The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4986.a-Y¥ eal February blahs hit area in every corner Winterama beat the winter blues this month, with it's hour-long parade, it's Queen contest and other family fun-filled events. But there was more hap- pening than just Winterama this month. Still on a fun note, Ecole Secondaire Penetanguishene Secon- dary School musicians got word of being chosen to represent Canada at the In- ternational Youth Music Festival in Harrogate, England next spring. To begin raising money for the trip, which will cost each student about $1500, the bands played for a four- hour stretch one Sunday afternoon. February was the month Penetanguishene Town Council paved the way for the completion of the sanitary sewers in the north end of town. The cost for the year was estimated at $1.2 million by Town Clerk Yvon Gagne. In Tiny Township, things were not so light and progressive; rather they were serious and, in one particular case, depressing. Topping the news headlines was the bloom- ing dump issue, one that would probe to blossom later in the year and yield a crop of disputes. Mediation talks between the North Simcoe Waste Managment Association (NSWMA) and _ Tiny Township began early in the month in Toronto. The most significant proposal emerging from the talks was having the two sides meet to discuss other land- fill sites, other than Site 41 (the Wayne Johnson farm) and the Perkinsfield site. Two families were left homeless in Tiny Township after an early morning blaze. A home, just south of Penetanguishene on Highway 93 was gutted. The blaze was suspected to be caused by a block heater in a 1976 Ford LTD which overheated. Sports made news this month as Penetanguishene's Brian Orser captured his sixth consecutive Canadian Senior Men's Figure Skating Championship crown. The Town of Midland faced more than the February blues in the se- cond month of the new calendar year. On Feb. 3, Midland's deputy-reeve resigned as the chairman of the town's public works committee.' Nancy Keefe's resignation was a reaction to other members of the council discussing the dismissal of the commis- sioner of public works without including her. In her letter of resignation Keefe also gave as a reason, the telling to her by the mayor of two 'complete untruths."' Neither Percy Ehler nor his representative attended a dismissal hearing re- quired by the Municipal Act. Shortly following, the town had been informed of the possibility of legal ac- tion by Ehler. Councillor Robert Brush became the new public works committee Howard Rink The more things change, the more they stay the same--the old adage is true, with March falling in nice- ly behind the first two months of 1986. Same issues. Same faces. But some new victories did spring forth. The provincial govern- ment was petitioned by Mental Health Centre workers again this month, but this time it was by Oak Memories of the Ridge attendants. The at- tendants' union said retire- ment should be granted automatically after 25 years of work in the max- imum security psychiatric hospital, complete with pension. Workers wanted the provincial government to recognize the unusual stress level suffered by at- tendants and the resulting high rate of burnout. Psychiatric doctors at the Brier chairman. As of the beginning of February, more snow had fallen on Midland as of the beginning of February than fell through the entire previous winter. Feb. 7 was the official opening day of Rowika In- dustries in Midland. Rowika Industries of Bar- rie and BJR Plating of Midland amalgamated. On Feb. 10, Midland town council voted 6-3 to rescind the bylaw through which Percy Ehler was hired 21 years previously. The bylaw also provided for payment of a maximum of $10,000 to a Toronto company which would help Ehler find a new job. One of the month's favourite activities, the Vic- toria Harbour' Mini Bonhomme Carnival was its usual success story. Mark Stubbings and Jen- nifer Woodrow were the reigning King and Queen over the weekend long event put on by the villages Parks and Recreation Board. Simcoe East MPP Al McLean said protests to proposed changes to the riding boundaries to the Ontario Electoral Boun- daries Commission would be too late. Gord. Blake, co-owner of Canada's largest marina, located in Tay Township. adjacent to Midland, com- plained that local politi- cians concerned with "'lit- tle political empires" were standing in the way of development. Blake was upset because more than $1 million was being spent to complete the marina and a tile field would have to be built if the marina could not connect to the town's underused sewage treat- ment system. Percy Ehler's statement of claim in his unlawful dismissal notice against the Town of Midland said Ehler was due 30 months' notice, and that the mayor and reeve had a "personal vendetta' against him. Ehler asked for $305,000 in his unlawful dismissal suit. The producer of the movie Recruits, a part of which was filmed in Midland the previous sum- mer and fall, wrote to Mayor Al Roach to say that a Thank You to the people of Midland would be in- cluded in the film's credits. Midland Councillor Fred Pilon and Robert Brush said that during a caucus meeting Councillor Buzz Brown stated that he would resign if Percy Ehler was fired. Counc. Brown's response was that he didn't say he would resign. On Feb. psychiatric doctors employed at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre were prepared to walk out fora study session. Midland council wanted a written guarantee from the doctors who would be moving into the new medical clinic across the border in Tiny Township that the doctors would pay the cost of connnection of their building to the town's sewage treatment system. C46 22 One; web: 7 27. the psychiatric doctors employed at the puts area in MHC stayed on the job after an 11-hour agreement between the doctors and the managment board of the centre. The doctors had planned to strike at four of the 10 psychiatric facilities across the province. On a happier note, the Provincial Health Minister, Murray Elston announced the Ministry of Health will provide $100,000 to repair the two Penetanguishene Sidney M. Oland, president of Labatt copped second place at the Brier in Kit- Brewery Company Limited (right) presented medals and awards to the Russ Howard Rink, after Howard, his brother Glenn, Kent Carstairs and Tim Belcourt Page 8, Tuesday, December, 1986 © Spe west VE PIUNIFISU .YRvewiss chener last March. The rink was beaten for all the Brier marbles in a 10th end bat- tle against Alberta rink. boarding houses for ex- psychiatric patients. Huronia Lodge used the money to make renova- tions and upgraded the electrical systems at it's two boarding houses. In sports, the Howard Rink of Russ and Glenn Howard, Kent Carstairs and Tim Belcourt was on- ly one stone away from winning the Labatt Brier and being the Canadian representative at the World Curling Championship, Silver Broom, with a 4-3 loss against the Albert Rink after 10 ends of play. The rink finished in second spot after the 15 rounds of regular play against 11 top teams from across Canada, with a strong record of nine wins and only two losses. The month of March started off with Simcoe North MP Doug Lewis an- nouncing the federal budget of the previous week was balanced to deal with social and economic problems. It was designed to lead to a balanced budget. Victoria Harbour registered a tax arrears cer- tificate against the Sport- sman Motor Inn in 'the county registry office. If the $71,571 owed the village was not paid after 12 months, the Inn would become the village's pro- perty to sell. The money Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre again walk- ed out for a study session, still unhappy about con- tract negotiation with the nrovincial government. The Simcoe County budget of more than $6.8 million was four per cent higher than the previous county budget. The Huronia District Airport expansion Airport Manager John O'Hara (left) and Hospital Auxiliary fulfilled~ a $50,000 pledge to the hospital made more than two years previously. The final $5,000 was delivered in February. February. The six foot long model depicts Four Seasons Flight Academy President - the airport as it will look with 999 feet ex- Ron School show off the 1:1,250 scale tension planned for 1987. model of the airport delivered in national limelight represents unpaid tax, penalties, and interest for the years 1983, 1984, and 1985. The Inn closed in March, 1984. Doctor James Martin said, in response to a letter from the municipality re- questing in_ writing assurance that the doctors would pay for a sewage connection of their building to the town's sewage system, that the previous December the doctors told the council they fully expected to pay the cost. Councillor Fred Pilon said he would ask Coun- cillor Buzz Brown to resign, at the next council meeting. Counc. Pilon said that he expected Brown to resign because he said, during a Caucus meeting, that he would resign if the town's commissioner of works, Percy Ehler, was dismissed. Counc. Brown said his memory of what he said was different. The psychiatric doctors employed at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre walked off the job on March 5 and 6, along with doctors from the province's nine other psychiatric hospitals. The doctors were seeking bin- ding contract arbitration. The Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission presented its recommenda- tions to the provincial government. One of its sug- gestions was that Midland be removed from Simcoe East and put in a riding with Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, and Hunt- sville. The new riding would be called Muskoka- Georgian Bay. Another change would put Penetanguishene and Orillia in the same riding. Ontario Premier David Peterson informed An- thony Lancia, president of the Tiny Township Ratepayers Association, by letter, that the landfill site on the outskirts of Perkinsfield, slated to close in October of 1987, definitely would close. Francis Whiteman, the Canadian soldier who received the signal an- nouncing the end of the First World War, died at age 91 on March 9. Francis Elmore Whiteman, Frank to his friends, served with the Fourth Division Signal Corps and was on duty in November, 1919, when the signal announcing the ar- mistice was received. The Lonsdale, Ont. native came to Midland to be CN Rail's station agent. He retired in 1960. Midland Rotary Club members were told by Dr. Peter Cameron, head of the local medical association, that the ban on extra-billing was a fraud. The Ontario Health Care Accessibility Act was a fraud, he said, because access to doctors is not the issue: loss of freedom of doctors and of patients was the issue. The Town of Midland responded to the statement of claim of Percy Ehler in his unlawful dismissal suit against the municipality. The $305,000 claimed was excessive, the town responded. The town said it followed the proper pro- cedure to dismiss the employee. Ehler had two opportuunites to attend his dismissal hearing: he did not do so. Former Midland deputy- reeve Sam Anuncio died at his home in Burlington, Ont. on March 11. Ancio, 54, a local barber for many years, and a town council member, did not return to Midland after his jailing following trial on a charge of attempted murder. Former Port McNicoll clerk Alex Hancox was sentenced to a year in jail and three years of proba- tion for allegedly embezzl- ing almost $20,000 from the village. Hancox, 56, was ordered to repay $11,000. A strike of psychiatric doctors at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre and other psychiatric hospitals was averted after a last minute agreement.