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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1978-03-22, Page 6Established 1876 McKILLOP MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY HEAD OFFICE: 10 MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT Mrs. Margaret Sharp, Sec. Treas., Ph. 527-0400. FULL COVERAGE Farm and Urban Properties Fire, Windstorm, Liability, Theft Various Floater.Coverages Homeowner's ,Tenant's Package, Composite Dwelling Directors and Adjusters Ken Carnochan, R.R.414, Seaforth 527.1545 Lavern Godkin, R.R.91, Walton 527-1877 -Ross Leonhardt, R.R.#1, Bornholm 345-2234 John McEwing, R.R.91, Bfyth , 523.9390 Stanley Mcllwain, Goderich 524-7051 Donald McKercher, R.R.#1, Dublin 527-1837 J.N. Trewartha, Box 661, Clinton 482-7593 Stuart Wilson, R.R.01 , Brucefield 527-0687 AGENTS James Keys, R.R.#1, Seaforth 527-0467 Wm. Leiper, R.R.#1, Londesboro 523-4257 Steve J. Murray, R.R.#5, Seaforth 345-2172 CALL 'AN AGENT OR THE OFFICE Melville W.M.S, met at the home of the president Mrs, Gerald Gibson when the meeting opened with the, reading of an Easter poem and the hymn "jest's Keep Me Near The Cross '' Tcalls on sick and shut-ins were reported. The devotional period consisted of Scripture reading Matthew 28:1-10, 16.20 by Mrs. Amy Speir, a meditation by Mrs.. W. C. King and prayer by Mrs. C. Matheson. An interesting Easter Message was presented by 1Vtrs Mack Cardiff who began, by reading a poem, "Musings of Pilate, the Roman Qovernor", in which he defended his innocence in, the death of Jesus because of his position in the country, Mrs. Gibson expressed the thanks of the meeting to Mrs. Cardiff. A Post Classified will pay you dividends. Have you tried one? Dial Brussels 8876641. 6—Trig BRUSSELS posT, MARCH 221,, 1970 , Sugar and Spice • by Bill Smiley Big' brother W.MS. makes. Visits If yciu missed a column recently, it was because my big brother died, and between making arrangements, phoning family, and emotional exhaustion, I didn't have much heart for turning out a column, the first time I've,,missed in about 25 years. It's not that I went around weeping and tearing my hair. We don't do that -in the Smiley family, , although I've nothing against it. It's just that when one of your immediate family goes, it makes a gap in your own life, whether you were close or not, And it's also a reminder of your own .mortality. My big brother was five years older, and, naturally, something of ahero for me at times. He got all the good, looks in the family: six feet tall, blond curly hair, strong white teeth, a great physique. He was a top athlete in high 'school. He passed, kicked and ran on the football team, and set a high jump record that lasted for some years. So you can imagine that little brother often basked in reflected glory. Because of the age difference, he hung around with a 'different crowd, but he was kind to me, and did for me a lot of things fathers are suppbsedto do with their sons. Like playing catch, showing me how to stick-handle a puck, letting me help gather sip and make syrup, and one glorious day about this time of year, allowing me to fire two shoti at a tree with his .22. I was about 10 and its was some big. deal. He had a strange sort of life, because he Was' a combination of doer and dreamer. He was a yonng.man in the latter part of the Depression, and it was a bad time to be a young man, in some ways. His first job was in a bank, at a miserable pittance. He 'was like a young bear in a cage. With some .kindred spirits, he left the bank, they bought a Model T, and with a feW dollars each, they headed north. He went into-hard-rock mining and within a year was a shift boss, making big money for the times: He liked the hard rough work and play of miners. , I remember the first time he came home from the north, for Christmas, huge, hearty, laughing, with generous presents for. -all, and, to the horror of his young brother, whiskey on his breath. Funny, that memory. He was never much of a drinker. , Came the war, and he joined early, obtaining a commission in the Engineers. He'went overseas with the body of young Canadians who were to spend the next three or four years training and frustrated in damp old England. Next time I saw him, he was almost dead. I had just arrived in England, a young sprogue of a pilot, and was informed that big brother had been blown up by a land mine. I went to the hospital, as I did againmore than 30 years later, and found him in rough shape. The shrapnel from the mine had almost cut him in two, and he was still picking bits of it out of his skull and body just b efore he died. But .the medics patched him up and within months, he was out squiring the nurses around the local pubs, minus one eye, but very much alive. The three Smiley brothers got together fairly often for weekend leaves in London.. To the disgust of my little brother and I, big brother would try to organize every- thing for us, treat us with paternal pride, . and try to keep us from sowing too many wild oats, which we were only too keen to do. A year after the, war, he and I got married, within a few weeks of each, other, and our wives struck up a close friendship. Then I was off to the dull safety of university and he was off on a series of bizarre and adventurous jobs. First it was away up to Port Radium on Great Bear Lake, to mine pitchblende for radium. Then he worked as a construction boss for some quasi-government agency, in Southern Ontario. Next he bought a well-driller's rig 'and got into that. First thing i know, he's off to South America to, run a gold mine that did well but was closed when the government, decided to build a dam that would close the mine. Back to Canada. Side trips to Puerto Rico where there was a big job building houses. That didn't pan out. Then a year or two in Newfoundland, building highways. Various jobs after that. I was never quite sure where he was, what he was doing, or who he was working for. But there was always that indomitable dream that the next job was going to hit • real pay-dirt and set him for life. Two week's before he died, he told me with great enthusiasm about a trip he'd made recently to Costa Rica, and felt there were great opportunities down there for him as soon as he got on his feet. I'm sad that the big dream was always just over the horizon, and that he never quite achieved it. But I'm glad for his sake that he kept trying. There were lots of times when he could have settled into a nine-to-five job and lived dully and safely for the rest of his life. But in this age, when everyone is • seeking to wrap himself in a security blanket, he remained a boy of heart, ready to drop everything, pack up and go to the ends of the earth for a look at something new and exciting. May he rest in the peace he never found on this earth. J.E. LONGSTAFF -OPTOMETRIST- SEAFORTH 527.1240 Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00 - 5:30 Wednesday, Saturday 9:00 - 12:00 CLINTON 4824010 Monday 9 ()0 -5:30 By Appointmint •—• BERG 1 Sales Service ! Installation I FREE ESTIMATES I • 6 Barn Cleaners I 6 Bunk Feeders Stabling ,Donald G. Ives R.R.#2, myth Brussels 8874024 III Phone: New Selection of SPRING CLOTHES Mens Velour Shirts Cardigans $19." - $40.00 Ladies Pant Suits - $19.98 & up Spring Jackets & Hooded Sweaters . For the entire family Gouchos sizes 7-14 Still a good selection of EASTER BASKETS & EGOS Homemade Solid Chocolite, Novelites from 79c Up. Both Hollow • and Solid Chocolate Bunnies, Hens etc. Fondly, Centre Brussels • 887,6671: Metrilbet of BHA 1977 CHRYSLER NEW YORKER 1977 TOYOTA 1975 OLDSMOBILE 442 1975 PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER 1975 CHEVROLET,BISCAYNE 1975 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS 1975 DODGE MONACO 1975 CHEVROLET NOVA SS - 2-1974 FORD TORINO 1975 PONTIAC LAURENTIAN 1974 DODGE MONACO 1973 PLYMOUTH FURY 1972 • PLYMOUTH FURY 1971 PLYMOUTH FURY 1970 CUTLASS