Times Advocate, 1989-08-23, Page 1[EXETER TOYOTA,
242 Main St. N. Exeter
Across from O.P.P.
Phone
235-2353
Serving South Huron,
Woman.
killed
EXETER - A Montreal woman
lost her life in an accident Sunday
morning on Highway 83, about
2.5 kilometres east of Exeter.
Frances Betty Kwan, aged 30 was
pronounced dead at the scene by
Coroner Dr. Charles Wallace of
Zurich.
The 1990 Chevrolet she was
driving east on Highway 83 left the
roadway and struck a tree. She was
alone at the time of the accident.
The cause of the accident remains
under investigation by Constable
Ralph Christmas of the Exeter de-
tachment of the Ontario Provincial
Police.
The Exeter fire department was
called to the scene and assisted in
removing the body from the vehi-
cle which was wrapped around a
tree.
During the week, local detach-
ment officers investigated 54 gener-
al occurrences which included two
other accidents.
At 5.10 p.m. on Sunday, August
13, vehicles driven by Christine
Cunningham and Devindra Ajudah,
both of London collided on High-
way 81, near the B Line road in.
Stephen township. Damage was
light and no injuries were sus-
tained.
Wednesday at 9 p.m., a vehicle
Plea:e turn to page 3
One accident for
town police
EXETER - Only two accidents
were investigated this week by of-
ficers of the Exeter town police de-
partment.
Friday, a parked vehicle owned
by Robert Leppoington was in-
volved in an accident with a vehi-
cle driven by August Grcgus, Exet-
er. The mishap occurred on Gidley
street.
Vehicles operated by Willard
Conn, London and Harvey Hod-
gins, Crediton were in -collision
Sunday on Main street.
North Middlesex &
Lambton
Petition
charges
conflict
1
Alp
"No substance to any of it" Sharen
GRAND BEND - A petition from
a few village payers was sent to the
Minister of Municipal Affairs ask-
ing him to conduct an inquiry into
the a,:tions reeve Bob Sharen and
other members of council. A copy
was sent to the Times Advocate by
mail last week, 'but contained no
signatures..
Th : petition alleges Sharen has
beer. in conflict of interest several
time., over a road widening issue
and r.ever declared the conflict.
1 he petition further alleges
that Sharen is trying to fill the cur-
rent vacancy on council with a
client of his real estate office and
"policies implemented previously
by the former council are no longer
adhered to, and that the reeve decides
and convinces a majority of council
to go along with him".
According to Nigel Bellchamber,
a spokesman for the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs in London, "as
long as council is following guide-
lines set forth in the municipal act,
their, is not a lot they can do about
it. V.'e have no knowledge of any
Since 1873
0
GC
Gaiser-Kneale
Insurance
Exeter 233-2420
Grand Bend 238-8484
Bernal! 262-2119
Clinton 482-9747
Wednesday, August 23, 1989 75 cents
wrong doing."
"Allegations of conflict of interest
of a reeve or council are not looked
into by the ministry. If a ratepayer
thinks a reeve has a conflict, it is
up to them to take the council to
court," said Bellchamber.
"Council makes the decisions,
that is why they are elected, and the
reeve has only one vote, but if the
people don't like the way he is run-
ning it the only thing I can tell
them is to seek their own legal ad-
vice," he continued.
Bellchamber also said Sharen can
have anybody he wants to fill the
vacancy on council as long as that
person has the most council votes
when it comes time to naming the
replacement. There is no restriction
as to who he cari or can't appoint.
When asked to reply to the allega-
tions Sharen said "there is no sub-
stance to any of it. How do you re-
spond when people take a little bit
of fact -and mix in a whole lot of
fiction. I think it is a small group
of disgruntled people trying to un-
dermine the workings of this coun-
cil".
Vacancy on council
GRAND BEND - Village council
failed to come up with an agreeable
solution for filling the vacancy on
council at their regular meeting
Monday night.
The seat has been vacant since
the death of former deputy reeve
George Kadlecik Last month. Short-
ly after Kadlecik's death, Bruce
Woodley was nominated to fill the
vacant deputy reeve's chair, which
left an another opening on council.
Council had three options for
filling .the spot. The first was to
have an election, the second was to
appoint somebody outright and the
third was to appoint one of the run-
ners up in last November's munic-
ipal election.
At an earlier meeting, council de-
cided to advertise for applicants for
the councillor's position with the
deadline for applications closing
August 11. Council was supposed
to then select someone from the
two applicants to fill the vacancy
at Monday's meeting.
Monday night, counc;l ended
their regular session and net in a
special meeting to .li,.us, the re-
placement.
Only two people flitted ap-
plications council opcning.
One was Kyle Harrison, owner of
the Barefoot Pedlar on Main Street
and the other was former councillor
Marsha Lemon, who was defeated
by Kadlecik for the deputy reeve's
spot in the November election.
Councillor Shirley Mitchell
opened motions by submitting
Lemon's name for council's ap-
proval. That was quickly followed
by"councillor John McDowell who
submitted Harrison's name. Both
Stampede city's best
Citizen of the year - A former resident of the Exeter area was
recently named citizen of the year by the Calgary Lions Club.
Love, shown here with his wife Jean wins an a11 -expense fami-
ly trip to Jamaica and $5,000 in expense money. Love's many
community contributions include the Calgary Stampede
kand the Olympics.
motions on the floor right away
without anyone seconding them.
Mitchell quickly responded by ac-
cusing McDowell of having a con-
flict of interest because McDowell's
son works for Harrison at the Bare-
foot Pedlar.
McDowell didn't think he had a
conflict of interest disagreement but
reeve Bob Sharen read from the Mu-
nicipal Act and the Municipal Con-
flict of Interest Act and informed
McDowell that he may indeed be in
conflict. He issued an ultimatum to
"either declare a conflict of interest
or vote on the motion and be pre-
pared to face the consequences".
Sharen then said if McDowell did
declare a conflict, he wasn't sure if
the three remaining members v( -
ing on a replacement had to 1'(.
unanimous or if a majority could
declare a winner.
McDowell officially declared he
had a conflict.
Sharen then sought advice from
the village's solicitor, Dan Murphy,
and after considerable conversation
by telephone during the meeting,
Murphy told Sharen that a majority
of votes would carry the issue. That
all went for naught when both
Sharen anti Woodley failed to sec-
ond either motion. McDowell's mo-
tion was killed when he declared a
conflict.
"I not sure what I want right now
and I certainly don't want to rush
through this so I am not going to
second any motion at this point,
said Woodley.
He added that council never for-
mally adopted a atciiuu as to how
they were going to fill the vacancy,
Plea e turn to page 3
i
Homegrown beauties
Fair queen - Patty O'Toole, left was crowned queen of the 1989 Exeter Fall Fair during the fair
ball at the South Huron Rec Centre Saturday night. She poses here with first runner up Myla
Lovell, centre and second runner up Sheila Dougall.
Blanshard prepares for
150th birthday bash
• BLANSHARD TWP. - Blanshard
T'ownship's 150th anniversary cele-
bration is "shaping up to be a' great
event," says publicity committee
member John Harlton.
The party, scheduled for this com-
ing Saturday and Sunday, Aug, 26-
27, is expected to attract 1,500 to
2,000 people, he says.
"The Theme is 'My roots are in
Blanshard' and we're hoping every-
one connected with the township
will be on hand for this gala
event."
Mr. Harlton says 1,500 tickets
have already been sold for Satur-
day's barbecue and people from as
far away as Vancouver, New Lis-
keard and various parts of the U.S.
are among former township resi-
dents expected toottend.
But people are advised to get their
barbecue tickets in advance since
only about 200 tickets are being
held at the door for those travelling
long distances to attend.
Renovations underway
EXETER - The conversion of a
courtyard into three new classrooms
at South Huron District High
School is just the beginning of a•
quarter of a million dollar renova-
tH1n prnk'l applxxve4.4y4*44i ri ~•
Board of Education, atx;uiutng" w the
board's superintendent of opera-
tions, Paul Carroll.
The three rooms which are pres-
ently under construction will ac-
comodate a new drafting area, an
area for automotive classroom work
and one room for a special program
such as English as a Second Lan-
guage (ESL) or adult education.
The initial decision for expansion
for the 1989/90 school year was
made on May 1 to cope with high
enrollment levels, but Construction
did not begin until July.
The board 'says that despite the
usual delays, construction is mov-
ing alonfc quite quickly. Although
completion for the first day of .
school, September 5, doesn't look
hopeful, the end of that month
seems more realistic.
"The difficulty is everyone ex-
pects us to do all the work in July
and August," said Paul Carroll.
"But to do a job correctly and well
we must take more than incr. a. ioN
weeks."
Phase two of the project will in-
volve work on the old drafting
room to provide beuer theatre and
visual arts areas but this will not
bgirr' orlttt'ITI;tun'l`8r1 f1r1'fCt3tf17i
iltbinptettets
"It's our intention to finish the
area in construction first," said Car-
roll.
The decision to expand the arts at
department tarns vt w,
mendations by the school and it's
staff which gave the board reason to
decide that space for theatre and vis-
ual arts was not adequate.
The present drafting area of
SHDHS will be subdivided into a
larger theatre arts classroom, office
and storage space for art supplies
and a practice area for theatre arts.
Phase three of the expansion will
renovate other present classrooms
to accommodate for better visual
arts facilities.
This is actually the second year
for renovations at SH. Last year,
two new science ciassrn"t ; were
constructed
1989/90 arrangements are
fill not the end .of it. Additional
plans for upgrading of the technical
studies arca in1990 are alrdy. kg
•
Saturday's get-together begins
with a parade starting at 12:30 p.m.
from the township hall. Motorized
entries in the parade will be met en
route to South Perth Centennial
School by walkers who will assem-
ble at McLean Taylor Construction
Ltd., a• short distance from the
school.
Two areas close by will be set
aside for parking so that people can
witness the parade and then join the
crowd at the school for the other
events.
At the school, there'll be dis-
plays of township memorabilia, a
talent show and dressage demonstra-
tion, all of which starts at 2 p.m.
Also scheduled is a tug -o -war
competition 'which, says Mr. Hari -
ton, is expected to be something of
a "grudge match" between former
school sections of the township.
Anyone still wanting to become
involved in the tug -o -war games is
asked to call Cliff Thomson at 225-
2778 or Norm Bilyea at 225-2173:
Among the entertainers lined up
for the, talent show are the notori-
ous Paul Brothers and Shirley as
well as the Stonetown Entertainers.
The day winds up with a ladies
ball game starting at 7 p.m.
Although planning for the 150th
anniversary party began only in
January this Fear, the schedule has
been brought together admirably.
"The way the committees have
pulled together has been tremendous
and there has been great interest
shown at each of the organizational
meetings: says Mr. Harlton. credit-
ing the sub -committees for their
contributions.
History books
The book committee has had two
township history books reprinted
and is publishing a new one which
includes recent history of the town-
ship.
An 1899 publication, Pioneers of
Blanshard by William Johnston,
has been reprinted as well as a 1951
publication, Blanshard's History in
Review.
Unfortunately "a glitch with the
printer" has delayed publication of
the new book, which is entitled My
Roots are in Blanshard, and it won't
be available for another two weeks,
Mr. Harlton says.
The three -book package is being
offered for $35.
In addition to those items, the
publicity committee has come up
with a novel T-shirt design.
It's a take -off on the 19th century
British explorer Stanley who, in his
search for the source of the Nile in
Please turn to page 3
1
EXETER - Two young offend-
ers have been charged with a se-
ries of incidents at Huron Park
during the early hours of Thurs-
day morning, August 17.
Officers of the Exeter detach -
Park
ment of the Ontario Provincial
Police report tires were slashed
on 24 vehicles.
Damage has been listed at
$3,050 and investigation is con-
tinuing.
Youth faces charges in
Crediton bank incident
1.n .TER - A Stephen township
youth fete been charged with break
and cute, ;vitt' intent and mischief
under $1,uti0 after an August 13
its at the murk of Montreal I*
ion.
' grate?'*"_"'=
Rodney Woods, 18 years of sge
will appear in Exeter Provincial
Court on September 12.
A window in the bank building
was broken at ', a.m. on-Auguxt
13.
Inside
Many Blessings
At used clothing
store in Zurich
page 5
Crops Update
Centralia College
day successful
page 12, 13
Hall of Famer
Earl Heywood
makes western
music hall
page 18
Beans, Beans
Zurich Festival
goes Saturday
pages 27 to 31
Woman.
killed
EXETER - A Montreal woman
lost her life in an accident Sunday
morning on Highway 83, about
2.5 kilometres east of Exeter.
Frances Betty Kwan, aged 30 was
pronounced dead at the scene by
Coroner Dr. Charles Wallace of
Zurich.
The 1990 Chevrolet she was
driving east on Highway 83 left the
roadway and struck a tree. She was
alone at the time of the accident.
The cause of the accident remains
under investigation by Constable
Ralph Christmas of the Exeter de-
tachment of the Ontario Provincial
Police.
The Exeter fire department was
called to the scene and assisted in
removing the body from the vehi-
cle which was wrapped around a
tree.
During the week, local detach-
ment officers investigated 54 gener-
al occurrences which included two
other accidents.
At 5.10 p.m. on Sunday, August
13, vehicles driven by Christine
Cunningham and Devindra Ajudah,
both of London collided on High-
way 81, near the B Line road in.
Stephen township. Damage was
light and no injuries were sus-
tained.
Wednesday at 9 p.m., a vehicle
Plea:e turn to page 3
One accident for
town police
EXETER - Only two accidents
were investigated this week by of-
ficers of the Exeter town police de-
partment.
Friday, a parked vehicle owned
by Robert Leppoington was in-
volved in an accident with a vehi-
cle driven by August Grcgus, Exet-
er. The mishap occurred on Gidley
street.
Vehicles operated by Willard
Conn, London and Harvey Hod-
gins, Crediton were in -collision
Sunday on Main street.
North Middlesex &
Lambton
Petition
charges
conflict
1
Alp
"No substance to any of it" Sharen
GRAND BEND - A petition from
a few village payers was sent to the
Minister of Municipal Affairs ask-
ing him to conduct an inquiry into
the a,:tions reeve Bob Sharen and
other members of council. A copy
was sent to the Times Advocate by
mail last week, 'but contained no
signatures..
Th : petition alleges Sharen has
beer. in conflict of interest several
time., over a road widening issue
and r.ever declared the conflict.
1 he petition further alleges
that Sharen is trying to fill the cur-
rent vacancy on council with a
client of his real estate office and
"policies implemented previously
by the former council are no longer
adhered to, and that the reeve decides
and convinces a majority of council
to go along with him".
According to Nigel Bellchamber,
a spokesman for the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs in London, "as
long as council is following guide-
lines set forth in the municipal act,
their, is not a lot they can do about
it. V.'e have no knowledge of any
Since 1873
0
GC
Gaiser-Kneale
Insurance
Exeter 233-2420
Grand Bend 238-8484
Bernal! 262-2119
Clinton 482-9747
Wednesday, August 23, 1989 75 cents
wrong doing."
"Allegations of conflict of interest
of a reeve or council are not looked
into by the ministry. If a ratepayer
thinks a reeve has a conflict, it is
up to them to take the council to
court," said Bellchamber.
"Council makes the decisions,
that is why they are elected, and the
reeve has only one vote, but if the
people don't like the way he is run-
ning it the only thing I can tell
them is to seek their own legal ad-
vice," he continued.
Bellchamber also said Sharen can
have anybody he wants to fill the
vacancy on council as long as that
person has the most council votes
when it comes time to naming the
replacement. There is no restriction
as to who he cari or can't appoint.
When asked to reply to the allega-
tions Sharen said "there is no sub-
stance to any of it. How do you re-
spond when people take a little bit
of fact -and mix in a whole lot of
fiction. I think it is a small group
of disgruntled people trying to un-
dermine the workings of this coun-
cil".
Vacancy on council
GRAND BEND - Village council
failed to come up with an agreeable
solution for filling the vacancy on
council at their regular meeting
Monday night.
The seat has been vacant since
the death of former deputy reeve
George Kadlecik Last month. Short-
ly after Kadlecik's death, Bruce
Woodley was nominated to fill the
vacant deputy reeve's chair, which
left an another opening on council.
Council had three options for
filling .the spot. The first was to
have an election, the second was to
appoint somebody outright and the
third was to appoint one of the run-
ners up in last November's munic-
ipal election.
At an earlier meeting, council de-
cided to advertise for applicants for
the councillor's position with the
deadline for applications closing
August 11. Council was supposed
to then select someone from the
two applicants to fill the vacancy
at Monday's meeting.
Monday night, counc;l ended
their regular session and net in a
special meeting to .li,.us, the re-
placement.
Only two people flitted ap-
plications council opcning.
One was Kyle Harrison, owner of
the Barefoot Pedlar on Main Street
and the other was former councillor
Marsha Lemon, who was defeated
by Kadlecik for the deputy reeve's
spot in the November election.
Councillor Shirley Mitchell
opened motions by submitting
Lemon's name for council's ap-
proval. That was quickly followed
by"councillor John McDowell who
submitted Harrison's name. Both
Stampede city's best
Citizen of the year - A former resident of the Exeter area was
recently named citizen of the year by the Calgary Lions Club.
Love, shown here with his wife Jean wins an a11 -expense fami-
ly trip to Jamaica and $5,000 in expense money. Love's many
community contributions include the Calgary Stampede
kand the Olympics.
motions on the floor right away
without anyone seconding them.
Mitchell quickly responded by ac-
cusing McDowell of having a con-
flict of interest because McDowell's
son works for Harrison at the Bare-
foot Pedlar.
McDowell didn't think he had a
conflict of interest disagreement but
reeve Bob Sharen read from the Mu-
nicipal Act and the Municipal Con-
flict of Interest Act and informed
McDowell that he may indeed be in
conflict. He issued an ultimatum to
"either declare a conflict of interest
or vote on the motion and be pre-
pared to face the consequences".
Sharen then said if McDowell did
declare a conflict, he wasn't sure if
the three remaining members v( -
ing on a replacement had to 1'(.
unanimous or if a majority could
declare a winner.
McDowell officially declared he
had a conflict.
Sharen then sought advice from
the village's solicitor, Dan Murphy,
and after considerable conversation
by telephone during the meeting,
Murphy told Sharen that a majority
of votes would carry the issue. That
all went for naught when both
Sharen anti Woodley failed to sec-
ond either motion. McDowell's mo-
tion was killed when he declared a
conflict.
"I not sure what I want right now
and I certainly don't want to rush
through this so I am not going to
second any motion at this point,
said Woodley.
He added that council never for-
mally adopted a atciiuu as to how
they were going to fill the vacancy,
Plea e turn to page 3
i
Homegrown beauties
Fair queen - Patty O'Toole, left was crowned queen of the 1989 Exeter Fall Fair during the fair
ball at the South Huron Rec Centre Saturday night. She poses here with first runner up Myla
Lovell, centre and second runner up Sheila Dougall.
Blanshard prepares for
150th birthday bash
• BLANSHARD TWP. - Blanshard
T'ownship's 150th anniversary cele-
bration is "shaping up to be a' great
event," says publicity committee
member John Harlton.
The party, scheduled for this com-
ing Saturday and Sunday, Aug, 26-
27, is expected to attract 1,500 to
2,000 people, he says.
"The Theme is 'My roots are in
Blanshard' and we're hoping every-
one connected with the township
will be on hand for this gala
event."
Mr. Harlton says 1,500 tickets
have already been sold for Satur-
day's barbecue and people from as
far away as Vancouver, New Lis-
keard and various parts of the U.S.
are among former township resi-
dents expected toottend.
But people are advised to get their
barbecue tickets in advance since
only about 200 tickets are being
held at the door for those travelling
long distances to attend.
Renovations underway
EXETER - The conversion of a
courtyard into three new classrooms
at South Huron District High
School is just the beginning of a•
quarter of a million dollar renova-
tH1n prnk'l applxxve4.4y4*44i ri ~•
Board of Education, atx;uiutng" w the
board's superintendent of opera-
tions, Paul Carroll.
The three rooms which are pres-
ently under construction will ac-
comodate a new drafting area, an
area for automotive classroom work
and one room for a special program
such as English as a Second Lan-
guage (ESL) or adult education.
The initial decision for expansion
for the 1989/90 school year was
made on May 1 to cope with high
enrollment levels, but Construction
did not begin until July.
The board 'says that despite the
usual delays, construction is mov-
ing alonfc quite quickly. Although
completion for the first day of .
school, September 5, doesn't look
hopeful, the end of that month
seems more realistic.
"The difficulty is everyone ex-
pects us to do all the work in July
and August," said Paul Carroll.
"But to do a job correctly and well
we must take more than incr. a. ioN
weeks."
Phase two of the project will in-
volve work on the old drafting
room to provide beuer theatre and
visual arts areas but this will not
bgirr' orlttt'ITI;tun'l`8r1 f1r1'fCt3tf17i
iltbinptettets
"It's our intention to finish the
area in construction first," said Car-
roll.
The decision to expand the arts at
department tarns vt w,
mendations by the school and it's
staff which gave the board reason to
decide that space for theatre and vis-
ual arts was not adequate.
The present drafting area of
SHDHS will be subdivided into a
larger theatre arts classroom, office
and storage space for art supplies
and a practice area for theatre arts.
Phase three of the expansion will
renovate other present classrooms
to accommodate for better visual
arts facilities.
This is actually the second year
for renovations at SH. Last year,
two new science ciassrn"t ; were
constructed
1989/90 arrangements are
fill not the end .of it. Additional
plans for upgrading of the technical
studies arca in1990 are alrdy. kg
•
Saturday's get-together begins
with a parade starting at 12:30 p.m.
from the township hall. Motorized
entries in the parade will be met en
route to South Perth Centennial
School by walkers who will assem-
ble at McLean Taylor Construction
Ltd., a• short distance from the
school.
Two areas close by will be set
aside for parking so that people can
witness the parade and then join the
crowd at the school for the other
events.
At the school, there'll be dis-
plays of township memorabilia, a
talent show and dressage demonstra-
tion, all of which starts at 2 p.m.
Also scheduled is a tug -o -war
competition 'which, says Mr. Hari -
ton, is expected to be something of
a "grudge match" between former
school sections of the township.
Anyone still wanting to become
involved in the tug -o -war games is
asked to call Cliff Thomson at 225-
2778 or Norm Bilyea at 225-2173:
Among the entertainers lined up
for the, talent show are the notori-
ous Paul Brothers and Shirley as
well as the Stonetown Entertainers.
The day winds up with a ladies
ball game starting at 7 p.m.
Although planning for the 150th
anniversary party began only in
January this Fear, the schedule has
been brought together admirably.
"The way the committees have
pulled together has been tremendous
and there has been great interest
shown at each of the organizational
meetings: says Mr. Harlton. credit-
ing the sub -committees for their
contributions.
History books
The book committee has had two
township history books reprinted
and is publishing a new one which
includes recent history of the town-
ship.
An 1899 publication, Pioneers of
Blanshard by William Johnston,
has been reprinted as well as a 1951
publication, Blanshard's History in
Review.
Unfortunately "a glitch with the
printer" has delayed publication of
the new book, which is entitled My
Roots are in Blanshard, and it won't
be available for another two weeks,
Mr. Harlton says.
The three -book package is being
offered for $35.
In addition to those items, the
publicity committee has come up
with a novel T-shirt design.
It's a take -off on the 19th century
British explorer Stanley who, in his
search for the source of the Nile in
Please turn to page 3
1
EXETER - Two young offend-
ers have been charged with a se-
ries of incidents at Huron Park
during the early hours of Thurs-
day morning, August 17.
Officers of the Exeter detach -
Park
ment of the Ontario Provincial
Police report tires were slashed
on 24 vehicles.
Damage has been listed at
$3,050 and investigation is con-
tinuing.
Youth faces charges in
Crediton bank incident
1.n .TER - A Stephen township
youth fete been charged with break
and cute, ;vitt' intent and mischief
under $1,uti0 after an August 13
its at the murk of Montreal I*
ion.
' grate?'*"_"'=
Rodney Woods, 18 years of sge
will appear in Exeter Provincial
Court on September 12.
A window in the bank building
was broken at ', a.m. on-Auguxt
13.