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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-09-26, Page 1ME LITTLE DOUMA—Laura' Douma, a student at the Brussels Public School, was dressed in her finest Indian costume for the Brussels Fall Fair parade. last week. Laura and her fellow students honored the bicentenial in the best ever fair parade. (Wassink photo) Roads budget overspent ebt FIRST SECTION Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 1984 A Single Copy 50c Fundraising is picking up 0 Building project proceeds slowly hospi ,=1 board members are told Construction of a new wing at the Wingham and District Hospital has been proceed- ing more slowly than expect- ed, but the public fund-rais- ing campaign to help pay for it is starting to pick up, members of the hospital board were told last week. Reporting to the board at its first regular meeting following the summer recess, Hans Kuyvenhoven, chairman of the property committee, said progress on the building has been slow but, following a site meeting with the contractor, he anticipates things will be moving ahead more quickly. One of the problems was a hold-up in the electrical installations, he reported, and there . was a lightning Turnberry may head into 'R5 with a deficit of $150,000 If early estimates prove correct, Turnberry Town- ship is heading for a deficit of close to $150,000 for.1984, due to overexpenditures in its roads department. • Road Superintendent Ross Nicholson presented an interim report on the state of the township's roads budget at last Tuesday evening's meeting of council, in which he made the deficit projection. The money allotted for .roads in the 1984 budget already has been spent, he said, with four months remaining in the year, $68,000 owing on the first installment of the township's new grader and some of this years roadwork yet to be completed. All in all, Mr. Nicholson estimated a deficit in the roads department of at least $146,000.' Several township . road projects, like construction on the fourth concession and resurfacing in Lower Town and on the B-line, have cost more than was budgeted for them and wilLadd to the deficit. Council members ex- pressed grave concern over thestate of the township road finances. "You'd almost say 'spending was out of control," said Reeve Brian McBurney. When the reeve asked for comments from the other members of council, Deputy Reeve Doug Fortune said, "There's not much a person can say." "At least that's printable," added Councillor Joan Wright. "It's too bad we didn't know about this six months ago," said Councillor Don Morrison. Councillor Randy Scott was absent. "We'll have $214,000 spent next year before we start," commented Mr. McBurney, "with the deficit and the second half of the grader left to buy." Mr. Fortune said council will have no alternative but to drastically cut back on its • HAPPY 60TH ANNIVERSARY—Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Cook of Belgrave celebrated their 60th wedding an- niversary with a gathering of family and close friends last weekend. Mr. Cook and his bride, theformer Verna May Sturdy, were married Sept. 1 7, 1924, at the home of the late Rev. William J. Taylor of Moorefield. They �.d'1ad learned to know each other at school, when both attended the oldSS 13 in East Wawanosh. After their marriage they farmed on Con. 7 of East Wawanosh until 1958, when they retired to Belgrave.„ roads, programs next . year and that could spell layoffs for the township road em- ployees. NARROW ROADS. Still with the roads, there was more bad news at last week's meeting. Mr. McBurney said council has received several complaints in recent months from ratepayers who are concerned that Turnberry's tenth and 'fourth concessions are too narrow. Last year the township undertook an extensive road - building project on the tenth and,this year on the fourth. The reeve said that he and 111r. Fortune went out one day recently and measured portions of each road, fin- ding some sections of both concessions are indeed narrow. The county engineer recommends the travelled portion of a road should be 25 to 27 feet wide, Mr. McBurney said. 'Parts' of the two newly -constructed concessions, especially the „fourth, are less than 20 feet wide. ' v The reeve said he is concerned about the safety hazard presented to local drivers and added if,, for example, a school bus were to go off the side of the road, the township could be held liable. "This is a ' farming com- munity and we have wide machinery on • these roads too," said Mr. Fortune. Mr. Morrison said when, you spend a lot of money to fix up a road it should be done right. Finally after Some further discussion, council in- structed Mr. Nicholson 4a grade the fourth, widen it and haul fill to the narrowest. spots. Council also instructed the road crew to fill out 'the shoulders' of thenewly-paved section of Lower Town to three feet, where possible, to prevent the pavement from breaking. The roadmen also are to clean . the gravel from the expansion joints on township bridges and in the future the joints must be swept each time the road is graded. Also no road crew member will be allowed to take holidays until the Lower Town •construction, the construction on the fourth and the ' bridge work is completed. ' A letter from Turnberry ratepayer Gail Newell was read at the meeting. Mrs, Newell questioned council's decision to purchase a new grader at a time when town- ship ratepayers are ex- periencing "inflation, unem- ployment (and) ruinous in- terest rates." "In these uncertain titres, surely a responsible govern- ment body, having the in- terests of its ratepayers in mind, should refrain from excessive spending and avoid going in 'debt at all costs," she added. . Mr. Fortune said it was hard to argue with her sentiments, but council members took no other action on the letter. Cooks celebrate 60th anniversary BELGRAVE — Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Cook, who ob- served their 60th wedding anniversary on Sept. 17, celebrated with a family dinner at the Wingham Golf and Curling Club last Sun- day. They were married in Moorefield by the late Rev. William Taylor, a cousin of the bride. They farmed at Lot 40, Con. 7, East Wawanosh Twp. until 1947, when they moved to Lot 38, Con. 6 of East Wawanosh Twp. In 1958 they moved to the village of Belgrave, where they still reside. They have two sons, Eldon, who lives on the home farm, and Robert of Shel- burne. They were pleased to have their six grandchildren and seven great-grand- children attend the party. Other honored guests where Mr. and Mrs. Jack Sturdy , of Wingham, brother of Mrs. Cook, Mrs. Bertha Cook and Mrs. Birdetta Rath, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Hanna all of Belgrave and Mr. and Mrs. Earl Heywood of Wingham. strike recently which required replacing some ,wiring. also reported that the committee will advertise for tenders on the demolition of the house on the property the hospital has purchased for use as a parking lot. The removal is to be completed by the end of November and• the appliances and furniture will be sold at auction. • in the meantime, he noted, the county board of educa- tion has agreed to extend the parking arrangement grant- ing the hospital use of the parking lot at F. E. Madill Secondary School until next summer. "In case things do not go as planned, we have an overflow parking area until June, 1985." Asked by board member Shirley Garniss whether the high school lot has been used Nursing students are tops in the province This year's graduates 'of 'the nursing assistant training school at Wingham '.and District Hospital were number one in Ontagio in terms of the marks attained on their . registration exam- ination. At last week's meeting of the hospital board, Ad- ministrator Norman . Hayes told board members that the Wingham training centre .had placed first out of z RNA programs•, in the vine. e average score, of 157.4,2 was more than 16 points ahead of the second -place school and well above the standardized national mean of 500, he noted. "I think it is a feather in the hat of the school to be that far ahead of so many others." This is the first time in a number of years that Wingham has posted the top average on the RNA exam, Mr. Hayes said, though the school has frequently placed in the top three: The training centre is under the direction . gf.Mrs. Jean Ellacott. by hospital ° staff or patients, Chairman Mary Vair responded, "I don't believe there was one car there all summer." The parking arrangement had been negotiated by the hospital to satisfy the terms of the town zoning bylaw in order to obtain a building permit for the new wing. It -calls for a token payment to the school board of one dollar. In related business, the board received an update on the fund-raising efforts as -'ated with the building project. Treasurer Gordon Baxter reported approxi- mately $15,000 had been re- celvd to date in the mail -out campaign to . about 10,000 local households. A door-to- door canvass is set for Oct. 1 to 5. Reporting for the public relations committee, Isobel Arbuckle told the board about a publicity campaign using local newspapers, radio and television as well as restaurant placemats., She also noted tickets are being • sold in a ; hospi.tal lottery with the grand prize of a car and a raffle will be held for a quilt made by local ladies. In other reports, the board was assured that the hospital is in good shape both ac- tivity -wise and financially. In his executive director's report, Norman Hayes said there had been a "fairly consistent" increase in out- patient services for the period June to August, while Mr. Baxter, who gave the finance committee's report, said the hospital still is chalking pp a healthy sur- plus. Total revenue has been $29,000 over budget and expenses have been lower than expected, he said, with the result that the hospital shows a surplus of $214,000 for the first five months of its fiscal year. He added that, according to the hours -of -work report, both hospital activity and efficiency had improved over the previous year. The report showed patient days up by four per cent, while the paid hours per patient day (a measure:of efficiency) were up by three per cent. Born in 1894 im Vittie turns 90 today Jim Viftie turns 90 years old today and for his birth- day he's giving up driving. "I start the thing some- times," he says, "and I can't tell if the car is really run= ning. So I thought I better quit driving." Other than his hearing, ake does not seem to affect , him very much. "I'm outside every day," he says. "I walked down to the post office yesterday. I'm not in the habit of doing that, but I'll have to get used to it, now that I'm going to quit driv- ing." Mr. Vittie quit working when he was 71. "Just got lazy, I guess," he explains. Until then he was working as a carpent-1r in Fordwich, building houses. Altogether he says he helped build six or seven homes in the area. One day, walking up a plank, he slipped . and cracked his breast bone. "It was just when I was getting my very best as a carpenter, too," he says. "That laid me. off for a couple of months." When he returned to work he tried to lift some cement blocks and broke his already weak breast bone off. "That was the end of my carpenter days." Now Mr. Vittie takes Life pretty easy. He and his wife live in Fordwich and are visited regularly by their two daughters, Jean Sothern and Joan Stewart. Mr. and Mrs. Vittie also have four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. It would be a lot of work to have them all over for a party, Mrs Vittie says. "I'd have to be crazy to have everyone here." She met Mr. Vittie when he was stationed in Europe during the first World War. ",'I got my hand peppered full of shrapnel and had to go to England," .says Mr. Vittie. "I was attached, to the• headquarters staff there and stayed until the war ended." That's where he met Mrs. ' Vittie and whenthey came home, they were already married. . They settled down on a farm near Gorrie. And when World War II came, they just let it go by. "I had a farm, a wife and a couple of youngsters, I figured I'd better stay in Canada." Mr. Vittie isn't sure what has contributed to his longevity, but he says he doesn't smoke ("I quit about 12 years ago and haven't had one since.") and he doesn't drink very: much ("No one has seen me drunk in my life. No one in Canada any - ways.") He says • he 'remembers things from long ago better than things that,, happened last week. He points . to his wife, "She's going to be 88 soon ! " "Oh, don't tell him that," she chides him. But then, after reflection, she says, "Gosh, we're getting old." "Married 65 years," he says proudly. "That's a keg - time to stay with one woman, eh?" . "Oh go away ! " she says 'and she hits him playfully. When the reporter is gone, she goes back to reading the newspaper and he goes to take a nap. LIFE MEMBERSHIP ---In 198, Jim Vittle and his wife received a life membership to the Listowel Legion. Ore„ the left is their daughter Joan Stewart, and on the ex- treme right is daughter Jean Sothern. Mr. and Mrs. Vit - tie met during World War in England and they married there before coming back to Canada to live on a farm near Gorrie. They have never been back to England.