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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-01-05, Page 1•g• a 0 Blyth Branch Lrl Box 2U2 Blyth, NO41 1R0 , Jan. 4 3 2010.4,..•*; • . ',0 .;;;;;;;•$.0,,, 0. i0X,iii?.%;•?.,/ • ' . •4•`` • 01M*•••••., 'THERE WAS MONKEY BUSINESS on the monkey bars Monday at the Wingham Public School. Area young break for the winter term. But these boys and girls ap- people returned to school this week after the Christmas pear to be taking it all in their stride. • Australia -New Zealand tour Junior Farmers to de art for a month-long exchange A group of 46 young 3finior 'and haVe been giving '"iivith:depattilftfrom TorOnter Farmers from Huron, holiday time so they might airport next Wednesday. The ' Bruce, Perth and Grey take part in the exchange. young people will stop in counties will geta chance to The 'biggest , aim of the Hawaii for two days before realize the dream of a excursion is to build self- settling down to a rigid lifetime next Wednesday confidence and character routine which includes bus when they leave for a month- among group members, said 'tours of Australia and New long exchange visit to Mr. Armstrong, as well as Zealand intermixed with Australia and New Zealand. studying basic differences stays at the farms of host Bill Armstrong of between the two countries in families. , Wingham, the tour's guide, agri-business. The Junior Farmers are said group members will act, There are over 8,500 Junior scheduled to return Feb. 13. as goodwill ambassadors for Farmers in Ontario, he Each member must finance Canada and exchange ideas reported, between the -ages his or her own trip; the with their Australian hosts. of 18 and 29. It is the only estimated cost is $3,150.• Almost three years ago,. organization in the province If all goes well, Mr. Arm - Mr. Armstrong participated directly related to agri- strong said a return visit is in a traveling scholarship to business, he noted. scheduled for the summer of the United Kingdom. When The trip's itinerary starts 1984 when 50-100 Young be returned, he said, he vowed to give the same opportunity for travel to as many Junior Farmers as possible within the four counties of Zone Seven . "We have a lot of potential in this zone, but most Junior Farmers couldn't spare two months to represent the group - and some were dubious about going." ' Thus, •Mr. Armstrong and several other Junior Farmer executive members sat down and planned a trip which would be worthwhile and would take in as many members as possible. After one "year of diligence and hard work, he said, the Australia -New Zealand trip was put together. Since few of the 23 young men and an equal number of young women who are to take part in the exchange have ever traveled outside the province, they should feel more at ease traveling with young people , they know. Most work off the Youth arrested on trafficking charge An 16 -year-old Wingham youth was arrested and charged with possessionof drugs for the purpose of trafficking and possession of stolen property after police entered his apartment looking for stolen goods last month. He was released pending an appearance at the. Wingham Provincial Court Jan. 26. Wingham police seized a quantity of hashish- oil and smaller amounts of other suspected narcotics, as well as a number of items of stolen property from, the John Street apartment A spokesman reported police had gone to the apart- ment Dec. 19 in response to a Army officers are transferred to Acton\ Friends and co-workers as well as the many people they have helped and comforted will be saddened to hear that Capt. and Mrs. Wilson Perrin of the Salvation Army are leaving Wingham this week for a new posting, The Perrins are scheduled to leave today, Wednesday, for Acton. Taking their place will be Capt. and Mrs. Fred Marshall from Hamilton, who are scheduled to arrive this weekend. They were surprised when they learned in mid- December that they are to be in Acton by Jan. 6. Capt. Perrin said. "We really didn't want to leave right now, but the way our system is wego when we are called. We made that commitment when we joined the Army," Ile said they enjoyed the 212 years they haveSpent in Wingham. 11 haS been a learning experience, he commented, and in a way he feels he has received more than he gave. While they are sad to leave. they also are looking forward to a challenge in Acton, where they have been called- to finish building a new church and congrega- tion. complaint about the stolen property. When the maQ invited the officer inside, he discovered not Only the stolen property but also the narcotics. Men serve dinner to Legion Ladies Members of Wingham Branch 180, Royal Canadian Legion, showed their ap- preciation to the ladies of the Legion Auxiliary for their hard work during the past year by treating them to supper recently and cooking it themselves. In a turnabout from most suppers at the Legion Hall, this time the ladies were not allowed into the kitchen as the men prepared and served the meal. They didn't skimp either: the menu was a roast beef dinner with all the trim- mings, right down to the horseradish. There was pie for dessert too, though the men admittedey hadn't baked it ; they brought it in and just cut it up and served it. The meal went over very well and there were no complaints from the ladies, one member reported. in fact, 1 think they Wanted us to do a little more. at home, but we told them there were only two or three cooks actually involved and most of us said it wasn't us'" • .katniet's ,.. the Atistraltan equivalent of Junior Farm- ers, ' will meet an •equal number,of young Canadians in Vancouver for 'a cross- country bus tour 'to Ontario where they will stay with host families here. ln FIRST SECTION Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 1983 Single Copy 50c Impact �nT taxes uncertain -1: Town plans to hold the line on wa es, 0 udgets for 1983 In keeping with the spirit of provincial restraint legislation, the Wingham Town Council has decided it will try to hold all its operating budgets to a maximum • incOase of five per cent this year. In a motion .passed at Monday night's meeting, council set a ceiling of five per cent over1982 , actual costs for each town depart- ment's operating- hudget, though it acknowledged that exceptions may have to be granted in some cases. As part of the same. Man breaks leg in mic acct A Brussels -area man suffered a broken,,leg in a • motorcycle accident in Morris Township on New Year's Eve. Brian James, 19, of RRA, •Brussels, sustained the in- jury when -he lost*Intro,tof his machine on a graverroad and went into the ditch. Also slightly injured was a passenger, 16 -year-old Janice Vernon of Toronto. Police reported Mr. James was southbound on Sideroad 25-26 Of Morris Township when he bit asOpple and lost control. - He retrieved the; machine and continued on home with- out realizing the extent of his injuries, police said. He went to the hospital the following morning for treatment of his leg. RUB -A -DUB -DUB, three girls in a swing. Danielle Hei- bein, Lisa Keay and Susan Henry went for a thrilling tire ride Monday afternoon in the playgroCind at the Wingham Public School. Most of the junior students were pleased to be back to school after the Christmas break. but many of the older ones wished it had been longer. motion, council set guidelines of zero to five per cent for salary or wage in- creases to all municipal employees this year. Actual increases within that range are to be proposed by department heads and the appropriate committees. At ° the same time, the increases awarded to the town ifolice in a contract signed last year have been rolled back to five per cent for 1983, in place of the negotiated increases of eight per. cent Jan, 1 and an ad- ditional two per cent July 1, The new provincial rules limiting pay increases for public officials and em- ployees to five per cent for this year also forced council, to shelve its proposed $500 increase in pay for the mayor in favor of an across, the -board five per cent for all councitmembers. A couple ..of councillors suggested they should give the mayor the • increase anyway and see what the province did about it, but in the end they agreed it might be setting a poor example and decided to drop the matter until next year. While the provincial regOitions do not limit .§: 4WANAIS.:4•,. nugets, except those which are salary or wage -related, council decided to aim for the five per cent ceiling. anyway, as a guideline in •setting 1983 budgets. Councillor Tom Miller said some departments may have trouble . meeting the guide- line, particularly if they happen . to have a project on the go which requires adz ditional money this year. However Councillor Jack Kopas, finance committee chairman, assured him that if circumstances warrant, council could allow " ex- ceptions. Mr. Kopas asked all committee chairmen to - make sure their department budgets are in his hands by Feb. 15, and said he hopes to present a proposed 1983 budget to council at its March meeting. He also reviewed the town's financial statement for 1982, saying the majority of actounts are on target and hopefully the town will have ended the year with a sur- plus of about $30,000. Revenues last year were higher than anticipated, largely because of the high interest rates which the town was able to charge on delinquent property taxes, he said, and this has con- tributed to the surplus. °Following the meeting, Mr. Kopas said it is still too early to tell what sort of an increase in property taxes Wingham ratepayers should expect this year. Although the town is trying to hold the line on its spend- ing, it does not know how much money it will get from the province in the form of grants this year, and the county and school board levies also will have an effect on taxes. "We're hoping to hold the line, or perhaps have a modestincrease." • Clerk -Treasurer Byron Adams also said it is too early to judge what effect the five per cent ceiling will have on.local taxes. The town normally gets about $250,000 in grants from the province, he noted, and Claude Bennett, minister of municipal affairs, and housing, has been quoted as saying municipalities should not eXpect any increases this year. If that is true, it means local ratepayers would have costs leg. up a larger share of In other business at the meeting, council made a number of appointments to boards and committees, and agreed to sell a strip of land to Hilda Stainton. Mr. Miller was appointed as council representative on the town planning board; Ray Baynton and Mac MacKay were appointed to the recreation, board for three and four-year terms respectively; Bob Scott was reappointed to. the property standards committee, and Mr. Kopas.was appointed to the non-profit ,,,seniors' housing corporation, taking the place of former coun- cillor Richard LeVan. Following a meeting in committee -of -the -whole, council decided to read- vertise for a third member to serve on the committee of adjustment, after hearing that only one application had been received. Mrs. Stainton attended the meeting to ask that council sell her part of a vacant lot on Diagonal Road and Carling Terrace to permit an addition, to her home. Following another session in committee -of -the -whole, council agreed to sell a 10 - foot strip from the lot for $500 plus costs. Mr. Adams told council the lot was appraised about a year ago and valued at about $1,100, since it is too small for a building lot. THE ANNUAL MAYOR'S LEVEE at the Wingham Golf and Curling Clab frankly left lit- tle Scott Inwood unimpressed, but Mom Nancy took time to introduce her young son to Mayor William Harris at the event held New Year's Day. Saved a man's life • Native of Brussels is horiored as hero By Ron Wassink Heroes and heroines are few and far between, but Doug Lowe of Brussels is a hero in the true sense of the word. A modest, soft-spoken helicopter pilot, Doug saved the life of another man. As a result, he has been informed by the Car- negie Hero Fund Commission of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that he will receive its highest honor for his life-saving role in May of -1983. A helicopter pilot for the past 10 years, he has traveled extensively through Canada and the United States. In May he was traveling by automobile through Jasper National Park to his next assignment at Hinton. Alberta, when he was the first personr at the scene of a single -vehicle ac- cident. Upon investigation. he noticed the driver of the car was unconscious and trapped under the steering wheel of his automobile. At the time. the vehicle was showing the first signs of fire. While attempting to free the driver, "all that was going through my mind was whether the car would blow up," Doug said. "It all happened so fast. 1 was in there before I knew it." A. He estimates it look 15 Minutes to free -the driver, "He was semi-conscious when we got him out and he complained of leg in- juries" Later it was learned he had both legs brek en Minutes after the man was freed' the car was engulfed in flames. but it didn't blow up, Doug reported. "If he didn't come out when he did, that would have been it. He was a pretty Iticky man." If not for the fire, he said he would have left the injured man in the car until an ambulance arrived on the scene. Doug, who is single and 35 years old, is the son of Stewart and the late Greta Lowe of Brussels. He spends winter months at the family home in Brussels, while his summers are spent in the air. Contacted by • the Carnegie Hero Fund CoMmission recently, he learned he would receive a monetary award of $2,000 im- mediately and a medal in a few weeks, In part. the Carnegie award is given to a person voluntarily risking his own life to an extraordinary degree to,save or attempt to save the life of another. or who voluntarily sacrifices himself in a heroic manner for the benefit of others. The founder of the fund, Andrew Car- negie. was an industrialist and philan- thropist who established tae fund in 1904 for the purpose of recognizing acts of heroism. Doug first learned of the fund when a fellow helicopter.pilot received the award in 1980 for his part in rescuing a nurse from the icy waters of a lake near Sault Ste. Marie. The nurse had been in the crash of a small aircraft. Asked if he would do it over again. Doug hesitated before saying, "It's just some- thing you do from instinct. There is a bit of an obligation if you'r lie. first one at the scene."