HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-09-14, Page 4 (2)Page 4
Times -Advocate, September 14, 1978
ip irsa I 0N
Cost - free luxury
, Critics of Prime Minister
Trudeau's proposed constitution claim
that •the document would displace the
Queen as Canada's constitutional
monarch an replace her with a
government -appointed goverQor-
--gene.ral. The objectorS°contend that the
man who received such a political ap-
pointment would. in effect. be nothing
more than the president of a republic
As is the case in France or the United
States. •
Canadians who have long , since
ceased to be royalists say. "So what?"
• Such a disinterested response
betrays a lack of insight into the subtle.
differences between a republic and a
monarchy. An elected president ,cer-
tainly has faithful supporters who
agree with his leadership — but he may
have as many as 49 per cent of the na-
tion in disagreement with what he
stands for. -
:A governor-general appointed by
the politicial party in power would,
naturally. be regarded by supporters of
the opposition parties as a politically
biased head of state. That is not the
case with a constitutional monarch'
such as Queen Elizabeth. The monarch
has demonstrated for the last two or
three hundred years that the -reigning
king or queen stands aside from
political issension and can thus speak
for all people in the realm. •
Canadians are increasingly
lukewarm to the British monarch as
our country's titular king or queen. but
• if we want to be practical. let us• say
that at least we get a cost-free bargain.
Queen Elizabeth represents the dignity
of responsible leadership and the
British people pay the shot. Not one
cent of Canadian money is required to
maintain the monarchy — although
most Americans and quite a few
Canadians refuse to believe it.
Tourism in trouble
A government task torce has
recenth reported facts that many
already know Canada's tourism in-
dustry is in serious trouble
in the first half of 1978. Canada suf-
fered a national tourism tl`ade deficit
of SI 4 billion. money that might have
helped solve at feasts_some of the
nation's growing unemployment.
The reasons for our declining
tourism ire Obvious- Hotels and motels
in Canada often 'charge. higher rates
than those in other countries Even the
declining Canadian .dollar hasn't
brought the -influx of American tourists
. into the country that many government
_experts predicted it would • ;;
In'.Europe. perhapz the part of -the
'tcorld most experienced in catering to
tourists' bed anct.•-(14:eak.fasL. =---
commodations.andpensipns in private
homes provide accorrimodation for peo-
ple travelling on a limited budget.rThey
don't offer fancy dining rooms.
elaborate bars or entertainment.. but
they do otfer clean. cgmfortahle ac-
commodation.breakfast.and usually a
hath w•i h hot running water.
in (nada. Vancoi)ver has already
started 'an alternateaccommodation
program 'of housing tourists in private
homes and this,year the city reported a
record year for American tourists. ori
of the feel•, pails.. of Canada to ex-
perience a tourist boom.
.Another: problem is that we
.Canadians stiff tend to View the tourist
as someone we.c~in rip-off. After all. a
tourist must have money if he's travell-
• ing in another country. so some of us
overcharge him all along theline. often
refuse to allow him the proper ex-
change on his currency and sometimes
we forget there's such a custom as
friendliness. -
• Our own Canadian tourists are also
often choosing to spend their hard earn-
ed dollars outside the country.. Despite
our falling dollar. Canadians still find
their money stretches' further iri the
t'nited States or -overseas.
It's still cheaper to fly to Europe
than itis within our (74n country: Many
of the special charter flight prices
available in Canada are honored only
by .Air Canada This means the tourist
is strande:i with a worthless• ticket
when -the udtiohat at`rline siituts down.
as is happening with startiuencv
lately.
Canadians can find alternate forms
of.transportation, but the time involved
in travelling by train or'bus often takes
a sizeable chunk out of their vacation.
We need cheaper air flights within
Canada. on more airlines. and a reVam-
pingof tourist accommodationsoffered
across the country.
Let's start making an effort to be
more hospitable hosts. Weil feel
friendlier. our economy will get a
much needed boost and if we do a good
job. maybe the visitors will come back
next year. After all. Canada has some
of-1he tnost--beautiful scenery in the
world to offer "
- .-Huiroon - theatre eoountrv.
r
.With the summer season drawing the production. and audiences were
to a'close. it is tirrre to t'eflect•again on. properly 'appreciative. chuckling and
the theatre- productions available to chortling quietly atthe humor and smil-
Huron' County residents -through July ing and applauding in the. right places
and August. Huron County' must surely for the music.
be one of the few Orttario counties that "The School Show." an original
can boast tw6 fine theatres. each one play written and played by Ted Johns:
thoroughly entertaining though each was an absolutely delightful vt5rsion of
one distinctively different. the- teachers' strike in Huron this last
Personal preferences count for so
much in theatre. making it difficult to
assess the mostuccessful production
at each theatre. But for the purposes of
this, editorialvenly two shows will be
discussed: They are 'Oklahoma' which
was staged at Grand Bend Country,..
vhouse. and 'The School Show'
wh delighted so many folks at Blyth.
' 'he unique flavor of-each.theatre is
• u istakable The Grand Bend area
eatre. though housed in a barn. is
steeped' in urban sophistication: the
r Blyth theatre. upstairs in a pleasant`
air conditioned auditorium. is drenched
in grass-roots simplicity Both are
charming •
•
• 1
school year. The music was recorded
but that didn't matter to the capacity
crowds At at least one performance.
audiences gaffawed shamelessly at the
Johns' hiimor and even stepped in tune •_
to the hoedown harmony as it filled in
. between acts
Yet for those people' who a• ttended
both shows. it wouldn't be easy to pick
the one that -wa ; most enjoyable. Both
seemed exactly right for_ the time and
the place ' ' '
And that's what is so great about
Huron County's two theatres Thev.are
at different ends of the counfv...and at
itraposite ends of ' the` entertainment
scale. But together they offer pod
entertainment at a reasonable price for
"Oklahoma." a well-known Huron County residents and their
Broadway and Hollywood box office guests. There is something for
bonanza. was colorful •artd tuneful. everybody and it is bouquets this week
backed up with a 20 -piece pit orchestra to both theatre groups and (heir
that executed the Rogers and faithful executives. Next summer can't
Hammerstein score with some skill at come too soon.
Grand Bend. ,Packed houses enjoyed Goderieh Signal -Star
Tykes Etrobhshed 1873
Advo<ore Eslobl.shed 1881
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Sugar ani! Spice
Dispensed by S illy
Two
There are only two really important
words when you • take your trip to
Europe. One is "toilet" and the other is
"'money" Each is a constant 'source of -
anxiety. fascination and frustration.
In general. the ladies worried about
the toilets. and the men about the
money _
---ts our vic`acious guiAnnette. in-
formed us. you don't ask on the conti-
nent where the ba1Voom is. or you're
apt to get a response something like.
"Watsa matta fou lady? You wanna
taka- bath in a restaurant?" No. you
bliintly blurt 'inToilet?" It's the same in
every language. so you can't go astray.
There was only one thing wrong with
our bus, 1t had comfortable seats. air-
conditioning. a superb driver. But no
"bathroom" at the rear. So you sailed
off at 7 a.m . full of morning coffee.
and shaky in the knowledge that you•.•
might Jie oil, that bus for two or three
hourse a halt and the magic word
TOILETS leaped into view
It wasn't bad for the men. but there
was always a lineup for the ladies'. the
door often I1iarded by a fierce old
harridan who demanded 100 lira ora
franc piece before they were even ad-
-mitted to the inner sanctum.
.4
important words
•
Graham. a young Australian.
pronounced Grime in that language)
was hit by a sudden attack of bad tum-
my and spent half an hour emitting at
hoth•ends in a filthy roadside toilet.'
Nobody minded either stop.
Enough about toilets; surely. Now.
__goof money, irsL-.nf_ajl.._take-more—
than you need. You'll need it. By the
time i.got back to London, on a
weekend. banks closed. I was so broke
I .had to borrow five poundsirotn the
hall porter at our hotel.
Before you begin your trip. obtain
from your travel agent or airline a lit-
tle chart. or table. showing the ap-
proximate value of your own dollar in
European currencies. It won't help
Much. but it will be something to cling
to fin the maelstrom of five or six
dif{gcent currencies changing value
from day to day.
For example. 1 changed some dollars
for lira three times in one day. in Italy.
First time. I got 850 lira for a dollar.
second time 830. third time 800.
Get rid of your -Weise -change before
you cro a border. even if you have to
uy_ so candy and pass it around the
us. -E country will 'change paper
money ut is not interested in coins.
ou would wind up with a suitcase full
of- utterly useless francs. lira, marks.'
sch. ing. ets. i have enougfi t0 start a
co collection..
Mtoill'ns of tourists are honey to flies
for the international pickpockets who
infest the- large cities: Our guide. la
belle Annette. warned us so
thoroughly. especially as we headed.
Toward Rome. that- we were a sight_
tobehold after two days there. The
women were all humpbacked from.
clutching their purses to their bosoms
with both hands. The men -looked like a
group of spastins. trying to keep their
b
b
From what I heard and saw. the- " .
facilities ranged from spanking clean
with -hot water and lots of towels.
down through p�e tty sleazy. with tissue
the texture of viall-paper. to the very
pits. which were just that. holes -in the
ground. from which the ladies emerged
looking a bit stunned. rolling back
down the legs of their pant suits.
In a little more than 3.000 miles.
only two emergency -stop's were
made One was for Larry, 8. who hay'
nd had the distinction of having a
inkle 'right beside the auto -route in
'ranee. The second was when
Perspectives
By SYD FLETCHER
Editor's note:
This week we add a new
column tfi the Times -
Advocate. "Perspectives",
by Syd'Fletcher: Mr' Flet-
cher is a free lance writer
living in Forest. Employed
with the Lambton County
Board 9: Education. he is a
public school principal. Ile
has published a book of
-poetry entitle,• "Bring Me
Loose" and is• presently
working on an-historiEal
novel about .19th century
Canada.
To look at Chris you would
think he was a little angel.
Ile was in the grado 1
class, all of six years old and
already a con man. Shorter
than most of the boys, his
cherubic face would beam as
he got one of them to do .a
chore for hini. Too lazy to get
off the stool .on which he was
_ standin he would beckon to
another little fellow t i pick
up a dropped chalkboard
brush. . '
When he' got down he
hands firmly in all their
pockets at the same titiie.
,Just the other day. our Rome guide
informed us. a gentleman had had his,
wallet. con_ ta,ining '$450
MSMalian lifted right in St. Peter's.
the largest church in the world. We
had a nice few moments of viearious�
excitement when Glynis. from
Australia. discovered her watch. worth
$450. 'and a gift from her husband. was
ing from her wrist. She said she'd'
felt a very soft. slight movemert[. look-
ed down. and the watch was gone. She
was distraught. So were we all. Twenty
minutes later, she found ' in her bag.
the turkey. It had slipped ¶'f her wrist
and fallen into her purse.
Some of the ladies were so nervous
they .took the unpreceGented step of
'pinning their credit cards inside their
bras. I played it safe. I never gavermy
wife more than a coin fo,• the john. and
I kept my cash in one pocket. my
travelers' cheques in another. and my
credit card in a third. so -that 1'
wouldn't be made bankrupt by one
swell foop.
It was a bad year to visit Europe
;with inflation rampant there. (cuppa
coffee or Coke well over $1.00). the
Canadian dollar diddling around 88
cents. and the American dollar eliding.
Hotels run around $48 to $60.a night.
and that's not the Savoy or the Ritz.
But wothehell. Archie. it's only the
price of a new car. and a small one. at
that. Take your trip and• drive the old
heap foranother couple of years. You
can't sit around in an old car 20 years
from now. and exchange things like:
"Remember the pinchy-pinchy part
in Rom where here thes
waiter.. tr
ai
h�
g
faced. pinched each lady's bum as he
served her soup or pasta4"
four to eight
Perspectives
would put a chubby arm
around the other boy and say
"Gee you're a real buddy of
- mine" and the other lad rs
his slave for ever.
His head was a mass of
dark brown curies. One day
he carne to school, close -
,cropped His mother had cat
them off because he was
constantly twisting them till
in one place he had produced
a bald spot.
Because he used some
baby-lalk yet he had to visit
the speech therapist once a
week. A bubbly vivacious
hype of person she used all
kinds of,puppets and pictures
to interest her students. This,
time she -had -a frog and was
down on the floor on all fours '
making it hop. f'Now you
come down and make
Freddy the. Frog .h .7 she
said to Chris.
"You play with F'red0y ,"
he said agreeably, "and i'll
play with this twuck" and
proceeded to do just that.
With • his home -room
teacher. Chris had his own
problems. mostly with
reading.. Though he , could
easily learn concrete words
such as lump, 'walk' and
'mother' he had difficulty
grasping ones such as 'was',
'is', and 'were' that had
nothing to really grab on to
ps Tar as a mentarpicture.
The one that really threw
him.was'new'. For two days
they had gone over it 'in
every way that his teacher
could devise -outlining it with
sand on glued paper . and -
having Chris lightly run his
hand over it, having him
write it on the board and in
his hook, finding it among
other words till at last he was
ready to try it in the reader -
"Mother has a new coat."`
Stilkke couldn't get it.
Carefully they went over
all the ways again then tried
the sentence. He got it. Tried
,the next sentence. "Filler
has." lie began, "F'ather has
a." then said in despair. "Oh
(1od. •here it comes again"
breaking his leacher up
Completely.
1 guess little angels come
•in all ,shapes and sizes.
Christian -School Meets
By HELEN DYKSTRA John Haverk• mp.Thesemen
Mr. Jack Roorda presided will serve for a two' year
at, the annual meeting of the term and we wish them well
Clinton and Dtilstrict in thq year ahead.
Christian School Society.'
The proposed btliget for
which was held on Tuesday, • the year 1978-79 of $186,460.00
September 5, 1978. A full was. presented by the
house of interested parents treasurer Evert Bidder and
were welcomed 'by the
chairman apd'it,is certainly.
good to•see'somtich interest
in they school's 'activities., 'A
special wetcenfe was eac-
tende 'to the delegates frbm
Exeter ' ristian•-•School
Society.
Secretary for 'the board.
Kees Dykstra, read the
minutes of the meeting of
June 5. 1978 and gave a
was accepted •by the
members. A progress -report
on the gymnaswm wa
presented by Joh
Maaskant, but much work
has to be done yet before any
definite building plans can
he realized •
The' three new Staff
meunbbers were introduced
by Mr. '1toorda. They are
resume,of the activities of Miss Dorothy`Prinzen, grade
the board and the various 1: Miss Trix Kreeft, grade 2;
committees Which help to and Mr. John Buis, grade 3.
operate the school. Voting We- hope they will .have an
•for new board members enjoyable and blessed year
resulted in thejeelection obi in oer school: kVrincipal
Jack Roorda, Kees 1)ykstr'a, -Sch'uurmah reported
George Turton, Jahn _de 207 pupils enrolled in the
Vries and Kase Vander school is year as compared
Heuvel and in theelection of
to 214 Ia!tt year
•
Think smalL1
by Jim Smith 1
The Sonny Liston of
Economics
•
1945. k hadn't been a par-
ticularly good year for Japan.
The proud nation which had
once commanded the Pacific
rine uow huddled miserably,
• reduced to a smattered pile of
smoking rubble by the ad-
verse fortunes of war. -
1960. f he same decimated
island a land virtually bare
of resources had become
the world's leading indust ria)
power. Traditional American
fjrms were transferring their
production to Japan. leaving
nothing more than distribu-
tion shells at home. The Ja-
panese had latched on to a'
strange new electronic device
known as a transistor and
used it in magnificently in)a-
•ginatise ways. •
197 k: Ont} 33 years after
the end Of the war and- no
one laughs at the slogan
"Made in Japan" anymore.
A country with every rea-
son except pride to fail still
sits at the top of the econo-
mic ladder. still defending its
economy with imagination
and courage. The transistor
has long since been replaced
by integrated circuits. a tech-
nology which promises to
make Japan - which no
longer enjoys a low-priced la-
bour force even stronger
tomorrow than it has been
in recent years.
1945.. Canada, a nation
blessed with spectacular re-
source wealth. her factories
untouched by war, her ork
force one of the world's most
highly- educated. stands on.
the brink of greatness.
1960. Canada has failed
to realize her apparent indus-
trialized destiny . -Indeed, she
has fallen farther behind the
rest of the industrialized
world.
1975. Canada is now laugh-
ingly considered an underde-
veloped country masquerade--
ing as a nation of substance. •
)We've become the Sonny
•Liston of economics -- a so-
called champion felled by a
single punch early in the first
round.
What did awe do wrong?
\costly, it's a case of'what
Japan did right. Economic
development is at the base
of every Japanese govern.._...• -
mental decision. The Japan-
ese are past masters at nego-
tiating the most favourable
conditions for their econo-
niic development; if a major
purchase must be made
abroad, the Japanese will en-
sure that some new techno-
logy is imported into the
hargain. -
, In Canada. if it is neces-
_sary to contract with a for -
•c ign manufacturer of, for ex-
ample. fighter planes, little
thought •is given to forcing
partial production in Canada
or sub -licensing of some im•
portant technical knowledge
to Canadian firms, educatipg
our engineers. It isn't the
fault of the -Ministry' of Iae-
fence;"Canada should hate
an active industrial planning
department within govern-
ment.
England recently entered
into a sub -licensing agree=
ment with a major American
producer of microprocessors
(the tiny silicon chips that .
have replaced transistors and -
revolutioniied the data pro-
cessing industry). England
won't turn a profit on that
deal directly - but her en-
ers will learn about this
vi inew- technology first
hphd' In the years to come.
England and her trading part-
ners in Europe won't be ex-
cluded from the social and
economic revolution created
by microcircuits - a field
which remains relatively for-
eign to Canadians. -
The most common ques-
tion around Ottawa is "Who's
in charge here?" It's timewe
had an answer.
Think•smal: is an editorial
i message from the Canadian
Federation o' Independent
L• Bus' ess
TA
clsaVlgl
. SS Years Ago
On Wednesday evening
;Moth. midnight• • lire
destroyed two fine bank
barns near Kirk ton. The
barn of Mrs. David Rogers
w'as the first to take fire and
it was completely destroyed.
Shortly after, the barn on the
tarm of Mr. Nelson Fletcher
just across the road from the
togers barn took fire.
supposedly Irmo
the cinders
and it was soon reduced to a
heap of ruins. In both barn
the season's crop had been
stored and both lost- a
quantity of implements and
a number of pigs and hens.
The cause of the• fire is
unknown.
Mr. William -Lawson left
this week for Toronto to
Arend dental college.
Mr. Harry Seldon left last
Thursday Ior Kingston
where he will study medicine
al Queen's University. .
Miss Pearl Holtzman left
fA{ Chicago where she...has
aeceple , a position as
assistant principal of the
Evang cal Deaconess
Hospital -
30 Years Ago.. -
The Legion have pur-
chased the lot on William
-Street behind the theatre for
the site _of the new Legion
building.
Mr. and Mrs. W.('. Pearce
are leaving , Friday for
Vancouver
Pearce w i I
'here Mr.
lie a com-
missioner to the General
Council of the United
Church. They will visit with
Dr. .1.E. and Mrs. Whiting
before returning.
Miss Marguerite Pickard
left- this week to attend
Normal School in London.
Mr. E. Kehler who has
been installing the bowling
alleys for William Sweitzer
for the past four weeks has
ret riled to, Toronto.
and Mrs. John F.
Smit 'rediton celebrated
•
memory Ian',
their sixtieth wedding an-
niversary on Monday.
20 Yearn Ago
About 75 Boy Scouts from
the Huron district enjoyed a
three-day c'amporee in . the
rictus public park in the.
Pinery over the week end.
Ralph Sweitzer was- canm-
poree chief.
Hilt Laing, Exeter. whose
former building was gutted
byI ir•
f c alit year, opens his
new` cement block repo':
shop on Victoria St. beside
the arena this week.
Fire destroyed Exeter_
'turnip Sale waxing .plant.
for the second time in less
Itian our years Wednesday
, morning.
Ahhnugh construction of.
its -new 2112 by 24 building has
net been completed. North
Land Turkey Hatchery have
25,(88) eggs in incubators. in
an effort to meed demands
for poultry. Neil Campbell is
manager.
15 Years Ago
highways Minister 'C.S.
Mac•Naughton posted what is
believed to be the biggest
majority in Huron election
history Wednesday when he
captured his third victory at
the polls by a margin of
4.671.
Heavy rain. just about
parade time poured on the
Exeter fair and officials
estimated the crowd down •,
about limo. A number of
outdoor events had to be
cancelled, but the majority
of activities carried on.
Whitney Coates kind Son .
H.R. 1 Centralia won both
grand, senior and junior
female champions, plus- -
seven other first prizes at the
regional cattle shows in
Seafort* recently.
A new 51 -foot unit in-
corporating a blower system
to load and unldad hulk salt
and two pressurized bins has
been added to the Guenther-
Tuc•key+Transporis Limited
fleet.`
1'
Got the blues?
Want to get away from
it all?
Take a walk!
c
1Inan>'iennarnon `,
- Walk a block.Today.
1►