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Zurich Citizens News, 1964-01-30, Page 1RICH NE No. 4—FIRST WITH THE LOCAL NEWS ZURICH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1964 $3.00 PER YEAR — 7 CENTS PER COPY DISCUSS CENTRAL SCHOOL — Ratepayers of Stanley Township met in the Varna Hall on Monday night to discuss the possibility of a central school for the entire area. Shown here is part of the large crowd, as they listen carefully to public school inspector J. Kinkead, Goderich, explain the ad- vantages of consolidation in present day education. Present at the meeting with Mr. Kinkead was J. C. Burrows, of Exeter, public school inspector for South Huron. While no definite decision was reached at the meeting, most of those present favoured a new central school to serve the entire township. (Photo by ,Dinnin) Site For New Hay Central School Not Settled; Board Still Looking Site for the proposed new Hay Township School Area cen- tral school is still unsettled, even though the board, 'along with the councils of Hay Town- ship and the village of Zurich, agreed on a location at a meet- ing last Thursday night. The site agreed on by the meeting is on the farm of Ivan Kalbfleisch, in Hay Township, adjacent to the southwest cor- ner of Zurich. The motion made at the Thursday night meeting, by Ian McAllister and Ross Turnbull, was that the board negotiate towards the purchase of the suggested property. The board was uanirnous in the choice of location, and no seri- ous opposition was registered by members of the councils present at the meeting. Disagree on Price However, after negotiating with the proprietor of the site this week, the board reported that the price being asked for the land is entirely out of rea- son, and so they have practically abandoned the idea of the loca- tion suggested by the commit- tee. Seek New Site On Tuesday afternoon the board was out 'looking for a new site, and according to chairman Elmer Rowe they have taken a fancy to •a location about three- quarters of a mile south of Zur- ich, on the Goshen Line, Mr. Rowe added that the land is quite 'level on the location they looked at, and would require very little work, The board will be meeting again on Friday af- ternoon to further discuss lo- cation. Present also at the meeting last Thursday night, when the first mentioned site was .picked, were inspector J. G. Burrows and two members of the archi- tectural firm of Riddle and Con- nor. All three men suggested the site which had been picked was ideal, since water and hydro service would be available at a much cheaper rate from the village of Zurich, and as well there would be no need to trans- port the children from the vil- lage to the school. The board is also considering the possibility of using the two new rooms at the present school in Zurich for kindergarden and primary classes. Mr. Burrows suggested that the closeness of the new site to the present school would be of great .help in this regard. Another site which had been considered by the committee was about a half -mile east of Zurich on highway 84, on the farm of Herb Neeb. Both the inspector and the architects did not favor this location, on the highway, since it was too close to a bad intersection, and could mean a great deal of danger to children going and coming from the school. Vote Outlawed A question was raised at the Bell Telephone Announces Plans For Dial Conversion of Hensall Exchange Dial telephone service will be be engineered, then manufac- intraduced in Hensall late in 1964, W. W. Haysom, Bell Tele- phone manager for this area, announced this week. He said that his company al- ready had its dial conversion plans well under way. Bell has purchased property on the west side of Highway 4, and will construct a modern one -storey dial exchange building on it. The building will have rein- forced concrete foundations, precast concrete floor, roof slabs and wall panels. It will be heated electrically. Mr. Haysom said that Bell employees will be busy with preparations for the introduc- tion of dial service between now and the time the conversion takes place. The equipment which will automatically con- nect telephone calls must first tared and installed in the new building. The network of wire and ca- ble which serves the area must also be rearranged and adapted for dial use. After the introduction of dial service, there will no longer.be any Bell operators located in Hensall. However, Mr. Haysom said, every precaution will be taken to ensure that the change to dial causes a minimum dis- ruption to company employees. Some operators will probably be giving up working at the time of the change. Most of those who wish to continue working will be offered em- ployment in other Bell offices. Any who are .thinking of leav- ing between now and the date of the change -over will be en- couraged to stay until dial goes into operations. meeting whether or not the re- sults of the vote which was held last fall could be disregarded. Hay reeve John Corbett explain- ed that since• the vote was only on the issuing of debentures in the amount of $80,000, and this would not be enough to build and addition to the present school, the vote would be out- lawed. He added that he would have a letter to this effect in his possession very shortly. Most members of Hay council agreed that the matter of loca- tion should be left up to the school board. Councillor John Tinney said: "If we don'•t want to listen to our school board we better not have one. Let them decide on the location." (Continued on Page 8) 0 Foster Homes Are Needed 'by CAS Goderich — "We desperately need more foster homes for boarding children, especially older ones of school age," C.A.S. director Clare McGowan told Huron county council in her re- port at the January session. "Within the last few months we have had to place one teen- ager outside the county, and we have sevevral teen-age boys we are anxious to find homes for. "His honor Judge Hays (of Family Court) has a plan where- by instead of committing boys, not terribly bad, to training school, he would 'like to place them in the care of the Chil- dren's Aid Society or a foster home within the county. It is not everybody who wants to take on a child who is a prob- lem, but it is surprising how many settle down." During the past year, the re- port stated, Huron C.A.S. helped 79 protection families having 280 children, 36 unmarried mothers, 23 putative fathers and obtained 10 'agreements with the putative fathers; supervised 39 children placed on adoption probation by the Society for whom 20 adoption orders were made; gave 20,245 days care to 115 children, 42 of whom re- turned eventually to their own parents or guardians. "There has been no shelter in Huron since 1940," Miss Mc- Gowan pointed out. "The chil- dren are cared for in foster homes which are supervised by the Children's Aid Society staff. These foster parents are doing a wonderful work." Missionary Will Speak At Blake Don D. Kaufman, ,who re- cently returned home for a short furlough after having served as director of the Men- nonite Central Committee's pro- gram in Indonesia for four years, will speak at the Blake Mennonite Church on r .bruary 4, at 8:00 p.m. Kaufman's visit is part of a three-week tour of churches and schools in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario. He will report on the MCC'c activities in Indone- sia. At his evening meetings, he will supplement his report with a series of well selected slides. The Mennonite Central • Com- mittee is an inter -Mennonite or- ganization which carried on a world-wide program of relief and service. It also operates four psychiatric institutions in the United States and a farm for delinquent boys in Ontario. In Indonesia the MCC has projects on Java and on the isolated islands of Timor and Halmahera. The program con- sists of agricultural extension, food distribution, and medical and teaching services. Kaufman and his family are scheduled to return to Indonesia later in 1964. Stanley Batepayers Discuss Central School For Township An expression of opinion re- quested of Stanley Township ratepayers on Monday night, showed a great majority of those present favored the build- ing of a central school to serve the needs of public school pupils in the township, Former Reeve Harvey Cole- man, RR 1, Zurich, chaired the meeting whop had been called by the township council on the request of the school area trus- tees. The •hall•was completely filled, with some people unable to find seats. There was some opposition to the central plan, but when asked to stand to show their opinion, only ten were on their feet. Hugh Hendrick, chairman of the school area board, explained that it was a meeting for infor- mation only, to point out to ratepayers the advantages of joining together and having an eight -room school. "We feel that it is a necssary thing," said Hendrick. "We, the school board, are prepared to go ahead, if it is the wish of the people. We believe that if we go together on this we can have a school to be proud of." Trustee Bruee Keys reported that for 25 years students had beentransported to school, from their homes in SS 13, and the arrangement had been quite satisfactory. Inspector G. J. Burrows, Ex- eter, pointed- out that "we can not possi'b'ly serve all the dill dren as we would like, unless all sections in the township join together to provide fully graded education. We cannot split Stanley Township down the middle and get the BEST for your children." Inspector Jim Kinkead, Gode- rich, reviewed some of the prob- lems and successes that had been experienced in Howick Township, where 535 children have 16 classrooms, plus an au- ditorium and this is the largest rural school in Ontario. Nine buses transport the children. Stanley has a school area with five sections, and there are six other sections not in the area. There are 326 school age chil- dren, 64 of whom attend a fairly new two -room school in Bay- field. Another 19 attend either Clinton Public School, or RCAF Station Clinton School. Mr, Kinkead said that if Bay- field were to come into the area they should not feel that the Plans ow Lander Way to Celebrate Centennoad Of Zurich Fall Fair Plans are under way by the Zurich Agricultural Society to observe the 100th centennial of the Zurich FaIl Fair, this year. While no definite dates have been set for the event, it will probably be held sometime in September. For the first time in many years, the Agricultural Society ended on the black side of the ledger the past year. Balance on hand after the annual fair is slightly over $600. At the annual meeting of the organization last Friday night, V. L. Becker was returned to the office of president for the coming year. Other officials are: first vice-president, Herb Turkheim; second vice-presi- dent, Arnold Merner; secretary - treasurer, Mrs. Marge Schilbe; directors, Allan Armstrong, Joe Hoffman, Alvin Rau, Bert Mc- Bride, William Baechler, Claire Deichert, Mrs. Arnold Merner, Mrs. Irene Steinback and Mrs. Anne Flaxbard. Added to the list: of associate directors for the coning year are Hay Township reeve, John Corbett; deputy -reeve Delbert Geiger; Earl Flaxbard, Jack Bannister; and Mr. and Mrs. Ellwood Truemner. Bob Campbell, of Seaforth, area director for agricultural societies, was present at the meeting and led a discussion on ways to improve the small rural fall fairs. He also gave the meeting some ideas in regards to staging of the centennial event. Chairmen of various commit- tees reported on their depart- ments of the fair, and suggested ways of improving their sec- tions. Also discussed at the meeting was the constructing of memor- ial pillars, in connection with the centennial event. The On- tario government donates $1,000 to any agricultural society on their centennial, and this money is to be used for such a project. 0 Business uses advertising to maintain and increase its out- lets for goods. Unless siich out- lets are maintained and in- creased, the income on which taxes are based will not be forthcoming. $40,000 spent on their school just nine years ago was com- pletely thrown away. "The De- partment will continue to carry their share of the debenture debt, until the building is sold. Then the purchaser would as- sume the balance of the deben- ture debt. The location in Bay- field would be suitable for a residence," he said. Kinkead stated that the initial or capital cost was not the ex- pensive thing in schools, but the continuing operating costs. "Bayfield may want to keep these two rooms now," he com- mented, "but what about 20 years from now? And when they see other children getting a completely graded education, they will want to be in on it." Without the Bayfield pupils, the township would still have 260 pupils, enough for 33 pupils in each of eight rooms. Gordon Johnston, V a r n a, noted, "What makes a central school so inviting is that in sec- ondary schools today they are getting all they can do, and a little more. I want my kid, and your kid, and everybody else's kid in Stanley to have the same footing as anybody's kid in town." Inspector Burrows stated that there are a higher percentage of dropouts from rural schools, than from urban or central schools. A gentleman from SS 4 noted that in smaI1 schools, often a child is in a grade by hmself, and there is no competition to urge him to excel. Chairman Coleman said that he believed council has the power to put the whole town- ship into a school area, and also to issue debentures for a large school, without going to the people. "But they are elected," said Mr. Coleman, "and they don't want to cut their heads off at the shoulders quick." Inspector Burrows noted that the council did have the powers to do these things, but they had clone the more democratic thing, and had called a meeting of the people. Rev. M. Morrison, Varna, re- ported that his experience with central schools for his children was that they were quite su- perior to one -room schools. "And," he added, "they are much easier to teach Christian education in." Asked if he recommended the centre of the township for the school, Inspector Kinkead sug- gested ubgested that the people begin by thinking in terms of transport- ing ALL the children. "We feel that the centre is the best, but plan for a good site with a gravel base that is easily drain- ed, and be sure of a water supply." Malcolm Davidson, Brucefield, reported that he was 200% in favor of a central school, and moved that the meeting ask council to take all necessary steps to build a central school for the whole township. Percy Brown, Clinton, seconded the motion. (The motion was never put in exactly this form—since the meeting had no legal ca- pacity.) Mr. Davidson has a young family. the eldest of which will begin school in September. Mr, Brown is paying $10 a month for each of his children to at- tend school at Clinton. Gordon Hill, Varna, stated he was in favor. "I believe that what we provide for our chiI- dren now, has to be more than has been done in the past." Chairman Coleman urged that whatever was done, that the whole of the township move to - (Continued on Page 8) Huron County Council Hopes to Hold Present Road Rate Intact For 1964 Goderich — On estimates not yet complete, Huron county road expenditure in 1964 will exceed $1,200,000, council learn- ed in the roport of the 1963 committee. A by-law has been prepared for $700,000 "normal" expenditure, and the remainder will be provided for in a sup- plementary by-law at the March session. Including development road expenditure of $538,986, pay- able by the province, the gross total was 6'1,657,351. Submitted for subsidy were accounts total- ling $1,062,007. "This may be the top figure," said County Engineer James Britnell, who read the report. Last year's chairman, D a n Bauerman, of McKillop, is not now in council. "With so much development road expenditure," Mr. Britnell said, "I do not see how it can be doubled again. Six years ago we were spending less than $600,000, so the budget has been nearly tripled in that time." The report, adopted by coun- cil, recommended that the high- way levy for 1964 remain un- changed at 8 mills, and that any surplus funds in general ac- count as a result of highway account surplus be assigned for highway purposes in 1964. Main item on the 1964 pro- gram is Road 16 from Brussels to Highway 4, eight miles. The complete 1964 program is to be submitted at next session. Two projects stand on the long- range program for 1965; Clinton west, 5,5 miles; and Nile Dun- gannon, three miles. "Development road expendi- ture, met by the province, if done in the normal county pro-, gram would represent 41,> mills, or an increase of more than 50% over our existing 8 -mill levy," the report added. "With- out this development road aid the county would have no choice other than substantially increasing the road levy or re- moving many miles of road from our system," Biggest item in 1963 road con- struction was $147,356 on Road 6, the St. Marys read between Exeter and Kirkton. The Turn - berry bridge cost $65,565, and the Jarvis bridge in Goderich township $44,046. Appointments Made Council approved the re -ap- pointment of county represen- tatives on five hospital boards: John Longstaff to Scott Memor- ial, Seaforth; John V, Fischer, to Wingham Hospital; John Schaefer to Goderich Hospital; Beecher Menzies, to Clinton Hospital, and Jack Delbriclge, to South Huron Hospital, Exeter, Reeve Glenn Fisher, Exeter, asked for "the story of the his- tory of •the County of Huron," undertaken by James Scott sev- eral years ago. "Nine chapters have been typed for the publishers," clerk - treasurer John Berry reported, "and I hope to find out from Dr. Tatman (U. of W.O.) how it is getting on." `There has been a lot of his- tory since the original story was written," remarked Reeve Fish- er. "We are going to have to have a second edition if we clo not get the original out." Reeve Morgan Agnew, Clin- ton, noting that it was difficult to hear some of those who ad- dressed council, enquired about a public address system.