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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-01-27, Page 4r Times -Advocate, January( 27, 1962 • ♦ �rM-. *;-..`. ..>.-}`•, 1Y: y Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EERY Publisher JIM BECKETT Atherti'ing Manager Bill BATTEN tditor - HARR1 DF% RIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager' I Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $17.00 Per year: U.S.A. $55.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' .s„f 4k- Will it resolve issue? Exeter council members may be tempted to quick- ly jump at the opportunity to hire a personnel . specialist to prepare local -wage policies, given the fact the topic has been under periodic debate for ,the past year. However, there appears to be no guarantee that the expense of hiring an expert will in fact end the debates. It's doubtful if he could prepare a system that would meet the approval of all the viewpoints ex-, pressed by members in the somewhat heated arguments on. the topic. The best he could hope to do would be meet ap- proval from the majority of council and employees, and presumably the current policies do that because they are still in place. . Why spend money on comprehensive salary and benefit surveys? That information is free.to anyone O who seeks it. The big problem comes in deciding whether Exeter should be average, above-aterage or below-average in the scale. It's still a policy that only council can make. Before hiring someone for a three-month study, why not hire an expert for a day or two to review the present policies and get an opinion on them? That may indicate the necessity of a more expensive system or it • may indicate with some minor changes the present policies have merit and should be continued. Before hiring an expert, council should realize that when it comes to public salaries, everyone is an ex- _ pert. Employees always think they're too low, while the public always think they're too high. Come to think of it, that's the way it is between most employee -employer groups and the arguments are rarely settled to everyone's total satisfaction. Don't pass it on Local landlord Doug Parker appears correct in his suggestion that the Exeter PUC should require deposits for services from those who rent accommoda- tion and that the unpaid bills they may accrue. before skipping out s>tould not be passed on to landlords. Ther► appears to be Ito logical reason why landlords should be responsible for bills not paid by their tenants. Many already suffer financial losses from that type of tenant without being held responsible. for paying the losses of the PUC and town. When such bills, are unpaid, the loss has to be covered by someone whether it be passed along to other PUC customers, ratepayers or to other tenants by increased rents. That, is why it appears more egwtabiei- to require deposits to cover the projected monthly utility bill so nq. my ends up -covering the.loo that Alta'* incurred by other people. There's little doubt that the current economic con- ditions will prompt all businesses to tighten credit and the public domain should be no different than the private sector in that regard. Immersion needed We'd like to give the Ontario Teachers' Federation credit. Inco-operation with Georgian `College of Applied Arts and Technology, it is presenting a French immersion course this year. There is a brochure explaining the course: "In general, the aim is to induce accurate oral production of the linguistic features of the French language." We can presume, of course, that the aim of the course is to teach people to speak French. Maybe whoever put out the brochure can find an English im- mersion course somewhere. Grimsby Independent Nothing ventured, nothing gained Members of Exeter council, and local taxpayers, shouldn't be surprised at the fact they have a deficit to pick up for the community park grounds development project. There was no guarantee at the outset of theproject that it would be self- sustaining and council never set any guidelines to ensure that either. Considering the rather loose arrange- ment that was approved by council, they should perhaps be thankful that the com- mittee came as close as they did in meeting the costs of the project. The deficit could quite easily have been twice amount amot recorded. given the current state of the economic situation. Some people may consider the com- mittee's fund raising efforts as a bit of a failure; others may consider it very successful. Who's to judge other than those who were involved and contributed their time. effort and money? The only criticism council members and tax payers could have regarding the situation is that the committee appeared to fail in their attempt to conduct com- pleteo door-to-door canvass in the area. Many people were never canvassed for donations. There was concern expressed last week by one council member that writing off the deficit could be a dangerous precedent. However. council had no real option. the committee members having indicated they had ex- hausted their fund raising energies. Because it was in effect a municipal project. the town is responsible for. the costs involved and had no alternative but to pay the bills. The manner, in which the project was undertaken is not a precedent in this community either. The South Huron rec centre was built using the same type of format: where Council approved the project and in effect became responsible for the costs on the basis of a conviction by those involved that they could raise the hnec sary funds to get the town off That group of enthusiasts was basical- 41. ly successful in meeting the objective, although it should be noted that there were funds taken froni the town coffers for the project. On a percentage basis the rec centre group came closer to meeting the objec- tive than did the park grounds develop- ment committee. but the two projects differed greatly in public involvement BATT'N AROUND with the editor and interest. The need for a rec centre was obviously seen as important to more people than adding a new ball diamond or erecting an agricultural building: Unfortunately. the concern over the deficit has perhaps overshadowed the result of the project and the entire dis- cussion. of course, is coming at a bad time of year. The deficit would not be of as much concern if people could hear the shouts of dozens of local people enjoying the out- door activities at the park. which now provides one of the best sports facilities in the area. The compromise reached by council last week should be seen as a limited vote of confidence in the grounds development committee and hopefully they will somehow be able to rejuvenate their fund raising energies and raise the $10.000 needed to complete the third phase which they feel is important. Hopefully. when thlwsnow melts away to reveal what is now a minor portion to complete on the overall project, it will be brought to a satisfactory conclusion • and the efforts of the committee will be fully rewarded and duly recognized. As mentioned, there are parallels between the rec centre and grounds development projects and presumably it is not he last time Mat Exeter council will be approached by a group of people acid asked for endorsement to proceed on a project before all the funds necessary have iDeen provided. In restrospect. it may be safe to say that there would be no rec centre if the people in charge had been told they had to have all the funds required in the bank before the project could proceed. ' • There ard, a number of people who want to see something concrete happen- ing before they will donate funds'as well. as those who appear to take more delight inupping on the band -wagon after it is rolling. Their- donations. of course, are ;as necessary as those who immediately see the need in the community and are. prepared to make a commitment at the outset to get the wagon rolling. The deficit incurred by council through the parks development project may shake the confidence of present and future councillors in authorizing projects to commence before the funds are available. but it should not shatter that confidence to the point where they refuse to back future projects. Each project must be judged on its own merits with a view -to the need in the community. the ability of the individuals involved fo carry it through and the knowledge that the project will probably never come to fruition if the gamble isn t taken This community enjoys the benefits of a swimming pool. rec centre and com- munity playground that it would probably still be dreaming about without the gamble being taken in the past and the direct cost to the ratepayers for those facilities has been small indeed in comparison to the total capital cost. The choice is usually to gamble or do without' . THIS STORE 15 HOW METRIC When players had dignify Like every other red- bloodecl<malein this coun- try over'the►'age of four, 1 am an expert on hockey' •any teft iblitcri4riN Or Senior A. Or Junior A. •- Or Junior B: Or Juvenile C. But you don't have to make it all the way in Canada to become a con- noisseur of the game. All you have to do is to have been exposed to the game since you were about three, and it's in your blood for life. As a kid, I felt culturally deprived because I didn t have a pair of "tube" skates. To: my great shame, I had to indulge in the sport wearing an old pair of my mother's "lady's skates" (pro- nounced with utter scorn by the kids with tube skates.) Mine went almost to the knee and supported your ankles like a ba marshmallows. Obvious - 1 that is the sole reason I didn't make it to the big leagues. As a kid, I played shinny on the river with some rims who it tacotuallyproor, , latedemi- r, did pro ranks. When I was in high school, some of my best friends were playing Junior A. I was brought up in a rabid hockey and lacrosse town. When I was a little boy, we had a Senior hockey team. It was made up of local factory hands. blacksmiths [yes. I go back that far), and generally good athletes, of no particular rank or sta- tion in life Theyy bouaght ed their ofor wn ' equipment. There-- was tremendous_ s. 'vahy . the the other 4b 'iM country. The rink . was jammed for every game. We kids sneaked into the games through the place where they threw out the snow after clearing the Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley ice, squirmed our way down behind the players' bench, and fought each other to the bone when a senior broke a stick, and with a lordly gesture handed it back toward us. If you were lucky, you got two pieces of hockey stick, took it home and had your old man splint it, taped it up,and played the rest of thseason with a six-foot man's hockey stick prac- tically tearing the armpit out of your five-foot frame. • When I was a teenager. the home town went ape over hockey, began impor- ting players, and iced a Junior A club. We local highschool guys were devastated by jealousy when the imports, from such exoctic towns as Ot- tawa. Montreal, Bro. kville, came to town and stole our girls away. Mill ,e loFals t have a c ftce.'It Vv e sion times. We were ky if we had the money o go to the Saturday night movie [two bits j, let alone take along a girl and feed her afterwards. But the hockey imports had everything. Flashyo uniforms. Great physi- ques. The roar of the crowd. And money. They got about $15 a weekfor room and boavl and spen- ding money.They often had or thee dollars to throw around; so, natural - I they got the girls. Dome of them are Still stuck with them, ha, ha. There were only eight teams then: Toronto. Montreal Canadiens. Montreal Maroons. Ot- tawa Senators, Boston. New York Rangers, New York Americans.. Chicago, and Detroit. There were probably just as many hopeful players. Today there are 21 or 23 or 28 teams in the NHL. Nobody seems to count them any more. Well. figure it out. Take a quart of whiskey and add a similar amount of Oldtimers were a little Last week I was talking about the 'good Old days here in Ontario back in the 1800s. At that time there was so little known about disease and what caused it that one had lit- tle protection against severe illness. In 1847. about 10.000 im- migrants died from cholera and typhys. while smallpox left its.mark on every second or third face a few pits here, a hideous mask there. Ladies of fashion were hablackpatchesto paste small patches over their worst pimples or scars and call them beauty spots. •- Ague was spread by mosquitoes. It gave you chills and a high fever that could lead to violent shivering and death. The most common il- lness" probably was in- digestion. The cure for it was one quart of hickory cured. • It was the fashion for young ladies to be pale at Perspectives By Syd Fletcher ashes. six ounces of soot. and one gallon of bo'ling water Mix and stie fre- quently.: At the end of 24 hours. pour off the clear liquor Take a teacupful three times a day. (Probably after a dose of that you wouldn't want to eat anything: therefore the indigestion would be that time. and so they were. Little sunshine. no exercise. stuffy room, tight corsets. poor diet, and a constant huddling over fires' and stoves made them pale. And they suffered a fashionable disease - con- sumption (Tuberculosis) - which carried them off water. Split the remains in two and Add a halt . of waterto a ch.:W t do rouget? Not aa Whalalcey with, water. A water with a touch of Whiskey. And that's why so many once -ardent hockey ex- perts like me just don't bother going to games, or even watching them on TV, unless the Russians are playing, when you see a few flashes of the old- time hockey, instead of a group of high-school dropouts high -sticking, slamming each other into the boards, pretending to fight by dancing ring -a- round while carefully clut- ching each others' sweaters so they won't be hurt, and doing everything but play hockey. • Perhaps the most sickening thing of all is the great hugging and kissing and dancing that takes place when one turkey has scored a goal by shooting toward the end of the rink and having the puck go in off a team- mate's stick - pure accident. It's O.K. I don't -necessarily want to go back to the days when players had some dignity, and didn't have to pat each others' bums all the time. Nor do I want them reduced to the sort of wage slavery they en- dured years ago. But please spare me, on the sports pages from their constant whining, tantrums, hurt .feelings, and never-ending interest in the big buck. rank right and left. To top if off (quite literally) fleas and lice were everywhere. Beds hoce were friends fleas. with friends ofevenall, ren in the tall. white - powdered hairdos of the rich women. At church services and other meetings. it was common to see a lady take a thin bone skewer out of her delicately prod the urse or muf( and more troublesome 'beasties' under her elegant hairdo. Even among the rich folk, hot baths were taken only as a medical treat- ment. People thought that warm hs were dangerous b if t taken less than three hours after meals. It must have been a Tit- tle 'rank' at public meetings.