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Times Advocate, 1989-10-04, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, October 4, 1989 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Published. Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 09-235.1331 Nes ROSS HAUGH Editor . HARRY 3)EVRIES CUrnposition Manager Business Manager *CNA cc"Ah BM BECKETT PuIllisher & Advertising Manager DON SMITH SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $27.00 Per year; U.S.A. $68.00 25 good years C , onservation. What does it • mean? - Thedictionary in .our office which has been here for long time lists conservation as , " conserving, preserv- ing, guarding or protecting and official care and supervision, as of a river or for- est". _ Conservation meahs a lot to the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority and the many area youngsters who have attended outdoor education programs at Camp Sylvan over the past 25 years. - Friday morning, the Boy Scouts of Can- ada organization,owners of Camp Sylvan recognized the 25 years of contribution by the local authority to conservation by sponsoring these outdoor education pro grams. Over the past 25 years, we would guess some 15,000 boys and girls have taken advantage of these two and a half day camping jaunts to Camp Sylvan to learn a lotaboutecology, wildlife, trees, the hab- itat , vegetation, water and soils. In addition to the knowledge gained by the students, ABCA general manager Tom Prout says, " The camping program is a great advantage to the .authority..In. five -to..10 years some of these students may be owning farm property` and what they have learned at Camp Sylvan in be- ing good -stewards 9f conservation will be invaluable". " Huron County Board of Education su- perintendent Arnold Mathers agrees that• the camping trips are very important, not only for the various bits of information they pick up .on ecology, but in, improv- ing teacher -student relationships. Mathers who was a teacher supervisor at the first camp in 1964 says, " This has. been a good program right from the be- ginning. I liked to take students in -Sep- tember. I got to know them out of their - classroom seats and they also, get to see the teacher in a different perspective". The local authority cantakepride in the fact they were the first conservation of conservation thority in. the province to provide facili- ties -for a residential overnight camping program. Prior to that some Toronto schools were participating in day use programs. • Freeman Hodgins of Parkhill was chairman of the authority when the pr=o- gram was unveiled and Terry McCauley was resources manager. - • _ Before the camp was established, Math- -'ers and McCauley visited similar out- door camps in Michigan to get some ide- as to get underway here. Under the present program, a maxi- mum of 32 area schools can use the Camp Sylvan facility each year which is leased for five days each week for the months of May, June, September and Oc-- tober by the authority from Scouts Cana- da. The Huron Board of Education contri- bution to the camping programs is to provide busing and teacher supervisors. Matherssaysthis is money well spent and the co-operation- between his board and the authority is incredible. ABCA manager of communications Kathy Monk says as most camp students Are in grades -seven and eight, the conser- vation and ecology information they -gain at Camp Sylvan fits in perfectly with their science curriculum. The Huron board of education also par- ticipates with the Maitland Authority in providing day use camps at the Wawa - nosh wildlife area. • . Congratulations again to Scouts Cana- da, the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority and the Huron Board of Edu- cation in combining to provide an excel- lent camping program for our senior elementary school students. A former resident of Usborne town- ship Jim Etherington is president of the London Council of Scouts Canada. He at- tended Friday's 25th birthday celebra- tions at Camp Sylvan. Scouts Canada have owned the Camp Sylvan property for 27 years. By Ross Haugh Letters to the Editor Dear Sir: Congratulations are due your fine family journal for your editorial of September' 20, "A Kinder Gentler Way" by Yvonne Reynolds, and paraphrasing George Bush, Presi- dent of the Excttcd States. . It is a well written, professional and carefully organized assay. In these days of political, equivocal positioning on the abortion issue; it is refeshing to hear a breath of freshair, accompanied by some -sensitsle-Auggestions_ . Of course; some are blinded by the restraints of religion, or the hysteria of publicity seeking' zeal- ots and will violently disagree with • your courageous stand. Surely in this day of freedom, a woman's body is her own, not a doctor's not a priest's and not a fa- natic's. Most women will act with prudence and common sense in this situation. The rest of us should stay out of it. • As Ms. Reynolds writes, we should be concerned about the un- wanted, living babies of the world: and do something concrete, not blather for the T.V. cameras. Yours truly, "Gibby" J.M. Gibson tional levy has jumped 10 percent and the municipal,. wow, 15.7 per- cent! What is inflation at? Five per- cent? - Quite a difference. I can't stem to sec what-this.i us. Lct me think, we have pipeline water, but we paid through the nose to get it, frontage, hookup and. of course, quarterly for consump- tion. We have our own septic systems. vim^ �rrc�l-:uulasia$t.have_ strcet_ lights, or sidewalks. We pay for our own garbage pick up. The cost of winter road mainte- nance has gonc_down due to the mild weather"r over the past -.few yc%rs. I just can't seem to put my finger on what would cause such a jump. Perhaps another reader, or those • who control the purse strings could enlighten me. Perhaps someone knowledgeable in the municipal af- fairs arca could reveal, if we, the taxpayingg--public- have access any kind of grievance procedure. To borrow a. phrase from the younger generation„ "This really sucks". It is time for all levels of government to get their acts togeth- er. Dear Sir: Time to pay our third installment of the municipal taxes. Have you taken note of the increase? Take a moment, sit down and figure it out. In Stephen township the cduca- take this opportunity to publicly thank each and everyone of our wonderful volunteers for all they have done for us in the past year. The Huron Da yy Centre is an or- ' ti run larxely byyolun- 'liiii. tem - The people that •volunteer at the Centre are very special people!: They are kind-hearted, thoughtful, caring people that constantly give of themselves to make the lives of othcrs happier. Their duties are many. Volunteers assist with whirlpool baths, social- ize. with out homebound partici- pants, help with exercises, assist in games and crafts, help with our wa- ter therapy and bowling programs, serve on our board of directors, drive clients to and from the Centre, help to prepare and clean up after mall as well as countless other du- ties all carried out in a cheerful manner. Our volunteers are always availa- ble when needed and are a dedicat= to CLI group with a_ sense of commit- ment and loyalty, some having volunteered at the Centre for almost the enure 12 years we have been open. There would not be a Huron Day Centre for the Homebound as it now exists without our volun- teers. As our annual volunteer apprecia- tion night approaches all the staff would like to say thank you to all the Huron Day Cpntre volunteers. You are the best! Sincerely, John Bicrling, Crediton, Ontario. Dear Sir: The staff at the Huron Day Centre for the Homebound would like to • Sincerely, Huron Day CentreStaff { Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited AND NoW, CLASS, TFIRE WILL BE A MOMEHToF SILENCE To WoRSHIPTHE DEITY of YOUR CHOICE. Let's celebrate food week We would guess that 99.9 per-' cent of our population likes to eat. - During the first week of Octo- ber andthat's the week before Thanksgiving,- the Ontario gov- ernment has proclaimed Agri - Food Week. This seems to be a good time to highlight the achievements by our, farmers and agriculturists aswe have much to be thankful for. - Agri -Food Week is a joint pro- ject of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, the Ontario Federa- tion of Agriculture and a number of commodity groups. It has been celebrated throughout the province since 1982. The Ontario Federation of Agr- culture is the largest farm organi- zation in the province. Its mem- bers include 22,500 farm families, plus 26 agricultural marketing boards, commodity groups, cooperatives, educational agencies and rural service organi- zations. Ontario has about 72,700 farms covering about 14 million acres of land. Between 130,000 and 150,000 people work on these farms. These farmers produce more than $5 billion Worth of food at thc farmgate. That's 25 percent of Canada's total annual production of $20 billion. Ontario's total agri-food indus try generates about $16 billion in revenue annually. Its agri- food From the ;editor's disk by • oss Haugh and related industries directly or indirectly employ onc in five people working -in the province. Farmers.makc up only three per- cent of thc population. Thanks to its size and diversi- ty, Ontario produces over 200 different commodities including specilaty crops ranging from peaches to ginseng. Here in Ontario our farmers produce more hogs, poultry, eggs, sheep and lamb, fruit and vegetables, corn and soybeans than any other province. Ontario produces more fruit and vegetables than any other province. Over 40 percent of the fruit grown- in Canada comes from Ontario. Apples are the largest fruit crop with an annual contribution to our province's economy of about $50 million. Over one-third of Canada's milk and almost half of its cheese comes from Ontario. Ontario exports more than $2 - -billion worth of food and agricul- tural products every year around the world. The United States, Ontario's biggest customer takes about two-thirds of our food and agricultural exports. - Ontario and Canada have` the second lowestfood prices in the world after the United States. Ca- nadians spend 15.5 percent of their income on 'food. The cost of a chicken dinner for four including, chicken, butter, - milk, bread, apples, green bcans and potatoes costs $13.89 in To- ronto. Thc same meal would cost $31.36 in Tokyo, $19.12 in Mi- lan, $14.03 in Hong Kong and $10.67 in Ncw York. Thought for thc Week: Faults of other folks -arc like headlights on cars. Thcy seem more glaring than ours. Licenced to drive My husband and I lived half- way between Torbay and St. John's while Don served at the Canadian air base on that unique island. To go anywhere, onc had to either drive or be driven. I needed to become, a qualified driver. Don hired a member of the St. John's Constabulary to give me some driving lessons in his off- duty hours. For eight weeks, the '"- IrOY0ttrtc-a*as--the same. My in- structor would arrive at the house at 7 p.m. Don would hand him a bottle of beer, which he poured rest of the city radiate up from there. The most perpendicular is Prescott Street. To make mat- ters worse, a traffic cop'was sta- tioned half -way up. All took perverse pleasure in halting traf- Reynold's Rap down the interior of his six foot six inch frame in 90 seconds. The question of why he needed some, liquid fortification before getting into the passenger seat of a vehicle, with me at the wheel, did not Occur to me at the time. It has since. He would hand the empty back -t� Don, delicately wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, and with a "Let's go, m'love", we were off. (In Newfoundland, everyone is "m'dcar", or "m'love", or "my son" or "ducks".) We did fairly well on the broad highway, and in suburbia. About the sixth week, my friend thought I was ready for our Waterloo - Prescott Street. The Newfie capital slopes down on one side to the sea. One of the major arteries, Water Street, runs like a ribbon beside the harbour, and streets to the by Yvonne Reynolds fic coming tlp the incline. One quiet evening, my friend and 1 mapped out our strategy. We would conquer that moun- tain. 1 would work the clutch and brake, and my helper would be in charge of the gas pedal and the hand brake. We did fine un- til thc halfway mark. Sure enough, out came thc white - glove signal to stop. 1 suspect the cop on the beat recognized the sergeant in the car! - Stopping was easy. Thc hard part came when we tried to re- sume our ascent. We couldn't. Despite the most frantic efforts on both our parts, humans and car finally retreated ignominous- ly and in reverse to Water St. Napoleon had met his - and her - Wcllington. Not to worry. As I lived out- side the city, I would be taking my driving test far away from that battle zone. I passed the written test with no trouble. A pleasant, good- looking young RCMP officer took mc out on the highway, overlooked my few minor errors, and certified me as road -worthy. I . finally had a well-earned li- cence. That Sunday the usher at church, a pleasant, good-looking young man in a grey flannel suit, asked how I was doing with my driving. I broke into an ear -to - car smile. - "1 passed iiirdt'tver's- ' t " I said triumphantly. "1 know," he replied. "I was the one who gave it to you." In the intervening decades, I have collected only two tickets. I earned both of those, too. One, for changing lanes not in safety, • cost me $500 for a new fender and assorted other pieces of metal -and trim. The other was for speeding east of Dashwood. It's a wonder I didn't get more! I didn't stop un- til I was almost at Exeter. I was absorbed in a debate on the radio and paying scant Attention to what was happening behind me. Besides, I couldn't believe the cruiser was after sweet little old law-abidin.,,g me! Don is certain I contributed to that OPP of'fi- cer's early retirement! I hope 1 keep my licence for awhile yet. Otherwise, I would have to resort to other methods for driving others crazy. The End.