Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1980-12-04, Page 4Page 4 Citizens News December 4, 19110• The plows are ready Many hands make i.ight work At a recent meeting of a local recreational group, some of those present felt that the cost of recreation to the taxpayers was high and bound to increase still further. The feeling seemed to be that taxpayers might not be receiving sufficient return for their tax dollars. Comments of this nature can be broadened out to include all Lorms of service provided by any municipal government. Elected officials have an answer to this. The thought, from the elected officials' stand- point, centers on the fact that taxpayers are deman- ding better services all across the board, but are not too happy about paying for innumerable comforts and conveniences. This may be a true and accurate assumption. A feeling, or thought such as this, brings up another interesting point. If the public wish ser- vices to increase they must be prepared to pay for Same. The alternative to this, however, is that they must be willing to assist elected officials in educing the costs for such "extra" services. Needless to say, no one expects the general )ublic to assist in the sanding of icy roads. For that natter, any task which could fall within the realm 1f road maintenance or construction is the excep- ion. When it comes to recreation, however, this is a ar different matter entirely. The cost and upkeep of community parks is an ►n -going expense which connot be avoided. The fact however, such expense to the taxpayer could be educed considerably if the public, the very people who pay the taxes, were to become more in- volved in such maintenance operations. At the present time there are specified groups es- tablished -to provide winter and summer recreational activity. A third group could be established which could be assigned the task of taking.care of necessary duties such as cutting park lawns during the summer months and generally maintaining the community through horticultural or janitorial activities. For instance, such a group could assign some members to take care of mowing of parkland areas. Other members could provide manpower for pain- ting and decorating recreational type buildings. Materials, of course, could be . provided by the municipality, such as paint, varnish, or what have you. The lawn mowing operations could be handled by members, many of whom do have machines larger than the normal push type mower. In short, although these are only suggestions, the program would centre on an organization of volunteer public citizens, a group who are ready and willing to assist in reduction of costs for recreational services. It may be only the beginning to a much larger public involvement in municipal affairs, all designed to match increased demand for services. Volunteer assistance on the part of the very ones who demand and who will pay for such in- creases may be the answer. West Lincoln Review Should listen to native people Honorary Chippewa brave Bud Cullen was call- ed to Sarnia Reserve to answer Indian anxieties over the projected repatriation of the Canadian Constitution and, regardless of his diplomacy, ac- quitted himself miserably. It will be interesting to see if he wears his red armband in Ottawa, signify- ing his support. On two items only was he in order - that the natives are Canadians first and Indians second, and that requests for taxpayers subsidies for Reserve projects must be questioned and investigated before grants are made. Other than this, he gave "brain -washed" replies to very relevant native questions. Section 29 of the Treaty of July 1827 gave certain inalienable rights to Indians of this area in exchange for the surrender of 2 3/4 million acres of land, but Cullen `hy lawyer carefully circumvented confirmation of even this. The important issues in this native "Concerned nishnabeg" movement are that the participants 'e young people anxious for the retention of their Jritage, and that with continued education, any •onfrontations will be on an equal basis in due .ourse. The fact that white people overran this country iges ago would, in 20th century vernacular, have been called "aggression". That Canada was recognized as Indian territory is undisputed or the British governments of the time would not have signed treaties. Even the "old school" system did not preclude Imperialism over all. The Canadian government has gone to great pains to recognize French rights and Indian support of Federalism in Quebec helped the favourable resolution of the recent referendum. Why, then, should Indians, including those on our local Reserves, have to remain second class citizens of the nation they are called upon to regard as theirs? The movement is, at present,non-militant, but we "whites", by our examples in Quebec and Western Canada, have shown that success is not always achieved by peaceful co -existence and the survival of the fittest. Before anxieties translate themselves into force, it wouldbe as well for MP's such as Bud Cullen to listen and seriously convey feelings back to their globetrotting leaders. The Indians are cer- tainly not all correct in their demands, but they are certainly not all wrong. • If you don't believe this, look what ultimately happened when .the anxieties of the natives of Zim- babwe Rhodesia were ignored Sarnia Gazette ly TOM CINCH A very unique hobby • One of the most important tools of therapy is the use of a liokby as a release from the tensions of day to day life. All jobs at one time create tension which must be released of a person is to live a full life. Hobbies allow a person to escape to another world, to forget about the days or week's activities for a few hours and to head back into the job with a clearer head. Hobbies are as plentiful as pebbleson a beach and can range from a relatively passive form such as stamp collecting to a total-invoivementactivitysuch as sky -diving. This writer has a couple of after -hour pursuits which not too surprisingly are job related. While the writer can't seem to pick up a book and read the darn thing, give him a sports magazine or automotive publication and the entire contents will be read, reread and analysed during the course of an evening. The other pursuit which is of great interest is the collecting of old cameras. To date the writer has about half a dozen of the units kicking around and he has another camera which he purchased at a rummage sale about 15 years ago for the grand sum of 24 which he cannot locate. - As stated above both, past -times allow for the release of built-up frustations but• at the same time enhance the writer's knowledge of activities which are related to his work. About a year ago the writer received a letter from a gentleman in England who had a very unusual hobby. The writer tossed the letter aside not thinking much about it until recently when he received a similar communication from the same gentleman. The letter is as follows: 12, Mayflower Drive, Stokehill Estate, Conventry CV2 SNP England 17th, November, 1980 Dear Sir, My brother and I have, we think, >a rather unusual hobby in that we colledt flags or mastheads from newspapers. The part that we save is the actual name of the paper, including the date and price, that is nor- mally printed across the top of the front page. Our collection began about twelve years ago with a few local weekly papers and the British national dailies. This gave us an Interest in trying to obtain an example masthead from every paper, daily and weekly, that was printed in Britain. After about eight years, and with lots of help from the printers•and publishers, we achieved our aim. We then chose to continue our hobby by saving overseas mastheads and the collection now includes around eleven thousand examples from over fifty countries and isla d groups. . We would be most grateful if you could assist us with our hobby by sending us a masthead from your paper, The Zurich Citizens News. If you have any other weekly papers that you could sparemastheadsfrom for us, we would be very pleased to receive them. Thank you for your kind attention. .11 j'1( 1) •+:%i:�i:C}.'v+ f%%i ..: {{,:'•::•11'4...: Yours Sincerely, D: Mills { it I l( inti. I (♦� �. Published Each Wednesday Sy J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapwrs Association Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association News Editor/ Tom Creech Second Clam Mail Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rotes: S8.50 pbr year in advanct in Canada 519.50 per year outside Canada Single copies 25t