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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1977-03-31, Page 4• PAGE 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1977 What we think Y Clinton needs grandstand There is little doubt of the Toss of our grandstand, and the social and economic effect that the Toss will have on our or anybody's community. If the Clinton Raceway closes, an admirable facility that was initiated and run by the local Kinsmen and Kinette clubs, will be a great Toss to Clinton. The Fair Board, and the Kinsmen have worked many long, hard hours, mostly for no pay for the raceway, and the community has benefited greatly. Putting aside the community spirit aspect that such a set-up encourages, let's look at the economic impact that the loss of the raceway would have. Over the past seven years, since racing began, the raceway has brought hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages, goods, and services into the area. If has lured thousands'of people into Clinton, and put us on the map. Economists say that every dollar spent in a community changes hands four times, making the raceway a major industry in Clinton, anindustry deficient town. And what many don't realize is, that this money, is not always spent at the raceway goes to other businesses. In fact, nearly every business benefits by money generated by the Raceway. Another big plus factor on our side is the Kinsmen and Kinettes themselves. Being non-profit organizations, they plow their profits back into the town, and over the last seven years, that amount has been considerable. The Kinsmen have put $73,000 alone into the park, plus another $35,000 into other projects like the Clinton Con- servation area, minor sports, Clubs, and dozens of other projects. The Kinettes too, besides what they have spent in goods and services to run their booth, have put their $30,000 in profits back into the community in such widely diverse projects as a new chair lift for Huronview, new playground equipnient for the park, and donations to the figure skating club, and the arena. So it becomes very obvious that we in Clinton need to keep our community active and progressive, and building a new grandstand is one obvious way. ' It looks like it can be done without even dipping into the taxpayer's pocket, and who can be against that. Let's see the people of Clinton and area rally around their leaders, much like we did during the hospital closing crisis, and show Toronto again,.that we are not beaten easily. Let's get a new grandstand up, and let's get it done fast! Easter, spring both mean rebirth Spring is a good time for Easter, with its resurgence of life - life bursting from every patch of soil, every branch. Spring is a good symbol of Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and remember that the tomb could not hold Him; that He came alive for evermore. An im- portant fact of faith, says the United Church. Proof? It is not a matter of documents, of witnesses. Like most important things in life, the answers are not something you know, but something you live. Not something you discover, but what you have a part in creating: The proof of the resurrection is in people living the resurrection, living their lives conscious of the living God. People living for others, daily relying on the strength, the insight, the presence of the living God. They are Easter People. Some Easter People are well known, like Mother Teresa in Calcutta, giving her life to the poor. Most are not famous. You can recognize them though! They are fresh, springlike, alive people, people with a touch of the eternal in them now. They've a great perspective on life, seeing beyond themselves, beyond today. Easter People are a breath of spring after a long winter, a Tight in a dark •room. Easter is about being alive and living. Sugar and Spice/By Bill Sm ey An end to fear It seems that everybody is trying to throw a scare into me these days. And I must admit it isn't"too difficult. We're going to run out of oil one of these days, trumpet the headlines. Not to men- tion gas, coal and practically everything else -that provides heat. I have visions of self, ten years from now, sitting in front of the fireplace, feeding the last bit of the grand piano into it, turning to the -old lady and asking, "What now, baby? Go fetch the cyanide pills." Various ministers of health tell me menacingly that if I keep on smoking, I'm going to die a horrible death; if I don't give up the drink, I'll lose so many brain cells a day that there'll be'nothing but a pack of putty behind my eyebrows. Economists claim that if I don't save some money for my old age, I'll wind up eating tinned dog food. Other economists inform that if I do save some money for my old age, inflation will erode it to the point where I won't even be able to afford dog food. From one of the revenue department's lackeys comes a stern warning that if I don't produce within 15 days some abstruse document which I already sent them two years ago, something mysterious and dreadful will happen. They will "make an adjustment". I wonder which part of me they will adjust, and how painful it will be. My nose could use some straightening. If Quebec separates, according to the pundits all kinds of ghastly things will happen' My Bell bill will rise, along with my blood pressure; my arthritis will soar to .new heights; I'll have 'trouble raising a few billion next time I try to float a bond issue in the States; my wife will probably leave me, because I spent the first two years of my life in Quebec; I;11 have to deal in funny money, with Saint Rene's picture on it; my roof will catch fire because of nationalized asbestos; and there won't be any French on the back of my cereal box. A fate worse than death. Unemployment is rising, and I am assured that nobody is going to hire an old, lazy, highly -trained guy like me when there are all those young, lazy, highly -trained people around. They tell me that when the anti-inflation controls come off, there's going to be such an almighty, all -Canadian grab for the buck that even God is going to 'make up, grumbling, and wondering what's going on down there. And I'll be left in the lurch, because tea( hers, on the whole, will let themselves be dumped on r.athgr•than fight in the streets and be thrown in the paddy wagon. Even worse things are threatened. George Chuvalo, Cahadian heavy -weight; tr champ,. having disposed at one sitting of a fat turkey called Pretty Boy Feldstein, Might decide to start a comeback and demand a rematch with Muhammad Ali (at the age of 40.) And speaking of turkeys, I have another fear. Toronto, with one of the worst football teams in Canada, and an equally inept hockey team, has now acquired a major league baseball team. It will inevitably be "promising," "threatening," and "scrappy" for the first 10 years. After that, when it soars from last place in the league to second last, it will instantly become the "pennant -bound Toronto Bluejays." So much for sports fears. Advertisements constantly frighten me. They tell me I have dry skin, hemorrhoits, falling hair, crumbling teeth, bad breath, and high armpits. They suggest I am stupid if I don't rush right out, buy a lottery ticket, and become an instant millionaire. And just the other day I read in the paper that the South African doctor who started the heart transplant game is prepared to use baboon hearts, if there are no human ones available. No thanks, doc. You can give me the heart of a pig or a chicken. Either would suit my personaltiy. But have you ever seen a baboon from the rear? Who wants a great, flaming'orange bum? Newspapers tell me that the Canadian farmer is going down the drain. I go out for a quart of milk and it's gone up a'nickel since yesterday. Some drain. Everybody is talking about forthcoming elections. This scares me too. I can't stand the politicians we have now. Why replace them with losers? Well, today I decided that I've had enough. I'm sick of beingtrightened half to death. • If the human race, at least in the Nor- thern Hemisphere, is going to perish for lack of heating, I'll move south. I'm going to go on smoking, and will donate my lungs to a chef who will write a cookbook specializing in smoked lungs on toast, with truffles. Maybe I'll get senile from drink, but it's a lot more fun than just getting senile. If I'm going to die, why worry about my old age? I'll take a steak now and let the dog food look after itself. Let the feds throw me in jail over my income tax. I'd enjoy eating at somebody else'sexpense for a change. And you get weekend leave, anyway. If Quebec separates, I'll rip out the phone, which I'd love to do, and stop floating those billion -dollar loans, which I seldom do anyway. If I can't get a job; I'll go on unem- ployment insurance, and laugh all the way to tate poolroom, with the rest of the,boys. NEWS ITEM: Airborne base 100 miles from airport JIeel! Odds 'n' ends - by Elaine Townshend The instructor lined up the 15 dogs with their 15 nervous owners clutching at their leashes, and I took a seat at the back of the room with the other visitors to watch a lesson in obedience. With a pleasantIrish accent, the teacher issued his preliminary remarks to the handlers: "Everybody will be having the same problems, so don't worry about the other fellow; just concentrate on your own dog. Don't get nervous; don't get mad ;• and whatever you do, don't knock your dog around. Talk to your dog at all times. I don't care what you say to him, but keep talking. And if he tells you he wants to do something, take him out to the parking lot right away." Then the lesson began with 15 people circling the room • on rubber mats and repeating, "Heel! Heel! Heel!" Some of the dogs followed non- chalantly, while others glanced from side to side in bewilderment. A few troublemakers tried to disrupt the class by nipping at the heels of the dogs ahead of them and by twisting around to see who was behind them. An Afghan named Mingo was gliding gracefully through her paces when her mistress suddenly stopped, causing her to break her stride ungracefully. She glared up at her as though asking, "What do you think you're doing?" The instructor came to Mingo's rescue by reminding the human to take two strides after giving the command to halt. After a couple of dozen trips around the room and a few halts and about turns, the dogs were ordered to stand. Then the humans rearranged canine bodies, lifting heads, straightening legs and shifting rears to the left or the right. A cocker spaniel named Lady licked her master's face in appreciation each time he smoothed her ears. Meanwhile, the instructor's German Shepherd smugly demonstrated the perfect pose in the centre of the pack. The lesson wasinterrupted by the entrance of _a perky poodle wearing a, bow in her hair.. The whole canine Class gave her a vociferous welcome, especially Rocky, a collie who until then had seemed indifferent to the proceedings. During a ten-minute break, the owners straggled out to a pop machine in the hall or flopped on the nearest chairs they could find. The students, meanwhile, became better acquainted. In the second half of the evening, the handlers and their dogs lined up against a wall. Each dog was, ordered to stay, while their masters walked to the end of the leash and dropped it on the floor. The trick was to maintain their positions for one minute. Only two dogs persevered : Rocky, who seemed to be showing off for the poodle, and Rex, a Doberman Pinscher, who took a nap. Sixty minutes after the obedience lesson began, the class was dismissed. The poodle pranced out the door followed closely by Rocky; the cocker spaniel brushed playfully against her master's legs; after his nap, the Doberman Pinscher was raring to go aid be practically dragged -his master out to the car. The dogs looked as energetic as when they arrived, but most of the masters and mistresses .seemed too tired to bother telling their pets to heel. From our early files . • • • 10 YEARS AGO March 30, 1967 The cornerstone laying ceremony at Clinton's new community centre has 'again been postponed to Saturday, April 15 at 2 p.m. By that time it is hoped the area around the front of the new arena will be suf- ficiently dried-up for the public to attend -the event. On that date, Clinton and district persons are invited to participate and inspect the big Centennial project which up to this time is being constructed on schedule. The cornerstone has been donated by Jack Pryde of T. Pryde and Sons, owners of Clinton Memorial Shop, Albert Street. Last weekend, Clinton's square dance club, the Crosstrailers, hosted a monthly meeting of the South Western Ontario Square Dance Association (SWOSDA))at CFB Clinton. Over 170 square dancers from 12 Ontario communities attended the activities which got underway at 2:30 Saturday afternoon. Clinton Women's Institute met on March 23 in the Agricultural Board Room. Mrs. Popp took as her topic "The early history of Bayfield". The Institute will make a donation of $100 to the Clinton Recreation Centre now being built. Mrs. Popp conducted the election of officers and installed them in office. The executive of 1967-68 are: past president, Mrs. C. Nelson; president, Mrs. W. Colclough; first vice-president, Mrs. L. Holland; second vice- president, Mrs. C. Lockhart; secretary, Mrs. A. Groves; treasurer, Mrs. M. Batkin; District director, Mrs. C. Nelson; alternate district director, Mrs. N. Tyndall. 25 YEARS AGO March 27, 1952 Members of the Clinton Public Utilities Commission extended the olive branch to members of the Town Council when they entertained them in- the Com- mission Office Tuesday evening at a showing of pictures featuring water pipe by a representative of the firm manufacturing this product. During the course of the -evening, the Commission held its March meeting, which was strictly routine, and Council had an informal discussion on a number of matters. Refresh- ments ended the evening's fraternizing of the two municipal bodies. Provincial police at Goderich investigated an accident on High- way 8 at Taylor's Corners, Friday afternoon, when a car driven by Adam McCartney; Clinton ran off the road,and rolled over twice. Both Mr. and Mrs. McCartney were removed to Clinton Public Hospital suffering undetermined injuries. Estimated damage to the car was $500. Local police investigated a motor accident which took place about 10:15 a.m. yesterday. A Clinton Dairy truck driven by R.L. Cudmore, was parked on the east side of Victoria •St., facing north, north of McAlpine and Daw's garage, when a south - hound car driven by Howard Shobbrook, Blyth, collided with it when it skidded while attempting to pass a southbound truck. Considerable damage was done. 50 YEARS AGO March 31, 1927 One improvement in town property that is badly needed is a cement walk from the front street to the Public Library along the north side of .the town hall. This lane is all right to drive on but when wet it is not very good walking, and is usually the last place to dry up in the spring. But the patrons of the library ought to have a little walk up this short cut, which is used by a great many people. They do try to walk on the five - inch curb but few.are sure-footed enough to be able to•keep that all the way without slipping off a few times. A narrow cement walk might he made beside the curb without much cost. If fine weather prevails, as we all hope it will, we shall 'suffer greatly from .dust on the streets before tarvia is applied in June. What abotl' getting the old, sprinkling cart out? Clinton's Spring Show will he held Thursday next, April 7th and, promises to he a success. Not for some years has there been such a prospect of good roads and farmers are not going to be too busy to attend. Exhibitors will he able to bring their stock in and with the attractive prize list offered it is expected that the exhibit will he lame. Our streets are bare and -dry, while last year we had to post- pone the fair for two weeks on account of snow-covered roads. Unless a snowstorm comes between now and Thursday next we, shall he in excellent shape for a bumper crowd. All roads will lead to Clinton on Thursday next. Follow the crowd, stay all day and take in the concert in the evening. 75 YEARS AGO March 28, 1902 Good attention has been given by caretaker 0. Crich to the cemetery. The walksand plots are well looked after, which the friends of departed ones will appreciate. Since the- 1st of September there have been 26 burials - September 3, October 1, November 8, December 2, January 4, February 4, March 4. Mayor Jackson has called a public meeting to be held in the town hall on Wednesday evening, April 2nd, to discuss matters in connection with celebrating in Clinton the day of the King's coronation - June 26. All those interested are requested to at- tend. Let there be a large turnout, for this is a worthy scheme. W.T. O'Neil has bought the excellent residence and lot on Ontario street from Mrs. J. McMurray, the price paid being $1,125; possession is given on April 7th and Mrs. O'Neil will remove to it about that time. . Mrs. Moffatt has sold her house on the London road to Mrs. E. Blacker for the sum of. $30. . Mrs. T. East has sold her house and lot on Dinsley Terrace to R. Downs, sen., for the sum of $700. Owing to the high prices which have to be paid for beefs the butchers of town- A. Couch, Ford & McNeil and Fitzsimons & Son - have raised the price of meats and terms are cash• They want to do a strictly cash business hereafter and not have any outstanding accounts. 100 YEARS AGO March 29, 1877 One day ,,last week, Mr. Lawson, of lot 12, 2d con. Hullett, caught in a trap a large horned owl that had been making nightly drafts upon his henroost. He daily witnessed the decrease of his fowl but could not tell what became of them. But one morning he discovered his best turkey gobbler headless, then he sur- mised where his fowl went, and he acted accordingly with the above result. Henry E. Rose, charged with stealing a pair of pants, a pair of hoots, a pair of mitts and a gold dollar from Mrs. Agnes McIntosh, Goderich: was arrested here on Wednesday of last week, by Constable Yule, of Goderich. The prisoner pleaded guilty and was sent up for trial. On Thursday, while4all the butchers were seeing some cattle weighed, someone helped himself to a $4 hill from the till of Mr. Tewslev. We learn that Mr. R. Craven, last week committed to Goderich jail, for debt, has' since been bailed out by three of his friends. On Saturday last a farmer, accompanied by his wife and family, comprising twenty-one persons, took the L.H. & 13. train for London, where he re -shipped for some part of the Western States. The "company" was large enough to form a colony of their own. What you think 4 Droppings Dear Sir: Pigeons aren't needed for • Heritage just to make a mess. Mr. Young thinks (last week's paper), we all need pigeons. I agree, it does keep somebody employed an extra hours or so each day, keepin igh the sidewalks clean at th Town Hall; cleaning upstairs 11. in the Hall; replacing win- dows these bombers take out once in awhile. No, they aren't craze enough to enter and exit in the same hole, they make one hole going in and another coming out. It makes more work for the maintenance man and helps to spend 411 those tax dollars lying around doing nothing. I cleaned up the pigeon mess for awhile and pity the man doing it now, who has to clean up at 7 or 8 am and then again at 12 noon. Luv them Stinkin Pigeons, John H. Rueger, Clinton. Poets awake 0 N Dear Editor:- • We, Susan Deskin and Arthur Levitin, intend to produce a monthly magazine devoted to Canadian Amateur Poets. We also intend to distribute this magazine across Canada in bookstores and high traffic" magazine stores. We know it will .be. some time before every book and magazine • store will carry our publication, but 'we will continue to strive towards that goal. As we are not a large company and we do not ex- pect the magazine to be financially successful for some time, we cannot afford'* to purchase poems. We are therefore asking all and any poets to submit their poems to us for publication in our magazine free of charge. We hope that remuneration will be in the form of satisfaction of seeing their poems in print in a national magazine. As an added bonus we intend to offer a poet from each issue a feature section in one of the following'issues. These poets p will be chosen each time by random draw. The reason we are doing this: we believe there is a need for a publication of this type; we like to do new and different things that present a challenge; it is our con- tribution to the "Arts"; we believe that in the future this will be a financially sucil cessful publication. Please help us to help the many Amateur Poets in Canada. The Poets Corner Box 4269 Ottawa, Ontario News -Record readers are encouraged to express their opinions in letters to the editor, however, such opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of the News - Record. .. Pseudonyms may be used by letter writers, but no letter will be published unless it can be verified by phone. Smile Helpful sales clerk: "If you see something that isn't there, we probably have more in the back.". +++ Banquet: a meal featuring chicken a la king surrounded by a worthy cause. A M The Clinton News -Record Is published each Thursday at P.O. Box 39, Clinton, Ontario, Canada, NOM ILO. Member, Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association It is registered as second class mail by the post office under the permit number 0917. The News -Record incorporated in 1924 the Huron News -Record, founded in 1881, and the Clinton New Era, founded in 1805. Total press run 3,100. Clinton NewsRecoid , Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rate Card No. 7 effective Oct. 1. 1976. General Manager -.1. Howard' Aitken Editor - James E. Fitzgerald Advertising Director - Gary 1.. Hoist Assistant editor - Chris Zdeb Office Manager - Margaret Gibb Circulation - Freda McLeod . .ccounting - Marian Willson Subscription Rates: Canada - 912 per year U.S.A. • 115.50 Other • =1g Single Copy - 25c