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The Huron Expositor, 1996-05-29, Page 1Heritage Local residents meet in effort to preserve town's history. See page 2 Business Beat New businesses open their doors to Seaforth & area. See pages 7 & 15 -Mexico Former Expositor editor writes about conditions in Mexico. See page 5 r Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 Seaforth, Ontario Briefly Creamery workers to Four jobs cut at OMAFRA in Clinton unionize BY JOHN GREIG SSP News Staff °Workers at Sea foith Creamery Ltd. on-. Main Street elected to go union Monday. The employees of the long- - established Main Strcet com- pany voted to join locals of the United -Food and Commercial ' Workers International, with offices in Toronto. The co-ordinator of orga- nixing, Mark Flanagan. of Local- 175 of the• UFCW comfirmed Tuesday morning that the vote was close, with 38 for joining and 27 against. .There was one spoiled ballot. He says, Monday's vote was conducted "by the Ontario •Labour Union."' A Creamery worker, .who did not wish to be narncd late' Monday night confirmed the successful vote hut would not, comment on the numbers.• " 1 suppose it's a big thing for Seaforth but the union's there to work. with the com- pany,'` thc employee said. "Everyday things - between the company and employ- ees." Eisler named to Hall of Fame Figure skater Lloyd Eisler, a Scaforth native, is entering Canada's Sports Hall .of Fame. He and ,pairs • partner Isabelle Brasseur, of Quebec. were two of the half-dozen 1996 inductees announced Friday. • All six will'be officially honoured at thc Hall's 42nd gala induction dinner in• Toronto on October 22. 'The other inductees are National Hockey League great Guy Lafleur, figure skating coach Ellen Burka, tennis star Bob Bedard and Ian Miller and partner Big. Ben, of equestrian fame. Walton woman sings at Jays game if anyone happened to sec the Blue Jays baseball game on Saturday, they would have recognized the woman singing the national anthem as Walton's Margaret Mclnroy. It was the Federated Women's Institute of Ontario Day at the Dome. Margaret had-hcen asked by the Centennial Committee of the or;,I ization to sing. Others from Walton that attended were Helen and Graeme - Craig. Leona McDonald and grandson. Scott McDonald, and Bill and Valerie Shortrced and family. Margaret said that she felt quite calm and really enjoyed singing. Painting approved An application to repair rot- tcd• wood and re -paint the Town Hall porch on Main Street in its current colours. green •and cream, has been approved by Scaforth's Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee, with the proviso "every effort he made to ensuring thc work will withstand weathering for many years." r The Changes in the way -the Province docs it's business has hit the agriculture sector with - the cutback of four. full-time jobs at, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs- - office in Clinton. The axing of the four jobs brings thc number of workers at the office to 10. Farmers will sec fewer OMAFRA field staff on their • farms as OMAFRA "refocus- - es" the way' it delivers ser- vices to farm businesses. Dan Carlow, field services manager for the Stratford and Clinton OMAFRA offices, said."With less staff, we can- not carry on all of the activi- ties we have." • Four, full-time workers were laid off in Stratford as well. The cutbacks were in response to cuts to spending for- agriculture in the last provincial budget. Carlow said its too early to , tell which positions in Clinton. will he lost for sure because there remain options for the laid -off workers in their col- I`ectivc agreement. Among , those options is'what the min- istry calls 'displacement', hut is also known as 'bumping' in which a worker with seniority whose position has been ter- minated can hump a worker with less seniority and take his or her job. That process often takes a while. Ministry officials 'met with employees at the Clinton, office on May 22 and explained the budget con - CONTINUED on page 15. May 29, 1996 — 75 Cents Plus GST PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT HOUSE FIRE - No one was home Friday when a fire gutted a house at RR 4 Seaforth destroying the contents. The Seaforth Fire Department fought the blaze which was fanned by winds. A family of five lost everything in the fire. They had no insurance.'A donation drop-off has been set up at Spafgrth arena. DOG RESCUED FROM HOUSE - The Diehls lost eve hi FOTO BY DAVID SCOTT home on Friday. The family dog, `Champ," was rescued from the burningghome oe abyeir Arnold Van Miltenburg. Here, the dog looks unperplexed as he watches a Seaforth fireman at the backdoor of the smoke-filled house. Appeal for public help Family loses everything in fire BY DAVID SCOTT Expositor Editor • A Seaforth area family of five has lost all of their pos- sessions in a house fire. Friends and family are appealing to the public for support. A fire which started at approximately I I a.m. on Friday in a farm house at RR 4 Seaforth owned by Arnold and John Van Miltenburg destroyed- the home and con- tents of tenants Derrick and Sheila Diehl and their three children Jereme. 7, Jasin, 6. and Jamie, 4. At this time, the cause of the fire is unknown and there is no estimate on damage. No one was home at the time of the blaze. But the fire destroyed everything in the house. The family didn't have any tenants' insurance. "There was a woodworking shop in basement. It's gone," said Sheila. On Monday. Sheila. her three children, her mother Ruby McCulligh and family friend Maria Turner came to the Huron Expositor in a public appeal for donations to help the family. "They lost everything. There's not even a spoon left," said Turner. "This is pretty hard. I've never had any help from any- one except my Mother.- said Sheila. Presently the family is liv- ing at Derrick's mother's home but will soon be stay- ing with Sheila's brother until they can find a house. Maria has been talking to local clubs and organizations in an effort to raise money and get donations. There's a possibility of holding a fund-raiser dance as well. About the only thing the family has -left is their pct dog "Champ," a German Shepherd. Labrador Retriever cross. Arnold Van Miltenburg' rescued the dog from the burning house. "We'll keep the dog," said Sheila. "I won't make the kids lose anything else." A drop-off box for dona- tions- has been set up at. Seaforth and . District Community Centres. Call Graham at 527-1272 to arrange for a drop-off. Ask for Graham. An appeal for help is now also on the local cable station. "They don't have any insur- ance. They need everything," said Maria Turner, who can be reached at 527-2819 for donations as well.