HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-05-18, Page 4Pqge 4 Times-Advocate, May 18, 1978
Tighten Drinking
Campers who have been plagued in
the past by rowdyism and alcohol at
Ontario’s provincial parks will be
heartened by the recent decision to ban
alcohol at 11 of the 128 parks and also to
tighten the rules for drinking at the
remainder.
The ban on alcohol should help to
make the parks more attractive to
families, although there will be some
criticism from responsible campers
who no doubt will feel they are being
penalized for the disorderly behaviour
of a minority.
While the Pinery park is not includ
ed in the ban, it will fall under the
regulations which allow for the posses
sion of an open container of alcohol
only by campers on their own sites.
That will still enable individuals to
drink on their own campsites, but will
forbid large gatherings of drinkers at a
single site.
Campers who visit provincial
parks for quiet outdoor relaxation
rather than for partying should have no
quarrel with it, while those whose pur
suits are aimed in other directions will
have to move in other directions.
Community is important
Next to the family, the community
is the most important centre of the ac
tivities that make life human, civilized
and cultured. No other environment
contributes so significantly to nourish
the values of life.
Governments on all levels are lear
ning this by the failure of their efforts
to impose neighbourhood redevelop
ment programs without consulting and
involving the people who live there.
Community work satisfies the desire to
contribute to humanity; it gives a per
son something to do that is worth
while; it provides fellowship. The com
munity of individuals, in hamlet,
village, town or city, supports
churches, schools, fraternal societies
and centres for recreational and ar
tistic activities.
If a person is to have dignity, he
must make his contribution to life. It is
in the community that man feels what
he is and has a chance to become what
he can be. Through association with
others in church, school, club and
recreation the individual gets a sense
of status and a sense of social accep
tance and support.
Every improvement in the life of
people in the community is a personal
advantage to everyone in it. But con
tribution to the good of the community
is more than that, it is an expression of
the natural good qualities people have.
People do not become part of a
community merely by being together,
but rather by sharing interests and
engaging in activities to further the
welfare of the group. The strongest
bond between people is the feeling of
having common problems, common
values and common hopes.
Community work is self
developing. It is more than merely sen
ding a cheque. We sedk the respect of
the society in which we live. Mutual
tolerance and co-operation will lead to
the point when you call your neighbour
“friend” and that means much to both
of you. Membership in the community
comes from a conscious sense of
“belonging”.
By belonging, we accept certain
responsibilities for constructive con
tribution. The good citizen will shape
his community by working with other
citizens. Then problems get solved,
wrongs are righted, the beauty and
spirit of the community is enhanced.
(Ridge town Domminion)
BATT’N AROUND
Middle-of-the-road hog
... with the editor
Cheery programs
Unemployed well off
“Our economy would be a whole lot
stronger if the government didn’t make
it so comfortable to do nothing.”
That was the comment of a Toron
to man who recently received $3,000 in
unemployment benefits in the six
months that he was unemployed. He
found that his monthly cheque enabled
him to pay the rent, eat out at a good
restaurant once a week and save some
* money.
Bob Bland said he was never called
to unemployment insurance offices to
check whether he was looking for work
and even when jobs that were outside
his specialized field were available, he
was told to wait and keep looking for
something that may suit him better.
“They just kept sending my che
ques as regularly as clockwork,” he
commented.
While the government has waged
an expensive advertising campaign in
an effort to discourage people from try
ing to cheat on unemployment benefits,
it is obvious that the entire system is
badly out of whack when able-bodied
people can receive benefits while many
employers are unable to find people to
fill jobs that are available.
Hope for Relief
In Geneva, the rich industrialized
nations of the world have been discuss
ing one of the great issues of our time
— how to ease the debt burdens of some
of the poorest countries on earth. One
of the awkward features about the in
debtedness of these developing coun
tries is the frequent confusion about
the size of the amount owed, and what
kind of debt has been contracted by
which countries.
Although this is somewhat of an
oversimplification, it is fair to say that
according to the United Nations and
the World Bank, the debts owned by all
developing countries to the rich world
will surpass the staggering figure of
$300 billion some time next year.
Statistics indicate that the debt burden
has been growing by more than 25% an
nually in recent years. The outstanding
official debt of the 29 poorest and least
developed countries was less than $7
billion in 1975 — but brought interest
and capital payments of about $500
million. Yet the $500 million was the
equivalent of a whole month’s imports
for the poorest 29.
Now there is some hope of relief at
last. Canada, Switzerland, the
Netherlands and Sweden have led the
way by writing off some of the outstan
ding loans to the poorest nations. West
Germany is ready to convert some of
its Third World loans into gifts. Britain
is seriously considering forgiving much
of its offical debt to the very poor
nations.
Although commercial banks tend
to have nightmares about the more
than $50 billion they have lent to the
less developed countries between 1973
and 1976, they can really sleep soundly.
It is unlikely that even the poorest
countries will allow themselves to be
led down the slippery slope to mass
cancellation of debts and defaults. This
would hardly be in their interest.
But the fact is that if the richer
governments can see their way clear to
help the economies of the very poorest
by writing off the official debts, they
will be on the way to recovery. The ex
plosion in the poor world debt stems
largely from the $10 billion increase in
the annual oil bill the poor nations have
had to meet during the past four years.
Canada and a few other affluent
nations have shown the way. It is now
up to the United States, Japan, West
Germany and other well-to-do coun
tries to follow suit and to join a global
effort to ease the burdens of the poor.
Contributed
Anyone in attendance at Wednesday
night’s songfest put on by six area
elementary schools had to be cheered
by two programs that were in evidence
at the performance.
First and foremost, members of the
audience had come to listen to the
various school choirs and their polish
ed performances indicate that music is
alive and well in the Huron schools.
We’re not foolish enough (or even ac
complished enough) to provide a
critical review of the various choirs.
Suffice it to say all were good, some
being slightly better than others.
However, with the exception of a few
kids who were naturally experiencing
some “stage fright’’ it was obvious
that all the performers were enjoying
themselves and that in turn enabled the
audience to better enjoy the perfor
mances.
It’s an interesting pursuit to watch
individuals in school choirs. One sees
the bubbly personalities as well as the
“ho hum’’ lads in the back row. There
are the kids who stand erect and watch
every move of their director, while
others are more interested in survey
ing the audience to make sure mom
and dad can see them. When their
glances meet, it is evidenced by a
broad grin and a momentary burst of
vocal gusto.
The choir presentation started out
with the county being split into two sec
tons, but the popularity of the event
forced organizers into splitting the
county into four sections and judging
by the overflow audience last week,
another split may even have to be con
sidered for the future.
One of the disheartening aspects of
the show is that while the South Huron
elementary schools are obviously laden
with talented and enthusiastic singers,
they’ll be forced into “retirement’’ due
to the lack of a musical program of any
great substance in the secondary
school.
That’s a great waste!
★ * A*
The other program to which we
alluded was the exercise (or rhythmic,
if you prefer) routine staged by a cou
ple of the school groups to show
parents what is undertaken in that
regard.
Superintendent Jim Coulter noted
that the program is undertaken in most
of the area schools, either in mass
assemblies or individual classes, usual
ly on a daily basis.
While the program resembles a
calisthenics routine, it is done to music
and that element appears to make it
much more enjoyable.
The writer was almost' tired just
watching the kids from Zurich run
though a routine, and it was rather
surprising to note they completed the
“ordeal’’ with smiles on their faces
and none of them seemed to be even
breathing harder than when they
started.
It no doubt was a program that all
the parentsdn the audiencelwould'heart-
ily support, while at the same time be
ing a little envious that they had allow
ed themselves to get so far out of shape
that they couldn’t consider joining in.* * *
Area motorists are reminded to be
on their guard as Exeter’s third set of
traffic lights go into operation at the in
tersection of Highway 4 and 83.
While the signals are intended to
reduce accidents and make vehicular
movement easier at the busy corner,
motorists who are accustomed to
proceeding along Highway 4 must now
approach the intersection with more
caution as they may be required to
stop. No doubt there will be a few close
calls in the next few weeks until
drivers make the necessary ad
justments in their habits.
However, vacationers heading to and
from Lake Huron in the next few
Sugar and Spice
Dispensed by Smiley
, Cruel April
Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1 881
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till
Poet T. S. Eliot once wrote: “April is
the cruellest month.” I don’t know
about that — November is no slouch in
this country, when it comes to cruelty
— but April is certainly no bargain
around here.
It’s a sort of zilch month. All the
other months have some character, ex
cept aforesaid November. They’re
either something to make you look
forward with anticipation, backward
with relief, or to just plain enjoy.
May is golf and fishing and grass
greening and flowers blooming. June is
the first heat wave, lilac scent, mos
quitoes, and summer just ahead. July
and August are summer in all its glory,
hot dogs, swimming, camping,
baseball, trips, summer theatre, fami
ly reunions, cottaging.
September is a glorious month,
usually. Warm enough, everybody get
ting back into the groove, new
schoolmates, new interests, new
friends, new follies to commit oneself
to.
October is great; sharp air, fresh
produce, golden sun, football, magnifi
cent foliage, Thanksgiving weekend.
Let’s skip ruddy November. But
December is exciting with fresh snow,
Christmas with all its ramifications,
holidays coming up, families getting
together.
January and February are brutal but
challenging. We’re right into the curl
ing and skiing, the daily battle to stay
alive, and the knowledge that once
we’re over the hump, about Feb. 20,
the worst lies behind.
Even rotten March has its compen
sations: Easter, worst of the winter
over, March break, and only one or two
more snowstorms to survive.
Then comes cruddy April. There’s
nothing to do out of doors. Curling and
skiing are finished, and it’s too early
for golf and fishing. Nothing to do out
side except catch a cold in that frigid
wind blowing off the ice in the bay.
It’s a dirty month. There’s salt and
sand and mud on the streets, to be
tracked into the house. It’s a pain in the
arm for housewives. That lousy yellow
sun peers insolently through the win
dows, illuminating dirty panes,
smeared wallpaper, spots on the rug,
stains on the chairs, and well-fingered
woodwork, none of which showed up in
the dear dark days of winter. The
home-maker’s heart sinks.
Male homeowners are just plain em
barrassed as the snow imperceptibly
melts, revealing all manner of junk on
front and back lawn. This year I watch
ed with growing dismay the surfacing
of four daily papers, in their yellow
plastic wrappers on the front lawn,
where some turkey kid had thrown
them when there was four feet of snow
on said area.
Then up crept one disgusting item
after another. Lawnmower peeping
first its head, then rusty body out of the
snow, a reminder of how I was caught
short again last November by the first
fall.
Picnic chairs, lurching out of the
shrinking drifts like a couple of old
wino?, decrepit, falling apart, dis
emory faned
months will no doubt welcome the
lights in enabling them to more safely
cross the intersection from the east
and west and without some of the long
lineups that have been evident in the
past.
* ★ *
The Ontario government recently in
itiated an advertising campaign to
make citizens aware of the fact that
vital organs were needed for
transplant purposes and also to remind
them that the donation of such items as
eyes and kidneys could be more easily
and speedily facilitated by filling out
the form on drivers’ licences which
give consent to the removal of organs
in the event of a highway fatality.
While many people are anxious to
have organs used by others who need
them to prolong or benefit their lives,
many of those wishes are never carried
out because they are only considered
after it is too late to perform
transplants.
In France, they’ve gone one step
farther in making organs available. A
new law legalizes organ transplants
from the recently deceased unless they
left a written record of express refusal.
While the new law has upset some
people, it is commended as “a matter
of common sense” by the majority,
who see it as a response to the in
creasing need for organs as the sur
gical tehcniques become more routine.
It is a program that should be
seriously considered in Canada.
It provides a safeguard for those who
do not wish to comply, while at the
same time making it more routine for
those who are quite willing to have
organs donated, but whose plans in that
regard are never carried out due to a
variety of circumstances.
55 Years Ago
Mr. Earl H. Davidson of
Ontario Boy Scouts
Headquarters, Toronto,
visited Exeter Troop
Monday night.
Miss Blanche Senior is in
Toronto where she has a
week’s engagement to sing
at the Hippodrome in the
musical novelty, “A Sprig of
Heather".
There was very little stir in
Exeter on the long weekend.
The weather was fine and
ideal for motoring. Quite a
number took in the
celebration at Crediton and a
number went to Grand Bend.
The local bowling greens
were opened for the season
on May 24 when a tour
nament was held.
The reports for the
University of Western
Ontario were published last
week. Students from this
district are Mr. Melville F.
Gladman, B.A. degree and
second class honours in
History and Political
Economy; Miss Margaret
Strang, first class honors in
first year General Science;
B.A., M.C.; Miss Jean
Walker, second class honors
in English, History and
French.
30 Years Ago
A housing program of 50
weelings will be completed
at RCAF Station Centralia
this summer.
Miss Helen Anthony has
resigned from the staff of
Alma College to take a
position as Children’s Work
secretary of the D.R.E.C,
with headquarters in the
Wesley Buildings, Toronto.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold
McDonald were fatally in
jured in a car accident at
Mooresville Saturday
evening.
Jack Fulcher and Howard
Holtzman are in Toronto for
a three-week course in seed
analyzing.
20 Years Ago
Jimmy Sharrow, fiye-
year-old son of Mr. and Mrs.
William Sharrow, Grand
Bend, first child born after
the South Huron district
hospital was opened in 1953,
snipped the ribbon to of
ficially open the nurses’
residence of the hospital
Sunday afternoon.
Rev. C. W. Down, Exeter,
who marked the fiftieth
anniversary of his ordination
Sunday by preaching in
James Street United Church
where he was ordained was
presented with a coffee table
by the congregation.
Over 500 people flocked to
SHDHS to attend the annual
chicken barbecue given by
the school’s agriculture
department. Over 400
chickens raised at the school
under the direction of
Andrew Dixon were cooked
and served.
15 Years Ago
Paula Boulianne,
Crbditon, Marilyn Hamilton
and Sandra Walper, both of
Exeter and Sandra Williams,
Clandeboye were four of the
students among the mem
bers of the 1963 graduating
class from Victoria Hospital
School of Nursing.
Construction of the new
$200,000 hockey and skating
arena at RCAF Station
Centralia is progressing on
schedule. Columns and
trusses are being installed
this week. The building,
which is being financed by
non-public funds is expected
to be finished in September.
Paul Wilson, son of Mr. &
Mrs. Cecil Wilson, Exeter,
has graduated from the
University of Toronto with
the highes.t marks in the
honors English language and
literature course.
Think small
by Jim Smith
Little Things
gusting. Fragments of Christmas tree,
swept up, minced and' thrown all over
the lawn by the snowplow in early
January.
A stack of newspapers, put out with
the garbage in February, picked up by
that same monster during a blizzard,
chewed up and hurled into three-pound
lumps all over the place, each solidly
frozen into the ice, salt, and sand.
Last fall’s oak leaves, caught on the
ground by the first snowstorm, about
three inches thick, looking about as
appetizing as the meat in a particularly
repellent shepherd’s pie.
April is also a rough month on
teachers. If the sun is shining, however
feebly, students gasp wildly, pretend
they’re dying of heat, throw all the
classroom windows wide to the 40
degree breeze that spells bronchial
pneumonia to the less hot-blooded pe
dant.
For university students about to
graduate, April is hellish. Final exams
loom like the Furies of old, and all the
procrastination begins to catch up. And
these days, 90 per cent of them are
quite convinced they won’t get a job, on
graduation.
Speaking of nothing to do outside, as
I was away back there, there is nothing
to do inside either. Unless you want to
watch large, young sweaty, overpaid
athletes smash each other into the
boards, as the pro hockey playoffs
Please turn to Page 5
It’s the little things that
grind you down.
Canada Customs is a little
thing. Once upon a time, vir
tually all federal revenues
came from customs and ex
cise taxes, (In 1918, the gov
ernment discovered another
type of tax which it called in
come tax and things haven’t
been the same since. But we
digress . . .)
Most Canadians don’t have
anything to do with the folks
at Canada Customs except
when they travel outside the
country. Once in a while, a
friend or relative abroad
might send a parcel through
and you have to explain the
story to the customs inspec
tor, but that’s a pretty excep
tional event in a normal life.
There are people who do
have to deal with Canada
Customs on a fairly regular
basis, however. These people
are called businessmen (and/
or businesswomen, pick one)
and you can identify them
by their grey hair, baggy eyes
and downturned lips. There’s
something about Canada Cus
toms that drives the public
to early graves.
A true case history should
prove enlightening for those
fortunate souls who never
deal with Customs. It con
cerns a Canadian firm obliged
to import a unique electric
piano from the United States
when the official Canadian
distributor decided that the
domestic market did not war
rant bringing stock into the
country.
At the border, the piano
was intercepted and held un
til a substantial security bond
had been placed with Cus
toms. The firm was instruct
ed to contact the Customs
branch in its home town.
After considerable nego
tiating, the firm was finally
able to negotiate an appraisal
which was more reasonable
than the assessment levied at
the border. Interestingly,
Customs refused to accept
invoices and cancelled che
ques as evidence of the true
sales price in the United
States and,therefore, the tax
able worth. Instead, a higher
value was assigned to the in
strument, a position which
gives rise to considerable
doubt about many items in
our daily lives.
Worn to a frazzle, the
firm’s agent produced his
cheque book to pay the duty.
But wait! One cannot pay a
Customs bill by ordinary
cheque. Payment must be
made by certified cheque,
money order or cash. The
agent was forced to visit the
firm’s bank, then return to
the Customs office.
Bear in mind that the
piano, during these trans
actions, was in Canada and
in use; what, then, would
Customs have lost by accept
ing a personal cheque? The
federal government, after all,
is not without powers to col
lect on bad debts.
Oh yes, remember that
deposit paid at the border?
The firm was not allowed to
pay the difference between
the assessed duty and the se
curity deposit. Rather, it was
required to pay the entire
bill, then wait for a refund
by mail.
Customs isn’t alone in
its insistence on being paid
by cash, certified cheque or
money order;many other go
vernment departments have
similar requirements.
It’s all very one-sided, of
course, and not terribly fair
to the individuals or firms
who must deal with Canada
Customs. Would it be too
much to ask that government
should review its regulations
and make life a little easier
for the public?
"Think small" Is an editorial
message from the Canadian
Federation of Independent
Businesses
\Woria MAY 22