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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-08-05, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1992. Letters Plays are the big problem at Festival THE EDITOR, I was sorry to hear of the difficult financial predicament in which the theatre finds itself. Sorry but not surprised. I have attended every production since that hot summer night eighteen years ago so I feel qualified to make some comments. First, I don't believe the recession is in any way to blame for the drop in sales - it has been ongoing for two years. There has been a drastic deterioration in the quality of the plays, last year especially. I have been a volunteer and over the years have attended at the front door on many occasions. Last year when the people came the comments were, on the whole, negative. It's great to do Canadian plays but if the Canadian writers are not producing and entertaining plays perhaps it's time to throw in one or two from another source. Secondly, the board must listen to what people have to say. Last Saturday I talked to some board members having lunch in the food spot. I expressed my feelings about the plays and my disgust at the fact they are asking for donations as people leave the performance They were quite arrogant and not too interested in my comments. The board should seek information from the people in the shops across the street, they hear the comments of the crowd after the plays. There are also a few very successful longtime businessmen in Blyth whose advice might be very helpful. As for the new building, it's all very beautiful but it did not improve the theatre. It also seems to me the cost of administration is unnecessarily high. I don't know what has been done to the seats but it seems to me there isn't as much room as there was. I hear some complaints about that as well. In closing, I like the theatre very much. It has been good for Blyth and the community and I sincerely hope there can be a turn around. A theatre Goer From Day One Margaret Anderson Londesboro. Morris man was in Sarajevo with Canada’s UN force Morris Township man is showing more than his share of concern in the struggle for peace in Bosnia- Herzogovina. Stephen Johnston is currently serving with the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Sarajevo. The son of Harold and Etoile Johnston, Stephen had been with the VanDoos Regiment (Artillery) to go to Croatia in April. In mid­ June he was moved to Sarajevo. With his move from a service truck driver (for delivering relief supplies) to headquarters, he now has the use of a telephone to keep in touch with his family—and advantage over many of those sta­ tioned in Sarajevo. Mrs. Johnston said her son has seen the plight of refugees first­ hand. Earlier in Lars, she relays he had seen one family living in a nearby dump. When he would take items to the dump and drop it off, they would begin sifting through it immediately. The camp cook had Farmers deserve strong GFO on their side THE EDITOR, Farmers deserve a well-funded lobby organization which can go out and get the job done. A mandatory farmer registration system has long been needed. Voluntary payments cannot pay all the things we need to do. The volunteer time spent driving up and down country roads on membership canvasses could be much better spent working on issues of concern to agriculture. Other professions who do have mandatory funding are able to lobby much more effectively for their sector than does agriculture. The stable funding proposal will enable the General Farm Organiza­ tions to more effectively represent the interests of farmers. The work that is done now in education, consumer awareness and policy advice to government benefits all farmers and all should be contributing financially, not just the one in three who are carrying the load now. The fee structure set at $150 would be in effect for three years. This fee could be directed to any of the qualifying GFO's. A “no choice” would divide the fee among the accredited GFO's. The proposed legislation would give our County organizations 25 per cent of the stable funding fees. At present we must depend on grants or levels from local municipal governments. The local county organizations would like to do a better job and stable funding is what is needed. The proposed stable funding plan has taken years to develop and we finally have a government willing to act. The three major farm organizations in Ontario have endorsed the stable funding program. These three organizations represent over 20,000 farmer members in Ontario. This is a clear indication of the support the stable funding proposal has in comparison to the few who have spoken against the plan. Brenda McIntosh, President Huron County Federation of Agriculture. sent some food and some clothes were sent, but now there are lots more refugees, she stated. Right now, tells Mrs. Johnston, he is the driver of a jeep for a liai­ son officer, but had been driving supply trucks. The day before it happened, Stephen was with the UN soldier who had lost his foot when he stepped on a mine. He told his mother he often walked in that area before the incident. The day after he and another soldier were 'sweep­ ing out' and found the foot. Mrs. Johnston recollects her son said as soon as the ceasefire began was when "things got bad", and that they are being shot at regular­ ly. She noted her son was one of a group held hostage for two to three hours before they were released. Stephen called to reassure his mother he was all right, since he knew there were television crews at Continued on page 14 The Other Side By Keith Rouiston Pardon my confusion, but... I know I'm only a male and there­ fore cannot be expected to have thb intelligence to understand these things but pardon me if I'm con­ fused. You see there's this statue down at Knox College at the University of Toronto that they've taken to a back room because it's not politi­ cally correct. The statue of Mar­ garet Wilson, an 18-year-old member of the Scottish Covenan­ ters group who was tied to a stake and left to drown in 1653 because she refused to accept state interfer­ ence in church affairs, has been in a central place in the college for 54 years. One can imagine the fuss the bare-breasted statue must have caused in those more prudish days, but the statue still was left standing in public. It was politically correct to be against censorship in those days. But bare-breasted statues aren't politically correct now, according to Karen Bach, Presbyterian chap­ lain of the university. "This isn't about sex," she's quoted as saying. "This is about cruelty and oppres­ sion and having symbols that touch people in places of pain. It seemed pathetically typical that a male bas­ tion would have a semi-nude woman in bondage in their foyer." But wait a minute! Wasn't I as a male to blame for keeping women down just a week or so ago because the law said a woman couldn't parade the streets of Guelph with her breasts bared? It was a symbol then of the inequality of the law and how men were trying to keep women down. How can I then be blamed, as a man, for oppressing women because there's a statue around that has a half-naked woman on it? NOW OPEN IN LONDESBORO Townsend Tire Highway #4 (beside Radfords) LONDESBORO 523-4742 ★ Service Truck For after-hours service Call 522-1629 ARMSTRONG MARSHALL [^Goodrich WITH BRAND NAMES YOU TRUST SERVICE YOU'LL COME TO DEPEND ON! KELLY . BRIDGESTONE WHEN YOU THINK TIRES - THINK TOWNSEND TIRE I guess I'm getting a little touchy these days but I feel bruised and battered from 10 years or so of being blamed for everything that's wrong with the world...particularly the female half of the world. Don't get me wrong, I sympathize with the plight of many women — that's the reason for many years I stood quietly and took the blame for things I never felt I was guilty of. It’s natural that when a pendulum swings it goes too far in the other direction and after taking a lot of hurt at the hands of men, it's to be expected that women might go a little overboard in the other direc­ tion. And I know that in saying this there will be many female readers reaching for the pen to write to say how far women still have to go in getting equality...but how much equality can we really have? It seems to me women want to claim equality with men only when they can't claim superiority. The world, we're told, would be a far better place if women were running it instead of men. Men are too aggressive, to macho, filled with too much testosterone. They are competitive instead of co-operative. They're bad news. Women, on the other hand, seek consensus rather than trying to force their views through. They work co-operatively to seek solu­ tions. They nurture rather than destroy. I tend to agree often. I've worked in jobs all my life where I've been shoulder to shoulder with more women than men. I .see many fine qualities that I find more scarce in men. I've always been embarrassed in those often crude, all-male situa­ tions. But I sense the same kind of situ­ ation growing in women: a kind of locker-roojn, male-bashing cama­ raderie in which no blow is too low to be fair. "Men have it coming to them", they seem to be saying. No matter that this guy never struck his wife, never mind that he's never molested a co-worker or discrimi­ nated against a woman by paying her less than he'd pay a man, he shares the guilt of his whole broth­ erhood because he has the wrong chromosome. Any guy who objects, it no doubt a closet wife beater according to feminists. Give it a break folks. Just because history can't move fast enough for you stop beating the innocent. If you want to punish men who use violence against their wives and children, I'm with you. If you want gun control, I can go along. I can agree with equal pay as long as you don't string up so much bureaucratic red tape that you drive businesses into bankruptcy and end up with equal unemployment insur­ ance. If you want to insist that the upper part of a woman's body is just the same as a man's I can go along...just don't get angry when men take a look at what you claim isn't anything special. Just please, please, please stop beating all of us who have nothing against women's progress. Please stop blaming us for both sides of any issue like bare-breasted statues and statutes that prevent you from being bare-breasted. If women are non-eonfrontational then show it. Let us just live in peace please. Purchasing a vehicle is a big decision! Let us help you make the right one! GARRY WOODCOCK Quality Cars & Trucks We Can Save You Money ffi^ONTGOMEPy1 LUCKNOW r-’ ' 528-2813 Drive A Little - Save A Lot