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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-11-27, Page 4Although the possibility of restruc- turing Huron County may still be a long way off, it is gratifying to see our local govermment representatives discussing the subject while there is still plenty of time to do so. Premier William Davis announced dur- ing the last election campaign that further restructuring and regionalization efforts would not be considered by the provincial government for at least two or three years. But restructuring, or the reorganization of municipal governments within a county, will continue to be considered as a method of streamlining government for some time to come. Several areas throughout the province which have undergone restructuring already are now having second thoughts about the system they okayed. Perhaps they waited too long before weighing the disadvantages from advantages. Although a public plebescite must be held before restructuring can be passed, it should be up to local councils to present voters with con- crete information concerning the system. It would seem the three municipalities in the southern region of Huron County were acting in a responsible manner when they decided to set up a meeting in Creditor) last week to discuss the concept and determine mutual problems and in- terests. The results of that meeting will provide consistent input from this region when all of the municipalities of Huron County meet in Clinton this week to discuss restructuring at the county level. It looks like a case of advanced Think- ing to us, and it looks good. Not only that, but its happening at both the local and the county level. If this current example being set by our government leaders continues, Huron County could be informally "restructured" before the province even gets around to in- troducing the legislation. Ideally, restructuring and its parent, regionalization, are supposed to bring about greater government efficiency and mutual cooperation between the municipalities in the area. It seems to be happening already, without the formal ti- tle. Shop at home Many things you don't get in Exeter riSx)191kti VEitt if fa Lwts tR.EET GD TAUS OVA*, vicow NO To CAR gI.00D. SIR f BLLl COMO fit, ...MINP YOU, TAWS 3-U5T AN LSTIMATU Jim Bey 4 Early groundwork Outeet Zektme‘a Cocoon Some days I am hard put to believe that out of this grunting 15 year-old mound of lethargy and hair there will emerge a man some day. Seeing him bound so tightly in a cocoon of indifference, self-consciousness, defiance, negativism I am often not so sure he's growing wings of grace, self assurance, tolerance, beauty. Help me, Lord, to let the cocoon be, to wait and keep my patience and know that you will name the day the full-blown butterfly breaks forth. Sold! They were bidding against each other on a fine, old pine table He, accustomed to getting what he wanted with his padded wallet in his custom-made suit coat pocket. She, a young homemaker stars in her eyes and wanting that old table so much she was almost shaking. Up went the bidding until he saw her turn back to check the contents of her purse. Then, quietly, he walked away so she could have the precious table. Lord, this is a man I've judged for his lack of spirituality. Yet, he was kind and sensitive to that young bride's longing. It scares me when I think had I been in his place I might have bid that table out of range for her without a second thought . . and maybe sold my soul. Bless him, Lord, Forgive me. Our response tmosEpoR o nE.se.34tEoR now , Counsellor for • Information South Huron For appointment phone: 235-0560 o" Men over women Those people who do the bulk of their shopping in communities other than their own must be firm believers in the old say- ing that "far away pastures are the greenest." If these bargain hunting, selec- tion seeking people would only look to their local retailers first, chances are they would find just what they want — at real com- petitive prices. If these same people stopped to consider the importance of deal- ing with local shops available to serve them, they might not be tempted to spend their dollars elsewhere. Doing business with your own merchants is much more im- portant than just being friendly with local businessmen. Your support is necessary for them to 'continue to operate their es- tablishments successfully. Each dollar spent outside of your community is a dollar that will never come back. If it is spent at home it will help build a thriving economy in your area and may be used to pay business taxes which in turn help ease the load for your own residential taxes. We can only recommend you look to your home-town shops first for whatever me rchandise or services you require. In mast cases your retailers will appreciate it . . . and you'll be contributing to the growth of your community. I Smiley's Social life gets warmed up RAIZEMIZONSMEINUCEZZER Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 111111 Amalgamated 1924 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., 0.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W, Eedy Publications Limited Editor — Jim Beckett — Advertising Manager Women's Editor, —Gwyn Whilsmith Plant Manager — Les Webb Compo4ition 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 '31,15'75 5,240 SUBSCRIPTION BATE& Canada $9.00 Per Year; USA $11.00 MIZERSENEZ,Wel2=M122iWZ;;;,:;iaZT Irme;-A0vocato, November 27, 1975 sorbed in watching the climax of your favorite television program. Apparently this type of thing happens only rarely in Exeter, We will probably just have to learn to face the loneliness when we find these after dinner visits are minimal. Another thing that will be really difficult to get used to is breathing fresh air again. You know there's always something invigorating about breathing the chemical wastes from the large industries. Yes, Exeter, your fresh air may be a real shock to our lungs, but we'll just have to get accustomed to it, And how will we ever get used to doing business with the local merchants on a friendly personal basis. It's difficult to predict what our reaction will be when a smiling clerk approaches us in a store and asks, "is there anything I cat,. d& for Ybifi'l - These large 'department stores 'never did that, se-,4 if 'We' look' a' ' little surprised younl just have to understand we're not used to this kind of treatment. Stopping and chatting to people on the street just for the sake of conversation is a thing of the past in the cities. If you say hello to a stranger they're liable to think you're some kind of nut, This doesn't seem to be the case around here. Strangers actually smile, stop and talk. This is another thing we'll just have to get used to. You can bet we'll really miss having people march right on by as though we didn't exist. A friend of mine was joking with me on the weekend about moving from a busy small city to a much smaller community. He said you'll miss so many things that you've grown accustomed to and almost taken for granted, simply because they won't be available in Exeter. After thinking it over for a short time I managed to come up with a list of things Exeter can't offer. These things can be found in practically any larger com- munity. In fact I'll put them in this column because you may be interested in what Exeter doesn't offer when you compare it to much larger centres. One of the things I'll miss most are those annoying traffic jams. No longer will I have the pleasure of spending almost half an hour behind the wheel of my ..car to journey just under two miles from the office to my house. It's hard to imagine how local motorists can survive without the pleasures of catching. almost every traffic light just after it has turned a bright red. You can picture what my reaction will be to leaving the office and getting home in less than five minutes. Another thing I'll miss are the frequent calls of door-to-door peddlers who always manage to stop by just when you're ab- Women's Week is Dec. 1-6 in Exeter Mayor Bruce Shaw has proclaimed next week, December 1 - December 6, as Women's Week in Exeter, in keeping with International Women's Year. One of the most significant events taking place will be the official opening of the govern- ment subsidized senior citizen apartments on Senior Street, The building will be named after the late Helen Jermyn, who served Exeter as councillor and reeve for, many years. Mrs. Jermyn was one of those instrumental in getting the senior citizens apartments for the town. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and invitations have been sent to local politicians as well as MP Robert McKinley and MPP Jack Riddell and several senior citizens in the community. Members of Mrs, Jermyn's family will also be present. The guest speaker will be a representative from the Ministry of Housing. Town council will present a clock to be hung in the lounge of the building to mark the oc- casion, and a light lunch will be served by members of the Women's Institute. The opening proceedings are to commence at 11 a,m, To commemorate Women's Week several women's organizations are holding special events. 50 Years Ago Mr. Edward G. Kraft of Dash- wood, accompanied by his father, Mr. Henry L. Kraft, had a narrow escape from death Saturday when their .car dropped twenty feet over an embankment into a creek. Maurice Coates, Elmore Christie and Frank Parsons who went on Harvesters Expedition, returned home Saturday. The local platoon that has been training here two nights a week for the past nine weeks under the command of Major W. J. Heaman will finish up this week with a final inspection by General King of London. 25 Years Ago Sixty new houses have been completed or are being built in the RCAF station in Centralia. Mr, Ray Lammie has been appointed postmaster with duties to commence in the new year. J. Grant Mills of Woodham, a student at the University of Western Ontario has been awarded a Huron County bur- sary. Two car loads of members of the Lebanon Forest League Masons motored to London on Sunday afternoon to present Mr, Thomas Fisher with a fifty year jewel. Mr, Harry Strang is the Ontario wheat growing champion of 1950 with 72 bushels per acre. 20 Years Ago The Bank of Montreal's Exeter branch will soon offer around the clock banking service, With the' installation of night deposit boxes being planned. Mrs. Martha Jacob will retire December 1 after serving thir- teen years 08 matron of the Huron County Horne, The list of things we'll miss from the city could go on and on, but I'm sure you have the idea. If anybody moves away from here to a large metropolis it would be wise for them to weigh all the benefits against the disad- vantages. I'm sure if my friend could ever have the good fortune to enjoy the lifestyle of a small community, he would never say city living is the best. You and I know it isn't. — Chamber interest — The Exeter, Chamber of Commerce are . to be congratulated for calling a public meeting regarding the present postal situation. Although nothing may come of the efforts of the local chamber, it would be wise to remember very little is ever accomplished unless an effort is made. In many cases, success' can be measured by the amount of effort involved. A friend of mine had a favorite saying which went something like this: "Nothing ever happens until somebody does something.',' These words would be ap- propriate for the Exeter Chamber of Commerce. After all, one of the main functions of a community-minded organization such as this is to do their utmost to promote the good things in the town or in this case to try and rectify a bad situation. It is comforting to know there are people in this town who care enough about what is going on to take a positive approach for the benefit of us all. Harry V. Carling, a former Exeter boy, retired as the Bank of Commerce manager in Wind- sor after serving the bank for forty-five years, thirty of them in Windsor. 10 Years Ago The township of Stephen and the town of Grand Bend both draw the majority of interest in the area elections. Nomination meetings were also held in most of the other municipalities in the Exeter area, Minnie Noakes became the first woman reeve in the ninety year history of Hen- sall. This coming Sunday will be a special day of reunion at Main Street United Church, as they honor Edna V. (Follick) Hearts, who had taught Sunday School at the church for over fifty-five years. Mrs. Hearts taught her first classes in 1910 and many members of her first class return to honor her, The reeve and council for Zurich were in by acclamation, 5 Years Ago A Santa Claus parade will be held in Exeter for the first time in several years Saturday afternoon with a good number of floats and entries expected. Police chief Ted Day issued a plea to drivers parking behind the Devon Building to stop blocking the sidewalk. Ratepayers in nine district municipalities go to the polls Monday to elect the officials that will be running their municipalities for the next two years, All posts in the Usborne township election were filled with people who were acclaimed. Machismo is "the myth of the superiorty and inborn authority of men over women". This definition is given by Hernan San Martin, a Chilean sociologist, in the March edition of U.N.E.S.C.'s The Courier, This particular issue honours Inter- national Women's Year with a number of articles relating to women and their place in society. Our Dr. Martin lists some of the characteristics which are part of the feminine and• masculine stereotypes of Latin America. Feminity is characterized by gentleness, devotion, lack of foresight, fragility, submission, dependence, caution, prettiness, lack of self-confidence, faith- fulness and home loving. These are but a few of the qualities listed and are recognizable as being part of our social awareness. The masculine person, on the other hand, is hard, cold, rational, analytical, strong, in- dependent, aggressive, stable, active, self-centred, comfort- .loving, and unfaithful. As Dr. Martin mentions, machismo is alive and well in modern, structured societies as they are in Latin America. These sterotypes have arisen, according to our social scientist, out of ancient communities in which work was allocated ac- cording to age and sex. This sexist differentiation has now become part of our social structure and functioning. These stereotypes need not be. For our author refers us to .Margaret Mead who tells of three diverse tribes in New Guinea. The Arapesh people seemed very maternal — this seemed true for both men and women. All were "trained to be co-operative, unaggressive, responsive to the needs of others". There was little difference between men and women. The Munduglimor Tribe in- dicated little difference between men and women. All the people seemed, to our American ob- servers, to be very masculine. Both sexes were aggressive, and ruthless, with maternal behaviour and attitude being minimized, The sexual orientation of the Tcharnbuli tribe was opposite to our own, The women were dominant, impersonal, the managing partner, Men on 'the other hand were the emotionally dependent. Dr. Martin labels machismo an oppressive ideology which should be changed. He recognizes that any such change will be slow in coming. He feels that we are busy forming men and women rather than making persons.- „ In the same magazine we have a list of events in the progress of women toward equality. Women received the right to vote in Massachusetts in 1691. This was revoked in 1780. In 1792 in the united Kingdom Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women. This book has recently become available again. Women of New Zealand ob- tained the right to vote in 1893. This right came to Swiss women in 1971, Mrs. Sirimavo Banderanaike of Ceylon became the world's first woman prime minister. This year, International Women's Year — sees a family code come into force in Cuba which requires men to help their wives with the housework, How are the sexes different? This is a question of mounting interest, One review of the literature on the subject indicates your basic differences. Males are more aggressive than females. This is observed in many cultures. This aggressive behaviour is evident as soon as boys start playing with other persons. Aggressive behaviour diminishes as people grow older, Girls have greater verbal ability than boys. This superiority appears at about age eleven in girls and increases through high school, Boys excel in visual spatial ability. Male adolescents have a marked edge in the perception of objects and their relationship to each other. Boys excel in mathematical ability. This difference appears at about the grade 12 level. It is my conclusion that similarities and differences between Sexes are subtle indeed and defies our best efforts to catalogue them. It is tremendous to know that the two sexes are similar enough to be called human beings and different enough to be called men and women, These similarities and dif- ferences make life for all of us infinitely interesting, Perhaps I sounded a bit grumpy last week because this has been one of those summers when a chap feels that he hasn't done anything, seen anything, or been anywhere. And it has. But that is not to say that it has been without interest and in- cident. Last week, I whined about our scanty social life; one funeral, one wedding. However, we've had some very interesting visitors. Almost every day. Roofers, painters, a columnist, a student, a syndicate man, a physiotherapist, and - the most interesting of all - my grandbabby. And I reckon I've learned a wee bit about human nature in the process. Perhaps that's what it's all about. I like physical nature as well as the next man, but I am fascinated by human nature. Physical nature is interesting and fairly predictable. You plant a seed properly, nurture it, give it plenty of fertilizer, the right amount of sun and water, pluck out the weeds around it, and you wind up with a dandy cucumber or turnip, or whatever you planted. But you can't do that with humans, though you try. Maybe we give them too much fertilizer, or don't pluck the weeds. We plant what we think is going to be a rose, and it turns out to be a cabbage. Or vice versa. Any parent knows this. By the way, don't get excited, or nervous. This is not a tract on Freudian sexual symbolism. It is merely a middle-aged man trying to express his astonishment at the variegation of the human species. Once again, I drift into. one of those remote channels that end up in a swamp. Why not stick. to the main stream? Back to our summer visitors. There are two categories: those who caught us at home, and those who did not. Those in the latter category came around when we were out doing something exotic, like shopping. Or at night, when we were cringing in the TV room, lights out, doors locked, phone off the hook, arguing about whether we'd watch the John Wayne 1940 western or the Audrey Hepburn 1953 dazzler. Among these were two people who left notes. One was Doris Humphries, a lively columnist in the Renfrew Mercury. "Darn you, Bill Smiley. I came all the way from Renfrew . .". Sorry Doris. I'll buy you a dinner next time. I read your column every week in one of Canada's best weeklies. And remind your boss that he still owes me a dinner. (He was a terrified infantryman when I was a terrified Typhoon pilot.) Another note was from a student. Sharp mind, headed for university and law. Beware, you lawyers of five years from now. Don't fool with this young lady?, punk?, woman?, person?. She'll murder you. Typically, with the deep respect my students have for me, her note began, "Hi, Smiley, I came around and you didn't even have the decency to be at home . . .". A few of the visitors caught us at home. One was Bill Craig, of Argyle Syndicate, who has more to do with getting out this column than anyone except me. Our previous acquaintance had been on the phone. I expected a smart- alec young punk of about twenty- six with the big sideburns, the big pants, and the hearty manner. I was shattered. He and his wife Betty arrived for that notorious pre-dinner appetizer. They have an eighteen-year-old daughter and a sweet, shy little son, James, who is five. Bill is a Korean war veteran. He demolished me at two games of chess, and played a fair piano. So much for pre-conceptions. Some of the others who caught us in were the painters and the roofers, When we were up at the crack of dawn, ready for any questions, they didn't show up. When we were up at the crack of noon, not expecting them, they were buzzing the doorbell at 8:30, like hornets, I report, not happily, but just as an observer, that they were all stung severely by a number of hornets in our roof and environs. But there, I've run out of space, and I haven't even told you of the party in our backyard for retarded adults, or the hellery of my grandbabliY. He has just arrived again, and I can hear him shouting downstairs for Bill, or somebody who understands that when he's asleep, he is pure angel, and when he's awake, he's pure devil.