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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1980-08-20, Page 2„., BLUE RIBBON A'vARL) 1979 houllhe scenes by Keith Rouiston Canadians don't like heros, People need beros. They have been a part of human history since the days of early man. Every civilization has had its hems and legends. Everyone, perhaps but Canada,. 'Canadians seem to have something against beros. Oh we have had them: people like laura Secord and Billy Bishop and Marilyn Bell, but we seem to delight in pulling down our heros as soon as we .build Mein up. The case in Point seems to be the.Terry Pox story happening right noVv;', Canada .'needs a hero' at present. We are going through bad economic times. 'We'; are seeing the worst of our `political leaders as " diey scrap over. who will have the most power in our country. We need something to lift us' above all this pettiness, to make us see the 'better: side of mankind. Terry Fox is made for just such a role ,Here was a young man who had• suffered a personal chsaster. Always active in sports and life in general he had been striken with bone cancer and doctors had had to remove one of his legs to save his life. He was angry and he was determined to fight back, to do what he could to defeat cancer. He was also going to show that cancer couldn't change his lifestyle completely. A:BIG RUN So he set out to carry out a task, of timely legendary - proportions. He was going to run from one side of Canada to the other. It would be a fantastic journey ,for someone with two good legs but for someone running with one artificial limb it was an incredible undertaking. In order to make the Most of his venture Terry Fox also got the Canadian Cancer Society involved to use his run as a way of raising money for cancer research. Every- thing about the undertaking has been successful. Unprecidented amounts of Money have been raised for the battle against cancer. Terry Fox has been plodding his way , across Canada and becoming an example for everyone of the power of a determined human being. People normally interested only in how much take home pay they hive on Friday night have begun to see that there are more important things in life. In short Terry Fox is the kind of hero Canadians need. WE DON'T WANT HEROS But Canadians just aren't supposed to have heros. We want people who are just as common as the rest of us. So whenever we find a hero we begin lOOk for his feet of Clay. And sn seems is the case with Terry Pox. The' first cracks are appearing, Last week The Globe and Mail which bills itself as. Canada's national nenrspaper started: chipping away at the heroic statute, of Terry Fox. A reporter. started talking,' about the faults of the man: how he gets grumpy when things aren't going well. His leg starts to hurt and he takes,. out, his had hnmour on those travelling with him He gets tired of people giving him too Much adoration to the point that-4110r celebta- lions prevent him from getting on the;react early to run and get that much; closer, to his' destination, The Globe also showed some of the cracks between Terry, and, the Cancer Society. One Cancer Society. .obviOusly a , little weary of all the credit Terry Fox was ,getting for raising money, for the Cancer 'fight, reportedly told the newspaper that after all it was the Cancer Society that was organizing things to -bring in the money. All Terry Fox was doing was the running: Ah, the crusading reporters of the . Canadian media. They're going to dig Out the truth and force it, down our throats whether we want'it or not. Let's get all the dirt out of this situation fellas. It's going to do everybody so much good. GRUMBLE A LITTLE If Terry, Fox, was beating up on little old ladies as he made his way across the country I 'could see the need to report his terrible weaknesses. Given the tremendous physical pain the man is putting himself- through, however, he should certainly be allowed to gnimblea little alang :the way. Most of us can't imagine the kind of torture the man is enduring. Our idea of strenuousi activity is walking up two flights of stairs. In other countries peoPle 'are allowed to have heros. Not only don't the:Press dig into all their personal. faults,' they often manage to tell little white lieS about what faults they do have. The Americans have turned Abraham Lincoln or_ George Washington intO untouthahlelieros even though both men certainly had their faults. They have overlooked the weaknesses of John Kennedy to make him a superhuman' leader. The Americans are great at creating legends and heros. Canadians are 'great at, destroying legends and herbs. Perhaps if we were a little more ready to accept our heros, we wouldn't be, spending so much time on the never-ending . search for a, , Canadian indentity. Sugar and spice By Bill Smiley , It's time for my brother Have to go and see my kid brother this week. I don't have to. Nobody in his right mind has to have anything to do with his relatives. From birth to death.they are a pain in the arm. When a baby is born, all the eyebrows go up at the choice of name, unless it happens to be one of theirs, or that of a rich uncle. Asked my grandboys the other day what their second name was. Balind, who sometimes doesn't know his anus from his elbow, promptly retorted, ''William." His second name was the same as mine, in case I'd be pleased and leave him something. Asked the other guy, who knows everything, from why Gran's crying to why Grandad is in a tearing rage. He muttered,, "Chen." I'd forgotten. His parents named him that, don't ask me why, because they were on an international kick, and Chen means "first-born." Poor little devil. His full name is Nikov Chen. Imagine what the CIA will do with that when they take over Canadian intelligence. Notice I spelled the last word without a capital. Next time the relatives act like Little Jack Horner is when your kids get married. Despite the fact that the couple has been living together for nine months, your blasted relents want a church wedding, with the bride in white, a big reception where everybody pretends that the newly- weds are virgin, there are some adolescent speeches right out of the age of Victoria, and somebody cuts a cake that nobody would eat with a 10-foot pole. This costs roughly five to 10 thousand dollars so that the couple can go on living in sin, but with a paper 'to prove that they're not. And the third occasion on which the relatives get their arms into it, right up to the elbows, is when somebody dies. This is when the real Christians emerge. "Mom always said I could have that tea service." "Well, that's what you, think. I was there the• day she died and she distinctly stated (arm twisted behind her back) that 'I could have riot only the tea 'service but all the linen." And so on. I've seen this, but not experienced it. After my mother's death, my elder sister was mutually appointed arbitrater. And she arbitrated: "Two sheets for you, two for you. Two blankets for you, two for you. Two linen tablecloths for you, two for you. Two beds for you, two for you, a dining-room table for you. Everyday china for you, plus the silver coffee pot. Good china for you, plus the chamber-pot," And so on. It was like being at an auction without any bids, and we all went away rather dazed, enriched beyond our dreams, and with only a few grudges. We were all so young and unsophisticated that we let an aunt have a beautiful chaise lounge, which wound up as a period piece in, of 'all places, Please turn to page 3 Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1980 Serving Brussels and the, surrounding community. Published each Wednesday.afternoon at Brussels, Ontario By McLean Bros. Publishers Limited. Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Pat Langlois Advertising Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $10.00 a fen. _Others $20.00 a Year. Single Copies 25 cents each. Two years is enou A three year term for members of municipal council? No way! A one year term would be too short, but a three year term would be too long. The first year on council allows new members, to familiarize them- selves with how the game of local politics is played. By their second year, the newest councillors should be more in the know, and rate- payers are able to give them a performance rating. If councillors are meeting the public's satisfaction, the people will let them know by voting them back into office but if they are not, the public has an opportunity after two years to vote, the 'council ,out. By lengthening the term' to three years, it means the municipality has to accept that particular council's decisions for an extra year whether .they agree with them or not. Acting as a member of a local council is no picnic, and the‘two year term allows a councillor to resign, gracefililly at the end if he or she has had enough of local politics without causing a lot of avid speculation as to the reasons for doing so. Two years is long enough for 'a councillor to decide whether or not to run the race again. But putting in a three year term when they really don't wish to act on council for that extra year means their heart• won't be in it and they might not do as good a job as they should. That could be disastrous both.for the municipality and the councillor. The 'be4 at Blut h The Burton Upon Trent Youth Choir, the Huggett Family, the Lampoon Puppet Theatre, Maureen Forrester. Big names in the entertainment world — and they're all coming to the Blyth Memorial Hall. His nothing short of stupendous what this village of 900 people.' has accomplished in a half a dozen years. It has gone from a sleepy, rural centre known for its woollen and leather goods, to an entertainment centre worthy of feature articles in the likes of Chatelaine and Macleans magazines. Blyth is still a rural village. That fact alone is a big attraction for urban dwellers now flocking to see the theatrical productions at Memorial Hall. However urban dwellers aren't the only ones making Blyth Memorial Hall a must on their summer list. Perhaps the best aspect of the Blyth Centre • for the Arts is that it has brought theatre and art to rural Ontario. And rural Ontario is supporting the venture. The majority' of theatre-goers filling the wooden seats in Memorial Hall are people living in the immediate area. And it is heartening to see'that a farm village which probably couldn't support a cinema can support live theatre. If rural support is the best aspect of the Blyth venture, the .second best aspect is the emphasis Blyth places 'on Canadian plays and Canadian talent. • The kind of theatrical enthusiasm seen now at Blyth had its roots in the likes of Paul Thompson's Theatre Passe Muraille and the now famous The Farm Show which toured the area about seven or eight years ago. It just goes to prove that given a chance, Canadians will go to see Canadians.. This is not to say that talent from other countries ought to be kept out of Canadian• theatres. That's utter nonsense — so is the great hullaballoo about filming Stratford's King Lear, all because of the presence of a non-Canadian actress. This nation Is too big for that kind of petty silliness -- as the little hamlet of Blyth is proving. After all if were were afraid to compete, Blyth never would have turned its old Memorial Hall Into a toy-notch entertainment centre, If this country in general could replace its Inferiority complex with the kind of courage shown by Blyth, Ontario, we'd all be better off. Courage, enthusiasm and imagination. It's an unbeatable combin- ation and Blyth's got it. (The Listowel Banner)