HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1985-12-23, Page 4"1 Al_v143 BELJEVED MAT SI-10ui-D /kiln KE So
-TT-1/AT THE Kan' -7c)Y3 ARE SAFE ! "
PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1985.
Despite problems,
Christmas is still
the best
It's easy, at this time of the year, to bemoan the things that
are wrong with Christmas. There's too much commercialism.
The toys are too war-like or they're exploitive or they're
dangerous. The Christmas spirit is all too often as phony as that
spray-snow we use to decorate windows.
But for all that, Christmas is still the most emotional, most
moving time of the year. People who usually think only of
themselves or of making more money, suddenly become more
human and sharing. Agencies like the Salvation Army which
may find it hard to get money at other times of the year,
suddenly find people coming with baskets of food and open
pocket books.
People are friendlier, more polite. Even in the crush of
shoppers there is a courtesy not normally seen. Our society that
often seems to look at children as only inconveniences,
suddenly sees the delight and beauty even in the brattiest kid.
People flock to Christmas concerts at churches or school
auditoriums to see that special glow on kids faces at this time of
the year. Perhaps we're all remembering those magical days of
our own childhood at Christmas and wishing we could relive
those days where there was so much joy, so much contentment.
Christmas is the time of year when we come most close to that
wish of "peace on earth, good will toward man" that is the true
spirit of Christmas. If we could extend this spirit all year long,
we might not have to worry about so much crime or the danger of
war.
For now, all we can do is be like a child, concentrate on the
spirit of the moment and enjoy. May we at The Citizen wish you
all the very happiest of holiday seasons.
Politicians may have
to play Grinches
One of the subjects that came up most often at the ratepayers
meetings held throughout the area back at election time was the
controversy over public servants' salaries. -
Targets of much of the criticism from the electorate were
representatives of the school board. Feelings were no doubt
fanned by the two controversial teachers' strikes that were
going on at the time.
The controversy is growing in another area now as county
council considers a proposal for setting salaries for senior staff
for the next three years, increases which would mean about a 25
per cent wage increase over three years for some members.
Many members of the county council feel the increases are
justified because the employees are earning less than they
could earn elsewhere for doing the same job. Taxpayers see it a
different way. Many see the people they are paying with their
tax money earning several times as much as they do.
Many farmers, for instance, would be delighted to earn in a
year the amount of the increase the Medical Officer of Health
would get in the next three years. At a time when these
employees are worried about keeping up with inflation, or with
people doing the same kind of work for other governments,
people on the farm are looking at decreasing income and people
in other private sectorjobs maybe happy just to keep their jobs.
It puts our county councillors and school board officials in a
bad spot. How can they be fair to both sides? In addition, they
may face the same problem sports coaches complained of when
salaries for hockey, baseball and basketball players escalated a
few years back: how do you tell somebody to do something when
he or she earns far more than you do?
The late Lord Thomson had a policy, one that is still followed
in his newspaper organization. He determined how much a job
was worth to him. He would reward his employees up to that
ceiling but not beyond no matter how much he valued them. If
these people could "better themselves" by finding jobs
elsewhere, more power to them. He would not budge on his
budgets.
We have many good people working for our governments
and they deserve to be rewarded. We don't want to go back to
the time when teachers were paid so little they had to board with
one of the trustees. We don't want to lose good people.
But we may also keep in mind the other people of the
community. It is not fair to increase the gap between the
taxpayer and the public servant larger and larger every year.
Perhaps it is time to say this is how much we can pay you. If
that isn't enough, if you want to move elsewhere to get more,
then more power to you. "We might lose some good people but
we would know that the people who stay behind are dedicated to
their community, not just in it for the money. And in a day and
age when many qualified young people are just waiting for a
break, we might be surprised at the ideas and energy the
replacements might bring.
One thing's clear: the current growing disparity between
private sector and public sector wages can't continue.
There are people who will tell
you that the important decisions in
town are made down at the town
hall. People in the know, however
know that the real debates, the real
wisdom reside down at Mabel's
Grill where the greatest minds in
the town (if not in the country)
gather for morning coffee break,
otherwise known as the Round
Table Debating and Filibustering
Society. Since notjust everyone
can partake of these deliberations,
we will report the activities from
time to time.
MONDAY: Julia Flint says she got
a chance to sit down and read the
new issue of Chatelaine magazine
over the weekend and now she
understands more about the recent
goings on in Ottawa.
Seems there was this article in
the magazine on the Mulroney
family and Mila said Brian is great.
He always changes the baby's
diapers and he doesn't mind
because he has no sense of smell.
This, says Julia, explains how the
prime minister can get into so
much trouble over rotten tuna.
TUESDAY: Billy Bean was razzing
Ward Black this morning about the
poor job of plowing out his street
yesterday. Ward said it was
probably just that the snow was
coming down so fast the road was
filling in right after the plow went
by.
Hank Stokes said he figured the
council was just trying to save the
taxpayers dollars by not plowing
the road often enough.
Ward said he was undertaking a
study for the next council meeting.
He was going to try to figure out
which would be less expensive for
the council: to continue to plow the
streets all winter or buy everybody
in town a round-trip ticket to
Florida and have them stay there
until spring.
WEDNESDAY: Tim O'Grady says
there was a good fight in their
family over whether to buy a real
Christmas tree this year or get an
artificial one. He's still a bit
romantic (this is a lawyer?) and he
remembers the trek to the bush
with his father to select a tree every
year. His wife says, yeh, but the
last time he was to the bush was
when he was 12.
for Christmas, even if he ended up
paying as much as he would at a
tree lot. He still hasn't found a
place to cut his own tree, he
admitted today. Somebody else
has. Somebody got a nice, full blue
spruce about seven feet high. They
cut it off Tim's front lawn late last
Sunday night.
THURSDAY: There's been so
much fuss in the paper and on
television lately about Halley's
Comet that Hank Stokes figures it
has effected the weather. It isn't
some mysterious pull of gravity or
anything like that, he says. He
figures the sun just got jealous of
the comet getting all that attention
and figured it might get some
attention too if it only appeared
every 76 years.
Letters to the editor
THE EDITOR - [and all staff of And even, when no sunshine in the
"The Citizen"]: day
My genuine thanks for printing Kindess is sure to light the way
my "Letter to the Editor" re: road In this season of coloured lights
use and farmers. And extra thanks and sleigh.
for the pleasant surprise of the The very best to one and all
continuation of finding the "Citi- DAVE HALL
zen" in my mail each week. LONDESBOROUGH
Although I've saved each edition, P.S. Did I scare everyone? Don't
lazily, I didn't look up the recall any letters to the Editor since
discontinue date of free publica- you printed mine.
tions. Nonetheless I'm sure that THE EDITOR:
time has long since past. Have you thought about the
Gift?
May pleasure and plenty come to "Of course, you say, gifts are on
call
Fill all your homes wall to wall
Continued on page 20
[640523 Ontario Inc.]
Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Beigrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
P.O. Box 152, P.O. Box 429,
Brussels, Ont. Blyth, Ont.
NOG 1H0 NOM 1H0
887-9114 523-4792
Subscription price: $15.00; $35.00 foreign.
Advertising and news deadline: Monday 4 p.m.
Editor and Publisher: Keith Roulston
Advertising Manager: Beverley A. Brown
Production and Office Manager: Jill Roulston
Now every year he insists he's
going to find someplace where he
can take the kids to the bush to cut a
tree and experience one of the real
joys of Christmas. But he always
gets busy so she ends up going
downtown the day before Christ-
mas, grabbing the last tree on the
lot (which has three branches on
one side and none on the other
three), wrestling it into the car
trunk and driving home to try to put
it up by herself. This year she
wants to put an end to that by
getting an artificial tree once and
for all.
Well Tim may not be persuasive
but he is stubborn. No, he said, he
was going to find some farmer who
would let him go and cut a nice tree