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The Huron Expositor, 1995-01-18, Page 44 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR• January l$, iMs EHurHuron sitor Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 TERRI-LYNN DALE - General Manager & Advertising Manager MARY MELLOR - Sales PAT ARMES - Office Manager .. DIANNE McGRATH • Subscription; TIM CUMMING • Editor GREGOR CAMPBELL • Reporter LINDA PULLMAN - Typesetter BARB STOREY • Distribution A Burgoyne Community Newspaper SUBSCRIPTION) RATES: LOCAL - 28.00 d year, in advonce, plus 1.96 G.S.T. SENIORS - 25.00 o year, in advance, plus 1.75 G.S.T. Goderich, Strotford addresses: 28.00 a year, in advance, plus 7.28 postoge, plus 2.47 C.T Out -Of -Area oddresses: 28.00 a year, in advance, plus 11.44 postoge, plus 2.76 G.S.T USA 8 foreign: 28.00 a year in advance, plus 576.00 postage, G.S.T. exempt SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Published, weekly by Signal -Star Publishing at 100 Noin St, Seoforth. Publication mail registra- tion No. 0696 held at Seoforth, Ontario. Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising spoce occupied by the erroneous item, together with a rea- sonable allowance for signoture, will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rote. In the event of a typogrophical error, advertising goods or services al o wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions and undeliverable copies are to be sent to The Huron Expositor. Wednesday, Jant 1 74 Editorial and Business Offices - 100 Main Street, Telephone (5191 527-0240 ta.. Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Association and the Ontario Press Council Editorial Huron takes on world Imagine building a tented city covering 100 acres. Imagine welcoming thousands of people to your home for several days for agricultural events and community interaction. Sound like a daunting task? It isn't scaring away the keen members of the Huron Plowmen's Association and area volunteers. It looks clear now that the Huron group will bid next year to host the 1999 International Plowing Match. Although it is by no means certain the 'Big Match' will be awarded to Huron, there is a strong group of people from the county supporting the effort. There are obvious rewards for Huron County...thousands of people to support our businesses while visiting the area and a chance to put our name on the map. There are many -reasons to take a nervous gulp too...Huron will be following many excellent IPM's such as those recently held in Pembroke and Walkerton. Some people might shy away from organizing an event of this magnitude. The people of this area have shown before, however, that they are willing to take on Targe projects. • Our hats ,go off to those who -we -willing to put the time and effort into bringing the IPM to Huron. Good luck...Huron is behind you. - (TBC). Letters to the Editor AIDS won't just go away Dear Editor, I hesitated to write this letter before Christmas because people don't seem to want to hear about HIV/AIDS, especially at that time of year. After thinking about it for a month or so, I just had to say something. World Aids Day was held on Dec. 1. The Huron County HIV/AIDS Network held an open .house in Wingham at the Senior Citizens Day Centre on Josephine Street. The Huron County Health Unit had a representative there with information and a dozen or more hard-working volunteers put in a lot of time trying to make Huron County aware of what is happening with HIV/AIDS. Well besides the two or three relatives of the volun- teers, no one came. Not one inter- ested person came through that door. What really amazes me is the total unconcern of the vastness of this deadly disease, and the lack of interest shown by the general pub- lic. I shudder to even speculate on the attitude of families five years down the road when it is discovered that some of the family members are HIV positive. The question • people are going to ask will be, "Why didn't anyone tell us?" Huron County HIV/AIDS network has been busy in the past two or three years setting up an office, gathering information, attending conference and seminaand start- ing up support grotfs for people who are infected with HIV/AIDS and another for people who are closely affected by HIV/AIDS. There is an AIDS helpline for any- one who wants to call in with ques- tions or for help. The confidentiality and anonyttrity of anyone contacting the HIV/AIDS Network is respected. The Network is generally trying to make the public aware of this disease and to help clients in any way they can. Most people say that cancer, heart attacks and drunk drivers' cause most deaths today. This may be true at the moment, but the Minis- try of Health reports that in Ontario alone, one death a day can be attributed to AIDS, and five people a day are diagnosed with HIV. The majority of people being/diagnosed with AIDS related illnesses today are women under the age of .30. According to the Quarterly Report coming out of the ministry, 17 - year -old females are becoming the most widely -infected. That scares the heck out of me. I hope it makes others as concerned as I am. Don't remain ignorant and uninterested in this problem thinking it will go away - it won't. A young couple in Huron County who are infected with HIV have been in all the high schools of Huron County informing the young people of the danger of having unprotected sex. Apparently the talks have gone unheeded, consider- ing the pregnancies that have occurred. Getting pregnant can be a problem in itself, but the danger of contacting HIV is horrendous, to say the least. I know there will be some that wilt" say I don't know what I'm talking about. Well, at least I've been to information meeting, watched videos, read as much infor- mation as I can get my hands on, and I have attended workshops. I have heard doctors and nurses speak about AiDS, and I've met and heard people infected with HIV/AIDS talking about this ter- rible disease. It's about time we sat up and took notice folks. It is here in Huron County. We have lost a number of people and we arc going to lose more. Don't wait until someone in your family is infected before you become involved - do it now while your knowledge and support could help someone else. Contact Huron County HIV/AIDS Network at 482-1141. Thank ybu for taking time to read this letter. Sincerely Mickey Nott Volunteer Huron County HIV/AIDS Network •Elms Plant, from the HIV/AIDS network, will be speaking at the Women's Resource Centre, Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Opinion Snowmobiles not everyone's cup of, tea When I ambled into Tuesday's regular meeting of Seaforth Town Council they were all sitting around in the dark watchirty videos. On snow- mobiling. The next night at the Seaforth Police Services Board the topic came up again. Seaforth apparently has all kinds of bylaws already on the books controlling snowmobiling in town but the problem is enfor- cement and catching the quick little, or bigger, culprits. I couldn't get images of our cruisers fish -tailing into drifts deep in the heart of fogy Har- purhey on a Saturday night out of my head. I'm sure the DPP couldn't do any better. Chief Hal Claus detailed a real incident that happened the weekend before when he intercepted a group of 25 snowmobilers from London. They were perhaps on the verge of setting a group record for breaking every bylaw in our book. They knew how they got here but not where they were supposed to go. It made me think of Marlon Brando, the Wild Bunch and motorcycles, an interest I took up in my mid-30s here in Seaforth, have since abandoned but enjoyed immen- sely. I imagine the allure of motorcycles and today's snazzy snowmobiles is similar. But I thought it unusual when I moved to Seaforth in the early 1980s that snowmobilers were apparently allowed such liberties here. I didn't really bother me but I can see where it might others, particularly those not enthused by the buzz of big engines on their property in the quiet of a winter whiteout. You won't find snowmobiles ripping through town and across your front lawn at all hours of the night in Scarborough, ►y Gregor Campbell Toronto, Guelph or London. Personally I have never been able to figure out why anybody would want to go fast and freeze to death dodging barbed wire fences in the middle of a farmer's field. But "different strokes for different folks" I guess, as we used to say. Seems a lot has been hap- pening in snowmobiling the last couple of decades. The business is booming. Powerful new machines can really get you where you want to go with out- fits that can keep you as toasty and stylish as Attila the Hun. There is alsogew an impressive grid of linked snowmobile trails and clubs across the province that can take you from way up north where the moose play to the flat tomato lands surrounding Windsor. One of the videos Council was watching maybe waxed a bit too poetic, and entered the realm of propaganda, when it declared "town council...sitting around in the dark watching videos..." Ontario would soon be, if it was not even as we speak, the NUM- BER ONE snowmobile DES- TINATION IN THE WORLD !! The video went on to urge our decision makers to get on board while the getting's good and support the boom, help the in- dustry make a few bucks, get everybody out into the great outdoors, blah, blah, blah, and who knows where it will all take us. Here in little old Seaforth? Glad to meet you, and I'm the quarterback for the New York Jets, want to buy a bridge? These days I prefer wood stoves, books and a cat on my lap. But I suspect the snow frolick- ing part of life has passed me by. I'm comfortably turning into an old fogey, and other people aren't. Times change, not always for the worse. I'm sure husky dogs aren't complaining about gong the way of the dodo and being replaced by these new fangled motorized thingmees on ice pulling sleds way up by the Pole. After videos, Council received a delegation from the Brussels Snowmobile Club. They were men of few words, much like my motorcycle friends, but interested in developing a snow- mobile trail through town. It would go down Victoria Street and hook up with existing trails, to the west beyond the doughnut shop, enabling us to tap into the coming great snowmobiling age. All it would require is some signs, telling snowmobilers how to get wherever they're going and grab such necessities as fuel and hot toddy along the way. A few local businessmen who have interests in these areas sat in the gallery to provide support. These trail clubs insist they do everything by the book, get authorization before crossing properties, have wardens to police trails, supply, put up and take down their own signs, etc. The delegation from the snowmobile club acted like it wondered why councillors weren't jumping up and down with enthusiasm and coming to them with the Idea, and understandably seemed less than overjoyed when a notion was floated from the floor suggesting they might be able to help nab these other local snowmobilers who either don't know the rules or perhaps could care less. Council said O.K. to the signs. It won't cost taxpayers anything, and perhaps will help future wandering winter nomads from beyond the coffee shop, or wherever. Lord knows we get enough of the raw material, snow, some winters around here and if there is any way of making money from the stuff and it doesn't cost us anything there's not much to lose. One fellow I was talking to after the meeting told of an acquaintance up by Parry Sound whose business is growing by very substantial leaps and bounds since he started aggres- sively going after the snow- mobiling market. So maybe there's something to it. The odds of even limited success are certainly greater than getting IBM or General Motors to put up a plant here. Letters r School should educate, not dictate .�.... Dear Editor, I realize that this article should have been in the paper long ago, but I just got around to writing it now. I am one of the many Seaforth District High School students who are extremely against the dresscode rule. I just don't understand how the way you dress can affect your, or any one else's education. However, I do understand why foul language and nudity is not acceptable on any piece of clothing. Beer shirts, for example, have nothing wrong with them, but they can not be accepted. Just because you must be of age to drink it, does not mean you must be of age to wear a shirt that advertises the substance. It doesn't necessarily mean you use it either. A friend of mine informed me the other day she had gotten a warning of suspention for wearing a Hot Feels Grubwear shirt! What is so offensive or obscene about that? I just don't get it, and something should be done about it. Tereasa Boniface, Michelle Cook P.S. I had always thought that school was here to educate us, not to tell us what to wear. HELP works for job seekers Dear Editor, I am writing on behalf of a group of adults who, for various reasons, are currently looking for work. We range in age from early 20s to late 50s; our skills are many and vari; ous, and our backgrounds differ immensely. One thing we have in common is that we are all now employing the facilities of Huron Employment Liaison Program (HELP). To all those people who are now unemployed, looking for work and having no success finding a job, our message is simple - HELP works! The facilities arc extensive, the staff is enthusiastic and the help they give is invaluable. Most of us thought we knew what it took to find and keep a job. After a few sessions with HELP our skills are light years ahead of what they were. We arc all now almost assured of finding a decent job and keeping it. HELP is only a phone call away (and cost only your time and com- mitment.) Call 519-482-1700 or 482-7546 (collect) and change your future for good. Jim Floyd Seaforth F�sl6ac� =x;11 t eria PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - A church basement on the comer of Jarvis and Goderich Streets was the site of Presbyterian church services in 1867. The church had an addition built on the west side, resulting in balcony seating as depicted in this postcard. Recent renovations have the made the church wheel- chair accessible. Wife assault no small issue Dear Editor, In the Dec. 7, ,1994 issue you printed an interview with Seaforth Police Chief Hal Claus. As a woman, and as a member of the Women's Shelter and Counselling Services of Huron County Board of Directors I was concerned with Chief Claus' statement,"...putting out little fires; such things as domestic relations and labour dis- putes." I hope that I misunderstood Chief Claus when I interpreted the phrase "domestic relations" to mean wife assault. A November 1993 Stats Canada Survey states that 50 per cent of Canadian women arc battered women. Wife or woman assault can J Letters i be physical, sexual, emotional, financial or verbal. Assault is assault regardless of whether that person being assaulted is a stranger or friend or family member. To refer to domestic relations as "little fires" severely downplays the viol-, encs of woman abuse. Later on in the article Chief Claus states that "...it is now easier to protect the victims of domestic McKillop grain separator FROM THE PAGES OF THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JANUARY 25, 1895 George Baird has been engaged in teaching at Baird's school house, 2nd concession of Stanley, for 34 consecutive years. • «« There is considerable sickness in the Cromarty district. Malcolm McKellar is suffering from inflam- matory rheumatism. « «« A grain separator belonging to Mr. Henry Wesenberg, of the townline, in McKillop, was burned on Friday morning last about 4 o'clock. It is not known what 1 disputes, in many cases women and children..." This is true because charges are now laid by the police rather than the victim (ie, wife, girl friend) and thanks to the hard work of many people there are now safe homes or shelters were abused women and their children can go. The Women's Shelter and Counselling Services of Huron is such a place. Please be assured that wife assault is a violent crime and not "a little fire". Yours truly, Terri Shobbrook-Ward Board Member Women's Shelt3r and Counselling services of Huron burns J In the Years Agone caused the fire, but some think that a quantity of oats which had been left in it may have heated and started the machine burning. ««« Mr. Editor: In looking over the last financial statement for the township of Tuckersmith, I find the investments of the township in mortgages bearing six per cent interest. I think public opinion would endorse the action of the council if they would reduce - the interest tacurrent rates, say five per cent. It is not justice to borrowers to extort more than current rates in this period of depres4on. Hoping the council will give it the consider- ation it demands, i remain - a Ratepayer. **« Messrs. E. Lusby, W. N. Watson and W. O. Reid arc now the three oldest continuous business residents of the town, taking precedence in the order named. see Chinese, next page ,1