HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1952-12-25, Page 2Page 2 THE TIMES-ADVOCATE, EXETER, ONTARIO, THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 25, 1952
This journal shall always fight
for progress, reform and public
welfare, never be afraid to at
tack wrong, never belong to any
political party, never be satisfied
with merely printing news.
THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 25, 1952
ter Speaks
ow Wonderful
Is Christmas I
(Rev. A. E. Holley, B.A., B.D.,
Minister, Main St. United Church, Exeter)
It’s Christmas again. Christmas—with
the hurrying shoppers, the colored lights
and decorated evergreens, the busy pre
parations for family homecomings, turkey,
plum pudding and cake, The excited and
happy little people as they wait expectant
ly for’ Santa Claus; the citjp crowds, the
weary sales clerks and postal clerks with
cards and more cards, house to house and
door to door; the jingle of bells, snow
sparkling, crisp and exhilarating; the carol-
lers with “Silent Night” and “O Little
Town of Bethlehem”. How wonderful is
Christmas!
What does it all mean? Somewhere in
the midst of it all, the Church is calling us
to recapture again the greatest event this
world has ever known, the coming of the
Son of God to be the Saviour of the world.
We are called to worship and to be remind
ed of God’s Gift to mankind. A tremendous
Gift, given not because we deserved it, but
because God .so loved that He gave. No
wonder Christendom has called this “an un
speakable Gift”. It leaves us speechless,
words are inadequate to express our
thoughts. All we have, is doxology, “Praise
God from -whom all’blessings flow”.
Has Christianity lost this emphasis ? Is
St. Nicholas, the patron saint of the. ever
green. more, important than -worship? Is the
Yuletide, with the plum pudding steaming
hot and roast sucking pig and the tradition
al drinking of the toast to the god of the
evergreen taking the place of a simple and
profound Christian expression of a deep
understanding of God’s purpose foi* man
kind. Let us pause long enough to ponder
this distinction.
Greatest Music
The greatest music this world has pro
duced is available to us at Christmas—the
beautiful music—the abiding music. It»’s
mostly choral—intended to be sung in the
Church, the House of God. Then let us
sing it! Let us augment our choirs, dust off
the anthems, fill up the empty seats and
praise the Lord. Let us not crowd our re
ligious activity into a small two- or three-
hour compass, -whilst our secular celebra
tions go on into the wee small hours of
early morning. It's Christ’s birthday, not
ours!
“Let us ponder in our mind
God’s wondrous love in saving lost
mankind.”
Christmas reminds us that God chose,
as the centre of His great redeeming pur
pose, the Home. It was as a Babe that God
came from Heaven to earth. He did not
choose the palatial palace of the ruling
monarch, or the market place where the
crowds were. This Child was born in a
common feeding -stall, among the cattle,
“Thou didst leave Thy Throne
And Thy Kingly crown,
When Thou earnest to earth for me,
But in Bethlehem’s home
Was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
But of lowly birth
Cam’est Thou, Lord, on earth,
And in great humility.”
Distinction Important
Our boys and girls must be reminded
of this tremendous truth. They have grown
up in a world where the glamour and gift
giving of Christmas has centred its mes
sage on Santa Claus. Never for one mom
ent would we confine Santa to a tradition
al genial gentleman with long whiskers and
a happy grin. Yet when our little people’s
minds move away from the whiskered
gentleman, let us direct them to the fact of
Christmas. When we get rid of Santa, we
must never get rid of Christ. It’s for this
reason that the religious and Christian
centre of Christmas must always be main
tained. Jesus Christ was born today, yet
not simply “was born", but continues to
be born anew in every heart open to re
ceive Him. Can we direct our minds and
those of our children to this central truth,
so that the Church and its teachings are
at least as important as Santa Claus. Let
us remember that Santa Claus and Jesus
Christ are not synonymous, or the same.
Santa may remind us of the wonder of
giving and receiving, but it’s Jesus Christ
Who is born a Saviour and Lord! The dis
tinction is most important.
How then shall we Christian people
celebrate Christmas ? Is there any better
way than that suggested by the greatest
Apostle of Christ this world lias ever
known? “Let your manner of life be
worthy of the Gospel of Christ.”
Keep Majesty
In a manner suitable and in keeping
with the Majesty and Dignity of Christ’s
Birth, we will allow nothing to be done
which shall detract from the. fact that it is
His Birthday. We shall remember His
presence in our homes, at our family home
gatherings, in our fun, in our association
■with one another. We shall say “yes” to
the things which allow our minds to move
freely with the truth as it is seen in the
coming of the Babe of Bethlehem, Christ
the Lord; we shall say “no” to the things
which allow our minds to be drawn away
from this central truth® and thereby destroy
its true meaning. Let’s keep Christ in
Christmas, and thus may it be a sincere,
Merry Merry Christmas for us all.
A Newcomer Looks At Canada
appy Cliristmas
To our many friends
we wish all the pleasures
that a joyous Holiday
Season can bring.
R. E. Russell
Thank You
As we reach the end of 1952, The
Times-Advocate would like to express its
sincere appreciation to those who have as
sisted us during the year.
We are grateful to our correspondents
and all others who have contributed so
faithfully to this newspaper. Their devoted
help enables us to publish news of the
large community surrounding Exeter, to
bring the town, villages and country to
gether’ in a family atmosphere.
The correspondent’s task is a never-
ending one. Week after week, they gather
the news of their district and send it to
us for publication. They are community-
minded folk, who realize the importance of
advertising their village or district.
We are deeply indebted to them for
their services, and in expressing our ap
preciation, we also offer our humble apol
ogies for shortcomings in oui* treatment of
their work. These irregularities are un
fortunate but are usually unavoidable.
We also wish to express our thanks
to the many people who assist us and our
correspondents in getting the news. Their*
Cooperation is most encouraging and help
ful.
Christmas Wishes
The Times-Advoeate would like to ex
tend special Christmas greetings to people
who we think deserve best wishes from this
community.
These are the men and women who
have been active in the progress of our
district—the people who work sincerely to
improve our life.
They ,are the ministers and leaders in
our churches who help us keep the spirit
of Christmas awake throughout the whole
year.
They are the men and women who
conduct our affairs and carry out our re
sponsibility to our fellow man.
They are the volunteer leaders of our
service clubs, our fraternal societies, our
ladies’ groups and all the organizations
who assist in making the community a bet
ter one.
They are the ones who are building
our churches, our .hospital, our schools, our
necessary public buildings; who help the
needy; who promote better conditions for
us and our loved ones.
These are the people we wish, on behalf
of the community, a full measure of joy
and happiness for Christmas and the New
Year.
By FRED NEGRYN
Grand Bend
(Editor’s n ote—Mr. Negryn,
at the request of our Grand
Bend correspondent, Mrs. L
M. Myers, writes of his im
pressions of Canada. Mr. Neg- ■
ryn lived in Holland, worked
in Germany as a boy, and re
sided in England 15 years
before coming to Canada. He
travelled all across Canada
before deciding to settle in the
Grand Bend district.
As a newcomer to this country,
one is often asked by his Can
adian friends what he thinks of
the country he has come to live
in. As I have been living in
several countries, experience has
taught me that this is a rather
tricky question to ansiver, be
cause first impressions are liable
to alter considerably as one be
comes accustomed to the differ
ent habits and customs of the
country he now lives in.
However, I will try to give you
the benefit (or otherwise) of
my impressions of Canada, and
if this little article contains
some slight criticisms (which is
inevitable when one deals with
first impressions), please con
sider them to be very good-
natured.
Vast Size
As I landed in Halifax, in
November 1950, and started my
train journey to Toronto, I be
came gradually amazed at the
size of the country I was travel
ling through. After hours on
the train (in my own country I
would have long since crossed
the border into some other
state) it seemed as if there was
no end to the land and, some1
feeling akin to awe came over
me in a country of this size.
And what about the vast
number of cars one sees all
over? In me, it produced the
feeling that everybody had a
car and took it as a matter of
course, whereas in my own
country, the possession of a car
is usually, confined to business
men.
People Friendly
After having arrived and
settled down at my new abode,
I was very soon agreeably sur
prised t o find the people so
helpful and friendly,, and this
awkward feeling of being in a
strange country and outside the
community very quickly . dis
appeared. In fact, within no
time at all, one seemed to feel
“at home”.
As most newcomers feel at
first a little home-sick, this Can
adian characteristic of including
new arrivals into the community
has a very great effect on them
and soon helps them over
strangeness of their new home.
Furthermore, after only meet
ing other people*a few times, the
formal' term of Mr. and Mrs. is
dropped and first names are
used, and it seems as if one has
known these people for a long
time already. ,
Likes Optimism
After having talked with
some of your new friends, one
becomes quickly impressed with
what I would like to call Canad-
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As the
"TIMES"
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Cxeter ^imej^bbocate
Times Established 1873 Amalgamated 1924 Advocate Established 1881
Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario
An Independent Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of the Town of Exeter and District
Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa
Member Of" the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association
Member of the Ontario-Quebec Division of the CWNA
Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation
Paid-in-Advance Circulation as of March, 1952 —- 2,534
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J, Melvin Southcott * Publishers - Robert Southcott
50 YEARS AGO
At a meeting held in the
town hall for nomination of
county councillors to represent
District 4, George H. Bissett
presided.
Nominated were H. Spackman
by John Gilfillan and Joseph
Senior, Exeter; Richard Hicks
by H. E. Huston and W. C. Hus
ton, of Exeter. These being the
only nominations, Messrs. Hicks
and Spackman were elected by
acclamation.
The Rev. G. Perkins, M.A., of
Lindsay, will succeed the Rev.
J. W. Ten Eyck as rector of
Trivitt Memorial Church.
president; S. F. Reid, secretary
treasurer; L. J. Penhale, man
ager; and Reg. Taylor, assistant.
15 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Dearing
celebrated their forty-fifth wed
ding anniversary.
Exeter Concert Band, under
the leadership of Ted Walper,
gave a concert in Leavitt’s
Theatre in aid of the Christmas
cheer fund.
25 YEARS AGO
The large Dome skating rink
which has been the pride of
Exeter, collapsed beneath the
heavy weight of Snow upon it.
Only the ends of the rink re
main standing. Loss will be
heavy to Mr. William Leavitt,
the Owner.
Miss Ella 0. Morlock won the
second Carter Scholarship of
Huron County valued at $60. A
graduate of Exeter High School,
Miss Morlock is now attending
Western University.
A hockey club has been or
ganized with T. O. Southcott
as president; Ulric Snell, Vice-
IO YEARS AGO
Dr. J. W. Browning died at
his- home, December 20 in his
one hundredth year.
Up until a week before his
death, Dr. Browning was in his
office each day. He had prac
ticed continuously in Exeter for
over 75 years.
Dr. Browning was born in
Somersetshire, England, on No
vember 21, 1843, and came to
Canada at the age of two years.
Learning telegraphy ih his
father’s store in Markham, where
the telegraph office Was located,
Dr, Browning mastered the key
while watching his sister at
work.
In 1939 at the Edison Centen-
Hary he was honored as the Old
est living telegrapher and was
presented With a golden key.
ian optimism regarding the
possibilities in the country, and
as most new Canadians arrive
here with hopes for the future
this is a most heartening thing
to hear, because no matter how
optimistic one is when he leaves
his country of origin, he never-
the less wonders what is going
to happen to him in his new
homeland and sometimes doubts
assail him as to whether he has
done the right thing to his
family and himself. However,
these doubts, if they exist, are
very quickly despelled and one
settles down to normal life.
Now if one is fortunate to have
a radio another impression is
formed and that is that he does
not very much like the Canadian
radio program. No sooner has he
settled himself down to enjoy
some nice- music or story when
the program is interrupted for
some advertisement or other,
and as most new Canadians are
not used to this sort of thing,
one becomes- a little exasperated
and sometimes feels like throw
ing the radio through the win
dow. However, after a little
time one gets used to it and so
this first impression about radio
programs dies a natural death
and one enjoys his radio as
much as he did in his- former
home.
Stores Convenient
•Yes, and what about the stores
one goes to do his shopping. J
refer here in particular to the
grocery store. Groceries, vege
tables, fuits and meat all are
found in the same store. lu
most European countries one
•would have to go to at least
three stores to fill his shopping
list. At first this seems very
strange, but after a little time
one begins to like it very much
(at Jeast that is what the wife
tells me). It is all so very handy
and saves a lot of trudging from
one store ■ to another.
Before closing this article
something . must be said about
the climate in Canada. Before
one leaves his country of birth,
most people try to tell one that
the summers are too hot and
the winters too cold.
.Spring Too Short
If one arrives in the spring,
one is inclined to be a little dis
appointed as spring seems to
arrive almost overnight. My im
pression is that the gradual
change from winter to spring,
which makes this season so
lovely in Europe, is all too
short here.
However, soon summer comes
along and wonderful weather is
the order of the day. To be sure
there are a few hot days and
these are not very easy for the
new Canadian, as he seems to
suffer more from the heat than
the people who have lived here
longer.
But then comes fall and I am
sure every new Canadian will
ask himself where he could go
to see so much beauty as in
Canada at that time, And what
about the delightful weather
and your Indian Summer? I
have no doubt that my first
impression of “Canadian Fall”
being the lovliest season of the
year will be a lasting one.
Not AS Cold
A few words must now be
said about winter and I can say
that my first feelings about this
season were that it was not half
as cold ai? I had anticipated it
to be. However, friends toll me
that the longer ono lives in the
‘—Please turn to Page 7
&
message
of hope and
peace, the
Christmas Btar
shines again.
May the joy in
its radiant light
be reflected
in your heart
throughout
the New Year.
Exeter District
OP