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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2009-08-19, Page 4live 4 August 19, 2009' • The Huron Expositor Opinion Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK 1.WO Hospital plannin 5.:: .t2 � j •. .. wY- i ..,. .S-` � � IN��`•J M4 : t �• the uron- `B'er`th eaithcare Alliance begins to engage the public with a series of community work- shops with those who registered for the privilege of providing their input, it seems that some old ideas are being revisited while creating a vision fpr the tare. For as long as the Alliance has existed, there has been talk of consolidating services and establishing centres of specialty in each of the four member -hos- pitals in Seaforth, Clinton, Stratford and St. Marys. Seaforth is usually identified as the hospital where seniors and their needs will be attended to with : Clinton targetted as the Huron County hospital for various types of surgery and obstetrics. Stratford is usually seen as the acute care centre that offers the whole gamut of healthcare serve. =r < > <rf, 'On the whole, it's been a plan t s been resisted ommunity members in each of the four centres. eOmmunities with smaller hospitals, like Sea are usually concerned that specialized ° means a decreasing role =overall in health' questionable future. :mit even the community in Stratford has not been ` • in the past about the idea of having to leave the city and travel into the country to visit grand- parents who have been hospitalized in Seaf . But, with hospital administration warning that; the status quo cannot continue to meet the evolving realities in the healthcare system, these ideas will be put on the table once more as registered Clinton and Seaforth residents meet in Clinton tonight for the first of several community workshops thro out Huron and Perth Counties. No one can dispute that aging a Boomers will create a greater number of seniors with health con- cerns for an already struggling and short-staffed hospital system. These are trends that have been public knowledge for more than a decade. But, it's curiouthat public input for future plan- ning is being sought by the Alliance in a way that re- quires closed meetings so that anonymous responses from alimited number of pre -registered participants can be gathered and molded into reports from which the Alliance board will make its decisions. When healthcare remains the top concern of Cana- dians and the most highly publicly -funded service in Ontario, planning for the future should engage the largest number of taxpayers possible in a completely open forum. Susan Hundertrnark �fKf: Your Community Nswspopor Site 1860 Publisher - Dave Sykes . Editorial and Business Offices -11 Main Street., Seaforth Thlephone (619) 527-0240 Fax (519) 627-2868 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, ON, NOK 1W0 Visit our home page at www. Loom Ask Cana& 111P QM= MINA MUNI "WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE GO RNMENT OF CANADA, THROUGH THE ffUBLICATIONS PROGRAM (PAP), TOWARD OUR MAILING odors." I'm calling on all my writing expertise as I prepare a wedding speech While I enjoy my job as a writer, any skills I've acquired in this profession don't really carry over well into other areas of my life in any practical way. It's not like beings mechanic or a nurse. It's unlikely to be in the mid- dle of an emergency or even a minor jam and have somebody blurt out des- perately, `Geez, if only a writer were here.' Outside of crafting a better than average greeting card message, my writing is pretty much confined to the newspaper. That is, until now. In a couple months, someone very close to me is getting married and asked me' if I wanted to make a speech on the occasion, to which I en- thusiastically agreed. I've been a wedding emcee before, but I've never written or given a reception speech. Like news stories, I'm assuming that wed- ding speeches have a formula of their own. Start off with a joke: "I'm not saying- the bride could do better, but..." Follow it up with a nice sentiment: "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. I guess miracles really do happen." Finish it off with a toast: "I'd like to thank everyone for coming. If anyone needs me, I'll be at the bar." But all cheap jokes aside, a wedding is one of the most opportune times to tap into yok feelings and say somethingreally som thin ` heartfelt.7t I find it really impressive when a friend or family member of the bride or groom can stand Ron & Dave What ore those guys doing at our school? They're building 1 new fences to get thestchool ready for opening next week. up in front of hundreds of peo- ple at the reception and simply speak from the heart, with no cue cards or prearranged idea about what they're going to say in their speech. But that can also be dangerous. Those of you who've been to weddings where a speech drags on and on and on will know that it's better to leave the audience wanting more than to make them doze off into their wine glasses. . And because I am not the "best man" for this. wedding, I won't be expected to ramble on for more than a minute or so. But that can seem like an eternity in front of a staring, silent crowd of hundreds of guests. I suspect the "picture them in their under- wear and you'll feel more comfortable" tech- nique won't work either, since many of them will be members of my family and I'd rather not go there. So, I'll need a plan. I'm pretty rusty when it comes to giving speeches. I think the last one I gave was in elementary school on the subject of the Ber- muda Triangle. I looked over my notes from that speech but unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to use any of that material for this upcoming speech. It's not that it wasn't good. I think it would just confuse people, who'd expect me to focus more on the bride and groom, instead of the See WRITING, Page 6 by David Lacey The guard : , towers are a nice touch. f SUBSCRIPTION RATES: LOCAL - 38.05 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. SENIORS: - 38.14 a year, In advance, plus G.S.T. &reign: 38.05 a year in advance, plus $195.00 postage, plus Q.S.T. U.S.A. 38.05 a year in advance, plus $99.84 postage, plus G.S.T. Published weekly by Sun Media at 11 Main St., Seaforth. 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