HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-07-10, Page 4,, ,,,,,,,, ............... ,, ............. .... .. ' . . ..... .
Do your share
If anyone argues with the suggestion
that the communities in this area are not
tourist spots, they only have to attempt to
get across the road on a busy Friday after-
noon.
To be sure, most of these people are
just passing through on their destinations
to vacation havens elsewhere, but poten-
tially they are customers.
Despite the rush to get to their
destinations, many of these people will stop
if they seesomething that catches their eye,
or at least they may remember the com-
munity for its attractive appearance and
come back when they have more time at
their disposal.
The Milton Chamber of Commerce
recently urged their members to look at
themselves to see hbw they treat visitors,
strangers and tourists.
—Do I give visitors to my place of
business a sincere welcome?
—How much effort do I make to
evaluate this constantly?
—Is my staff courteous and do they
smile at customers to help maintain a
friendly atmosphere?
—How good is overall staff morale?
—How much opportunity do customers
have to talk to myself and my staff?
—How much effort do I make to dis-
cover what customers think?
—How aware am I of changing trends
in the business?
—How effectively does my business
reflect these changes?
—How good is the overall appearance
of my business—are displays clean and
well presented—are displays changed fre-
quently to create interest—are members of
my staff clean and tidy?
—How much of an effort do I make to
participate in activities designed to
promote tourism and travel in my area?
Without customers you would soon be
out of business. Local people, tourists or
strangers are all your customers!
Make them want to come back, says
the Chamber.
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Depends on point of view
Our response to now
By ELMORE BOOMER
Counsellor for
Information South Huron
For appointment
phone: 235-0560
An ounce of prevention
Sirloin steak sold for $1.83 a pound in
Ottawa on May 7. Not exactly bargain-
basement eating, but compared with a year
ago ,,yvhen it was 6 per cent higher, not a
bad Viiy i,says the Financial Post. And com-
pared with the same piece of meat, which
sold in Tokyo for $15.59, a virtual steal.
That fact was part of a recent survey
conducted by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture on retail prices in 15 different
world capitals. The results showed Ot-
tawans paying a good deal less for their
food than residents of many other capitals.
Actually, of 18 different foods, Ottawa
prices fell below the median in all but five.
The five foods priced higher than the me-
dian for all capitals were whole milk, cook-
ing oil, yellow onions, rice and sugar. A
Finance Minister John Turner may
not be the most unpopular man in Canada
at the present time, but few people will be
able to name anyone ahead of him in that
category.
His recent budget with hefty hikes for
gasoline and all home heating fuels hit
every resident in the nation and favorable
comment on the budget is about as difficult
to find as a snow ball in you know where.
The budget has left Ontario Liberal
leader Robert Nixon squirming, and while
he nor his cohorts in Ontario had anything
to do with Turner's strange way of fighting
inflation, there are still a great number of
people who find it difficult to separate one
Liberal from another.
Budget deals many blows
Progress? I hate it!
Still a bargain
Among the most expensive capitals to
eat in besides Tokyo, were Copenhagen„
Brussels, Bonn, and Stockholm. Among the
cheapest was Buenos Aires, where the
government-controlled price of sirloin is
still only .73 cents a pound, pork chops 29
cents a pound, and whole milk 17 cents a
quart. That, although Argentina showed the
worst year-to-year inflation in food prices
of the 15 capitals - up 53 per cent.
similar picture emerged from a com-
parison of prices within the capitals on a
year - to year basis. Whether the price went
up or down, Ottawans fared better than the
median in five of the 14 foods surveyed. Of
the five, pork chops, bacon and yellow
onions were the most inflated.
It could make the upcoming Ontario
election more interesting unless Mr. Nixon
can come up with some method to politely
tell voters he doesn't even know his party
cohorts who operate in Ottawa.
Of course, Mr. Nixon has stated that
Premier William Davis used the wrong tac-
tics in attempting to keep the price of oil
down, but it is a poor camouflage job and
Mr. Nixon probably knows it.
At any rate, the federal Liberal budget
just may be the. one spark of hope the On-
tario PCs need to overcome the great dis-
satisfaction they have been facing with
their voters.
H elp never too fare away
might see only the drabness of
Spadina Road? (And there were
several at the conference who did
just that, having rushed in from
the airport and hurried back
again as soon as it was over.)
What about them? They wouldn't
be aware there are. many lush
green areas in the city and
certainly wouldn't have a clue of
anything as spectacular as
University Avenue. They would
depart reporting it was one of the
ugliest cities on the globe.
Of course, both parties would
be right. Parts of Toronto are
ugly almost beyond telling, while
others are so lovely they, too,
defy description.
So it is with life and the world
around us. Part of it is sordid . • .
so despicable we sometimes
begin to think there's nothing
good left and so we cease to ex-
plore for the things that are
pleasing. We become depressed
by all the had we hear. The
morning paper or TV newscast
leaves us so low in spirit we are
tempted to sigh, to give up and
accept the statement the world
has gone to the dogs.
But if we will look for it we will
find beauty and goodness
surrounding us, on every side.
Concerned and loving people still
make up the majority. We need to
adopt an air of bright optimism
rather than black pessimism.
During a conversation recently
someone remarked, "Do you
know that in America one out of
five marriages end in divorce?"
To which another exclaimed,
"That's great! It means four out
of five marriages are holding
together! To me that's good news
in these difficult times,"
You see, it all depends on your
'point of_view.
Jesus said,"Be of good cheer."
Many people have a peculiar
idea of "progress." They confuse
it with change or growth for their
own sakes. All too often, these
' things represent regress, rather
than progress.
I try not to be bitter, but I have
a perfect example of that kind of
"progress" right outside my
front door.
When we moved to this house, it
was on a quiet, residential street,
a leafy tunnel of voluptuous
maples and stately oaks, with a
green boulevard on each side of
the street, It was gentle and
pleasant and safe for children.
The town council, in the name
of progress, tore out the
boulevard, cut down some trees,
and widened the street.
Results? We now have a
speedway out front, and you can
scarcely risk crossing the street
to the mailbox. The squeal of
tires makes the nights hideous, as
the punks try to proclaim their
dubious manhood, The remaining
Times Established 1873
Phone 235-1331
it
trees are dying because their
natural environment has been
disturbed and because they get a
heavy dose of sprayed salt from
the snowplow each winter.
Much beauty lost, and the only
ugly things on the street, dead
cedar poles for telephone and
hydro, left standing in their
nakedness,
Just to complete the picture,
there has been a "development,"
which is synonymous with
progress in many small minds, at
the end of our street. What was
once glorious bushland is now an
asphalt wasteland inhabited by
supermarkets, a gaggle of gas
stations, and the inevitable
hamburger joints and milk
stores.
Because of the "development"
and its accompanying
"progress," traffic on our street
has quintupled about five times,
with the accompanying
multiplication of stink and noise.
Tough luck, says you. Right,
Advocate Established 1881
says I. But this is not just a
private beef, I've seen this sort of
thing happen so often on hand-
some old streets in pleasant
small towns that it makes me
sick. First move of the progress-
happy morons is usually to cut
down the trees, some of them 70
years old, so that they can widen
the road, Grace and shade and
dignity are sacrificed to the
number one god of North
America — the car.
In the cities, the same process
holds. Potential parklands are
turned into instant parking lots.
Thruways slaughter miles of
greenery.
Ranking high among the
villains are the "developers." In
more enlightened cultures, they
would be called ecological
rapists. They take a section of
beautiful bushland, fertile far-
mland, or lush fruitland. They
send in their bulldozers to ensure
Amalgamated 1924
The Huron Medical Society has
to be given an "E" for effort in
staging their recent public forum
which was aimed at giving the
general public in this area an
opportunity to present briefs,
questions or criticisms relating to
medical service.
It was, unfortunately, a flop.
Part of the problem may have
been in the timing of the event on
a holiday weekend period,
although if three doctors can take
time from their busy schedules to
appear it is realistic to assume
members of the public could do
the same.
Dr. Charles Wallace is
probably partially correct in
assuming that the lack of at-
tendance indicates a general
satisfaction with medical ser-
vices, although in many cases
people who normally complain
don't have the intestinal fortitude
required to appear in person to
air their complaints and get
answers to their problems.
that the property will look like
no-man's-land, They then carve it
into 50-foot lots and jam in the
jerry-built houses, cheek by jowl,
give the whole thing a fancy
name, spend a fortune on ad-
vertising, and flog the swollen-
priced abortions, to poor suckers
who are so desperate for a house
of their own they shoulder a
mortgage they can never
possibly get out from under.
This, when Canada has more
land that is useless for anything
else but building than it can ever
use. That is "progress."
Oh, "progress" has many
faces, and many sounds, and not
a few smells.
Far below the roar of the over-
sized, over-priced cars burning
up precious energy as they
whoosh down the superhighways
may be heard the whimper of
starving children.
Behind the smiling face and
honeyed words of the Public
Relations Department can be
seen something not unlike a
mountain range — huge, ever-
growing piles of non-returnable
bottles, rusting cans, and in-
destructible plastic garbage.
And the stinks! "Progress"
will take a cool, clean, sweet
trout stream and poison it with
chemicals and detergents and
other toxic elements, because
"We need the industry." And the
big, belching smokestacks go
right on belching their nauseous
gases from their rotten
stomachs, laughing hilariously
when the government slaps them
on the wrist with a staggering $25
fine.
"Progress" hoists, again and
again, the taxes on booze,
because governments would fall
without that revenue, and sets up
a cheap and panty-waist program
barely hinting at the evils of
drink.
"Progress" produces bigger
cars that go faster and burn more
fuel on bigger highways, the
vehicles propelled, in many
cases, by drivers who couldn't
handle a crisis in a kiddie-car
race.
"Progress" taxes everything
but the living breath of the
working stiff, but encourages the
plumpies with the expense ac-
counts and the credit cards to go
out and live it up and lie and
cheat on their taxes.
Medical "progress" means
turning a great number of adult
neurotics into drug addicts by
socking the pills to them, and
with the other hand giving a stiff-
arm in the face to the dirty, sick,
frightened kids of the drug age,
A pretty dim view of progress?
It is, as many people look on the
word.
But surely there are enough of
us left who believe in the real
meaning of the word — moral,
social and intellectual progress
— to try to do something about
the spreading sickness,
Same time next Sunday,
please. In the Meantime, on
guard against the "progress"
people.
These people appear to get a
greater satisfaction from airing
their views on street corners and
over back fences, and their
validity must be questioned when
they fail to grasp opportunities
such as the forum to present their
cases where they could con-
ceivably get some results.
The same thing is true in many
walks of life and certainly
municipal councillors face the
same problem. People complain
about many decisions, but when
public meetings are called, they
stay away in droves.
One of the discussions that was
generated at the medical forum
was over the availability of
medical attention in emergency
situations. There was a
suggestion that a lack of com-
munication may be apparent in
this regard and also that some
changes could be implemented to
the benefit of all.
Ironically, the writer was faced
with an emergency situation only
a couple of hours after returning
'home from the meeting.
A neighbor fell and broke her
hip and the writer and his wife
happened to be the first on the
scene and received a real life
experience on the type of medical
assistance available.
An ambulance and the lady's
family doctor were called and
within a few short minutes both
arrived on the scene and the
victim was on her way to
hospital.
Based on the writer's own
experience, this was not an
unusual situation, and we have
never had cause to express con-
cern over any delays in medical
assistance.
No doubt there are readers who
may speak to the contrary, but it
is only natural that there may be
delays at times because of prior
commitments or other situations.
The forum was not entirely
futile and perhaps a similar
meeting held at a more opportune
time in another community may
encounter less public apathy than
was indicated here.
+ + +
In case you didn't notice,
Exeter merchants displayed a
fair bit of patriotism in flying
flags over the Dominion Day
weekend.
The flags and holders had been
sold to the merchants by the
Board of Trade and there will be
few people in this community
who will be able to recall seeing
as many flags flying as there
50 years ago
Clinton held an Old Boys
Reunion this week,
Eleven head of cattle were
killed by lightning on the pasture
farm of Mr. Don Oestricher on
the Lake Road during the thunder
storm which passed over the
district.
Mrs. Jane Snell of Huron Street
celebrated her eighty-fifth bir-
thday on Wednesday of this week.
It has been decided to hold free
out door moving picture shows in
Crediton Athletic field on
Saturday evenings for the rest of
the summer,
The biggest attraction in
Exeter during the past week has
been the merry-go-round and
some half dozen concessions
moved to Exeter from Clinton
and pitched tent on a lot on the
corner of William and Gidley
streets Friday evening last and
for three nights they attracted
large crowds.
Entrance results in Stephen
this year are as follows; No, 1,
Hazel Hay (A); No, 2, Agnes
Larnport; No,. 3, Eli Christie; No.
5, Lulu Kerr; NO, 6, Dorothy
Smith; No, 7, Mary McEachen;
No. 8, Eddie Gill, Lyman Gratton
(B), Velma Gratton (13), Carlyle
Taylor; No, 10, Nola Hodgins,
Kenneth Hodgins, Lloyd Love;
were for the holiday.
Once again, however, the
holiday situation was most
confused as a number of people
took Monday and others took
Tuesday. The luckiest were those
who managed to get both days,
particularly when they also chose
to remain closed for Wednesday.
A mid-week holiday just
doesn't seem to make much sense
anymore and we are of the
opinion that Dominion Day — or
Canada Day if you prefer —
should be staged on the first
Monday of July to provide some
continuity and also a long
weekend.
Industries find it just too costly
to close down for a mid-week
holiday, and when they decide to
take Monday off while others
have another day, their em-
ployees miss out on many of the
events being specially staged for
the holiday.
There appears to he no reason
to suggest that patriotism would
be affected by such a change,
because it is not the uppermost
thought on the part of most
people at any rate. The holiday is
the thing . . . and it may as well
be designated for one particular
day which would be agreeable for
everyone.
+ + -1-
The response to, Exeter's
Canada Week activities was less
than overwhelming, due in part
to the fact many people went
away for the holiday, plus it was
too hot for many people to con-
sider getting out to enjoy some of
the attractions.
However, most of them were
conducted at little cost to the
organizers so large numbers of
patrons were not required to
meet costs.
They did involve a com-
mitment of time and effort,
though, and it is unfortunate that
the public appears most
apathetic over such events as the
opening of a new tennis court, a
community picnic or a soccer
tournament.
Hopefully, the participants did
enjoy themselves, and some of
the events, such as the Green
Thumb awards, should certainly
be carried through in future
years.
But it becomes clear that costly
attractions are a gamble unless
the organizers are prepared to
get out and hustle advance
tickets.
No. 11, Marjorie Morenz; No. 12,
Alex Desjardine, Donald
Desjardine.
25 years ago
Hon. Ray Lawson, Lieutenant-
Governor of Ontario pinned
RCAF pilot's wings on 32 airmen
during graduation ceremonies at
RCAF Station Centralia on
Friday.
Rev. & Mrs. Donald Sinclair
will attend the World Convention
on Christian Education in
Toronto, August 10 to 16.
Night Constable William
Wareing is on two week's
holidays.
Largest road repairing
program in the history of Mid-
dlesex County this year will in-
clude surfacing of No, 4 Highway
from north of Lucan to five miles
south of Exeter,
Miss Norma Wilson operator at
the Lyric Theatre, has received
her operator's license qualifying
her, as a licensed operator for any
theatre in Ontario.
Police Chief Norry was sket-
ched by two amateur sketchers
while in town for the holiday.
ti
15 years ago
Huron MPP C. S. Mac-
Naughton Ind] ca ted this week that
the LCBO may establish retail
Last week I was in Toronto
attending a seminar in a very
depressing part of the city,
Spadina Road north of Bloor.
Most of the buildings are old,
many of them crumbling and
right now the bleakness of the
area is fortified by the fact the
subway is being extended up
Spadina. Huge machines pound
and bite into the streets as they
belch out smoke and fumes, The
noise vibrates through the
buildings and penetrates minds
and bodies. Grit and dust sift in to
cover everything.
While I was there the heat and
humidity stuck us to our chairs
causing us to lift the varnish
every time we got up. Worst of all,
we couldn't sleep through the
noise of the traffic that roared
past our window until three a.m.
and started up again at half past
five,
The day after the event was
over, I hired a taxi early in the
morning to drive me to the train.
The kind taximan routed me
down University Avenue drawing
my attention to everything to be
seen. In the morning sunlight it
was a glorious sight.
Divided by a centre boulevard,
the Avenue is graced by glit-
tering buildings, one of which
appeared to be constructed of
blue ceramics, The street is lined
with trees, large and small, some
reflected in pools. Flower beds in
intricate designs and vivid colors
bedeck the avenue in sparkling
symmetry. Fountains splash and
dance to delight the eye and
fascinate the senses.
Surely a visitor to Toronto who
had the opportunity to see only
this street would leave believing
the city was one of the most
picturesque in the world.
But what about those who
By REV. GLEN WRIGHT
Exeter United Church
"Love and marriage go
together like a horse and
carriage. But when courtship
love is hooked to the carriage of
marriage — it's a horse of a
different colour. Courtship love is
irresponsible. That's why it's so
much fun. Married love is
responsible. That's why it's so
mature."
Those words of wisdom are
from Dr. Carl Micholson, spoken
a decade ago. Since that time a
good many words of wisdom have
been written about marriage. But
in spite of the wisdom, marriages
are breaking down and couples
are breaking up at alarming
rates and in frightening numbers.
Your best friend who had the
perfect wedding and the near
perfect marriage has just an-
nounced that things aren't going
so well, to say the least. And that
couple who had spent so many
years together and had raised
that great family are now calling
it quits. That's frightening
because it could happen to our
sons or daughters or to parents. It
could happen to us.
Why so many problems? I
believe that we are suffering
from expectations that are too
high. The positive side effect is
that marriage can be better than
it ever was when it's working well
liquor and beer stores in Exeter.
' Conklin Lumber Company has
opened a new lumber yard in
Exeter and a showroom and
office at Grand Bend, and pur-
chased a site in Goderich where it
intends to build in the near
future,
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Kading
celebrated their diamond wed-,
ding anniversary this week.
About 80 secondary school
administrators, most of them
from cities in Ontario toured
SHDHS Wednesday "to see what
a small town high school looks
like."
The Catholic
parishionersR oonia of Cnentralia RCAF
station gathered Wednesday to
honor their padre, Rev. G. C.
Grant, on the 25th anniversary of
his ordination.
10 years ago
Constable Dale Lamont joined
the staff of the Exeter OPP this
week, following a training period
after his February discharge
from the navy.
Exeter's new swimming pool,
being used extensively these
warm days, will be officially
opened Wednesday afternoon.
Canada's 98th birthday was
marked in Exeter with the
raising of the new flag. About 50
people Vvere on hand at the brief
ceremony sponsored by council,
Nine yearling steers owned by
Maurice "Pete" Coates, rat 1
Centralia, were killed when
struck by lightening during the
violent electrical storm Friday.
— but the pressures for its health
can destroy it.
I'll lay some of the blame on all
those neat family situation TV
programs which, though they
show us what marriage and
family might be, don't deal with
marriage and family as it is — so
at best are entertaining fantasy.
Relationships aren't like that.
The second pressure is related
because it's cultural, as well as
personal and that is a low
tolerance for frustration and a
high demand for instant
gratification. Maybe it started in
the person, who having lived
through the depression vowed to
make things a lot easier for son or
daughter.
Or it starts when he makes
enough noise, he gets what he
wants. The parent learns that
noise causes headaches and it's
easier to do it yourself than to put
up with the hassle of trying to
get children to be responsible. So
the child wins and the parent
loses, though, in fact, both are
losers. The child "grows up" but
learns the science of
manipulation instead of the art of
maturity.
You can get away with im-
maturity in courtship — but not in
marriage.
A young couple is looking at
financial priorities. The husband
wants to spent money on a
vacation, new car, boat,
snowmobile, etc. The wife doesn't
feel secure unless there is money
in the bank and a savings account
for each of the children,
Moreover, she handles the
money. He tried it — but he never
seemed to get hills paid on time.
Both accuse the other of being
Unrealistic — but she is better at
arguing so he sulks or goes to the
pub.
She becomes more like a
parent. He becomes more like a
child. She scolds as her parents
did, He spends and drinks more.
She feels guilty coming on like
mother all the time, so says
nothing. Then one day she finds
she doesn't feel the same toward
him. He knows something's
wrong but gets only silence . ,
How do you improve the
situation? First, don't worry too
much about negative feelings or
no feelings. It's not permanent.
It's a normal reaction to being
hurt.
Secondly, patterns and people
can change. "You have to accept
me as I am," is a cop-out. "I have
to accept him or her the way he or
she is" is pure fiction, Change is
possible, though it could be
painful.
Thirdly, become informed
about patterns or roles either
through reading — and there are
lots of books now, or by talking,
with someone who knows about
such things.
Oh yes, and don't wait for an
emergency. You know that Stuff
about an ounce of prevention. It's
for marriages too,
SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND
C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A, and ABC
Publisher — Robert Southcott
Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager
Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh
Plant Manager — Les Webb
Composition Manager — David Worby
Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail
Registration Number 0386
Paid in Advance Circulation
March 31, 1975 5,249
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $9.00 Per Year; USA $11.00