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The Huron Expositor, 1988-09-28, Page 1INDEX r�.1���j�j� Serving the communities and ° areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensall and Walton Seaforth, Ontario Dublin .- A5 Walton - A6 Hensall - A7 _ Wedding - A7 Sports - A10, All Obituaries - A15 Births - A18 War letter arrives 46 years late. See page A4. Huronosito X HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1988 r • smerms., APPLE PIE EATER - Brian Nuhn was a mess after taking part in the Ciderfest pie eating contest on Sunday. The contest was a new one at the annual festivity hosted by the Van Egmond Foundation. 50 cents a copy Streefscape project gets approval An important step in the revitalization of Seaforth's commercial image was taken recently when town council accepted a master plan for the streetscape project. K.W. Buck and Associates, the landscape architects/design consultants commission- ed to conduct a study of what changes Seaforth needs and what the people want, appeared at a special meeting of council with its final proposal. The result is a master plan for visual im- provements mprovements designed to develop economic activity and instill civic pride in Seaforth. Funding of this plan will run into six figure costs, and implementation is based over a _ long period of time with projects being com- pleted in order of priority as funding allows. Many of the ideas put forward in the earlier public meetings on the streetscape program have been approved with some modifying details. The idea to make im- provements at the Goderich and Main Street intersection to attract traffic from Highway 8 into town is an important element of the plan. Downtown identification signs, a change in theavis surface,plantings P g P g along the approach to town, lamp stan- dards, columns and archways are just some of the items which will be used to catch the eyes of travellers, and attract them to turn down Main Street. Plantings in the downtown area, old style lamp standards, pavement treatment, public benches, and sculptures of historical characters like Alexander Cardno, D.D. Wilson, and Mrs. Griffith are just some of the articles which are included to put touches on Seaforth's Main Street. An example set The court has made an example of a man charged with break, enter and theft offences in Seaforth and Stratford. The man, of no fixed address, was con- victed on September 9 in Stratford court, and will beservinga total of 21 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to one charge in Seaforth and two In Stratford. The offence in Seaforth occurred on May 19, during the day at the residence of John Wilson at 69 Gouinlock Street. A sum of money and a guitar were stolen. The man made two appearances in Goderich courts and was convicted and sentenced in Stratford. He was given 9 mon- ths for the offence in Seaforth, and a second sentence of 12 months for the two in Strat- ford. Seaforth Fall Fair and Ciderfest • successes Free admission and new events boosted attendance at the Seaforth Fall Fair, a pie eating contest and other new ideas brought crowds out to Ciderfest, but Wheelbarrow Days was killed by a lack of business in- terest and consumer traffic. Sharon Flanagan, Secretary Treasurer of the Agricultural Society, says the free ad- mission into the fair made a difference this year. "From what I could see judging by the crowd on Thursday night there were more people than last year." Mrs. Flanagan also noted the crowd on Friday was larger than usual, and she at- tributed this to the free admission because many people who saw the displays on Thurs- day also came back on Friday because it didn't cost anything. To offset the lost revenue from not charg- ing admission to the arena, the fair's organizers came up with some new events. The beef and pork draws and the pork auc- tion were both big successes. The auctioning off of the five winning entries from the pork carcass competition was a huge success, "and this event alone grossed an estimated $1,700. The first place entry sold for $34 per pound times 21 pounds, generating $714. There were also new events to spark in- terest in the fair this year. Mrs. Flanagan' says she had been hearing in the past "what is there to do at the fair after you've been through the buildings?" So this year they added a cow patty bingo, a dunk tank, a bale rolling competition, a slow tractor race, and a kid's olympics. All these combined with the standard events and great weather to make the 1988 fair a little bigger than past years. "We'd shaken things up a bit and it seem- ed to work," says Mrs. Flanagan. "Personally I think it was above average judging by attendance and comments." "In the future we'll be Iooking for new ideas and we certainly welcome comments • $10,000 RICHER - Seaforth Branch 156 of the Royal Canadian Legion made a $10,000 donation to the Seaforth Community Hospital Building Expansion fund last week dur- ing Seaforth's Fall Fair. Making the presentation to Marlen Vincent, Chairman of the Fundraising Committee, was Legion President Mel Melanson, second from the right. On either side of the pair are Legion members Cleave and Peg Coombs. Mcllwraith photo. and ideas from the public." The midway, which was also larger than last year's, brought in larger receipts for the society as well. Generally the fair was on par with past years in terms of the number of competitors in the livestock shows. Numbers of com- petitors in horse classes were up, beef cattle were generally down, but herefords stayed on par with last year as did dairy, sheep and hog competitions. Organizers were also en- couraged by the fact there were some new competitors in the livestock classes. There .were also some people who had never shown before in the baking and crafts sections, but generally numbers were similar to past years. The results of the fair will be published in these pages next week. WHEELBARROW DAYS Wheelbarrow Days, which took place on Saturday afternoon on Main Street, was something less than a hit. Comments were that there were not enough people on the street to support the promotion, and there was a lack of participation from downtown businesses. CIDERFEST Ciderfest, also featuring a number of new events, capped the busy weekend. One new feature was a pie eating contest. Twelve contestants came from many local organizations - including the Lions, Lioness, Brucefield and Seaforth fire departments, Milburn Foresters, Seaforth Police Depart- ment, and the Scouts. The contestants were each set in front of an open faced apple pie which they ate face first using no hands. Bob Wright, the local scout leader, was the first to gorge himself and he received a first prize ribbon, a plaque, and a second apple pie to eat at his leisure. There was a karate demonstration a pup- peteer, singers, a fortune teller, a wood- working demonstration, and demonstra- tions of cider making and sausage making. Supper consisted of a whole pig roasted by Stu and Olive Broadfoot, four turkeys, and two hips of beef. Dorothy Williams, who helped organize the event for the Van Egmond Foundation, says if she has any complaints with the Ciderfest it is that she would like to see still more demonstrations and more vendors. She says after 14 years of ,Ciderfest the Turn to page 17A • Certain areas have been designated for improvements, such as the municipal park- ing area, which will be turned into an asset for the town rather than an eyesore. A small park area will be made for the public in the space between the post office and the Toronto Dominion Bank, with ben- ches, a community announcement board, an old style phone booth, and a cupola which will contain the bell from town hall. New and larger signs will be constructed at both the east and west entrances to town, being composed of masonry walls with stone caps, and wrought iron cresting along the top. A downtown Seaforth logo has been designed, and will be displayed on road signs, street signs, phone booths, benches, and wherever'it will be visible to the public. "What we've created is long term. I think the vision is right for Seaforth and we're putting up a target the community can aspire to," says Mainstreet coordinator Tom Lemon. "In terms of civic u n- provements it'll really set the stage..." There was $200,000 available for the streetscape project before the consultants were hired, and with the remaining money town council and the streetscape committee will be selecting a portion of downtown, such as the area around Town Hall, as a place where renovations will begin. This will show the public what the project proposes in a small area, and give them an idea of how it will look as a theme common to the entire downtown. BURDEN TO TAXPAYERS" Peg Campbell, a member of council and the streetscape committee, says one con- cern expressed by both council and the com- mittee is that the project may become too much of a burden to taxpayers. "I hope not," she says, "and that's something council should keep a close eye on." But Mrs. Campbell also remarked that the proposals are for the beautification of the town, "and it's everybody's town, not coun- cil's town," therefore the public, clubs and Turn to page 17A • :•i:i•::•i'ri::i4i:i:•:i:::.vv •.w:: ,.,.: ...:: nv •.•r:.v: ;.••.•: . :.. .. .. 'vi 1:.:Yiii.2:kR4;:;'r,::::}`?::::r�:;:;::::::Cr•':''<:'r:f::'.::•Yi v:::::.$'•:ivi�:^:• 75 TH INTERNATIONAL PLOWING MATCH AND Farm Machinery Show went off without a hitch last week, as a record number of people visited the match and its endless number of displays and sights. The match got off on the right foot, so to speak, last Tuesday morning, when a 49 -runner entourage began a student relay from Dublin to Stratford with the IPM flag. The runners showed up at the IPM in time for the opening ceremonies. Pat Cook of Dublin was one of the runners happy to be a participant. Area youth As in past years Huron County plowmen fared well at the International Plowing Match, held this year on the outskirts of Stratford. Nineteen people represented Huron Coun- ty in the match, with Murray Townsend of RR 3 Seaforth leading the way. Townsend, a Grade 13 student at Central Huron Secon- dary School in Clinton, won first in the Class 2, Group 2 competition then qualified for the 1989 Canadian Plowing Championship, to be held next August in Prince Edward Island, when he was declared the Junior Tractor Plowman Champion. It marked the third year in a row that Huron County has produc- ed the Junior Champion - last year Jeff McGavin won the honor and the year before Paul Dodds. For his win Townsend was presented with a silver tray, a clock and a cheque from Labatt's brewery. With the Junior championship under his belt, young Townsend was then declared overall Reserve Grand Champion Tractor Plowman. That meant his total point score was second highest of all the plowmen (junior and senior) who competed in the 1988 plowing match. In the Senior Plowman competition Brian McGavin of Walton won the reserve cham- piosnio in the Class 2, Group 3 competition. IPM winner Huron county plowmen taking part in the 1988 International Plowing Match included: Ken Betties of Kippen, Jeff Gemmell of Seaforth, Dennis Hallahan of Blyth, Jonathon Hugill of Seaforth and Matt Town- send of RR 3 Seaforth in Class 2, Group 1; William Fotheringham of Seaforth, Murray Townsend of RR 3 Seaforth and Leanne Whitmore of Walton in Class 2, Group 2; Paul Dodds of Seaforth, Brian McGavin of Walton and Paul Pentland of Goderich in Class 2, Group 3; Chris Maloney of Dublin in Class 3, Group 1; Bill McAllister and Robert McAllister of Auburn in Class 4, Group 2; and Ernie Talbot of Kippen, Paul Betties of Kippen and Mervin Dietz of Dublin in the Antique Tractor Class. Audrey Bos of Walton was Huron County's Queen of the Furrow. "It really is a big feat for a county to have as many as Huron had competing in the plowing match," commented Marie McGavin, on behalf of the Huron County Plowman's Association. "Questions are always asked of us, how we get the interest, especially of the young people. I put that down to the 4-H Sodbusters Club, and comaderie these people get from just being together at the matches." The 1989 Internation Plowing Match will be held in Essex County, near Windsor. t