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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-05-10, Page 5Home bakery started Auburn woman’s dream becomes sweet reality BY USA BOONSTOPPEL ... using fresh natural whipped cream skillfully blended with su­ perb cherries creates a sensuous filling captured between layers of Kirsch flavoured dark chocolate cake... This is the mouth watering description of Trudy Losereit’s specialty, Black Forest Cream Torte. This sinful dessert is one of the many custom baked and decor­ ated cakes she sells at her own shop, Trudy’s Pastry Kitchen at the Losereit farm on the Maitland Block just outside of Auburn. The bakery is a dream come true for Mrs. Losereit who’s life-long hobby was baking. “My favourite past-times are baking and reading recipe books”, she said. The dream began in Germany where Mrs. Losereit as a young child would surprise her mom with baked goods. “I would whip up a batch of cookies when my mom went out,” she said. Her German background influ­ ences her baking. Mrs. Losereit specializes in European style tortes, cakes and pastries. “The European style includes a lot of whipping creams and butter creams, she explained. When the idea for the home bakery started to become a reality, Mrs. Losereit took the ‘Baking Technique’s course at Canadore college in North Bay. “I just wanted to upgrade my skills,” she says, “the program was for the experienced baker.” The bakery is located at her house because she finds it conveni­ ent. “I have two young children,” she says, “and I want to see them off to school and I want to be here when they get back.” She also has two older children. From Trudy’s Pastry Kitchen, Mrs. Losereit bakes butter creams, whipped cream tortes, and cheese­ cakes. “I use only natural products and I import many of my ingre­ dients, she says. It was delicious ingredients and baking talent that won her the gold medal at the Culinary Art Show in London last month. With a gold medal in hand and a new shop that opened two weeks ago, Mrs. Losereit is now working on whipping up a successful busi­ ness. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1989. PAGE 5. Creeping protectionism in United States BY RAYMOND CANON One of the things that I used to point out during the Great Free Trade Debate was that, given the protectionist mood that was emerg­ ing in the United States, we would be far better off if we could work out some trade agreement with them than take our lumps right now and hope for something better later on. The ink has hardly dried on the signatures of the agreement, yet we are already seeing plenty of proof of how rough things can be if you are trying to compete with the United States on world markets; countries such as Japan, Korea and the European Common Market are all feeling an icy blast from Washington and only our agree­ ment protects us from the direct blast of these frigid temperatures. Take cars for example. We are protected by the Auto- Pact; the Japanese and the Europeans are not. The latest rage in the United States, and to a certain degree also in Canada, is the purchase of a mini-van or a four-wheel-drive vehicle. All of a sudden the U.S. government decided that these were really not cars at all; they were light trucks. Under this latter category they could be subject to a 25 per cent tariff rather than the normal 2.5 per cent levied on cars. Given that the Japanese and the Europeans managed to ship no less than 150,000 of these to the U.S. last year, what we have is nothing less than an elegant form of trade restrictions. The above ruling was made by the U.S. Customs Service. At a later point the U.S. Treasury got into the act and made a further ruling that four-wheel drive and sports vehicles with four doors as well as vans with side windows, a rear door and rear seats were all cars, not trucks. All others were still trucks. Sounds rather arbitrary to me but, since small two-door models were ■ classified as trucks, guess who got the short end of the second stick. If you guessed Japan, go to the head of the class. If you thought that all this was to protect the buyer, guess again. If the U.S. government can contrive to drive up the cost of foreign vehicles, the way is open for North American manufacturers (read Ford G.M. and Chrysler) to raise their prices for the same type of vehicle. This little bit of game playing will cost the consumer over $1 billion in higher van and four-wheel-drive prices. All this at a time when G.M. has just an­ nounced record profits of over $5.5 billion. Current U.S. trade laws allow retaliation against “unfair” trade practices. Now that word and its interpretation makes for some in­ teresting reading. Perhaps the Americans have never really for­ gotten Pearl Harbour after all. One American committee has even de­ cided that Japan imports too little. Since there are right now few obvious barriers in that country, the reason given is that there must be some form of hidden protection. While that country’s distribution system is indeed rather cumber­ some, it is worth noting that some Grants come BY LISA BOONSTOPPEL Various municipalities in Huron County, including several local townships, are being given almost twc million dollars from the provin­ cial government. Eleven municipalities will re­ ceive $1,078,800 in supplementary road funding to improve the trans­ portation system in Huron County. The remaining $873,000 has been awarded to six municipalities under the Program for Renewal, Improve­ ment, Development and Economic revitalization (PRIDE). For the road funding, Hullett Township will receive $90,000 for municipal drains in Londesboro and Auburn. Graders are needed in Colborne Township who will re­ ceive $37,500 and Grey Township who’ll be given $55,000. Two townships need bridge repair. Mor­ ris will receive $80,000 to replace Brown’s Bridge and Turnberry Township will have $40,000 to repair a bridge on the fourth concession. The other municipalities in Hur­ on County who will receive funding indpendent studies of the situation have failed to provide any convinc­ ing evidence that there are such hidden barriers. Some studies have even shown that the Japanese imports are in line with normally accepted criteria. However, it is also possible that the Japanese prefer to buy Japanese goods. While it might be nice if they bought more American goods, the difficulty of such a move can be understood if I ask you what might happen if Canadians were told by their governments to increase their purchase of goods from other countries. The buzz word these days is “managed trade” but it is just a nice expression for protectionism and it is aimed mainly at the Orientals and the Europeans with Canada coming in for some glanc­ ing blows such as the production of steel. Frankly, with the Americans being in such' a cantankerous protectionist mood, I would far rather have some form of agree­ ment with them than be left out in the cold where we don’t have the internal market for our products as do the Japanese and the European Common Market. to Huron are: Ashfield Township, $130,000 for a bridge on Concession seven; the Town of Exeter, $40,000 for improvement to Huron, Market and Waterloo streets; the Town of Goderich, $40,000 for Phase two of Suncoast Drive; Howick Township, $360,000 for a bridge on Conces­ sion C; Stanley Township, $75,000 fora grader and Stephen Township $131,300 for a bridge on Conces­ sion 4-5. These funds are in addition to the grants normally given to the county by the Ontario government. The PRIDE awards are given to municipalities for local improve­ ments. The grants are being awar­ ded to more than 80 municipalities across Ontario and have increased from 14.8 million last year to more than 18 million this year. Morris Township has been awar­ ded $38,000 to improve its roads and sidewalks. The money will also be used for the Belgrave Commun­ ity hall. Hullett Township will receive $75,000 to improve the roads and sidewalks in Auburn. Continued on page 27 The right recipe Mrs. Losereit puts the final touches on her specialty, Black Forest Cream Torte at Trudy’s Pastry Kitchen, her in-home bakery near Auburn. Local OPP get new communication system The new Ontario Provincial Po­ lice telecommunications system was introduced on Wednesday, April 12, at the Mount Forest Community Centre. The system is being installed in OPP detach­ ments throughout District No. 6 which includes the Counties of Grey-Bruce, Huron, Perth, Well­ ington, and the highways in the Waterloo region. All 15 detach­ ments including Wingham, Goderich and Listowel will be using the system by April 21. The $106.9 million system is being phased in across Ontario. Oxford, Elgin, and Middlesex Counties were the first to receive the system last year and it is hoped it will be fully installed in the province by the year 1992. The telecommunications system incorporates many benefits for both the public and OPP officers. The introduction of the two new district­ wide, toll-free telephone numbers for public use in summoning police assistance will end confusion sur­ rounding what number to call when help is needed. In the past, the public had to decide whether to contact the local detachment or ask the Bell tele­ phone operator for Zenith 50,000. Once the new telecommunications system is fully operational, the Zenith number will be phased out and each district will have its own direct-dial “800” numbers. There will also be an “800” number for the hearing impaired. General inquiries or calls which do not require police attendance should continue to be placed to the area detachment during regular business hours. Because of the centralized radio dispatching on a district-wide basis, local detachments no longer need to remain open around the clock and will be open only during regular business hours. Following regular hours, people will be able to use a direct-dial telephone which will be affixed to the exterior wall of the building and is connected to the district communications office. The new system will free officers previously assigned detachment desk duty for patrol. The most obvious change for patrol officers new system is the ability to support portable radios. Many officers will puter-assisted radios in cruisers. The new system utilizes many more channels than the old two-frequen­ cy system and the new radios include innovative features includ­ ing an emergency button which, when activated, alerts the com­ munications center to the urgency of the call. While the new radios are capable of incorporating data terminals when they become available in the future, they already utilize some data capabilities. For example, officer status can be transmitted to the dispatcher by the touch of a button thus cutting down on air time and needless calls. Another significant feature of the be issued radios when on patrol. This means that the public can expect to see more officer presence on the streets, in shopping malls, and at community events. The system also includes the capability to communicate with other police forces. This is a vital feature assisting officers to talk with other forces while in their area or during joint activities. Effective immediately, callers using a regular telephone should call: 1-800-265-2525 when in need of a police officer. The number for ♦ he hearing impaired is 1-800-265- 2529.