HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-12-14, Page 4 (2)Page 4
Times -Advocate, December 14, 1976
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Good system, if used
Chief Ted Day was gyite proper in
setting Exeter council straight over the
attendance of Constable Kevin Short at;
a special course on fraud at ther'Ontario.
Police College.
Several members of the grevvious
council had suggested the Chief had
over-steppitd his authority in . the
matter and, while that may have been
true to a point, he gave legitimate -
reasons why the decision had not been
discussed with the police committee.
While the matter has now been
straightened out to the apparent
satisfaction of all concerned, a couple
of things are worth noting to ensure
that similar unfortunate situations do
not arise.
Checkin4�back over notes of the
meeting in which the issue was
originally aired, we see that police
committee chairman Ken Ottewell had
suggested the matter be turned over to
his committee for study and
_recommendation__ _._- - - 1 - -
That was logical and could have
ended the debate without members
sticking their foot in their mouth by
making comments regarding a con-
tract of which some admitted later
4
they didn't know the contents.
The committee system is certainly
an effective way to deal with business.
but too often council members fail to
take advantage of it. choosing to debate
items that more -properly shoat he
turned,Aver' to committees. for study
and recommendation.
On the other hand, it is evident that
council committees 'must. have regular
contact with department heads to
make the system efficient.
• Chief Day noted he took the deci-
sion upon himself because the chair-
man of the police committee was on
vacation. During the year. he explained
that the. committee had met on only a
couple of occasions.
Ideally, committees should meet
• on a regular basis so'diepartnielif gads
have a set schedule and know when
they can make requests or recommen-
dations.
-_ -- -As council embarks on a -new term.
the experience gained in the_ police
course incident will hopefully prompt
them to see the value of using the com-
'rnittee 'system more effectively iii the
months ahead.
Buying jobs
This year, buying jobs for Canada
should be number .on on everybody's
list. •
There are two ig advantages in
selecting Canadian- ade products for
gift giving, says t e Retail Council of •
Canada which . isco-operating in a
"Shop Canadians'- advertising and
promotional program with federal and
. provincial governments. The first is
that it helps create jobs needed now to
contribute to economic revival; the se-
cond is that shoppers can realize excep-
tional value in domestic goods because
of the devalued Canadian dollar.
As -2 -part of the '.Shop Canadian"
philosophy: manufacturers are being
urged to mark their products as "made
in Canada" and many have agreed to
do so. But because it will take time for
those items to reach the retail store. -it -
may not be easy to identify merchan-
dise of Canadian , origin right now.
Customers should ask sales staff for
By
SY-.fLETCHER
School, bus drivers are a
special breed of people.
i doubt very. much that
there are many other jobs
that entail' quite so much
responsibility for so little
pay. Perhaps thafis why it's
so hard to get drivers these
days and why some of them
only last a•couple of weeks
at it even though they've
already spent a considerable
amount of time and energy
in getting their license.
incidentally• that license
has the most demanding
physical standards of any of
the special licenses the On-
tario government has set up
Por drivers.
The new buses can hold up
to seventy-two children.
packing them in at three to a
seat. A few of the kids ride
almost an hour before they
get to school. a long time for
them to sit still and to he
reasonably quiet.
•Experienced drivers know
•
Tttnes Estobl,shed 1113 / - Advocate Establ,shed 1811
•
assistance in finding and comparing
Canadian goods.
The retail council points out the
significance of purchasing Canadian
goods:- A pair of Canadian -made work
boots costing $66 will buy six hours of
work . for Canadians; $25 spent on
Canadian -made stuffed toys will buy
on'e hour': a Canadian -made ladies' lux-
ury gown, priced at $50. will produce
five hours of work for Canadians: and
$24 spent on a Canadian -made circular
saw will buy 1t4 hours of Canadian
jobs. • -
• If each family in Canada purchases
enough Canadian -made merchandise to
create one day's work in Canada. we'd
be giving ourselves 32.000 full-time jobs
for Christmas...and giving ourselves a
much more prosperous new year.
Shoppers should show their in-
terest by actively seeking Canadian
made • Christmas gifts and urging
merchants to get involved.
Perspectives
that the most critical part of
their job is maintaining dis-
cipline. It's hard enough to
drive on a foggy morning but
doubly so when the kids are
acting up behind you.
It's a demanding job.
sometimes scarey
A driver just new to a
route had stopped. his
flashers going. to let a small
child off. Just behind. a
large gravel truck came to a
halt. The bus driver had the
door open. the little girl gdi
out. and a car came flying
past at a speed of ' about
eighty miles an hour. Three
seconds later and the tittle
girl would have beep killed.
Another driver. a lady
with several years' ek
perience. told of coming to a
railroad track in the fog.
opening- the door and listen-
ing then proceeding across
Just behind by no more than
a few feet the train whistled
through. Since then. fog
stops the buses. No ifs. ands.
or buts. Better to come.in an
hour late than not at all.
With winter coming on.
life gets a little more ex-
citing fot the drivers.
Sideroads in some places
are like narrow tunnels
where the bus touches both
sides at once and where tur-
,dvocate
SERVING CANADA'S UESTFARMLAND
C N.A.,O.W.N.A.CLASS 'A'anti ABC
Published by J. W. Eedy Pubficatiens limited
WINE EEDY, PUSUSHER:`
Editor — 1111 Rotten
Assistant Editor Ralf HHvgh.
Advertising Manager — JinS Beckett
Composition Manager — /lorry DeVries
Business Manager -t Dick Jengkind
Phone 235.1331
*CNA
c
narounds in a Janeway
become almost impossible
with' a forty foot vehicle.
Other times the visibility -is
alnest zero
1 t it becomes routine to
a "certain extent and the
drivers get -used to pushing.
the buses through drifts up
to the axles or easing them
over icy roads that even the
farmers won't go on in their
four -wheeled vehicles unless
they're forced into it.
And to give.credit where it'.
is due. the accident. rate for
school buses has been ex-
tremely 16w. art amazing
fact considering the tremen-
dous number of miles put on
daily by them.
Considering too that many
car drivers give the school
buses a hard timeignoring
flashing lights. tailgating
them when they are un-
loading or unloading. and
becoming "so inpatient that
they pass foolishly'
- So next time you see one
of those big yellow boxes on
the road ahead of you. try to
remember that inside the
box are a• •lot of little
_
goobers' depending on you
and a slightly harried driver
to get them safely M their
destination.
Take it easy. eh'
4malgomoted 1014
Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail
Registration Number 0386
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada Si 1 00 Pot Yt+or, USA 522.00
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-^+mow -- .•-
BATT'N AROUND with the editor
Criticism' is misdirected
Peace on earth and goodwill towards
41 While that's one of the prime aims -of
the Christmas season. a few people in
this . community apparently haven't
been able to grasp it vet_ •
Last week. members of the South '
Huron rec centre board came under
fire from some quarters over the
manner in which they staged a Christ-
mas party. it just proves that old adage
about being -damned ' if you do and
damned if you don't
In one •of their' periodic attempts to
raise ...funds for their .budget. • the
members decided to stage a party. to
which area firms would be -invited to
host their employees in an open ban-
quet. followed by a dance.
-The idea was to provide a location
for smaller groups to -join together to
mark the .season. The board w uld
,provide the meat. dance band and bet'
Their invitation was accepted by
several groupsin fact. close to 500
people were in attendance and from all
reports. thoroughly enjoyed
themselves. in .nam: instances. those
groups wouldn't have . been able to
stage such an event on their own.due to •
the lack of n facility of a reasonable
size • •-
The problem arose when some
organizations were not extended an in-
vitation and a couple of board
members in particular have been sub-
ject to some severe criticism. •
in fact. those members were the
ones who went out and promoted the
event by contacting firms. That they
were enable to contact everyone should
be understandable. it should also be -ob-
vious they had to cut off the invitation
list when the number . reached • the
capacity point of the hall.
"it is understandable that some peo-
ple were upset over the situation in
view of the good time enjoyed by the
participants. •
However. their criticism • of the
n
board members who worked hard to
make the event successful is mis-
directed. •
Perhaps next year. there will be
enough response to stage two such par-
ties. and those interested would be well
advised to make their wishes known
now to board members so they can be
accommodated.
Those who have been critical of not
being invited_should be reminded thMt
the board has staged several other
functions which were publicly adver-
tised and which attracted only a hand-
ful of people. They can -hardly be
.ti chastised for extending personal in-
vitations to ensure that the Christmas
party didn't suffer the same fate.
Readers no doubt have seen those TV
commercials for headache tablets
where the coach of a minor hockey
team is shown in the need of some pain
reliever. There are times when some
coaches probably need such assistance.
It's not usually because of the kids. but
rather his own high pressure tactics.
Most kids still enjoy the game for
what it- is and we had ample evidence
last week that given the opportunity. it
is number one-off their list of priorities.
After our weekly practice with our
team of six. seven and eight -year-olds.
Wednesday, the lads serenaded the
kindly old coach on the occasion of his
birthday. . .
When they completed their rendition.
we suggested that in view of their ex•
cellepce it would perhaps be more ap-
propriate that we form a boys' choir
rather than a hockey team.
"Well," commented seven-year-old
Doug Clark in a rather brusk tone. "no
one would come".
So, while you may not have the op-
porttinity.to hear the Waxers in song.
you. edit watch their exciting style of
hockey on December 26 and 27 as they
perform in the annual novice tourna-
Su ar and Spice
Dispeeised by Smiley
Weddings ... he hates them
Not many of you readers have -
attended one • of the many wedding
ceremonies of Elizabeth Taylor. right?
You and I don't exactly travel with that
jet set crowd. riglft?
Well. you're wrong. 1' recently
attended one of the marriages of •
Elizabeth Taylor. And I didn't crash it;
i was invited And I. hope it's the only
one she ever hasit was her first. •
No. no Not that fat. beautiful. silly -
Elizabeth Taylor. the movie star. who-.
by'now has pledged to love, honer and
obey. in sickness and in health. until
death do them part! about six or seven
�Is -
mean the real Elizabeth Taylor.
Liz. the kid who was'a close buddy of
my daughter Kim from about Grade 5
on, whom i taught in Grad,- 10 and
Grade 12. who became somewhat of a
second daughter tows when her mother
died. who dropped in to the Smileys'
every vacation home from college tO
regale us with her ups and downs.
-:- :, lie s-noa• a sotin Phys. Ed aclier._.-
and a darn good one. i daresay.
beeause she's. always been a good
athlete. and has had a way with kids
since her camp counsellor days. She's
also now a young,bride. and "1 take this•
opportunity of .wishing her a happy
married life- I could scarcely get near
enough , at the wedding to say it. so
many guys wanted to kiss her. '
Usually. I hate weddings. and avoid
•
C
dio'MWWfl .,memory kin•
55 Years Ago ago received a pleasasnt
Mr. John Hunkin held his
annual live bird shooting
match on Friday afternoon
last. Two,events were run
off, the first on the jack
rabbit system and the second
for. the birds alone. •
The members of St. Marys
Church, Brinsley held a bee
on Monday afternoon of last
week and made great im-
provements by gravelling
the roadway to the shed.
Morrison Foster; Granton
a student of the local high
school sustained painful
injuries at the school during
a practice football game.
Foster was in a scrimmage
for' tgie ball when he was
kicked on the .leg with such
force that two bones in the
right leg were broken.
Major J. W. Heaman was
in Clinton last Wednesday
attending a banquet in
celebration' of the
organization of the 161st
battalion which took place
December 6, 1915.
Among-:ttfose.- Whl _..are._ variety_. Christmas concert
prominently : mentioned -as -• Friday- night..- _ ' ._
Warden of Huron County
next year are the reeves of 1S Years Ago
two townships adjoining • Scout Jim Johnson of the
Exeter, William H., Coates of First RCAF Centralia Scout
Usborne and Alex J. Neeb, Troop has been selected as
Stephen. - , one of five from the Blue
Water Region to attend the
30 Years Ago. fifth. National Jamboree of
An all -day show marked the Boy Scouts of America in
the opening . of Valentine Valley Forge, Pennsylvania .
Becker's new Internationalnext summer. Jim is a troop
Harvester building at Dash- leader at 15 years of hge.
wood on Tuesday. Rev. Ross MacDonald,
Over 600 public school minister of Carmel
children were entertained at Presbyterian Church,
,Leavitt's Theatre Saturday' Hensall and Knox ,
welcome, from town mer-
chants Saturday when she
won the $100 draw in the
Christmas jackpot.
George E: Rether won
Exeter Council's -sixth seat.
last week when a recount
gave him 463 to 460 for in-
cumbent Claude Farrow.
Judge Frank Fingland
presided at the three-hour
count which broke the
.deadlock. Rether is vice-
president of Exeter Kinsmen
Club. • '
Lorne Dundas and Jim -
Prout were in an unusual
predicament Saturday when
a gun -toting hitchhiker held
a gun at their heads for three
hours. A. Jack Harness, a
native of Exeter identified
himself as the hitchhiker
when he gave himself up to
an Ottawa reporter Monday..
Students at Whalen under
the direction of Mrs. Charles
Gowan, teacher; entertained
the community with a
morning and afternoon.
Ontario's first turnip club
for Junior Farmers held its
Achievement Day meeting in
Exeter on Monday night.
Applications for water
service in Hensalt were.slow
in coming in. although the
.water should be ready for
use next week.
'The auditorium of the
/'"i Trivitt Memorial Chttrch is•
ment at the rec centre. We can assure - being redecorated and it is
you that it is well worth the price of ad- expected that the re -opening
mission. . •will take place January 23.
• • 4 • _ . The unusually .. mild
Last weekend. the novice squad weather for this season of the
year has not been conducive
played in the Parkhill tournament. and
to the best of health.
one of the duties of the coach is to
make out the lineup sheet..The•hockey 20 Years Ago Lutheran College Boxing
moguls also dictates that each player•Mrs. James Earl who Day. He is the first
must sign the sheet. which of course is• moved to Exeter from representative to win his
a rather trying experience for some Usborne about two months seat by election.
kids who are just learning to print and
haven't mastered the task of g spellin
- hire+astoiieoiawaorzaooammu,aoeaocoaaasam,2.cso,e,o,saaawv
their own names as vet--
The problem is compounded by the
fact that the space allotted for the
signatures is only three -sixteenths of
an inch higp and one and a half inches
long. Any kindergarten teacher will
quickly advise that such space is far $
from adequate and most kids have to
cut off their surnames after the first
coupleofletters.
They obviously realize the stupidity
-of the whole exercise. Due to an early
Christmas celebration at his home.
Rob McLean of Grand Bend•was late
arriving- for one of our games. He was
handed the sheet to sign as he dashed
through the lobby and quickly wrote
down his first name. "You can sign my
last name. i don't have time." he said
and handed back the sheet as he rushed
in to get his.skates on.
Presbyterian Church,
Bayfield, for the past two
years has accepted a call to a
three-point charge in Elgin
county, composed of chur-
che in Kintyre, New
GI gow and Rodney.
urondale school held its
st Christmas concert last
eek. The long tradition of
concerts at -the one -room.
school will stop as it is ex-
pected that Usborne town-
ship's new central school will
be ready for next year.
Donald Cann, 19, of Exeter
will be an unique member of
-Older Boys' Parliament
- when it convenes at Waterloo
The Year Scrooge Took Santa's Place
BY ANDREA PEARCE
Grade 6
Exeter P.S.
then decided to go for a walk.
Back at Santa's workshop
the elves werb busy working,
but Santa was still sick. Then
.T'was the night before Santa called for Mrs. Claus
Christmas Eve and Santa and asked her to write a
wasn't feeling well. He kept notice for the newspaper, to
worrying about Christmas see if anyone wouid take
because he wasn't sure the Santa's place on his sliegh.
children around the world When Ebenezer Scrooge
would get their presents. got his daily paper and saw
Meanwhile on the dark
side of the North Pole- lived the notice, he'set out to the
an evil man that didn't nice part of the North Pole to
believe in Christmas. His answer Santa's offer. When
name was Scrooge. One he arrived at Santa's
night when he was in bed workshop, Santa was very
Another problem the coach has is. sleeping a fairy' fluttered pleased to see Ebenezer
remembering' the lads' sweater
numbers. due in no small part to the
fact we prefer to call them by names
rather than numbers. This usually re-
quires that we ask each player his
number as his name isjotted down.
"What's your number?" we asked
six-year-old rookie Allan Blommaerl.
"235-2012." came the quick response.
Who says coaching kids isn't a lot of
fun'
over to him and sprinkled Scrooge so happy and willing
Friendly Dust on him. to take his offer. On
When he awoke in the Christmas Eve and the rest
morning he seemed to be in a of his -life Scrooge was
.happy and friendly mood. He always happy and friendly.
them whenever. possible: But I enjoyed
this one. The church service was amix-
ture of traditional anglican and swing-
ing modern. with a mod -choir playing,
guitars and belting out the Word in
close harmony.
My old lady and I were so moved that
we actually went up and took commu-
nion for- the first time in years. Even
more unusual, my daughter joined us.
Great.reception afterward: free bar,
magnificent roast beef' dinner, good
and brief toasts. and a party afterward
with dancing for the Young Turks, of -
whon'1 there seemed to be many.
It must have cost -her old man a
small. fortune. But it was worth it. He's
two down. and only one daughter left to
marry off, out of the three of them.
But you must wonder why I hate
weddings. Most men do. Why? Mainly
because of the women involved. And i
don't mean the bride or the
bridesmaids, or the brides's mother or
Aunts. I paean one's own women -folk
- ..long.. as two months- before _the
wedding. they start panicking. They
have a feeling that they will be the
cynosure of all eyes, even though -they
know in their hearts that all byes•wi11
be on the bride- '
There.are infinitely lengthy and inef-
fably'boring talks about what to wear
to the wedding. Sensible, women will
drag out that long gown they wore to
the Christmas dance last year and
wear it. But I don't have any of those.
Not long gowns. Sensible women.
.lt must be something new and strik-
ing.•This results in one of two things:
even more agitated shopping excur-
sions. as the big day nears: or. if your
wife sews, as mine does. even more
frantic searching for material. sewing
and ripping. tears and anger and
frustration and, finally. triumph. At
which point the hapless male. who is
. merely going to wear his good suit and
shine his shoes, is expected to rap-
turize over the "creation". By the
hour.
I swear my wife was working on the
final -touch. a white hat that looks like a
longshoreman's cap. until two hours
before we took off for the wedding.
This time it is more complicated.
She also had to improvize an outfit for
daughter Kim. The latter is not sensi-
•--blaln•tJte apposite-way--Shed-turtrup-rd
a formhl wedding in • a turtleneck
sweater, ragged jeans. and sandals.
Bringing along ker husband. who would
arrive in a sweater with the elbow out.
even more ragged jeans. -link work
. boots. •
You can see the pr cement my ofd
_lady waS in: She not only had,to get.
herself looking like the Queen of Sheba.
but she had to get her. daughter's outfit
The First Christmas For Two Animals
BY CHERYL DOWSON
Grade 6 •
Exeter P.S;. •.
There were two little
animals sitting on there bed. -
They had heard people
talking about Christmas.
The one animal was a mouse
the other was a rat. Both of
them asked each other what -
is Christmas?
The Rat "said" is it
something to eat or drink,
the mouse "said" lets go and
find out. So when they were
out of their hole they saw two
children putting decorations
on 'k tree.
Mouse "said" it looks fun,
do you want to try it? He
agreed, They Varted tQ
collect leaves, branches,
twigs and a hole lot cif other
things. They were almost
finished. Finally they were
done but they did not have
decorations. Rat moaned
now what will we do..
• Mouse had a plan, he told
Rat he "said it is g great
idea, so they went ahead
with it. There plan was to
borrow the '• peoples
decorations for the night and
thats what they did, and the
two animals had the most
joyous Christmas ever.
slellra f7w ort Igti aft art artl CMS eft eTtt 4124sstt! Clef o'a ivr, We Woe V ire
lined up. including the loan of shoes and Makeup, ensure
that Kim's Don wore something decent. and choose t4
shirt and tie I'd wear. Tough. "--
Another reason 1 hate weddings is the cost. That one set
me back about 8200. minimum. About 30 -bucks for long-
distance calls..discussing who'd wear what. Another»40 for
.gifts. (My wife was unable to make the shower for the
bride, so had to take a shower gift plus a wedding gift).
Eighty bucks for motel rooms. Yeah 1 got stuck for two of
them, plus cots for the grandboys. Twelve bucks for snacks
(nobody else seemed to have any money).•TwelVe bucks
for the baby-sitter, who told us rather tightly that tht±y
were the worst kids that -she ever baby-sat. Another 10 for
--baa ler-tt�s -And IoMy* -Ferdy Mrows -
how much my wife spent on materials for 1)er outfit.
One more reason i hate weddings. They always interfere
with the; things you'd rather be doing If they're in June,
you'd rather be out trout -fishing. If they're in November,
you'd rather be at home .watching otic of the final football
games. - -
Ah. wothehell. We had a good visit with the grandboys.
Liz got herself a nice fella% there isn't another wedding in
the offing. and my daughter is coping with'a 16 -hour day •
without going aroufid'the bend. it was worth it.
t
•