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Service held Frida at community arena By LORI COHEN Of The Examiner CREEMORE Solemn hymns played softly on the piano while 800 people filed silently into the community arena here Friday to mourn the death of four village children The dimly lit arena was filled on the hot hazy afternoon with family and friends of Stephen George Price 14 Stphen Alex ander MacLeod 11 Calvin James Hare 12 and John Gabriel 12 victims of last weekends bizarre fire The boys had been camping by river near here when the fire occurred that led to their tragic deaths They were really good guys said one youngster close friend of John Gabriels They were all popular This community of 1100 is still stunned by the tragedy Local charity fund set up for families charit fund established on behalf ofy the four young Creemore boys who perished in fire last weekend had reached $1200 at the time of the funeral at the Creemore Community Arena Friday afternoon The fund was started Thurs day by employees at the Creemore municipal office saidJack Lemon municipal employee Right now there is one fund for all the victims Later the money will be divided among the families of the children who will donate it to the charities of that choice Lemon said donations have been coming into the municipal office steadily and there are still more expected Door model stoves exempted from tax Revenue Canada will no longer subject wood stoves with opening doors to five per cent federal excise tax The Ex aminer learned Friday An announcement will be made by revenue minister Walter Baker in few days and the tax will be removed said Al Hilker spokesman for the ministrys regional office in Kitchener Since 1977 these particular stoves have been exempt from an amendment to the Excise Act that exempts wood stoves as an incentive to develop energy conservation equip ment Because of the doors they were classified as fireplaces The government now recognizes that even if these units are not highly efficient they help ease the consumption of oil said Me Hanna head of case work on tax interpreta tions at the national revenue department in Ottawa The stoves in question fill the spirit of the legislation which is to promote conserva tion of nonrenewable resources he said The change in legislation represents fresh thinking and fresh look at these stoves Iiilker said One company that couldnt be more pleased by the change in legislation is Fisher Wood Stoves in Barrie the first to be hit by the tax It has paid tax on its double door models since 1977 and was forced to raise retail prices Michaele Breau general manager of the company said she assumed prices will be lowered almost immediately The new legislation is retroactive to the time par ticular firm began paying the tax Breau would not estimate how much money the company would receive in back taxes town country Innisfil gets $40000 grant Innisfil Township has received grant of $40000 from the ministry of housings Ontario Home Renewal Program said MPP George Taylor PCSimcoe Centre The program provides grants to municipalities to ad minister as loans of up to $7500 to help low and moderate in come homeowners improve their homes said Taylor portion of the loan is forgivable and interest rates vary from zero to eight per cent depending on income The programs prime objective is the correction of faulty structural and sanitary conditions on owneroccupied houslt ing and the upgrading of plumbing heating insulation and electrical systems said Taylor Since the start of the program in 1974 about 22000 homeowner in 615 municipalities have received $82 million in loans As well $4 million was approved for loans to residents of unorganized territories said Taylor Home show entries wanted Entries will now be taken for the Painswick Horticultural Societys Second Annual Home Beautification Contest Classes include best lawn best front view and best garden In each class first second and third place trophy pla ques and cash prizes will be awarded All entries must be in by Aug 14 Judging will be prior to Aug 31 with awards presented during the Societys annual meeting in November The contest is open to all Innisfil residents For more information contact Bud Mitchell 4362517 Mary Neely 4362816 or Jean Champman 7289738 Vandals smash windows here Vandals smashed two plate glass windows in Barrie businesses report city police Someone threw beer bottle through window of the Brewers Retail store 0n Blake Street sometime Thursday night window in the Woolworths Store on Bayfield Street was also smashed between and am Friday said police That window is valued at $500 Its hard to believe that one day they were here and the next day they were dead said one woman There was bush over the crowd throughout the service broken only by the sounds of quiet weeping Men women it Peggy Grabriel left Roy and Roy Gabriel right leave the Creemore Com munity Centre griefstricken after the funeral for By STEPHEN NIIIOLLS Of The Examiner STROUD Transient boaters especially those from Toronto found little sympathy among local residents atten ding the first public meeting of the Canada0nlario Ridcau TrentSevern tCORTS ad visory committee Friday night About 20 persons attcndcd thc meeting at the Stroudlnnisfil Recreation and Community Centre to discuss boating and other issues concerning the waterway system Boat launching and docking facilities on Lake Simcoe and the TrentSevern systcm wcrs major concerns Although the gathcring scent ed to favor tourism local residents were opposed to spen ding municipal taxes to install boating facilities that would he used by outsiders Several residents said thcrc are not enough boat launching ramps on Lakc Simcocs wcst shore Vern LcClar of RR Strand said Barrie has thc only ramp suitable for launching most boats on this sidc of tlic lake Larry Hartmier OltlS Introducing system in September Barrie businessman offering computers By RICHARD THOMAS The Examiner Owners of small businesses in Barrie will soon have the opportunity to run their operations with the help of com puter And they wont have to go any further than their office phone says the head of local computer services firm that plans to introduce the system in September Offered by Sigmatics Corporation Ltd the service is the first of its kind in the Barrie area says Paul Bassett presi dent of the company It is Barries own homegrown software service you might say Essentially the new system will offer two services says Bassett tailormade programming tsoftwarei to meet the businesses individual needs and access to Sigmatics cen tral computer on timesharing basis Equipped with his own keyboard terminal the businessman can contact the computer with simple phone call Whether it be the basics such as accounts receivable ac counts payable inventory specialized control and payroll or more uirements such as sales analysis reports the computer al to the businessman in his own language says Bassett The cost of this service he says can range from $100 to $2000 per month depending on the length of time the customer is hooked up to the computer from his terminal and the amount of information he processes BREAKTHROUGHS RESPONSIBLE Tremendous breakthroughs in the computer industry are res nsible for bringing the affordability of such services in to range of the small businessman says Bassett The $65000 computer now installed in Sigmatics Collier Street offices us about the size of large stove but 20 years ago it would have taken up the entire 1400 square foot office space at cost of several million dollars he says and children cried for the four who perished tragically The intense sadness was cap tured most powerfully as several young boys gathered the colorful bouquets that em braced the coffins of John Gabriel and Stephen Price Gabriel Lynda Gabriel member from Bcavcrton said the federal government does not want to build and staff boating facilities which will compete with privatelyowned marinas EQIIR STAFF Launching and docking facilities rcquirc staff to collect fees but the fees are not suffi cicnt to pay for the maintenance and staffing of the facility he said Municipalities that opcratc these facilities do so as scrvicc Innisfil Reeve Bill Gibbins said costs are especially high for boating facilities in Innisfil Township Its not just the cost of pro viding boat ramp said Rccvc Gibbins There is also the cost of providing parking area for cars and boat trailers whcn they boatersi are out cruising around the lake Property around the lake is vcry expcnsivc It would cost scvcral thousand dollars to get into thc launching business he said Rccvc Gibbins said providing boating facilities should be left to private enterprise and ad This low cost of equipment or hardwarc is one reason why Sigmatics was formcd in Harric thrcc years ago says Bassett The market for miniompttlcrs as just opening up then and we thought the Barrie arca would bc the kind which would benefit from low priced technology Since then the company has bccn actively sclling com puters and supplying programmcd scrviccs to some of thc citys major industries as wcll as the city itsclt But the principal aim of the firm llassctt says is to serve the small business market which cant afford the expense of their own hardware or hiring their own programmers the way la rgc corporations do Our rolc in thc whole process is to dctcrminc what any businessman nccds and provide the software Sigmatics is also currcnty offering to more than 600 lawyers in Simcoc ounty and thc Toronto area service of amortization scheduling for mort gagcs SCHEDILES OlTLINED Mortgage schedules which outline yearly payments and the date when the ltll will be paid off are now being processed by the company at thc rate of about 100 per day says Bassctt and thc ncw computer can do this in about 35 minutes The company is hoping to cxtcnd its lialacomputcr scr vice to Midland and Orillia in thc future says Bassett and eventually the whole county If the interest is thcrc he says Sigmatics will install Moonstone exchange tclcphonc inc cnabling businessmen in the two communities north ol Rarric to reach the computcr without facing long distance charges An assistant professor at York lnivcrsitys department of computer science as well Sigiiiatits president the 35year old Bassctt says thc tirins dccision to locate in Barrie has turned out to be good opportunity bustncsswisc Its sign that liarrtc is coming of age he says Calvin Hare and Stephen Macleod were cremated and young men carried the coffins as the families followed All were silentonly young girls sobs could be heard As the caskets were taken for burial the crowd stood outside Creemore mourns tragic deaths the arena quietly watching Stephen Price was buried in Baptist Cemetery Coll ingwood whie the others were taken to Creemore Union Cemetery During the service for the boys conducted by four Stephen Gabriel Stephen l2 was one of the four local boys who died while on camping trip July Police are still investigating the cause of the fire Examiner Photo by Peter Hsu Boat launching dock facilities major topics at public meeting ded if there was money in the business of launching boats hey marina operators would bein it DOESNT PAY Hartmier said CORTS en courage private boating facilities but marina operators find it doesnt pay Docking is particularly problem because there is shortage of boat slips and marina owners do not want to keep few open slips for transient boaters With the opening of the new marine railway at Big Chue on Georgian Bay larger boats up to 80 feet long have access to the TrentSevern system These additional boats will add to ex isting docking problems he said Ray Ramsay Barrie CORTS member said launching and docking facilities are needed because cveryone has right to usc the watcrway which is our national heritage Jack Webb president of the Big Bay Point Ratepayers Association said were not de nying the use of water but why should we pay for ramp which will be used by someone who pays taxes to the Borough of Elohicokc Ray Ramsay aid shoreline municipality such as Innisfil has morc tax assessment because of thc lakcshorc development That extra tax money which landlocked municipality does not receive might be used to provide these facilities GASOLINE TAXES Lelare suggested the government us gasoline taxes paid by boaters to offset the costs He said gasoline tax is used for highway maintenance but revenue from boatcr gasolinc should be used on waterways Arch Brown of Barrie sai docking problems could reduced by tying boats to buo anchored to moorings sheltered areas such as Lal Couchiching or near Fox Snake Islands in Lake Simcoe Ted Hill CORTS advisory committee chairman said the committee will submit the public recommendations to the federal and provincial govern ments which are planning recreational use along the cor ridor clergyman the bereaved were told those who knew the boys should be thankful for the privilege of sharing in their short lives They will live on in those who love them Padre Major Milne said Any intrusion by the media at By TERRY FIELD Of The Examiner lf fieldtcsting of the human relations program being in troduced in Simcoe County does not resume in September governmentfunded examina tion into the prevention of child abusc may be jeopardized ac cording to the committee con ducting thc study In latter to thc Simcoe County Board of Education the committee says it must com plete rcport for the provincial ministry of community and social scrviccs by June 1980 on thc child abuse section of thc human relations course The report is expected to be uscd in the creation of course dcsigncd to help children understand the problem of child abuse says Ken llcron com mittcc representative who works with the countys family and childrcns scrviccs unit During its June 27 meeting the school board postponed full implementation of the human None in Barrie By LORI OIIEN Of The Examiner If youve noticed the lack of student travellers in Huronia in recent years it may be because young people on limited vaca tion budgets have few places to stay Theres grand total of one standard youth hostel in Simcoe County located near Coll ingwood and four home hostels in rillia Barrie has nothing to offer in the way of hostel accommodation The cheapest place to spend the night in Barrie other than in notsocosy cell at the municipal police station is Royal Victoria Hospital residence Wayne Hart residence receptionist rents weary travellers room for $5 night generally during the summer there are rooms to spare Most young people rooms for the entire summer few rent jusr for the night Mrs Hart says Walk into the police station and if the officer on duty decides youre legitimately down and out hell make sure you dont walk the streets all night You may stay in an emp ty cell or if need be sleep alongside somebody who wishes he was elsewhere Others sleep on the bench in the lobby Paul Bassett that will allow businessmen to their offices Examiner Photo president of Sigmatics Corporation demonstrates terminal call the companys computer without leaving rent tua examiner May July 14 1979i the service was greeted with hostility by almost all mournersit was as though one large family wanted to grieve in private An already closelyknit com munity has been drawn even closer through this terrible tragedy one woman said affects child abuse study relations program initially scheduled for September and cancelled further fieldtesting pending revision of course material and review by trustees While board director Jack Ramsay says fieldtesting could begin again in September there is no guarantee the necessary work wille completed in time Within our budgetary guidelines it is imperative that complete school term be utilized for continued field testing and evaluation Without the involvement of the teachers and students beginning in September we simply cannot fully evaluate the program the committee says TESTED THIS YEAR The child abuse portion of the program was tested during the year just ended at the Grade level and is to be tested in Grade and classes during the upcoming year Heron said APTISPEAKMAN helping out Its up to the discretion of the duty sergeant who is put up for the night says Constable Gary Logan of the Domestic Crisis Unit If they really look hungry and its not con job we help them out Constable Logan says And we dont kick people out in the winter The majority of people who seek accommodation from the police are not student travellers but people stranded often because of alcohol related domestic problems CHURCHES ASKED When the police have no room call is made to local church where floor space is generally available The Salvation Army is always there to help and will pay for motel accommodation if Captain considers it ap propriate The police will also issue meal chits of up to $150 for local restaurant in certain cases Captain Speakman paid ac commodation for six people last week and although hes happy to help someone in need says the Salvation Army is not hotel service Barries growing to the point where it could use something although hostel is quite an expensive endeavour he says He recalls the time when hotel room could be found for $5 night now the cheapest he knows of is $16 When young traveller comes to the Salvation Army on nice evening with knapsack on his back Captain Speakman may tell him its nice night to sleep under the stars and suggest camp area He doesnt mind helping these travellers but says It were travelling Id make it my business to plan my stops Occasionally hell call so meone he knows whose home is open for tourists but understands the fear of taking stranger into his home TAKING HANCE Youre taking terrible of four boys Another woman from neighboring village who did not know the boys said she felt compelled to attend the funeral had to come know what it would be like if it had been my son Friday Including people from local organizations that deal with the problems of children the com mittee was granted $91000 by the ministry for the assembly of resource material and the evaluation program Heron said He said the Simcoe County committee received the funds because the ministrys interest in having codrse developed coincided with the school boards introduction of the human relations program To this point the committee and the board have worked together on the child abuse component of the larger pro gram that deals with the sexual and emotional relationships between human beings Weve had tremendous number of inquiries from agen cies and school boards in terested in the program Heron said chance he says You make yourself vulnerable and it takes special kind of person Barrie had youth hostel from 1971 to 1973 run by the Barrie Youth Hostel Associa tion in conjunction with the YMYWCA Al Hopper who was president of the association and now ex ecutive director at the said the hostel started at time when the federal government encouraged young people to see Canada Barrie wasnt prepared for the number of travellers and people were sleeping in Memorial Square and other parks Hopper says The hostel first operated in the gymnasium at Prince of Wales School then moved to Hillcrest Public School Funded by the federal government the hostel charged 50 cents night It was well used at first Hopper says then the number of travellers dwindled and fun ding stopped At first travellers who used the hostel were students with little money Later families came he thought this was an abuse of taxpayers money Nobody has asked at the about hostel accommodation in Barrie for the past few years says Hop He assumesthere is non for one Jim Harris disagrees member of the Canadian Hostelling Association and director of the Great Lakes District Harris says Huronia is losing young tourists because there are few hostels These tourists have money to spend but would rather buy souvenir than spend it on place to sleep he says ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED The same young tourists who are provided with inexpensive accommodation now will later return to the area with more money to spend says Harris Harris organized the home hostel system in Orillia two years ago Travellers can call Information Orillia for names of homeowners involved and receive bed and breakfast for under $5 Home hostels are an ex cellent way for people to meet people he said Hostels have low priority in Ontario although they were quite popular in the 19405 and 19505 says Harris European students could make excellent use of them seeing sites like the Stephen Leacock Home Orillia and the Simcoe County Museum Midhurst Canadians dont Seem to travel from community to com munity but tend to set out with the idea how far can get to day Bill Duff of the Canadian Hostelling Association says But if there were an abundance of local hostels particularly the home kind theyd be used The problem is finding people to run them People should iookupon them as source of income Duff says