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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-03-23, Page 1Birth *snob Library Box 2U2 Blyth , (tint. N*iI 1R* .41 Jan, 4 MTN KINGS OF THE CASTLE—Terry Lediet, Jennifer Ricker, Heather Hopper and Chris Campbell are the kings of the castle at the East Wawanosh Public School for their group construction of an egg carton, box, pipe Return from Australia cleaner and plasticene castle. The contest, open to students in Grades 3 and 4, was judged last week at the school. Local Junior Farmers Isom about lifestyles 'down under' A group of almost 50 young Junior Farmers from this area got a chance to learn about another culture and, in turn, appreciate their own country more, during a recent trip to Australia and New Zealand. Bill Armstrong of Wingham, organizer of the trip, said tour members returned home with a new perspective on agri-business and even on themselves after the month-long trip. Most of those who went to Australia had never ventured outside this province, so the trip provided them with a chance to learn about another cul- ture by staying with host families. Their first impression of Australia was amazement at how parched and dry the land is, said Mr. Armstrong. The Australians and New Zealanders are crying out for rain and envy Canadians for their vast store of water in the Great Lakes system. But the severe drought has forced the Australians to develop sophisticated irrigation systems, although most of their techology in other fields is two to three years behind Canada's, he said. One surprising fact the Playing with mnatchea:". Y g causes blaze at barns Children playing, with matches have been blamed for starting a fire last Saturday evening. at the Cold Springs Farm turkey barns in Lower Town, Fire Chief Dave Crothers reports. Fireman received the call at approximately 6:45 p.m. and were on the scene in three minutes. They arrived to find a steel framed driving shed aflame, situated only a few feet away from the main turkey barn. The department was on the scene for over three hours, but did manage to contain the blaze. Mr. Crothers reported slight damage to the roof of the main turkey barn and $2,100 damage to the shed which contained 50 bales of straw and some sawdust. The Wingham water tanker was called out by the Blyth department to a mutual aid fire Sunday morning at 4:20 a.m. to Con. 7, Lot 6 of Morris Township. Mr. Crothers said a dwelling owned by Peter Kelly was gutted completely. Last Friday, firefighters responded to a call at 5:45 p.m. at Lot 15, Con. 9 of Turnberry Township. Mr. Crothers said a storage shed owned by David Martin was completely destroyed in an accidental blaze. The Wingham Veterinary Clinic was the scene of a minor fire in a steel garbage can last Thursday afternoon, just after 2 p.m. The fire department was called, but Mr. Crothers reported no damage. No damage was reported in a grass fire last Wed- nesday morning at around 11:45 a.m. at the Imperial Oil depot north of Wingham. Junior Farmers learned is that Australia devotes more acres to wheat production than Canada does. Cash cropping and the raising of beef cattle are the two main agricultural industries in Australia. The Australians believe in the old adage, "Waste not, want not", said Mr. Arm- strong and added Canadian farmers could learn from their methods of con- servation. For example, Australian farmers make optimum use of their land because right after the wheat is harvested, sheep are put out onto the paddock to graze. Canadians should be able to arrive at a similar procedure,. said Mr. Arm- strong, totlse their crop residue more' effectively. New Zealand, which is further south than Australia, has a population of three million people and 80 million sheep, he joked. That coun- try also is experiencing ex- treme drought, even though its topography is totally dif- ferent from Australia's. Over 95 per cent of New Zea- land is mountainous, com- pared to the flat, arid terrain of Australia. The highlight of their stay in New Zealand was taking part in a sheep shearing day at a ranch. A good ewe there will yield $15 to $18 worth of wool and most farmers have 5,000 to 8,000 sheep. A group of Australian Young Farmers, as the organization is known there, will pay 'a visit to Canada next year and Mr. Arm- strong said the Junior Farmers here have plans underway to make it a superb holiday and try to show their guests as much of Cancer drive to kick off at the annual -Daffodil Tea The Wingham branch of the Canadian Cancer Society will kick off its 1983 canvass Friday at the annual Daf- fodil Tea to be held in the courtroom at the Wingham Town Hall. Canvass Chairman Bill Keil said the month of April is officially declared cancer month, but with the Easter holiday falling so early this year, organizers were forced to move the tea ahead into March. But he said he really does not expect any negative feedback because most people realize what a vital role the Cancer Society plays. "So many people have been touched by cancer that it has become a favorite charity." This year, the local branch members hope to raise $16,000, approximately the same amount as was raised in the 1982 campaign. The drive is virtually the only way, save for individual donations throughout the year, the society has to support its day-to-day ser- vices for cancer patients. Some of the money will go toward the operation of the 4 cancer clinic at the Wingham and District Hospital which serves patients from as far away as Port Elgin, Kincardine and Listowel. Also, funds are set aside to pay mileage for volunteer drivers who transport cancer patients to the larger centres for treatments and checkups. But the lion's share of the money raised goes toward research to find new and more effective ways of fighting cancer and making the society's theme "Cancer Can Be Beaten" a reality. Educating people about cancer is another area the local and national societies are involved with. The Wingham branch has a full- time .education chairman who takes cancer displays around to local schools, as well as a health nurse who makes presentations to local employee groups. The aim of educating the public is to give them a better grasp of the safeguards against the disease and enable people to recognize possible danger signals early, because early detection of cancer is a big part of curing it in many cases, said Mr. Keil. The society also distri- butes information pamphlets to businesses, schools and medical and dental offices. Thursday, Mr. Keil is picking up 600 bundles of daffodils which are to be sold at the Daffodil Tea and on the street by Wingham CGIT members. Also, the flowers are to be presold at the town's factories and the foundry. The daffodil is the society's symbol of hope and life starting anew, like the spring, when the drive is held. This Friday's Daffodil Tea will run from 2-4 p.m. and this Sunday has been named "Daffodil Sunday" by most local churches to mark the start of the can- vass. The actual cancer drive will begin Easter Monday, April 4, and continue for the entire month. Another feature will be the Wingham Opti -Mrs. Ladies' Great Ride for Cancer scheduled for April 24. More in- formation about that will be upcoming. this country as possible. The young Canadians were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the Australians and intend to reciprocate those warm feelings. The return visit will be an ex- cellent chance for the two groups of young people to renew old acquaintances and form new bonds. Calls for feasibility study Hospital board begins planning fundraising for expansion project The board of governors. at the Wingham and District Hospital has agreed to pay for some professional advice as it begins planning for the most ambitious :fundraising program in t11e hospital's history. The hospital hopes to raise in the neighborhood off half a million dollars from in- dividuals and businesses in this area to help fund the construction of a new out- patient and emergency services wing. At a meeting fast week, board members voed to hire a fundraising expert to reassure then1that their goal is in the realm of possibility. A substantial majority of the board voted in favor of a recommendation from the management committee that the hospital spend up to $8,000 on a study of its ability to raise funds from the com- munity. The recommendation sparked considerable dis- cussion, but the only mem- ber to actually argue against it was Hans Kuyvenhoven, vice chairman of the board and chairman of the man- agement committee, who pointed out that the Goderich hospital had raised more than $500,000 all on its own, without paying fees to any outside experts, and Wing - ham could draw upon that experience. He said that Bob Dempsey, a member of the Goderich hospital board who masterminded the campaign there, is willing to share his expertise, and suggested the board should at least talk to him before deciding to hire someone. He said he has no doubt about the ability of this community to raise the necessary funds for the hospital, and objected to the Business Association Group takesstep toward beautifying the main street • The Wingham Business Association made a step toward beautifying the main street at its monthly meeting held last Thursday eve- ning. The association's executive was in- structed to price some small trees and flowers and return its findings to the April meeting. The question of purchasing flowers and trees for the downtown area is a con- tentious one, with some association mem- bers in favor of the proposition and others against. While he is in favor of trying to make the main street more attractive, George Severn said he is concerned that it would be a waste of time and money. Mr. Severn and his wife Marg installed a flower box in front of their downtown store last year, and it has been a constant hassle ever since. Vandals have uprooted his plants and left them on the sidewalk almost every night, particularly on the weekend. "You're wasting your time," he said. But Shirley Walker disagreed with Mr. Severn, pointing to other area towns which have flower boxes and trees that are left untouched and are quite attractive. She suggested buying a few square boxes for plants this year, or possibly some barrels, and each merchant would be in charge of weeding and watering the flowers in front of his or her store. 'he large shopping malls are threatening smalltown merchants, she said and "becoming closer and closer each year". Wingham's business people must try to retain the town's pleasant smalltown image, she cautioned. "Anything is better than nothing," urged Patty Robertson, "if we get into it." Gord Walter said he is not sure Wingham is worse than any other town for vandalism and told the association he would look after any flowers placed in front of his store. After some further discussion, it was agreed the group's executive should look into the pricing of some flowers and shrubs and report back to the next meeting. Mrs. Walker also suggested the association contact the Wingham Horticultural Society and town council about going along with the plan. In other business, a parking authority was formed to work with council and the police to study Wingham's parking problem and come to a possible solution. Committee members will be Bob 'Middleton, Bill Keil and Gord Walter. Mrs. Walker informed the association that plans for this July's Western Hoedown are well underway. She said she assumed the merchants would want to run sidewalk sales again this year for the Hoedown like they have previous years. CANCER SOCIETY DRIVE—Barry Reid, vice president of the Wingham branch of the Canadian Cancer Society, presented Patricia Hay, Wingham librarian, with two books on Terry Fox Tuesday morning. The society's 1983 cancer drive starts this Friday with the Daffodil Tea to be held at the town hall and volunteers will be out canvassing all through the month of April. idea of someone from the outside telling him whether or how to run the campaign. However other board members pointed out the consultant was not being hired . to run the campaign, but only to advise on its feasibility and help to set a reasonable goal. "Some people are disturbed by the ex- penditure, but actually it is an excellent investment for the hospital," Dr. Don Jolly commented. He said that, rather than to get involved with something which could be a millstone around the neck of the hospital for 10 or 15 years, the study would allow it to embark on a campaign with the expectation of emerging in reasonable shape. He also cautioned against going into a campaign with unreasonable expectations. "We're not Goderich. Our industrial base is not any- where near what Goderich's is and we can't expect corporate gifts anywhere like Goderich." Jack Kopas, a former board chairman, agreed that the board needs an "outside, objective appraisal" of this community's ability to tackle a project like this at this time. going to do as much as we can ourselves, using the resources of this community, but we need the expertise to advise and help set up the campaign." Hospital hires fundraising firm The Wingham and District Hospital has hired a firm of fundraising consultants to do a feasibility study and help .to plan a campaign to raise money for a new wing. At a meeting of the hospital board's manage- ment committee Monday night, the committee hired the Gordon L. Goldie Co. Ltd., fundraising specialists, of Toronto. ' The firm's qualifications had been discussed earlier at a meeting of the full board, but a final decision on the hiring was left to the com- mittee. Norman Hayes, hospital executive director, ex- plained that the company will not be running the actual campaign. "They will come in and do an initial survey and set up the campaign for us." The campaign itself will be run by volunteers from the community and will probab- ly get underway in the fall. The hospital is hoping to raise between $400,000 and $600,000 in local donations toward a planned $1.4 million new wing to house outpatient and emergency services. The board was told that a representative of one con- sulting firm, with an im- pressive track record of feasibility studies for fund- raising campaigns at a number of other hospitals, had attended the last meeting of the management .committee, and his qualifi- cations were discussed in some detail. However it was left to the committee to make a final decision on the matter. That particular company charges a flat fee of $6,000 for the study together with estimated expenses of about $1,500, for a total of $7,500, Norman Hayes, hospital executive director, reported. The board has set a preliminary goal of $400,000 for the fundraising cam- paign, but it would like to raise even more to enable it to wipe out a bank loan of $300,000 for the project. The rest of the estimated $1.4 million final price tag for the new wing is to be made up of $350,000 from the hospital's own reserves, $250,000 from the Health Ministry, $93,750 from Huron County, $23,450 from Bruce County and $50,000 from the Wingham and District Hospital Foundation. I1! a-9!C#'ird'ini'i0frt'the meeting, fhb d agreed, to proceed with the planning process for the building project. A final decision on whether or not it will go ahead will come when the project goes to tender and the board sees what it will actually cost to build. If it decides to go ahead, the local fundraising program could start as early as this fall. "Whether or not we hire a consultant, we still have to. find our own Bob Dempsey — someone who's going to put in 25 hours a 'day," board member Raye Elmslie noted. "A lot of the success (of the canpaign) will depend on that." At the start of the meeting, board members watched a slide show put together to show how cramped and spartan are the quarters occupied by the emergency; outpatient and radiology departments at the Wingham hospital, com- pared to some of the new facilities at Kincardine, Walkerton, Goderich and Listowel hospitals. In other business, the board agreed to ask its ar- chitect to design a new front entrance for the hospital. The new desigill in- corporate a ramp for wheel- chairs as .wen as 'new steps coming up to the existing doorway. AN UNEXPECTED TREAT—For Chad and Jeremy Hickey and for other youngsters around the area, Mon- day's spring snowstorm was an unexpected delight, of- fering a chance to frolic in the snow following a winter which had little of it. For others, who are past the stage of rolling around in the snow, the storm was equally unexpected —but much less delightful. Dialysis program unlikely at the Wingham hospital Despite inquiries from time to time by people who would like to see it available locally, it is unlikely that a dialysis program will be offered at the Wingham and District Hospital, particularly since it is already available at Hanover. The matter was raised at the close of last week's hospital board meeting by Chairman Mary Vair, who said she wanted to make sure board members understand why the hospital has no dialysis program. Mrs. Vair said she put the matter on the agenda after receiving a telephone call from a man inquiring about dialysis, and knew other board members had also been called. She explained that a number of years ago a girl in this area required dialysis, and at that time a local group offered to pay for the necessary equipment to start a program tiere. The hospital considered the possibility, but Health Ministry approval is required to start any new program, and with dialysis already available at the Hanover hospital the ministry would not agree, she said. Hanover has five machines with a capacity for three patients each, and currently there are only three persons using them, she reported, so approval now for a competing program is unlikely. Mrs. Voir also noted that it is not as easy as it looks to set up a dialysis program. For a start, there are different types of dialysis equipment to handle different problems, and it is not enough just to have the equip- ment; staff must be specially trained to ope. "We allitwould like to have as many ser- vices asrate possible operating at the hospital," she said, but a small hospital cannot ac- commodhg Dialysisate, a mechaniceverytin. al cleansing. of the blood, is required tin a regular basis by persons suffering from various types of kidney disease or malfunction..