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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1971-01-21, Page 4The matter of welfare and unemployment has been a prime topic of conversation during the past year, with increasing numbers of people being in both categories. Welfare costs in most area communities more than doubled, meaning that it is a matter which effects most taxpayers, whether they are directly involved or not. With this in mind, we can't help but give some support to the contention of a Mount Albert lawyer, John Medcaf, who recently wrote a letter to most newspapers to suggest that it's time for an Ontario Job Corps. Here's the point he made: With government policy creating unemployment and increasing automation, many unemployed are out of work through no fault of their own. There are, at the same time, thousands of worthy projects in Ontario. Parks need upkeep. Roads need maintenance and cleanups. Man-made dustbowls and abandoned farms need reforestation. Community centers and facilities need improvements, while governments waste millions in welfare to keep healthy men idle. This is folly for the taxpayer and unhealthy for those on the dole. Ontario now makes grants to municipalities, but the situation gets steadily worse. The Province should assume all welfare costs and establish an Ontario job corps. All able-bodied unemployed could be given work at the Provincial minimum wage till economic conditions improve and they can get better paying jobs elsewhere. The money would be spent on welfare anyway; the taxpayers will get something for their taxes; the jobless can have some work and we can abolish welfare for the able-bodied. More fortuate than some News of industrial opportunities in this area has been mixed in the past month or so. On the bright side is the announcement of the establishment of Bell Aerospace at Grand Bend and Huron Air Parks Limited at Huron Park. The former will employ up to 70 persons by the end of the year and company executives have indicated that "if all goes well" there will be jobs for up to 300 persons within five years. While the numbers to be employed by Huron Air Parks Limited will be comparatively small, the establishment of commercial air service in this area could well encourage future industrial and commercial development. It's the type of service many companies require when they locate in any particular area. The news of these two new firms is tempered to an extent by the recent announcement that one of the firms at Huron Park, Space-Paklnternational,is in financial trouble, and that Custom Trailers Ltd. in Exeter has been forced to lay-off several employees. However, the latter situation is "seasonal" in nature and full production is expected to resume come spring. On the whole, the ups are better than the downs on the area business scene and that's something that should make us feel fortunate, because it is not that way in other parts of this country, where. the downs are greater than the ups. Being a 'rat' was big deal 000000000000000000000 I 00000000000 it 000 memsmielliosi 0000000000 0000000 mums!' 00000000000000000000000000000 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation, September 30, 1970, 4,675 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $6,00 Per Year; USA $8.00 3132!A: 01112121112421tro11212 on this kit when you buy a case of ESSO SNO-TRAC engine oil. This handy Esso grease gun kit, which has a suggested retail price of $8.50, is available for only $4.95 when you buy a case of ESSO SNO-TRAC engine oil. Specially formulated for snowmobiles, SNO-TRAC cuts down spark plug fouling so you can enjoy faster starts, smoother idling and full power. Pick up a case.of SNO-TRAC today and get this Esso'6 rease gun kit complete with cartridges. F.J. Lankamp AGENT Phone Exeter 235-2380 •••••••••rwwwwwww...... PRODUCE U.S. No. 1 Head Lettuce Florida No. 1 Grapefruit (large size) 48's each 29° 12/69° Mir Liquid Detergent 24 oz. Nabob Roasted Coffee (6c off pac) Garden Patch Cream Style Corn 14 oz. tin Ocean King Cohoe Salmon Libby's Tomato Juke 2/69° 1 lb. pkg. 89° 2 /3 7° 49 29° 7 3/4 oz. tin 48 oz. tin STORE HOURS Mon, - Thurs. 8 . 6 Friday 8 - 9 Saturday 8 - 7 WALLY'S MARKET Main St, 238.2512 Grand Bend Fresh Lean 6 oz. vac pac vac pac Beef, Pork or Chicken 2 pie pkg. 49' 59' 49' 49' 39' Chicken Legs Pot Roast Schneiders Cooked Ham Schneiders Red Hot Wieners Schneiders Pies Hurting own cause There's been very little interest shown to date locally on t h e upcoming convention of the Progressive . Conservatives who will name their new. leader :and our new Premier next month. The convention would appear to afford the PC's an excellent opportunity to stimulate new interest and activity in politics — and particularly their own party — but they have as yet failed to do that. From across Ontario come complaints that riding executive members are hand-picking their delegates and alternates without giving the party faithful any say in who will be in Toronto to pick the new leader. Even more discouraging are the reports that delegates are being picked on the basis of being persons who riding executives or sitting members know will support their choices for the leadership. While politics is a dizzying game at times, it appears strange that those who have supported the party over the years will have no say in picking delegates, let alone any say in picking the new leader. A riding meeting to name delegates would have stimulated considerable interest in the proceedings and possibly brought new vigor to the party when many are now seriously considering alternate choices. Deadline for display advertising is 12 NOON TUESDAYS Interesting suggestion Accounting for a black eye Ray Argyle, the chap who syndicates this column, has written for about the fourth time asking for a new picture of yours truly to head up the column. For various reason, none of them worth the powder, I haven't got around to having my "portrait" taken. But I don't blame him. The old one does not do me justice. There's scarcely a hint of the bags under my eyes. There's little suggestion that I'm gray as an old billy-goat. The deep lines of suffering nearly twenty-five years of domestic warfare just are not there. However, I have a good reason for not having a picture taken for a couple of weeks, at least. I have a black eye. That is, It was black. Then blue. Then purple. It's now a sort of mauve, shading into yellow. I haven't had such a dandy since 1944, when some German guards gave me a going-over for being imprudent. That time it was both eyes. In fact, the first time I got a look in a mirror after the beating, I could have been mistaken for a fairly scruffy rainbow. There's nothing quite so embarrassing as a black eye. It arouses the worst — in other people. Loud and clear, "What happened to you, Smiley? Wife beat you up again?" And so on. Those inane remarks. To people who ask that, I reply tersely, "Yes." They don't know where to go from there. But to those who seem genuinely concerned, I try to find some more exotic reason, something to make them think I'm a devil of a fellow. This one happened during the holidays. To the first few who came sniffing around, looking for scandal, I tried this gambit: "Do you realize that the cork from a champagne bottle can penetrate the plaster of a ceiling? Next time you open one, be sure the cork is pointing at someone else's eye." That shook them a bit, and they went away shaking their heads in admiration. Or something. To the next few curious, I remarked offhandedly that I'd had a fight with a cop on New Year's Eve, that he was still in hospital, and that I had to face charges as soon as he was released. They didn't really believe me, after a scathing look at my 142 pounds of pure suet, but they weren't sure. "He was just a little cop", I added. "I kicked him right in the gall bladder." When this palled on me, I swore I'd had a brawl with the paper boy when he said I owed him for two weeks and I said one. "He's a big paper boy. For the ladies, I use a different technique. I tell them that this lady took a violent crush on me at a party, that I was holding her Are the days of the "rink rat" to be numbered in Exeter? It would appear so from an announcement last week that the local Kinsmen club was interested in purchasing a power machine to scrape and flood the local ice surface. In these affluent times, there probably won't be any great opposition from the local rink rats about the prospect of being put out of work by automated equipment, but there was a day when any such move would have been strenuously opposed. Those were the times when attaining the position of a rink rat was difficult and one had to perform his duties quite conscientiously because there was always a long waiting list for any vacancies that may arise. The biggest benefit for a rink rat was free admission to skating and hockey games. When a lad's allowance had to be carefully budgeted, the free admission often provided some of the luxuries one's cohorts had to be denied, such as a chocolate bar or a bag of popcorn. Scraping ice was usually done with one's skates on, arid before and after the work period, there was an excellent opportunity to exhibit one's prowess on the blades before a group of hockey spectators. The ice, of course, wasn't flooded between periods, so a few ripples of snow caused by a speedy shift with the scraper didn't cause any great problems. Another of the big benefits came following the particular activity at which one was serving. Within reason, the rink rats were given an opportunity to get out their hockey sticks and enjoy a game of shinney before the ice was given a flooding for the night and this often aided in a budding puckster getting a bit more practice to keep ahead of his team mates who weren't fortunate enough to be on the rink rat list. gently, patting her back and trying to quench her unrequited passion, when her vicious, jealous husband hit me right in the eye, right over her shoulder, with my hands tied up. They raise an eyebrow, sometimes two, but I can hear them muttering together and sneaking glances at me from the other end of the room. To others, I relate that I was arm-wrestling with my daughter, and when she found I was winning, she punched me in the left eye with her left fist. Which she would. I have lots of others. Hit my eye on the rear-view mirror when I collided with a snow-mobile and everyone else suffered terrible lacerations. Struck my eye on the end of the handle of the snow-shovel when I had my first coronary. Bumped head-on into the cat when we were both crawling around under the bed, looking for her. But I will never, never resort to that oldie about running into a door. I've run into plenty of doors and other objects, in my life. But it's a pretty cheap way of accounting for a black eye. I swear my wife didn't do it. She was so ill through the holidays she couldn't have given a goldfish a black eye. What's your version? Drop a line. rAkE friV A PV sr,4 y oFF; 7W/N CE pulling weeds and there are now powered rock pickers. One could go on at great length listing the part-time jobs that have disappeared, and while a few new ones have emerged, they are certainly less plentiful than they were 15 or 20 years ago. As stated, this situation demands that our programs for young people be constantly reviewed to ascertain that they have activities required to keep .healthy, active minds and bodies. And, it also indicates that the weekly allowance to be doled out will be on the increase, and with three growing lads facing us at the dinner table each day, that's a thought at which we shudder. * Friday morning we attended an inquest in the upstairs of the Exeter town hall, and despite the low temperatures and snow outside, we couldn't help but wonder if it wouldn't have been more comfortable sitting outside than it was in. Most of those in attendance sat with their overcoats and overshoes still on, and yet many were obviously chilled. Those of us who were attempting to write found it a little difficult with numbed fingers. The point is, the upstairs at the Exeter town hall is not fit for any type of gathering in the cooler months of the year, and we think would-be users should be so advised. 15 YEARS AGO Charles MacNaughton, manager of Jones, MacNaughton Seeds Ltd., Exeter, led a discussion group on "Let's take stock of the seed industry" at the annual meeting of the Ontario Soil and Crop Inprovement Association in Toronto, January 24-27. Kirkton Community Association, sponsors of the famous Garden Party, will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a birthday banquet February 10. Simob Nagle, Exeter, Bantam's star goal tender, scored his third shut-out of the season Tuesday night when the locals blanked Hensall 7-0. Joan Thomson, top graduate and queen of SHDHS and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Thomson, has been awarded a $400 bursary from the Atkinson Foundation in Toronto. She is now a student at Macdonald Hall, Guelph. Norman Jones, eight year veteran of Hensall Council has announced he will be a candidate for reeve to fill the post left vacant by the death of William Parke last week. 10 YEARS AGO Curlers at RCAF Station, Centralia set aside their saws and hammers, picked up their brooms and enjoyed themselves when their new curling rink was officially opened Monday. Clarence Down, RR 1 Hensall, was elected chairman of the Ontario Vegetable Growers Marketing Board. Barbara Parker, 19-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Parker, Exeter, was chosen Miss Western Ontario CAPPAC of 1961 at the annual meeting of the photographers ass'n at London last week. G/C A. G. Kenyon tutribd the first sod for the new Protestant chapel at RCAF Station, Centralia, The structure is part of a winter works program and is expected to be completed by March 31 of this year. The advent of artificial ice, of course, curtailed many of these extra benefits for a rink rat, and on many occasions it is now difficult to find boys who want to exert themselves to clean the ice. In addition, the ice is used at times during the day or night when boys are not available, and so more and more arenas have been forced to get into automated equipment. So, along with - pin-boys, chimney-sweeps and the likes, rink rats will fade from the scene, providing only memories to those who served in that capacity. * The foregoing may serve to emphasize the need for a continuing look at our recreation programs for young people. Many of us may tend to think that young people can do some of the things we did in the days of our youth until we sit down and see that many of these avenues of activity have disappeared. There was a time when a fellow could make a fair zT allowance cutting lawns, but power mowers enable most people to cut their own; or at least the speed with which the job can be done has eliminated about half the man-hours required and so only half as many lawn cutters are needed. Grocery stores and other retailers have dibanded their delivery services to a great extent and that job avenue has withered away. 'Chemicals replace the need for 50 YEARS AGO Mr. Latimer Grieve has purchased a drug btisiness in Strathroy and will take over shortly. Mr. W. J. Beer last week graced the front of his place of business with a large and beautiful electric sign. Prof. A. W. Anderton who recently resigned his position as organist of a church in Belfast, Ireland to accept a position as organist and choirleader of James Street Methodist church, arrived in Exeter Thursday accompanied by Mrs. Anderton. Mr. M. W. Schenk of Stratford has opened a new grocery, confectionery and bakery shop at Dashwood. Mr. R. W. Murphy has withdrawn from the Dearing agency and the agency has been transferred to William Ward. 25 YEARS AGO Richard Ernest Shaddick,' reeve of Hensall, was elected Warden of Huron County at the January meeting of Huron County Council which opened in Goderich Tuesday. After nearly 60 years of faithful service on the Exeter fire fighting brigade Capt. Ed Treble resigned at the annual meeting Thursday night. Bill Chambers was elected to succeed him. Mrs. Hugh Taylor, formerly of Thames Road United Church manse, and now overseas executive secretary of the WMS (Sf the United Church of Canada, left Toronto Friday for Miami, Fla. where she will fly to Trinidad on her first official visit to that mission field. Cyril Strange, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Strange, Exeter and CFRB staff announcer reported in minute detail Eaton's Christmas parade over CITRE radio. Hunter-Brintnell — A quiet wedding took place in Calvary United Church parsonage, London on Saturday, January 13 when Miss Anita Brintnell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Brintnell, town, became the bride of Roy Sherwood Hunter with Rev.D. McTavish officiating. eceitaimesabuocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A,, O.W.N.A., CLASS 'A' and ABC Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Phone 235-1331 „:„.66:,,gamewr ,:kRmr.0:VMNWEIVIRSMAIMUStigniiM,VdELMO Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 '1W:n Save over $3.50