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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-05-11, Page 1v:• r fr w AL- 135 YEAR -19 GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, MAY 11. 1983 50 CENTS PER COPY Parents claim ealth film isn't fit By Stephanie Levesque "Caring and Sharing" a film shown to. Grade 12 students at•South Huron Secondary School in Exeter has several parents and at least one Board of Educa- tion trustee upset. Huron Board of Education trustee Dennis Rau of RR 2 Zurich asked the board to investigate the/show- ing of the film to the Grade 12 family studies course students. At the board's May 2 meeting, Mr. Rau said a group. of about 50 people viewed the film. at St. Boniface School after it had been shown atthe high school. The trustee was one of the those who viewed the film and described it as being "in bad taste". Stating he wouldbe frank with the board, Mr. Rau said the film mainly discusses masturbation and pre- marital sex. What he takes offense with, is that the film describes masturbation as being healthy and suggests that pre -marital sex is good and will help people find the right partner. `"There was nothing about love," said Mr. Rau. Although he is a Catholic, Mr. Rau said parents of other religious denominations also viewed the film` and were in sbme cases more upset than the Catholic parents. It was acknowledged 'that ,the film under- mines the morals taught by the Catholic Church. Mr., and Mrs. Clare Regier of Zurich and Joe Miller of Dashwood were present at the board meeting and wanted to know who is responsible for allowing the film to be shown in the school. "Is there not a committee here that reviews, films?'.". asked M,r. Miller. "If not there is something wrong with the board of education." Mr. Regier said he is "sick of fighting" against books and films being distributed in the school system. • "You'recorrupting my kids. You sit on your fat ass and yougtiys are not doing your job. That film isn't fit to look at," said Mr. Regier. The scene turned into a shouting match as board chairman .Dorothy Wallace assured the parents that administration would look into the matter. Mr. Regier replied, "It's too late." Superintendent of program Robert McCall said • teachers are responsible for the films shown in the classroom and that administration doesn't attempt to monitor films shown in the classroom. It was noted that the film was not available from the board's media centre. Mr. Rau indicated the .teacher from South Huron Secondary School had obtained the film from the Huron County Health Unit. Mrs. Regier said she has five students attending the Exeter high school with two in Grade 12. The Zurich woman said she was responsible for obtaining the film and having it shown to the group of parents. . The board has referred the matter to its education committee and Mrs: Regier said she will "just have to wait and see what the board does". At Huron County Council on the following Thur- sday, the film was commented upon by Stanley Township Reeve Paul Steckle. He had been ap- proached by a nrtimberof parents about Sharing and Caring and asked Medical Officer of ' Health Dr. Harry Ciealar for his Comments.. "It's meant for older students," acknowledged the. MOH noting the film provided straightforward in- formation and is not judgemental. • "It's been around for 10 years.. I can't understand the sudden furor," commented Dr. Cieslar. The MOH added that if people think the film is unappropriate, it could be dropped. He noted that it is only a small group of -people who are opposed to the Hey; -what's going on in thein: "`lwii`°yaua acts were every bit as interested in the proceedings at the annual police auction ` Saturday as the grownups and poked ,their heads through the crowd for a look at the bikes up for auction. `'Whifetfeycles were the main attraction, several other items were offered at the auction. Chief Pat King said the next police auction will be held in two years. (photo by Dave Sykes) Police auction nets $420 The police auction held here Saturday netted ap- proximately $420 in half an hour. This money will be turned into the town treasury and credited as revenue from the police department. The auction mainly featured stolen bicycles which could not be traced. Police Chief Pat King says that 171 bicycles were reported stolen in town last year but most of them were recovered. The main areas where bicycle thefts occur, in order, are GDCI, Victoria Public School, Robertson Memorial Public School, St. Marys Separate School and the arcades. "'This means that chances are, if you ride your bicycle to school, you will have it stolen unless you put a lock on it," says the Chief. Besides recommending locks, Chief King also advises that owners mark down the serial numbers and makes of their bicycles so that they can be traced once recovered. "Our two biggest incidents of theft in town include bicycles and items stolen from cars," says Chief King. He adds that the number of such thefts could be cut down drastically if people would use locks and properly identify their property. - Money taken at Burger Bar break-in Fifty-two dollars was stolen during a break-in at the Burger Bar on Kingston Street sometime Saturday evening. Keys which were alsQ stolen have since been recovered. A 1983 Pontiac Firebird stolen from McGee's on the night. of May 6-7 was recovered undamaged the following day by Clinton police. On Sunday' Gcderich police received a report of a robbery in progress. Investigation simply revealed two persons working in a store with a welding torch. However, Police Chief Pat King says his department appreciates such calls from the public even if they turn out to be false alarms. - • BY JOA • i OHANAN • A one acre parcel Clad!laNE dd locatedhon the Suncoast Drive extension WA be sold to °the+ Goderich and District Association for the Mentally Retarded for the purpose of building a workshop. Town council approved the land purchase (subject to a developer's agreement) on a recommendation from the Goderich Economic Development Com- mittee at its meeting Monday evening. The Association plans to erect a 5,000 square foot metal building on the property to house a light in- dustrial workshop for 25 mentally retarded adults with provision for this number to be expanded up to 40. Presently, 25 mentally retarded adults use the Kinsmen Centre on Keays Street as a workshop for sub -contract work. However, the Ministry of Com- munity and Social Services feels that the Centre does not offer a proper workshop environment. It wants a building with a cement floor so that machinery can be set up and, if necessary, assembly lines developed. It also requires a budding on one level so that it is ac- cessible to people in wheelchairs. Originally .,the Goderich Association went to the Economic Development Committee requesting to purchase a four acre parcel of land on•Huckins Street in the Industrial Park at a cost of $5,000 per acre. However, the committee was reluctant to recom- mend the sale of this land to the Association because it is the only parcel of serviced land presently left for sale in the Park and members of the committee The Goderich and District Collegiate Institute drama club will be presenting Thornton Wilder's `Our Town' for three nights beginning Thursday, May 12 in the school auditorium. The above scene A depicts a farewell to the wedding couple in Act II and features Helen Conlon, Jim Wilkin, Lori Pat- terson, Ellen Murphy, Martin Maurer, Lisa Frayne, Sandy Lane, Melody Falconer and Mary Margaret Murphy. Curtain time is 8 p.m. for all three per- formances and one-third of the proceeds will be donated to the Livery project. (photo by Dave Sykes) 'agreed that t would be better le for heavier in- dustry. "This is a prime piece offour acre land -and if we. sold it for light industry, we would be limiting our future options," said Huron County planner Roman Dzus. The committee was also concerned about the loss of tax 'revenue since a workshop for the mentally retarded would be tax exempt under the assessment act. After determining that one acre would be large enough for the purpose of building a workshop, the committee offered the Suncoast Drive extension property for $5,000 plus legal and survey costs. Jean Wheeler, chairman of the workshop com- mittee for the •Association, said she was pleased with this offer. She said construction on the workshop could begin by August if not soon tThe building will probably be located on the west portion of the property next to Delbar Park. • Mrs. Wheeler estimates the cost of construction at $114,000 and says the project will be funded "with loans and mortgages and gifts from private citizens." Although the Ministry of Community and Social Services has pushed for the move from the Kinsmen Centre to a new building, it offers no capital funding for the project. However, Mrs. Wheeler says the Association has been assured that after the building is up, the ministry will supply `funds to them in the form of rent. Museum now open to public Welfare cases .continue to The downward trend continues, For the second consecutive month, the social services committee has been able to repot a decline in the number of its general assistance cases to Huron k County Council, Since February the. , ber of people on welfarie has demand. In March, 27 cases were .closed as employment was found and by April another' 20 cases closed as the job market unproved • ' "It's encouraging to 'see people are picking` up: employment," ertBsaeidll.. socials services. committee.. o_,b The only bad news is that the numberof welfare cases in the county is still up considerably from last'. year at this time. In March of 1982 there were 155 general assistance cases, compared to 243 in March `, of this year. ° One reason for the decline in the number of cases is that several municipalities in the county have taken advantage, of the COED programs. Twenty-one, people have been hired directly from the social services caseload to work in these various municipalities inthe county. In other social services business, county council will not be entering into an agreement at the present time with the Huron County Family Crisis Centre. Minor injuries result of accident Judith Gardner, 31, of 117 Britannia Road was sent to Alexandra Marine and General Hospital with minor injuries Thursday, May 5 after losing control of her 1979 Buick and hitting a parked car at the home of Doug Cooke, 182 Bayfield Road{ The accident occurred at 4:40 a.m. and caused an estimated $11,000 damage to both cars along with $300 damage to the lawn, front step and railing of the Cooke home. Allan brings . experience to job The new director of education for Huron County br- ings with him a wealth of experience, having started as a school supply salesman then ' entering • thee: teaching profession and working his way up. Robert (Bob) Allan, 47, currently superintendent of operations with the board, was recentlynamed' as director. On July 1 he takes over the position from retiring director John Cochrane. Mr. Allan started his teaching at S.S. No. 7 Eramosa .in Wellington County and then went on to Mount Albion School in Hamilton. The new director then advanced to the position of principal where he served in this capacity in the counties of Haldimand; Oxford, Middlesex and Kent. , Starting with the Huron Board of Education 11 years ago, Mr. Allan was an assistant superinten dent. He has served as superintendent off:,ools,, superintendent of personnel and in his curposi- tion.. Mr. Allan received his Bachelor :of Argree from McMaster_ University in Hamilton his, Master. of Education from the University oonto In th s he,, has a ed:° n ^ var nc �deY1 He and hisWifeMargaret, who reside .In Clinton,... have children; Janice,' 22, David, 19 and Laura, • 11. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR By Stephanie Levesque The additional support posts required on the main floor of the Huron County Pioneer Museum have been put in place and 20,000 square feet of museum is now open. Having undergone months of debate and currently under study by the feasibility study team made up of Huron County residents, the museum along with the log cabin has been open since late last month. Costs for the repairs enabling the main floor of the museum to be opened this summer were originally estimated at $500 but were kept to a minimum at less than $350. Timber posts cut from the Bannochburn area with the help of Katimavik students and museum staff have been bolted in place on the lower floor area to provide additional support. B.M. Ross and Associates Limited, a Goderich engineering firm, have inspected the repairs and museum curator Raymond Scotchmer said the main floor area now meets museum building code stan- dards, Mr, Scotchmer indicated a full complement of demonstrations, including candle and ropemaking, will take place throughout the summer season. He does need some help though. "We need people on a volunteer basis," stated Mr. Scotchmer. In past summers the museum has been able to take adVantage of summer student employment programs but because of the uncertainty surrounding • the museum at the beginning of the year, it was not possible to apply for such a program. There are lots of jobs to be done for any volunteer coming forward. Such tasks as giving demon- strations, moving artifacts, researching, acting as a floor guide and even cutting wood need to be done. Most of the artifacts currently on the top floor of the mus utn will remain there although some juggling will take place. The Curator plans to move a couple of the larger vehicles from the main floor out to the Goderich airport and from the upper floor, bring down, at least the ear used by the museum founder H.G. O'Neil. Science Circus The Science Circus came to town on Friday, April 29 and since then, both adults and children have been enjoying the various exhibits. Unlike any other show of its kind, the Science Circus allows spectators to touch° and play with the exhibits. For the story about the unusual show look inside the first section. Seniors win again The high school soccer season is now into its second week and the G,D.C.I. senior team has been per- forming exceptionally well. So far, the team remains undefeated. For stories about both the junior and the senior teams turn to the front page of the Recreation section. Ben Hey retires Ben Hey began working for Manpower in 1946 and for the past 15 years he• has been the manager of the Canada Employment Centre in Goderich. Now Hey is retiring and instead of finding jobs for other people he will have to find ways to occupy his ovin time, Signal- Star reporter Darrell 'Clone talked to He about his work experience. The story appears inside the first section.