The Huron Expositor, 1979-04-05, Page 1120th: Teat
Whole HOk :5795
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO
THURSDAY, APRT. Sx 19Z9 24 .PAGES
'$1.3• for one ,year' to advance
Single Copy 36 Cele
THE WORLD
PAIRSC HA
MPION
S Lloyd Eisler Jr
„ ofEgmandville
. and patner Lorri Baler of Mitchell (right) won ra`bronze
medal at the
world junior figure skating championships in Augsbur, West German Y ".
last week The first1
p aceP air• -was Veronica Per$hina and Marat Akbarov •
of Russi
a and the secondplace medallists'`
Were Liarissa
Selezneva and
•
OlegMakarov,also. of the Soviet
Upton, '
E.
third best
When Lloyd Eisler Jr., of Egmon dville good place -you $et better marks when you
and .Lorri Baler of Mitchellleft Canada on skate later in the match," -The pair saw only: ,
March 22, they were national champions.. one other performance during the pairs
When they returned from Augsburg; West competition, and Lloyd said it's traditional
Germany, they had moved up to the rank of that they don't watch the . performances of
world champions.,
Lloyd and Lord captured third place in the
world junior pairs .figure skating champion-
ships, in a competition that pitted them
against 11 ' other pairs of the world's best
. skaters. Perhaps not surprisingly, •the only.
two .pairs who were able to top Lloyd and
Lorri in the judges' eyes were the Russian
Skaters,
For someone who has just won a bronze
medal at aworld competition, Lloyd Eisler is
surprisingly matter -Of -fact about the. victory,.
The program the pair skate.., a two minute
short program and four minute long
program, on two succeeding nights, was the
same one that captured the Canadian'
national junior pairs championship• Included West. Germany, coverage in Canada hasn't
in the program. were `three exceptional followed suit.. Mrs. Eisler said the Toronto
moves -the throw double axel, the split triple newspapers both carried small stories on the
twist and a throw double salchow: juniors competition, . but the London Free
Despite the tension one might expect at a Press still hasn't carried a storyon the
world competition,' Lloyd and Lorri managed success of the Canadian team ' ,
to skate a flawless .program. Bev Eisler,,: FAIRLY NEW '
Llyd's;mother, said the man who coaches the Lloyd takes the lack of media interest
two. skaters, .Kerri Leitch . of the .Preston . philosophically and attributes it to the fact
Figure Skating Club,; said the competitibn the .junior con'ipe
was a good one. He felt the gold medalists,' event, He said crowds increased'. during the Seven false Cr la%m s o iti e .day
Veronica Pershing and Marat Akbarov week as the competition went on, and by the ..
skated a :slightly better performance than end; audiences were tossing flowers to the
Lloyd and Lorri but that the performance of skaters the. same way as they did in the
the second team Larrissa Selezneva and senior worlds,
Oleg Makarov, was almost. evenly matched Even if the junior skaters didn't receive:
to Lloyd and Lord's skating: . either the television or newspaper coverage
This year was the second time the local ` of their senior counterparts, Lloyd. and Lorri.
skaters had :competed in the world pairs are being honoured -locally at a Lloyd Eisler
Huron county council trimmed its ranks
Thursday whenit changedrequirements uirements for
lit • to send. deputy -reeves to the
munieipa t Cis
county n council chambers.
By a 36 to 16 vote council reduced its size
from 45 members to 29 beginning with the
1981 term, The restructuring means that
only municipalities with 2,500 or more voters
will send both a reeve and deputy -reeve to.
county council: At present 'municipalities
with 1,000 or more voters send two
• . representatives to the county level.
Under the new system only. Goderich,
Exeter and the township of Stephen will
send two representatives to county council.
The restructuring was doneto attempt to
streamline Council. Under the old system the
45 member council, considered by some to
already; be too large to be practical; • was
tr
their competitors before they skate.
This year, the competition, held for only
the fourth time, attracted, a higher calibre of
pairs skating, It was also the first year
Canada hasn't won the gold medal -which.
isn't quite the way it sounds. The first two
years, of the worldwide junior figure skating
competition were strictly exhibition, matches
and one year. Canada had only' one other
country competing .against them. It's only,
this year and last. that the junior competition '
has been considered a first rate international
competition, the same as the senior worlds,.
held earlier, this winter in Vienna, Austria.
Although the junior figure skating
competition attracted television coverage in
won the national: junior pairs championship,
next year they have to move.up and compete
on a senior level in national competitton:The
skaters will try their senior competitives
later this Spring. ironically; even though
they must compete on . a senior level ' in.
Canadian. competitions they .can compete
again in the world competitions •as juniors.
until they turn 18. Lloyd and Lorri, both
Grade 10 students, are now 15 years old,
TRAINING AGAIN
-The disciplined training for the two
skaters will. begin again by the end of the
summer, 'Lloyd admits it's becoming a task
to keep up with school work as the skaters,:
enter more competitions This year, he lost"
between two and a half and three months of
classroom, time to practise on the ice. Not
gnly iS the practise costly from an
educational standpoint, it's also 'just plain
costly, Figure skating coaching just doesn't
come cheaply..
Thehigh cost of having a talented skater
in the family kept all the families of the
Canadian junior skating team at hoine while
their children spent 13 days in Augsburg,
The Eislers learned they had a bronze
medalist in the family by listening to
Kitchener radio station on the night of Lloyd
and 1 nrri•'.s, final competition..;
d
The other Canadian team members
included Kris Barber and Kelly Johnston of
Toronto, who placed' third in:. the junior
dance event; Brad McLean of Vancouver and
Darrin Mathewson of Windsor, who Were
12th and 13th in the .men's, competition out
of 24 skaters and Kay Thompson of Toronto,
who placed sixth in the women's competition
out of 24 skaters;
Now, with. this year's competition behind
him, Lloyd can look ahead to the future,
Someday, he's like to turn professional and
skate in a show like the Ice Capades, Before
then, there are the 1980.Olympics to aim
for, or failing a chance to compete in those,
there are the 1984 Olympics further in, the
future.
Whatever lies ahead, it will mean long
hours of exercise, on and off the ice, more
sacrificing of school time...more.hours on: the,
road,` commuting back and forth to the,
Canibridge arena, But then, if Lloyd and
Lorri get discouraged, they can remember
the applause when they received " their.
bronze medals the friendly reaction, of
Germans to the visiting Canadian skaters in
their distinctive red team coats and the fact
that they competed on the world stage, and
won.
competiton. Last winter Lloyd and Lorri Jr: Night,. held in the Seaforth . council
placed sixth in the overall competition chambers .irext 'Wednesday, 'The public is.
5 DAYS TO PRACTISE invited to come—and: meet the skaters at thedispute between the board and the town
Fire Area Board'
talking hydrant
The : Seaforth Fire Area Board d (FAB) has
decided to seek another legal opinion on the
The Canadian skaters competing in the reception. council over the fire hydrant rental fees,
coopetition left Canada on March 22 and.'"‘A Now thatthe.worlds! are behind them, Seaforth council hasdemanded that the
hadfive days to practise on the competition ' Lloyd and. Lorri can "ease:' down low in FAB, pay the full $5400 annual hydrant rental
�y
rink,'lar er than our•rinks •,.before, the big
,g
event Lloyd and Lorri were the°:last-team to
skate the shortrogra,. and second last in
P m
the long program, • which Lloyd said .'_'is a
about to become"lar. g e r. W w n
ge est W a anosh
township is eligible for a deputy -reeve in the
981 ` election ander the old system and
.1
Bayfield .is also very close to deputy -reeve
status. -
Under the new system several townships
and two towns are Very • dose to the :2,500
electors needed for a deputy -reeve. The
townships of..Tuck.er,smith, Goderich,
Howick and Hay will probably be electing
deputy -reeves in 1981 as well as the town of
Clinton.:,
Some:: members of council balked at the,
idea of trimming deputy -reeves. Winghani
deputy -reeve Harold Wild felt that the
councillors should take the matter back to
their respective councils for discussion and
direction. Wild said he felt he couldn't make
a decision adding that thewo'iid like to"talk;,
uron B of E rejects
Budget road
The Huron County board of education
. refused to take its budget on the road
Monday when no trustee endorsed a
suggestion to hold area ratepayer's
meetings to explain the education budget •
Godench .trustee Dave Gower could not
even et a seconder for a motion he made to
havethe board hold public meetings in the
four corners of the county to explain
education cysts to
taxpayers. Gower, wanted the board to
sponsor four meetings, one in the north one
in the south and one each in the east and
west portions of the county, He said such
meetings would provide the board with a
good opportunity to explain its budget and:
may .help todevelop a better rapport with
ratepayers.
There are a lot of people that don't
understand how the budget is formulated,"
said Gower. The Goderich trustee added that
the board has "some obligation" to the
people to explain the complex. byidget.,
Gower's Suggestion came on the heels of a
letter front Goderich town council
suggesting that the board be encouraged to
gB t3
"formulate a system of public meetings to
explain its financial requirements' to tax-
payers
Board chairman John Elliott said . the
board had "taken the initiative itt the past
years to invite council members to budget
meetings". The 'chairman noted that it
would be good public relations to' set u
g P.
budget meetings in each municipality
but
said there's
a 'time factor the board has to .
consider, He added that budget meetings
the board has promoted in the past have
been poorly attended.
Elliott commented that all -board meetings`
are open to the public. He said the board has
sent out letters tocouncils inviting them to.
attend a budget sessions with the board but
added that the letters aresimple reminders
not restrictions.
"1 get the feeling' that these letters specify
limited attendance," said Gower..
The board sends letters to mayors, reeves,
deputy -reeves, members of council', finance
chairmen . and clerks . inviting" them to a
special :meeting called'. to pass the board's
budget.
Seaforth'trustee John Henderson felt the
explanation of the board's budget was the
responsibility of individual trustees if they
felt special meetings were necessary. The
Seaforth trustee said trustees could (arrange
Meetings ontheir own if they felt they were
needed or necessary.
Shirley Hazlitt, trustee for Goderich and
Colborne township , said all budget`
meetings are open to ratepayers, members
of council and to: the press in the county:
fee it a
Lloyd's words, In May, the pair will learn if f p ys to Seaforth PUC; rather than
the Canadian Figure 'Skating Association--Te51,000 theboardhas paid in the Past..
wants them to attend any other international Both the council and the FAB' sought legal
competitions.' Also, since Lloyd and Lorri opinions,.. and if a settlement can't be
reached in the near future, the matter will be
referred to the courts.
The FAB meeting was held, on Thursday
night FAB chairman Irwin Johnston said
the meeting of the board, which hadn't been
scheduled, was called. to discuss the matter
of false alarms
ves
about -at home.,
TurnberryYde uty,•reeve Harold Elliott
said, he felt the position of deputy -reeve was
"a good opportunity for younger people to
get into this (county council ':business) for the
time they step up to reeve.'" Elliott also felt
reeves left at the council table would be
unable to handle all the county business and
committee. work.
County clerk Bill Hanly said about' theanly
thing that would be altered by the reduced.
size is the number of councillors sitting on
' council,He said the voting powers of the
individual municipalities would change very_
little.
Haply said he didn't like to talk about
rural versus urban situations but pointed out
that every once in a while it "rears its. ugly.
, head" •
•
The clerk pointed out that where a rural
municipality has three votes of a total of 57 it •
will now have one vote of a total of 30: He
pointed out that rural votes 'still outnumber
urban under the new system:
Voting power for individual municipalities
• is established by 'population: A municipality
is givenone: vote per 1,000 population to a
maximum)f four votes, •
Hanly.told councillors the rural vote was
'still stronger under the new system. He said
rural votes are now, 65 percent ofthe total
and urban 35. After restructuring rural votes
would' :amount to 57 percent of the total and
urban 43 percent.
Theclerk.
n
said restructu
ng is not dying
away with deputy -reeves just reducing the
size of county council,
Lloyd 'Mousseau deputy-reevept y ,
Y + of flak
township, told council he felt a vote to limit
deputy -reeves would' be discriminatory. He
said learning now that his job as deputy.
-; reeve was going to end may have an affect
on the job he will do as a member of county
council. He said if the vote was taken at the
end of the two year terin he may feel
differently than he does now.
Hanly explained to council that ex P the vote
was taken now to allow both members of
Council' and Voters to understand what it will
mean;' He Said if the vote had been taken just
prior to the election it may have caused a
great deal of confusion amongst candidates
and voters.
"Deputy -reeves aren't going anywhere.
They're still going" to be here (county
council) for two years," said Hanly. "The
only difference is that in two years
deputy reeves are not going to be elected to
conte to county. Council but repretient
electors at home." •
Haney added that the tcduetfort of sizti of
county council would save taxpayers money.
He said he couldn't statehow much saving
would be realized but estimated each council
member to cost about 52,000 a year.
Recently, seven .false alarms sounded at,.
;.the •Seaforth. 'Fire department.in one.
afternoon,-lt is assumed the alarms were set
off by moisture getting into the,. Bell
The Crornarty fiddler
....n e so s
usic since
BY ALICE GIBS are- becoming a vanishing breed. Jack:
Belford,' Fred Harburn; Jack Burchill and
f
Telephone lines. After the second alarm, the
public siren was turned off, but .'firemen
responded to all the calls. Mr. Johnston
said; "It costs us (the FAB) money : every
time the men have to come in;''
The board has billed Bell Telephoneforthe
costs of firemen answering the alarm'
s, but
B
the'FA-chairman is doubtful the company—
will
ompany-will pay. He said theyhave a regulation
Py 8
saying they're not responsible for the fire
alarm.
Mr. Johnston said although the FAB
meeting hadn't been scheduled previously,
it wasn't an "In camera" meeting and would
have been;open to the press. A reporter who-
went to t • meeting found the outside door
of the town hall locked and assumed the
m was
Cerin :closed.to the e press..
The FAB chairman said, All ,our.
meetings are. P
open to the press."
P
Nelson .Howe, the Cromarty area fiddler
who's a familar sight at .everything from
'dances to anniversary parties to stepdance
competitions, has been making music since
"1917 -when I wore knee pants."
The fiddle and Nelson Howe .Were
instant allies and today the man who can't
read sheet music is still picking up jigs and
reels and waltzes by ear. although he
admits it takes a little longer than it once
did. .
Thestory of Mr, 'Howe's fiddtin' career
starts when his brother sent 510 away to
the T.E.Eaton. company and got a fiddle in
return. Looking back, Mr. Howe said, "He
couldn't play a tune on it, but 1 kinda
picked out Turkey in the Straw: Then a
neighbour up the road came' over and
tuned it up and 1 had to learn to pla it: all
over again. '
The musicians in Mr, Howes family
included a brother and his father who
played the accordion and his sister who
played the piano but all the Howes brit'.
Nelson's sister trained themselves to pick•
the tunes up by ear.
Later, Mr, . 'Howe tried to take piano
lessons so he would learn to read music,
but the experiment wasn't successful,
Today, he 'sticks to his tried and true
method of listening to a tune over and over
again, until he can heat the melody and'.
pick the tune out on his fiddle,
"Now l listen a heck of a lot longer than
%ilea I was a young fella," he said,
When Mr. Howe ' was growing up,
"there was a fiddle in almost every house
on the concession." Not only were fiddlers'
'. a commoner breed, but there "writ a bunch
. of good dancers here years ago" so the
fiddlers got lotsof practise playing for
community dances at the Staffa hall,
VANISHING BREED
Today, old time dancing IS still a
tradition atthe hail, but old tyme fiddlers
Nelson Howe are among the Last Fiddlers
in the " Cromarty . area: One : of
Nelson's majorconcerns about the future is
f theyoung ones don' .t
tt ake•it up,fiddlers
will be at•a premium,"
Nelson Howe's first public appearance,.
"when" I was just'. a little gaffer,• Was
playing a square dance `tune at the church
concert.
When Ross McKay came to teach at the
Cromarty school, he introduced students to
the art of stepdancing during, their• noon
and recess breaks. The students were soon
nimble enough on their feet to compete at
the Canadian 'National Exhibition and:
Nprelsonovide Howe
theunes
TRADITION went. .
along, with thein_ to
t
_Over.the years, playing for ste
pdancers,
including the pupils . of Seaforth's Lila
Storey, has become something of a
triidition for Mr. Howe, The secret of
playing for stepdancers is to watch their
(Continued on Page S)
FRIENDS .- Neisonl How
e, the
Cromarty fiddler,a
y takes a stroll
in, his yard while a friend catches
a ride on'his shoulder. Mr.1-towe
has played. fiddle . at_ dances
and accompanied, st • a
p epancers in
the area since be learned tola
R Y
by ear as a young man.
(Phot by David McLean)
the uroit'‘JtVii°4exPositor
Inside
this week
A 'syrup' tour , , ,. ,,
Read Canadian
•'Optittlist race a hitl' Y
A balancing bunch ... w 4 I, Y
,' . ,P. 6
. • P. 10
• Y
P.
12.
.. , .. 'P. 13