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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1973-10-11, Page 18For an Evening of Fun and Fellowship This Thursday, Friday and Saturday Evening SPECIAL LIVE ENTERTAINMENT to. Club Albatross Huron Industrial Park Phone 228-6733 TONIGHT Support the Canvass for the BLIND Exeter, Centralia, Huron Park, Dashwood and Crediton. Taxandria DANCE with The Desjardines Saturday, Oct. 13 9 • 1 * * * TAXANDRIA CLUB DINNER 7-8 p.m. Entertainment by THE LONDON DUO Make your reservations in time Call 828-3896 DASHWOQD HOTEL Entertainment Oct.12 & 13 Lesperance Trio Oct. 17 Country Wally Tiffany Dining Lounge Hours Weekdays 12-2, 5-8 Fri. .!3, Sat. 12-2, 5.9 Sundays 4.8 Completely Air Conditioned Mr, Pooh Menu Suggestions for this week ... SIRLOIN TIP WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE DINING ROOM OPEN MON, TO SAT. 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. AND 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Take Out Orders — Phone 228.6648 OPEN DAILY BREAKFAST & LUNCH Mon. to Fri. 7:30 - 1:00 Sat. & Sun. 8:00 - 1:00 DINNERS Ali week long 5:30 - 8:00 You Are Always Wekomel Dining Room Licensed Under LLBO 44, Saturday, Oct. 13 Mozart's Melody Makers Green Forest Motor Hotel YOUR HOSTS: "PETE" and "CAROLE" OEITZ HIGHWAY 21 - GRANO BENb CARPENTRY SHOP — Carpentry and woodworking is Concord. The boys make everything from picnic tables, cushions and even the cabinet they are displayed in. just one of the training skills offered at House of to driftwood ornaments to little rocking chair pin T-A photo Exeter 23 5-2311 21 Thames Rd. Open 5:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. , Tues., Wed. & Thur. 5:00 p.m. - 3:00 a.m., Fri. & Sat. 3:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m., Sun. CLOSED MONDAY * * * PARTY SPECIAL Buy Five Pizzas And Get One • • • FREE This Fri. & Sat. ALSO Saturday Matinee HELD OVER "Something Evil" Come join The Fun! Where Old New Friends Meet DINING & DANCING NIGHTLY — NO COVER CHARGE Les Pines Hotel Motel I . North of the Bridge El EXETER Phone 236.0151 limited to mainly swimming at the "Y" in London, or roller skating, or television," Tuesdays the boys will be able to see films at Fanshawe College and Thursday evening they have a discussion group and then use the gym at The Citadel in London. "But what I would like to see is an evening filled with choice," said Major Hammond, "so if a boy wanted to watch television, he could. But if he didn't want to, there would be a wide range of things for him to choose frorn." They also plan excursions to Niagara Falls, the Lion Safari at Alternative to jail "We're not in the custodial business," says Major Robert Hammond of the Salvation Army's House of Concord near Ilderton, "We don't use a strong- arm to restrain the boys. "What we are basically doing is providing an alternative to the courts, so that instead of sen- tencing young men to jail where they might run into more ex- perienced criminal minds, they can come here", The House of Concord, about four miles east of Ilderton on Middlesex County road 16 opened its doors about a year and a half ago. It serves boys between the ages of 16 and 20, most of whom are referred by the courts. Most are on probation, many are first offenders and some are "on remand", or awaiting trial. "It just depends whether the judge thinks our program will do the young man good," explained Major Hammond. But policies have changed recently. The House does take referrals from private agencies, such as the Children's Aid Society and occasionally they received requests from families. Taking boys on remand is also a new development. This is basically for boys who do not have family or financial support. If a boy is referred to the House, it is a condition of his probation terms that he lives at the House and abides, by the rules set down there. But as Major Hammond ex- plained, they are not jailers. The boys can get evening or weekend passes to leave, as long as they do not abuse this freedom. "We hope to keep each boy at least four months, and longer if possible," said Major Hammond. "During this time, we try to teach him a trade, work out his per- sonal problems, rehabilitate him and generally prepare him to go back outside". If a boy does find a job, the House tries to find him suitable accommodation and some stay there but go out to work during the day until suitable arrtrvement • 'le made. The House of concord offers some variety in their training program and although they try to keep the classes fairly balanced, the interests of the individual are also important. Several boys, f or example work in the carpentry shop. Here they make everything from pin cushiens, disguised as little wooden rocking chairs to picnic tables, all of which are sold and the money used for the upkeep of the shop. At the present time, three of the boys are working with the chef in the kitchen. They help with the preparation of all the meals, and in the process, learn basic skills of cooking and cleaning the kitchen, and receive basic training for a possible job as a short-order cook. All told, the House of Concord owns just over 100 acres of land, plus a barn and some machinery and this provides another area of training for the boys. This year, they had about 50 acres in corn, made two cuttings of hay and harvested several hundred bushels of wheat. Of all the programs offerred, however, Major Hammond feels this may be one the least suc- cessful. "It is very difficult to operate the farm at a financial profit," he said. "For one thing, much of our machinery is rather old and outdated. For another, we are working with basically city- raised boys, They often don't have the knowledge or the ap- preciation for the worth and value of the equipment". The House of Concord near Toronto had a similar problem, explained Major Hammond, so they rented out their land to area farmers. "We're not sure what we're going to do with it. We hope to retain the instructor but change the farm." He is thinking in terms of renting part of the land but keeping 15 acres and maybe planting vegetable gardens and thus continue with the program and use the machinery, but on a much smaller scale. Some of the boys do enjoy the outside work and a few are working part time for neigh- boring farmers. Several of the boys work with the cleaning lady learning janitorial skills and at the same time helping to maintain the House of Concord, Several others attend school. Bernie Koenig is a teacher associated with Fanshawe College and he is presently teaching a class of 10 boys bet- ween the grades 7 and 10 level. As they progress the students get academic credit from Fanshawe. Five boys are going to high school outside the House - three at Medway High School in Arva and two at Sir George Ross in London. If the boys become fed up with one of the courses offerred, they can switch. "We try to fit the ability and interest of the boys," said Major Hammond. Life at the House of Concord works mainly on a point-award system, Points are awarded on a systematic basis for such things a s general good beim viour,respect for staff, reponse to supervision and for certain activities around the House, By the same token, they can Jose points for lateness, disrespect, swearing, walking away from instructors, misconduct, illegal behavior, and lack of personal cleanliness, among other things. Major Hammond explained how the point system works. When a boy first comes to us, he is automatically a junior. In order to "graduate" to the in- termediate level, he must attain a minimum of 600 points per week for two weeks; similarly fir the move from intermediate to senior, As rank increases, so do privileges. Seniors, for example get $8 per week spending money as compared to $6 for in- termediates and $4 for juniors. They are also apt to get more evening passes and a little more freedom. Each group has their own sleeping quarters and lounge area and although a senior could visit the junior or intermediate lounge, the reverse is not true. Boys can also be demoted, however, and it sometimes happens that a boy will move from a senior to a junior again, if he loses enough points. If a boy gets less than 500 points a week, he is demoted, This means a loss of status, as well as loss of some privileges and also means that the boy must start all over again to regain his former status. At present, there are 26 boys at the House of Concord. This is the fullest it has been since its opening, but not quite 50'percent of the total number which could be accommodated. One of the major problems is lack of furniture. They have been waiting for one order of furniture for over a year and even now are using some makeshift beds. There are about 15 staff members working at the House of Concord and many of them serve double or triple purposes. The nurse for example also does some cooking and is more or less the house mother. There are also five course instructors, senior supervisors, night supervisors, a recreation director, office staff and Major Hammond himself, Contrary to most of his previous work with the Salvation Army, Major Hammond's position at the House of Concord is mainly administrative. "But my door is always open to the boys," he said. He moved there in mid-August from Edmonton, which was the base for his work with the Correctional Services in the north half of Alberta.There he did corps or field and in many varied capacities; working with the courts, parole and probation supervision, chaplaincy, and with a suicide prevention centre, Before being stationed in Edmonton in 1965, Major Hammond was in Sarnia and Chatham, so he is familiar with south-western Ontario. Although he' is still learning some of the ropes at the House of Concord, Major Hammond can already see some areas where improvements are needed. One such area is in the recreation program. The House does not presently have the facilities or equipment for an organized sports program. Until recently, they didn't have enough people to organize team sports. But Major Hammond would like to change all this, "Right now we are rather limited in the recreation field and it has caused me some concern," he said. "We don't have a gym, although we are hoping to get one this fall and recreation has been Rockton and hope to be able to attend a few hockey games. One program which Major Hammond is very enthusiastic about concerns summer cam- ping. Last summer 10 of the boys tried roughing it in the bush for a week. They got along so well that they would like to extend it next summer to include all the boys, possibly for as long as a month, Do they have problems? Sure they do. Sometimes the boys take evening or weekend passes and just forget to come back. Sometimes there are problems with discipline. But this is all just part of the job at the House of Concord. As for their success rate, Major Hammond wouldn't commit himself. "It's very hard to measure our success," he said. "After boys leave here, unless they write, we have no way of keeping track of them, especially if they are roaming around and stay out of trouble, "A similar institution in Toronto claims to have between a 65 and 75 percent success rate. "But after all," he continued, "in all fairness, that depends on how you define success" An undertaker married a snake charmer and had their towels marked 'Hiss and Hearse.' No 'strong-arm' at House of Concord IN 11 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 HEADING OUT - Matthew Ramsden has good reason to smile. He has been living at the Salvation Army's House of Concord near Merton for the past several weeks but now he has found a job and is moving out. Standing in front of the collage which decorated his room, he packs his clothes in preparations. T-A photo 2: