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Times -Advocate, February 6, 1991
Publisher: Jim Beckett
News Editor: Adder Harte
Business Manager Don Smith
Composition Manager: Deb Lord
Published Eaoti Wsdwa.yat 424 Mara $t..
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4'4
T
•
•
inion
"Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
... Thomas Macauley
F.f)I'FO1{I:1.I,
No shape of things to come
he most important thing to re-
member when perusing the in-
terim report of the Lambton
Boundary Adjustment Committee is
that interim reports often have little
bearing on what will come out in the
wash.
Nevertheless, one does get the im-
pression from the report's'recommenda-
tions a great deal of diplomacy has
been mixed in with common sense to
come up with a watered-down compro-
mise.
The idea that Grand Bend should re-
main a separate and unique municipali-
ty is obvious, the committee gets no
credit for realizing that. The sugges-
tion Grand Bend could be amalgamated
with Bosanquet Township always
seemed more than a little unrealistic.
The two municipalities have nothing in
common other than sharing parts of
Southcott Pines.
In recognizing the need for Grand
Bend to grow, the committee has pro-
posed that the village be allowed two
new properties, one from Bosanquet
Township, and a larger one from Ste-
phen Township. Nevertheless, the
crown jewels of Grand Bend's proposal
- the southern part of Southcott Pines,
and Oakwood and Grand Cove to the
north - remain untouched. The com-
mittee was evidently not prepared to
risk the wrath . of the townships by ak-
' ing away a large portion of their tax
bases. Lobby groups in those areas
have petitioned against joining Grand
Bend, mainly because they feel they
face less development restrictions from
the townships, and yet many year-round
residents from those subdivisions have
said at public meetings they feel they are
Grand Bend residents, regardless of
where they pay their taxes.
A lot of pressure is being put on the
village to provide a higher level of pub-
lic services for permanent residents in
the surrounding area. Better recreational
facilities are being demanded, an arena
too, even though the village of less than
700 is having enough trouble raising the
funds for a library. The perception is
that Grand Bend spends most of its mon-
ey in upgrading facilities for boaters and
tourists, although the fact is many of
those projects are highly subsidized by
the provincial ministries.
The committee has also proposed that
the full area of Southcott Pines be ser-
viced by Grand Bend's sewers when
available, even though their tax base
will still belong to Bosanquet Township.
This is bound to be another bone of
contention between the municipalities as
the boundary negotiations continue,
which is another reason why the interim
report should not necessarily be inter-
preted as the shape of things to come.
Stephen Township is said to already be
strongly opp to the loss.ofae
the co a toggested`' _
The final port is likely ftrte qu)te'
different.
A.D.N.
Winter carnivals
"Dad, are we going to the
Winter Carnival this weekend?
"Which one?"
"The one in town."
"No."
"The one at Loon Lake."
"No."
'Te one at Passionham?"
"No."
But Dad, those are the only
ones this weekend!"
"Good."
By following that process of
elimination, I have been able to
avoid going to winter carnivals
for the past two years.
I don't think I'm being particu-
larly unreasonable. I just believe
that we can all have more fun
and excitement in our own back-
yard than at any of the local
"winter carnivals". The way I
see it, the problem lies not with
me, but with the organizers of
these events.
'things are probably much bet-
ter
etter where you live. I am sure
that your own local winter carni-
vals are fun-packed adv.
Orgies of stirring and stimulat-
ing activities in the invigorating
outdoors. Mirthful merriment in
the snow and on ice. But let me
assure you: those around here
are boring. dull, repetitive, hum-
drum affairs, a patchwork of
crude commercial sales pitches,
utterly unimaginative "parades",
ill-conceived, poorly orgwfzed
and badly supervised "contests".
noisy "concerts" and ftuhd-
raising schemes. The same
bland stuff year after dreary
Year.
Why do the kids want to go?
As Stephanie says: "'they're giv-
ing away flee candy and pop."
"No."
"Dad, you're so mean."
"I know."
"What's wrong with the winter
cutnival?"
"Everything.
I've been to (=duals that
wok. Carnivals (subs malb -
ing events. But it takes a lot
more volunteer time, donated
money and imagination than the
tired organizers around here are
able or willing to come up with.
Carnivals, of course, started in
PETER'S
POINT
•
by
Peter Hensel
Europe. "Cama-val" means
"good-bye to meat". In Europe
and other pacts of the world, car-
nivals are still held regularly
during the three days prior to
lent, as a last wild and wonder-
ful splurge before fasting begins
at the stroke of midnight on Ash
Wednesday (40 days before
Baster). They have nothing to do
with snow and ice, everything
with splendiferous costumes,
wild parties, and total abandon.
Among the grand -daddies of all
carnivals are those held annually
in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans,
Venice, Munich and Cologne.
The Canadian cold -weather
version started perhaps with the
popular Carnaval in Quebec
City. Other well -staged events
in this country include the ambi-
tlous Wiatedude festival in Otta-
wa/Ma
tta-wi all, and the Annual Dog
Deeby► ; in Yellowknife. For a
long lima now, Canadian winter
carnivals have paid no attention
to the traditional timing in Ma -
don' to Shrove Tuesday/Adt
Wednesday. They can take place
andany time between late Minch �y 1�y
I have tto trouble with that.
We Minot manse the best of our
glorious winter. Lees have our
outdoor inn when snow and ice
conditions are ideal. What Fm
--egailla aro the bathed, of -drab
little imitation carnivals every-
where. Most of them seem to ex-
ist mainly for the merchants.
I don't mind if local businesses
participate. But wouldn't it be
better for everyone, especially
the merchants, if people had a
good reason to come? A few
"winter sports events like a fish-
ing derby, a monster bingo, a eu-
chre tournament, public skating,
hockey, a snowmobile nen, and
an air band competition" (quoted
directly from one winter cams-
val ad) do not make a winter
carnival. There is nothing wrong
with any of these events, and I'm
sure the participants are having
a good time. But let's not say
"carnival" when we mean "a
weekend of, miscellaneous activ-
ities". The printed "program" in
which the above carnival was
announced consisted of 43 pages
of business ads, with only half a
page devoted to "dates and
events". Some festival!
Maybe the organizers should
watch movies and videos to
team what real carnivals are
like. They might catch some of
the liveliness and exuberance
they can generate. For example.
a carnival needs a focal point, a
centre of activities, not a bunch
of discombobulated events scat-
tered all over town. it should
have a fancy costume ball, a col-
ourfid parade (not just lots of ad-
vertising signs pulled around on
half -tons and flatbeds), perhaps
a Local stage performance, a tal-
ent show, a band or lair con-
cert, an art exhibition. The
sports events should be exciting
for the pnrticipanis as well as the
atdienoe.
Lots of work? Of course. Ana
communis es unable to put it to-
gether properly shouldn't bother
at ail.
• banybody planning tohave a
real winter carnival next year?
Let me know. Well travel far to
be there.
i
"Maybe this will teach them we mean business when we say we want peace!"
The button man
"It never used to be like this,"
said the dishevelled looking
man, who with shaking hands
put a cigarette in his lips and lit
it with an old chromed lighter -
the kind with the flip top and
thumbwheel.
"000" cb" I evb 1
.fid ,,.
lni ane on Ito regain) his compo-
sure.
"All of what?" I asked, tread-
ing the answer.
"The buttons," he snapped. "I
counted all the buttons. There
were 36 of them in my car
alone. Cars used to have knobs
and levers and sometimes a
switch or two. Now there's just
all these buttons."
"Go on," I said, intrigued by
this nervous little man.
"Well, I counted all the but-
tons in my house too. I can't
even remember how many, but
there were just hundreds and
hundreds of them. Little buttons
everywhere, all with specific
functions and meanings and I
was supposed to know what
they all did at all times.
"Think about it will you? Can
you imagine all the places there
are little electric buttons in our
homes today where there never
used to be?" he said.
I told him I couldn't, and asked
him to explain for me.
"Even if you don't think about
pocket calculators, answering
machines, clock radios, automat-
ic coffee makers, televison re-
mote controls, stereos, compact
disc play...." he suddenly
stopped, his voice on an oddly
high note, he paused then calmly
tlfem
tleep',Ottff
continued.
"There are just too many but-
tons for the average person to
deal with. I bet most people
don't know what half of them
do. I'm just worse off than
most, that's all."
"Well, if a button is clearly
marked I don't see the problem,"
I interrupted.
"Really?" he said, tilting his
head a little to the left, playfully
blowing a little smoke into the
air above our heads. "Do you
have a button marked "Hold" on
your microwave oven?"
"Yes, I think I do," I said, sud-
denly. painfuly aware of what he
was about to say.
"Do you know what it does?
Have you ever used it?" he
asked me as I shifted position in
a chair that had just begun to
feel uncomfortable.
"No, I probably haven't," I
"About the time my obsession
began," he continued, trium-
phant. "I looked up all the but-
tons in all the owner's manuals,
but I couldinever remember how
they worked even a few days lat-
er. It got to the point where I
had to unplug my VCR and hide
it under the bed because I
couldn't stand looking at it, all
Letters to Editor
its lights blinking to remind me
of my incompetence. I was es-
pecially poor with buttons with
more than one function. The
five buttons on my wristwatch
were supposed to control 21
modes. 1 threw it in the river."
t)"It must hitve been very hard
for you," I said, trying my bast
to sound reassuring.
"Yes, it was," he said. "But it
was the telephone -company that
found me out. I had a dial tele-
phone, one of the last ones, I
think, but the phone people
found it in their records and
came to get it. They said it sim-
ply wouldn't do and gave me a
black one with 16 buttons. They
id it could save 10 numbers in
ory. I could do my banking
with. It would remember the
last number I dialed, even
though I couldn't remember who
I called.
"Then they knew," he said, his
voice now low and even. "The
govemment saw I stopped call-
ing people, then they found the
VCR and guessed everything.
They brought me here. They
say I'll be better soon, but I'm
not so sure. Do you think I'll' be
better?"
"I hope so,". I said, mustering a
smile.
"I just wish I could go back,"
said the little man, now drawing
up into his comer. "It was so
much simpler then."
I slowly closed the door be-
hind me, thinking ot a simpler
time and wondering if I would
ever be able to look at my mi-
crowave the same way again.
V
Thoughts and prayers with troops tt
there should be no talk of with-
draws!. As a country we have
trade a commitment to this war
and now we must be there until
Saddam Hussein and all he stands
for is annihilated.
Dear Editor: and their fami-
My ow ribbon is one of lies that our
those 1 ' III . I on the hone pop ofthoughts and
the T.A. January 30. I would hies poyn we with
to make it very clear that my rib- them,
bon is meant to show full sapped 'be time for
for our men and worsen is the peace ranks and
Gulf. It's meant to show the troops marches is past and
Bowl for MIIIIons
We �, km Soak Huron
Big Brothers and Sines Row)
for Millions time. Sun-
day, 1 hi 5 p.mCountry. 1bn►n
anes
Big and Little Buchus, Ba
fidZ
Ude Sisiris, will be bowling**
very beet to sake samay entegb
spasms ea&psr
My 15- granddaughter
is extremely happy that Windsor
BlgStaten have just cascaded the
twith het
Big Skier for
another three
years. Windsor
Dig
m
haveood a also
vety special Big
)loser kr wy 11-
yeer-cid sanction. I have met and
A
Sincerely,
Fran Ritchie
spent time with both the Big Sistalr
and Big Brother and can see they
are having a very profound effect
on my grandchildren What a very
special connection for one parent
boys and girls I have set a person-
al goal 01 4400 this year. To your
readers 1 say "Please sponsor
you e
bowler is any way Yours sincerely,
Ron Dards