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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-06-10, Page 4V,VO. V 7C, , • Jim Beckett's cock Inn rniu n y m. Preservation of prime farmland is not a noble dream, it is a necessity if Canada is to continue as a self-sufficient food- producing nation. If we might add a few words to those of Prime Minister Trudeau speaking at the United Nations Habitat Conference in Vancouver last week, we must not only become a nation of lovers, we must continue to take the lead in producing food for our own county and perhaps for the world, Canada is now a leader in many areas of agricultural export and she should remain in that position. But how do we accomplish the task of preserving farmland while retaining the traditions of Canadian rural life? In other words, can the family farm, the small subsistence-style farm, and thriving hamlets with small businesses geared to providing materials and supplies to the local residents fit in with the increasing trend towards large-scale commercial far- ming? The implications of freezing farmland for agricultural use only were brought pret- ty close to home last week at a Stephen Township planning workshop. These workshops put on by the Huron County Planning Department are aimed at developing a zoning and planning policy for Stephen Township and all rural townships within Huron County As residents discussed whether or not future residential and commercial develop- ment should be allowed to continue in the township. they began to discover the pros and cons of limiting further development to agriculture purposes. Several farmers voiced concern that it is becoming more difficult for successive generations of a farm family to find residence in the township even at the pre- sent time because of a lack of property for sale and a county policy which limits rural severances rather strictly. The im- plications are there, because if it is dif- ficult for Stephen residents to find new homes in the area, it must be next to im- possible for "strangers". Others felt that putting strict limitations on rural land use infringes on the rights of present property owners to dispose of their land as they see fit in a "so- called free country". As one resident put it, it leaves a farmer to wonder whether he can safely retire on his own property. By now, most of us recognize the trend towards bigger and more mechanized far- ming operations. We have heard the advan- tages. such as increased crop production efficiency. We have also heard about the possible disadvantages, the increasing use of chemicals. etc. If a land freeze limited the sale and future use of prime farmland to operations where the owner derived most or all of his income off the farm, we can see a time coming when many of our small and part- time farmers might disappear off the land, If the growth of hamlets and villages is similarly restricted, we see the possibility of them drying up into ghost towns once the communities they serve have been replac- ed by 1,000 acre farms. This is not to take anything away from the large commercial farming operations which continue to provide a large amount of the food being produced in Canada today. On the other hand, we would hate to see a blanket land freeze eliminating most of the other alternatives now existing in the coun- tryside. The concept of a land freeze is to pre- vent undue exploitation of land which is good for farming by commercial, in- dustrial, and even residential developments which could locate somewhere else just as easily. For exam- ple, it would prohibit wealthy "weekend farmers" and speculators from keeping large amounts of good land out of produc- tion. And as George Penfold, a Huron Coun- ty planner pointed out, non-agricultural uses of farmland restrict the usage of adja- cent farmland for 2,000 ft. due to new laws with regard to smell and noise pollution. So we have a bit of a dilemma. On one hand, we want to preserve our prime farmland so that it can be used to produce food, and on the other, we want to continue the Canadian tradition of diversified, high quality rural life, where Canadians can still dream of a little place in the county if they so desire. Is it too much to ask? We feel at this point that there is still time to provide a balanced solution whereby all sectors of society can benefit from and enjoy the countryside, while maintaining the large portion of prime farmland for the purpose of serious agriculture. In addition to the lubricant of com- promise, early planning and action are re- quired. If regulation on protecting farmland comes too late or is ineffective, we will develop ourselves out of the food market, or at the very least find ourselves in a position where regulation must be so tightly administered that there is no freedom left at all in the countryside. It is a many-sided question and any solution will have to give consideration to each of those sides. Breakfast Breakfast with Brady A NEW MEMBER IN THE FAMILY — Gus, a young Canada Goose was having problems at home in Bayfield. And who should come to his rescue but Renee and Shelley Finnen and Kelly Livingstone. T.A photo by Y, Romaniuk, late eceferZimes-,Abumfe Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation September 30, 1975 5,420 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $9.00 Per Year; USA $11.00 ,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 Assistant Editor Leigh Robinson Plant Manager — Jim Scott Composition Manager — Dave Worby Business Manager — Dick Jongkind Phone 235-1331 Bringing the harvest home By KIT SCHILLER 111 S a Po Consider both sides Suffer the parents prodigal story, In the first place we note the father not only permitted his son to go to his probable destruction, he actually gave him the money with which to do it. This kind of permissive love is very difficult. Parents want to protect their children, to keep them from being hurt, not always because of their love for them, but because of the pain they suffer when their young are hurt. The prodigal eventually 'found himself' in the pigpen (as low as any Jewish boy could get) where Jesus says he 'came to himself" . • he looked himself in the face and was so disgusted with what he saw he picked up and headed back home. But remember it was in the pigsty that tile revelation came. It's a terrible risk parents sometimes have to take .. . to let their children go unkempt, unfed and neglected in order that they will find themselves. When the prodigal returned home... what then? The father's reaction was probably not what yours or mine would be. He brushed off the son's request for forgiveness because his love was so great, forgiveness wasn't needed to be asked for. There were no sermons about hoping you've learned your lesson and you'd better not let it happen again. Neither was there any mention made of dragging him. off to church, or sitting around sentimentally embracing him Instead, the father provided good food and clothes for the bedraggled, wayward rascal, and gave orders for a gigantic celebration to honor his son's return to 'life'. The father had no assurance, either, that his son wouldn't just get cleaned up, fed and rested and then decide to take off once more. We, as parents, are often put to this same test, It's costly love and almost breaks our spirits and our hearts. When Jesus told this story He was depicting God as the Father whose love is freely given, is ever forgiving, and is unconditional even at cost of great suffering. What else can we do but follow His example is showing this kind of love to our wayward young who seem destined `to go to the far country in order to come to themselves'. The Exeter and District Heritage Foundation's fund raising campaign will get a much needed shot in the arm next Thursday 'June 17.1 Radio personality Bill Brady will be in Exeter broadcasting live from the Town Hall. The event is part of the CFPL "Breakfast with Brady" promotion that has been popular with listeners in the area over the past few months. More fund raising The biggest money raising campaign in this area is set to begin next Monday when can- vassers for the South Huron Recreation Centre will be collecting for the new recreation centre. The finance committee for the project is looking for sizeable donations or pledges to make this community project a reality. Other projects that come to Times Established 1873 mind that will require financial support from local residents are the repairs to Trivia Memorial Church and Exeter United Church, Laziness pays If Canada's unemployment laws are not tightened up soon we may be faced with the same situation as embarrassed public officials in England. Apparently in the land of the shrinking pound there's a man who has become a hero to his countrymen because he has only worked for 33 weeks over the last 25 years. Albert Thorogood, af- fectionately known as "Idle Albert" by his countrymen is recognized as the laziest man in Britain , the country where Newsweek magazine says goofing off is an art form. Thorogood has managed to legally collect $24,000 in unem- ployment benefits as well as 4 Advocate Established 1881 getting the government to buy his food and keep him in a three bedroom house in the Essex city of Southend. He has managed to successfully avoid accepting any type of employment although he has appeared for almost 50 dif- ferent job interviews. He says he is a proud man that just won't take "any job." His wife approves completely of his actions although he has recently served 30 days in jail for failing to support her and himself. Apparently there must be a certain amount of successs in doing nothing because his 18- year-old son is already following in his father's footsteps. He is on the dole as well. Officials in Canada are finally beginning to admit that there is something drastically wrong with our system of unemployment insurance benefits. Several suggestions have been made to decrease the huge numbers of people who manage to rip-off the system every year. Let's hope they can devise a system whereby the people who Amalgamated 1924 Recently, we watched the Emmy awards, presented from Hollywood by the television in- dustry. It was a crashing bore, right in the midst of a television season that is stultifyingly dull. Despite the opportunity to show what a fascinating medium television can be, the show, which seemed to go on inter- minably, had almost nothing to display aside from elegant costumes and fancy coiffures. Can you think of anything less exciting than platoons of writers or directors, or sound men, or whatever, trotting up to a stage, receiving a shiny trinket, and speaking, every one of them, into a microphone with the deepest sincerity, thanking their wives, their children, their mothers, and eighteen guys named Max and Hymie for the fantastic honor they were receiving? In an era of women's libera- tion, it was significant that in this showcase for the biggest entertainment industry in the world, very very few women won awards. At least when the film industry presents its Oscar awards, amidst the stream of inanity. one can count on two or three witty masters (or mistresses ) of ceremonies. How would you like to be a Mistress of Ceremony, gentle reader? It sounds sinfully delicious. But the television industry was content to hire two of the biggest grins in the business, John Denver and Mary Tyler Moore. They looked beautiful, and they grinned and grinned and grinned, but the entire evening had about as much wit and sparkle to it as a convention of undertakers; probably less. Only attempt at humor during the evening was a feeble one, with a tired stand-up comedian telling the same old tired gags. There were one or two deserve help get it and the others who are out to milk the govern- ment for all they can, get what they deserve as well . .. nothing. Hire a student With only a few weeks of school remaining it seems appropriate to jump on the Canada Manpower bandwagon and remind our readers of the valuable service they would be performing by hiring a student for the summer months. The local manpower office has commissioned a talented young cartoonist, John Latham, to draw a series of comic strips on the trials and tribulations aSummer Student has in finding em- ployment for himself, John is a student at South Huron District High School with the right combination of artistic ability, sense of humor and imagination to attract a following of T-A readers with his cartoons. His work for the Canada Department of Manpower is appearing in most of the newspapers in Huron County, Employment opportunities for students may be a little more scarce this year than they were last year. A few people we have talked with are looking for work now when they had a lreadyfound jobs for themselves by this time last year. I'm sure most employers will agree with this writer that students make willing, con- scientious workers. It is to be hoped that they will have the opportunity to use their talents. attempts at dignified speeches amid the tawdriness and the "Gee, Mom! I won!" at- mosphere, but they were quickly drowned in the molasses as various personalities lined up to pat each other on the back and burble, "I'd just like to say this was a real team effort, and everyone pulled together, and I just want to thank my director, my producer, my network, our wonderful camera crew, our sound people, our writer for a fantastic script, our tremendous cast," and so on and on. Some of them thanked everyone but their dog, their den- tist and their hairdresser, who probably had more to do with the award than any other factors. It was pretty hard to take just a week after the Stanley Cup playoffs, when we heard the same sort of sentimental mawk from coaches, players and sportswriters, until some of us, including yours truly, wanted to vomit, And maybe that's what's wrong with television today. Don't tell me there's nothing wrong with it. What's your special pleasure tonight, for example? Will it be a re-run of All in the Family or a re-run of Bob Newhart or a re- run of Cannon or a re-run of Dr. Marcus Welby? Or perhaps you'd prefer a re- run of a re-run of Adam 12 or Gunsmoke? Or maybe you'd like to see that great movie, Flying Tigers (1942)? For the fourth time. In this country we have the CBC, for which I once had a good deal of respect. It produced, first, excellent radio. When television came along, it was right in there with good comedy, 50 Years Ago Honorable James Gardiner, premier of Sasketchewan, visited his parents at Kirkton during the past week. On race day an auto ran into Mr. Luther Reynold's horse, knocking it down and hurting it badly. Mr. William Davis is taking in the Greyhound excursion from Goderich to Detroit this week, Mr. George Hawkins has mov- ed into his new residence on William Street. At the medal contest at Main Street Church the medal winners were Miss Helen Dignan, vocal; Eric Nairn, elocution; money prizes for the best essays were won by Gordon Fowler, Ella Morlock, Martin Johns, Muriel Kay, Ruby Stone, Howard Kerslake and Ruby Pomfret. 25 Years Ago The red army of Hydro and Comstock invaded Hensall this week and the first "cut" of 60- cycle power was made without mishap Tuesday. With the highly-organized change-over comes the promise of "no more flickering lights and of more efficient operation of electrical machinery". Deploring the little or no co- operation on the part of contrac- tors and individual builders on septic tank installations, Ray Gibbons, sanitary engineer for Huron County Health Unit re- quested Exeter to assist in see- ing that proper inspection of in- stallations was made. The 40-voice Glee Club of Ex- eter High School highlighted the evening service of Main St. United Church Sunday School an- niversary. drama, and variety. The brightest writers and talent in the country weresought out. Now they're all in Hollywood, and all the good, gray Corporation can come, up with, despite its fre- quent resounding promises, are exhausted antiques such as Front Page Challenge and This Is The Law. I won't mention such creakers as the Tommy Hunter Show, and Hockey Night in Canada, because I don't want to lose three-quarters of my readers, but surely, surely just because a show went well ten years ago doesn't mean it couldn't be im- proved. Nope. The CBC has turned chicken. It's afraid of parlia- ment, ratings, and controversy. As for the garbage that pours in over the border, and is so often grabbed by Canadian networks and advertisers, words do not suffice to describe the dreariness of most of it. Is it too late for television to be saved, or to save itself? In my opinion, yes. Why? Because it has built up, in the past couple of decades, starting with children, a mindless audience which will turn on the tube, let its jaw drop slack, and watch any garbage shoved in front of it. As long as it's in color. I don't give a rip, personally. I'd rather read a good book any time. But my heart bleeds for the hundreds of thousands of old peo- ple for whom it is the only bit of life they have, and the hundreds of thousands of children who will make it part of their lives. They are being treated as morons. As I said, I don't care. But one more "spin-off" from the Mary Tyler Moore show and I'm going to take an axe to the set. A blue-tailed skink, one of a very rare species of lizard, was shipped to the Royal Ontario Museum from the Exeter High School this week. 20 Years Ago For the first time at Centralia, the RCAF's famous CF-100 jet plane was on display. Screaming CF-100's and Sabres rocked the station with a thunderous climax to the best air show Centralia visitors have ever seen, Thames Road United Church which was erected in 1881 at a cost of $4,000 will celebrate its 75th anniversary Sunday. As well as observing the 50th anniversary in Exeter, J. H. Jones Groceries celebrate 25 years as a Superior Food Store. 10 Years Ago The first stage in a lengthy program to give Exeter's Main St, the "new look" is scheduled to get underway in about two week's time. This was disclosed before a meeting of Town Coun- cil Monday night, The first operation will be the installation of overhead street lighting at a cost of around $17,- 000. Gordie Tapp will host a radio broadcast on CBC from the Cen- tralia Air Force Base Monday, June 13, Included among his guests for the half-hour presenta- tion is Tommy Hunter, The area around Riverview Park is a hive of activity these days as workmen feverishly rush to complete the various projects in the overall program to make it a most attractive area, The Times-Advocate an- nounced with regret the resigna- tion of editor, Kenneth Kerr for health reasons. Jesus said, "Suffer the children to come to me", but I'm sure he also said, "suffer the parents to come, too," There's surely never been an age when parents, agonizing over their young, needed comfort and assurance so much as right now. It's true adults have always worried about the younger generation. Way back in 1274 a monk, Brother Peter, wrote, "Young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents, are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them." But regardless of this, no other generation has raised their young in a time of bloody highway killings through the use and misuse of fast cars and motor- bikes, in a time when alcoholic drinks flowing freely, are at- tainable to even the youngest teenager. This is also an era when glue sniffing, the use of pot, speed and other drugs, along with free sex, are considered by many youngsters as the norms of the day. We stand in stunned horror as we watch many of them, who were trusting and lovable babies such a short time ago, turn into distrusting, sullen, illusive strangers with whom we can no longer communicate, Strangers, who to us, have no moral fibres, who live by codes laid down by their peers, themselves caught in some terrible trap of violence, dishonesty and a pathological disinterest in anything that would free them. In silent anguish we watch as they seem intent on destroying themselves while we pray they will somehow find themselves (as they are wont to say) before it's too late. The Bible speaks of the prodigal son going to a far country to a life of reckless and wanton living. But our kids find their 'far country' as close as Main Street or the next block. I'm sure it's more excruciating for parents to have to watch their prodigals hurl themselves to ruination than if they went away to do it. But there is much for us parents to glean from the Biblical I first met Ross on a December night in 1970. Through five more years we became friends, and there was much serenity he passed on to me — his particular gift, along with his sense of joy and laughter. Ross lived in a bungalow which he had built for himself and his wife some fifty-odd years before. Once he had owned lands measured in concessions. Now he owned a few loosely connected lots, and of these he cultivated only the one on which he lived. He simply grew flowers. But is that not altogether fitting, for a man over 85? To return to that December night. I was coming home from work. It was pitch-black — no moon or stars. A voice from nowhere said "hello" and I screamed, And he laughed. When I got the porch light on it revealed a short whisp of a man, gnarled with age with a pixie grin on his face. "You're to phone your sister" he said. How did he know? He was on my party line, he explained, and he had taken the message. I thanked him, we had a drink together and he was gone, back home across the road. When I phoned my sister in Toronto she was displeased, "I know you've become un- conventional since living out west" she snorted, "but really you should let the family know when you start living with a man." We got matters sorted out. My neighbour had answered my party phone ring, and had told my sister I had gone to work. When she asked who was speaking, Ross had said "Oh I live here. Hasn't she told you about me?" Ross was my first visitor when I bought a house next to his acreage. He told me about the people who had preceded me back to 1913, the year he came to Huron County from Scotland. With each name there was a humourous story, and laughter. Can laughter be classified? The laughter of scorn, the laughter of triumph, the laughter of rue, the practical joker's laugh. But the laughter of joy, of earthbound delight — how rare it is. Of such was the laughter of Ross, which he sprinkled his stories with. It was good to see the lights on in Ross' house each night, a friendly sight I took for granted, Then gradually they weren't there. When I caught up with the village news, Ross had been in hospital for some weeks with a broken hip. I went to see him, and as usual his good humour prevailed as he told me laughingly about falling off a tractor, He was pale as the hospital gown he was wearing. Hetlooked thin and helpless, like a fledging. Everybody had been so kind, he said, adding that it was the first time he'd been in a walk hospitaagl.a Iinf.eared he might never And then suddenly the lights were on in Ross' house again, He was able to get about with a cane and he told his friends how he fooled the hospital people (laughter, still the laughter), by teaching himself to walk. He had asked for a wheelchair and by leaning on it and pushing, he got back the use of his legs. Within a few months he dispensed with tile cane. When he had the chance he drove a tractor, but most of the time he stayed home growing (filroo‘pvne er rss, -in. caring for his Pomeranian, and talking with During his recovery Ross had grown fond of drink. He used to serve a lethal concoction of brandy, apricot brandy and orange pop. While sipping he would reminisce about farming, race horses,. dogs and women, in that order, He seemed at peace with his past, happy with his memories, One day as we sat in his garden (it was late August), he looked over the gentle hills and observed that soon the harvest would be ready. He had a fa arNevaat oney look this year" in hiseye esh"I '"It'll said.b be a Nothing after he died, sitting hi his favourite chair, and simply going to sleep, How good it is, how blessed it is for a Man to die peacefully in his own home. • 4 )