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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-05-19, Page 4By Val Balkalns divti#19, ctiatat Two ways of life Lots of enthusiasm There can be little doubt as to the enthusiasm with which Exeter residents are joininig in special plans for mark- ing the Centennial Year. It has been urged that these celebrations be com- munity wide and judging from the re- sponse to date most organizations with- in the town will take some part in this program. This spirit of co-operation and communication is a sign of a healthy community and there are many towns throughout the area who could do well to use Exeter as an example. We note by reading area weekly newspapers that some towns are still trying to de- cide on a project despite the fact that discussions in regards to this started nearly two years ago. Despite the enthusiasm here there are still many people who fail to real- ize the amount of work and planning which has been carried out to date and which must still be completed. It is therefore encouraging to know that members of the Centennial committee are taking the time from their already busy schedule to talk to various groups in town and let them know what is be- ing done and where each organization could help. Special events will be held each month during the centennial year but in order to make sure these are suc- cessful it will take the all-out effort of the complete community. Several worthwhile suggestions have been brought forward to help complete the program for the year, but more are needed. Suggestions should be forward- ed either through this office or directly to the centennial committee. Spring clean-up A good suggestion received by the Board of Trade recently was to have the town cleaned up and try and ap- peal to all home owners to get two regulation garbage cans with lids. If anyone doubts the need of a project such as this a quick drive through most of the residential sections or even just down the Main Street should prove sufficient to show there is a need. We realize this has been a late spring and many people have not com- pleted spring chores they normally would have at this time of year. We do however suggest that it is time to take a close look at properties and see what can be done to clean them up. We are not suggesting people should rush out and buy a lot of paint and redecorate the exterior of their homes. We do suggest though, that there are a lot of pieces of paper and boxes which have blown out of gar- bage cans and are stuck in hedges and scattered across some lawns. There are also still a lot of branches to be picked up and disposed of following the recent storm. A town can look appealing to visi- tors just by being neat and transverse- ly a visitor could leave with a poor opinion of the town simply by seeing one small area. In general, pride of ownership is good and the points referred to here are minor. A little extra effort this weekend could result in giving the town a much better appearance. Necessity should eliminate tax The Ontario branch of the Consum- ers Association of Canada acknowledges receipt of a communication from the Ontario retail sales tax offices explain- ing how the sales tax laws operate in regard to exemptions on children's clothing. "Children's garments that fit the upper half of the whole body," the tax men write, "are exempt up to and in- cluding girls' commercial trade size 14x or boy's commercial trade size des- ignation 15, or Canada standards size girls 14x, boys 16. Children's garments that fit at or below the waist are ex- empt up to and including girls and boys commercial size 14 or Canada standard size girls 14x and . . . boys 16. "Boys' dress and sport shirts 14 or Canada standard size 131/2 neck, chil- dren's hats, girls' up to 22, and boys' size 7, gloves up to size 7 and chil- dren's footwear up to size 6 for girls and boys, are listed." The trouble with all this is that many children today are physically larger than the maximum sizes, which means they have to wear adult gar- ments and pay sales tax. On the other hand, there are adults who can wear children's sizes in the larger ranges and who, presumably, can avoid the tax. Since in this climate clothes are a necessity and not a luxury, regardless of the size or age of the wearer, the logical arrangement is tax-free clothing up to normal prices which the ordinary citizen might be expected to pay. Those who want luxury garments outside those standards will be prepared to pay extra. (Stouffville Tribune) A message to advertisers While newspaper people can be forgiven if they find some satisfaction in observing it, it is nevertheless a mat- ter of continuing amazement that the litter in post office wastebaskets, and sometimes about the floors, doesn't con- vey a message to the advertisers who spend good money on circulars and so- called "shopper's guides". Advertising is a serious investment, and should be planned to get as much for the dollar as possible. It is intended to attract readers who are potential customers. This being the case, the continued distribution of what is termed "waste- basket circulars", found in great quan- tities in post offices, in street trash containers; these "throw-aways", which usually travel straight to the incinera- tor, unread, unsung, and forgotten, is a matter of amazement. Where is the value in such advertising to the adver- tiser? Where is the guarantee of read- ership? We, naturally, feel that the news- paper is the best medium in which to convey an advertising message. But not just any newspaper qualifies. A newspaper to be of some value as a shoppers' guide, in so far as the adver- tiser is concerned, must provide the advertiser with an official and recog- nized yardstick of its worth. That guar- antee, in so far as newspapers are con- cerned, is found in the careful scrutiny of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. This bureau exists for the purpose of showing advertisers exactly what they get in circulation and readership for their advertising dollar. Advertising is an investment. And a sound investment requires such guar- antees as are provided by the audit bureau. It's something to think about when planning an advertising cam- paign. Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 `kite OreferZimes-Vmeafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND Member: C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A., CLASS A and ABC Publishers: J. M. Southcott, R. M. Southcott Editor: Kenneth Kerr, Advertising Manager: Val Baltkains Phone 235-1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Dep't, Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash Paid in Advance Circulation, September 30, 1965, 4,208 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $4.00 Per Year; USA $5.00 ,s? I have a little red book on my desk entitled Procedure at Meet- ings in Canada written by Arthur Beauchesne, the former clerk of the House of Commons in Canada. The purpose of the book as out- lined is to present a few rules that may assist deliberative as- semblies in proceeding with the questions submitted for their consideration. The. book covers private and public meetings and is a valuable aid to any chair- man. I only wish I had a few extra copies I could hand out at various meetings because I believe that there are a great many people attending meetings many hours longer than they have to simply because rules of parliamentary procedure are discard e d and meetings drift far from the orig- inal topic under discussion, I would not advocate following these rules of procedures to the letter because there must be a certain amount of tolerance at smaller gatherings than there could be in the House of Com- mons but there are a few basic rules which should be adhered to. I am not the only person who feels strongly about this matter. I have heard many members get up after a meeting has finished and shake their heads saying, "there is no need for us to stay at a meeting this long." I believe that many people attend meetings and operate under one of Parkinson's laws, "work expands to fill the time allowed". In other words they attend a meeting fully expecting it to last until 11:00 p.m. and are seldom disappointed. If the first half of the meeting cleans up most of the work then they 50 YEARS AGO Messrs John Willis, Almer Willis and Victor Hogarth, mem- bers of the 161st Battalion, were fittingly remembered by friends and neighbors in Stephen, each being presented with a wrist watch. Mr. Harry Rowe left Tuesday on a trip to the Thousand Islands to attend a coal convention. Mr. N. D. Hurdon had a sale of his household effects Saturday and intends spending the summer at Port Franks with his son George. Mr. J. W. Powell was on an Edison dealers' trip to the fac- tory at Orange, N. J. last week. 25 YEARS AGO In the County of Huron an or- ganization is being set up to or- ganize for the forthcoming Vic- tory Loan which will be announced the first of June. Messrs Harold and Gerald Skinner and Harry Hoffman were at Tavistock Sunday where, in Company with Jim Francis, they sang a quartet at the evening service in connection with the Evangelical conference, Fred Darling, who has been employed at the Ideal Meat Mar- ket, has taken a position with the Exeter Refrigerated Locker Ser- vice, Mr. W. Grafton Cochrane BA, who has been attending 0Sgeocie Hall, Toronto, has been success- ful in passing his examinations. Ile will be called to the bar June 19, relax and hold long rambling discussions on a minor topic. If the rambling conversations occur at the start of the meet- ing, then the agenda is pushed through in the last hour or so. We cannot fault council too badly on this point although there are times when they will discuss a $10 item for a half an hour and pass a $50,000 item in five min- utes. Despite this their meetings rarely last longer than 11:00 p.m. unless they have long discussions with delegations before the regu- lar agenda can be dealt. The High School Board lasts an hour or two longer than coun- cil although with the problems they have been facing we can well understand some of the long soul searching discussions they have held. I notice by the minutes that the last meeting of Usborne Town- ship Council lasted from 7:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. and I'm glad I didn't have to cover that one. The long meetings seem to come from force of habit rather than necessity and I would sug- gest that a close examination of procedure would cut minutes, if not hours off nearly every meet- ing held. Changing the subject slightly it is interesting to note the ac- tivity which is starting in getting ready for the International Plow- ing Match. Exeter will be repre- sented through the Lions Club who will be selling both advance tick- ets and tickets at the gate and assisting with parking. Working with the club will be the Kinsmen Clubs of Clinton and Goderich and it is expected that the wives will be pressed into service to 15 YEARS AGO Friday afternoon about 50SH- DH,S pupils, with their teacher, Mr. A. Dixon went by bus to the farm of Wellington Brock, Zion, and, in less that three hours, planted 6,000 forest trees on the banks of the creek that runs through the farm. Nearly $6,000,000 will be spent in a building program at RCAF Station, Centralia, Defense Mini- ster Brooke Claxton announced at a press conference held after NATO graduation at the station Friday. Included in this allocation will be 375 more houses for RCAF personnel. Hydro will open a Frequency Standardization Division Sub Area office in Exeter on May 28. 10 YEARS AGO Murray Dawson, 20, of RR 1 Hensall, topped 265 other contes- tants at Huron County Junior Far- mers Livestock Judging Compe- tition in Seaforth Saturday, Miss Maxine Reeder has suc- cessfully completed the senior singing examination of the Uni- versity of Western Ontario. Lake Casino at Grand Bend opens for its 40th season. It has been managed by the present Owner, Eric McIiroy for the past 19 years. Mayor R. H Pooley announced this week the town has an option to buy 100 acres of land in May swamp for $2500 to be used as a dump, assist in order to have enough people to handle this major pro- ject for the four days. Thousands of visitors will tour Huron County during this period and it should be a good occasion to present a favorable picture of the area to the visitors. The Centennial Farmstead and Rural Improvement program is encour- aging farmers to give their pro- perties a face lifting and many of these projects will be well on their way to completion by Oc- tober. The famous tent city with nearly two miles of displays is a feature attraction at the match and will be well worth the trip. Anyone who has never attended a match such as this will be sur- prised at the variety of exhibits, whether they are from the farm or city. And those of us who have attended International Matches in previous years are also look- ing forward to attending another one, especially when it is so close to our home. It is a sight to be remembered. '71.040( eite war A reader of the T-A who hap- pened to be in Winnipeg, Mani- toba recently sent us the follow- ing clipping from the Winnipeg paper. His comment was, "even out west the editors have trouble. IT STRUCK HOME "Weekly newspapers rarely weaken" says the Prescott, On- tario, Journal, "but we recently heard of one who wearied of the hue and cry that invariably fol- lowed publication of his editorial opinions . . . no matter what subject he chose to write about. "One week he decided to duck all controversial public issues and have a week of peace and quiet. "So he simply reprinted the Ten Commandments in his edito- rial column without any comment or explanation. "The next day he received a note from an enraged subscriber which read: "Cancel my sub- scription, you're getting too per- sonal."' A journalist friend comments that 15 years ago he often found time to do some writing in the evening, and that sometimes he wrote something pretty good. At least, he says, evenings gave him time for reading and reflection. Nowadays, he complains, the TV screen gobbles up a lot of the leisure time that once was put to better use. Of course, he is 15 years older and perhaps no longer has the fire in his belly to try to write something of consequence. But it is true that pre-TV a person had to do a certain amount of arrang- ing to be entertained, while now a person has to de a lot Of arrang- ing to have time free for some- thing Other than being entertained. C.J,i1 The proposal to close the Cen- tralia Air Base reminds us of one of the hard facts of life — there is very little iron clad se- curity in this world. There is little that is permanent. There is much that is uncertain. Yet we crave security. This is one reason insurance is so highly prized by most of us. It is why we seek to insure our cars, our homes, our health, our lives. We recognize that unforeseen things can happen in any or all of these areas. So it is that little children will actually suffer physically from a lack of cuddling and simple phy- sical expressions of love. They need these things to be reassured, to feel secure. For the same reason teenagers strive for conformity and popu- larity. They want to be part of "a crowd" so there is at least one place of relative security in a rapidly changing world. We are told by personnel people that university garduates — people in their early 20's, are becoming more concerned about pensions and fringe benefits each year. All of us try to plan our af- fairs — we think of a 'rainy day'. We all try to develop a feeling of security by acquiring more things. This same spirit of plan- ning pervades our economic and political philosophies today and so it must. We must plan the lo- cation of industries to prevent the hardship of dislocation — how important this is is realized in a dramatic way in this area right now. We don't want to see people suffer unnecessarily from care- less planning whether they're sick or disabled or laid off or what have you. In this same vein Jesus once used the example of a builder who started a tower without adequate planning—he was unable to finish. He used the story to illustrate the importance of counting the cost of our actions. So planning is required in every area of life. And yet we are reminded in this day of push button warfare that our very life itself hangs by a very thin thread — that any or all of our well planned security can be snuffed out in a second, We are reminded again and again by concrete events that there is no ultimate security in things. I believe that it is a false hope to expect ultimate security in plans, in money, in things — as one man put it "the best laid plans of mice and men" etc. For this reason, I believe Jesus was quite right when he spoke to the rich farmer who did all sorts of planning but forgot to prepare himself for the one certain, un- avoidable event —his own demise. It seems unnecessary to add that Jesus called him a fool. It seems to me that, despite the inroads made by easy com- munications and transportation, the ancient mistrust between ru- ral dweller and city dweller is still very much alive. Each feels that the other is out to skin him at the first opportunity. Each ex- presses it in scorn for the other's way of life. "I wooden live in the siddy if ya gimme the whole lousy mess on a silver platter," snorts your smalltown neighbor. This statement, echoed from coast to coast, is usually fol- lowed by a bitter diatribe against "city living." High rents, crippl- ing taxes, heavy traffic, smog and unfriendliness come under the gun. Cost of living draws com- ments like, "Costs ya a buck every time ya blow yer nose." And what does the smug subur- banite think of the country? "Ya, I KNOW it's nice in the summer up north there, but wuddaya do all WINTER in that dump?" There's no use in pointing out that you do exactly what he does: work, play, bring up your family, try to pay your bills, and get so soon old, so late smart. On most matters, I take a stand. But in the denunciation of the other fellow's mode of life, I take two stands. The first, is gentle agreement with my smalltown friends. I go along with the belligerent argu- ment that the city is no place to live; that I'd hate to battle that traffic everyday; that living is cheaper in a smaller centre; that our air is a lot cleaner; that it's wonderful to live within five mi- nutes of fishing, curling, golf and friends. And when I'm listening to some old buddy who lives in the city and loves it, I nod sagely when he deClares the city is an exciting place to live; that it's wonderful to take in all the shows and concerts; that it's grand to go out for an exotic meal in a fascinating place, with gO-go girls and stuff; that the small town doesn't provide the same cultural opportunities for your kids. Privately, I chuckle at both points of View. Both are full of contradictions. The point appears to be that we are called to plan our spiritual lives too. It is as we begin to do so that we start to see the tem- porary, fleeting, changeable na- ture of all our other planning. We begin to see that you can't buy ultimate security at any price because you can never have enough. I believe the frantic search for an infallible pope, an infallible church, an infallible book which will provide spiritual security is a futile search. I believe rather that we are called to live by faith in God. I believe it is pos- sible to face all events in hope using all the insights from all the disciplines of all knowledge and life that are available to us. I believe it is possible to know the One who can and does work all things out according to His purpose One who is a refuge and a source of strength — a very present help in trouble. For this reason in the midst of all the insecurity of life it is still possible to say, "Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed and though the moun- tains be carried into the midst of the sea" — and that is now aphy- sical possibility! The writer of those words of- fered no analysis of his trouble— he offered no gimmick, he offer- ed no solution. What he does do is confront us with a monumental truth — Our God is an ever pre- sent source of strength in every situation. Too often when things go awry for us our first reaction is one of doubt, mistrust, and the feel- ing that we've been cheated. A different response is seen in this story about a plague of locusts in South Africa. It shows the pos- sibility of a creative response to difficulty. These vast insect hordes came in cycles. When the locusts poured over the land each landowner would rush out to try and drive the horde away. It was useless. On they came. Where once his fields waved verdant expressions of his invested lab- our and hopes, tangible evidence of his sustenance — the devastat- ed ground became barren and stripped. Gorged, the insects died. They piled up in windrows as high as his windows. The broken man does one thing he rushes out to plow those insects into the ground. And from the plowing, from the bodies of those enemies will come the greatest crop he has ever known. As one man put it, he finds the year of the locust which God promised in Joel 2:25: "I will restore to you the year that the locust hath eaten". That is the quiet and confident assurance we need In every situation. In that faith we face the future. The city fellow claims there's no privacy in a small town. Every old biddy in town knows your busi- ness. The smalltown chap ex- plodes, "Privacy] How can you have privacy in the city when you're stuffed into a crowded apartment building, or living on a two-by-four lot beside people you don't like who have horrible kids?" The smalltown fellow raves about the mythical "rat-race" in the city. And goes out and roars around in service clubs and fra- ternal organizations and athletic clubs and church groups at a rate no city rat could stand for a month. The myths multiply. The city stands for culture. And in a city of a million, theatres are half empty, concerts play to small crowds, good restaurants go broke, a few hundred attend art exhibitions. The small town stands for recreation and good living. And in a small town, one-tenth of two per cent of the population is revelling in that fishing, hunting and so on that's at the front door. The rest are doing what the city folks do: drink; chase women or men, or sit around watching the slop on the moron machine. When we drive to the city, as we do almost every Saturday for the daughter's music lesson, the whole business is brought into perspective for me, on the un- likely site of a four-lane high- way. Down to the city, on one stream pour the thousands of smalltown folk going in for a day to shop, take in a show, slid( up some fast cul- ture. Up from the city, in the other stream, pour the thousands of people going north for the skiing or the fishing or the swimming or the scenery, They don't even wave to each Other, If it's so great at home, why don't they stay there? And do you 'know what they say when they get home after the weekend? "Boy, it's nice to be herne, It was a great weekend, but I sure wooden wanna live in the (olty-Country)."Please underline the right word. Ole motes opinion By Job» stooto• Security