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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-10-26, Page 4Page 4 — Lueknow Sentinel. Wednesday, October 26, 1994 Published weekly by &gnat Star Publishing Ltd at 619 Campbell Street Lucknow, Ont P 0 Box 400, Lucknow, Ontario NOG 2H0 52&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.ni radius G S T incl Local Senior 61 700 within 40 mi radius G Incl. Out•Of-.Area (40 miles) - Regular'$32.24 - Senior $29.24 G.S.T. incl. Foreign + U S.A. $96x9 Publications mail registration no. Q847 held at Lucknow, Ont. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions, and undeliverable copies (return postage guaranteed) are to be sent to Lucknow Sentinel at the above address. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicable rates, Put a halt to the `silliness' in Ottawa If there is anything In this country that needs an overhaul, it's our system of government. Parliamentary democracy Is dragging us down In Canada because It Isn't democratic. Majority governments In the House of Commons are usually elected with much less than half the popular vt$te. And after election, they operate as dictatorships for terms lasting as long as five years. Men and women sent to Ottawa to represent local taxpayers are not free to vote according to the majority will of their constituents - MPs are required to toe the party dine except In the occasion "free vote" or cross the floor to become an independent. Opposition members are bound td oppose - and there Is seldom any. agreement In the House on anything. The result is mistrust -and disgust among citizens who see very little evidence of members working together for the good of the country. This Is all too clear now as Canada's government struggles with the problems of a huge debt and a frightening deficit. Mortgaged to the hilt and on the verge of hitting the wall, Canada endures a parliament that continues to bicker and argue like spoiled children when they should be pooling Ideas and resources like responsible adults. And then there's the Senate. Partisanship is what gets senators there - and partisanship is what keeps them there. So much for sober second thought! Do we forget how Brian Mulroney stacked the Senate with his "buds to get the Goods and Services Tax passed? And do we care that the Senate Is still over -populated with men and women wtio get a whopping salary for doing their "taskless thanks"? And speaking of "taskless thanks", consider the exorbitant pensions with exceptional provisions that are paid to retired MPs. How Is It these same MPs are so quick to tinker with the RRSPs and savings of everybody else In the country - and so slow to revamp their own pension benefits? It's time to call a halt to the Silliness that has gone on for too many years In Ottawa. It's time the Canadian government re -Invented - Itself and gave Canadians something to cheer about at last. - SJK Can you help with this humanitarian. effort? To the editor: . My wifc and 1, and members of my family, arc paying our sixth visit to Cuba next Spring. We have returned to Cuba annually to com- • bine a holiday 'visit with the oppor- tunity to distribute humanitarian assistance. We each take an extra suitcase packed with clothing, soaps, toiletries, and medical sup-' plies to assist the impoverished people in the rural areas of this Caribbean third world nation. Our goal this year is to provide medication, clothing, dressings and diapers for a small hospital in Chiva-rico, a village West of San- tiago de Cuba along the southern shore. .In 1993 we 'happened upon the Canada -Cuba Friendship Caravan, 0 THE EDITOR an international 'venture sponsored by Pastors for Peace, a diverse group supported by many, religious and political groups across Canada and the United States,'whosc goal is to collect and deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba. Last year, in addition to the goods we carried in ,our suitcases, we delivered a very full carload of clothing, shoes, toiletries, pens, paper and books to join the Friendship Caravan in London, as it passed through on its way, over- land to Mexico, where many tons •see Effort, page 5 The Sentinel Memoirs Lucknow spurns the `enemy' 70 years ago Oct. 26, 1924 roud of their town - Two Luckno 'old boys" have written to us since the voti last Thursday, to express their satisfaction ith the outcome and their pride in the "old home to n." We first hear from Tom Webster, now in Lon n, who told how the "wets" there started a celebration when it appeared that the Ontario Temperance Act had come out second best; and how, by-and-by as the wet majority faded away and gave place to a "dry" majority for the province, the "wet" procession went home leaving the streets to an enthusiastic throng of OTA supporters. Tom was greatly cheered by the news from Lucknow and from Huron County. The other letter was from E.S. Caswell who at one time picked type in The Sentinel Office, but who for some years has been assistant librarian in the Toronto Public Library. Mr. Caswell writes: "I never felt so proud of Lucknow as I did on Thursday night when I saw flashed on thee screen, the figures of the vote in my old home town. When I think of conditions as they were in the village 40 or 50 years ago, with eight. taverns in operation and recall the scenes, of drunkenness and the ravages of drink, I marvel at the change. We are living in better times Ontario has again spurned the enemy." i 50 years ago Oct. 26, 1944 Airmen killed in crash - Two airmen from No. 31 Air Navigation School, Port Albert, met instant death on Sinday morning when their Anson bomber crashed in an open field about two miles south-east of St. Helens. Both airmen were from the Old Country and had been in Canada only a short time; Burial took place in Maitland Cemetery. It was between 11 and 12 o'clock Sunday morning that the plane was observed to be in apparent difficul- ty and within a few minutes crashed on the 50 -acre farm of Bob Purves, which is situated across the road . from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Purves. Auxiliary td stage dance - The Lucknow Branch of the rLadies Auxiliary to the Canadian Legion is sponsoring a big Halloween dance in the Town Hall next Tuesday night. There will be novelty dances and a door prize. Music will be supplied by Carruthers Orchestra, and there will be a lunch counter. The ladies of the Auxiliary are sparing no effort to make this, their first dance venture, an outstanding success. 25 years ago Oct. 29, 1969 I ucknow's Grand Old Lady was 102 - Oct. 28 was Jessie's day. It was the 102nd birthday J of Miss Jessie • MacKay of Lucknow, the village's grand old lady. Jessie observed the occasion at her home on Gough Street in the village where she lives with her friend and companion Mrs. William (Annie) Maclntyre. As Jessie commences her 103rd year, she continues to enjoy life to the fullest. Nothing pleases her more than a visit from friends and she had many of these on her birthday. She enjoys comparatively good health and is about most days. She is keenly interested in community and church affairs and in the welfare of her many friends in Lucknow and surround district. pjr This group of Lucknow Scouts had a lot of energy last Friday afternoon as they prepared to depart for a weekend of hiking on the Bruce Trail near Lions Head. No doubt the energy was sapped by the time they returned on Sunday afternoon. Pictured are, left right, back row: Ron Gillespie, Greg Burgess, Gordon Schill, Matt Fielder, Nick Mann, Michael Mali, and Cliff Mann. 'Front row: Dale Lougheed, Mathew Selkirk, Jeff Selkirk, Joe Carrick, Russ Mann, Mike Wyndham, David Gillespie and William Kugler. (Pat Livingston photo) - Pioneer women of Canadian flight by Lionel Kearns • It was not easy for a .woman to become aiflyer in the early days of aviation in Canada. With a glut of trained male pilots returning from the First World War, few commer- cial activities, and even fewer facilities such as air fields or flying schools, aspiring pilots had few opportunities to fly. A further obstacle was the prevailing public attitude.. "A woman's place" in those days was definitely not in the open cockpit of a biplane. Nevertheless, a number of ' Canadian women were caught up in. the dream of flying, • and when civilian flying instruction became available in Canada in the late 20s, a number of them were there with the male counterparts, studying, training, taking their flight tests and winning their wings. On March 13, 1928, 20 -year-old Eileen Vollic of Hamilton took her private pilot's test on an old war surplus Curtiss JN4 Canuck, becoming' the first woman in 'Canada to earn a flying licence, and the first woman in the world to be trained on a plane equipped with skis. She went on to become an aerial acrobatist and a skydiver: and the first "Canadian, woman to parachute into water, making quite a splash .in the newspapers of the day. Canadian women flyers tended to grab the headlines, but when it came to finding jobs in the aviation business, it was another matter. Daphne Paterson, New Brunswick's first woman flyer and the' • first tit CRI F,)VNI'Arlo', HER1TAGEp Canadian woman to receive a com- mercial pilot's licence, was con- tinuously frustrated in her attempts to land a flying job. Eventually she qualified for her instructor's licence, hoping to join the RCAF but found to her dismay that there was no room in the service for women flyers. Jessica Jarvriss was another Canadian woman who set her heart on career in aviation. She spent three years and every penny of her salary studying, training, and ac- cumulating enough hours in the air to qualify for her commercial cer- tificate, which she received in 1934: "1 took the commercial licence to prove to myself that I could do it," she said. "The licence itself was a farce, because I could do nothing with it." . Jarviss also obtained certificates in Britain and France, and in 1940 the Star Weekly featured her in a full page ,cover picture as "one of Canada's most experienced women pilots." Yet Jarviss was also turned down by the RCAF. . Despite the obstacles and disap- pointments in those early days of flight, women in increasing num- bers continued to strive for a place in Canadian aviation, breaking the rail for those who came after them: Whcy did they do it? What was the appeal? According to Shirley Render, in her book No Place For A Lady: the Tory of Canadian Women Pilots, 1928 - 1992, "flying symbolized freedom and powcr and being in control of their destiny.. In corn- mand of a plane, a woman was master of her fate and had the sense of liberation that she might not experience elsewhere." Letter policy The Lucknow.Sentinel welcomes readers' views and opinions. All letters must he signed and include the author's address and telephone number for verification • 1711 rposes,•- Letters should be topical and are routinely edited for length, style and clarity. Brief 11'tters which make a • poirnt have more impact and stand a Netter chance of • inclusion.' Personal attacks, consumer complaints and potentially libelous letters Will he rejected.