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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-06-05, Page 4 (2)• OUR POINT OF VIEW Few encouraging signs Statistics released by the Canadian Red Cross for their June 1 to 7 Water Safety Week, have some encouraging signs, while others are anything but. For instance. the number of drownings while swimming decreased approximately 25 percent last year. an indication that peo- ple are not only becoming more cautious around the water, but also that more and more youngsters are taking lessons and therefore are more qualified swimmers. The greatest number of drownings, however, are still in the 13 to 21 year category, suggesting that teenagers are still too over -confident or reckless when it comes to judging their prowess in the water. There is no question that parents should put considerable pressure on their youngsters to avail themselves of the ex- cellent swimming lesson program offered locally. It's a small investment in both time And money in view of the dividends it could pay. On the discouraging side of the ledger is the fact that drownings as a result of boating accidents are increasing annually at a rate of about 10 percent. Boating ac- cidents are still the cause of the greatest number of drownings. Many boaters apparently feel that once they hit the wide open spaces of a lake they can enjoy carefree driving. This isobvious- ly not the case and boating requires the continual care and attention that one must 'use while operating a car on a busy road. Too many boat operators fail to follow the necessary safetykregulations to ensurt that they and their passengers return tt land safely. With the busy water sport season nov on us, the sobbering statistics of thi previous years should challenge all con cerned to look closely at their safety habit and make improvements where necessary. Who foots the bill? Tuckersmith Township Council's move last week to ask their taxpayers if they should kick in money into the various recreation facilities in towns surrounding the township is a wise move. The opinion survey will find out if the Tuckersmith residents want to support via their taxes, the arenas and ball parks in Clinton: Seaforth, and Hensall. The survey is being carried out because Seaforth wants to place a surcharge on all non-Seaforth residents who use that -town's recreational facilities. The cost they decid- ed. should be $15 per year. And who can blame Seaforth. who carried out a survey and found out that 40 percent of the persons using their facilities were living outside the town. and therefore not paying their way through taxes. Seaforth asked for and got help from the other surrounding Townships. but Tuckersmith, whose residents use four different recreation set-ups in Clinton. Vanastra• and Hensall. as wet 1 as Seaforth. Tuckersmith council felt if they paid into Seaforth, then they should also pay into Hensall and Clinton. And at Clinton, there is the same situa- tion, where townspeople foot the whole $80,000 recreation budget plus the deben- ture payment while the residents of the sur- rounding townships use the facilities at substantially reduced costs. The only solutjgn is to set up an area recreation board, much like the one that exists in Mitchell, where the town and the surrounding townships pay their fair share and have a say on how the facilities are run. The whole situation of township representation and financial support of the Clinton rec board has beellydiscussed in re- cent years, but discussion has always broken down because of petty differences. The subject should be re -opened and a new look taken at the whole recreation problem. Clinton News -Record Big House pay and perks i know my readers have been waiting with bated breath for Smiley. who seems to be against most things. to launch his ex- pected fiery attack on federal MPs for giving themselves a magnificent pay increase. Sorry. chaps. I'll just have to disappoint you this time. for a couple of reasons. First of all. 1 could speak with the tongue of angels. or devils, and the boys in the Big House would ignore it. If they wouldn't pay any attention to John Diefenbaker. who speaks in such tongues. they certainly wouldn't to Bill Smiley. Second of all. and the main reason I have not erupted is that 1 think our federal elected members should have enough money so that they will be free from temptation. and so that the position does not become one only for wealthy people who can af- ford to be an MP. because they have other income. i know. and its true that MPs have some other perks: free mailing. travel privileges. meals and accommodation payments whole on government business. allowances for offices and secretaries. In cash. their income at $34.600 is worth more than S40.000 because a good chunk of it is tax- free. That's a pretty fair income. even with inflation. but it's not wild luxury. it's not exactly Arabian Nights. it's not the sort of loot on which you are going to have orgies or get rich. 1 don't have to tell you- because they will tell you themselves. at inordinate length - that an MP Times Established 1873 has extraordinary expenses. You've heard it all: giving up his business or profession: keeping two homes: being expected to contribute to evey cause in his riding. - however trivial; being expected to entertain when Honer and Emily drop in on him at Ottawa: having to buy a raffle ticket on anything going and so on. It's a lot of chickenfeed that builds up into a pile of dotlars. if somebody asks me to give a donation to the South Nor- thumberland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pregnant Cats. 1 can tell him to get stuffed. drop dead or blow it out his ears. The MP for that riding must smile gamely. and hawk up a five. And so it goes. This is no apology for MPs. They are the ones who should be apologizing. Not for the increase. But for the incredible ineptness of the timing. Out of one side of their mouths. they are supporting a program of restraint for business and labor. Out of the other side they are muttering a shamefaced "Aye" or absenting themselves for the vote. when it comes to giving themselves an increase that is 92 percent over what they were making in 1970. 1 admired those MPs who bluntly said they needed the increase and would vote for it. i have nothing but contempt for those who snuck in on their braver brothers' and sisters' coat-tails. Nor do i have much time for people like Diefenbaker, who made a grandstand play out of it by pointing the finger of scorn at others. At his age, and with no Advocate Established 1881 WHY NQT! with the editor A bat for male supremacy There's nothing quite like having a bat around to stir up a bit of excitement or commotion. TV viewerswere amused during one of the recent Stanley Cup games when a bat invaded the Buffalo arena and was finally subdued by a well -aimed hockey stick and the game proceeded through the fog. Last week, the editor was called upon for some similar heroics. the conclusion of which suggests that the women's liberation movement has not managed to gain the foot -hold that some would have us believe. At 5:00 a.m. Monday morning our sleep was suddenly in- terrupted with the better half exclaiming there was a bat in the bedroom. Any male chauvinist pig would have quickly jumped out to display his manhood supremacy by subduing the hairy creature, but even in drowsiness the writer managed to contain that impulse and allow the better half the opportunity to practicek opportunity in this Worn Year. However. our feigned snoring was soon abruptly halted with a - severe jab in the ribs and an urgent plea to get out of bed and rid our bedroom of the invited guest. Stealthily sneaking to the at- family,and no political future, he tack, with our commander issuing directions from under the doesn't need it. He's got a fat covers. the fearless white hunter pension, plus the old -age pension, moved towards the screen where waiting for him. the intended victim had been last But his leader, Robert Stan- seen. field, the millionaire, doesn't With no black blobs visible, it need it either, and he voted for was quickly calculated that by the increase, for the sake of dropping the inside window. the others. who do need it. creature would be trapped on the It seems like a lot of money, but inside. This done. it was soon it forces some questions. Is an realized that the tactic had some MP with all his extra expenses. drawbacks as there was no way worth more than a letter carrier - of getting into this "trap" without five times more, in cash. raising the window again. Should an MP be worth about However, a careful search the same as two and a half high revealed that in fact there was no schoolteachers? is he worth less, bat. from an income point of view, By this time full consciousness than an Air Canada pilot, who had set in and the writer calmly flies a maximum of 75 hours a advised the head under the month. for just over 850,000'• covers that she had probably only is the MP as valuable in cash heard the June beetles banging terms as about three from outside and there was in - steelworkers? deed no bat in the bedroom. If your answer to these questions is no, then you are That calmed the situation for either a letter carrier, a school teacher, a pilot, a steelworker or a damfool. When an MP received 810,000 a year for about five months work, and was able to keep his own business or profession going, he was rich. Today, how many first-rate professional men, who have worked hard to build a practice that is bringing in $50,000 a year, are going to throw it up for hazards of a political career, where it might be here today and gone tomorrow? At the other end of the financial scale, the bright able young man or woman who has a low income and could not possibly finance a run for parliament, will be en - Amalgamated 1924 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. and ABC Publisher — Robert Southcott Editor — 8ill flatten — Advertising Manager Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Plant Manager — Les Webb. Composition Manager — David Worby Phone 235-1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, --Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation March 31, 1974, 5,309 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: only a few seconds, when the intruder, it would also be the means by which we would be up the rest of the early morning hours fixing a rather sieable gap in the window. A quick search of the upstairs came up with a solution. Thank goodness for modern packaging. Despite the. complaints from many consumers, we found that one of those round cylinders used for packaging the modern ver- sion of potato chips was ideal for trapping bats. In one fell swoop, the creature was deftly in the cannister, with the exception of one wing and part of a leg. With the commander and the bat putting up the same amount of squeaking, the troops ordered a pair of pliers by which to grab the loose wing and carry the bat outside for its execution. However, the third hand unmistakable squeak of a bat was heard out in the hall. inspection showed that there was a bat sitting on another window in the hall landing. its eerie frame outlined by the moon. + - + Asking for directions from the commander, we were advised to hit it with "something" and to accomplish that end the com- mander produced a hammer. Fortunately, some rank and file troopers have more common sense that panicky commanders, and it was quickly evident that while the hammer may prove an ideal weapon to dispose of the couraged to take a shot at it. There's no point in sa ing: FATHER'S DAY JUNE 151 v .541941 Varela 94,14 2{% Q4>KGt4 Stop pretending David, the four-year-old who lives across from us has just strode up the street with pur- poseful step, long gun clutched in his hand, cowboy hat low on his forehead. He's off to stalk a bear or a lion, ambush a bunch of bad guys, or on some equally dangerous escapade. Last week, when the construction men were laying sidewalk in front of his house he was right out there beside them equipped with hard hat, shovel and rubber boots. David is a boy with imagination and what he's pretending now in these young years will help him to harden his muscles and •sharpen his wits when he really does reach that manhood of which he only dreams now. • Watching David reminds me of C. S. Lewis's comment that most of us start out by pretending to be Christians. We pretend we are sons of God, when all the while we know we are not at all like the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whose will and interests are one with God. We, are instead, a parcel of self-centred greeds, fears, jealousies, hopes and self - conceits. There are two kinds of pretending. One of the bad kinds is to pretend you are a good friend who can be counted on for help when you have no intention of helping at all. There is also the good kind of pretense which leads up to the real thing. You have likely experienced those times when you are not feeling par- ticularly friendly or helpful but you know you ought to be. The required for the job of holding the cannister and the pliers was not readily available as the com- mander stood her distance and it became necessary to rouse our 10 -year-old from his sleep to assist in the manoeuvres Fortunately, he hasn't been subjected to the women -'s liberation movement and gttickly agreed to assist and in a few minutes the entire operation had, been completed, with the ham- mer finally being brought into play, although before the death knell was sounded it was necessary for the rank and file to become mutinous and tell the commander to get inside before her screams would awaken the entire neighborhood. Yes, this is Women's Year. Fortunately, such little things as bats come along to keep the female set in their place: Now we know the foregoing is going to draw the ire of the leaders in this great women's liberation movement and similar to $jll Brady, Exeter's best knoulh rodeo performer, we'll probably end up with the label of sexist ... or maybe male chauvinist,pig, if you prefer. However, we still have the bats on our side, men! 50 Years Ago Mr. E. S. Steiner, VS of Bergen NY was in Exeter a few days and has decided to open up a practice here. He has rented one of Mr. C. B. Snell's houses on Anne St. Next Sunday will be an unique date in the Methodist Church, Hensall, as it marks the last Sunday of its existence as a Methodist denomination. During the thunderstorm Monday afternoon, Dan McCurdy, of Stephen had a horse killed by lightning. Several trees were blown down by the wind. Mr. W. C. Keddy and sisters Misses Hanna and Nettie Keddy left Tuesday for the West. "Pay them what they're worth." Some MPs would be in the bread- line and others would be millionaires. But there is some point in giving the office some dignity, economically as well as socially and politically. Despite what you may think, there is precious little corruption in Canada at the MP level. All the big money in corruption is at a different level. Let's keep it that way. Pay a Member of Parliament enough so that: a) he is not tempted into nefarious practices to make a living; b) he or she does not have lobe wealthy to make a run at it. This way, we'll get the most for our money. But that pension plan for MPs is another matter. f haven't space here to comment on it. All 1 can do is weep bitter tears and suggest that never in the field of Canada $9.00 Per Year; USA $11.00 human endeavor will so few have ,. _ ,, .. oo ,o been paid so much for so little. 25 Years Ago interior of the new airmen's lounge at RCAF Station Centralia was gutted by fire Tuesday af- ternoon. Damage was estimated at 84,000. Dashwood Band was re- organized with T. H. Hoffman as leader assisted by Melvin Stade and Maurice Klumpp. William Brian, 8 -month old son of Mr. & Mrs. Carl Decker, Zurich won first prize in the baby show at Hensall Spring Fair. Records were topped at the preliminary juvenile contest at Kirkton when 76 contestants in 56 numbers from 23 public schools took part. The Huronia Male Choir took part in the anniversary services at Roy's Church on Sunday. Mr. Francis Clark, Crediton, was presented with a life membership in the Telephone Pioneers .of America in recognition of active service in the telephone industry. best thing you can do is to put on a friendly manner and act as if you are a nicer person than you are. Very often, you will notice that you actually start feeling friendlier than you did in the beginnin Sometimg. es by pretending to be Christians we become nicer persons ... but Christians are not just a group of nice, decent people. Most of us eventually come to the stage in our lives where we finally have to honestly face this kind of masquerade and usually we do one of two things. We either bag up the whole bit and toss it out, or we take the first step toward the real growth and maturity God intends for each of us. Remember the days when your babies took their very first tot- tering steps, how thrilled you were? But how sad and dissap- pointed you would have been if they had continued to walk in that •l unsteady, faltering gait the rest ft of their lives instead of learning to walk with firm sure steps and stride out into the world in their maturity. So it is with God, our heavenly Father. He is delighted when we take those first faltering steps but He is not satisfied with this. He wants us to stop pretending, and with faith in Him to step out to become what He wants us to be. We could not get launched into our earthly life without blind, baby trust in our parents. in much the same way, every step of our spiritual growing up must be by our faith in God. week by John Burke, Exeter realtor. Mrs. David Millar, town, Mrs. J. P. Williams of Cumberland, Maryland and Mrs. David Henry of Clandeboye attended a reunion of registered nurses in Stratford last Sunday. t0 Years Ago Miss Ann Fairbairn of Exeter showed pictures of her trip to Newfoundland at the citizenship meeting bf Hurondale WI in Coven Presbyterian Church last Wednesday evening. Mr. & Mrs. Lorne Genttner of Dashwood celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary quietly at their hotne Saturday. Mr. & Mrs. R. D. Jermyn, Karen and Don Jermyn of Ottawa attended convocation exercises at Wattjrloo University .Saturday. Douglas Jermyn received his BA.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering. John Quinlivin, 64, of Grand Bend, t passed away at South Huron Hospital, Exeter Monday, May 3!. The Telephone System plans to instal:dial telephone in Dash- woo. ash- es Stephten Township Reeve Glen Webb ',and Clerk Ross Haugh were authorized by council Thursday night to sign easement agreeptents with the Hay Municipal Telephone System for their panned work in Dashwood. 1S Years Ago Miss Sally Acheson, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. C. E. Acheson, town, won the supervisory staff award for bedside nursing, in- termediate year at the Sarnia General Hospital school of nursing, Saturday. Mr. & Mrs. J. Hubert Jones, left Monday on a conducted tour of the West going as far as Vancouver. W. Joseph Hogan; son of Mr. & Mrs. Wilfred Hogan RR 8, Parkhill received his11A•deegrreeee at UWO convocation Satbrday. Katy Korner restaurant has been pichased by Alice Leckie, Zurich It was announced this J Our response to now By ELMORE BOOMER Counsellor for Information South Huron For appointment phone: 228-6291 or 235-0560 Motivation We were discussing motivation. "Well, these two particular 'people seem to be really motivated. They want to quit drinking." The discussion ranged round various residents on an addiction ward. "Don't you think that everyone Who comes to the unit is motivated? After all it is p very difficult thing to present one's self for treatment." "Yes, that may be so; but I know some who are singularly unmotivated. As soon as they are out they're going to their Barest liquor store." "Do you not thisi' that everyone is motivatedif that motivation is a matter of degree?" The whole discussion sent me looking up material on motivation. A motive is a certain organization of life which makes a person do certain things. Another person has said "...the term motive refers to any inner condition of the organism that initiates or directs its behaviour toward a goal." What makes people do certain things? Why are people so much the same yet on the other hand so different? The drives present in us which tend to make us act in similar ways are basic and biological. We all need food, water, sleep, warmth, air, and elimination of wastes. If we do not have food we are hungry and if we do not sleep we become irritable. All of us seek to avoid pain. One of the widely used means of obtaining confessions is the . application of pain. People respond and suddenly are energized when new in- formation is available to them. People are thrilled with new experience and stimulation. On the other hand, if stimulation is too great and significant matters demanding attention are too many, there is a tendency to seek rest and retreat to quietness. These are the forces then that tend to make human beings act in • very similar ways.Uniformity in human behaviour arises out of these basic needs. What makes us so different? Why do some act so strangely while others are so predictable? Here we come to psychological needs which, while basic to human functioning, have so many different formations in the human family. There are as many different formations of needs as there are people. Psychologically then we need "order and predictability". Men are very curious. We seek to understand the happenings about us. We cannot afford to be next to the unknown or unorganized. There is the need for a feeling of being adequate, competent for the job at hand. These are just different ways of saying "We need to feel secure." Love and acceptance are ob- jects of our striving. Just as we need bodily warmth, we need psychological warmth. Children living in a home warm with af- fection and love are greatly blessed and those who do not are tragically deprived. Our psychologieel needs are not well known but they include the following: self-esteem, self- worth, identity, meaning, hope and faith. There are other dimensions to this subject that must be men- tioned. The satisfaction of needs spoken of above is necessary to keep our lives in balance. If we are deprived in any one way we become distorted, or forces are mobilized in us to fill the gaps. But life is not concerned with just keeping a balance. There is a reaching out, a need for fulfillment. We may be able to comment on this far-reaching aspect of human motivation in another column. in the meantime a recommended reading on the subject is Abraham Maslow's book Toward a Psychology of Being. fmk