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Times-Advocate, 1986-01-08, Page 4Pogo 4 Tlmos-Achoocote, January 8, 1906 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 A 1924 A:tO imes - vocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Pubbshed by J.W. Eeby Pisblkatbrts Umhed Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0. Second Class MaN Registration Number 0386. Phone 519.235-1331 A l/ . LORNE EEOY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager r BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Attack must continue There's clear indication that the attack on drinking and driving is pay- ing dividends. Despite an increase in police checks during the busy festive partyseason, fewer and fewer people were caught endangering their lives and those of others by getting behind the steering wheel after imbibing. The hazards of drinking and driv- ing, of course, have been well documented and the move to reduce the carnage on our highways has been long overdue. However, while people are becom- ing more responsible in their habits, the change is due primarily to in- creased penalties as opposed to.the 4 suggestion that people now generally view drinking and driving as being socially unacceptable. It's the fear of being caught that has prompted most people to alter their drinking habits and that in- dicates quite clearly that law enforce- ment is still the main weapon in the battle. It will have to be maintained at a high level or there is a considerable risk that the current record could easily be spoiled. Drinking and driving may some day be seen by the majority as social- ly unacceptable, but until then, stringent enforcement and severe penalties will be required. A grave error The year-end action of the Exeter cemetery board in moving to spend a $5,000 surplus raised a few eyebrows from Exeter council, but certainly did not draw the stiff rebuke that was warranted. The "spend it or lose it" philosophy has been rampant in federal and provincial departments for years, but should not be endorsed at the municipal level. Such action destroys the budget process and the precedent which council endorsed, albeit with some reluctance, is obviously not in the best interests of the taxpayers who contributed directly to that surplus. Municipal grants to the cemetery operation have climbed throughout the years, and when prudent budgeting Still It's comparatively easy these days to end up with a sore neck. On one hand, we are encouraged to look ahead at the challenges of the new year, while on the other there are the myriad reviews which turn our attention to the events of the past year. The writer has trouble enough at the best of times in knowing if he's coming or going, so the add- ed pressure of the old and new year struggle certainly augments the problem. The old year will be remembered by some as Interna- tional Year of the Youth, but un- fortunately there were few events or occasions in this area during those 12 months to properly celebrate. There were the usual events through which area youth were able to display their considerable talent, but on the whole young people gave the year about the same degree of exuberance that one would expect for interna- tional donut year or something akin. Notwithstanding those normal activities of young people and the personal achievements of many in that age category, the oppor- tunity the year presented was not seized. Some may argue that the year was set aside FOR youth and therefore adults should have shown the required leadership, but that's not what the title in- dicated. The operative word was OF. But there's little to be gained about arguing who was to get the proceedings into gear; the fact can result in a tax saving, it should be directed back to those taxpayers. The board may well be able to, i "relieve" the 1986 budget by spending the $5,000 on capital items included in this year's program, but there is no such guarantee as other expenditures may now be envisioned to keep the current year's budget in line with the previous one. The 1985 board members were in a position to get commendation for an unusual budget trend, but obviously couldn't resist the temptation of see- ing all that money on the black side of the ledger. The new board will have an oppor- tunity to provide the relief that was promised and council members should ensure that the promise comes to fruition. time for youth being that few took the time or ef- fort to fully appreciated a year either FOR or OF youth. That's unfortunate. Adults missed the opportunity of challenging young people to come forth with their ideas on how to make our communities better places in Which to work, live and play, while the youth missed the opportunity of presenting their Batt'n Around ...with ill&The Editor ideas on how to accomplish those goals. It's even more unfortunate when it is evident that most com- munities need some fresh, new ideas as well as being evident that young people need some challenge to consider their role in the present and future plans of those communities. • • • • The salvation, of course, is that the calendar does not remove the challenge or the opportunities. The new year is still not too late to enjoy the dialogue that could prove most beneficial. There appear to be many paradoxical situations when the topic of youth is discussed. Civic leaders continually men- tion the need for industrial growth to provide job oppor- tunities for young people, while at the same time many of those young people complain that there -is little in extra -curricular ac- tivities for them and they'd prefer to be somewhere else anyway. That can partially be explain- ed through the adage that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but it does indicate a bit of a void that should be ad- dressed. Are the needs of youth being met with the increasing recreation budgets? If not, what would young people like to see done? ' That's only one area in which discussions could prove worthwhile. In a major study last year, a planning student mentioned the need for Exeter to attract com- nrcial establishments that meet the shopping needs of young people. What are those needs and how can that challenge be met? s • • s • If you think hard enough, there are a host of other questions that need to be answered, but as always the problem arises in get- ting all those interested into a suitable forum where those ques- tions -- and hopefully, some answers — can be aired. That gets us back to the original problem that resulted in few meaningful events during In- ternational Year of the Youth. Does the leadership come FROM the youth or FOR them? As soon as that gets answered with some positive action, the dialogue can begin! 1 ITS HEAPirio fuq T►iE V►q 4Q - Mu1T BE A PIANO TO/04' PP "Dinner may be late - the tuna casserole won't get in the oven!" Christmas to remember Once upon a Christmas time, there was a little boy with a skin- ny freckled face and big solemn blue eyes. He was old enough to know that there was something called The Depression and that he and his family was right in the middle of it. - The Depression was somehow connected with the fact that pea soup and homemade bread were very often the staples for supper;. that he had to wear his big brother's trousers, cut down; that on rare and terrible occasions, he would come in and find his mother, who was afraid of nothing on earth, sitting at the sewing machine, with her head down on her arms, crying. But none of this bothered him too much: Small boys are very tough little characters, for the most part. They can adapt to almost anything. The only things that really bother them are the things that go on in their heads. And that was this kid's trouble. For two years now, he'd been wanting a pair of skates. Oh, he had skates, but he'd got so sen- sitive about them he wouldn't even wear them any more. They were an old pair his mother had worn when she was younger. They had long tops, almost up to his knees. He had to wear three pairs of socks to fill them. His ankles wobbled badly in them. And every time he showed up at the pond, somebody ,would yell: "Where'd ja get the girl's skates?" What he wanted was a pair of real skates, tubes, they called them in those days, hockey skates, they're called now. Heb had a hockey stick. At the first game of the year, when the seniors were playing, he'd had a real stroke of luck. After climb- ing in the window of the rink, in the middle of the second period, with some other kids, he'd wiggl- ed his way right down beside the players' box. He was just nicely settled, and trying to peer around a large, violent hockey fan in front of him, when one of the players dashed up to the bench with both parts of a broken stick, and threw them to the coach. The latter looked around, straight into a pair of beseeching eyes, and said: "Here, kid, here's a stick for you." With the help of his Dad, who spliced the stick, and some tape, he had wound up with a dan- dy stick. But no skates. He'd tried to earn money for a pair, by shovell- ing snow. The first time out, he'd asked an old lady if she'd like her snow shovelled. She said yes. He shovelled like a little demon for an hour. He knocked on her door, red in the face, and told her it was done. She said: "and I have something for you, for your trou- ble." And handed him a cookie. That soured him on snow shovell- ing and nice old ladies for some time. All his other sources of income: empty beer bottles, scrap iron and old tires, were covered by *snow. He spent an hour and a half siphoning the money out of his penny bank, with a knife. There was only 13 cents. His kid brother's bank yielded only another 8 cents. As the days went on, and the other kids played hockey on the pond, while he had to pretend he didn't want to play, the desire for skates became more and more of Sugar & Spice Dispensed by Smiley ...................................... an obsession. A hundred - wild schemes went through his mind, to raise the money. All sorts of stories, like the one in which he sprang out and stopped the runaway horse, and the cowering driver, in gratitude, game him five dollars, ran through his head. It was Christmas Eve. He'd delivered on his sleigh a basket of food his mother had sent to a family that was doyen and or m the other side of town. He'd done it, sullenly, his inner eye seeing nothing but those feverishly desired skates. He was walking home, down the main street, look- ing in the bright store windows with envy and despair in his heart, and kicking viciously at chunks of frozen snow. Suddenly his foot struck something that clinked. He bent and picked it up. It was a chane purse. Excitedly he opened it. There were two two -dollar bills and some coins in it. There was also a receipt. It bore the name of a woman he knew well: She had a useless bum of a husband . and a backyard full of kids. "Boy, will she ever be glad to get this back", mused our hero, immediately making himself the central figure in a Christmas Eve drama in which he returned the poor women's money as she sat with her ragged children in their freezing shack. His spirits lifted, he shoved the purse in his pocket arid was off like a shot to i;eturn it. He was tearing along, his sleigh banging his heels, his whole body tingling with pleasure. Suddenly he stop- ped in his tracks. There, in his mind's eye, was a picture of himself gliding over the ice on a new pair Of tube skates, with the rest of the kids trying hard, but unable, to catch him. And in the same second came the realiza- tion that he had enough money in his pocket to buy them. He walked on, for another block, very slowly now. he was sick with temptation. He came in sight of the woman's house. Satan was whispering. He got to the door. Twice he raised his hand to knock and dropped it. Then he tiptoed down the steps and ran like a rabbit back to the hard- ware store, bought the skates, white-faced, and ran all the way home, heart thumping, stomach sick. He sneaked in the back way, and was hiding the skates in the woodshed. His mother and father were talking in the kitchen. "That was foolish, Dad", she was say- ing. "You know we owe grocery bills, and there's fuel to buy, and we all need clothing," His Dad answered: "I don't care if we're all starving by spring. I know what it's like to want something that badly." The boy went around to the front door, came in quietly and crept off to bed, after murmuring goodnight to his parents. He didn't get to sleep for a long, long time. In the morning, his kid brother excitedly dragged him out of bed, to go down and look under the tree. He was feeling wretched. He knew there'd be nothing under the tree but some nuts and can- dy, and an apple, and maybe a new suit of long underwear, wrapped in gift paper. That was The Depression. • When he saw the new skates sitting there, his insides gave a lurch. He knelt beside them and saw the card: "To Bill, with love. Mother and Dad." When his parents came down, he was still on his knees, the tears streaming down his face. His Mother thought he was crying for hap- piness, and loved him up. His Dad tried to joke him out of it, talking about the great hockey star he'd be. It would be nice to end the story by saying he told them the whole story, the skates he'd bought with the found money were returned, the woman got her money, all was forgiven, and he never stole anything again as long as he Lived. But that's not the way it was. He took the skates out of the woodshed that night, ran with them to the river, and threw them ;over the bridge into the black water. He played hockey every day. When summer came, he stole apples, and grapes, as he always had. He planned to save all his money and give it to the woman whose money he's stolen. But he never got around to it. He planned to do something wonder- ful for his parents, and never got around to it. But he'll never forget that Christmas as long as he lives. Not realizing impact Peering at the world through thick - lensed glasses perched on a delicate nose, his tiny head permanently at an angle to his twisted body, was little Barry. Although only half the size of his classmates, Barry was lion- hearted. Determination shone out of his face. He had had cerebral palsy at birth. Sturdy braces surrounded his spind- ly legs. To walk, he would sight his target and with surprising speed lurch along, defying gravity as he willed himself ahead. Then would come the inevitable tumble. • But regardless of how often he'd fall, sending glasses flying in one direction and belongings in another, Barry's face would bob up with a grin from ear to ear. Groping for his By the Way by Syd Fletcher glasses, he'd mutter to himself, "Bear -up, Barry." Retrieving his glasses, Barry would struggle to rise. No one helped him up. • Although the class had watched the glasses clatter to the floor, and winced when Barry sprawled headlong, they allowed him the dignity of doing for himself. "Bear -up, Barry," he'd mutter through clenched teeth. When his puckish face returned to eye level, the children would resume their studies. Every child in the class loved Barry. His expression became their motto. "Bear -up," they would mutter when the going got tough. Through his tiny example of courage they learned that bravery can come in a small package and f think their lives were enriched by his example. Somehow though, modest Barry will never realize the impact he made upon their hearts.