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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-11-11, Page 4Page 4 Tirtte Advocate, November 11 1976 Needs full study Two interesting projects are under dis- cussion in Grand Bend these days: an arena and an indoor swimming pool They would naturally constitute a major undertaking for the resort and initial reports indicate that the type of thinking required for pro- jects of such magnitude have been missing. Lions treasurer Dave Nelder indicated to council his club felt that the acquisition of property was the first step. and this was to be followed by establishing priorities and the costs involved. This would appear to be reversing the procedure. The first step should be in assessing the priorities for recreation in the community. The answer could obvious- ly negate any decision on location of those facilities. It is of interest to note there already appears to be a conflict on the best site for a swimming pool. Once the priorities have been establish- ed, the next step is to determine the costs involved. not only of the capital outlay but certainly the operating costs. In smaller communities such as Grand Bend, the latter are often more burdensome than the former While groups such as the Lions and Chamber of Commerce are prepared to spearhead the raising of capital costs, the matter of operating costs.should also be clearly established to avoid the problems being experienced in many communities in this area at the present time. Many municipalities find that their neighbors are not very willing to pay their share for use of facilities when they are built. The ratepayers should demand a com- plete study of the need and priority for arenas, indoor swimming pools and curling rinks before such projects are undertaken and turned over to the residents for the an- nual upkeep. These comments are not intended to dampen enthusiasm in any way, but are solely intended to show the necessity for es- tablishing priorities and needs and to what extent the community can support those priorities and needs. Dangerous suggestion It's too early to tell whether any major issues will arise in Exeter's election cam- paign, or whether or not there will even be an election campaign. However. ratepayers should seriously concern themselves with a suggestion made last week by Councillor Garnet Hicks that the public should be excluded from much of the discussion on council business in the future. While he provided few details about his suggestion, it would apear that he would end the practice of staging two public meetings per month and replace that with a system of one committee-of-the-whole ses- sion followed by one public meeting. The public, of course, would be exclud- ed from the committee-of-the-whole ses- sion and no one would know what was being discussed behind those closed doors or what various council members were saying pertinent to those discussions. Reeve Derry Boyle and Deputy-Reeve Tom MacMillan gave ratepayers some in- sight into what would happen under the scheme suggested by Hicks. They noted that the public meeting would be a "rubber stamp" session and the ratepayers would not know the "why" or the "how" of what was being done on their behalf by the elected officials. Ratepayers could take some consola- tion in knowing that their interests were being protected by Messrs. Boyle and MacMillan, but they should be reminded that neither man plans to be a member of next year's council and the safeguards they represent in keeping the public's business public, will in fact be lost, If Mr. Hicks is concerned about letting the electorate know where he stands on matters persuant to their affairs, he should seriously reassess his candidacy for a posi- tion on council rather than destroy the democfatic system that has worked ex- * tremely well in this community for many, many years. „eeeneente.e..-...„„„e„...he'eaiseeeheeneak, eee.'eeeeeee.'neee. Thanks . . . not condemnation The Editor Exeter Times Advocate Exeter, Ontario Dear Sir: I am compelled to address the distinguished Reeve concerning his comments quoted in last week's paper. The Union Jack, a foreign flagl! What errant knave put such rubbish in your head, sir. Surely sir, you don't need a history lesson. Surely you know that Canada is by choice British North America. I think. I'll withdraw my recommendation that you be admitted to the Monarchist League. Indeed, one might suggest that you be drummed out of the Conservative party. The Union Jack and the Crown are the symbols of our history. I'm sure your comments were the result of a momentary lapse perhaps induced by your association with Ottawa Valley Irishmen whom we all know suffer from a congenital malignancy which prevents them from developing historical perspective. I'll await an acknowledgement that you spoke in haste or at least in jest, in which case I'll reaffirm my recommendation that you be admitted to the Monarchist League after all. Yours sincerely, Wooden, Principal Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 3881 rZimesabuocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O,W.N,A. CLASS 'A' and ABC. Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EERY, PUBLISHER Editor— Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Plant Manager — Jim Scott Composition Managerfi Harry OeVries Busines's Manager — Dick Jongkind Phone 235-1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Moil Resist:ation Natriber 0386 Paai in Advance Circulation Septeraber 30, 1975 5,420 Canada 511,00 Per Year; USA 522.00 SUBSCRIPTION RATES, Wear Ci POPPY for Remembrance Chipping away continues Somebody's dime I wonder how much more will be chipped away from the image of Remembrance Day this fall? Each year the iconoclasts chip. chip away, hoping that eventual- ly the whole embarrassing tin their opinion) charade will fade away. even though old soldiers never do. Last year. one Canadian Legion branch observed the day a week early, because the Nov. 11 date interfered with their deer hunting. To the businessman, Remem- brance Day is a dam' nuisance. For years he fought it, with one eye on his customers who were veterans, and the other on his clerks, who would have to be paid for nothing, if he gave them the day off. He whittled it down to half a day off, then an hour off for the memorial services. Today. most businessmen simply ignore the day. and it's business as usual. To industry. it has long since been an anachronism. although many of them do allow veterans the time off to attend the service. To the civil service, the banks. the teachers, it is just another welcome holiday, a little bonus. Makes a good day to go hunting. or fishing for rainbow, or putting the boat away for the winter. To the young people of this land. however much their teachers try to make them aware, it's just one of those vague and silly holidays. like Empire Day. or whatever that thing is called that used to be The 24th of May the Queen's birth- day- Even a decade or so ago, youngsters still had fathers and uncles who had served in World War H. and talked about it. and maybe had a souvenir, like the garter-belt of a Women's Land Army girl, which they assured their kids was one of the catapults that were Britain's only weapon aft& the evacuation at Dunkirk. For many a veteran's wife. it's a day of some anxiety. She knows perfectly well that, however carefully she has train- ed the old man, he's going to in- sist on going off to the Legion. Hall, to "honor my old com- rades," The trouble is. his old comrades have also gone there. to honor him. And between all the honoring, he's going to arrive home at an unusual hour. in an uncertain condition, and will feel every one of his 56 years on the morrow. That doesn't. leave much of anybody. does it. who has any real stake in Remembrance Day? Oh, of course there are the pojitician.s. There are still a few votes to be culled from veterans and their wives And there are the trumpeters who can handle the Last Post. They're few and far between, but around Remembrance Day they hit the Jackpot. A former student of mine used to pick up about 535, darting from one area communi- ty to the other. playing the Last Post at Legion dinners, and memorial services, and schools and churches. And there's the military, the mighty and intrepid Canadian Forces, who could probably repel an attack by the Swiss Navy and the army of Monaco. It gives them a chance to strut their stuff and show that they have been taught the Slow March. But those are minority groups. Who or what is left to make Remembrance Day a significant one in Canadian life? There's nobody left but the guys who were actually there — the veterans. Does it mean anything to them? At the risk of sounding maudlin. I would answer with a ringing affirmative, Their ranks are thinning, and hardly anybody else turns up for the ceremony any more. But across the land, thousands of men and women. pot-bellied. grey-haired. slightly. ridiculous to themselves as well as others, will march with solemn faces, on a cold and wet and windy day, to community cenotaphs across the land. They will stand and listen to the Names of the Fallen being read. They will fie assured by the padre that They Did Not Give Their Lives in Vain. In the Minute's Silence, which is usual- ly cut. to 30 seconds. they will have a brief flicker of overwhelming grief. Not. for fallen comrades.- but for lost youth, and for the encroachment of old age and illness and the final enemy. And as the knifing notes of The Last Post keen in the November air. there will be some real Amalgamated 1924 We find it difficult to com- prehend why the board of trustees of the Huron Country Playhouse are so upset with Lon- don Free Press drama critic Doug Bale_ After all, he's done the Playhouse and its patrons a big favour, and the writer for one, is happy with his revelation about the poor quality of performances we've been watching for the past four years. If Bale hadn't come along with his scathing attack, we'd still be living under the false impression that all those plays we've seen at the Playhouse were as enter- taining and enjoyable as we im- agined while viewing them. The fact is, the patrons have been an ignorant and gullible lot, and fortunately Bale has come along with his vast knowledge and experience in drama to save us from ourselves. It is with .a deep sense of shame that the writer admits to having been among the hundreds of people who have applauded loudly some of the performances at the Playhouse. But then.what can one expect from some coun- try bumpkin? Heck, we've even laughed at some of the scenes which we imagined to be hilarious, and sat spell-bound :a during some of the more serious portrayals that were presented on stage. Good heavens! But then. what can one expect from a person who allows himself the pl,asure of going out for a night with the idea of simply being entertained without considering his obliga- tion to try and find as much fault as postible with what is going on stage? But, if you think the writer is bad, consider his poor wife. Last year she went to see Anne of Green Gables and came home and suggested that father and the Batten boys join her at another production of the same play. Can vou imagine the irreparable 'harm two supposedly, concerned adults have caused in the up- bringing of their children? The frightening thing is, the kids en- joyed it too. To overcome that situation and in an attempt to get them back on the straight and narrow, we've made Bale's re- cent comments mandatory reading every night before bed- time. The only consolation we can muster up is in Bale's comment that we all have the right to fail now and then and we appreciate very much that he has apparent- ly provided some forgiveness to us in that regard. Now, of course, the writer is in a bit of a dilemma, although for- tunately it is one that is shared by thousands of other theatre goers in this area. That is, whether we should ever again at- tend the Playhouse and excuse the incompetence that Bale says we are subjected to at almost every performance. There are only two alter- natives. We can stay at home and read with continued interest Bale's condemnation of the per- formances, or we can continue to attend the plays and tell Bale to stay, at home if he doesn't think they're worth attending. May as well opt for the latter. tears. Then it's attention, Reveille, and quick-step behind the band, off to the Legion Hall, all that sloppy "sentiment" left behind, like the fallen comrades, There, the caps will snap, and the turkey will sizzle, and the dart board and the shuffle board will be in full swing, and all the young punks who jolend the Legion as social members will be enjoying the facilities, and over in a corner, a few Old Sweats from W.W.I will, be nursing a beer and reminding, with a quickening of - the eye, "D'ya remember the thee .?" It's sort of sad. But maybe it's a good thing that somebody remembers all the fine young men who went off so willingly, even eagerly, to fight. and to die if necessary, for ideals that nibdern historians sneer at, have been reading our paper lately either. The reason was simply: they too have been atten- ding a host of meetings regar- ding their own arena facilities. From what we've been able to garner. few communities have escaped some internal problems and debates about arena replacements or repairs and some of them may have been even more heated than in Ex- eter. Four of the weeklies this week reported on meetings regarding repairs to present structures. These include Goderich, Strathroy. St. Marys and Milton. All but. St. Marys are planning to repair their existing structures and that is proving to be an ex- pensive proposition. Costs in those three com- munities is expected to reach figures in the $450,000 bracket and have naturally spurred some citizens to suggest that the money should rather be spent on a new facility.- They argue that spending such a big sum to replace a roof and make some improvements to an old structure is poor economy when the amount would go a long way towards providing a brand new structure, complete with new equipment and the whole works. Compounding the problem, of course, is the grant structure. There would be no question of how most people would vote if the difference was a matter of some $500,000 or 8800,000 that had to come out of the local coffers or through local donations, but that is not the case. With Wintario and the provin- cial government being generous with our tax dollars, the difference between a repair job and a brand new building amounts to a figure of about $125,000 as far as local dollars are concerned. That obviously makes it a most difficult decision and it is the one most of us face periodically when we start asking whether it's wise to invest in repairs to the family car or television or if that money should be used to purchase a new one. The big difference is that the provincial government never provides any grant money to our personal projects. However, it can be clearly seen that Exeter was not alone in the heated debates which have centred around the closing of municipal arenas. of Miss Vera Rowe, Huron Street for future expansion of the nurses' residence. 20 Years Ago Mills Store, Woodham, was broken into Saturday night but although the safe was ransacked, the' owners report nothing miss- ing. There was no cash in the safe. Mrs. R. C. Dinney was croNn- ed Sorority Sweetheart at. Beta Sigma Phi's annual dance last week. She succeeds Miss Jean Taylor, last year's queen. Over twenty-five boys and girls have joined Exeter's new junior band. The practice sessions have started under Bandmaster Jim Ford. London, 30 Years Ago Jack Kinsman, Cromarty, 18, was awarded the King's Guineas and sold his calf for $4,950 at the Royal Winter Fair. Mr. Fred Forester, Seaforth, has been appointed agent at the C.N.R. depot. The Exeter Branch of the Red Cross has purchased a baler and a systematic collection of salvage will be made. We held anniversary service at our church recently and the prayer of the visiting minister particularly impressed me. He prayed thankfully for the dedication, deprivation and hardslitie some of our ancestors endured so that we, of this age, could worship freely in buildings often built by them and still in use. He asked God to forgive us for taking their efforts and devotion to the faith for granted, and to make us worthy of the trust handed down to us. There are those of us, I'm afraid, who not only take what has been done in past generations for granted but who also take what is going on in the church right now for granted. It reminds one of that rare occasion when you're looking for a place to parkin the city and you see a car pulling out just in front, leaving you a space just a stone's throw from where you want to do your business. How fortunate. And how even more fortunate you feel when you step up to the parking meter and find there is still 19 minutes left, plenty of time for you to do your 'errand. So, you go to the store, com- plete your business and get back to your car before the time runs out. How lucky you were! You got what you wanted on someone else's dime. They paid for the space and you used it. How many of us do the same thing with church? We never give or pledge. We may put in an appearance at Christmas and Easter. We take our children there to be baptized. We may send them to Sunday School. We want to hold our weddings there. We may wish the ladies to cater to our banquets. We expect the minister to call on our sick folk, and we always want him when our loved ones die. Our excuse for not giving may be that we say the church is full of hypocrites. We may appreciate the majesty and beauty of the church building but we only want HURON HOPE NEWSLETTER By ELEANOR Kprr Except perhaps for Christmas. no event generates more excite- ment than Hallowe'en. The junior classroom made orange jello and spread orange icing on oatmeal cookies topping them with raisins to make pumpkin faces. On Friday morning teachers and pupils dressed in costumes and joined together for our par- ty. we paraded down the hall for an exchange visit with the kindergarten. While there we sang a song for them and they entertained us with a song as well. The Students Council at McCurdy School planned two Hallowe'en parties for the public school students and invited us to join the primary division in the afternoon. The gym was set up with activities from bobbing for apples to measuring the width of a smile. Nine of our pupils par- ticipated in all the activities and all our children joined in at least two events. Now that we are into November and very unpredic- table weather this is a good time to remind you that our taxi drivers have a difficult job to do and you can help by: Ii) seeing that your child is dressed and ready when the taxi arrives. (ii) notifying the driver ahead of time if your child is unable to go to school. calling the driver when your child is ready to'return to school. (iv) making sure someone is at home when the child arrives home. Please also impress upon your child that the driver's attention must be on the road and on the traffic while he is driving, We all know how distracting it is to have children who are teasing or excessively noisy. All of our children know what ' behaviour is acceptable or un- acceptable in the taxi. We need the support of the parents to make the job of our drivers easier, Next week will be the last of six weeks of swimming lessons at Vanastra. A special thanks goes to Eloise's mother, Mrs, Kiungel who along with three other women volunteered their time to assist each Monday. Thank you Mrs. Kiungel, Mrs. Sandra Damsma, Mrs. Trudi Vander Haar and Mrs. Marg Deiong. It may seem early but we have already had a call from Santa's helper who phoned to arrangd for Santa to be with us on December 22. Mrs. MacGregor is home from the hospital now and hopes to be back teaching in a few weeks We miss her but are grateful that Mts, ilodgins is able to teach en- to attend if and when we choose to do so, Whose dime are we using? Do we ever stop to think about those people who strived and worked to erect the building? The people who now pay the minister? Who also pay the bills for repairs and heat? We say we can't stand the hypocrites who attend but are we any better? No point fooling ourselves, we are using somebody else's time, work and effort. We're parasites. Perhaps we should take a look over last year's income tax form. Who got the most. Our govern- ment? Our taste for liquor and cigarettes? Entertainment? Luxuries? Our beautician? Will any of these help us in the really important issues of our lives? Will they bring comfort and love when life crunches us? We're only kidding ourselves if we think they will. Maybe we don't feel the need of God and the church right now but its almost certain the time will come when we will. Perhaps it's time-to stop taking the church and what it stands for for granted, Perhaps we should start making a few deposits of time, energy and money our- selves. + + + Women Pallbearers We have women preachers, women moderators, women elders and women ushers. It seems likely we will have women pallbearers, too. A single lady missionary has recently an- nounced she is adding to her will a definite instruction that she wants women pallbearers. Men pallbearers are definitely ruled out by her. We wondered if she was influenced by Women's Lib, but she says none of the men ever took her out while she was alive, so she's going to be sure none of them take her out when she's dead! til Mrs. MacGregor is well enough to return to the classroom. This A note ..of November 424. This will be a general meeting for South Huron and District Association for the Mentally Retarded. They have invited back Mrs. Betty Fletcher. the parent of a retarded child who will speak of her own ex- periences. The meeting is held at A.R.C. Industries inDashwood at 8:00 p.m. To The Editor: It is with considerable chagrin that our four year old has been rejected for kindergarten by the Huron County Board of Educa- tion because this child isn't five by December 31, 1976. A letter from the Board in- dicated that similar requests have been reviewed frequently and that the Board has decided not to amend their policy. It would seem to me if this is a frequent request that our Board of Education should be re- examining this policy and the taxpayer has every right to ques- tion their decision re this policy. This policy has just recently been bent to allow a child an ear- ly admission to a kindergarten in our county due to a physical Ilan-, dicap and it is understood that he will attend two years in kindergarten. I personally feel that this is a decidedly good step to allow this admission and with the same 'token that the existing rigidity should not exist when parents request early admission but in- stead the Board without extra cost could request that the Health Unit do a Denver Development test on the child in question. This test. has been done by the Public Health Nurses in our county for some time on the pre- kindergarten child to determine school readiness. Another resource area is the personnel working in the Day Care Centres. These people are well qualified to determine a child's readiness for school, Many parents are aware of their child's abilities and this opinion should be a consideration as well, Thank you for this opportunity to express a viewpoint that is long overdue for some ratifica- tion, June Martene Seaforth because obviously it's too late for most of us to become compe- tent critics and the thousands who enjoy the plays should really take perference over one man who doesn't. But please, Mr. Bale, don't cause us any more frustration by telling us we're being subjected to incompetence and mediocrity. Let us go our ignorant way in peace. During the recent hassle over the location of the South Huron Recreation Centre, the number of meetings which the writer attended preluded the opportuni- ty to take some time to browse through the various weekly newspapers with whom we ex- change. That time was available last week, and we came to the con- clusion that few of our weekly cohorts around the countryside 5 Years Ago Sunday was Laymen's Sunday at Elimville United Church, Ar- nold Mathers and Allan Taylor of Exeter were guest speakers choosing "Concern for Others" as their theme. Bishop Gerald Emmett Carter of the diocese of London told members of the clergy and laity Thursday that separate schools as a political issue have been stored away at least until the next election. He was speaking at a dinner to commemorate Huron Perth Roman Catholic Development Day. At the annual 4-H banquet, Kirkton, Donna Switzer and Wendy Heard received jackets for their winning efforts. 15 Years Ago The pew $40,000 • Bethel Reformpd Churaii,'Hurop Street, was dedicated Tuesday night before a full congregation. • Ladies Auxiliary to Exeter Legion has donated a baker treater to South Huron. Hospital to provide heat treatments for patients. South Huron Hospital Associa- tion has purchased the property