HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-01-10, Page 4Page 4 Tirnes-Advocate, January 10, 1979
Dismiss allegations
Exeter’s committee of adjustment
members were apparently plagued
at a recent hearing because some
ratepayers felt the matter under
deliberation was “cut and dried”
due to the fact press reports in
dicated council had no objection.
The situation prompted Reeve Si
Simmons to suggest the press should
withhold council’s opinion on any
matter until after the committee has
made its decision known.
That may appear to be a plausible
alternative, but it unfortunately
denies ratepayers their right to know
what their elected officials are
deciding on their behalf, and it
naturally goes against the grain for
the press to delay that wh'^h is right
fully public information.
The basic problem rests in the fact
that some people apparently do not
realize that the committee is an
autonomous group, over which coun
cil exerts no control. Similar to other
citizens, council may express their
views on any topic under considera
tion, but the committee is left to
make the final decision on the
members’ own consideration of the
facts. Council’s right of appeal is the
same as any private citizen.
It’s as simple as that, and while
th^y may face charges of following
council’s wishes whether they’re
publicly reported or not, the
members know that is not the case
and should not be concerned with
the allegations to the contrary.
Those who make such allegations
are merely stooping to tactics of in
timidation and they should be dis
missed as such.
Think small
False Impressions
“ Umbrage is in the garage converting the snowblower to coal. ”
Should shop around
With four financial institutions
already located in Exeter, and
another preparing to establish an of
fice here, council members are quite
correct in deciding to shop around
for the best possible terms on loans
that will be required to keep the
coffers augmented until tax dollars
and government grants start to roll in
later this year.
It’s entirely possible that it will be
found that the local branch of the
Bank of Montreal will still be chosen
for that necessary service, but it
should not be accepted automatical
ly each year without checking with
other sources.
Councillors have established
policies whereby other goods and
services are tendered in the com
munity and obviously the financial
needs should be handled in the same
manner.
As competition increases, there is
every likelihood that the financial
institutions will become more eager
to look after the needs of the town
and that could result in savings for
local taxpayers. At a time when
council members are espousing the
need for restraint any form of sav
ing has to be considered, and it can’t
be without some shopping around.
That, of course, wasn’t the prime
motive of Reeve Si Simmons when
he questioned giving the Bank of
Montreal the town business this
year. His suggestion stemmed from
being perplexed at the lack of
cooperation the bank had shown
over the matter of providing off-
street parking behind their Main St.
facility.
It was not, as Mayor Boyle con
tended, a form of blackmail,
although it could be construed as a
type of punishment for the bank’s
lack of action on off-street parking
deliberations.
As Simmons suggests, they have
not shown the leadership and in
itiative that could be expected from
a member of the downtown com
munity, in particular when they are
the only financial institution in town
which does not at present provide
off-street parking for its customers.
’Hopefully, the Reeve’s comments
may spark them into some expedient
action, regardless of whether they
handle the town’s financial affairs or
not.
r £
By
SYD FLETCHER
Perspectives
The telephone is an evil in
vention.
That was the conclusion
that my wife and I arrived at
one winter weekend that
first year of my teaching
career. The ‘phone started
ringing at one-thirty in the
morning. My wife staggered
out of bed to answer it. An
obviously adolescent voice
began whispering sweet
nothings in her ear, then
hung up before she could
reply. A trifle dazed by this
show of affection she
staggered back to bed and
responded to my sleepy
query with: “Some
crackpot, I guess.”
Five minutes later and
then at regular intervals the
performance was repeated
till I said some sweet words
of my own into the receiver,
took it off the hook, and
settled down, muttering,
into bed. I didn’t know until
then that when the telephone
is left off the hook for any
length of time the dial tone
stops and a high-pitched
tone begins, loud enough to
penetrate quite a distance. I
got up cheerfully, gently
stuffed the ‘phone into the
kitchen drawer and covered
the noise-maker up with a
towel.
On Monday, a large noisy
group of boys gathered on
the playground and con
firmed my suspicions that
one of them was involved.
Later on in class, a normally
very quiet boy made quite a
racket and I had to speak to
him quite sharply. The boy
directly in front of me half-
turned and whispered back
to the other: “Guess that
means another call, eh?”
The first boy blushed bright
red and that was that.
The ‘phone calls in
themselves weren’t that bad
really. Some of the other
teachers had got some too.
Apparently the boys were
using the recreation room
‘phone while their parents
were upstairs. What I didn’t
know though was that the
urchins had also very kindly
ordered my wife and I two
pizzas, a tow-truck, and
three taxi-cabs. It was un
fortunate that I lived in an
apartment building and that
they didn’t know my apart
ment number or they would
have made my dull evening
very exciting. And I don’t
even like pizza.
What bothered me most
about the whole incident was
that I never even knew the
boys’ names at that late
stage of the year. They
came in for music, sat
docilely in their seats, and I
had never had to speak to
them at all.
• Since then, I have made a
point, each year, of learning
every student’s name by the
end of the second week. I
had a master at Teachers’
College who did that. Over
two hundred names and he
learned them all.
At the time I thought he
was trifle eccentric but he
knew what he was doing.
Someone has decreed that 1979 is to
be “the year of the child”. If that
means having one, the writer has
decided firmly not to join in the
celebration. We’ve already done more
than our fair share.
In fact, we’re not too enthusiastic
about setting aside an entire 12 months
to honor children, or whatever the
organizers have in mind. There’s a
suspicion that the kids will just look
upon it as another opportunity to rip off
their old man anyway.
However, we do have some
suggestions for the kids to follow in
their special year.
First of all, they can spend some
time during the next 12 months lear
ning a few manners. It’s a lost art with
many of them, although we must admit
that many of the lads who frequently
join us at the Batten residence do por
tray some excellent upbringing.
But they appear to be in the minori
ty, at least on some occasions. It
wouldn’t hurt a few of them to realize
that the sidewalks are for people to get
from point A to point B without having
to take a detour around a group of
boisterous lads who think the cement is
their private domain. Heck, it would
even be an improvement if they took
the necessary time to stand their bikes
up against the wall rather than drop
them in the middle of the walkway.
Next thing we’d suggest is that the
kids take a few minutes in the year to
consider the fact that many of the
facilities with which they have been
blessed should be respected, the list in
cluding such edifices as the school, rec
centre and parks.
And if - they can take time from
scribbling their names on the walls,
plugging the toilets or kicking the dis
pensing machines into submission,
they could also consider the fact that
they should respect other people’s
property.
Perhaps the organizers of “the year
of the child” may consider such things
as dumping picnic tables in the river,
chopping down mail boxes or raiding
gardens as mere signs of youthful
enthusiasm, but surely there must be
more profitable ventures in which they
can expend energy.
* T*r 'k
While it may be difficult to think up
activities to keep children busy
throughout the entire year, one week
should certainly be set aside for kids’
appreciation activities.
During the week, the kids could have
buzz sessions and other events in which
they take time to appreciate the things
... their parents and others in the com-
”thunity do for them.
' It could start with an appreciation
for the weekly dole handed out in the
form of allowance. Kids could no doubt
come up with some novel ideas on a
few chores they could undertake as a
show of appreciation for that cash,
rather than considering it a God-given
right.
They could carry out the garbage,
rake the lawn, clean up their
bedrooms, volunteer to wash a car for
someone who has lugged them around
to baseball and hockey games all
season, help clean up the debris their
cohorts have scattered about the swim
ming pool or their community’s main
street, clean windows for a senior
citizen who pays taxes towards their
education and social activities, etc.
etc.
Given most kids’ never ending
source of ideas and imagination,
there’s little doubt they could come up
with many more activities for ap
preciation week.
There’s considerable merit in the
suggestion of establishing mock coun
cils for the young people in the com
munities of South Huron and North
Middlesex.
To be beneficial, of course, they’d
have to be more than play-time ac
tivities. Give the kids some programs
to undertake that will not only
challenge them, but also provide some
benefits for the community.
It may be interesting to find out how
they’d organize next summer’s recrea
tion activities or what they’d have to
say on such matters'as-littering, street
maintenance, recycling, animal con
trol, etc.
There are enough kids in most com
munities to have a mock council every
week with new officials and they may
find it interesting to tackle some of the
problems of our elected officials.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t scare them away
from seeking public office at a later
date.
* * *
Finally,, we’d hope that the year
would be filled with a new sense of
awareness for our young people. An
awareness that they are the light of our
lives, but too often they cast shadows
by their negative thinking and action.
Hopefully, they’ll realize that most
people in this area won’t have to go out
of their way to bring any special mean
ing to the year of the child. Most spend
a considerable amount of time and
energy now making this area a better
place for people of all ages, including
young people.
All we ask is a fair return for that ef
fort.
The federal civil service -
like civil services the world
over - comes in two sections.
One section plans legislation;
the other section enforces
legislation.
On paper, this is a very
sensible arrangement. The
thinkers are left alone to
think while the enforcers are
left alone to enforce. The
only problem is the lack
of communication from
thinkers to enforcers. So the
enforcers frequently find
themselves dealing with regu
lations whose purposes they
do not appreciate.
The consequences of this
communications breakdown
can be downright peculiar.
The Lee Valley Tools Ltd.
case is an excellent example
of the sort of administrative
boondoggle which can result.
Lee Valley is a Canadian-
owned firm that depends for
a large portion of its revenue
on an ingenious wood stove
that comes in kit form. Ac
tually, Lee sells a kit which
includes legs, stove pipe and
a door; the purchaser hunts
up a 45-gallon drum, puts all
the pieces together and has
a dandy wood stove at rock-
bottom price.
The Lee Valley stove kit
stands out as a first-class ex-
i ample of Canadian ingenuity
- the sort that could make
Canada into a first-class
trading country, given half a
chance — at work. There has,
in fact, been only one tiny
snag in an otherwise perfect
story: according to Revenue
Canada, the Lee Valley stove
kit is not a wood stove.
Now you or I would have
trouble finding any other use
for the Lee Valley kit except
as a stove. However, you and
I are not members of the
civil service upper class. Be
cause the Lee Valley kit
came without the drum,
Revenue Canada ruled that
the kit does not qualify as a
wood stove. This interesting
decision was upheld - after
appeals by Lee Valley - by
then-Revenue Minister (now
Senator) Joseph Guay.
So what? you ask, inno
cently. Does it matter wheth
er Ottawa labels the kit a
wood stove or a pogo stick?
Indeed it does. Because of
Revenue Canada’s ruling,
Lee Valley has been fighting
for its life.
The regulation-making
side of the civil service, you
see, decreed under the Ener
gy Conservation Equipment
Exemption Regulations that
wood stoves (assembled or in
kit form) would be exempt
ed from the 12% (recently
reduced to 9%) federal sales
tax. Although Revenue
Canada did not make the
rules, it does enforce the
regulation. So Lee Valley has
been living with a 12% gov
ernment-imposed price dis
advantage compared to other
wood stove manufacturers.
There’s a new Revenue
Minister in town — Tony
Abbott, who also happens
to be the Small Business
Minister and is sympathetic
to little guys like Lee Valley
- and he’s promised to
resolve the mess. But the
problem should not have
come up in the first place.
Lack of communication in
the bureaucracy is one of the
greatest sources of frustra
tion for the small business
community.
"Think small" is an editorial
message from the Canadian
Federation of Independent
Business®
Times Established 1873
Time fora house cleaning
Hown memory lane
, Robert J. Nicol has joined
the staff of The Tirnes-
Advocate.
20 Years Ago
H. L. Snider was re-elected
chairman of the SHDHS
board for 1959 and E. L.
Mickle, Hensall, is vice-
chairman, E. D. Howey
remains, secretary-treas
urer at a salary of $1,250 per
; year.
Chairman John Goman of
the swimming pool com
mittee said the campaign for
funds will get underway the
end of January, Pledges will
be sought on a three-year
basis covering 1959-61.
Guenther-Tuckey Tran
sports Ltd. Exeter has
established a new office and
parking lot at Goderich.
Shirley Wurm was
elected president of Main St.
Church Mission Circle at the
meeting held on Monday
night at the home of Marion
Belling.
Clare Paton was elected
president of Lucan Junior
Farmers at their annual
meeting at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. P. Toohey.
15 Years Ago
Baby sitters in Hensall
have taken collective action
to raise their rates. Some 20
attended a meeting and
agreed to charge their rates
from 25 cents to 35 cents per
hour before midnight and 50
cents after midnight.
The SHDHS board agreed
Tuesday to seek approvals
from district councils to
proceed with a $225,000 six-
room addition. Ken Johns
was elected chairman of the
board.
Usborne Township School
Area Board has purchased
its proposed site for the new
$180,000 central school on the
Hugh Rundle farm, about a
mile and one half east of
Exeter on Huron street.
Biddulph council raised
the salary of clerk Austin
Hodgins from $1,000 to $1,300
per annum. The reeve was
given a raise to $300 per year
and councillors will receive
$250. Payment of $10 will be
made for each special
meeting.
At the meeting of the South
Huron Hospital Auxiliary it
was decided to take over the
operation of the travelling
cart from the Exeter
Kinettes.
55 Years Ago
The elections are over and
W. D. Sanders will grace the
Chief Magistrate’s chair in
Exeter for the coming year.
Four candidates were in the
field for the reeveship. For
councillors, Jos. Davis, Eli
Coultis and C. F. Hooper
polled large votes.
Mr. S. M. Sanders has
resigned his position as
manager of the Exeter
Canning factory and will
devote his attention to his
new factories at Exeter and
Hensail. Mr. Luther J.
Penhale is taking over the
management of the Canning
Factory,
The Exeter Junior Hockey
team motored to Seaforth on
Thursday evening last and
won the first game of the
season for the district in the
Junior O.H.A. by the score of
5-2. Exeter’s lineup was:
goal, Walper; defence, Hey
and L. Statham; centre, G.
Hind; wings, Rau and
Keller; sub, C. Acheson.
At the annual meeting of
the Comrades class of James
Street Sunday School a very
interesting program was
given including a debate on
the subject “That the in
fluence of women is greater
than the influence of men”.
The affirmative was upheld
by Rev. Donnelly, Mrs. T.
Dinney and Mr. E. Shapton.
The negative was defended
by Mr. Wm. Welsh, Mrs. W.
Cutbush and Dr. Roulston.
The judges decided in favor
of the negative.
30 Years Ago
Jack Orchard of Byron
who recently graduated as
an optometrist, has pur
chased the practice of John
Ward.
Mr. and Mrs. Luther
Penhale left Friday by plane
for Australia to visit their ’
daughter Mr. and Mrs. Keith
Colby.
Telephone subscribers in
Mt. Carmel, Shipka and
Khiva areas were connected
to Dashwood central
recently. This brings the
number of subscribers at
Dashwood to almost 650.
Dr. w. Stuart StanbUry, a
native of Exeter, one of the
world’s leading medical
authorities on blood, lias
been named national
commissioner of the
Canadian Red Cross Society.
New Year is a time for house
cleaning: the house, the desk, the
mind. Not to mention your personal
relationships, your language, and your
ears.
I’ll leave the house to my wife. And if
you think. that’s male chauvinism,
whatever that silly phrase means,
you’re right. A male is a male. A
chauvinist is a super patriot. And we
all know what a pig is — one of the
most valuable animals man has ever
created in his own image.
Theoretically, I’m a male. I was so
pronounced, I imagine, at birth, due to
certain plumbing. I am not a
chauvinist. I do not believe in my coun
try, right or wrong, although I love it. I
do not trust my government as far as I
could throw a used car into a swamp.
And I am not a pig, although I
wouldn’t mind being one. Do you
realize that a pig produces, in his or
her short life, about eight times what a
human does?
To eat: pork chops and roasts and
bacon and pig hocks and ham and head
cheese and pigs tails. Not to mention
sowbelly, if you want me to get male
and chauvinistic.
To wear: pigskin for making gloves.
For sport: making footballs (he put the
old pigskin square between the up
rights).
For use: pig bristles for making
shaving brushes, although I fear they
are becoming plastic in this plastic
age. And finally: sows’ ears for not
making silk purses of.
O.K. That deals with cleaning up the
house, in a rather round-about way.
The Old Lady can do it. I’ll help clean
up the basement if she’s ever crafty
enough to get me down there on a
Saturday morning.
Just began cleaning up my desk.
That’s definietly worth while. I have
just re-read some Christmas cards,
merely skimmed on arrival. I always
enjoy a card from my kid brother,
banished to the Siberia of the James
Bay project in Northern Quebec. He
hates everything so much that he
makes me feel positively benevolent
toward the world.
Then there’s my TV repairman, as
he always signs himself, who drops a
line every Christmas from Westport,
Ont. I suppose I’ll never know his real
name, but there’s always a cheery
message, urging me to go on pricking
balloons and stuffed shirts, even
though he often doesn’t agree with me.
There’s an annual card from Major
McErving in California, who is hooked
on the bagpipes, with a lively account
of the various events the pipers have
attended in the past year.
Here’s a letter from an old fighter
pilot friend, who reminds me of the
time, on the way home from a country
pub, that I missed a turn in the road
and went straight through a thorn
hedge. Next day my face looked as
though it had been raked by a ter
magant with long nails.
And a letter from Beth Boyd, a
former student, now in Lacombe,
Alberta. I quote: “Hopefully you’ll
recall me as being tall, beautiful and
an extremely bright student. However,
the reality is — short, acne and the
only person who consistently spelled
‘throughout’ as ‘throught’.” Not so,
Beth. I remember you exactly. You sat
near the back where you could titter
and giggle with Gail Ellison. And I’m
sure the acne is gone. And that you’re
short but beautiful. And I’m glad you
are happy.
Then there’s the usual smattering of
letters and cards from deeply religious
people who take my tongue-in-cheek
remarks wide-eyed and write me
earnestly, quoting scripture and verse,
to outline my easy road to hell.
Hello, hello! What’s this? An unopen
ed letter. Let’s see. Well, well, a che
que for just over $1,000. Dated
November, 1977.1 thought that the old
finances had gone a bit haywire in the
last year. I hope they’ll cash the blink
ing thing. There is some silly rule
about cashing cheques that are more
than six months old. Happened to me a
few years ago.
Here’s one from Germany, and a
card from Australia, and two from
Texas and one from Holland and a note
from Dawson Creek, and another from
Oregon. That’s the summer crowd,
from Our Trip.
Another note from Anne, a former
student:“Why did Joan Engel get an A-
plus on an essay, and I got an A, when I
wrote them both?” Life, Anne. An old
friend of mine, George McCowan,
wrote an entire French exam for a
friend at university, was caught in the
act, kicked out, ana is now a Hollywood
director, with several ex-wives and a
big income. No connection, but where
— Please turn to Page 5
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