HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-03-16, Page 1Blyth Branch Libvary
Boat 20 2
Blyth Owe, • NOM 1R•
Jan. 4
MYTH
SAM BONDI, a Wingham artist, was honored recently
when he was awarded second prize for his oil and
acrylic painting at an art show held at the Durham Art
Gallery. The painting of a scene along the Maitland
River still is hanging on display in the Durham gallery. He
is seen with two rtf t' other paintings.
Council considers grant
toward planting program
Wingham council has
asked its finance and works
committees to consider a
request by the Wingham
Horticultural Society for a
grant toward the society's
annual tree -94_010$
progrannn town. •
For the past several years
council has donated $500 a
year to the program, which
has planted 50 new trees in
each of thepast two years,
with the rest of the money
coming from the horti-
cultural society.
However Ed Fielding and
Roy Bennett of the society
told council last week that
the energetic program of the
past two years has
exhausted the group's
reserves, and this year it will
.have only enough money, to
plant 25 trees:
They said it is up to council
to decide whether it wants to
makeup the difference.
At $35 a tree, it costs $875
t ',Pl v This cost
hats been held down. to the
same level as last year, Mr.
Bennett noted.
He said the society is not
asking for any specific
• amount. "However many
trees you want planted."
• However he noted it needs to
know within a few weeks,
since the planting should be
done before the trees break
their winter dormancy.'
He also told council the
society is beginning to vary
its plantings somewhat from
the Norway maple, a fast-.
growing hard maple
recommended for town
planting, which formed the
standard in previous years.
Last year some of the trees
planted were a type of red
maple, whil$tsta,will.
be.. planting . some sugar.
maples:
In response to a question
from council, he confirmed
that all the trees are
guaranteed to grow, and any
failures should be reported
immediately. Asked about
the wisdom of establishing a
pruning program for them,
he said most should not need
pruning.
Mr. Bennett also
suggested that council
should consider levying a
Alcoholic referral service
is started in Huron County
By T. Marr
Following three and a half
years of planning, a. much-
needed and long-awaited
service is now available to
Huron County residents.
The Huron Council for
Action on Alcohol and other
Drugs (CAAD) has set up an
assessment and referral
service for people suffering
from alcohol or drug-related
problems.
The service will be
provided in five centres
across the county, operating
Out of the Alexandra Marine
and General Hospital,
Goderich, South Huron
Hospital, Exeter, Seaforth
Community Hospital and the
Wingham and Clinton
mental health resource
centres. The Addiction Re-
search Foundation, London,
also will play a major role in
the program.
Bill Murdock, a repre-
sentative of the ARF, said
two main objectives of the
service are to find the rea-
sons for a problem and
then develop a treatment
program for the alcohol or
drug -hurt individual.
He described the Huron
service as "a unique model
and the only one of its kind",
explaining it is a cooperative
system which makes use of
existing services.
Instead of offering a
service at one central
location, the system has
been planned to be ac-
cessible to all county
residents. The Goderich
hospital is providing a
central phone number which
anyone can call for help or
information.
Grant Ellison, the
program coordinator, then
will contact the assessment
centre closest to the in-
dividual's home to follow up
the call. The centre, with the
individual's cooperation, will
do an assessment of the
problems, plan a treatment
program and perform
periodic follow-up assess-,
ments.
Calling the .assessment
service the cornerstone of
the treatment program, Mr
Murdock said each centre
will ensure there is a very
careful and thorough
identification of problems.
"The more specific we are
in treating the problems, the
better the results will be."
If the assessment and
referral service or the client
decides a specific treatment
plan is not working, the
centre will do a new assess-
ment and develop another
course of action.
The new service is being
provided at no direct cost to
the clients or county tax-
payers. The Goderich hospi-
tal is providing the telephone
service and staff at each
centre have agreed to take
on the additional work.
Anyone wanting to take
advantage of this service can
call either 524-7111 (Goder-
ich) or 357-1614 in the Wing -
ham area.
Council payments
were quite modest
The remuneration and expenses paid to members of the
Wingham Town Council last year were quite modest, figures
compiled by the clerk's office indicate.
Municipalities are now required by law to compile a year-
end statement of payments to councillors, and this was
presented to town council at its meeting last week.
It shows that Mayor William Harris, with an honorarium
and meeting allowance of $2,260 and expenses of $55.55, was
the highest-paid council member at $2,315.55.
Next was Councillor James A. Currie at $2,103.55, made up
of an honorarium and meeting allowance of $1,520 and $583.55
in convention expenses.
Former councillor John Swan was third with $1,660 in
honorarium and meeting allowance, followed by Councillor
Tom Miller at $1,628, of which $28 was expenses; R. W.
LeVan, $1,560; Patricia Bailey, $1,560; William Crump,
$1,559.20 ($39.30 in expenses); Joe Kerr, $1,499.80 ($59.80
expenses); and Jerry Chomyn, $1,480.
Councillors last year were paid a basic honorarium of
$1,200 plus $40 per occasion for special meetings, while the
mayor received $1,900 plus the special meeting pay.
Honoraria have been raised by five per cent this year, in
keeping with the provincial restraint guidelines.
charge of $35 on anyone
taking the wood from a tree
felled by the town in its tree -
cutting program. It would
still be very cheap wood and
at the sametime would
provide,. fpr the 'tree's
replacement.
Councillor William Crump
said he agreed "100 per
cent" with the suggestion,
and planned to bring it up at
a meeting of the works
committee.
Anyone wanting a tree
planted should contact the
town clerk's office to get on
the list. All trees are planted
only on town property along
the street allowances.
Not that old yet
A report last week on a
surprise birthday party for
Morrison Sharpin should
have stated thatMr. Sharpin
is 90 years old, not 92.
Wfl:ham non-pr�fit housing
praj�ct suffers new setback
A Wingham group has
suffered what could prove to
be a major setback in its
efforts to developadditional
low -rental housing for senior
citizens here.
The Wingham Non -Profit
Sam pondi
wins prize
at Durham
art show
A Wingham artist, Sam
Bondi, is gaining recognition
for his work. Last week he
won second prize in the oil
and acrylic painting
category at an art show held
at the Durham Art Gallery.
Mr. Bondi, who is entirely
self-taught, said he is
pleased and somewhat
surprised to win At Durham
because there were close to
200 entries in the show. He
has showed his work in
competitions at Owen Sound,
but this is the first time he
has entered the Durham
show.
The prize-winning painting
is of a scene from the
Maitland River. Mr. Bondi
said he takes a 35mm
snapshot and then projects it
onto'a screen ;to paint from.
Many artist m$$ooy this
method n ,elre 1 • :o,
because a scene ean change
daily because of light.
Mr. Bondi does a variety of
painting, from•nature scenes
to still lifes to portraits,
which are his favorites. He
has a collection of portraits
of Elvis Presley which he is
quite proud. of, as well as one
of Marilyn Monroe. And he
likes to use oils because he
finds they are easier to work
with.
He said he intends to keep
painting and hopes to start
selling some of his work. His
three children are getting
into the act too, under their
father's direction, and have
painted and made hand
crafts.
1.�• . , /% ,v,.,</qA%(/,Hitt//! ..
q.
LESLEY TENPAS, a student at the F. E.0Madill Secon-
dary School, was first in the junior high sdhool speakoff
at the Clinton Legion March 5. Lesley spoke on
"Worry" to beat out four other competitors and she
went on to speak at the Midwestern speakoff where
she was runner-up.
Housing Corporation, a
group of five residents set up
bytown council last Mayand
since then legally in-
corporated, has spent the
past year working on plans
for the new apartment
complex.
However a recent letter
from the Ontario Ministry of
Municipal Affairs and
Housing has cast doubt on
whether the project will go
ahead.
Man satisfactory
following accident
A Wingham man is listed
in satisfactory condition at
the Wingham and District
Hospital with a broken
collarbone as the result of an
accident at Belmore last
week.
Arnold Taylor was injured
in a single -vehicle accident
last Thursday night when his
car left the road on a curve,
at the entrance to the village.
Provincial police at the
Walkerton detachment
reported Mr. Taylor was
southbound on County Road
12 at 11:15 p.m. when he lost
control on the curve, entered
the west ditch, struck a pole
and ended up in the parking
lot of the Delmore mill.
He was taken by am-
bulance to the Wingham
hospital for treatment and
observation.
Blyth bank moving
into new premises
The Canadian Imperial
Bank .of Commerce will be
moving into its new premises
at the corner of Queen and
Drummond streets this
weekend, to be ready for
business on Monday, March
21.
An official opening and
open house are scheduled for
Saturday, March 26, at 2
p.m. to give customers an
opportunity to see the new
facility.
Designed to blend into the
existing village environ-
ment, the new building pro-
vides a total area of 3,400
square feet, triple the size of
the old premises which are
located one block south. The
bank reported it has invested
over $300,000 into the new
premises which will serve
individual and agricultural
banking needs in the area.
Nith Valley Construction
of New Hamburg was the
general contractor and the
building was designed by
Norbert J. Schuller Archi-
tects of London.
The letter, which cites
"severe curtailment of
budget allocation" for the
ministry's social housing
program and asks for a
review of the list of potential
tenants for the building,
came as a shock to the
corporation's directors,
Chairman Andrew McBride
told town council last week.
"Essentially, we have
been bounced back to where
we were before the 1981
housing statement was
prepared, and are faced with
the task of finding additional
subsidizable applicants
without having either the
money or the in-house ex-
pertise to do so."
He said he had received a
verbal commitment that the
ministry would provide
either the money or the
expertise to carry out the
review: but so far has
received nothing in writing,
UP, UP IN THE AIR—Carolyn Pike and Teddy Craig
displayed their jumping abilities Monday afternoon at
the Wingham Public School when Mrs. Robertson took
her Kindergarten class to the gymnasium to try out the
gymnastic equipment like the parallel bars, the box
horse and the ropes.
Firemen respond
to three minor calls
Firefighters from the
Wingham department were
called out to three minor
occurences last week, none
of which resulted in any
damage.
Last Saturday at ap-
proximately 7:30 p.m., Chief
Dave Crothers said the
department responded to a
call from Paul Moody on
Shuter Street in Wingham to
put out a chimney fire
caused by a fireplace. The
fire was easily extinguished
and no damage resulted.
The firemen were called
out to fight another chimney
fire last Friday at the Larry
Cerson home on Minnie
Street. Chief Crothers said
the call came in at ap-
proximately 4:45 p.m. and
the fire was caused by a
wood stove. No damage was
reported.
Last Thursday evening at
around 11:30 p.m. the
department went out to fight
a fire at an auto accident
near Belmore, but when
firefighters arrived on the
scene, they learned they
were not needed and turned
around and returned to
Wingham, said the chief.
Midget tournament
kicks off this Friday
Wingham's 19th annual Midget hockey
tournament gets underway this Friday for
two weekends of hockey action, featuring 32
teams in four divisions.
The opening game in the tourney is
scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. when Blyth
will face off against Mildmay in the D
category, followed by the official opening
ceremonies.
Wingham's own Lions Midgets take to the
ice at 7 p.m. Friday against Arthur in the C
division opener. The local boys will be out to
hold onto the C championship which they
won at the tournament 1aSt year by
defeating Forest.
Also on Friday night, Elora will meet
Mitchelfat 8:45 p.m. in further C action.
Most of the remainder of the weekend will
he dedicated to AAA hockey, leading up to
the division championship and consolation
games Sunday afternoon and evening.
Waterloo will be returning this year to
defend the AAA trophy for the fifth year in a
row. The triple A co solation was won by
Owen Sound last year. Other teams entered
in the AAA category are: Windsor,
Oakridge, St. Catharines, London, Riverside
and Stratford. '
Next weekend, March 24-27, B, C, and D
hockey resumes. Merriton is returning to
defend the B championship, but Hanover,
last year's B consolation winner, will not be
returning. Other B teams entered in the
tourney are Goderich, Listowel, St. Marys,
Bradford, Unionville, Fergus and St.
Benedict.
Wingham will defend the C championship
trophy from last year and the 1982 con-
solation winner, Seaforth, also will return.
Other C teams entered are: Arthur,
Tavistock, Stayner, Ridgetown, Elora and
Mitchell.
Ripley, the D champs from last year, will
return- 'to defend their position, as will
Teeswater, the D consolation winners from
last year's tournament. Other D teams
participating will be Mildmay, Blyth,
Howick, Lucknow, Zurich and Brussels.
and he has some doubts that
it will.
Notice of the new
requirements came just as
the non-profit housing
corporation was preparing to
submit its preliminary
feasibility study on the
apartment project to the
ministry for approval, he
said.
"We were just ap-
proaching the first hurdle,
and already they've made it
higher."
He noted that it is entirely
within the ministry's right to
ask for confirmation of the
need for more apartments,
"but we didn't expect it so
early in the process."
Andy MacLaren of
MacLaren Plansearch Inc.,
the planner hired to help
with the initial project ap-
plication stage of the
development procedure, also
attended the meeting, and
told council he thinks the
ministry wants to see
justification of a higher level
of need to make sure the
existing units, operated by
the Huron County Housing
Authority, will continue to do
well.
He pointed out that, with
the budget cuts, there is stiff
competition for the money
available, and the ministry
only wants to commit dollars
to those projects which are in
a good position to go ahead.
He also recommended the
�`'tf Kvn,:sits 11 l - go ahead and,
send in the preliminary
feasibility study, noting that,
"If you have a document in
front of them, having met all
the criteria,you're in a
stronger position to ask for
money for an additional
housing survey."
Councillor James A.
Currie, one of the council
members involved in
meetings with the ministry
that led to setting up the
local housing corporation,
said it was made clear at the
time that approval of this
project was conditional on its
continuing viability.
"We knew we were on the
thin edge of the wedge as for
viability."
However he said there
seems to have been a switch
in theministry's priorities
since the initial approval
was given. Now it is looking
for a higher proportion of
seniors requiring subsidized
rent, while before it was
content with a mix of sub-
sidized and market -value
tenants.
"The problem is still
viability and how to prove
it," he noted, adding that if
the ministry is no longer
satisfied with the Woods
Gordon report prepared two
years ago it should provide
the funding for another one.
Councillor William Crump
asked for reassurance that,
if the project goes ahead, it
will be at no cost to the town
except for some ad-
ministrative costs.
Mr. MacLaren responded
that, according to the
ministry, the only case in
which a municipality could
incur a cost would be in
short-term financing of a
project, which it should get
back within seven months.
Any operating shortfall
would be picked up jointly by
the provincial and federal
governments.
Council agreed to accept
the corporation's progress
report and recom-
mendations, which will now
go to the ministry.
"Let's throw the ball in the
ministry court and see what
they're going to do with it,"
Mr. Currie suggested, at the
same time commending Mr.
McBride on the quality of the
report.
In addition to . Mr.
McBride, the non-profit
housing corporation is made
up of Mrilyn Wood, secre-
tary -treasurer; Patricia
Bailey, Jack Gillespie and
Jack Kopas.