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Times-Advocate, 1988-03-09, Page 1l Ames Serving South Huron, North Middlesex One Hundred and Seventeenth Year dvocate & North Lambton Since 1873 EXETER, ONTARIO, March 9, 1988 Price Per Copy 60 Cents SIGN OF SPRING - Jamie Becker holds a young Iamb from the Becker farm. The Iamb -- sure sign of the coming season -- went on atour of Stephen Central Public School Thursday. Jamie is a Kindergarten student at the school. Council to All members of Exctcrcouncil will be reviewing in depth, the re- cent report on changes in county govcrnmcnt and a local decision will be made at the March 21 coun- review county changes cil mccting. Mayor Bruce Shaw told council- lors Monday night," Get the back- ground in your minds and write out your concerns and questions so we Council to support move for co-operative housing Exctcr council Monday night gave approval to a proposal to es- tablish a co-operative family hous- ing project in the town. Council will be asked by the project committee to provide funds in the 1988 budget for advertising and public relations . The Ministry of Housing will provide $1,000 to allow the project to become incorporated. The committee has met on two occasions with Marnic Coulson, acting manager of Southwestern Community, Homes of Ontario Inc. and a public meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 22 at 7.30 p.m. at the Oldc Town Hall to dis- cuss further the proposal. The local proposal is for a 40 unit housing co-operative in Exct- er. The 40 units is determined to be the smallest viable co-operative possible. Thc rent would bc-geared to 'in- come, a percentage of tenants would pay full housing rates and a percentage would be subsidized. Southwestern Ontario Commu- nity Homes has a .direct liaison with the Ministry of Housing and is prepared to deliver the program to communities and help set-up the 'co-operative along with_ training and co-ordinating local committee 4 members in bookkeeping, budget- ing, recording of minutes and pay- ing accounts. In order to establish the need of a housing co-operative , a total of 100 questionnaires must be returned from a cross-section of thc public. Information will be sent to arca churches, Big Brothers and Sisters, Family and Children Services, along with municipal offices in the townships of Stephen, Hay and Us- - borne and tftc villages of Hcnsall and Zurich. Questionnaires are available at thc Exeter municipal office. The Exctcr municipal office will be the central location for informa- tion and assistance in completing the questionnaires. All replies will bc confidential and will bc returned to the London office. . The committee is to complete a survey of the cost of rental units. in ' Exctcr and arca and will also visit the Bambury Cross Housing Co -Op Inc. in Stratford within two weeks. Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle is presi- dent of the board of directors of the local group and Marshall Dearing is vice-president. Morley Hall will be the treasurer, Laurie Dykstra will handle the secretarial duties and oth- er directors arc Ross Ballantyne; Dwayne Tinncy and Don Winter. RANDY JONES Local cartoonist makes good in New York Page 2 can make a decision." Reeve Bill Mickte who is on a couple of provincial committees said, "There have been wide argu- ments and broad discussions. Thc voting at the county level will be recorded so we should be prepared to take a stand." Deputy Reeve Lossy Fuller re- ported that Huron county council had voted 27 to five in favour of Section 70 of the Assessment Act which calls for county wide market value assessment for county and school purposes. She continued, We are delighted that it went through. It spreads as- sessments equally and will be a big benefit to-thc town of Exeter. In the south end of the county only Us - borne township voted against the change." Mayor Shaw commented, " If anything has happened in recent ycars to improve rural -urban rela- tions, this has done it." Councillor Gaylen Josephson add - cd, " This move restores my faith in county govcrnmcnt. It was dealt with in all fairness." Window smashed at milk store A large front window at Becker's Milk Store at 190 Main street in Exeter was smashed Friday night. A car driven by Steven Anderson of Mill street went out of control and crashed through the window causing _damage of more than S6,000 to property and stock. Constable George Robertson of the Exctcr town police investigated the accident which occurred at 10.35 p.m. Police report shows numbers down in break, enter, thefts The annual police report for 1987 • presented to council Monday night by chief Larry Hardy indicated a sig- nificant decrease in three areas of police charges. Instances of break and entcr were down from 25 in 1986 to 20 in the just concluded year while thefts were reduced from 112 to 73 and. mischief occurrences were listed at 69 as compared to 81 the previous year. Hardy told council it was the third consecutive ycar that incidents of break and enter and theft were down. The chief continued, " In 1988 the force will be directing its atten- tion to the areas of fraud and theft of motor -vehicles in hopes of reduc- ing activities in these areas. He added, " The year 1987 saw "the force faced with the attempted murder of Sgt. Kevin Short and lat- er in the fall a rash of arson fires placed the community on edge. I am pleased to report in both matters the persons responsible have been charged. Stricter drug enforcement has also taken place." The biggest increase in crime came in the fraud department with 58 investigations as compared to only 17 in 1986. Most of these consisted of NSF cheques. Thefts of motor vehicles were more than doubled from three in 1986 to sev- en in 1987. The local police force saw anoth- er increase in total occurrences by 307 over the previous year and driving charges were up by 130. In 1987 the force was committed to reducing the number of impaired drivers on town roads. With the stepped up R.I.D.E. program the chief feels the force has been suc- cessful. During the Christmas holiday season some 600 vehicles were stopped during spot checks and no impaired drivers were located. In motor vehicle accidents the 1987 figure was down to 140 from 156 in 1986 and injurics wcrc re- duced from 32 to 22. During routine patrol officers found 48 stores unlocked and 44 alarms were attended to. In answer to a question concern- ing unlocked promises, Hardy said, "Yes, we do get repeat offenders." In crime statistics, officers inves- tigated 256 occurrences. Of these 118 have been cleared up. Hardy told council, "This is a clearance rate of 46 percent which is excep- tionally high. The provincial aver- age is about 20 percent." In a question, from councillor Ben Hoogenboom, chief Hardy said most motor vehicle thefts were - cause keys were left in the igoi on . or an easily found spot like un Cr scats or in glove compartments., Hardy praised the four auxiliary officers saying, " They have scrded far bcyond the call of duty. It's the second year of the program and we still have the four original officers. They must be thanked for giving unselfishly of their time." Thc auxiliary officcrs arc Liam Brennan, Kevin McIntosh, Steve Dalrymple and Scan O'Rourke. • March is Junior Farmers month "Let's Create in '88" is the theme of the Junior Farmcrs Association of Ontario and the South Huron Junior Farmers group in particular. Local president Mark Ryan em- phasizes a concerted drive this year to create a new membership list. No other organization for youth in Ontario is more proud of its past, is More exciting and full of vitality than the Junior Farmers' Association. Junior Farmers are young people with the opportunity to explore indvidual talents and potentials and show an interest and concern for their community. All Junior Farmers groups are open to young people between the ages of 15 and 29 and president Mark Ryan stresses, " You do not need to be a farmer." He continued, " You can live in the country, village, town or city. All that is required is a commit- ment to the Junior Farmer motto of "Self Help and Community Bet- terment." The opportunity to learn, display talents, meet new people, develop leadership skills, communicate and he involved is there in Junior Farmers. For personal development, social activity and and a valuable learning experience, no organization, can compare with the Junior Farmers' Association of Ontario. Today more than 150 members of the five Junior Farmer clubs in Hu- ron County take part in many win- ter and summer games, singing, dancing, public speaking, debating and drama competitions and partici- pate in trips with other counties and provinces. They also plan social , agricultu- ral and community activities, attcnd camps, workshops and conferences which teach leadership skills and meet other young people from across the province. All this is an atmosphere which makes Junior Farmers and organiza- tion of diverse opportunity. The five clubs in Huron are South Huron, West Huron, Clinton, Sea- ford' and Howick. There arc a total of 95 Junior Farmer clubs in 35 counties in Ontario with overall membership of 3,907. • The "Let's Create in '88" theme will be highlighted at thc annual conference to be held March 18 to 20 at the Skyline Hotel in Toronto. Saturday of the convention will see the Juvenile Diabetes Founda- tion benefit from the hard work and generosity of Junior Farmcrs as they conclude their fundraising for the Foundation with an auction. The association's goal is $10,000 and the Huron Junior Farmers arc sponsoring a 33 and one-third draw to raise funds. The draw date is March 16. During 1987, the South Huron Junior Farmers made contributions to the South 1-luron Association for the Mentally Handicapped, the South Huron Rcc Cenrrc, thc Friends of 441 and the Children's Wish program. • Their ncxt fund raising event will bc a Beach Party dance scheduled for March 12 at thc South Huron Rcc Centre with Hank supplying the music. Following will be a car rally in May, a pancake breakfast in August and a Halloween dance. They will also be operating food booths at the Hcnsall and Exctcr fairs and will be hosting a card party at the Bluewatcr Rest Home in Zurich. The local Junior Farmers have been in charge of the canvass for the Huron Heart and Stroke Foundation in the westerly, poition of Usbornc township for many years. Representing the South Huron Junior Farmers at thc upcoming conference in Toronto will bc past president Al Rcnning. and Jeanette. Van Esbrocck. Anyohc wishing to join the local Junior Farmers group should call Mark Ryan 237-3369; Al Rcnning 235-2386; Doug Cooper 229-6544 or Scott and Karen Eveland at 228- 6493. - Osborne plans Sesquicentennial Members of Usborne council re= viewed the agenda of the public meeting to discuss plans for the township's Sesquicentennial during their first regular March session. The mccting is scheduled for Mon- day March 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the K -W Community Centre. Gordon Hill and Debbie Rath - well, who were on the steering committee that organized and pro- duced the very successful Sesqui- centennial celebrations in Stanley township in 198l, will be guests at the Usbornc mccting. Fern Dougall will report on thc progress of the township history book. Those in charge of that pro- ject hope to have the book pub- lished a ycar before the Sesquicen- tennial. - Meeting organizers to generate support for a Sesquicentennial cele- bration, and generate ideas, enthu- siasm, and volunteers to start working on the project. The statement of 1987 council remuneration and expenses was tabled at the meeting. Usbornc reeve Gerald Prout received remu- neration of $2,769 plus expenses of S89.75. (Remuneration in- cludes annual salary, special meet- ings, committees and appoint- ments on township business. .Expenses include convention regis- tration, accommodation, meals, mileage and parking.) Most of the reeve's expenses were paid by the county, as he attended conventions and other functions as a representa- tive of the county. Deputy . Reeve Margaret Hern LASERS • Drayton reaches regional distri- bution for construction lasers page 7 FALL FAIR CONVENTION Dolores Shapton designs pin logo page 8 was paid $3,345 in remuneration, plus expenses of $624.18. Com- parative figures for the other coun- cillors arc: Ross Ballantyne, $3,023 plus $619.99; Pat Down, $2884 plus $672;16 and Jim Ker- slake, $2,702 plus $611.14. - An allocation of $5,500 was made to the K -W Swim Pool for 1988. The 1988 board of management for the pool was appointed. The ex- ecutive will be comprised of chair- man Sharon Bickell, secretary Kymm Wcttlaufcr, treasurer Diane Bclfour, Usborne council representa- tive Ross Ballantync and Blanshard township rcp Robert Spence. Other members are Debbie Trill, Linda Stephens and Brian Hardman. A grant of $600 will be provided to the Hcnsall recreation board. A leiter from National Trust con- ccrninga bequest from the estate of Myrtle Gunning to Zion Cemetery was forwarded to Bob Hein of the Zion Cemetery Board. A representative from Spriet As- sociates will be asked to attend an upcoming council meeting to present the report on the plan of de- velopment and operation of the Kirkton arca wastc disposal site. Ross Jackson of B.M. Ross and Please turn to page 4 Oppose Corporate Plan On October 17, 1986, by an Or- der -in -Council, the Federal Conser- vative Cabinct authorized the im- plementation of the Corporate Plan vis-a-vis Canada Post. "The Plan's objective of franchis- ing and centralizing mail process- ing in major mechanized centres will result in a further deterioration of postal service, the elimination of next day local delivery and the Toss of hundreds of postal jobs in the Huron -Bruce riding of Murray•Car- diff, Conservative M.P." stated Harry Young,• Secretary -Treasurer, Exeter Local. ."To further inflame the situation, many - rural route customers• who presently receive lot line delivery IRISH OUT Lucan Irish eliminated in Jr. "D" playoffs page 1 A will now be required to travel up 10 2.5 miles to pick up their mail at a supermailbox located at a primary route intersection. Many 'other rural post office users may he required to travel up 10. 10 milts to pick up their mail as a result of the arbi- trary closing of their present post office" added Young. "Thc implication of the Corpo- rate Plan on rural residents only serves to demonstrate the insensi- tivity of this govcrnmcnt to thc needs of rural Canadians. Thc Mul= roncy government should immedi- ately rescind the Corporate Plan and give priority to improving the postal service as was indicated in its own commissioned marketing research poll" concluded Young. SCHOOL REPORT SI IDHS principal refutes dropout statistics page 4A