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The Huron Expositor, 1994-01-26, Page 1�E Huron En* X • S1 or Your community newspaper since 1860. Serving Segforth, Dublin, Hensall, Walton, Brussels and surrounding communities. Briefly 1 / Vehicles collide but no injuries A two -vehicle collision occurred five kilometres south- west of Dublin on Thursday, according to Sebringville OPP. The accident happened at 6:30 p.m. when a 1990 GMC driven southbound on Side Road 25 by Dennis Elliott, 24, of RR 2 Staffa, collided with an east- bound 1990 GMC pickup truck driven by Gwendolyn Dalton, 37, of Egmondville. The Dalton vehicle was towing a full-size car and travelling at 35 km/hr when the collision occurred. Elliot was travelling at 50 km/hr and hit- a snow -packed and icy patch at the intersection and collided with the Dalton vehicle. No charges were laid. Damage to both vehicles being driven was severe but neither driver was injured. Collision occurs on slippery road There were no injuries in a two -vehicle collision on High- way 8 Sunday. Scbringville OPP Constable Marianne Burgener said Howard Sinclair, 73, of Mitchell, was westbound on Highway 8 and was followed by Ashley Brown, 32, of Clinton. At 7:15 p.m., Brown pulled out to pass Sinclair one kilo- metre cast of Hibbert Sideroad 10. He took action to avoid an oncoming car but hit Sinclair. Constable Burgener said the road was slippery at the time. Sinclair's 1989 Buick received moderate damage while Brown's 1987 Mercury sustained Tight damage. Train engines stuck in snow Deep snow caused havoc for the crew of Goderich-Exeter Railway Company late last week, as their engines became stuck for a number of hours on snow -plugged tracks west of Mitchell. The westbound freight train was outside Mitchell Thursday when it became stuck in deep snow. Cars were unhooked from the engines and were Icft behind while the engines proceeded toward Goderich. Newspaper wins Ontario awards The Huron Expositor has cap- tured two awards for some of the top community news writing in Ontario. The newspaper was awarded a first prize for arts writing and a second prize for Best Sports and Recreation Story in the Ontario Community Newspaper Premier Awards. The paper also received two honourable Mentions for Best Humorous Column and Best Editorial. The Arts Award was won by Iluron' Expositor Editor Tim Cumming. He also received an Honourable Mention for Best Editorial. The second prize for best Sports and Recreation Story was won by Huron Expositor reporter David Scott. He also received an Honourable Mention for Best Humorous Column. The awards will be presented at the Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel on Saturday, March 26. The awards arc presented annually by the Ontario Com- munity Newspapers Association to recognize excellence in the industry. MILTON J. DIETZ LIMITED SEAFORTH 522-0608 • Pesticides & Custom Spraying • Spraying Equipment & Parts • Nutrite Premium Fertilizer • Ventilation & livestock Equipment wlwuJ PURINA FEEDS l•■•& PET FOODS HUROV,EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1994. • INSIDE The Huron Business Development Corpor- ation in Seaforth can offer high risk loans to potential businesses. See story on page three. Your Full Lino Diller I FORD MERCURY Sales - Service - Selection HIGHWAY *8, SEAFORTH 527-1010 HARTP` to o ruwcw•r EMERGENCY TEAM - Highway 8 was closed briefly on Thursday when an emergency helicopter transported a patient from Seaforth Community Hospital to Victoria Hospital in London for emergency TIM CUMMING PHOTO care. The hospital reported early Tuesday afternoon that the patient was in serious condition. There were cold winter conditions when the helicopter arrived. This winter not coldest in history BY TIM CUMMING Expositor Editor • The cold, blustery weather experi- enced by residents of Huron and Perth this year is nothing new for some of the area's older residents. Here is a brief, but by no means complete, list of memorable win- ters: One of the worst periods of inclement weather was the winter of 1970-71. "The most severe winter storm in nearly 25 years struck Southwestern Ontario Tuesday morning dumping up to 20 inches of new snow in some areas," reported The Huron Expositor. "Winds running at 30-50 m.p.h. and gusting as high as 90 • miles per hour whipped up huge drifts and made all roads and streets in the arca impassable." Visibility was nil at almost all times, even in town. More than six hundred children were stormbound at Huron Centennial School in Brucefield and stayed overnight. About 540 of the children stayed for a second night. The winter of 1968-69 was no summer holiday, either. A report in The Iluron Expositor on January 9, 1969 records that "a blinding snow storm which old timers said was the worst in twenty years swept off Lake Huron on Tuesday and 'dumped nearly seven ' inches of snow on the Seaforth area." The news report adds that the snow was "accompanied by gusting winds and paralysed arca traffic." A storm in late 1967 reached "blizzard -like proportions," dump- ing more than a foot of snow over the arca. In 1947 the newspaper assured readers it was the worst blizzard in 30 years. The year 1943 was not without storms, either. A blizzard -size storm in January caused the first cancella- tion, in Huron county history, of the inaugural meeting of County coun- cil. a, "County toads north, cast, south and west have been completely blocked...and side and concession roads have been obliterated," the local newspaper stated. In February the newspaper recorded that "car, truck and train traffic was just getting hack to normal...when another blizzard of record proportions struck this dis- trict." The winter of 1933-34 saw cold temperatures which made today's cold snaps seem balmy. "The government snowplow opened No. 8 highway about 6 p.m. Wednesday but the road was com- pletely blocked a few hours after when the plough made the return trip," reported The Expositor on Feb. 2, 1934. There were record cold temperatures in the winter of 1933-'34 The next week the newspaper " weather records for the Dominion reported that "Seaforth and district government for nearly thirty years, has shivered in sub -zero weather, says it is the lowest recorded tem - the thermometer reached...33 perature he has on his books," the degrees below zero." newspaper said. Some bad storms in this area Later in February the thermom- eters in the district hit a new all- time low when the official tempera- ture was 36 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), according to George Baird, of Brucefield, who was governmerit meteorological observer for the district. "Mr. Baird, who has been keeping predate even the memories of local Seniors. A storm in 1918 tied up railways and roads. In some spots the roads were swept clean, in other parts there were snow drifts twelve feet high. "The worst storm in a generation raged here from Friday evening last until Monday," reported The Iluron Expositor. The thermometer regis- tered 18 degrees below, measured in Fahrenheit. The morning train from Goderich was stuck in a snow drift near St. Columban for five days with only part of the smoke stack of one engine showing. One of the biggest adverse effects of that storm was the fuel shortage which ensued. Former Seaforth resident Harry Hinchley later recalled that "the shortage was so acute that coal had to be taken from the Presbyterian Church and the Public School to help out some private homes who were without fuel of any kind." Do you remember a bad year for cold or snowy weather? We would love to hear from you if you do. Dignitaries praise business BY DAVID SCOTT Expositor Staff With members of four levels of government present, the Huron Business Centre in Scaforth held its Official Grand Opening with a ribbon -cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. on January 20. The new Huron Business Centre houses Huron Community Futures Corporation, Huron County Small Business Resource Centre and the Huron Business Development Cor- poration (BDC). Opening remarks and introduc- tions were given by Bill Duckworth, Chair of Huron Busi- ness Development Corp. and Vice - Chair of Huron Community Futures Corp. He spoke of the establishment of the centre and how Community Futures was the forerunner of the centre. Duckworth highlighted the accomplishments of the three departments comprising the Huron Business Centre. The Small Business Resource Centre has helped over 900 clients with small business inquiries to date. Community Futures continues to Offer training programs; has cooperated with artist, tourist and agricultural groups to publish bro- chures and promotional material; and is looking into establishing a Junior Achievement program for young entrepreneurs. The BDC has, in its three months of existence, app�rroved four business loans totl;Iling S115,000 to Huron County Obituaries page flue Sports pages 6, 7 Entertainment page 13 65 cents Plus 5 cents GST (70 cents) More snow ahead: weather specialist BY TIM CUMMING Expositor Editor } Seaforth and area may be headed for some more snow squalls later this week but it hopefully won't be as bad as recent stormy spells, said a weather service specialist in Lon- don. The squalls, expected on Thurs- day and Friday, should not be as intense as those already experienced in January, said John Hoekstra in a phone interview Monday. He said ice on the shores of Lake Huron will help minimize the 'lake effect' which makes storms worse. There is still a lot of moving water farther than the 8 or 10 km which can be viewed with the naked eye, however, he said. Despite the cold temperatures experienced this winter the tempera- tures of the last few days were higher than normal. "We've just come out of a week and a half of very cold tempera- tures, those readings were 10-15 degrees below normal for this time of year," said Hoekstra. "The last several days were a touch above normal." The London office of Environ- ment Canada is projecting a period of below -normal temperatures "from- mid-January rom,-mid-January to mid-February. The last days of the winter are expected to be near normal. "The long-range prognosis for the balance of the winter seems to even the temperatures out," said Hoekstra. For those people who consider this one of the coldest winters Hoekstra says don't be too quick to judge. "Wait 'til the winter's over, per- haps the temperatures will average out," he said. This isn't one of the snowiest winters either, adds the weather specialist. The snow has just stayed longer because of the cold tempera- tures, he said. Perhaps residents of this arca have been spoiled by the last few winters which have been wet and mild. This winter may not be as cold or as snowy as we thought. "A thirty-year normal would indicate a weather very close to /tat we have now." centre - DAVID SCOTT II FOTO GRAND OPENING .-eafprth Mayor Hazel Hildebrand offldally opened the Huron Business Centre in Seaforth at a ribbon -cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. on Jan. 20. Participating in the ceremonies were from left: Bill Duckworth, Chair of Huron Business Development Corp. and Vice -Chair of Huron Community Futures Corp.; Huron MPP Paul Klopp; Seaforth Mayor Hazel Hildebrand; Warden of Huron County, Allan Gibson; and Ken MacKinnon of Adjustment Programs with the federal Ministry of Human Resources and bevelopment. entrepreneurs. Seaforth Mayor Hazel Hildebrand opened the comments from political dignitaries. She wished the centre success "in stimulating job creation and economic revitalization in all of Huron County." Allan Gibson, Warden of Huron County wished "every success in the future" for the Huron Business Centre. Paul Klopp, MPP of Huron County, said the centre is "one of the exciting thin: s we need to ha • pen in this province and country." He echoed Elmer Buchanan's words that 'we need to get back to the community for decision making... and not to always leave decisions in the hands of those in Toronto. "You people (at the Huron Busi- ness Centre) really have done a fantastic job. They go beyond 'Here's a brochure.' They really dig," said Klopp. Ken MacKinnon, of Adjustment Programs with the federal Ministry of Human Resources and Devel •• ment, congratulated all the volun- teers involved on the boards of directors and committees. Ile praised the concept of communities developing their own solutions to economic problems; and said the Huron Business Centre is progress- ing far ahead of their length of time in existence. Inquiries to all three departments of the Huron Business Centre can be made by calling: 1-800-268-2590 or (519) 527-0305. Fax: (519) 527-