The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-07-08, Page 4rom there, Otis — it's been months since you sent in
your tax return!"
Times-Advocate, July 8, 1974 Pape 4
We need protection
If six area residents had died of food
poisoning last week, the public would be
quick to express outrage. Similarly, if six
people were murdered or died from rabid
animals, there would be public anger and a
crash program to hunt down the killers.
Yet, six people died in this area in the
past couple of weeks in road accidents —
with scarcely a murmur of public protest,
There is no surge of pressure for new
safety measures; no outcry over a lack of
government action.
A select committee of the Legislature,
set up recently by Premier William Davis
to examine Ontario's highway safety
standards, was told that 1,800 people died
last year from highway accidents and the
cost in all accidents was $460,531,000. That,
by the way, was suggested as being a
"conservative estimate".
But many of the taxpayers who foot
that bill continue to fight for the right of
On tarians to kill or maim themselves on
the roads.
The province's legislation to make
seatbelt use mandatory is still denounced
by many as an infringement on individual
liberty, despite the fact that statistics
indicate the law has already resulted in
fewer road deaths and lower hospital costs
' for the injured.
The lowering of the speed limits on
provincial highways has also been attacked
as a useless gesture, although that
measure, too, appears to, be curbing
accident rates.
No doubt Attorney-General Roy
McMurtry would face strong opposition
should he go ahead with a proposal for
year-round spot checks by police to clamp
down on drinking drivers. This, in spite of
the fact that Canada has a larger problem
with drinking drivers than any other
nation.
But McMurtry should press on with the
scheme, and the province should give more
thought to saving motorists from
themselves.
The committee of MPPs studying
highway safety should come up with firm
proposals on additional ways to reduce auto
accidents.
And they should also consider how to
bring home to the public the full horror of
the slaughter on our roads, not to mention
the cost in human' suffering and money.
Great pretenders
people use, especially in their relationships
with others often reveal a good deal about
the society they live in. Speech, someone
said, is the window to the world. And some
grumblers are already saying that the win-
dow is pretty grubby what with all the im-
purities and improprieties that curse — or
grace? — our language today.
Certainly to examine the cliches of our
day and then compare them with those of
another era would be a quick lesson in
social psychology and so what (now there's
an oldie) if the purists say we're going to
hell in split infinitives,
New words to fit a changing world may
be the best way to communicate the uncer-
tainties and insecurities of an age when so
many wonder what lies in store for them.
The key phrases of a decade or a
culture — what's passing and what's com-
ing — reveal something about its climate
and its character.
Far-out baby!
Checking out the city slickers
late OteferZimes-Ainsocafe
SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND
Cl.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC
Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited
LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER
Editor — Bill Batten
Assistant Editor — Ross Hdugh
Advertising Manave.v — Jim Beckett
Plant Manager — Jim Scott
Composition Manager * Dave Worby
Business Manager Dick Jongkind
Phone /35.1311
Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail
Registration Number 0386
Paid in Advance Circulalion
September 30,1975 5,420
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $q.00 Per Year; USA $11.00
.:12EWitatMZEMEZMEz,.'s.,...MIZZTEMLE,'
RS HED
Any damn fool can do it
Had a letter this week from a
former student who has to pre-
sent a seminar in a journalism
course she's taking, She didn't
want much — just how to
become a syndicated weekly
columnist, and some anecdotes
about being editor of a weekly
newspaper.
There's no problem about the
first one. as I tell the eight or 10
people who write me annually
about it. All you have to do is be
in the right place at the right
time, with the right material. In
other words. lucky. A second in-
gredient is to be cheap, I was
both, when this column began to
circulate.
I began writing this column
when I was editor of a weekly.
After a couple of years, I had
grown sick of the lack of freedom
and creativity in what I was
writing. Any damn fool can write
a news story, if he gets the facts
straight. And many damn fools
can and do write editorials,
regardless of the facts.
And I was having trouble with
the weddings and obituaries I
had to churn out.
One searing experience in the
weddings department was my
assertion. right there in black
and white, that the bride and
groom had left for a honeymoon
in Bermuda wearing a green cor-
duroy suit. I didn't say who was
wearing the top, and who the bot-
tom, but my reputation among
the mothers of brides was
definitely sullied,
Same trouble with the
Times Established 1873
obituaries. I never committed
the classic: "The deceased was
borne to his final resting place by
six old fiends who acted as
pallbearers," but I did have my
moments.
A line from a wedding would
pop into the funeral, and it would
come out something like this:
"The remains of the deceased.
who was in his 78th year, are
resting at the Sunset Funeral
Home, in a clinging gown of
yellow voile, with a garland of
white stephanotis and a large
bouquet of forget-me-nots."
Pretty fancy funeral, what?
I never did get much flack
from the deceased, but I sure
caught hell from the "sur-
vivors," as they were invariably
known.
After a series of such setbacks,
I decided to start writing a little
column in which I didn't have to
cope with the dull facts of the
news story, the supposed objec-
tivity of the editorial, or the pit-
falls of the wedding-obituary
quagmire.
Thus began "Sugar and Spice"
as it was first named, a humble
little corner of the editorial page
where one Bill Smiley could
spoof the world, needle his wife,
damn all politicians, and give
vent to his rages. In short, where
he could say whatever he
wanted, without hiding behind
the anonymity of the news story
or the editorial "we." (Although
that's a pretty slim thing to try
to hide behind in a small town,
where everybody knows exactly
ti
Advocate Established 1881
who wrote the editorial, and
what's wrong with his head, to
have such an opinion).
Anyway, the column caught
on, for various reasons. One was
that men enjoyed me pointing
out how peculiar women are.
Another was that women enjoyed
me pointing out how stupid men
are. Everyone enjoyed me poin-
ting out how abysmally idiotic
politicians are.
There were other reasons. I
didn't mind calling a spade a rud-
dy shovel. I didn't mind exposing
what an ass I was. I wrote about
all the horrible ordeals that or-
dinary people go through; loved
ones dying: music festivals,
Christmas. I wrote about parents
and children, sailors and legion-
naires, grannies and young
mothers, farmers and
fishermen.
And I had good friends.
Notably George Cadogan, still a
power in the weekly business in
the Maritimes. He urged and en-
couraged and recommended to
friends. Under his exhortations, I
gradually changed a ragged
column of anecdotes, barbs and
person opinions into a short es-
say that tried to say something,
without seeming to.
Next thing I knew, 88 papers
were running my column. Then,
of course, the syndicates got in-
terested. They are not, by the
way, much interested in
Amalgamated 1924
It never rains but what it
pours!
That's the sad fact of life most
area residents experienced over
the first big holiday weekend of
the summer. Rain spoiled most of
the planned activities of the
weekend, although the
weatherman did show some
mercy to at least enable us to
salvage one good day—Sunday.
beginners, which makes it might
tough to break in.
Satisfaction? Oh, yes. Not
from writing it. That's hard
work. If it weren't, it would be
hard reading, and if it was that,
it wouldn't be read for long,
But I've had great joy from the
knowledge that I've occasionally
brought some pleasure, or sur-
cease from pain, to someone.
One ancient lady wrote painfully,
from her old folks' home bed,
that she had laughed until she
cried, at one column. A young
Canadian woman, in New
Zealand, wrote that she'd been in
despair, everything black, had
read my column in her
hometown paper, had laughed
aloud, and had realized that God
was still in His heaven, if she
could laugh.
I won't tell you about the
rotten letters I've received.
They're few, they're usually
bigoted, and they don't bother
me.
Now, Mary Graham, jour-
nalism student. You want an
anecdote from my days as a
weekly editor. Here's a true one,
How would you cover it, as a
reporter?
A man had a fight with his
wife, got all drunked up, and told
her he was going to commit
suicide. She told him to go ahead,
He marched out to his car, Went
roaring off, drove it right off the
town dock and into that
blackness that waits for all of us.
Next morning, they found him.
Sound asleep in his car, which
had landed on a barge tied up to
the deck. His wife had the last
six or seven hundred words,
25 Years Ago
A picnic for parents and
students was held at Bissett's
School, Usborne. At the close of
the evening a presentation was
made to Miss Pat Hay, the
retiring teacher, of a silver tea
service.
Biggest obstacle to the
establishment of a provincial
park at the Lake Huron Pinery is
the Township of Bosanquet which
would lose some $6,000 in taxes.
Fifty pounds of turkey were
consumed by 30 members of the
Ilensall Club and executive at a
dinner served at the home of Mr.
& Mrs. Alex Mousseau, It was one
of the best yet.
20 Years Ago
Exeter Kinsmen Playground
officially opened on Tuesday with
an attendance of 212. Recreation
• director Doug Smith is in charge,
Ilensall Public School Board
acting on the advice of district
inspector, John G. Gomm), has
purchased a site for the new
school on the south side of the
village.
Parents and pupils of SS'No. 4
Usborne, gathered for a. picnic at
the school grounds, Friday
evening,. to honor Mr, Burton
Morgan who has accepted a
position in St. IVIarys,
tended victim is only a
cockroach.
A compromise has been
reached, fortunately. While the
Jainists will not kill cockroaches,
they see no wrong in having the
public health office undertake
that task for them.
An interesting aspect of the
story is the information that up to
50 percent of Toronto high-rises
now have some kind of cockroach
infestation, according to one pest
control company.
+ + +
The recent air strike caused a
great deal of anguish for many
Canadians, but the situation was
welcomed by hundreds of
Etobicoke residents. They are the
people who live under Toronto
International's flight patterns..
Not only was the peace and
quiet appreciated, so was the
disappearance of the offensive
odor created by the great gas
guzzlers in the air.
While many area readers may
have difficulty appreciating the
problem of living near a large
airport, it is not too difficult to
comprehend the noise and smog
when you realize that one jet flies
over your property every two
minutes.
We just can't figure out why
they bother to live there!
+ + +
And finally, we pass along
some information on what can be
done with those old rotting train
stations which are included in the
scenery of most communities.
The Town of Milton has moved
their station to a small park on
the outskirts of the community
and turned it intoan information
booth for travellers.
With a fresh coat of paint and,
some repairs, it looks most at-
tractive in its new setting.
15 Years Ago
Ted Wilson and Geo, Godbolt,
the first two Exeter Scouts to
attend a Canadian jamboree left
Wednesday morning by bus for
Ottawa. '
Thieves used nitroglycerine to
open the safe at Hensall Post
Office from which they stole over
$15,000 in cash and negotiable
supplies early Friday morning.
When the crew of a CNR freight
noticed a cow in a Brucefield field
next to the tracks having dif-
ficulty giving birth to a calf they
stopped the 'train and blew the
whistle loud and long until they
attracted the farmer's attention.
The calf died but the cow was
saved,
5 Years Ago
The first observance of
Friedsburg Days in Dashwood
was a tremendous success. More
than 6,000 persons attended the
Friday and Saturday
celebrations and the large
crowds overwhelmed the com-
mittee in charge.
While attending Exeter council
meeting on another matter
recently members of the Exeter
fire department issued a plea to
the public to stay out Of their way
when the fire siren rings.
Ken Hardy, one of Lucan
drivers at the Western Fair
Raceway, has been rated the
Raceway's second best driver,
with 13 wins, 11 seconds and nine
thirds,
Seems to me there was a
popular song a few years back
called, `I Am the Great
Pretender'. It was about a boy
who was pretending he wasn't
hurt by a girl who had jilted him,
when really, he was all broken up
inside.
Most of us, like him, are great
pretenders. We ' pretend
everything is just fine when our
lives are falling apart. We
pretend we are honest when we
are dishonest and accept
cheating as a way of life. We act
as if we're accepting certain
situations calmly and reasonably
when inside we are seething with
anger. And so it goes, on and on.
Rarely do we ask ourselves,
"Who am I, really?" "How do I
really feel?" "Have I ever let
anyone else know how I really
feel?" The lie we live is probably
one we tell only to ourselves, for
mast people close to us usually
see more than we think but are
too polite to tell us.
Our churches should be the
very places where we can confess
to what we really are and feel,
but unfortunately this usually
isn't true. It isn't true because
most churchpeople are afraid if
they made these confessions they
would be received with icy
stares, rejection, or at best
embarrassment.
How different it was with
Jesus. During his time on earth,
he dealt with every sin that any of
us has committed or is now
practising and He dealt with it
realistically. He associated with
chislers, alcoholics, call-girls. He
didn't condone what they did, nor
did He leave them as He found
them, but the record shows they
enjoyed His company and felt
easy with Him.
Author Bruce Larson says a
cocktail bar is possibly the best
counterfeit there is to the
fellowship Christ wants to give
His church. It's an imitation but
it's like the thing the church
ought to be, only with liquor at
the center, not grace . . . escape,
not reality.
A bar has permissive accepting ,
and inclusive fellowship. It's
unshockable. It's democratic.
You can tell people secrets and
nobody goes out and tells others
or even wants to. The cocktail bar
flourishes, says Larson, not
because most people are
alcoholics but because God has
put into the human heart the '
desire to know and be known, to
love and be loved. "The Church
usually isnot this, so many seek a
counterfeit at the price of a few
beers."
Christ wants the Church to be
unshockable, democratic, per-
missive and filled with the real
Spirit . . . a fellowship where
people can come in and say, "I'm
beat!" "I'm angry!" "I've had
it!" Alcoholics ,Anonymous has
this quality, Why is it the Church
often misses it?
Mast church members are
genuinely committed to Jesus
Christ but that's not enough, It's
good but it's not enough. There
has to be More than one more
alter call, one more decision
card, one more retreat, etc.
Quoting from the New
Testament, Larson says the
equation of Christianity is four-
fold: "And they continued
steadfast in the apostles' doctrine
and fellowship, the breaking of
bread and prayers." (Acts 2:42)
Most churches, he points out, are
strong on doctrine, prayers and
communion but the apostolic
fellowship is missing. "It isn't the
only way to the renewal of the
Church, but it's part of the whole
pattern. A three wheeled wagon
can't go very far,"
"A fellowship must exist where
committed people can begin to be
honest with one another and
discover the dimension of
apostolic fellowship."
Most pagans have more open,
honesty than many Christians.
They cheat on their income tax
and laugh about it on the golf
course. They get drunk in front of
their whole club. They tell their
marital troubles to their hair-
dresser, They talk honestly with
the bartender about problems
with their children; and talk
deeply to their psychiatrist. They
speak indiscreetly in the locker
room to each other. They have an
openness and aeransparency that
is healthy but since they have no
commitment they often live
desolate and empty lives. But
when one of these open, honest
pagans comes to a place where
there is a chance to make a
decision that allows Christ to
come into their lives, WOW, we
see them recreated and reshaped
in the Spirit right before our eyes.
To have a Christian life that
has power, of course com-
mitment is necessary but
honesty before God in the
presence of others (call it con-
fession if you like) is thelkey,that
will open the way to bring
freedom, release and strength.
I have found that honesty is the
key to personal effectiveness, If I
am speaking to one person or to it
one hundred, God can use my
confessed redeemed failures
more than a fancy 'theological
talk. Nothing ever seems to
happen when I'm not honest
about myself with a person who
comes in need.
Next week, I shall write
something about the small
fellowship groups that are
springing up all over among lay
people who are discovering
strength and a new way of life by
not pretending any more.
ing the roadway to the beach
and the snowmobile trails in the
Parkhill Conservation Area.
The south Experience '76 crew
will be working in Rock Glen,
Thedford and Port Franks Con-
servation Areas. The students
include Cindy Dunsford, Carolyn
Lagerwerf, Anne Bullock and
Beatrice Massechlein. They
will be involved in maintenance
of all southern parks and con-
struction of new docking facilit-
ies at Port Franks.
The Construction crew, con-
sisting of Beatrice Schofield, and
Barb Ratz have already spent
time constructing the gate at
Port Blake. They will also
construct the new gatehouse at
Rock Glen'Conservation Area.
The Municpal crew consists
of a foreman, Tom Creech and
Leisa Ritchie, Paul Fydenchuk
and Agnes VanEsbroeke. Muni-
cipalities were contacted earlier
in the spring requesting they
make application for assistance
and where possible, assistance
will be given. Some of the
municipal projects include ceme-
tery restoration and clean-up at
Arkona, beach cleanup at Bay-
field, roadside clean-up in, the
townships of Lobo, McGillivray
and West Williams, clean-up of
the creek following through
l'Iensall dump, municipal ditch
clean-up in Dublin and other
projects in Stanley and Tucker-
smith townships.
The four technical positiops
have been fined by University
Students.
The two technical planning
students are Sergio Pompilit
involved in preparation of re- j
and Craig Piper, They will be Wil
source inventories and topo-
Please turn to Page 5
Coo-ool, savage, the six-year-olds
scream at some far-out revelation that has
just blown their tiny minds. Right on! the
teenagers respond in a kind of warm
camaraderie that makes their groupiness
so all inclusive, yet so terribly exclusive
too.
Have a good day, Now there',s one that
started off, we suspect, from the treacly in-
anities of some morning disc jockey and
seems to have spread with stunning in-
sincerity to every situation that occurs
before noon. Everyone from store clerks to
cab drivers to newsstand vendors to
elevator operators to distracted traffic
cops spread this good word.
And then there's far-out which seems
to thrust aside such trite phrases as
marvellous or wonderful or even fantastic.
And what person under 40 ever finds
anything that's•terrific anymore?
In any age, the phrases and words that
Far-out baby
•;;;;E•AgEiti::::::3;f:
But it's an ill wind that doesn't
blow some good, and the
weatherman was no doubt
responsible 'for a sizeable in-
crease in the number of
"readers" during the wet holiday
period.
The writer had intended to
spend the holiday lazing about
the pool at the Milton residenceof
the William Pollens, but founc114
that it was even too wet for that
activity, which indicates just how
miserable things can get. Too wet
to go swimming!
So we joined the readers,
taking advantage of the con-
ditions to catch up on the current
events as portrayed in the
Toronto area daily and weekly
newspapers. We pass along some
of our findings in the hope that
you'll find them of interest and
get some insight into what is
going on with our urban cousins.
+ + +
Perhaps the most interesting
item was gleaned from the
Mississauga News. It notes that
the council of that sprawling
suburb of Toronto have taken
some rather severe action
against people who allow their
dogs to wander.
People who let Rover rove a bit
too far in that area face fines of
up to $1,000. That's right, one C
note!
A report on the council
discussion indicated that most
members felt it was the only way
to make people keep their dogs
under control and end the rash of
complaints from others who are
fed up with having to clear
animal waste from their
properties,
+ + +
In Peel County, a family court
judge has instituted a program
whereby young offenders in his
court will be sentenced to work
periods rather than paying fines
or other penalties.
Eight youngsters, all male and
between the ages of 13 and 15 will
spend most of their summer
vacation working in program and
maintenance activities for the
county recreation and board of
education departments.
A similar program has been
attempted in Goderich, where
Judge Carter recently sentenced
seihie yOuths work hi ° that
cdmmunity at a variety of ac-
tivities.
At first glance, the programs
appear sensible. Get the kids into
some beneficial work to pay off
their debt to society. However,
there is an obvious danger in-
volved if work is considered as
punishment. Society is already
filled with too many people who
seem to have this attitude and it-
would he unfortunate if the
numbers grew.
+ + +
Most people would agree that
the only good cockroach is a dead
one. It's hard to feel much
sympathy for the little brown
bug, which the Toronto Star notes
has taken over ahead of mice,
rats and termites as Canada's
Public Enemy No. 1.
However, Toronto officials are
having some problems in their
fight because the city contains
some 250 Jainists. Jainism, in
case yon didn't know, is a
religious order and its members
believe all forms of violence and
killing are evil, even if the in-
The Ausable-Bayfield Conser-,
vation Authority has hired 24
summer students under funding
from the Ontario Government's
Experience '76 Program, Project
No. 130.
The students have been assign-
ed to certain crews in the differ-
ent conservation areas within
the Watershed,
They and the Authority's per-
manent staff will be involved in
the maintenance and develop-
ment of those areas.
Ford of Canada, again this
year, has donated three vehicles
to our particular Experience '76
program as part of their "Work-
mg with Youth" program.
The crews are made up of
University and College students
who will work for thirteen weeks
and Secondary School students
who will be employed for seven
weeks, starting July 5th,
The north Experience '76 crew
consists of Janice Stewart, Pat
Faber, Lori Sims and Jim Fer-
guson. They cover all the con-
servation areas in the northern
part of the Watershed. They
first project involved the pre-
paration of Port Blake for the
Official Opening June 9th.
Future projects include brush-
ing, clearing and general cleanup
at Crediton, Morrison Dam and
Clinton Conservation Areas, also
to Zurich and Dublin. The
Bannockburn Wildlife Area
will receive trail maintenance, a
sign and a shelter.
The Parkhill Experience '16
crew consists of Bruce Williams,
Bernie Rotten, Randy Politick,
Rose Westhaver and Janie
Robertson. These students will
be involved in such construction
projects as new boat dockS,
canoe racks, and playground
equipment. They will be improv-