Times-Advocate, 1985-01-09, Page 30TRYING IT OUT — Benji Sloat waits until sister Rachel gets out of the Sloatcycle built by father Gerald
so he can try it out. This machine was ordered by the Royal Canadian Legion in Placentia, Nfld. for
a local child__
Open to both men and women
Chatlenge of Rural Living course
The Challenge of Rural Living or
how to cope in the 80's is a new course
of study initiated for farm families.
During the sessions. there will be
opportunities to share ideas and infor-
mation, to help individuals and
families become aware of their needs
and to decide how to improve the
quality of life for rural people and
communities.
The location and dates are: Clinton
OMAF Board Room, January 17 -
February 21 (Thursday evenings
7:30-10:30 p.m. ), Co-ordinator - Bren-
da McIntosh.
To register or for more informa-
tion, phone Centralia College of
Agricultural Technology, 228-6691, ex-
tension 245 or call your local OMAF
office.
Courses are open to both men and
• Water extension
to be dictated?
Reeve Bill Mickle this week term-
ed as "interesting" a proposal by the
provincial government to provide
small urban centres and'rural areas
with water services.
Under the program, the province
volved in extending water lines from
serviced centres to outlying areas:
Mickle wondered if this could result
in a situation where communities
such as Exeter would be forced by the
province to provide water to
neighbouring areas.
At the present time. Exeter has a
policy of not extending any municipal
services to surrounding township
residents.
Mayor Brupe,Shaw said the provin-
cial funding would be of no benefit to
Exeter. "We'd charge the customer
100 percent of the cost of providing the
service," he noted, adding that the
provincial aid would benefit only the
customer in that case.
Debate attending
waste sessions
Members of Exeter council were
uncertain this week whether they
should have representation at site
selection meetings being held by the
Ontario Waste Management
Corporation. -
The OWMC is holding public infor-
mation sessions at various locations
to advise people of the steps being
taken to provide a site in the province
for liquid industrial and hazardous
waste treatment facilities.
One meeting has already been held
in London and another is planned for
Sarnia on January 22.
Noting that a north Iluron site had
originally been included on the list of
possible locations, Reeve Bill Mickle
said the town could be "the recipient
of stuff being drawn through here".
After some discussion. Mayor
•Bruce Shaw asked works superinten-
dent Glenn Kells to consider the mal -
ter during the meeting and provide
input.
Further discussion never arose.
New Katimavik
team in town
Hello! We are in the second rotation
of Katimavik and are happy that we
have such a warm and friendly com-
munity as our home for the next three
months.
We would like to get to know as
many people as possible and in doing
so we are having an open house in
which anyone and everyone is
welcome.
We are hoping that through this we
will find people who would be in-
terested in sharing their knowledge
and experience with a Katimavik par-
ticipant by being a billet for a two
week period.
We would spend our time helping
with a business in town, a farm, or in
the home. The billeting period is from
January 27 - February 10.
Our open house is Monday January
14 from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. if you are in-
terested in having a billet and cannot
drop by please contact us. Our
number is 235-1614.
We are looking forward to seeing all
of you on January 14 at 317 William
St.. across from the Legion.
women and are free of charge.
Speakers will include: January 17,
Eugene Swain - farmer turned
pastor; January 24. Jay Campbell -
communications consultant;
January 31, Don Keillor - parenting,
growth and rural concerns; February
7, Louise Marritt - maintaining a
healthy attitude; February 14, Louise
Marritt - working together - on and off
the farm; February 21, Keith
Roulston - rural stereotyping.
This series is co-sponsored by: Cen-
tralia College of Agricultural
Technology; Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food, Clinton and
Canada Employment and Immigra-
tion Commission.
Times -Advocate, January 9, 1985
Page 17A
Where kgs can't go. a SIoatcycIe can
Sloat's Custom Welding and
Fabricating shop in the heart of the
quiet little hamlet of Woodham on
highway 23 neat; the Huron -Perth
border is like thousands of other
small-town welding shops - with one
important difference.
In the midst of the grease and the
clutter, the acetylene tanks and the
scrap metal, hangs an assortment of
shine new bicycle wheels. This is the
home of the Stoat Cycle, a custom-
built, three -wheeled, hand -propelled
vehicle which grants mobility to
children robbed of the full use of their
legs by spina bifida, cerebral palsy
and other cripplers.
Gerald Sloat first became involved
in building a bike for a handicapped
child when his cousin asked his help
in designing a vehicle for an eight-
year-old nephew born with spina
bifida, so• named from "spina", a
thorn -like projection and "bifida" a
defective closure of the bony encase-
ment of the spinal cord.
Why not combine their talents, his
skill as a tool and die maker and
Sloat's expertise as a master
mechanic, -honed-by years of ex-
perience working in a Stratford fur-
niture factory before buying the
-Woodham-shop,- -
Now, five years later, children in
every province in Canada and a
number in U.S. states are zooming
around city parks, country roads, and
the corridors of crippled children's
centres in their made -to -measure red,
green or blue machines.
Sloat manufactures two or three
bikes a week. Orders slow down in the
winter, and pick up in the spring with
the advent of fine weather. He
receives a steady stream of orders
from Kitchener, Niagara Falls and
Barrie, the result of district nurses in
those areas who have a ready answer
when parents of crippled youngsters
ask what they can get to give their
children pleasure.
"As soon as a kid sees a.Sloat Cy-
cle, there is no test until he has his
own", Stoat says.
One letter in Sloat's file from a hap-
py mother said the only problem she
had encountered with her child's Stoat
Cycle was "keeping other kids out of
it".
Each machine is built to fit its in-
tended driver. The order form asks
for .arm length, two leg
measurements, back length, chest
thickness and child's weight.
The Sloat Cycle is more versatile
and stable than a wheelchair. (It is
also much more sporty). Pedalling.
steering and braking are contolled by
the hands. The vehicles can mount
curbs, travel through gravel, and
bounce right over a hole or depress-
ing that would bring a wheel chair to
a grinding halt.
Service clubs have bought many of
the eycles, which cost approximate-
ly $400 each, for individual children.
One was purchased through a grocery
store tape -saving project. Parents
p-.part-nt the cost through the
Provincial Assistive Devices ter
Program.
Sloat has donated three of the
cycles to regional centres for crippl-
ed children. Many Sloat Cycle owners
enter bike marathons to raise money
for other crippled children. '
Once a child has a medium-sized
cycle, a new seat unit can be attach-
ed to the existing steering column and
rear wheel unit for a cost of $100. A
refit costs approximately $165.
As the machines are quite sturdy,
Sloat was puzzled when a young lad
from London kept breaking the steer-
ing column on his cycle. After the
third replacement. Sloat finally got
the boy to reveal his secret: he had
been using his Stoat Cycle as a dirt
bike in the ravine behind his home.
Sloat put in a solid steel column which
so far has withstood the rigours of
more than ordinary wear and tear
Dennis, the youngster who receiv-
ed his first Sloat Cycle, has become
an expert wheeler-dealer. he can do
a three -wheel skid by suddenly crank-
ing the steering wheel, putting on the
brakes and flying sideways, burning
rubber all the way. Though Sloat does
not recommend the manoeuvre, he
shrugs philosophically and says
understandingly, "Kids are kids.
They love a wipe-out."
Sloat tries to personally deliver all
vehicles ordered in Ontario. He is
usually greeted by an excited child
who has been keeping vigil at a win-
dow. Exultant cries of "Here it is!"
often bring parents, siblings; -aunts,
uncles, grandparents and neighbours
to gather round and admire the new
set of wheels.
Stoat now attends spina bifida con-
erfces-His-respect-tor his ov une
clients continually increases.
"I haven't met a dumb one yet.
Those kids do a lot of sitting - and a
lot of thinking", he explained. "Most
are also very determined and as stub-
born as hell".
He might also add the children do
not take their handicap lying down;
a Stoat Cycle will take them places
their legs could not.
HOCKEY ON THE BALL DIAMOND - The freezing rain that turned the Hensall ball diamond into ice
provided an outdoor rink for Scott Bell, Shawn Vanstone, Chris Ingram, Rob Wareing, Brian Moir and o
Darryl Lawrence.
Pinery butterfly in danger
FAMILY TIME -- Monty Plumb and daughters Angelo and Kaissy en-
joyed the public skating time at Hensall arena.
The first of many studies commis-
sioned under a $400,000 examination
of Canada's most southerly and most
imperilled wildlife habitat indicates
a rare Grand Bend area butterfly is
near extinction in this country.
Steven Price of Toronto, Canadian
co-ordinator of the World Wildlife
Fund, said Wednesday the Karner
Blue butterfly, studied last summer
by American zoologist Dale
Schweitzer, has only 300 to 350
specimens in Canada, almost all con-
centrated near Pinery Provincial
Park.
"It may sound like a large number
but one bad storm or other natural
disaster and they could be wiped out
in Canada", he said. The report is ex-
pected to play a large part in whether
the butterfly is added to Ontario's list
of 14 endangered species.
At the time of counting, Schweitzer
said that if he found only 300
specimens, then the Karner Blue was
"in big trouble" and could become
Canada's first known extinct
butterfly.
The over-all project, dubbed Caroli-
nian Canada, involves studying the
zone in Ontario south of a line connec-
ting Grand Bend and Toronto. The
zone's name comes from the fact that
much of the vegetation and wildlife
has more in common with the
southern U.S. than Canada. The pro-
ject is sponsored by the World
Wildlife Fund and the Ontario
Heritage Foundation. '
The Carolinian zone is an object of
considerable interest, said Price.
because more than 90 percent of the
original forest cover has been cut and
the rest is threatened by agriculture
and urbanization. About 70 percent of
Ontario's endangered species and 20
percent of Canada's threatened, en-
dangered and rare species are located
in the small area.
Another project being, financed is
work by University of Western On-
tario plant scientist M.A. Maun to en-
courage vegetation on sand dunes at
Pinery park.
According to Price, the World
Wildlife Fund believes rehabilitation
of dunes, which have suffered from
humans tramping over them to
beaches, will provide "a dune
Winter program
pay questioned
The salaries for winter program
staff hired by the South Huron rec
centre board of management again
prompted some debate at Exeter
council.
The $17 per hour fees had been
questioned previously, and this week
members wondered why one of the
dance teachers, Deb Homuth, receiv-
ed half the registration fees for all
students over the total of 10 in her
class.
Neither of council's two board
representatives had attended the last
meeting and advised that they could
not answer the question.
Deputy -clerk Laurie Dykstra. who
was filling in for Liz Bell. said she
thought it was due to the fact Mrs.
Homuth has professional qualifica-
tions and certificates.
strategy" for similar areas along
much of Lake Iluron and others of the
Great Lakes and also along sea coasts
in other countries.
University of Guelph researcher •
Marlyn Obbard is studying the
Eastern spiny soft-shelled turtle
which thrives only in Southern On-
tario and which has been adversely
affected by draining of marshes and
building on lake shorelines.
University of Toronto researcher
Kevin Kavanagh is studying the
range of the zone's tulip tree, a
member of the magnolia family and
related to the cucumber tree,
Canada's only endangered tree.
Kavanagh will study the tree
throughout its range in Canada and
the U.S., attempting in part to deter-
mine if there are significant dif-
ferences. it is important. particular-
ly for plant breeding. to have great
genetic variability and plants at the
extremes of a range. such as those in
Southern Ontario where tulip trees
cope with much colder temp.•ratures
than their Georgia cousins. can pro-
vide genetic variations not seen
elsewhere.
Price expects another dozen 10 two
dozen projects to be initiated under
Carolinian Canada this year as study
prosposals are submitted
Already. however. the project has
managed to compile a list of about
3,000 sites within the Carolinian zone
targeted by various groups as en-
vironmentally significant and worthy
of study. The project will assess the
importance of the various sites and
determine which are the most crucial
to save.
HELPING HANDS -- Jennifer Taylor gives four-year-old Justin Bor-
dnwnl some support during public skating time at the Hensall arena.
-OWI`
FASHION WINNERS — Monico deWit, Julie and Jena Darling and Julie Weber
Friday's Cabbage Patch doll fashion show at the South Huron Rec Centre.
were the winners in
T -A photo