Clinton News-Record, 1977-01-13, Page 10A ,
PAGE 10-,uioiNTJN`gW4R�ORDx�SPAY, JA WARY 13, 1977
A friend in need is a friend indeed, surely applies to Ed '
Layton of Rattenbury Street, who journeyed over to a
neighbours home on Ontario Street to clean the walk
after the recent storm, (News -Record photo)
M
1I
O
�iy Chris Zdeb
' Everybody has them at one time or
another. That day or two where
everything goes wrong, and leaves the
people around you wondering if you're
really all there-.
- That one day or two, in this case two,
fell last weekend.
It all began Saturday night.
Iliad my doubts about parking.the car
( "Ole Blue' to my two faithful readers)
in an unplowed lot but the en-
couragement of a friend won out: So if ,
the friend turned out to be wrong, aiittle
more pressure on the gas pedal and a
silent prayer or two would get the car out
fast enough, Unfortunately, the. friend
was wrong, and neither of the above
solutions worked. When all else fails,
there is always: old fashioned -sweat and
muscle powerto tall back on.
With the engine running,the car in
gear, and the help o'f "a true blue friend,
(what other color could a friend be in
that cold weather) , we strategically
placed ourselves at the back of the car
and gave with the old heave-ho. If both of
us were out back pushing, who was
steering from the driver's seat? Nobody.
Almost 10 minutes of heaving and
hoing failed to produce a change in the
situation.
With the arrival of two volunteers, I
moved back into the driver's seat to
manoeuvre the crippled machine out of
the snow. A look• at the console revealed
the car had been sitting in reverse.
Conclusion: two people heaving and
hoing can not compete with the heave-ho
of a small V8 engine and.a foot of snow.
Stop the presses !
The help of two extra pairs of muscles
had the car out and mobile again Within
minutes. From one predicament we
moved -to the next.
We were almost out of the parking lot
when 'we came upon another victim
struggling to get his car in motion. We
jumped out of the car and ran to give a
hand. Whether it was amnesia or
forgetfulness, I'm not sure, but a quick
glance back to 'Ole Blue' saw the baby
blue rolling out of the parking lot with no
one in the driver's.,seat.
It's the first time I ever had to run
'after a runaway car. As it was later
pointed out to me, unlike a horse a
simple command, will not stop a running
car from running. You have to- put it -in
park. •
Sunday morning passed without in-
cident. Of course, I never left the
apartment-, - it was :a controlled en-
"vironment.'A visit to the local bowling
lanes was not.
So what if I hadn't bowled in almost
" two years. Like breathing, ice skating or
riding a bicycle, bowling had to be one of
the things that once learned, could not be
forgotten... Two years o' non -
participation in the indoor sport
however, could leave you a little rusty.
Alright, it could leave you very, very
rusty.
The first 20 balls or so rolled, failed to
even come close up to the pins at the far
end. Anyone for gutter ball?
The next 10 balls were rolled with
more experience and I found myself with
a final score of 84 on my hands. Right
about then, Joe Atkinson came along to
boost my spirits with the news that some
fellow from St. Marys had -bowled the
perfect game the -day before. 450 points!
Thanks Joe.
I'm not sure if it was the news or my
concentration on the game that caused
what was to happen next,,bijt let me tell
you that I've never becomes -so involved
in rolling a bowling ball as I did in that
next roll. It was almost as if I was part of
the ball. A follow through after rolling
the ball had me fall on the laneway. Not
' down on one 'knee, but flat out on my
back in spread-eagle fashion.
I don't know-hovy anybody.in the neigh-
bouring lanes could have missed the
show, but fortunately, they -, did.
Somebody, however, must have passed
down the word to keep an eye on lane 8
because very few bowlers' missed the
second part of the show. -
I thought it was isomething that .only
happened in slapstick movies, but it
seems all you need for this trick is a
sweaty hand.
Getting the arm wound up for the big
roll, I felt the ball slip from my hand. It
didn't fall at my feet, no, it went sailing
backward, barely missing my friend, to
land on the tiled floor. A couple of
clackety clack rolls, just to• make sure
everybody in the place realized what had
happened, and the ball carne to a rest
-just beyond thescoring tables.
My'final score of 161 points, double my
first game attempt failed to give me the
necessary encouragement I needed to
pursue the career of a professional
bowler.
Tennis anyone?
•
•
Legion has long history
By A. N. (Sandy)
McDonald
It is somehow appropriate
that a story about Clinton
Legion Branch 140 be written
for a January 1977 edition of
'the News Record. Why?
Because it was January 10,
1929 , when Branch .14.0
received its charter from the
Royal Canadian Legion.
True, it's nbt a 50th an-
niversary but, the
Association, Dominion -wide,
has just completed a "Golden
Anniversary", marked _ by
presentations of 50 -year
membership awards to its
members who,
automatically, had to have
been veterans of the Fi st
World War, to qualify. ,
Several of these 50-y ar
medals went to Clin on
Legionnaires. Among ern
were: J. K. Corn sh,
Brucefield; T. G. Scrib ins,
Dr. F. G. Thompson and Joe
• Silcox, of Clinton; Tom
Herman of Huronview;
Ephraim Snell, . formerly of
the area, now in Atwood; and
the late Fred Bell of Goderich
Township.
Most if not all these World
War One soldiers were
members of the Great War
Veterans Association,
forerunner of the .present
• veterans organization.- The
Royal Canadian Legion,
• established in 1926,, following
a unity conference at Win-
nipeg, Manitoba, in
November?, 1925, merged the
members of the British
Empire Service League and
those of the G. W. V. A into
one unit, the Royal Canadian
Legion...since World War
two, it has become • one of
Canada's foremost service
clubs.
Clintm and its branch of
the Greea -War Veterans too,
Its members included many
high ranking army officers,
three of whom were in the
• 161st Huron Battalion.
Named as charter mem-
tiers of Legion Branch 140,
when it was authorized in
January, 1929, were H.,' B.
Combe, (Colnel), charter
president: Dr. J. W. Shaw%
(Major), 1931 to '32
President; and M. .D,`
(Malcolm Douglas)
McTaggart, (Captain)
Two •others amongst the
nine Great War . Veterans
named as charter members
of Branch 140, G. M. (Morley)
Counter and F. '(Fred) O.
Ford, were N. C.Q.'s' in the
161st.
Clinton Postinaster fr+Qrn
1934 to 1956, the late Morley
Smile
•
Testimonial dinner: a plate
where it isn't proper to yawrf4
but perfectly proper to make
people Netlike yawning.
-
You're only young once. After
that, you have. -to think up an
excuse. '
Counter had rank of Quarter -
Master Sergeant; Fred Ford
was a Corporal.
The .list of Clinton Legion
executives compiled by G.
(George) W. A. Campbell,
president of Branch -140 from
1972 to 1974 for the 1975
Clinton Centennial history,
includes the name of another
161st Huron, who was
"Chief" of Branch` 140 from
1934 to''35,
When interviewed at his
office in Clinton recently Dr.
Thompson recalled can-
vassing-
an-•vassing- the southern com-
munities of Huron County to
raise money for a billiard
table. Enough. was collected
to buy and install onelin their
clubroom, which • was,
originally, in a room over the
"Century . Restaurant" on
Huron St.
Until the present Legion
Hall was built, the First War
Veterans had to make several
moves in town to find ac-
commodation. One of their.
earlier meeting' places was in
rooms over the. "Old Bank of
Montreal" ; another one was
the building now occupied by
Chapman's Barbershop. •
"Wonder what ever
became of that billiard
table?" mused Dr. Thomp-
son.
In. the category of World
War One veterans who were
former presidents of Legion
Branch 140, is T. G. (Gordon)
Scribbins of Isaac St., who
was chairman for a three-
year term, from 1944 to '47.
Since then, presidents, of the
Clinton Legion have all been
World War Two veterans.
During a brief telephone
interview recently, Mr.
Scribbins , stated he had
enlisted with the "Imperials"
while still in England. During
his World War One army
career he had served with a
British Army Medical Corps
in France.
After coming to Canada in
1921, he had gone into
beekeeping for a number of
years, before being employed
in the... -..Canadian Postal
Department at the Slinton•---
Post Office.
.His -term as president of
Clinton Legion was, ad-
mittedly, one of the busiest on
record. It was a time when
the priorities of -Clinton •
Branch, as with other
Canadian .Legions, were
being changed from wartime
to.peacetime purposes. .•
The 1941—to '43 Branch 140
Legion executive, Mr. John
Kenneth Cor ish,1s the third,
living. `:Great War Veteran"
to have been a Clinton Legion
President. One of the first to
enlist with the 16I st Hurons,
(December 11, 1915) John
Cornish was .largely
responsible for getting
-recognition of a •fal•len
comrade of the 161st Huron
Battalion, - Cpl. -Harry G.
Miner. --
A native ,of "Ridgetown, .he -
had originally' enlisted with a
n ar
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London, (Ontario) regiment.
Later, after learning that a
brother, J.ohjn Miner, had
enlisted with "The Hurons";
Cpl. Harry Miner transferred
to the 161st,
Eventually, Cpl. Miner was
'drafted ----back to a London,
Ontario- Battalion, 'the 142nd
;he was serving with this
regiment in France when he
"flushed" an enemy machine
gun nest, losing his life in the
process. -
At the time his death in
action occurred, and even
until many years later, Cpl.
Miner's name was 'not
recognized as having b e in
the nominal roll of the 1, ,
The winner of the "Vi oria
Cross and the Croix- De
Guerre", , was finally
recognized by Clinton Legion
after Cpl. Miner's surviving
brother, John brought the
medals to the Clinton Legion
for safekeeping.
The name- of Cpl. Harry G.
Miner is now engraved on the
War Memorial, followed by
his decorations, on the
Cenotaph at Library Park,
Clinton.
Little is presently . known.
about the 1936 to '37 Clinton
Legion President, George
Murdock. His name does not
appear in the list of ."Those
who played their part from
Clinton in World War One,
(page 143 of the Clinton
Centennail Booklet) nor does
it appear in eith N. W.
Miller's 1935 nominal roll of
the 161st Hurons or on the 1916
overseas strength of the
Battalion. -
He too, as did World War
One soldier, Alex E. Haddy,
(1940 to '41' president) must
have joined a First World
Warregiment elsewhere.
It was stated by Ex -Clinton
legion president William
Counter, (1955) that Alex
Haddy had come to Clinton
from Toronto. •
Mr. Haddy will be
remembered by many as a
long-time, well known sales
representative for a London,
(Ontario) biscuit
manufacturer.
One of , Branch 140's out-
standing World War Two
veteran presidents was J. D.
(Douglas) Thorndike.
Unfortunately- he, George
Wilson; (1947 president) and
1964 Clinton -Legion president,
_K. (Kenneth) W. Colquhoun,
are in the category of
"departed comrades".
• Part of the late Mr.
Thorndike's contribution to
Legion welfare was his work
on behalf- of the "Huron
Memorial Association".
As its executive secretary,
he played an important roles --
in the establishing of a War
Veter'ars memorial booklet in
the military chapel of Huron
County Cpurt 1`1ouse.
There, glass -encased, is a
registry of all of Huron
County servipemen, killed in
action, not only of both World,
W rs, but of the. South
African Boer -British War of
18,99 to 1902. -
'With "an eye to the future,
Clinton Legion memberswill
now look forward t� the next
itnilestone in-its+history, the
25th annivers\ar.y ' of its
November 11,E 1952 cor-
nerstone -laying ceremony of
Its '"volunteer,built" hall on -
kirk Street. -
It was 191st Huron, Dr. J. S.
' ha►, then 92, who had that
honor.
•
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