HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1977-01-06, Page 4While large icicles hanging from some
Main St. businesses threaten to give
pedestrians giant headaches (or worse)
they may not constitute the only hazards in
Exeter.
In recent weeks, large sections of store
fronts have crashed to the street in London,
and it is realistic to assume that some of
Exeter's older edifices may present
similar problems.
Many of the buildings are endowed
with fancy brickwork and cornices, and
while they are attractive, they have a habit
of deteriorating with time and the ravages
of the elements.
Obviously, owners of these buildings
should seriously consider their respon-
sibilities of ensuring the safety of people by
examining the structures periodically to
see that they are not hazardous.
At this time of year, they should also
keep a watchful eye on those huge icicles
and have them removed when it is apparent
that they could cause serious, injuries.
Resolution '77
This week we gaze into the dying
embers of another year and reflect on the
promises we made to ourselves only twelve
short months ago. Maybe all our
aspirations and dreams weren't realized,
but we should ask ourselves whether or not
we really did give it the old 'college try'.
For the first time in history there is
genuine cause for concern regarding the
future of our great country — a country
once looked on as a veritable 'promised
land' and now plagued with strikes,
violence and dissension. Canadians, once so
visibly proud of their heritage, have
suddenly become hostile, apparently bent
on destroying the great democracy carved
out of barren wilderness by our
forefathers. With small business firms
struggling for survival; industry being
brought to its knees by ruthless unions, and
people demanding more and more for less
and less, the words of former U.S. Presi-
dent, the late John Kennedy, echo back as a
genuine formula for survival.
"Ask not", he said, "what your country
can do for you, but What you can do for your
country."
We, as Canadians, would be well ad-
vised to ask ourselves that question — over
and over again, Our country was built by
men and women who gave full value (and
much more) for every dollar they received.
One might even paraphrase the great
Winston Churchill and say that the Canada
handed down to us was built•on the 'blood,
sweat and tears' of our pioneers.
Let us resolve, in 1977, to apply Mr.
Kennedy's words of wisdom to our own way
of life, and by so doing restore the
greatness that was once our proud boast,
and watch our wonderful country again
become a productive nation, a happy and
united nation truly enjoying the New Year.
Never alone
Never are we alone with our lives. We
are enmeshed in families, in offices, in fac-
tories, in groups, and in obligations. We
cannot be content with self-maintenance. A
machine that does no more than keep itself
going is of no value whatever. Making a
contribution is essential to realization of
happiness.
Dr. N. V. Peale quotes this recipe in his
deservedly best seller 'The Power of
Positive Thinking': "The way to hap-
piness: keep your heart free from hate,
your mind free from worry. Live simply,
expect little, give much. Fill your life with
love. Scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of
others. Do as you would be done by. Try
this for a week and you will be surprised."
Self-love—the narcissistic stage of
life—is the most tragic of all fixations, It
prevents our adapting ourselves to social
relations. Our own conceit blinds us to the
esteem and admiration we might enjoy
from others. Those who are so self-centred
remind us of Aesop's fly. It sat upon the
axle-tree off a chariot wheel and said:
"What a dust I raise!".
(Royal Bank Letter)
eceferZimaatwocafe
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 Manager — Jim Beckett
Plant Manager Jim Scott
Composition Manager — Harry DeVries
Business Manager — Dick Jongkind
Phone 235-1331 Published Each 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 Pet Year; USA $22.00
Strictly for the birds
0.10m.P. one,
YrAaft„M^'
.Pcige 4 Times-Advocate, January 6, 1977
Avoid headache
The Round Tuit
Still three months of it
I must admit that my feelings
about the so-called "holiday
season" are a bit ambiguous.
There's no feeling of satisfac-
tion greater than that xperienc-
ed when the blasted Christmas
tree is finally up and decorated.
And there is no feeling more
sinking than when your one-year-
old grandson tries to climb it and
pulls the whole pagan mess over
on top of himself.
For sheer gluttony, nothing
can beat the Christmas dinner,
speaking of paganism. But the
sensual joy of stuffing oneself is
slightly overcast by the
knowledge that (in our house,
anyway) one has first to stuff the
turkey, and second, to wash the
dishes after dinner.
Then there's the Post Office.
We used to know they were just
trying to startle the early birds
when they gave us those dates
for mailing. Now we know
better. This column is written to
appear in your Christmas issue,
You'll probably be reading it
about mid-February. As I write,
they threaten to strike, just
before Christmas. I have as
much sympathy with them as I
had with Hitler in his last days in
the bunker with little Eva.
I like a white Christmas, but I
don't particularly went to drive
400 miles to exchange season's
greetings with anyone, when I
could be sitting by my own fire
with a good book. Why don't we
all stay home.
I like the old carols, but I can't
stand old Bing Crosby singing
you-know-what for the 800th
time.
Even some of the old carols
almost demand parody, with the
state of the world as it is. Here
are a few I have left over.
To the Liberal government.
(Yes, Virginia, there is still at
least one Liberal government
left in Canada):
"God help you, merry
gentlemen,
'Cause no one else will do it,
We handed you a prime rib
roast.
And all you did was stew it."
To the Parti Quebecois:
"Oh, hell! 0-0-h hell'
What a mess you have made.
You have sundered our country
At Zilch centigrade,"
Wouldn't have been so bad if
they'd done it in the summer.
We'd have all gone fishing.
To the oil industry:
"We three sheiks of Araby are.
We've got oil, but never from
tar
Sands like all you dopey
Canadians,
Whine while we raise the
price."
To the Anglos in Quebec:
"Hark, let's all us Anglos sing,
We don't want Rene for King.
Though we've scorned the man
for years,
Save us from his French With
Tears."
Enough? I agree. I'm getting
faintly nauseous myself. Avaunt,
ye carols!
Then there are the Christmas
parties. The merchants have a
big one, counting their shekels,
even though they know they"11 be
lucky to break even in the next
few months. The cops have a par-
ty, hauling in drunks. The drunks
have a party, because they know
'tis the season to he jolly and
they can get away with anything
short of murder. The murderers
have a party because, under our
present prison rules, they'll
probably all be home for Christ-
mas.
And the rest of us gallop from
one egg-nog to another, gulping
down grub that some poor
woman has spent 24 hours
preparing, and tried out on her
husband so often that he throws
up at the mention of it,
The social committee of our
staff tried to have a Christmas
party for all the teachers and it
was practically a flop because so
Amalgamated 1924
WEHERE SDPuoR
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It's the time of year when many
area residents consider the plight
of their feathery friends and
wade through snow to fill up bird
feeders. The tiny creatures have
little opportunity to forage for
themselves (due to the lack of
horses) and obviously appreciate
the handouts.
Many people start off the
practice by purchasing a bird
book so they can properly
identify the many colorful
species they expect to attract to
their back yards.
Our experience would indicate
that such a purchase is not
necessary, and in fact could be a
complete waste of money.
Unless, of course, you are a real
student and want to pick out the
many varieties of sparrows you'll
see.
With the exception of a few
starlings, that's about the only
thing we've been able to attract
to our feeder—sparrows. A couple
of cardinals have made one or
two visits, but there's a complete.
lack of blue jays, nut hatches,
chickadees and the likes that one
normally expects to take ad-
vantage of the free food offer.
Perhaps some of these normal
winter visitors have finally
smartened up and joined their
other brothers of the wing in more
southern climes. They can hardly
be blamed for that!
This winter, we thought we
really had an ideal setup for
feeding the birds in our neigh-
borhood. Our father-in-law
showed up late this fall with a
new feeder, an immense thing
that can hold over 25 pounds of
feed all at one time.
It was the obvious answer to
cutting down the daily trips
through the deep snow to con-
stantly replenish the food. After
dumping in the first bag of 25
pounds, we expected the chore
would be completed for the
winter months and we would
have nothing to do but sit at the
window and watch the colorful
visitors make their daily
pilgrimage.
Well, you know what happens
to the best laid plans of people
who plan to feed the birds. It took
a couple of days for the creatures
to find our offerings, but once
many could not make it. They
were already signed up for such
things as a free party for
municipal employees and their
spouses, a free party for
Employees of a large institution
and their spouses, and various
other worthy events, none of
them designated to help the
hungry or comfort the afflicted
of the world.
It's bad enough before Christ-
mas, but the pace accelerates
right after the big day. All those
hostesses who couldn't round up
guests for a pre-Christmas bash
have been frantically phoning
people, to attend their New
Year's Eve soiree, or their
apres-ski swill, or their
toboggan-party turbulence. You
have to he fast Off the mark, or
you'll miss the chance to play
host to 30 or 40 people you
couldn't give a diddle if you
never saw, and fill them with
food and booze you can't afford.
Well, our bacchanalia comes to
something of a grinding halt
about the day after New Year's.
We all lurch back to normal, suf-
for through the physical and
financial hangover, take a look
out at the falling snow and falling
temperature, and realize with a
sickening thud of the heart that
we are not, after all, living it up
on the Riviera, but are stuck in
the true north, strong and freez-
ing, and there are still three
months of it ahead of us.
discovered, the word spread
around the bird kingdom as
quickly as a secret passed along
to the town's best gossip.
It wasn't long before the feeder
was invaded by hundreds of
sparrows and one of the obvious
lessons was quickly learned
about feeding birds: the size of a
sparrow grows in direct
proportion to the amount of bird
feed which daily disappears,
In about five days our first 25
pound offering was completely
devoured and our slowness at
refilling the feeder was met with
a frenzied chatter from the
sparrows sitting in the nearby
branches.
Fearing they would start
leaving their customary
trademark on the roof and
windshield of the family vehicle,
we replenished the stock and it
too was quickly depleted, To
make a long story short, We are
now starting on our second 100
pound supply and there is every
indication that the family may
have to tighten their belts if we
plan to keep dipping into the
weeklygrocery allotment for bird
feed.
It would all seem worthwhile
perhaps if some of the more
colorful winter birds would ap-
pear. With our luck, they're no
doubt sitting in someone else's
backyard, quite happy to have all
the area's sparrows out of their
way over at the Batten's,
We know few of the sparrovvs
will leave now. Fact is, most of
them are too fat to fly! Too bad
they didn't enjoy left-over turkey.
+ + +
And to conclude on a note that
continues the theme of "for the
65 Years Ago
Fred Ellerington sold his
beautiful team of greys this week
for $585.00.
The vote on Church Union is
being taken in the Methodist and
Presbyterian churches. The
ballots are being placed on the
collection plates last Sunday and
next Sunday.
This month the Post Office will
place on sale in all Canadian post
offices the first installment of the
King Edward postage stamps.
The formal opening of the
skating rink took place in the
form of a carnival Monday night.
Prize winners were Miss Olive
Treble, Leon Treble and Ernest
Harvey
30 Years Ago
Mr. G. J. Dow was in Montreal
on Saturday with two carloads of
horses.
Construction of Grand Bend's
$55,000 pier began Tuesday ac-
cording to Col. A, A. Anderson,
District Engineer. Building has
been delayed several months
because of shortage of steel sheet
piling.
Mr. William Hatter, who last
October rounded out 25 years of
serving the citizens of Exeter
with milk, has sold his dairy
business to Mr. Lee Learn.
Mrs. J. A. Traquair entertained
at the tea hour at her home
Friday afternoon in honor of her
daughter, Dorothy, bride-elect.
A new furnace has been in-
stalled in the Town Hall, and was
used for the first time to heat the
building for the nomination
meeting Monday,
20 Years Ago
Neil Gordon White, seven=
pound son of LAC and Mrs,
Norman While, RCAF Station
Centralia won a host Of prizes
from Exeter merchants when he
birds" we note that Grand Bend
council and developer Don South-
cott are engaged in what appears
to to be an all-out battle.
For the second time in recent
months, Southcott has asked for a
public hearing into matters with
which he is involved. The first
was his 'involvement in the
Severn Park deal and now he
wants to clear the air over his
firm's planned development of
the Sherwood property.
Southcott and council are
getting into some rather serious
charges and counter-charges
relating to the latter, and while
many residents are obviously
interested in the' plans for the
property, it is doubtful if they
would welcome the opportunity to
sit through a session to hear more
name calling.
Rather than attempt to sort out
the question of who has been
misrepresenting what (which is
probably impossible now
anyway) it would appear more
valuable for council and the
developer to get back to square
one and have a frank discussion
on what is planned for the
Sherwood property.
That is what the residents are
interested in basically and not the
internal feud which exists bet-
ween the principal parties in-
volved,
That would probably beit be
settled by a dip in the chilling
waters of Lake Huron, because it
is obvious that those involved
need their heads cleared and that
would probably do the trick.
became the first baby born in
South Huron Hospital this year.
Mop-up crews started Wed-
nesday to clean up the debris
from the $10,000 fire which gutted
the frame and body shop of
General Coach Works of Canada,
Hensall, early Tuesday morning.
Coldest temperatures of the
winter were recorded the past
week as 1957 received a stormy
reception in this area. The
mercury dipped to below zero,
and on New Year's day gusts of
wind reached 45 miles per hour.
OPP Constable Cecil Gibbons
reported 159 accidents in-
vestigated in 1956, eight more
than in 1955. Number of fatal
accidents were two compared to
four in 1955,
15 Years Ago
Gordon Hill, Varna, is one of
three new members appointed to
the Ontario Farm Products
Marketing Board by Agriculture
Minister Stewart this week,
After 37 years of separate
women's organizations . . . the
Women's Association and the
Women's Missionary Society,
these bodies will disappear and
be replaced by one new
organization known as "The
United Church Women" this
month,
Earl Campbell, who resighed
as clerk-treasurer and assessor
at Hensall, following the
December election, was per-
suaded to return to his post at
council's inaugural meeting,
Monday,
Joseph Wooden and Fred
Wright, two new councillors,
were sworn into office Monday
during the inaugural ceremonies.
The Harlequin Room, dining
room of the newly renovated
Dufferin Hotel in Centralia
marked its grand opening Friday
night,
Did you happen to get a Tuit,
the round kind, for Christmas? I
did, and a few other fortunate
people I know got one too.
A Tuit, especially a round one,
is just what I've been needing for
years and I have talked at great
length on many occasions about
what I would do and accomplish
as soon as I got one.
I actually hadn't known they
were now on the market so' you
can imagine my delight and
almost unbelief when one ap-
peared with a card I got with my
Christmas mail,
Now I shall be able to get on
with so many things I've been
putting off. Now, there is no
excuse for not getting the job
accomplished just because I
didn't have a Round Tuit.
These Round Tuits are ex-
cellent for everyone. I'm cer-
tainly going to keep mine in a
good safe place where, I can keep
my eye on it, like on my kitchen
bulletin board.
The card that accompanied
mine said they have been very
hard to come by but that now they
are available most to everyone. It
also said, "Now that these are
available most of our problems
about getting things done,
responding to charity appeals,
doing some Bible study, going to
church, writing letters or just
plain getting at those things we so
often set aside, will now be solved
now that every one has their
Round Tuit,"
"For you see, so many have
said "I'll get started going to
church and•sending my children
to Sunday School just as soon as I
can get A Round Tuit." Others
have said "I should be studying
my Bible for I know my
knowledge would increase but I
never get A Round Tull." Or
"I've been meaning to 'send a
donation to' the Christmas Seal
Fund (or some other worthy
cause) but I've been so busy I just
never got A Round Tuit." Many
also are heard to say "I've been
meaning to write dear old 'Aunt
Lucy a letter but I just can't seem
to get A Round Tuit."
Well dear readers, the happy
fact is that all that is now past.
Everyone can have their own
Round Tuit.Because I value mine
so much and realize its great
worth I've decided to give each of
you one with this column,
Clip it out Carefully, stick it on
your fridge or in some other
prominent place where your eye
continues to fall on it.
That is, of course, if you
remember to get A Round Tuit!
cuffed the fulfillment of regional
potential and, therefore; th-
warted national growth.
The ball now is in the Liberals'
court. If that party wishes to
preside over the . break-up of
Canada, then it Will sit rnously by
while Trudeau fumbles again
and•egain and:again Or, if it his,
any, respect. 'can'ad.4, , will
force Trudeau to retire before he
creates further damage during
the remainder of his term• of
office.
Liberals, have you any guts?
Yours sincerely,
Don Southcott,
* *
. :•• ,e'ee
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1 881
"It's been so long since I've had a job, I've forgotten what line of work
I'm unemployed from."
Dear Sir:
My parents were reading
Elaine Townshend's article in the
Christmas edition of the T-A and
they noticed a few mistakes. If
you will hear with me, I will point
them out. •
First of all, it: wasn't Martin
Luther King who set tip the firSt
Christmas tree.. If yottremember
correctly, Martin Luther King
was assasinated in the 1960's. I
think that you were referring to
Martin Luther instead,
Secondly, St, Nicholas has
nothing, really, to do with the
celebration of Christmas in
christmas , was "kept
separate as a religious holiday.
St. Nicholas day was celebrated
on the fifth of December whereas
Christmas was held on the
twenty-fifth.
Each year, St, Nicholas, who
was a bishop, travelled from
Spain to Holland on a white horse
(with four legs) with his little
assistant, Black Peter, behind
him. The children of the whole
country (not only Amsterdam)
filled their shoes with grain and
hay to feed the horse. In return
for the grain, St. Nicholas left the
children's shoes full of candy and
small toys. ,
This follows quite closely with
the Spanish customs of children
leaving grain or hay in their
shoes for the camels of the Magi.
Since St. Nicholas came from
Spain, there is probably some
relation. The results were the
same; the shoes were filled with
candy and toys and Christmas
was celebrated separately. Gift-
giving in Spain takes place in
January.
Other than that, we found the
story quite interesting. Thank
you very much for your time,
Yours truly,
Ana Van der Spek
4I
To the editor,
How much Trudeau-trifling
will Canadians take — and
Liberals condone?
After assuring us, before the
separatists won the election, that
the French people would never
leave Confederation, Trudeau
now says that "most of the
initiative to keep Quebec in
Confederation must come from
Canadians in other 'provinces".
Such a turnabout, on top of his
wage-price control flip-flop,
confirms Trudeau as a dangerous
fool.
Why should Canadians in
other provinces try to force
Quebec to stay in Confederation?
Have we some divine right to
dictate to them? As reasonable
people, we must let them decide
— in their own way and in their
own good time — the course
THEY wish to follow.
Canadians in other provinces
have tried to help Quebec — by
electing several times the man
who promised he could solve the
French problem: Now, billions of
`dollars later, this man Trudeau
tries to throw the ball back to us.
Unbelievable!
Who can blame Rene Levesque
for wanting out of Confederation?
If he had had control over the
billions Ottawa spent to "help"
Quebec, he probably could have
achieved something of a positive
and lasting benefit for his people. ,
Ontario, the east and the west.
must soon realize that 'the
"parochial" federalism of
Liberal governments has hand-
,
Dear Sir or Madam:
We are writing this letter to
all the clubs, businesses and
people concerned in any 'way
with outdoors. We're making an
impassioned plea to the con-
servationists to help save
Ontario's game fish.
Incredible as it may seem
Ontario traditionally has allow-
ed the killing of undersized,
immature game fish. (Muskie
being the only exception).
This has resulted in a castas-
trophic depletion of Ontario's
game fish —repreated denials of
the Ministry of Natural Re-
sources notwithstanding!
With game fish now as scarce
as dollar bills on a collection
plate, let's take a look at our
neighbor to the south. There
the most important game fish
is the largemouth and the
smallmouth bass.
Almost all those states that
have largemouth bass have im-
posed size limits to protect it,
and presently 18 out of 49 states
(Alaska doesn't have bass)
impose general minimum size
limits on smallmouth bass as
well. Reasons: 1. They need
size limits to allow for repro-
duction. 2. To allow adequate di
predation of the forage fish
species (the smaller game fish lir
being the only ones plenti-
ful enough to keep the forage
fish under control). 3. To pro-
vide a continual catch-and-
release fishing of sub-legal yet
quality-size fish throughout the
year with no need for shorten-
ed seasons. 4. Because sub-
size fish are not, a worthy
adversary for the true sports:
men,
In all these states it's against
the law to kill undersized game
fish. But in Ontario we're still
allowing such immature off-
spring of game fish to be
slaughtered by the million.
Let's stop it.
The government will only be
as careful with the fishery re-
source as we force it to be.
If a handful of determined
sportsmen in Oregon (pop.
2,000,000) could gather over
90,000 signatures on game fish
petition—and then go on to win
a landslide victory at the pools
in the 1974 election—why
couldn't the sportsmen of
Ontario (pop. 8,000,000) do
at least as well! If we don't
do what we can do, we have no
right to complain.
To obtain petition sets, con-
tact me at 641 Alymer Street
N,, Peterborough, Ontario,
K91-1 8X3,
• ' ' ' • , Sineerel,
• Joseph Leslie
on behalf of POP
(Preserve Ontario Pickerel)