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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-11-07, Page 1k P1.b11c Library Div. 4, BOX iM Yingbalm, Ont. )ec. 4 Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1984 Despite some minor leaks • PUC is pleased with results of repairs to water standpipe Despite what appears to be some minor seepage at a couple off spots, the Wingham Public Utilities Commission is quite pleased with the results of the major repair work done on its water standpipe this summer. "EIt looks pretty good," FTX Chairman Roy Bennett cori mented . during discus- si rte' at a'"commission meet - in last week, adding he is "cote pleased so far" TRYING TO BITE THE APPLE—Kendra Merkley (left) and Sarah Chapman (right) tried different methods of Church last week. Kendra tried, to wedge hers against making their apples hold still for a bite during the Charlotte Matz's head, while Sarah took a more conven- Brownies' Hallowe'en party at the Wingham United tional approach. Computer approved in principle ouncil plans t• bolstr staff at Town Hall clerk's •ffice The Wingham Town Coun- cil plans to bolster staff at the town clerk's office in order to spread the workload and provide the kinds of finanr,.iai reports and other services councillors require. However it has put onto a back burner, at least for the present, a proposal to fur ther increase the efficiency of the office by turning some of its functions over to a computer. • At their meeting Monday night, councillors voted to hire a deputy clerk -treasurer to come onto staff as'soon as possible next year. It also voted to accept in principle the • recom- mendations of the finance management committee for computerization , of the of, fice, but deleted a part of the motion which called for its implementation by 1986 or sooner, This leaves the implementation 'date up in the air and allows council further time to study the committee proposals,. Council spent considerable time. at the meeting discussing the committee's recommendations, which included both the purchase. of a small computer system and the hiring of a deputy clerk -treasurer to help with accounting duties and relieve some of the workload of the clerk -treasurer. There were few objections to the proposals, however. some councillors, in par- ticular Tom Miller, raised questions about how a computer w.ould affect future staffing needs at the office and suggested it would be a mistake to try to im- plement both recommend- ations at the same time. "It's either a deputy •or a computer, one or the other," Mr. Miller said, saying counc•,t has to remember it is living "on, Main Street, not Wall Street " and should look for "the biggest hang for our. buck". " je don't honestly know just what - our ultimate staffing needs will be," Finance Chairman Jack Kopas told council, and adjustments could be Made as time wen on. However he emphasized that the clerk's office cannot, provide the kind of regular financial reports council has requested unless it is given more staff. Adding a deputy would bring the office staff to two full-time and two part- time, he noted, which is just one part-time person more than it had in the spring with a full-time bookkeeper. "This council has worked its butts off and been very careful and conscientious," he declared, and as a con- sequence its demands on the clerk's office have increased tremendously. "I think it would be inhuman to continue at the -- present level of demands on the clerk's staff without augmenting it." He also pointed out that council currently is paying the equivalent ,of $6,000 a year to an outside ac- counting firm to prepare quarterly financial reports. If it wants to go back to getting those reports monthly, as councillors have asked, the cost would be $18,000 a year, which is about what.the town would expect to spay, a deputy clerk - treasurer. Mayor William•Harris told council he had checked with Seaforth and that town has three full-time and one part- time staff in its office as well as ";,.a `computer, and Mr. Kopas agreed that, "We have data our clerk's office is staffed at a very modest, level." He recommended council should "ease into this very modestly", noting the corn- mittee was not recommend- ing rushing out and buying a $50,000 or $100,0004uter. The• initial outlay would be about $25,000, he estimated. There were some dif- ferences of opinion .on which section of the recom- mendation should take priority. Reeve Joe Kerr said he could see the need for a deputy clerk -treasurer, while Councillor William Crump said he agreed with the need for a computer but the idea of increasing staff "worries the a little." Councillor James A. Currie said council should look at the matter not as adding an extra person to the office but as bringing in additional expertise, while Councillor Bruce Machan said his only problem with the proposal was that it calls for hiring a person with computer knowledge so that it there is no computer to use the training would be wasted. "I think it's foolish not to. implement the two at the same time." Deputy Reeve Patricia ,Bailey asked whether the computer would still be needed if the Town Hall were given the aduitional staff. She was told it likely would be required in .order to reach "peak efficiency". Both Councillor Doug, Switzer and Mr. Miller asked about taking more time to study the report, with Mr. Switzer pointing out thatit was identified simply as an' initial report from the committee. "Are we not, going to get another one? Are we going to 'finalize it tonight.?" Mr. Currie offered to table the matter until the December meeting, • but eventually council agreed to a motion accepting" the proposal to hire a deputy clerk -treasurer and ac- cepting in principle the recommendation for a computer. RA T,U A';l ,IFD Angela Lodtltridge, daugh- ter of Mrs. Edith Lockridge of Wingham and the late Wil- liam Lockridge, graduated Oct. 28, 1984, from Wilfrid Laurier University, Water- loo, receiving her. Honors Bachelor of Business Ad- ' ministration degree (Co-op program option) . Also a graduate of F. E. Madill Sec- ' ondary School, Angela has accepted a position in the sales department at General Motors,' Oshawa. (Forde Studio Inc.). ' Poppy campaign recalls sacrifices made long ago At 5:30 a.m. on Easter Monday almost 68 years ago, 97,000 young Canadians crouched in trenches at the foot of a long, gently -sloping hill in northern France., The place was called Vimy Ridge, and the four divisions of the Canadian Corps would soon go into battle together for the first time. Three days later, they had won the first major victory for Canada's army in the First World War. "Our men were splendid," wrote the Canadian Press correspondent in the Toronto Globe, under the massive headline, "Canadians Lead In Triumph". It was only in subsequent editions, when the long casualty lists started ap- pearing in tiny type, that the country learned the cost: 3,598 dead and more than 7,000 wounded. But what happened to the men who survived that war Reception planned for town citation winners The Town of Wingham plans to host , a civic reception this fall to honor the winners of town "citations. The reception is being planned for the Armouries on the evening of Dec. 10, with the public invited to attend. Those being honored, will include Doug Wood, Mrs. Doris Bushell and Jim Longdo, who have gained national or international distinction for pole vaulting, quilting and jiu-jitsu respectively. They will also be awarded engraved silver rose bowls as keepsakes. Additional citations on the basis of their community activities have been awarded to James H. Currie, Mrs. Janet Reid, DeWitt Miller and John Pattison (posthumously) . Town council' recently instituted the Town of Wingham Citation program as a means of recognizing the achievements of local citizens, so long ago? Even 66 years after it ended, some 25,000 of the 620,000 Canadians who enlisted are still alive, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports. Their average age is 88 — one is 115 — and most are in veterans' or seniors' homes. They are mostly forgotten now, save for those few weeks each November when the Royal Canadian Legion distributes millions of poppies, reminding Canadi- ans of the sacrifices these old men made. But the 12 million poppies that are worn every fall do more than remind. The money they raise — in- cluding the $7.5 million which has been distributed to benefit ex -service personnel and their dependents during the past three years — helps to make life for the old vet- erans a little easier, because it allows the Legion to pro- vide monetary support if they need it. Most important- ly, though, the poppies prove these old men have not been forgotten. This year, like every other, Canadians will wear more than 12 million poppies distributed by thousands of Legionnaires on thousands of street corners. There are many reasons why they are distributed every fall, and some of the most moving ones lie ith hospital beds from St. John's to Victoria. These are the veterans in Ottawa's Rideau Veterans' Home, in Halifax's Camp Hill Hospital, in Winnipeg's Deer Lodge Hospital and in other insti- tutions across the country. Many are hospitalized because of old age. The average First World War veteran is 88 now, while those from the Second World War average 65 years of age. But some of these veterans have been institutionalized since they were young. Some came home with wounds that forced them to stay in the hospital; others suffered psychological damage in the war which left them unable to cope with everyday life. Money raised during the Legion's annual poppy campaign will help ensure they are not forgotten, no matter how long they have been in hospital. It may mean an old veteran li ing alone gets a hot meal through a meals -on -wheels program or that a veteran in the hospital gets a 'trip in a van supplied by the Legion from, funds raised by the po13pY • The meals may be basic and the trips brief, but they will show that Canadians still care, long after the poppies have disappeared each fall. Holiday changes at the post office There will be no counter or rural delivery, at the Wingham Post Office this Monday, Nov. 12. Mail will be collected from the red box in front of the post office at noon on Sunday. Outgoing mail will be collected from the street letter boxes in town at 11 a.m. Sunday. though he wants to wait and see how freezing this winter will affect the tower. Manager Ken Saxton agreed the PUC "got a good job". It would be nice to have had a perfect one, he said, but given the vast scope of the repair work that probably was too much to hope for. He had previously reported the standpipe appears to be leaking in two spots near the bottom, though both he and Superin- tendent Ken Simmons agreed the' leakage appears to be very minor. So far it is not much more than a couple of rust -colored stains on the white surface of the tank. If it does not get any worse, he said, it should..:be possible to drain the tank for a day next summer and go in and patch the spots. Mr. Saxton also reported the PUC has received the "interim final" bill for the latest round of repairs. It amounts to some $172,000, he said, but the total may be slightlymore or less . than that, depending upon the outcome of a pricing dispute between the construction company and one of its equipment suppliers. He also reported that not only has the PUC received the full amount of the provincial grant toward the repairs but, apparently through some error, it has actually received more than it is entitled to and will pro- bably have to send some money back. The provincial En- viron, 1Pnt Ministry provided grants covering between 75 and 90 per cent of the cost of repairs to communities faced with major overhauls or replacement of concrete standpipes. In discussing the Stand- pipe, comrriissioners also talked briefly about the advisability, of starting to look for a location for a second tank to complement the existing one, though there was no suggestion of any urgency in, the matter. Mr. Saxton noted that Muhray Schmitt, who engineered the repairs to the existing standpipe, had suggested looking for another site. "A lot of places have a second one," he commented, and with water consumption increasing every year it is only a matter of time before Wingham will need one too. ° He said a logical spot for a second standpipe would be in the town's industrial area, near the new pumphouse. Because the difference in site elevtion, it would probably have to be even taller than the present 100 - foot tower, perhaps as much as 120 feet, he added. In• other business at the meeting, the manager reported he had received.* notification from Ontario Hydro of its rate increase to municipal utilities in 1985. The increases in demand and energy charges amount to 8.2 per cent over 1984 rates, he said, and over the course of a year this will add about $150,000 to the bill the PUC pays . Hydro for its power. The PUC has not yet set its own rates for next year, but the increase is expected to be very close to that levied by Ontario Hydro. Local residents to receive Ontario bicentenniai medals Six residents of Wingham and the surrounding area are among the 1,984 citizens of Ontario who are to receive Ontario Bicentennial Medals in a series of ceremonies later this year. In a list just released by the medal selection com- mittee, local recipients of the Bicentennial Medal, and the reasons for their nomination, are as follows: DeWitt Miller. of Wingham has been president of the local business association, Lions club. and Legion branch. He has been a campaign chairman for .the Salvation Army, and the local branch of the Cancer Society for many years; Helen Underwood of RR 1, Wingham, serves the Wingham United Church in various offices and on many committees. She also is a regular visitor at the hospi- tal and nursing homes; Lloyd 'Casemore of RRa 3, Wingham, is a long-time member of several fraternal organizations as well as the Wingham United Church and has been active in volunteer work; Isobel Miller of RR 2, Lucknow, is treasurer of the two-point St. Helens pastoral charge of the United Church and a member of the United Church Women; Annie Reid of Walton has been a leader and worker for the Red Cross since the war. She has also been active in the farm forum, 4-H groups and the United Church; Agnes McBurney of RR 3, Wingham, helped t'o compile and edit a history of East Wawanosh Township. She also does volunteer work for her - church and for the Scouts. , Recipients of the medal were selected by their communities and through public .nominations during this year. The medals will be presented in a series of ceremonies across the province Dec. 9. The medals are aimed at recognizing the con- tributions of •volunteer workers all across Ontario. Made . of Ontario nickel and gold, they feature the On- tario coat of arms on one side and the bicentennial symbol on the other and are in- scribed with the words, "For Service to the Community". Medal nominees en- compassed the areas of culture, arts, sports, rec- reation and health . and in- cluded volunteer fire- fighters, athletic coaches, fund -.raisers, doctors, teachers and nurses. Louisa Downs, acting as a Santa's helper, answered children's letters in the Ridgetown area for more than 34 years; Maggie Knott has spent more than 40 years providing the services of nurse, midwife and under - OPEN WIDE NOW, BOYS—These Wingham Cubs, Billie Bailey'and Shane Pegg, were trying their hardest to sink their teeth into these juicy apples at last Tuesday evening's Hallowe'en party at the Wingham Public School. taker for the people of the Curve Lake Reserve;. Robert Morris of Orillia has for the past 27 years devoted much of his time to visiting the sick and elderly ' in his com- munity, averaging 70 to 100 visits a week. Margaret Birch, parlia- mentary assistant to the premier, who chaired the selection committee for public nominations,. said reading the nominations was a moving experience "when one realizes that day in and day out across this province, volunteers give their time and energy to help their fellow. citizens. These acts enrich and add special meaning to life in Ontario." Hallowe'en was quiet says fire chief The Wingham ,Fire Department was called out to three 'minor incidents last week, reports Chief Dave Crothers, including two small fires Hallowe'en night. Shortly after midnight last Saturday, the department responded to a call at Stanley Door Systems. Mr. Crothers said spontaneous combustion of paint products 'was the cause of a fire in a refuse packer truck, owned by Don Carter of Wingham. Foam eventually had to be used to extinguish the fire, said the chief, who estimated the damage at $200. Mr. Crothers reports "a good Hallowe'en" for the department with only two minor fire calls, both in the town of Wingham. The firemen, who were on duty that night until mid- night, responded to a call on John Street shortly after 8. A pile of leaves was ignited by pranksters, said Mr. 'Crothers, but he reported no damage. The second fire call of the evening came at 10:50. It was located in a refuse container at Mac's Milk. Once again Mr. Crothers reported no damage. The month of November will be a busy one for the local department as it is moving into its new fire hall on Josephine Street. Mr. Crothers sa'i he hopes everything will be moved in and operational by Dec. 1.