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Fierce wind snow bring area to standstill Thursday one of the most intense storms in a century drove furious winds and snow through the district Thur Accidents were com many people were stranded Schools and stores and businesses closed early By Thursday evening noth ing stirred In town or district The roods were still clogged with abandoned cars checked out by police and snowmobilers for stranded motorists Word of the multicar pile- up that left Frank Toth seriously injured spread through town as friends anxiously asked each other for word of his condition He lost his left leg as a result of the storm He was out with his tow truck removing a police cruiser from the ditch when the accident occurred The storm circled a hub of low pressure that set a record for all the years that records have been kept The barometric reading reached inches Winds reached up to 113 kilometers an hour Until midnight last Thursday the Acton precinct of the Hallon Regional Police answered calls for here and the Georgetown Milton district The were just the police managed to reach Police were aware of many more Banks closed up and sent their staffs home early Some stores also closed up when there were no customers out Some events for Thursday night were cancelled Schools closed up early Thursday They were plan nlng to be closed Friday any way For the public school students Friday was to have been Professional Development Day Although the children stayed home as expected the day was cancelled At the High School Friday to be a day off for the end of the semester There were many acts of helpfulness friendly welcomes greeted people who stayed overnight unable to face the treacherous driving Some people took in strangers For most it was friends Stella recep tionist at the Glenlea Medical Clinic took three people stranded by accidents to her own home for the night The three men were from Hamilton Burlington and Milton The man from Milton had a friend in town who picked him up there while the other two spent the night at Mrs One Acton home was of fered to the police to lake In people stranded by the storm The Aitken home on Tidey Ave was not used although police knew it was available if The Community Services Centre also had homes lined up for people involved in accidents which were not needed The taxi started out for Milton on Thursday Morning but returned to town and safety before long As a result there were no Meals on Wheels on cither Thursday or Friday All the recipients were contacted by phone Doily newspapers from Toronto arrived but not from on Thursday An Acton couple returning iiomc from got all the way to No highway when they encountered accidents on road They turned around and with no motels or gas stations they went all the way back to the city ind spent the night in a hotel there One student had frost bitten hands after his car was In in an accident Go Transit buses west of were pulled off the road at noon according to Go Spokesman Tom Henry By supper time the entire Go bus network was closed ex for a route to Pickering and one to Newmarket By early evening only one route was open Grey Coach lines also pulled their buses off the roads by early afternoon Their entire system was closed Mr Henry said Drivers wen put up in the Holiday Inn Toronto for the night and were able to start the routes early Friday morning to get systems back to normal An empty Go bus heading home to Milton had to be pulled out of a ditch near Hood and the Bramp ton Hills town me thi spokesman also said Both Go and Grey Coach resumed normal service Friday morning The entire east end of Acton was without hydro for 40 minutes during the storm The powerful winds blew down the primary lead from a transformer on Queen St AH of Glenlea subdivision Queen St Arthur Peel and Mill Last and surrounding area were without power while Acton Hydro workers repaired the wire Phone calls encountered delays but the lines held More than smashed or abandoned cars were towed to The Ontario il Police had asked owner to retrieve any abandoned cars along Highway 25 North as they were obstructing traffic His two tow trucks handled 42 cars before the night was through many for cars in the ditch One man counted abandoned cars on Highway between Georgetown and Toronto Others reported counting hundreds of other cars on any road they travelled on Many mot oris Li were stranded in a small restaurant on Highway 10 and Derry Road Brampton City buses were pulled off routes to travel up and down High way in search of stranded motorists They were then taken to emergency sites set up in nearby arenas and in Shoppers World Brampton where it Is reported there 12 hour battle to get home It took a area man 12 hours lo get home from work Thursday and the last few miles were via snowmobile Bob Johns works for GO Transit near Dufferin and Highway in Toronto As the hurricane force winds got worse as the day went along he decided to leave the office early and head home That was at 1 p At lo Mr Johns had made it as far as Avenue and Winston Chur chill Brampton Hallon Hills Here he was slopped for three hours at a small restaurant along with about 250 other stranded motorists Around a police officer came In and said road was open so once again Mr Johns headed out However his driving was shortlived as he only got as far as Road and traffic On one side of the road a grader had Across the road an empty GO transit bus the driver on his way home to Milton was also in the ditch Motorists had to wait until these vehicles were pulled out before they could proceed Mr Johns continued slowly and was on the Guelph Line about five miles from home when a snowmobile driver flagged him down The man told him a truck was jackkmfed across the road ahead and it would be Im possible for him to go any further The snowmobile driver was a snow plow operator on his way to work With this new barricade between home and himself Mr Johns eventually found a farm house where he was taken in Several hours later another snowmobile operator came by and offered him a ride home He walked in the door at a m One Hundred and Third Year No 31 ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1978 Twenty Four Pages Fifteen Cents were thousands of cars At these places they were given food and lodging until the storm blew over Highway 401 and other major roads leading from Toronto were described as parking lots with abandoned cars literally bumper to bumper Toronto itself was a mess Huge office buildings had to be evacuated due to high winds and windows were broken Glass falling to the ground injured passerbys and ropes had to be strung from pole lo pole so pedestrians could hold on to them to keep walking in a couple of places Hundreds of people had broken bones in the city Twenty foot waves coming from I Ontario flooded and other roads along the lakefront forcing them to be closed The ice created a skating rink Many Acton residents look several hours longer than usual to get home from work Some did not make it and had to stay with friends or strangers somewhere along the route Other commuters t even attempt to come home All have their own stories to tell Hotels full business Local hotels and motels did a booming business in the storm Eli Keklc owner of the Station Hotel said all avail able rooms were booked Some people he explained lived in Erin others north of Highway and one man from Sidcroad who did not even try to make it home from his Acton job Overland of Dominion Hotel reports the same with their eight available rooms filled People heading for Guelph Georgetown and other directions called the driving quits in Aclon Both hotels report the stopped in about In spite of the storm business was good in both hotel bars Mr said the band could not make it from good Hamilton but customers did not seem to mind One employee of the Dominion was snowbound at the end or the evening as he t get home to Cedar Springs Motel between Acton and George town on Highway was booked up by early afternoon according to owner Mrs Max People from as far away as Borne took a room and in no time their units were taken One man from many touring Ihe area by car was also stranded here Area teenagers ex car trouble only a few miles from home and wanted to book a room However by this time says Mr all the rooms were taken so her husband drove them to their homes Bid to reduce council size fails Councillor Carl I rlkscn failed to get support from Region Admin in his effort lo reduce ihe number of councillors from to 14 re duce the number of commit tees from four to two and to place an immediate freeze on all staff positions told the committee thai i smaller council makes belter ind can pro vide better government One factor in the ineffic of council is the size of in but only if each hid three representatives each Thai would mean no for Milton but a reduction of two for Hills and substantial reductions for ind Burlington which have seven and nine respectively His amendment was carded as being frivolous and ihe main motion was defeated well Wnik many councillors agreed the council could function better wilh fewer eouncillors they t support motion Burlington Councillor tor said the cut proposed by would mean a Burlington councillor would represent people instead of 13 too Burlington Mayor Mary Munro suggested Mulke- claim 200 was too many people was gar argued that the future role of the council and the region would be a reduced one and one of a different He said committees would make boiler use of staff While there was some sup port for reducing Ihe region role to one of housekeeping councillors on that committee support Erikscn s way of going about it The tabled motion to freeze staff positions until a staff re port is filed on the mailer Chief Administrative Officer Ernie said con trols advocated by in reference to hiring bodies were already in place We don t hire any body if wc can transfer some one from another department to fill the void 5250 Frank Toth stable lost leg in accident ACTON RESIDENTS HAD to fight their way through snow and wind Thursday when the storm struck Shops all along Miu and Main streets closed early because of the afternoon snow Drug stores shut doors early Both drug stores closed early Thursday after notifying the doctors they were doing so The pharmacists were aware lhat doctors have sufficient drugs on for emergencies However at least one resident went anxiously from one store to the other with a prescript ion Thursday after noon finding them both He had been getting the prescription for a neigh bar who subsequently phoned back to the family doctor worked out all right said the helpful but frustrated friend He did think one of the stores might have stayed open We haled to do ft was the word from Glenlea drug mart But it was loo danger Their doors kept blowing open in the fierce wind and the power was off for an hour They closed They informed the staff at the medical clime upstairs they were leaving A clerk recalled lhat pharmacist Garry Barton has often come to the More in the middle of the night for on emergency Pharmacist Sandy Dews bury of Acton I hnr maey at Mill and Mam also said she informed Ihe doctors the staff was leaving early They left 4 45 she said Normally the stores arc open till on Ms said there were no customers at all She faced a drive of several miles and then a 500foot driveway in the Mills area Her children dldn home from their baby litter s Another staff member had an accident on the way home Mb started digging her car out at a Friday to get in to town to open up the pharmacy Doctors can always be reached through their an swering service While some doctors live in town ail pharmacists live In country joins new board irrell of Milton I McCarthy of George town and Mrs McGralh of Acton have all been named to the Board of Governors for the first Separate High School in Members were to the board by His Bishop Paul Itedlng The school is located in Burlington Other members of the board Include Chair man Rev J Ryan Vice- Chairman J Taylor G of Burlington Boyle J Moore and Mrs Brown of and Rev J Duffy of Director of Education for Roman Catholic Separate School Board and I Brady Business of the Roman Separate School Board arc mem of the board and serve in an advisory capacity 3car mishap Three north bound cars led on the Line virds south of the during last s storm Damage t the car driven by Vadeika of 150 I- lizabcth to S3 to polite Kenneth Trowbridge of was slightly injured in the accident estimate damage to his vehicle lo be to the station wagon driven by Carol Ann of i Hot wood is about police say 800 damage Hilton Regional Police estimate in property dam resulted from two vehicle collision on Road Wednesday afternoon to the car driven by 104 K Ingham ltd Is about according lo police the van driven Garry foster of Terrace is put at police Ihe Sit was east bound on Road the roster van came from Ihe opposite direction is resting in stable condition General Hospital after he losl a let as result of a mishap during last day severe storm Mr left leg was above the knee by doctors His other leg was crushed in the accident to his son Hay mond Toth doclors feel il may take if ever before full use of the right leg is restored Mr slay in hospital is expected to be between four and five months be four months anyway Raymond loth said then ihere is rehabilitation and the fitting of artificial limb Mr Tolh has no other in to Milton s detachment of the Ontario Provincial Mr working the controls at the rear of his tow truck when a north bound car driven by in Or rammed him against his truck Mr was trying to pull a stuck Regional Police cruiser from a snow on the shoulder of Highway about a half mile north of Highway rheocci dent happened around 1 About rcarended or gone off the highway nearby prior to the Tolh mishap A quick radio call by constable John Lyver brought off duty officer Alex Ken of Churchill Road South to scene The two were at the injured mans service station Toth Motors on Street West when the emergency call came monitor They used Chap pel station wagon to get to the scene Calls also went out for doctor and for an ambulance come from Guelph Moore from the Medical Group got to crash scene f When I got there we just got him into the station wagon Wecouldntlet him freeze and we wait for the ambulance he Temperatures including the chill factor were about life degrees fahrenheii he The ambulance according WeeK to regional police had dlf Acton Volunteer in getting here So Ihe Firefighters were called loan decision to take Mr to Blvd home last Wed Guelph in the station wagon evening to douse a was made chimney fire Mr Chappel drove in bad It wis the only call of the conditions through the week A cruiser driven by Con stable Lyver drove ahead of the station wagon The am was passed en route Guelph city police later picked up the escort duties to the hospital said his brother Bob returned home from Victoria lo help it An couple recom mend collection as a ges lure of community support Doug and I yla have a Letter the in todays paper suggesting this They hope banks and hotels will set out boxes so friends and sympathizers may make their feelings known In a lingible way They started it off wilh a cheque THERE SNOW FORT LIKE our fort think Ginette and Michelle and their dog Joe The Caissies parents painted the fort with eyes and a mouth to make it the most human fort in town Honor for Dr Oakes At the annual convention of association for a minimum of the Ontario Veterinary years must have reached Association held last week in the age of years and must Toronto Dr Frank Oakes have a record of was honored by being professional conduct awarded a Life Membership throughout his years of Certificate In the Association practice To qualify as a Life Member a veterinarian must Is presently have been a member of the s Citizen of the Year m TOO MANY COOKS did not spoil the broth ae cording to the Legion Ladies Auxiliary Bill Taylor Cal Mclntyre Ivan Kilby Johnny Krapek and Doug Mason examine whats in the pot Saturday at the Legion Men were treating the ladies to dinner in recognition of the job the auxiliary does all year catering All agreed the meaj was excellent