Huron Expositor, 2001-06-27, Page 1•
June 27, 2001
Si
(includes GST)
In brief
Driver
charged/
with
impaired
driving
causing
death
after
pedestrian
killed
The police have
charged a Vanastra man
in the fatal collision that
claimed the life of an
Exeter woman.
At about 2:15 a.m. on
June 1'6, Jennifer
Randall, 21, was struck
by a 1989 Ford
Thunderbird as she
walked along the side of
the road on 7th Avenue
in Vanastra.
The vehicle was
seized at the scene,
however, the police
were unable to
determine who was
driving at the time that
Randall was struck.
"The four people in the
vehicle are not saying,"
noted Senior' Constable
Don Shropshall in an
interview last week.
The police requested
information from any
members of the public
who might have
information on who was
driving, and a number of
calls were received.
However, it was
contact from the driver
himself, 20 -year-old
Paul Sherban, which
helped the police with
their investigation.
"He basically
contacted us again on
Thursday," Shropshall
said, adding that
Sherban gave a
statement that day (June
21).
Charged with criminal
negligence causing
death and impaired
driving causing death,
Sherban was released by
the police with a
promise to appear in
court in Goderich on
Aug. 13.
Stating that the
investigation into the
incident is continuing,
Shropshall said, "We're
quite happy this has
been resolved."
•
Scott Hilgendorff photo
Summer fun...
Students at Seaforth Public School enjoyed a play day June 19 which included events like a sack
race in which Tyler Watson took part.
Schools in crisis
Parents support
• idea to move
Grade 7s and 8s
to high school
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
The majority of
respondents to a survey
about what makes Seaforth
Public School special are in
favour of sending Grades 7
and 8 to the high school to
keep the public school
open, says SPS council
chair Lisa Campbell.
"There were definitely
some nos to moving the
Grade 7s and 8s but the
vast majority said yes so
the option could be viable.
I think most people are
opposed because it's an
unknown - people have to
be educated," she says.
Campbell sent a survey
to the parents of each of the
448 students at SPS in
response to direction from
the West Central
accommodation study
committee, one of several
similar committees meeting
across the district
throughout the summer to
look at the possibility of
closing schools in the Avon
Maitland school board.
While the Seforth
schools have been well -
researched in recent years
in response to the threat of
closure last year, Campbell
says she felt obliged to
Quoted
'I think most
people are
opposed
because it's an
unknown -
people have to
be educated,'--
Llsa Campbell, school
council chair.
distribute the survey since
new families from
Egmondville and Walton
recently joined the Seaforth
school community after last
year's closures of Walton
Public School and Vanastra
Community School.
She says the fact that the
community has been
through the process of
filling out surveys about
the school last year has
affected the, so far, low
return rate of the surveys.
"We've received less
than 50 per cent of a
response this year - we
were hoping for 90 per
cent. But, we've been
through this already and
everyone's tired of it," she
says.
Sea AGAR, Page 2
Community faces shortage ofvolunteers
By Scott HiIgendorff
Expositor Editor
As fewer new community projects
get off the ground local volunteers
are getting tired and burned out, say
some local organizations who rely on
volunteer help.
"I think we're seeing a lot of tired
people," said Cathy Ritsema of
Volunteer Huron, a county -based
organization designed to help groups,
who use volunteers, work together
and share resources.
The organization itself suffers from
some of the same struggles as groups
in the Seaforth area, fighting to
maintain its volunteer base and
continue.
Recently, Volunteer Huron dropped
to three executive members and a
handful of other members from area
organizations and groups.
Now trying to revitalize itself, the
organization is planning events in
September that will include a
volunteer fair to help recruit new
members to area organizations.
"Everybody needs volunteers but
there aren't enough to go around,"
said Ritsema.
The idea of Seaforth hosting a
unique community festival called
"Skunkfest" was suggested around
the former Seaforth council table and
at a Business Improvement Area
meeting. Despite great enthusiasm
for the event, no one could be found
willing to spearhead an organizing
committee.
Those plans faded away while the
Business Improvement Area itself
struggles to find business owners
with the time and energy to come out
to meetings, let alone help organize
promotions such as its successful
Moonlight Madness project which
turns Main Street into a small
community festival.
Meanwhile, the Business Retention
Inside look...at volunteering
and Expansion Committee faces
collapse as its volunteer base grows
tired trying to develop economic
development plans for the
community after countless hours of
work with no financial support.
The Seaforth Lions Club is
growing older and more tired as it
looks for new, younger members.
The club's membership has
dropped from around 50 in the 1970s
to around 20 members now.
Between changes within the Lions
Club organization and dwindling
membership, the Lioness Club faded
away, disappearing in the mid-1990s
Club member Gord Rimmer said
the Seaforth Lions Club was started
in 1924 and is one of the oldest clubs
in Canada.
The club organizes the annual
Santa Claus parade, a fund raising
television auction with neighbouring
clubs, a senior's barbecue, an
elimination draw and a television
bingo, among other activities.
Scott Hilgendorff photo
Hospital Administrator Andrew Williams presents Audrey Mclean with flowers
at o volunteer appreciation barbecue held Monday night.
When it comes time to host one of
the larger events, Rimmer said,
"We're starting to run thin."
To get around it, club members
recruit other volunteers from the
community to give them a hand for
an evening or a day during one of the
larger events.
Recruiting extra help was the only
way the club could run a spring
carnival it used to operate annually
until the early 1980s.
He said they can usually find
enough people willing to give them a
hand and be able to give something
back to the community without the
commitment of regular club
membership.
But Rimmer said younger members
are needed in the club, a comment he
makes after the club spent a few days
this month repainting the pavilion
and buildings at the community park
and pool maintained by the club.
"A lot of the guys, myself
included, are getting too old for that,"
he said, adding it has been difficult to
recruit new members to take part.
"I don't think it's just service
clubs," said Rimmer. "In the 1980s,
we put up a ball diamond and now it
sits vacant. It makes me feel bad
because we raised a lot of money for
it," he said of the more than $60,000
project.
And while a growing interest in
soccer is largely to blame for a
struggling minor baseball program, a
lack of available coaches can also be
found at the heart of the problem.
Facilities and Recreation Manager
Graham Nesbitt said they have been
fortunate enough to find enough
coaches among parents to help with
the soccer program but have only had
one coach come out who does not
have any children participating.
Without parents getting involved,
he said it's hard to get people who
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