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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-05-02, Page 1--F INDEX Birth -5A Obits -5A Recreation -10A Hensall-16A Legion -17A Eight schooii members lauded ® See page 4A Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensall and Walton Seaforth, Ontario WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1990 50 cents a copy Driscoll to lace up for By Paula Elliott Doors are opening left, right and center for Seaforth native Scott Driscoll, living proof that you get out of life what you put into it. Scott, who recently returned home for the summer after his third year of studies at Wilfred Laurier University, has ac- cepted an invitation from the Vancouver Canucks to attend their training camp in Victoria this upcoming September. Scott was nothing if not surprised by the offer, which came two weeks ago on April 18. Mike Penney, a Canucks scout from the Kitchener area, met with Scott in Waterloo and the dotted line was signed. "I was very surprised," admits Scott, who was noticed by Penney during the university hockey Nationals in Toronto earlier this spring. A rookie on the Laurier Golden Hawks team this year, he notes that he was basically a fifth or sixth defenceman for the team, and that being scouted hadn't really crossed his mind at all. A lot of the guys on the team have been in Jr. 'A', and had exposure," muses Scott, who was a noted player with the St. Mary's Lincolns Jr. 'B' team before skating with W.L.U. this season. "I asked them, 'Why are you taking a chance on bringing me out to Van- couver?"', Scott recalls. Their answer was short and to the point. "Size." At 6'4" and 260 pounds of deft skating ability, Scott figures that he's the size of player that the Canucks are lookjng at to beef up their hockey club. Scott cites the last Vancouver -Calgary contest, when the Canuck defense wpssoundiy overpowered and outsized 6y the Flames' towering Ot- to and Peplinski. After a gloomy second to last place finish in the N.H.L. last season, Vancouver undertook some major shuffling and traded off a number of their older players from the Canucks. They also did some housecleaning in the Vancouver farm team, based out of Milwaukee, and releas- ed some of the 27 and 28 year-old players that would probably never make it out of the minors. That leaves a lot of gaps in the organization, and they may be looking to fit Scott Driscoll into one of them. "I don't see making the jump from University right to the N.H.L.," he reasons. A season or two with the Milwaukee Admirals would be a more realistic goal, he adds, but everything hinges on the training camp. Should that door shut, however, another one is set to swing wide open. Focussing primarily on a career as an official for the past seven years has been Scott's objec- tive, and one that was rewarded about a year ago when he received another letter from the NHL, this time regarding a refereeing position. After attending a referee camp in Waterloo, he was inform- ed that he would be watched closely for the next few years as a potential official for the N.H.L.. Scott recently attended an O.H.L. referee camp at Maple Leaf Gardens in March, hosted by John Dimico ("..he skated us hard," ) and received word that he was a good prospect for one of two O.H.L. Jr. 'A' linesman positions open for next season. For Scott Driscoll, it's almost a case of too many choices. "I don't want to burn any bridges," he says, adding that any Jr. 'A' ,exhibition games that he might be offered to officiate would be right smack in the middle of his Canuck training camp. He has signed with Vancouver, confirming that they would be the only team that he could try out for this fall, and he's content to play things by ear for the moment. If anything, exposure to hockey at the Canucks or Milwaukee level can only add to his marketability as an of- ficial in the future. "They like guys who have played a high level of hockey," Scott points out. "They have good insight into the game." This, and his size, have been key factors in his rise to a Jr. 'A' linesman position. "They know I can get around out there." Scott will be attending the Canuck camp with 40 or so other players as a free agent on an invite, and may have to put the fourth year of his science studies at Wilfred Laurier on the back burner, should things pan out. For the time being, he's taking one step at a time. "First and foremost. I have to get into Canuck camp the best shape of my life,". he says, outlin- ing a summer training -schedule that in- cludes weight training; running and "a lot of biking." All of this hard work and a good attitude will help Scott prepare for the test in September, but a little sound advice from someone in the know can't hurt, either, he figures. "I really want tb talk to Dave Mcllwain, he adds wit.k a grin, "and get a kind of clue as to .What's going on." "itwas a �ti ntrit!taewir4eekenid Or us," says Betutte dt1 ted fBauer l'ravel: in Seatorth ravel agents tut- #040140; a- tonwide waenae arrang esaethe .Fri- y atiaoux'eement the colllapse of Toreson` VacattorisOntar'io C,td. and Soun- dant Co �•.porratioaa,'; The aiting'Sottni an application, Bank 'of 'Canada thin past: Thursday to 'be Placed . info •r`eceivership. SSoundair operated the charter airline service Odyys�sey Inter- national, •the Tnotitson Vacation's airline, and Thomson itself taeitt into voluntary receivership onFriday e ' 10,000 Gana titans wereaffectedby oIda aid. Bone. i Joiinst t esti ata eaforth and• area residents have had their vacation plans quashed "Nobody is stranded- (overseas)," she reports, but adds anyone who booked a vacation through Tbottlsei or Ouyssey is stranded •i -. itattada, at least for: t(e ctime being. , ' `Anybady looking for ,'space overseas as ,ittst lnot funding it." Batter and its five affiliated offices -1m the area have rolled up their collective shirt - Turn to page 5A Corp. was granted through the Royal TOO TUCKERED TO TAKE IT - The Seaforth Home and Garden Show was a beehive of activity last week, and IY all proved too much for little Nicholas Mur- ray, who flaked out in his stroller early Wednesday evening. Elliott photo. Rabies outbreak slowing down, but wariness BY SUSAN OXFORD The rabies outbreak in Huron county seems to have quieted down, but people should be careful and on the lookout for rabid animals. Some Huron county residents are still in the midst of the outbreak. In one unusual case a farm lost 11 head of cattle to the disease. Another country resident lost three ewes and a calf, and a town resident was terrorized by three rabid skunks. In 1988 in Huron county there were 87 reported rabies deaths: fox 31; cat 16; dog 2; pig 1; cattle 29; skunk 14; wolf 1; donkey 1; sheep 1; llama 1. Most of the deaths occurred in northern Huron county. In 1989 there were 56 deaths: fox 28; bat 1; cat 1; cattle 11; skunk 15. Most of the deaths occurred in southern Huron county. Dr. Mark Raithby, Agriculture Canada veterinarian for Huron county, was called out to many of the outbreaks on farms. The only way for rabies to be transmitted is "by a bite from a rabid animal, or its saliva getting into an open sore." The disease takes two different forms, furious and dumb. The animal may become infected with one or a combination of the two. In the furious form the animal may change its usual behaviour, bite in- discriminately, become restless and ex- citable. The animal may develop gradual paralysis in the throat, causing the "frothing at the mouth" appearance. The dumb form is similar, but aggressive behaviour is less noticeable. Brothers John and Les Coleman of Kip - pen saw one of their cows acting strange- ly and frothing at the mouth February 19. The cow was killed and tests confirmed rabies and the farm was quarantined. From the same pen eight more cows became rabid and had to be killed. Later two more cows became infected and were killed. The two men have undergone a series of rabies vaccines. Dr. Raithby said it isn't always easy to identify rabies as many of the beginning symptoms can resemble many different diseases. He identified rabies at the Col- eman farm when the first sick cow made more of a roaring sound than a lowing sound. Bill Coleman, the men's father, said they still don't know how the animals caught rabies. "We didn't see any scratches or bites on the cattle." The disease is spread mostly by skunks and foxes in Huron county, Dr. Raithby ex- plained. Infected animals find their way in- to barns and pastures and bite livestock. Rabid animals become fearless and often a rabid fox will have a mouthful of por- cupine quills. "Rabid cats are the worst," said Dr. Raithby. "You can't tell what its ,symp- toms are, if there's any. And then, all at once, it will attack you and then appear normal. The frequency of 'the attacks in- creases before the cat dies." A rabid barn cat is attributed to the rabies outbreak at the Zurich farm of Daniel Bisson. On March 28, Mrs. Bisson saw a fresh deep scratch on one of her ewes' nose, but didn't suspect it when the ewe became ill. It was lambing time and advised she suspected pregnancy toxemia and tried to cure it. When Mrs. Bisson saw the ewe yawn she knew it was rabid and called in the veterinarian. After the ewe died, some oftests. its brain tissue was sent to Ottawa for Before the test results were known Mrs. Bisson saw a calf yawn and another ewe weaken. She called in Dr. Raithby and by visual inspection he determined the calf was rabid, but couldn't say if the ewe was. Both animals were killed and tests con- firmed rabies. "Rabies in sheep is difficult to detect visually," Dr. Raithby said. "It can look like so many other things. You might think it had a brain tumour, or a central ner- vous system problem, before it finally displayed an obvious rabies symptom." A week later another ewe became rabid and died. All the barn cats were destroyed. The Sisson family has to undergo a series of rabies vaccines and follow-up blood tests. "It's hard emotionally because you do get attached to the animals," said Mrs. Bisson. ' `I can't say where the cats got rabies from. The last animal died three weeks ago and we're hoping it's all over. We'll wait out the quarantine, but I'll always be on the lookout." Like sheep, horses don't display any ob- vious visual symptoms early in the disease. Dr. Raithby said a horse may start chewing on itself and. then be dead within 48 hours. Rabies is not a disease that affects only farm animals, as one Exeter resident found out. The Homuth family lives on the outskirts of town. Over the past five weeks police shot three rabid skunks in their yard. The first skunk was aggressive, causing the family to go in their house and wait for police. From their window they watched their frightened Labrador dog chased around the yard before police arriv- ed to kill the skunk. Tests confirmed rabies. Although the dog was in contact with the skunk, it did not have to be quarantined as its rabies shots were up to date. Skunks do display some obvious symp- toms of the disease and Dr. Raithby said they are often not at all fearful of people. He's heard stories of people being chased around their, house by a rabid skunk chom- ping its mouth. Dogs more often display the same symptoms as cattle. Two weeks later Mrs. Homuth heard the dog barking frantically. From a windowg she saw a skunk 10 feet behind the dog. The skunk was aggressive and "its' mouth 1 was a mass of blood." The police killed t and tests confirmed rabies. d The third time, during Easter weekend, Mrs. Homuth's children came running in- to the house screaming "Mommy! Skunk!". The police were busy at a car accident and the family stayed inside for over an hour and waited. They watched the skunk loose its balance and follow the dog around. Unlike the previous two skunks, the last one did not spray the dog. Police killed the skunk and it too was con- firmed as rabid. "It's really scary when there's children around," said Mrs. Homuth. "Rabid animals aren't afraid. It's frustrating that there's nothing you can do. I'm told rabies will nm its course and slow down by June, but it's a horrible problem." Across Canada there were 215 confirm- ed cases of rabies in January 1990. They were as follows: Quebec 28; Ontario 164; Manitoba 9; Saskatchewan 6. This list in- cludes 5 dogs, 2 foxes and 1 bear from the North West Territories. In Ontario thousands of people exposed to rabies have undergone the series of rabies vaccines over the past 15 years. In this period there has not been one case of human rabies in the province. "Rabies was first noticed in northern Canada in 1922," said Dr. Raithby, "when veterinarians from Guelph university went north to investigate a "crazy fox" disease. Back then few natives caught the disease because they wore many animal skins and a fox could rarely bite through them. In India 300 to 400 people die annually due to rabies and not getting the vaccine." "Foxes account for most of the rabies in northern Ontario. In Florida skunks ac- count for 90 % of rabies. Ontario is like a black hole in the middle and that's why we have the highest incidence of rabies in North America." UT OF THE WOODS - Life at John Coleman's farm is Just rabies. EteVen Paolo ad to be destroye csfigeit yrs re rt Bial tickets are still i1e through the downtontri Merchants in the advertisement. A limited r of tickets Will be available tonlght site will start at 7:30 pan. at the ,bitd District Nnanunity Centre. A