Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-10-22, Page 4Qcraw ?l. Inas • Imes ...Advocate !__bier Each We meaday AMwtin at fader, Oeatas o, NMA 1S0 Second lyase Mai Registration INsoreber 031116. Mose one 510-235-1331 EORi4t EID'Y On BATTEN HMS HAUGFi N.iirsher Mew Asset—t Editor >at KIM HARRY 17EYRRS Ailoiro ritg A'— Composilow M21115111M5d Massager mai s SURSOUPTiON RATES: Calm r $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $ 5Ao CWJV.A., O.CN.A. QASIS Make it Members of the South Huron rec cen- tre board wrestled far some time at their October meeting about rules and regula- tions for groups renting the local facilities_ A draft presented by the staff was amended to point out that groups would be held responsible for any vandalism that occurs and that liquor was not to be used on the premises =less it was an event for which a liquor licence had been secured_ While board members are correct in addressing the responsibilities they ex- pect groups to accept as part of the agreement for use of the facilities, both situations are covered under existing federal and provincial lawns_ Much of the problem, particularly related to groups having liquor illegally at the facilities, stems from the fact peo- ple have turned a blind eye to the prac- tice in the past_ Even staff members have knowingly allowed such conduct and at one time in the old arena a dress- ing reaming room was often set aside for hockey fans to enjoy some imbibing between periods, If board members are serious about having liquor laws enforced, it is ap- parent that the staff muni be advised that any infractions are to be immediately explicit relayed to the police for enforcement. The board must also decide whether groups failing to comply will in fact have their privileges withdrawn_ To say "may lead to loss of privileges" is wishy-washy at best and based on past experience, would suggest that -, probably won't result in such harsh action_ Vandalism, of course, is a rather polite term for willful damage and is covered under the Criminal Code and again should be handled by the police so appropriate charges can be laid and court imposed restitution made by anyone found guilty. It should certainly not be inferred that groups renting the facilities have the option to discipline their own members and make restitution without any police involvement. In the final analysis, rules and regulations pertaining to situations covered by the laws of the land are redundant and often end up implying that conduct outside those laws is expected or will be handled in a different mamier than they would outside the facilities. If the board's intent is to get tough, the users and the staff should be advis- ed and any infractions should be handl- ed in a manner that makes the board's intent quite explicit. 0 Serve is returned During his tour of rain plagued farms in the area a couple of weeks ago, Ontario agriculture minister Jack Rid- dell urged gruivers to make their plight known to federal officials and to not let the latter off the hook in providing assistance_ The visit to the area this week by federal agriculture minister John Wise shows clearly that Ridden's challenge was amply met. In fact, Wise gave farmers more hope to expect some assistance than did Riddell, although the former's statements indicated that it would take the cooperation of both levels of govern- ment to alleviate some of the current pro- blems among farmers. Obviously, now that both cabinet ministers have seen the damage and beard the problems being experienced, it is imperative that they get their heads together to formulate whatever plan of action they feel the situation warrants. Farmers have made it abundantly clear that time is of the essence for some among them and answers are quickly needed. Wise has deftly returned the serve to Riddel's court and the next play is up to the latter. A long way to go Much has been said and written amt the. recent meeting bet - mete U.S. S. presiidenmt Rona Reagan a+ ,d k‘; Smrvriietl leader JT>ilkii�aE Gcorbachea- in icelannd and ma doubt many were ameba ed me bl- ed by she anmrouanrerrncntt that the• taRUP kid basically agreed not to Male there had been a o>;cT sop - tiimmusmm that the tam vacate! reason some type of aetrotA poen Ilinatti nhe• mncllear arcs race. thatt was basically dashed Vs1hua ntnamy people fail to) utnideleOt:amrdl is tlhat the two) were dn;11nnImg ronily att 15anitiimg, the tract 'IRMA been going on now for senerrall decades, and the lack of arses alireerernenft lie dose las rso way placers rhe world under army utter threat of rax rear chritatstaltictm Mani it was prier triN the jaunt to Reykjavik The tardy wag the threats of murclkasrr wag urs going to bit canna - ed its no halve baatth aides dispose of their current supply of such weuarms. Eacf$ aide mrow has enough tonn hand troy blast this plane toudt of the. airaaretse• anal merely calling a halt tut farther testing and efeaelopasent toff new atcapers is rear bv(Hy Imre romts+err{houenrttial. Doves it really matter if the woad is desttmoged by the power limn the dusting arsenal for errorrm emit TexWity - dfeartltagred bomb that can Ihraztrale the tla<slk a1E by ittseflf''' !tilting rite• proliferation of weapons its (obviously the first step umT mitre move to arty sentbitamtr tat wagtail peace,. bar RI in a name that weak! Fbaret s it4lIelhr the' sturEace. • Compounding the preibiiem irs the bet that the twat sower prow ♦ r • 10; are certainly not the only nations that haws nuclear arsenals,. alt'ii ugh the development in some off those ether countries is apparently even less open that it as tan Rusana and the United States,- Jing from recent news reports that ilsrael has secret underground plants where •:-' r z Batt'n Around ...with The Editor muacieaz' wen , a are being built. The brea down inn Iceland points out that it the two leaders can't agree. on any redaction of the acrd race', they are an altnoiest insurmountable distance'apart in even discussing the. usually im- portant ismer of redwing their respetttira to arsenals, ' Dont expect any move in that regard audit the aura of distrust between the east and west is emaciated: and right now there is no hope of that happening. * * if yin's are arnortg those who hold Mt Seine' hope that the peace aetiaista inn the world can bring some pressure to bear on the suer powers, then you'll be among those rather dismayed by what happened this week at a wtatlid peace conference in Copenhagen. The fine -day congests, which iutWnolhvts about Z',:100, peace ae- tiiaists from all countries, started out on an uncharacteristic note. A fight broke out! The skirmish erupted when a group of demonstrators unfurled a banner suggesting that the con- gress was really being organized by the KGB, the Soviet state security police. There are many who charge that peace activists are actually playing into the hands of the Rus- sians, or are working in concert with them to undermine the defences of the western powers. When the peace activists are at odds with each other; how can we expect the war mongers to agree on anything? * * The danger of a major world conflict does not rest with a _uniting of the arms race and in fact when J scuusions on that topic are held by the super powers it appears to add to the tensions and mistrust between the two. The potential cari only be reamed by eliminating those ten- sions and mistrust and that is a sizeable order evidenced in no small way by the very fact that the leaders of the two super powers find it necessary to meet on "neutral" ground rather than taking tarnshosting dialogues in their respective countries. • if they could get„ together in front of the fireplace at the White Haase or Kern.Iin periodically for a friendly chat it could pay some dividends. As long as summit talks re- main as cold, calculating sessions that inevitably end up with both men berating the other's lack of cooperation, the cold war continues. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1$73 Published by I.W. lEedy Publications limited GORBACHEV SMILED WHEN I MADE PTI PROPOSAL.. UNLISS HE WAS JUST SUPPRESSING A LAUGH? Everything is alright EIizabeth is a gourmet cook. That's not why I married her, but it certainly didn't hurt her chances. So with a terrific, im- aginative cook in the family, who needs restaurants? Well, once in a while we do pig out, just to be able to compare. Also to escape the kids. Or we may take the children with us, to treat the whole family to "eating out". It is a big deal for the children to eat at a restaurant, I'm not talking about assembly line feeding stations like McDowell's (name slightly changed to pro- tect the innocent) . I mean establishments that serve food made from agricultural pro- ducts, prepared - hopefully - by a Iive chef or the equivalent thereof. In other words - in Stephanie's words - "a fancy restaurant". Last Sunday we decided to go to a place that isn't only fancy but also expensive. That, of course, does not impress Stephanie who doesn't really understand the dif- ference between a dime and a dollar yet. This fancy, expensive restaurant was chosen because we had never dined there before, and someone whose name counts around here had recommended it. I should have followed my in- stinct and rejected the place on the grounds that my budget for restaurant food had already been exceeded. In other words, I couldn't afford it. But as in so many instances, my instinct was overruled by my pride. What self- respecting husband and father likes to admit that he can't afford to take his family out to dinner once in a while? It's like being unable to support them. As we entered the restaurant - which shall remain nameless to protect me and the paper from a libel suit - we were greeted by a hostess whose professional smile wilted when she counted three young children. "Do you want booster seats?" she asked. No boosters necessary, we told her. Our kids have reasonably good table manners - especially in restaurants, and they have learn- ed to sit on chairs. "Are you sure you don't want booster seats?" "Quite sure, thank you." The decor was early Renaissance, with the odd Gothic window and Romanesque pillar thrown in for effect. Panelled wainscoting, dark, rustic beams. Menus that weighed half a pound, had a table of contents, an in- troduction, index and bibliography. "How strange," I said, "all the prices are in French francs. Twenty-four francs for a ham- burger steak - how much is that in Canadian dollars?" "It's not hamburger steak, it's Hachis de Boeuf en bordure," Elizabeth corrected me with a degree of in- dignation, "and it's priced in dollars, as you very well know." There was no children's menu, and the waiter pretended not to understand when we ordered "one serving of lasagna with two plates" for Duncan and Stephanie. His bow tie bobbed as he swallowed hard, but he final- ly got it right. I won't bore you with the details of our meal. The food was fairly ordinary. My potatoes were undercooked, Elizabeth's carrots overcooked. The soup was lukewarm. The wine - like everything else in the place - was grossly overpriced. in fact, the only thing this establishment seemed to excel in was their pric- ing policy. Like too many restaurants today it offered mediocre meals served by indif- ferent staff at magnificent prices. I suppose they use so much creative energy working out•their prices that there is nothing left for cooking tasty meals. Ten seconds after we had started the main course, the waiter came back. "Everything alright?" I was going to tell him to come back after we had a chance to find out, but a sharp pain in my right foot prevented me from saying what was on my mind. Elizabeth is easily embar- rassed by what she interprets as my sarcastic remarks. Had the waiter come back two minutes later, I could have informed him about the little annoying details, but he wasn't seen again for quite. some time. ti • Instead a young man dressed like a hospital orderly came to ask whether we wanted dessert. He was the only staff member who spoke to our children, in fact, he was a very pleasant chap. Everything went well, with the cheesecake and the ice cream and the coffee. But then came the Big Wait. It had never occurred to me before why people who serve meals in 'restaurants are called waiters and waitresses. It's because they let you wait and wait and wait. Our man with the bobbing bow tie crossed the room a few times, but he shielded the eye facing our table with his hand. He looked like a horse with one blinker on. This continued for perhaps fifteen minutes. I finally got up and spoke to the so-called hostess. in- stead of graciously apologizing, she snapped: "We're really busy today. It won't be long." After another long wait - the children were getting a bit restless - the hostess with the leastest must have tripped our waiter up or something. At last he found our table again to pre- sent the bill. "I hope everything was alright," he had the nerve to say before he disappeared again. I paid the bill to the cashier and told Elizabeth: "i'm going back to the table to leave a tip." I plac- ed two dollars in the hand of the white -clad dessert man. Then i prominently displayed one shiny new penny on our table. Guiding children In earlier columns I have spoken out against television. have remarked about the amount of violence which is shown each evening, about the distorted view of life which the soap operas pre- sent and the tendency in game shows to exploit people's desire to get something for nothing. It would seem that there is not much to be gained on the tube for US. Actually though there ale many good programs which can he viewed throughout the week, ones which are informative and useful for children or adults. Sesame Street, Mr. Dress -up, the Polka -Dot Door, the Friend- ly Giant are all examples of pro- grams which make sense to let your little ones watch. You have expert teachers presenting a wealth of music, imagination and creativity every day to them. The Smurf cartoons are excellent Each one has a specific moral to it about things such as greed or laziness. Shows such as Highway to Heaven, the Waltons, Little By the Way by Syd Fletcher House on the Prairie, and the Walt Disney characters have all become classics which a person can see again and again and still enjoy. The char eters become almost as real trli us as our own family. The values which their creators try to get across are the good ones: honesty, family togetherness, fairness for the common person, respect .for other's rights. Television has also given me the chance to see "The Sound of Music" at least four times and if it were to be on tomorrow night I'd he breaking nut the popcorn again. it's one of those films that grips me every time I see it. Comedies like Rill Crosby Show, Different Strokes, The Ar- chie Bunker show, have all con- tributed to a society Which is able to laugh at its weaknesses such as bigotry and racism. By laughing at such things hopefully people will learn to see it within themselves. Networks such as TVO present many worthwhile nature pro- grams as well as documentaries on issues like conservation, money matters and contem- porary political news. There is a wealth of good material on the rectangular, screen. it is up to us to find the good among the bad'and guide our children toward it.