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Cake, ice cream, streamers and balloons were the order of the day at Ontario Seed last week as employees wished Herman Underwood well on his 90th birthday. On hand to give Herman their best were O-rl Carol Gould, Wayne Witt, Herman, the star attraction, Tina Austin, Beveriy Weiss and Lorraine Koebel as well as Ontario Seed operators Bill and Jim Uttetman, m WWW 90 years young, no signs of a slow-up Herman Rich Campbell Chronicle Staff Over the years, they've no doubt said many a thing about that character Herman Underwood over at Ontario Seed Home Hardware - - "artiriiiiriaierwood cannbt be accused of. however. is the inability to hold down .37 job. . -irriaG. iteiCreaiiy oily had two in his entire life. Not bad, (or a spry oldtimer who last week celebrated his 90th birthday with a handful of parties and get-togethers. Not the least of which were full dinner and birthday cake and ice cream sessions right at the store. where it seems dedication and loyalty to one's work comes before bureaucratic technicalities such as mandatory retirement age. Yes, Herman's been putting up seed at the store since 1964, after 50 years working varied tasks with Shirk and Snider"s. He left the family farm to drive team for the milling company in I914. drove truck for them from 1920-43 and then worked in their store at Frederick and Duke Streets in Kitchener until 1964. when he was laid off due to his age. "I finished there on a Friday night and got this job here on the following Tuesday," said Underwood, recounting his past last week from the store he has worked at ever since. "I told '.Mrie Mark Iookc over a display on on “My during the grand opening of the Kitchener-Wautloo CHIS mount-ion Iona-y in Waterloo's Allen Square. The ettqett natured a ribboncutting outmony attended by which at can and civic W. 0 tour of the new tacilitioo and can CNIB OPENS "ea-rt"""' (Ontario Seed operators) Bill and Jim Uffelman I was going to quit when I got to 90 - but they both said ‘oh no you're not.' They've been very good to me. and I've also been blessed with pretty good health." Underwood was born in Bloomingdale on May 3. 1893, one of four children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Edward Underwood. He met his wife, the former Ethel Saunders from Wellesley in 1912 and they were married in a surprise Christmas Eve ceremony in 1916. "That's just the way the preacher wanted it," said Underwood, a smile coming to his face. "They had the full regular service first. only he and two girls in the choir knew about the wedding afterwards. Not even the preacher's wife knew about it." Underwoods had three daughters. one who died in infancy. Both Jean. the oldest and Gloria also have birthdays in May, making for a busy month. Herman proudly points out also that this Christmas will mark the 67th wedding anniver- sary for him and his wife, who is confined to Scott Pavilion. There was no fear of Herman forgetting about the "big 9-0" even if he wanted to, Sunday. April 24 some 200 friends crowded into the Bridgeport United Church to wish him well, he had a big dinner celebration at the home of his niece in New Hamburg a week later, and a big dinner was also held right at the store April 26 "There were 16 of us here that day, and I thought to myself. well that's about enough celebrating." said Underwood. "But then I got a call Monday night. telling me to be ready to be picked up Tuesday, I had a wonderful birthday dinner up in St, Jacobs with my two daughters and their husbands. All these parties and dinners, an old guy like me never expected it, I tell you." " hasn't been a life of such leisure for Herman. however, He vividly recalls the 3 ann, routes to Chatham to deliver feed, returning to the area by 10 a.m. to start loading trucks again. He put on 115,000 miles on a Reo Speedwagon in three years delivering corn. mill feeds. Purina feeds. salt. you name it. And he once had the audacity to take 10 days off work at Shirk's to go to Toronto to have an operation for a rupture. “I left on a Wednesday and was back on the job a week the following Monday," Underwood remembers, "They told me to go get the operation done. but to come back as hoon as I could, even if I could only sit on a chair to work." And the business he has built a lifetime of work around, has it changed much? A _ "Oh, it's altogether different now. the busi ness is all in the store now. people coming by to get their grain and mill feeds. Back then you‘d deliver out six ton of feed into a farmer's barn and never seen thv farmer. - “I remember one time there was a breakdown at the mill. a lot of the farmers were running out of dairy feed, and back then they had a lot of cattle to feed. you know. Turns out I had to make a delivery at 2 am, on a Sunday morning. I was ready to back the load into the barn and this dog - at me - I just shot this five-cell flashlight into his face and he was gone, but in the commotion I guess the farmer heard us and he yelled out from the house “who's out there?' I said it's me. and if you don't shut up rm going to make you come out here and help me with this load. So he said. 'oh, OK. just go about your business then." WSo Herman Underwood die'" Just as he has continued to do, these ”years now ..... Pat Arbuclde Chromcle Staff The Waterloo County Board of Education's decision to close Lex- ington school in Waterloo means victory to some parents who sought better educational facilities for their children and bitter disappoint- ment to others determined to keep the school open. Trustees decided that the kinder- garten to grade six school with an effective capacity of only 153 stu- dents could not adequately meet the needs of the growing population in its area. As a result, the school will remain open for the 1983-84 school year and subsequently close in June of 1984. A stalemated accommodation re- view committee made its report to the board Thursday asking trustees to make a decision on the future of Lexington. The committee com- posed of parents, trustees. the two school principals and n representa- tive of the city of Waterloo planning department were unable to reach a consensus. Some members favored closing the school while others voted to keep it open with boundaries adjusted to relieve overcrowding. Howard Parliament. chairman of the committee. explained that the Bridgeport/Lexington Accommoda- tion Review Committee was es- tablished in June of 1982 to study declining enrolment at Bridgeport school and facility limitations at Lexington. The committee made its first report to the board in Febru- arr. Shortlv afterwards. two addi- Lexington is the latest on chopping block ary. Shortly afterwards. two addi- tional members were added to the committee and members were asked to reconsider the matter after two opposing delegations appeared before trustees. Burgeoning growth in nearby sub- divisions has threatened Lexington school with severe overcrowding. An additional 40 to 50 students are expected to enrol at the school in September of I983. Population star tistics, provided by the city of Waterloo's planning department. predict a steady increase with the next five years from subdivisions such as Lincoln Village III and Crimson Court currently under con- struction in addition to eight other planned developments. Bridgeport school. on the other hand. with an effective capacity of 407 students had only 135 students in September of 1982 and has been The cities of View end Kitchen“ end tGW Council of Chutchee held the eighth 'tetrtuat Community Payer Baddest at Adult Rec Centre Hondey morning to “m together thou who are mung an active Ieedenhlp role In wcmmunflyend‘oeekGod'egumhwm duties end ro-ttttttties." Good m wee . Keuy. Venous dignitariee - to the crowd of M 200, mmw‘oammmwmmwwm Carrot), tho W09 I!“ - lee. tt tetetgttte! Ton“. n wa a ...- r‘I-‘III' w“ w'v v v-7 - - Me 'tiddery -. Iran wut School of Hook: 'u"l"lf2arlltrnuGliL. new»: WATERLOO Gm. “WY. MAY ta, I983 - PAGE 3 experiencing a steady decline in enrolment. Trustees learned that all but 20 students are based to the school and because Lexington has no gymngsi- um. they are already transported to Bridgeport school for physical edu- cation, music and French. The school has also experienced recur- ring problems with its septic tank. A report by Finance administra- tor Gary Schlueter showed that a minimum of $44,000 would have to bespentbytheboardtokeepthe school running on a short-term basis. The construction of a new gymnasium in addition to these improvements would cost the board $344,060. The report also showed that no additional cost would be incurred by transferring Lexington students to Bridgeport school. In fact. the board would save $81,000 the first year of the school's closure and 857.000 in subsequent years. Joyce Neufeld, a Lexington parent who served on the commie tee, told trustees that she favored keeping the school open. "With the population growth in that area, I'm not convinced we have five years security at Bridge- port school. I'm concerned that moving all the children will not give us the stability that we want," she said. Trustee Elizabeth Witmer. how- ever, said that closing Lexington would be the one way of ensuring stability for the students and a better quality of education. After" the -meeting, Neufeld said that she was disappointed and uneasy about the board's dtcisioy. “If parents want security they have a better chance of getting it with two schools open," she said, "My concern is for the children. not only the ones in school now but in the future." Rosslynn Shortt. a Lexington parent who served on the committee and who favored closure. said in an interview that she felt the board made the best decision in terms of the quality of education for the chil dren. "The facilities available to the children at Bridgeport are far superior to those available at hex ington," she said. “and if the community grows to an extent that we need another school. the prov ince would fund upgrading of Lex inglonf'