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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-01-19, Page 1Blyth Bench Lit vary Boar 22 Biyt , Ont , NU4 1110 Jan4 3 RETIREMENT PARTY—Carson Snowden, a 22 -year .employee of the Wingham Public Utilities Commission, was honored at a retirement dinner last Friday evening. Wingham Mayor William Harris, Commissioner Rod Wet, mild weather is blamed Wraith and Commissioner Roy Bennett presented Mr. Snowden with a token of their esteem for his many years of service with the PUC. `Flu -type viruses' responsible for outbreak of illness this winter You say you've been feeling pretty rough lately? Your head aches, you have a bad cough and you hardly have the energy to crawl out of bed in the morning? And it feels like it will never end? Relax, what you have is likely one of the "flu -type viruses" that are going around this winter. And — , though people who have suffered from one might not agree — they are not con- sidered particularly serious, at least for the young and healthy, says Dr. Harry Cieslar, Huron County medical officer of health. Nor is the outbreak, while widespread, considered to be an epidemic. There are a lot of people sick with flu and colds this. winter, and it seems to be particularly bad in the Wingham area, leading the Wingham and District Hospital , o suspend visiting on the firs floor last week as a precauti nary measure. However to date there is no indication that one par- ticular strain of flu virus is responsible for the outbreak, Dr. Cieslar said. Rather it seems that the usual collection of viruses one finds every winter have gone on a rampage because of the unusually mild and changeable weather. Many different viruses can produce an influenza -like ill- ness, he explained. "There is no documen- tation I've seen that one particular strain of influenza is causing this." Things might die down once the weather turns cold, but in the meantime his advice to people is be cautious, stay away from crowds, wash your hands frequently — "probably more colds are spread by handshaking than by some- one coughing in your face" — and get lots of rest to build up your resistance. If you go to a party and get drunk, you could wake up in the mor- ning with more than a hangover. If you do catch a "bug", the well-worn remedy of lots of fluids and bed rest is about as good as any. For those who might be particularly hard-hit by a virus, such as the elderly or persons with a history of chest problems or heart disease, Dr. Cieslar recommends seeing your family doctor for influenza vaccine. This vaccine is made available every year by the Health Ministry and covers the predominant fin strains for a given area. Normally it is made available only to those persons considered par- ticularly at risk from the flu, he said. However if there were to be a large outbreak it would be more widely available. What is the difference between the ordinary flu "bug" which makes you miserable for a week or two in the spring and fall and.the killer influenza epidemics which swept the world from time to time? Dr. Cieslar explained that the flu virus has great potential for change. On a yearly basis, it undergoes only minor changes. However there is the potential, about every decade or so, for a major change in the virus. When that happens, people don't have the same resistance, and huge populations right around the world become very susceptible. The famous swine flu epidemic several, years ago was the most recent such outbreak, he said. The MOH said the county health unit keeps tabs on out- breaks of flu or other ill- nesses by monitoring schools through the public health nurses. - Some schools have had a rise in the rate of ab- senteeism due to flu and colds this winter, he reported, with one school losing almost one-quarter of its pupils. However a quick survey of Please turn to Page 2 ]Cancelled orders face -- another Foundry cutback Sometimes it seems that behind every silver lining lurks a dark cloud. No sooner did the Western Foundry Co. Ltd. of Wingham receive a stepped-up order for brake parts, enabling it to call back workers, than the order was cut by more than half, forcing another layoff. Just last week the foundry received word that Volkswagen is closing its Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, assembly plant for an indefinite period, President Richard LeVan reported. The shutdown, prompted by poor saps of the VW Rabbit, means that the plant has reduced its requirement for disc brake rotors to 15,000 from 38,000. That, in turn, means that Western Foundry, which produces the castings for the rotors, will have to cut off the partial second shift which it added recently, Mr. LeVan said. The cutback likely will come at the end of this week. He said employees already have been notified. Local figure skaters earn berth in nationals Two Wingham figure skaters have earned the right to compete for national tithes at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Montreal next month. Curtis Moore, with partner Debbie Horton of Goderich, won the Novice Dance category in the divisional championships at Timmins last week, while brother Mark placed second in the class for Novice men. The top four skaters in each class at the divisional championships advance to the national competition, to be held starting Feb. 5. The Wingham Figure Skating Club, home club for the Moore brothers, is planning to raise money to help with their expenses at the national championships. Dianne Simpson, a spokesman for the club, said it hopes to raise $1,000 and is in- viting donations from local service clubs, businesses and individuals. The club also has scheduled a benefit dance for the two skaters Jan. 28 at the Wingham Legion Hall. Local residents will have a chance to see these and other skaters display their skills ,at the club's annual skating carnival Feb. 18 at the Wingham arena. Seaforth men are charged in Morris robbery, beating Three Seaforth men are in the Walkerton jail, charged with robbery with violence in connection -With a robbery and beating iln Morris Town- ship on the weekend. Michael Joseph McLaughlin, 19, and Robert William Engel, 18, of Seaforth and Randy James Buck, 22,, of RR 4, Seaforth, were remanded in custody following a bail hearing Monday. They pre to appear in Goderich Provincial Court on Thursday. The three are charged in connection with an incident Friday night in which a Morris Township and an Auburn man were robbed and beaten. Provincial police at the Wingham detachment reported that shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, an armed man entered the home of Helmut Sieber, 29, on the 8th Con- cession of Morris, forcing Mr. Sieber, who was alone in the house, to lie on the floor while he tied his hands and covered his head. Two other men also en- tered the house, demanded money and beat Mr. Sieber over the head, stealing his wallet and ransacking the house. A short time later a friend, Manfred Loseriet, 39, of RR 1, Auburn arrived at the farm, where he saw two men standing beside a strange car. He became suspicious and almost immediately became involved in a fight with the two men, when the third man came up and struck him over the head with what he believes was a gun. After that he was severely beaten about the face and head and his wallet was stolen. After the assailants had left, the two men made their way to a neighbor's home and were later taken by ambulance to the Wingham and District Hospital for treatment of their injuries. Later that night, officers from the Goderich OPP detachment arrested Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Buck behind the Queen's Hotel in Seaforth and Const. Ken Balzer of the Wingham OPP arrested Mr. Engel at his Seaforth home. MYTH FIRST SECTION Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 1983 Hints at possible resignation Fire chief takes stand against new fire area board Wingham Fire Chief Dave Crothers has,> come out strongly against. a proposal to establish yaharea fire board whir vieuld own and operate theiilghann Fire Department. Saying he is quite satisfied with the way the department has been run for many years, with input from the par- ticipating tQs: nsh%ps but ownership ,; adtpimstra- tion left in ands of the town, the chief .said he and other members of his de- partment are:.;. against the change, and baited he might quit if it goes ttliough., If he does resign, he added, other memo rs. of the department helve said they will leave too. In any case, he claimed, the new organization would double the costs of operating the fire department, "since he and the fir -mien would ex- pect xpect to be paid batter for their time'andf'fort, In an interview lnnt'Thurs- day, Mr. Crothers, who has been chief of the departmetit for the past 15 yearsrnd also serves as fire ccorditiiMor for Huron County said;he and his men "don't o fonthe fire area board," wiuch,";he ci m- pared to r ona ' *alr ro- ment. __-Ml_.of -them come a from -the Town of Wingham and, while they don't mind contributing their services to their own community, if they are to work for an outside body they will expect to be better compensated, he said, pointing out that the total cost for fire department wages last year of $22,400 would barely serve to hire\ one man full-time. That bill includes annual payments of $8,000 to the chief and $200 to each of the three captains, $300 to the secretary and $10 per hour to the men for the time they spend fighting fires. Some of the men say it is not worthwhile leaving their jobs for that kind of money, the chief said, and it also doesn't include the time they spend at practices or working on the hall and equipment. Actually, he said, the firemen are no longer volunteers but part-time firemen. "They get paid for what they do and respond if they can. "It's a hit-or-miss business whether we have enough men to do an adequate job firefighting." Mr. Crothers said in his opinion the best arrange- ment would be for the town to control and fund the de- partment, selling services to the neighboring municipali- ties as needed. "We have a Wingham fire department, and it will remain a Wingham fire department as long as I'm on it! We will provide protec- tion to the townships, but we won't be run by them." However he agreed that the existing system, with the town and neighboring town- ships sharing equipment costs and operating ex- penses, has been working well and could continue. Steel chimney causes fire Wingham firemen were called out Tuesday morning to a chimney and roof fire in Morris Township. Fire Chief Dave Crothers reported that a chimney fire in a steel chimney bad set fire to the roof and rafters of a house owned by William Coultes and occupied by Norman Higgins on Lot 2, Con. 4. He estimated damage from the blaze at $500. For 32 years it worked perfectly, he said, until members of the Wingham council went around to the township councils last year and "messed things up" by trying to get contributions toward an expensive new fire hall. "I don't think we need the townships to be buying a fire hall. I think Wingham should put up the fire hall." If the town and townships do agree to form a fire area board, a concept which has been adopted in principle by representatives on the Wingham and rural fire committee and by some township councils, "I can see more hassles coming up than you can shake a stick at," the chief claimed. "The more people you get involved in something, the more problems you've got." Mr. Crothers also lashed out at what he says has been chronic neglect of the fire department over the years by successive town councils. A study by the fire mar- shal's office 13 years ago pointed out the need for expansion of and im- provements to the fire hall, but councillors have preferred to polish their own • BRIAN CRONKWRIGHT of Wingham recently received a wheelchair provided by the Ontario March of Dimes. Although he suffers from multiple neurofibromatosis, a disease which causes the growth of tumors on nerves and muscles, Brian has re- mained active in this community as a member of the Legion and the Optimist Club, and he corresponds with others who have this disease. Supplying items such as wheelchairs and other equipment is one of the many services available to physically disabled adults through the March of Dimes. Separate trustee wants honorariums decreased A trustee on the Huron - Perth Separate School Board tried once again to have trustees' honorariums re- duced. He was not success- ful. x� Stratford Trustee Ronald Marcy asked if the trustees' honorariums should be rolled back to a five per cent increase at the board's Jan. 10 meeting. The previous board in- creased the wages effective Dec. 1 to $200 from $180 representing an approxi- mate 1-2 per cent increase. "I feel something should be done," said Mr. Marcy. Superintendent of business and finance, Jack Lane, said the board had net yet received any worksheets from the provincial govern- ment on which the salary increases would be filed. He said a report would be made to the board once the docu- ments were received. Mm -Marcy had asked the previous board to roll back the increase to five per cent but the matter was left to the discretion of the new board. "Would it not show a good example if we rolled it back to five per cent?" asked Trustee Louis Maloney. Trustee Tim McDonnell said the honorarium should have been at $200 before last fall. Mr. Lane added that when honorariums w're based on the number of stu- dents in a school system, Huron -Perth's maximum figure was $200 per month. Since last fall, school boards have been able to set the in- coming .board's rate with no limits. The present board cannot increase trustees' honorariums, but it can roll back the stipend. The board will take a wait and see approach. In other business. the board was introduced to Brian Annable who will be working two days a week as superintendent of education. Mr. Annable is principal at St. Mark's Secondary School in Kitchener. On loan from the Waterloo Separate School Board, the Huron - Perth board will be billed for any expenses incurred by Mr. Annable during his time here. The extra administration help was required because superintendent of education, John McCauley. is filling in while director of education, William Eckert, recovers from a mild heart attack. The board approved •a request from Justin Tomasulo of St. Mary's Separate S' hoof, Hesson, to be in the teacher -funded leave plan. For four years Mr, Tomasulo will receive 80 per cent of his salary and then the fifth year, which he will have off. he will receive the held-hn-l- nay, images by not spending the money and have just passed the problem along, he said. Today, he claimed, the". buck -passing has. brought things to a state'vvhere he is worried that the hall could fall down on top of the new trucks. Doug Fortune, deputy reeve of Turnberry Town- ship and chairman for 1983 of the rural fire committee, said he is surprised to hear that the chief is so strongly against the concept of a fire area board, since in his opinion it would leave the actual operation of the fire department practically unchanged. "Personally I don't feel there would be any change other than right now he reports to , the Town of Wingham and he would report to the fire board in- stead." "All we're concerned about is to have the same fire department as now, run the same and set up in a 3vay that will run smoothly."' He said he knew that the chief was not entirely happy with the new proposal and had expressed some reservations, but added that Mr. Crothers has been at all avn 8t taif . ,- fil; e t matter was discussed and had every opportunity . for input. The next meeting is set for Jan. 26, he said, and the chief will be invited to discuss any problems. "At that point we'll either resolve them or...." At present the fire board is "simply in the talk stages", Mr. Fortune added. It has been proposed in principle to the member councils, but none of the details have been worked out yet. "We want to see if councils favor the idea." He explained the reason for going to a fire area board would be to smooth out some technical wrinkles in the current agreement. At present, although all participating members have helped to buy the fire trucks, technically Wingham owns all the equipment. While there has never been a question of the town taking advantage of this, a potential exists for problems to arise somewhere down the road. With a fire board, the board would own all the fire department assets, including equipment and fire hall, and each member would contri- bute a share. "There's nothing really wrong with the way it's been done. We just thought there might be a better way." He reported that all the representatives on the fire committee, including those from Wingham, voted to recommend the ,, board proposal to a their councils. "The town reps on the fire committee have been 100 per cent cooperative with the whole idea." Really, as far as the fire department is concerned, the new structure should not affect its operation, Mr. Fortune added. It may be called the Wingham fire department, but actually the area outside Wingham already contributes 76 per cent of the funds. He said that while the board concept arose out of the proposal for funding a new fire hall, the existing agreement had not been looked at for years and a, review was overdue. He hopes the committee can resolve the chief's concerns about the board, he said. "I'd hate to see a shouting match. Everybody is trying to work for the best thing — the best fire depart- ment working the best,way."