The Huron Expositor, 1978-06-29, Page 3the e9litOr:
Sugar and
by Bill Smiley
ice
nnoymg my wife
There are so many things about me that
annoy my wife that I could not list them in
If& '"SpaCC, 'not even in point form.
But I believe the one thing that abrases
her most severely is that, "You always
have your nose stuck in a newspaper."
Well, I retort", if one must get One's nose
stuck in something, there are a lot 'more .
painful things than a newspaper.
She's- right, or course, I glom through
two dailies, a welter of weeklies, a
scattering of news magazines, and a
gaggle of other publications, from th
Anglican to Canadaio, Literature. Whe
I'm hot reading news, Im„ reading books,
from fiction to history to biography, from •
children's books to spy stories...to porn-
ography.
It must be irritating to her, when she's
trying to tell me what a scramble she had
with her music pupil, or why the dart she
put in her new blouse makes her look like
Mae West• with. one breast. shot off.
It must be maddening to her, when, after
fifteen minutes of wailing about our
daughter's unemployability, groaning
about' 'bur grandson's pOwers Of des-
truction, or worrying.about our son's Safety
in the 'purlieus of Paraguay, to have me
look up and say, "Hey, sweetie, did you.
know that Dennis Braithwaite (a columnist)
had the gout? Or, "Guess what that turkey
Trudeau is going to do next?"
.• She is, however, hot without a modicum
of realism. If she were a general's wife,
she'd know that I had to be off to the wars,
or at. least to some cosy place within fifty
miles of the front lines. If she were a
• doctor's wife, she'd know that you can't
make $100,000 sitting around watching TV,
If she were a Lawyer's wife, she'd know
that your ears do prick up, like a hound
dog's, when you hear an ambulance siren.
So, she's the wife of a teacher and a
writer. And she knows darn well that this is
part of the price. The man has got to read.
At least-this is the pictuie 1 draw for her,
in many a heated discussion. Sometimes I
manage to convince her, until the next
lape. The truth is something , else.
1 read the news for nefarious and
numerous reasons. One is for pure laughs.
Often this is at the media themselves, and
the seriousness with which they take
themselves. Did yoh ever see, since cousin
Elmerwas left standing at the altar, such a
disgruntled bunch as the media when the .
Prime Minister refused to call the election
they had got themselves so engorged
about?
Another reason I peruse the papers is to
indulge my taste for irony. hi an effort to
keep the peace the Yanks' 'are selling
fighter planes 'to both Israel and .the
Arabs. They would prefer to sell only to
Israel, because there is a veritable host of
JeWish votes in the U.S. But they need oil,
so they sell to the Arabs, too. Shades of the
days when they sold scrap iron to Japan!,
before' WWII and had it returned with„,
interst in the form of shrapnel.
I study. the media as a sort of ego trip.
Doing so makes me aware that I am not as
obnoxious'.as Pierre. Berton, not as arrogant
as Pierre Trudeau. It works the other way
too. I'learn that I'm not as fearless as Borje
Sainting, not as colorful as Muhammed Ali.
But then I'm not as silly as Elwy Yost
Howie Meeker, so I really come off fairly' -
well.
Studing the news makes me aware of the
darkness of the human condition. Two little
boys in England, six and four, beat an old •
lady of 84, bed-ridden, to death because
she gave one of them six-pence, and the
'oft- nothing. I. wonder about my
I read a story, and wonder at the lack of a
sense of 'humour among our politicians.
Recently a professor hired to do a.study of
falling enrellment in 4,sshools, came ,out,,.,;
with the first part pf hhis report. With
tongue in cheek, he suggested , women
should start. staying• home and having
babies or perhaps test-tube babies should
be produced; otherwise, our educational
System would fall apart for lack of clients.
The poll, fanned by the'-media, accused
him of- racism, antifeminism, and every-
thing else short of going to the, bathroom
without having to.. •
I know the feeling. Sometimes I make a,,
joke in, this space, and I'm .appalled at the
reaction of humpurless people. I'm
attacked as. a libertine, an atheist,' a
monarchist, 'a war-monger, a peace-
monger, a perverter of the young, a•
denigrator, of the elderly, a male'
chauvinist, a female apologist, a rotten
husband and father, a lazy bum, a teacher
who should not be allowed within hailing
distance of our young.
It doesn't bother me much, because I get
all this jazz at home,' long before the
letterwriters get at me. I'm not any of those
things. I'm just old Bill Smiley, trying to
keep his head above' water in the stream of •
life, without swallowing any- of Vie ''S'evrate"
that seems to infest it.. •
Finally, I enjoy that old enjoyable known
as told' you so." I get a real kick, out of
looking back and realizing that some cause
I espoused years ago, to the great
indignation of my friends and foes, is now
the in-thing. Thirty yers age I said we
should recognize Red China, a fact.
Horror! Now they're our buddies. They
buy, wheat.
Former
broiler busihes:
he
..I'm a gardener. But I didn't
used to be one- and therefore I
know that nothing turns the
non-gardeners of this world' off
faster than having to listen or
read about what someone else is
' doing in Mother Earth.- •
To you "' non-gardeners I
apologize. But try and forebear
and keep reading, there likely
won't be another column like this
for some time.
- • It's this time of year. that 'brings
the xonflict between gardeners
and non-gardeners out into the'
open. We gardeners are smug,
Itucuriating in long clean rows of
vegetables. They aren't big
• enough yet tq be a nuisance, or'
weedy enough to require more
than a quick pass with the
cultivator.
, We bore all the non-gardeners
in offices and stores ,as we
compare the progress of pm
tomatoes and mourn the demise
of the squash plants the bugs got.
We're worse than doting
grandmothers.
It's, at picking time' too when •
the gardeners and the non-gar-
denerd of the, world finally get
together. My side has so much
produce that it's on the hunt for
people who, can takesome off 'its
.hands.
That's when the non-gardeners
shine. We need Meth to keep the
goodies from the huge• 'gardens
we zealously over planted from
going to waste.
Smiles
The department store was
having a fantastiC ' sale on
sweaters and the sportswear
section was jammed with
customers. The phone rang in the
mail-order department and a
voice asked for "one light blue. •
cardigan, size medium."
The clerk writing the order
asked, "To what name and -
address Shall we send it?" 4
"Never mind sending it," said
the voice, '.I.ust bring it t6 the
front of the store. I'm 'in a phone
booth here."
rontintieg from Page 2)
largely to the excellent co-Operation of the
OntArio Pork Producers Marketing Board,..
whose officials notified us of their every move
as the situation progressed.
However, this co-operation failed on the
Monday morning that the strike began.
Contrary to your letter...CKNX News did
attempt to contact the Marketing Board. •The
first two calls were greeted by the 'Word that
they were toe busy to talk to us. The third call
reached a management official of ' the
Eloard.:,.WhO told CKNX News that notification
of the strike and the Board's actions had been
' sent to Us in the mail. We still haven't
received .that notification. After a long
discussion..•this official finally agreed to 'give
us.a statement on the situation...which was
then aired, quickly and often, over CKNX
Radio and Television:'
Our concern, as is yours, is centered on the
problem of getting that information quicker.
However, we would point out that in virtually
all other cases of industry crisiS...industry
officials, re quick to notify the , media of their
problems.Mind their steps to cure those.
problems. Except'for this one example...the
Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board has
done the same.
411
As for the fact that CBC Radio in Toronto
had the information...I would Suggest that the
only way they got it Was from the Ontario Pork
Producers Marketing Board...whose officials,
for their own reasons, felt that outlet served
' more of the province's pork producers than
does CKNX Broadcasting. That belief I would
question. I believe past performance has
shewn the impact that CKNX Broadcasting
has on 'the provincial pork industry...and
perhaps 'this impact should be translated, by
the area's pork producers, to their , employees
in Toronto.
I 'Would also like to. "point' Out fhat in
subsequent' reports from the OPPMB it was
stated that producer marketingOad followed
much the same pattern as the Board had
requested in its reports to CKNX. I would like.
to think that our coverage of the strike
situation aided that effort.
hi conclusion...I would like to say that it's
my belief that CKNX News covered the
• situation in as comprehensive and complete a
manner as possible, given the above-
mentioned circumstances,
Yours truly,
CKNX Broadcasting Limited
Ray Baynton, News Director.
etiting tt) say•
1:6,1 Susan White
ON EXPOSITOR, J UNE 29, 1978 — 3
Sc.,uin~es
ctin:uSe',
consultahts'
Low cost management consult.
ing services for small business is
being made available, this year
through the Small Business As-
sistance Program (SBAP)2 of the.
Ontario Ministry of Industry and
Tourism. .
The Minister of Industry and
Tourism, John R, _Rhodes, • said
the program will involve 120
university business administrat-
ion students supplying counsel-
ling services to small businesses
from May„ thivugh August.
Counselling by the graduate
students covers, such areas as
cash management and financial'
planning, bookkeeping systems,
pmduction scheduling and 'coast
control, marketing and marketing
research, distribution and pro-
Motion.
Companies wishing to learn
more abbot the program should
contact Ontario Ministry of In-
dustry and Touriim offices in
Kitchener, London, Toronto (Wil-
lowdale) and Windsor.
If more convenient, firms may
contact the faculty of business
administration at the university
closest to them.
•
gardners 1
We've got flowers blooming
and the air around our houses is -
sweet with their perfuthe. It's a
gorgeous time of year for a
gardener. The early hard work is
fmished and the staking and
'-tieing and, picking hasn't become
a chore yet.
The gardeners flaunt their
hobbies with big bouquets of
flowers throughout the house.' I
guess the .non-gardeners buy
another china Ornament or fill a,
howl with fruit.
1 love staying home since I've
become a gardener. A whole day
on ply own bit of ground means I
can study what parts of the yard
are in sun and shadow when and
what plants are doing fine where
they areas opposed to those that
need some help.
can just wander around and'
marvel at the fact that anything is
growing anywhere in what was
pasture four short years ago.
The colours that gardens
pr'oduCe 'are 'at their best right
now ... at least our five or six little
el .0 g .1.12.
in vsews. .11
summer's work worthwhile.'
[ BY Debbie Ramey] •
Mrs. Lyle Gordon of Cranbrook
is a woman who can't sit still but
she's not the kind of woman who
enjoys playing bridge or taking up
hobbies such as knitting and
crocheting.
Mrs. Gordon is an active
businesswoman and she has
30,000 broiler hens to prove it.
A retired schoolteacher who
taught at -No. 11 po
ultry
until 1967
she got into the poultry business
with her late husband about 1950
after starting with a few laying
hens, they sold out and took a trip
to California and .,,upon their
return entered the broiler
sm ss.
A four storey green laarn made
up of diffeient sections and
differe nt ages of 'birds currently
storeithe 30,000 hens.
The procesS of raising the
broilers goes from' bhying the
day old chicks from a hatchery,
using „ propane heaters, and
feeding the chicks bn feed trays
and water bottles. In two weeks
they're put on automatic feeders
and water.
' Three Feeds
There are three feeds--the
• starter , feed which is small
crumbles ,for 'about two weeks,
grower feed which is fed to them
until about two weeks before
they're going out and then
finisher feed till they get out.
Mrs. Gordon likes it when the
birds geron finisher feed because
it's the chepest and as she says,,
"Dollars count , when you're
contracting for feed.''
, The birds go to the processor
after about seven weeks and
when they weigh about 3.7
pounds. Mrs. Gordon's current
processor is Schneiders who isn't
allowed to take crates into the
barn for fear of transferring a
disease froth one place to
another.
The birds are , handed , out
through the windows in the horns..
and on a big night 'Schneiders will
ittes.o,ut about 10,000 or 12,000 b
Right now, Mrs. Gordon has a
hired man, his wife and their
three children to help her with her
business while she looks after the
'bookkeeping.
With .a quota ,of 30,000
' chickens controlled by the broiler
hoard, she thinks . the broiler
business is a good business to be
in. • .
The biggest problem facing the
broiler business is,.to control and
eliminate disease, When the
birds 'go. out, the • pens 'and
everything are washed under
pressure,,the barn is swept down
and sprayed • with insecticide,
fumagated and closed for' seven
days. Mrs. Gordon puts in four
fiocplcusnta.
'
year--.that's the allowable anl
. Clean Water ,
Clean water and fresh air are
the most- iniportant things in the
raising of broiler hens, even, more
important than feed, Mrs. Gordon
says.
. Of the. broiler business, she
'says, "It keeps me alert. I'm not
. just sitting down, twiddling my-
thumbs.: It gives me something to
keep busy at."
Neither would she want to liVe
ina city or a town. She's living in
the same house she was 'raised in
'as the youngest child of twelve
born there,,
She's a bit of world traveller
having been to California, Africa,
Amsterdam, Sweden and a' few
other places but right now, she's
,happy to be home looking after
her 30,000 chickens.
flowering perennials are. The
colours• in_ evidence as you drive
around town must be appreciated
even by non-gardeners•.
I' understand why someone
wouldnq be a gardener. It's a
heck of a lot Of work, There's
short pause here while I listen to
my husband wile's telling me
"Yeah, and, at our place I 'do it
all,"
And he does do a lot of it. He's
from a gardening family' Ed I'm
not. But I've come a lon way,
even he'll admit, from when we
were first married and I was
amazed to find that potatoes grew
underground, not on stems.
We handle the division of
labour pretty well in our garden.
He does most of the cultivating
and I do'inost of the picking. He
really likes keeping the rows
weed-free,, but could- care less
about the bountiful harvest
.....except to eat it.
Weeding and cultivating are a
bit too much like housework for
me but picking• makes a whole
Mrs Lyle Gordon checks chicks
•• .0
a
.Amen
by Karl Schuessler •
I was a boy again last week--for five days.,
Mama and. the kids packed me off to tennis
camp. Their' father's day gifts brought in
enough new tennis balls„-knit shirts and socks
to last me fbr a month: But I squeezed them all
in my suitcase and left the family to take care
of all the seeds and weeds in 'the garden.
That bothered me a bit--going off to camp
like that and holidaying without them. But any'
tinges of guilt fled by the 'time I drove ten
miles down the road--heading North toward
the Muskokas and one glorious week of
tennis, tennis, tennis.
It did seem indulgent--for a man of my
years. Perhaps a bit immoral"to play tennis
day long and evening late for what couldkbe a
solid work week. But I had an ace in the back
trunk of the car. Right next to all my tennis
racquets was my tape recorder. Side by side
sat those two symbols of work Aid play. That
comforted my conscience. For in that tape
orecorder Was living proof this next week
wasn't all play. I had a work conimittnient--
ten minutes' worth of tennis camp material for
CI1C's, Summer' MorningSide prowl-tn.
Veil though ten minutes might not sound
like much, it does take at least ten tithes that
Karl goes
much of interviewing to get my mini story.
I had my conscience in perfect tow by the
time I arrived at camp. I could play. with
abandon and throw myself into the game.
But what about all those other '200 tennis
campers? How did they settle score with their
mates and dates? How did they manage*
cope with one whole week of no work an all
P?
I fOhnd out this was more of a woman's
problem. For almost two4hirds otthe campers
were women.
"Where are all the men?" one woman
. demanded.
And here she was standing right smack in
front of me. What type of species did she think
I belonged to?
Thank you, lady,. for the insult, I thought.
But thank you for my wife. I know she'd be
relieved you didn't put married men on your
prospect list,
That was it. 130 women immersing
themselves in a week of tennis. One mother
left five kids back home. Another housewife
retired her mops and dish rags. One woman
gave up selling diamonds at Sears. One
o tennis ciunp
needed a repast from her cobalt treatments for
cancer at Princess Margaret Haspital. Another
forsook all the stacks and hooks at ,the
Windsor library. • • •
But let's face it. Most of these Women' left
lonely apartments back in 'Toronto. They were
the singles looking for new faces, playground'
spaces and a change to bone-up on tennis
technique. 0
These were vatationland fteoPle who '
deserved their week off. They needed the
break. The change in routine. They saved and
planned for months this highlight of the year.
Tennis camp was as good excuse as any to
take a Sabbath rest a week long. One woman
said she came more for the dancing than
tennis. Another admitted to liking ' the
swimming pool and bridge tables better.
But this was te6is camp and a place to get
away. Leave the real world behind. A place to
play in a Disney World fantasy. .A make-
believe idyll you wish would never end. You'd
like if to go en forever.
There's no wonder a few people did shed,
tears when parting time came. Canto was'
over. Holiday's end. Time to put away all the
fun and games. You knew the felling of high
and euphoria couldn't last. The only place to
go was down. To come back to reanife.-To get
in your car and get on the 400 and go South.
Return home and take up the jobs of wife,
mother, office and routine.
The change had been good;-that was rest
enough. For some the memory of the good
time was enough. But others wanted to do it
all over again next year. They made
reservations, for 1979. • •
And me? It took me three days to get down
to real again. 'I floated down gently by playing
tennis in Mitchell and joining their new tennis
club the next day.-
But I'm lucky.
I can make the memory linger. I have all
those radio tapes to listen to and settle up on
my 10 minutes worth.
Atnd on top of all that, I know something
else. You can play all week and still earn a
little. You can't tell me all play and no work
makes Jack a dull boy. Or that all play makes
no lack.
tt
THIS IS THE BIGGEST — Strawberry pickers were'
out in full swing this weekend at the local berry
picking farms. Here young Susan Vat) der Meir holds
up a tasty berry. She and her mother and brother
were picking for a batch of jam.