The Brussels Post, 1979-02-07, Page 2wormairmammumumil BRUISE LS
ONTARIO
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1979
Serving Brussels and the surrounding community.
Published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario
By McLean Bros. Publishers Limited
Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Pat Langlois - Advertising
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association eNA
Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $9.00 a Year.
Others $17.00 a Year. Single Copies 20 cents each.
Brussels Post
3
BEGINNERS WINNERS—These youngsters won in the Beginners class
at the figure skating competitions held in Brussels on Thursday night. In
the front row from left are: Kevin Alcock, Carla Johnston, Krista Keffer,
and Julie Bromley. In the second row from left are: sharie Jacklin, Kelly
Krauter and Jason Koetsier. In the back row from left are:, Dana
Stephenson, Margaret Jarvis, Bob Veitch and Pat Cowan. These
youngsters range in age from 3-6 years. (Brussels Post Photo)
A shame
No more teen dances. It would be a shame for the Brussels, Morris
and Grey Community Centre to have to cut off dances for all teenagers
because of an unfortunate act of a foolish person.
When we see how much money has been raised to build the arena
from our community, it's a shame to see vandalism in a building that
really belongs to all of us.
Residents and organizations in Brussels have worked hard to see
their dream of a new arena come to fruition and now when that dream
is almost complete a° part of it is destroyed.
The arena is here for all community residents to enjoy various
activities and if any of those activities have be cut off because of one
foolish act then there's not much point in having an arena.
The Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre needs your
support. Help it with your donations. But more important let's close
ranks against vandalism at the arena.
Senseless damage at our new community centre could destroy more
than a wall.
To the editor:
Wants -train photos
I am doing research for a book on
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS into
the Grey-Bruce-Huron area from the
Toronto, Hamilton and London area. I would
like to ask your assistance and that of your
readers in locating old post cards and photos
of stations, locomotive servicing facilities,
bridges, construction scenes, etc. along with
steam and diesel freight, paSsenger, mixed,
and snow plow operations over the years.
I am particularly looking for photos of:
1. The Rotary snowplow (snowblower) and
of her views of plows used to open area
To the editor:
wants
I have been a grader —snowplow
operator for over 15 years and have
enjoyed my work. After reading the
statements of council in Jan. 31, 1979
edition of the paper, I am compelled to
explain the true facts.
In the first place the rate of inflation is
8.8percent. We asked for .50c an hour raise
which is a little less than 8.7 percent, as
reported. We get no overtime pay after a
45 hour week, such as tithe and a half
which is the going rate set by a lot of other
townships;no matter how many hours we
have to plow.
Nothing extra for working on Sundays,
or statutory holidays, which We are entitled
to be paid for anyway.
All we were asking was a decent Wage.
Ross Proctor expressed concern about
the atmosphere in which the wages were
settled, As tar as I know it was council hat '
created any atmosphere. These
irrespcinsible statements were made
behind Our backs., At the January Meeting
we all decided to leave negotiations on
wages until the February meeting, to get
more information on other townships.
When we were called into the February
Meeting, Reeve Elstoh said a motion had
raillines in 1947.
2. Early self propelled "unit cars" used to
Southampton in late 1920's and for
express service to Owen Sound in 1960.
3. Pre CNR operations, harbour and ship
views, and employees.
Old timetables, posters, etc would also be
appreciated. If you have information that I
could borrow on the above subjects please
contact:
Peter Bowers,
Compartment 16 R.R.4, Tara, Ont
NOH2NO
• • opinions
been made to give us the .50c an hour raise
we asked for, but to negotiate wages in
September 1979. When asked why, we got
a "politicians" answer. We agreed and so
far as I know that was it.
There must have been a change of heart
after we left. Deputy Reeve Tom Miller
must have blocked up the barrel and pulled
the plug when they set their wages. In
place of setting an example, as Bob Grasby
suggested by taking a cut in wages one of
these times, they uped the councillors
salaries by over 9 percent. For special
meetings the *Reeve jumped 33 1/3
percent, the Deputy Reeve 25 percent and
the councillors 50 percent.
Ross Proctor suggested they tender fora
snow plow operators. Well it 's a good
thing there was a good experienced
operator willing to come back and take over
when the going got rough from the last
tender job.
I feel the council was biased in its
attitude toward us, and would welcome
any ratepayers opinion, whether negative
or' positive.
Your grader-snow plow operator.
James Casemore
RR 5Wingham
In the hard, cruel, cynical world Of the
1970's, I'm a hopeless case. I'm a
sentimentalist.
The sad truth came to light again the other
night when the wife and I sat down to watch
the movie Rocky on television. It's a
warmhearted romantic story about
warm-hearted people. That's bad enough,
but it even has a hopeftil happy ending. it
sounds like something that came out of the
thirties or forties, not the seventies. You're
just not supposed to make that kind of
moview or television show or book these
days.
Yet there I was, all choked up at the end.
And afterward I wondered why they don't
make more stories like that anymore. Yuck.
How old fashioned. Better to go out and blow
your brains out than admi! t such a wekness
these days. Happy endings are out. Nice
people are to be distrusted or better yet,
ridiculed.
A week ago I'd read a newspaper column
in a Toronto newspaper which totaly panned
the new Osmond family television show
apparently because the people were all too
nice. The writer called them the Nausmond
family. Now I'm no fan of the show because,
like too many other television shows these
days, the quality of writing involved is so
atrocious that it makes all the characters look
idiotic because of the things the writers give
them to say. Such criticism of the show
would have been fair, but to criticize because
the Osmonds smile so much and seem to like
each other is getting carried away a little too
much.
But smiling and being happy is very
suspect in the 1970's. _
A couple of years back another reviewer
knocked singer John Denver for being so
happy during a concert in Toronto. Anybody
who had been around the hard-nosed music
business for as many years as Denver, the
reviewer said, couldn't be so happy and
therefore he must be a fake.
Our heroes in movies these days are
tough, no-nonsense guys who seldom smile
or show any emotion at all. Other people,
men and women are either a nuisance or a
convenience to thern. They invariably have a
cold, cynical mean streak in them that is
somehow supposed to make them attractive
to audiences. It certainly is attractive to
women. Our cold-hearted heros invariably
end up having to beat off women with a stick
(sometimes literally). '
Critics love th is kind of hero. SomehoW
he's supposed to be more "real" than
smiling happy heros. I've read many tittles
of critics saying: that nice guys, real heroic
types, are boring and given the good guy
versus bad guy situation, they'll cheer for
the bad guy every time.
Maybe I'm over sensitive on this whole
issue. I've got a vested interest after all. In
my own plays and stores I tend to feature
characters who, if not exactly heroic in
demension, are at least nice honest people
who try to do their best for themselves and
toward those around them, I'm still a
believer in the happy ending and I also like
to see people enjoying themselves. To me,
one of the most beautiful sounds in the world
is to be in a theatre full of people all laughing
so hard they can hardly stop to catch their
breath.
Now that too is old fashioned. The
judgement of the "Sophistricates" comes
down hard on writers like me. Comedy
writers are too light. Somehow they're just
playing at the game while the "Real"
writers are turning out heavy plays and
novels about hate and anger and deceit and
mayhem that send the audience away in a fit
of dispair. If your audience enjoyed
themselves, you've obviously not done a
very good job. You're something of a. hack
writer.
I think all people who work at making
people hopeful and happy sooner or later
question whether they're really any good at
what they're doing. I've read so many
stories about comic actors who long to do
Shakespeare to prove that they've got as
much talent as the "serious" actors. Writers
too I think get hung up on their feelings of
inadequacy because the people who• write
sad stories are somehow taken as having
more talent than those who write funny
things.
There's a place for both kinds of writingof
course. When people are feeling too
self-satisfied, too oblivious to the realities of
the world then they need to have their
baloon of c omplacency punctured by a
gritty, realistic story. But in a world filled
with grim horrors, where you get enough
depression in oney day of listening to the
news every hour on the hour to last a
lifetime, then we also need funny stories,
happy stories, success stories, stories to
show us there is still Some hope for good
people doing good things.
The movie Rockey has probably helped a
lot of people during the grim, cynical
seventies. Surrounded as we are by
heartache; war, cycnicisiti and depression,
we need to See a hero who can be human and
against the odds come out on top. We need a
heck of a lot more stories like that just to
keep us going.
Snowplow operator
Behind the scenes
by Keith Roulston
Nice guys
finish last
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