Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-04-12, Page 4Page 4 Tirnes-Advocate, April 12, 1989 Times Established 1871 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Q�► BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM ISO Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 Nes ROSS-HAUGH Editor *CNA CCIY pM BECKETT Publisher & Advertising Manager - HARRY DEVRIES DON SMITH Composition Manager Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 There are benefits he vigorous protest voiced re- cently by a number of Exeter council members regarding the increase for 1989 in the levy to be paid to the Ausable•Bayfield Conserva- tion Authority raises some questions. The first and possibly most important point is ,"How much benefit does the town gain from the Authority and what it has done in the past 35 years?" - The answer to the benefit question is • "Plenty". First of all, Morrison Dam was built specifically to provide cooling water for the canning factory which is now operat- ed by Nabisco Brands. The benefits derived from the town in employment of local residents alone would be difficult to calculate and we would guess that firm contributes plenty to the local tax coffers. Capi)tal monies spent over the years in which Exeter has been deemed the bene- fitting municipality are $235,249 for Morrison Dam construction, $40,986 for the Morrison conservation area de- velopment and $40,134 for conservation area development at MacNaughton Park in Exeter. - Granted the town, paid about 13.5 per- cent of all these costs as the benefitting municipality, but there are many other benefits which do not catch the eye of the budget watcher. The cost for each resident in the town of Exeter to support the Ausable Bay- field Conservation Authority levy, for 1989 is $5.69 and for all municipalities in the .watershed the cost is $5.96 per capita. Not even thinking about the money spent in capital costs, the $5.69 spent for each person in the town this year is "peanuts" compared to the recreational benefits derived. That relates to one trip to a fast food outlet. Most Sunday afternoons in the winter- time during a normal winter and the just L«`- e.classed as such, hundreds of'Exeter and area youngsters use the slopes of Morrison Dam for their outdoor pleasure. . The trails along the corridor from Ex- eter to Morrison Dam are busy with skiiers in the winter and hikers and jog- gers during the. summer. In addition to 1 many 41gap,044v,eives an f4-951int ble:.—.:��.=-.-- "'w:'=•�: _ ... servation area. Many go fishing throughout the sum- mer months and do enjoy picnics there. Most of the area schools use the Morri- son facilities for a variety of outings along with all the Guide and Scout groups. • We would guess that at least one-half of Exeter residents use the facilities of Morrison Dam at one time or another throughout the year, even if it's just to stop along the Usborne township side - road to watch the tranquility of the lake e and what is going on. A number of geese and ducks and one osprey have already arrived on the lake this spring and are attracting attention from passersby. At a recent meeting, one councillor asked why there wasn't a user fee for the Authority recreation area at Port Blake. He was told the cost of a gate person was far in excess of revenue. What sort of outcry do you think would come from the public if a user or gate fee was charged at Morrison Dam? The idea is the same. A lot of Exeter residents also use Au- thority facilities in the Hay Swamp for hunting, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling and cross country skiing. The cost of tree planting was also ques- tioned by council. Our answer to this is that residents along the west side of town would have been very happy with extra reforestationand windbreaks a couple of months ago when a lot of top soil .blew into town. The snow blowing in was brown in colour. The trees supplied by the Authority are available at cost only to farmers when used for windbreak and reforestation. This writer is not a resident of Exeter, but is a taxpayer in the township of Ste- phen which pays the largest levy of $26,755 due t� the highest assessment in the watershed and since 1946 has had benefitting projects of a little less than $200,000. . Stephen contributes 10.6 percent to the overall general levy and Exeter's share is 8.5 pet'cerlt. The Exeter levy increase for 1989 is $3,476. This amounts to Tess than $1 per person. Benefits derived from ABCA fa- cilities in this area should make this con- -e dogs for walks in the Morrison con- Dressup time Some parents complain that their children watch too much TV. We don't have this problem. Our kids are far tdo busy with other activities. One of their favourite pas- times is to drcss up. All three of them love it. On Saturday morn- . Ings, when many other kids are glued to the boob tube witnessing murder and mutilation via car- toons, and absorbing commercial messages, ours raid every availa- ble drawer and clothes closet in the house. Then they wake us up dis- guised as pirates, complete with eye patches, hooks and bandan- nas. Or dressed as monsters from another planet. At 6:15 last Saturday mom- ing, Duncan and Stephanie scared us out of our wits, hob- bling into our bedroom, both in- side my parka, doing a very be- lievable imitation of E.T. We begged them to let us another half hour, but uses later all three were sleep for ten min - back giv- PETER'S POINT • by Peter Hessel ing us an airband performance. Airbands are, of course, part of our culture in the late 1980s, but for the benefit of the ignorant few who have not yet been ex- posed to this artistic phenome- non, let me briefly explain. Airbanding means that kids dress up like their favourite rock stars, play a cassette on the ghet- to blaster, mouth the words hold- ing a fake microphone, shake By Ross Haugh and generally mistreat a fake electric guitar, perform all the right movements, and make be- lieve that they are actually pro- ducing the noise they call music. (I'd be glad to sell my'dcfinition to Webster's 3rd New Interna- tional Dictionary for their next edition.) Another game our kids lave is simply called "hats". In front of a mirror (always essential for dressup time), they try on every head covering in the house, from Elizabeth's elegant, wide - brimmed wedding hat to my black and white balaclava. Par- ticularly popular arc Elizabeth's starched nursing caps, my fur hat, and my ski cap with the pin saying "Skiers arc bette lovers". "Hats" is-e4en mo fun in conjunction with " loves", "Scarves", and "Bandages". The variety is endless, the play value Please turn to page 5 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited He was a fighter It is with regret we hard this week of the death of John Keller- man in Toronto. For those of us who knew John in his younger days, he will always be remembered. In his, younger days in *Dash- wood, John was a familiar sight up and down the streets on his three -wheeled bike with a cheery greeting for everyone. A victim of cerebral palsy, he made the best of his handicap and after moving to Toronto fought' hard for improved social services for disabled persons. John was the guiding force be- hind the establishment of AL- PHA in the late 1960's. ALPHA was the first politically active group in Canada to fight for the handicapped. • To protest. the lack of support services for the -handicapped he was instrumental in a sit-in at To- ronto city hall in 1971. Showing his determination to get the plight of the handicapped better known; John started out for the Progressive Conservative convention in Ottawa in 1983 in his motorized wheelchair. He- said he couldn't take the train because his wheelchair was too large. He got as far as Oshawa before a businessman offered to fly him to Ottawa. Using the issue of lack of so- cial services for the disabled and lack of affordable housing, John ran unsuccessfully against To- ronto mayor Art Eggleton in the From the editor's disk by Ross 1 -laugh 1988 Toronto municipal elec- tion. John never gave up in trying to further his causes and all of his friends will say he was a real fighter despite his handicap. He never gave up. If all of us worked as hard at living as John Kellerman did, this world would be a better place in which to live. * * . * * >. This past weekend was a very busy one and a number of groups and people are to be con- gratulated for making it an enjoy- able one for rcsidcnts of thc en- tire area. The fourth annual Home and Garden Show sponsored by the Exeter Optimists was the best ever with crowds well in excess of 6,000. Tom Bowen of the Optimists tells us that adult admissions reached 4,300. Add to that about 1,000 youngsters who gained free admission and the large number of exhibitors and it's the largest crowd the popular show has ever attracted. While the Optimists show was going on at the Rec Centre, the quilt show at the high school was also attracting plenty of attention with more. than 900 visitors hav- ing a look at the great displays. Dolores Shapton, Maxine Sere - da and other directors of the Ex- eter Agriculture Society are to be commended on putting together a show of close to 140 quilts. The third highlight of the week- end was the Appreciation Night held Friday at the Lucan arena in honour of Wilson Hodgins who has spent 37 years of service to -the township of Biddulph, main- ly as reeve and council member. Add to this the Sunday night win by the Exeter Mohawks to take the Ontario Hockey Associa- tion Senior "B' championship and it was a great weekend. Pun of the Week - Flattery - The art of telling another exactly what he thinks of himself. • God has a sense of humour In thc beginning, God created this beautiful world in all its infi- nite variety. Next He created hu- mans to share the joys of this creation with Him. First, He made man. After practicing with Adam, He produced His ultimate creation - woman. God also granted humans an additional favour - the gift of lau •htcr. As. e.vcr}f good Kitt conics from God, He must'have a great sense of humour. I'm sure that many times as He watches us going about our busi- ness He looks down to His plan- et Earth, smiles, and says to angels "Did you sec that?" And the air is filled with heavenly mirth. I know this happened at• least once recently. ''e`I0'd7`500 women at- tending a Women Aglow renewal last weekend at the Victorian Inn in Stratford. One of the members of the Southwestern Ontario Ex- ectitive Board told us she had awakened early Sunday morning to the sounds of a sleet storm. Thinking of the many women who had a long drive ahead of them later that morning, she be- gan to pray. She prayed that the storm would abate, and that eve- ryone would have a safe drive horns. Suddenly the unmistakable smell of a freshly peeled orange filled the room. She realized the storm's sound effects had origi- nated with her room -mate, who was rummaging around in a noisy plastic bag to find a snack to case her hunger pangs until breakfast was served. * * * * * * (That reminds me of the time I was waiting for my teenage son Re nold's Rap by Yvonne Reynolds to come home. I kncw where he was - at a popular drinking spot in a nearby town. As I lay in bed listening for the sound of tires on driveway gravel to signal., hissafe return, I had the temerity to natter away to God. "Why don't You intervene in this young man's life? Can't you send him an angel or a vision, or something to show him the error of his ways? Why do I have to go thpough this every weekend?" And on and on ad nauseum. By this time I was wide awake. I got up to make a trip to the bathroom, and pecked into my son's bedroom on the way back., The first thing I saw was the glow of the control on his electric blanket. His quiet ascent up the stairs must have unconsciously disturbcd my slumber, and he had been in the next room all the . time 1 was nagging my Heavenly Father. I came back to bed, and my prayer this time was for forgive- ness for myself.) * * * * * * I look forward to my spring tune-ups, an opportunity to re- charge my spiritual batteries. For a couple of days I can shut out what is happening in Lebanon 'Mr South Africa and South America, and concentrate on wor- shipping God with a great group of like-minded people. Women Aglow attracts women from every Christian denomina- tion, but labels are rarely men- tioned. We are all simply part of the family of God. Laughter -. and tears - arc part of the monthly meetings and the annual retreats. mourn, and rejoice with those who rejoice. Our spiritual advisors - always male - are on the same wave length. One of the advisors of the Zurich chapter was once asked "What is Women Aglow?" He jokingly told his questioner, the church secretary, that "They are female employees of nuclear plants!" Do we want such an irreverent reverend as our spiritual advisor? Yes, we do. A great sense of hu- mour is just one of the many gifts God has bestowed on this man. And if I return to my home and my work after my tune-up so heavenly minded I'm no earthly good for at least a week, that's okay too.