1962-01-11; Clare Sentinel

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THE
ENTINEL
Established 1878
Ten Cents Copy
THE CLARE SENTINEL, CLARE, MIGUIQAM
THURSDAY, JAN.   11.  1962
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Enrollment in Adult Education
classes at Clare Public Schools is
due to open Monday of next
week with the possibility that
well over one hundred 'students"
will iind instruction to their liking in subjects that cover a wide
field of interests. What has been
billed as learning for fun and
profit in years when classes
tended to bear on the entertainment and job-skills side, could
add the label, "usefullness" this
year with one important class
added, — one in Home Nursing
to teach practical sick-room
methods and "what to do before
the doctor comes".
Repeated in the list of different instructions this year also
are many of the most popular
skills, entertainment, and useful
hobby classes.
Signing up for membership in
the classes is supposed to be
largely completed in the three
days, Monday, January 15
through January 18, but usually
enrollments are taken in all
classas up to and including the
first night of the group meeting.
The; terms of instruction will
be for 10 weeks in most subjects
and classes meet for two hours,
one night of each week.
Mrs. GeneVieve Fleming, director of the adult education program said that classes will not
be offered for groups of less
than 10 persons, but that classes
not listed in the program this
year would be started when possible if 10 or more persons got
together and asked for a parti
cular subject to be taught.
In 1960, more than 115 en
rollees attended classes in the
program.
Despite the dropping of several classes that have been offered in former years such as boating, law, sewing, ceramics,
woodworking, shorthand and
music, the classes this year include many useful and entertaining subjects:
Monday: Cake Decorating —
Mrs. Kigar, Instructor. This1
popular class will accomodate
approximately 20 people.
Monday: Knitting — Mrs.
Frey, Instructor. Beginning
knitting will be emphasized and
choice of articles and materials
can be made at the first meeting. Help %vi 11 also be given to advanced knitters.
Monday: Bookkeeping — Mr.
Putney, Instructor. The fundamentals of bookkeeping will be
taught to give a person the
knowledge of a simple form of
keeping books, which applies to
most small business.
Monday: Rocks — Tom Culver,
Instructor. This popular class
affords a hobby as well as information to any one interested
in rocks and their formation and
identity. Join this fascinating
group for an evening of real
pleasure.
Monday: Ballroom dancing —
Mrs. Wilcox, Instructor. Besides
the old stand-bys of ballroom
dancing", any new or popular
steps will be taught if the class
desires. This class lasts only- 1
hour per evening.
Monday: Men's Physical Education — Jim'Raymond, Instructor. Men who wish to have some
form of exercise for physical
fitness should enroll in this
class: It is designed for exercise
suitable to the individual and
will not include the more
strenuous activity ' (such as
basketball).
Tuesday: Typing — Mr. Putney,
Instructor. Both beginning and
advanced typing will be given
and individual attention will be
given to all students.
Tuesday: Home Nursing — Ro-
sann Raymond, Instructor. A
brand new course is being offered which should be of interest
to all women. First Aid treatment of minor accidents in the
home will be given. Symptoms
and simple treatments of common diseases, care of sick room,
making and changing hospital
beds, caring for the sick in your
home and 'what to do before the
doctor comes' will all be taught
in this class. New mothers will
also be taught bathing and care
of babies.
Wednesday: Photography —
Harold Love, Instructor. Learn
to get the best pictures from
your   camera   and   acquire   the
finer points of picture taking.
Thursday: Men's and Women's
Golf — Jim Raymond, Instructor.
A class in square dancing will
be given with the night to be
determined later. Enroll now.
Conversational Spanish is another class repeated after success last winter and Will again
be taught-by Edith McCorkle of
the high school faculty. Adult
students will learn to speak and
understand fundamentals of the
language. The night of the week
when this class will meet is to
be selected.
Driver Training under the instruction of Donald Richardson
is offered with a fee of $25.00.
Students here will complete 71/-
hours of actual driving experience behind the wheel of the
special training car, and in addition will receive class instruction. Enrollees may consult Mr.
Richardson for their class
schedule and driving appointments.
■ A class offered in men's physical education is aimed at toning
the fitness of men who do not
ordinarily get enough exercise.
Instructor Jim Raymond of the
school faculty said that extremely strenuous games such as
basketball will not be allowed to
take the fun out of the course
for those who need to limit their
exercise to volley ball or other
less tiring activity.
Payment of a $3.50 fee is ex;
pected for all courses at the time
of enrollment except the driver
training class which calls for a
$25.00 fee.
New Series,      Vol. 71, No. 18
iimraary
ii Committ
u
99
Dr. Gershon
Kiwanis Club
New President
New Kiwanis Club President
Dr. Julian Gershon with . his
officers for 1962 were installed
at the club's Wednesday meeting
last week. Taking office along
with the new president were:
Richard Ulrich, first vice president; Jerry Forsberg, second
vice president; Robert Campbell
and Dale Lyons re-elected as
secretary and treasurer respectively.
The gavel was handed to Dr.
Gershon by Floyd Boardman,
now immediate past president.
On the program for the meeting which followed, Kiwanis Lt.
Governor Mahlon Moore, assistant superintendent of Midland,
Michigan schools spoke on the
problem of jobs for young people who do not continue in
college after finishing their high
school education.
Meeting
A lecture for area dairymen on
mastitus control to be coupled
with an -annual meeting for
Dairy Herd Improvement Association members is scheduled for
today at the Gladwin courthouse.
Michigan1 State University
Specialist Don Murray with his
mastltius team inclucSing Glen
Reid, George Parsons, and Ed
Kazarian will talk to Clare-
Gladwin county dairymen at ten
o'clock, Lunch will be furnished,
At 3:00 p.m. after the mastitus
meeting adjourns, the Clare
DHIA meeting will be called to
Reduction by $200,000.00 in,the
amount proposed to be spent "for
the Clare Public School classroom expansion is probably as
strong a factor as any in some
optimism for the program's
chances at the polls on January
27. A former proposal calling for
$475,000.00 worth of remodeling
and enlargement failed to carry
last year and the project has now
been pared to $275,000.00.
Any feeling, however, that the
coming vote will turn out more
favorable for public education is
qualified by the knowledge that
even the limited improvements
being proposed face a certain
amount of opposition and need
strong and' effective support to
win a majority approval.
Volunteers serving on a citizens committee have been "armed" with copies of an 8-page fact
sheet containing information
which can be passed on to their
neighbors and fellow residents
in the school district. No voter
need, or should go to the polls
with exaggerated impressions of
the cost of the improvements or
the amount of tax an individual
property owner would be called
upon to bear.
And with the answers provided
on the fact sheets, no resident
should honestly question the
past-due need for additional
classroom space and fire-safety
remodeling proposed in the
project.
The public school buildings, already crowded beyond capacity
must accommodate an anticipated enrollment increase in September 1962 of 82 students; in
1963 - 100 mor,e; in 1964 - 60
more; in 1965 - 62 more, and so
on!
Fourth; and -fifth grades only,
which are already on half-day
schedules because they couldn't
be crowded into available space
last September," — these grades
will grow from the present total
of 261 in the next five years to
277, 285, 265, 286, and 313 pupils.
How is this known?
Gathering reports of census
counts, so,-called survival percentages (which indicate how
many youngsters remain in
school or move to different
school areas, or arrive in the
district as newcomers and enroll
in school here/on the average)
rising birth and marriage rates
and other factors, school administrators project an estimate of
enrollment into the years ahead.
So far, the estimates tend to
be on the conservative side, or
that is, they figure the school
population on the low rather
than high numbers.
If the proposition carries, it
Will provide for three mills debt
service tax over the next 12 years
to pay for the improvement. This
will be levied as $3,00 per thousand dollars State Equalized Val
uatibn,
proposition to increase the tax
rate for the period stated,' and on
a separate ballot, electors who
own property assessed for taxes
in the district may vote on the
proposition to borrow the money
and issue bonds therefor.
The election will be held on
Saturday, January 27 in the
Clare High School and residents
are invited to express views on
the issue in letters to the. Sentinel during the weeks between
now and election date.
Colonel Robert L. Harriger, lefif Commander of ihe newly activated 71st Surveillance Wing (BMEWS) talks via
telephone to ihe BMEWS Site ai Thule, Greenland, as
Colonel Robert W. Waltz, right, boss of the Air Defense
Command's 9ih Aerospace Defense Division looks on. The
control and operation of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) became the responsibility of the
9th ADD on January 1 and ihe supervision of this vital
surveillance system's operation will be conducted by
Colonel Harriger's unit.
Clare Man Commands
Space Warning System
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Und
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titer s
order -for  the annual business     AH  Resident,  electors   of  the
session, I school district may vote on the
O
Announce
Test For
Postmaster
An examination for the office
of postmaster at Clare has been
announced and applications to
write the tests will be accepted
until January 30, the Postal Department announced this week.
The position pays $6,255. a year.
Laurence W. Jackson Jr. has
been acting postmaster at the
Clare office since his appointment on May 31, 1961 to succeed
his uncle, Francis Jackson who
retired.
The examination, to be given
in Mt. Pleasant will be conducted
under revised qualifications recently agreed upon between the
United States Civil Service Commission and the Post Office Department.
Competitors for the postmaster vacancy in this city must have
at least 3 years Of experience
(education above high school
level may be substituted for VA
years of experience) showing
that they have the ability to conduct and manage the community's postal business efficiently
and to supervise employees so
that customers are satisfied with
the service, '
Applicants must take a written test. Those who pass will be
assigned final ratings on the
basis of this test and on their
experience, and fitness for the
position. They must have resided within the delivery of the
office for one year immediately
preceding the closing date of the
examination. In addition, they
must have reached their 18th
birthday 6n the closing date for
acceptance of applications, persons over 70 years of age cannot
be appointed.
Begins Term
Harold B. Hughes, the District's newly elected Senator in
the Michigan Legislature began
his term Wednesday when he
was scheduled to be sworn in to
complete the term of the late
Charles Preseott
A former Clare man now with
the Air Defense Command
Colonel Robert L. Harriger has
tjeen named to command a new
Air Wing, The 71st Surveillance
(BMEWS) charged with responsibility for operation of the
Ballistic Missile Early Warning
System.
The United States Air Force
last week said that Colonel Har
riger's command is a new part
of the 9th Aerospace Defense
Division of the Air Defense Command, the AF first defense organization with full time responsibilities  in  space.
The Ballistic Missile Early
Warning System came under
ADC on the first day of this
year, bringing all the nations
warning and detection systems
under ADC operation.
BMEWS,, the first detection
and warning system designed
for the intercontinental ballistic
missile threat, has been under
control of the Air Force Systems
Command during the construction, testing and initial operating
phases of its development. Now
that the system has proved fully
capable of performing its designed function, and has been
accepted by the Air Defense
Command, BMEWS becomes a
fully intergrated system of the
North American Air Defense
Command (NORAD). The responsibility of the 71st Surveillance Wing is to insure continuous and reliable operation of
the BMEWS system in providing data to NORAD Combat
Operations Center.
Colonel Harriger's Wing Headquarters is located in Colorado
Springs, Colorado and will consist initially of 50 personnel.
The wing will eventually have
four detachments with three
functioning on January 5. Clear,
Alaska, the location of Detachment 2 and Thule, Greenland,
the location of Detachment- are
the two completed BMEWS sites.
Detachment 4 at Riverton, New
Jersey is responsible for the
monitoring and administration of
the RCA Service Company contract. The actual operation of the
two BMEWS sites is performed
by over 700 RCA employees at
each site under Air Force contract. The function of Detach
ments 1 and 2 is to supervise and
Continued on Page 8
Starting
Vision Tests
In Grades
Vision testion for Clare Public
School 'students in grades one,
three, five, and seven will begin
Monday, according to Mrs Irene
Davy, school nurse. The entire
test, procedure will take a week
to 10 days.
Mrs. Davy said that while the
schedule calls for only testing
in the grades mentioned, students in any other elementary
grade would be tested on a individual basis if their parents or
teacher applied to her office to
have the sight tests performed.
High school freshmen will undergo similar tests on January
29, and at that time any parent
or teacher of a student in
grades other then freshmen may
request the testing for the student.
A spell of severe winter weather that started with rain and
suddenly colder temperatures
Thursday of last week bound
much of Michigan in a frozen
grip but spared the Clare-Isabella immediate area anything
more than cold weather discomforts and some travel delays.
School children went on an unscheduled vacation as buses were
unable to travel their routes.
Snow removal facilities were
taxed to the limits as county and
state highway crews increased
efforts to keep traffic moving
and city street plowing took all
the equipment and manpower
available.
Sub-zero cold and slippery
snow on roads stalled many
motorists and kept road service
operators jumping to keep up
with calls for assistance.
Rain that turned to sleet and
froze on auto windshields and on
trees and road surfaces forced
the closing of most area schools
last Friday. Drivers were unable
to negotiate country roads with
school buses.
Several inches of snow already
on the ground .became glazed
with with an icy crust as the
sleet and rain continued to fall.
A heavy snow storm on Saturday afternoon and into the early
night filled the air with a blizzard of swirling white flakes.
The sudden, heavy piling-up of
snow caused a temporary snarl
of truck traffic in downtown
Clare Saturday night an/^ garage
wreckers and service cars were
busy trying to pull cars and
trucks through traffic lanes to
keep them going. Many freight
trucks pulled into parking places
and roadside stops to sit out the
worst of the storm and were still
there late the following day.
Highway plow crews with
equipment were faced for the
first time with the need for
fighting drifts on newly opened
freeways as well as old routes of
US-27 and US-10.
city manager reported. He said
that crews and equipment were
worked as long as 18 hours at a
stretch during the weekend,
Mountains of snow were being moved off city streets and
dumped in two snow dumps, one
at Cedar Park north of the city,
Bets Taken
On Winter
Woods Trek
What started out as idel luncheon conversation has developed
into a full scale eight day junket
into the woods of Clare County
for Tony Wedal of Clare.
TOny, who can aptly be described as the average "indoor
type" spent a noon luncheon
with Dan Burdo, Clare furniture
dealer, discussing the relative
merits of summer versus winter
camping and without thinking
made the statement, "I would be
glad to go into the woods for a
week or more if the price was
right."
Jerry Forsberg, local insur
ance agent, overhearing the conversation quickly contacted
fifteen friends and made public
the offer of one hundred fifty
dollars for an eight-day stay.
When the bickering subsided,
Tony said he would go with
what he could carry into the
woods in one trip.
The Clare Chamber of. Commerce and other merchants,
listed below, feeling _orry for
the cold camper have offered to
underwrite the trip with donations of food, clothing and money: Twin Elms Golf Course,
Kroger, Clare Hardware, Economy Drug, Roy Beltnick, Alexander Shoes, Bauer Flying Service, Houghton Drug, James S.
Bicknell III, Forsberg insurance
Agency, Clare Furniture, Dr. J.
R. Gershon, Ulrich Standard
Service,    Paul's    Hair   Fashion,
Johnston Elevator, Clare Clean-[ county,
ers, Gateway Motel Midland,
John Bicknell, Jim Sykora
Auctioner, White's Jewelry, An-
•defson Drugs, Hotel Doherty,
and the Citizens State Bank.
It appears at the present that
Clare county is the center of
Michigan's new winter camping"
hobby. When questioned Tony
replys that at first he had reservations regarding the trip, but
feels, 'that the eighft jflays of
peace and quiet (no TV) will be
a welcome change from the
bustling city life of Clare.
The camper will leave Clare
on the 19th of January and re:
turn for the Winter Sports
Events in Clare county on the
27th and 28th.
Tony will be checked each day
from the air by Courtney Bauer
of the Bauer Flying Service.
Tony" said the bet would be
lost if he could not get back for
the winter sports banquet oi if
he failed to stay for eight days,
Dick Groves, of the Hotel
Doherty has promised to fill the
camper with food, "free gratis",
if he can stay the eight days-,
Tony will return from the
woods at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday
the 27th and will make an
appearance at the Twin Elms
Golf Course for the annual Clare
Winter • Golf Tournament;. After
a brief rest at home he will
appear at the Winter Sports
Banquet at the Hotel fyoherty
at 7:00 p.m, to relate his story
about winter camping in Clare
Tom Cook, Clare County Highway Superintendent said that
all available equipment and manpower went into the effort to
keep roads clear. Plowing blades
were on the job continuously
from Friday during the sleet
storm until Tuesday of this
week when rising winds made
drifting wor^e and plows were
brought into garages until the
wind died and plowed roads
would stay open. The direction
of the winds made the problem
worse on north and south roads,
Cook said.
No djelays or special emergencies developed except stops
for repairs when one grader
engine failed and some plows
were broken. Elmer Godwin,
mechanic at the Clare highway
garage worked as much as 22
hours a day to keep equipment
in use.
Two highway employees were
off the job on account of illness
and some extra help was used,
Cook said.
Clare city snow plowing and
street clearing was on schedule
or ahead of expectations by Wednesday    noon,    Clarence    Gum,
Snow Rolling
Out Of Style
44 Years Ago
Motorists long ago learned to
expect that Michigan highways
would be kept free of snow and
ice  during  the  winter.
But the State Highway Department reports that when the
first snow plowing efforts were
made back in 1918 there was a
good deal of opposition to the
idea.
The old system was to run
rollers over the snowy roads,
packing them solidly for horse-
drawn sleighs. But by 1918, a
considerable number of Mich,
gan people owned automobiles
which cut deep ruts in the snow
packed roads.
The year 1918 was the climax
of World War I. Michigan's defense plant workers were playing a vital role in winning the
war. Getting them back and
forth to work was a matter oi
prime importance.
A few counties banded together and put up $6,500 and the
Liberty Loan Board put up an
equal amount. The,-non.y was
used to clear snow from 590
miles of the state's most im
portant highways.
The idea was conceived as
strickly a wartime measure, but
car owners liked it and the State
High way Department was
assigned the job and the cost.
By 1925, the snow plowing expense had risen to 15 time the
amount it cost that first year.
And it has been increasing nearly every year since .until now it
costs an average of $5a/_ million
a year, depending on the
weather.
A big storm means lots ol
money will be spent to clear
highways.
But when big storms do come,
there's no longer any debate
about whether the highways
should be cleared.
That debate ended 44 years
ago when the rollers were put
away and snow plows first went
to work on Michigan highways.
S.S. Office
To Open
Monday
To Choose
Miss Clare
Saturday
With Clare county's Winter
Sport's Festival set for Saturday
and Sunday, January 27 and 28,
a call went out this week for contestants in the selection of "Miss
Clare" to compete for the honor
of being Clare County Winter
Sports Princess.
The annual selection is made
at the Saturday night banquet
and Winter Sports Ball, and is
always a high point in the festi
val program.
Girls from each Clare county
community are invited to enter
the,judging for the title and for
valuable prizes offered the final
winner.
Preliminary selection from local girls to name a Miss Clare
will be held Saturday this week
at'3:00 in the afternoon in the
Hotel Doherty. To be eligible,
girls should be not over 24 years
of age, unmarried, and residents
of Clare or the close-by area.
A committee -will meet the
girls in their street clothes and
conduct interviews, according to
Mrs. June Groves, head "of the
project for the Clare Chamber of
Commerce.
Roger Seamon, recently
appointed manager of the Mt.
Pleasant, Michigan, Social Security district, today announced
the plans for the opening of the
new Social Security district
office in Mount Pleasant.
The new office will be open
Monday, January 15, 1962. It
will be located at 209 W. Broadway in Mount Pleasant. Office
hours will be from 9 a.m. to 4:45
p.m., Monday through Friday.
The telephone number will be
SP 54191.
' There will be nine people on
duty at the office. They will
handle the social security affairs
of the people that live in the
Mount Pleasant district which i.
made up of Isabella, Clare,
Gratiot, Mecosta, and Osceola
counties.
In his announcement, Seamon
pointed out that the formation of
the Mount Pleasant district and
the opening of this new Office
was brought about by the need
to provide more efficient service
to the 117,000 people who reside
in the five-county district. Formerly, Social Security service-
were extended to the residents of
Clare county only twice a month
at the Clare contact .station at
the City Hall. With the opening
of this new office on January
15, residents of these five
counties will now be able to visit
or telephone the staff on any
day, Monday through Friday, in
order to gain necessary assistance with their social security
affairs.
I-
and another at the end of West
Second street south of and C and-
O railroad tracks.
Cook asked county residents
to park autos off the right-of-
way on rural roads and highways to allow plows to work. He
said that on some roads where
parked autos blocked the passage of blades, two or three trips
back had to be resorted to before
the roads could be cleared.
County schools except Harrison and the rural schools at
Franklin, Frost, Skeels and the
Amble School were operating
again Wednesday after closing
since last Thursday night. At
Rosebush the school closed Friday and Monday.
Coleman Schools which tried
to open Tusday were forced to
send pupils home at 1:00 p.m.
that same day when winds grew
in force and drifting threatened
to block bus routes again,
Gladwin schools remained
closed Wednesday after roads
permitted the first re-opening of
the Clare and Farwell schools.
One emergency road clearing
job was reported whetj a woman
at Lake asked to have the -road
and driveway opened so that she .
could get to the hospital in time
to deliver her baby.
Clare County School Commissioner McNamara said Wednesday that there was a good chance
that the closed schools of Harrison, and Franklin!, Frost,
Skeels, and Amble would give
their pupils another day of vacation. It didn't appear likely
that all bus routes would be
cleared in time for Thursday
classes.
In downtown Clare, parking
meters went untended as many
were halt lmri_d under drifts
and piles of the white stuff.
Police said that autoists would
be expected to put coins in
meters again as soon as curbs
could be cleared so people could
get to the meters.
50 Get
Layoff Slips
At Holley
A necessary "gradual reduction" of the work force at Holley
Carburetor's Clare Aircraft Dv
vision following completion of
some work schedules was termed the reasons for layoff notices
yesterday affecting about 50
persons.. Lyle Skinner, head of
personnel at the plant, said that
Friday this week will be the last
day of work for those laid off.
The layoff is more or less general and affects people in each
of several departments. More
than 500 hourly-rated employees
remain on the company payroll
after this week, Skinner said.
It was explained that with completion of work on some present
contracts, and no new schedules
to take up the immediate slack,'
the company had no choice but
to reduce the force where necessary.
"It is a regrettable situation",
Skinner said, "but one- that
happens sometimes in this industry.
"The workers were laid off in-
definately because there is no
present assurance that an upturn in work will call them back.
But the company feels that 1962
will be as good a business year
and there is an optimistic feeling for the outlook for new \vork
,in the future."
Those laid off were mostly
hired in i960, with only a few
who began with Holley back in
1959,
It was revealed that the com*
pany was aware of the need for
cutting back as early as the first
of December, but that a delay
was arranged to "avoid a Christmas season without work for
those due to be iaid'off,
Well Child
Conferences
Well baby clinics in January
will be held in Farwell at the
Methodist Church on Tuesday,
the 16th during the hours 9 to
11 a.m. and in Clare on the same
day from 1 to 3 in the afternoon.
At Harrison the clinic will he
on Friday, January 19th in the
courthouse from 9 to 11 a.m.