Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-10-31, Page 1Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin Hensel! and Walton Strike taemature. See page A3. Much loved custodian. See page A3. Better accessibility needed. See page A3. Huron xpositor� Seaforth, Ontario HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 31, 1990 60 cents a copy Street extension opposed BY HEATHER ROBINET Opposition greeted a request by the Seaforth Community Hospital, that Side Street be extended to meet with Alexander Street, and thus create an alternative access route to the hospital. Traffic studies of the hospital's existing entrance - Centennial Drive - have indicated an average of 500 cars per day using the route. With expanded services on the horizon, the hospital is concerned about traffic tie-ups at the junction of Highway 8 and Centennial Drive, which could ultimately prevent emergency vehicles from geeing in and out of the hospital. "We're worried about the ambulance traffic, and the fire department getting in in the case of an emergency," commented Don Smith, Chief Administration Officer of the Seaforth Community Hospital. "Overall action at the hospital, and at the clinic is increasing. People slowing down to turn onto Centennial Drive are being passed by faster vehicles, and it's just a matter of time before an accident occurs at that corner, and if it did, the hospital would be cut off." Mr. Smith acknowledged that the access problem ha, t x isted for some time - in excess of 20 years, but said it has only been of late that it has really become a major concern. He noted that the hospital has had extensive correspondence with the Ministry of Transportation about moving the 50 mph sign towards Mitchell, or installing a flashing light at the hospital turn off, or even getting another access route off of Highway 8, but has been turned down on all fronts. "The MTO seems to be calling the shots, and they have rejected us on all occasions,' he said. John Forest, Seaforth's Superintendent of Public Works, sympathized with Mr. Smith. "The MTO has a set of guidelines which it goes by, which is good. But in each situation there should be room for some exceptions, but the MTO doesn't seem to make any," he said. Frank Sills of Goderich Street East, commented that maybe Seaforth ought to put a litde more pressure on the MTO. Mr. Sills, who along with Ken Devereaux, will be most affected by the extension of Side Street because it will sever their property, is against the extension for several reasons. He, and others who will be affected by the road extension, should it occur, were given the opportunity to air their views at a public meeting held Monday night in the town council chambers. While Mr. Sills admits he has made provision for a road through the back of his property, he is not in favor of it at this time. "The idea seems to be that I would donate the land, but if a road were to go through, my taxes would go up, because I'd have to pay frontage. I'd be stupid to do it," 'tetra to page 14 POTENTIAL SCIENTISTS - Cutting into a pumpkin and removing its insides was an interesting part of the day for these two St. James kindergarten children. Jenny Phillips, left, and Kiera Hardie were curious with what the inside of a pumpkin looks like. Oxford photo. Parents critical of school building forecast Parents who send their children to St. Columban Separate School and St. Patrick's Separate School, Dul- bin, don't believe the five year building forecast is good enough, said Trustee Steve Murray at Mon- day night's meeting. They feel their needs are being overlooked despite their long support of the board. Nevertheless, the forecast was passed. Murray was the only trustee opposed. The amalgamation of the schools four years ago saved two teachers' salaries per year, at $40,000 each and a total savings of $500,000 in the first six years. When schools in Zurich and Stratford amalgamated, the savings went back into the schools. Parents feel the savings of the St. Columban/Dublin amal- gamation are not coming back to the community. Neither school has a gym al- though the Dublin school has an all-purpose room. Murray said this room is too small and the roof is too low. Students cannot play vol- leyball and basketball. Dublin has won many pennants for outdoor sports but few for indoor sports because of the lack of facility. classes, and a library geared to primary children. St. Columban has a large amount of land on which a proper gym and change room, library, and classrooms could be built for the older students. Chairperson Vincent McInnes He suggested reversing the assured Murray if the money is schools putting the primary classes available from the ministry, St. in Dublin, whose all-purpose room Columban/Dublin will be the first is more suitable for younger to get the funding, but admired that children: build two kindergarten is a big "if." HARVEST SLOW GOING - Farmers are having a tough time getting their fall harvest completed because of the rainy weather of late. Bill Kerslake of RR 2 Staffa, however, managed to get at his grain com last week. Robinet photo. Fall harvest difficult BY HEATHER ROBINET Area farmers are having a difficult time this year at harvest. Hampered by rain, most are a month behind schedule, having first waited out the rainfall, then having had to struggle with heavy machinery through plenty of mud in the fields. "The harvesting is progressing as rapidly as the farmers can get the crops off the fields," com- mented Robert Humphries, of the Ontario Ministry of Agricul- ture and Food office in Clinton. "But farmers are having dif- ficulty because of the excess moisture of late. There are still many acres waiting to be har- vested." According to Mr. Humphries approximately 20 per cent of the county's white beans and soy beans are still in the fields, and the grain corn crop is virtually' untouched. Ironically the same combines used to harvest the grain corn are used to harvest the beans, except that the head has to be changed. Switching a head is not an easy operation, meaning one crop has to be totally harvested before another can be started. "There's a lot of revenue in jeopardy," commented Mr. Humphries. "These (white beans, soy beans and grain corn) are pretty major crops in terms of money, and there are literally millions of dollars out there. Farmers are ill at ease knowing their livelihood is at stake." Turn to page 14 Phone lines out BY SUSAN OXFORD Seaforth residents were isolated from the world Wednesday, October 24 when a Bell Canada fibre optic cable was damaged by a farmer working on his property. All incoming and outgoing long distance calls could not pass though Seaforth and surrounding areas, and the only local exchange open was to Dublin. The fibre optic cable was broken on a farrn between Seaforth and Clinton at about 2 or 3 p.m. and was reported to Bell Canada a short time afterward. Work on the fibre optic cable commenced about 5 p.m. after a special crew trained in fibre optic repair arrived from Sarnia. All telephone services were restored at 7:30 p.m. Tony Duckett, Regional Manager of Customer Services for Bell, Stratford, said, "The farmer did not call Bell to locate cables on his property before he started the work. He was working on some culverts when he broke the cable with his tractor. Bell may proceed with a property damage claim against the farmer. e ask people to call Bell first before they start digging to locate any cables there may be on their property. Sometimes the locating can be done over the telephone. Other times we have to send out a technician to do the locating. We try to get them out to the site as quickly as possible." Despite the 'Call Before You Dig' service offered by Bell, Mr. Duckett said many people don't call and "cables are cut all the time," "The vast majority of cables that are accidentally cut could have been prevented by people telephoning before they di ," said Mr. Duckett. i "Bell can retrieve the money spent on the repairs by taking legal action and making a property damage claim. We're looking into that in this case." Bell Canada is replacing copper wire cables with fibre optics. Electronic messages are carried through fibre optics with a laser light. Fibre optics can send more messages over the lines, have a higher clarity and take up less space than copper wires. While it is expensive for Bell to replace copper with fibre optics now, in the long term it will be more cost efficient as copper has become very expensive. As a result of the incident Seaforth was left with no emergency services as most of those are handled out of town. Seaforth ambulance calls go through London, but Wednesday the telephones in Seaforth were manned and the ambulance crew also relied on portable radios. Seaforth police calls go through Goderich and the dispatch advised Tura to page 14 Deserving residents are voted recipients of Citizenship Awards BY HEATHER ROBINET Seaforth and area is abundant with residents deserving of special mention, but the Seaforth Recreation and Parks Committee has once again managed to single out three particularly deserving individuals, for its 1990 Citizenship Awards. CiViC SERVICE Joyce Ribey of Goderich Street West in Seaforth has been chosen as the recipient of the Civic Service Award. A wife, a mother of four children, and a part time ward clerk at the Seaforth Community Hospital, one would think Mrs. Ribey is already busy enough. Yet despite her al- ready busy life, she always seems to find time, or make time, for community services. Mks. Ribey has spent many hours in the past. and continues to spend many hours now, with the Seaforth Guide Movement. As Chairperson of the Parent Committee she offers support for the Guiding leaders, and organizes such things as fundraising ventures, outings and other special activities. For four years now, Mrs. Ribey has also worked conscientiously in organizing the Midwestern Ontario Show and Sale, and is especially involved in the Doll and Miniature Show, and to a lesser degree, the Quilt Show as well. She also assists with the Fall Fair, and is a Past President of the Employee Relations fund at the Seaforth Community Hospital. Her "behind the scenes" efforts and ideas for the Santa Claus Parade have also contributed to its success. "Whether the one in need be a child, senior citizen, fellow worker, neighbor or organization, Joyce does not think twice about volun- teering time where and when it is needed. She is one who truly has the interests of the community at heart and is a sincere and genuine person," commented hex nominator, Carol Baker. "i feel that Joyce is one of the doers of our community and often goes unrecognized for het services. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had more people like her." in her typically selfless fashion, Mrs. Ribey credited others for her award. "if i didn't have the family 1 have, and all the great people who work for us, all the things I do would never get done," she said. "They're super and behind us all the way - they answer phones and work at every activity. They're really the people who need to be thanked and recognized. I wouldn't be able to do it without'them." Mrs. Ribey admitted she was surprised to receive the award, because she doesn't view what she does as something she needs to be recognized for. "The only way tobea partof any community, is to be involved in it," she said. "it's only what you put into it that you get out." Mrs. Ribey intends to continue her involvement, although she does admit she's trying to delegate, or share the workload a bit more. it (getting involved) is con- tagious. It's hard to stop. But time with family is valuable, and you have to organize your time well in order to get the benefit of the years your children are growing up," she said. HUMANITARIAN SERVICE Shirley Dinsmore of West Street is Seaforth's choice for the Humanitarian Service Award. A wife, a mother, grandmother of SHIRLEY DINSMORE HUMANITARIAN SERVICE five, and full time employee of Champion Road Machinery in Goderich, Mrs. Dinsmore is another Seaforth individual that refuses to lex an already full plate deter her. JOYCE RIBEY CIViC SERVICE RiCK WOOD SERVICE TO SPORT "You don't stop to think is there fit it in, not when am 1 going to time for something, you make find time." time," she said. And she's obviously fit in a lot of "if there's a job that has to he activities. done, you ask yourself when can 1 Tarn to peg, 14 4 4