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Huron Expositor, 2001-04-04, Page 66 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, April 4, 2001 For real peace of mind,, look for this symbol of protection. We provide insurance protection that lets you slap at night. That's because the collective strength of our 50 community based mutual insurers makes us among the most financially secure insurance networks in the world. For you, it means friendly knowledgeable service from people who understand your needs and provide the protection and service you want. SebringvilleT2uziey ja,.a wiyy,a,," 393-6402 1-800-263-1961 A Member Of The Ai Ontario Mutual insurance Associat on Call LYNDA VINCENT DOWNIE at 527-2204 .Aguh«i.��u„w,er Kw or toll free 1-888-269-0377 MUNICIPALITY OF CENTRAL HURON in cooperation with M.P. Russo & Associates LOGO DESIGN CONTEST The municipalities of Clinton,Hullett and Goderich Townships formed the new Municipality of Central Huron on January 1st of this year. A new municipal logo that recognizes the tradition and history of our area but one that will make a statement of the unique offerings of the municipality is required. We would like to invite anyone interested to submit his or her ideas or designs for the newly amalgamated township. We have also invited the graphic design departments of area schools to encourage their students to partidpate in the contest. Many designs were submitted following a recent newspaper article and these would all be considered as contest entries. M.P. Russo & Associates have generously agreed to donate the time of their artwork department as well as a prize to the individual whose design is selected. The winner can select either an Oxygen long -base Scooter or an Original Swiss Army Watch, both with retail values in excess of $150.00. The Council will shortlist the entries and post the finalists submissions in the newspaper asking the area residents to vote on their preferred design. A formal presentation will be scheduled and then your winning design will be used on many articles from business cards to the municipal flag. The deadline for submissions Is Friday, April 20th, 2001. Entries should be forwarded to: Executive Committee Municipality of Central Huron 23 Albert Street, Box 400 Clinton, Ontario, NOM ILO The municipality will retain the rights for use of the winning design in all applications. Designs may be combined at the discretion of the municipality. First Presbyterian Church Goderich St. W. Seaforth Rev. Vandem►ey WORSHIP SUNDAY 11:15 AM Sunday School during Worship SI. Thomas Anglican Church Jarvis St. Seaforth 482-7861 Rev. Tim Connor Sunday Service at 9:30 am. Parish Assistance Call 522-0929 or 345-2023 Catholic Church Saturday - 5:15 pm St. James Parish, Seaforth Saturday - 7:15 pm St. Joseph's Parish, Clinton Sunday - 9:00 am St. Michael's Parish, Blyth Sunday - 11:00 am St. James Parish, Seaforth Father Dino Salvador Bethel Bible Church An Associated Gospel Church 126 Main St. Seaforth Sunday Worship Hour 11 am Adventure Club for Kids & Youth Groups Wednesdays 7 p.m. Egmondvllle United Church Rev. Judith Springett Palm Sunday SUNDAY SCHOOL Grades 2to8 • 10 a.m. Adults - 10 a.m. Nursery to Grade 1 - 11 a.m. Sunday School Bake Sale SuProceeds for oodorain Bank NORTHSIDE - CAVAN UNITED CHURCHES Rev. Sheila Macgregor - Minister 9:30 a.m. Cavan 11:00 a.m. Northside Winthrop 54 Goderich St. W. 527-2635 or 527-1449 , Elderly are healthier longer: researcher By Scott HlIgondorff Expositor Editor The elderly are staying healthier longer, said Steven Lewis, a health policy and research consultant from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. "The elderly have become less disabled as they grow old," said Lewis. He was speaking in Stratford Friday at a rural aging forum organized by the Grey Bruce Huron Perth District Health Council and gave an overview of population and health trends in seniors. The trends offered suggestions of areas where more specific needs of the health care system might be high or where the health care system might not be stressed at all as a new population grows older but stays healthier. While the elderly are staying healthier, longer, needing less medical services, he said it is leading to a more active older population which are now experiencing more hip fractures, placing a specific burden on the health care system. And while statistics and data Lewis presented sometimes suggested a coming burden to areas of the health care system, Lewis stressed that "doom and gloomers" who are expecting an unaffordable health care system aren't necessarily correct. For example, life expectancy has increased in the past decade by two years but at the 'same time, the aging babyboomer population is living healthier and not expected to need the health care system as much as past generations as they age. "We seem to be healthier than our parents were in the 40s and 50s," said Lewis, a babyboomer. He said the onset of heart disease is occurring later in life and people survive it longer. And Lewis said the only area of health concerns for seniors that he expects will lead to continuous long-term care in the near future will come from forms of dementia like Alzheimer's disease. More than half of nursing home residents have significant mental impairments and Lewis said trends suggest there will be "huge numbers of people with dementia needing beds." He also said chronic diseases are expected to increase with age arid will be an area where larger amounts of money will be tied up. Lewis said quality of life has become a more important measure of health care than just by looking at birth and death rates. However, Aging The second of a two-part look at ai local health council forum on aging in Huron County he suggested the quality of care in rural areas could be affected by the declining rural populations. He said higher population levels are needed to sustain more services in hospitals and the health care industry. He also warned against certain trends that could hurt rural health care. For example, he said hospitals can threaten rural care by working with hiring practices based on credentials. By wanting health care professionals with a specific type of degree or number of years experience, Lewis said hospitals are limiting their ability to bring doctors and nurses into underserviced communities by not looking at other professionals who could still provide the same quality of service in their specific fields. By seeking higher credentialed staff, he said, "you will have trouble maintaining that in a rural area." He also warned against being too rigid about the work people do, adding that a nurse practitioner can do about 85 per cent of the work a general practitioner can do. Lewis also said people are getting a false impression about what's available to them in rural hospitals by watching news from American cities or television programming through shows like ER. He said they see all the gadgets and energy in those shows and are fooled by it. "They thing, 'Gee, we can't get good care in a rural area.'" he said. "It's preposterous. It's needless in a lot of areas." he said. adding that regardless, people think they need to go to a city to get "deluxe care" when they could get the same quality of service from their local medical community. One in three Seaforthp peo le are seniors One in three people in Seaforth are Senior Citizens, said Tony Fuller, of the University of Guelph. He was speaking in Stratford on Friday, March 23 at the first Rural Aging Forum sponsored by the Grey Bruce Huron Perth District Health Council. That was one of the interesting statistics shared by Fuller, who was part of a closing panel discussion. The recent amalgamations which have taken place have sometimes meant we have "lost the edge" in terms of statistics. He points out that statistics for the wider municipality of Huron East might show a figure like '17 per cent' for seniors in the municipality. It wouldn't reflect, however, the number of Seniors who live in the actual 'town' portion of Seaforth. "That's worth thinking about when providing (service)," he said. "Seniors in rural Ontario are in towns, they're not in townships (as much)." The topic of municipal amalgamations under county restructuring had not been addressed at Friday's forum, he told the crowd in Stratford. "Municipal restructuring has an impact on rural Ontario but we have yet to understand what it means to us," he said. Fuller called the Rural Aging Forum "the most inclusive day I can remember" on the subject but he also urged organizers to invite more church representatives and bankers to future fora on the subject. By Tim Cumming Farm succession complicated by reluctance of older farmers to retire By Tim Cumming Goderich Signal -Star Editor Many older farmers don't ever plan to give up farming. That makes it difficult to plan for an orderly succession, according to one of the speakers at the Rural Aging Forum hosted by the Grey Bruce Huron Perth District Health Council. One third of farmers told a survey they want to retire between the age of 65 and 70. Another third of the farmers surveyed said they only planned to semi -retire. One third of those farmers questioned said they would never retire. Too many farmers wait until there is a major crisis such as an illness before passing on the family farm, said Peter Coughler, of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, who spoke on Friday, March 23 in Stratford. "Older farmers are staying a lot longer," he said. There are many reasons farmers aren't quick to pass on their farms to a younger generation. Many older farmers see the equity of their farm as their retirement nest egg. They may want to help their children enter agriculture but, at the same time, they don't want to give up their 'retirement fund.' Farms are getting larger and larger and many young prospective farmers can't afford to buy into an enterprise which might cost three quarters of a million dollars. Farmers are often caught up with the day-to-day trials of running the operation and find it hard to sit down and sketch out a plan. "We're so caught up in our daily pressures of keeping that farm going," said Coughler. "We don't (feel we) have time to think strategically." Fear of conflict is another reason some farm families put off succession planning. The OMAFRA speaker pointed to examples in his own life when talking of how farm families can lose money if they don't plan well. "There's a need to plan here, folks," he said. "If we don't implement it. properly there's a significant risk of erosion of capital." There are strategies being developed for young people to enter agriculture, according to the speaker. He said there are 'farm link' databases in the United States which link retiring farmers and young people entering agriculture. Farmers over the age of 55 have a great deal of expertise that should be tapped, said Coughler. He said working six months on his father's farm probably taught him more than he learned getting his Masters degree. The agriculture and agri- food sector is second only to automobiles in terms of economic activity, said Coughler. One of the major issues of the future, said Coughler. is the fact farm operator income is going down. He said there are concerns within the agricultural industry but "I don't think the sky is falling quite yet." Retiring tradesmen make apprenticeships for youth important By Tim Cumming Goderich Signal -Star Editor The coming retirement of the baby boom generation will have an impact not only on health care but also on labour markets. according to one of the speakers at the Rural Aging Forum hosted on Friday, March 23 by the Grey Bruce Huron Perth District Health Council. The vast majority of new jobs will be created due to retirements. said Mike Elliot, information analyst with Human Resources Development Canada. This makes retention of young people in rural areas extremely important, he said. "We need to encourage youth to stay here," he told the crowd at the Amen Park Hotel in Stratford. The average age of an employee with a trade certificate is somewhere in the early 50s, he said. There has been some success in increasing the number of apprenticeships taken by youths in the region he said. hut he stressed it's very important to encourage young people to take trades. The HRDC analyst talked of the importance of trades during his talk at Friday afternoon's forum. Elliot said anything which threatens the main sectors of agriculture, industry and services should cause cone cm. The health care sector may have only three per cent of the area's employers but it is the source of roughly ten per cent of the work force, said Elliot. Get $3.50 off per acre. Pair Frontier or ProwN + Marksman° Whether you choose Frontier + Marksman for proven one -pass weed control in wet or dry weather, all season long, or the superior control of key weeds that you get from Prowl + Marksman, the Power Acre is the right choice for you. it's simple. There's no minimum or maximum purchase. 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