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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1980-08-14, Page 2OEL t3 iBBON A ARD 1980 Shies ;800, :ervirs0 the, Cornmenity rrst 'dished at, SEAVORTH, ONTARIO every Thursday morning hy'rvleVEAS4ROS. PUBLISHERS LTD. APOREWTaMeLPAN,Ftibliaher VSAN WOITE,,Editor , ALICE q1110,1‘01.0 Mitts! Member Canadian COMMunitiNeWspaper AssoclatIOn 011044 Week's/ Newspaper Association and Audit Burea0 of arenlation, - Subscr1k:41m,k Rateot • Canada On advance) $14.00 a Year Outside Canada (hi advance) $30.00 a Year SINGLE COPIES -35 CENTS'EACH Second Class Mail Registration Number 0696 Telephone,527-0240 SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, AUGUST 14, 1980 ' The criacism.oiSeaforth WS easy to criticize. But what's really tough is the ability to take criticism constructively, to learn from it, to act on It, and when you feel it's unwarranted, to defend yourself. We hope Expositor readers will Consider the comments offered by. visitors to town In last week's paper in that light. When we sent reporter Wilma Qke out to talk to strangers on our Main St. about their impressions of the town, we knew it wasn't an easy assignment. 'But we weren't prepared for the calls, comments and letters that have come into our office from people Who were upset with a great deal of what the visitors Mrs. ,Oke talked to said. That sort of response from our reader § is healthy and we encouraged everyone who got in touch to complain to write a letter to the editor explaihing.his or her particular gripe with the story. - We also explained, and think it could bear repeating here, that the fact that the Expositor printed the negative comments from Seaforth visit5rs (along with what they likedabout the town), doesn't mean we are endorsing them. , The purpose of the story was to get the reaction cif outsiders to Seaforth. We didn't censer what they said one bit because.that would have made the whole procedure a senseless excercise. We're not giving anything away though by admitting that we expected comments milder. than what we got. Probably we were as surprised as most readers at the number of negative things an assortment of strangers found to say about our town. And therein lies the moral of, the experiente. Although most visitors pronoutsped our town friendly, and praised Its architecture and its atmosphere, a number Of things came in for some licks. The attitude of some storegcierks, Main St. flower boxes, high prices, restaurants and the demolition of the historic Whitman house were ail critIcezed. It's up to each one of us to decide how much weight we give these critical comments. But the point Is they were made, in good faith we're sure, by people who come here to visit and do business, people we want to see- In greater numbers, people who can help Seaforth's downtown flourish. • We can ignore what they:don't like about Seaforth and continue merrily as before. Or we can take the comments, not as earth shaking criticism but as points to ponder. Then we can look at our businesses, our Jobs, our Main St. and our attitudes, see if there's any place the criticism fits and move to make amends. The choice, really, Is Seaforth's.' Outside opinion needed We don't envy the members of Tuckersmith Township council as they struggle to treat all their ratepayers fairly and correct a six year old mistake. It was back in 1974 that the council, at the request of 79 percent of the taxpayers in Vanastra, meant to pass a bylaw making that,hamlet alone responsible for a debenture debt, money used to build the original Vanastra Recreation Centre. Trouble is, that bylaw actually specified that the debt was to be shared by all township residents, and Tuckersmith has been collecting all these years only from Vanastra. Now, everyone Is upset. Present Vanastra residents contend that the rec centre is now much wider in scope than was originally planned, and benefits the whole township, if not the whole county and beyond. 'It's not fair they say, that only Vanastra should pay. Apply the bylaw as it's worded, not as it was intended, they insist. Tuckersmith taxpayers outside Vanastra are afraid that they'll get stuck with the debenture debt, perhaps even retroactively, since according the the bylaw they should have been paying all along'. We never wanted the rec centre in the first place, they protest.. Vanastra has been making tremendous strides as a community in r6cent years. There's a cohesiveness, a pride in the place that many area towns would envy. We've even been glad to detect a lessening in what has often in the past been an antagonistic relationship between the rest of.the township and Vanastra. It would be a shame if the progress that all of Tuckersmith has made in working together for all of Tuckersmith gets left behind in the dispute about the rec centre bylaw. Surely, nobody wants that to happen. The beat was to resolve the problem in the interests of all Tuckersmith ratepayers, would be a hearing by the Ontario Municipal Board. Things in TuckersMith have gotten to the point 'where it's very difficult for anyone but an outsider to port out. the questions. And they are many. Who made the mistake back in 1974? Why did it go unnoticed so long? Should a request by Vanastra residents six years ago be binding on the community now? Who uses and who should pay for the Vanastra rec centre? - An OMB hearing, we believe, is needed to seek the answers to these questions and the many others that those on both side of the issue are posing. More letters to the editor and columns -- on page 3 , We read With interest the thoughts of yisitors to ,Seaforth by Wilma Oke. Some, visitors appreciated our town with its floc architecture and friendly pelFdle. Ot)tets were not No favourable with their comments:" Some comments reminded Us ; -of the jealous farmer who walks past the row of his neighbours fine cattle without comment, until he comes to one which the vet had attended the night before. Here be stops and asks "What's wrong with that one?" • The comments about the flower boxes planted on Main Street prompted this letter. The Seaforth Horticultural Society's civic improvement committee and agrade 7 class of students ftona Seaforth Public School planted the flower boxes. When the work was completed everyone involved had a feeling of pride isQ.1 job well done. The town work crew placed the boxes on Main street and took on the job of watering the plants. ff theplants had all been allowed to grow unmolested, there would be 12 boaes we e e Bled with beAudfnl plants and, flower ,s today. Unfortunately this was not what happened. During the first night plants somehow disappeared from soine of the boxes. 'Many of' them vere lying on the sidewalk the next morning. Interested people who. cared enough replanted the plants. This happened many more times. One box became comnletelv bare of living plants. As these boxes were sre11 construed or expensive cedar, it seemed a shame .to leave brie sitting empty. At the suggestion of a Main Street store keeper, the box was moved to a new location and replanted by the same store keeper. Out of the 12 boxes planted only' one has every plant that was planted growing. It certainly makes an attractive display. Theother11 boxes have colourful Seaforth has 'good restaurant In the article called "What visitors think of Sea,forth", there were serVeral comments about the lack of good restau- rants in Seaforth. We ,feel that these statements are unjustified. We work at the Forge Restaurant which is owned and run by Jim and Ginette Nash. It's not fancy brut the food is good; you reeeive generous servings and the pried -s -are very reason- able. Some people feel that if the food is served on a golden plate in elegant surroundings, it is a good restaurant. This is not necessarily true. Good food and a friendly atmosphere is just as, if not more important. .This is not meant to be an advertisement for our restaurant. We just feel that people shouldn't talk like that unless they have tried the place. Even though a place doesn't look great from the outside, it doesn't mean that it isn't nice inside. Try it. You might like it. From two people who are proud of where they work Francine Visser and Cheryl Morey iian ging Seaforth is c Times must change I realize, but I as one reader was a little discouraged after glanc- ing through -last week's issue August 7. First on the list is the total disregard towards the method of gaining privilege to remove the old three storey house. I read in the paper a few weeks ago that it was rotten but I treasure some very pleasant memories of Christrnas Eve gatherings in the rotten The Bad News Beavers are in trouble. Hey Editor! 'Psst Bad news: The BN Beavers better bust their butts! That ruthless Roth's team of rollicking rogues has been sneakinii in an extra practice -here and there. We saw them tossing watermelon's through the produce section before closing yesterday and. while watching their practice Tuesday evening, noted that your BNB spy was overcome by the ball diamond expertise on display!! Good luck • You may need it! Sincerely, An Anonymous Analyst house and also many very informal cups of coffee in a very friendly atmosphere which sure will never get stale or rotten. But what' is done is done. The second disappointment on reading the issue was the absolute disappearance of years agone without as much as a good-bye to anyone. I guarantee 1 am no red -neck but did enjoy reading past history of Seaforth's growth and surrounding territory: It did interest newcorn ers as well as those who never left at all. The third disappointment was an article adopted from the Gananoque Reporter. 1 only say I do think we should speak bilingually, but I will choose my own language, thank you, maybe Spanish but for sure not French. but to each his own. Should Canada have a draft? The subject in the Expositor /Wm column also came at a very appropriate time in history. It was ,on August 8 that the Canadians started the big drive to liberate France during the -'first world war. Many loyal volunteers died because there was the same attitude then also and not enough volunteers. —Bob Hulley .,w,c).#1,0 Re the tehdehi the; 111000' • , • . ' Expositor t SeafOrth and the 51.1trdtl001#0 Comteunity to be aiitrute.ofthe,trAte•011tlfkliOlY on vf1n St,' flowers but just itnagine how colourful an beautiful they could have 'been, if, left to . groW unmoiested. 0 g We 'don't expect, this letter to stop the thoughtless destruction of .plants bait we Mary hielAsx1 chairmen et civic linprovement Centtoittee; gliiclyojx;i0 :Piesident ef.AlOrtieultttpd Socletx A PAIL FULL A DAY—Thcr fact that the Horticultural Society's flower box outside Keatings on Seaforth's Main St. may have something to do with, tender loving care from the pharmacy's employees. Here Lois Govier and Pauline Bennett give the plants their daily drink. (Photo by Heer) Expositor asks: Do you attend Sunday evening band concerts? BY JIM FIBER Sunday evening concerts in Victoria Park in Seaforth were a tradition commubity members enjoyed and took advantage of, a few years back, but po longer. Attendance has slowly decreased over the past few years, this year with numbers averaging about 15 to 20 people per concert. In order to gain at better perspective on why numbers have been dropping off over the summer, this week the Expositor Asks, "Have you attended a Sunday evening concert in Victoria Park lately?" Out of the seven Seaforth residents surveyed at random, only one had been to a Victoria Park concert this year, and only a small handful had ever been to a Sunday evening concert at all. * • Rose Altman,of 51-A Main Street, wu the only one out of the seven who attended a concert thls years "I found it a very interestin concert" she said. "I think the gameertati e park are a good thing for the corm:12mA "I like good mask," she ad d. I'm going to try and make It next we k." Please turn to page 18 .11 • Premier's office explains Vanastra issue Due to the fact that this correspondence was overlooked by the press. I felt that this letter would be a benefit to alt the people of Tuckersmith. 1 request that this correspond- ence from the premier's office be printed as received. Thank you for your trouble. Frank Falconer, Councillor, Tuckersmith Township. Clara Brown, Egmondville, June 9, 1980. Dear Mrs. Brown: Please excuse the delay in our responding to your letter dated April 23, 1980, in connection with ' the retreation complex located in the community of Vanastra in the Township of Tuckommith. "1- have studied the material which you attached to your letter. Additionally. I have read your letter of last December addressed to the Honourable Thomas Wells, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. "Enquiries have been made and 1 am nov, able to respond to the questions in your letter as follows: "1. Debenture By-law No. 40-1974 S130.000 - The Township Celina. r4pond- ing to a petition from Vanastra ratepayers. acquired certain lands and buildings during 1974, to be developed for use as a recreation complex. It is understood that the petition submitted to the Township Cou.ncil indicated a willingness on the part of the petitioners to accept responsibility, by way of special tax levy, for that portion of the capital cost remaining after crediting all grants • ad subsidies available for the project. The net capital financing required to• be raised by debenture amounted to S130.000 and it was on that basis that Debenture By-law No. 40-1974 was . passed by the Township Council and sent on the Ontario Municipal Board for approval. It was intended that the required annual levy would be rated against the .community of Vanastra rather than all of the rateable property in the Township. "It was discovered in late 1979 that By-law No. 40-1974 was prepared in error in that it did not provide for the special rate to be applied to rateable property in the community of Vanastra only. The by4law has been impleinented each year in accordance with the original petition and with the apparent intention of the Council of 1974. "It is understood that the circumstances associated with By-law No. 40-1974 have been explained to Ontario Municipal Board officials and that a formal applicati as been made for direction as to rerjediat action. -The Ontario Municipal Board ay or may not hold a public meeting in connection with the application. In any event. ratepayers may Make their, views known by writing to that Board. " . Ope ting deficts of recreation oamp,e It is understood that the Township Council. by by-law passed in 1979. resolved, to write the total accumulated deficit off against accumulated reserves of the Town- ship. Additionally, by separate by-law passed during 1979, Council adopted the policy -whereby the Township assumes financial responsibility for any operation deficit during 1979 and for future years rather than charging such deficits against the Vanastra community only. "3. Addition to recreation complex - In accordance with the decision of the municipal council, an addition to the recreation complex is underway: The financing for the cost of the addition, as set cut in the material which accompanied your letter. is not intended to add to the tax burden of either thetommunity of Vana stra or the Township of Tuckersmith as a whole. According to the information available to me, Township Council has authority under provincial legislation to procted with this prefect as planned. As a matter of interest, it is understood that all of the foregoing matters and oth'er questions were explored at coniiderable length during a meeting held on December 3. 1979, Which was convened by Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs representatives. Those in attendance were the reeve, all members of council. clerk -treasurer Mc- Lachlan, four private citizens representing ratepayers in the community. and two ministry officials. It is understood that Mr. Crops looked splendid back in AUGUST 13, 1880 One night last week some person or. persons entered the pasture and cut all the hair off and otherwise lacerated the tail of a valuable two year old heifer belongin* to John McLauchlan, Grey Twp. Mr. McLauch- lan has his eye on certain parties and if he can secure sufficient evidence, he will gi5e them the full benefit of the law. • •• John S. Wagner of Wawanosh had one of his best cows killed by lightning during the great storm on Tuesday night. The fall crops around this part of the country promise a splendid yield this season. It does one good to see the smiling faces of the farmers coming into town. The clothing store of Messrs. T. Jackson and Son, Clinton was broken into on Saturday niiht and goods to the value of about $300' carried off. Entrance was made by forcing a back window. AUGUST 11, 1905 A number of our young people are talking of In the years agone going out west. Wednesday was civic holiday in Seaforth ; and the `town was deserted. After 8 o'clock the streets were quieter than on a Sunday. A young son of Robert Steele, who was 'working for Kennedy Bros., was severely kicked in the face by a horse on Tuesday. The lad was going into the stall to feed the animal when it kicked hini. Picnic parties to the lake still continue the order of the day. The wheatis not turning out as well as was, expected. About 20 bushels to the acre are reported. The toot -toot of the threshing whistle is again heard thtoughout the land. • AUGUST 15, 1930 The weather is soniewhat cooler after the long heat wave. We had a nice shower of rain Saturday night, but need a lot more. George Spotton was re-elected to the Federal House for North Huron in the recent election. - Ah automobile party of seven framKippen had a miraculous escape from collision with a C.P.R. freight train on Tuesday. As soon as the driver sighted the approaching traih he rapidly applied the brakes but the car went about three rods from the tracks, turned to the right, crashed through a fence of the embankment and landed upside down in a ditch. None of the occupants were injured. Miss Ethel Murdock has been assisting at the Hensall post office for the. past week owing to the continued illness of Mrs. Vincent Fowlie, mentioned in your letter, attended that meeting and other 1979 meetings convened by Ministry officials. Following the December 3, 1979 meeting, the tvflnistry received a letter signed by Mr. Fowlie and other, advising that: "...the petitioners are happy that their questions have been answered and at this time believe an investigation would be too costly and inappropriate..." -The cleti-istassuter of the tumult% Mr. J. McLachlan, reports that he wrote to yon few weeks ago at the suggestion of Mr. D.W. Stevenson, Deputy Minister of Inter- governmental Affairs, giviag you detailed answers to the questions posed in your -Decernbef20, 1979. -letter to the Honourable Thomas Wells. "While it is realized that your concerns tray not be Losopletely satisfied by the foregoing explanation, I do hope that you will accept assurance that the Council, according to my information, has acted within its authority. Direction, with respect to the erroneous wording of,By-law 40-1974, has been formally applied for. "You are encouraged to contact Township officials iS you feel that the information supplied to you is incomplete in any way. In that connection a copy cti. this letter is being sent the Township office so that the Reeve and members of Council will be aware of your continuing concern.", Yrs sineerely, Clare Westcott, Office of the Premier, Queen's Park. 1880 Hedden, assistant. FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 19S5. Lieptenam-governor Louis 0. Breithaupt a& open the 110th Seaforth Agricultural Society Fall Fair on Sept. 23. 4aforth raised its tax rate to 79.1 mills, the highest in the rdstery of the town. the meeting of the council was held on August 8. Like so many Seaforth and district young people, Lynda Savange, Ann Troutbeck and Phyllis Bryans are looking eagerly to the day when the Seaforth Lions Pool will be opened. They have held a series of sales and bazaars to raise money. They raised 55.39 which thez donated to the pool fund to speed up its opening. Chairmen of the Old .Boys' Reunion committees wish to extend approaciation to all who worked so hard to make the celebration a success. (7A