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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-03-25, Page 4 (2)11 -ME MYRON EXPOSITOR, Marc& ZS, 111118 Your Community Newspaper Sine 1860 TERRI-LYNN DALE - General Manager & Advertising Monger LARRY DAIRYMPLE - Soles PAT ARMES - Office Manager DIANNE McGRATH - Subscriptions & Classifieds JACKIE FITTON - Editor GREGOR CAMPBELL - Reporter BARB STOREY • distribution A Bowes Publishers Community Newspaper SUBSCRIPTION RATES LOCAL - 32.50 o year, in odvonce, plus 2.28 GS T. SENIORS 30 00 o year; in advance, plus 2 10 G.S.T. USA & Forai9n 28 44 a year in advance, plus 578.00 poabge, G.S T. exempt SUBSCRIPTION RATES . Published weekly by Sgno1-Star Publishing at- 100 Main St., Seaforth. Publication mail registration No. 0696 held at Seaforth, °Nano. Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising spot* occupied by the erroneous item, together with o reasonable allowance for signature, will not - be charged, but the bolance of the odvertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate In the event of a typographicot error, advertising goods or services of o wrong price, goods or services may not be sold Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time The Huns Expositor is not responsible 6r the foss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions and undeliv- erable copies ore to be sent to The Huron Expositor Wednesday, March 25, 1998 - Editorial and Business Offices - 100 Main Street.,Seaforth Telephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (5191527-2858 Moiling Address • P.O. box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO Member of the Canod;an Community Newspaper Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Associahon and the Ontano Press Council Publication Mail Registration No. 07605 We're online! Want to e-mail your Letters to the Editor? Thu Huron E..pcsitor has gone high-tech and online.' Our e-mail address is: htltrone.V a rssc ansa R, mernhr,r, AIL Letters tiiIittisVitOr'must be signed and have a telephone number for consternation.' Letters may be edited for both length and t .'don't forget to cheek oureat wwww , ... tor/ The debate continues over possible closure Dear Editor: - For the past few weeks there has been a great debate _ on whether Seaforth District High School should be - closed, Even we. graduates from SDHS, as we live our new lives at university and college have heard that our old school may be forced to close its doors. This is a mes- sage to those who arc.locking the doors on the future of many, students. ; The years we `spent at SDHS were the ones that shaped our lives and our. - futures.' We learned valuable" life lessons not only from the excellent staff; but from the friends we made in -our tight- ly honded _school setting. SDHS is 'an academicinstitu- tion known for the its high scholarly 'work. ,Year aTter'- year its -graduates move on to. represent not only their fami- lies, but the town of Seaforth in their accomplishments. It is our opinion'that the education wc have received from SDHS is -'not just on paper., but is pan of our lives. - Editorial Youths named under, provincial statute • This week we've received numerous calls regarding the ages of youths being named in the OPP report. - - Several callers said we had violated the Young Offenders Act in naming the people charged. This is not true. According• to.thc law. anyone charged under. the provincial statute and over the age of 16 years. can he puhlically named. ' OPP say anyone charged under a provincial statute: the Ontario Highway Traffic. Act; -Liquor Control Act or the Snowmobile Act or any provincial statute governing anyone from 16 years and older is not a criminal matter and doesnot apply to the Young Offenders Act which is part of the -Criminal Code. of Canada. Usually any youth being charged under this federal act has possibly. committed a criminal offense. and therefore can't be named. i,inless'thc police apply to the couns to have. the youth's identity revealed in order to locate the individual. Only then does the youth's identity become public and only lite a 24-hour Period. • But under thc'pmvincial statute youths over 16 years can he named. JF Volunteers needed Dear Editor: Scaforth's Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) Committee is looking for .volunteers from the pub- lic to help conduct interviews of Seaforth and area busi- • nesses for part of our project to respond to the needs. con- cerns and opportunities of local business. industry and agriculture. Volunteer raining will take place at the end of April and interviews will commence in early May and hopefully be completed by June. Thc interviews arc strictly confidential and volunteers will beasked to sign a waiver ensuring that confidentiality is maintained for the inter- view process. Seaforth was fortunate to be chosen as one of seven com- munities in -On,. --4o) to under- go this pilot project in con- junction with the Ministry of Agriculture (OMAFRA) to look at ways of retaining local business and creating an effective partnership between businesses and the communi- ty. - Answers to some of thc non -local and general ques- tions in the survey will be compiled to give a province-, wide look at community business trends and concerns in Ontario. Members of the BRE com- mittce. all volunteers from all walks of life in the Seaforth arca, have been meeting for over a year in preparation for the upcoming survey. Two volunteers will con- duct each of the business interviews which will take an average one to two hours to complete. Training will also take about two hours. If you're interested in the future of Seaforth and area and can spare a few hours of your time to help volunteer. please'drop by the town hall or call 527-0160. Sincerely, David Scott Media Committee Seaforth BRE Correction to last weeks police report On Friday March 6 at approximately 8:50 p.m. Mark Beuermanr17, of McKillop Twp. was found to have alcohol in his posses- sion in the parking lot at the Seaforth Arena. He was charged under the Liquor Licence Act. Thc wording 'consuming alcohol' was incorrect. The Huron OPP detach- ment apologizes for the incorrect wording used on thc press release in thc Huron Expositor March 18. Many of us are attending uni- versity classes where teachers and students have no desire to get to know one another. It has been said many times before, but part "of the great academic standing comes from the fact the staff and students are able to interact on a human level. The indi- vidual is not just marked on their grades; they are evaluat- ed on their.life'skills and are taught important lessons on communication and leader ship. Such important personal qualities can only he .enhanced by a small school setting. - Although we only attended , high school to further our for- mal education we were also given opportunities to expand our minds. We have alto , proudly represented SDHS at various functions at county, ,district. provincial and even international levels. We have - participated on school sports teams in academic clubs. stu- dents council athletic associ- ations' and various-affilia- :tions that have increased our , • . our social skills. , Five years of high school at SDHS has broadened our . horizons. We have learned the value of planning ahead as our courses were -never "spoon- fed' to us. We, as mature stu- dents had to organize and plan our lives. This is a skill that has become most valu- -able in our post -secondary institutions. -where time and numbers make it virtually impossihle for faculty to per- sonally assist in the schedul- ing of a students life. At SDHS there was always.a helping hand to guide us along the path. We were shown how to prepare for the years ahead by patient guidance counsellors and teachers. They not only knew us as a Student, but as a per- son with dreams and goals. Closing the doors on SDHS will not only shut down a his- - torical .and well known high school, hut will prevent stu- dents from participating in a unique educational experi- ence . Fcir many of us, graduation was a step onto bigger and brighter things, hut our con - Student fares well at SDHS Dear Editor: To the ,attention of Mr. Chuck Rowland: 1 am writing this letter in response to the recommended closure of the Seaforth High School. in Seaforth. i am the parent of a young than in the school o system. Our son did attend Mitchell District High School and asked us if ,hc could transfer to the Seaforth High School to obtain a bet- ter schooling. as he was hav- ing a vera difficult time in a school, whiGh,numhered in size. - . We as parents', explained the choices and made it quite clear that -he could not jump hack and forth if he did not like the school. -Several months later we asked him *hat he thought of the two schools. My son's comment was • "mo'm, Stiaforth is.awesome and they are like a family." In the pre- vjous school. the 'drugs were liquid and my son said "they • would drop drugs in you; drinks. if you didn't keep and eye on your own body. in Seaforth there arc drugs, hut they arc not shoved on other kids, like the other school." - My son's marks climbed. much highetand l can only commend the teachers and principals:in Seaforth-High for -showing our children a positive step towards their future, as there is so much around to stray children away from the good in life. Why do you think sq many hockey stars. figure skaters and other figures came out of that school system'? I would assure you because the num= hers arc indeed lower and teachers do pay the utmost attention to their, students. My son said and 1 quote "when the teachers went on Strike in November 1997. the students -backed them fully to protect their education and their school. Now the. same board is trying to close. what they all fought so hard to pre- serve." - . Our son has said if the. school closes. he and many other students will drop out of thc school system. Is this what education today really means? If it was my school, 1 would probably feel the same way. When Canadian Tire shut their store in Seaforth, we were -told it was the worst possible thing that could have' happened. as people turned in their cards and, refused to shop elsewhere. Seaforth is a unique town where children and parents do interact. • - We have two other children that will- someday attend the high school as well. and 1 can only hope they will receive the. same strong schooling that is being provided today. May the Seaforth High remain strong and .untouched by thecutbacks of people who seem to think things *ill he better as handages and will not heal the cuts that are slowly happening., Please stand with us on rejecting the closure of a very reputable highschool which hats only delivered the very hest in the past and in the future. Jan. Terry Haycock. Jeff. Dean and Robyn. - SDHS has strong academic program Dear Editor: l was distressed to hear of the possible closing of Seaforth District, High School. I graduated from the high school in 1994 and went , on to attend university at the University of Windsor. 1 am proud to be a graduate of' thc High School in Seaforth and feel that I strongly benefitted from my attendance there. Seaforth has a strong acade- mic program, and 1 would hate to sec that lost because another high school in the area opened. i'was recently speaking with a friend about how prepared we felt we were for university when wc left high school. i say with confidence that'I feel i could not have been prepared any better than I was in Seaforth. Yes. it is a smaller school but that is an asset. Students ben- efit more from the one-on- one attention they receive in a small school, than they do when they feel they are just a number. Some students need a bit of extra help and if a class is too large it is difficult for teachers to give this extra assistance. I am proud to be able to say each of the teach- ers knew me by name, even if 1 was notin their classes. This makes the schibol a more comfortable place to be, and 1 feel students will not get the benefit of this kind of treat- ment at a larger school. 1 am also concerned for the town of Seaforth in general. Many stores are closing in town already, it saddens me when 1 return home to sec more empty spaces down town. If. the high school closes i believe it will be a detriment to the town in general. Think of it from this perspective. Who, would want to move their family to a town where the nearest high school for their children is 8 miles away? People will be deterred from moving into the town and opening up new businesses. The town may eventually become a "ghost town", I sincerely hope that you will reconsider closing the high school. thc argu- ments that 1 have presented are only the beginning of the list. Karen J. Nigh nection to the golden hear spirit of SDHS still remains. We have made connections that will last a lifetime and have learned: many important lessons. that wc can only speak of when rememhering our high school years, Our memories arc the same as those who flocked to the SDHS fora reunion during Seaforth Homecoming in 1995. 1.1 is a sad moment when the wants of adminis- tration arc valued more than the fine education that 'thou- _ sands of students have and will receive from this unique school. -. We believe. we arc better off_ with .our SDHS- educations. We all completed the courses that were necessary for our acceptance to univcrSity and college. We have succeeded - in taking the next step,in our adult lives. This step could not have been made possible without the support of SDHS.' its staff and the community. Shutting down SDHS is a mistake based on irrational - thought_ that will not only have a negative effect on the lives of its students but also the community which its standards are set. - These decisions arc being made by many individuals - who have never truly lived - through at SDHS experience. in closing we ask you to seriously think about the - lives you will bc.affecting if you shut down SDHS. SDHS should remain open. • We as graduates:have expe- rienced the many positive, aspects of the school first hand and are benefitting from those •experiences even now as you sit and read this letter. -Sincerely SDHS graduates' of the class of 1997. Carly• . Price -Ryerson . Polytechnic University . Cara Spittal -Queens-: -University - Geiiff Dalton -Guelph University , Brent Hulley-Lakehcad University - Jeanette Denys -Seneca Col lege Juilic Agar -University of Waterloo. Hospice says, thank you Dear Editor: 'The board of directors and volunteers of Huron Hospice Volunteer service are 'grateful to The Looking Glass and the Seaford Community Centers staff. On Feb. 21 a very success- ful Health and Wellness Fair was held in Seaforth. In order, for wellness and good health to become a focus of our daily living a partnership is essential between the con- sumer. the provider and the volunteer. We arc fortunate to live in a community where the indi- viduals such,as the organizers of this event were willing to commit so much time and energy to making this suc- cessful. Huron Hospice appreciates being recognized as a worth charity to which the profits were donated. Shirley Dinsmore. Huron Hospice Volunteer Service and Chris Smith. chairperson. Do you see anything wrong with M.Ps placing Canadian flags on their desks?? 1; • Harry Hak Seaforth "...no. But the rulc of the house is they arc not sup- posed to." Elly Schoonderwoerd Seaforth "...no. I think the whole dis- play in parliament is very childish. The whole incident is stupid." Marie Johnston Seaforth "...no. They should be able to put the Canadian flag wherever they want to. We have to stand up for our country." Tim Troyer Scaforih "...no. It's a Canadian flag and it should be respected."