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

Teammnrrseedlmgsjyeflr Midhurst Nurser Rid Groves superintendent inspects field of white spruce Examiner Photo Reallite drama in Family By TERRY Flt3H Of The Eaniincr Its real drama says Judge MI Morton between hearings in the Family Court he presides over His comment is delivered solemnly and serves to describe the days pro ceedings On this day Tues day he passes judgement on Childrens Aid Society cases and decides on the temporary or permanent tates of children and their families There IS softness in Judge Mortons voice as when he speaks The atmosphere in the room is informal and those who have made themselves avail able for the hearing are thank ed as they leave Its hard on those involved says Don Jackson director of the Simcoe County Childrens Aid Society We dont believe in hitting people over the head with hammer he say The exception to the rule If the risk to the child involved is too great use whatever tool we need RESOLVED tOlRT Of the cases handled yearly by the Simcoe County society 25 per cent are resolved in the courts because parents and the agncy have been unable to agree on what is best for the child We do what appears to be in the best interest of the child on long term basis says Don Jackson the director of the county society Youve got to get stability into the kids life For that reason Jackson said during recent interview go ing to court is the final step of an involved procmiurc and is avoided where possible Two days each month the societys cases are heard in family court Most of the hear ings are reviews of cases heard previously but many it to 15 per cent amount to custody battles in which the parents and the state argue over the tutureof child We always try and meet the needs and wishes of the child in conjunction viththe needs and wishes of the parents says Jackson But when those needs conflict the societys job is to protect the child and reluctant DON JACKSON AS director JlDUE MORTON family court judge DAVID GORDON cant be both ways urt ly assume the role of an adver sary he says LIMITS ROLE In court we are the enemy and later we are the helper You cant play both roles says David Gordon head of the societys child abuse team Whenever possible the family is maintained and helped to resolve its problems physical emotional or financial Jackson says Sometimes there is negotiated care or custody plans arranged with the con sent of the parents but if no agreement can be reached the judge rules on the case he says Children the society con siders in danger are seized on temporary order until hear ing is scheduled Children are then made wards of the society on tem porary basis or wards of the crown which makes the state responsible permanently for the welfare of the child Temporary wards may be returned to the parents after specified time limit has passed ans the case has been reviewed Parents whose child becomes ward of the state are no longer considered lgal guardians and lose the right to make decisions for the child Caseworkers and super visors work closely on each case to make sure all the angles have been explored and that the assessment of the problem is accurate before hearing is in itiated Jackson says Children may need protection for variety of reasons and child abuse cases form only small part of the total caseload he says BREAKS IO More often there is breakdown in the family struc ture In most of the cases we deal with there is temporary or permanent collapse of per sons ability to function as parent When case does get to court the society must decide whether the childs family will be able within prescribed period of time to resolve its problems or if the difficulty is so profound it may never be corrected Separation from the family is always traumatic for the kids and we should never take kids or keep them in care if the Darents are able to function ef cctivety Jackson says By STEPHEN NICHOLLS Of The Examiner MIDHURST In snaillike fashion it inches across the field leaving behind it trail The trail is green mat which on closer examination reveals hundreds of tree seedlings planted in uniform rows in the sandy soil Voices stir from inside the giant box on wheels that ap pears to give birth to this mat of trees tarpaulin at one end of the box is lifted revealing the inner workings crew of eight persons feeding hand fuls of tree seedlings into the funnell openings of planting machines The transplanting process is part of the nursery operation of the Midhurst Forest Station on Highway 26 about km nor thwest of Barrie Each year the 2000acre nursery produces more than 10 million trees most of them for reforestation in Central and Northern Ontario Established in 1922 the Midhurst nursery is one of six ministry of natural resources stations producing seven to 15 million trees annual SUITS JOB Rid Groves with name that suits forestry work is the nurserys superintendent forester for more than 30 years 10 of them at Midhurst Groves says he loves his work in the outdoors He speaks about the nursery operation in the calculated professional manner of businessman but there is hint of the out doorsman who relishes the scent of pine and admires the inspiring stature of fine old free Its transplanting time at the nursery now During this period Groves staff transplant one and twoyearold seedlings into beds where they will have more room to grow Summer employees are hired to help the 15 regular nursery staff members in transplant operations The summer staff swells to 30 or 40 persons In April and May during shipping time the staff increases to 150 says Groves IOn the transplanting opera tion the large boxlike transplanting machine moves slowly over an empty field planting eight rows of trees at time Each of the nurserys two machines manned by six per sons plants 100000 trees day SELLS BALANCE About half the annual output of trees goes for county or pro vincial reforestation programs Most of the balance is sold to private landowners If lan downers planting plan is ap proved by the ministry of natural resources he may pur chase trees from the nursery at $10 1000 This price does not cover the cost of producing the trees but the ministry wants to en courage private landowner reforestation says Groves Red pine white pine and white spruce comprise 70 per cent of the nursery stock at Midhurst About five per cent is white cedar Other species grown there include jack pine Scotch pine black spruce Nor way spruce red spruce tamarack European Larch white ash red oak silver maple Carolina poplar black locust and basswood Many ornamental species are speciallygrown for govern ment ministries These trees are used for roadside plantings and landscaping Fastgrowing species such as poplar are shipped as one or twoyearold seedlings Others such as pine and spruce are grown for two to three years before shipping Ornamental species such as white ash will be shipped as five or sixyear old saplings Groves says the ministry en courages interested visitors to tour the nursery BENEFITS FUTURE were happy to show our operation to anyone especially students says Groves After all the work here is being done for their benefit in the long term white spruce tree for ex ample takes 80 to 100 years to lnnisfils Don Koopmans ouncil appointment surpr By NANCY FIGUEROA Of The Examiner Coun Don Koopmans was surprised when Innisfil ap proached him about replacing the late Coun William Tipple on Council He discussed his decision with his family His wife Trudy said Well Don if thats what you want to do do itAndhedid Coun Koopmans was ap pointed to council July He was not however new face on council He had been member for five years with his last term being 1972 to 1974 It was never even on the back of my mind that they would ask me said Coun Koopmans while at work at Paul Sadlon Motors Inc Bar rie Coun Koopmans not only discussed the matter with his family but also with his employer He says he is lucky because Sadlon encouraged him to become council member even though he realiz ed being on council might affect his job And true enough Koopmans job as car salesman has been affected knew that would be my major problem being on coun cil balancing it with my job as salesman he says Although his sales are slightly down he says still believe in the long run my job will not be af fected Don Koopmans Council the second tim around Army worm destruction mayrepeat next year By RICHARD THOMAS Of The Examiner plague of army worms which destroyed crops Ill several parts of northern 0n tario this summer could be repeated next year and farmers are advised to make early checks an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture says Carl Bereza specialist in insect diseases among field crops said survey he made last week of fields in the North Bay Sudbury New Liskeard and Renfrew Count areas showed that although the worms were petering out there was little sign of the parasites which attack them and keep numbers down Army worms occur every year and we depend on the parasites to keep them in check Bereza said similar absence of the parasties next year could mean repeat of the problem he said Bereza said survey last year of the same areas showed below average level of parasties SNOW COVER Combined with heavy pro tective snow cover which kept the army worm pupa warm this accounted for the pro blem we had this year he said Bereza said the ministry does not know at this time why the number of parasites have dwindled They might not be faring well he said or might be under attack themselves by othcrparasites Although army worms are reported in several more southery parts of the province including Simcoe County in festation was spotty and was more or less northern phenomenon Bereza said Keith McRuer argicultural representative with the ministrys South Simcoe office in Alliston said the northern part of the county may have been hit the worst Most of the fields visited in the southern part had parasites he said McRuer said the army worm scare in Simcoe County is pretty well over for this year Spring grain crops are ripen ing and the worms are moving out for greener pastures he said PREFER FOLIAGE Actually caterpillars but called army worms because they move in large numbers from field to field the insects prefer the nutritious green foliage of young plants Ministry officials say however they will also eat grain such as barley wheat oats and corn The insects were discovered in F105 Township about four weeks ago and quickly spread to fields in neighboring Tay Medonte and Orillia Townships Farmers in these northern municipalities were forced to spray crops to control infesta tion using chemicals sevin malathion and lannate recom mended by the ministry Although the army worms are also controlled by natural predators such as birds and toads the ministry advised that concentration of more than six or seven worms per square foot warranted spraying An unfortunate side effect of the sevin spraying was the destruction of thousands of bees in commercial apiaries in the area Sevin of which 80 per cent is an ingredient carbaryl is deadly to bees as well as ar my worms the examiner Thursday August 16 1979 Forest factory reach maturity Watching the trees grow from seeds Groves is familiar with the time and work involved in nuturing the plants When forest fire destroys tract of timber in Ontario he savs he Transplant vehicle plants eight rows of seedlings at time ACCEPTS POSITION Koopmans accepted the posi tion because My heart has always been with the township wouldnt have let my name stand it it wasnt Todays council is much smoother running group than the councils of the late 605 and early 705 he says He is im pressed with the speed at which most things now pass through council He came to Canada from Holland in May 1950 In September 1950 he settled in the Barrie area He refers to himself as family man and says life has been good for him his wife and their six children Our home life is fantastic he says We have lots of fun together Of his children two are married including his son Leo who plays hockey for the Dutch national team Council he says can be full time job with as many as 40 hours week spent on council duties He must really balance his time in three ways between the job council and his family Koopmans is anxious to see the annexation dispute ended believe Innisfil has done as herd roaming the flatlands Bay Burwash Ont years ago is responsible for River district Probably less than 10 bison resources state near Buffalo vironment exchanging its blueberry bushes But Haarmeyer fish Many believed the herd extinct but there have been the years SIGHTED LAST MARCH beaver prison farm experiment in 1939 at minimumsecurity institution which closed down about eight herd of wild buffalo roaming south of Sudbury in the wilderness of the French the original 16 cows and four bulls brought to the Burwash prison farm from Elk Island Park in Alberta although at one time there were 250 says Gerry Haar meyer of the Ontario ministry of natural carload of buffalo was sent from Alberta in exchange for load of black bass Buffalo are not native to Ontario although they once inhabited New York The herd did well in the alien en diet for Northern Ontario flora even The buffalo did so well the prison farm couldnt control the animals When they broke out of their railway tie enclosures no one bothered to try to bring management officer with the ministry in Sudbury said the herd cannot survive if man continues to shoot them sightings of the dark shaggy beasts over Ken Chrevrette trapper and casual worker for the natural resources ministry in Parry Sound said he saw one last March in the KillameyBad River area where he traps the lakes for otter and feels sense of loss but he also sees it as an opportunity to re habilitate the devastated forest look at it as re habilitation program Groves The says reproductive much as it could maybe more than it should he says think some people in Barrie are taking very selfish outlook They want to be big for the sake of being big REQUIRES SERVICES He wonders how Barrie could ever afford to service all the land they plan to annex Where is all the money going to come from he says In nisfil residents who are annex ed must receive the same ser vices including transportaion that other Barrie residents receive he says Id love to see the day when both councils can get together to solve the problem he says We shouldnt be fighting each other in the courts When annexation discussions first began Coun Koopmans said borders be forgotten and suggested Barrie and Innisfil become one municipality He suggested naming the munici pality Lake Simcoe City He still feels the same way He says however coming from another country his thoughts may be different from those Canadians whose forefathers built the area Buffalo herd roams Georgian Bay flatland Buffalo are familiar in Western Canada but few people are aware that Ontario has of Georgian dwindling livestock remain from were left usual grass them back and wildlife had become number of There are three in the area that know of he said Before that there were quite few Ten or 15 years ago there were least 100 buffalo Government authorities tried to ex terminate the buffalo up until because it was felt they disease brucellosis and were threat to In 1970 public outcry in Sudbury stopped the slaughter But Chrevrette says the animals may not be around much longer think they would do all right if they alone but Gogeese Indian reserve is near their grazing area and the Indians hunt them Sudbury biologist Bruce Ranta and Ted Gorsline Toronto freelance writer were unsuccessful in recent attempt to sight the buffalo and film them for CBC television production of This Land we MW roam the Georgian Bay flatlands in central Ontario capacity of that area has been destroyed and the only way to reestablish the forest is to plant trees Im sensitive to the loss of timber but Im also perceptive of the need to reforest it rmvwvm avg 24 N33 ise live in Innisfil and love the area he says would still love it if it were called by any other name Selfish attitudes like those displayed in the annexation dispute will if they continue cause the country to be in mess he says Were lot stronger united than divided SOLVE PROBLEMS As well as the annexation dispute sewer and water pro blems in the townships lower lake areas must be solved he says As chairman of protection and community services com mittee Coun Koopmans has not had many problems taking over from the former chair man the late Coun William Tipple When he needs information however there are always peo ple to help him The staff is fantastic he says In particular he points to Richard Groh clerk as being very helpful Richard is the king pin of the township he says Hes just great guy Many people would say the same thing about Coun Koop mans I970 carried the l0 buffalos still