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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-11-06, Page 4O a 1.17t 0(114.117R USIMR1-4A1— ft "Will that be cash or chargex?" Wear a Poppy .. FOR REMEMBRANCE SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND 0,W,N.A, CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Plant Manager — Les Webb Composition Manager — Dave Worby Business Manager Dick Jongkind Phone 235.1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation March 31, 1975 5,249 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Cantida $9.60 Per Yebt; USA $11,00 Dedicated volunteers News coverage of two area fires last week should remind all readers of the out- standing service and dedication provided by the volunteer fire brigades serving our communities. Although the picture of the Lucan firemen in their. Halloween costumes would , bring a chuckle from most, it points up the fact that the volunteers are ready to assist regardless of the other activities in which they may be engaged. Had the barn fire in that district oc- curred during a formal dinner party, the firemen would have rushed to the scene just as quickly and given no consideration for the expensive clothes they were damag- ing. The other incident was the quick and efficient job done by the Hensall firemen in extinguishing a fire at the Co-op, with Ex- eter men rushing to the scene to assist if needed. A few seconds can make the difference between victory and defeat in a mill fire and obviously the Hensall brigade averted what would have been a very serious blow to the area economy had they not acted as promptly or capably. Many other similar incidents could be related to emphasize the dedication provid- ed by volunteer firemen and their value to everyone. We just wanted to let them know we certainly don't just take their efforts for granted. It's worth saving The comments of several local service and business organization officials in- dicate there is some enthusiasm for sav- ing the local rodeo. If that verbal enthusiasm can be churn- ed into the necessary financial and man- power support, then it is quite conceivable that not only will the rodeo continue, but that it will become an even bigger attrac- tion than it was during its peak. As it now stands, the work has been un- dertaken by only a handful, and with the added handicap of a bleak balance sheet, it is not surprising that they have decided to terminate the activity unless they receive the support of more people in the communi- ty. Even those who have never attended the Labor Day weekend shows should be reminded that the attraction has provided many benefits to the community. The event has provided top-notch entertainment for those interested in the activity and has earned Exeter the reputation as being the scene of Ontario's biggest and best operated rodeo. The rodeo committee have sponsored a local minor hockey team for the past several years and have donated funds to other worthwhile community projects. Many of the local service clubs have been able to extend their community work through funds raised by operating con- cessions at the rodeo, Given the backing of everyone in the community, the rodeo could obviously con- tinue to provide these benefits, and to an even greater extent than it has in the past. Many communities in Ontario have moved to promote a "one-shot" attraction that can attract big crowds and boost com- munity projects. Examples are the Elmira maple syrup festival, Dashwood Friedsburg Days, Zurich Bean Festival, Lucan Fair, New Hamburg Mennonite Festival, etc., etc. Exeter already has the basis for such an event in the rodeo and it would be complete folly for local service clubs and business groups to let it slip through their fingers. Surely community spirit has not waned to that extent. News Item CHARGE X UGC) ESTEC; FOR PAY 14 MEDICAL The giver and the gift Goblins accept guidelines portunities, its challenges , yes, even its failures. Looking back who would want to have missed any of it? Each day is a gift; a gift we can turn into something beautiful for God. He also supplies us with all the resources to do this but very often we neglect to carry through to use the gift as He expects us to, Supposing you delivered a beautifully wrapped present to a friend who accepted it but im- mediately placed it up on a shelf unopened. Surely you would wonder why your friend didn't take off the wrappings and look inside to see what you had so carefully selected just for his use and pleasure. Wouldn't you feel hurt and dismayed that this person felt the gift not worthy of even exploring its possibilities? The Great Giver must feel this way about us sometimes, He ilk gives us our life, He gives us our days, He gives us our talents, He gives us our opportunities, And so often we show our ingratitude by letting them sit, like the gift on the shelf, unopened and unused. You cannot thank an a- nonymous giver like my friend but we can thank God. The best way, in fact the only way we can do this is to not only receive His gifts joyfully but to also use them, and having done the most we can with each gift offer it back to Him in appreciation of His great mercy and love, Just some bits and pieces A bits and pieces column. First item shows a malicious delight in "catching someone out" as the phrase goes. It is one of the less pleasant aspects of the human character, but at the same time has given a great deal of pleasure, over the centuries, to the human race. There is nothing people enjoy more than somebody else's feet of clay. How we all secretly rejoice, if not openly, when a cabinet minister is caught with a blonde who is not his wife, or a prominent judge is nailed on an impaired driving charge, or a teacher is discovered nurturing marijuana in his her window boxes. Disgusting, and definitely not Christian, but it's fun. I've been a victim myself. Sent out a questionnaire to elementary school teachers of English last year. There was one spelling error in it, and I didn't do it, a secretary did. But about 50 percent of the questionnaires returned had the mistake circled, and some gleeful little remark attached. Now it's my turn. I have before me a list of novels and plays sent out by the Educational Com- munications Authority, a fairly sacred cow with the Ministry of Education. The Authority wants English department heads to tick off a list of the books most used by students in our high schools, with a view to buying the movie rights to the 20 most popular, so that they can be video-taped and made available on a wide basis. A laudable plan. It was when I started to scan the list that I thought it must be a put-on, I re-checked the ac- companying letter. No, it was • Times Established 1873 real, it was official I looked over the list, a fairly comprehensive one of most of the literature used in our high schools and started ticking off the obvious ones: Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Death of a Salesman, Huck Fin,. The great Gatsby. Everything in order. Then I turned to Page 2 of the list and nearly felloff my chair. I came to two conclusions. Either the chap who had dictatedthe list had failed to proof-read it, or the secretary who had done the typing had finished Page 1 and gone out and had a large liquid lunch before tackling Page 2. Don Quixote came out as Don Quiote. This must be an animal story about a coyote called Don. Emily Bronte must be twirling in her grave on the moors,to see her magnificent Wuthering Heights described as Withering Heights. Thomas Hardy will be having a celestial seizure when he realizes that his great Tess of the D'Urbervilles has a new title: Tess of the D'Umbervilles. D'Umber than what? A science fiction novel, The Chrysalids, has a new life as The Chrysslids. The Luck of Ginger Coffey has been transformed !to Lack of Ginger Coffey, Probably some sort of rationing. A fine western novel. The Ox Bow Incident, has changed shape. It is now the Ox Box Incident, a rather square title, if I may say so. A Grade 11 standard, To Kill a Mockingbird, has become To Kill a Mocking Bird. Can't you see that bird, just sitting around mocking the old lady who owns it? But perhaps the greatest blow to Canadian literature, and certainly the one that nearly bust Advocate Established 1881 a gut in a number of English teachers, was the updating of that fine, old novel about French Canada, Maria Chapdelaine. It is now called Marve Chapdelaine. That is an obvious backlash by some male chauvinist pig to the entire Women's Lib movement. But I'd certainly like to read the new version. I can just see Marve up there, in the Quebec back- woods, bringing in the kindling, worrying about wolves, and having babies under primitive conditions. Poor Marve. It was OK for Marie. She had guts. But Marve doesn't sound as though he could hack it, with a name like that. I imagine he'll die in childbirth, or be eaten alive by mosquitoes, or drop a pot of scalding soupe aux pois on his foot, or something like that. Now I know this entire column is completely unfair to the poor guy who made up the list. But I got so much pleasure from it, purely malicious pleasure, that I couldn't refrain from passing it on. And the sheer joy of it is that it comes from an Educational Authority. In capitals. It would be no fun at all if it came from an illiterate bookseller. It's interesting to learn that your neighbour is going to have a baby after 15 years of sterility, or that your Uncle George had an affair in Singapore when he was in the merchant navy, and before he became a church elder. But it's sheer glee when you discover that someone away above you in the hierarchy has committed a monstrous boo-boo, We all have clay feet, but most of us keep our shoes tightly laced, or at least our socks on. Amalgamated 1924 CCNA eillf 0111110N AW/114D 1074 "Am I ever exciting, mom!" That's how our four-year-old greeted the new day on Halloween and no doubt many others in his age group were just as excited on what is probably the second most appealing event of the year for children. • Our little guy spent most of the day racing about in his costume, finding it difficult to understand why it was necessary to wait until dusk to beat his path to the neigh- bor's doors for treats, especially when the hands on the clock took an eternity to move to the ap- pointed hour. When it did arrive, he had almost worn himself out and found it difficult to muster the stamina required to make his way along the street with his bag of goodies dragging behind. That perhaps was the lone factor which made his identity difficult for some of the neighbors to guess, as they are more ac- customed to seeing him roar past in wreckless abandon. The writer noted some slight improvement in the attitude of some of the ghosts and goblins who visited Friday night. Many of them were very polite and didn't appear in quite as much hurry to grab their treats and dash off to the next door to get their huge bags filled. Some years,it seems that the front door is little more than a quick "pit stop" for the masked characters who race from door to door as quickly as they possibly can. Hopefully, their more relaxed pace this year indicated a lessening of the greed which was evident in prior years and perhaps they have accepted the government's guidelines for Halloween treat controls. + + + If they have, the kids are certainly showing more co- operation than the majority of union leaders across the nation, News reports indicate that unions have little intention of giving the controls a fair test, and while they may have legitimate reasons for suggesting the controls will not work, it is most discouraging that they have failed to provide any alternate suggestions on how the country can beat inflation. One of the encouraging signs is the fact that the rank and file union members are becoming disenchanted with their leaders in many ways and some noticeable splits are showing in the strong union front. It may be that government, union leaders and union mem- bers are on a collision course, and the next few weeks may prove very interesting, albeit very explosive. Hopefully, sane thoughts and deeds will prevail. + + + While the mail strike has created headaches for most people, there has been one salvation for those of us who receive a large amount of mail and are inveterate collectors of mailing pieces which we set aside for that "rainy day" when we may need some item to fill a hole in the newspaper. Even when the time was taken to clear off the desk, the top was only visible for a couple of days before the piles started to ac- cumulate to their teetering heights. The mail strike provided a perfect opportunity to clear away the debris and to keep the desk clean for longer than it ever has been during our tenure here. Mind you, we don't know what we'll do to fill those little holes if the flood of press releases doesn't start coming soon. ! + + + This week we join the com- munity in mourning the loss of Don Webster, who died after a stubborn fight against many afflictions. An active and conscientious business and service club member, Don displayed a courage in the face of aversities that all who knew him marvelled at. Many would have given up, but Don fought on and continued to contribute whenever phssible despite his blindness and failing health. He provided us all with an example of dedication and ser- vice to his community and fellow man that was carried out more 50 Years Ago Several from Exeter motored to Whitechurch in Bruce County, in Mr. H. Bagshaw's motor van on a rabbit hunt, They bagged 26 rabbits in a couple of hours. Among those in the party were H. Bagshaw, H. Bierling, Milt and Homer Russell, George and Ed Anderson, Ed Pollen, Silas Reid and Ulric Snell: Mr. S.M. Sanders is installing a steam heating plant for heating his clothing factory. Messrs. William Lawson, George Hind, Grant Sanders and Howard Dignan of Toronto University; Bruce Medd of Guelph O.A.C.; Miss Evelyn Howard and Kenneth Stanbury of Western University, were home for the holiday weekend. Apple growers in Huron County suffered heavy losses owing to heavy winds and early frosts. S,B. Strothers, the agricultural representative, estimates that the loss for the county is at least $15,000. 25 Years Ago High school students stole the show at the South Huron Plowing Match held on Elder Bros. farm in Hay Township. Arthur Bolton, a grade 13 student at Seaforth High School won the cham- pionship. Runner-up was Ruth Keyes, also Seaforth. Mr. and Mrs. John Allison of the Thames Road celebrated 60 years of married life quietly on Monday. They reside on the Allison homestead that was purchased from the Canada Company in pioneer days. Exeter Wolf Cubs netted over $75 from the sale of apples, Saturday, ZXeter District High School will field a 12-man rugby team in WOSSA competition next season. 15 Years Ago Former wardens were among the 367 guests who attended Huron County Warden John Durnin's banquet at Goderich, Thursday. Guests included 1923 worden B.W.F. Beavers and his wife; and 1943 warden B.W. Tuckey and Mrs. Tuckey. All six prizes in. Exeter Legion's Remembrance Day essay contest have been won by girls. The winners were Barbara McDonald, Marion Kerslake, Bernice Grainger, Linda Walper, Dianne McKenzie and Shirley Gettner. Councillor George Rether is recovering from a back injury he received Friday while helping his neighbor, Ross Tuckey, move to the latter's recently purchased home on Andrew St. New Girl Guide commissioner for Exeter and District is Mrs. Greta Lavender; Hensall. Mrs. Lavender is also camp advisor for Huron County. Pamela Coward, eight and a half month old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Murray Coward, broke her arm at her home, Thursday, 10 Years Ago John Diefenbaker visited Exeter as part of his election tour through Huron County. He arrived in town by train. Exeter council decided to in- vestigate the possibility of securing an ambulance service located within the municipality. Civic officials from across South Huron were on hand for the official sod turning of the new Blue Water Rest Home in Zurich. Erie Campbell has been ap- pointed vice-president and sales Manager of Guenther-Tuckey Transports Limited, Last week I had another bir- thday. Unlike our son who is already announcing to everyone that he'll be 16 in the Spring, I've reached the age where the less said about each impending birth- day the better. Regardless of that and in spite of the mail strike, when the day came, parcels, flowers, cards began to arrive at the house, some of them turning up quite mysteriously. The most mysterious of all was a pot of beautiful hot-pink azaleas with a card bearing the words, "With love from your friend". Now a situation like that really piques your curiosity. Who is this friend? Of course you discount the ones you've already heard from so you begin to check out the others. Remembering an old friend who is just sneaky enough to pull a trick like this, you're already on the way to the telephone to thank her when a tap at the door an- nounces the arrival of a parcel being delivered with her name on it. So, she's off the hook and you're right back where you started. You ponder deeply. There's another acquaintance who is capable to doing something like this and just when you're con- vinced she's the one, you remember the flowers were not delivered by the florist she usually patronizes. Hence, • you can't be too sure. Well, it's impossible to phone all your friends to ask if they've sent you this beautiful gift. Some of them won't have remembered it was your birthday in the first place and your query might embari•ass them. Thus, the mystery remains unsolved. For reasons I don't understand my friend remains anonymous and I'm unable to thank her for that beautiful spot of color that enhances my living room right now giving me much pleasure. As I contemplate this I begin to think about the gifts that God pours out to all of us. The won- derful gift of life, for instance. Life with all its ups and downs, its joys and sorrows, its op- In 1974, 46.5 percent of children in the care of the Children's Aid Societies were over the age of 12 years. This compares to 30 percent in 1969. This is true even though the number of children in care has gone down in the same period. Some explain that the courts are now referring teenagers to the C.A.S. rather than sending them to institutions. It is to be hoped that this is indeed the main reason. Otherwise it is indicated that more families are breaking under the pressure of modern living. Nevertheless the teenagers keep coming! One innovative Society — the one in Scarborough — started Self Select in April, 1974. It passed its first year of probation and is now the official program for the finding of foster homes f or adolescents. They have set aside the traditional method for the finding of such homes — the home study. The home and its prospective new member meet on a number of occasions to decide if they want each other. And if they do they are joined together. There is much preparation before this step is taken. Parents of homes offered for such fostering are told of the highs and lows of such caring for troubled teens. This is followed by a description of some par- ticular young people who are thought by caseworkers to be able to fit into the prospective family's slife-style. Likewise the teenagers in question are briefed just as thoroughly regarding the offered homes, Such briefings in both cases arevery honest and open. Both family and teenagers know of any problems which they might face. Su rime' ,s the best time for the get-acquainted sessions. There is no staring across the living room space wondering what to say, Twenty four such placements have been made with 12 still in care. A contract is drawn up between the young people and the foster parents. Both sides have an opportunity to express and operationalize their expectations, + + + 0 God Help me to see the loveliness there is to see, To hear the harmony there is to hear To look for gladness everywhere so free To open my heart to every blessing near. Help me to thrill that life is wonderful To think all worthwhile thoughts Truth has to give; To realize the world is beautiful For that is what makes it worth the while to live! (C. E. Flynn) Such a written agreement adds stability to the resulting arrangement. There is an agreement between the two parties that the arrangement will be binding for 3 months. Thus far only 3 such agreements have been broken. One such teenager stated in her agreeement, "All I want is a few hours every day to be by myself my own room." Her foster parents asked only, "We hope Ruth will adapt to our style of family life. She will have privacy and her own room." This summer Ruth has worked, saving every bit of money possible to pay for a trip to Holland with new parents, Girls tend to have more con- flicts with parents than boys. Parents find the sexual acting out of daughters very difficult to tolerate. Boys have an easier time. It is no surprise then that 75 percent of those cared for under Self Select are girls. Strangers are more objective and thus more able to deal with such problems. Self Select has opened the way for single people to parent adolescents. These young per- sons already have parents and some are only looking for com- panions. Ruth, mentioned above, visits her mother twice weekly. Her foster parents also have con- tacted Ruth's mother, The relationship between mother and daughter is of a high order and friendship between the two families flourishes. Such a record begets imitation and other C.A.S. Branches are already following suit. + + + Next Tuesday is November 11 and your counsellor, Mr. Boomer, will be with his family for the day. It is to be hoped that any problems arising can be postponed until November 18, + + + Mr, & Mrs, Phillip Little, the family providing our answering service,areexperiencing various hospitalizations at this time. Your understanding is solicited. If there is no answer after 2 or 3 tries, Mr. Boomer can be con- tacted at Goderich numbers 524- 7331 during the day and 524.6646 in the evening, tv Vet ISFP,P4o IHE.PCS floTkOKO PIORt I LArt Po Foft Youl‘NtoBANP - HE'S GOTH PAP EI'l riTITIG arduously than by many others who enjoy good health. The CNIB, Lions and Board of Trade were among the groups to which he gave a considerable amount of his time and leader- ship and we know the members of 1 those groups will find it difficult to fill the gap created by his death. One of the remarkable things about Don was the fact that he seldom complained about his lot in life. When blindness deprived him of his livelihood as a gifted sign painter, he merely devised methods whereby he could convey his ideas to others and still create signs that were of his usual calibre. Similar to others who have lost their sight, Don quickly learned to be self-sufficient and it wasn't long before he could make his way from, his home to his shop by learning the number of steps he had to take and by setting a course that was as accurate as radar. Many times the writer watched him make that trip and it was always a marvel to us that he never faltered and certainly there would be many watching him who would never have suspected that he was blind. Don set his course straight on many things, and when he took a job it was always completed. Perhaps the thing that bothered him more than even his own afflictions, was the lack of enthusiasm he saw among local businessmen in affairs of the Board of Trade. He just couldn't understand the amount of complacency that existed. Complacency was certainly at the other end of the scale from his way of living. Our response to now By ELMORE BOOMER Counsellor for Information South Huron For appointment phone: 235-0560 Self select •