Loading...
The Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-04-17, Page 1Birth Branoh LiLrary Box Pati /31y -thy Ont. NOM 111‘ Jan. i"'6 FAMILY OUTING— The Ross Davies family of Wing - ham took advantage of last Saturday's sunny weather and headed to Belmore's annual maple syrup festival for a feast of pancakes. sausage and maple syrup. Family loses possessions in Turnberry house fire A pan of cooking oil ac- cidentally left on the stove is blamed for a fire which cost a Wingtiam-area family its home and most of its possessions over the weekend. Although the blaze was confined mainly to the kit- chen area of the house, located across from Bridge Motors near the Turnberry Tavern, the intense heat and smoke generated by the fire damaged furnishings throughout much of the rest of the house. Firemen were called to the dwelling, which is owned by Keith Fitzsimmons and was occupied by the Joel Arkell family, shortly after 5 p.m. on Saturday w.hen'a neighbor saw smoke and turned in the alarm. Fire Chief Dave Crothers reported that when they arrived they found the house so hot they were unable' to enter until it had been ventilated. The building was "just about ready to blow Attends local breakfast Premier Miller discusses agriculture during stopover up", he said, with smoke pouting out of it. Once inside it took firemen. only about an hour to knock down` the fire, he said, but the kitchen was completely gutted and the rest of the house suffered a lot of heat and smoke damage. A preliminary estimate placed the Loss at about $15,000, with insurance covering damage to the building but not loss of contents. No one was home at the Ontario Premier Frank Miller and his election '85 entourage made a brief campaign swing through Wingham last ' week, ad- dressing a largely -partisan crowd at the Wingham golf course and visiting CKNX. Over 200 Progressive Conservative .Party faithful from Huron -Bruce answered an early -morning call for breakfast with the premier. last Wednesday. ---- As would be expected in a farming community, Mr. Miller's address centred on agriculture and the new programs he has unveiled recently to help the farm sector. The\ premier also praised Huron -Bruce PC candidate Mike Snobelen, a Ripley - area farmer, as having a keen understanding • of the problems common to • far- mers. "The farm is the _ real foundation of rurallife and when farming suffers, small towns and villages dry up," said Mr. Miller. The premier pledged his government will move on a tri -partite stabilization plan for the red -meat industry to be in place by this summer. 'The program will be retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year, he added. -- -Mr. Miller also promised the government im- mediately' will add $13 - million a year for three years to programs designed to reduce the cost of farm loans. The new funding will lower the interest rates on farmers' operating loans to 9.75 per cent. On another topic, Mr. Miller said he has been a "strong proponent" of the steam pipeline from the Bruce Nuclear Power Development • and pledged PREMIER FRANK MILLER made a brief campaign stopover last Wednesday at a breakfast held at the Wingham Golf and Curling Club, where he met Huron - Bruce Progressive Conservative candidate' Mike Snobelen. .Mr. Miller also stopped for an interview at CkNX before heading on to Kincardine ,"nd the Bruce Nuclear Power Development. $7.4 million to complete the line, adding to the $3.8 million granted to the project last, year. Getting the pipeline operational should mean new jobs for Huron -Bruce, the premier said,, and secure, not make-work, jobs are the main focus of his campaign. His new Enterprise On- tario .program, unveiled just before the election call, and the farm assistance program will be a boon to small business, Mr. Miller said. As for the opposition parties, Mr. Miller said the New Democratic Party has a "different agenda" than the one the party has been touting throughout this campaign. "They (the NDP) really want to nationalize key industries." The premier called the Liberals "the masters of coniplexity"; whose policies are so complicated the average voter simply cannot understand them. Following his brief ad- dress, the premier stopped to greet well wishers before heading to CKNX for an interview. Later in the day he toured the BNPD and spoke at Chesley. time of the bllaze, which Chief Crothers said had been burning for at least an hour before firemen were called. He identified the cause as cooking oil which had been left on an electric stove with the burner turned on. • The Salvation Army in Wingham is coordinating a relief effort for the Arkell family, which lost many of its belongings in the fire. Mrs. Borden Linkletter said that while the family, which includes two young chile en, does not need .clothing, it does need furniture, ap- pliances, bedding and pots and` pans. They "just about lost everything" through the combination of heat, smoke and water damage, she noted, adding that heat in the kitchen had been so intense it had melted . the pots. However they were able to salvage clothing, which had been kept upstairs. The family is also looking for a place to stay, she said. Anyone with anything to contribute is invited. to contact the Salvation Army at 357-1951 or 357-1367. FIRST SECTION 1/4 4 Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, Apr. 17, 1985 Single Copy 50c Fire board to purchase used pumper for Howick Although it already owns three pumpers, the Wing - ham Area Fire Board now intends to spend an addition- al $12,000 to $20,000 to purchase a used pumper truck for the proposed satel- lite station in Howick Town- ship. Plans made during last week's meeting of the fire board call for Howick to receive a truck comparable to the two first-line trucks the board now owns, a 1982 and a 1970 model. Howick also has been promised a used tanker truck. which the board will purchase. Howick Township Reeve Jack Stafford brought up the issue of the pumper at last Wednesday. evening's meeting,' explaining his council is 'concerned about what kind of equipment would be housed at the proposed satellite station in Gorrie. Some people in Howick Township'are concerned that the satellite station would be given "second-rate" equip- ment, he said. However Wingham Fire Chief Dave Crothers said he is not in favor of giving Howick either the 1982 or 1970 pumpers, now housed at the new Wingham fire hall. Turnberry Reeve Brian McBurney agreed with the chief:' `"I don't feel good about leaving the '51 pumper in Wingham for the town and the other townships," and he suggested buying a 1970 to '75 pumper for Howick. Tom. Milker of Wingham asked how often the department has more than one fire call at a time. Deputy Chief Harley Gaunt of Wingham said - it happens occasionally,' and claimed that once in the 1970s there were nine calls in one day. "Someb d'y, sometime, is going to come out • on the short .end," predicted Mr. Gaunt.' There was some discussion, about whether the board can Correspondent wins OCNA award A 'tong -time community submit a weekly column. She columnist for The Wingham ,later also served as Belgrave Advance -Times and several correspondent for ' the other weekly, newspapers Brussels and Blyth ,weekly was honored this year with newspapers, which have an award from the Ontario since been amalgamated Community Newspapers into the Clinton and Seaforth Association. papers. She said that in the beginning -she started writing the news "just tosee how I would get along," but has really enjoyed the ex- perience. "The people are really good about phoning up, with the news." She '} describes Belgrave, where she and husband Lewis have lived since moving from the farm in 1955, as a "wonderful place .to live — just one big family," and . said she in- tends to keep on writing her column for just as long as she is able. Mrs. Helen Stonehouse, correspondent • from Bel - grave, placed second in the OCNA's 1984 Champion Cor- respondent competition: Mrs. Stonehouse has been, faithfully contributing news from her community for 20 years since being ap- proached by Barry Wenger, publisher of The Advance - Times, in 1965 and asked to Youth :charged in fire at local hotel A Brussels youth has been charged with setting a fire which resulted in extensive water damage at -the Wingham Inn last week. Police Chief Robert Wittig reported that the 16 -year-old has been charged under the Young Offenders' Act with setting a substance on fire (a lesser charge thanarson) and mischief and will appear at Young Offenders' Court in Goderich. Firemen responded to an alarm at the hotel at 1:45 Rm. last Wednesday. Fire Chief Dave Crothers reported they discovered that curtains in' one of the upstairs rooms had ap- parently been set on fire, triggering the sprinkler system. "The sprinkler head popped and that's all that saved her," he said, however water from the sprinkler also damaged the room and ran through into the bar downstairs. He estimated the dainage, largely from' smoke and water, at $3,000. Actual fire damage was limited' to a burnt curtain at one window and some charring of the frame and sill. Had it not been for the sprinkler, the fire would have been much worse, he added. Day care plans protest against cuts in subsidy A tricycle parade and balloon release are being planned for next week in Wingham as part of a protest against the Ontario govern- ment's plans to cut back on its day care subsidy. Deputy Reeve Patricia Bailey reported that the parade will make its way down main street from the Nursery School to the William Street Children's Centre next Tuesday morning, followed by a mass release of balloons from the parking lot at the children's centre. An open house is being planned in con- junction with these events to show the community what excellent facilities have ween provided at the centre, she added, "It's our way of saying we're still protesting and the fight's not over." Walkerton will be staging a similar protest and other activities will be going on all across the province, Mrs. Bailey said. The protest is against provincial plans to phase out the indirect subsidies which have enabled day care centres to keep their fees affordable. Elimination of the subsidy, which is set for the end of this year, would force centres like Wingham to virtually double their fees to over $20 per day per child and it is feared that the resulting drop in enrolment would force small centres. to close. afford the extra expenditure for another pumper, especially when it is con- sidering purchasing a •-^`_• emergency van this .yt ., . "I don't know if we can go ahead with both in the same year," said Mr. Stafford. Chairman Bill Crump suggested the board hold off buying the emergency van until 1986 and use the money budgeted for the van on the new pumper. But Mr. Gaunt said the van must be pur- chased this year to take advantage of a government grant. "We. need a pumper worse than a van," said Mr. Stafford. Please turn to Page 3 LOTTERY WINNERS—Mrs. Mary Lee of Wingham won $100,000 in last • Thursday night's Wintario lottery draw. Mrs. Lee; who claimed her prize last Friday, reports she •will share her winnings with her daughter Sandra and son Tom (not shown). Local family wins lottery grand prize There's hope £or ll of us if them out along with the someone like Ma Lee* of announcer. When her series letter was drawn Mrs. Lee said she flew right out of her chair and screamed: The Lees always have said if they won anything it would be split three ways. So' they telephoned brother Tom in Kitchener at the new job he had started just the day before\and told him the good news. Tom telephoned his wife in Windsor, who immediately called her mother-in-law in Wingham to find out what had happened. Mrs. ° Lee assured her it was true: the family was $100,,000 richer. Sandra called a close friend of the family at Lucknow, Joan Black, and gave her a mysterious message: "I know it's late, but can you come over?" Mrs. Black agreed and when she arrived at the Lee home, there was hugging and tears all round. Sandra said she was able to get to sleep that night, but her mother was up at six o'clock the next morning and and downtown to get a news- paper to double check the numbers. Mrs. Black's husband Dave accompanied Mrs. Lee to the Wintario office in Toronto the next day to Wingham, who says she's always considered herself unlucky, can win $100,000 in a lottery draw. Mrs. Lee, a registered nurse at the Wingham and District Hospital, held winning ticket B-091329 in last Thursday evening's Wintario draw. Neither Mrs. Lee nor her daughter Sandra said they ever considered themselveF to be "lucky people". The most they had won was $100 and the occasional "wind- fall" prize of a book of five tickets. In fact, the winning ticket came from a book of tickets they had won in the April 4 draw and Sandra had picked up at a Listowel discount store. Even though they never• dreamed they would win the big prize, Mrs. Lee said they kept buying the tickets week after week because they only cost $1.00. Last week when Mrs. Lee settled in to watch the draw, she had no way of knowing it was about to 'change her life and the lives of her family members. As the numbers were being drawn. she said she called. claim her prize. While there she was handed a cheque -for - $100,000, which she deposited in a bank across the street to be wired to her bank in Wingham. Once her mother had the money, Sandra, at work in a Listowel law office, was able to tell her friends. Mrs. Lee stopped to 'visit some, of her co-workers at the local hospital upon her return to Wingham. Both Mrs. Lee and Sandra say they have been touched by their friends' reaction to the news. All are very happy for them and congratulate them on their good luck. Mrs. Lee says she will invest her share of the money, while Sandra intends to pay off her car and then treat herself to something very "frivolous". With a young family and moving to a new city, Lee said Tom may use some of the money as a down payment on a house. But he also has plans to take his own fa to Florida. Mrs. a said she intends to keep buying Wintario tickets because even though they say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, you never know'