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Home My WebLink AboutThe Brussels Post, 1976-02-18, Page 24PCNA Amen by Karl Schuessler Karl tries skating Maybe it's all that ice skating I've been watching on TV -- all those skaters whirling and twirling on ice at Innsbruck. When you see them, yoti sort of think that man was meant to fly. There they are: ,soaring and sailing. Gliding and sliding through the air. Forget that commercial about planes being the wings of man. After all those winter Olympics, I decided to stick with a pair of skates. I thought I'd have my go at it. Give my wings a try by lacing up a pair of skates. If. Toiler Cranston can fly, why can't I? Of course my skates weren't the best in the world. They'd, stayed out in the shed for three years now. But they were the right size--a pair of leftovers from my sons' skating day. And I was quite a leftover myself -- a holdover with every boyish and skatish ambition that never dies in a man's soul. The local arena in town enticed me over. It made it easy for me to try out my wings. Adult ice time was every Sunday evening from eight to ten. That's a reasonable 'and slow hour anyone can afford. I gli ded out on the ice -- my confident self in full command. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I mean ice skating. Trying out my wings. So what if I do squeak a little at the hinges and crack even more in the knees? A little oil and exercise will fix that up. A man's got to learn. if you can't beat winter, you might as well join in the fun. A skater whizzed past me. He gave me a nod and a smile: Encouraging that was. And see? Just look at that Man. He's older than I am and look at him go. I knew it wasn't worth trying to catch up with him. I'm still a little wobbly yet, Just haven't got into the stride of things. Like I tell you. It's been years since I've been on skates. Would you believe ten? \ Maybe more. What can I expect? What can they expect? It's these ankles of mine. They keep sagging and listing toward the ice. If I didn't know any better, I'd say magnets Were putting them leeward: I stopped and leaned over. Got to tighten these laees.Need More support. "Tighten them till they hurt,' a matt' of at- least siicty years advised as he sailed on by -me. And I took good note. This man had a young chick on his arm. • Now that's inspiration for you. See what can come of skating? But the only trouble now was I needed a young thing to hold me up.The only thing I could do now was drag her down.. Persist. Carry on. My hour will, come. I gave my laces an extra good yank and started off. My -arms flayed and, elbowed the air. .They pushed 'and moved my body ahead on my silver wings. But I wasn't flying. There's something wrong with my engine. Or is it my battery? I'm only chugging along. Sputtering. I'm not even getting off the ground. And I was really sweating. "Don't work so hard. Relax. Glide smoothly" came the good advice from a skater as he slid on by. Oh, these stupid skates.Can't they hold up a man's ankles? Crummy skates. What I need is a n ew pair of skates. What can yoU expect from lousy equipment? Every one knows that rule number one is good equipment. I should have complained. A man slowed up to me and introduced himself. He was Irwin Ritschi. A barber by day and a skater by night. We stopped. I needed the rest. I wanted my wind. "It takes a little while to get back into shape," he said. I was so busy looking at my drooping ankles, I didn't notice the shape Irwin was in. He had, to tell .file one of his legs was five inches shorter, He needed special shoes. "And now I'm going to have special skates made for me. They'll raise my leg five inches higher=-just like 'thy shoes." And Irwin Was off keeping a perfect balance and glide I aolikin't wOrk myself into -- with my twci even legs. I 'Wobbled and wiggled all over the ice. I lutahed and hinged: My legs rubbered. My ankles diSsOlved intojelly. My back ached. My spine was giving out. I was giving Way. My wings hadn't even sprouted. I wasn't getting off the gretid. I was no Toiler Cranstdn net I. I couldn't even begin to Letters to the editor' on. page. 8. \io Brussels Post WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1976 811USSEL MURK $ ) Serving. Brussels and the surrounding community. Published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels,•Ontario by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited. Evelyn Kennedy r Editor Dave Robb Advertising Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $6.00 a year. Others $8.00 a year, Single Copies 15 cents each. No way to run a railroad Political elections are not cheap affairs. They are expensive both in terms of money and time. To suggest, therefore, that this province ought to have a spring election after having gone through a similar exercise on Sept. 18, 1975, seems foolhardy. It might seem that, way, but we contend it is anything but. In light of what's been going on at Queen's Park for the past couple of months it is our contention that this province cannot afford not to have an election as quickly as possible. - By now it must be obvious to even the. most dedicated Davis follower that , the Ontario government has lost its sense of direction. It doesn't know what its bureaucrats are doing or going to say next. As' a result it is contradicting itself at almost every turn. About the only firm decision the province has made is to declare it will co-operate fully with Ottawa's Anti-Inflation Board — and one wonders if this wasn't done to get the Ontario Tories off the hook regarding the Toronto teachers' strike. Examples of Queen's Park confusion are rampant. Health Minister Frank Miller is now backtracking on his hospital closure pronouncements. In December, for example, the Goderich Psychiatric Hospital was going to ,be shut down; there Were no ifs, buts or maybes, the doors were to be closed. Midway through last week 'however it seemed the decision might not be that "drastic". On the same topic, rural hospitals throughout the province have been kept on tenterhooks for over a month wondering whether or not they would still be a viable institution in the eyes of the goverment. in the beginning there was a list of 25 hospitals to be chopped. At last word the number was dropped to perhaps 10. What it might be thiS week is anybody's guess. Last fall the Ontario Municipal Board ruled the Village of Brussels ought to go ahead with a $31/2 million sewage plant. Similarly the Town of Palmerston has been advised by the Ministry of the Environment that it should go ahead with the construction of a sewage lagoon, the cost of which will top $900,000. At the very time the two municipalities (not to mention their neighbors) were in an uproar over the expenditures, the Ministry of the environment suddenly announced that the construction of sewage treatment plants and other facilities will be postponed in many centres for at least a year as part of the government's restraint progr am. • Last summer the Ministry of Energy announced Bruce Heavy Water Plant C had been approved in principle. The word caused considerable conster- nation in this area because of the implications regarding transmission line corridors. Then with abrupt suddenness Ontario Hydro announces its restraint program could cancel some projects including. Bruce Heavy Water Plant C. Is this any way to run a railroad? Hardly, and it's no Way to run a. government either. And We haven't even touched On the Davis scherhe of holding all municipalities to budgets • nOt exceeding 61/g per cent increases over 197`5 amounts. Eiverybody knows cutbacks are necessary, but to expect mUrlicipalities to not orilyteld the line, but decrease social programs on a couple of inbritha' notice, whith is What they'd have to do to meet the government's requirements, is totally Uhrealist10. So let's out the Queen's Park version of charades and get On Withthe business of Overning the province: And if it meant a Spring election, let's get on with that too, (The LWOW& Banner)