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Vol. 11, No. 6, Folio 11 58 pages Wednesday, February 8, 1978 20 cents a Decor lays off 37 staff by Dave Wilson A series of layoffs which began in the first week of January at Decor Metal Product's Penetanguishene assembly plant has left 80 workers without employment. The most recent layoff occurred last Thursday, and affects 37 workers. According to a Decor source, the 37 workers, members of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers union, have been given a definite recall date that would have them back on the job in 13 weeks. The source also pointed out that the 13 week layoff period may not run its full course, and that some workers may be called back to the job before the period is over. The 43 workers who were laid off prior to Thursday's layoff have been given no recall date, and are expected to be out of work until business at the plant generates once again to a normal level. The series of layoffs began in early January, when 30 workers received notification that they would be out of work for an indefinite period. Their ranks were joined two weeks ago by a further 13 workers who were laid off. Although the present layoffs are confined to the Penetanguishene plant, the 80 workers who have been laid off there join ap- proximately 110 workers at Decor's two Midland facilities who have not worked since the termination of a strike in December. Mike Tidy, who is the personnel director for Decor's three Midland peninsula plants, Citizen wins The Citizen is happy to announce that we have been awarded second best newspaper in our class by the Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association. The OWNA holds this com- said that the layoffs at the Penetanguishene facility are "very unfortunate'"'. "Tt's quite obvious that there's a down turn in the business, and this has resulted in the layoffs," he added. The Decor source explained the down turn to which Mr. Tidy referred as involving a decline in the number of releases for seat- belts issued to Decor by General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. Explaining that a release amounts to an order for seatbelts placed by the two large auto manufacturers, the source went on to note that the weekly requirements of Ford and General Motors have been down since the new year, reflecting a general slowdown in the auto industry. Veronica Cowan, president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers at the Decor Penetanguishene plant said that the union received no notification that any of the layoffs were impending. Stating that this was not unusual, Mrs, Cowan went on to say that workers at the Penetanguishene plant had experienced layoffs during the winter season in previous years. She added that no meetings between labour and management have been planned to discuss the layoffs. Mrs. Cowan also said that the union is not in a position to take action of any sort con- cerning the layoffs. "Tt looks bad all around, and we are just accepting it, because that's the way it is," she commented. OWNA award petition every year, and the Citizen has been given numerous awards prior to this year. The award for the best editorial page also went to the Citizen. The Tiny Tay Peninsula Planning Board approved its 1978 budget at a meeting of the board, held last week. "'Tt's just a bit higher than last year,"' said Mike Ufford, planning board spokesman. The planning board also approved a motion to change the names of three bays in the Tiny Tay area. An application to change the names to Severn Sound, Gloster Bay and Beausoleil Bay will be sent to the Ontario Geographical Names Board and to the various municipalities concerned. Economic policies set down by the plan- ning board were also approved at the Birth control centres The Simcoe County District Health Unit has announced the opening of two Birth Control Information Centres during the week of February 13. "After two years of working with educators, social service workers and health personnel in Simcoe County, the need was apparent for such a Centre," a recent press release stated. The Birth Control Information Centre will be a place where people can di their meeting, though there were a number of revisions. The formation of a Peninsula Development Council was approved in principle by the board. The next step in forming the council will be to prepare terms of reference of the council. After that, the idea will be discussed with area municipalities. The development council will be made up of municipal representatives. A new chairman and vice-chairman were elected by the TTPPB during the same meeting. Peter Kramp is the new chairman, and Forbes MacKenzie was elected vice- chairman, to open concerns regarding choices of lifestyles, and consider the probability of pregnancy. The Centre will supply the names of physicians who will supply birth control methods. The Health Unit hopes that the Information Centres will make it easier for people to get information about birth control. 'The Centres will open February 13, and will be open to the public till February 17, except for times when the staff will be lling. 6 Simcoe gets 18 Wintario grants Eighteen projects in Simcoe County have been awarded Wintario grants. The grants range from $150,000 to $250. The Barrie Public Library received a grant in the amount of $150,000 for renovating the building entrance and installing an elevator to ensure that the building can be used by handicapped people. The Huronia Symphony Inc. was awarded a $16,642 grant, and the County of Simcoe Library in Midhurst received a $10,000 grant. Two other libraries in Barrie and Orillia received grants for purchasing Canadian literature. The Midland Lawn Bowling Club received a grant for $3,526 to aid in the purchase of furniture and greens equipment. Grant notices also went out to the Cold- water and District Minor Hockey Association, the Innisfil Public Library, the Coldwater Public Library and the Wasaga Beach Public Library. A grant of around $1000 will go to the Huronia Region Ontario Section of the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association. It will be used for the purchase of electronic timers and accessories. The only Penetanguishene area grant went to the Township of Tiny. It was in the amount of $575 and was awarded to the Parks, Recreation and Community Centre to assist with the costs of celebrations in honor of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Other grants went to areas like Cookstown and Tottenham, but no Wintario grants were awarded to projects in Penetanguishene. Fire damages local residents house The laundry room and attached garage of a house on Tiny C: ion 14 were damaged by fire last Friday afternoon. The majority of the house, which is owned by Cyril Moreau, wasn't affected by the fire however, according to'a spokesman from the Tiny tire department were is smoke and water damage. The Tiny Fire department arrived on the scene shortly after the fire broke out and had it under control in about 20 minutes. The fire started in the laundry room. ee eae Penetanguishene lawyer John Gignac has a very busy few months ahead of him. Mr. Gignac was appointed chairman of the downtown renewal task force by mayor Vince Moreau last week. The four-man task force will be meeting once a week until their job is done. They will also be meeting with other departments such . as Housing and Development, and Parks and John Gignac is always busy with his law practice, but he will be even more busy in the Heart disease is the number one killer today. More deaths can be attributed to heart disease than automobile fatalities. For every ten people heart disease will claim one vistim. During the month of February in all of Simcoe County, a door-to-door campaign will be done by volunteers for the Heart Foun- dation. Area co-ordinator for this project is Katherine Dion of Midland. Ms. Dion was one of the mayoralty candidates, who ran for office in the last Midland election. She'll be knocking on doors again, but this time the cause will be the Heart Foundation. The Heart Foundation has accomplished Does this picture bring back memories? It was taken during last parade. If all goes well, this year's Win terama should be even Recreation to discuss the problem of downtown renewal. Mr. Gignac will also be holding public meetings to get input from local residents. "We're all keen about the job--it's con- centrated effort, so we won't lose interest in the project,"Mr. Gignac said. He believes strongly that something has to be done about the downtown section of John Gignac next four months. Mr. Gignac is the chair- man of the task force that has been formed to much in the past in the field of research. The pacemaker was researched in Ontario. It has gained acceptance and is now in use all over the world. Heart Foundation research has made possible artery transplants, human heart valve replacements and coronary care units which reduce hospital mortality rates, by thirty percent. Research into Hypothermia (which is a blood cooling technique) and the resulting surgery has enabled doctors to correct one defect; leakage in the heart valve in blue babies, for example Money is desperately needed for research. Ms. Dioin has provided information on just how the donated dollar is used. peaws Winterama etter than last Winterama parade Penetanguishene. "The business people are really suffering" Mr. Gignac said, "There are a number of empty offices along Main Street, and a number of businesses have changed hands recently. That's not a healthy sign."' He pointed out that Midland's business section is much busier than Penetanguishene's is, and that the downtown study the revitalization. problem of downtown Task force chairman ready to work section of town is "'dead" in the summer time. "T'd like to reverse the present situation. The downtown section has to be more ac- cessible and more attractive,' Mr. Gignac said. The first step the task force must take is to find out what the public wants to do about the business section, according to the chairman. "We will be meeting with every businessman in the area before the project is finished,' Mr. Gignac said. The task force is much more than a "beautification committee", according to the chairman. Questions such as whether or not there should be housing in the downtown area, how much more parking is needed, and how much money can be spent on the project must be answered by the task force. "Apparently, the government will pay up to two-thirds of the total cost of renewal, so we have to negotiate with the province as well," Mr. Gignac said. One of the things he would like to do, is to make the business section a better place to shop, so that residents and visitors will spend money in Penetanguishene instead of Midland. "We have to make Main Street a more attractive place to shop - and to live,"' he said. The task force has already caused a con- siderable amount of interest in the area. One architect from Barrie sent Mr. Gignac a letter expressing his interest and offering his advice on architectural modifications to the downtown area. The architect complimented town council on forming the task force instead of hiring a consulting firm to do the work. The city of Barrie hired a firm to do just that, and the bill came to $60,000. A downtown renewal in Barrie still hasn't taken place, according to the architect. Although town council will decide the final budget for the task force, Mr. Gignac believes the budget will be around $2,000. The task force will also be talking to local developers about doing the actual con- struction for renewal program. It is possible, according to Mr. Gignac, that the town may do the construction itself to save money. Mr. Gignac pointed out, that downtown renewal is still in the earliest planning stages. Council will have to make the final decision on the project, and that won't happen until the task force has reported its Staff photo findings to council in about four months. Local heart fund drive needs volunteers Seventy-two cents of each dollar donated goes towards research such as previously mentioned. Public Education, that is in- forming the public of good heart and health care, takes 17 cents ott of évery dollar. Administration for the campaign take only five cents from every dollar, and materials take six cents. Those figures add up to the public donation dollar. Heart disease and related diseases have cost the publile over 2 billion dollars, ac- cording to Ms. Dion. This is in relation to loss of income, hospital costs and many other contributing factors. The theme for this campaign is 'Roses for Research'. A facsimile of the red rose will be given out in the area schools, for donations. "Hopefully we'll have them in banks and downtown also"', said Ms. Dion. She added: "Every bit of this money goes to research. If people will donate generously we'd ap- preciate it." Canvassers are needed for this campaign. The campaign co-ordinator for the Penetanguishene area is Christine Summers. Ms. Summers is a_ resident of Penetanguishene. Those people who will be able to volunteer their services as canvassers for this wor- thwhile cause should get in touch with Christine Summers. Her number is 549-3094. is year's, according to the Pentanguishene Chamber of Commerce. Events finalized-planning complete Staff photo Winterama 1978 may be best ever Winterama 1978 is ready to roll, according to the Penetanguishene Chamber of Com- merce. Ruth Rose, office administrator for the Chamber, said yesterday that most of the activities have been finalized. One event that has traditionally taken place--the snowmobile races-- will not be on the Winterama schedule this year. According to Mrs. Rose, the snowmobile race is too expensive for the Chamber to run, so it would have to be sponsored by some other group. Since no one volunteered to sponsor the event, it won't happen again this year. There are however, a uumbei vi new events that should more than make up for snowmobile race cancellation. The Arts and Craft exhibition that will go on all weekend is a new event, and it promises to have something for everyone. It will be held at the mall in Penetanguishene. Friday night--the opening night of Win- terama-- will see a bingo, a disco and the annual Winerama Queen competition all get underway. Hockey, curling and kite flying will all take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Winterama parade will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. on Main Street. The French Centre on Main Street will be the location of a French restaurant during the weekend celebrations. Some activities, such as helicopter rides and sky diving, are not yet finalized ac- cording to Mrs. Rose. Saturday night will be the night for a wine and cheese party to be held at the Loft, above the Commadore Hotel. And of course, the traditional beer tent will be set up on the town dock over the weekend. The attitude towards Winterama this year seems to be good, according to Mrs. Rose. The people who are sponsoring activities for the first time are particularly zealous. "The arts and crafts people have never done this type of thing before, and they're really going all out for the whole weekend," Mrs. Rose said. Cross country skiing, ice fishing and many other winter activities promise to make this year's Winterama one of the best ever. "There are always some problems getting things organized," Mrs. Rose said, "but things are shaping up very well now."