The Huron Expositor, 1978-12-28, Page 1Seaforth fire chief Harry Halt told
members of the Fire Area Board (FAB) on
'Monday night, that he would like to see the
local fire department equipped with a rescue
van foreiiiefgerielei. '
' Mr. .Bak said neither the local ambulance
service or the 0.P.P. areequipped, to answer
rescue calls which might involve free ing
J someone from a wrecked' car, or rescuing
someone from drowning. .
gxeter, Goderich and Whigham`,fire
departments are the ,only departments in
Huron County presently equipped wit!?•
rescue equipment.
Mr. 'flak told the FAB on Nov. 25, the
- gebringyille O.P.F. called the Seaforth fire
• .department for assistance in freeing a man
trapped. in a car outside of Dublin.
Mr. Hak said five men answered the call
and 10 men went out on the truck.
Before they reached the • accident scene,
they,were notifed the trapped man had been
freed, — • -
• The cost of answering the call Was $200,
and the Seaforth fire department has billed
the Department of Highways for the sum,
Since answering the call, the' local fire
department has received a questionnaire
from the provincial Solicitor General's office
asking about the amount of rescue.equip-
ment the department has on'hand.
Mr. •Hak told the FAB the provincial
governmentis offering to pay up to 69 pet
."—`""Neent of the cost of purchasing the rescue
equipment -
Mr. H ak said now the only rescue
•'' equipment owned by the department is a
rescue saw, foam for protection in case of
gas spills and "crowbars.
" Mr. H ak said now when the fire
department receives 'a request for rescue
assistance, they have to send out the large
fire truck, manned by 10 .men, when they
',could send out' a rescue van. which
.
only
reqUires four men.
The FAB asked Mr. Hak to, out the
Seaftirth- girl is
Brothers in law in Perth warden's contest
before a packed courtroom at the Perth
' County Courthouse in Stratford.
In a brief speech following Pridham's
election, Vack explairied that he had run for
the job beCause there haSn't been a warden
,froin Logan township •for a Wong He
4 •10.e'engratiilated the new warden aed moved
that the vote' for Pridham be made
afternoon at the inaugural meeting Of the
newly-elected Perth • County
Pridham defeated his, brother-in-laW Re-
eve Carl Voek of Logan Township for the la,
of Fullerton
Perth' County
last Tuesday
Ormond Pridham
ip has been elected
arden for' 1979. ••
The election took, place
Unanimous,
•
pcitu Spen ing Ch ris ttn as: in Ge' rman :by quipping, "1 think the reason you werenZt,,
a responded to Vock's comments
too hard on' me is because you're''my
praised
investigated by Bob Adams of die Ontario
.-Fire niarshall's office in Mount Forest.
Harvey Dale,owner of the Royal
Apartment building, said he is also
convinced that Clarence Reeves "saved the
building." He 'said Mr. Reeves was "Smait
enough 'and man enough" to alert the other
tenants after he discoVered smoke pouring
into his own apartment,.
Mr. Reeye's apartment was ad' t to
the one occupied by Mr. Howard.
. Mr. Dale said fie 'still hasn't had an
estimate of the damages, but he expects his
insurance 'Will cover the logs. Some of the
tenants also had separate insurance on their
pyramind turn. brother-in.law."
The new' warden was sworn into office by,
'Perth County Judge`J. Atthur Mullen after
which 1978 Warden Rae Bender of Wallace
Township presented Pridham with the
special chair of office.
PROUD TO BE ELECTED'
Pridham commented• after taking the oath
of office that he realized the responsibility
involved in the warden's job and said that he
was "proud to be elected."
In his speech, Pridhain was emphatic that
Perth.Copnty must maintain its current strict
land use polieieS. 'The' county's 14
municipalities, he said, are doing their best
to save valuable and irreplaceable farm land
and pledged to continue 'that effort. • •
Pridham also struck out •against regional
government and said that county officials ^
"hope to plotour own destiny." He pointed
, to the economic problems facing both the
federal and proYincial governments and said
he doubted if Perth citizens would liite to see
their municipalities operated as inefficiently
as the larger gcekern,ments. ' -
However, the new warden said the time
has come in the county when either services
, will have to be lessened or the mill rate
increased. He predicted a "tough economic,
year" in 1979 in tight of -present inflation
rates.
On hand for the warden's election were 19
former county wardens, Who watched the
ceremonies from the courtroom's jurors'
stands.
Christmas'or the day of the three Kinds on
December' 26, is •the day the visitors 'come
and the roast duck or goose is •eaten.
The table centrepiece is usually a pyramid
with little wooden figures (the nativity
scene, choirboys or angels) and candles. The
flame or the candles causes a tiny breeze"
which makes the windmill on' top of 'the'.
,„ •
These are some of the more interesting
and' common customs of Germany" As in
Canada l. each,family tends to modify them or
- form their own. J est remember that the next
time you notice that the • sky is pink, the
,ChristKind is, baking MarzipiM and coracles
for' Christmas.
Photo Hof the year
ou can lead
a horse to a ,
hotel. •
The than who coined the phrase, "you can
lead a horse to water, but you can't make
him• drink" obviously hasn't met Bob
Patrick's horse, Glib.
On Saturday afternoon, „Mr. Patrick and
his horse were downtown, faking people for
a Christmas ride •in the Patrick cutter. The
driver deciddd he'd like to wet his whistle
before 'continuing his rounds, and so he
dropped into the Commerical Hotel for some
liquid tefreshment. On consideration, it
didn't seem fair that he should be the only
one to "pause 'and refresh" himself, since
- after all, it was Glib who was doing the hard
work.
This is why some slightly startled patrons
in 'the Commercial ended up sharing their
Saturday afternoon beer with a horse. And
Glib didn't need , any extra persuasion when
it came to taking a 'quick gulp from the
bettle.
Oh, Was it the first time a four.footed
friend •has strode into "the batv.strdered a
beer? Nons'ense! The Corhmetial Hotel's
Miller Rene Dupuis claims he's served both
a goat and-another horse: So Glib isn't the
first one to have a heeLhaw in the local
septeitibei '28
LET ME OPP! - -.Karen Van Steelendt whs" less thamenthused by her ride
on the kiddy-gb-rOund at the Seaforth Pall Fair on Friday,. but ':sister
Tanya loved doing round and round. The girls are the daughters of Filokie
and Otibert Van Steeiartdt. 4 ' ' ' (Expositor Photo),
-••••el 'Whole...No. 5881 •
11th Year', SEAFORTHt .ONTA1310,11-HyRSDA,Y, DECEMBER 28, 1978 — 24 Pages
$2.00 a year, in,advance
Single COpy ,25 cents'
hiel says res
van needed her
questionnaire, from the Solicitor General's
office and send. it in.
Mr. Hak said the fire marshall's office will
supply a training program in the use of
rescue equipment without charge and a
number of 'the filen-ee „ have 'already
indipated they would be interested in, taking
the 'training:
My.' Hak also reported the departnient has
,harl. problems with false alarms recently.
On November 22 , when the emergency
alarm was tested at the Seaforth' Senior
Citizens' Home, the alarm rang in at the
Seaforth fire hall twice in the day. Both
times firemen responded to the call, and this
- cost is charged to ,the FAB,
On Dec. 9, a third: false alarm' also
sounded at the station.
Mr. Hak alserePerted On Nov 24, firemen
were called to Tasty Nu Bakeshop to
investigate black smoke pouring from a
chimney. The smoke turned out tq be coming
from an incinerator at Brix Furniture:
Mr, H ak said the problem with the false
alarms„ is that the fire department doesn't
'know if the alarms were set off by faulty Bell
Telephone equipment or whether disPat-
chets at Seaforth Community Hospital m ay
have. tripped the alarm as soorf as they
' answered the-fire call, rather than waiting to
learn if the call was legitimate. •
The fire chief also repotted that 'himself,
deputy fire chief Tom Phillips and .Dennis
McCauley, recently graduated from' 13
week program on basic fire" prevention
practices,' sponsored by the fire marshall's
office and taught in Exeter.'
n
arm is
Clarence' Reeves, •a tenant in 'the Royal •
Apartment building, on the corner of
Goderich and Main Streets, Seaforth is
credited with preventing a potential diiaster
in sounding the alarm in last week's fire,
Donald Howard, 36, another tenant in the
building, died as a result of the early
morning fire on Dec., 20 which originated, in
his apartment.
Seaforth fire -Cliief"Hatry Hak said if the
fire hadn't been discovered for another five
to seven minutes, we could have had a
disaster on Main Street." The chief said
Clarence Reeves not only roused the other
tenants in the building when he discovered
smoke pouring into the halls, but also didn't
panic, leaving the front fire door of the
building closed.
The chief said if the front door had been
opened, the air might have fanned the
flames in the 'Howard apartment, and the
building, and more of the Main Street block,
could have gone up -in smoke'.
Lois Dalton, •another tenant in the
building; also praised Mr: Reeves for getting
herself and the other tenants up an$:1 our:oete---
the roof of the building from where they
were later rescued.
She said Mr.. Reeves pounded on all the
apartment doors, despite the thick cloud of
s.moke in the halls of the building.
Other tenants who also escaped to the rear
of the building were •Ted Sallows, Mr. and.
Mrs. Newt, Dalton, and Larry Dalton.
Mr, Reeves also alerted Fer,g McKellar,
who lives in the building •behind the goyal
Apartments, and Mr. MeKellar turned in the
alarm. --
The fire alarm soundeicat •3:35 a.m. and
17 firemen arisred the call.
PRO SIONAL
Mr. Hak said he ,11. proud of the way the
men handled the fire and added, "They
attacked it in ,a professional •11140q.:'
11* dllietalcyillqn firemen first reached
the ,Royal ,A,:f4rernent building, 4he.Howard
apartinent"Was. "Sp hot we P-go u trt enter
Mi.'Hak has already tutted his report on
the fire into the. Solicitor General's office:
Hpwever the cause •tieing
Clarence, Reeves
apartment "'contents, including the fire
vict i,m Doffed Howard.'
Mr. Dale said it still frightens him to think
4.wkl.4,,11I:ght 'have happened to the building. ,
and tenants if Clarence Reeves hadn't
wakened uo and Sitimded the alarm.
Mt. Dale said he was awake- when the
•
A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER DUET — Ruth Mauer and daughter
Tracy Of High Street, Seaforth, were two of the many local residents who
went a-caroling on the Tuesday night before Christmas. The singers, who
started off from Seaforth Public School and returned' there for hot
chocolate after their caroling, visited a number of homes 'in town.
(Expositor Photo)
• Editoeig Note: The folloWing story arrived at
the Expositor last Wednesday afternoon,
, `just hours after Christioasitsue had gone to
press. However, the story Miss Bode wrote
is a highlight of the New Year'P edition.
, She's the daughter of Don and Thelma Bode
of Goderich St. 'West in Seaforth and is
spending a year at university 'in Germany.)
. ,
CHRISTMAS IN GERMANY
BY JOANNE BODE
I3eing away from home at Christmas can
be a very lonely experience. Hnweyer, after
Spending the last two months attending
university and living in a student residence,
. have acquired many German friends and 1
have • been Invited to several homes for
Christmas Day..
Since the middle, of November, the city
has been in a flurry, preparing for Christmas
.The two main streets downtown have been'
lined with Christirias trees decprated with
. white lights. Christmas lights have also been
hung across the Neckar and. Rhein bridges.
• Every factory, school and buildings pf
importance have erected a tall Christmas
Tree. the Shop windows are brightly
decorated as they are in Canada.
e .
Nurnberger Lebkuchen, Leipziger
Marzipan and Dresdner Christ stollen are
the food specialties of the'season. One large
department store has giant advent's
calendar on its outside wall.- Friday,
• December 1, the store was surrounded with
parents and, children anxiously awaiting the
first window of the calendar to be lit.
Every home has an advent's calendar.
Each day a window of the calendar is opened
and behind it is a chocolae or small candy.
and a picture.•. Nearly every home has an
advent's wreath too. A freind and I made our
own from pine branches, ribbons and pine ,
cones. On •the first Sunday of advent we lit,
the first candle,.
On December 2 the Weihnachtsmarkt
(Christmas market)" started and is open
every day until December 23. It is an outdoor
market with over 150 stalls selling Christmas
gifts, , decorations, baking goods and
"Ghthwein". Glii.hwein is steaming hot red
-wine 'with cinnamin and -cloves (another
specialt3r.of the season) used to fight off the
cold weather.
SHOES BY THE DOOR
December 6 the children put th it shoes'
by their bedroorn •door and then go to bed.
Nikolaus conies during the, night and leaves
cookies or something small in their shoes if
they have been good, .:A bundle of sticks are,
left if th'ey have been bad.
On Decineber 24th, While the fathei'and
children go for a walk, the Mother sets up
the ChrigtrilagTree"drinleedrAta it With, real
ccandles. The Christkind, comes during this
time too, so that when the. children return
from their walk, the tree is decorated and the
gifts'are underneath: The gifts are opened
that evening.
• On Decernhetlg, 'although it is a holiday,
nOthirig ankh is d 'The second day of
HORSING AROUND — Commercial Hotel owner ,Rene Dupuis 'poses
with Glib, the rather 'horsy' customer who dropped by for a drink on
Saturday afternoon. (Expositor Photo)
Mit /I twon ,fxpasittir
Inside this week
St. Colurnban Concert P. 4
" A Year in Review P 6 .
Happy New Year .. .... . . . . P..12 & 13
Christmas Carollers P 10