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Zurich Citizens News, 1964-10-08, Page 1NE •No. 40—FIRST WITH THE LOCAL NEWS ZURICH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1964 43.00 PER YEAR — 7 CENTS PER COPY WHITE MANTLE IN OCTOBER — This week's im- promptu snowstorm which laid a one to three inches cold white blanket over the area on Tuesday may have been •dis- turbi.ng to farmers and other adults, but it was a fairy-like surprise for the kids who sloshed around in it with shouts of glee. Linda Stade (left) and Elaine Westlake (right) view the situation with only mild enthusiasm and preferred to put their artistic ,talents to work to preserve the date of the early snowfall. Hay School Area Board Will Consist Of Seven Members For Next Year Subject to the approval •of the minister of education, the new Hay Township School Area board, as it will be formed after January 1, will have seven mem- bers. Hay Township will have four members on the board, while Hensall will have two and Zurich one. A decision to ask for this number on the board was made by the Hay Township council at their meeting •on Monday night. Their request will now be forwarded to the minister for his approval. Present to discuss the new board set-up with the council were school inspector J. G. Bur- rows, Howard Scene, chairman of the Hensall school board, Ian McAllister and Len Erb, repre- senting the Hay School Area board, and W. B. Coxon, repre- senting the village of Zurich. The number •of board mem- bers will be based on each $500,000 assessment for public school purposes. Hay Town- ship has an assessment of $2,- 423,925, so. is allowed the four members; Hensall has an assess- ment of $1,009,545, so ,automa- tically has two members, and Zurich with $477,219 is entitled to one member. Mr. Burrows pointed out to the meeting that while the new suggestion was the most suit- able, it still had to be approved by the minister before it could become final. He also suggest- ed that each municipality could elect their own representatives at their own nomination meet- ings. 0 New Store Hours The majority of Zurich mer- chants have voted to remain open Friday nights and to close Saturday night •at 6:30 p.m. to facilitate week -end shopping. The barber shops in the vil- lage will be open Tuesday and Friday nights instead of the usual Thursday and Saturday night late closing. Hay Systems Lose Valuable Employee News, of the resignation of Reg Black as secretary -treas- urer of the Hay Municipal Tele- phone System and the Hay Township Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company shocked the cit- izens of Zurich and the sur- rounding area Tuesday after- noon. Mr. Black met with both organizations and f or ma 11 y tendered his resignation effec- tive the end of this year. A native of Saskatchewan and former Dresden, Ontario, school teacher, Mr. Black accepted the position of secretary -treasurer of the Hay Fire Insurance Com- pany in 1952 and was named manager of that firm in 1955. He was appointed secretary - treasurer of the Hay Municipal Telephone System in 1957. In 1955, he was elected to the ex- ecutive of the Mutual Fire Un- derwriters Association and be- came president of that organ- ization in 1963. Mr. Black was last year elected to the Board of Governors of Canadian Inde- pendent Telephone Association and appointed secretary -treas- urer of the board this year. Those who have worked close- ly with Mr. Black during his tenure of office here are dis- mayed at the loss of the man who has been instrumental in the growth and development of two of South Huron's most up- and-coming companies. During his 12 years with Hay Township Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company, the surplus has been recovered from the lowest point in the company's 90 -year history to the largest dollar surplus ever. A roster of 2,000 policyholders in 1952 with a risk of approximately 20 mil- lion dollars has grown under careful guidance to well over 3,000 policies with a risk ap- proaching 40 million. In the past 10 years, the com- pany has completed an inspec- tion of risks, added windstorm and supplemental contract cov- erages, included floater and theft coverages, and extended coverage to include electrocu- tion. The Hay Township Farmers' Mutual is now one of the larger companies in the province and is rapidly reaching the point at which it will be able to make refunds from surplus to faithful policyholders. The progress of the Hay Township Municipal Telephone System during the past seven years may best be illustrated by these quotations from last year's annual statement. Total phones served by the company in- creased from 1372 in 1957 to 1680 in 1963. Revenue during the sante period more than doubled from $52,000 to $105,- 000 and assets more than tripled from $198,000 to $645,000. Rev- enue per station was up from $48 to $64. In the seven years that Reg Black has been a vital part of the company, the Grand Bend exchange was successfully con- verted to dial operation and on November 16 change -over to dial in Zurich will be com- pleted. A testimony to the fine man- agement of Reg Black is given when we see that the telephone system which had been under deficit financing in 1957 is now in the enviable position of be- ing completely self-supporting. The new opportunity which Reg Black has accepted takes him to an executive position with the Maclaren Paper Com- pany of Buckingham, Quebec, situated about 20 miles from Ottawa. The Maclaren company operates several subsidiaries, one being a large hydro electric power corporation and another being a substantial independent telephone company operating north of Ottawa. Mr. Black will begin as understudy to the sec- retariat of the corporation.' Mr. Black was married to the former Joyce Mousseau in De- cember of 1949. The couple have four boys, Danny, Terry, Kim and Laurie, and are mem- bers of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, where Mr. Black is sec- retary. Applications for the two va- cant positions will be received shortly and an advertisement appears in this week's edition of this paper. Mr. Black will stay on to assist and train the new appointees until the end of the year. Grand Bend Still Has Big Problem With Harbor Councillor Howard Green•, Grand Bend fisherman, was op- posed to the content of a letter received from Walter Foy, Lib- eral MP for Lambton West, which advised that the federal works department is prepared to continue the temporary dredging methods now in use in Grand Bend harbor. The letter was read at Mon- day night's council meeting. Councillor Green said that the work being done at present by John Manore has not proved satisfactory and added that ex- penses totalled up to $200 per day. The $25 an hour job involves using the backwash from the Manore boat to clear sandbars across the mouth of the harbor. The severe conditions in the harbor have been a menace to fishermen and pleasure craft for many months. Northwest blows wreck havoc - with the easily shifted bottom of unpre- dictable Lake Huron. Moun- tains of sand have risen in the harbor mouth to hamper in and out navigation. ay Township fax Ratepayers in the Township of Hay will pay approximately one mill less on their taxes this year, as a result of the new rate set by the council at their meet- ing on Monday night. The one - mill decrease is in the general and road rate. A break -down in the schedule shows the county rate at 13.3 for both residential and com- mercial; general and road rate, 13.7 for residential and farm and 15.8 for commercial (except Dashwood); general rate for Dashwood, 3 mills residential and 5 mills commercial; Dash- wood police village rate, 15 mills for residential and com- mercial. Other rates include: South 1-luron District High School, 12.3 for farm and residential and 13.6 for commercial; Hay Town- ship School Area 9 mills farm and residential and 10 mills commercial; Stephen Township School Area, 8.1 for farm_ and residential and 9 mills for com- mercial; USS 9, Hay and Stan- ley, 10 mills and 11.1 mills; Zurich Separate School, 17 mills and 19 mills; USSS 1, Hay and Stanley, 13 mills. Federation of Agriculture levy is two-fifths of a mill, Following a request some time ago for the operation of a trailer park along the Iake in Hay Township, council amended the wording on their by-law covering the same, to read: "each licensee shall pay an ad- ditional licence fee of $1.00 per week or part of week, for each occupied trailer coach space space within the said park so licensed, with a minimum charge of $20 per year." Two recent street closing by- laws were given third reading and approved. One road is in the Sharrow sub -division at Port Blake and the other is at the rear of the St. Joseph Service Station. Both by-laws will now have to be approved by the county council. Lloyd O'Brien, president of the Zurich Conservation Club, met with ccouncil at their Mon- day night meeting to discuss e s the banning of American hunt- ers in IIay Township. Mr. O'Brien pointed out to council that a number of townships are now passing by-laws to forbid the American hunters. He add- ed that local hunters are being blamed for property damage which is resulting from the Americans coming over in swarms and tramping through the farmers' fields. Council agreed that they would pass the necessary by- law as soon as they could secure more information from the county or the department of lands and forests. Drain inspector Alex Mous- seau met with council to dis- cuss work on various drains un- der construction in the town- ship. Road superintendent Karl Ha- berer reported on progress be- ing made on the various road projects in the township. He explained that the rebuilding of part of the 14th concession was to commence very shortly. Hensall Centennial Project Is Rejected The rejection of the proposed centennial project—the renova- tion of the existing arena—was met with some dismay at the Hensall council meeting on Monday night. The nearly $3,000 job, of which Hensall would pay about $1,000, called for the installa- tion of better washroom facili- ties and related plumbing im- provements. Council felt that if the renovations were made, the hall, available for rental, would be more attractive to per- sons seeking accommodation. The Centennial Project Board deemed the suggestion "unsuit- able" since no new construction was involved. Preference is given to projects that can be tagged "Centennial Memorial". The Hensall Parks committee is asked to bring forth a pro- posal either for a new project or the abandonment of any fur- ther suggestions in favor of a two-year project financed solely by the village for the renova- tions at the arena. Seventy-two new street signs are to be ordered from Klaas Bronze, New Hamburg, at a cost of $6.85 each. This num- ber will be sufficient to mark all intersections in the village and includes a business section sign with directive arrow at the corner of London Road and King Street. Hensall PUC will be asked to move the fire hydrant now housed within the PUC drive shed. Council agreed that rent- al of the hydrant over which the new shed was built should not be maintained unless the hydrant is moved to an access - able location. It was felt that the PUC had ample time in the past year or so to move the hydrant of their own volition if they had intended to do so. W. B. Drowley, of the Air Pollution Control Association, will visit the village Tuesday, October 6, to determine what can be done to control the dust from the local bean elevators. Residents have complained on several occasions and their com- plaints had been referred to the Huron County Health Unit, Goderich, who turned the mat- ter over to the Air Pollution Control Board. Town foreman Ernie Davis reported that work on the catch basins in Hensall is about half completed. Two men will be assigned to assist Mr. Davis on Hallowe'en. Council granted $75 to the Hensall School Fair Board. The request for funds was present- ed by Wilmer Ferguson. Reeve Norman Jones indicat- ed that he will approach the Honorable C. S. MacNaughton, minister of highways, for ap- proval of the installation of a blinker light at the corner of London Road and King Street. Correspondence from the de- partment of education and In- spector Burrows informed coun- cil that no provisions have been made in the new Iegislation for the continuance of the Hensall Public School as it is now, and that there is no alternative but to become part of the Hay Township School Area. They were told that the suggested school board under the new sys- tem would consist of six mem- bers, three from Hay Township, two from Hensall and one from Zurich, but added that changes could be forthcoming in this arrangement since Hay Town- ship is unhappy with the pro- posal. Hay desires one more member. Nominations for reeve, coun- cillors, school trustees and one PUC member will held heard on Friday, November 27, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Hensall Town Hall. A total of $1,406.97 was re- leased for the payment of bills to date. WIIERE'S THE BIG BOOT? — Children viewing t 1e Centennial parade of last week were sure that the lonely big boot moving so carefully through the Zurich streets wouIcl surely fit their friend, Friendly the Giant. Or maybe it was the big, big brother of Tyrone, the taikin shoe. Or it was the vacant home of the Old Woman in the Shoe whose children are probably all married by now? Only Oesch Footwear who entered the unique prize-winning float, would know the answers.