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The Citizen, 2017-01-05, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views Here are some famous lasting words Woody Allen said it best: "I'm not afraid of dying" he whined, "I just don't want to be there when it happens". But he will be — as will you and I, dear reader. Being in attendance at our own demise is one of the few iron -clad certainties of life. It's equally certain that some of those we leave behind will talk about us. As another funny American, Garrison Keillor, observed, "They say such nice things about people at funerals it makes me sad to realize that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days." Oh well. There's always the epitaphs — although there's no guarantee that they'll be `nice'. There's a grave marker in Falkirk, England that tells passersby: "At rest beneath this slab of stone Lies stingy Jimmy Wyatt He died one morning just at ten And saved a dinner by it." And in Edinburgh, the headstone of a dentist reads: "Stranger, tread This ground with gravity. Dentist Brown is filling His last cavity." Arthur Black There is no defence against epitaph writers with a morbid sense of humour. A gravestone in Ruidoso, New Mexico says, "Here lies Johnny Yeast Pardon me For not rising." And in a Pennsylvania cemetery: "Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake Stepped on the gas Instead of the brake." Some epitaphs are positively inspired. Lester Moore was a gunslinger who lost the last draw in, aptly enough, Tombstone, Arizona. He lies under a weathered wooden cross that bears the inscription: "Here lies Lester Moore Four slugs From a forty-four No Less No More." There are some bogus parting words out there as well. Contrary to popular belief, the comedian W. C. Fields does not lie under a stone that says "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia". Oscar Wilde's last words were not "Either this wall paper goes, or I do" and Dorothy Parker does not sleep beneath a slogan that says "Excuse My Dust". Last words often leave the survivors with abiding mysteries. Why did Walt Disney scribble "Kurt Russell" on a scrap of paper just before he died? What possessed the actor Boris Karloff to mutter "Walter Pidgeon" on his deathbed? And what kind of a vision spurred Thoreau to cry out "Moose! Indian!" with his last breath? Death. It's the ultimate mystery. Or perhaps the penultimate. I leave you with the words of Terry Pratchett: "It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true. It is called Life." 2016: The good, the bad, the ugly As we look forward to a new year and the new opportunities that 2017 might bring, it's time to look back on the year that was and realize that 2016 will likely always be a maligned time period. Notice that I didn't say unjustly maligned. Personally, 2016 marked a significant turning point in my life. At this time last year, I was coming to grips with the fact that my wife Ashleigh and I were going to be parents. We decided to do things the old-fashioned way and didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. The only things on my mind were, "How are we going to afford this?" and "How am I, a guy who schedules his weekend around board games and video games, going to become a father?" To be honest, neither of those questions really got answered over the course of the last year, but I'm feeling like I'm closer to a solution. Since those questions first floated through my mind a year ago, Mary Jane, my beautiful baby daughter, was born in August and my world hasn't been the same in a magnificent way, so for me to say that flat-out 2016 sucked would be a misrepresentation. I do understand why many people will, without a doubt, remember it as the year that so many great people passed away and so many bad things happened on an international scale. Terrorists attacks claimed the lives of thousands, a man with dubious intentions was elected to lead the most powerful nation in the world and Great Britain voted to leave the European Union, a decision which will have untold influences on the economics of the world. The year couldn't even come to an end peacefully as terrorist attacks rocked locations throughout the world in December and several important people, some of whom were very personally important, passed away in December. On Saturday, Dec. 30, in the waning hours of 2016, William Christopher, likely best known for his portrayal of Father Francis Mulcahy on the 11 seasons of the M*A*S*H television show, passed away. M*A*S*H had an interesting influence on my life and I came by the show organically. Denny Scott imaidli Denny's Den Unlike how I plan on introducing what I consider to be great entertainment to Mary Jane, I tripped over M*A*S*H one day in high school when I came home for lunch. Living a few blocks away from the school, I would usually make my way to my family's kitchen table and whip up a sandwich or a bowl of cereal. I usually then collapsed on the couch for 45 minutes watching syndicated television shows. Over those three years I tuned in to, and learned to love, M*A*S*H, NewsRadio and Night Court. M*A*S*H was the longest running of the group (in my syndicated experience) and taught me a lot about humour, so to hear that Christopher, one of the characters that was a part of the show for its entire run, had passed was a bitter way to end the year. The passing of Carrie Fisher, best known as Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars universe was also depressing news to hear, as was the subsequent passing of her mother Debbie Reynolds. George Michael, whose music I stumbled upon when I heard a cover of his song "Faith" and subsequently became a huge fan of, passed away on Christmas Day. In November, Fidel Castro passed away and there are few, loved or hated, who had the impact he has had on the modern world. Leonard Cohen also left the mortal coil that month. Golf legend Arnold Palmer passed away in September and, while golf isn't a huge part of my life, I know enough people who do enjoy golf to know that it was a loss. Gene Wilder's passing in August was depressing as well. As a child, I knew Wilder as the title character from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but, when I got older and saw his more adult comedy, I fell in love with what he brought to the screen. I still treasure every opportunity I get to enjoy Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and The Producers. In July, Sydney Schanberg passed away. Schanberg was a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times correspondent. While I could say the loss of any great journalist is a tragedy, I will say that Schanberg's struck me harder than some because the film The Killing Fields, which was based on his time in Cambodia in 1975, played a large part in me considering journalism as a career. Gordie Howe and Muhammad Ali both passed away in June and the sports fan in me mourned both. Morley Safer, CBS news anchor, passed away in May. The extremely talented musicians Prince and Merle Haggard passed away in April, with Frank Sinatra Jr. predeceasing them in March. "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee passed away in February. January claimed many famous people including the incomparable David Bowie: one of my favourite actors, Alan Rickman who was most recently known for his part in the Harry Potter films and Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey. While I don't seek to diminish the importance of anyone I didn't list, I am saying that these are the deaths that made me stop and say something (usually to my editor Shawn across the office) about how disappointing it was to see the reports of their deaths. As I said, 2016 wasn't a bad year for me. It will always be the year I became a father and I will always look upon those memories with fondness. That said, I do understand why a lot of people will look upon those 366 days (leap year) with disdain. The world lost a lot of great people. It's with that in mind that I made my New Year's Resolutions and they both around being healthier, both mentally and physically, to make sure that I'm not the reason someone else has a disappointing moment when they hear of my demise. Happy New Year everyone, let's make the most of it. Final Thought "Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness." — James Thurber Shawn tornialiii" Loughlin Shawn's Sense The Rural Voice © /t's time to pay up. Seriously. Everyone out there in Huron County who's been blatantly ripping us off for the last few years, cough it up. Or at least give credit where credit's due: right here at North Huron Publishing. Alright, that was a bit harsh — and 98 per cent a joke. However, it's hard to ignore the sudden prevalence of the term "Rural Voice" in recent years. In 2015 — two years ago, although as we all know, we'll still be writing 2016 on things for at least the next three months — The Rural Voice celebrated its 40th anniversary. Publisher Keith Roulston founded The Rural Voice in 1975 and then The Citizen in 1985. He and his wife Jill sold it, then bought it back and have since fostered it to prosperity. It is now edited by Lisa Pot and has been referred to as indispensable by many within Huron, Perth, Bruce and Grey Counties. As Roulston wrote in his column in the 40th anniversary issue of the magazine in 2015, there have been a number of issues that have faced the world of agriculture, whether it be locally, provincially, nationally or internationally. Basically, it comes back to the spot-on naming of The Rural Voice. A rural voice was needed, whether it be to boast in good times, or remind governments or city centres like Toronto or Ottawa of the needs of a rural community in the bad times. The "Farmers Feed Cities" initiative, for example, is a perfect example of a concerted effort to speak in a rural voice. Over those 40 years, city centres have expanded and farms have also expanded, meaning that there is often now one farmer (or maybe even none) on 1,000 acres, where decades ago there may have been as many as 10 farm families. Those two expansions mean that city centres and urban -based governments are having their way with fewer and fewer speaking up in their rural voice. So, back to the use of the term rural voice. To go all the way back, the first example would likely have been Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn and his development of a "rural lens" to be used in planning matters. Not a direct hit, but close enough for my ears to perk up. Then there was federal Liberal candidate Allan Thompson. The tagline for Thompson's 2015 campaign was that he would be a "strong rural voice" for Huron -Bruce in Ottawa. At first, I thought it was a coincidence. After all, it's not as if the Roulstons floated up to heaven and plucked the term from the clouds themselves. The term "rural voice" could be uttered by anyone. Then there was the Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity's Rural talks to Rural conference in Blyth late last year. Granted, Roulston was a co-founder of this conference — something he had always envisioned, but still. I personally sat on a panel entitled "The Rural Voice" about telling our rural stories to the world. In fact, the centre has even made "The Rural Voice" one of its pillars. Then, late last year, Huron County staff prepared a report on honing the county's rural voice — not only telling its stories to residents and potential visitors, but to politicians as well when it comes time for grant requests or consideration for policy. Basically, the point is that rural Ontario needs to matter and that's where the rural voice comes in. We're gracious people here at North Huron Publishing, so Allan, Jim, the CCRC and Huron County, we're going to let it slide. We're just happy to have incited so many great initiatives that may just help communities speak in a united rural voice.