other. "Thirdly, educational resources have been produced, including a national brochure that has gained broad usage of some five million copies, and a widely distributed video, 'AIDS: The Workplace Facts'. A video for youth is now being produced that will be released in the spring. I should not neglect to mention that the CPHA co -published your book 'AIDS': What Every Responsible Canadian Should Know'. The book has done extremely well nnd is still being purchased by provinces, School boards, and' businesses as an excellent primer. "Lastly, the CPHA has continued to lead national efforts through the media with the first series of AIDS information ads to be shown on major networks in North America, and the first presenting a Person With AIDS (PWA) in Canada. "We are looking ahead to em- phasizing efforts against the spread of AIDS by injection drug use this year. The 'second wave' of AIDS is being spread around the world by the sharing of used needles and syringes, and by sex with partners using drugs. "The CPHA has been emphasizing the need for public health agencies to develop needle -exchange operations that will take in used needles and ensure a plentiful supply of clean equipment, and at the same time initiate preventive counselling for drug users so that the epidemic will not spread within this group, to their partners and children, and then to the wider community. "These 'exchange schemes' have been shown in Europe to be suc- cessful ways of contacting a very difficult group to reach. A major part of our next effort will be to keep the public well-informed in this controversial area. "It should be noted that Health and Welfare Canada provides the CPHA with major funding for this program, but other sponsors such as the Canadian Life and Health Inurance Association, IBM, Julius Schmid Co., and numerous radio and television stations — have donated funds and services to these efforts. In addition, many companies and, provincial agencies have purchased brochures and videos to enhance their own efforts. "With additional government funding established, a strategic plan is now being quickly developed which will map out the most ef- fective ways of continuing the preventive education effort in Canada. "Finally, several companies,have been major sponsors of conferences and professional meetings and educational material, notably Julius SchmidCo. of Canada." Editor's note: James Greig is a member of the Canadian Public Health Association and author of the book "AIDS: What Every Responsible Canadian Should Know". If you have a question about AIDS, write to. AIDS Awareness, 10 Tempo Avenue, Willowdale, On- tario, M2H 2N8. Corr PETTIGREW, a member of the CKNX Tri-hards basketball tearh, headed down the court at last Saturday's game between the rri-hards and the Canadian Half -Pints Midget Basketball Tearn. ,