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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1965-09-30, Page 5Joint installation of officers District Governor Larry Woods of Preston and district Kinette Convener Mrs. H. J. (Pat) Meikle of Lon- don were on hand for the joint installation of officers of the Hensall Kinsmen and Kinette clubs held in Lucan Thursday evening. The Kinette officers shown at top are past president, Mrs. John Baker; pre- sident, Mrs. William Fuss; vice-president, Mrs. Jim Hyde; secretary, Mrs. Bob Baker; treasurer, Mrs. Ron Wareing and registrar, Mrs. Harold Caldwell. Kinsmen club officers include, past president, John Baker; president, Jim Hyde; vice-president, Murray Baker; second vice-president, Bob Caldwell; sec- retary, Wayne Reid; treasurer, Alvin Campbell; registrar, Harold Caldwell and directors George Beer, Robert Raeburn and Ron Wareing. (T-A photos) DISAGREES WITH REV. BOYNE Products Of General Motors [`t] Frigidaire Sales with Service Drysdale Crest Hardware PHONE 11 HENSALL Save a potful Buy a gallon of Glidden Homogenized Spred Satin and get a quart of Spred Lustre FREE. Save $3 .35 With every gallon of Homogenized Spred Satin you buy at the regular list price we will be pleased to give you a quart of Spred Lustre for trim and woodwork — Absolutely Free! Your choice of colors is as wide as the rainbow. Buy Now... Save a Potful: FINK PLUMBING & HEATING CO. LTD. HENSALL 262-2114 annIMMOIMIIMMIIIIIMIMMIninninlinnillinnlinnIMIIMM11111111111111111111111111111111UninffillUIU118 = fi e E See Harold Elliott Farm Mechanic s. s for FcirM Service & Repairs s = = = Tractor Overhauling, Car Greasing, Tire Repairs 1 COFFEE SHOP , HOT LUNCHES =_ r mollmummmunomminmothommimmanniminomminimimij ri TED'S SHELL SERVICE HENSALL Under New Management! ANNOUNCING METEOR '66 —giellfee".4" • iiii iiiiiiii Montcalm 4-door Hardtop Just a look and a drive and you'll belong to the Nieteor Admiration Soctetl 4 Montcalm 2-door Hardtop Meteor. the prestige car in the popular price field! 9921.0 1966 Meteor's Unexcelled New Styling — long, low and lovely, with a handsome new grille, sweeping roofline, sculptured rear deck. 1966 Meteor's Unrivalled Luxury — soft, elegant, crinkle grain vinyls; rich, tasteful fabric upholstery . . . thick, deep-pile carpeting . . . exciting extras and options like the full-length front console and deeply-comfortable bucket seats. 1966 Meteor's Unsurpassed Ride and Performance — four great engines; the "Avenger 6"... saves like a '6', goes like a V-8... also 3 V-8's: 289, 390 and the big 428 cubic inch four great transmissions to transform this power to pleasure-filled driving, DISAGREES WITH EDITOR. Times-Advocate, September 30, 1965 Pap 5 — Continued from page 4 well thought out. But not last week. Mr. Boyne says: '4 The mass media consciously or unco n- sciously love to 'accentuate the negative'. I submit that this is not in the best interests of any community. I submit that it only feeds coal to the fire of the mob spirit. It does little to advance the search for workable agree- ments or solutions to any prob- lem." And Mr. Boyne goes on to apply this philosophy to a number of unhappier news stories, in- cluding the public criticism of Douglas Palmer, new principal at Just 'as a newspaper reader I must object. I heard the gossip. I heard all sorts of terrible things Mr. Palmer was allegedly doing. And • just as a pitizen of this town I was somewhat upset. Although I have never met the man and have no children to at- tend the school, if the things that were said were true then it was certainly going to be to the general detriment of this town I live in and call home. Mr. Boyne seems to have omit- ted one thought in forming his opinion. If the board session had indeed been closed as he wished, then I believe that gossip would not have been scotched but would have grown. It would not then be just what Mr. Palmer did or said, but what went on behind those closed doors at the board session. Did Mr. Palmer really get a dressing down? Did the board really threaten to demand his resignation? Did Mr. P aim e r really tell the board members to go to hell? Just what did happen =behind those closed doors? By MRS. FRANK SQUIRE Mr. & Mrs. Don Meyers, Gloria and Gary and Mr. & Mrs. Larry Kilpatrick, London, were Friday evening visitors with Mr. & Mrs. Norman Hodgins. Mrs. Percy Hodgins visited recently with Mrs. Ida Wells, Grantor. Mr. & Mrs. McLeod Mills and family attended Zion United Church anniversary service Sun- day and also visited with Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Hern. Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Hodgson, Lon- don visited Saturday with Mr. & Mrs. Ken Hodgson. Mr. & Mrs. Bill McNaughton, Mrs. Ruth Perkins, Mrs. Myrtle Shurthill and Miss Cora Nutty- comb, London, were Sunday guests of Mr. & Mrs. Alex Baillie honoring the 87th birthday of Mr. Baillie. Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Morley, Jan- ice and Robbie visited in Exeter Sunday with Mr. & Mrs. Alvin Pym. Mrs. Florence Johns, Exeter, spent the weekend with Mr. & Mrs. Cleve Pullman and family. Sunday they all went to Brampton to visit Mr. Harvey Herbert. Mis8 Eileen McKenna and Mrs. sack Daveys, Woodstock, visited a few days recently with Mrs. Laverne Morley. Mrs. Art Abbott and Mrs. La- verne Morley attended Teachers' donvention at Beal Technical school, London. Mr. & Mrs. Paul Schrier and Susan, Stratford, were Sunday visitors with Mr. & Mrs. La- Verne Morley. A Teen Town Dance at the Recreation Centre Friday even- ing was well attended with Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Hem and Mr. & Mrs. McLeod Mills as chaperons. Happily the doors were not closed. Happily we all know, thanks to The T-A's report, just what was said. And most happily of all the gossip has virtually stopped. Although I do notice there are a few new things a few people are saying in continuing critic- ism of Mr. Palmer. But that's another problem. What makes sensationalism? Newspapers? The answer is not an emphatic yes as Mr. Boyne seems to sug- gest. It's a muddy yes and no, a grey, like most things. Some newspapers at the turn of the century did indeed create sen- sationalism with every intention and full knowledge, did indeed create a war with the power of the press alone. But I don't believe that the public is all that gullible today. I don't believe a newspaper, any newspaper, could survive today if that charge of sensationalism could be squarely levelled. People really make sensa- tionalism, in my opinion. I've seen it happen to a small story buried in a back page. But sensational stories are not necessary to sell newspapers to- day. People buy newspapers any- way. They're pre-sold. You and I buy them because of Ann Landers or some favorite column. Or something innocuous as comic strips. Or the movies listed. Or because of the classi- fied section. Headlines sell very few papers. Most copies are pre-sold through subscriptions. Newstand sale s vary little from day to day or week to week. What sells The T-A? I'd like to think it's because there are good ads in the paper, but I'd be kidding myself. It's more likely because you can find out who your next door neighbor visited last week, or better yet, see your own name listed as visiting someone. In the long run, a newspaper sells best when it accurately reflects its community in all its segments, in all its flavor, color and ac- tivity. That's what sells most of The T-A's. If a newspaper were to sit in judgment of every news story to determine whether the public should see it or not would it not be unfair to the general public? Would not that be truly treating the readers like 10 or 14-year- olds? I don't want the editors of the Globe and Mail determining what I should hear about this election campaign. They must exercise some judgement because they have limited space. But I do know they exercise the judge- ment of experience of what the public will spend time reading TEMPERED with good taste and public responsibility — which in- cludes publishing some things that might make some people squirm. And squirm they should if publication alone arouses their consciences. There are very few Flashes and Hushes. Mostly because most people won't or can't believe them. A newspaper will cease to exist as soon as people stop believing it. The test of this is' whether Mr. Boyne regularly reads any publication in which he does not believe. But Mr. Boyne does have a few good points. "For this paper or any paper", he says, "to publicize every pri- vate, personal beef of every pupil or teacher or ratepayer is to create an artificial crisis when the problem involved can better be settled on a person to person basis and in small groups." This is true in such situa- tions but such is not the case with Mr. Palmer. The crisis already existed, plainly and ob- viously, before the newspaper came out. In this case the crisis was largely killed by the publica- tion of the story. But it is true in the truly minor goings on, private business is private business. What defines private business? The simplest definition might be that it is whatever does not in- volve the public. Mr. palmer's case clearly does. The perform- ance of one teacher or a student, or a single disagreement between board and principal does not. And with most of these minor incidents the public won't pay attention anyway. So newspapers usually refrain from publishing them. This also falls within the good taste and public responsi- bility that newspapers should and usually do exercise. Truly there is a very delicate system of checks and balances working here to hold the press in place — to keep the public ad- vised on the important things that may demand their considera- tion such as at the polls, and to keep unimportant things out of the press will only cause general grief. Not all the news is pleasant news. Nor, to be fair, is all pub- lished news unpleasant. MORLEY CHALMERS EXETER -,— Continued from page 4 I must take exception to the way in which reporting of many rnPet- ingS, whether it be Town Council Or High School Board or any Such local group, has been done and is being done. As we all Must admit, the i d e el of "TRUTH" is an evasive or slip- pery one. It is quite unlikely that two people witness the same event and come away with exactly she same story. A good example of this is conflicting reports of the same auto accident. Also, we all must admit, that the spoken word and the written word are two quite different things. We all know that the manner in which a statement is made at a meeting could be one of hilarity or fun, yet this same statement put on paper, out of context from the meeting, or without benefit of the speaker's intonation and facial expression can be made to mean, or taken by an unknowing reader to mean, something very different from that which the speaker originally intended. Our Editor must surely agree that this can and does happen. So a . Cartrtei SHOWER BRIDE-TO-BE A shower was given in honor of Miss Pauline O'Rourke last Wednesday evening in the Parish Hall by all of her close-by neigh- bors. Miss Eleanore Dietrich and two sisters Mrs. Ray Webb and Sandra O'Rourke helped the bride-to-be with her many lovely gifts to which she thanked each and every one. PERSONALS Mother Mary Elizabeth, Blen- heim, spent Sunday with her mother Mrs. Michael Ryan Sr. and family. The Grade 8 pupils of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School en- joyed an outing and play Monday at Stratford Shakespearean House. WHETHER BUYING BUYING OR LEASING, SEE YOUR MEACURY DEALER, "Responsible Reporter" must go further than reporting simply ((word for word" what went on at a meeting, It would be naive of us all to think otherwise! Now we have all read reports of meetings over the years in which a man wishing only to serve his Community to the best of his abilities on some board or coun- cil is made to sound pretty fool- ish in the eyes of the reader. Perhaps the reporter did quote "word for word". Again it would be naive of us all to believe this kind of reporting is good enough. many people realize this is so but some people do not, and a RE- SPONSIBLE PRESS should be most careful not to endanger the reputation of a public servant by this kind of reporting. I know, and my friends know, many cap- able people who refuse to serve on Council or Boards in this area, or if they do serve are fearful of speaking out because they cannot trust the local press to either truth or kindness or simple good judgment in report- ing their statements! Now let the Editor understand this following sentence. I think controversy in a community is good. Surely controversy shows that the people care enough about what is going on to stand up for that in which they believe. A local paper can be the "forum" where such controversy is aired. I think many times the Times Advocate has served well in this way. Let this be understood Sir. But I must take issue with your paper over its policy in handling some of the more controversial topics of community concern over the last few years. Surely Public Ser- vice is thankless enough without our people having to pay the price of risked ridicule from its local paper. Surely this fine paper of which we are proud in many ways, feels its responsibility to back people up who give their time and talents and concern to serving on community boards and councils. Surely this fine paper feels its responsibility not to increase its circulation at the price of people's reputations, pPuple who Only wish to do a share of community Service. Surely this flee paper feels that this wonderful "Freedom of the Press" involves this kind of responsibility! Sir please take this protest to heart, I do make it because I am fearful for a country where "Freedom of the Press" is taken to mean only perhaps "Licence to print any- thing." Lest you think this letter comes from just one "CRANK", I hasten to assure yoti that I have talked with many friends and acquaie- tances who hold the same opinion regarding your newspaper as I. We ask you in truth to look into your own hearts about this. Let the wIllries Advocate" be the magnificent paper it could be! Let it he "responsible" in the highest sense of the term! PATRICIA R. COOK HENSALL CONGRATULATIONS To the editor, Congratulations on your new town band. Wishing the band- master Mr. Cann and all mem- bers of his band a success. Anthony J. Aquiline, Sgt. Member of the RCAF Central Band Ottawa. ALBERT HESS Certified Watchmaker Zurich Well Known for Prompt Watch, Clock and Jewellery Repairing. Diamond Resetting Trophies for All Sports Engraving Expert in Violin Bow Repairing 40 YEARS EXPERIENCE Take A test drive at your Mercury dealer and yoUli join the Meteor Admiration Society. HENSALL MOTOR SALES, HENSALL Hwy. 4 South Phone 262-2604