HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-12-16, Page 4Page 4 Times-Advocate, December 16, 1976
.1.1110,
'
Nard work never hurt anyone.
While some may argue with that state-
ment, it was certainly given a great deal of
credibility in the area elections last week.
Two of the best examples were in Ex-
eter, where the most vigorous campaigns
were waged by Ken. Ottewell and Steve
Pfaff.
Voters obviously decided that if the two
were prepared to put so much effort into
running for council they would probably do
likewise when elected and they received
strong support.
Ken finished in second place in the
voting, while Steve was a strong fifth.
Many people didn't give the local student
much chance at being elected, but obvious-
ly voters were impressed with his cam-
paign and decided to give him an opportuni-
ty to sit on council.
Another strong election campaign was
waged by Margaret McClure for a school
board seat, and while her failure to be
elected may prompt some to suggest that
campaigning doesn't always work, there is
little doubt that it brought her much closer
to victory than many expected.
It's encouraging to see hard work pay-
ing dividends.
A great contribution
When one thinks of Huron county
natives who have made' great contributions
to their community or their country one
man that is often overlooked is a farmer
from Varna, Gordon Hill.
In a county as dependent on agriculture
as Huron, the contributions of this man
should definitely not be ignored. He has
given a good deal of his life to promote the
betterment of the farmer in Ontario. For
the last seven years he has been the driving
force in the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture, the province's largest farm
organization. In fact there are some who
would tell you that Gordon Hill is the On-
tario Federation of Agriculture.
It's hard to remember now, but Gordon
Hill took over as President of the O.F.A.
just shortly after the General Farm
Organization vote had badly split the On-
tario farm community. The National
Farmers Union and the O.F.A. were bitter
enemies in many areas of the province.
Hill, a former N.F.U. president himself,
felt the O.F.A. constituted the best chance
at uniting farmers. He took over the
leadership of the organization when morale
was low and personally supervised a
change in the whole structure that saw in-
dividual memberships sold in order to
provide more money for the organization
and involved farmers at the grassroots. He
also set out quietly to dampen the fires of
resentment between the O.F.A. and N.F.U.
Those seven years have seen successes
and failures but overall the success has
been dominant. The O.F.A. now represents
more than 20,000 farm units across the
province. Mr. Hill has become an impor-
tant voice in the formation of policies for
farmers.
He and O.F.A. have become leaders in
the fight to save farmland from destruc-
tion, have battled for tax reform for
farmland, have battled for farm income
plan, and for many other issues. The record
of success has been impressive.
He has also provided a calm,
reasonable voice in farmer-consumer
debates. In short, he has served the
farmers of Huron and the rest of Ontario
well, and by serving them well has, in the
long run, served consumers well too, He
deserves a rest after his long service, but
let's hope he will give his skill and dedica-
tion to other areas that need them in the
near future.
— The Blyth Standard
Costs help conservation
Last week's edition of the Ridgetown
Dominion quoted Mayor George Silcox as
saying that Ontario Hydro predicts "severe
shortages will occur next month and con-
servation must be stressed".
It was not a headline story in the,
newspaper, but rather an item in the "Old
Times" column from 1946. So, apparently
the crisis being faced by the utility today'is
not something new by any means.
While weather and equipment failures
have contributed to the shortages being ex-
perienced by Ontario Hydro, there is little
doubt that conservation will continue to be
required in the days ahead.
That may not' be as difficult as most
would imagine. The hefty increases people
face on their hydro bills in the new year no
doubt will spur many into action to keep
their requirements as low as possible.
Similar to most forms of energy it is
getting into the category of a luxury, which
of course is a serious problem, when in fact
it is still 'very much a necessity.
Happiness through.fightin g
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 EEDY, PUBLISHER
Editor — Bill Batten
Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh
Advertising Maneger — Jim Beckett
Plant Manager — Jim Scott
Composition Manager — Harry DeVries
Business Manager — Dick Jongkind
Phone 235-1331 Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail
Registration Number 0386
Paid in Advance Circulation
September 30, 1975 5,409
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $11.00 Per Year; USA $22.00
Work pays off
No hangovers, please!
Many faithful servants
spending time with some others
who desperately need a word of
encouragement or cheer. We
protest there is just so much time
to be spread around, so perhaps
we need to be more selective in
our socializing, going to those
who need us most. You know the
ones I mean , • the recently
bereaved or divorced, the sick,
the old, the unlovely and the
unlovable.
We want to have too much fun,
wearing ourselves out by dashing
from one party to the next,
jamming our days with an
agenda calculated to give us
pleasure. Our intentions may be
to get to church, spend some time
reading the old Christmas
stories, having some really
meaningful talks With our
children. But the next thing we
know the days have slipped by
without having achieved any of
these and we find ourselves
emotionally famished and
spiritually depressed.
And, of course, we all eat too
much. We cannot blame those
imaginative cooks who, with skill
and craftsmanship, concoct all
those fantastic foods. No, our
eating hangover is caused by our
own gluttony and we close our
days with more Eno Salts than
thanksgiving!
So, having said all this, what I
do not wish for you is a nerve-
racking, energy-sapping, Christ-
neglecting extravaganza that
leaves you with a giant emotional
hangover.
What I do pray for you is a time
,of happy gatherings with God's
people, intimate conversations
with your children as they gather
from far corners. Loving talks
with other relatives, friends and
neighbors about the wonder of
God's love that came in the form
of an innocent babe.
Rejuvenating recreation, long
restful sleeps buoying you up for
when you return to your daily
duties. No regrets, no
after effects, no hangovers.
Have yourself a very Merry
Christmas.
My wife and I had a terrific
fight the other night. She's
always reading articles and
watching television panels. One
week it's how you can guarantee
that your baby will be a boy (or a
girl). The next time it's how to
avoid dying in your sleep by
positive dreaming.
As you can imagine, some of
these topics don't really send
me, and she gets quite annoyed
when I don't wax sufficiently
enthusiastic.
I try to participate in the
monologue by reading her one of
my favorite articles, something
like, "Is The Real John Turner
Just a Shy, Humble Little Boy
Underneath It All?"
She just retorts, "Who cares?"
and goes relentlessly back to her
own article, which this week was
about battered wives. The article
was entitled "Couples That
Batter Each Other Matter to
Each Other," or something
equally ridiculous. Its gist was
that married people who fight,
even physically, are far happier
than those who hold in their
resentments and become psy-
chologically warped as a result.
For once I made a stand. I told
her, in words to that effect, that
that was a lot of women's
magazine, soap opera crap. I
went on to cite some of our
friends who used to batter each
other regularly, and are now
happily divorced from each other
and remarried to non-batterers.
For some reason this irked
her. I don't know whether it was
the male chauvinistic crack or
the fact that some of her friends
are happier with a new mate, but
she started a fight.
Her article hadn't said
anything about battered
husbands. I'll draw a veil over
the next few minutes, for those
with tender sensibilities who
have never been hit by a sneak
punch from a woman when they
weren't looking.
Anyway, when I had picked
myself off the floor, wiped the
blood from my nose, and locked
myself safely in the bathroom, I
issued an ultimatum. "If you
ever lay a finger on me again,
I'm leaving, I'm going home to
your father."
Her reply: "Go ahead, you
crumb! If you walk out of this
house, you'll never get back in.
It's in my name. So's the car. I'll
clean out our joint account, gar-
nisheed your salary, hire a
lawyer, and put you on Skid Row,
where you belong."
I needn't tell you here that she
had recently read some shyster's
article about how to go about do-
ing just that to your husband.
I was so mad that I was ada-
mant for quite a while. If there'd
been a phone in that bathroom,
I'd have called the police for an
escort and walked right out of
there. But there wasn't.
I ignored her further taunts, all
of them on a similarly low,
despicable level, and maintained
a dignified silence. She calls it
sulking. Fortunately, there was a
good paperback novel on the
back of the toilet, and I was soon
absorbed.
She can't stand this. Bitter in-
vective, coarse comments, even
bad language rolls off her
shoulders. But she nearly goes
out of her skull when there's
nobody listening to her.
Finally, "Do you want a cup of
tea, you cowardly bum?" I
didn't make a sound for a full
minute, then grunted, "Maybe.
Amalgamated 1924
How could they do that to us?
That was our reaction follow-
ing the decision by Exeter voters
to not elect Derry Boyle as
mayor.
While we would not argue with
the voters' decision, there is lit-
tle question that the community
will miss the voice of Derry on
next term's council. He has
provided more copy for this
newspaper during the past 14
years than any other person in
our entire readership area.
Some of that copy has been
good, sensible copy. Derry was
generally a conscientious, clear-
thinking member of council.
While some may argue that he
talked too much, there were
many occasions on which he
"stuck out his neck" to open dis-
cussions on contentious issues
when others chose to remain
silent. He never shied away
from letting his opinions be
known, A fence-sitter he was
not!
Some of the copy Derry
created was not good, sensible
copy. He would be the first to ad-
mit that. Often he brought a
touch of levity to a situation or
What else?" I meant' a full,
apology and an abject admission
of her guilt in instigating the don-
nybrook.
"And a piece of apple pie," she
snapped, '.`With cheddar
cheese." I gave up. How can you
reason with someone like that?
"Well, O.K. But no more
battering, baby, or I call the
cos."
After a while, we had cooled
out a fair bit, and she got me an
ice pack for my nose. I was will-
ing to forget it, but underneath I
was still simmering, and I enter-
tained thoughts of cashing my
two $100 bonds the next day, skip-
ping off to the Canary Islands,
and leaving her high and dry.
But, like every woman I've
ever met, she wanted to "Talk
things out." That's one of the
most disgusting phrases in the
English language. Right, chaps?
It was finally decided that
we'd each make a list of our
worst faults, let the other have a
look at the list, then try to do
something about it.
I worked away assiduously for
what seemed hours, my tongue
stuck out of one corner of my
mouth. My list went something
like this:
a) too ready to forgive wife;
should be firmer
b) too generous with my
children; must be tighter
c) too fond of grandchildren;
must be sterner
d) complain too much about
arthritis; should complain more
about hemorrhoids.
e) too ready to s,ee good side of
others; must be more realistic,
Well, my list went on and on
and on. I didn't realize what a
truly rotten guy I was until I
started to put it down. My wife
finished fairly quickly, and
resumed her overt affair with
her sewing machine (one of the
things that are driving us apart),
Handed over my list. She
started to read it with a benign
smile. The smile began to curl
down on the corners. Her face
got red,
"Why, you lousy little
cockroach!" she exploded. I
didn't point out that she was be-
ing redundant.
I'd like tb tell' you this little
marital drama had a happy en-
ding, that it wound up in a clinch,
Well, it did wind up in a clinch.
I had her arms so tied up that
Muhammad Ali couldn't have
thrown a punch in the same
situation. So she kneed me you
know where.
When I had stopped grunting,
and got to my knees, I picked up
her list of faults, which she'd
thrown in my face as I lay
prostrate,
I half expected that she'd write
something like, "My only fault is
that I don't appreciate what a
wonderful husband I have."
It was a little shorter than
that. It just said, "None,"
took one of his famous "like it or
lump it" stands that raised a few
eye brows and some hackles. In
private conversations he often
admitted he had gone too far out
on a limb, but he seldom back-
tracked.
He is a sensitive man and on
many occasions he spent
sleepless nights attempting to
reach a decision on an important
issue.
At all times he had the in-
terests of this community at
heart and there has never been a`
stauncher supporter.
Coupled with Derry's civic
duties, he has also served this
community to a greater extent
than anyone in its sporting ven-
tures, He was Mr. Minor Sports
in this community for a number
of years and he remains as one of
its greatest supporters.
Although a fierce competitor,
Derry will not sit around lamen-
ting about his fate at the polls.
He knew his chances were slim
when he entered the race and he
was honest enough to state
publicly that Bruce Shaw had
done a commendable job and
there was little reason for the
people, changing 'the mayor's
post at this time.
In fact, 'he probably showed
poor timing in his bid. He was
two years too late, or perhaps
two years too early.
But let it be said in all sinceri-
ty that Derry Boyle deserves an
enormous vote of thanks from
this community for a lifetime of
service that has never been
equalled — nor probably ever
will be.
Hopefully he'll find some task
within the community in which
his tireless efforts can be put to
good use.
We trust he'll also drop into the
office periodically to help fill up
some holes with a few comments
on the current municipaj situa-
tion. We're not certain we can
produce a newspaper without
him!
* *
Several other veteran
members of area councils have
either retired or been replaced
by the electors. Most senior on
that list is Ted Pooley, who has
served Exeter with distinction as
a member of council, mayor and
PUC commissioner.
We have heard it suggested
that Ted should have retired
Rig
30 Years Ago
After 21 years of service with
the Bell Telephone in Exeter, Mr,
George Lawson has retired and
the occasion was marked with a
banquet at the Central Hotel,
The first meeting in the new
Pentecostal Church was held in
the basement which is now in use
for meetings. The meeting was in
charge of the Young People with
Norman Jolly of UWO as
speaker,
Miss Marion Elliott has
completed her course as a nurse-
in-training at St, Joseph's
Hospital, London,
20 Years ago
Rosemary Dobson of Kirkton
starred in SHDHS corn-
mencement variety show with
her dance, "Street, Scene in,
Paris,"
Yeggs made a determined but
vain effort to open the large safe
in the office of F. W. Huxtable
early Friday morning,
Members of theWalther League
of Zion Lutheran Church, Dash-
wood, constructed a nativity
scene on the lawn of their church
last'week,
15 Years Ago
Paul Wilson, son of Mr, & Mrs,
Cecil Wilson was premier of
rather than face defeat at the
polls. Hogwash! His decision
gave voters an opportunity to
make their choice known and
that is fundamental to our
democratic processes. There's
no shame in being defeated at the
polls. The voters obviously decid-
ed he should be replaced with a
younger man, but that does not
mean that some senior members
of our community should
automatically step aside for
youth. Let the voters decide.
Ted Pooley has served this
community for many, many
years and accepted his defeat as
graciously as he has accepted his
victories. That's what the game
is all about and it takes people
such as him to set an example for
service. He undertook the job
when no one else wanted it in the
past and his record of achieve-
ment ceertainly duplicates that
of Derry Boyle's.
In retrospect, voters have out-
sted two of our foremost public
servants in one year, and while
that is their perogative, it
naturally causes the community
some regret at the same time.
Hopefully those whom they
have elected will serve with as
much dedication and sincerity.
*
Other area officials who have
served for several years with
distinction include Exeter's
Deputy-Reeve Tom MacMillan,
Hensall Reeve John Baker,
Usborne Reeve Walter McBride,
Tuckersmith Reeve Elgin
Thompson, Hay Deputy-Reeve
Joe Miller, McGillivray Coun-
cillor Ben Thompson.
It is almost inconceivable to
estimate the number of hours
these men have given to their
respective communities in the
past years, or the number of
decisions which they have made
to make this area a better place
in which to live.
None has received compensa-
tion in keeping with his efforts
and in fact probably heard from
most ratepayers only when a
complaint was raised.
It is rather disheartening for
them to see that in many of their
communities less than 50 percent
of the people took the time to get
out and cast their ballot. It is
that type of apathy which erodes
municipal government and
jeopardizes the system to which
these men have given so much.
Do the rest of us really care so
little?
. _
Ontario Older Boys' Parliament
staged at the University of
Western Ontario last week.
Mr, & Mrs. Norman Norry who
have been caretakers of Exeter
Legion Hall since it was erected
10 years ago will retire at the end
of the year.
Mrs. Doug Parsons,' Edward
Street, won the first prize of $200
in Exeter merchants' final
"Share Christmas" draw.
Runner-up and winner of $100
was Miss Lily Greb.
Dear Readers:
What shall I wish you for •
Christmas?
Right now, the very best thing I
can think of is to hope you will
have a Christmas with no
hangovers. Oh, I don't mean the
kind that comes from consuming
too many alcoholic spirits,
although that goes without
saying, of course!
Hangovers are the result of too
much of something, and most of
us are guilty of packing much too
much into this glad and beautiful
season. The result is we often
wake up from the festivities with
post-holiday 'blahs' wondering if
it was really worth it.
There's been too much
travelling. Too many late nights.
Too much money spent. Too
many people around. Too much
mess to clean up. Too many gifts.
Too many pounds put on. Too
much sadness when the children
leave to go back to their own
homes. Too much. Too much. Too
much of almost everything.
It is not that we get too much
Christmas for Christmas is a
wonderful time bringing with it
sweet memories 'of the past,
happy feelings as we gather with
our loved ones and best of all, it
gives Christ and his wonderful
message of love more free
publicity than any other time of
the year. No, we don't get
hangovers because of Christmas
but because of our 'misuse' of it.
They come from too much of the
wrong things.
We spent too much. Many
families will be in debt for
months paying up for what they
spent on Christmas. We spend too
much on the wrong things. Gifts
are a splendid symbol of love and
should be given as a vivid
reminder of the Greatest Gift of
all.
But as another writer, LeRoy
Dugan, points out, the Bible
makes it clear Christians are to
buy bread for the poor and needy
not trinkets for the fat and full.
We may do too much visiting
with people who really do not
need us around instead of
the draw be 'televised and that
more number combinations 'lie
selected.
More important is the fact that
most people do not spend either a
great deal of time or money on
lotteries, Public surveys indicate
that most people purchase only
one Wintario ticket per draw and
that 92.3 percent purchase five
tickets or less.
Participation is general — 82
percent of all households in
Ontario — and it cuts across all
socio-economic levels. In fact,
those in the lower economic
categories actually participate to
a lesser degree than those with
more money and thus, the lottery
does not appear to be an "unfair
burden on the poor".
The purchase of a lottery ticket
is completely voluntary and thus
is no different from any other
consumer purchase.
And, since proftis are used to
support sports, cultural and
. recreational projects and
facilities across the Province and
the. impetus for project
assistance originally derives
from the local community itself,
it is the whole community and not
the rich or elite that benefit from
Wintario proceeds.
Finally, I would like to clarify
the approximate break-down of
each Wintario dollar. There are
five areas into which each dollar
can be divided: retailers' com-
mission (8c for every ticket
sold) ; prizes (between 38c and
40c of your dollar); operating
costs (including 2.3c for ad-
vertising and promotion, 1.6c for
ticket printing, packaging and
manufacturing and 2.1c for ad-
ministration) which totals 6 cents
from every dollar; gross
distribution commissions (21/2 c
on the first 100,000 tickets sold
and 2c thereafter); and profits
(an average of 43 cents of every
dollar),
We feel that it is very im-
portant to clarify some of these
assumptions about lotteries. I
would be more than pleased to
discuss the matter with you if I
can be of any further assistance.
Yours very truly,
B. E. Jesson,
Manager,
Draws and Community
Relations,
"There it goes again . . . sounds like the engine knocking."
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881
toreferZimes-Illuocafe
5 Years Ago
Bullock's Variety Store,
Crediton, was closed December
15. Mr. & Mrs. Joe Bullock came
to Crediton nearly 40 years ago
when Mr. Bullock was employed
by Dan Mclsaac at the same
location.
Last week the Lucan Lions
Club treated Lucan and Granton
Sunshine Club to a buffet dinner
at the Ivanhoe, London, followed
by a guided tour of the new City $
Hall,
Herb Kercher, the veteran m ,4
maple syrup producer from the
Hensall area will have an unusual
treat for Christmas, He's going to
have fresh maple syrup, Last
week he tapped four or five trees
and came up with about half a
gallon of Syrup,
Dear Mr. Batten:
Your editorial which appeared
in ThetExeterVimes-Advoc ate on
September 9, 1976 raising several
questions concerning the nature
of lotteries has recently come to
my attention. I would like to take
this opportunity to respond to
these issues since your
theoretical arguments do not, in
fact, correspond to our ex-
perience with Wintario.
1. In Ontario, Wintario has
already generated more than
870,000 winners and evidence
tends to show that rather than
encouraging or promoting
"avarice or greed", quite the
opposite is the case with winners.
The Corporation's files and
newspapers are full of examples
of winners who have divided their
winnings among their children or
assisted relatives or friends pay
off their mortgages or plan gifts
for travel and education. There
was even one winner who donated
his entire $10,000 to charity.
As you know, even non-winners
in our lottery share by means of
the allocation of the net proceeds
of Wintario (an average of 43c of
every dollar) to the thousands of
worthwhile community sports,
cultural and recreational ac-
tivities and facilities across the
Province. To date, the Ministry of
Culture, and Recreation has
committed almost 79 million
dollars in the form of Wintario
grants to over 5400 projects and
groups across the Province.
2. You argue that "lotteries are
immoral, wasteful and degrading
. . . in that they legally tell people
that their hopes for material
wealth are based on chance."
However, the purchase pattern of
participants seems to indicate
that the level of intelligence in
Ontario is such that no one
abandons or changes his ethic or
quits his job on the chance that he
can win $100,000 or even a million
dollars.
The fact is, most of the major
winners in Wintario have, with
the exception of a trip or other
brief fling, tended to operate on
the basis of "business as usual".
Most participants play the
Lottery for fun and en-
tertainment. People made that
readily evident to the Ontario
Lottery Corporation very early in
the game when they insisted that
~Sr y Is rocas