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The Times Advocate, 2005-09-21, Page 3Wednesday,September 21, 2005 Exeter Times -Advocate 3 Katrina donations overwhelming By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF HENSALL — General Coach president/general manager Roger Faulkner has been overwhelmed by the public's generosity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. As of Sept. 14, the pub- lic had donated 14,000 pounds of used and new clothing to General Coach to be shipped to Louisiana and Alabama to help with relief efforts. As Faulkner explains, 300,000 housing units are needed in the south- ern United States. General Coach, a recre- ational vehicle manufac- turer for 55 years in Hensall, was asked to send everything it had and fmds itself nearly out of inventory. "We've sold them pret- ty much everything we've got," Faulkner said, who came up with the idea to fill up the travel trailers and fifth wheels with donations of clothing. "We're sending empty boxes. We might as well fill them up," he explains. Soon after he went public with his idea, General Coach was swamped with donations, including two truckloads of new clothing from a source in London. The first day of donations, General Coach's seven telephone lines were busy all day. "We're guaranteed they'll get to the people who need it," Faulkner says of the donations. By the end of this week, he estimates the compa- ny will have sent 30 RVs full of clothing donations to the U.S. "The generosity of peo- ple in Southwestern Ontario has boggled my mind," Faulkner said, noting donations have come from a wide variety Hensall's General Coach employees have been busy sorting donations for the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the southern United States. Company presi- dent/general manager Roger Faulkner says he has been overwhelmed by the pub- lic's response. Pictured in front from left are Don McClinchey,Wayne Hoffman, Bob Clark and Jason Boughen; in the middle from left are Wayne Ducharme, Rick Clarke, Don Smale and Jen Tiekstra; and in back from left are Bob Snell, Steve Jefferson and Bob Pellow. (photos/Scott Nixon) of places, including an offer of beds from South Huron Hospital. Faulkner credits General Coach employ- ees with dealing with the extra workload caused by the donation initiative — they've been sorting through the donations, loading them into the RVs and staying after hours for no pay. "Our employees are 100 per cent behind this," Faulkner says, adding the company has had "unbelievable help" from the employees' union. Ten -year-old Jessica Wareing of Woodstock travelled to Hensall last week to drop off three bags of stuffed toys at General Coach for the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Faulkner said the com- pany has decided to con- tinue sending donations to the U.S. as long as it takes and will hire trac- tor trailers and share the cost with the trailer com- panies if necessary. "This is a three to five year project," he says. General Coach has become so short on inventory that they're buying RVs back from dealers to ship to the U.S. In addition to General Coach employees, Faulkner credits truck drivers and officials at the Canada/U.S. border for co-operating. "It has instilled a new faith in mankind to see this kind of generosity." Among the many peo- ple making donations last week was 10 -year- old Jessica Wareing of Woodstock, who arrived with three large leaf bags full of stuffed toys for children in the U.S. Wareing, who had help from five friends, says she was inspired to make a donation by reading a book and hearing about others donating on a radio program. She and her friends set up a lemonade stand, raised $148 for the Canadian Red Cross and decided to ask for donations of stuffed toys. HENSALL continued from front page He later added the debt from the Zurich arena should not stay with Hensall if it pulls out of Bluewater because Hensall has its own arena. In summary, Bjelan said there was still much work to do, but "we believe we are financially viable to go for- ward on our own." While those in attendance overwhelmingly voted to take the next step towards deamalgamation, Wise said there are no guarantees because such a move hasn't been done before. During question period, Hensall resident Chuck Mallette asked if the committee had any guarantees Hensall would get its reserves back and whether or not it had factored startup costs in its financial projections. Bjelan said Hensall should get back all of its reserves from Bluewater and the only way Bluewater can spend the money is if it is spent in Hensall. He said Hensall would retain its fire department, including a new truck. Bjelan said it would probably cost Hensall $100,000 to leave Bluewater. Wise said if Hensall doesn't have all the equipment it needs upon deamalgamation, it could hire some work out on a contract basis. "This is the first step in a long road ahead of us," Bjelan said. Bill Bauer of Hensall said residents needed more information before voting on the issue Monday night and he wondered if the committee had looked deep enough into how much it will cost to hire employees and pay for things such as benefits. "Administration is always more expensive than you think," he said. Another issue that arose is what will happen with the proposed $6 million water pipeline project for Hensall, which would see the village hooking onto a planned new $11 million Exeter pipeline. Wise said Hensall resi- dents are on the hook for that project whether or not it stays in Bluewater. That project is at a standstill as municipalities wait to hear back concerning grants. Bjelan said if the municipality doesn't accept the Hensall deamalgamation committee's proposal to pull out, they can approach the county or appeal to the province. Wise added the Ministry of Municipal Affairs could become involved. Bill Gibson of Hensall said, "I think we should go ahead with this." Originally from Howick, he said that municipality is doing well on its own. "We think we can make Hensall the poster child for deamalgamation," Wise said. A resident from Ailsa Craig said people from his vil- lage, who were also "suckered into amalgamation," will be closely watching Hensall's deamalgamation efforts. Exeter Fall Fair EXETER — The Exeter Fall Fair is on again this weekend and promises something for everyone. The fair will run from Sept. 23-25 beginning Friday at 6 p.m. with an Arctic Cat display in the arena and the pet show at 6:30 p.m. followed by the official opening at 7 p.m. and the Ambassador Competition and crown- ing. Friday night entertain- ers will include step - dancers 'The Ballagh Bunch,', fiddler Kyle Charron and acoustic per- former Richard Knechtel. On Saturday, events will open with parade judging at 10:15 a.m., followed by the Open All Breed Light Horse Show at 10:30 a.m. a.m., and the parade at 11 a.m. The theme this year for the parade this year is 'Fall Harvest.' In the afternoon, the 4-H Calf Club judging of calves and showmanship will be held at noon, with a horseshoe pitch competi- tion and the sheep and goat show at 1 p.m. Children's activities in the afternoon include per- formances by Dicky Dean the Magician at 1 p.m. and Marg Dean, `Canada's Lady Magician' at 2:30 p.m. Events on Sunday will include the Arabian horse show at 10 a.m. and the finals of the South Huron Idol contest at 1 p.m. There will also be a Midway special all day. Admission to the fair Friday and Saturday is $4 for Aaults and seniors and $2 for high school stu- dents. Elementary and preschool students are free Friday and Saturday Everyone is admitted free on Sunday. Women fails to stop for bus EXETER — OPP officers were advised of a driving incident that could have been fatal on Sept. 12. An officer learned a white Grand Am failed to stop on Main Street in Exeter for a bus letting off students. The students who were starting to cross the street obtained the license plate of the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle was contacted and admitted to the dri- ving mistake. A 43 -year-old female from Grand Bend has been charged with failing to stop for a school bus.