HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1972-08-02, Page 2Serving 13.mssel. and the 4u.rroanling. C9Minunity
published. each WPcIne0ay afternoon at Brussels., Qntario
by McLean .Bros. Publishers, Limited,
Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Tom Haley Advertising,
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper .Association.
Scb4criptionA Sin .aciv.ance) Canada $4,00 a year, other..
$5.00 a yoar, Single Copies 10 cents each,
$econd class. mail Registration No. 0562,
• Telephone 887-6641.
isrAlikisHgt)
IV;
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1972
Responsibility doesnt end
i.
Sugar and Spice
by Bill Smiley
Above al
negate the
for investi
thoroughly
with comple
hazards inv
charge plan
(The
1, the
board's
gating
and pro
to deta
olved a
to min
Exeter
For some time, the Huron. County
board of education has been wrest-
ling with the prob lem of their
responsibility reg arding extra cur-
ricular and outdoo 3 activities
offered through th e schools.
The concern ste ms primarily from
a law suit arising out of the drown-
ing death of two a rea students a
couple of years ag o at an outdoor.
school conducted a t Parkhill. The
courts held the bo and and an in-
structor liable in that situation
and awards were ma de to the parents.
The board has n ow decreed that.
parents will be re quired to sign a
waiver absolving t he board of any
responsibility in case of .accident
or death in such o utings where there
is any "potentiall y hazardous"
situation .
Obviously, any activity is poten-
tially hazardous. From a multitude
of factors any out ing can turn into
a disaster. A few of those factors
can be foreseen pe rhaps, but the
majority can not.
waiver does not
responsibility
all outings
viding parents
ils as to the
nd how those in'
imize any hazards .
Times Advocate)
Appreciates centennial
25 Ellington Drive,
Scarborough, Ontario.
Sir:
Dear Friends of Brussels Centennial Committee, it
is with a great deal of pleasure that Lyle and I d this
letter to your committee to express our thanks aitcerest
congratulations for the wonderful days of celebration, which
were indeed a huge success.
From the opening concert on Thursday evening through
to the fireworks on Monday evening every moment was
enjoyed by us and also all our friends who joined us for the
week end. Even the weather co-operated, which at such a
time means so much to all concerned.
First may we mention how we appreciated the variety
of the days. There was something of interest .for all who
came. Entertainment, educational facts of our towns'
history and the unveiling of plaque, ceremony at the school,
Christian fellowship and uplift given by our churches, and
their ministers and guest speakers, a parade, (the like of
which we never saw in a town the size of Brussels.) dances
and fun and fellowship at all centres
'
fun for the children
at the fish pond and park, the best in good food by our
churches and restaurants and the warm greetings by every-
one we met including all stationed at the Centennial head-
quarters.
It was truly a week end which will never be surpassed,
and we were indeed so pleased to be part of it.
May we also say the planning that went into it was done
so wisely and well and everything started on time which
usually does not happen at these affairs.
we will not try to mention any names in our thanks to
the Centennial committee and their assistants as we
might leave someone out. However, if you will just express
our sincerest thanks to all who helped make Brussels
Centennial 1972 a howling success.
Sincerest regards to everyone,
Alice and Lyle Brothers.
Somehow I can't get too excited these
days about Senator McGovern or Bobby
Hull playing against the Russians, or any
of the other hysterical events inthe press.
Trouble is, we're staying for a week at
Grandad's, which is mit conductive to
getting excited about anything.
There's a radio and television set
and a party-line telephone , but nobody pays
much attention to any of them. On the
other hand, there is no roar of traffic,
no paper-boy ringing the door-bell at
7.00 a.m., demanding his week's pay, no
honking of horns or squealing of tires,
no raucous sputtering of lawnmowers.
Nor is there. any reek of exhaust fumes,
factory smoke, melting asphalt, rancid
fish-and-chips, or polluted water.
The reason is simple enough. Grandad
lives in a handsome stone house about
sixty yards from a quiet country road,
which you can barely see frorn.the house,
hidden as is behind trees and hedge
and shrubs. About four cars and maybe
a couple of small trucks and one tractor
go by each day. No blatting motorcycles,
snarling buses and grinding big trucks.
The nearest lawnmower, and nearest
neighbours, are two hundred yards down
the road, out of sight and sound. No daily
paper, so no cheeky paper-boy ringing and
ringing.
The only sounds are the breeze in
the trees, the somehow comforting mutter
of a farmer mowing his hay, birdsongs,
the buzz of an odd fly, and my wife talking
incessantly to her father.
The only smells are roses, fresh-
mown hay and what's cooking for dinner.
Along with the cleanest air this side of
heaven. The road is gravel, so there's
no stink of asphalt. The nearest fish-
and-chips are four miles away. The
nearest factory is twenty miles away. And
the nearest water is a huge bay, deep,
clean, cold and unpolluted.
I'm sitting typing this at Grandad's
desk, with a window right in front of me.
Looking out, I see nearest a magnificent
bed of roses, red and white. Beyond
that a huge maple tree. Beside it an old
apple tree with a swing dangling for the
grandchildren. And beyond these the solid
green of other trees.
Looking out the other window, to my
right, there's a mass of flowers, then a
white fence, then a huge hay-field, often
with kids riding horses,, then a line of
trees and beyond and below that, a vast
expanse of blue, blue water, with white
cliffs on the other side of the bay.
Three hundred yards down the road,
there is a cold, fast-flowing stream, with
a real waterfall. I've taken some nice
speckled and rainbow trout out of there. In
the spring the rainbow come up it to spawn.
Half a mile away, where the stream
flows into the bay, the rainbow trout fish-
ing would bring tears to the eyes of a city
boy who has never caught anything but a
perch. Hundreds of rainbow are taken
there in the spring and fall, and the fishing
is improving, because the local anglers
have done a lot to preserve the spawning
females.
Across the road from the house, there
is a pasture and beyond it a wild apple
orchard where the partridge like to feed.
A couple of years ago, I was looking
that way. Out of the orchard, across the
pasture and right up to the fence came n
buck and a doe. They were perhaps
seventy yards from me. We stared at each
other in mutual admiration (at least on my
side) for about five minutes until they
turned, flipped their white tails and
gazelled back into the woods without panic.
A memorable experience.
A friend of mine, who runs cattle on
the adjacent property, was out counting
his beaaf.i .ne day when he saw a black
bear amble across the property south of
this, stroll up the fence line and disappear.
Quite a layout. No wonder I can't
get excited about world affairs in a
locale like this. You'd have to be nuts
to go crazy here, while it's very simple
to do so in most "civilized" areas.
Grandad leads a simple but fulfilling
life. He cultivates his garden, as Vol-
taire suggested we do. He doesn't even
have a garden, but he cultival his own
:mall plot of life. He has a deep faith,
loves nature, hurts no man, and has an
utter integrity which is rare to find
these days..
Up at seven, he reads his -Bible,
makes his breakfast, pokes about doing
chores; weeding, digging, mending some-
thing. He's ready for lunch and dinner.
Enjoys food, though he doesn't eat a
lot and weighs about 98.
He drives a fairly gruelling rural
mail route (I went with him yesterday,
and that's a column in itself). He is
the township treasurer, and enjoys working
on his books. He has a nap. He gives
the house a lick and a polish.
He lives alone but is less lonely than
the great majority. He likes to talk
religion, politics, pollution, what have
you? He doesn't give a hoot about money
or acquiring “things". He has one arm,
and will be 80 this month. Tomorrow, he
must take a driving test. He's been
driving since 1914 and never had an
accident. He's studying for it right
now. He'll pass.
Why can't we all live like this, and
be like that?
1r
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