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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-09-04, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, September 4, 1985 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Imes dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 150 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 + CNA «� LORNE ESPY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $23.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Helpful study Members of Exeter council and the planning advisory committee wi'_i have some lengthy and detailed reading to undertake following the report submitted recently by summer planning student, Stewart Findlater. The UWO student was asked to address a number of current concerns in the community and has explored them in considerable depth before ar- riving at his recommendations that the municipal officials will' consider. Two of the major issues discussed in the report centre around the park- ing of commercial vehicles in residen- tial areas and the expansion of the town's commercial zones. On the matter of the commercial trucks, Findlater has presented two practical solutions, depending on whether council members choose to prohibit trucks over certain dimen- sions or if they intend to drop regula- tions entirely. Obviously, the planner has not 'made the.decision any easier, but has at least given viable solutions to en- force the decision. • Officials should be guided by his concern as to whether the issue is bas- ed to a considerable extent on per- sonality conflicts more than other fac- tors cited in some of the. complaints. Findlater's findings on the expan- sion- of commercial floor space should also assist greatly in addressing the concern of a large number of residen- tial property owners regarding the mammoth expansion that was detail- ed during the current update on the town's zoning bylaw and official plan. -It became one of the more conten- tious issues and his findings suggest Walk not Spectator support for the recent Sportsfest activities held. in Ex- eter was comparatively low. but that was not a requisite for its success. The participants were not on hand to be spurred into action by frenzied fan support; most had come for the simple pleasure of performing for the fun and exer- cise involved. That's not to say that the majority of players were not trying to win, but victory was not the sole aim. Obviously. that's the intent of most people when they perform in the various recre tion leagues which provide opportunities in the many sports which abound in this area. it's obvious to most onlookers that the people who get the most true enjoyment from participa- tion are those who put winning far down on the scale of reasons for taking to -the playing fields. They often draw disdainful looks from their team cohorts who put winning at a higher priority. but that often fails to daunt them in. their pursuit of pleasure and exercise. it is also the ingredient that enables those of us with limited skills to explain away our deficiencies. The bowler who tosses all three allotted balls to knock down five pins can always defend his inac- curacy with the explanation that he's getting three times the exer- cise of the more proficient kegler who manages to score strikes consistently. Those with a Scot- tish background can also use the legitimate argument that they're really just ensuring they get that such a large extension of •the commercial area is not warranted at this time. Of equal importance, is his, advice that commercial expansion should be carried out with priority given to consolidation. - The student planner's critisim of the business community for their lack of cooperation in his studies appears warranted, particularly in view of the fact it was initiated for' their benefit primarily. He's correct in suggesting they should have jumped at the oppor- tunity to have such a study under- taken at no direct cost to them. Part of the lack of response may. have stemmed from a lack of com- munication and the reluctance of peo- ple to provide personal information to a student- whose credentials and objec- tives were not fully explained. Town officials could have helped overcome the problem by providing business people with a covering letter of introduction and some indication of the supervision under which Findlater was conducting his studies. - Members of the business com- munityare inundated with surveys of various kinds and a're naturally pro- - tective of information that, if misused, could have ramifications for them. Their wariness is understandable. In future, officials should reconize the need to properly communicate the goals of students or others working on special projects with an accompany- ing assurance that any statistics revealed will be treated in confidence. A student, unknown to the community, obviously does not have the basis for the mutuals trust that is required and must rely on his employers to bridge the gap. • as good as hit value for their money. there be- ing no reduction in the lane charge for those who use their full alotment of balls or find it suf- ficient to only use one. The writer usually felt cheated at minor baseball games when the coach tan un -named former mayor of this community) sent me to the plate with explicit in- structions to wait out a walk. My batting average provided full justification for the coach's edict as he had every assurance that Batt'n _Around ...with The Editor swinging the bat would result in a probable strike -out, while not swinging at least provided the op. portunity for a walk. , * * * That is probably one of the reasons why it is -so difficult to comprehend some of the tactics used by coaches in the area's recreational slopitch leagues. The popularity of the game is easy to understand, given the fact many players were disillusioned by fasthall games in which the majority of action was strictly between the pitcher and the catcher. Many batters were not at the same calibre of the pitchers and so they took three belated swings at a ball that was usually in the catcher's mitt and then trotted out to the iteld to stand and watch their own pitcher send the opposi- tion back to the bench via the same route. Slopitch came along with the promise of giving every person a chance to use the bat for its in- tended purpose and to give the fielders an opportunity to get a bit of exercise by chasing the ball after it was hit. But the competitive nature of some proponents of the game has turned it into a exercise in futili- ty for many players and it con- founds the writer to hear coaches and team mates exude the merits of "a walk is as good as a hit". i1 isn't, of course. if the game is being played primarily fcr its fun and exercise. * * * Given the difficulty which some pitchers have in lobbing a hall to land within a designated spot in the batter's zone, it would -appear that some rec leagues should look seriously at adopting the game through which area kids get so much enjoyment -- that being t- hat!. Some adult teams in other com- munities are finding this speeds up their action considerably' while at the same time providing all the benefits sought after by recreation players. It is of interest to note that one local minor team even has a lad who plays the game while being confined to a wheelchair. Ile's able to take a swing from his chair and the parents on hand take turns wheeling him around the bases. If you ask him whether a walk is as good as a hit. you can pro- bably already guess the answer. 1 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North t.ambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited The opposition want me to resign? Ha — I'm nobody's fool! Does that mean you'll be sitting as an independent? Change in manners There has been a tremendous change in the manners and mores of Canada in the past three decades. This brilliant thought came to me as I saw a sign today, in a typical Canadian small town: "Steakhouse and Tavern." Now this didn't exactly knock me out, alarm me. or discom- bobulate me in any way. I am a part of all that is in this country, at this time. But it did give me a tiny twinge. Hence my opening remarks. I am no Carrie Nation, who stormed into saloons with her lady friends, armed with hat- chets, and smashed open ( what a waste) the barrels of beer and kegs of whiskey. I am no Joan of Arc. I don't revile blasphemers or hear voices. I am no Pope John Paul II, who tells people what to do about their sex lives. I am merely an observer of the human "scene, in a country -that used to be one thing, and has become another. But that doesn't mean I don't have opinions. i have nothing but scorn for the modern "objective" journalists who tell it as it is. They are hyenas and jackals, who fatten on the leavings of the "lions" of our society, for the most part. . Let's get back on topic, as I tell my students. The Canadian socie- ty has roughened and coarsened to an astonishing degree in the last 30 years. First, the Steakhouse and Tavern. As a kid worsting on tfti boats on the Upper Lakes, i was excited and a little scared when i saw that sign in American ports: Duluth, Detroit, Chicago. I came from the genteel pover- ty of Ontario in the Thirties, and I was slightly appalled, and deep- ly attracted by these signs: tl*e very thought that drink could be publicly advertised. 'Like any normal. curious kid. I went into a couple. ordered a two -hit whiskey, and found nobody eating steaks, but a great many people getting sleazily drunk on the same. Not the steaks. - In those days, in -Canada. there was no such creature. The very use of the word "tavern" in- dicated iniquity. it was an evil place. We did have beer "parlours", later exchanged for the euphemism "beverage rooms." But that was all right. Only the lower element went there. and they closed from 6 p.m. to 7:30, or some such, so that a family man could get home to Sugar & Spice Dispensed by Smiley eat his dinner. Not a.bad idea. In their homes, of course, the middle and upper class drank li- quor. -Beer was the working- man's drink, and to be shunned. It was around then that some wit . reversed the old saying. and came out with: "Work is the curse of the drinking class."a neat version of Marx's(?) "Drink is the curse of the working classes." If you•called on someone in those misty days, you were of- fered a cuppa and something to eat. Today. the host would be humiliated if he didn't have something harder to offer you. Now, every hamlet seems to have its steakhouse, complete with tavern. it's rather ridiculous. Nobody today can af- ford a steak. But how in the liv- ing world can these.same people afford drinks, at current prices? These steakhouses and taverns are usually pretty sleazy joints, on a par with the old beverage room, which was the opitome of sleaze. It's not all the fault of the owners, :hough they make nothing on the steak and 100 per cent on the drinks (minimum ►. It's just that Canadians lend to be noisy and crude and profane drinkers. And the crudity isn't only in the pubs. It has crept into Parlia- ment, that august institution. with a prime minister who used street language when his im- pecable English failed, or he wanted to show how tough he was. It has crept into our educa- tional system. where teachers drink and swear and tell dirty jokes and use language in front.of women that I, a product of a more well mannered: or in- hibited, your choice, era, could not bring myself to use. . And the language of today's students, front Grade one to Grade whatever. would curl the hair of -a sailor. and make youi maiden aunt grab for the smell- ing salts. Words from the lowest slums and slummiest barnyards create rarely a blush on the cheek of your teenage daughter. A 'graduate of the depression. when people had some reason to use had language. in sheer frustration and anger. and of a war in which the most common four-letter word was used as fre- quently, and absent-mindedly. as salt and pepper. have not inured me to what our kids today con- sider normal. Girls wear T-shirts that are not even funny. merely obscene. As do boys. Saw one the other day on - an otherwise nice lad. Message: "Thanks, all you virgins - for nothing." The Queen is a frump. God is a joke. The country's problems are somebody elses problem. as long as I get mine. I don't deplore. I don't abhor. 1 don't implore. i merely observe. Sadly. We are turning into a na- tion of slobs. Suit devious purpose Back a few years ago there was a situation comedy on TV which had pig by the name of Arnold on it. Arnold was pretty in- telligent. By a series.of grunts he would offer his opinion on what some of the more important characters of the show were do- ing and would usually -generale a laugh or two in the process. 1 have a feeling that Arnold must have somehow failed though with the generalpublic or lhaybe it's just that pigs and cows and chickens just don't have that cuteness, that little bit of charisma that some other animals have. Baboons now. The animal rights group took a real 'fit' because a couple of researchers at the University of Western On- tario restrainedone fora lengthof time in a chair while they did some cholesterol research on it. ' in fact, the rights group;took the By the Way by Syd Fletcher two researchers to court, wasted the time of many people over the case for many many weeks, then dropped it when it became ob- vious that they were going to be laughed out of court. The judge gave there a reprimand for wasting his time. But, you don't hear too much over chickens being confined in cages so small that they can't even stand up or pigs in pens so narrow that they cant turn around. ( Often a pig will fall and break a leg when it is turned out of one of these enclosures since the muscles in its legs have atrophied). Somehow they just aren't a's cute as that little baboon that looks like a little stuffed toy or the seals that are used for ladies' fur coats. Strange isn't it. how we as a media -observing population can he manipulated by a few people who know how to create 'news' when it suits their. devious purposes. PP