Huron Expositor, 2006-12-20, Page 12Credit card
abuse unlikely
at Avon Maitland,
says director
A scathing report from Ontario's
Auditor -General in early December
didn't hit too far from home for
some educators in Huron and Perth
Counties, as a large school board
immediately to the south came up
for significant criticism.
The London-based Thames Valley
District School Board, which also
serves the counties of Middlesex,
Oxford and Elgin, was one of four
school boards examined in what was
a first-time effort by the Auditor -
General to cast scrutiny over the
spending of agencies which aren't
necessarily government agencies,
but do exist mainly due to govern-
ment funds.
Administrators of the board were
cited for controlling about 300 credit
cards, and using them to pay for
items which drew some concern
from the auditor and the media.
At a regular meeting Tuesday,
Dec. 12, trustees of the Avon
Maitland District School Board dis-
cussed the contents of a memo sent
out by the Education Ministry in
conjunction with the Auditor
General's report..,
"The ministry appreciates and
supports the advice from the Office
of the Auditor General of Ontario
and strongly encourages all boards
to review their current practices in
light of the recommendations pro-
posed," states the memo.
According to Avon Maitland edu-
cation director Geoff Williams, the
recommendations cover four main
topics: corporate credit cards; travel
and hospitality expenses; advertis-
ing; and "advocacy" (expressing
opinions about issues on behalf of
the board).
Speaking to reporters, he
explained it should only require
minor revisions to bring the board's
existing policies on credit cards and
travel expenses into compliance.
But administrators and trustees
will probably have to "start from
scratch" in the other two areas, as
major changes to the advertising
policy will likely be necessary while
there is no existing board policy
regarding advocacy.
Asked about his thoughts on the
Thames Valley board's credit card
use, Williams said he couldn't com-
ment.
But he explained the Avon
Maitland board has only five corpo-
rate cards, controlled by himself
and four top superintendents.
"We have tight procedures in
place," he added. "In would be very
difficult to abuse our board credit
cards."
News
Susan Hundertmark photo
Central Huron Secondary School student council president
Matt Fisher and staff advisor Lynne Godkin drop off this
year's donation to the Christmas Bureau in Seaforth. CHSS
officially kicked off the Christmas Bureau campaign with
the staff/student hockey game on Friday, Nov. 24 and dur-
ing the next two weeks staff and students contributed to a
collection of canned goods, stocking stuffers and gifts dur-
ing their period one classes. The school donated. 1,907
food items, 184 toys and $811.20 in cash to the bureaus
in both Seaforth and Clinton.
CarS
with 8111 Shark, the Old Car Detective
To
HEARTLAND
TO YOU BY
CREDIT UNION
A 1954 METEOR "NIAGARA" CONVERTIBLE
By Bill Sherk "The Old Car Detective"
Jim Onions of Bracebridge, Ontario, had his picture taken over 5o
years ago behind the wheel of a new convertible. Here is the story as he
told it to me:
"During the winter of 1954-55, there was a long strike of Ford work-
ers which shut down the Ford plant in Oakville. After the strike was
settled, although the 1955 cars had been introduced, I spotted a brand
new 1954 Meteor convertible at Evans Motors, a Mercury -Lincoln -
Meteor dealer in the west end of Toronto.
"The car still had a wrapper covering the tan top and the hubcaps
had not yet been installed. It was a beautiful bittersweet orange with a
jet black dashboard, white steering wheel, and a combination of bit-
tersweet vinyl and black fabric covered seats.
"I rushed home and told Dad and we returned to inspect it. I found
it difficult to believe my ears when Dad said: `Let's buy it.' He was driv-
ing a 1952 Monarch four -door sedan at the time!
"Our '54 Meteor had a standard shift transmission, and was fitted
with 6.70x15 tires and the Ford flathead V8 of 255 cubic inches. The
interior trim was the same or similar to that fitted in Mercury convert-
ibles, but the floor mats were rubber and the rear ashtrays were miss-
ing. Other 1954 Meteor convertibles I have inspected over the years
were labelled Rideau, with all vinyl trim inside. They also had 7.10x15
tires and automatic transmission. Dad's car was labelled `Niagara.'
Over lunch one day, Jim Onions and I speculated on how his dad's
1954 Meteor convertible was labelled Niagara instead of Rideau. The
Rideau was the top-of-the-line Meteor for 1954. If you wanted a con-
vertible or two -door hardtop (some of which had a see-through front
roof), they were available only in the Rideau series.
Here is what we concluded. When the assembly line at Oakville
began moving after the strike, the '54 models partially built were hasti-
ly completed to get the new '55 models into production. Assembly line
workers may have grabbed whatever trim pieces were handy, whether
or not they were correct. It's easy to imagine a worker attaching a
Niagara nameplate to Jim's dad's Meteor convertible if a Rideau
nameplate was not at hand.
It must have left the factory as a Meteor Niagara convertible because
that's the way Jim's dad bought it from Evans Motors. It might have
been the only 1954 Meteor Niagara convertible ever built.
And what happened to it? "It was a very sad day when Dad traded in
this car to purchase a 1956 Mercury hardtop. I couldn't afford to buy
the Meteor because I was making the princely sum of $10 a week at a
Cities Service gas station while attending high school."
Do you have any car stories or photos to share with our readers?
Send your e-mails to billIcarstory.com.
The Huron Expositor • December 20, 2006 Page 11
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