Times Advocate, 1989-05-17, Page 6Page 6
Times -Advocate, May 17, 1989
Times Established 18"1
Advocate Established 1881
Amalgamated 1924
C/Nk
BLUE
RIBBON
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1985
Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM ,150
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386.
Phone 519,235.1331
PCNA
ROSS HAUGH
Editor
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BM BECKETT
Publisher & Ad►erliiing Manager
HARRY DEVRIEs DO'r SMITH
( umposition Manager Business %tanager
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How long will it be?
This week should tell the tale of wheth-
er or not officials of the National Hockey
League are really serious about cutting
down on violence. •
The tale depends on the length of the
suspension given to Philadelphia Flyers
goal tender Ron Hextall for his attack
Thursday night on Chris Cheleos of the
Montreal Canadiens.
Hextall deliberately stormed from his
crease.position and flew into Chelios with
his goal stick held high in serious cross-
check fashion. -
If president John Zeigler and the gov-
ernors want to cut down on this sort- of
foolishness, they must direct executive
vice-president Brian O'Neill to hand out
the stiffest suspension ever in the history
of the NHL.
This is not the first- time Hextall's ac-
tions have called for suspension. He was
on the suspended list for the first eight,
games of the 1987-88 regular season for
i slash on Kent Nilsson of the Edmonton
Oilers in the last game of the previous
year's Stanley -Cup finals.
That sentence didn't seem to have any
effect whatsoever on Hextall's-attitude.
O'Neill doesn't have any choice, but to
hand out a much longer suspension.
Hextall must be taught a lesson and a
measure of self control. At the same time,
it doesn't appear as if the Flyers manage-
ment.and coaching staff have any inten-
tions of changing the play of their goalie,
so the NHL must.
The goalie himself claims he didn't do
anything wrong, just avenging teammate
Brian Propp who had been hit by Chelios
in the first game of the series.
One thing we can say for Hextall, he
was patient in trying to get back at Cheli-
os. Five games worth oftpatience. That's
a long time to harbour a grudge.
The NHL MUST impose a suspension of
at least 20 games. The sheer'isciousness
of the attack along with the attitude of not
doing anything wrong are the two issues
O'Neill must look at.
Anything less than 20 to 30 games
would be ridiculous and an insult to the
integrity of the game and the fans who
pay good money to see the game in the 22
cities_throughout the league.
Exeter's Dave Shaw received 10 games
earlier in the season for a slash on Mario
Lemieux of the. Penguins. Shaw's action
was a reflex retaliation. There is no com-
parison in the two incidents.
The suspension must .be long enough to
make, not only Hextall, but: the entire
Philadelphia organization live up to their
responsibilities.
By Ross Haugh
Victoria Day you say
Victoria Day falls on May 22nd
this year. "I suspect that for most
Canadians, the day won't con-
jure up visions that have any-
thing remotely to do with the
lady whom wc'rc . supposed to
commemorate: Queen Victoria;
who was. bom at Kchsington on
May 24th, 18.19 - 170 years ago,
We do not celebrate the birth-
clays of any othcr monarchs, not
even of our present one. Why
has Victoria Day managed to
hang in there, wedged between
Easter and Canada Day (formerly
Dominion Day)? Hasn't the time
come to rename this May holiday
which would be national if it
weren't for Quebec (Where it
isn't on the calendar at all)?
Before you sharpen your pen
and write mc a nasty letter calling
me a.rcpublican or worse, let me
tell you that 1 like royalty. I have
nothing against Canada's associ-
ation .with thc British crown. I
feel that it is (for thc most part)
an honourable tradition, and a
stabilizing factor. I would not be
thrilled if Canada would decide
to replace the Governor General
by a; President, leave the Com
monwcalth and sever our ties
with the House of Windsor.
But i am in favour of Canadi:
anizing Victoria Day. The little
lady who ruled Britain fpr 64
years has .her place in history.
And she has given her name to
an•entire era. Her memory lives
on in Victoria B.C., Victorian
furniture, and the Victorian Or-
der of Nurses. All very fine and
necessary.
Having Victoria Day might
have made sense in 1875, when
the North West Mounted -Police
celebrated the day by holding a
snake -killing competition at its
Swan River post; 1,100 snakes
bit the dust.
But today? We only have a
PETER'S
POINT
•
by Peter Hessel
handful of statutory holidays.
Why not name one of them after
a distinguished Canadian?
What did Queen Victoria ever
do. for Canada? "Oh," some of
you might exclaim, "she has
given us our national capital,
Ottawa". Number one, so what?
Would you he happier if your
taxes went to Moose Jaw, or St.
Louis du Hal .Hal? Nuinbcr
two, it isn't ev. iT true. Victoria
didn't pick Ottawas she only
rubber-stampcd a decision made
in Canada.
There must be a Canadian per-
son or event that could be hon-
oured at this particular time.
Heaven knows, we need the
holiday. But why the farce of
calling it something it isn't?
The following reasonably
well-known Canadians were
born within a week of the 4th .
Monday in May:
A.J. Casson (Group of Seven
paintcr), Dr. George Brock Chi-
sholm (psychiatrist), T.A.
Hcinzman (piano maker), Otto
Jelinek (figure skater and politi-
cian), Adele Wiseman (novel-
ist), Denise Pelletier (actress),
f
Marian Engel (novelist), W.A.
Attkcn (Lord Beaverbrook), Te-
resa Strates (soprano), George
Brancato (football coach), the
Dionne Quintuplets; and Johnny
Wayne (comedian).
My personal favourites are the
Dionne Quintuplets. They have
probably done more to put Cana-
da on the map than any other
five people. We could call the
holiday D.Q. Day, and I know
that would be a hit.vvith the soft
ice cream crowd.
You prefer to commemorate an
event instead of a personality?
What about May 23, 1885 when
Poundmakcr, his Indians and
150 Metis surrendered at Battle -,,-
ford? Or May 24, 1918 when
Canadian women became eligi-
ble to vote in federal elections?
Did you know that the CBC was
born on May 26, 1932? Who
will support me to have Victoria
Day changed to CBC Day? Why
if it weren't' for the CBC, this
country, would be indistinguisha-
blc from thc USA.
it's too late for this year. But
whether you want the name of
Victoria Day changed or not,
now is the time to speak up.
Send your suggestions to me via
the editor of this paper, using the
coupon below:
• i love Victoria Day as it is.
Don't mess around with it
.i suggest the following new
namc(s) for Victoria Day
Name & Address.
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
& North Lambton Since 1873
Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited
Similar problems
On a two-day trip last week to
Frankenmuth, Michigan we
found the border doesn't separ-
ate us from. problems or make
the problems any different.
A letter to the editor in the Tri -
City Times complained of extra
taxes without any more financial
help coming from the state of
Michigan. ' .
We have a similar situation
here with the federal goverltment
decreasing transfer payments to
the provinces and in Ontario the
freezing of unconditional grants
to the municipalities.
At the same time, the state of
Michigan is levying a new three
cents per gallon tax on gasoline.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
When we were leaving Fran-
kenmuth Wednesday afternoon,
very strong winds were blowing
the sandy soil around and at
times one thought we were in a
blizzard.
One fellow we talked to was
afraid another drought or dry
spell was in store for us this
summer as they have had .very
little rain this spring to go along
with a scarcity of snow during
the winter.
One bit of good news on the
subject of the weather came from
the same newspaper where a
Department of Agriculture mete-
orologist predicted a different
summer this .year compared to
the hot one of 1988.
He reported, " I see 1989 being
closer to normal. Maybe a bit on
the cooler and wetter side, but
From the
• editor's disk
by
Ross Haugh
definitely -not a repeat of the hot,
scaring summer of 1988."
The article continued, " For ex-
ample, we are entering a two
year period in the 11, 22 and 88 -
year active sunspot cycle which
historically suggests cooler and
wetter weather than normal."
"To blame the 'greenhouse ef-
fect' - increased carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere- for last year's
drought is wrong. The 'green-
house effect' is supposed to
cause a gradual global warming,
but not the sudden extreme heat
• and dryness we experienced last
year. I think it's safc to say that
1989 will not be as hot and dry
as last year, based on natural
variations over history and this
•
year should be closer to nor-
mal."
That's good news and we hope
our weather patterns continue to
come from a westerly direction
and Michigan in particular.
* * * * *
Continuing the good news, we
talked to a fellow over there who
is a friend of the father of Jim
Abbott.
For those who don't know,
Jim Abbott is a native of Flint,
Michigan and this year made the
grade with the California Angels
as only the 16th player in the
last 30 years to jump directly to
the big leaguesm college and
amateur ranks.
. That may not be big news, but
the fact Abbott has only one
hand makes the difference and he
is a pitcher..
Can you imagine playing base-
ball one -handed? For anyone
who's ever played the game, the
thought is boggling. Yet, Jim
Abbott makes it look routine and
for him it is routine.
The best way to sum up Jim
Abbott's achievements is "He's
taken what God has given him
and made the most of it."
Pun of the Week - A fire hy-
drant- Has H2O on the inside
and K9P on the outside.
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
I am writing to thank you and
your staff for the excellent coverage
your paper has given to the weekly
"Dining for Seniors" which started
in Exeter on April 4. In the initial
article, your reporter took the time
to find out how this program is
working in other communities, e.g.
Bayfield, Goderich and described our
need for volunteers. As a result we
now have over 48 wonderful people
from Exeter, Dashwood, Crediton
and Grand Bend who have volun-
teered to telephone people, drive,
set up the tables, serve the lunches
and clean up the dishes. Without
them we would not have a "Dining
for Seniors".
The encouraging comments in
"On the Street" (March 29) caused
our telephones to ring for three
days. People wanted to be sure they
had a reservation or.they witted to
voltnteer.
The enthusiastic response from
the seniors in Exeter and surround-
ing areas shows that, they have not
forgotten how to enjoy life, good
food and good fun. And they say
they like walking into.a building
labelled "Lions YOUTH Centre".
The happy volunteers and clients
seen in your April 12 issue are a re-
flection of the activity around the
Lions Youth Centre every Tuesday.
Due to the numbers of people
wanting to come for lunch, we do
need more volunteer drivers who
could be available on Tuesdays be-
tween 11 a.m. to 12 noon or at 3
p.m. if any of your readers would
like to help out, please call Vera
Mills at 235-0461- or Jeanne Glad -
ding -at 235-0258.
Town and Country Homemakers
and the Exeter Home Support Steer-
ing Committee are grateful to you
for your support.
•
-• Beverley A. Brown
Town & Country Homemakers
Coordinator of Volunteers
and Home Support Programs
Dear Sir.
With many former Dutch citizens
I know the bicycle rules as they ex-
ist in Holland. To compare these
rules with existing Canadian rules
brings out great differences. •
Every Dutch bicycle must have a
clearly white painted back fender so
as to be highly visible to the car
driver. Besides, a bicycle in Holland
must have an electric front light as
well as a red electric tail light. Each
bicycle must have a bell so as to
warn anyone that a cyclist is ap-
proaching. Also, in Holland a cy-
clist is not allowed to ride on the
sidewalks which are for pedestrians!
All over the country the people
on bicycles look for; specially desig-
nated strips along the roads, marked
by a blue circle, and within it a
white bicycle. Those are the special
bicycle paths.
A national cyclist club has created
a beautiful network of special bicy-
cle paths which criss-cross the
country and where one can go on a
bicycle, not disturbed by the many
cars that fill our highways.
Even city streets have the strips
for bicycle riders. Many youth
groups go on a -trip on bicycle, and
many adults use the bicycle to go
to work.
I have been astonished in Canada
to see bicycles used after sunset on
streets without electric lights! Once
while driving on Highway 89 to-
ward Shelburne, on a dark night, I
suddenly was upon about 12 people
on completely dark bicycles. Only a
very strong slamming on the brakes
prevented a calamity.
It often appears that someone
with a bicycle in Canada has no
place to go... and lacks every bit of
safety equipment to really feel safe.
How many do have lights for trips
after dark? How many have a bell?
How many have a white back fender
except for a few that belong to for-
mer Dutch immigrants?
How many bicycles do not use
our sidewalks?
I remain, yours truly,
• K.T. Smits
Grand Bend, Ontario
Dear Sir:
Just a quick note to tell you how
much I'm enjoying my latest sub-
scription your paper. It's nice to see
what's going on in Exeter and area.
Have you thought at all of run-
ning a section on former Exeter-ites
and where we arc, what we're doing,
etc? I'd sure like to read about what
past classmates, et al., have been
doing since they left the old home
town. Waddayathink?
Keep up the good world
Bert Moddejonge
Calgary, Alberta