The Huron Expositor, 1983-12-28, Page 1it
1,1
Incorporating
Brussels Post
50c per copy
xpositor
SEAFORTH, ONrAAIO WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1
CHRISTMAS was a quiet occasion in
Seaforth this year. Most people spent the
weekend indoors and ventured outside
Tuesday to find homes and vehicles buried in
snow. Jim Ward spent the better part of
Ignore chain letters
Chain letters have again surfaced in
Seaforth and anyone who receives such a
letter is advised to disregard it.
"The letters,eome and go," says police
chief Hal Claus. "Some people do get upset
when they receive one. but we just tell them
not to continue sending out more."
A letter received by a Seaforth resident
was sent "for good luck." The letter doesn't
ask that money be forwarded on. In part. the
letter says. "this letter is no joke. Send
copies to 20 people who you think need good
luck. Do not keep this letter. 1t must leave
your hands within 96 hours."
If copies aren't sent out m the time period
specified, the letter implies that the person
will receive bad luck. It says that a man sent
out 20 copies in 1953 and "a few days later
he won a tottery of two million dollars."
Tuesday morning shovelling his car from
under a pile of snow. (Waasink photo)
believing. threw the letter away. Nine days
later he died. Remember. send no money.
please don't ignore this. 1t works."
Although the Seaforth police department
has received no complaints concerning the
chain letter. anyone using the mails for the
purpdtie of delivering such letters intended,
to deceive or defraud the public is guilty of
an indictable offence and is liable to
imprisonment up to two years, says Mr.
Claus.
Another letter was handed in to post otltce
employees by a customer. Unlike the letter
brought to the Expositor office which had
local postmark. the second had an out-of-
town postmark. •
The letters are unsigned and arc difficult
to trace. "People should just ignore them."
Another. man rceeivc th^ tetter, "not:_,.says,lyfr Slays.
Municipal politics
should be .faught
More courses on municipal politics should
be taught in schools. Huron County Council
has deeded at its Dec. 1 meeting.
Councillors overturned a recommendation
by its executive committee which suggested
that a resolution. calling for two provincial
ministries to work together to teach citizens
at large about local government. shouldn't
be supported by Huron County Council.
The resolution from the City of Stratford
asks that the- Ministry of Municipal Affairs
and Housing and the Ministry of Education
create programs for the teaching of
nnnici al . •lilies.
"1 would like to say that as reeves we are
people very interested in how the system
works," said Reeve Cunningham. of Hullett
Tow nship.
He said that by including municipal
politics in the education system. more
citizens would be interested in running for
local government positions.
A newcomer to local politics. East
Wawanosh Reeve Neil Vincent said the only
municipal training he has received has been
on-the-job training.
SEE POLITICS/ ON PAGE 3
THIS YEAR WAS A GREAT WEAR and one
of the major events In Seaforth was the
opening of the new Seaforth and District
Community Centres. The building was
officially opened to June by Clare Wescott,
ribbon cutter. He was assisted by ,Marlen
Vincent, right and Ken Campbell, not shown.
— 14 PAGES
of -town travellers
end holidays in town
More than 50 out-of-town travellers we
stranded in Seaforth over Christmas when
i"60 a proximately 20 centimetres of snow and
kilometre/hour winds caused white -outs
throughout the ares and closed parts of
highways 8, 21, 4. 23. 24 and 6.
White -outs caused - `about five traffic
accidents in the area With cars receivin
extensive damage, but no
says Seaforttt•police chief. Hal Claus. ` ch
of Christmas Eve was spent by police
officers trying to find places for stranded
motorists to stay during the storm.
"We tried to get people to open up their
homes which is sometimes hard to do
' around Christmas since it's such a family
time but we found enough people in
Seaforth with the Christmas spirit to house
everyone." says Mr. Claus.
At the Queen's Hotel. 40 people enjoyed
Christmas dinner while ,storm -stayed.
Travelling from Oakville. Mississauga.
Danville. Exeter. Owen Sound and Bay-
field, the travellers made the best of
Christmas at the hotel.
"it was hard •for them. They were
disappointed at first but they decided to
make the most of it after they'd been here a
while. They were really nice people." says
Joan Parkinson. of the Queen's.
Because the hotel ordered enough food to
last two weeks. when the staff placed their
last food order. there was plenty of food for
the extra guests. The rooms were quickly
filled: so many slept in the dining room with
coats and extra blankets. A couch was
carried downstairs for a woman whose
asthma made it impossible for her to climb
the stairs.
"We've never had this happen at
Christmas before but it tbrned out well. We
even had a doctor from Bayfield who said
grace. He referred back to the first
Christmas when there was no rpom in. the
inn", says Mrs. Parkinson.
100 IN BRUCEFIELD
Approximately 100 people stayed at the
Brucefield United Church from Saturday
noon until Sunday morning around 11:30.
says Lorraine Moffatt, the minister's wife.
"We never expected so many people bdt
it was all right because the whole
community pitched in and helped by
sending food and blankets." she says. "We
cancelled the Christmas service for the
congregation but the people asked if we
could go ahead so we had a hymn and carol
sing. They enjoyed it."
Most of the motorists were heading north
but a few were going south. Some stayed in
homes in the community but many slept in-,
the church pews.
SERVICESCANCELLED
Churches in Seaforth and Egmondville
also cancelled services over the weekend
because of the weather.
"A fair number of the congregation lives
on farms and it wasn't worth the risk of
people getting stuck." says Rev. Stadel-
baeer-Sampa of the Egmondville United
Church.
"1 think it was the first time in anybody's
lifetime that the Christmas service was
cancelled. A lot oflpeople were disappointed
but from the weather report it sounds like
we were right in the heart of the storm," she
says.
Services at the First Presbyterian Church
- were also cancelled on Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day.
"A lot of preparation goes into those
services so we were disappointed. it's not
the same watching the services on TV,"
says Mrs. Duke, the minister's wife.
On Chris as Eve. in the early morning,
iles were . stolen from a
One was found today
Church St. while the
52500 is still missing.
two snowmi
Seaforth res
under the snow on
other, with a value o
says Chief Claus.
Christmas eve fire destroys barn, pigs
Stormy weather saw most families spend
a quiet Christmas at home this -weekend. but
that wasn't the cue for Seaforth firemen. The
department spent the day' before Christmas
fighting two fires.
The Seaforth fire department was called to
a at Village Auto Body in Harpurhey at 10
a -m.. Saturday morning. Fire fighters wete
on the scene for about two hours. The interior
of the shop. owned by Dave Reid, received
extensive fire damage as 'did two cars. "At
first we couldn't tell what was smoke or what
was snow." said fire chief Harry Hak.
Cause of the fire has not been determined
but damage is estimated between 525.000
and 530.000.
BARN DESTROYED
Firemen were called to the farm of Ni
Peters. lot 31. concession 7. Tuckersmif
township ariffaR p:nw.1satifrtfay.
scene for six hours„ the department •WaSq
hampered by poor weather tonditioy?4.
"We got stuck with the pumper duck and
had to pull it out with the Water tanner." said
Mr. Hak. "The township snowplow was
called to keep the road open so we could get
back to town to get water.'
The blaze destroyed a barn. AlsocTilr were
about 500 laying hens and 600 pigs. "The
barn was pretty well gone by the time we got
there." Mr. Hak said.
The fire department was called by a
neighbour. "We always celebrate Christmas
on Dec. 24 and were in the living room at the
time of the fire." said Mr. Peters. "Our
neighbour noticed the fire 10 minutes b -fore
we did. We didn't see it until the fire
advanced far enough so we could see it out
the kitchen window."
Noticing the fire truck at the end of his
lane. Mr. Peters proceeded to clear his
driveway with tractor and blower. "1 got
•
CHRISTMAS EVE fires caused over S125,000 the farm of Nico Peters in Tuckersmith. The
in damage when fire damaged Village Auto barn fire claimed 500 laying hens and 600
Body in Harpurhey and destroyed a barn on pigs. (V1lassink photo)
snapped en the blower. But
. managed to make it through."
Cause of the fire. with damage exceeding
5100,000, has not been determined. "Be-
-abdut 20 feet from the truck when the shaft cause of the cold weather. 1 had installed two
the
truck
heaters in the chicken section." said Mr.
Peters. "The fire was cawed either by the
heaters or wiring."
As in the first fire on Saturday. firemen,
were hampered with blowing wind. "Be-
cause of snow banks, die closest we could get
to the barn was about 250 feet." said .Mr.
Hak. "i can only remember one other time.
about seven years ago when we had to follow
a snowplow. We never did get to that fire."
Where w.ere.wein '83?
JANUARY 5, 1983
Seaforth's Business improvement Area
members wonder if the BiA should continue
since only 10 of the 70 members are
participating.
The flu bug makes the rounds in Seaforth.
keeping 20 per cent of the students home
from Seaforth Public School and 5t. James
Separate School.
Isabel Scott retires after 26 years as the
Brucefield librarian.
JANUARY 12
Gloria and Robert Gilbert. of Brodhagen
have the first baby in the new year, a seven
pound, 10 ounce boy.
Seaforth's BiA decided to continue for
another year despite small attendance.
Seaforth council debates the need for a new
public works building.
Seaforth police officers are assaulted
outside the Queen's Hotel during weekend.
JANUARY 19
Evelyn Kennedy. former editor/ and
co -publisher of the Brussels Post for 50 years.
is honored at a dinner at the Brussels Legion.
Three Seaforth youths are charged with
robbery with violence.
Seaforth council receives 515.000 grant to
employ people who've exhausted UiC bene -
fns to convert the fire hall into a new police
station.
The Huron Board of Education estimates a
tax increase of 1' per cent.
JANUARY 26
Huron County's Farm Survival Assoc. tells
area farmers about financial assistance
available to avoid bankruptcy.
Brussels council keeps wage hikes dow o
six per cent.
Hensall received a 5150.000 loan from the
provincial government to finish the down-
town improvement.
Lisa Andreassi, a grade eight student at
Seaforth Public School. is named one of 12
Ontario Junior Citizens for 1982.
Seaforth's police court, held in town for 120
years, is moved to Goderich to cut costs for
the Attorney -General's office.
FEBRUARY 2
Seaforth area bean growers are shocked to
learn interim and possibly final payments for
1982 white beans would n8t be made.
Tuckersmith councillors freeze salaries for
1983.
Six Huron Progressive Conservative dele-
gates attend policy convention in Winnipeg to
discuss leadership of Joe Clark.
FEBRUARY
Kilbarchan Nursing Hone is evacuated
when a radio in the basement starts a fire.
Seaforth councillors hold the line on their
wages and give town employees a five Per
cent raise.
Huron County council opposes new rural
dump regulations.
FEBRUARY 16
The Golden Bear Classic at Seaforth
District High School attracts a good crowd of
basketball fans.
Seaforth Junior "D" Centenaires lose a
spot in the playoffs when Exeter beats
Belmont.
Dublin Hotel burns to the ground. The
building and contents were insured for
5300.000.
A small but enthusiastic group turns up for
booster club meeting for the new community
centre.
Gas prices are reduced to 21.5 cents a litre
in a Seaforth gas war.
FEBRUARY 23
NDP leader. Bob Rae listens to financial
problems of area farmers at a meeting in
Mitchell.
The former Hesson Haus Restaurant. one
of the oldest buildings in Seaforth. is torn
down.
Bernice McPherson has a lucky escape
from Bill and Jean Wifbee"s house when it
catches fire and is gutted.
Huron -Bruce M.P.. Murray Cardiff re-
ceives complaints about "pornographic con-
tent" on new cable services offered on
Mitchell and Seaforth Cable T.V.
MARCH 2
Grade 12 students at SDHS sell ads for the
Huron Expositor during a student work week.
Lillian Kerslake is honored for her
,dedication service toghe Seaforth branch of
the Canadian Red Cross Society.
Local artists respond to "Outreach Arti-
san-' program at the Van Egmond House.
MARCH9
Huron County Federation of Agriculture
opposes 100 per cent tax rebate on rural land.
Arson is suspected in fire that levelled
Huron Tavern in Dub jin recently.
A.Y. McLean. fo er publisher of the
Huron Expositor. w_rs President's Award
from the Ontario t?ommunity Newspaper
Association.
Business booms at the new Seaforth and
District Community Centres.
MARCH 16
Seaforth Golden Bears wilt WOSSA "A"
championship for senior boys' basketball for
third year in a row.
Seaforth's Agricultural Society produces
The Fantasticks. a community musical.
Huron county has the most alcohol-related
accidents per capita in the province.
A balloon from Ohio lands in Jim
Stephenson's farm in Grey township after a
61'7 hour flight.
Please see WHERE on page A2
—91 Yo kir
tined* ,h(12
Blizzard conditions
shuts down Seaforth Christmas Day/ A3
Seaforth Junior Farmers
elect 1984 executive
/ A6
Tweens beat
Strartford 13-2/ A9
Teens need information
about sex/ All
Brussels /A10
Classified /Al2
Community Calendar /A3
Dublin /A5
Entertainment /A8
Family /8
Kids /Alt
Legion /A8
Londesboro /A90
Obituaries 148
Sports /A9
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