The Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-06-06, Page 1Blyth Bran Library
BirthBox 2U 2
tit . NOM 1H0
Jan. 4 -
Director •f ed.cI'tio
S
By Stephanie Levesque
A dislocated shoulder fol-
lowing a trampoline accident
and a. "natural bent for or-
ganization" sent retiring
director of education, John
Cochrane, out of the class-
room and into the front of-
fices of administration.
in 1957, following the acci-
dent, Mr. Cochrane become
vice-principal of Thomas L,
Kennedy Secondary School
in Cooksville, having been
the head of the physical edu-
cation department at the
school since 1953.
As the day of his retire-
ment nears, Mr. Cochrane,
n manv chances
Huron County Board of Edu-
cation's director since 1969,
recalls his own personal
teaching career and changes
in the educational field.
A native of Toronto, Mr.
Cochrane attended public
school in East York: His
Grade 7 teacher was James
Kinkead, now retired and
living in Goderich.
The Cochrane family
moved to Brockville in 1936
where John attended Grade 8
and high school. Following
high school, he served in the
Royal Canadian Artillery.
After the Second World
War, Mr. Cochrane enrolled
JOHN COCHRANE—After having been in the
education field for 34 years, Huron County director of
Education John Cochrane is retiring at the end of
June. He has been director for the Board of Education
since 1969. ( Levesque Photo)
in the University of Toronto
where he majored in physi-
cal education. The teaching
field was appealing to the
young veteran — he'd had a
taste of the profession, hav-
ing served as an instructor
for a time in the army.
Mr. Cochrane met his wife
while attending university.
In fact he met the former
Lina Campbell at a Paul
Jones Hallowe'en dance.
He started teaching in
September of 1949 at the
small high school in Kempt-
ville, about 30 miles south of
Ottawa. She started teaching
at Fisher Park High School
in Ottawa.
The couple married -in 1951
and he went to teach a Port
Credit High School d she
taught elementary c 1 in
Port Credit. Two years later
he moved to another school
within the Peel school
board's jurisdiction —
Thomas L. Kennedy —
where he made the change
from classroom teacher to
vice-principal.
Mrs. Cochrane stopped
teaching and started to raise
a family.
Having made the jump
from classroom teacher to
vice-principal, Mr. Cochrane
went one step further. In
January of 1960 he took over
as principal of Clinton Dis-
trict Collegiate Institute,
now known as Central Huron
Secondary School.
During his tenure, which
lasted until 1965, he saw the
enrolment increase from
about 400 to 1,250 students
with the number of teachers
increasing from about 23 to
TECHNICAL BOOM
Declining enrohnent was
obviously not a byword in the
decade of the 60s. And it was
the era of a technical boom.
As Mr. Cochrane recalls it,
the USSR had launched
Sputnik, the first-ever satel-
lite, and technology was
growing by leaps and
bounds.
Until that time, technical
education (as an example,
auto mechanics) could only
be found in city schools. With
Sputnik as a catalyst, the
federal government laun-
ched a program of its own
Continued on Page 5
Workshop stalled on plans
to open second-hand shop
The Jack Reavie Op-
portunity Workshop in
Wingham has run into a
roadblock in its plans to open
a second-hand shop in the
basement of the new work-.
shop.
At a meeting of the town
council Monday night, the
workshop learned it must
wait for the proposal to be
reviewed by the planning
board and then come back to
council for the necessary
bylaw, after which there is a
further three-week delay to
permit objections to the
bylaw.
Workshop Manager Connie
Jamieson came to council to
ask approval for the shop,
which she said will provide
training for the workshop
clients as well as raise
money toward its operations_
She explained that Chris
Orien has been hired for 13
weeks under a government
grant program to get the
shop set up and operating.
and read a letter from Ian
Moreland, planning board
chairman, advising her to
apply to council for the
required variance to the
town zoning bylaw.
Council was sympathetic,
but said it had to follow its
rules of procedure. which
require getting the formal
recommendation of the
planning board on all zoning
matters.
Councillor James A.
Currie said he has "absolute
support and confidence" in
the workshop. "but this
seems to be another problem
in conflict with that area."
He noted there already had
been problems getting the
workshop expansion ap-
proved. something he
compared to "putting a size
12 foot into a size 6 shoe."
He asked whether council
could give tentative ap-
proval, allowing the work-
shop to proceed with its
plans pending completion of
proceedings, but was told
that because a bylaw is
required it must be properly
passed and circulated.
He also asked whether
council might be able to find
r
a room downtown for the
second-hand store on •a
temporary basis. However
Miss Jamieson said that
would create staffing
problems.
She explained to council
the idea is to sell second-
hand items on consignment
from the workshop
basement. There is adequate
parking around -the building,
she said, and the shop would
offer clients a chance to
develop sales and manage-
ment skills.
It also would help to raise
money, she added, ex-
plaining the workshop,
which is operated by the
Wingham and District
Association for the Mentally
Retarded, must raise 20 per
cent of its operating budget
locally; Last year this
amounted to about $17,000.
The balance of the funding
is provided by the Ministry
of Community and Social
Services.
•
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MYTH
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JY.
Cost estimated at $3,OOO
Standpipe is structurally sound
but more work needed, PUC told
The Wingham Public
Utilities Commission faces
the prospect of spending an
additional $93,000 over the
next several years on repairs
to its water standpipe, if it
hopes to continue using the
structure for another 15 to 20
years.
That is the bad news
contained in an engineer's
report following the exami-
nation of the John Street
standpipe earlier this spring.
The good news is that the
repairs carried out two years
ago at a cost totaling almost
$60,000 appear to have solved
the immediate problems, so
the PUC has some breathing
room to tackle the additional
work.
Also, despite its problems,
Wingham appears to have
one of the better specimens
of a batch of some 80 -odd
concrete tanks built across
Orotario a ed, {omnenn, ,the repoir
are completed, the tank
should be even better than
new for a fraction of the cost
of replacing it.
Like earlier reports on the
standpipe, this one em-
phasizes that the tank is
structurally sound and there
is no cause for any fears of
imminent failure.
It does say, though, that,,.
"More repair work will be
necessary to continue the
long-time . service of the
standpipe."
PUC members met for
more than two hours last
week with Murray Schmitt, a
consulting engineer from
Conestoga -Rovers &
Associates Ltd., Waterloo,
who dirrected the earlier
repairs to the tank and
assisted in the inspection,
and Rod Smith of Canadian
Construction Controls Ltd.,
Waterloo, the company
which carried out the
specialized repairs to the
concrete tank.
Following the inspection '
report from Mr. Schmitt,
Mr. Smith explained in detail
a proposal to complete the
repairs to the standpipe.
Basically, it involves con-
tinuing the work begun in
1981, cutting out the jacking
rod couplers which have
caused the problem of
chunks of concrete breaking
away from the inside walls of
CHARLES FLETT, right, of Wingham, retired as the corps secretary for` the
Wingham Salvation Army last week and was honored at a retirement dinner
Saturday evening. Captain Fred Marshall presented Mr. nett with a plaque in
recognition of 20 years of service as secretary. The dinner was attended by many
corps members and friends of Mr_ Flett.
the tank, and ;;patching the
walls and thitit recoating
them with an e iety sealant.
It also calls for patching
the- outside suace of the
tank as necessary, finishing
by painting it with a white
acrylic and the name of the
town.
The additional interior
work carries a price tag
estimated at about $60,000,
with another $30,000 -for the
outside treatment.
The numbers may be
frightening, but they
represent the upper limit of
what should have to be spent
to completely renovate the
standpipe, Mr. Schmitt told
the commission. The chance
of the numbers escalating as
they did in 1981, When the
PUC started out expecting to
spend $25,000 and ended by
spending over $55,000, is
slim. �p
"We . told yea :g'�' in:.I- vie'
didn't know exactly what we
were doing. Now we know a
whole lot more. The
possibility of these figures
being very far out is very
slight."
He added that, except for
one spall discovered during
the recent inspection, "your
tank is as good or better than
new.
"Once this is done, you'll
have a better tank than you
bought in 197x:',_ , '.
He said lithe choice is
between spending, $85,000 to
$95,000 over the next several
years, which would add 15 to
20 years to the life of the
tank, or spending in the
neighborhood of $500,000 for
a new one.
Asked what would happen
if the PUC chose not to spend
any more money on the
standpipe, Mr. Smith said
that is hard to predict.
Compared with some others,
this tank has good quality
concrete, which is one thing
in its favor, he said.
"If we had done nothing to
your tank, it's hard to
speculate what the life ex-
pectancy would be. The work
we did significantly in-
creased the life expectancy
— I can't say exactly how
Three injured
in accident
Three local residents
escaped with minor injuries
from a single -car accident
in Turnberry Township early
Saturday morning.
The driver, Murray
Hastings of RR 4, Wingham,
and two passengers, Lorna
Irwin of Belgrave and
Gregory Hiusser of White-
church, were taken to the
Wingham and District
Hospital for treatment.
Police reported the vehicle
was southbound along Con. 4-
5 at about 3 sem. Saturday
when it crossed the B Line
and rolled over into the
ditch.
Damage to the vehicle was
estimated at $2,500.
Policeman
injured at
ball tourney
A member of the Wingham
police force is in a Stratford
Hospital with injuries suf-
fered during a ball tour-
nament en the weekend.
Const. Ed Daer, well-
known as a pitcher for the
Wingham BP fastball team,
suffered a shattered cheek-
bone when he was struck on
the face by a line drive while
pitching against Ayr Vies at
the Brodhagen Fastbail
Tournament.
He was reported to be in
satisfactory condition at the
Stratford General hospital
awaiting singery to remove
bone fragments from the
cheek. it is expected he will
be returned to Wingham by
the end of the week.
much. It will probably be OK
for 10 years yet."
Without making any
guarantees, the engineers
suggested the additional
repairs proposed should add
15 to 20 years to the useful
life of the standpipe.
"Maybe in 15 or 20 years
you will want to start looking
for another tank site,"
depending on the growth of
the community and other
factors, Mr. Schmitt said.
Commission members also
heard that, while this tank
was one of the first in which
the problems of concrete
TO SERVE CHARGE
IN NEWFOUNDLAND
Martin Garniss, B.A., son
.9t.,lM ,and *uta 4GarniAs,
Wingham, received the
degree of Master of Divinity
and graduated from Em-
manuel College, University
of Toronto, May 12. He re-
ceived two scholarships and
won the award for general
proficiency. Ordination took
place June 1 for the Toronto
Conference, United Church
of Canada, where he was
ordained at a service in
Brampton. In the near
future, he and his family
move to the Random South
pastoral charge near St.
John's, Newfoundland.
spalling were discovered and
it has been a guinea pig for
the development of repair
techniques, it is by no means
an isolated case.
There were 81 tanks like
this one built across Ontario,
Mr. Smith reported. Two of
them fell down — at Dunn-
ville and Port Elgin — and
the rest, without exception,
show similar problems to the
ones Wingham is having.
"We've worked in three or
four others," he said. "When
you're inside these tanks you
can't tell one from another.
Continued on Page 5
RECEIVES PhD
Brian Miller, son of Mr.
and Mrs. DeWitt Miller of
Wingham; recently received
his, PhD degree from the
University of Alberta, Ed-
monton. His early education
was received at the F. E.
Madill Secondary School,
Wingham, and the Univer-
sity of Western Ontario,
London. Dr. Miller is cur-
rently a professor at Cali-
fornia State University and
also directs a psychotherapy
practice in Los Angeles.
Accident on B Line
sends five to hospital
•
Five persons are in hospital as the result
of an accident which occurred when a car
went out of control on a gravel road north of
Wingham and flipped over Sunday evening.
Most seriously injured was two-year-old
Richard Wright, who was rushed from
Winghain.War..M.em;oriai Children's,
Hospital in London, where he was listed in
critical condition. He was later taken off the
critical list, but was still reported in serious
condition Tuesday morning.
The boy's mother, 20 -year-old Christine
McQuillan of Wingham, who was driving the
car, and three other passengers, Nancy
Krueger, 25, of Hanover and her four-year-
old son Craig, and William Cunningham, 25,
of Wingham, all were listed in satisfactory
condition at the Wingham and District
Hospital.
Provincial police at Wingham said they
were not sure what caused the car, a 1976
Pontiac -Fir lo go out ofco ro1a7ang
the Turnberry B Line, about four kilometres
_ of Highway ..4,..:The vehic)e..was..vest,.
bound when the driver apparently lost
control and veered off onto the south side of
the road, where the car flipped end -over -end
before finally coming to rest in a field about
130 feet off the road.
The car was demolished, with the loss
estimated at $6,000. The Wingham Fire
Department was called to the scene because
of fears that leaking gas might ignite from
the hot engine.
Loc,I vauiierwins. bronze
at aIFOMario student games
When Doug Wood won the
bronze medal in the pole
vault at the all -Ontario high
school student games in
Kitchener last week, it was
more than just the first
OFSAA medal won by a
Wingham student since
Larry Brooks took the gold in
wrestling in 1964.
It climaxed a season of
remarkable achievement by
this 17 -year-old, Grade 11
student of F. E. Madill
t6 F
13.
„ 1' •• ,
UP AND OVER --Doug Wood sails well dear of the
bar en route to a first place finish and new record at a
high school pole vaulting competition. in lust his
second year of competition, Doug, a Grade 11 student
at F. E. Madiil Secondary School, Wingham, has set
new records for Huron- Perth, WOSSA and OFSSA
West, and won the bronze medal in the all -Ontario 'high
schaal gauzes at Kitchener last week.
Secondary School — a season
during which he dominated
competition in his division
and shattered local records
for the event.
Along the way he caught
the eye of Canadian pole
vaulting champion Bruce
Simpson, who offered en-
couragement and assistance
— an offer Doug said he
intends to accept.
Doug reported that his
interest in pole vaulting
started with a conference
meet in Grade 9. `"I saw
them doing it, and I thought
it looked like firm."
In his first year of com-
petition last year, he jumped
a personal best of 3.60
metres, which works out to
about 11 feet 9314 inches.
Elis first real competition
this year came at the Maple
Leaf Indoor Games in
Toronto, where he won the
bronze medal with a vault of
3.44 metres, not a bad jump
for an indoor competition,
where the conditions are
different from outdoors.
At the Huron -Perth con-
ference competition in early
May, he put it all together by
jumping a personal best of
4.00 metres, more than 13
feet, shattering the old
conference record of 3.43 m
by no less than 57 an, 221/2
inches.
At the WOSSA finals in
Tillsonburg the next week,
Doug again vaulted 4.00
metres to win the event, in
the process raising the old
record of 3.83 metres.
A week later at the OFSAA
West competition, he went
Oren higher, breaking the old
record of 4.01 m with a jump
of 4.02 to win his event and
advance to the ail -Ontario
games, where he finished
third with a jump of 4.00. Rob
Lindsay of the Ottawa Valley
won with a jump of 4.20 m,
with Rod Haver of Rexdale
iso second at 4.10.
Doug's success is even
more remarkable when you
consider that he is jumping
with a pole that is not ideally
suited to him_ His coach,
Robert Campbell, head of
the physical education
department at Madill, ex-
plained that a pole's
flexibility oncost be matched
to the jumper's weight to get
the proper spring.
The pole Doug is using is
gena-; r for a heavier juniper,
Snaking it slightly too stiff.
Unforttonnately, ,,., les are
both costly and hard to find
1
and this was the best ,the
school could do, Mr. Camp-
bell said, though he does
intend to approach a local
service organization to see
about the chances of buying
the proper pole,
What does it take to be a
successful vaulter? Speed,
strength and a lot of hard
work, according to Mr.
Campbell. "You've got to
have the ability of a gym-
nast; it takes a lot of gym-
nastic ability. And courage."
Doug reported he works on
ropes and rings to build
upper body strength, and in
the winter he jumped indoors
to work on his form. Last
summer he took a break
from training, but this year
he plans to keep right on
working. A Legion track and
field meet is coming up in
Kitchener this summer. and
he has his eye on that.
Further down the road? Who
knows? Maybe the Olym-
pics, though that is still a
distant goal.
For now Doug, who will be
moving up to the Senior
division next year and has
two years of high school left,
would settle for breaking
Bruce Simpson's Canadian .
high school mark of 4.80,
which still stands since being
set back in 1969.
What motivates a person
to get up early five mornings
a week to spend Itis time at
what amounts to hard
physical labor" "I really
enjoy it," Doug said.
"There's a lot of room for
improvement." And. he
noted, he is not alone. "It
takes dedication on the part
'of the coach too."
Doug also noted that he is
not the only one jumping.
Together with Senior Dave
Edisbury from Luck now.
fellow -Junior Tim Mills and
Midgets Robert Leedham
and Jamie Robinson. he
helps make up what Mr.
Campbell reports is the
strongest pole vaulting team
Madili has ever fielded.
."We had some pole
vaulters before.", he said.
"but never this many •
0. Bishop wins
Early Bird draw
Winner aE the Early Bird
draw in the Wing ram and
District Association for the
Mentally Retarded lottery is
Doug Bishop. The draw was
held the morning of June 2