Times-Advocate, 1988-03-02, Page 5n
the
Street
By Jim Beckett
What docs recreation have in common with police, fire protection,
snow removal, street maintenance, sidewalks, garbage collection, etc?
Nothing.
In fact, recreation is the only category listed above that survives by
groveling for money from municipal councils, begging service clubs
for assistance and generally fighting for funds all the time to maintain
a reasonable level of service.
This struggle has been apparent for years as we watch the South
Huron Rec Centre's never-ending battle to "break even."
We all know the Rec Centre is in need of maintenance and every-
body who understands arenas recognizes the need for the self-propelled
ice scraping machine. These are just two areas where there is no argu-
ment about what must be done- the building should have the leaking
walls repaired as soon as possible and the ice scraping machine should
be purchased.
Both these improvements will undoubtedly become a reality but not
without needless worrying about where the money will be coming
from.
It seems to me the Recreation Board only has two choices when it
comes to being able to present a financial statement pleasing to our
politicians. It's simple, all they have to do is raise revenue or reduce
expenses.
The problem is, when you raise revenue by increasing fees, you
drive away many of the people who benefit from the facilities because
they are already paying as much ac their personal budgets can take.
This leads to fewer users and will compound the financial woes. -
A reduction in expenses will only be achieved by reducing the fre-
quency or quality of service, which will again leave a smaller number
of pcop!c to take advantage of the available programs.
The function of the Rec Board should be to make sure the facility is
operated as efficiently as possible while providing a good level and
variety of programs required by our community. They should not
have to scrimp and beg because of constantly being underfunded.
A balance should be struck between the price users should pay for
the services and the amount taxpayers should contribute for the bene-
fits received by all who live in the area.
All one has to do is read any American newspaper to understand the
horror stories involving young people who have nothing better to do
than "hang out" on t..e.streets. Exeter is a long way from being com-
pared to a ghetto but the scenes in Detroit and Atlanta and other cen-
tres reinforce the importance of having organized events for young
people.
Dollars spent today on recreation will be much less than amounts
spent on lawyers, trials and possibly prisons if our programs ever arc
allowed to deteriorate.
Almost everything we read about the South Huron Rec Centre fo-
cuses on the fact that more money is needed to "buy this", "fix that",
"covor that shortfall", etc.
One example of policies that should change is the stance of munici-
pal elected officials about raising money for necessary equipment. A
prime example is the new ice scraping machine. Exeter council has
agreed to donate the last $5,000 of the price of the machine, providing
enough money is raised elsewhere. Again, this puts the pressure of
raising the money back on service clubs and others who believe recre-
ation is a vital part of our community.
If the needed equipment was a tractor for the works department, a
garbage truck or a snow plow, it would be added to the general budget
and there would be no more funding problems. The cost would be
spread over all taxpayers instead of just those who arc willing to
makc a donation.
But recreation obviously doesn't have the same priority as other vi-
tal departments. If it was, any deficit would be absorbed by Exeter and
the other communities who claim to be supporters.
It's time for a change in attitude... bytaxpayers and those who rep-
resent us. The days of constantly begging for recreation dollars must
end.
When this column was being written recreation director Lynne Far-
quhar announced the Winter Sports Council will be appealing to busi-
nesses to donate towards the new ice scraper.
My opinions will definitely not change the method of raising funds
in this particular instance, although l still believe necessary equip-
ment should be a part of the general budget.
The Times Advocate will join with other businesses in town in
contributing to this project.
BIG DONATION - Doug Ellison presented rec director Lynne Farquhar
with a $500 cheque for the ice scraper fund from Ellison Travel.
WE NOW CARRY
Individual Letter
Stencil Paks
1/2rr • 6"
in Gothic Letters
imps -Advocate
Exeter 235-1331
Times -Advocate, March 2, 1988 Page 5
Exeter yach ts. making waves in a big pond
By Mark Bisset
In a little shop at the end of Alex-
ander Street in Exeter, behind a beat
up door under an unimpressive little
sign which reads Scorpio Yachts,
very big things are happening.
World class things.
Hayden Gozzard uses that unre-
markable lot as a boat -works for the
construction of custom built racing
yachts and his products are slowly
gaining recognition in -both- local
and international yacht racing cir-
cles.
Working with Ed Preszcator, Goz-
zard turns out three to four boats
each year -- each a unique vessel
tuned for the world's most expen-
sive sport.
Scorpio Yachts is one of two
such boat -works in Ontario. While
most boat builders latch onto one or
two designs and then mass-produce
them, Gozzard prefers to treat his
craft on a more creative, less com-
petitive basis.
In 1980 Gozzard and two asso-
ciates begs the boat -works in Exet-
er, producing a string of Kirby 36's
-- six to• be exact. Finding it too
crowded in the production boat busi-
ness, he turned to .custom yacht
building.
"There was a need ( for custom
built boats)," says Gozzard. "You
know the old adage -- if you find a
need, fill it."
Since that time, Scorpio's reputa-
tion has gradually grown in U.S.
racing circles. Using the French de-
signs of Joubert and Nivelt, Gozzard
and Preszcator have turned out win-
ning yachts.
Sprint, Scorpio's first custom
yacht, has been drawing attention to
the Exeter firm with a number of
impressive wins. Sailing out of one
of the most prestigious yacht clubs
on the Great Lakes in 1987, Sprint
captured SORC (Southern Ocean
Racing Conference) and then
claimed the Detroit River Associa-
tion Championship. Sprint will
probably race in the Admiral's Cup
next season.
"That's the reason we're getting so
much work out of Detroit," Gozzard
explains.
He notes that Scorpio Yachts de-
pends on word of mouth rather than
advertising to gain recognition for
their work.
"All the crews talk to each other,"
he says. "It's a tight racing organi-
zation on the Great Lakes. The word
gets out."
That system can work against a
boat builder as well, Gozzard points
out.
"If you build a bad one, it's just
suicide."
Asked why he chose Exeter as a
location for the boat -works, Gozzard
lists a number of reasons.
"I needed a company that was
close to the lake but accessible to
London," the boat -builder says, ad-
ding that the town is on the truck-
ing lines, is good for production
costs and offers reasonable tax rates.
Exeter also gives Scorpio Yachts
a distinct advantage over their To-
ronto-based competition.
"We have a pricing edge because
we work in an area where there's rel-
atively low overhead," Gozzard
points out.
The company works on the basis
of profit sharing -- not a unique
concept, but certainly an effective
one in Scorpio's case. While Goz-
zard owns the company, he and
Preszcator share the net profits
equally.
"From all gross profits we deduct
the operating costs of the company
and then split the remainder," Goz-
zard says.
"That system works very well. If
ever increase the operation, I'll do
it on that basis. I'I1 never have a
workforce working for me. I'II do it
on a profit sharing basis."
In their shop, a 39 foot Joubert/
Nivelt design now stands partially
renovated after winning both Macki-
naw -Port Huron races last season.
Called Trader, the boat is being
modified to race in the Canada's
Cup. When the alterations are com-
pleted the "one -tonne will draw
eight feet of water and carry roughly
800 square feet of sail.
Beside Trader, the final touches
are being added to a 36 -foot cruising
sailboat which Gozzard designed and
built for Bayfield Yachts. It is con-
spicuous a.: a Bayfield because of
the protruding bowsprit -- a trade-
mark of the popular boats.
A third "one-tonner" hull lies up-
side down at the back of the shop.
Gozzard and Preszcator arc in the
process of fibreglassing the boat
with a high-tech English process
called "Pre-preg"
Normally, the fibreglass cloth
would be wetted with resin, laid on
a wooden mould and allowed to dry.
With the pre-preg system, the cloth
is already impregnated with resin
and is catalyzed.
In order to slow down the setting
stage, the material is refrigerated be-
low freezing and then shipped and
stored at that temperature. When it
It's
Your
Business
is used, the temperature is increased
and a vacuum bag is placed over the
hull.
The pre-preg process allows the
Exeter firm to build a product with
a perfect resin content which is
'both light and strong.
"It's very new in Canada," Goz-
zard says. "I don't know of anybody
else that's doing it?
Scorpio Yachts hope to have sev-
eral pre-preg designs in the Midget
Ocean Racing Conference (MORC)
in 1989. MORC is a championship
for boats under 30 feet in length.
The Exeter firm should have four or
five yachts in the race.
"We're probably going to win
that by sheer numbers. We hope to
pick one winner out of four or five
boats," Gozzard speculates, adding:
"It's not a certainty."
When the question of expanding
the operation comes up, Gozzard is
l-;.sitant. Citing the fact that there
simply aren't enough buyers on the
North American continent to pur-
chase the high-tech, expensive
yachts, he notes bigger isn't always
better. .
"The problem with expansion,"
he says "is that it just increases the
headache and I'm not sure it increas-
es the profit.
WINNING FORM -- Hayden Gozzard (right) and Ed Preszcator examine the bow of a Joubert-Nivelt one -tonne•
which is currently being renovated in their shop on Alexander Street in Exeter. Gozzard, owner of Scorpio Yachts,
has been producing some impressive custom boats recently.
Traditional ways threatened says Hessel
Continued from page 4
unless we help them to survive.
Without trapping they are unable
to make a living in the bush.
They will be forced to give up
their traditional -vays, move into
our cities, surrender once and for
all.
And the animals? Less of them
will be trapped. More of them
will fall prey to predators,
diseases, parasites, injuries and
starvation. The "animals' rights
groups" will be satisfied. Because
they really don't care about
humans. It doesn't bother them
that human children will suffer as
a direct result of their uninformed
and unreasonable activities. When
all the Indian and Inuit cultures
have been destroyed, the activists
will find another cause —
anything will do, as long as it
brings them glory, self-
satisfaction and profits.
I don't know about you. But I
proudly wore my brand-new hat
this winter, made of genuine
Fraynes selected for Detroit
Exeter auto dealer Mike Williamson has been selected by General
Motors to be a part of the President's Dealer Advisory Council which
will be meeting in Detroit March 16.
The Frayne Chcv-Olds owner is one of 12 Canadian dealers out of
1,000 and 39 American dealers out of 10,000 who have been invited to .
share their knowledge and opinions with the top GM executives includ-
ing chairman Roger Smith and president Robert Semple.
"It's our one chance wherA we have the opportunity to impact GM
policy," Williamson said. "We're the ones on the frontlines, where it
counts."
The dealers will preview what GM has in mind for thc.next few years
as far as new products and marketing goes.
"I've been preparing for the sessions for some time," Williamson
said. He has canvassed many of his customers and and in some cases
has asked for their opinions in writing.
When asked why he is one of the dozen C'anadiandcalcrs going to-De-
troit
oDc-
troit Williamson is quick to give the credit to both 'his service and sales
staff.
"The high placing of our master technicians in factory -sponsored
competitions and the fact sales objectives arc consistently being met in
Exeter were responsible for GM selecting me," Williamson concluded.
Canadian fur. Trapped, cured, Canadians. And Brigitte Bardot be
manufactured and sold by damned.
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