The Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-07-08, Page 1ESTABLISHED IN 1873
"THE SEPOY TOWN" ON THE
HURON -BRUCE BOUNDARY
PUBLISHM')i =KNOW, ONTARIO
16 PAGES 40' PER COPY
Grants approved for
Lucknow arena
The Lucknow and District Arena Board
has received word that their applications
for Capital and Conversion grants have
been approved.
A Capital Grant totaling $190,933 will be
applied to the reconstruction of dressing
rooms in the existing arena while a further
$27,000 will be used for the much needed
roof repairs.
"This will be a two phase project," says
Bill Hunter, local Recreation Director. "It
is the intention of this board to secure a
further Capital Grant to proceed with
phase two."
Hunter says the further details of the se-
cond phase of the arena project will be
finalized at a forthcoming meeting of the
nine member board, but that it could take
four to five years before phase two is
realized.
"It's good to know that the long awaited
assistance has finally been approved,"
says Hunter regarding the first phase of
the project,
' Phase one of the construct on the arena
will begin "as soon as possible" but is not
expected toaffect use of the facility during
the winter hockey season. The Lucknow
and District Arena serve's approximately
4;200 people in the community and sur-
rounding area.
In addition to the grants received for the
arena project, the local Recreation
Department is also seeking grants to add
fencing and lights to the Kinsmen Ball
Park and for the addition of magnetic nets
for the arena. Hunter expects the approval
of these grants should be forthcoming very
soon.
Arrests made
in drug. raid
Following an extensive four month.
undercover investigation by the Onatrio
Provincial Police, 34 officers executed
search warrants and made a number of ar-
rests for drug related offences in the area
last week.
At this time,' 13 persons ,ha°ve been ar-
rested and charged with arrest warrants
for an additional seven people still outstan-
ding. Two of those arrested and charged
under the Canadian Narcotics Act were
from the Village of Lucknow with the other
11 persons coming from Heidelberg, Ar-
thur, Holstein, Wingham and Palmerston.
The Kincardine OPP Detachment says
the undercover investigation was a joint
effort conducted by the, District Crime
Unit of Mount Forest and the Drug En-
forcement Section of London and centred
around the municipalities of Lucknow,
Mount Forest, Fergus and Hingham.
Drugs seized during .tie Maids included
cannabis, cannabis resihn, hashish,
Lysergic Acide. Diethylamide ( LSD). and
cocaine. The approximate street value of
the drugs seized was $6,000.
The arrests occurred early on the morn-
ing of Thursday, July 2.
If you looked to the south and west on Tuesday of last week, you may have seen some
of the fireworks display staged as part of the Canada Day celebrations. The display,
at a cost of some $4,000, lasted about 20 minutes and could be seen for miles around.
Here in Lucknow, the holiday included the thrill of having an adventerous bull escape
from the sales barn and take a lengthy tour of the village before being coaxed back to
the ring.
Brace County farmers can get support
by Corinne Boyle
TEESWATER - If the farmers feeling
the strain, both financially and emotional-
ly, of the ongoing crisis in agriculture are
going to survive, they need to know about
the services that are available for their
use.
To that end, an open meeting was held in
Teeswater on Monday night, June 29, to
give farmers more information on what
kind of support was available to them in
Bruce County.
"Surviving the Farm Crisis" was the
topic for the meeting for farm families
which was sponsored by the Bruce County
Social Services Department.
iscussion focused on the FIT (Farmers
in Transition ) program, day care services
in Bruce County, services available
through Bruce Primary Counselling, and
the Farmers' Helpline, an information ser-
vice under the FIT program to direct
farmers experiencing certain problems to
the appropriate program or agency.
A panel made up of one representative
from each of the four areas was present to
give a brief outline of what each service
provided and field questions from the ap-
proximately 50 people in attendance.
Several of the questions from members
of the audience were not about what ser-
vices
were available, but rather how the
programs and services were working,
especially the FIT program and the
Helpline.
Ron Oswald, vice -resident of the Farm
Family Advisory Program, and Wayne
Gayman, farm management specialist
with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
and Food (OMAF) in Grey County and a
Helpline operator, were asked about the
effectiveness of the FIT.program and how
exactly the farmers in need were being
helped. People wanted to know how
desperate the people were that were call-
ing the Helpline, what the breakdown was
of who was calling, what the statistics
were for voluntary liquidation and the
qualifications of advisors to negotiate on
behalf of the farmer.
Gayman said the most frequent sugges-
tion made to farmers who call the Helpline
is to talk to a farm family advisor.
The main feature of the Helpline is that
"an individual can call and give as much
or as little information as he wants," said
Gayman. "Because callers can remain
anonymous, it's difficult to record
statistics."
The Helpline has received 2,496 calls
since the program began in December of
1985. Two full-time people man the phones
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an answering
service takes calls after those hours, so it's
a 24-hour service. Twelve farm manage-
ment specialists from across Ontario, such
as Gayman, spend an average of one or
two days each month on the Helpline.
Gayman said the operator may simply
suggest that callers talk to their local
agriculture representatives. "It's surpris-
ing, but some farmers don't know there is
on ag rep in their county to help them,"
said Gayman. "That might be all they
need."
Most often though,. callers are matched
with a farm family advisor and Oswald
said the majority of farmers seeking an
advisor are referred through the Helpline.
The Helpline has approved funding from
OMAF until March of 1988. The Farm
Family Advisory Program, also funded
through OMAF, started in November of
1985. There are 135. farm advisors across .
the province, seven of those in Bruce Coun-
ty, who have handled a total of 623 cases in
Ontario as of June 1.
Oswald saidan average case, "if there's
such a thing as average," takes 30 to 35
hours and costs about $1,000 at no cost to
the farmer. There are more funds
available for special cases and grants for
farmers leaving the farm.
The advisors, chosen from names sub-
mitted by various farming organizations,
can negotiate on behalf of a farmer with
financial institutions such as the bank or
Farm Credit Corporation (FCC) only with
written permission from the farmer.
"Any final decision is always made by
the farmer," said Oswald.
Asked what kind of success these ad-
visors have negotiating with FCC, Oswald
said now that since the moritoriurn was
called off," most cases with FCC arrears
go to the Farm Debt Review Board."
As for liquidation, there are no statistics
to separate forced and voluntary liquida-
tion. Oswald said that within the next few
months, there will be a follow-up of the
situations of those families who've been
helped through the advisory program to
gather that kind of information.
During the question period, all questions
were directed at Oswald and Gayman, but
information was also provided about day
care and counselling for those looking for
direction in those areas.
Brenda Wilton, co-ordinator with Bruce
County Day Care, described the programs
available and the eligibility requirements
for financial assistance for day care.
"We're offering the farm community
flexible programs," said Wilton. "The bot-
tom line is that it's much safer for kids to
be in a day care environment than on the
back of a hay wagon. There are options out
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