HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1972-06-28, Page 2WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 1972
Brussels is bright with special lights, freshpaint, flags and pennants as the village prepares
for the thousands of visitors expected to help celebrate its Centennial. (Staff Photo)
li
Sugar and Spice
by Bill Smiley
Occasionally, in tiie desert of wars
and deaths and fires and strikes in the
newspapers, one .comes across some-
thing that is like a cool drink of water.
I had that experience this very morn-
ing. The story concerned Gene Mac-
Lellan, The name won't be familiar
to most of my square old readers,
but will be to my younger ones, if
I have any.
MacLellan is a Canadian song-writer
who has made it big in the music world.
One of his songs, Snowbird, became a
million-record seller for singer Anne
Murray. That led to a wave of s trig
successes, which in turn led to an
avalanche of royalty cheques.
Well, dear reader, and you'd better
take a deep breath at this point, Mac-
Lellan is quitting. No, he hasn't broken
his guitar arm. He hasn't had a heart
attacx. He hasn't had a shattering em-
otional experience. He is dropping out
because he is making too much money
and does not want the pressure of res-
ponsibilities it caused.
He is giving up his interest in a
company set up to handle his affair s,
and has asked that the royalties be used
in part to help young performers.
He has abandoned the farm he bought
in P.E.I.,and given away most of his
possessions. He and his wife left with
no definite plans, "probably" to hitch-
hike through Europe.
Canadian Press quotes MacLellan: "I
don't know what I'll do. I don't know
when or if I'll come back."
Isn't that a refreshing little story?
I envy him, and many others caught in
the material tread-mill will too, I'm
sure.
Of course, I'm not naive enough to
compare him to Diogenes, who lived in
a barrel and owned nothing but a drink-
ing bowl. Some of those royalties will
still find their way into MacLellan's
pocket, and he won't be begging in the
streets.
But I admire a man, or woman, who
can turn his or her back on the whole
thing and walk away.
More and more of our young people
are doing it, some for the worst of reasons,
some for the best.
Some opt out because they've decid-
ed to let George do it. They deliver-
ately become bums, have no scruples
whatever about begging, stealing, accept-
ing welfare. They are dirty, promis-
cuous, malodorous and blasphemous. But
often highly intelligent.
On the other side of the coin are
the young people who get off the boat
for different reasons. At some point they
take a clear-eyed look at their parent s
at the lives they themselves are living,
and decide, "This is not for me."
This sedond group tends to be ideal-
istic. They want to create. They want
to make a life-style that doesn't depend
on status and the buck. They will work
extremely hard for something they think
is worth doing. They're almost invar-
iably gentle, tolerant and reasonably, clean.
They are not bums, but seekers after
something they don't see in our society.
They use the same four-letter words the
other group uses, but unselfconsciously.
They are not blasphemous, but in a
strange way, religious.
Friends of ours have a son, Mike.
His parents despaired of him. He had
a fantastic I.Q., but kept flunking in
high school because he was bored silly.
Never did finish school. Bummed around,
worked a bit, quit. Then he became a
Bahai. He is at present pioneering the
faith, as they call it, at Baker Lake
in the Northwest Territories, among the
E skimoes.
He's happy, working hard , and wants
to get some more schooling so that he
can go back and teach Eskimo children.
His parents are proud of him.
Here was a lad, charming, witty, hand-
some, He had every opportunity to go
to university, and would have made a mark
in society. He chose otherwise, but may
be making a bigger mark, in the long
run.
Our own son has done pretty much
the same sort of thing. He too, if
you'll pardon it, is charming, witty and
handsome. He has a great musical talent.
He is highly intelligent. After a couple
of goes at university, he quit. He had
his wild times and bad times. Now he
too is a Bahai. He doesn't have a
degree, but he can talk rings around
most university professors, in French
or English.
He works at a tough job, second chef
in a restaurant, to support himself. He
had a chance to be a bar-tender for more
money, but serving liquor is against
his principles. He planned to go to
Frobisher to pioneer the faith. Then
he thought there were enough "mission-
aries" there and made a deliberate de-
cision to attempt to spread the faith in
the east end of Montreal.
I can't see much future in trying to
convert to Bahai any substantial number
of French-Canadian Catholics. But Hugh
has a peace and serenity and a simplicity
of life that one can only envy. He doesn't
want any "things", just enough to keep
alive and keep covered. I wish I were
twenty years younger.
0
•
Serving Brussels and Ole eurrouvileg community
published each. Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario
by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited.
Evelyn Kennedy -! Editor Torn Haley - Advertising
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association.
SubscrletiOns fin advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Others
$5.00 a year, Single CopieS 10 cents each.
Second class mail Registration. No. 0562.
Telephone 887-6641.
100 years in Brussels
When Brussels' first council sat
down one hundred years ago in Janu-
ary following the incorporation of
the village, we doubt they worried
too much about what the Brussels of
to-day would be like.
They had more immediate problems.
The new railway was underway and
the following year would reach
Brussels. There was a continuing
movement of people into the district
for which Brussels was the supply
centre. Industry was busy and hous-
ing was scarce. The council was
faced with all the challenges that
only a booming economy can produce.
So who can blame them if they
hesitated to look too far into the
future. Even had they cast their
thoughts towards the 1970's it is
doubtful that even in their wildest
imaginations they would have con-
templated the marvels of discovery
that are commonplace to us today.
Of course there were problems
back in Brussel's infancy but perhaps
even those pioneer legislators would
agree they were relatively simple
compared with those of today.
They 'were of the kind that could
be solved by a little more work, or
a little less comfort or perhaps by
a bit more discipline applied to
those areas by a boy or girl where
it would do the most good.
The members of that early council
met several times a month, sat
through long meetings just as the
council of 1972 does, worried about,
differences, absorbed abuse and in
the face of it all continued to look
to the future and make a contribut-
ion to a better Brussels.
As we enter our second century
we must acknowledge a debt to those
hundreds of unsung citizens who
through the years.have made their
contribution. At the same time we
must recognize that the same type
of contribution is being made to-
day by those in elective office who
in these years are serving us.
It has been a hundred years of
which we all can be proud. The next
hundred years can be even better if
all of us play our parts.
Thanks
AsseMbling the necessary
material and putting. together a
Centennial Issue represents
many hours of work by many
people.
It is not pOSS1ble, of course,
to indicate .the contribution of
each but we think particularly
Of those who loaned piCtUreZ
and who researched and pre,
piked stories on behalf of various
Brussels organizations. We think
Of the co-operation of Centennial
committee chairman, Hugh
Pearson and his committee, of
Reeve Jack McCutcheon and
members of council and of Clerk
Wm. King and, of course, Evelyn
Kennedy and the members of
our staff who were faced with
added responsibility.
Most of the pictures were
taken by Tom Haley, Liz Mac-
Lean and Mary Ball of our
staff.
The Publishers