Times Advocate, 1997-12-31, Page 11991..,
a year no
one could
have
predicted(,)
44
J
Hospital restructuring. Bill 160. municipal restructuring,
federal and municipal elections and several •community
events captured the headline. in 1997. It was a year of .
change as communities and government agencies.contin-
ted to adjust to the provincial.government's agenda.
The year startedwitha grim outlook for hospitals in
Moron and Perth counties. Many feareda drastic decrease
in services and the possible clo\ore of South -Huron
Hospital.. Fortunate Iy, a plan by hospital administrators
en.tired alt hospitals would remain open.
The Municipal Restructuring Committee.of Hay. Stanley
,Ind Tuckersmith Townships as well as Hensall. Zurich and
Bayfield worked its way through the restructuring process
hut could not agree on the draft proposal The.committee •
took a recess during the municipal c Ir, titins and ‘k III err
back•tu-the table in the new year.
Meanv hi le.- the Tov n of Exeter Opted for internal •
restructuring as a response to pro %incial cutbacks.- It began
• .working through a f2 -point Oran which involved the enlist-
n.ilnin of a labirrer and the towns:recreation director, thee'
shuffling of psltion decription. and the elimination or
1. Isii!Jm of committees'. - •
Ontario's tr;ii hers took.drastic measure. s w Ili .i pit lest tit•
Hill 160. thy F.Jos :mon (duality Impro‘enten( Act. -
ing the classrooms for two weeks beginning October 27.
"In Exeter. things heated up as more than 600 teachers
picketed Huron MPP Helen Johns' office on 'Main Street.
Also on the education front. the Huron and Perth public
school boards prepared for amalgamation. -Abby •
Armstrong of Stanley Township was elected as the first
chair of the new Avon Maitland District School Board. '
. Municipal election races were in full .wing and the
_main topic of many coffee shop debates. Several munici-
palities had elections for several offices and some very
narrow margins of'iciorv.
On the agricultural frons 1997 was the. year without a
spring season: At
the end of May.. •
Huron and
Middlesex
counties went
from winter to
stintiner,.Cool.
wet weather. delayed the planting season hut hot; humid
.,.weather allowed the crops to get back on Schedule.
Harvests were average to.very•good.. •
Coriimunity spirit was alive and well at seycrai local
events The Zurich Bean Festival. the Hens,tll
•
Community -wide Yard Sale and agricultural fairs had good
attendance•figures: The Centralia International Airshow
attracted 10.000 people who donated three van loads of
food to area food banks.
A highlight 'for Exeter; the rodeo returned in fullforce
after a 20 -year absence. Visitors from across Ontario
enjoyed a•full rodeo menu including steer wrestling, bare-
hack hronc riding and hull riding.,
As always: area service clubs. businesses. and individu-
als supported local charities and people in need with the
Christmas Bureau as the'climax. More than 300 children
:received gitts•and clothing while their parents received
food boxes, Ori Christmas Day, aiea
btusinesses add volunteers
offered a complimentary
Christmas dinner at the
SEIP'S
valu-mart
4 & 83 Exeter 23S-0262
Delicious
Hot Deli
Foods
to go
17 II 0 0
Wednesday, December 31, 199 7 (93C + 7c G.S.T.) ONE DOLLAR
0
Serving Exeter and area since 1873
r
•.-
Ranch House to anyone in
need'- Only. 130 people took
up the offer as volunteers Qut-qunihered.
•
/997 )rets a vi'ar''iu2 ane r!with/ hare predicted.
Beginning on pace 2. C/►risline Perim•/,',
a -Gr: 12 student at Souili.Hunnii Dislriri Hi,gi, Schaal
�runr (r('tlilt2►►, take v a look hark.
0
SEIP'S
valu-mart
4-& 83 Exeter 235-0262
Finn Dereloping
-4.99-
?-t roll
Horizons '98
What will the new year bring ? Will it be a year of
challenge and change or of optimism and op-
portunity?
Those are the types of questions the Times-
Advocate asked our community leaders for Ho-
rizons '98. We polled several municipal polificians,
our MPs and MPPs, community club presidents and
many more 'movers and shakers' throughout the T-
A readership area to give us their thoughts 'on how
'98 will turn out in their opinion.
! Theirthoughts and.. musings are contained in this
. week's issue of the T -A and will spill over to next
week's edition.
Thank you for reading the T -A and may '98 be a
year of good fortune and progress for you and your
community. Happy New Year.
Enough food to
feed an army
Only 130 people attended free Christmas
dinner at The Ranch House
By Chantal! Van Raay
1.4 Reporter
EXETER - It .gas a gist Ironi the
community •
Appn,xiniatciy - 9114) Ihs tit pii-
. tatoes, 5t )44 Ins of turkey. 105..
•lb. of hcct. 20)) ries ,and 12I0'
cookie. In total. there .kJ. iiahiW1
(1.009-)- BIS.'t bird. ahoul l i
pet plea
The Ranch Hours Chrintntas-Jin-
ner: whicih expected to attract near-
ly 1.100 net dy peoplL .iii Huron .
County. attracted about one-tenth -
'of that In: f.ki.-the'•dinncr attracted
rnotrc• wduniccrs than tho:c .who
.a.nc for the esintphrncntary meal.
tiull. the Ji ni.r • pro%ed to NI .i
.-'great success.. said t,rganiler Jos•
• Bersocts. "That's because the kit
oyer (food. weighing almost 5.(1))))
Ihs. was distributed to food kinks
between E titer. London and-(h'dc-
rih and to the •Salsation Army 10
•1 ,,niton: . .
Bcrsnets said -the Sal%aintn .\osis'
.oulan't hehe.e fust 'how much
tool) waits lett oyer troth •rho; dmrier
"Cher were absolutely Ilan-'
hcrgasted at how much too(' •eye
Ctiufd gt%e therm." he .aid.
Nothing went to waste." said
• Benoets. adding.at one time. Jur-.
ing the day he was afraid the Iett-
twer' would he wasted. He u as
quickly assured by phones•ringing
• off the hook Isom trod hanks that
nems of the, chid woul}I- ._o to
waste. "
" "The List thing I anted to see
happen was for the tool) to go to
waste.' he said. "But at one time we
had three phones ringing from dit-
ferent Goiod hank. '
.-'II in•all. the dinner had enough
food io teed about 1.500 to loot)
people.. :\I tev Jays prior to the
c'' nil.:Ber'tiels • was ' afraid ' they .
wo uldn`t enough f sod for e.e- •
n ung .
There -are about 4(10 fahnlies in
the Exeter area alone shit use the
lit J hank." Ber'. (lets said. ra-
tion,tivmg that people ought not
have taken adsania a sit .tic dinner
hct;au:c they. are -too :proud.• In-
timidated."or else• the rood is not
That scarce."
"But we did fetid I 41 reorlc who
needed II."` he said: not disappointed
, .13 Ili !din . in. but sillier .utia/cd at
how much support • they receo•ed
tron.i the conimunit-. •
(s(alls ain.ved by itis kind-
ness' , 1 Payers' ti\C had so ruin'.
•.rtlunieers." - ..
Some soluntccr• even µrrned in 'a
.choir and. sang Christmas carols:
s.uj Bcrvitcts .
Bsryocts.plans to hold the J,..,t.i
.again 'text year"only lie thinks i(
will hr ".i Iutte more nioderaur.
":�layhc next .car well _o to the
people Ins(Cas1 of basing the jttitplc
tit U�
He,-,ilso suggested holding the
dinner on a Jay other thanChrist-
niats Day • • •
Regardless: Bcryoets w;Is happy
by the success (•('.the dinner. •-
ll ,was an .nnaiing e'ent. just
phentnnenal." he . said "I .un so
,proud to he a part of Exeter
i
Finkbeiners faring well after fire
Darlene and Doug Finkbeiner credit home sup-
port
upport worker Andra Brand with saving their son
Jeff's life during the Dec. 22 blaze _
By Craig Bradford
T -A4 Reporter
.CREDITON - The Finkbeiners don't know where to begin -thanking all
the people who have stepped forward to•hclp them alter a tire destroyed
their ht2mc north of Crediton on Dec. 22.-
"I'd
22.-
"I'd need -the entire T -A to thank -everyone." a tearful Darleile
Finkheiner said during an interview on Monday. "1'd need the rest of my
life to thank everyone."
Finkheiner gt'cs special thanks. to Community Living •
home- support worker- .Andra Brand of
Dashwood for getting her son
Jeff, .19. out of the home
before the blaze) could
harm -him. Jeff`has a rare degenerative muscle dis-
ease and. -can only take a
sew steps by himself.
"Andra saved Jeff's lite."
Finkbeiner said.:I'm sure
the rest of us wouldn't think
that fast.:'
Brand said ,at. first she
th,iueht the smoke in the
home was an ordinary by-
Brand doesn't feet she lia:uhvthmz,uutof the ordinary by gettingJctf
tut ,if the house. - .
"1 don -t feel a was -very dramatic." sir -surd: ".At the timc_of getting
Jeri" out there was a lot of. smoke hut it .':isn't•like I was jumping
through tire."' - . ••
-Brand has been .t home cars worker for about, lige -and a hall years
with almost all of those 'cars \vial Jeff..
Doug and s -in Shawn. 26..yere.salvazing what they eould of -what is
lett of the house on Monday. Daughters Carrie -Lynne. 23. and Michelle.
. Ib. were' not home at the nine of the tire. .
Ube l imily is staying at Ken .uul•Shirtcy Killer -s hoine in Beier till.
their new- home -is hurls while -the KeTTers'.ire wintering •in FTurida.
Finkheincr`; brother. Doug Geoffrey. will-
huitd the Finkhemer' new home on the
site atter the gutted horns is tarn down.
Finkhcincr thanked her brother. firs wife
Darlene -and their fariiiIy 114 .their
support. : .
''He's looking after wcrything." the
said. "H '-
es been unhelievahlc.
. Sho.alnwnkcd the Stephen Township
And Dashwood volunteer firelighters
for .their efforts to put out the blaze
and Donna. Jim and Jeff. Hoilinan
of. Hoffman Ambulance Service
Who sat with- 1=riikheincr in 'the'
. ambulance while she was recover-
ing from tits shock of seeing her
hme'tin,lire; -
Finkbeineraid her neighbors.
• family and •trends were at tic
-
tire-;cene to provide the lire-.
D Editor:
to tie this opportuniti tot *sok
for saving our
Andrawould , w all our hearts, is Jeff's
� � brother �st� ComM�itY-Livirg � to
got so wodcerRomuick thinidng' she g
home-
supportm: W her quick
on fire. ournHY-
P'a our home for yntae,
Jeff Amos'
ssflety' why wo rfui supper Carrera-E
product of the basement wood Andra Is Shaw"
furnace. When the smoke DouGa,' Demme,
became a bother.. -she went to
the barn to see if Jeff's father
Doug was there. He wasn't; so
Brapd then called Doug's brother
Steve to core check the furnace•
• • -
Ow. . • •
Rehire Steve arrived, Brand said she heard a 'pop" froth the hasemeni
and the smoke poured through the home. Brand. went iirle f's ri.,om. told
hint it was time to get -out and grabbed their coats and .t portable phi nc
.The phone was dead upon dialing. the tire department .o Brand rub to .t
neighbor's home to call the tire department. She thin asked lett where
the family:. -photo albums were. which he didn't know. Brand went hack
Into •he' house to Jeff.'s room -to see if she could salvage• anything hut'hs
that time his room was engulfed in (lames.
Mie ie and
Happy lb be .here. .The
Finkbeiner family is grate-
ful for all the support they
received from the commu-
nity. after a fire destroyed
their home north of
-Crediton. Front left: Jeff
fu►kverner, 19 and mom
Darlene: back left: Brydert -
Gryseels (Shawn
finhbeiner:s .fiancee), --
Michelle. 16. and Carrie -
Lynne. 23. Absent are
Doug Finkbeiner and son
-Shawn. 26, who were at
their former home salvag-
ing what they could.
tiglitcrs with refreshments and.
the family with support.
)la ails,) Iiad high praise for all the businesses. einimiu-
nay groups..chur:hcs and indi'. !duals for -their doinatums and support.
.It was it nightmare.- she .aid.. "But. the good that came from .it
i came"' from people . 1. don't es en know.'`' -
. ' Donations are coming from .is lar away as London- and Sarnia and
- .I3.mk tail .Montreal branches throughout the re:!ion ,are accepting dona-
'tit ns Tic account stands ;ai s25.9022.92 as of.:Monday with donations
still pouring in. Exeter Bank of Montreal' customer service manager
- Vvillr Charlton. sail: Over '59.000 of the total has Neem ullected hv_
(ienitre . Charlton sand. - ,
" 1'he'y re lust Coming from. all over and it doesn't -look lake it's going
to Iii up tin- .t while." Charlton said. -ICS heen
Continued on page 2
January Clearance
S/AJLIE
Storewide Savings ALL MERCHANDISE REDUCED
Save
Up
to
0/0
Off
Reg.
Prices
Tables, Lamps, Sofas,.Chatrs,
Bedding, Chairs, Bedroom
Suites, Diningroom Suites,
Sofa Beds, Sewing Machines,
End Tables; Cottage Tables,
Leather furniture. Wall Units,
Area Rugs, Pictures, Mirrors,
Entertainment Centres,
Cedar Chests, Ceramics, Etc.
(Jitneys
Fine Furniture '& Window Fashions
467 Main St. Exeter 235-0173