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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1988-04-27, Page 64 Page 6 Times -Advocate, April 27, 1988 Time% Established 18'1 Advocate tslahlrshed 1881 Amalgamated 1924 BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 imes dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM ISO Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519.235-1331 PCNA ROSS HAUGH UM BIT kI11 - Editor Publisher A Adsertising Manager HARKS orvxitS OO's SMITH (umposition Manager Business Manager • SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 Happy birthday try was also initiated by the women's group. These measures include making hot' lunches available in schools, having fowl graded for sale, requiring pasteuri- zation of milk, having bread wrapped, having red stripes removed from bacon wrap, having staples abolished on pack- aged food products and requiring persons handling food to have "T.B." tests. Two years ago the Huron South branch introduced an Agriculture in the Class- room program to public schools in the county and present annual awards to top students at the annual graduation exercis- es at Centralia College. The Institiutes also sponsor 4-H programs. Any of the WI branches in the area would be pleased to receive new` mem- bers, especially young women who wish to contribute to the motto of "Home and Country". Making up the Huron South District are branches in Crediton, Dashwood, Elim- ville, Grand Bend, Hurondale, Kippen East, Seaforth and Zurich. Keep up the good work ladies. By Ross Haugh Happy Birthday greetings are in order for the Huron South District of the Wom- en's institutes of Ontario. • This group celebrated 85 years of ser- vice to their communities with a big birthday party in Seaforth on ,April 19. The Federated Women's Institute was founded in 1897 and the local district be- gan operations six years later. The list of accomplishments in which the Institutes were able to play a part in their being put into action by provincial and federal governments is large and var- ied A number of WI suggestions over the years indicate members have great con- cerns for the safety of our residents on the highways. These include painting white lines on provincial highways, placing stop signs at railway crossings, requiring breathalizer and blood tests for motorists, mandatory stopping for school buses, dimming of car lights when meeting 'others and re= quiring car owners to purchase liability insurance before getting a licence. Legislation to improve the food indus- Beds needed badly While the Exeter Villa nursing home has been open for less Than two years, the demand for additional beds is getting to the acute stage. Nursing home beds are allocated by the provincial. Ministry of Health and therein ties the problem. Exeter is the only town or village in the county of Huron that has never received any bed allocations. When the Villa offi- cially opened on September 1 . 1986 it was with 34 beds that entrepc : 'u Tom Kanamphuza. was able to :I - vfer from an existing facility in Se"forth. In the original plans of .ute local nursing home, Kanamphuza had included 'plans for future expansion, but all requests for further beds have apparently fallen on deaf ears. This Saturday, an official sod turning ceremony will be held at the Villa for an addition to the retirement home section for 26 occupants. Retirement home beds may be esta- blished without the same Ministry of Health approval, but not so for space in nursing homes. At the .beginning we said the nursing home bed shortage in Exeter was acute. That statement was based on recent infor- mation from Director of Care at the Villa Kath O'Reilly that 57 persons are on the w tine list. -s. O'Reilly also says she receives two or three calls every day from persons to find space for elderly rela- tr� c.. She adds, "It is very disheartening to inform anxious families and elderly individuals that we simply cannot look 'fter them. They usually present them - selves to us when all avenues of health care has been explored and exhausted." In addition to the 57 on the waiting list, many of those presently in the 40 bed re- tirement lodge will soon require extend- ed nursing care. This cu►rent shortage of beds, makes them anxious and afraid that when they require extended care, they will not be able to obtain accommodation within the nursing home and be forced to move again, to a strange unfamiliar envi- ronment. A recent letter from Health Minister El- inor Caplan in reply to a plea for more beds said nursing home beds were award- ed through a competitive process which is activated following an allocation of beds to a specific region of the province which has been determined to have the greatest need. The letter went on to say at this time there are no nursing home beds available for Exeter. If allocation is based on need we would like to know what areas have more need than exists locally. More nursing home beds here would also free beds for active care at South Hu- ron Hospital. - What can be done to get action from the Ministry of Health? Letters to the ministry and to the local MPP would be a good place to start. Let's all of us do what we can to get some action in providing more nursing home beds. Remember, a lot of us may he closer to needing that type of accommo- dation than we may like to admit. Letters to the Editor Dear Editor. North Dundas District High School is celebrating its 25th anni- versary this year. Our major event will be a Homecoming celebration on July •1, 2 and 3: We ask for your help in bringing this to the attention of any former I students who may now be residing in your arca by placing this in your newspaper. We would like to extend an invitation to anyone that is in- terested. Admission to all events including dinners and dances is by preregistra- tion only. These registrations must By Ross Haugh be returned to the committee by May 2, 1988. For further information and regis- tration forms, please write to N.D.D.H.S. Reunion Committee Box 640 Chesterville, Ont. KO(' III( Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by ).W. Eedy Publications Limited 'SE;iD OUT Th15 nESS DE`IINC ThERE'S ANY FUNNY 5USINESS GOING - ON 5E?1\ND MY 6AC'cK! " A gardening secret Just ready carefully if you want to get some inside information on growing large pumpkins. We have some real secret stuff from Adricn Gallant who is an agrologist with Nutrite Inc. in Elmira and we are going to put some of his suggestions into practice to attempt to grow the largest pumpkin in Crediton this year. We know we will get plen- ty of competition from a fellow. by the name of Wein. We have already planted eight seeds in separate peat pots exact ly according to directions on, the package of the seeds which came from the Ontario Seed Company in Waterloo. On the front of the package it says, "World Champion" and on the back, "This garden monster is capable of outstanding perfor- mance Tinder any normal cultural methods and was bred and intro- duced by Howard Dill of Wind- sor, Nova Scotia to produce fruit consistently in the 225 to300 pound class and up." From the 'editor's disk by Ross Haugh We arc apparently off to a good start as the seeds we planted are about four tines as big as regular pumpkin seed. Further advice is to create a large one metre in diameter sau- cer shape depression in the ground to hold rain and hose water and loosen soil to a depth of 15 inches. If transplanting as we" will be doing, do so on a cloudy day;or in the evening be- ing careful not to disturb roots. Back to the information from Adricn Gallant, he tells about a. nurse in the Kitchener arca who uses intravenous methods in ex- perimenting with soluble fertiliz- er, milk and even beer which she injects -very slowly into the stem at the base of the pumpkin. After fruit sets, prune all but. one or two so as to concentrate all the nutrients and energy into the remaining fruits. One final question, " How many pies can you make from a 300 pound pumpkin?". One thing for sure, you would need a lot of whipped cream. Long distance If you ever phone our house between 4 p.m. and 8 'p.m. on weekdays or at any time on weekends, whether you call from across the road or from Tasmania, you're sure to get a sweet little voice saying "Hello". It'll be Stephanie, Duncan or Alexander. And the "Hello" is always preceded by a mad race to beat the opponents to the phone. In the background you may hear someone sob: "It was my turn to answer", or you may overhear a juvenile expletive that you (and I) would prefer to have deleted. But I am told that this is standard prime -time telephone answering proccdurc wherever kids are allowed to roam freely. The `odd caller, annoyed at having a child answer the phone, will just hang up. No great loss. 1 figure if the Pulitzer Prize Committee really wants to get in touch with me, they'll call back in the morning. But most callers will put on the special voice they use to communicate with children and say "is your Mommy home?" or "Could I speak to your Daddy, please?" Not so fast, folks. You're dealing with an experienced crew hcrc. "Who is it, please?" they will inquire politely but firmly. They won't let just anybody talk with their Mommy or Daddy whose time is very ,precious. This is all very sweet and charming whcn you're calling from the same exchange. After all, Ma Dell's meter doesn't run during local calls (yet). But when you're trying to reach me from the other side of the country, these infantile preliminaries can get to be just a tiny little bit annoying. That's why I.thought I'd give you some advice. If you're one of those who likes to ask me a concise question, get a snappy PETER'S POINT • answer, and hang up - here are a few helpful hints. Don't say: "Look, kid, I'm catling long distance, I have no time to fool around, just get me your Dad - fast." It will only confuse the children, and they may hang up on you. You've got to approach it more diplomatically than that. . And don't ask for the child's name. Because this will lead to a lot of exPensive chit-chat like: "My name is Stephanie, and what's . your name?" "I'm Penelope Pcnnypinchcr from South Porcupine". "I saw a porcupine at my grandparent's place, and it walked funny, it ..." "No, no, I live at a place called South Porcupine, but my dame is Penelope Pcnnypinchcr, and 1 would like to speak to your Daddy. Is he there?" "No, he isn't." "Well, wheres he?" "He's in the living room."Stephanie, is it very far from where you are to the living room?" "No, it's just on the other side of the hall." "Stephanie, do you think you would be able to walk over to the living room and ask your Daddy to come to the phone?" Do you see what I mean? If you're lucky it'll be Alexander's time to run for the phone. He is 9 1/4 and really quite an efficient receptionist. Just tell him it's long distance, and he'll understand. He'll put on his grown-up voice and ask you: "Who may I say is calling?" "I'm Prince Philip, and I'm calling from Buckingham Palace in London, England". Alexander will neatly place the handset in its holding position and lean back from the phone. The next thing you will hcar is - this blood- curdling yell: "Daaaaaaaaad! Somc guy on the phone for you! Long distance." And I will hear him within a 5 -km range. . If you happen to get Duncan, you'll have to be more patient. He is a very bright little chap, but he docs like to take his time. He will say: "This is Duncan speaking, and who are you?" Don't try to cut him off, because he likes to follow through with everything. If he asks you who you are, you better tell him. He won't give up unless you do. And when you have finally communicated your name and the purpose of your call, he will not yell. Calmly but surely he will walk through every room of the house until he finds the person for whom the call is intended. Ile will take a deep breath and say: "Mommy, there is a long distance phone call for you. Do you want to go, or should I take a message?" He always hopes that Mommy is too busy to go because he loves taking messages. Some people prefer to call when the kids are in school.