HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1972-10-05, Page 4"Getting it In the paper" means a num,
ber of things, For an organization plan-
ning a fund-raising activity it can mean
the difference between success and
failure. For an advertiser it can mean the
difference between profit and loss. For an
individual who has been the victim of suf-
fering it can mean consolation from
readers who are informed of the suffering
and take sympathy.
But other groups sometimes think "get-
ting it in the paper" will mean disaster,
embarrassment or failure. Sometimes
they are correct. And sometimes — for
the general welfare — it is better that the
enterprise should end in failure and
disaster.
But sometimes these people who do
not want to "get it in the paper" because
they fear a setback or controversy are
wrong. They forget that their biggest
enemy — and a newspaper's only enemy
— is the rumor.
The rumor can be a terrible thing. It
can make civic minded intentions look
like opportunism. It can cultivate small
controversies into massive ones. Even-
tually it can even tear a community apart.
But the worst thing about a rumor is that
its victims never get to tell their side. The
rumor is a trial without a defence.
Some people and some groups don't
think about this when they shy away from
"publicity" as it is so often called. Their
only consideration is that if people hear
of their plans there' may be some con-
troversy,
They forget that there are more ways of
hearing about something than reading it
in the paper. And they forget too that
many of the other ways will make their
plans sound worse than they really are.
The newspaper will at least try to get
the facts and figures — the correct ones
to the people. And the newspaper will
print the reasons for the plans and
proposals. A rumor can't guarantee either
and usually doesn't even care to
bother trying.
So when you expect a problem or a lit-
tle controversy, don't be afraid of "getting
it in the paper."
(From the Canadian Weekly Publisher).
Editorial. commen t
Getting in the paper
Play it again, Sam
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"Would you like to know why I don't pay taxes?"
They show the wag
An example of what could happen to
the main streets in many Ontario centres
is the program recently carried out in
Petrolia, says the Seaforth Huron Ex-
positor.
The main street of the town received a
badly-needed facelift this summer from
eight young men with a $7,000 federal
youth Opportunities grant.
With scaffolding, brushes and paint,
they rejuvenated the tired old face of that
town, the oil capital of Canada and a
thriving community of 10,000 at the turn
of the century.
The oil has long since disappeared, as
has much of the population, but spacious
old mansions, shops and a 600-seat
opera house 7-- all constructed during the
boom years long ago — remain from the
past. Old brick shops along main street
have been done over in hues of blue,
lime, yellow and brown — all color-co-
ordinated to accentuate the unique ar-
chitectural features of the building.
"At first everybody in town was really
suspicious of us," sayS 19-year old, Ian
Smith, project leader, "but after we did
our first storefront the response was
tremendous. Now practically everybody
wants to get his store done."
Similar to Seaforth, a rejuvenation of
the main street of the town was not a new
issue. For years a facelift had been talked
over among merchants. Now that it has
been accomplished the merchants, and
particularly the shopping public can ap-
preciate what the main street has to offer.
Area shoppers had a shopping centre at
their doorstep comparable to any in the
large cities, and they hadn't realized it.
The rejuvenation program not only drew
attention to the street and the stores, it
also emphasized what was in the stores.
I think I'll be echawvinist pig
THE CLINTON NEW ERA Amalgamated
Established 1865 1924 Established
Clinton News-Record
A member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association,
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association and the Audit Bureau
of Circulation (ABC)
second class mail
registration number — 0817
'SUBSCRIPTION RATES: (in advance)
'Canada, $8.00 per year; U.S.A., $9.50
JAMES E, FITZGERALD—Editor
J. HOWARD AITKEN — General Manager
Published every Thursday at
the heart of Huron County'
Clinton, Ontario
Population 3,475
THE' HOME
OF RADAR
IN CANADA
THE HURON NEWS-RECORD
1881
4—Clinton News-Record, Thursday, October 5, 1972
soldier's club in Aldershot and
later on, in Belgium, I heard the
Symphony Orchestra of Brussels
play it and, after that, in Lon-
don, I bought an album of the
work and a second-hand
phonograph and played it a
great deal in a balcony flat ren-
ted from a Mrs. Edwards. Mrs.
EdWards thought it was
beautiful and I still do.
This seems true of all life's
experiences, this ability of music
to bring the past back into per-
spective.
I know that nothing takes my
thoughts back to Mazatlan in
Mexico as surely or as pleasan-
tly as putting "Guadalajara" on
the machine. Or if' I hear "Good-
night 'I find myself
._ trip,
'''''ahrdss'eanada-iiiii4e - day we
pulled out of Quebec and rolled
down through the green and
golden farmlands along the St.
Lawrence and the smallest of
our party sang verse and chorus
in a most astonishing perfor-
mance.
Re-reading this now, it all
seems rather too sentimental,
but I'd make a small wager that
there isn't one of you who hasn't
felt this at one time or another.
Only the songs would be dif-
ferent.
There are teachers and there
are teachers. Most of us in the
rank and file face from 150 to
200 students every school day.
We groan about the size of our
classes, sigh over the im-
possibility of giving personal at-
tention to each student, and
grumble continually about the
amount of marking of papers
that we have to do at home.
And then, of course, there are
the aristocrats among teachers.
These are the people with small
classes, and not many of them,
who teach in an easy at-
mosphere of freedom.
We have one of each type in
our family this fall. Your hum-
ble servant belongs to the great
mass of slaves in the profession,
reacting like Pavlovian mice to
bells, subject to the whims of
administration, and bent almost
double under a continual deluge
of paper work, ninety per cent of
which has nothing to do with
the learning situation.
My wife has joined the tiny
aristocracy. Yep, she's a teach.
She has not "got a job", as we
ordinary teachers put it. She has
"accepted a position,"
It fair makes my heart bleed.
I come home about Your, head
straight for the refrigerator, hurl
myself into a chair and mutter
incantations such as "Oh, boy!
Oh, boy! There must be some
other way of making a living."
She is sitting there, cool, un-
sullied, ready to regale me with
a detailed account of her "day",
Some day! She starts at 1120
a,m„ and goes non-stop for
thirty-five minutes, She has one
class, There are five students in
it. Private school, No bells, No
hall supervision. No cafeteria
supervision. No bus duty. No
teams to coach,
If she wants to take her class
out and sit under a tree, or bring
them to our house to listen to
records, no problem.
If I wanted to take a class out
and sit under a tree, I'd have to
notify the Governor-General or
somebody a month ahead, in
triplicate, and then the principal
would veto the whole thing,
because it might start a trend.
Other classes would be distrac-
ted and jealous. Other teachers
might want to do the same
thing, and the whole system
would crumble overnight.
If she wants a cigarette or a
cup of coffee during her
"teaching clay", no problem.
She has it.
If I want a cigarette
somewhere about the middle of
teaching four straight periods
and 120 students, I have two
alternatives. I can just go on
wanting, or I can sprint the
half-block to the men's can,
making like a dysentery victim,
swallow two drags, choke on
them, and make the return dash
to confront the next class, red-
faced and coughing. Hardly
worth it,
That's all rather hard to take,
But what really rubs salt in the
wound is the homework. She
comes home with five little
sheets of paper, and fusses over
marking them as though she
had just discovered something
on a par with the Dead Sea
Scrolls.
I come home with an armful
of essays, look at, her skinny
sheaf and in frustration hurl my
eight pounds of paper into a cor-
ner. They have to be picked up
again, but it's worth it,
Another thing that gets me:
you'd think her miserable little
band of five was the only group
of students in the country, She
can spend twenty minutes a day
on each of them, telling me what,
Gordon didn't say and what
Rick said, and so on, and how
she gently led them from the
murky valleys into the sun-
kissed mountains of beauty and
truth.
She thinks she's so , dam'
smart that it's infuriating. For
years, I've been the savant in
the family. Poem or play, short
story or novel, my opinion was
the final one, accepted with
proper humility,
Now, she thinks my inter-
pretation is wrong, and hers is
right, How's that for sheer
ingratitude? It's bad enough
when a stranger disputes a chap,
but when it's his own flesh and
blood - well, she's not quite, but
practically - I tell you, I'm
not going to take much more of
that.
At the same time, along with
this effrontery, there's another
irritant, She hasn't the slightest
scruple about picking my brain
whenever she can find anything
there to pick. And next day
tossing an idea out as though
she hadn't stolen it twenty-four
hours before,
There's one other aspect of
the situation that has me
slightly alarmed. Her earnings,
while not ample, are just enough
to screw up my income tax. At
the same time, she's spending
more than she makes on books,
equipment, and new clothes,
I wear my old gray suit five
days a week, four weeks a
month. But it seems that lady
teachers, especially in the
aristocratic bracket, have to
wear something different each
(lay,
If this is an example of
Women's Lib, you can call me a
male chauvinist pig,
Now I know why the peasants
stormed the Bastille and lopped
off the noodle of Marie An-
toinette,
A late-night disc jockey
twirled an old platter of
"Beautiful Lady in Blue" the
other midnight and it knocked
loud and clear on the door
where my memory lives.
There's nothing like an old
tune to bring back the past. A
photograph album will do it,
sure, but there's too much
reality in a photograph. A
melody delivers it wrapped in a
rainbow and tied with a pink
ribbon.
"Beautiful Lady in Blue"!
Gosh! Mart Kenney and his
Western Gentlemen used to play
it for us every Saturday 'night in
the rococco grotto they called
The Sapanish Grill. We could
go every Saturday for free
because it was my job to- write
down the names of the socialites
fOr the paper. I don't know,,,,y,kw
we ran these names every week,
but we did.
That was the year we lived
mainly on spaghetti, but every
Saturday night we mingled with
the hoi-poloi.
Mart would play the piece
because my wife always wore a
blue evening gown. It was the
same gown each Saturday, since
I was making $17.50 a week, but
she'd cut bits off or sew on some
doo-dads or raise or lower the
neckline. It's surprising what a
W.C. Bennett, last Friday
despatched his last mail at the
Post Office, R.C.A.F. Station,
Clinton. He has been postmaster
there since 1952, when the office
was opened.
When the Most Rev. John C.
Cody was in Clinton on Monday
night, he officiated at the confir-
mation in St. Joseph's Roman
Catholic Church here of 52
children and 8 adults.
Five new members were
proposed and passed for
initiation at Tuesday night's
meeting of Clinton Kinsmen
Club. They were present at the
meeting; Dave Hallman, David
Beattie, Keith Salzman, Mervin
Roe and Allan Johnston.
15 YEARS AGO
THURS. OCT. 3, 1957
The plot thickens and con-
fusion grows over changes in
times this week, with the an-
nouncement from Seaforth that
they . intend reverting back to
Daylight Saving Time, Seaforth
changed to Standard Time last
weekend, along with. Hensall,
Exeter, Brucefield, Varna and
Clinton.
Now, apparently they have
rescinded, and will go back to
DST for three weeks returning
to EST on Sunday morning Oc-
tober 27 once more.
With RCAF Station Clinton
proceeding on Standard Time, it
would be particularly difficult
for Clinton to do anything else
but what they have done,
However, the resulting con-
fusion with other neighbouring
towns promises to grow worse
instead of better.
Members of the staff of Clin-
ton Hosiery Mills Limited en-
joyed a party at the Royal York
' Hotel, Totonto, on the occasion
•„;of the birthday of Herman H.
'Harris, owner of the firm. Two
chartered buses made the trip to
the city.
Clinton Lions Club appealed
to the public for support at the
fall frolic, which is an•effort to
raise $700 towards expenses at
the arena.
' Clinton Collegiate Institute
, placed second at the Huron
Secondary Schools Association
track and field meet held in
Clinton Community Park. With
99 points they trailed Goderich
with 198 points. Jeanne Garon
was intermediate girls' cham-
pion.
40 YEARS AGO
THURS., OCT. 6, 1932
Clinton defeated the London
team in a fast and furious Box
Lacrosse game with a score of 6-
3. Clinton line-up included
Wendorf, Kennedy, Campbell,
McEwan, Fulford, Pickett,
Gibbs, Dale, Dickson and
Holmes.
The election on Monday
seemed to plainly indicate that
-South Huron is a Liberal riding
and has no intention, at least at
the present time, of changing.
Mr. Golding piled up the biggest
majority in its history with a
total of 7,064 votes -out of the
12„100 polled.
T. Elliott was installed Noble
Grand of the Clinton IOOF,
with treasurer, T.H. Hardy and
secretaries were M. Mahaffy
and B. Watt,
There were three songs, each
revived from time to time that
bring back the memory of my
early newspapering days.
They're "The Dipsy-Doodle,"
"The Music Goes `Round and
`Round" and "Paradise."
There were four of us then,
well nigh insperable, so young
and so eager that we'd stay
around until the presses started
to roll in the basement, then
we'd walk home together
through the empty city with the
dawn an oyster grey over the
rooftops and we'd sing.
One of those fellows was Gor-
don Root, a big amiable bear of
a guy who now has a paper of
his own. He had a voice like a
sick moose and rendered
"Paradise" with such tender-
igsAgiq;Ken-WWW:FiliTtlirG
fling him to the pavement. Oh, I
tell you, we were young.
The music that brings back
the war years most vividly is the
Cesar Franck Symphony in D
Minor. You don't often hear this
work--I was dismayed -recently
to see that a famous critic called
it "banal"--but I still play it
when I want to look backwards
over my shoulder.
The symphony seemed to
follow me around. I heard it
first on a gramophone in a
55 YEARS AGO
THURS. OCT. 4, 1917
The Women's Patriotic
Society, operating with a turn-
over of over $2,000 each year,
under the presidency of Mrs. W.
Brydone, reported a splendid•
year, including 1,316 pairs of
socks knitted; 214 shirts; 145
sheets; 73 pyjamas; 254 trench
towels, etc. made and sent over-
seas;, a total of 2,389 articles.
Goderich and Clinton papers
have announced an increase in
price to $1.50 per year in the
near future. Increased cost of
production was given as reason.
Brown's store was' offering
blue serge at prices from $1.95
to $2.70 per yard, limited to one
suit length per family.
75 YEARS AGO
WED., OCT. 6, 1897
Mr. Searle contributes this
advice; Now is the time to prune
shade trees, when the tree is dry,
but be sure and paint the
wounds,
we get
letters
Dear Editor;
Since March 2nd of this year
there has been a growing
quarrel between a large number
of ratepayers of Ontario Riding
and the Federal and Provincial
Governments. This quarrel is
based on the decision by the tw
governments to cite an inter-
national airport in Ontari
County - Pickering.
The struggle is growing in bit-
terness as the government comes
closer to expropriating some
eighteen thousand acres of
prime Ontario farmland,
The government argues that
Malton is incapable of
operational expansion sufficient
to take care of air transport
needs to the year 2000 and thus
the government must ex-
propriate land now in
preparation for a second inter-
national airport.
The ratepayers argue that
there is strong ground for saying
Malton is capable of handling
traffic demands. They bolster
their argument with two
Ministry of Transport reports
(which have been suppressed)
which state Malton is capable of
sustaining the anticipated
demands.
There has been considerable
media publicity with both sides
firing salvoes of facts, statistics
and emotional arguments.
Because the airport will cost
taxpayers of Canada an enor-
mous amount of money (accor-
ding to government airport
planning teams anywhere from
one to five billion dollars) the
ratepayers have asked for a
hearing into the need for a
second airport. They suggest a
parliamentary committee, such
as the Air Transport Committee.
The government has taken the
attitude that objections to ex-
propriation may be raised at an
expropriation hearing at which
time the ratepayers will "have
their day in court". Independent
legal advice states that the
ratepayers will have opportunity
for nothing but presentation of
objections. There will be no op-
portunity for investigation of the
need of a second airport.
,...This letter is addressed, to
--you'r readers to alert them to the
potential waste of tax dollars at
a time when much higher
priorities can be placed on many
other social endeavours. I urge
that taxpayers across the land
press the government for a
hearing at which all facts may
be put to determine in an objec-
tive manner whether a second
airport is needed.
C. M. Godfrey,
Chairman,
People or Planes.
Opiniotis
In order that
News—Record readers might
express their opinions on any
topic of public interest,
Letters To The Editor are
always welcome for
publication.
But the writers of such
letters, as well as all readers,
are reminded that the
opinions expressed in letters
published are not necessarily
the opinions held by The
iNews—Record.
Clinton is without a Deputy-
Reeve, the Council having ac-
cepted Mr. Cooper's resignation
last Wednesday evening. Up to
yesterday no official steps had
been taken to fill the vacancy.
On Monday evening Councillor
Searle resigned. Prompt action
should be taken to fill the
vacancy. Some say it is not
necessary to do so. If such were
the case, how would it be if the
whole council resigned? There
can be only one answer.
woman can do when her
husband is making $17.50 a
week. Or it was, anyway.
I've been day-dreaming of
some of the other songs that
bring back memories.
There was "Lover, Come
Back To Me", for instance.
That was the first time I was
ever smitten. I guess I was
around 14. It was at a summer
camp, the song came from the
horn of an ancient Victrola, and
I was dazzled by my amorata's
sophistication. She confided to
me that she had a pocket in her
bloomers where she carried her
handkerchief. I don't know why
I should remember this. I can't
remember her name,
Then there was a song called
"The Jersey Bounce" and a.
record by Benny Goodman that
(drove everybody crazy one won-
derful summer.
That was at a resort, too. All
of the' cottages were named for
golf balls, I recall, and our's
was called "Kro-Flight". Oh, it
.'was romantic, all right! Our cot-
tage was right next to the
pavilion and no more than a 100
yards from a roller-skating rink.
Both establishments had juke
boxes like the voices of doom
that played "The Jersey
Bounce" until we were ready to
cry for mercy.
10 YEARS AGO
THURS. OCT. 4, 1962 25 YEARS AGO
THURSDAY, OCT. 9, 1947