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The Times Advocate, 2005-01-05, Page 22 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, January 5, 2005 Regional wrap up 150th GODERICH — Forget the rooster, 2005 is the year of Dungannon. The Goderich Signal - Star reported members of Dungannon's 150th anniversary committee are full of excitement in anticipation of their town's upcoming mile- stone. While fundraising has been in full force — raising nearly $20,000 not including profits from a New Year's Eve Dance — the celebra- tions will be taking place the weekend of July 29-31. Training SEAFORTH Whether or not to allow First Response training to Brussels firefighters was tabled by Huron East council at its Dec. 14 meeting. The Huron Expositor reported Brussels Coun. David Blaney asked that the suggestion be tabled until Huron East Fire Chief Marty Bedard can present more statistics about the number of times it's necessary for firefight- ers to have more med- ical training. Bedard asked council to provide $8,000 for training 20 firefighters along with $5,000 for equipment and supplies in the 2005 budget. Pipeline CLINTON — What seems like a baby step could be a quantum leap according to some Central Huron council- lors. The Clinton News - Record reported after some debate, council agreed to apply for Canada -Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund grant which, if approved, would help cover the cost of a water pipeline to serve lakeshore residents. Standoff LISTOWEL — A 10 - hour standoff in Palmerston ended with the arrest of a man who had eluded police on an attempted murder charge for nearly two months. The Listowel Banner reported a 28 -year-old Kitchener man surren- dered to police around 7 p.m. Dec. 21. Police learned the man was in Palmerston early that morning. When officers arrived at a residence to arrest him, he refused to comply and members of the Wellington OPP, Western Region OPP Crime Unit and Emergency Response team set up a perimeter around the area and began to negotiate an end to the standoff. Tsunami donations "amazing" By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — As the world responds to the devastating tsuna- mi in South Asia that has killed 150,000 people, local residents are doing their part to help. Sandi Van Loon of the Stratford/Huron-Perth branch of the Canadian Red Cross called the local response to the tragedy "amazing." As of Monday morning, $136,000 had been donated to the branch. Van Loon said the dona- tions have exceeded expectations and have been easily the biggest the branch has seen in at least a few years. To donate to the Canadian Red Cross, call toll free 1-877-528- 8802. Online donations can also be made at www. redcross. ca, or you can mail a cheque to 100 Gordon St., Stratford, Ont., N5A 7T8. Local efforts to help out continue. Karen Von Damm of Zurich, for example, carried a Mason jar around her apartment building, the Spruce Villa, and collected pennies, quarters and whatever people could spare. She said the jar will go to the Zurich Food Market Jan. 9 for donations. Whatever is collect- ed will go to the Zurich Mennonite Church for the church's Mennonite Disaster Services program. Canadians have so far pledged $36 million to relief efforts for the battered regions. Prime Minister Paul Martin, after initial criticism to the government's slow response to the tsunami disaster, has pledged $80 million in addition to matching whatever individual Canadians donate. Canada will also deploy the mili- tary's Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) to help victims of the tragedy. Martin has also pledged that Canada will help with the rebuilding of the affected areas. At least five Canadians were killed in the brutal tsunami, and 150 are still unaccounted for. There are many aid agencies accepting donations for the disaster relief program. In addition to the above mentioned, donations can be sent to: Oxfam Canada, 1-800-466- 9326 or www.oxfam.ca; World Vision Canada, 1-800-268-5528 or www. worldvision. ca; UNICEF Canada, 1-877-955-3111 or www.unicef.ca; CARE Canada, 1- 800-267-5232 or www.care.ca; and Save The Children, 1-800-668- 5036 or www.savethechildren.ca. Former resident OK after tsunami By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — Sara Mason has a perfect sense of timing. A former Exeter resident, Sara, 29, gave her parents, Paul and Jean Mason, as well as her friends some anxious moments recently when the tragic tsunami hit south Asia, killing at least 150,000. Sara, who has worked overseas for years, had been staying in Ko Phangan, an island off the coast of Thailand, one of the regions hit by the deadly storm. However, in a perfect example of knowing when to move on, Sara left the island two days before the tsunami hit Thailand. She was in a city called Chapora, in the Indian province of Goa, during the tsuna- mi. In the meantime, Sara's parents, Paul and Jean, formerly of Exeter and now of Grand Bend, weren't sure if Sara was OK. "Our Boxing Day was absolutely on pins and needles," Jean told the Times -Advocate Monday afternoon. "We went to bed praying `Sara, please call' ... and at 3 a.m. on Tuesday she called saying she was OK." "I don't even know if that island exists anymore," Jean said of the island Sara had been staying on. "It was certainly very scary, very terri- fying.,, Jean says her daughter is very concerned about the friends she met in Thailand. "It's such a small community and they're so friendly, she just absolutely loved them," Jean said. Sara spent last Christmas in Thailand, as well as last February there before returning home to Canada for several months. She then returned to Thailand in September, where she remained until two days before the tsunami hit. "She said something just told her that she had to get out," Jean says. Sara is a teacher and is seeking a career writing children's novels. She has also had stories published in magazines. "As a parent, my heart just goes out to all those parents who didn't get that phone call," Jean says. "We were happy to know she was safe and sound, that's for sure." Jean appreciates the concern local residents have shown her over Sara's safety. "It certainly made my Christmas knowing that she was OK, but that Boxing Day was an awfully long day." Sara intends on staying in India for at least a few months, Jean said. SH needs updated enumeration of eligible voters Continued from front page sent to addresses where the occupant had moved, the packages were sent back and the name of the intended recipient was struck from the municipality's voter list. This was a common problem in rental prop- erties. As a result, the munici- pality slipped slightly below 8,000 eligible vot- ers (7,902) and will lose a representative on county council if it does- n't get back over the 8,000 mark. "I feel it's an important thing we have to do," Morley said. The problem, as Morley explained to council Monday night, is that enumeration is the responsibility of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), but so far Morley's requests to have an enumeration done in South Huron have been ignored. He's also spoken to MPP Carol Mitchell and MP Paul Steckle. Council decided to send a letter to MPAC asking if the municipality can have the power to do its own enumeration and how much it will cost. Chief administrative officer Larry Brown wondered if enumera- tion could simply be done in the areas with a large number of renters, such as Huron Park and Grand Cove. Coun. Harvey Ratz noted it's probable that municipalities across the province are facing the same problem as South Huron. Defending Exeter's roads Oke responded to a recent letter to the editor in The London Free Press, in which a London resident complained about Exeter's icy roads and warned drivers to be careful when driving through town. Oke, a former employ- ee with the County of Middlesex roads depart- ment, said for 30 years he travelled the same stretch of road as the letter writer did and there was no difference in the quality of the roads between Exeter and the rest of Highway 4. He said the roads in Exeter were icy a couple of weekends ago because the temperature had dropped and at such low temperatures, sand and salt won't melt ice. Oke said all roads in the area were icy, not just Exeter's. He added the letter writer "made a complete fool of herself." Keeping the ward system Urlin received no sup- port from the rest of council when he asked if it is time for South Huron to rid itself of the ward system and simply have one South Huron ward. South Huron's wards reflect the three former municipalities that make up the municipality — Exeter, Stephen and Usborne. Exeter and Stephen have two repre- sentatives on council, Usborne has one and the mayor and deputy mayor are voted on by the entire municipality. Coun. George Robertson said eliminat- ing the ward system wouldn't be a good idea because candidates run- ning for council would have to canvass through- out the entire municipal- ity instead of just one ward. He said since councillors aren't paid as much as the mayor and deputy mayor, they shouldn't have to pay as much in campaigning. Coun. Jim Dietrich was worried not as many people would run for council if the ward sys- tem was abandoned. Oke also spoke against getting rid of the ward system, explaining that many people are already unhappy with amalga- mation and moving away from the ward system might upset ratepayers even more. No trees at the curbside You may be done with your Christmas tree, but the curbside is not the place to dump them, because the municipali- ty is not collecting them. All Christmas trees, as the municipality previ- ously notified ratepay- ers, are to be taken to the dump. Call MTO for road conditions HURON — The OPP is reminding the public not to call OPP commu- nication centres for road conditions and closures since these calls tie up emergency lines. This is a time of year when the weather directly affects driving and road conditions, resulting in a signifi- cantly larger volume of callers reporting motor vehicle collisions to communication centres. These are emergency calls. At the same time, OPP communication centres are being swamped with phone calls from people looking for gen- eral road condition information. OPP com- munication centre call takers have reported that some people are even dialing the 911 emergency only num- ber to obtain informa- tion about road condi- tions. The OPP wants to remind the public these phone numbers are not intended for this use. The public is asked to call the Ministry of Transportation's provincewide toll-free inquiry line at 1-800- 268-4686 to obtain information about road conditions and closures. You can also visit their Web site at www.mto.gov.on.ca. The OPP would like to thank the public for their co-operation in this matter. Business Directory REPAIRS Sewing Machine REPAIRS to all makes Free estimates 90 Day Warranty Experienced since 1952 Sew and Save Centre Ltd. 149 Downie St., Stratford Phone 271-9660 INVESTORS GROUP PRESENTATION "Business Succession -Will Ever Be Able to Retire?" Jan. 11, 2005 • 1:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Exeter Town Hall SMALL MEETING ROOM