The Times Advocate, 2006-03-29, Page 5Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Exeter Times—Advocate
5
Opinion Forum News
ROSS
HAUGH
BACK IN TIME
was a very
board.
20YEARS AGO
March 26, 1986 - Don and Judy Squire of R.R. 1
Centralia spent the weekend at the King Edward
Hotel in Toronto as winners of the recent Lucan
Irish junior hockey team Weekend Escape draw.
35 YEARS AGO
April 1, 1971 - In this week's issue, editor Bill
Batten featured an April Fool's spoof on the front
page. He said that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
and his new wife Margaret would be spending the
weekend in this area. After landing at Sexsmith air-
port, activities would include sucker fishing at
Grand Bend, skiing at Morrison Dam and a $100 a
plate dinner at the former Winchelsea School. April
Fool.
It's happened. For the first time since the team
was organized, the Exeter Hawks have reached the
final round of the OHA Junior "D" playoffs. After
defeating Caledonia they now meet either
Haliburton or Southampton.
45YEARS AGO
March 26, 1961 - At the annual South Huron
County Orange meeting in Clinton Tuesday, Oliver
Jacques of Hensall was elected County Master.
Mary Ellen Carey, 12 year-old daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Joe Carey of R.R. 6, Parkhill won first prize
in the Huron county public speaking contest at
Goderich, Tuesday.
Tom McCann, Dennis McCann and Darlene Boyle
were presented with prizes by Father J. Kelly after
they were judged winners at a Mount Carmel School
public speaking contest.
Assets of South Huron Hospital now total over a
half million dollars it was reported at the annual
meeting. Ray Morlock is the new chairman, Albert
Traquair is property chairman and Elgin Rowcliffe
is in charge of special fund raising.
Murray Greene was elected chairman of the
Huron county zone of the Mid -Western Ontario
Development Association.
50YEARS AGO
April 3, 1956 - Temperatures have ranged from
just below freezing on the last day of March to 69
degrees on April 2.
Prior to leaving for London where he will be
employed by Bell Telephone, Leo Witmer was hon-
oured by the men on staff at J.H. Jones Groceries at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Holtzmann.
Indications of reduced acreage of canning crops
for the local branch of Canadian Canners were
revealed last week.
60YEARS AGO
March 27, 1946 - C.E. McCarter of Exeter Frozen
Food Lockers has disposed of his business and
property to J. Leonard McKnight.
A silver chalice was dedicated to James Street
Church on Sunday morning in the memory of the
late L.Cpl. Norman Hilton Sanders who paid the
supreme sacrifice while on active service in Western
Europe.
Among the returning air force personnel arriving
in Halifax Friday are LAC Graham Mason, Exeter
and LAC N.H. McEwen of Hensall.
85 YEARS AGO
March 28, 1821 - Mr. Clyde Heaman has taken a
position as junior at Molson's Bank.
Moses Faist, Alf Wuerth, Thomas Chambers and
the Wolfe and Roeszler Livery of Crediton have
bought new Ford cars this week.
I I OYEARS AGO
March 29, 1896 - The first freight train for nearly
a week arrived here last evening. The snow block-
ade last week was the cause.
If there are any persons among our readers by
the name of Concheit , they may learn something to
their advantage by communicating with the law
firm of Stilton, Walbridge and Co. in Toronto as they
are looking for heirs of that name to a fortune of ten
million dollars.
I OYEARS AGO
March 27, 1996 - Lucan reeve
Tom McLaughlin has announced
his intent to resign effective May 1
after serving council for more than
eight years.
The annual meeting of the
Zurich Agricultural Society was
held recently with new president
John Becker in charge. A moment
of silence was held in memory of
the late Gertie Fleischauer who
active long-time member of the fair
Seniors' Perspective
By Jim Bearss
ADULT ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR
Annual Chili Lunch:
Exeter Lioness is hosting their annual Chili Lunch
on March 31 11.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lions Youth
Centre, 125 John Street, West Exeter. Take-out is
available. Tickets available from any Lioness member
or call Mary Lou 228-6878 Advance Sale Tickets only!
Well-balanced Meal:
Have you thought about giving the gift that keeps on
giving, this Easter? If someone you love is tired of
cooking for one, or if you are concerned that they may
not be eating a nutritious, well-balanced meal, you
can give them the gift that could be priceless. Call the
VON office and order a gift certificate for Meals on
Wheels. We take care of delivery right to their door.
Call Lucan office at, 227-4546 for more details. VON
Middlesex -Elgin, touching lives in our community for
100 years.
South Huron AdultTrade Fair &
Information Expo:
The 4th Annual Adult Trade Fair & Information
Expo is again planned for Wed., June 7. Euchre
Party: Come prepared for a great afternoon on Sat.,
April 1 at the Riverside Estates Park, Exeter. Cards
start at 1 p.m. and should end around 4 p.m. with a
lunch. Located east of "The Beer Store". For more
information contact Mildred Chalmers at 235-2028.
Bereavement Support Group:
Spend time with others who are grieving the death
of a loved one. The VON Palliative Care Volunteer
Program is offering an eight weeks facilitated peer
support group. Beginning March 30 1:30 — 4 p.m. at
the Grand Bend Community Health Centre. To regis-
ter or for more information please contact Kim
Winbow 235-2510 or Cindy Maxfield 238-1556 x 6.
Escorted Shopping Trip:
Do you have difficulty getting to do your shopping?
Do you need help getting in or out of your vehicle?
Are you interested in maintaining your independence?
Would you be interested having someone assist you
with your shopping trip? If you answered YES to any
of the above questions, then the Escorted Shopping
service may be of assistance to you. The friendly staff
and volunteers will help you with your shopping,
manage parcels and assist with mobility aids.
Midwestern Adult Day Services, Adult Day Care
Centre Service for Grand Bend, Port Franks and
Exeter Areas are sponsoring an "Escorted Shopping
Trip" on April 12. The Adult Day Care Centre will pick
you up in their wheelchair accessible vehicle that will
pick you up at your home address at a designated
time that morning. Your destination is Masonville
Mall, London Ontario. Book your seat before April 3
by calling Anne Rollings, Coordinator at (519) 2355-
4600 or 238-6289.
If you are looking for casual, part-time
work, please keep reading...
Welcome Wagon is expanding in the Exeter area. If
you or anyone you know would like to be an ambas-
sador for your community, why not consider joining
Faye Van Oss as she welcomes newcomers to town,
congratulate new parents on the birth of their babies
as well as grandparents, congratulate new brides and
welcome new businesses and professionals into the
Exeter and surrounding area.
If you love meeting people, want to have lots of
fun and work the hours of your choice as well as
be a part of an award winning team, please
email your resume to Laurie Cappe, Area
Manger at lcappe@sympatico.ca or fax (519)
426-2387. www.welcomewagon.ca
Legion News:
Soup & Sandwich Lunch: Will be held at the
Exeter Legion on Fri., April 21 11:30 — 1:30 p.m. Jim Bearss
$6 per person, Take-out available.
Centralia -Huron Park Lions:
Bingo will be held on Sun., April 2 at the South
Huron Recreation Centre, Exeter. Doors open at noon
and you start to play at 1 p.m. Special games. Lions
Special Share The Wealth, regular jackpot. Come out
for a roaring good time!!!
The Centre For Employment & Learning:
The Centres for Employment & Learning in partner-
ship with Fanshawe College are proud to deliver many
programs. For details on course information delivery
and other Fanshawe College On-line and Credit
Courses Join us at an Information Session to be held
at: Exeter April 6th 4 — 7 pm. For more information
and to register for the Information Session, call
Dianne Harrison at (519) 357-4995 x 14 or Exeter
office at (519) 235-0471 or Fax: (519) 235-2716
Exeter Branch Library News:
The Exeter Library Book Club met recently to dis-
cuss "Until I find you" by John Irving. Members all
agreed that this book began with an interesting
premise and recommend the first chapters. Discussion
of the book lead to bouts of hilarity but in spite of this,
members do not recommend this read. The group
will meet again on Fri., April 7 at 12:30 to discuss
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. Bring a brown
bag lunch. Coffee and tea are provided. New members
are always welcome.
New items arrive weekly at the library. These
include books on CD, DVD as well as books in print.
Toddler time will resume Fri., March 24 from
10:15-10:45 for children 18 months to three years and
their caregivers. Call 235-1890 to register for stories
songs and crafts. The Library will be closed April 14,
16 and 17 to celebrate Easter.
Farmers Corner: Quit talking about a
farmer with your mouth full!
On Many Farms, All's Not Well:
MOE employee Kim Yee says he's seen every well
problem, including dogs tied to the well cap.
Too many people don't think about their own water
supply, says Kim Lee. That was one of the observa-
tions the Ministry of the environment employee made
during a presentation on proper well construction,
maintenance and abandonment during a recent farm-
ers meeting.
Yee works out of Toronto, specializes in wells and
told the crowd that, "I want to hear everything, and
I'm not going to follow you home."
"If I get one of you to go home and look at your well
differently, then I will have succeeded, said Yee.
Working with wells since 1976 Yee claims to, "have
seen it all. I've crawled on my hands and knees with
an 80 -year-old, who lived on the farm all his life, try-
ing to find his well," said Yee. He kept saying I know
it's around here somewhere."
Yee has also found small wildlife, birds, snakes, a
dead cow and deer, plus sewage from a septic system
in wells. Yee points out that its' critical that each part
of the well does its thing. Of special importance is to
have ground sloped upwards around the well cap to
keep surface water away from the well? Yee showed
photo after photo where the well cap was level or
below the ground, or even had no cap on it at all.
Gardens, which need fertilizer, are planted around
well caps for decoration and one photo showed a dog
tied to the well cap. The people with the dog, "had
two other wells go bad and I bet I know what hap-
pened with them," quipped Yee.
"I've even talked to people who buried their well in
manure in the winter to keep it from freezing, he told
the crowd. Yee also showed photos of feedlots, fuel
tanks and parked cars right beside the wells.
Many times, Yee has seen people with intermittent
water problems coinciding with when it rained and
found that the contractor had not properly filled in the
well besides the casing. These open spaces should not
be filled in with sand, gravel or rock, since all of them
are porous and air spaces will result, he pointed out.
There are commercially produced clay or cement
products, which are designed for this.
When digging in old wells, the same substances
need to be used otherwise they, "could impact anoth-
er well's supply," he said. "This is not a cheap exer-
cise," warned Yee, noting that you need a specially
designed tube to put the product to the bot-
tom of the well — so it wouldn't be diluted in
the water before reaching the bottom. Yee is
not a fan of installing wellheads, noting that,
"the reasons for doing it are poor." They col-
lect water, which makes it dangerous to
work with when making electrical repairs,
he said. Also, the confined space can harbor
natural gas. "People have been electrocuted
and suffocate in them," said Yee.
Old hand -dug wells,' "are impossible to
seal off," he said. They also need to be iden-
tified and kept filled in for small children, said Yee.
Often city people have bought rural homes and
don't know they have a well," said Yee. If they call
MOE, Yee's response is to ask them to go to the win-
dow and see if they can spot hydrants, which could
signify a town supply, he said.
Poor pump connections are another common prob-
lem that Yee finds. "There are only two ways the
water can come in, through the side or top of the cas-
ing," he said. When you find 30 -year-old license plates
covering holes in the casing, you know the cause of
the problem. "You need sanitary well seals."
Credit to Ian Cumming, Ontario Farmer staff
Health Corner:
SW
See PERSPECTIVE page 6