The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-07-10, Page 33To
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Tiat's p>Xbte of h; tate` tof
leader.ship and organizatip pab>ait►es
than anything else. e mn Can get. the
jobdone.. :3 .. •, .
And when '0°4010 Township began to
formulate. plans •to celebrate its 150th an-
• niversary during. 1985, it was Ginn who was
"asked to act as Chairman.
"Council called a meeting to see if there.
was any interest in the 150th celebration and.
appointed a. committee from the old _school
sections," he recalled. "That established a
committee of about 16 people but they had
no chairman. They asked me .to take the
job."
He took time to think about the propostion
• but realized that he would. first and
foremost require a group of people who
were willing to work and secondly, the com-
mittee would have to more managable. A
sixteen -member committee was simply un-
managable.
"I phoned 30 people and they said they
would help me so I took on the job," he ex-
plained. "But I then changed the format and
formed a core committee of six people."
That core became the Goderich Township
1-5-0 Executive Committee and consists of
chairman Ginn, secretary Pat Rivett,
treasurer Bev Orr and members Grant
• Stirling, township reeve, Garnet Wright of
the township. recreation comunittee " and
Igoe
pplans ' . inn explains, the.,co
it con, ' aad
pruce. history'�boo Out e township
"We started out thinking we'd produce a.
$10 book with 200 pages and we ended.. up
with, a t20 hard cover- book,",he said. "It
took) more time than we anticipated but it .
has been well,received by everyone. Alison
(Lobb) and' the authors deserve a lot. of
creditTfor that book:"
Planning a major celebration years in ad-
vance is a difficult task.And, of course, the
gleans have a' habit of changing several times
beforethe final arrangements are made.
It was' no different with the 1-5-0 commit-
tee and its task.
"We started planning forja. weekend,"
Gerry explained. "Then we ended up with a
year-long celebration. The trouble through
all the planning has been maintaining in-
terest in the celebrations. But now en-
thusiasm is starting to peak again. The big-
gest problem ih s probably beentrying to ar-
range events that will satisfy all the dif-
ferent interests in the township."
"There has been thousands of ideas ex-
pressed over the years but not thousands of
people to help with them, We've had a good
response, though, and anyone who- has been
asked to help, has."
Planning a n{a jor year-long celehration is
ee'a 1
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tgi'idkl�ti t!!71l14:;
abl.4.igg,0*sets is
to Went, and harnes
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ha
t IWOpea dhe intecess; The problem k
wor *WIC said.�very04Y
n
hasb
s
something thatthey do well."
The population of a township .is ninive
stable than an urban ;area and'there iu less
turnover. That stability can translate•.itito
• more' enthusiasm • :for a project • of this
magnitude.'
WhileGinn.has been spending the bulk of
his tittle 'between the family farm now
managed by son Jim and the Sesquicenten-
nial celebrations," hi's involvement in other
community affairs°has suffered.
"Phoning ,people is the biggest problem.
I'm really only available at meal tune," he
said.
While he has attended regular executive
and committee 'meetings over the past two
years, the planning stages have progressed
more smoothly than he really anticipated.•
And that is a credit to the talented people
who have helped him.
The Goderich Township Sesquicentennial
officially ..began January 1 and there have
been several events leading up to the 140.
week.
"The events so far have gone above ex-
pectations and there have been few events
that we've been disappointed with," he ex-
plained "For the Easter service we set up
00 chairs and they.were filled a half hour
•e e'.
n P
s0 wewill*aka a pr
s to show residents`and former
goodthne.,"
The response .to the tQP40ipS evens may.
far this year has been remarkable andth ere
is every► cation that" many forlui. :•
residents of the township,willbe rct�g
July forthe 1.540 week. n fact, campground;
operators suggest they' have had boom
from former residents who plan to spa d
their holidays in the area.
"We sent out brochures with Christmas
cards and it seems that we have reached the
people we wanted to," Ginn said., "I know
there are people coming from as far away
as Texas, British Columbia, California and
all over Ontario. We anticipate a lot of
visitors."
Ginn estimates that more, than 250 will
have , helped with the" Sesquicentennial
celebrations in one way or another by the
time its finished and he suggests that
estimate may be conservative.
And while the chairman is quick to point
out that the success 'of Goderich Township's
celebration is due to the. talented "and 'en-
thusiastic assistance be has: recieved,
Gum's; ,leadership will. be mucJI,inevidenge.
9�4°!A'eu'tl,:nr� :F.:ti•,„, p,..:7,:S.. 1 _
�!1
welcomes everyone to
our Sesquicentennial!
Have a great time
glad you're here!
Council of the Township of Goderich
REEVE: Grant Stirling
DEPUTY REEVE: Pat Osborn
COUNCILLORS: Case Brand,
CLERK: Robin Thompson i
TREASURER: Ben Whitely