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th HERALD Mr Donuts sign page 11 Acton band leader page 19 Home Newspaper of Halton Hills TIIK HERALD Wednesday March l7l Page SECOND SECTION Our 80 volunteers make Halton Hills a special place Firefighters wellequipped ready By TAYLOR Herald staff writer It takes a special kind of man to leap out of bed In the middle of the night In answer to a signal from a pocket pager and go out to defend someone elses property Hills is has men like thai in the towns volunteer fire department Halton Hills is one of the few towns of similar sire in Ontario which still has a staff com Dosed entirely of volunteers except for the chief deputy- and fire prevention offic er The Georgetown company known as Area has volunteers and the Acton area known as Area l has Together the two companies stand watch over an estimated ISO square miles of land in John owner of Gallery Sol poses here with a photograph which Is part the current exhibition in the nailer Georgetown Yesterday Today Tom or- No smalltown art at town Gallery Sol By LOW TAYLOR Herald sUlf writer For the past 16 years Gall ery Sol has lived up to Its owners belief that a small town art gallery shouldnt ne display small town art John and his wife Glsela have been operating Gallery Sol in their home at Charles Si in Georgetown for almost years and their policy has been to bring the best possible art to George- While the population of a relatively small town might not be as sophisticated as that of a larger city Mr Sommer said the smalltown gallery should not display small town art 1 always aimed for the best I could find he said In the we werent success and were not overwhelm ingly successful now the works arent selling like hot cakes but we are making steady sales Mr came to Can ada from Germany in 1954 as a trained farm worker and he worked on a number farms In Georgetown and the Toronto area before coming to George town and settling in his present house in He was one of grandchildren each of whom had some artistic leanings In art music or writing but he had no formal training in art or art appreciation Art is what Im mainly interested in Mr Sommer said You learn about art by looklngatitalotoflt things begin to sort themselves out LIKE GARDENING He compared learning about quality in art to growing plants By practice the garde ner learns what makes plants flourish to decline It Is the same with painting we think everything one wants to know has to be taught in a formal environment he said But schools are a relat ively new invention as far as people gathering in one place to learn and be taught I am one of those fortunate ones think who through a combination circumstances had no money to go to school and thats a good thing Mr Sommer said At schools you are told what others have discovered Instead of discove ring it for yourself When you leave you refer to what those great professors and experts said and say It must be true and It probably Is but you havent discovered it for your self I think I know as much as I can know about aesthetics which means that particular something which makes one work greater than another he said With great composers those who would criticize their work must have an ear for music and anyone with a tin ear will never be able to criticize he continued With the visual arts you have lo be bom with an eye for It Mr said It is one of those special talents we definitely have and you real ize you have It and you devel op it There is room for an education in historical and cultural things and that is where schools come in What Is Just as wonderful as participate in creation is to be able lo criticize and appreciate what has been ere and that is one of he reasons we opened the gallery Mr Sommer said There Is little or no training in critic- Ism he said and very few people come to the stage where they are able to really criticize works UNINFORMED CRITICS Most criticisms are Incred ibly uninformed and you just grind your teeth when you hear something like that he said People should be able to distinguish between something that and something they enjoy Mr said he and his wife have always been ted in the visual arts and it was this among other things which prompted them to open the gallery when they purcha sed the house in April of 1962 Mr Sommer said when he and his wife purchased the house they thought it lent Itself to becoming a gallery and since some of their friends were artists they were able to present a show of some of their works in July of Within two years we had more than we could handle he said You can t exhibit everything you like You have to choose and it becomes a question of choosing the right thing It wasnt possible to rent a shop Tor the gallery and it isnt possible now Mr Sommer said He added that it is a great advanlagc have the gallery In their home because it gives people an idea of what it looks like In a home Part of our success is be cause people see how It would look in their place because they see how it looks here he said Mr Sommer said he and his wife deal withtheartlstsdircc rather than through other dealers We like to get know them very well and really enter their creative lives he said It Is really fascinating to know creative people lo watch them grow and change and their style evolve Its marvellously exciting to watch an artists abilities evolve Mr Sommer said Its still one of the truly human activities COMMUNITY INVOLVED He pointed to the Eskimo communities In northern Can as an example of the university of art and creation since almost everyone in an Eskimo community Is involved In some kind of art The work may not all meet high stand arts of excellence Mr Som said but everyone Is Involved in creating Simply to moke something to create something useful or useless is universal and primitive societies demons rate that he said In more civilized societies specializat ion Is the trend and people lose in creating In a way the terrible thing about our civilization with an industrial society so many people have lost their creatlvl ty Mr Sommer said Most of the hobbles people have taken on which involve crafts and creativity arc just to kill lime I think the great thing about the human being is that he is a maker he said Mr said the arts and their relationship with democracy is a difficult thing particularly when concerns grants I don like the Idea of the government spending money on amateurs he said An amateur doesnt take his work seriously the moment you lake It seriously you become a professional although your work might not meet profess standards In the early stages But the professional attitude will nave you working on a piece over and over mil II it Is as good as It can be There Is a lot of amateur ism around nowadays he added HIGH STANDARDS Critical standards In Europe arc high because artists have always been able to find emp loyment in the courts Euro- The courts hired the best craftsmen artl sans and artists When the courts fell succeeding govern ment didnt want to appear shabby by comparison and so they continued to support the oris on a larger scale Mr Sommer said But en tics I standards are on a higher scale as a consequence Canada is too young a country scl such high stand but we have made Ic headway In the last 30 years because were rich and we still think that North America Is highly individualistic you ask the government to do some thing for you you do It yourself Mr bommersald He Bald since he moved to Georgetown he has been sug gesting to the residents that they should have their own museum display artifacts and art It have to be spectacular something to be proud of Mr said With the plans for the cultural centre which the artis tic community in Georgetown would like to see built Mr Sommer is concerned that the Continued on Page Halton Hills and some of the surrounding countryside Because the distances Involved It is frequently faster or the Acton volunteers to respond to a call In the north section the town of Milton than it Is for the Milton volunteers This is also the case along other Hill boundaries As a result the Hills fire department has agreements with the fire departments in neighboring municipalities to coordinate fire protection and Halton Hills Is responsible for some areas outside of the town TRUCKS Fire Chief Mick Holmes said the Hills fire depart ment is as wellequipped as a full time fire department would be in a town of this size The department has a tanker truck with a capacity of gallons in George town but available for calls in Acton Acton has three pum per trucks and a utility van and Georgetown has four pum and a utility van The fire department recent ly sought applications from men interested In Joining the department In order to fill the vacancies left by three retiring firelighters Chief Holmes said the department rarely has any trouble getting applicants for the job The prospective volunteer fills out an application form and is subsequently interview ed Oneoflheflrstquestionshe is asked is whether he works in the area and If his employer will allow him to leave work to answer an alarm Were very appreciative of the assistance from the em ployers of our volunteers who have let the men go out to answer calls during working hours Chief Holmes said They play a big part In making the volunteer depart ment possible Volunteers must be physical fit and those who wish to drive a truck must have a licence In the D category Chief Holmes said Previous experience in is also an asset If is accepted the volunteer Is then taken on probation for up to a year to see if he fita in with the rest of the department the chief said He gets his in house train ing as a member of the depart ment Chief Holmes sold Hes not allowed lo go to a fire immediately and start to work There is a period of two or three months where he is strictly training but he attends all calls FIRE COURSES The Ontario Fire College operates mainly for full lime firefighters and the way in which the courses are set up shows it Chief Holmes said Most of the fire courses SPECTACULAR BLAZE RECALLED One of the more spectacular fires In Hills In the past few years was which destroyed the barn belonging to Mel Smith In Glen Williams In May of last year Firefighters fought to keep the flames from Igniting two propane tanks and a fuel oil tank located along the wall Two firefighter suffered minor fanras from being so close to he heat but serious Injuries volunteer firefighters are almost unheard of In llllli I Hera Id photo by Taylor ore fiveweek courses and It isnt possible for volunteers to take the time off to attend the courses The Ontario Fire Marshalls Office periodically holds one- week regional training schools around the province such as the one held in Mi Hon last year The schools are basically refresher courses in various areas and provide the volun leers with the opportunity to ask questions about different practices Seminars lasting one or two days arc also on such topics as extricating someone trapped in a vehicle the chief said The volunteers learn how to handle various situations such as gas spills and they are aware of methods of handling other situations which might arise such as chlorine gas spills Fire prevention officer Lar ry Brassard one of the depart ments three full lime men keeps a file of case histories on hand for factories and other places with specialized prob lems such as potentially dan gerous chemicals or potential hazards in a fire such as the large rolls of paper which were kept on hand at the plant when it was In operation Similar rolls were responsible for the deaths of three ters In Etobicoke recently The volunteer firefighters have regular practice ses sions every Monday night in Acton and every Thursday night In Georgetown The line officers elected at the firefigh ters association annual meet are responsible for carry ing out lectures They divide up and conduct several lec tures at the same time switch from week week LADDER DRILL The firefighters may spend their practice sessions laying hoses or carrying out ladder drill The ters also view training films all Pro ductions of Acton The com pany has produced about 25 or 30 training films Chief Holmes said and has supplied the tire department with a complete set at no cost I not them started on the Idea of producing the films the chief said The only train ing films available were all American and as old as the hills I suggested they put together some modern Cana dian films Chief Holmes came up through the ranks of the volun teer fire department himself having been in the department for over years He was the chief in Acton for 13 years prior lo regional government and has been a chief of Hills for years There was a lot of TRD3UTETO STEAMER The Georgetown Rotary Club paid tribute to one of their charter members Steamer Emmerson at special dinnrr at Neptunes Restaurant Monday Rotary pre Id Fred Long presented Mr with an engraved tray recognizing bis efforts above self In the community and Mrs received a bouquet of roses and carnations Herald photo by Maggie Hannah In the early days of the Hills fire department with two chiefs in one town Chief Holmes said The single fire department has worked out well thouith he said Its a very unique situation I dont know of a region with such a distance between the two towns he said The two departments arc being brought together through training programs and they seem to be Inter mixing more how than they were when the Hills department was created Chief Holmes Halton Hills fire department has a response time of three to four minutes and a high number of volunteers turning out to an swer each call In Georgetown an average about 30 men respond out of volunteers and in Acton the average is about to men out of volunteers PAGER ALARM Each firefighter is supplied with a pager which passes on the alarm The pagers replac ed the air raid siren which was used until last year to summon the volunteers The pagers cost an estimated to With a volunteer fire depart ment the town has been able lo keep the fire protection budget down to a minimum and still be well looked after The volunteers each receive an allotment paid on a yearly basis based on their attend ance at fires practise sessions and meetings In Milton the volunteer firefighters are paid on an hourly basis the chief said With the yearly allotment paid to the volunteers the cost of equipment repairs and maintenance the fire depart ment budget this year Is about Chief Holmes said Each area figures out their budget and then you see If council will approve it Theres as much work put into a volunteer fire depart ment as a full time depart ment Chief Holmes said A volunteer is on call hours a day The other fellow thats his Job and he puts in his eight hours and then he goes home In a way I think volunteers are more dedicated While Im partial to our fire department I think they do a good Job tie continued The volunteers range widely In age The department la a relatively young one Chief Holmes said About onehalf the firefighters are younger men in Georgetown while in Acton the figure Is onethird Those figures seems to bode well for the availability in the future of men willing to work as volunteer firefighters the chief said MINOR INJURIES The Halton Hills fire depart ment has been very fortunate in that none of Its firefighters have suffered any serious in juries Chief Holmes said keeping his fingers crossed Injuries have been limited mostly to cuU and scrapea and minor burns Only one life has been lost as a result of Tire in the last Tew years in Hills and that was in Glen Williams last year when a Glen Williams woman died of asphyxiation Most of the volunteers have studied the St Johns First Aid Course and they take periodic refres her courses One of the responsibilities of the fire depart mcnl is to con duct safety inspections of buildings so that owners and tenants can make their home apartment or factory safer Larry Brassard concentrates mainly on schools apartment buildings senior citizens homes factories and similar buildings Larry also sets up programs for employees In factories and so on Chief Holmes said With the work load involved the only rest denccs were Inspecting now are those from whom weve received a request The next major purchase the fire department would like to make although It has been put on the back burner for this year Is an aerial ladder Chief Holmes said that while peoplcbclleve an aerial ladder is useful only for fighting fires In apartment buildings this is not the case Aerial ladders also assist firefighters in get ting on top of the fire where visibility may be better and the firefighters can better Judge where to aim the hoses CARRIED AWAY is one of the most stressful occupations there is Chief Holmes said right up alongside being a police officer You never get over the excllment when the alarm goes off no matter how long youve been on the brigade he said I guess being so dedicated you get carried a way sometimes It is hard to predict the future of the Halton Hills vo lunteer fire department Chief Holmes said If the Focal Properties development south of the town of Georgetown Is approved Ihe entire organise of the fire department could be forced to change radically to in order to conti nue to offer the same kind fire protection The chief said It Is hard to know whether the fire depart ment would be getting applica tions from residents In Ihe development to join the de partment or whether the town would have to hire additional full lime firefighters to supple ment and possibly eventually supplant the volunteer depart or not the volun teers come forward from the residents of the subdivision the town will have to open a substation in the subdivision In order to serve the residents and also the rural residents below the south of the develop ment the chief said dont know what fu ture will hinge the chief said But Im a firm believer In volunteers