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Times Advocate, 1991-08-21, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, August 21, 1991 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager: Deb Lord Second Chas Mail Re&stuition Number 0386 $UBSCRIpT1ON RATES: CANADA Within 40 miss (66 km.) addressed to non letter cattier addresses $30.00 plus $2.10 G.S.T. Out'sds 40 nines (65 km.) or any Letter carrier address $30.00 plus $30.00 postage (total $60.00) plus 64.20 G.S.T. Outside Canada $68.00 1.;1)11'( )ill.\1. Trickle down syndrome ast week's decision by the Su- preme Court supporting the federal government's right to cut welfare payments to provinces should come as no surprise to the occu- pants of Queen's Park. After all, that's exactly what those who control provincial dollars have been doing to municipalities for years. Cutting transfer payments to the next lowest level of government was a game played very well by David Peterson who could slash millions slated for cit- ies and towns and brag about a bal- anced budget at the same time. Premie r Bob Rae has cried foul and says he vows not to pass the cuts down the line this time around. But let's wait and see. • Exeter Town Council, who have expe- rienced meddling from larger govern- ments before and are genuinely con- cerned they will be losing financial control over the town police department to the province are trying to appoint their own choice of members to a new police services board which they don't want in the first place. "They're (the province) going to force you to do things you don't want to do unless you take a stand," reeve Bill Mickle said. With Ottawa writing the music and To- ronto directing the orchestra about all that's left for communities like Exeter is sweeping up the mess and turning out the lights. J.B. Relaxing at the lake When city dwellers need a va- cation, they go to the country. --;hut what about people who live . in the country all year round? Why, everybody knows that their entire life is one continu- ous holiday. So where do they go when they need a break from all that bliss? They go to the lake. To the beach. To stretch out in the sun, to relax. They wear sun glasses and suntan lotion and bathing suits and pretend to be just like ordinary folk. Well, this particular rural fam- ily is no different. This year, too, after the kids came home from "their" camp, we went to "family camp" at the lake. Every year we go on the same trek, in two old Tempos 'packed to the rafters with lawn chairs, rubber dinghies, tennis rackets, suitcas- es, toys, books, still and video cameras, ghetto blasters, and all the other paraphernalia that plain people living in the coun- try need to survive. We got to the lake. Within twenty minutes of our arrival our cabin resembled a Canadian Tire warehouse, and the sandy strip in front of it looked like Normandy Beach on D -Day. The invasion had begun. As soon as they had created this chaos - which they call "helping to unpack" -- the kids disappeared, not to surface again until supper time. It took Elizabeth that long to straighten things out, to lay eve -R ry item of clothing in its proper place in its proper drawer, and to direct me to move the furni- ture around, to open the win- dows, to adjust the fridge, to fetch ice cubes and drinking wa- ter, to put a hook here and a clothes line there. After supper (Which thank heavens we eat at the lodge), there was actually time for a quick `walk to the boat dock before bedtime start- ed. Bedtime started when Eliza- beth said: "I think the children are exhausted; they should be in bed fairly early tonight. Do -Peter's Point • Peter Hessen you feel like rounding them up?" Since that was exactly the way I felt, I snapped on my spurs, fetched my lasso, Mount- ed my pony and rode off into the sunset to round up my chil- dren. Alexander was out on the diving dock, fishing. I Called, but the wind was against me. I transferred from pony to row- boat and roped him in, together with his rod, tackle box, pail and sickly -looking sun fish. Stephanie was in the middle of a tetherball toumament. "Just five more minutes Dad, please'?" She knows I always fall for that charming smile. So I let her be for a while and looked for Duncan. He is al- ways the most difficult to track down because of his quiet man- ner. Using a moose call as a megaphone, I finally made con- tact with the boy. He was rum- maging through the wood pile at the far end of the camp, try- ing to find a suitable block of wood for me to carve. I helped him with his selection, and then I made my first promise of the Letter to Editor week: "Yes, I will carve you. a i knife tomorrow." My second promise came five minutes later. "Yes,, we wilt have a camp fire tomorrdw night", and I even added a rider: "Yes, I will drive to Frasers and buy some wieners . and marsh- mallows." Then I went back to the teth- erball pit. "We're almost fm- ished, Dad. Just five minutes." But I played the part of the mean Daddy this time. Time for bed. So the days at the lake were fairly strenuous. With nature walks, mosquito bites, poison ivy, splinters in feet, glass in feet, entangled fishing lines, lost hats, internipted games of ten- nis and volleyball, with whit- tling, trips to Present, ping -pow_ lessons, b til d toes in the horseshoe pit, and drying tears spilled over a looney lost in the sand. There were many happy and busy activities: swimming and canoeing, motorboating and fishing and spotting blue her- ons. We got up at dawn to hear the loons out on the lake. We watched some glorious sunsets. We endured hordes of starving mosquitoes to sit by the camp- fire, to sing songs and tell sto- ries. And we did manage a couple of vigorous games of tennis and volleyball. And yes, on the last day, just before it was time to start pack- ingaga1 i T d have an oppor- tunity for one short hour of peace and quiet, when I lay on the beach in a lawn chair, all alone, soaking up the sun and the wind, wondering what on earth we would do it we couldn't come to the lake, to the beach -- to relax. Exeter's 'nature trail' Dear Editor: Congratulations to the Exeter Wats Deparunent for crating a "nature I" anon with their Sanders S�E. project. Their choioe of topsoil ter- rific! They were able to introduce one of the finest weed chops in Ontario. After pulling health 127 very mustard plaids, was able to identify another 12 varieties of weeds, as twepllls as two unidentified exotic The only plant missing is pass! Ron Wyman 151 Sanders St. E. Exeter "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." ... Thomas Macauley Published Each Wednesday Mended M 424 Mabe $t., Exeter, Ontario, NON 118 by J.W. Esily Prblleatdoas Ltd. Tete'Mse 1.619-235-1331 LILT. IR10i210S3$ "Usually about this time of year, Chard gets a bit disenchanted with gardening." Average Joes The average Exeter reader is not your average Joe. That doesn't sound so bad for an advertising slogan. Let's read on and find out who these aver- age readers, Todd and Colleen, are. Well, it seems Todd spe three languages, is 23, arid 11 to spend his vacations in France, Switzerland and Spain. Colleen, at 22, isn't much different. She speaks English and Spanish, and also travels the world, enjoys horseback riding and keeps large pets. Now wait a minute, I know Exeter has enjoyed a population boom as of late, but this town is certainly not ready to become a haven for yuppies. In fact, I doubt there is anyone quite like these two in the entire town. The problem it seems, is that these Exeter readers are not peo- ple who live in Exeter, they read Exeter. .That's the name of a magazine that arrived-- on my desk today. That's right, a mag- azine with the name "exeter" proudly emblazoned on its front cover. An astute reader spotted this one in a magazine rack, paid the $5.25 import price and couldn't resist dropping it by their home town paper office. Exeter, it appears, is indeed a yuppie magazine aimed at the young and influential of Chica- go, and despite inspecting it from cover to cover, I cannot find out how it got its name. I think rm going to have to write them a letter just to ask. Judg- Hold that thought... By Adrian Harte ing the book by its cover, rm not sure they'll respond. Yes, it is a very slick publica- tion, much along the lines of other "city" magazines. If you've ever seen a copy of Paris Match, you'll know what I mean. In fact, a glance at the bottom of the contents page reveals that it is actually printed in Reykja- vik, Iceland. One must assume there isn't a decent printing press to be found anywhere in all of Chicago. As for the contents, it seems pretty much standard yuppie fare: fashion advertising, fash- ion articles, interviews with the influential and/or eccentric ac- companied by full-page black and white studio photographs, and of course there are the art Letter to Editor reviews. All 1 can say is that if you found the National Gallery's purchase of Voice of Fire hard to take, you may be a little mys- tified by a photo of a gallery decorated with identical paint- ings - all a solid shade of khaki green. Hrmmn. There is also . a two-page spread dedicated to those weird and wonderful high-tech high - style toys you can never find or never afford. Actually, I read this page, and I'm still contem- plating the vacuum -tube amplifi- er, but the description points out I'd need two for stereo. But let's get back to that name, Exeter. What alluring, sonor- ous, qualities does that word have that led an ambitious, high- brow bunch of magazine people to choose that name for their product? Does the very word "Exeter" connote quality, taste, and style, when one is _in_ Chicago2— It might almost be worth a field trip just to find out. I can just see myself wandering into a classy restaurant, motioning to the maftre'd and whispering in a confiding tone "Hi, I'm from Ex- eter". And then, if I don't get the ex- pected response, I could add "Do yuze guys got a table for two?" Reader says text getsfirecedei.ce Dear Sir. I am writing this leuer in re- sponse to the column by Rev. Jeannie Udall. I find it interesting that Ms. Udall Bails herself "Rev- erend" while showing an amazing lack of knowledge of the Bible, the book members of her office have traditionally espoused as truth. As it happens I too hold the Bible as truth and am alarmed at what Ms. Udall has written. This week she wrote a column about Saul, the first king of Israel. She claims that Saul was chosen by virtue of his personality and popular acclaim and was named as king based on those qualifications. In the First Book of Samuel chap- ter 9 verse 17 we read: "When Samuel caught sight of Saul, 'The Lord said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will gov- ern my people". At this point Saul was an unknown in Israel, never, before this meeting is Saul more than a poor farmer. When Saul is to be crowned king Samuel 10:22 says this "....has the man come A here yet?" and the Lord said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage". No pride or conniving to become king here, Saul actually tried to avoid it. King David him- self, while being pursed by Saul who sought Davids very life, re- fused to harm him, always saying that he dare not touch the Lord's anointed. Surely, Ms. Udall, a sim- ple half hour of reading would clar- ify your error before the article was written. Unfortunately, based on past columns, you don't believe that the Bible is truth. You are enti- tled to believe what you will, Ms. Udall but it is unacceptable that you should dare to claim a position in which you are given the respon- sibility of preaching the Gospel while you deny the truth of that same (pei,1 pity you Ms. Udall, for you stand in a very precarious position. Luke 12:48 reads: "... from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been en- trusted with much, much more will be asked." You have been given much, Ms. Udall and you will be held accountable for it. The word of God cannot be misused without serious consequences and those consequences will be eternal. If you will not believe what has been given to us in the Bible, at least do not twist it to suit your ideas; to write your own would be more honest and far far safer. Respectfully yours, Daryl Little Editors note: "Reverend" is not a tide Rev. Udall took on her - seg, but signes she is an or- dained minister of her church. We ask she be respected as such. The debate over what texts in the Bible can be accepted as historical fact and those that can be akcept- ed as theological allegory has raged for centuries. The Times Advocate will accept no further letters on this matter. A.DJ!.