HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-08-02, Page 1lobi 'Tear;'Wl3ole; No, '.5812'
SEAFORTH, :CNTARIOis THURSDAY*. AUGUST 2 1979 FIRST SECTIONPAGES 1 24
SWINGING IN THE SUN—Paul Dolmage of Winthrop had a "swinging"
time on Saturdayy afternoon at. the. V1linthrop Park, scene of the annual
bike rally. More photos inside the. Expositor. (Expositor photo)
Has been hospifal •c
BY ALICE GIBB,
After 14 years as pastor of St,. James'
parish, Seaforth, Father H.J. Laragh will
be leaving in mid-August to become pastor
of Our Lady, of Mercy parish in Sarnia,
Father Laragh will be sharing his new
charge with Monseignor Rooney, and
Father Roy, who also teaches at St.
Patrick's. Secondary School in Sarnia:;
Father Laragh said when he first came to
Seaforth in 1965, he was sitting in his study
one day when ;a'man, a little' worse for
;'drink,' wandered in from the 'hotel and
demanded to. know why Seaforth needed a
priest Father Laragh said he told the man,
"`Seaforth may not need me, but I need
Seaforth." He said his years in the
•. Seaforth parish"have been great for me"
and said he has mixed feelings about,
leaving:
The priest said Bishop; Sherlock: of
London approached hini in June about the
possible move ;to the Sarnia parish.
Father Laragh, whowas ordained`. in,
1944, grew up in St Peter's parish
London. After he was ordained', he served;,
in Windsor, Woodstock and London before.
being made parish priest in Petrolia He
also served as a parish priest in Woodstock
before coming to Seaforth:
During the years he has served in the
'Seaforth parish, Father Laragh has seen
many changes -both within the parish and
within: the Catholic church itself:
He said, "Pope John opened ' the
• windows and let in fresh air,"adding that
the last 15 years have been "years of great
diange for the Catholic church." •
In the. Seaforth parish, there have also
been a number of changes,
The Sisters of St, Joseph convent was
dosed after almost 50 years of service in
the community, and then .repopened' again
two years later.
Father Laragh added 'a third mass for the
Congregation on Saturday evenings and
since a number of retired members of the
congregation like to attend church .daily,
has held early morning mass on weekdays.
Father Laragh has also served on the.
board of Seaforth Community Hospital for
the past eight years$ and was appointed
Chairman of the . board of directors last
Father Laragh said his service onthe
hospital' board allowed him to make a
contribution to the rest of the community'
as well as to the; Catholics. `in his
congregation.
Thenest said serving on the
P
board` he has developed it great admiration'
for hospital administrator Gordon McIten•
role and "for the way in which he Is able to
handle all the `problems at the hospital,'"
Father Latagh said he has also en. joyed
Ms friendly relations with other congfega-
Bona and their, miniate'rs in Seafoftlt. He
aaid,kthe clergymen have mettogether often
42" Piig*i
BY USE GUNNY
Seaforth grocery stores have dropped;
their beef prices in accordance with the
province -wide cuts of 10 to 20 cents per.
Pound.:
Community consumers are accordingly
pleased. But what about that producing and.
consuming unit- the farmer? Cattle farmers,
have been criticized, often. unfairly, over the
past. year, Now the ,swing, of supply and.
demand has stopped temporarily on the side
of the consumer.
"Everything that goes. up has got to come
down," said Archie Etherington, past
president of the Ontario Cattlemen's. Associ-
ation, -
A cattleman who bought a steer three
months ago! for , $1,000, fed the animal until
now, and possiblypaid the interest tied up in:
$1,000, can now get $850 to 5900 for the,.
animal.
"`That's a tremendous loss," said Mr;,
Etherington.
The drop in price is having• a "severer'
dollar and cents effect," said Don McKer,
cher, a beef producer at R.R. 1, Dublin, with
a decrease of S10 per hundred pounds since
July 1.
and the churches •have prayed together. for
church union..
In the years he has served in the parish,
Father Laragh has seen St James' School
affected by the declining enrolment hitting
many area schools., There are now 100
pupils less in the school .than there were
when he came to Seaforth and. ony. one
Perth crops
• "Generally; crops are looking' really
good," is the phrase used to describe
growing conditions in relation to the weather,
by both Huron and. Perth agriculture
officials. '
'Although` May, June and July had a lower
amount of rain than normal as recorded by
the Goderich weather station, precipitation
in the last week, compounded by muggy
weather, has more than replaced the dry
spell.
The distribution of rain in Huron County
has seemed to be the problem, said Don;
Pullen of the Clinton agriculture office: It
eavi
portable classroom is still usedfor class
work:. One.. positive• element in the school's
life is that two of the teachers-Dick-Bester
and Ken Miskiewicz:decided to enter St:
Peter's Seminary., London, to train for the
priesthood, after teaching at the local..
school.
(Continued. on Page 3)
•
PIPES AND DRUMS IN PARK — A good crowd \watches the London
Poke Highland Band Sunday night. in Victoria Park. The popular band
performs extensively, competed at the. World Scottish Festival, and
Queen and Prince Pfilill ohthe oddith _ .
prayed. for Elizabeth p ion of their
C of C sponsored bandco:..:
. pncertwill
. :,..
1973 visit to Canada. This Sunday the
feature the Stratford Legion Coneert Band,
'(Expositor Photo)-
Figure that on a 1200 pound steer..
That's $120 a head," he said, "But on the
other hand, replacement prices have
dropped too,so that's a help."
'The prices of replacement steers are
dowel considerably, so there is still a positive
margo if you're selling and;' buying today,"
said Mr. ,McKercheir..
The effect of the price drop varies from;
farm: to farm, said Brian Miller of R,R, 3,:
Exeter, Who graduated from the Ontario
Agricultural Colle$e in; agricultural eco-
nomie$,
Those farmers who bought high priced
replacement cattle in March may',emaking
less money than expected, he said, but those
who bought them cheaper in January ,may
not be realizing such losses,
"Certainly there has been a loss of
potential income," said Mr. Miller, and
inventory value has decreased, but the loss
is a "paper sort of thing" until the cattle are
actually sold.
Mr: Miller said that he wasn'tsure the
supe, -market chains were dropping the beef
prices as much as they could. They could
drop the prices, little bitmore to accurately
reflect the prices farmers' are getting for
iIizing••
Huron,.
look good
Weather stab
has been variable,, although the rain in the
centre part of the county has been very'
helpful, he said.
Huron County has been blessed with good.
corn weather, with the rain about three
weeks ago:. and the hot weather following,
said Mr, Pullen.
In. Perth, said Alan Scott of the Stratford:
' office, the cornstarted out pretty slow
because of colder weather and later
planting, but it's been catching up in the last
few weeks.".
The Mount Forest weather officerepotted
a total precipitation in May of 84.9 mm. as
opposed to a normal average figure of 73.2
.'nm.'In May, which is unusual, there was 4
mm: of snow as� opposed to a normal
snowfall of 1.8 mm.. June, the driest month, ..
had 61.9 • mm. of rain as opposed to the
normal figure of.81:6 mm..
Wheat in Huron is just starting, said Mr.
Pullen, the winter barley is ready,and the
oats and barley will be ready in a week or so.
• A. phenomenon of this year's fruit and
vegetables is that the peas,' beans, cherries''.
and raspberries have all been ready at the :'
same. time:
"That goes back, tothe cool period," said
Mr: Pullen.
In the Staffa area, the "only' fly in the
ointment" is the probable white bean •yield.
reduction due to the dry weather when the
beans were. planted, ,and the rainfall in the
last while,.:
Mr. Scott said the Perth white beans look
really good, but added that we don't like to
see this muggy, weather because of the white
mold on beans. We have had enough
moisture for a while."
Eastern Ontario, especially the Peter- .f
borough area, has suffered from a lack of
rain: Many crops in that area have gone.
"down the pipe" because of the dryness,
said Mr. Pullen.
There has been an abundance of first -cut
hay, most of which is stored now; said Mr.
Pullen, .."some say they will have difficulty
finding room for the second cut, it was so
abundant "`
But the advent of second cutting "usually
insures more rainfall," he said.
The Goderich weather office forecasts a
sunny day with cloudy periods on Thursday,
with a temperature of 26 to 28 degrees.
Friday will bring a return to warm, hazy and
humid weather with a high of 28 to 30
degrees. Weathermen predict a sunny day
Saturday with cloudy periods. The weather
will be a little less humid, with a tempera=
tare reading of 25 degrees.
Freak hail storm
hitssouth
A strip of.wind and hail travelling east of
Exeter towards Kirkton damaged crops in
the area the evening of July 23.
Bill and Donna. Heather,' who own a farm
1 t4 miles north of Kirkton, were hit by the
storm at 7:30 p.m.
"It started a cond'ession and a. half behind
us," said Mr. Heathet, moving in a
south-east direction across the south-east
edge of his property.
One full concession Was affected by the
hail, and Mi. Heather said his back field wa
stripped, g cropsmostly
a Thite
damaged " he s Wate corn and
looks like someone Was in there with
the scissors and cut it all''.' to pieces," said
Mr. Heather.
"When the corn is younger, there is a
better chance of recovery, he said, but his
was getting ready to tassel; so. he doesn't
know what the end result of the hail will be.
The hail strip laps three-quarters of a mile
wide, he said: Other than the freak hail
storm. said Mr. Heather, the weather hit
"eeetned.likcs;,;y „l+tl ehis4 ear:"'
.At:„.. ,,r tali,x
their beef.
"But the reaction seems to be fairly quick,
this tame," he said,
SGG.
Ross Procter, on a fatty? near Brussels,.
said the farmer who issuffering from tehe.
drop right now is the man who has been
buying feeder cattle at .400 to 900 pounds
and:feeding them up to 1,100 poundsThese
$13, a year in adVaPee.
Single Copy 30 cog
timers were paying S1. per 'hundred .until
the price broke, and thus have $900 tied up
in aro animal they kept for 60 days or longer;
Pies feeding costs. Tat; farmer, who now
has a 1,100, pound animal to sell, can only
get 72 cents per pound,.
Beef is selling for $72 per hundredweight,
and the price should be $80 for the farmer to
(Continued on Page 3 )
uronifilit(fxpositor
Inside this week.
1000 fish killed:., ," , , . , . P. 3
Joanne Bode home ,: . .. . .P. 10
Summer games:photos:.., .. , P. 13
A different farm . , . , ... , P. 15
Fall Fair Prize List 4. Pages 1A -8A
APOLLO 15 -What looks like a rocket at night is actually the oil drilling.
rig on the Cor DeCorte farm west of Seaforth, Corunna Petroleum Ltd, is :.
the contractor working for. Amoco Petroleum Company. (Expositor photo)
Drilling rig in McKillop
Search for oil at DeCorte's
Anyone driving north and west of Seaforth holds the formation firm so that it won't cave
past the farm' of Cornelius DeCorte can't
help but notice the hulking oil rig which The contractors, who came to McKillop
dominates the skyline. from. Kincardine, do not release details such
The contractors, Corunna Petrolium: Ltd., as 'the depth of the drilling. Apparently,
began drilling Sunday night, but won't know competition is fierce in the drilling business,
for a week or so whether or not they will hit and a "No Trespassing" sign is erected at
oil. the end of the driveway to the site.
: Contracting for Amoco Canada Petroleum
Co. Ltd„ a firm b sed in Calgary, a four man
crew works thi eight hour shifts around
the clock;.
Amoco Canada is one of the major firms,
along with imperial Oil, Shell (which •
recently found the gas well in Ashfield),' BP sponsoring
�M raDeCorte,tanada
who and Tcoa owns the • McitilIop_,
started checking for oil 10 years ago on his refugees
township' property, Said a company first
land, Seismograph rigs are used 'to test the
earth for a potential well. St. James` parish, Seaforth is completing
In addition to the driller and the three men the final steps to bring a family of
working with him, three men live at the site, Vietnamese "boat people to Give in the
the engineer, the geologist from the community.
company, and a man known as the tool push. Father H.J. Laragh said the next step itis
Corinna Petrolium is using a rotary drill the process is to talk ' with Canadian
on this site, rather than the cable tool drill. immigration department officials.
The advantages of the rotary drill versus the The parish plans to sponsor at least one
cable tool eau be argued, the tool push family, which: they will house In the former
etitployee said, but the rotary drill is faster. Macmillan home on the corner o4 Victoria
They drill with a mud base. Beside the and Gouinlock Streets, which it owned by
drill are Woo small rectangular ponds. The the Si. dames eongregatdoa.
liquid is pumped into the hole and returns, Father Laragh said in sponewriog a family,
bringing a sample or "cuttings" which the congregation must guaraatsei' to . ppott
reveal the kind'of formation they are'drilling them fot"'one year: The' 'pleat ssId bs Bop`s
into: The mud also acts as a coolant and the family will be arriving it satotflil'r.00a.
St. James'•