The Citizen, 1992-01-22, Page 1Local people named
directors of Reform Party
riding association
2 good periods' work
lost as Bulls go to sleep
in third, tie Grand Valley
Local student studies life
as well as language, during
exchange to France
See page 17 See page 10 See page 18
Huron snowed under
by week of storms
The figures confirm what most
people already knew: last week
provided Huron county with a
strong dose of good old-fashioned
winter.
From rain on Monday night, Jan.
13 to intense winds on Tuesday
that stopped virtually everything
that moved, it was the start of a
week of tremendous snowfall,
accompanied by winds that just
didn't quit.
This Monday, Boyd Taylor,
operator, with his wife Muriel, of a
government weather station in
Morris township, east of Blyth,
reported the snowfall for the week
totalled 137 cm (or 54.5 inches for
those with trouble translating met
ric.)
Much of that snow was hurled
around by strong winds that heaped
the snow high in many places while
sweeping some spots bare. The
high winds, which reached theif
peak on Tuesday but remained
strong until Sunday, whipped the
snow into blinding white-outs that
closed area highways for most of
the week. Portions of Highway 4
Local skaters perform
at Canadian Nationals
Four area figure skaters compet
ed in the Canadian Championships
in Moncton, New Brunswick this
past weekend.
Brussels native Kevin Wheeler
and his partner Michelle Menzies
of Preston finished in fourth place
overall in the Senior Free Skate,
just missing a spot on the Canadian
Olympic team.
The pair did themselves proud, at
one point in the event, sitting in
third place, and an Olympic berth,
until a slip during the free skating
It's official: Elston leads
Liberal leadership race
Official results of delegate selec
tion for the leadership Convention
in Hamilton, confirm that Morris
Township native Murray Elston has
the lead in the leadership race.
Mr. Elston, M.P.P. for Bruce,
officially has the support of 670
delegates on the first ballot, 52
votes ahead of Fort William M.P.P.
Lyn McLeod who has 618. The two
have a comfortable lead over Greg
S or bar a, the York Centre MPP who
is in third place with 324.
There's a three-way tie among the
other candidates. York North MPP
Charles Beer, Mississauga West
MPP Steve Mahoney and
Timiskaming MPP David Ramsay
each have 183.
The results came from the dele
gate selection process of Jan. 11
and 12 in which riding associations
across the province chose 16 dele
gates each for the Feb. 7-8 conven
tion in Hamilton at the Copps
Coliseum. Most delegates are com
mitted to vote for a particular can
were closed Tuesday, Thursday,
Friday and Saturday. Mail service,
dependent on highway travel, was
interrupted several days.
The Citizen was delayed for the
first time in it's six-year history.
Tuesday's severe weather meant
staff couldn't get the paper to the
printing plant in Goderich on Tues
day, the normal press time. The
paper was printed Wednesday and
delivered to post offices either that
afternoon or overnight, but Thurs
day's storm closed down delivery
on some rural routes so some peo
ple still didn't get their paper.
Ontario Provincial Police from
the Wingham detachment said they
generally had a quiet week as peo
ple seemed to heed the warnings to
stay off the highways. The only day
when there were many accidents to
investigate was Wednesday, the
one day the roads were open for
travel.
By week's end, snow removal
crews were battling exhustion, as
well as the ever-mounting snow
banks, in an attempt to keep roads
open and sidewalks clear in down
town areas.
event lost them ground.
Another well-known Brussels-
area native Peter MacDonald and
his partner Suzanne Killing of
Woodstock, also did very well,
placing fifth overall in the Junior
Dance division.
Kerrie Shepherd of Blyth and
Jeff Cann of Guelph finished in
11th place at the end of the Senior
Dance competition. Kerrie's brother
Mark and his partner Debra
MacKenzie of Waterloo competed
in the Novice Dance event, and fin
ished 13th overall.
didate on the first ballot at the
convention but are free to vote for
any candidate on the second and
subsequent ballots. There are also
160 "independent" delegates, com
mitted to no candidate and 450 ex-
officio" and unelected delegates:
people such as riding presidents,
MPs and former candidates.
Last week's stormy weather
delayed the release of the official
results which were to have been
revealed on Wednesday. Couriers
carrying the results from the vari
ous riding associations were
delayed by the bad weather. The
results were announced on Thurs
day.
"I'm very, very pleased to have
the results we've got," Mr. Elston
told the Toronto Star. The last of
the candidates to declare after pres
sure from supporters caused him to
change his mind about not seeking
the leadership, Mr. Elston said "No
place to first place is a good result."
Blazing a trail
h snowmobiler watches while Rick Konarski, of Blyth, in the B & W Trailblazers' new track
truck grooms the trails through a picturesque winter wonderland. Mr. Konarski spent six hours
on Sunday, getting the trails shipshape for this weekend's Poker Rally. He covered about 100
miles from Walton to Monkton, through Brodhagen, over to Brussels, then on to Mitchell
before finishing off back at Brodhagen. Volunteers from the snowmobile club will groom all the
trails twice more before Saturday's event.
New trail groomer gets good workout
Though this past week's stormy
weather did result in the B & W
Trailblazers having to postpone
their Poker Rally, the significant
accumulation of powdery cover
was just what the club ordered. It
didn't take long after the worst was
over, for volunteers to hit the trails
in the club's new ASV track truck,
which is designed for trail groom
ing. It was purchased this past sum
mer.
A committee of three, Rick
Konarski of RR1, Blyth, Jim Bauer
of Brodhagen and Dennis Ben-
newies of RR1, Bornholm, drove to
Sudbury to look al the Minnesota-
built machine, prior to buying it.
What they learned was that the
machine had had it pretty easy.
Instead of spending much time
grooming the northern trials, the
machine had lounged in Florida for
a time, where it became part of an
advertising promotion, filmed on
the sunny beaches replete with sand