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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-04-09, Page 4Mainstream Canada Advocate Established 1,4e1 Amalgamated 1924 NM! if .1 mull memory Zone, j 4141109 o9ARD ;9/1 ay W. Roger Worth "Either we mobilize the people's savings in our re- gions and, for ourselves or those regions will forever re- main underdevbloped and economically weak." Those words written by Jacques Gagnon in the early 1970s were the underlying basis of what many consid- ered one man's impossible dream, a simple method to involve people directly in the health and vitality of their local economy. Bankers, financial institu- tions and the big business leaders laughed when Gagnon set up an organization called the Caisses d'Entraide Eco- nomique in the small Quebec town of Alma in 1960. The aim of the organiza- tion: to foster job creation by funneling community savings into local and regional small An impossible dream comes true "Congratulate me --I saved us a bundle tonight by getting the jump on the coining beer price hike." Roger Worth is Director, Public Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. and medium-sized businesses, rather than having the funds invested through the major financial institutions in proj- ects and developments far from home. Gagnon died recently, but he left an organization that boasts more than $1.3 billion in assets, most of it invested in 68 local Quebec communi- ties. The bankers and financiers no longer laugh at Gagnon's 55 Years Ago Among the normal students home for the Easter holidays are Aylmer Christie, Mildred Rowe, Carrie Davis, Ruth Lamport, Mary Horney and Gertrude Francis. The fine frame home of Wm. Oke second concession of Usborne Township was destroyed by fire. Neigh- bours succeeded in saving the bedding, clothing and the furniture in the front part of the house. The choir of Main Street Church appeared for the first time in surplices. 30 Years Ago Mr. William J. Heaman, for a number of years mayor of London and a former resident of Exeter, died in London Monday. He at one time conducted a hardware business now owned by J.A. Traquair. Usborne council passed a bylaw under the Warble Fly Control Act compelling all cattle within the township to be treated for warble fly. The Exeter and district Teen Town held its first inaugural dance Friday evening in the Exeter arena. Carey B. Joynt of Hensall, now studying at Clark University, Worchester, Mass., has had his fellowship renewed. This is the third year he has won the award. 20 Years Ago Motorists coming into Huron County on any of 12 highways may be greeted with a"Welcome"sign in the future if the design is ap- escape in a well that I recall. As you may be aware, when you finally strike water it sometimes comes in very quickly. One fellow was down in the well when water started coming in as if a hydrant had been turned on. • They had been using a winch to haul themselves and the dirt out of the well. To the man's horror he found that he was stuck in the mud. He tried to take his boots off but remembered that he had tied them on tightly so he wouldn't keep on losing them in the mud. Then the man above found that he couldn't exert enough power on the winch to pull his friend out of the mud. He ran to get the tractor. By the time he got back water was up to the man's waist. As he started to pull with the tractor, water was up' to his friend's neck. Close enough? You bet! At a special Board Meeting on •March 12, 1980, the Board of Directors of The London District Crippl- ed Children's Treatment Centre approved a change of the Centre's name to "The Ability Centre (a treatment facility for children)", Subsequent to this ap- proval, it came to the atten- tion of the Board that the name "Ability Centre" was used by the Rehabilitation Foundation for the Disabled for their workshops in Southwestern Ontario. As a result of this conflict of name with another charitable organization, the Board of Directors decided that it was inappropriate to proceed with the change of name of the Centre to "The Ability Centre (a treatment LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim. Beckett Composition. Manager -- Harry DeVries Business Manager -- Dick Jangkind published Each Wednesday Morning Phone 235-1331 at Exeter, Ontaiio Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES; Canada $14.00 Per. Year; USA $35.00 pitches in to help, the announcement should reach a vast number. It is equally important that former grads be advised as soon as possible so they can make plans, particularly those who may have to travel a considerable distance and make special preparations. So, do your part and let a grad know he/she is invited back to the local halls of learning to renew friendships with former staff and students. Take some hints to take for granted. Is a tire going soft, for instance? Is the back window clean, or is vi- sion obscured? This is especially im- portant on cool frosty mornings when the vehicle has been outside overnight. Peep hole drivers are poor drivers. Do all lights work? Including turn signals? And even one person alone can check brake light operation by backing close to a wall Or fence and looking for light reflection. . Little' things, perhaps. •But it is „ often the little things that •make the • difference between a safe trip and a Costly or tragic accident. Language lessons doubtedly English, you can do a lot more business if you know other languages and the nuances of language. And it's not only in advertising or product names that language is impor- tant. A salesman must speak, and using the local language is an obvious advan- tage. The New York Times recently reported that Congressman Paul Simon of Illinois estimates there are 10,000 Japanese salesmen in New York City, all of whom are,at least. reasonabircompe- tent in English. In Japan, Simon said, there are perhaps 1,000 American salesmen, very few of whom know more than a little Japanese. The same is true of Canadian salesmen. And for an officially bilingual country, our record is more regrettable because many of our exporters trying to sell in Europe don't even have a proficiency in French. Language courses in our business schools would give Canadian exporters a helpful advantage in cracking foreign markets. ,if..;;;re.•K ' ' Perspectives Popo 4 Times..Acbrocato,, April 9, 1910 SERVING CANADA'S BEST ,FARMLAND C.W.N.A., Q.W.N,A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by", W, Eedy publications Limited. +CNA ..... ... ,,,,,, The reunion of former students of the local high school set for June 21 will be a welcome opportunity for many to renew acquaintances with those whom they haven't seen for many years. However, despite the planning of this year's graduating class, the event's success depends to a great extent on area residents broadcasting the news to former students, but if each person who has contact with some former grads There are many things the average automobile drive could learn from an average professional truck driver. The Canada Safety Council is suggesting drivers adopt the truck drive'r's "CIRCLE CHECK" plan. It is really very simple, no special mechanical knowledge is required, and the result can be a prevented accident. What is more, it only takes a minute. It means before starting a trip, the driv:Ct should circle the vehicle. ' That doesn't mean just for a rrior- nin4stroll... but rather to take, a look at various parts of the vehicle we all tend "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less." So said Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's classis Through the Looking Glass. But some corporations, when doing business abroad, are finding that their words don't quite mean what they thought they did. For example, Pepsi Cola's slogan, "Come Alive with Pepsi," was translated too literally when the com- pany went to Taiwan. In Chinese, it read: "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave." General Motor's trademark, "Body by Fisher," came out as "Corpse by Fisher" in some countries. Chevrolet's car, the Nova, was hav- ing difficulties in the Latin American market until someone realized that to the Spanish ear, "Nova" counded like "no-go." This all points to the fact that while the main language of business is un- By SYD FLETCHER The other day as I was coming down the highway I saw a well-drilling rig. This was not one of the old type that drilled a narrow hole about six or seven inches wide into which a metal casing was fitted. Instead this modern rig is like a giant post-hole digger that in three or four rotations goes down four feet wide and pulls a plug of earth 45" wide out with it. Inside of an hour this fellow can have a thirty or forty foot well dug and have the cement tiles in- stalled in it. At $35.00 a foot this can be an expensive proposition. Whatever, it is a long way from the days when you dug a well if you wanted water. I Fellows What do girls do while brothers are playing hockey during the winter? Well, judging from the show put on at the high school this week, several of them are busily engaged in gymnastics, and while the writer professes to have little expertise on that sport, they appear to be very proficient. I drew the photo assignment for the program the young gymnasts put on for their parents and friends and the lithe, little gals demonstrated some of the techniques they had perfected over the past few months. s'% Therewere cartwheels, handstands; backflips and an assortment of maneuvres on the Ticibr exercises and some of the smallest members of the classes demonstrated their skills, to say nothing of their fortitude, in perfor- ming on a balance beam and uneven bars, Most of the girls were up to three times their height off the floor as they twisted around the bars, and while an instructress was on hand to catch them should they fall, there wasn't the slightest hint that such a safety valve was needed. Oddly enough there were no male performers in sight, despite the fact it is a sport that both sexes can enjoy and it was even more surprising when one considers the shapely and attractive young ladies with which a guy could spend a few hours every Saturday. Seems to me a few young lads are miss- ing a great bet! * * I didn't have any trouble sym- My Heart goes out to all the young people who have been saving to buy a home. At today's interest rates, they have about as much chance to achieve their ambition as I have of being chosen Best Dressed Man of the Year. Let's take a typical example, and reflect on the grim picture a couple with young children face when they want a home of their own, with a bit of lawn, a little garden, some room for their kids to explore and set roots. By dint of cutting every corner, pinching every portion, Dick and Jane who have two kids called Jick and Dane, have amassed a total of $5,000 over their five years of wedded bliss, They've been able to do this only by eating cheap food, eschewing all lux- uries, such as drinks, steaks, movies. They have taken moonlight jobs on their holidays to make a few extra bucks. And of course they have both been working, sending the kids to daycare. for which they have to pay. Their only concession to entertainment has been a black and white T.V., an old car in which they occasionally venture forth for a picnic, and extremely careful sex. Mind you, they're not suffering. They're getting enough to eat, unlike those "poor little starving children in China" of whom my mother reminded me every time I clamped my lips tight and refused to eat lumpy oatmeal, (I Wonder what happened to those poor little starving kids in China, anyway. Everytime I see some little Chinese kids on T.V., they look remarkable well-nourished. I think they've all moved to Biafra or Danglabesh or South America.) At any rate, this is no horror story about a young Canadian couple who can afford a twenty-four of beer only on Saturday nights. Their kids are healthy, and reasonably well dressed, thanks to Zellers and Woolworths and other philanthropical Canadian com- panies who buy cheap but sturdy rags in Hong Kong and Taiwan. But I still feel sorry for Dick and Jane. They had a dream, the old Cana- dian dream of owning your own house and a bit of land, arid it's turning into a nightmare. They don't want to be up their with the Vanderbilts. They'd settle for a very modest home, around $40,000, if there is still a detached house in the country for this price. Dick would work on improvements and Jane would make it warm and live- ly with her unerring sense of taste. So they decide to take the plunge. With their hard-raved cheque for $5,000 clutched in one of their hopeful hands, they go to the bank or trust company to borrow the rest. No problem, as the ads said a few years ago. Then comes the crunch. The bank manager, or the realtor, or the trust company bird, welcomes them with a warmth of an undertaker, and fiddles with his pencil and mutters about the Canadian dollar and interest rates, and finally gives them a figure. For the $35,000 they still need, at 15 per cent a year, their - uh - interest Would be $5,- 250.00, just $250.00 more than they walked in with. To say that Dick and Jane are stunned would be like saying that Pierre Trudeau is humble, With both their jobs, .they gross $22,- 000. After the Revenue Department is through with them, they'll be lucky to have $18,000.More like $16,000. But that's still quite a bit, isn't it? Take off another $4,000 just to eat and keep clean and maintain the old rusty car. Take off a few hundred for in their pockets at the time. * * * Following our attendance at the gym- nastic gradUation exercices, the next photo assignment was at the local public school gym where the six-team ball hockey league members were battling for their championship. Judging from the sweat-stained jerseys and the rosy complexions of several players, this is an ideal game for those who enjoy hockey but prefer the warmer confines of a heated4roorn. It probably isn't as fast as the, ice game, but it is played at what could be termed a "quick" pace which hones up reflexes as well as sagging derriers. Cost of equipment is negligible and that may be a factor that will entice more participants when the program gets underway again next fall. * * * The writer is assuming that both programs are operated under the reciprocal agreement between the schools and the local recreation com- mittee, whereby each gets free access to the other's facilities. The school students enjoy ice time at the rec centre while area residents have use of the school gymnasiums and facilities for indoor pursuits. It appears to be a very effective system and one that perhaps we in the South Huron area enjoy more fully than some of our neighbors, telephone and hydro and medicare, and all the other deductions from their pay checks, and it's another $1,000 they haven't laid hands on. We're down to $11,000. Of course, if they have a house, they won't have to pay rent. That will save about $3,600 a year, if they happen to be living in a slum, But that $3,600 will be gobbled up by taxes, fuel and all the other things that houses gobble. Then there's that $5,2250.00 a year in- terest on the mortgage. They are left with .around $5,000 a year to pay for clothes, toothpaste, repairs to everything, dental bills, and all the other flack of modern living. And they still haven't bought a washer and dryer, a stove and refrigerator, and a colour TV, or a second car all the ab- solute necessities for a proud house- owner. Poor devils. They might just make it, if they were prepared to eat porridge and spaghetti for the next twenty years, never take a holiday, stayed healthy and each got an extra job. They could always send Jick out babysitting and Dane out shining shoes, but they won't be ready for another ten years. By that time Dick and Jane will have paid about $50,000 interest on a $40,000 house, and nothing on the principal. Forget it, Dick and Jane. Take your five thousand, blow it on a good holi- day, and go on welfare. You'd be better off, and without the stress, would live an extra ten years. So much for the Canadian dream. And I don't want some accountant writing and refuting my figures, They're close enough, "impossible dream," The dream has come true. The 328,000 Quebecers in- vesting their hard earned- money in Gagnon's brain- child know the people bor- rowing the funds. It's the local hardware merchant who wants to expand, the owner of a machine shop borrowing money to buy new equip- ment, and the person with a new business idea that re- quires financing. A key element in Gagnon's success: the borrowers are generally neighbors and employers. The Canadian Federation ,of Independent Business, for example, estimates a majority of its 7,200 Quebec members have received support from the Caisses d'Entraide. The remarkable experience of the Caisses d'Entraide is not well known in Canada, which is too bad. Jacques Gagnon has al- most single handedly and ir- revocably dispelled the age- old argument that Canadians are too conservative, pre- pared to invest only in bonds and blue chip stocks. Gagnon has proved that, given the right investment vehicle and conditions, it is still possible to involve people in what amounts to a self-help project. Following Gagnon's death, a foundation was es- tablished to research and find ways to help the small and medium-sized business. sec- tor, which is good news in- deed. Gagnon will not be forgotten. proved by the agriCultural committee of Huron County Council. W .G. Cochrane was elected chairmanof the South Huron Hospital board following the annual meeting Monday night. Mr. and Mrs. -L.G. Lawrence of Peterbofough visited with latter's sister, Mrs. Pollen and Mr. Harvey Pollen over the weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Coates and Wilma motored to Mt. Clements Mich., and spent the weekend with Mr. and Mrs. R.H. Doherty. Miss Alexia Lostell of the Glencoe High School staff visited with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lostell, over the weekend. 15 Years Ago Following three months of a study and a lengthy discussion at their Monday night meeting, the Exeter Public School board voted unanimously to commence an opportunity class next year. They will buy a por- table classroom in which to provide the instruction. A popular baseball player and owner and operator of Bell's Electric, Hensall, Gerald D. Bell, drowned early Sunday morning when his car left the road, on the 12th concession of Hibbert Township and went. through some guard rails into a river. Luther J. Penhale, a life- long resident of this com- munity and a member of the Public Utilities Commission for 27 years, died suddenly at his home,AndrewStreeton Sunday April 11 in his 81st year. facility for children)". At a meeting of the Board of Directors on March 31, 1980, this matter was recon- sidered and the Board ap- proved a change in the Cen- tre's name to "Thames Valley Children's Centre". This new name will be used by the Centre immediately and formally unveiled at a special ceremony in May, 1980. The Board of Directors of the Centre regret any in- convenience caused to the Rehabilitation Foundation for the Disabled as a result of the confusion arising as to the name change of the cen- tre. P.W. Bowman Chairman Public I/elations Committee • ,• s`mx,,,,,kr, Do your part " ,, ACWOMWAtrOW:.e.-AAlg. can remember one that•my father had dug behind the house. It was about 15 feet down. Some rain had fallen and it was mucky at the bottom. My younger brother, about fiveor six at the time, fell in, and landed headfirst in the mud. Totally unhurt by the fifteen foot drop he screamed lustily until somebody rescued him. My father told of a four foot shaft that some neigh- bours were digging to find out how deep a vein of limestone went down. Every foot of the way had to be blasted through the rock. One day, one of the fellows struck his pick on a piece of dynamite that had not gone off. The blast fired small chunks of stone and dirt right out of the top of the shaft. His partner, up above, expected to find a dead body but was greeted by a somewhat dazed friend when he came down the cable. There was another narrow missing a 'good bet pathizing with one tiny lady who was having trouble perfecting her back somersault. Rather than ending up neatly back on her feet, she was crumbling into a disjointed pile at an angle to her intended line of travel. It was very reminiscent of the writer's efforts in 'gym classes, which . proVed to • be not only perplexing to theparticipant, but the instructor as well. However,it always seemed to be part of 'the double-standard that pervades portions of the educational system, , i'' If a fellow slumped over his desk, he \l'fia'given a crack across the ear Od tit '! 0 sit up straight and not ruin'llis ti, po ,, Ile. _ 1" Shortly after that adnionishment, the phYSical education teacher was, attempting to put permanent curves in your spine with some gyrations on the mat or parallel bays. It was still bent into a curve when' you showed up at the next classroom and again there was a crack over the ear for not sitting up straight, The only way a student had to save his ear was to skip the shower. That at least kept the ruthless ones beyond striking dis- tance! The only one who overcame that problem was Fred Meek. He used a yardstick to rap knuckles, which many male students felt was .a dangerous practice, particularly those who had a penchant for having their knuckles ugar and SO Disposed by Smiley The Canadian dream • The reacters wr4e •