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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1970-03-12, Page 4OUR POINT OF VIEW Someone has to pay The area's horse enthusiasts descended on RAP in large numbers this week, but failed to get many concessions from the local committee as far as rental fees are concerned, Members of the Pony Club, Saddle Club and Mid-Western Rodeo Committee voiced objection over the recent rental fee set by RAP, but with the exception of the rodeo group, all figures were left unchanged following Monday's meeting. • Many of those most vociferous in their opposition to the rental rates were not residents of Exeter, and this may explain one of the reasons why they apparently fail to realize the large cost involved in maintaining the facilities operated by RAP, which is supported by the taxpayers in Exeter. People have to be hired to cut the grass, pick up debris and supervise the activities. The facilities have to be maintained and recent repairs to the grandstand and the pending costs of washroom facilities at the grandstand indicate sizeable expenditures in that regard. Obviously, someone has to pay this cost, and in recent years all aspects of Exeter's park and recreation program has been geared to making each program as close to self-sustaining as possible. It's difficult to argue with that policy. Those using the facilities should pay their fair share so that it does not become a burden on those who make no use of the facilities whatever, In a day and age when we are supposedly becoming more youth-oriented, RAP has stuck to a rather "old-fashioned" system whereby youngsters wishing to play hockey or take figure skating or ballet instruction are expected to pay a large portion of the costs involved in that opportunity. That system has apparently not denied any area youngsters access to these programs. In the past, the horse enthusiasts have not generally been charged, primarily because they were just. getting off the ground; and secondly, because many of the facilities required by them were in fact provided by them That was fair. But now that the facilities are available, the groups should be prepared to help meet the other costs involved in the operation of the parks facilities they use, If they feel the rental_ fees are too great, the clubs in question should present facts and figures to back up their arguments. For the Saddle Club to merely say they lost $100 last year is not enough. They should indicate to RAP the costs involved for each member of the group so RAP can determine that the operation of the club and the new rental fees will in fact be an undue burden on the members. At Monday's meeting, many speakers outlined the need for more communication between RAP and groups involved in the use of local facilities. We suggest the onus is on the horse enthusiasts to start communicating with RAP. As outlined elsewhere, much of the discussion at this week's meeting centred around the fact the Saddle Club will be unable to hold their annual Quarter Horse show at the local grounds because the facilities have been rented by RAP to a campers' association. Our position on that matter has been unchanged. It was most unfortunate, but the Saddle Club must share the blame with RAP for not having reserved the weekend. Dr. Don Ecker's claim that the Saddle Club took no action because one of their members was advised by Reeve Derry Boyle that it was of little use to try and switch the date of the camping event, is hardly valid. That may well have been Reeve Boyle's opinion of the situation, but surely members of the club know that no one man makes decisions for any group on which he sits. Revolt in the kindergarten Much of the trouble in schools and colleges may be traceable to the fondness of parents. Many parents are unable not to spoil the child. By the time the child gets old enough to go to school, to college, to university, to vote, he is too old to punish. Being too old to punish means that he can get away with almost anything on the campuses or elsewhere. Sometimes he gets away, literally, with murder. These comments are not in any way contradictory to the statement of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials and others that much of the disorder is the work of malignant interests out to destroy government and injure the nation. Although the imported malefactors are not necessarily the instigators of the trouble, they are certainly willing at all times to help it along. If parents exercise some discipline in the early years, if they refrain from criticizing teachers and others who are trying to run a good school, it is possible that many school troubles that start out perhaps as larks may never get beyond the lark stage. (The Printed Word). Remesdet de 60'a? One of the oddities of the past decade was the fact the Lake Huron village of Grand Bend required water. In early 1961, drilling equipment was moved onto the beach by the OWRC to determine if there was a suitable supply. Test holes were drilled in several spots along the lake but the required base for a good water supply was not found. At the end of the decade Grand Bend started getting water right where people knew it was all along — out in the lake. They hooked onto the OWRC system. Inspecting the drilling rig above are members of the 1961 council, Earl Datars, Stewart Webb and Emerson Desjardin e. Moving in righ t direc tion Times Established 18/3 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND 0.W.N,A., CLASS 'A' and ABC EditOr — Bill Batten Advertising Manager Phone 235.1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Nurnber 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation, September 30, 1969, 4,751 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $6.00 Per Year; USA 58.00 4t:f, 1,P3 t'ri%r2i-iis 1i • ;,:, . ld 111111 The Reduction up to 50% R EG. $59.95 Special 41" 20.75 SAMSONITE LUGGAGE REG. Now REG. Now $27.95... Only 42.35 $25.95... Only PLEASING YOU PLEASES US AT 4.110108001.0108101111•11 BLYTH ONTARIO 523.459$ OUR FIRST TIME EVER CLEARANCE OF COATS SUEDE LEATHER - SOME IMPORTED 519-523-4595 OPEN 9:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. DAILY INCLUDING SATURDAYS Wilson's Jewellery OPPOSITE EXETER POST OFFICE Only 3 Days Left To Take Advantage of Our 110th Anniversary I Specials 207 All Watches OFF And Luggage Here Are A Few Examples From Our Stock WALTHAM WATCHES ENICAR WATCHES R EG. $49.95 Specie 39" •46.. - "gab- - VICTORIA and GREY TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1889 ................................ ;'• H & 1 Arrow Gas Bar Everybody needs a glow-on Beginning of March, and our neighbours still have their outside Christmas tree lights glowing. Glowing with rage? Glowing with passion? No, they're just glowing because the snow is so deep they can't get out to unplug them. But glowing is something there should be more of, especially in the miserable month of March, There must be something in this sad, rotten, mixed-up wonderful world to glow about. Let's find it, you and I together. So, what glows? The sun. People. If the sun, or people, cease to glow they're dead Ashes. Dust. Just as our neighbors' Christmas tree lights are still glowing because they can't get at them for snow, our spirits, and yours, I hope, are glowing because they, too, are still plugged in, and no amount of snow and ice is going to stop them from casting their light. There's always something to glow about, though at times our light seems to be hidden. Our daughter is not as sick as she seemed. She's sicker. Unglow. But my sister, and all her aunts, and Earl Munroe of London, Ont., with whose sister Jean I was madly in love in Grade 6, and Mrs. Rhoda Beal of Weyburn, Sask., have written or called, to express their alarm and concern. And one of her old teachers, and a neighbor, both sent her a rose. Glow. And Kim feels great one day, and full of beans and plans and smiles. Glow. And that very evening she's completely pooped and utterly depreMed. Unglow. And my wife, after 20 years of worrying and sweating about the kids (unglow) because they don't have any life insurance, has finally decided that it's high time she started worrying and sweating about me. Glow. There are all sorts of things to turn off and on about, besides belated Christmas tree lights. There's the state of your health, for example. If you can get along on anything less than all fours, you're in business. Ask any arthritic. There's the state of your mind. If you have an IQ of 80, relax. It's probably higher than any mark you ever got in school. If you have an IQ of 150, relax. Who needs it in this push-button world?. And then there's your spiritual life. If you believe that God saw the little sparrow fall, bully for 'you. And if you wonder why He didn't do something about it, you've got plenty of company. And, of course, there's pollution? the poor man's Communism. It's the capitalism of the 1970s. Everybody 15 Our recent editorial comments about the press not being notified of special meetings of Exeter council resulted in a brief discussion of the situation at last week's meeting. The matter was broached by, Councillor Helen Jermyn, who opined that perhaps the ratepayers deserved an explanation of the situation in view of our comments. While the ensuing discussion did not result in any formal motions being presented, we were cheered by the fact most members appeared to be of the opinion that the press should be invited to all council meetings. Tom MacMillan pointed out that a rather bad situation had come up in the past when an item of business got blown out of proportion because the press had to rely on second hand information rather than being able to report the facts as they had been discussed at a special meeting. Reeve Derry Boyle suggested the main problem was in the fact that members neglected to inform the press of special meetings and in fact there was no intent to discuss the matter behind closed doors. We'll subscribe to that theory, and hope future special meetings will be open to the press. An indication that things are moving in that direction already was evidenced by the fact we were invited to a special meeting of council following their dinner meeting with the town's appointed officials on WednesdaI night. * During the debate on closed meetings, Mrs. Jermyn read us the following quotation from a recent issue of Municipal World, a magazine providing information for those involved in municipal administration. The quote was as follows: "There is no common law right of an inhabitantor ratepayer to have disclosed to him all available information relating to the affairs of a municipality. Subject to statute, the giving of such information rests entirely in the discretion of the local authority". Our thoughts on the rights of the press were slightly shattered against it. Except the big industries? the hydro and govern- ment and the town that Wants a new industry at any cost. No-glow. And there's inflation. This produces a very definite glow, especially among the middle class. Some of them are glowing so brightly they're apt to blow a fuse. But there's always the Just Society, Just what, and just Where, and just when, have yet to be resolved, but there's no question that we have a Just Society, Just as long as you're in the $20,000 to $30,000 bracket. No definitely, glow. We all glow occasionally. Let's try to glow a little brighter. But anybody who glows 511 the time should take a cold shower. Sometimes my wife is sad. Sometimes she IS wonderful. And Sometimes she just plain glows. That's the best. 'fry it. for a moment, until we determined that the quote was dealing specifically with the matter of inspection of municipal records. There are, naturally, certain documents to which the inspection of the public is of necessity restricted and in some cases no inspection can be demanded. In that category fall such things as interdepartmental correspondence, certain documents relating to assessing, certain types of information from the solicitor, etc. These limitations do not include any information obtained by attendance at public meetings, which of course, council meetings are. While suggesting to Mrs. Jermyn that the quote she used did not really pertain to the matter of the press not being notified of special meetings, we marked another quotation in the same article for her perusal. It was as follows: "The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them . . * Mrs. Jermyn didn't do much 50 YEARS AGO Mr. Fred White has opened a new grocery store in connection with his confectionary, in Dashwood. On Monday, Match 8th, an official opening was held in the new Win chelsea School, Usborne. Mrs. Josh. Johns read the Declaration and gave an interesting and beneficial address on Education, Mr. H. Bierling, who has been conducting a general store business in Exeter north on Tuesday, sold the business to Mr. J. C. McKinley, of Varna, who is an experienced man and who gets possession on April 1st. Mrs. B. W. F. Beavers attended a W.C.T.U. meeting at Zurich in conjuncture with a meeting held by Miss Morton, evangelist, who has been holding meetings in that town for the past week. Messrs, S. Martin and Son are renovating the store premises. 25 YEARS AGO Mr. Owen Atkinson, of Grand Bend, has purchased the residence of the late William Andrew On William St. Cpl. Donald Winer has completed his tour of overseas duty and is leaving India for Canada where he will arrive early in April. A number of Stephen and Usborne township roads were opened up for the first time since the beginning of the year. The water has been running a foot deep over Highway 83 at the Black Creek. 15 YEARS AGO Monday night's fire caused more than $40,000 damage to the Hyde Tractor and Combine Co., of Hensel!. Most of the loss is eovered by insurance. tusinessrtien in Exeter are for the cisi. presented by those of us who question the benefits of the Good Roads Association convention. While admitting she didn't learn much about roads, her comments on some of the other topics discussed at the event did indicate that any dialogue among municipal councillors does benefit this community if they return with new information or insight into the work which they perform on behalf of the ratepayers. However, we may suggest that membership on the roads committee may not be a criteria on which one's attendance at the convention is based if in fact little is gained in the way of information on roads. Some question about the validity of the convention could be raised in view of Mayor Delbridge's comments that the bull sessions "are no damn place for a lady". This is especially true when Mrs. Jermyn indicated that she was informed that this was the place to go to get the answers. The situation suggested by the — Please turn to page 5 protesting the proposed change in train schedule which will affect mail delivery here. Canadian National Railways has announced the new time table will take affect on Monday, March 14. Exeter Lions Club launched campaigns this month in aid of two of the nations best-known welfare organizations — the Canadian Red Cross and the Ontario Society for Crippled Children. Michael Farrow was guest pianist at the Sunday afternoon musicale held in conjuncture with the Spanish art exhibit in the McIntosh building of U,W.O. He played the Hungarian Fantasy by Litz. Mrs. W. D. Sanders, Miss Harriet Knipe, Mrs. John Ferguson and Mrs. C, E. Zurbrigg left for St. Petersburg, Florida, on Monday. 10 YEARS AGO George E. Rether, town, has been appointed manager of the snack bar and catering concession at RCAF Station, Clinton. His appointment will take effect later this month. Thieves were foiled in their attempt Wednesday to rob an Ottawa bank, managed by a native of Exeter, Marvin Howey. Exeter Public School board learned Friday night that it may be necessary to establish two kindergarten classes in September. Laird Joynt, native of Hensall, has been elected to the board of directors of the Canadian Kodak Co, lie has served as treasurer of the firm for some years. Patients of South Huron Hospital are being entertained by the two portable T.V. sets donated by Exeter Kinsmen last week at their tenth anniversary banquet. And Variety _ . Variety Now Open. At Corner Of Highway 4 and Huron Park Sideroad OPEN UNTIL 10:00 P.M. EACH NIGHT PHONE nfi-OM want a home? get a mortgage loan! A high value first mortgage loan bn a residential or improved farm property will cost you less than you think— and you can arrange for convenient payments to write it off If the property is a good risk (and our experienced mortgage people will be glad to advise you), don't let nioney stand in your way. Just 'phone Victoria and Grey.