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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-02-14, Page 19Be my Valep#ne At Queensway Nursing Home Thursday night, dancing partners Elizabeth Briggs and Homer Taylor are entertained by Audibly Awesome, a quartet consisting of Richard Rose, at left, Bill Strong, Graham Bowker and Len Lobb. The quartet played "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" for the couple that round and square dances together. G.B. Winter Carnival Pushing for charity. Grand Bend councilor, Bob Mann, top right, cracks a smile through his clown paint. Grand Bend councillors pushed shopping carts dur- ing the winter Carnival pa- rade on Saturday collecting food bank cations. f ala t.; J Shown top left, Amanda Vandenberk, the five year- old Winter Camival Prin- cess waves to spectators as a parade of floats, clowns and dog pulled sleds makes its way down Main Street. Kerrie Forrester, at right, gracefully negotiates her way through the waiter's obstacle race in Grand Bend on Sunday. The event was part of the Winter Car- nival celebrations. Exeter Legion Ladies Auxiliary BINGO Thurs., Feb. 15 7:00 p.m. 10 Regular Games 5 Specials 1 Share the Wealth Jackpot $650 No one under 18 admitted Uc.1IM125539 WEEKLY MEAT DRAWS r the Royal Canadian Legion, Ewen Branch, ors Satur- day afternoon between 4.6 p.m. All proceeds re support the Hetwl-Middleset Army Cadet Corps. Everyone welcome to attend. 43tfac HAY TOWNSHIP Histo; Books have arrived. May be picked up or pwdrased ser Township Office in Zurich during office hours or x11236.4060. 7c ANGRY AT THE HARRIS AGBt4DA! Come to A (Stance so be Heard. February 15, F.E. Madill Cafeteria, Winghaun, 7:30 p.m. Gil 357-3206. 396-9452, 524-8539. 887- 6348. 528-2493.236-4291, E-meil, urwi/sos.on.a 6.7c PANCAKE SUPPER with scalloped potatoes. hem and baked boas to be held is Tri- via Memorial Parish IiaN on Tuesday, Iiebreary 20 front 5 to 7 p.rr. Adults 88.00, chil- dren $4.00. 5.6,7• SHROVE TUESDAYsad Pancakes will be served filer regular Lodge meet- ing Fcbraary 20, 1996 at the Hall. All Brothers welcome. 7a isLYTH FESTIVAL SINGERS Scottish Ceilidh, Satwday. February 24, Ooderich Township Hell. Holmeavitle. Doors peri 6:30 p.m. Ha buffet meet at l pin. L1.80 M- ceo.a saloy haggis, Scottish country and highland daneis&, sisa-a-tong ale dos. Advance debtor $18.00, $20.00 ea door. Nydr Festive 5239300. enema 482- 5855; Dutch Store 4$2-7306+ Campbell's 5ioto 324.7532; btsewaaer Ofl1ds =mat 317-1534; Carol's Casein 523-4700; Sfaniedrias Special 23S-12$2; or dial' t�s�t� 6.74)e READY 7O START A sift Tats the do freak sad mil la the hurt OW - ems Reda Dowse manias February 27 as Soaktttt Over Ave evealaps you wil have the opport.dq to warstarai year blebs* lien Wee polity. Coat for Ase. times how sodas is $166. To nth*. maws se Arman aselseu Coatis. 527-0305 s2$90.r Times -Advocate, Fsbruary 14,1996 Page 19 low our View Letters to te editor Answer to letter to the editor I feel the time has come for the museum to seek other sources of funding or close.... I saw a need in the establishment of the RCAF Station Centralia Memorial Museum, to collect and preserve, at my time and expense, items in many 0 cases that were headed for the local landfill site, not because they were garbage, but rather the person in their possession was not aware that anyone was in- terested in them. I have provided information to people from all over the world - again at my expense. Former sta- tion personnel have made special trips to the mu- seum to obtain information on lost friends and to re- call their air force days. Many have stayed at local motels, ate in local restaurants, purchased local gas, etc., so when Mr. Breede told council that museum staff promote tourism, he should consider that the Huron County museum is only one of many facili- ties that pmvide attractions for visitors to the county. Mr. Breede also stated that the museum also offers employment opportunities to people, which he also stated, in many cases, funding comes from senior levels of government. I applied for a summer stu- dent in 1995, through a Canada Employment Centre program, to enable the museum to be open week- days, but was not approved. On a visit to the Gode- rich Canada Employment Centre to find out why my application was "on the wrong end of the list for funding". When I asked who was on the "right" end of the list, most were government funded agencies, including the County of Huron. I was told that funds directed towards students hired by the county were being used to "top up" their wages - in other words use federal money to add to the existing county wages. As stated in my original letter to the editor, "Can we afford a county museum?", I feel the time has come for the museum to seek other sources of fund- ing or close. The City of Niagara Falls has cut sup- port of their museums by 20 per cent for 1996 and asked the museum director to provide a five year plan as to how the museums will operate with less city funding and document their efforts to seek new sources of financial support. The City of St. Thomas turned down a request for $2000.00 from the Elgin Pioneer Museum and stated that without the S50,000 contributed to the museum by the County of Elgin, that the museum would probably close. The Province of Ontario has cut their $1.8 million dollar funding of the Ontario Agricultural Museum partly because of dismal attendance figures. Maybe Huron County Council should look at some of these situations before subsidizing the county museum with .another $300,000 of county taxpayers money in 1996. Taxpayers of the county would be able to redirect $250,000 of museum funding by operating the mu- ,; !44 with volunteers. 0 the cognty'srui.operate wit). qualified volunteer fire fighters, it should be ab:o to operate with qualified volunteers at the Huron County Museum. Dear Editor. I was quite surprised to read your County Council coverage of their February 1 meeting (complete with official county emblem) was devoted entirely to Huron County museum director and curator Claus Breede defending the museum's role in the community. As Mr. Breede stated in the article, figures quoted in my recent letter to the editor "Can we afford county museum?", were correct and obtained from the museum. Mr. Breede stated in a January 12, 1996 letter, that he could not provide me with the anticipated 1996 budget for the museum at that time. He also stated that the 1995 approved county budget for the Huron County Museum included a $308,918 contri- bution from the County of Huron - yet in his ad- dress to county council reported in your paper, he said that taxpayers budgeted $308,819 for 1995. He stated that the actuals were closer to *300,000. As Bill Mickle, Reeve for the Town of Exeter, stated in the report, he understood the figures were just political play, but added that council must seri- ously address the question of reduced revenue and property tax restraints in terms of county service. In Mr. Breede's report to county council he pre- sented unsubstantiated conclusions as to my efforts in establishing the RCAF Station Centralia Memori- al Museum in Huron Park. Mr. Breede said that I am well known to the mu- seum staff. My only contact with museum staff in- volved the donation of an item that took Mr. Breede five years to provide a donation form for, and took letters to his superiors to receive even.a thank you. He stated that I have been trying for two years to obtain financial assistance to operate a small inde- pendent museum in Huron Park. The only time I have ever mentioned financial assistance involving Mr. Breede was this past summer when I questioned Mr. Breede devoting county financed staff and ma- terial to the proposed establishment of an aviation display at the Goderich airport. I suggested to county council that if they could find funds to ex- pand beyond the county museum, they should con- sider providing funds for others interested in the smaller projects. Mrs. Breede also stated that "his (meaning my- self) museum is for the exhibit of his private collec- tion and as such, the Huron County Museum could only offer indirect assistance which has been of- fered." I think,Mr; Breede should look at the early beginnings of ritost museums; which I'm Sure tie is quite aware, were in many cases, begun by individu- als who had the foresight to collect items before they were lost forever. Take for example the Eisen- bach collection that became the Lambton Heritage Museum. W.P. Fydenchuk Huron Park Support for. open letter of "Thanks" Worst of al!, there is no sign that any change will be forthcoming in the near Dear Editor: future.... I am writing in sympathy with and in support of the feelings of frustration expressed so vigorously in R. Becker's letter ("An open letter of thanks to the Minister of Education", January 31, 1996). I re- tired from teaching in 1987, ten years early, for many of the same reasons, and the conditions in On- tario schools have deteriorated drastically since then. If education is not to collapse altogether, something more has to be done by the Ministry of Education than simply slashing and burning and abandoning teachers to the incalculable stresses of present-day teaching. I would suggest that the root cause of teachers' frustration at overcrowding, overwork, lack of disci- pline and the pressure to "volunteer" for extra- curricular activities is the innate tendency of "big government" to want to micro -manage every aspect of education, right down to what teachers do in their spare (?) time. Socialist governments complicate teachers' lives by casting them in the role of psy- chotherapists and social workers, leaving teachers to try with what is left of their time and energy to honor the original purpose of schools, which is ob- viously teaching. Then Conservative governments come along and, without rescinding any of the earli- er ordinances, begin to curtail the teachers' resourc- es in time and facilities. It is no wonder that idealis- tic and committed young teachers start looking for saner ways of earning a living. Of course we have to reduce the deficit. The teacher's problem is that he/she is being required to make do with less support, but is expected to main- tain the same level of quality as before. A wiser and more rational Ministry would effect a corresponding reduction in teachers' responsibilities, to compen- sate for the reduction in resources - but this is un- thinkable because it would annoy the voters. So, like Pharaoh, they simply order the slaves to make bricks without straw. Worst of all, there is no sign that any change will be forthcoming in the near future. There appears to be no Moses with the courage and the power to lead. the slaves out of bondage and engulf Pharaoh and his chariots in a Red Sea - unless the sea is red ink. But if things keep on at the present rate, the schools will inevitably collapse under the smothering weight of the bureaucracy. Then there may be hope that a new system will evolve, where concepts like "char- ter schools" and the'voucher system will return con- trol of the schools to parents and teachers, whereit belongs. Yours truly Douglas Frame World Day of Prayer set for March 1 THAMES ROAD - The annual World Day of Prayer service will be held at Thames Road United Church at 2:00 p.m. on March 1. Using the theme "God Calls Us. to Respond", Christian women of Haiti have prepared the World Day of Prayer service for March I. Haiti, the world's first Black in- dependent republic, has in this cen- tury suffered from military occu- pancy, internal political repression, natural disasters and widespread poverty. Nevertheless, the return of democratically -elected President lean -Bertrand Aristide in 1994 was cause for hope among the people. World Day of Prayer is a globin, ecumenical movement of in- formed prayer and ptsyrrM ac- tion." On rite first *May in March each year, ie over 170 sous - site pnitit M a eisentot► we - vice In their churl lociIlty. Services are translated into hundreds of lan- guages and dialects. In Canada, the World Day of Prayer is sponsored by the Wom- en's Inter -Church Council of Cana- da. Members of the national coun- cil are drawn from the following denominations: African Methodist Episcopal, Anglican Church of Canada, Baptist Federation of Can- ada, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Mennonite, Presbyterian Church in Canada, Re- ligious Society of Friends, Roman Catholic Church, Salvation Army and the United Church of Canada. In many Canadian communities, other denominations are also in- volved. Offerings from the services in Canada etre used to support the work of Women's Inter -Church Council of Canada in ecumenism, spirituality, human rights and is- sues of special concern to women. They also cover the costs of print- ing and distributing materials and ' to support projects in Canada and abroad. Among the overseas pro- jects supported by the 1995 World Day of Prayer offerings were: a' handicraft project to provide em- ployment in Cap Haitien, Haiti; work among poor and homeless young women in Cristalina, Brazil; training for indigenous women in San Lucas, Guatemala; an agricul- tural project in Omboga, Kenya; humanitarian relief for war widows and orphans in Burundi; production of resources by WomenChurch, Seoul, Korea; and a women's gath- ering in Tuvalu. South Pacific. In Canada, World Day of Prayer grants from Women's Inter -Church Council helped with production of worship resources by Micah Insti- tute of Calgary; support for the An- nual Vesper Service of Canadian Girls in Training; su port for plan- ning a celebration o t e i - cal Decade of Churches in Solidari- ty with Women; and a grant to Innu women in Labrador to raise aware- ness of the impact of low-level flight testing on their communities and on the environment. Other Canadian work carried out in the past year by Women's Inter - Church Council of Canada includes co -sponsoring a women's gathering in Gambo, Newfoundland; hosting overseas delegates at a meeting of the International Fellowship of the Least Coin in Vancouver; fostering networking among women in Mani- toba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia; distributing ma- terials on violence against women; and preparing letters in support of victims of human rights abuses.