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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1979-02-07, Page 1a VM8T IMMON 1 Wingham. 1I 069041111W, 1' ebruary 7, 1979 -thefl -"r playrec%ff of the a �hundred-ye" rs , The Wingham Towne Players recollections and especially their scenes in any formal sort of way. some material together from old Players will be holding auditions will attempt to recapture some of anecdotes. One thing he noticed A narrator goes the whole way newspapers and started writing Feb. 12 and they will be the flavor of bygone days here in was that nobody .talked much through the production and helps , in November or December. looking for Feb. five or six actors and their centennial production this about the `30s and `40s or the war tie things together. Mr. Roulston said he thinks the same number of actresses, summer. The play, written by periods, Mr. Roulston com- This centennial production will that in a lot of ways a historical ranging in age from teenagers on Keith Roulston of Blyth, will pented. You would expect good be the third full length play of Mr. play is more difficult to write up Rehearsals are scheduled to bring to life events and stories from those periods but he Roulston's to hit the stage. than a fictitious one. begin March 12. characters from another era in couldn't find many. Previous efforts, "The Shortest, "You have to come up with tracing the growth of Wingham The play consists of a series of Distance Between Two Points" "inspirations to fit the facts," he from its first settler to a vigorous vignettes covering the period and "His Own Boss", played at noted. "You're really writing ,a4 Fire destroys town. back to the arrival of Farley in the Blyth Summer Festival and whole bunch of little plays, so you Mr. Roulston recently com- 1852, he said. Generally he tried proved very popular. have to come up with an in- Turnberry house pleted the first draft of the play to sketch each decade through He was approached to write the spiration every few minutes— and he said it was a challenge to the past century and flavor the play last fall by Sandra Lee of the and then check back for ac- A Turnberry Township house try to make it both a history and a tale with mini -sketches— Towne Players and, since he curacy." was destroyed by fire Sunday play at the same time. humorous incidents from history. didn't intend dour, anything for The play will be directed by afterndon. You can't put the full history of The play is divided into two acts Blyth this year, he agreed to Jack Gillespie and casting is The Cone. 10 house of Mr. and a town into a two hour play, he but is not really broken into tackle the project. He gathered starting this month. The Towne Mrs. Len Baird was vacant at the noted, and no doubt some people time of the blaze, Fire Chief Dave will be .disappointed things were Crothers reported. left out. But it does try to capture Snowmobilers passing by the house noticed the blaze when the feel of the town during flames were he blaze going various periods of its history. y g g In writ' a la of this t Town counci s S through the roof and phoned the ung p y . type alarm to the fire department at the author has a choice between Town council is considering citizens' buildings?" Aug. 2. Mayor William Walden 3:55 p.m. making it a dry history or having changing the name of the Plans are currently underway suggested getting one of the The house was being renovated some fun, he added, and for the Wingham Armouries to the for renovations to the Armouries town's elder citizens to unveil the and there were no furnishings in most part he tried to have fun, Senior Citizens' Centre or to accomodate a centre for the plaque instead of going for a the house at the time of the fire. looking for the humorous side of something similar after hearing homebound. Mr. Wild estimated prominent politico. It would be Firemen couldn't save the life in Wingham. this might entitle it to provincial the cost of the renovations, quite a thrill for the person, he building as the blaze had been Incidents such as the grants on the building. mainly to the washrooms, at said. burning too long before they sometimes comic battle between At the council meeting Monday $4,800. Some thought is being given to arrived. The fire department was the three newspapers that once night Deputy Reeve Ha,, old Wild o -0-o decorating the town hall for the again called to the scene Sunday existed here, The Advance, The re rted the town cod et Mike Chappell, works com- celebrations and erectingevening to save a nearby building Times and The Vidette, and the p° g missioner, reported he has made when the blaze reignited. story of Tom Saint's horse grants for maintenance and two applications for projects suitable signs outside town. Firemen were called to another punctuate the flow of time,,while operation from the culture and involving Canada Works. One, on 0-0-0 weekend fire in Turnberry when other scenes recreate a tri to recreation ministry if the name P was converted to something behalf of the centennial com- The interim mill rates for the a deep fryer overheated Satur- J,ondon�on the ` Butter and Egg more recreationally oriented. mittee, would hire seven students first tax billing of 1979 will be 86 day afternoon. About $250 Special or the founding of radio The use of the building could stay at a cost of about $19,000 to help mills residential and 75 mills damage was done to the kitchen here by "Doc" Cruickshank. the same, just the name must be Prepare for the centennial commercial, -.council decided. area of the John and Marie Jean While some of the characters changed, he said. celebrations. The other, on behalf These amount to approxima Scheib home. are plucked from real life most of the town, would hire three one third of last year's total The damage at both the Baird were invented, Mr. Roulston Coun. Jack Bateson, chairman students to prepare a - rates;`�iroonded off on jlte. MjOki : and Scheib fires is.. partially of the property committee, topographical ma of Wingham. side. Ma or Walden noted the covered b insurance, Mr. ; said. It's the ethics of the thing. It's declared he doesn't care what the Council also heard that Mr. rates are quite likely to go up -thus Others said. building is called so long as Chappell and Coun. David hard to put words into the mouth PP year. council retains control over it. Cameron, chairman of the public The due date for the interim of a character who actually In fact, hes suggested, "Why not u8B works committee, will be at- b' will be March 29 Four e0 le lived." For the most part he tried billing call all our build$ s senior LAND -SEA -AIR IACKACK TOURS Busin*ss or pleosure - book now! MAV"— Listowel, OntarioZ— 211-2111 Goll Toll Free i-SW265- 220 Single Copy Not Over KW might to invent characters who mi t ten the Good Roads Con- �8 Mr. 0-0-0 p p RESISTING—Rev. Barry Passmore has been resisting the centennial spirit which is have taken art in the incidents P rtra ed portrayed. y vention in Toronto and Chappell and Mike Willie, works In response to requests for donations council decided to give injured �n growing in Wingham and last week he had to resist the spirited effort of Ed Deer in trying to et him to a licence to shave button. The deadline for those entering the cen- Canvass department foreman, will attend $50 to the Huron Plowmen's call on their services during purchase g p The same rule applies to the incidents themselves. Some parts a drainage course at Guelph. for tothe Association and $10 to the county rical • Sear tennial beard growing contest passed Jan. 31 so any clean-shaven man found walking the streets of Wingham may have some explaining to do if caught without a licence. of the play are based on actual a Tenders renovations histo society. Arequest from pile-up persons, Wingham OPP report. occurrences while others attempt eont�nves town hall close at 5 p.m. y, Wednesday, and council will hold St. John Ambulance was filed, although Coun. Cameron pointed A five car accident on Highway simply to catch the flavor of a certain period. Due to the stormy weather a special meeting at that time to out the town might have reason to 4 north of Blyth last Thursday The play opens with the arrival Monday night March of Dimes open tenders and let the contract. call on their services during caused an estimated $9,800 in of Edward Farley on his raft. For canvassers were not able to 0-0-0 1 centennial celebrations this damage as well as injuries to four information from this early reach all homes in the area, so Council is agreeable to closing summer. Council noted it had persons, Wingham OPP report. period of the town's history Mr. they will be completing the a section of Diagonal Road never donated 'anything to St. Injured as a result of the Roulston said he depended on a canvass this week; CJt ailIWrson during the centennial week this John Ambulance in past years. collision were Debbie Beck - search of old newspapers, par- Shirley Hanula reported. summer. Coun. Ray Walker berger, a passenger in a vehicle ticularly the 35th anniversary Although the total amount reported the centennial com- 0-0-0 driven by Ivan Schwass of McLean history and the 75th raised was not yet known, she mittee wants permission to close Overnight parking between the Walkerton; Gordon R. Bosman of anniversary edition published by said the canvassers received a the part across from the arena, town hall and the N. D. Cameron RR 1, Belgrave, the driver of The Advance -Times in 1954. very good reception during the where it plans to have a beer Limited building will be another vehicle; Elmer C. Information from later periods first part of the drive. The can- garden. prohibited during the winter. Weaver of the Ilderton area and a was gleaned in conversations vass is conducted by members of Council will also prepare a Council passed a bylaw for- passenger in his vehicle, with people around town, the Wingham lunette Club and centennial plaque, to be unveiled bidding parking to permit easier Darquise B. Weaver. gathering their stories and other volunteers. during the opening ceremonies snow removal. A car driven by Margaret L. years. The machinery used has Webster of Teeswater was south- bound on Highway 4 and was Ted Wh itbo f r Retirement dance . y a Ted Whitby ended 34 1-2 years f with the Wingham Public Works ¢ " Department Feb. 3 with a dance 1 �q held in his honor. He was honored by coworkers, friends, family and town officials and was presented with an easy chair and weather gauges. i Mr. Whitby, who just stepped n down as public works chairman, started with the town works department in September, 1944. Previous to his work with the department he worked three a, years at a rate of $25 a week as a night constable in town. �I He has worked under a lot of r\ councils in his time as a town employee and the public works department grew quite a bit in 33 years. The machinery used has become much larger and more expensive and the number of men in the department doubled as the work load grew. "It wasn't all sunshine but it Y wasn't all hard work either," Mr. , \ Whitby said, looking back on the i years as a town employee. A large crowd was at the dance' ` at. the Armouries in honor of Mr. Whitby and his wife Helen. The public works department presented him with a set of TED WHITBY, chairman of the Wingham Public Works Department, officially retired weather gauges while the town g g party Saturdaynight and there was a bl art with friends, fellow workers and town officials gave him an easy chair. Mrs. there In his honor. Mayor William Waider presented a rocker -recliner chair to Mr. Whitby Whitby was presented with while the public works department gave him a portable weather station. Mrs. Whitby re - flowers. celved a dozen roses. Mr. Whitby was with public works since September, 1944. i struck by the Schwass vehicle, forcing the Webster car to cross the highway and strike a nor- thbound vehicle driven by Robert R. Marshall of RR 3, Blyth. The vehicle driven by Mr. Bosman was'southbound and struck the Schwass and Webster vehicles and then was itself struck by the Weaver vehicle.' It was snowing at the time of the accident. The deadline's over There are almost 78 men in the Wingham area who have taken advantage of Wingham's centenary this year and are competing in the centennial beard growing contest. Dick Eskerod, chairman of the beard growing contest committee, is pleased with the number of area men entered in the con- test. "It's quite a bit higher than most cen- tennials in recent years," he said. Towns like Listowel, Harriston, Clinton and Seaforth had about 50 entries in their centennial beard growing contests. Some of the 78 men who signed up for the contest and paid two dollars each have already chickened out and started shaving again. Wingham Mayor William Walden is one who started growing a beard and decided against it. The beards will be judged sometime during the Aug. 1-6 week of centennial activities. By July 15 the contestants must decide which of the three categories they will enter. Each contestant can be entered in one of the longest, most colorful and best trimmed groups. Any man who isn't growing a beard for the contest and is shaving this year is asked to purchase a two dollar licence to shave button to help raise funds for Wingham's centenary. The orange licence to shave buttons entitle someone not growing a beard to immunity from harassment by centennial committee members looking for more Hinds. "It is our intention to continue selling licence to shave buttons until August," Mr. Eskerod said. If there are buttons remaining by August, they may be sold as souvenirs of Wingham's 100th birthday. As of Feb. 1, the day after the beard growing contest entry deadline, there were 104 licence to shave buttons sold at two dollars each. Police chief reportso'n ac iviot'i8esduring.,l 978 The Wingham police had a fairly uneventful year in 1978, with fewer general occurrences and complaints but more sqm- monses and warrants, Chief Robert Wittig reported to town council Monday night. In his annual report to council the chief said occurrences and complaints were down in all areas with a total of just over 1,000 for the year, compared to about 1,300 in 1977. However the nu !r of summonses and f. Warr nte,._ issued more than b om 173. f vehicles stolen d the year rose to 13 from s previous year, but all were recovered and five persons were arrested and convicted for the thefts. The number of parking tickets issued was down to 1,000 from 1,200 the year before, partly due to the main street being closed most of the summer, he reported. The mimber of accidents was down while the number of liquor offences was up, following a general trend throughout the county, and the value of property stolen and recovered was up considerably, -due mostly to the number of motor vehicles in- volved The chief also reported that a new unmarked cruiser has been ordered and is expected sometime next month. On another matter he briefed council on the progress of the county wide radio com- munication system now being installed by the five towns in Huron. Work is progressing well, with aerials being installed in Goderich and Exeter, and the system should be operational around the end of March, he said. The five police departments will share a central dispatch system based at Goderich, but each will have a local backup system in case of breakdown. A senior dispatcher and four dispatchers are to be hired, with applicant interviews scheduled for Tuesday. Seventy-five per cent of the equipment cost to set up the system will be covered by a provincial grant and the remainder will be shared among the municipalities on a per capita basis. L'hief Wittig told council Wingham's share of the equip- ment—a one-time cost—will be about $6,000 while its share of the ongoing costs of operating the system will be about $6,200 for the nine months remaining in this year and about $10,000 in future years, not including inflation or salary increases. He estimated the town could recoup about $4,000 from the sale of its present equipment. 9