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THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017
Vol. 5 Edition 2
Mark Benoit/Special to The Chatham Voice
A legacy of giving
By Mary Beth Corcoran mary@chathamvoice.com
Blessed with the love of a lifetime, local philanthropist Frank Uniac is keeping the legacy of generosity and caring started by he and his wife, Mary, going at St. Clair College Thames Campus in Chatham. Uniac, married to his wife for 56 before her passing in 2010, was honoured recently for his donation to renovate a large auditorium classroom at Thames Campus.
Seating 120 students, the auditorium was named in honour of Uniac’s father-in-law, A.W. (Alva) Clapp. Alva and his wife, Christina, lived in Chatham township where he owned and operated a general store and farmed. He was the Post Master in Eberts for more than 40 years. During that time, he would care for many of the families in the community, providing baskets for children so that no one would be without a Christmas, and allowing
families to carry accounts throughout the depression until they could afford to pay the money that they owed. “It is this spirit of generosity and care that is celebrated in the naming of this room. Like A.W., it is the family’s hope that others will share that same spirit of care and concern for those in the community around them,” according to John Fairley, vice president college and community relations.
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It may be the middle of winter, but a local man can’t wait to have his new furnace ripped out of his home. Larry Gadal said the installers performed a hatchet job, even doing damage to his house, when they put the high-efficiency furnace into the home back in mid-October. And when the first cold snap hit, he soon learned the furnace wasn’t up to the task of heating his home. Gadal said he and his wife were contacted by Green Planet Home Services initially over the phone, and the company representative ramped up the pressure during a home visit shortly thereafter. “They called and my wife talked to them, said he represented such and such a company. They came over and we had a little interview,” he said. “I wanted to do some work in the furnace room before they put the new one in, and they wanted to put it in the next morning.” Gadal actually got two days to work on the furnace room before Green Planet installers arrived on site.
“I just had enough time to get in there and do some drywalling,” he said. Green Planet installers showed up and rushed through the installation, Gadal added, leaving him unimpressed by their work. “They did a horrible job. They drilled five holes through the wall before they got it where they wanted it,” he said. “If they didn’t hit the right spot, they’d just move over.” The furnace vents out the front of Gadal’s home and is located midway up the wall. “When they left, they didn’t even fill the holes. There was a bout a twoinch gap beside one of the pipes,” he said. “They came back with a caulking gun.” As a result, plainly visible on the front of the house is a gap in the home’s vinyl siding. That gap is filled with uneven silicon caulking. The white PVC venting pipe is already discoloured from the heat. Gadal isn’t the only one with concerns over the installation. Dave Cabral of Absolute Comfort in Chatham said an inspection of the installation left him stunned.
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By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
Frank Uniac, right, and family friend Mike Peach, left, share a reflective moment at the unveiling of the plaque naming the newly renovated auditorium at St. Clair College in honour of Uniac’s father-in-law, Alva Clapp, a man who left a legacy of giving and caring for his community.
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