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Clinton News-Record, 1977-03-24, Page 1fire burns shop Randy Blake, left, who works at Blake s Welding and Machine Shop, watches as Clinton firemen try to bring a fire under control at the shop last Monday afternoon. Firemen worked for two hours to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading to an ' adjacent furniture store. The• PUC also sent in their bucket truck for use by the firemen. (News -Record photo) Fire last Monday afternoon caused an, estimated $25,000 damage to Blake's Welding and Machine Shop on King Street in Clinton, next to the Post Office. The fire, which broke out at 2 p.m. was caused by pparks from a welding torch ignjting gasoline leaking from a truck that was in the shop • getting a trailer hitch on. The gas tank on the \brand new 1977 GMC pick-up then blew up and the fire 'quickly spread, destroying the truck: ' F Quick action by the Clinton Area Volunteer Fire Department prevented the flames tiom spreading to an ad- i'lege( two-storey building that con- '$ 1ndd the Corner Furniture Store, and the store suffered only minor smoke damage. At the height of the blaze, thick, black smoke could be seen from five miles away, and owners of the furniture store and bystanders started removing 'fur- niture from the store•hen it looked like the fire might spread. • The fire, which was out of control for nearly an hour, caused ' extensive damage to the roof of the one -storey cement block welding shop, and fire chief Clarence Neilans said some equipment as well as the truck, owned by Emmerson Coleman, was lost. Another car parked inside, owned by shop owner Gerry Blake, suffered only minor damage. The 16 -matt fire department had the fire out by 4 p.ni., and Mr. Blake didn't know if the shop would be rebuilt. Two men, Randy Blake, and Craig Cox, were employed at the shop. - Mullett Township may be eligible for a government subsidy of $12,980 to' alleviate its snoiw rez oval costs for 1977. Rotad superintendent George Hoggart was instructed "by council to apply for the subsidy last Wednesday, March 16, and expects he will know by the middle of April if the township will receive the funds. Financial aid has been promised to municipalities who have spent 20 per- cent more bn snow removal in the first four months of 1977, than in the worst similar period in the last four years. This year's costs for January and February, and an estimate of costs in March total $51,000, ' )mpared • with $21,017 in 1976; $12,889 in 1975; $4,659 in 1974 and $4,084 in 1973. , Hoggart said this year's total would be compared against the highest figure of the last four years, 1976. Almost half of the` $51,000 spent on snow removal this year Included the cost of private bulldozers and snowblowers that were hired by the township for the first time to handle the excessive amount of snowfall. In other council business, George Hoggart was appointed to the newly created position of Emergency Control Officer for Hullett Township to the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. Hoggart will represent the township in cases -of emergency flooding which would require the use of township graders and trucks. Finally, council approved a building permit for Menno Martin to erect a new house on his property. Clinton, Ontario 25 cents Weather 1977 1976 Gordon Hill Varna man to run for NDP Amid Liberal and Conservative M criticisms, Gordon Hill, former president of the Ontario Federation_ of Agriculture announced Tuesday that he intends to run as a candidate of the New Democratic Party in the next provincial election. Hill, a Varna farmer, who stepped down from the 23,000 -member Federation last December, will contest , • the Middlesex riding of Progressive Conservative Robert Eaton, parliamentary assistant to Agriculture Minister William Newman. At a London press conference with NDP leader Stephen Lewis, Hill said he considered entering politics only after he stepped down from the Federation. Liberal leader Stuart Smith is said to have approached Hill to run as a Liberal candidate as late as last year, but Hill said the last time he had toyed with the idea of running for the party was in 1973. • That year, the Liberals were looking for a candidate in the Huron seat vacated by Conservative Charles MacNaughton. Hill, 50, said he sees no difference between the Liberal and Conservative parties and feels the NDP is the only party he would feel comfortable to represent. His major drawback will be that he lives in Huron County, not in the riding he will represent. Hill said the two ridings are much the same, and that he a would be more effective standing up against a Conservative than Liberal Jack Riddell, who represents Huron - Middlesex. Liberal and Conservative critics see the NDP move to get Hill, a dominant voice in Ontario farm organizations, as a political ploy in attracting the rural vote. 'There is a Liberal feeling that NDP have always lacked credibility in not being able to attract -the rural vote. Murray Gaunt, Liberal member for Huron -Bruce is said to have commented that Hill is being used by the NDP. Robert Eaton, who Hill will face in the next election, said he sees- the Varna man simply as an opportunist who' would have run for any party that would have him. 112th Year - No. 12 34 24 31 23 26 10 35 6 61 34 64 45 60 19 Snow 61/2" Rain .70 ' Stanley residents push for agricultural status By Chris Zdeb • Stanley" Township residents are pushing for a Secondary plan that will continue to preserve agricultural land, and the natural environment. By Jim Fitzgerald As one kid we know put it: "just when • we get a week off for winter break the weather turns lousy." Lousy is perhaps too strong a word for the recent return of winter that saw Huron citizens going from, shirt sleeves to parkas in two days, considering the bad winter we just went through. But if you think the weather here varies a great deal, pity the poor people in South Dakota. We, saw in another publication that we read regularly a piece that went like this: "South Dakota is noted for very sudden changes of temperature. One summer day it got so hot 'that a field of popcorn started pop- ping and really caused a flurry. The crows in the next field thought it was snowing and froze to death watching." While we may have welcomed the first day of spring hereabouts in the middle of a snowstorm, the hockey season is just about over, now that the Colts and Mustangs are out of it. But before they take the ice out of the arena next week, the arena staff, bolstered by a few "imports" will battle Kasey's Cougers tonight, Thursday March 24 at 8:30 p.m. The proceeds of the gate will go entirely to the local Lions Easter Seal Fund for crippled children. Although a few people in town were aware of it, United States President Jimmy Carter visited Clinton last week . . . Clinton Massachusetts that is. It's another town like ours with a population of 13,000, and the trip was part of the President's meet the people campaign. Another tragedy, or highlight if you wish? from the severe January and February weather is now surfacing. It seems that Clinton and area will be experiencing a minor baby boom 'this coMing fall,' according to local doctors, los because of all the storm -stayed people. Altdthe bug bit our household too. at annual .pancake supper On the last school day before the spring break . (March 18) the staff, pupils, parents and friends of the Clinton and District Christian School celebrated by having their annual Pancake Supper. Well over 400 people were served by the grade 7 and 8 pupils. Service was courteous and in no time at all, orders for piping hot pancakes were filled. A crew of excellent cooks headed by John Hoogendoorn (Sr), attired in chef hat and all, were well able to keep ahead of the demand. Among those who assisted him were his wife, Mrs. Hoogendoorn, Mrs. Agnes Kaptein and Mrs. Gees Dykstra. After one had eaten their fill, there was opportunity to work off all those extra calories at different games of skill in one of the adjoining rooms. Several grade 8 pupils manned different posts of bowling, target practice, darts and bean bag throw stands. Approximately $200 was realized from the games room alone, which will be put towards their trip to Ottawa in early May. The proceeds of the pancake supper, which was close to $300. will be put into the student fund. Many thanks to all who attended and donated their time and effort to make this . annual event possible. A special thanks to the folks at the Legion Hall, who again this year as in former years, have given, the school the loan of the tables and chairs. It's just great to have such good neighbours. It was a happy group of boys and girls who brought some very tired feet to bed at the end of that evening. Hospital ready for stripers Clinton PubliHospital may have its first Candy Stripers roaming the halls by the first of May, says organizer Mrs. Carl Hicks. . Boys and girls, 15 years of ageand over are presently being sought for the voluntee• work which will include the feedlot, of hospital patients, delivering flow€.•s and mail, and moving patients from one part of the hospital to another. Mrs. Hicks has designed a program for the Candy Stripers based on , the programs run at hospitals in Seaforth, Exeter, and Goderich. About 20 ap- plicants are'needed to put the program The second of a series of workshops Tuesday night, drafting a plan, for the township attracted a smaller crowd than e•ected, Reeve Tam Cpnsitt said, .but the views of the people present were highly in favour of preserving the land use policies as presently outlined under the Huron County Plan. The Secondary Plan is a more detailed version of the County plan which outlines present and possible future land use in the township. - Agricultural trends in the township point towards fewer but larger farms, Huron County ag rep, Don Pullen, told the gathering, predicting that 19/6 statistics would show a continuation of farm solidation. He referred to Huron County as "the ast•zbast`Ori of pure agriculture in the province." The township residents, in airing their views on the role of agriculture in Stanley, feel that prime farmland must be given priority to agriculture, with full time and intensive farmers having more priority over individuals working only on a part-time or hobby basis. The general concensus was that non - agricultural residents should bE restricted to locating near existing. hamlets like Brucefield and Hensall sc as not to pose problems for farmers by ruining good agricultural land. While allowing farmers to be able to separate pieces from their farm for houses or cottages to members of their family, the gathering decided suet severances should not be allowed for non-agricultural residents. Under the present Huron County plan continued on page 3 In answer to charges that, he is a New Democratic Party puppet, being used to attract the rural vote in Ontario, Gordon Hill of Varna had only one thing to say: "Nobody forced me into making this decision (to run for the NDP party in Mid- dlesex riding in the next election) . "I gave the matter a lot of thought, and after talking with a number of friends involved in the rural field and others that are not, made my - decision." Hill, who stepped down as president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture last December, said he was approached by NDP leader Stephen Lewis, but only decided to get involved in politics after finishing his involvement with the federation. As for Liberal and Con- servative accusations that Hill will fail to attract the rural vote because he will represent the NDP, who are known for socialistic ideas, he said he is concerned over the term 'socialism'. "I look at myself as -being a capitalist and don't want it any other way," he told the News -Record, Wednesday. "I believe that skill, hard work, enterprise and initiative should be rewarded, and if that's socialistic, then I'm a socialist." The 50 -year-old Varna farmer said his decision t( join the ranks of the NTP wa based in part that the part: had supported the Ontario Federation of Agricultur( and the National Farmers Union in their fight agains the government's farm in come stabilization program. ',We had suggested < program be set up for far mers who failed to get s . decent price on their product' continued on page into action, she said. "Some people may not want to get involved, thinking it's . too time con- suming but the more people you have get involved the less amount of working hours each Candy Striper puts in at the hospital," she said. As an example, Mrs. Hicks said 30 Candy Stripers would have only one to two hours of work per month. Application forms are available at the Guidance Department of Central Huron High School Anyone requiring further information is asked to call Mrs. Hicks at 482-7490. 44, -;,NfA: Clinton native Norman Elliott, of Toronto, will be sitting in one of two first-class stadium seats when the Toronto Blue Jays play the New York Yankees in a double header, June 28. Elliott won the two free seats after his suggestion was chosen in the contest to name Toronto's new baseball team, last July. He was not alone however, sharing the honour with 154 other winners. "There were 20,000 letters sent into the contest suggesting a total of 4,000 different names," Elliott said. "One hundred and fifty-four people thought of the name Blue Jays, so they decided they would draw ten winners." A doctor in Etobicoke, whose name was drawn !lust, won the trip to the Blue Jays training camp in Florida, and the other nine were given season's tickets. Elliott and 143 other people received two first-class tickets to any game except the season's opener. He said he submitted the name "Blue Jays" because he finds the colourful bird interesting to watch, very inquisitive and very aggressive - traits he hopes will be exhibited by the Toronto baseball team. "Although the Blue Jays haven't been playing 100 percept of their strength in the exhibition games," Elliott, a Toronto fireman said, "they are doing very well and living up to their name." Winds cciuse destrucflon Nigh winds last Friday morning, near gale force strength, owned by Sterling Fuels; was weakened on the one side, and knocked over a large section of the former Grigg Fuels area residents are worried that more bks may fall on Building on 'Wilda Street in Clinton. The building, now children playing in the area. (News.Rtecord photo)