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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-05-11, Page 4Page 4 — Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, May 11, 1994 akeag iPa6- f t. -x4? _Ani`•:: fm. !`3f :2'ooi:#E m%,•'>M:5 a.:. Published weekly by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd at 619 Campbell Street Lucknow. Ont PO Box 400, Lucknow, Ontario NOG 2H0 528.2822' Fax (519) 528-3529 Established 1873 'Thomas Thompson •-- Advertising Manager Pat Livingston .- General Manager/Editor Phyllis Matthews Helm -- Front Office Subscription rates advance: Local Regular $2000 within 40 mi radius G S T incl Local Senior $1 700 within 40 mi radius G 5 T incl Out Of -Area (40 miles) - Regular $32.24 - Senior $29.24 G.S.T. incl. • Foreign +USA $9669 Publications mail registration no. 08.47 held at Lucknow, Ont. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions, and undeliverable copies (return postage guaranteed) are to be sent to Lucknow Sentinel at' the .above address. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event 01 a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space. occupied by -the -erroneous item. together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be cha.cied for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicahle rates. ' A lethal combination The Sentinel Memoirs Road super's pay was $3/day 70 years ago May 15, 1924 Advertisements - George G. Moffat, Kinloss township clerk, was advertising for a road superintendent for that municipality. The. salary was $3 per day when on duty. Geo. A. Siddall was offering to lend money on farm property at 6 per cent. A Brunswick phonograph, with self stopper, that played any record made, and retailed at $190 was offered at "a bargain" and included 50 new records. R.J. Cameron was advertising 1924 samples of wallpaper and offered to come to your home to display them. Seems a lady and man were having marital dis- course, she having advertised the previous week that she wouldn't be responsible for his debts. He replied saying he never charged anything in her name and always paid for his own debts, and then stated he • wouldn't be responsible for any debts which she contracted without his signature. 50 years ago May 18, 1944 ight watchman needed? - Following the recent break-in at Silverwood Dairies Limited, Provincial Officer McClevis minced no words in. making it known that in- his opinion it was time • Lucknow did something about a night watchman, to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. It Is almost a fact of life In small towns and rural areas: most teenagers drive cars, pickup trucks, motorcycles and motor boats, and. most of them drink. - - - They have to drive, of course, because_there Is no public transportation, Many (earn to operate farm -machinery at early ages.and are used to driving several types of vehicles. They tend to regard cars and trucks as very Important parts of their lives. One teenager who lives near Simcoe reports that she and her friends go cruising every Friday and Saturday night. They gather at a local fast food restaurant, talk about cars -and, ' have stereo wars. . . - - S• he also reports that most people her age drink. Some of her friends have died from drinking and driving, but she continues to let her friends drink In her car. - - - Alcohol Is found nearly everywhere teenagers are found. As.. a 14 -year-old girl told her mother: "If you,don't want me to go where there Is alcohol, I'II have to stay home all of the time." The statistics bear this out. The Addiction Research ..Foundation's (ARF) Student Drug Use. Survey has found that while drug- use has declined dramatically since the 1970s1 nearly 57 per cent of Ontario students In Grades 7 - 13 drink alcohol (compared.to 24 per cent who smoke cigarettes and 13 per cent who smoke cannabis). The rate of drinking rises with age: 32 per cent of Grade.7 students drink, increasing to; 78 per cent- of Grade 13 students. - And 21. per cent of student drivers report that they have driven within an hour of consuming two or more drinks of alcohol. This percentage has declined significantly since 1977 (when 58 per cent reported drinking artd driving), -but the decline has levelled off In the 1990s. Cars, alcohol and young people. come together at bush. parties. One of the major attractions of a bush party Is freedom- - the absence of adult supervision. Another attrac- tion is friendship. Young people, especially teenagers, tend to have Intense friendships, :and when they go to -a bush party they know all of their friends and many other young people In the area will be there. . Bush parties, also known as field parties or pit. parties, can attract 200 or more people. They have been part of the culture of rural and servo -rural Ontario for deoades. And because they are often unsupervised and Involve drinking, they give' parents, the police and municipal authorities good reason to be fearful for the safety of young people. (ARF) A host of excellent talent During Education Week, two area schools - LCPS and Brookside were involved in concerts/plays. I had the opportunity of covering Brookside's which centered around the famous story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. Watching through the view finder on my Pentax, I was amazed and impressed at the confidence oozing from these public school students,. as they entertained a large crowd. My freelancer covered the LCPS dress rehearsal of Readin', Ritin' and Rockin', an upbeat musical about school life and the people who make it all happen. Mrs. Burkhart was so impressed she went back the next night to enjoy Rby Pat Livingston em, WINIMM/SINWA the full play, without being hampered by her camera. These productions take a great deal of dedication and effort on behalf of the staff and students. ' The Sentinel salutes everyone involved - staff and students alike, including the casts, choirs, prop, costume and lighting people. It takes the co-operation and talents of all of you to present such evenings of entertainment. And who said school isn't fun? AMBLIN.GS • Many municipalities smaller than Lucknow now employ a night watchman, and Mr. McClevis pointed out that their services are proving indispensable in preserving law and order and in the protection of ro ert p, Mr. McClevis made it clear that a night watchman was not responsible for dealing single-handed with such a gang as recently visited Lucknow. All he need do at any- time is report any incidents which appear suspicious and in short order police officers will be on the sceneto investigate. Of course a night watchman's duties would not be solely to prevent burglaries. His vigilance would be a safeguard against fire and would contribute in many ways to the nocturnal serenity of our village. 25 years ago May 14, 1969 Ab Wylds retires - Ab Wylds, principal of Ripley District High School, will end 34 years • teaching at the Ripley school at the end of June. He has been forced to give up his position because of health reasons. • It was in September of 1935 when Ab first com- menccu his teaching career at Ripley Continuation School. .Mr. Wylds assumed duties as principal in 1956. During his 13 years as principal, Mr. Wylds taught . his regular share of classes as 'well as handling the adininisllrative duties of principal. It was 1941 and these men formed a clean up bee on the farm of Keith Johnston, 10th Conc. W.D. Ashfield, whoas In the army. Front row, Vince Austin, Bob Farrish, Joe Courtney, Leo Courtney and Lewis Hoban., Back row, John Howard and T.J. Drennan. Before new math and destreaming Ontario, 1933. -- "Teacher wanted for rural school, all grades, and caretaking, willing to mind lending - library evenings and Saturdays; also take Sunday school class and play. organ for church services. Protes— tant tant required; female preferred." From the beginning of the 19th century • until the 1960s many Canadians were educated . in 1 one - room schoolhouses. Their teachers, often no more than a few years older than the students .themselves„ were courageous and determined young women. Teachers faced physical discom- forts, loneliness and. isolation, un- ruly students, and stubborn school boards. Nonetheless, teaching was one of the few occupations open to women at that time and many women loved the freedom and independence of working for a living. ; - The first one -room schoolhouses were hastily built without much thought for comfort. The lighting was often poor and in some schools, open windows meant that students spent more time killing flies than they spent on their studies. In the winter, a single can- tankerous stove would be expected to heat the entire room. Inevitably, those close to the stove were boiling hot, those far away from the stove were freezing cold. Mis- chievous students would occasional- ly add gun -powder ° or shotgun shells to the fire to liven up a dull morning. When the day was over teachers did not go home>to luxury. Some teacherslived in one -room "teacherages" built on land adjacent to the schoolhouse. This was private, but lonely. Others boarded with local families. Depending on the family and their home, this could be a wonderful experience, or it could be dreadful. Some young teachers found the loneliness unbearable. One student remembered that: "Even as a kid I couldn't understand how a teacher could do it, live out in the middle of nowhere...I sometimes used to walk to the teacherage on days when there was no school. ,It was long way, but no one ob- jected. I think they felt someone had to visit the. teacher." Rural school .teachers had enor- mous responsibilities. Classes could be large and the students were of all ages and abilities. Successful teachers were practised jugglers - doing arithmetic with one grade, geography with another, and reading with a third - all at the same time. Occasionally they held the lives of their young charges in their hands. When an unexpected winter storm arrived they'd have to decide whether to send the children home in potentially treacherous weather, or keep them at the school and have their parents worry all night long. Despite their grave respon- sibilities, teachers often had little freedom in their own classrooms. School trustees exerted enormous control over the lives of teachers. They told them what subjects to teach and how to teach them and sometimes even advised - them which pupils were to pass or fail. Even worse, school boards could fire a 'teacher on a whim. Teachers were sometimes dismissed because they offended the wrong pupil,1 'or because a local person desired the job.