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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1987-05-27, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1987. Opinion A proud achievement When an organization lasts 35 years, the people behind it must be doing something right. In the case of the Brussels Legion Pipe Band which celebrated its 35th anniversary Saturday night, the members are obviously doing a lot right. Once upon a time the sight of a pipe band in a parade of even the smallest community was common. There wer£ pipe bands everywhere: more pipe bands than brass bands. Sadly, things have changed. In many cases attrition did in the bands. Founding members got older and couldn’t keep up the pace anymore. Some members moved away to find jobs. Slowly membership dwindled because few people were learning the skills of piping and drumming anymore. But a photograph of today’s Brussels Pipe Band shows just how successful the band has been in staying strong. A good deal of the reason is the training program that teaches young people the old skills. Today the band has many young pipers and drummers. A piece of our history has been lost when the bands of other communities died. The bands kept alive a touch of the Scottish ancestry of many people in the communities in this part of the province. They were a reminder of the hardy people who settled the land. They were living symbols of the pride of the community. Those things are still part of this community thanks to the hard work of the band members. On the 35th anniversary of the band the community should say thanks, and hope for at least another 35 years. Canadians are different When Canadian nationalists worry about Canadian culture being “lost” by reductions in funding to agencies like the CBC or by the influx of American movies, opponents of government intervention often argue that culture is more than movies or theatre or art galleries, the even without these Canadian differences would be evident. With the adulation displayed toward Rick Hansen last week as he completed his round-the-world wheelchair marathon, they may be right. Think of the great heroes of recent years in Canada: Terry Fox, Steve Fonyon, Rick Hansen. They have been bigger than any sports star, even Wayne Gretzky. They’re bigger than any politician, television or rock star. What other country has heroes like these? When Steve Fonyo ran the length of Britain, few noticed. South of the border there have been people who have tried feats similar to the Canadian trio but haven’t had an impact on their country. The closest similarity is the two people who flew non-stop around the world in a tiny plane and came home to adulation. Perhaps that symbolizes the difference in the two countries: the Americans admire people like pilots and astronauts, conquering through technology. Canadians admire the inspirational courage, determination and stamina of men who refuse to give in to their handicaps and defeat not only those handicaps but the vastness of this country, and in Hansen’s case, the world. Whatever it is that makes these distinctive Canadian heroes, we should be thankful to have them. What better models could young people, handicapped or whole, have than such individuals beating themselves and nature. They are the kind of people we can be proud to claim as compatriots. How times change Time was when, people used to joke, you could tell when a provincial election was coming up by the increased activity building roads and bridges. Thatwas also the time when, people said, you could tell when you entered a riding represented by an MPP from the government side because suddenly the road was smoother and the bridges were new. Given the reaction of G.R. Browning, Regional Director for Southwestern Region of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in not only turning down the request from Bly th, Morris and East Wawanosh townships that Highway #4 be rebuilt, not just repaved, but in barely being civil in saying he doesn ’ t have time for a meeting to discuss the issue, one is led to one of several conclusions: 1. All these rumours of election are wrong and the election is years away. 2. Mr. Browning is a bit behind the times and hasn’t yet discovered that there has been a change of government and that Huron County is now the homeotnolessthantwocabinet ministers, or 3. Things have really changed and just because you elect government members doesn’t mean you get preferential treatment. There are people who will tell you that the important decisions in town are made down at the town hall. People in the know, however know that the real debates, the real wisdom reside down at Mabel's Grill where the greatest minds in the town [if not in the country] gat her for morning coffee break, otli rwise known as the Round Table Debating and Fili bustering Society. Since not just everyone can partake of these deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. MONDAY: Ward Black was com plaining this morning about the high cost of running the town’s garbage dump these days. Use to be, he said, garbage was just something you burned in the wood stove or dumped in the back 40 but withallthe government regula tions on landfill sites these days, we’ll soon be spending more on garbage than we do on schools. Billie Beane said from what he heard of the schools these days they mostly taught garbage. Hank Stokes suggested maybe we should all load our garbage on a big boat and ship it away some where but Ward reminded him of that garbage barge from New York that went all the way down the Atlantic coast looking for someone who would accept the garbage but people in North Carolina, Louisi ana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida turned them down. They even tried foreign countries like Mexico, Belize and the Bahamas and couldn’t get in. Tim O’Grady thought it was a wonder the U.S. government f * Mabel’s Grill didn’t threaten trade sanctions against those countries for not allowing American imports. TUESDAY: Everybody seems to join Canada these days, Hank said this morning as he showed a little item in the paper where the mayor of St. Pierre, in the tiny French islands off Newfoundland sugges ted the colony might like to join Canada if the French didn’t treat them better. Billie said he was more interested in the Turks and Caycos, the last islands that wanted to join Canada. Tim said it was a funny thing that all these people wanted to join the country when tolisten to people here you’d think the country was going to hell in a handbasket. Ward said he guessed those people were just far enough away that they couldn’t hear the opposition par ties or the press moaning all the time. WEDNESDAY: Ward saw red today. It was on the cover of the new Ontario budget. The Liberal government had used a red trillium instead of the traditional white trillium to symbolize Ontario. “It symbolizes it all right,” Ward grumbled. “Just goes to show you what happens when you let a Liberal government in backed up by the socialists." “Yeh.” Hank agreed. “And they spilled too much of that red ink inside the budget too, even with all thatextra money they hauled in last year." THURSDAY: Julia Flint was say ing this morning that she's getting Continued on Page 6 [Published by North Huron Publishing Company Inc.] Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Published weekly in Brussels, Ontario P.O. Box 152 P.O. Box429, Brussels, Ont. Blyth, Ont. NOG 1 HO N0M1H0 887-9114 523-4792 Subscription price: $15.00; $35.00 foreign. Advertising and newsdeadline: Monday 2p.m. in Brussels; 4p.m. in Blyth Editor and Publisher: Keith Roulston Advertising Manager: JaniceGibson Production and Office Manager: Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968