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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1963-05-09, Page 17Looking to The Future The fact that the Wingham town coun- . took a couple of hours out last week to hear the facts on an airstrip is en- couraging to say the least. We can recall the first time an airstrip was mentioned at the council table and the cool smiles of derision it received. Many of our citizens may still snort with contempt at such a plan: but to those who are thinking constructively about the future of the town the idea has a great deal of merit, We are well aware that there is no need to rush into the con- struction of an airfield right at the mo- ment, but there is no doubt that the ex- istence of such a facility would have a strong bearing on the interest of indus- trialists looking for new sites. Many businessmen in the Kitchener - Waterloo area credit the Waterloo -Wel- lington airport with a fair proportion of the industrial growth In that thriving sec- tion of the province. Today's business executives are very busy people. Time is the most valuable commodity with which they deal, When they think of branch plants the first ob- jection in their minds is the delay incur- red by their senior people in travelling to and from the branch office. Air travel and its ability to minimize this objection is our greatest ally. A branch office which is six or eight hours away from the parent corporation by road may be only a frac- tion of that time by air. We believe that Wingham should give very serious consideration to the develop- ment of an airstrip. Not a great, expen- sive one, but a basic field on which medium-sized aircraft could be handled soon — and with sufficient additional space available for expansion when the need arises. Welcome Invasion It was indeed a pleasure to see so many visiting Legion members in town over the week -end. Coming as they did from a wide area of Western Ontario, it was a distinct honor that Wingham was selected for the site of the meeting. The honor was enhanced by the fact that our own townsman, John Bateson, was carry- ing out his duties as retiring district com- mander. A former Wingham man, Durward F. Preston, now of Waterloo, was selected es the new district commander, so all-in-all it was a big week -end for Wingham Legionnaires. Compliments are extended to the many local Legionnaires who have worked and planned for weeks to ensure the suc- cess of the big gathering. It was well and smoothly handled throughout. Demonstration Piece This issue of The Advance -Times sets something of a record in the history of newspaper publishing in Wingham. It is printed in two colors, and is being mailed out to over 5,000 homes in the area. You will have noticed that we have been making improvements in the news- paper ever since our change to the new "offset" process last November 14th. One „the areas which has received our most ipireful attention has been the presenta- tion of advertising. We have spent a great deal to equip our plant with the very latest type faces and to school our- selves in modern advertising techniques. About two months ago we engaged the vices of Budd Vanzant, an experienced ertising salesman and layout man. Budd is a native of Stouffville, Ontario, but has spent several years in New York and Florida, first in the employ of a large advertising agency and latterly as adver- tising manager of a building supply firm. He is doing an excellent job of spruc- ing up our advertising department and we hope that we have now persuaded him to settle in Wingham on a permanent basis. The Advance -Times goes into every home in the district this week. Many who have not previously seen the new format of the newspaper will be reading it for the first time. If you are one of these we hope you will enjoy and profit from it. The Right to Know Those whose interest in municipal problems is keen will have read the audi- tor's report for both Wingham and Turn - berry which were published in The Ad- vance -Times last week and the week be- fore. Even if you are not the sort who likes to read and digest statistics of this kind you have good reason to be reassured by the publication of these reports. They represent a dear admission of your im- portance as a taxpayer. Up to the war years every municipality was required to publish a detailed finan- cial statement in time for the annual nomination meeting. Then, with the squeeze on both time and money which was brought about by the pressure of a war economy the regulations were chang- ed so that the financial statement was not required. This year the law insists that the summarized figures from the audi- tor's report must be made public. Fortunately the vast majority of muni- cipalities have nothing to hide and the taxpayers have such confidence in their elected representatives that the reports are not read with very keen interest. How- ever, we all know of a few sad cases where municipal officials have virtually run away with public funds. The taxpayers quite properly have been given an opportunity to see how their money is spent. We should watch for these annual reports and give them the close attention they deserve. It is quite true that many of us are more than a bit confused by the multi- plicity of figures, and we feel that we are not sufficiently expert in matters of fi- nance to comment on them. Neverthe- less it should be borne in mind that af- fairs of the British people have been in the hands of amateurs for the past thous- and years, and the net results have been fairly good. How Our 'Big Account' Stands Now Improvements in Canada's interna- tional balance of payments is likely to continue through 1963, writes Neville Nankivell in The Financial Post. But monetary authorities say it is wrong, at this stage, to assume that the dramatic fourth-quarter reduction in the current account deficit indicates rapidly disap- pearing balance - of - payments problems. They, and other international payments experts in Ottawa remain cautious about assessing the real extent of the 1962 im- provement because they say underlying trends could be distorted by last sum- mer's financial crisis and the emergency measures taken to stop it, Most of the improvement occurred in fourth quarter 1962 rather than gradually through the whole year. In the fourth quarter there was a $13:3 million surplus in the trade balance ---the excess of exports over im- ports—and a sharp reduction in the defi- cit from other current transactions. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenger, President - Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation; Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Associ- '''w talon; Member Canadian Community Newspapers Representatives Authorized by the Post Office Department as Second Class Mail and for payment of postage in cash Subscription Rate: One Year, $4.00; Sik Months, $2.25, in advance U.S.A., $5.06 per year; Foreign rate, $5.00 per year Advertising Rates on apptieatior► One Moment Please 13y Rev. G. L Frc:ker, Wingham, ()Mario WORK NOW , RRST LATER A sign in an undertaker's window read: "Pay Now - Ga Later". Those who conduct funeral parlors must earn a living while perfortr,ing a ser- vice. But for the one king buried, there are far more than material concern; at stake, The termination of one's brief journey on earth is the beginning of a never-ending eternity. Over and over again in the Holy Bible, we are reminded that, in order to win heaven, we must be willing rn work and suffer here below, t ur since we have just one chair., we should, therefore, he eager to pay any price to gain the di- vine treasure that will endure forever. In short, if you "pay now" through persevering desires, prayers and good deeds, you will have the lasting consola- tion of knowing, when you "go later", that your life has been a true success in the only way that really counts. "Well done, good and faith- ful servant, because thou has't been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many." Matthew 25:21. BARN DESTROYED—This barn owned by Andy Mitchell, located on the lane - way just north of the Lloyd factory went up in smoke last Friday. A tractor was stored in the building. Cause of the $2,500 fire is not known.—A-T Photo Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, May 9, 1963 THIRD SECTION 'IIIIIIIIIII111111111111111111111111111111IIIIIIIIIIIIIII((IIIII(11111(CII!f;C!101111llllll11!IIIIIIIIII111111111111IIIIIIIII)IIIIIIIIIN111111IINIIIIIIiH111111IIIIIIflllllllllllll111111illllillllllllllllllllll4' SUGAI and SPICIB o111111iiiiiiii11N B y B 1 1 1 S m i 1 e y llllllllllllllliltllllr.. Mother's Day is just around the corner, And so I think I'll take this chance to warn 'er Not to be fooled by all the flowers and fuss. When Monday comes, we'll be right back to us. And you know what "us" are like during the other 364 days. Us eat like hogs and vanish, leaving Mother with the dishes. Us walk across Ma's clean floor with our swamp -soiled hip waders. Us stay out too late and make Mummy's nerves shriek. Us arise on Mom's third clarion call in the a.m. and bawl her out for not waking us up on time. Us come home from school and take a big wedge out of the cake Ma has baked for the church tea. Us spill gravy on our clean blouses and chuck them into Mom's laundry. Us decorate door- knobs, chairbacks and floors with our clothes, because Mom gets a big kick out of putting things away. Us drive Mother right up the wall. Daily. Mothers come in three sizes: regular, large and family size. They come in several shades: red with rage, white with fear and gray with exhaustion. Some are thin and holy -looking. Some are roly-poly-looking. But every single one of them is a martyr, and I say it without irony. Martyrs are people who were burned at the stake, just once. Mothers burn all day and every day. Mothers are like farmers. They plant the seed carefully in the only ground they have to work -- their children — nurture it with care, watch with deep delight as the first green shoots appear, tremble lest they be flattened by the elements, view with pride the ripening stalks, and recoil with horror when the crop urns out to be wild oats. Sone mothers are like hens. They sit on their offspring until the kids are either rotten or half-baked. Others are like cats. They birth their young, feed them well until they can eat by themselves, then give them a lick and let them fend for themselves. Some mothers swear, drink beer, and run around town after men. Most mothers bear, drink tea, and run around the block looking for their kids at suppertime. Some mothers — and I hate to say it at this semi -sacred time — are slobs. They sit around drinking coffee in their bathrobes. The only time they get out of their slippers is when they go out to play bingo. They whine in- cessantly at kids and hus- bands. Their household gods are the can -opener, the freez- ing compartment and the television set. They have runs in their stockings, curlers in their hair, and aching backs. Some mothers are just the opposite. They are hell on high heels. They are out of bed like a Roman candle in the morning, and continue to explode at regular intervals all day. They drive their kids and bully their husbands. They redecorate at the drop of a color chart. They move the furniture around. They join clubs and terrorize the other mothers in them. They flee down the short corridor of life as though pursued by a stream of molten lava. And somewhere between these extremes are all the other mothers, like yours and mine. Oh, they are not all perfect, our mothers. They are not gentle, little, old, silver - haired ladies who smile and mind their own business and hand out cookies. There are saints and sinners, golfers and gad -abouts, naggers and nappers and nippers among them. But they're the real mothers, and they can be for- given any of their little foi- bles. They are the women who bore children proudly, played with them joyfully, taught them carefully, and walloped them with aching heart when they had to. * * They are the mothers who nursed their children with tenderness when they were ill, kissed their bumps when they fell, listened to their Letters to the Editor Dear Mr. Editor, Having just read through your paper— I finish always with the "Letters to the Editor". I was very interested to see the letter from "A proud citizen" . Like him or her probably her — I am not a native of Wingham— I think the idea of a local Horticultural Society is excel- lent and would be a member gladly. I am interested also in the idea of making Wingham beautiful with trees, shrubs etc. However, I would like to put forward the idea of using the flowering Crabapple (Malus) in all its variety for planting on lawns (with the householder's permission) as and when the big trees are cut down. These are a fairly new introduc- tion and are mostly Canadian ori- ginated - that is, new varieties that are hardy and will stand our winters. They make beauti- ful small shade trees and need little or no care, have been tested and tried at the experi- mental stations in Morden and at Ottawa. They are pretty in Spring , when they flower, and have attractive foliage varying from green to deep red -bronze according to type, and all have fruits which are also attractive, some of which may be used for jelly, ect. Of course the lilacs as well would be lovely, but they are mostly grafted and if anything happened to the graft then the host takes over. But anything to make Wing - ham as attractive as it possibly can be -- perhaps a different tree for each street? I have seen such plantings and they are lovely. We are somewhat handicapped as regards to our weather, but this can be de- toured. Thankyou for your pa- tience. Another Such — P.S. flow about more Mar- tin houses too! They are very attractive birds — and think how many mosquitos they eat! troubles with sympathy, and showed them the beauty and the joys of life. They are the mothers of whom young men whisper, for whom they call with anguish, when they know they are dy- ing, in war. They are the mothers to whom young girls bring their first, fragrant love affair, on whom young wives call for help. They are the real mothers. God bless them for what they have done in this world, and reward them with a perpetual Mother's Day in the next. Wingham, Ont. May 7, 1963. Dear Barry, As "the church is never a place, but always a people", so is a town also not only a geographical site but a people. Towns have personalities just as individuals do, and the spirit of Wingham is unmistakeable. Of latter years, I am sorry to say, that I, too, have detected this pervasive destructive spirit of pessimism. It is as if we were convinced that, as a town, we are dying and that upon us fall misfortunes that other towns do not suffer. I am convinced that this is not wholly true. Statistics prove that we are not growing numerically and we do have our share of griefs, disappoint- ments and tragedies. Some- times we seem to have more than our due -but who are we to decide that? And upon what do we base our judgment? We read of the good fortunes of neighbouring towns—these facts are high -lighted in the news; but we are unaware of their dissensions, failures and unful- filled hopes. Those facts may be in the news too, but since they do not concern us or make us envious, we assume an atti- tude of detachment and pretend that such unfortunate things do not exist other than here. All of this leads up to a warm "Bravo" for the unknown (?) "proud citizen of Wingham" who made a concrete sugges- tion last week as to the beauti- fication of our town and the possible consequent improve- ment of the spirit of our people. It is true, is it not, that " with- out vision, the people perish"? There was a horticultural society here once. Could it not be revived? And these sug- gestions pursued? After. all, Wingham does have absolutely ideal climate for the cultivation of lilacs -or so a horticulturally - minded relative of mine tells me. Are there not other interested and adventurous spirits in Wing - ham? Sincerely Yours, "Another proud citizen of Wingham." Friday 3/63 Mr. Bill Smiley. Dear Bill, My mother-in-law has been forwarding me the Advance - Times. We are now living in Guelph but my husband was raised in Gorrie. Big question Please turn to page 18.