Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1988-07-20, Page 5n the Street By Jim Beckett By the time you read this our Italian exchange student, Roberto Campucchio, will have left us to spend a week at the St. Marys Ihickey Camp with several other students who are staying with Cana- dian families. Roberto is 18 and surprisingly, speaks excellent English. "This is another world altogether," he said incomparing Exeter with his home city of Triste which is in northern Italy near the Yugoslavian border. Roberto was telling a_few new friends about school in Italy where a typical class day -is 8 a.m. to -1 p.m. You could hear the 000hs and wows when the local youngsters heard school is out June 15 and doesn'tstart again until the end of September. My boys were on the verge of -volunteering to move to Italy when their opinion -Of the Italian educational system hit reverse as Roberto mentioned his school week included Saturdays. - Showing someone the highlights of Exeter can be somewhat chal- lenging, especially ,when you're trying to impress someone whose history dates -back several hundred years. We have no classic architecture to speak of, unless you consider our Old Town Hall which would now be a parking lot without the ef- forts of Doug Gould, Art Wh.ilsmith and several others. We toured around several concessions and showed Roberto what we bragged is the "best farm land in the country". It's difficult to keep an active teenager interested in fields of corn and beans however. Next on the list was a visit t� Grand Bend where we managed to sec a glimpse of.Roberto's heritage. I thought, we might have 'been re- sponsible for a neck -injury when he practically turned his head around to study a bikini -clad -clerk in one of the shops. These are sights that arc certainly better, or at least as good, as any in the world. We came back to town through Shipka where Roberto had his first chance to -sec a drive-in theatre. He had only seen them in movies and amazinglyeenough had to come to Shipka to sec a real one. Roberto -also found some other strange habits when he spent his first week in Canada with what we kept telling him is a perfectly nor- mal family. We were having fried chicken one night and our young son passed the honey andsuggested he try some on his chicken. I never did learn what Italian is for "nuts" but I think he muttered it under his breath. What type of dressing do you think Italians put on their salads? Don't bet too much"onItalian, because Roberto explained most peo- ple use nothing at all. We also learned Italians arc not much for bacon and eggs in the morning, preferring fruit. a muffin and juice. Other things we learned was there is no minimum drinking age in Italy, which Roberto claims leads to less drinking rather than more. You must be 18 to drive a car in Italy, which could be a good thing because there is no speed liniit on many of the highways. Roberto is here as part of the Lions Club's student exchange pro- gram. After he gets back from' camp Le will be spending a week with George and Lois Godbolt and another week with Niall and Rosemary Straw. It's a grcat-!earning experience for teenagers who become part of normal family life in another country. The last student sent from Ex- eter on the. Lions program was Murray Rundle who spent a few weeks in Texas a couple of years ago. We learned people are basically the same regardless of where they arc from.Our youngsters taught Roberto how to play video games on the computer and although it was initially difficult, it wasn't long be- fore our visitor was shooting down aliens like an expert. We learned that while taste in food, dress and habits may be totally different; laughter still sounds the same in any language. We learned that sights and scenery arc not all that important when it comes to -entertaining .someone from a foreign country. Our neigh- bours immediately volunteered the use of their swimming pool and made Roberto feel a part of their family as well. Keith Ahrens even managed. to tcach Roberto everything he knows about the fine Canadian game of cribbage one afternoon. In fact, despite the language and not knowing the corltplexitics of the game, Roberto won his first game: He's either lucky or he quickly picked up the Ahrens method of counting. Back in Time 10 years ago •A dramatic rescue was staged by the Exeter fire de- partment- -after a 14 -year-old girl, visiting from Wallace - burg, fell 33 feet from a train tressel Just south of Highway 83: The girl had been walking her dog when she stumbled and fell. The dog, a doberman, was waiting by her side when firemen reached the girl. Acting pro- tectively, it initially opposed any rescue attempts. •Steplien and Bosanquet Townships offered to Join the village of Grand Bend out -right rather than give up small sections of land through annexation. The move «as made after the two townships failed to convince Grand Bend to drop its legal action to annex portions of the townships. While Grand Bend council refused to snake a general statement about the move, Councillor Bill (laird said: "Let them play their games." 20 years ago •Businessmen braced themselves for a mall strike in merchants made arrang.cments for moving mail by Charterways Bus Lines between Exeter and - London. Others planned to, use the telephone for billing purposes. :Laurie Skinner, Grace Dykstra, Debbie Potter and Ju• Ile- Skinner were pictured on the front page of the T -A indulging In huge slices of watermelon. The four were taking part In the summer playground parade. Most of the watermelon was on their faces. - .The Ministry of Highways again refused_ to erect traf- fic lights on the corner of Highway 83 and 4. Exeter Council renewed Its request for lights after a rash of ac- cidents on the corner. 50 years ago •Miss Jean Sheere won the right to represent Exeter in the London Old Boys mighty pageant spectacle "London Marches On" when she won first prize in a local popu- larity contest. Miss Sheere was given $25 to help de- fray her expenses in London. -Telling the tale of a growing pastime, the T -A noted: "(:rand Bend Is Increasing Its summer population each year and seems to he growing In popularity. A ''number of new cottages, some of them very elaborate, have been erected since last season. Cottages along the lake- front have extended a couple of miles north of the Bend.. The parking space for cars along the beach has been increased and a new string of electric lights have been placed along the drive." 70 years ago •"Farmers in Ontario are the largest users of autoalo- bites," The Advocate reported In July 1918. "Out of 74,861 cars, 23,409 are owned by farmers." •Under the headline "Welcome Nome", a story read: "Maxwell Baynham, one of the early volunteers for overseas, who was made a prisoner of war by the Ger- mans, later sent to Switzerland, and this spring to Eng- land, arrived home on the Saturday evening train and was warmly welcomed at the Centralia Station by people of the surrounding county and neighbouring villages. The Hensel! band came down to assist In the welcome." A procession was formed after local dignitaries made speeches and the crowd marched down to Epwortb Park where the returned; hero, his parents and friends were en- tertained to supper.' Times -Advocate, July 20, 1988 v - Page 5 THE DOOR WILL FIT - Don McCaffrey doesn't have far to go to take the door he is working on. It will be installed at Exeter United Church. A comfortable pew By Adrian Harte EXETER - Custom builders of wood furniture are hard to_come by thcsc days, but you can still find one in town. The only trick is you have to he in the market for pews and pulpits before you would think of Exctcr Furniture. Don McCaffrey says his seven employees have installed their ec- clesiatical furnishings in churches from British Columbia to Nova Scotia Installations in Newfound- land are usually contracted because of transportation costs. The material of choice for all church furniture is red oak, explains McCaffrey. The large and deep grain of tete wood imported from the Appalachians in the U.S. is ne- cessary to give the furniture texture over the large expanses seen in churches. The wood is getting more expensive says McCaffrey, but not necessarily better. ""The quality of standards of lum- ber has lowered over the years," he notes. He says that Southern Onta- rio red oak is of good quality, but is very hard to find these days. Veneered particle board is also ne- cessary where large sheets of wood surface are required on table tops or pulpit fronts. Traditional construc- tion called for panelled fronts or laminated woods, but McCaffrey explains the desire for a more mod- ern appearance calls for the elimina- tion of visible joins. "I can see more veneer coming in," observes McCaffrey. "It's al- most getting to the point of having disposable furniture.A compeu- tivc market and economic pressures! on churches arc forcing the intro- duction of more use of veneers. The legendary rock -hard pew is no longer a fixture in many of the newer churches. Due to the escalat- ing costs of red oak, it is a viable option to upholster thc pews. But McCaffrey doesn't want to see the use of wood disappear. "Fabric is completely uniform," he says. "Wood has character." This doesn't mean McCaffrey will never consider building items out of the glass and plastic showing up in contemporary installations. "I never say never in this busi- ness," he states. Because most church decorating or renovations arc done in consulta- tion with an architect, Exeter Furni- ture often has to customize its prod- ucts to meet the design's needs. For finishing thc wood, about 100 different shades and colours of stain arc available to be custom mixed to the application. In renovation work, McCaffrey won't consider the jobdone properly unless the new woodwork is indistinguishable from thc original. Only a handful of items, such as pulpits and lecterns, are kept in stock for orders. Everything else is custom made, and for good rea- son: over 200,000 possible com- binations are available for pew ends alone. And some people wonder why we don't stock," laughs McCaffrey. While other furniture manufac- turers sometimes dabble in church furnishings, McCaffrey says they find they don't have the equipment needed to do it right. Large surfac- es of wood require large machines. The 16" molder used for pew seats is a rare item in woodworking shops: Another factor is the need 1 )t 1 , ti tots Russ t„ prutccf t ►ur.t•Ii Ir„n).11Ds', Get thc facts. Let's Talk. Call the Ontario Ministry of Health AIDS Hotline 1.SO0.668-AIDS for lots of workspace around the machines to handle the long pieces of work. McCaffrey also takes pride in the "one of a kind” itemsmade for spe- cial orders. He enjoys showing - photographs of anornate organ case now residing in Texas. Exeter Furniture handles around 40 to 50 customers a year. Many require only one item, such as a new bookcase, or altar. Furnish- ing new churches or renovating older ones takes a bit more work. "A large project will take up two or three months," says McCaffrey. Large projects are the norm these days. McCaffrey says most new churches are designed to scat a con- gregation of 500-750, unlike the 250 -scat churches common when his father began the buisiness in 1956. It is hard to imagine the builder of the livery stable where Exeter Furniture is housed, expecting that beautiful works in wood would one day come out the doors instead of horses. Especially since the build- ing had been used as a pork pack- ing plant around the turn of the - century and was later adapted for turnip waxing. Still, the hand- hewn pine beams and creaking wood floors seem appropriate to a craft steeped in tradition. FINISHING A PEW - Wayne Edwards is shown bandsawing a pew and the pews are for a church in Thorold. Introducingthelbtal Life Club. The most difficult thing will he remembering all its benefits. new Total Life Club is unlike any other club. The benefits are so coniprchcnsivc, there isn't enough room to list them all. Get instant cash at over 23,00) money machines across North America, and pay no transaction fees at any Interact or Circuit? ATM across Canada. • Savings on goods and services at major retailers.. Investing? Get Security and High Yield in Perfect Balance with our Guaranteed Investments. Choosc from Gua- ranteed Investment Certificates and Debentures L for: - The Security of a Risk -Free Investment - A Higher Return than a Savings Account - Flexibility to choose the terms you need Ask about our Guaranteed Investments today. �(J • Savings and extended wan -an- balance front anuthcr (inanc):1l tics at leading national, institution • automotive specialists. Discounts at major hotels and car rental agencies. Until July 30, 1988, you'll get the -Total Life Card FREE (or A!year whenyou open aTOTAL ccount 'T"• "a' with $1,000, OT 'transfer your account TOTAL LIFE 411.110 521 Earn even more interest onyour savings with the improved Total Money Market Account. Now you can cam even more interest with our improved Money Markec account. You'll cam high money market rates (based on 91 -day Treasury Bills) plus you'll get thc liquidity of a savings account. And, as your balance in- creases, so does the interest rate, so your money earns even more. Plus, you can access your account a' «v,'r " NATIONAL TRUST A aider) VKt,tY MIA G"y TMstM Comp'', EXETER - 425 Main St., 235-0530 Ask us about Amencan Express passport to value. when you buy Amencan Express Thrvellers Cheques You could wen cash. travel and morel Ask us about The Mohey 'Money Everywhere Sweepstakes! f wee •,'•kala ti er MI a w..e-tl Waal Tnr uknwd are t.ar. . ,'okra • Wart Int w.na :r,• «:mx •., -1-1;00(1-money.. machines across North Amcnca. in addition, you can make deposits or with- drawals at any of our 150 • branches nation- - wide. So, if you have 510,000 or • . more to invest, t °nue. in and see how you can earn marc on your avings • sr as �f ` '•a Nur �. 4' t� ,• 1