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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1964-04-16, Page 1URICH No. 15—FIRST WITH THE LOCAL NEWS ZURICH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 1964 eeees PINERY FIRE — Several homes were threatened in the Pinery on Tuesday afternoon when fire swept through about two miles of bush. A number of area fire brigades were called in to assist in fighting the blaze, and among them was the Dashwood department. Shown in this photo are members of the Dashwood brigade re -filling their tank with water, from the river, which separated the fire from he Beach of Pines. Fire brigades were responsible in pre- venting the fire from causing, more damage than it did. CLOSE CALL — While the fire raced through the bush area south of Grand Bend on Tuesday afternoon, another blaze broke out adjacent to the Grand Bend Cleaners plant, on Highway 21. An old barn was completely destroyed, and prompt work on the part of the Grand Bend brigade, who were recalled from the Pinery, prevented the fire from spreading to the cleaning plant. The north wall of the building was slightly damaged, but members of the brigade shown here, prevented serious damage to the structure. Bayfield Residents Favour Incorporation Two hundred and fifty resi- dents of Bayfield voted in favor of seeking incorporation as a village Friday at a public meet- ing. Village trustees have decided to petition the Ontario Munici- pal Board to have the police village incorporated and ex- pect a meeting with the OMB about the end of June. Under OMB rules a village needs 500 permanent residents in order to incorporate. Bayfield has a permanent population of 400 which increases to about 1,100 during the summer. The municipality has been a Veterinarian Tells Zurich Chamber Members of Rural -Urban Relationship A native of Zurich and general manager of Dr. Salsbury's La- boratories in Canada, Dr. Archie MacKinnon, of Galt, was the guest speaker Last Thursday night at the Farmers' Night dinner of the Zurich and Dis- trict Chamber of Commerce. Dr. MacKinnon addressed the gathering on the topic, "the vil- lage community in modern agri- culture". He said, "the advent of traction power and hydro power on the farm have chang- ed the whole complexion of farming and brought changes to the retail outlets in the villages, as well. Fortunately for Zurich, businessmen here have been far-sighted and have kept mod- ern. It is interesting to note that many villages and towns in Ontario with a more or less fixed area from which to draw business, have actual ly de- creased in population in the last 10 years, whereas the popula- tion of Zurich has gradually in- creased." The speaker went on to say, "as the farmers prosper so should local business if local police village since 1926. At Friday night's meeting residents also voted on forma- tion of a Bayfield Ratepayers' Association and elected tem- porary officers. About 150 of those at the meeting paid a $1 fee to join the association. business is able to keep abreast of the strides in modern agri- culture. By and large the On- tario farmer has done a good job in making use of scientific developments," he added. "This is reflected in the current price of food, which has not increased nearly as much as some of the other consumer goods." Dr. MacKinnon also told the meeting that agricultural meth- ods are changing rapidly and the village merchant should be familiar with these changes. "By understanding the farmer's business and his needs, the vil- lage merchants can more wisely stock his store," he concluded. The speaker was introduced by Gordon Erb, chairman of the Farmers' Night committee of the local organization. Another guest was Roy Jantzi, the sales manager of the Dr. Salsbury's firm. Music at the dinner was pro- vided by Mrs. Beatrice Hess at the piano, with Delbert Geiger serving as song leader. Presi- dent Gerald Gingerich was in. charge of the meeting. S $3.00 PER YEAR — 7 CENTS PER COPY Pinery Fire Threatens District; Close Call For Cleaning Plant Grand Bend — Fire swept north of the Pinery Provincial Park a distance of about two miles on Tuesday, destroying all undergrowth, damaging some of the standing timber, and threatening several homes located on the west side of Highway 21. Local people attempted to deal with the blaze in the mid- morning, until they feared it had gotten out of control. Then about noon brigades fro m Grand Bend, Forest, Thedford, Dashwood and Centralia were called in. Accompanying the fire truck from RCAF Station Centralia, was a busload of 20 airmen delegated to help fight the flames. The area affected stretched from the Grand Bend village dump about four miles south of the village, north as far as Johnnie's Saddle Inn (operated by John Ingles) on Highway 21, and from the highway west as far as the old river bed. Homes threatened were those of William Blewitt and Martin Prins, just opposite the Kion - dyke Co-op buildings, and the residence of James Dalton. Fanned by the strong south wind, which blew with esti- mated speeds of 50 miles per hour, the flames came to within less than 100 feet of the Dalton home, and also that of Mr. and Mrs. John Kowalchuk, who live in the rear of the Parkway Res - not be required to conduct a survey of the village. Named'to the committee were Fred Watson, Harold Ormond and Brigadier Clift. 0 The association will handle procedures toward becoming in- corporated until July or August at which time an annual meet- ing will be held. At that time new officers will be elected and a constitution and by-laws drawn up. Brig. F. A. Cliff, a permanent resident, was elected president of the ratepayers' association. Other officers are: Vice-presi- dent, Jack Tillmann, of London; secretary, Kennth Mackie, of Bayfield; treasurer, H. H. Orm- ond, of Bayfield; executive members, Miss Jessie Metcalf, of Detroit; Allan Aylesworth, of London; Frank Peters, of Strat- ford; Miss Ruth Hayman, Adam Flowers and Martin Merner, of Bayfield, Brigadier Clift said if incor- poration is approved it would not take effect until Jan. 1, 1965. The village would re- main under Stanley Township until then. A three-man fact-finding com- mittee appointed last February to investigate possible incorpor- ation, reported at Friday's meet- ing. Three important discov- eries by the committee were that if incorporation is passed the village will not have to form its own public utilities 'commis- sion; hydro rates will remain unchanged and the village will Deer Caught On River Bank At Grand Bend Doug Cook New President Of Hospital Board taurant, which they own and operate. Bull -dozers from Grand Bend and Thedford were called into service to keep fire -breaks open and to create new ones. With the help of the servicemen from Centrallia, a back -fire was begun at the road which goes back into Les Turnbuli's gravel pit, west of the highway. Mrs. Dalton, assisted by neighbours had packed most of their household belongings, and had loaded clothing into a truck parked at the front door, ready to be taken to a safe place, if the home had been seriously threatened. In the Beach -of -Pines subdi- vision where many residences are permanent all-round homes, at least one householder took the precaution of wetting down the house, and the surround- ing area, in case the flames should leap across the old river bed, and thus threaten the residential area. Mrs. John Aselstyne was c on c erne d enough to take this action. Douglas Cook, of Hensall, has been elected president of the South Huron Hospital Associa- tion, succeeding Walter Spen- cer, also of Hensall. Other officers are: Ivan Kalb- fleisch, Zurich, vice-president; C. L. Smith, Exeter, treasurer, and Mrs. Ethel Selby, Exeter, secretary. Grand Bend —A young doe, escaping from dogs which were harrassing her, took to the Au - sable River for protection here on Thursday, and managed to elude her tormenters. However she tired in the current and found she was unable to make her way up the steep and mud- dy banks. Jim Turnbull and Robbie West were playing along the river and saw the young deer's difficulties. At the hone of Harold Klopp, his son Charles fashioned a noose from a piece of clothesline, dropped it over the boat dock side, and looped it over the deer's head as she floated under the dock. The rope became secure around the animal's stomach, and he pulled her in to shore. Called home to assist, Mr. Klopp phoned OPP constable Ray Gilleno, who in turn con- tacted Conservation Officer Gar Myers, stationed at the. Pinery Park, and he with another man from Port Franks area came to the scene. They report that the animal was dying of exposure. and ex- haustion, when they arrived to look after it. After the call south to the bush fire, a blaze broke out in a Stephen Township barn own- ed by Peter Ravelle, next to the Grand Bend Cleaners establish- ment, owned by Jack Waldron. The Grand Bend fire depart- ment left the major fire, and returned to the village to take care of this outbreak. Though the eaves of the cleaning plant were ablaze at one time, fire- men were able to keep it from further damage. The barn was demolished. Also, a straw (or manure) stack outside the barn of Alex Hamilton, just a little farther north, began to burn. Orval Wassmann obtained a tractor at the next farm, owned by Arnold Desjardine, and Glen Webb brought his bull dozer. With this equipment the re -- moved the burning material. and thus saved the barn from fire damage. The Grand Bend department returned to the fire in the bush after coping with the one at Ravalle's. Stanley Gravel Cost Goes Down, But Bridge Price Goes Other Way Stanley Township council re- ceived a pleasant surprise when they opened their gravel tend- ers, Monday, but the smiles were juickly withdrawn when tenders on a large bridge were read off. After most area councils had watched gravel tenders jump considerably this year, Stanley received a three -cent decrease in theirs. Sandy Contracting Co. Ltd., Goderich, submitted a tender of 66 cents per cubic yard for gravel to be stock -pilled in the pit. Council plans to put about 14,000 cubic yards on the roads and set aside another 2,000 cubic yards. The bid was five cents per cubic yard under the second lowest and was 14 cents lower than the highest of the four submitted. Ben Homan, of the Goderich, firm, met with council and re- ported he had gone over his estimates very carefully in an effort to return a favour coun- cil had given him last year when they accepted his tender of 69 when there was one at 66 cents. The reason this was done was due to the fact the low bidder Directors are: Mr. Cook, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Smith, Mr. Kalb- fleisch; R. L. Morlock, Crediton; C. S. MacNaughton, Exeter; 'Ulrich Snell, Exeter; J. A. Tra- quair, Exeter; B. W. Tuckey, Exeter; V. L. Becker, Dash- wood; W. E. Mcllroy, Grand Bend; W. E. Ellerington, Exe- ter; L. J. Penhale, Exeter, and J. B. Pryde, Exeter. Mrs. R. C. Dinney and Mrs. J. G. Dunlop, both of Exeter, were named representatives of the women's auxiliary on the board. J. A. Delbridge, of Exeter, represents Huron County and Dr. D. A. Ecker, the hospital medical staff. Administrator, Miss Alice Claypole reported that. 1,403 patients were under care at South Huron Hospital in Exeter during 1963. Patient days totalled 12,223, deaths 48 and births 310. There were 767 cases of sur- gery and 419 emergency cases. Major surgery was started only last year at the 11 -year-old hos- pital. 0 MAILING LIST The mailing list of this newspaper has been corrected up to and including April 15. Please check your label and see that the correct date is indicated. If there is an er- ror, please notify us at once. There are still a few sub- scribers who have not re- newed their paper. We would ask for your early co-opera- tion, so it will not be neces- sary for us to discontinue your subscription. RETIRES FROM RCAF Dr. C. J, Wallace, who has been residing in Zurich for the could not spread the gravel at the time council wanted it. Homan noted that the in- crease in the tax on gasoline and the pending pension plan were the reasons why most townships were paying more for their gravel this year. The Goderich man said an- other reason for his "sharp pen- cil" was due to the fine co- operation his firm had received from council and in particular Bill Toylor, road superintend- ent. Present at the opening of tenders were Al Holmes and Ken Dunn, of the department of highways, who urged coun- cil to put gravel on their roads as soon as possible. "There's too much loss if it's put on in the fall," Holmes said. Bridge Costly The department officials were present in particular for the opening of the tenders for the construction of the Lemon bridge on lots five and six, con- cession four. Council opened the eight ten- ders to find the prices were about $2.500 above the cost which had been estimated by the engineers. by discussI After a lengt on — when the idea of not even build- ing the bridge was one of the topics — council decided to award the contract to Reeves Construction Company, Mount Forest, for $18,446.50. It is estimated that the town- ship's work on the bridge will reach at least 312,000, bringing the total cost to about $30.000. The department of highways pays 80 per cent of the cost. The Reeves tender was the low bid and the highest bid was $24,778.60. Council questioned the de- partment of highway officials as to the reason why the bridge had to be built five feet above the existing bridge platform. "It seems ridiculous," stated Anson McKinley, as council past year, has retired from the noted it would cost consider„hle RCAF, and has opened a full- to have the road built up on time practice in the village. each side. Born in India, Dr. Wallace spent most of his life in Scotland and England, After graduating in London, England, he practiced medicine there and in Cardiff, Deputy -reeve Elmer Hayter noted it wouldn't he so bad if the bridge was on a well -(ravel- led road. but in its location, it. sees little use. Wales, before joining the RCAF They considered asking, the in May, 1961. The following department to reconsider their July he Came to Canada, and demands for the higher eleva- •has served at Centralia since tion of the bridge, but came to then. Dr. and Mrs. Wallace the conclusion this would be of have two children, a son and little use as they had require - daughter. ments that had to be followed.