Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-09-08, Page 4Need solution in 10 months. A calm centre Not as bad as color slides VteereferZinteditatasocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND Member: C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A., C.C.N.R. and ABC Publishers: J. M. Southcott, R. Me Southcott Editor: Bill Batten Advertising Manager: Val Baltkalns Phone 235-1331 Labour Day generally signals the end of the summer tourist season, and while it often comes all too quickly for some people in Grand Bend, this year will possibly be an exception. While the first part of the season was one of the best on record at the resort, the mob outbreaks that punctu- ated the last month hurt many busi- nesses. However, the prime question to be answered is how it will affect fu- ture summers. There appear to be many residents in the resort who have buried their head in the sand in regard to the out- breaks. Some say they were not seri- ous, while others blame sensational re- porting for all the troubles. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The outbreaks were serious in- deed, and while some sensational re- porting may have cropped up, it could in no way be faulted for having started the trouble. The answer does not lie in break- ing the cameras of the visiting press, nor in stating that the trouble does not exist or saying it should be cleared up by others. It's Grand Bend's problem and few businesses can afford having holi- dayers run out of town every night on a busy weekend. Obviously, some solu- tion must be found, and it should be found before next summer. In order to find a solution, the reasons must first be determined. These no doubt are numerous. First there is the general problem of the growing lawlessness of youth every- where and their lack of respect for police. There's the fact that the main "attraction" in Grand Bend for many is booze. And, the resort is a place where they can get away from parental control and let their hair down. While it is quite correct to say that Grand Bend does not foster the attitudes shown by these young people, they do inherit them, and are thereby stuck with them unless some solution is found. This is a matter of utmost im- portance to the resort, for one more summer similar to the past could be ruinous. Some suggestions have already been forwarded for improvement, and some of these are good and some are not. However, they do form a basis for further discussion. Throughout the coming winter months, the topic should be given prime attention. Civic officials, along with service clubs, the Chamber of Commerce and provincial law enforce- ment officials should conduct a com- prehensive study into the entire situa- tion and see what steps can be taken to avoid further outbreaks. Grand Bend's future could well rest in the outcome. Don't they believe in it? Mountain ranges near Vancouver, B.C. 7‘.e 444 deotelad By Val Baltkalns curb—the telephone, the calendar and the clock. But we will not get anywhere blaming our lack of calm or the presence of tension on such things. We are often tense even when all the physical conditions are perfect. My own tens ion is often the direct result of worrying over past mistakes or future fears. When I can't sleep its not because I've been busy but it's because I'm rehashing something I should have done differently. Or it's because my mind is running on to the dreams, the hopes and the fears of what lies ahead—not just tomorrow but years from now. At such times it helps to hear Jesus saying that there's enough trouble in one day without bor- rowing more. It also helps to hear Paul say, "This one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind". He had a lot of things which must have been hard to forget. He must have known great tension and great pressure. He had ex- perienced radical spiritual change. He was constantly meet- ing new people and new situations. He was constantly drawn into local squabbles and divisions— they are reflected in his letters and were a constant source of tension in the early church as they still are. He was again and again thwarted in what he wanted to do by weather and shipping sched- ules and legal complications. On top of this he was plagued by physical health problems. He was expected to be a preacher, a teacher, a healer and a cor- respondent to all he met. So we know that simplicity and calmness are not the result of physical circumstances. They do not require that life be rustic or urban, rich or poor, married or single. What is required is to live full out one day at a time in the assurance that we can leave our past and our future In the hands of God. I invite you to forget those things which keep you tied to the past and obscure the life to be enjoyed now. I invite you to turn over your anxiety about the future and find the calm centre. As the movie title has It, "It's A Mad, Mad World". Because of the blanket coverage of the mass communication media we are bombarded with, news of the prob- lems, the natural disasters and the insoluble dilemmas of the whole world. Because oftheomnipresent transistor radio, the ever- blaring T. V, set and the potential time bomb of the telephone we seldom experience silence any more. If there is one thing which sticks out when we rural types visit the big cities it is the constant rush, roar and constant din. But even in our small town and rural areas life has changed. Many of our homes are noise centres—silence even here has become scarce. A summer tourist tells of visit- ing with a group of native Ver- monters who sat for an hour without saying a word. Finally the tourist asked, "Is it against the law to talk around here"? To which one old man replied, "No, but there's an understanding that no one's to speak unless he is sure he can improve on the silence". One direct outgrowth of our lack of respect for silence—one direct outgrowth of increasing mechanization, increasing tech- nological change and a faster pace all round—is a dangerous rise in tension. This is dangerous not only physically and mentally—and we are learning more about what tension means in terms of heart disease and mental breakdown. But it is also dangerous spirit- ually. When we are habitually nervous or tense—always under the gun, always under pressure, always on stage, always living with a sense of foreboding, our faith is not a really vital factor in our lives. Sure involvement in the debates and problems around us is a basic part of faith. But inner calm—a calm centre—is equally important and in the type of world we live in an absolutely essential mark of faith, Edward Markham once de- scribed a great storm in these terms: "At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky and fling- ing the clouds and the towers by is a place of central calm. As Dr. Norman Vincent Peale com- ments, "If even a cyclone derives its power from a calm centre, so do we as individuals". Dr. Peale says that he heard a wise man say that there are three kinds of killers abroad in the land which neither the police nor the F.B.I. have been able to position to the "recommend- ations" of his committee. Failure of council to support his committee would have proven very embarrassing, but he prob- ably would have found the easy escape route by blaming "the press" for all his troubles. This newspaper supports wholeheart- edly the opinions expressed by Exeter's Reeve Derry Boyle and Stephen Reeve Jim Hayter, that Toronto should come up with some answers for them. The callous comment by N. W. Timmerman, Ontario director of EMO, that it is "Huron County's problem," and his refusal to discuss the matter, point up the great conflict in EMO. Huron's thought of dropping out should have represented a real "emer- gency" for Mr. Timmerman and his de- partment and he apparently decided to go bury his head in the sand. That's hardly the way we should expect an EMO official to act in an emergency. The department's willingness to allow Huron to withdraw with little pro- test also suggests that they have no firm convictions on the value of the program and indicates that the Lib- eral and NDP opposition to the Pro- gressive Conservative expenditure in this field was very warranted. If in fact the Ontario government and EMO officials have no faith in the program, we suggest they should cur- tail the entire operation. Huron County, having already made the decision, would serve their taxpayers' best interests by petitioning the two governments to get the whole program sacked. All they have done so far is reduce an already nominal cost to their ratepayers. We'll still have to contribute to 90% of the program throughout the country. However, if officials can still prove the value of EMO—and we think they can—then Huron County has dismissed the only man in the county who firmly believed in the program, and one who did a considerable amount of valuable work in spite of the apathy of the pub- lic and its elected officials. "Would you mind knocking off the `Hup, two, three, four'?" The decision by Huron County council to curtail the Emergency Meas- ures Organization comes as no great surprise because the program has met with less than enthusiasm from muni- cipal officials since it was instituted. This lack of interest by officials could be cited as one reason why the public never took any interest either, but we find it difficult to condemn them because this area has never been faced with any mammoth disaster that required the services of such a group. However, Co-ordinator Stuart Forbes is to be commended for the progress EMO has made in many areas and the resultant benefits to commu- nities. One of the most noteworthy is the establishment of Auxilary Police. Cer- tainly, this has been a real boon to Exeter and the use to which 'these men have been placed makes us wonder how we ever got along without them. There are other avenues too which have been developed by Forbes, al- though the benefit won't be derived until the need arises for the programs to be put into practice. That day may never come, and let us hope that it won't but surely the precautions that have been taken are of some benefit. The program cost Huron very lit- tle in direct payments, although the 90% grants received do come from the taxpayers. This makes it difficult to under- stand council's decision to curtail EMO and certainly the committee report last week didn't contain any valid reasons for dropping it. If there is as much trouble with the department in Toronto as discus- sion would indicate, this should have been straightened out, rather than tak- ing the easy route of merely giving up. A Ringo of truth ocracy, alright, and failure to do so smacks of dictatorships where a small minority have extreme powers. But, is that what Mr. Wonch and his committee did? Oh no! They were too busy drawing up some idiotic guidelines for "the press" to follow to spend any time thinking about their own responsibilities. The EMO committee were ap- parently so proud of their rec- ommendation they decided it was to no avail to bring it to the rest of council. We can just see them patting themselves on the back and racing for a typewriter to get this recommendation into effect. Into effect? Yes, that's exactly what they did! While telling "the press" that a recommendation can't be acted upon until council acceptance, they jumped full speed ahead into putting their recommendation into effect. On August 5, Co-ordinator Stuart Forbes received a letter from Clerk-TreasurerJohn Berry, stating that the committee had decided to considerably cur- tail the present EMO program and that his services would be terminated as of August 5. The committee went on to report to him that Mr. Berry had been appointed acting co-ordinator. Mr. Wonch failed to explain to council that his committee had assumed any dictatorial pow- ers when he reported at the special session; and he must have worked up a bit of a sweat when some members voiced op- The size of shoe worn by Clinton's Deputy-Reeve, George Wonch is of no particular in- terest, but it is amazing to know that he could so easily stick it in his mouth as he did at the special county council session last week. Mr. Wonch reeled off a blist- ering tirade against "the press", and was very wise in so doing. The fact is, he needed some avenue of escape so county coun- cillors wouldn't delve into the dictatorial powers assumed by his Emergency Measures com- mittee. He vigorously denied the fact there had been a secret report issued regarding EMO in Huron and then jumped up on a high pedestal to expound his know- ledge of democratic processes by explaining that all newspaper- men should know that the con- tents of a committee report should be treated as confiden- tial until dealt with by the entire council. In fact, Mr. Wonch even went so far as to explain that a com- mittee recommendation was just a recommendation, and d id n' t come into effect until approved by council. Once this has been done, he explained, the press could then state their opinions as to whether the recommend- ations were right or wrong. With some of that we will agree. Especially the part about a committee recommendation having no authority until approved by the entire council. That's the way it should be done in a dem- The Beatles, dead or alive, would not inveigle us across the street but we must agree (despite the denials) that what was said is more true than false. One of the scraggly headed noise- makers was quoted as saying the Beat- les are more popular than Jesus. He is 100% correct. We may not like it. We may not want to hear it said but look about you and you will agree that more young people around the entire globe know Ringo Star than the Saviour of the World. The Church is fighting a losing battle. The ecumenical movement, grasped so eagerly by all faiths is be- ing spurred as much by a common de- cline as a common aspiration. Not only is Christianity in trouble but Judaism is as well. We would im- agine that the Buddhists, Moslems, Con- fucionists and Hindus, in fact all the century-old faiths are declining in both membership and authority. Meantime the teenagers from Mos- cow to Melbourne, London to Lima and Rotterdam to Rangoon all know and jiggle to the Beatles or their counter- parts. The sadness is not so much in the shocking public statement as in the utter truth of the matter. — Sarnia Gazette 50 YEARS AGO W. S. Cole purchased Mr. R. G. Bedford's house on Huron St. when it was offered by auction. The price paid was $3,100. Miss Jean Seldon has entered Queen's University at Kingston for a four year course. Hon. W. M. Martin, an Exeter old boy, was selected yesterday to succeed Hon. Walter Scott as premier of Saskatchewan. Mechanical transport Driver Thomas Tapp, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Tapp, town, who enlisted in Winnipeg and has been at the front one and a half years, in on his way home on furlough. Titnes Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 15 YEARS AGO Some 260 pupils walked into a brand new public school at the housing site of RCAF Centralia, Wednesday. Nine teachers have been engaged under principal John Butler. Mr. and Mrs. William Sweitz- er have returned, home after spending July and August at Knotty Pine Hills, Grand Bend. Organization for a South Huron Music Festival this fall is well underway sponsored by the Hur- onia Male Chorus under direct- ress Mrs. H. L. Sturgis. It will be the first musical competition for some years. Officials of the Exeter Fall Fair are hoping to break records set at last year's exhibition. Last year's crowd of 4,000 was the largest ever seen in the com- munity park. We strenuously disagree with Mr. Wonch's remark that com- mittee recommendations should be kept confidential until dealt with by council, except in extreme instances. There is a great deal of value in making all committee reports open to the public before they come before council. The public have a right to know what legis- lation is being contemplated so they can inform their elected representatives of their opinions on the matters at hand. This may create headaches for some councillors, but as servants of the people they should consider this as one of their responsibil- ities. Mr. Wonch states that the press should only be able to com- ment after action has been taken by the entire council. "Then," he says, "the press can say whether they agree or not". How stupid! This affords no opportunity whatever for the public to make their opinions known to guide officials in making their decisions. Such a situation does little to foster the dem- ocratic process, and sometimes leaves elected officials in the position of having made a de- cision contrary to the 'Wishes of their constituents.Thatoften leads to short political careers. It is in the best interests of everyone if legislation that is being considered is made known to the 'public prior to enactment and on this basis, committee reports of all elected groups should be made available to the public before it goes to the entire body. This also gives other mem- bers of the group an opportunity to gather their facts and opinions on the planned legislation. We suggest Mr. Wonch should use his time to study up on his responsibilities as an elected official rather than attempting to dictate policies to "the press". LETTERS TT:E. EDITOR Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. p,111 AM W11.44 r Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Dep't, Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash Paid in Advance Circulation, March 31, 1966, 4,180 25 YEARS AGO Setting aside of the week of September 10-17 as a "week of reconsecration of the Canadian people to the democratic cause against Nazi tyranny "was an- nounced in Ottawa last week. C. V. Pickard has been ap- pointed the new clerk and trea- surer of Exeter as of October 1. He has rented the old post office building owned by E. Lindenfield to be fitted up as an office. Misses Ann Morgan, Eunice Gestricher, Dorothy Doug a 11, Elva McQueen and Norma Cook, graduates of Exeter High School, are attending London Nor m a 1 SchoOl. Mr. A. J. Sweitzer, local con- tractor, has been appointed man- ager of the Huron Lumber Co. He succeeds have Gordon who haS joined the RCAF. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $5.00 Per Year; USA $7.00 10 YEARS AGO Hensall public school faced overcrowded conditions as Prin- cipal Robert Raeburn reported a record enrollment of 174 — 14 more than the capacity of the school. William Moody, roads super- intendent in Usborne for 23 years, celebrated his ninetieth birthday Wednesday. Married women teachers have stepped into the breach and saved South Huron Schools from a criti- cal shortage of instruction staff, Graduates 'Of SHDHS training for the teaching profession are Judy Ross, Joan Gill, Faye Ford, Frances Brophey, Carole Thiel, Marilyn Marshall and Margaret schade. fi Dear Sir, The Elmer Summer Safety Con- test is over its eighth consecu- tive year and once again it was a resounding success. Children entering the contest demonstrated a thorough k h o w- ledge of the safety concept in- volved. Possession of this know- ledge indicates to us that parents and community agencies are do- ing an excellent job in teaching their children the art of safe living. We feel that the Elmer Contest plays an important part in keep- ing children reminded of traffic hazards during their summer — Please turn to page 5 Don't ask me what I'm doing in a hotel room in Calgary, writing this on a rented type- writer. The best-laid plans of men with stubborn wives gang aft agley. We should be at home right now, but get my wife and daughter into a posh hotel and the only way you can get them out is to call the management and tell them you have no money. Travel is supposed to be broad- ening. And it is. In the first place, you're sitting around on your tail most of the time—in planes, trains, buses and hotel rooms. Secondly, besides the lack of excercise, you eat too much and too often. Between the two, travel is definitely broadening. Travel is also exhilarating, expensive and exhausting. The best part is starting out on the trip. There's the excitement of anticipation: new scenes, new faces, new experiences. You're clothes are clean and fresh and pressed. You have every cent of available cash on your hip. The worst part is the tail end of it. The anticipation has turn- ed to satiation. You're feeling awful, whether it's constipation or piles or dire rear or just the fact that you're utterly bushed. Every rag you own is soiled and crumpled. And you are not only flat broke but you have signed a couple of cheques that are guaranteed pure India rubber. We've seen a fair chunk of the second largest country in the world, in the last few days. Jet liner to Vancouver. Back by train through the Rockies to Ed- monton. Day-liner (ugh!) to Cal- gary. Tomorrow off to Banff all day, back to catch the jet and into Toronto airport in the dawn's early light, after a 22-hour day and a couple of thousand miles. Yes, even the bourgeois are get- ting around these days. Now, I know there's nothing quite so dull as hearing about somebody else's holiday trip, So i won't bore you with a resume of ours. Except in the next two Or three columns, Must a few general impressions. I'm not sure Lake Superior is still there, as we were above cloud When We flew over where it was supposed to be, Nice cloud, though. The prairies are very wide. Also long. But don't expect a sea of waving wheat, like in the novels. From 33,000 feet, it's the same old patchwork quilt as else- where. Furthermore, those of us who don't live there have been getting a bum steer for years. There isn't supposed to be any water out there, but when you look down, they're crawling with lakes. The Rockies? Very rocky. Also high. Lots of high rocks there. No, what made me gasp was the thought of the early birds. First, the explorers like McKenzie and Thompson, who fought and star- ved their way through that mas- sive, menacing wall 200 years ago, with a sack of pemmican, a few Indians and a canoe. How their lips must curl, those early birds, as they look down and see us rolling through in 10 hours, and hear us complaining about the lack of space in our compartment, the lack of variety in our meals, and the slow service in the bar. West coast? Very coast-like. Good deal of shore-line. And water. Chief attraction, of course, including magnificent mountains, gorgeous gardens and salubrious sea-air, was harassed Hugh, son and heir. Met his boat, with great ex- citement, As luck would have it, in fact, as luck always has it, we couldn't have met him on a worse day. Normally, he has 10 hours off. But this week, he was changing from day shift to night, and had to work a double shift, so he had three hours off. His mother's face fell a foot. Working 16 hours a day, he had a twitch like an old fighter pilot. But it hadn't impaired his appetite, I noticed, when I was paying the bill for dinner. He left with a big grin and one of my best shirts. Well, here we are, running out of space, and I haven't even begun to tell you about how Kim fell in love with the lifeguard in Edmonton, or how my wife fell asleep on all the sight- seeing tours or how I fell into the lap of a nun when the train was swaying in the RockleS. Oh, well, at least I haven't made you look at colored slides.