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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1969-08-21, Page 2The announcement last week that the Canadian Forces Base at Clinton would be phased out in two years' time was not entirely .unexpected. Ever since the close of hostilities pearly twenty five years ago rumor had followed rumor concerning the im- inent closing of the Base. Each in turn was proven false. But recent rumors were different. They were based on an announced policy involving a reassess- ment of the armed forces. This coupled with the recent unificat- ion of the services suggested the need for fewer bases. Too, there was the over riding determination of the government' to hold expenditures. While the announcement did not come as a complete surprise we suspect the equanimity with which certain Clinton merchants were reported to have accept- ed the word would not properly reflect the attitude .of the community as a . whole. • After all the , association which the people of Huron have had with, the ser- vices goes. back nearly thirty years to the time when those first RAP:veter- ans arrived at the height of hos- tilities, as an advance party to set up a secret radar training school. The civil- ian population lost no opportunity to welcome the thousands of students who passed through the school and make, at home the staff personell who from time to time were stationed there. In recent years the base and those on it have to an increasing extent been taken for granted. Perhaps toe) there has been a tendency for the service people and the civilians to each go their own way. Perhaps it was this that prompted the reaction of Clinton mer- chants. In the years the camp has been in ex- istence it has generated millions of dol- lars•into the economy of Huron and nei- ghboring areas, the result of which all too often, have been neither realized nor appreciated. The base, through payments in lieu of taxes which have been in existence since 1953, has brought many thousands of dollars of added direct revenue to Tuckersmith and the county. While regretting the termination of a long association the end result may well be for the best. After all the phas- ing out is two years removed and in the meantime the department of national defense and other departments of the federal and provincial governments are actively seeking out alternative uses for the base. In this they will be aided' by , the fact that the facilities are com- plete, well maintained and modern in every respect. It is not by any means beyond poss- ibility _that before the two year phasing out period has elapsed the plant that has served the country and community so well will be embarking on.a new and greater era of service. The glue manufacturers who added an obnoxious smell to their product to prevent sniffem have offered a remark- able simple solution to a worrisome-' problem. It's much better than trying to pass. • legislation. (The Ottawa Journal). Removal of the No. 8 highway bridge over Silver Creek opened up a new vista as the abutments of the brid- ge frame the picnic pavilion, at Sea- forth Lions Park. Work involved in re- placing the bridge is well advanced and Sugar by contractors Looby Construction Ltd. of' Dublin have almost completed erection of the gabian baskets which will form the altered north side of the river as it flows through the park. (Staff Photo) and Spice Bill Smiley Since 1860, Serving the Community First Publilibe4d at =Avowal,. ONTARIO, every Thursday morning by McLEAN Bil(XS„ Publishers Ltd. ANDREW Y. MCLEA.N, Editor Member danaMan Weekly Newspaper Association Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association and Audit Bureau of Circulation Newspapean BubseriPtion Rates: Canada (In advance) $6.00 a Year Outside Canada (in advance) $8.00 a Year SINGLE COPIES --15 CENTS EACH Second Class Mail Registration Number 0696 SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, August 21, 1969 The End of An Era in Huron 11"..%•;.* 434E7,4 • ' 111'410, • •1106-4,•-•- • • A New Look At the Park Picnic Pavilion FROM‘ NY • WINDOW "I'm terrible at names but I never forget a dress!" • t5. P", hif.X66" In the Years Agone August 24, 1894 Walton cheese factory has'. sold the July' make of cheese to Mr. CoOk.- The price was OW • cents. The cheese will be ex- ported. A peculiar occurence happened at Kippen which proved fort- unate for a .son of T. Mellis. Messrs. Thomas McKay and Ar- chie McGregor were removing the hired wheels from a heavy wagon, when one wheel fell,. ap- parently on top of the little fel- low His hand went between the spokes and the wheel, fell over without hurting) him in the least. Messrs. Scott Rms. of town intend to light First Presbyter- ian Church with incandescent electric lights. To The Editor Elmer Says Thanks for Safety Help Sir: . A very fine sample of new wheat was delivered at the Red Mill by G. Dale- It tested 65-lbs. to the bushel. There were 52 tickets old at Seaforth Station for the excur--- sion to Niagara Falls- - Our worthy Path Master, Jac- ob McGee of. Egmondville, has just completed his seasons' work and has handed in -the following statement for publication: '35 rods of new pine sidewalk; 20 rods ditching; 7 loads of gravel • and. a general repair of the whole' district. The Western Association Foot- Ball Cup has arrived and now re- poses in Robert Willis' store un- der the watchful eye of Walter Willis, a sturdy Huron brave. August 22, 1919 A. A. Naylor, has resigned his position as Principal of the Sea- forth Public School, which he has filled for the past seven years, to accept the principalship of a 16 room school at Chatham at an initial salary of $1500. In the report of the great war veteran's demonstration we in- advertenly omitted to Mention one of the outstanding features of the parade, the Fenian „Raid Veterans, Messrs. Wm. McDoug- al, James Beattie, Robert Winter, and A. W• Stable, all of Egmond- ville and Seaforth. The old church property on the 9th ',concession of MeKillop was purchased by John McCall- um for $200. A fatal accident occurred at Manley, on the farm of Fred Mil ler wile* he and his son were diving thiliorses into the stab- le..Mr. Miller tapped one of them with a stick when the animal kicked and fractured Mr. Miller's breast bone. He didn't regain consciousness. During the severe thunder- storm which passed over Croon- arty, a barn belonging to John Leery, South of the village was struck by lightimig and dest- royed. He succeeded In getting out five head, of fat cattle, but the rest of the contents were destroyed. August25, 1944 Seaforth's annual Tip Top tournament, one of the largest and most popular bowling ev- ents in Western Ontario was rained out. ' The first of three brothers to arrive ' home from- overseas, was Pte. Wm.. Chipchase, pf Ay- lmer, .formerly of HensalL An R. C. R. 'man, he went through the Sicilian campaign and on to Italy and has been there since 1940. Miss Jessi Wallace, a bride elect was guest of honor at a miscellaneous shower held at the home of Mrs. Wm. Cameron and Miss Mabel Cameron in Tucker- smith. Miss Margaret Patrick read an address and Delores Cudmore and Carol CheSney pre- sented the bride to be with a basket filled with gifts. E. Lorne Fox, and Mrs. Fox, the new prihcipal of the IRgh School have moved here from Port Arthur and he will com- mence his duties in September. In an effort to assist die local Red Cross Blood Donor Ser- vigga,, • the Seaforth Lions Club has formed a. committee consist. ing Of M. Ross Savauge, H. E. Smith and J. A. Stewart. They hope to enlarge the number of donors to a least 200 per clinic. lit an 11-run rally in the sixth inning Main Street made sure of the game over Duncan's in the Industrial League. The' final score was 21-8 in favor of the Main Street Nine. The line up for Duncan's wee- Kenneth )oig R. F; Gus Mes- senger P; Gerald: Bannon, 3b; Gordon Muir ib; George Hilde- brand S.S.; C. Trott, 2b; Allan Reid C. F; Bob Strong C; Clar- ence Muir I. F. For Main Street they were: A Hildebrand SS; Beverly Christie 3b; Frank Ming 2b; Ralph binFaddin C. F.; Ar- chie Hubert C; Ian McLean RF; Bert Shaw lb; Edward McIver P; Alvin Dale LF; By Shirley Kellar I colddett have been More mistaken about the kind of summer holiday I would have this year than if I had shut my eyes and imagined the whole thing. You will remember a °Duple of weeks ago in this culture corner I told you how my him- band just wears me out while we are vacationing. This year I must have won a battle or something, but I had the most relaxed week anyone could dream of. It was just perfect. We went to Ottawa to see the changing of the guard, the parliament buildings and a few ether spots of interest. It took us two days to get there and when we finally did arrive, we spent another day just setting up camp and taking it easy. It was great. • While in Ottawa I had my first real live experience with hipp- ies. With my family I was camp- ed next door to a fairly normal family from the city of Hernia, ton. There were two teenaged 'daughters in that household and with our teenaged son and al- most-teenaged daughter, you can understand why our two fam- ilies melded se well right from the first hours we were togeth- er. We had the same worries. well!, the first evening after we had arrived in Ottawa, the vacant camping spot on the oth- er side of us was filled when two dirty hairy males moved in. They drove an old rather beat- . up vehicle they called Matilda and carried the standard equip- ment fqr hippies, a , loud- radio and an out-of-tune guitar. As two respectable, families with impressionable boys and girls in our care, my husband and I and our previous neighb- ors in camp were horrified at the thought of these slovenly foes invading our rather pleasant. little hideaway. And invade they did. Within half an- hour, the preposterous pair had charmed our gaping children with their music, their love-beads, their 'finger-snaping, their hep chat- ter. In short order my son was on the hippies' campsite, listen- ing to Bill Cosby records and drinking in the fresh taste of total. freedom. When I finally got my kids into the sack, they were too ex- cited to sleep. They kept review- ing the wonderful things they had seen and heard in the camp next door. In the morning I awoke to the pitter-patter of the raindrops on the canvass. Quite naturally, my husband was the finstto emerge from our tent. In a flash he was back inside begging me to poke my head outdoors to see our young nei- ghbors. I did. There they were, stretched out on the car, one on the -hood, one on the trunk. And still the rain came down, Fortunately for everyone, the shower let up as the two Mis- fits from the next camp were rousing from their slumber. The one with the beard and the little tiny glasses was the first en his feet. He ,stretched and scratched all over "Probably lousey," I thought in disgust, H i s companion suggested breakfast. Into the trunk they dove, coming up with a couple of slices of bread and a few chunks of ham. Beverage turn- ed out to -be a coke. I watched out of the corner of my eye, expecting that at any moment they. would go , into a trance from either pill-popping or glue-sniffing, One sauh,ered over to our campsite and spoke to my dear precious baby boy. " Want to listen to some more Cosby," he asked? "Sure," came my son's reply, a smile breaking across his face. "Not this morning," I said steadily, planning how quickly I could pack the car and get away from this envirriment. "We're getting ready now to go down to see the changing of the guards." "Yeh?" said my frightening neighbor. "Do you mind if we tag along?" (To be continued next week) Those unexpected neighbors Writing a weekly column is something like being pregnant You can't stop just because you're not in the mood. The typesetters are waiting, the ed- itors are waiting, and the mail- man waits for no man. I've written• them in hotel rooms, on trains and on New Year's morning. I've written them with the raging 'flu, the galloping bursitis, and a head that felt more like a foot. 'And that explains why I'm tapping this out on Grandad's dining-room table on a beauti- ful. hot summer afternoon, when any sane person would be at the beach, or lying under a tree. Why didn't I do it yesterday? Because yesterday was a beauti- ful, hot summer day and I fell a sleep on a raft out in the lake, and my silly wife on shore was afraid*I'd fall off and drown and she sent some nit out to wake me, and I was so mad at her presumption "(she knows I could swim that lake with both hands behind me) that I wasn't in the mood for anything hilt a good domestic hassle. After a month . of relatives said friends and casuals dropping in, we were lookng forWard to a week of quiet living and "getting away from people" at Grandad's It's an idyllic setting. A stone farmhouse overlooking a beauti- ful bay. Lots of trees around and the nearest neighbor a quarter mile down the road. Trouble is, it's "When are you going to drop out to the lake?" and "Came on up to the cottage for a few days," and "How about dropping around for a drink and a barbeque;" It's grand to be wanted. And all the old friends are so kind and hospitable that it's difficult to say no. So we don't. But it is definitely not conducive to the quiet, meditative life. It's min der on the physique, because old friends want to sit up' and talk all night- And so do we. Daytimes are bad, too. When I go down for some milk, it takes me three hours to get home. I have to say hello to Skin the barber, and Skinny the editor; and all the merchants I used- to sell ads to and little old ladies who remember our children and ask embarrassing questions, abr out what they're doing now, and then I bump into Don and Mac . who are up at their cottages from the States. Desperately seeking refuge, I drop into the pub for a quiet, cold beer: Within ten minutes I'm talking deer-hunting with Teemey the well driller and Murdoch the farmer and lion the car dealer and George the millionaire. It's rude to rush off with my milk when these hard-, working chaps insist on one more round for old times sake Just to add to , the -pastoral peace of our week, we brought Pip the kitten, and Grandad is in temporary charge of Screwy Louie, a spirited young poodle. However, it wasn't all bad. Perhaps the highlight for • me was a trip "around the mail” with' Grandad, who has been de- livering rural mail for 40 years, since the days of the Model T in summer and the •sleigh in winter- Ever drive a route with a rural mail carrier? It's an ex- „perienee somewhat like, your first ride on a big roller-coast- er. He belts around those gravel-- back roads at a hell of a a clip, knows every rib and vein in them, and takes camera and hills with, the dash of a hell-driver. .Each mail box is a' personal challenge. He heads straight for the ditch and you cringe. Misses the ditch by two inches and the winds up right beside the box, to that the mail can be popped in without; leaving .the car. , Add to this-the fact that Gran- dad has one arm, and that I'm a coward in a ear, And you get the message. Must do it again' some tine. In. , about ten. years. After this peaceful week, we've determined to rent a trail- er and go off into the bush some where, with no telephones, rid friends, and just squat there, licking our wounds- With our luck, the people in the next trailer will be our next-door neighbors, back home, Our 1969 Elmer Safety Contest is over and from our viewpoint of reaching thousands of child- ren with safety message during school holidays, it was a resoun- ding success. The volume of mail received this year has far exceeded that of any previous contest. We wish to thank you sincere- ly for participating and for your generous contribution of public service time. Without your gen- erosity ,it would lie financially impossible to conduct this con- test. We hope you will )oln us again next year. Sincerely, (Menne Breau, Supervisor, ChM Safety •Programs •