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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-12-18, Page 44—TNI HURON axPOSITOR, Docentimw 1111, 11,111 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 TERRI-LYNN DALE - General Manager & Advertising Manager MARY MELLOR - Soles PAT ARMES - Office Manager DIANNE McGRATH - Subscriptions & Classifieds DAVE SCOTT - Editor GREGOR CAMPBELL. - Reporter BARB STOREY - distribution A Bowes Publishers Community Newspaper SUBSCRIPTION RATES LOCAL - 32.50 a year, in odvonce, plus 2.28 G.S.T SENIORS: 30.00 a year, in odvonce, plus 2 10 G.S T. USA & foreign: 32.50 o year in advance, plus $78 00 postage, G S T. exempt SUBSCRIPTION RATES. Published weekly by Signal -Star Publishing ot 100 Main St., Seaforth. Publication mail registration No 0696 held of Seaforth, Ontario Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of o ypogrophicol error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable ollowance for signature, will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be poid for at the opplicable rote In the event of a ypogrophicol error, advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn ot any time The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes.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 subscription' and undeliv- erable copies are to be sent to The Huron Expositor Wednesday, December 18, 1996 Editorial and Business Offices • 100 Main Street.,Sooforth Telephone 15191 527-0240 fax 1519) 527-2858 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK !WO Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Association and the Ontario Press Council Views expressed on our opinion page(s) don't necessarily represent those of The Huron Expositor or Bowes Publishers. The Huron Expositor reserves to right to edit letters to the edi- tor or to refuse publication. Letters to the Editor Doctor asks: `Where were you when DHC asked for input?' Dear Editor: I am writing once again with- respect to the DHC Steering Committee and the three options as outlined over the past few weeks. First of all; let me say that unlike other communities, your paper has made a serious attempt to explain the process and give all sides to a very difficult problem. My letter goes out to all the people who have been writ- ing letters to the editor or who have asked questions at the various town meetings. Where were you when the District Health Council asked for input over the past six months? Did any of you think of sitting on a focus group that was held in your community? Perhaps you should have volunteered for the Program Task Force Committees, or at the very least, written a' letter to your local hospital board. Did you do any of this? Thc reaction I have wit- nessed over the past two weeks by numerous people is fuelled by misinformation from various individuals and groups throughout the coun- ties. What makes things worse, is that I have heard many people (not directly involved in hospital care), parroting the "party line" of their local hospital. There is much talk about "hluc dots", and how many members from each community arc on the steering committee, and the lack of on site visitation by steering a mmittec mem- bers. The press d many com- munity leader seem to have forgotten the many thousands of hours spent by hundreds of volunteers to make this process come about. In my opinion they have carried it out to the letter and they have made three reasonable options available for discus- sion. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much discussion but merely emotional and sometimes inappropriate reaction. Would any of us have felt better if the eight admninis- trations and boards were the only ones with input? If this process has done anything, it has generated more dialogue between the local hospitals in the past two weeks than I have witnessed in the past six years. Let us not forget that cuts are on the way regardless whether a DHC makes pro- posals or not. The govern- ment is planning cuts totalling anywhere between 15 and 30% depending on whose figures you believe. The biggest part of any hos- pital budget is its staffing and the most expensive service it provides is surgery. I, for one, would rather sec cooperation among hospitals in develop- ing ways to minimize these cuts and share the burden. In this way more of the services that arc offered in Huron and Perth counties would be maintained in our region. In closing, I would like to extend my gratitude to those who volunteered to help this process along. You arc made of sterner stuff than many of our would -be -leaders in the various communities who failed to support the process in thc first place or who later condemned it when thcy did not get their way. I hope that once the final option is decided upon, that things do not deteriorate (as thcy have in the past two weeks) into what is basically a shouting match between communities. Sincerely, M. Woldnik, M.D. Funds to fight cancer Dear Editor: Despite thc economic and social uncertainties caused by our rapidly -changing world, the citizens of Huron and Perth counties have countin- ucd their very generous sup- port of the Huron -Perth Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society. Through a variety of fundraising activities the local unit has surpassed its financial objective of $400,000, raising $455,648 for the fiscal year ending September 30. All of this money was raised in Huron and Perth counties; we receive no government finan- cial assistance. The funds raised arc used to further research, provide patient services, and support health education programs. A very small percentage of money raised is used for CONTINUED on page 5 Big banks in the season of giving Little Richie Thomson was sitting on Santa's knee in the North Pole Castle at the mall and he was sobbing. Gently patting little Richie on the bum, Santa said: "There, there Richie, you have to stop crying now so you can tell Santa what you want for Christmas." Gradually Richie's sniffles and short gasps subsided and twirling his hair with his fingers he looked up at Santa who then wiped away the lad's tears with the white wool cuff of his red satin suit. "I want my billion," said Richie. "Is that a game or toy?" Santa asked. "I want my billion dollars, Santa. All my friends got their billions this Christmas and I want mine!" With that Richie started to cry again but Santa ho-ho- ho'ed him out of it. Richie Thomson, Chairman of the Toronto Dominion Bank, the only big bank in Canada not to make a billion dollars in profits this year, was unconsolable these days. Santa was alarmed at Richie's complexion, kind of a TD envy green. "Petie Godsoe at the Scotia got a billion this year," said Richie, looking down at his little Buster Brown shoes • with a long face that could break out bawling any second. "And Matty Barrett at the Montreal got his billion," Richie continued. "Al Flood got his billion at the CIBC and Johnny Cleghorn at the Royal got almost a billion and a half dollars. Where's mine Santa?" Santa shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't the question that bothered him Reader asks: but the warm wet spot that was spreading on his knee. "Well Richie," said Santa, "were you a good boy this year?" "I was as good as those other guys who got their billions. I foreclosed on farmers. I repossessed cars and trailer homes.from my customers. I overcharged on my credit card interest rates by almost 15%. I doubled all my service charges even when there was no service involved. Why I even called in business loans on clients who have been dealing with me for over ten years. And for all this what do I get? A lousy 914 million dollars in profit, that's what." "Now, now Richie," Santa soothed... Richie hit the stem of his Donald Duck watch, punched in two numbers and listened as Donald Duck's voice spit out: "Eighty-sixth." "See, I got screwed out of 86 million dollars!" whined Richie. "Now, now watch your language Richie or Santa will have to jam a lump of coal in your ear. Maybe the boys at the other banks will share with you." "Share?" exclaimed Richie and cocking his head like he was hearing this word for the first time. "Oh," Richie relaxed "you mean like General Motors shares or IBM shares." "No," said Santa. "I mean maybe your friends at the others banks will give you some of their largess." "Give?" repeated Richie incredulously. "After all, it is Christmas," said Santa. "Give? Share?" said Richie with a dazed look on his face and then he convulsed in loud hysterical laughter that caused shoppers to pause and look at him. The woman in tattered clothes panhandling with a tin cup in front of STARBUCKS smiled at the sight of little Richie laughing. She hadn't heard him laugh like that since the big banks pulled the rug out from under the Reichmann Brothers and wound up owning Canary Wharf. She was Richie's mother. "I guess you're confirming what a lot of people are saying, that Canada's big banks aren't in it for the • public good," said Santa. Little Richie started to wheeze and Santa wasn't sure if he was going to lapse into a fit of laughter or crying. "Public good!" Richie managed to gasp. Santa, you know those guys in the tobacco industry who manipulate the nicotine levels in cigarettes? Yah; well we brought those guys in to conduct our professional development seminars. Public good my..." "Now, now Richie" warned Santa. "This is the time of ' year to care and give!" Richie flinched on the word "give" and nearly fell backwards off Santa's knee. "You know" said Santa with sadness in his voice, "the food banks are as busy as real banks at this time of year. If the real banks financed all the food banks in the country, the entire cost would only amount to a ".0 something" entry in your year-end statements." "Yeah! Great idea, Santa", enthused Richie. "I could wholesale food to the banks, take a 25% return on my investments and... "No, no Richie. The food banks give food away free," said Santa. This time the word "give" coupled with the word "free" did send little Richie backwards off Santa's knee where he landed in a pile of fake reindeer doot. Santa started to help Richie back up but something caught the little banker's eye, one of those glass bowls half-filled with Salvation Army donations, and he wandered toward it intending to inquire about franchise possibilities. Santa was about to holler "Merry Christmas" to the little lad but then seeing Richie walking away, with a big wet spot,on his bum and reindeer doot'on his shoes, 'all Santa could do was throw his. head back with a hearty "HO!" How can two .hospitals cope with surgery? Dear Editor: How in the world can any- one with a trace of sanity left, in all this melange, expect that two hospitals will be able to cope with the influx of surgery from the others, considering that they already have a backlog of tremen- dous proportions. I know that in '92 I was scheduled for hip surgery in Stratford a year ahead and have been told it is even worse now. Don't think for a minute that money is going to be saved by an upheaval such as is planned! A point some may not be aware of, who still think the "co -payment" for drugs for seniors was a measure to save money, as we were told, - the Government took the seniors' money to extend drug bene- fits under the Trillium plan to what they call "the working- class poor". So what were the savings there? The thought has crossed my mind that restructurings of hospitals and municipalities are just red herrings, thrown out to keep us occupied, while the government (or dic- tatorship) is quietly working away behind the scene on other Machiavellian schemes! And "occupied" we are, trying to make sense of all the gobbledegook we. are handed! I'm with you, Ralph,Smith. It certainly isn't feasible to delay considering costs until selection of an option, partic- ularly when costs were the primary reason for a change; costs should be studied first, to see where savings can be made. I agree that the report is entirely too vague and too wordy, without saying a great deal of any value. Sincerely, Et. F. Bassett Santa presents 1,000 stockings FROM THE PAGES OF THE HURON EXPOSITOR JANUARY 1, 1897 CHRISTMAS ENTER- TAINMENT - The entertain- ment given by the pupils of St. James' church Sunday school, in Cardno's hall, on the evening of Christmas Day, was the most successful of any yet given, not only on account of thc large atten- dance, but also for the excel- lence of the programme pre- sented. The part that "took" the lit- tle ones the most was at the close, when Santa Claus came in on the stage with his chariot loaded with good things for them, which he distributed lavishly, and all seemed to be pleased with his generosity. THE TOWN NOMINA- TIONS - The nominations for the town of Seaforth took place in the town hall on Friday evening last, Mr. William Elliott, town clerk, presiding. There was a large attendance of electors, the hall being crowded and the meeting throughout was most orderly and agreeable. The following nominations were made: For Mayor, Mr. Robert Scott and Mr. B.B. Gunn; for Reeve, Mr. James Beattie and Mr. James Watson; for Deputy -Reeve, Mr. Alexander Wilson and Mr. William Smith. For Councillors, - North Ward, Messrs.. R. Winter, William Ament, D. McIntyre, J.C. Smith, James McMichael, F.W. Tweddlc; South Ward, Messrs. George A. Sills, J.S. In the Years Agone Roberts, James Gillespie, W.W. Thompson, J.A. Stewart, Peter Spain, Alfred Stark; East Ward, Messrs. John Turner, John Darwin, John G. Wilson, Thomas Stephens. DECEMBER 23,1921 Will Captain Port Colborne Team - Thc Port Colborne Citizen of last Thursday has thc following to say regard- ing a well known Seaforth boy: "Monday night at a meeting of the hockey play- ers Joe Sills was elected cap- tain of the team. He was thc unanimous choice of thc players, and thc selection will meet with the entire approval of the whole town, for Joe is as popular in the business and social world as he is on the ice." Chistlehurst Notes - The rise in thc price of raw furs has been an inducement to our local sportsmen to set after the skunks, and just recently about two hundred dollars' worth was shipped from these parts. - A rare specimen of the squirrel fam- ily was killed here recently by a dog. Its color was purc white. Walton Notes - Mr. John Marshall has sold his 100 acrc farm to Mrs. Regan, of Kinhurn, thc price paid was $6,500. Mr. Marshall has Nought the 50 acrc farm belonging to Mr. Fred Jackson, 12th Concession, McKillop. Possession in each case given in March. DECEMBER 27, 1946 When Santa arrived in Seaforth Friday afternoon under the auspices of the Lions- Club he presented more than I,000 stockings to as many children of Seaforth and district. Following his reception at the gayly deco- rated tree at the corner of Main and Godcrich Streets, the children were guests at the Regent Theatre where two.special programs were presented. •** Dublin Continuation and St. Patrick's Separate School presented their annual Christmas concert to a capac- ity audience on Friday night. The program included a play by the St. Patrick's junior room. "The Shepherd's Children"; Wassail dance by Separate School girls; recita- tion, "Who's Old Santa'?" by Grade 1; dance, "The Christmas Fairies," "The Dancing Lesson," by Grade I boys; comedy, "Do Mcn Gossip?" featuring Allan Butters, Leonard Feeney, Lorne Cronin, Joe Costello, Louis Kramer and Ursula Feeney; recitations by Don Klinkhamer and Bernard Costello. The high school girls were very effective in semi -choruses and carols. A play, "In the• Shepherd's Field," was presented by Maurice Dillon, Lou Doyle, Jerry Stapleton, Doreen Murray. Catharine McIver, Ronnie Butters, Phonse Meagher and Florence Moore. DECEMBER 30, 1971 Terry Johnston, on the staff of Seaforth District High School and member of the London Lords, h.as been selected as a member of the Senior Ontario Rugby Football Union All-Star Team. After an exhaustive survey of education needs in Huron County, Conestoga College's Huron Centre will launch full scale educational programs next month. In advertisements appearing in Huron County weekly newspapers this week the college invites applications for four courses which will enable county residents to upgrade their educational cre- dentials and qualify for train- ing for better jobs. "Wc know now what is pro- duced in Huron, by whom, what skills are necessary and what thc problems of indus- try arc," Ross Milton, direc- tor of Huron Ccntrc said Tuesday while discussing the information gained from the survey. Thc survey took place in the county over the past year and a half and included brochures set to county industries and personal visits to plants. 4