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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1966-04-07, Page 9One up-coming event in this commun- ity which will be well worth the interest of the adult population is the Mid-western Ontario Science Fair, scheduled for the Winghem District High School on Friday, April 15th. Some 54 high schools in the Western Ontario area have been invited to participate and many of them will send exhibits, This will be the second time the fair has been staged and it is expected that this year's event will be even better then last year's, since students from the dis trict have had an opportunity to see what sort of exhibits draw the most attention. The fair is completely unique, in that it is planned, organized, publicized and produced by the students of the local school. Their success is indicative of the The announcement from Education Minister William Davis that university training will be required for future public school teachers comes as no surprise. The rapid changes in school curricula, which have been made necessary by a rapidly changing technological world, demand that our children must have a better brand of training right from their kinder- garten days. The change will not be affected over- night, but rather will be a matter of ask- ing higher educational standards from the new teachers who seek employment in the future. Nor will present teachers be re- quired to go to university for re-training. 7o speak quite bluntly, public school education in the province has left much to he desired since the war created a shortage of teachers which has never been completely overcome. We all know that for several years the Ontario Labour Minister Rowntree stirred up a storm of protest from union people when he publicly stated his view that any shortening of the present legal work week would not be in the best in- terests of our society. We agree with the minister. It would be a different matter if the conditions of the nineteenth century still existed, when an employee, even a child, could be forced by a heartless boss to V slave for 60, 70 or 80 hours a week. Present-day law forbids working any em- ployee longer than 48 hours in a week— which makes only five 8-hour days. The labour minister pointed out that in the present economy and in view of the existing shortage of labor it could be dis- * estrous to shorten the working week. We might add that already most em- ployed persons are working far less than the legal 48-hour limit and that one of the most serious problems faced by the working man is how he can employ the great amount of leisure which the law A few years back, when the first re- ports of "flying saucers" began to cir- culate, intelligent people simply dismissed the whole subject as the product of some persons' imagination. That was before we were all so keenly aware of the potentiali- ties of the electronic computer; before we watched the first stages of man's planned flight to the moon and beyond. Today the concept of visitors from some other planet doesn't seem nearly so preposterous. If earthlings are getting ready to travel to some other celestial body, no matter how relatively close it may be, we begin to realize that some other creatures may be a few flights ahead of us where space travel is concerned. The rash of reports over the past few weeks about unidentified flying objects most certainly contains a high percentage of hysteria and imagination, but there can be little doubt that something strange is afoot—or afloat, It would be impossible to fool so many people so much of the time. Admittedly an acknowledgment from official sources that something or some- wave of interest which has engulfed so many of our young people who know that they are emerging into the nuclear and space age. To attend the fair and see the fantastic array of displays which high school stu- dents prepare for en event of this kind is to gain a little broader insight into the new world these youngsters are creating. Already many of them have grasped the basics of technologies which their fathers and mothers never dreamed would exist before World War II. The Science Fair will be open to the public from 3 to 6 p.m., and from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on April 15th. Just have a look for yourself. The visit to the school will be rewarding, department had to ratify the use of teach- ers who had no training in pedagogy whatever. Thousands of high school stu- dents, many with less than Grade XIII standing, were permitted to teach for a limited time without attending a teachers' college. it was a matter of some kind of teacher being better than no teacher at all. As a result, thousands of our children received a poor grounding in the public school subjects and consequently have found secondary school a tough grind from the beginning. With a new emphasis on the import• ante of determining each student's proper bent as early as possible, it grows ever more important that our elementary schools be staffed with the highest pos- sible grade of teachers so that later stages of education may be accepted with maxi- mum benefit. compels him to accept. Have you ever thought that the sharp- est measure of a man's character is not how well he does his regular job, but rather how intelligently he uses the time which is his own to do with as he wills? In a community the size of ours we don't see any particular ill results from the five-day week, but the story is a bit different in the large industrial centres. A lot of this marvellous leisure time is far from constructively employed. Be all that as it may—and we must permit man his freedom whether he makes good use of it or not—the union's continued wail for an easier life for its members is becoming a little assinine, in a day when the development of our na- tion is so desperately dependent upon the energy and hard work of its people. How the Communist countries must chuckle when they read of our never-end- ing strikes and work stoppages! This is the very spirit of selfish unrest they have tried for 50 years to foment. Sometimes we think they are winning, one completely and utterly unknown is prowling about could easily touch off a mass panic, but the continuing silence in official quarters is almost as dangerous, Many sane and sensible people are quite convinced that earth is under ob- servation by visitors from space and most of these folks point out that they see no cause for alarm, for if invasion by force was the intent, then it could have taken place years ago, when the first UFOs were sighted. It is interesting to note that such re- liable publications as Life Magazine, which has spent millions to bare all the facts about anything that ever happened on this planet, still suggests no explanation. It has published photographs of supposed "saucers" and expresses no opinion what- ever about the likelihood or improbability of their origin on another celestial body. One thing about all this. For once there isn't one thing we can do about it, There is no point in worrying about bomb shelters or hoarding food. All we can do is sit back and wait for an explanation— whether it he earthly or otherwise. Sign Of Spring Ah, Spring, You glorious thing, You make me want to sing Of marriages And baby carriages; And make me want to laugh At a new calf; And make me yearn for a bout With a trout; And make me joy in squirrels; And envy girls Their poise With boys When the blood runs And the sun suns, And the fairways beckon And the flowers reckon It's time they put their dopey heads Out of the mangey flower beds, Well, that's about enough of that. Hope none of my students read it, In my day, I've written some pretty nasty pieces about spring, but she's bounced back every year. That bit of doggerel may finish her off for good. And what a pity that would be. Winter puts the iron in our souls. But the slanting yellow rays of heat, the joyous chuckle of freed water, the voluptuous stench of rotten earth emerging from the shrouds of death turn that iron, by some magic, into pure gold. I can be as grouchy as a hat- check girl about spring. But to- day I wandered about the estate and felt the tiny, glimmering coal of my spirit fanned into something approaching a blaze. There was the picnic table, bloody but unbowed, after six months under the snow. There was the barbecue outfit, in three scattered pieces, succulent beckoner to the charred red steaks of July, There was the lawnmowers, reminder of days when you wear nothing but shorts, sweat gloriously, and stop for a beer every 15 min- utes. through the night of Easter Sat- urday. In Germanic areas like Aus- tria and Bavaria, a festival preceding Lent, called Fast- nacht, is part of Easter prepa- ration: nonsense plays, skits, and masquerades are held, And in America's own "Dutch"sec- tions of Pennsylvania, some housewives Fastnacht by cook- ing doughnuts all day! But why the worldwide hil- arity? How can there be cause for revelry, a feeling of "glory" in so somber and sol- emn a story as the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus? Dr, Oswald Hoffman, of radio's Lutheran Hour broad- casts, finds the glory of Easter in the fact that "One, just One, made His own way to life through death, He went the way all of us have to go, into the jaws of death. Coming through, as only lie could, Jesus Christ opened the door to life, The triumphant Conquer- Perhaps I should put them away in the fall. But when the ice age has left, and I go out and see them there, it's like meeting old friends. Rusty and ravaged, but familiar and dear. Signs of spring everywhere. Sixty black squirrels, moved out of my attic, seeking acorns they missed last fall. Lady next door, who has four little ones, hanging out washing with a fifth immi. nent. Endless chant of kids skip- ping. Moose bellow of impatient steamers in the bay, waiting for breakup. Fire sirens saluting the annual epidemic of grass fires. Bitter lines around mouths turning to smiles. Overcoats and boots hurled into closets. Paint pots broken out. Teen.agers standing on corners, bunting like young calves. Women's hats — goofy, exotic, irreverent, aw- ful. Old ladies tippy-toehig about, first time out since No- vember. Kids up to their ears in triad. Anglers and golfers bragging, speculating about the great new season. Housewives, coatless, shouting nothings to neighbors. Teachers cursing as they mark Easter exams, Perhaps you can, but I can't imagine living in a country where the cycle of the seasons is almost unnoticeable. I like to be where the action is. I like spring to come like a shot of adrenalin, not a lukewarm cup of tea. It is little wonder that myth and legend, poetry and painting and music, not to mention reli. gion, celebrate the theme of re. generation in the spring. If there is such a thing as the in• domitable spirit of man, which I firmly believe, it would be im• possible without spring. Think of it. A year in which or of death in king') fashion flung the dour back upon its hinges and then turned to the whole world in gracious invita- tion to follow llim through-- through death to Lit...- This Faster message has special rn.?aniro; for our tense and an:dous Atomic Age, as it has ''or every historic epoch. Say., Dr. Hoffmann, -WI: live in a perple \ed tNrld that has lost its way, it ti.ill riot find its way again until it finds the true way That ‘N.:y is Christ, the only. Way, lie adds that faith in Christ "does not sweep the taunt of death under the rug; it is on the .oad that passes tiirouen death to life." As if in ofi'irmation, sounds ot joy aid merriment ring out around the world, German- speahing peoples actually tell each ether special li.:ster stor- ies (Osten-nal-ellen) designed to produce laughter. A wore vig - orous demonstration of the be- lief that Eister is the season of renewed health and hope is in the widespread European cus- tom or "Easter smacks". Men and women exchange good-na- tured blows to keep each other young and healthy, and to as- sure good luck for the year. In Spain the affirmation of Easter is expressed in a riot of spring flowers decorating altars and church facades. This floral celebration is expressed in the Spanish term for Easter, pascua de notes (Easter of flowers). Everywhere, children hunt for brightly colored Easter eggs symbols of birth and regenera- tion. But for Christians, the hopes and prayers for rebirth are captured in the simple yet dramatic message, "Ile is risen!" the days did not lengthen, the sun did not warm, the green did not appear, the soul did not ex. pand. We would be lining up at the ends of docks, clambering for six-shooters, and packing the subway stations for hurling-un- ,der-trains-purposes, by the first of June. —Miss Penny Gerrie of New York spent the week-end with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Har- ry Gerrie. SECOND SECTION REMINISCING MARCH 1917 Word has been received that Rev. J. J. Hastie, a former pas- tor of Knox Church, Belgrave, and Calvin Church, Fast \\law ., anosh, and for the past 7 years at Ladner, E.C. has resigned his charge and with Mrs, Hastie expects to leave B.C. for Sid- ney, Australia, sometime in April. MARCH 1931 Among the many letters which Mr. and Mrs. John T. Currie, East Wawanosii, receiv- ed congratulating them on reaching the fiftieth anniver- sary of their wedding, was one from G. A, Reid, artist, of Toronto, He also sent reproduc- tions of his famous painting, The Coming of the White Marl; also mural decorations which he painted on the auditorium of Jarvis St. Collegiate institute and other historic scenes. The farm on which Mr, Currie re- sides is the boyhood home of this famous artist. MARCH 7941 Donald Martin and Eugene l:eiswater, Whitechurch, made an enforced stay in Kincardine last week-end. When they ..'ouldn't get home with their car, on account of blocked roads, they tried the train, and when it got blocked, they stay- ed all night at a faun house, Miss Leah Robertson, Reg, N. of the Sick Children's Hospital, Toronto, is visiting with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alex. Robertson. Mr. and Mrs. 5, B. Morrison received word from their son, Tom Morrison, who left as a mechanic for England some months ago, that he was in hos- pital there, suffering from a wound in his leg. Mr. I.R.M. Spittal, whohas been a sergeant in the 99th Bat- tery, has been commissioned a second lieutenant. He was in London over the week-end at- tending examinations. MARCH 1952 The Kinsmen of Wingham have announced the club mem- bers who have a 1000/0 attend- ance record. Congratulations to the following perfect at- tenders: Calvin Burke, Bob Clark, Len Crawford, Bud Cruickshank, 1.1,tyd Ellacott, Jack Gorbutt, Ceorge Shaw, Jack Walker, George Guest, Ross Hamilton, Ken Johnson, Charlie Lee, Vic Loughlean, Andy Scott, Ross Vogan and Al- an Williams. Miss Marianne Doig, Ford- wich, was winner of the first award in the essay competition in the Listowel High School. New Standards for Elementary Teachers Well Worth Your Interest The Minister is Right Age of The Unseen THE WINGHAII ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited, W, Barry Wenger, President - Robert O. Wenger, SectetaryaTreasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation Member Canadian Weekly le/ewspapera Association, Authorized by the Post Office Department as Second Class Mail and for payment of postage in cash. Subscription Rate: 1 year, $5.00; 6 months, $2.75 in advance; U.S.A., $7.00 per yr,: Poreign rate, 0.00 per yr. AcIvertialeg Ptates on application, "He Is risen"' These worth, eeiad in St, Mark Rani, are arriatuted to the angel of tie, lenal, speaking to the two Mena ee the first Easter Moan:it:. :it:.... year, 8'70 million Christians v. iii repeat the phrase—in neig, sermon, and prayer-4 rtc.:): celebrate the glory of Faster. In Jerusalem, swift runners will light torches from a holy fire, bear then: back to kindle the torches of the taithful, Many Gerrnaus will hold aloft buckets of Osterwasser, (Easter water) believed to have cura- tive powers. .a parts of the British Isles, serne people may rise early on Easter Sunday to see the sun dance—and certain citizens of the American South will listen for the sun to shout! Almost everywhere around the world Easter Sunday is wel- comed with neencing, singing, and the ringing of church bells, Mexicans literally "dance in" the Easter morn--streets are jammed with colorfully cos- tumed performers dancing all Easter Around the World not.einte Ontario, Thursday, April WHEN YOUR NEIGHBOUR KNOCKS ANSWER THE CALL AND GIVE TO THE CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY and a cheque fight CANCER with a check up FOR RESEARCH, CANCER EDUCATION AND WELFARE SERVICES