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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-09-23, Page 4,l Page 4 Times-Advocote, September 23, 1987 Tithes Established 1873 Advocate established 1881 Amalgama ed 1924 • Ames dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone S19-235-1331 cn CNA cc� LORNE EEDY Publisher IIM BECKETT Advertising Manager 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' Thanks, Legion members The week just concluded was one that all residents of Canada did or should have taken time to observe as Legion Week. In a small town like Exeter service and volunteer groups are very important and their contributions do much to add to our way of life and local R.E. Pooley Legion Branch 167 is one of the vital contributing groups. November 11 is the time each year when most people think about the Royal Canadian Legion, but members are busy the other 364 days of the year going about their business quietly and efficiently. While the founding purposes of the Legion were to look after the welfare of veterans and d their families who need assistance, the R.E.' Pooley Exeter branch has diversified to become a com- munity oriented organization. A week ago this newspaper carried a full page of reports on Legion activities and it would do one good to take the time to read all about the many donations made to charitable organizations, com- munity institutions and sports and youth support. Over the past two years the average annual donations made in these four areas has amounted to over $34,000. That's a lot of money coming from an organization whose membership needs to be bolstered. In the last 13 years of this century those Legionnaires who can be recognized by their blue blazers will be disappearing at a fast rate. Since 1982, sons and daughters of veterans have been eligible for associate memberships in the Legion which in- cludes all the rights and privileges of regular members. These are the people the Legion must look to for new members to carry on the worthwhile traditions of involvement and support in the community. The Exeter Legion received its charter on April 30, 1930 with 10 charter members including R.E.(Ted) Pooley who was known as Mr. Legion in this area from the time of charter to his death in 1984. The work of the R.E. Pooley branch 167 extends throughout this community and while reports of Legion activities are car- ried regularly in this newspaper it is easy to overlook the significance and impact the organization has on the town and sur- rounding communities. If you didn't do so during Legion Week, take time the next time you see a Legion member to say a big "Thanks". Because of their unselfish efforts in the time of war and their humane works dur- ing years of peace our community is a better place in which to live. Going in right direction The future of the world really depends on two things. They are the abili- ty of humans to respect the frail natural environment in which they live and peaceful relations among countries of the world. If these aspirations do not become a reality mankind faces eventual destruc- tion. Separate developments occurred last week in Montreal and Washington which give us hope that life can continue in a society which survives more by. co- operation than conflict. The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to reduce the chance of ac- cidental nuclear war by planning to set up nuclear risk reduction centres in their capitals to provide notification of laun- chings of ballistic missiles. This is an encouraging first step towards a summit meeting of the super powers to revoke intermediate range nuclear missiles from American and Soviet stockpiles. At almost the same time in Montreal an even more far-sighted step was taken by the more than 40 countries involved. They made a move toward preserving our atmosphere by controlling pollution which is destroying the high altitude ozone shield. The proposal calls for up to 50 per- cent reductions by 1999 in production of ozone depleting chemicals which float in- to the sky and destroy the ozone layer protecting us from high amounts of solar radiation. These chemicals are now used in spray cans, refrigerators, egg cartons, air conditioners, Styrofoam cups, etc. Overdoses of radiation from the sun have been linked to eye damage, skin cancer, crop losses and extreme temperatures which could produce droughts and floods. Each of these agreements show the world-wide instinct for survival and are turned towards establishing a safer and more secure world. A great adventure A couple of weeks ago my wife and I attended the Canadian Na- tional Exhibition in Toronto. In- stead of fighting the traffic down there and back and then trying to find parking place somewhere near the grounds we decided to take the train instead. It was pleasant to sit back.and let somebody else do the driving and to let the landscape flash by at about eighty miles an hour. Trains have come a long way since the old steam engines. The cars are plush and Comfortable with good ventilation and plea- sant personal service from the workers on them. On the way back there were three young fellows sitting across the aisle from us. They were from Cape Breton and were as 'green 'as grass' as far as Ontario was concerned. That's not to say they were stupid, just inexperienced. We discovered that they had jobs promised to them on tobac- co farms in the Tillsonburg area. One asked me, in all innocence, just how big a tobacco tree was anyway. We got that one- staightened out and then another asked me to describe a tobacco By the Way by Syd Fletcher kiln. When i told them it was roughly about the size of h small two-storey house their eyes got about as big as saucers. How on earth were they every going to let that filled with tobacco each ay? a Then, to top it all off, we learn- ed that they had- each left one suitcase back at Union Station in the lockers there. They'd each paid seventy-five cents for the locker and were planning to pick them up in three or four weeks on the way back. They were not too pleased to learn that those lockers are cleaned out every day and the contents put in a central place. What impressed me most about those boys though was not their naivety. Each one of us is placed in strange circumstances which make us look a little foolish at times. I liked their genuine desire to pull themselves out of the unemployment cycle which grips much of the Maritime provinces. One boy remarked, "They said we'd be back in a couple of ' weeks, homesick and tired of working in Ontario. Not me. I'II never go back until I have a good job and can show them what kind of stuff I'm made of." The other lads nodded. i hope that that determination sticks with them and that they succeed in their great adventure. • Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited STAND SOMEWUEB . ELSE, K1D! A pleasant trip Here we are back at the typewriter after an interesting.' buttiring four day bus trip to numerous spots in -the states of Pennsylvania and New York. With wife Irene we joined 46 other retired school teachers and their spouses from Huron County. Starting out from Goderich Monday morning we spent all day travelling, not arriving until almost 10 p.m. in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The next day it was a three hour tour reliving three historic days of fighting in the Civil War which turnedthe outcome to the north. . A number of houses in Get- tysburg still show bullet holes in their walls._,, While thousands of soldiers lost their lives in the 72 hour battle. only orie civilian was killed. it was a girl by the name of Jenny Wade and she was struck by a bullet while baking bread. We are far from being history buffs, but one bit of information passed on by our guide was in- teresting. He noted that Abner Doubleday who invented the game of baseball was in the war and taught the basics of the game to some of his fellow soldiers. In the afternoon it was off to Hershey and a visit to the Her- shey chocolate factory museum. Needless to say most of our fellow travellers indulged in purchasing more chocolate then their calorie count should allow. Probably the most interesting day of the trip was Wednesday when we spent most of the day travelling through Amish country. One of the stops at an Old Order Amish farm. Here the residents don't have the benefits of elec- tricif\' and horses and mules are used for providing power in the fields. They do use steel wheeled trac- tors for threshing machines and milking .machines. One of the brochures said it would be too easy. to drive a tractor to town rather than hitching up a horse. The Amish men always wear by Ross Haugh . hats and the explanation is, "if we stop wearing hats then so- meone Will stop wearing suspenders, someone else will .stop wearing. black _pants, so- meone else will wear loaf ers and finally after a while we won't look like Amish, we'll look like everyone else. The Amish philosophy is sim- ple. They wish to live their lives in their way. They just live a sim- ple life with happiness and pro- blems we all face. They like to be left. alone and live and worship God in their own way. The guide gave us a lengthy description on the church ser- vices held each Sunday by the Old Order Amish. As they don't have 'actual church buildings, services are held in homes. Most of the furniture is cleared out to accommodate benches for an average congregation of about 100. We were fortunate to grab a seat on a bench at the front of the room along with two other men of the group. Fortunate that this was the bench for the preachers and we were named by the guide as an honorary bishop. The bishop or minister once he is named to. the position usually holds it for life and does not get paid for his services, so must also have. another -occupation. The custom of the Amish is to build. on to existing houses when members of the family get mar- ried. We saw several buildings that had three or four additions. In the middle of Amish countryt is a small town called Inter- course. The guide said the names probably stemmedfrom the fact a race track was located there and a sign likely said "Enter Course". The next stop on the trip from Intercourse was another small town ' by the name of Paradise. Other unusual place names were Bird in Band and Painted Post. A• trip to a pretzel factory in Litity proved very interesting. We were given the opportunity to roll some dough and twist a pretzel. Wednesday ended with a fan- tastic Amish meal at a restaurant called Plain and Fancy and it cer- tainly lived up to its name. Thursday it was another long day of driving home. A two hour stop was made at the Corning Glass Factory. In addition to wat- ching the glass being made, the ladies had a fieldday in the retail shop. Due to a change in tariff regulations everything produced at Corning can be brought to Canada duty free. Also on the trip from the Ex- eter area were Marion and Lorne Porter, Jean Berry and Esther Rau. Making waves As the second -last household in the country, we have finally cav- ed in and bought a microwave oven. (The only family without one now, i understand, lives in an igloo on northern Baffin island. We've always • resisted technological innovation until it became.an embarrassment. We didn't have colour TV until an an- tique dealer made us an irresisti- ble offer on our black and white console. We only got rid of our. perfectly good circular tub -type washing machine after the regional tourist promotion office mentioned it in one of its folders. So for about five or six years now, visitors to our house have exclaimed: "What, you have no microwave oven? How quaint! How can you possibly manage?" It was some time in July, when the heat and humidity was par- ticularly oppressing - a time when even the brain perspires, and our willpower is low -- that Elizabeth showed signs of microwave fever. i recognized the symptoms: glitzy MW oven brochures all over the house, three uninteresting cold leftover dinners in a row, followed by a burned chicken emerging from our brand new ( less than f0 -year- old) electric stove, phone calls from microwave salesmen and microwave consultants. A microwave cookbook left on the rim of the bathtub next to the toilet bowl, for heaven's sake. To make a long and sad story short and funny: three weeks and about 600 hard-earned bucks later, our "Genius" was install- ed, tried and tested with'a five - course meal. Now instead of plugging in the kettle whenever i want a coffee break, i pour cold water on my instant coffee, place the cup on a turntable, set the time at one minute, 45 seconds, and wait for the five beeps. Do you know what is making my coffee boil? i know because i have consulted our microwave consultant. The microwaves in the oven force the water molecules to rub against each other until they heat up. Science is awesome, isn't it? . It may be a while before the senior male member of our cook- ing team has learned to tell the difference between the auto start and the auto sensor. 1 still don't have the "doneness control" under control. I understand that Genius is able to do beef, pork and Iamb- automatically, but what about veal? There is an automatic button for Cornish hens, but not for pheasant, quail and partridge. The seafood con- trol button assures me that my shrimps, scallops and whole fish will be microwaved to perfection, hut what about my fillets of plaice, shark fins afhd octopus livers? Alexander who has just started • grade three knows more about our newfangled toy than I do, but then his favourite subject in school .is math. If I just watch him often enough, I might catch on. There is no point in watching Elizabeth. She is progressing too fast. And she is not patient enalugh for a slow learner like me. Buteventually i will be able to whip up poached eggs or reheated chicken noodle soup with the new gadget. Progress, at last, is catching up with us. I wonder what will come next and how much it's going to cost?