Times-Advocate, 1988-02-10, Page 1Ames
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
One Hundred and Seventeenth Year
dvocate
& North Lambton Since 1873
EXETER, ONTARIO, February 10, 1988 Price Per Copy 60 Cents
THE MAIN EVENT - Eddie Shack and Superstar Billy Graham took time out from signing autographs Tuesday night to do a little horsing around for
the benefit of the cameras. The ex -Leaf and the wrestler stole the show at the 15th annual Sportsmens Dinner along with former Chicago Blackhawk
Dennis Hull.
Sportsmen's Dinner another roaring success for Lions
More than 500 area sports fans
contributed to making the 1988
Exeter Lions Sportsmen's Dinner
a great success. t'
It was the 15th annual event
sponsored by the local Lions to
provide financial support for the
Thames Valley Children's Treat-
ment Centre and area crippled
children.
Co-chairmen Jamie Gaul and
Joe Rider estimate net proceeds
from the February 2 dinner will
be close to S7,500 bringing the
15 year total to well in -excess of
S 100,000.
The three most popular speak-
ers were former National Hockey
League players Dennis Hull and
Eddie Shack and former wrestling
super star Billy Graham.
Hull who starred for the Chica-
go Black Hawks for many years
is now director of athletics at
presitigious Ridley College in St.
Catharines. He is on . a sabbatical
from a similar position at Illinois
• Institute of Technology in the Chi-
cago arca.
'Shack, a former Toronto Maple
Leaf regaled the large crowd when
he told about his coach Red Kelly
telling him to "Go up and sit with
them" after the fans were calling
"We want Shack". -
The rambunctious and erratic
skater said he still cannot read or.
write, but would be taking special
classes this year. He added, " Al-
though I have signed lots of
cheques, I have not written one."
Shack told of turning down more
than $10 million for a golf couse
he owns with a partner in the To-
ronto arca. The original purchase
was less than 5100,000.
Wrestler Billy Graham who
walked with a cane due to a serious
hip injury said his ring career may
be over. He is cturently the manag-
er of another wrestler.
Graham was a big -hit with the
many youngsters in attendance as
he was extremely patient in chat-
ting with them and signing auto-
graphs.
- Danny Lalonde, world light
heavyweight champion represented
the world of boxing. He has
achieved 30 victories during his ca-
reer, of which 25 were byway of
the knockout route.
World champion kickboxerLeo
Loucks of London told the large
audience, "You must be willing -to
pay the price to be a winner" in.re-
ferring to the dedication necessary
in training.
Indianapolis 500 racing drive
Tom Sneva said prolonged concen-
tration and driving anticipation
were necessary to be a . uccessful
Others speaking were harness
race trainer and dri cr Ray
McLean, television fishing show
celebrity Bob Izume, Cindy
Moore of Exeter who carried the -
Olympic Torch recently and for-
mer CFL star Glenn Weir who
was attending the local dinner for
the 14th time in 15 years.
Cliff Maxwell of St.Thomas
was master of ceremonies for the
third time and visitors.wcre wel-
comed by Lions president Jack
'Fuller -and Exctcr mayor Bruce
Shaw.
_ The star of the show was seven
year-old Michelle McNeilly of
Exeter who represented all crip-
pled children as this year's Tam-
my.
Despite suffering from -cerebral
palsy, Michelle is a grade two •
student at Exeter Public School
and enjoys skating, playing the
piano and riding horseback She
is an ardent hockey fan. -
Wintry weather conditions
cause three area accidents
Freezing rain in the early even- ,
ing hours of February 1 was re-
sponsible for two accidents in the
arca of the Exeter detachment of
the Ontario Provincial Police.
The first at 6.45 p.m. involved
vehicles driven by Edward Preszca-
tor, Denfield and Sony Lim of
London and occurred on Highway
4. The Preszcator vehicle suffered
',moderate damage and light damage
was assessed to the Lim vehicle.
-Only 25 minutes later, also on
Highway 4, a vehicle driven by
Susan Lancaster, London went out
of control and struck a culvert.
Daunage was listed as moderate.
A vehicle driven by Edgar Strader
of Toronto was severely damaged
when it went out of-coptrol at 9.30
a.m., Sunday and struck a tree on
Highway 4. Drifting and blowing
snow was attributed as the cause of
the mishap.
During the week, officers laid 39
charges under the Highway Traffic
Act and six charges related to the
Liquor Licence Act.
Osborne concerned by
trespassers at pit
Reeve Gerald Prout brought the
matter of trespassers at. the Webber
pit to the attention of fellow coun-
cillors at the first regular February
session of Usborne council.
Snowmobiles and all -terrain vehi-
cles have been seen in the pit, de-
spite the posting of "no trespass-
ing" signs around the site.
Road superintendent Ken Parker
said the interlopers sometimes take
the signs down. The property is
fenced,- and the works department
has recently installed a gate on the
section that goes to McCanns. A
steel gate is now being installed at
the road giving access to the town-
ship shed.
Prout will discuss his concerns
about responsibility and insurance
if someone were injured at the pit
with a ROMA representative at the
next council meeting on -February
26. -
Prout also brought up the matter
of paving the: laneway entrance to
the ABCA-Usbornc building. The
parking lot is in good condition,
but some erosion is taking place
where the entrance lane abuts the
roadway. -Paving at this spot-
• shocld stop further deterioration. •
Prout suggested the matter cow()
be. -,considered . further when the
ABCA. is doing other paving, or
work is in progress on a nearby
road.
Council has petitioned the mini-
stry of transportation and communi-
cation. for a supplementary subsidy
of S 1 30,(XX) to be used for the pur-
chase of a new road grader. If Vie
petition is successful, a grader will
be acquired- this year.
'A public. meeting on the toH•n-
ship's plans for its sesquicentennial
has been set for March 21 at 7:30
p.m. in the15irkton-Woodham
Community Centre. A flyer will
be included with the interim tax no-
tices. . .
Councillor Pat Down represented
Usbornc at the Huron County Fed-
eration of Agriculture "Members of
Parliament" dinner on Fcbnrary 6.
The hiring of a -summer student-
undcr the Involvement in Municipal
Administration Program for 1988
• was approved. •
Counci1lors.gave verbal support
to The Coalition Against Sunday.
Shopping -in its efforts to haittl..
"Sunday shopping.
VffeeMOMINININWIIME
Stephen requests grant
for more landfill study
Report suggests mayors to county council
If a recommendation from an On-
tario Ministry of Municipal Affairs
committee report is implemented
the number of mayors in the prov-
ince will be increased considerably.
The recommendation, one of 36
in the tenon presented by a five
person special provincial team to
study thc•county form of govern-
ment calls for the hcads of all mu-
nicipalities to be entitled mayors.
In thc county of Huron, only the
five towns have mayors and- the
other townships and villages are
headed by reeves.
The position of reeve and deputy
reeve would be eliminated and
mayors would represent their -mu-
nicipality at thc county level.
The report also suggests the
number of electors needed to entitle
a municipality to a deputy reeve or
now a second county councillor be
• Business careers
• Valentine
sweethearts 13
• . GB winter carnival .... 14
• Mohawks lose
1A •
• Sports celebrities
In Exeter 2A
raiscd from 1,000. to 2,500.
The rise in the number of elec-
tors needed will have no effect on
municipalities in the south part of
Huron as the town of Exeter and
thc townships of Stephen and Hay
are well above the required amount.
The current system has the reeve
in each municipality as the prime
representative at county council.
Mayors of the five towns do not
sit on county council.
With the titles of reeve and depu- -
ty reeve eliminated, any muni cpal-
ity with the required 2,500 or more
electors will send a second person
to county council under the name
of local county councillor.
The title of county warden would
also be changed to coupty chair-
man and thc Municipal Act would
be amended to allow county chair-
men to be elected on one, two or
three year terms. By tradition the
terms of county wardens have been
limited to one year and they were
not eligible for re-election.
Other Municipal Act amend-
ments would include the provision
of a secret ballot for county chair-
man and to clearly prohibit substi-
tution on county council.
Onc member of the reporting
committee. Ron Eddy who is Mid-
dlesex county administrator said
the issue of who would sit on On-
tario's 26 county councils was the
question most heard at hearings
held across the province.
The committee received more
than 160 briefs in their eight
months of hearings.
County governments would also
be given more permissive powers
-to assume any local municipal
function if there is substantial sup-
port for the move on county coun-
cil.
The powers that may be taken
over by' the county would include
planning, building inspections, eco-
nomic development, museums, po-
licing parks and recreation, public
utilities, sewers, water and transit.
Asked about this report, Exeter
Reeve Bill Mickle commented, " I
am sure the town of Exeter will re-
spond to this report and seek fur-
ther consultation with the Mini-
ster."
Mickle continued, " I think these
proposed changes will have an ad-
verse impact on Exctcr and we
would lose control of our future.".
He added, " Putting an extra work-
load on thc mayor could prevent ex-
cellent people who love their com-
munity from serving. This is
Shopping on Sunday
opposed by B.I.A. group
The Exeter B.I.A, will join the
fight against Sunday shopping.
This was decided at thc annual
meeting Thursday night at the Old
Town Hall.
Letters will be sent to Jack Rid-
dell and Solicitor General Joan
Smith detailing the group's oppo-
sition to proposed legislation put-
ting municipalities in charge of de-
ciding whether or not retailers
under their jurisdiction will be al-
lowed to open Sundays.
An advertisement will be pub-
lished in the T -A outlining thc
board's position that Sundays
should remain a family day.
Despite announcing her resigna-
tion prior to the annual meeting of
the B.I.A. chairperson Karen Pfaff
relented and agreed to continue in
that position for the last year of
her three-year term.
Pfaff told a small group of retail-
ers Thursday the present format of
inc ts.t.H. wiur a part umc manag-
er was making inordinate demands
on her time. 'When I get involved
I like to give 100 percent," she
said.
Present manager Inge Mowatt has
returned to school and is not availa-
ble for B.I.A. duties on a regular
schedule.
The board agreed to advertise for a
manager to work at least one day
per week from an office at the Old
Town Hall if Mowatt is not availa-
ble to work under the new schedule.
wrong."
The reeve concluded, "Our mayor
is elected to serve the people of Ex-
eter, not the county and should be
able to delegate local responsibili-
ty."
A Ministry spokesman said
Thursday it was doubtful the report
could become part of new legisla-
tion and passed before this year's
municipal elections scheduled for
Please turn to page 2
Stephen -township has received
the annual report from the.engi-
necring firm of B.M. Ross regard-
ing the landfill site on Concession
14.
The township has received exten-
sions from the Ministry of the En-
vironment on a previous phasing
out date sometime during 1989.
The Ministry is now asking for a
more complete study for which
subsidies of up to 50 percent arc
available..
A bylaw was passed authorizing
the imposing of reduced load limits
on paved roads in the township ef-
fective March 1.
Road -superintendent Eric Fink- -
Exeter's first mayor
dies at age of 82
Onc of Exeter's most distin-
guished citizens for the past half
century passed away Saturday at the
Exeter Villa at the age of 82.
Benson Ward Tuckcy, the origina-
tor of Tuckcy Transport was in-
volved in municipal politics since
1938 and was Exeter's, first mayor
in 1951.
He first hit the local municipal
scene as an Exctcr councillor in
1938. After three :ears on council
he defeated W.D. Sanders to become
reeve in 1941 and stayed in that po-
sition until his first retirement in
1947.
In 1951 when Exeter was incorpo-
rated and became eligible to have a
mayor for the first timc, Tuckcy
came back and in an election defeat-
ed Jake Swcitzer who had been reeve
for 1949 and 1950. His time as
mayor lasted only one year.
Benson Tuckcy also tried the pro-
vincial political field in-between his
municipal endeavours.
In a regular 1953 provincial .elec -
tion, Tuckey running on a Liberal
ticket was defeated by incumbent
Conservative MPP Dr. R. Hobbs
Taylor of Dashwood.
When a by-election was called in
1947 following the death of Dr.
Taylor, Tuckcy again threw his hat
in the ring and was dcfcatcd by
Thomas Pryde who went on to en-
joy a long career in the Legislature
at Toronto. .
Tuckcy was involved in many
community affairs and challenges,
but hisgreatest was probably in
seeing South Huron Hospital be-
come a reality in 1953.
In later years, Tuckey remembered
with satisfaction and some glee how
he along with other founding mem-
bers of the committcc were able to
put pressure on suppliers who wer-
en't accustomed to dealing with
such tight-fisted and hard-nosed buy-
ers. In ono instance the committee
forced a supplier to discount his
equipment seven times.
The funeral was held yesterday af-
ternoon, Tuesday February 9 from
the ICC. Dinney Funeral Home in
Exeter.
bcincr was given permission to at-
tend a landfill site seminar in
Woodstock sponsored by Fanshawc
College and registration was
okayed for the Western Ontario
Waterworks conference April 13 in
Leamington. • -
Council will be obtaining a re-
port -from B.M. Ross and Asso-
ciates on the bridge on sidcroad 5
in the arca of Concession 4 to have
it updated and properly signed for
load restrictions.,
A water connection application
from Patsy Grasdahl was approved
for property at part of Lot 9, Con-
cession 11.
Please turn to page 2
Ice Machine
funds short
by $5,700
Goal S36.300
Optimists.S 1000
Exeter Lions $1000
Exciter lioness $500
Exeter Legion
s10.000 -
Town of Exeter
$5.000
Mons' Rec league
s1,000
Molting Hawks -
S1.000
Mohawks $3.000
Figure Skating $3.000
Minor Hockey S5.000