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Times Advocate, 1989-01-18, Page 5n the Street By Jim Beckett UMW T• he,. brochure from Southeastern Travel Corporation couldn't arrive at a more convenient time for Canadians who are dreaming about holidaying in warmer climates. The post card -sized advertisement says "Congratulations; you have been selected by Contest Awards Clearinghouse to receive an exciting luxury cruise to the Grand Bahamas for a five-day, four -night stay in Freeport, plus a five-day, four -night -stay in fabulous Florida and an added vacation for five days and four nights in Mexico. . - I used up our entire investigative reporting budget for the phone call to Sparta, Tennessee where I talked to the sweetest sounding southern girl you could imagine. Shiela described the vacation offer as the bargain of a lifetime which would normally sell for $2200 U.S. If I would just giveher any major credit card number the super vacations could be mine for only $299 U.S. . Hcr enthusiasm dimmed as I told her I did not have any credit cards. I asked her to mail brochures but she replied this was not pos- sible. Although you had to provide your own transportation the offer sounded very attractive. The unanswered questions; of course, are what dothe hotels look like, what areas are they located in: In other words; docs the offer come close to deliveringwhat it promises. I asked Doug Ellison of Ellison Travel what he thought of the scheme and he tersely replied, "Avoid it like the plague." The De- partment of Consumer and Corporate Affairs is concerned about shady operators based m Tennessee using the 615 .and 901 arca codes. Oh yes, to be selected as a winner in this contest doesn't take much skill. Shiefa asked me if I was married and between the ages of 25 to.62. That's all it took to qualify. *********************** Despite the excellent publicity in last week's London Free Press which indicated Exeter is one of the boom towns in the region, not everyone is happy on the homefront. Several Market St. signatures appear on a clipping of the Free Press article. mayor Shaw's state- ment that most of the gravel streets in town have been eliminated was circled and highlighted .with the world "bull." We called Shaw about this and his advicerfor residents in that areas is "the street will definitely be paved within the term of the present council. "Were spending over $1,000,000 in that part of town," he said. A 4 -year-old British boy can be thankful Gerry and Marlene Par- sons decided to take a vacation in Key West, Florida. Marlene's- tim- ing to do some relaxing poolside couldn't have been better for the youngster who was drowning.. The lad's father was busy taking mo- vies of the hotel and the mother was listening to her Walkman while their son was about to go under for the final time. Marlene quickly 'pulled him from the pool preventing what most certainly would have been a tragedy. *****************" Believe it or not, the following story is true, showing howfar some people will go to win a bet. A local couple who had decided they had enough children agreed that one of them, should have sur- gery to prevent future pregnancies. But which one of them should go under the knife? To settle the question it was decided that whoev- er lost the•most weight in the next month would get to keep his/her body intact. I don't know whether fear of the knife would work every time but in this case the husband shed a record number of pounds in a month.' The Pepsi Cola sales office has opened in the Devon Building at . the comer of Main and Huron Sts. ********************* One of the goals of Exeter Area Fire Chief Gerry Middleton this year is to persuade Exeter Council to make smokc alarms mandatory for every home in town. He feels this would be one of the best ways of increasing fire safety. ****************** RIDE program EXETER - The recent RIDE pro- gram carried out by Exeter town police was very successful accord - mg to chief Larry Hardy. Statistics contained in this month's police committee report indicated 2,204 area drivers were checked by spot police checks be- tWecn Novemlhcr 9 an4Pccrmtct. 31. Hardy said during that period, only one driver was charged with impaired driving and five others were issued with driving licence suspensions of 12 hours. When rcporting that 30 Highway Traffic Act citations were made dur- ing that time, Hardy in answering a question regarding checks other than for drinking replied, " When officers are on duty they have the right to check licences, insurances and any other infractions they may - find." • Hardy continued, " We were very pleased with the RIDE program and the co-opecration we received from area drivers. Stats showed that peo- ple are not drinking and driving and most appreciated the program." a success 'rhe police committee is looking into the possibility of issuing bicy- cle licences inthe town on a perma- nent basis. Chief Hardy is to gather further information and present a bike licencing bylaw to the next meeting. Council adopted a recommenda- tion from the r,Iir(• commiitre. to . remove two-hour parking signs on Anne"street, between Main and Wil- liam streets. In the personnel department, Con- stable Brad Powdll successfully completed the radar instructor course with a 95 percent mark and Fourth Class Constable Liam Bren- nan gained an 83 percent mark in obtaining his certificate from Aylmer Police College. mittce chairman Dorothy h Can and fellow councillor Dave Urlin will be attending a La- bour Relations Workshop in Lon- don on January -27.. The committee' has accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Officer Robin James, who has accepted an- other position. Crime Stoppers of Huron County and the Ontario Provin- cial Police are seeking your assis- tance to help solve the following thefts. On Friday, December 23, 1988 between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. a dirty, early 1980's Ford full -sine pickup (blue or grey) was.parked in the west parking lot at the Eliza- beth Court Apartments at 176 Oxford St. in Hensall. It is be- lieved the two persons in this vehicle broke into several mobile home units at General Homes, Oxford St. Hensall. The first suspect is described as a male in his mid 20's, 5'10:, toppers 'medium build, shoulder -length wavy oily hair, wearing green or grey coveralls. The second sus- pect is 6' tall, medium build, wearing a white or cream- coloured knee-length coat with an attached hood. It is believed this pair stole curtains and light fix- tureS. If you have any, information about this or any other serious crime call Crime Stoppers of Huron County toll-free at 1-800- 265-1777. You could earn up to a $1,000 cash reward if an arrest is made and you will neverhave to testify in court. Remember, we pay cash for clues. Times -Advocate, January 18, 1989 Page 5 Revamping grocery business By Ross Haugh EXETER - "We want our cus- tomers to feel like they are going to a friend's house when they shop." That's the slogan of Tom Seip, the new owner of the Valu. Mart store at the intersection of High- ways 4 and 83 along with his wife Kathy. The Seips when ave been resi- dents of Exeter for almost 11 years have revamped the store which offi- cially opened on November 28. Seip continued, ;' We want to run a business with an open door poli- cy'. We have trained our employees to be friendly and they will answer any questions you may have." The cigarette counter near the en- trance has been cut down and a cus- tomercoming through the door can.. now get an .overall view of the store.' The Valu Mart owner added," We want to put the emphasis on an open, clean, bright, fresh look which will help produce bright, happy customers. We won the On- tario Foodland retailer of the year award a year ago and are hopefully in the running again this year." As part of a -major realignment, one aisle was removed to make room for an in-store bakery. On this subject Seip said, " We are the only grocery store with a bakery that bakes from scratch. We're in the middle of a large farm commu- nity and they like their food made from scratch without additives or preservatives rather than from com- panies with mass production." Seip continued, " We have made a few changes in our product group- ings to make it easier for shoppers to find related food items. The crackers are right across from the soup and we have moved the tooth. picks in with the tooth pastes rather Revamped aisles - "Kathy and Tom Seip are shown in front" of one Valu Mart store at the intersection of Highways 4 and 83. than with matches and other non- food" products." • "We pride ourselves on the quali- ty and selection of produce and our meat department featuring specialty cuts and made on the premises meat loaf, stuffed pork chops, cabbage rolls, etc." Wayne O'Dwyer is the store's meat manager, Cathy Heywood is in charge of the produce department and Mariotte Bilcke is the bake shop and deli manager: The main supplier of Valu Mart stock is Central Canada Grocers In- corporated. Included are President's Choice- and No Name products which are fully guaranteed. A computer system has been in- . stalled this week. Seip says, "To keep up with the ever-increasing technology in the business world." of the realigned sections in their Since coming- to Exeter in 1977, the Seips have b1come thor- oughly.involved in the communi- ty. Tom -is a. Scout leader and a valuable member of Exeter Unitcd Church while Kathy is one of the local Welcome Wagon representa- tives and president of the Home - craft division of the Exeter Fall Fair. Swartman's closing after 15 years By Ross Haugh EXETER - After 15 years in the clothing business in the town of Exeter, the doors of Bob Swartman Men's Shoppe will close when the present going out of business sale is completed. Swartman says current lifestyles and dress codes are responsible for the changes in the buying habits of the public. . He added, " Now many business= men go to work in a shirt , tie and V neck sweater instead of a- busi- ness suit. That was unheard of even four or five years ago. We sold more suits and at higher prices 10 years ago than we do now." Men's fashions has been a way of life for Bob Swartman since his high• school days at East Elgin High School in Aylmer. In the school's year book he was known as Simpson, Scars and Swartman. During his school days he worked .for Murray's Men's Wear in Aylmer and after 10 years of service in the Royal Canadian Air Force esta- blished a business in Godcrich with partner Earl Rawson. In August of 1973, Swarunan and his wife Anita purchased the local clothing business from the family of the late George Vricse' and it has operated here ever since. They also operated Anita's Fashions for some time: ' About his stay in Exeter, Swart - man says, " I feel good about the -•accomi,lisliments of the Exeter Business Improvement Association which was established more than 10 years ago." • Swartman was a founding director along with -Ron Cottrell, Earl Cam .bell, Harold Gunn, Jon Din - ncy and Jcny Gray. He added, ' The BIA has made a lot of improvements including Main street business restorations." . The local clothier was also on the steering committee and a founding director of the Ontario Business Im- provement Area Association. On February 6, . Bob Swartman joins the Collins Wedding People in London as an arca supervisor. His responsibilities will include Collins locations in London, Sar- nia, Kitchener and Hamilton. Anita will be a bridal consultant with the - same firm. It'S�Yy�l���. Your Business i Industrial Growth Fund When it comes to RRSP investing, one word says it all. Results. Ther( are slam to nllcst your RRSI' dollars Anci each Rlttil' alternative claims it s the hest for one reasunnr But none of these cl;unis.hold %%Ater unless one tiling is thereto back them, up: a record of p erlormance. - - • There are many things we could say to attempt to establish the credentials of The Industrial .(iroup of Funds . Iliat-we nt:magi' more than S- billion for more than 6i0.o91 Canadian imcstotS ... ihat .we pursue gro►wth. hut neer at .the expense of consistency and that inlr record of :nulctp:ting det•elopme:,'' in the market has heen excellent nn the strength 11t comparison of results. Here are ours: Ill vr. \ r. Indutrial-GrI I 'owlh Fund . 13 (r',. 16. For Mart. intilimation on this aunt other excejttiQll.1 Rll eltglhl • rove^Invents. contact al independent ince'stmciit tired deader or stns khrllket-. or return tlli coupon below 7ixtac' -^«�W .- 16. Closing Store - Bob and Anita Swartman are shown here during their current going -out -of business sale. HOUSE CALLS At Investors, we don't keep bankers hours. We keep -yours. So if you can't come tb me, 1�" well come to you. We can help you put -together a written. com- prehensive financial plan that will help you reach your personal financial goals. If you need advice on anything from.Saving taxes to investment opportunities, call us I today. Contact Rod Chapman CaII Collect - 1-472-0601 Investors Gmupt • 11140111,11,5 'g11►1111UIV11(1(11111'14111U11 1(04 i+r". OLA (rv(Q(%i( RBC Gary C. Bean RBC Dominion Securities Inc DOMINION .186 Main Street South, SECURITIES Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S0 (519) 235-2231, 1-800-265-3478 Ci fit seen our results. please send me a fall package of information -on RRSP investing — including pertornlance comparisons \ 111 f ko11%, {mIU AI 16, Gary C. Bean Mail to RBC Dominion Securities Inc. 186 Main Street South, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S0 The Industrial Group of Funds Managed b) Mackenzie Financial Corporation i.uoking both cc acs 1i1 nu/nip' ,our RRSI' For growl alk. InC(1111e. (i14. .41I figtrt» to December 1. 1988 are (1I'(rage annual ('(rillpoun(! Num ?'lbc based on the !!e!•illc nln a lures/((/ (1!!d r',chanty ram(:chllrllt (faliti(lrtl(IS /?er nrl?Nlll('r not ?!(9'essa!Yh' (f/iilure recti/!e .Illy nprc lick// "alt» by/moped/4c !Diol) cont(Iins c(nr!/1/(II• di!(u&c old! (-lxrrL C /'/('(LW r('ad !1 beth» makink(I purchase and retain iI /mr future reference