HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-06-05, Page 4771,-17
Times -Advocate, June 5, 1991
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Publisher: Jim Beckett
News Editor Adrian Harts •
Business Manager. Don smith
Composition Manager. Deb Lord
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Second class Mea Registration Number 0388
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inion
"Men are,never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
... Thomas Macau$Oy
Dab" Ontede, NOM ISO
TeMphess
at 424 Mak at.,
ruMeatloin'LW.
S.LT, e
EDI'I'()R1AI,
Boundary blindness
I f the Lambton County Boun-
dary Committee looked a little
frustrated after last Wednes-
day's public meeting at the Grand Bend
Legion, it was understandable.
The one question they came to ask
went unanswered. They wanted to
know if Grand Bend is allowed to ex-
pand its boundaries into Stephen Town-
ship, how far should they go?
Public sentiment, however, was more
obviously aligned into two separate
camps, with one side arguing against
any expansion, and the other saying it
is essential for the village to grow.
The debate was a little emotional at
times, and a few ridiculous suggestions
were thrown into the pot, just to keep
things lively.
Nevertheless, a couple of considera-
tions became clear at the meeting, not
the least of which is that Stephen
Township residents appear convinced
that no Lambton County committee has
any right to decide the future of a Hu-
ron municipality. Several argued that
the committee would naturally put the
interests of Grand Bend as a Lambton
village ahead of another county's town-
ship.
This may very well be true.
On the other hand, the committee
were also reluctant to discuss their Jan-
uary proposal to carve lands awayifrotfr '
Stephen and Bosanquet Townships and
yet leave key developed subdivisions
untouched. Chairman Larry O'Neil
contended that the plan was not intend-
ed to have been released, even though
the committee had held a press confer-
ence and gave out photocopies of the
proposal.
Likely, the refusal to discuss the com-
promised boundaries was a result of not
wanting it to be seen as the shoddy at-
tempt at placating local politicians that it
was.
While Grand Bend reeve Bruce Wood-
ley argues that the village needs room to
grow, it is widely recognized that the re-
sort really needs to get hold of the valu-
able tax base that has snuggled up to its
borders. Those subdivisions are full of
people who bought or built on those
properties because they wanted a part of
Grand Bend. Today, they come to coun-
cil meetings, asking why their children
have to travel to Forest or Exeter to play
hockey, and ask why the library is so
long coming, but they pay their taxes to
rural townships.
Whether or not Grand Bend officials
can convince those people that surren-
dering to annexation will bring such_.
benefits and more, is yet to be seen. Is
the promise of sewers and water service
enough to overcome the slightly seedy
image Grand Bend has earned itself in
the past few years?
Whatever, the result, one can be as-
sured that the next report of the Lamb -
ton Boundary Committee will not be
welcomed with open arms until �t!tey Are
lire�pailed to debate boundaries On'i' ques-
tion and answer basis. Sitting quietly
during an houror so of "public com-
ment" only serves to strengthen tlj' hy-
perbole and rhetoric that surrounds the
entire annexation question.
A.D.H.
In the ancient Roman republic,
a man could not be elected to
the supreme council until after
he had celebrated his 60th birth-
day and thus reached the magic
age of wisdom. (Women, of
course, no matter how old, ,wer-
en't even considered persons, let
alone wise enough to serve in
the senate). •
Senex was the Latin world for
"old man". That's why the "par-
liament" in Rome was called the
"senate" = house of old men.
The word senex is also the root
of several English terms includ-
ing "senior", "seniority", "Sir",
"senile" and "senility".
Yes, wisdom came to the Ro-
mans at the age of 60, and not a
day earlier. That's why I'm look-
ing forward to this summer: I'll
finally reach that wonderful,
mature, magic age when foolish-
ness will end, to be replaced by
wisdom..
All my life I've wanted to be
wise. Especially money -wise
(not just penny-wise) and wise
in decision making. The money
will come in handy, and I've al-
ready made all kinds of plans on
how to spend it. Trouble is, I
may have to revise my plans af-
ter I get wise. 1 may decide to
invest it all.
And I wonder how else wis-
dom is going to change me.
Here is how I envisage my days
after I reach the state of wis-
dom.
I'll set the alarm for 5 am. be-
cause The Early Bird Catches
the Worm and Early w Bed,
Early to Rise Makes a Man
Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. If
you see me on the front lawn be-
fore dawn, you'll know what I'm
looking for. Would somebody
please tell me the going rate for
3 can of worms these days? As a
Wisdom
non -fishing individual I've nev-
er had to bother with such
-knowledge. But as a wise man,
I may decide to join the ranks
of fishermen and produce some
of the family's food supply. Af-
Peter's
Point
•
Peter Helsel
ter all, we do live beside a
creek.
In the winter, when it's too
much trouble digging for
worms, I'll shovel snow before
anyone else is up. And another
thing: I'll probably never be
late again for the garbage truck.
My breakfast will be sensible
and wise. Strictly fibre ,and
skim milk, with no sugar .or
anything else that tastes good
and that makes you die young.
What would be the point in
reaching the age .of wisdom
and then not living long
enough to enjoy it?
While the others are still
snoring in bed, I'll be in my of-
fice scheming ways to apply
my wisdom, to tum it into prof-
it and pleasure. Peter's Point
might change drastically. It
may no longer appeal to your
sense of humour, but enrich
you with solid knowledge. It
may go straight from the ridic-
ulous to the sublime: How
alibut this for a new by-line:
Peter's Providence. Or Prudent
Peter's Profound Ponderings?
Too pompous, you say? Time
will tell.
After lunch (an apple, three
salt -free crackers, and a glass
of water,) I will walk three
miles. Refreshed and restored, I
will be ready for work so diffi-
cult I can only imagine it in my
present days of pre -wisdom. I
may even switch from prose to
poetry.
I wonder how I will manage
to be as industrious as a beaver
(which is supposed to be a vir-
tue) without becoming a worka-
holic (which I know is a sin). I
will find the way.
My kids will greatly benefit
from having a wise father all of
a sudden. Hell not only have
the answers to their questions,
but he'll always be fair. Because
faimess is a prime ingredient of
wisdom, as well all know from
King Solomon. Not from his
lusty Song of Songs, which is
about his foolishness as a young
man. But from the judgements
he made after he had reached
the Age of Wisdom: He was a
proverb and a byword among
all people, and His wisdom and
prosperity exceedeth (his)
fame...
Yes, that's what i expect will
happen to me. My inept and in-
adequate nature will be shed
like "the skin of a rattlesnake.
And what emerged will be Sen -
ex the Reliable. Solomon the In-
fallible.
Yes, the children will have to
admit: their old man will be
fair. And even the Queen of
Sheba may come to realize that
I know some things, that I do
some things right, that I'm not
completely without judgment.
I can hardly wait. I'm count-
ing the days and the hours. Af-
ter a lifetime spent in the mar-
tyrdom of ignorance, in the
serfdom of blunderiand, I will
achieve freedom at last, as 1 en.
ter the kingdom of wisdom.
"One laid -off husband, one over -tared wife, one bitter pensioner,
two aimless teenagers for a total of five former Tories."
A tarnished crown
I have to admit that when I
first began to cover the fair
queen contests at the local fairs,
I was more than a little horri-
fied. To take a half-dozen or so
young women, put them on a
stage and ask them to compete
for a crown in a beauty -queen/
fertility ritual seemed just a tad
sexist.
Why weren't males allowed to
compete in these competitions, I
asked. These were the 1980s,
not the 1880s, I reasoned.
Now, after a few years to re-
flect on these points, I confess
,my '(-oit'th ijeenr Contest
matter it,04tle itiplA.t4ntused.
Ifone speaksofatiny town in
Germany which has held an an-
nual festival for the past five
centuries that involves the selec-
tion of a young girl as its queen,
we call it tradition. To keep that
tradition going, no one would
dare suggest it be changed just
to suit the social sensibilities of
the times. Such traditions are
reminders of a cultural and his-
toric heritage.
So what if our Ontario fair
contests are only a century or so
old? A century from now,
they'd be 200 years old and re-
garded as traditions going back
to the pioneer days of when this
area was first settled by a male -
dominated oppressive society
<but I digress).
Farming today is more of a
business than a way of life, and
the annual harvest is conducted
with more of an eye on com-
modity prices than concem for
surviving a harsh winter. We
can always rely on imported
food if we have a bad year, but
that's not the way it used to be.
So the fair queen was chosen,
according to centuries-old tradi-
tions brought over from Europe,
because her youth and gender
Hold that
thought..
Adrian Harte
of any age over 18, male or fe-
male.
Has the time come to declare
the queen contest extinct, or are
we losing something here? Is
this just being done to appease a
government that will look favor-
ably on organizations that press
on with equal rights programs
no matter what the cost - some-
what on the lines of Premier Pe-
terson making Ontario bilingual
to impress Ottawa.
The queen contest is usually
the focal point of most local
fairs. Would it be so with con-
stants ' ; ltr,
04rY>b •
"And our last two conies is
are Ashley Smith, a South Huron
High School student who some-
day hopes to work with the te,-
minally ill, and Jack Riddell, the
former minister of agrieul-
ture..."
re fiectettfieli;'
ty of th'etomii seajon.
me if I'm being a little indelicate
here, but someone has to say it.
Nowadays, those values have
faded, but the tradition goes on;
although I do understand it is be-
coming very difficult to find
-dung ladies 'filling to enter
the centesis these days.
...any I've spoken to won't have
anything to do with what they
consider a thinly -disguised
beauty contest symbolic of male
oppression - or something to
that effect.
But I've also spoken to others
who take the whole thing very
seribusly. Kathy McNaughton,
CNE queen of 1988, assured me
the queen contest was all part
and parcel of preserving agricul-
tural traditions.
But next year, all that is sched-
uled to change. No longer will
there be a CNE Queen of the
Fairs, female, aged 18-24. The
tens ambassador will replace it,
and all Ontario fairs will be en-
couraged to submit candidates
While I don't expect Jack
would run, he technically could.
I'm sure he would make a fine
fair ambassador, only I don't ex-
pect many people would be in-
terested in' such a contest.
So I would like to put the
question to you, the reader.
should the fair queen contest be
allowed to die a natural death as
a rejection of the objectification
of women? Or is the fair queen
contest a symbol of an agricultu-
ral heritage that has yet to be
recognized as part of a festival
of deep-rooted cultural signifi-
cance?
Sign your letters, and I'll read
them with interest and publish
them here.
Last letter to Grandpa
On February 14, 1991 my
grandfather Fred Picot passed
away. After 95 years it was sim-
ply time to say goodbye. Last
Wednesday 1 went back to my
grandfathers house and this is
what I saw. If I could, write a let-
ter to heaven, this is how it
would go.
Dear Grandpa:
I saw something very strange
today. People I didn't know and
you probably never met, were
sitting on your furniture.
Your sons had to haul your
treasured possesions out on the
lawn to be auctioned off to the
highest bidder. It hurt me grand-
pa, and it hurt mea lot.
For most of my life, you were
my only grandparent and al-
though I have a few tokens to re-
member you by, there was one
thing I really wanted. That was
your rocking chair.
Grandpa, I went looking for
that chair which was in your
kitchen the last few years of
your life, but it was gone. One
of your daughters took it even
though she was told that every
thing had to be put in the auc-
tion.
To tell you the truth grandpa, I
Another
word
by
Fred
Groves
wanted it so maybe someday I
could rock my son or daughter
in it and tell them about you.
But I did manage to perk up a
little bit on Wednesday.
My sister Brenda got your
bedroom set and she's giving it
to her daughter for her 16th
birthday. My other sister Pat got
an old Steamer tnrnk which she
used to play in as a child.
When you were still with us
grandpa, you said my mom
could have your desk. But it
went in the auction, 1 was a little
worried that someone else might
get it but grandpa, your desk, the
one you spent all those hours at,
will soon be going to by moni's
house.
Don't worry that I didn't get
any furniture because I got
something that few people know
the real value of.
Do you remember the duck -
shaped crystal candy dish, the
one you kept the mints in?
That's sitting in my cabinet at
home and it's a special reminder
of you.
Grandpa, your house was emp-
ty at the end of the day and it
felt cold and lonely, so I went
for a little stroll and looked at
my mom with your. desk, and
my sisters with other reminders
of you and I knew you would be
a big part of all of us forever.
I miss you grandpa but I know
you're listening.
Love your grandson, Fred
h
n