HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1978-04-19, Page 1514 THE BRUSSELS POST, APRIL 19, 1978
Sugar and Spice
by Bill Smiley
A birthday party??
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If you were broke and out of a job, and
deeply in debt, anti, your family was
squabbling bitterly, and your house .was
falling apart, and you had a fairly meaningless
birthday coming up, what would you do? .
Somehow, I rather doubt that you'd plan a
birthday party, to be financed on borrowed
money, and invite everybody.
That may be a little shaky in spots, but it's a
fair analogy to the government's plan to spend
4.5 million dollars on Canada's birthday this
coming July 1st.
The late C.D. Howe's famous bit of
arrogance in Parliament, "What's a mil-
lion?", almost brought down the government
of the day. But at least he was talking about
something solid,, a trans-Canada pipeline.
But this present outfit in Ottawa is all set to
fork out four and a half million green-backs for
a Birthday Party. It fair boggles the mind.
Talk about Nero Fiddling while Rome burned!
Unemployment is , the highest since the
Depression. The Canadian clonal-is the lowest
since the Depression. Inflation merely stop-
ped to take a deep breath. before zooming off
again. pvernment expenditures and the
national debt increase simultaneously and.
ominously.
Quebec has cut out from the rest of Canada
. in every way except constitutionally. The
Maritime provinces are a disaster area,
economically. The prairie provinces' hate the
East, and with reason. Ontario can't under-
stand why those greedy Albertans want a fair
price fortheir gas and oil; B.C. looks with an
alien eye at the whole country east of the
Rockies, and with a flirtatious eye south of the
border.
By all means, then, let us have birthday
party. And why not make it a decent one?
Why not spend 4.5 million, which was
probably the gross national debt about 40
years ago?
After all, you can't take it with you, and at
the rate we're going, we're not long for this
.world, as er know 'it', so why not blow 4.5 of the
'taxpayer's money? There's no question about
it: a birthday party may be just the ticket to
solve all the problems I've mentioned.
It's a sure of becoming ancient, but I can't
help remembering the July 1 st celebrations of
my boyhood.
That, of course, was when the occasion was
known as Dominion Day, rather than the July
First Weekend, as it is now usually called.
Man, they were simple times, looking back.
It wasn't the occasion for a mad exodus to the
beaches, with hundreds of thousands of ;.
irritable, perspiring motorists jamming the '
highways and polluting the atmosphere. It
might surprise you to know that in those days
the average worker didn't have a car.
There were no rock concerts, no clashes of
cops and motor-cycle gangs, no massive
asaults on the beer and liquor stores the day
before.
It was just a nice summer day that
happened to be a holiday, For an adult, it
might be the beginning of his one or two week
vacation. For a kid, it was 'school out and a
feeling that the holidays were forever.
In the morning, you got up early, yearning
to be out in that boundless, golden day.
Maybe you went fishing. If you caught a
sucker, there was, a certain party who didn't
give a diddle that sewage flowed into the
river, and would pay a nickel, good for a bottle
of pop or an ice cream cone. If you caught a
pike, you had struck gold. It was good for a
dime, which translated into a movie, a
hamburger, or ten tailor-made Turrets, if you
were one of the delinquents who smoked.
About I I a.m., there was usually some kind
of ceremony down at the park, and half the
town was there. Town band with a couple of
rousing marches, windy speech from the
mayor extolling our fair land, ceremonial
planting of a tree or some such exotic
symbolism, God Save the King, and home for
dinner.
In those days, we didn't have lunch at noon,
we had dinner. Meat and taties and the works.
In the afternoon, everyone went to the ball
game, or went swimming, or went for a picnic,
or went for a drive, or, among the elderly,
went to sleep for a couple of hours on the old
divan in the screened-in porch.
Suddenly it was supper-time. Peas soup,
green onions galore, home-made bread and
flagons of cold milk to wash down the
)chocolate cake or rhubarb pie. Bingo! After
nine hours on the trail, you were born again
and ready for another five or 'six exciting
hours.
In the evening,therewould be a street dance-
or a tombola with gambling games, or at the
very least, a band concert. Many' a life of
married misery was begun strolling around
the park, arms around, while the band played
Strauss waltzes.
Bed time, Exhausted but too excited to
sleep. Clop-clop of hooves as farmer heads
home after the big day. Low voices drifting up
from the street as late-nighters ambled home.
Peace. Sleep.
That was how much it cost and how we
celebrated our national birthday day way-
back-when. Couldn't Tru dean and company
be satisfied to plant a tree, or even a thousand
trees?
Better still, how about planting Mr.
Trudeau? And/or Rene Levesque?
in writing
The local Rural Fire Committee
has decided to put in writing an
updated agreement of the rates
charged by the Wingham Fire
Department to participating
municipalities. The committee
met April 5.
The cost of fighting a fire to, the
Wingham department has risen
from $10 an hour in 1950 plus a
dollar an hour for each fireman or
helper battling a blaze to $100 an
hour in 1978. These rates are
charged to Wingham and the
participating townships of Turn-
berry, Morris, East Wawanosh
and Howick.
East Wawanosh Township
Concillor Donald Dow asked that
a letter be sent to clerks of all
involved, townships, clarifying the
rates charged.
Fire calls answered by the
Wingham Fire Department in.
Morris Township in 1977 totalled
$60,000 according to Wingham
Fire Chief Dave Crothers who
made his annual report to the
committee. Fire protection in
Morris is also provided by the
Wmgham and Blyth fire depart-
ments.
Mr. Crothers said the fire
department has been paid $600
by Morris council for six hours of
fire fighting in 'the township in
1977 and Morris Township's
share of the fire department's
deficit amounted to $3,713.37,
based on an 18 per cent share of
the total deficit.
Mr. Crothers advised the com-
mittee's township council re-
presentatives that the township
councils must pass a bylaw giving
him permission to make fire
inspections within their mun-
municipalities.
He said that under the present
scheme fire fighting is the only
agreement and obligation the fire
department has with the town-
ships. Mr. Crothers said a fire
department *official must give a
fire safety inspection to com-
cunity centres, schools, senior
citizens apartments, day care
centres and municipal buildings,
for them to start or continue
operation.
Township council members
agreed to take the recommendat-
ions back to their councils.
The committee after some
discussion decided to allow the
Wmgham Fire Department to
charge for fire safety inspections
up to $15 for the first hour and $7
an hour after that plus mileage.
Previous fire safety inspections,
mostly done by Mr. Crothers, had
not been charged for.
The Huron Mutual Aid As-
sociation has some plans for fire
prevention and protection at the
International Plowing Match, Mr.
Crothers told the committee.
Two Wingham firemen will be
at the match site at nights while
the tented city is erected and will
have the 1937 Ford, Pumper truck
and the tanker truck at the site for
immediate fire protection. Mr.
Crothers told the meeting there
would be radio contact between
firemen at the match site and the
Wingham fire hall.
He also said that firemen from
fire departments throughout
Huron County would work during
the day shifts at the match and
that their wages and night shift
workers wages would be paid by
plowing match funds.
Huronview
Mr. and Mrs. Albert
Versteegden of Parkhill attended
the Sunday Chapel Service and
were present for the Dedication of
the. Cross they had given to
Huronview and placed in the
Chapel. Chester Archibald,
Administrator, accepted the gift
on behalf of the HoMe and the
Chaplain, Rev. McWhinnie,
conducted the service. Douglas
Crich was .organist and accom-
panied Elsie. Henderson and
Nelson Lear with a vocal duet.
The Huronview Orchestra and
Rodney Stewart provided the Old
Tyme music for the program on
Monday. The Clinton Christian
Reform volunteers assisted with
the activities.
Reverend Crocker of Saint
George's Anglican Church,
Goderich, conducted the Anglican
Communion Service on Tuesday
morning.
FARM SEEDS
LONDESBORO SEED 'PLANT.
Robert Shaddick
5234399
D.N.Lefebvre, manager
Listowel, Ontario