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Hargraves homeless fire guts house It Is believed the fire which gutted home of George and Marie Ha grave Wallace In the vicinity of a wood burning fire place according to fire chief BUI Cunning ham could be for several blocks late Sunday evening as fire ravaged tbe of George end Marie Hargrove do Wallace St Halton mils Ore chief Bill Cunningham estimated damage between following tbe blaze which started vicinity of a wood bunting stove about and spread quickly throughout the bouse Cunningham said Mr and Mrs both ambulance attendants tor tbe St John Ambulance were in the living room when tbe smoke detector went off near tbe rear of the borne When tbey went to investigate they saw smoke pouring out of the recreation room The fire chief noted they Immediately left the bouse went to a neigh home and telephoned the fire depart ment Within one minute of the report Cunning ham told the Free Press the bouse was engulfed in flames Indicating bow quickly theflamesspread Firefighters living in the victnty saw flames pouring out of the back of the bouse as rushed to tbe ball The chief explained tbe fire went up the wall of tbe rec room wbicfa extends tbe entire length of boose across tbe ceiling and into roof From it went to the main bouse and into eaves Firefighters were forced to vent the roof to allow tbe gases and beat to escape Tbe room was completely destroyed Cunningham said and there extensive heat and smoke damage to tbe rest of building All their possessions were ruined he said Mother Nature was not with us Cun ningham pointed out He explained tbe sub- temperatures froze tbe water from tbe hoses as soon as it hit anything The firefighters were also affected by tbe cold although it did not hinder their operations at all The cold plus fact Ore was in tbe roof and walls made It one of the more difficult blazes In a while he said Firefighters were at tbe scene for over three hours recreation room of George and Marie was gutted and extensive damage resulted to the rest of the home Sunday evening when fire engulfed tbe home REAL ESTATE SERVICES LTD REALTOR 170 GUELPH STREET GEORGETOWN 8770173 A METROLAND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER GEORGETOWN TRUCKS GEORGETOWN One Hundred and Ninth Year Issue ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY MARCH 14 1984 PagesThirty Cents School tax up average of 40 Ha Ion Hills taxpayers can expect to pay an average of more year for education taxes alone If there are no drastic changes In Board of Educations proposed bud get before It Is approved March This Is an increase of about per cent over lost year leaving residents with an average bill of a year Added on to this Is the regional and municipal levies After five weeks of examining the budget finance committee chairman Bill Priestner recommended that trustees approve an operating budget of for which Includes elementary secondary and trainable mentally handicapped Teachers salaries make up the greatest share of tbe budget at S3 per cent of the overall picture or pointed out to trustees Thursday evening 10 years ago 71 per cent of the budget was spent on salaries which Indicates they ore spending money in the classroom where It should be At the secondary level teachers salaries make up per cent of the budget or SO 825826 Elementary teachers salaries are costing or 77 per cent of a budget Plant operations took the next biggest chunk out of the boards budget at or 27 of the total budget Pupil transportation takes up per cent or of the total budget Trustee Anne Fairfield wondered what the cost of educating one pupil works out to answered that at the elementary level is while in Hamilton It is Windsor Ottawa And Toronto It costs 3742 per secondary student In In Hamilton In Toronto and 3345 in Ottawa pointedoutcosts per element ary student Is going up 8 1 per cent and per cent for secondary He reminded trustees provincial grants are being increased by less than one per cent and the taxpayer Is being made the scapegoat At present 123 tax hike for town only Taxpayers in Halton Hills may be facing a 3 per cent tax hike for Town purposes alone Both Halton Board of Education and Halton Region tax increases will be added when their budgets are set Its maple syrup time North Halton and this newspaper carries an article by Ted Brown about the process by local farmer and pro ducer Ed Bird Monataberg Wildlife Centre Is having demonstra tions on maple syrup production on weekends and holidays which will last until April 15 Here Sandy Root of Roekwood makes maple sugar candles from syrup Wagons at the wildlife centre shuttle visitors to he sugar bush where they can see the sap being boiled down and the pancake house Is offering pancake and sausage meals Photo courtesy Burlington Post by Ron Kuiyk With more paring yet to be done Coun cillor Ross Knechtel finance chairman said 744073 has been cut since the start of budget sessions but was not too hopeful much more could be pared from the bare bones budget He emphasized assessment has risen only 1 2 per cent while the provincial uncondi tional grants have risen the minimum per cent in contrast with Increasing costs and approximately 5 per cent Inflation Compounding the financial situation is the surplus of carried over from 1983 This is the smallest surplus accumulated for several years Were at the point of deciding what vices we can give and what we cant give commented Knechtel He complimented the staff on their long hours of work in pre paring a budget explaining they dont simp ly add five per cent to previous budget but start from scratch Councillor Harry Levy pointed out the loss of nontax revenue probably accounted for 7 per cent of the projected 12 3 per cent In crease He predicted sometime in the future council would have to consider turing on cutting tbe level of service since costs rise from year to year Mayor Russ Miller suggested the townlax would go up per cent if council did every thing tbey would like to do Keeping taxes down over the years finally catches up with you he added Arena is satisfactory The Acton arena is sufficiently operated and In satisfactory working order accord ing to a report from the office of the Ministry of the Attorney General Recently members of the Public fasti tutlons Panel for Halton representing the Ministry toured the building and while they found some minor problems they were overall impressed The report noted the building serves about people and while parking Is sometimes inadequate it Is generally ample While the tour was being conducted by arena manager Harold Townsley a new snack bar wet bar and skate sharpening were being built Inspectors found the building to be well maintained having been recently reroofed and repainted Public washrooms including showers had a definite odor and were in poor the report stated Womens wash rooms were not Indicated The first aid room housed a uniform storage area which left a musty odor The first aid kit was not evident as it Is kept locked In the managers office due to van dalism Fire alarms were on tern In the basement because of theft of fire extinguishers but they were available If called upon locked In the boiler room Inside This weeks Thru the Lens focuses on the White socks stigma Check oat On he Catherine Gra hams annual St Patricks Day con tribution can be found on Page IS A Roekwood area couple received an Bravery award Picture on Page 13 Acton men help keep barbershop music alive show the grasp What do a high school teacher and a grocery store owner have In common Plenty If theyre both baritones Paul and Don Lindsay have already established them selves in the Aetna music world and now are making wave with tbe Royal CUy Ambassadors the who made a splash at the first and second annual Tunes and Talent show Don coowner of Joined the Ambassador two year ago He had been a member of the Acton Legion for many yean and sang hi church choirs 10 years ago Don went to the Isadora perform and never forgot them Ha always that kind of musk bat did not hare the motivation to drive back and forth to But about two yean Don members who to a night Be vest look back spent every Tuesday since thee practiaw and abaca fat ress Quartet last fall practise nights are Increased Paul Joined the Ambassadors last Soring after be saw the men at the first Tunes and Talents Well known In Acton for his work with the Boars Head banquet church choir and young people events Paul was read ily accepted by the He also la part of a quartet although it is yet Both men are among Gods chosen people Jokes Don Tran slated from berbersboppers lingo means hey are baritones Paid a baritone Is a of notes needed to com plete sound It Is the most dlf- fkult part He points out th musical levels are tenor lead baritone and Paul can from tenor to ban Don can switch to ban Don explains baritones are rare Of 70 Ambassadors only seven are lor Una reason he laughs bit type of singer la snapped the often wanting to form Tbtyre vary popular Royal CUy Ambassadors It of the Society the and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet singing in America An International organisation headquarters ore In Kenosha Wisconsin with chapters all over the US Canada Great Britain and Sweden There are thousands of members In the hundreds of chap ters in these countries In this area there are groups in Kitchener Bur lington Mlssissauga Barrle and Scarborough Don and Pauls group give about IS performances a year Christmas Is a very busy time of year for them but the Spring with their large show and competition also keeps hem Their annual stow Is Uw only time of the year tbey ask for donations All monies raised go towards the Harmony for Speech Fund which Is the same charity for all bar nationwide Tab money helps m a near be Toronto General Hospital where families of patients treatment can stay Then- next show Is 30 and when they hope to fill the John Ross Hall in Guelph both evenings Quartets from Indiana and Mount Forest will be giving guest per formances A single song may lake going over 1000 times before It Is finally blended right Don remarks Some come along faster but many dont Paul reveals barbenbopplng should not really exist As a music form it is outdated but its a con tradiction that its still going strong He credits the of the international executive for the continuing success Practising is not restricted to evenings the pan admits Before last years show newcomer Paul taped formal sessions cod then replayed It n tbe car on bis way to school and every other pare The Ambassadors sow always looking for new members Don points out federated do to be able to read musk teat a food ear age but heres no at tbe other end Thats what a high school a grocery store owner have fa