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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1985-10-02, Page 1INDEX Births /A14 Brussels /A6 Classified /A16, 17 Dublin /A4 Entertainment /A20 Family /A14, 15 Graduates /A15 Farm /A13 Hensall /A6 Obituaries /A15 People 1A15 Sports / A11 Walton /A7 Wedding /A15 High school holds graduation. See page A3 Ciderfest fun to the core. See page A9 Centenaires set for new. season. See page Al 0 Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensel! and Walton .:. I'OIi xpositor SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1985 — 20 PAGES Bean co-op collapse worries growers Despite an outstanding claim of over one million dollars against the Ontario Bean Growers Co-operative (OBGC), a four -ele- vator operation which went into receivership in August, Charles Broadwell, of the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing Board (OBPMB) says he expects the board to pay bean growers 100 cents on the dollar on this year's crop, • The co-op, which operates elevators at Seaforth, Atwood, Bannock and London, went under owing $1,285,622.27 to the marketing board. Since the marketing board operates on a pooling system, with the elevators selling the beans delivered to them and turning over the proceeds to the marketing board to be distributed equally among bean farmers across the province, Ontario growers have not yet received the full amount expected when they planted 'beans last spring. The OBPMB newsletter, dated September 27 states that final payments to farmers cannot be made until the amount owing the pool by the co-operative is recovered. "We expect to get the balance." said Mr. Broadwell, adding that final payments will be made when the co-operative's facilities are sold. "If they (the elevators) are sold for a reasonable amount, people will get 100 cents on the dollars," said Mr. Broadwell. This has been an exceptionally nerve- wracking year for the always -chancey bean industry, with late -summer rains delaying the harvest to the point where the crop would have been lost had wet weather persisted for a few more days. Added to that, is the Ontario Bean Producers Co-operative troubles. The OBPC is the second elevator operation to go into receivership in four months, the other being Water's Elevators in Parkhill. "We never lost a nickel on that one (Parkhill) and we don't expect to lose a nickel on this one," stated Mr. Broadwell, Bean producers however, are worried the co-operative will not receive enough from the sale of the four elevators to make up the outstanding claim. If that happens, it will be the farmers who absorb the loss. Death ruled accidental BYW ILMA OKE A coroner's jury has ruled the death of a 20 -year-old Dublin area man who fell and hit his head on the floor of a Seaforth tavern last May was accidental. The inquest concluded that Gary John Malone, of RR 2 Dublin, died May 22 at University Hospital in London of a lung infection caused by internal brain damage. Testimony by Dr. Keith Johnson of London. who conducted an autopsy on Mr. Malone, revealed that he had the type of fracture that could have been caused by falling on a hard floor. Mr. Malone had no open wounds. The jury did not make any recommenda- tions. Cheryl Campbell. of RR I Seaforth, told the inquest she accompanied Mr. Malone into the Queen's Hotel in Seaforth, May 10 and watched as Mr. Malone talked with a friend, Matt Klaver. The two men were laughing when Mr. K laver playfully grabbed Mr. Malone's shirt and Mr. Malone fell to the floor. Ms. Campbell said Mr. Malone landed with a "thud" and lost consciousness. He was taken to Seaforth Community Hospital by friends and later transferred to University Hospital, the inquest heard. Testimony revealed the tight collar of Mr. Malone's shirt temporarily reduced the flow of blood to his brain when Mr. Klaver grabbed him, causing him to pass out. OPP Detective Inspector Ron Piers of London said he helped Seaforth police thoroughly investigate the case, which satisfied them that no criminal charges were necessary. "It was an accidental death — a tragic death," he said. Mr. Malone's mother, Audrey O'Rourke. of RR4. Seaforth, wept during the testimony. "We considered Matt (Klaver) a friend of the family — we still do. We feel sorry for him to have to go through all this." Bankers hesitant about $$ Local hankers are taking a wait and see attitude toward the potential financial effects of the recently -announced efforts of a five -nation coalition to cause a devaluation of the American dollar. Although the Bank of Canada rate has clipped to nine per cent to its lowest level since 1978 in the wake of the announcement by the so-called "Group of Five" nations, Jim Gould. managerof the Seaforth branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said it is too early to tell if the effect will he a permanent one "I think what we're seeing is a reaction based on the circumstances of a meeting that was held in an implied direction," said Mr Gould "We'll have to see if it develops into a trend or is just a spontaneous reaction," he added While Mr. Gould said a lower American dollar would probably be good for the United States, allowing them to export goods to other countries at a more competitive price, he said, "it may not necessarily be good for countries trying to ship onto the American market." One advantage of the move, to the Canadian consumer could come in the form of lower prices for imported goods. suggested Mr. Gould. The lowering of the dollar's value is being accomplished in several ways. The announce- ment by the five major industrialized nations (United States, France. West Germany, Great Britain and Japan ) alone, was enough to cause a falling off in confidence among investors, thereby lowering the demand for (Continued on Page A3 REDUCED TO TIMBER—The old MacMillan home on Victoria Street was demolished Monday. It was one of two homes scheduled to comedown to make room for a playground for St. James School children — the other is the old convent. Both can be seen In the bottom photos in their pre -demolition state, (Mcllwraith photo) ...And the walls came tumblingdown Two buildings in town are no longer standing. Demolition began Monday on what is referred to as the old MacMillan house and the old convent located on Victoria and Crovenlock Streets respectively After a year of negotiations the Roman Catholic Separate School Board took posses- sion of the two properties over the summer with the intention being to alleviate an increasing lack of space at St James Separate School, which is located to the north and DEMOLITION CREW—John H. McLtwain Construction workers, including a number of area Mennonites, began tearing down the unused grain mill on Railway Street, Monday. The property was recently purchased by the Seaforth Creamery Cr. Ltd., from the Hensel! Co-op. The demolition work is expected I, be completed in about a week's time. (Flatus photo) 1 adjacent to the properties. Jack Lane, Superintendent of Business and Finance for the Board, said the board had intended to convert the buildings to some- thing suitable for instructional purposes That plan fell through because neither building could afford them the square footage necessary to set up a classroom. f," board decided instead to remove the buildings from the sites and use the properties as an extension of the school's playground. The current playground. located on the north side of the school along Goderich Street East. has lost a fair amount of space to two portable classrooms. The board purchased the properties from the Diocese of London for $50.000 and an exchange of ownership rights to a portion of the parking lot on the north side of the school The school and the Diocese will continue however to have shared use of the parking lot The Diocese offered the properties up for sale last year after the two buildings had sat empty for a while. When the MacMillan family moved from the Victoria Street home it was bought up by the Diocese. Since then it has had a number of tenants. The convent was built approximately 75 years ago to house the nuns who taught in the area. in 1978 the nuns were removed from Seaforth for two years during which time the convent was rented out, In 1980 the nuns returned and remained in town until June of 1983. According to Mr. Lane the convent has remained vacant since then and because of the small numbers of nuns available to come out to the smaller communities was of no further use to the Diocese When the Diocese offered the properties for sale the school board regarded it as an opportunity to increase spaces for the use of education Although the classrooms the hoard had thought about creating are not transpiring at this time, Mr. Lane said he expects the playground will be well used, although it will be another year before it is used to its maximum "Once demolition is completed (by the end of the week r there will he a certain amount of fresh soil and until next summer it will he a hit muddy. But by then it should be a grassed area.' ' he said Mr. Lane also added the hoard does riot intend to remove any trees at this time but said that could change depending on what layout it decides on for the land. "W e could decide to put a ball diamond or something in there. We're not sure yet," he said Previous to the purchase the board owned 1 23 acres of land in Seaforth That included property along Chalk Street and the property St. James School is built on. With the addition of the MacMillan and convent sites it now owns 19 acres of land in Seaforth. Old mill slated for demolition Demolition began Monday on the unused grain mill on Railway Street, Seaforth. The building, which was sold by the Hensall Co-op to the Seaforth Creamery Co. Ltd. on September 20, is the last of a series of flour mills which once existed on the property west of the creamery. Fred Hardy, general manager of the Seaforth Creamery Co. said while the creamery does have plans for the land on which the building sits (directly beside the creamery) he could not expand on those plans until details are finalized, possibly in two or three weeks. A reprtesentative of John H. McI.Jwain Construction I -td., the contractor handling the demolition, said the job should be finished in about a week The mill was one of a number of mills which were put up as a result of the railway coming through Seaforth in the late 1,850s. With grain coming into town by the thousands of bushels, grain buyers had to have more and more flour mills and storehouses. Most of the earlier ones were built near the railway track to alleviate shipping conditions. Earliest recorded use of the property on which the current mill stands was by Thomas Johnston, wheat, grain, wool and general produce dealer, from 1863 until 1869 The current frame structure faced with colored sheet steel was erected in 1962, after most of the previous brick structure was destroyed by fire earlier in the year.