HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1978-05-04, Page 4PAGE 4 --- CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1978
What we think
A new idea worth look
The kids are lying around the house
driving mom and dad nuts. The
teachers are spending extended
Christmas vacations in Florida or
taking on part time jobs. The schools
are shut tight while the snow swirls
around them.
What is this, another teachers'
strike?
No, it's Grey and Bruce counties, in
January if an idea being considered by
the Bruce -Grey Separate School Board
is developed.
That forward looking and sensible
body obviously knows that the key to
survival is adaptability. So it's
studying the possibility of closing all its
schools in January, when most of the
days are missed because of winter
weather and students and teacher
absenteeism due to illness is at its
highest.
The board would open its schools one
week earlier, at the end of August and
adjust the mid -winter break to
maintain a school year with 185 in-
structional days.
The January closing would save on
heating costs and eliminate the
disruptions to school life that come one
after another every January, the
Bruce -Grey board feels.
Ministry of Education officials at the
London regional office are reported to
be enthusiastic about the plan and well
they might be.
It's a terrific idea. It's the sort of
fresh, intelligent idea that's enough to
resotre the faith of the general public
in the education bureaucracy.
Huron's board and the Huron -Perth
Separate School Board should look at
closing in January too.
- from the Huron Expositor
Red Cross
What have 1.8 million Canadian Red
Cross volunteers brought to com-
memorate the 150th birthday party of
Red Cross founder Henry,. Dunant?
They have brought a million units of
blood every year as a symbol of the gift
of life.
They have brought wheelchairs and
crutches to support the work of the Red
Cross sickroom and Loan Equipment
service. They have made quilts
through , the Red Cross A.I.D.
(Assistance International and
Domestic) service to be sold to raise
money for international aid.
First aiders, and water safety ex-
perts have worked to gain certificates
of proficiency in saving lives -
memorabitia of effort, training and
ultimately achievement. Red Cross
homemakers have given skills • and
living care to help keep body, mind,
spirit and home together when illness
struck. -
Henry Dunant died almost 68 years,
ago, but his birthday party is
celebrated every year by two hundred
million volunteers around the world.
The date is May 8. The place is every
Red Cross branch in Canada. Come
,and bring yourself. Join in.
Sugar and Spicc/By Bill Smiler
Time out
Once upon a time I spent the best part of
a year in a prison camp. The days went by
very slowly.
Later, I spent a year in bed in a
sanatorium, and the days dragged even
more slowly. A week seemed like a month.
Recently, I spent only two weeks in
another situation, and the time snailed so
slowly that it seemed longer than prison
camp and san put together. We had our
grandboys for two weeks.
Migawd, the days seemed endless. I'm
sure you'll say: "Nonsense. Dear little
chaps. I'll bet they were a lot of fun. How
can he say that?"
Sure they were a lot of fun. Or let's switch
that to they had a lot of fun. But who wants
fun for 16 to 18 hours a day? Not a middle-
aged couple, one with a bad back, the other
with jangled nerves to the point of
screaming when the toast pops up in the
toaster.
We weren't like that when they arrived,
but we were close to stretcher cases by the
time they left. And I'm not exaggerating
one whit.
It all started when my wife got sen-
timental and decided to help our daughter,
who is in the final throes of studying to
become a teacher, and was getting behind
in her work. -
"Bill, we're going to take the kids for two
weeks and give Kim a break. It won't hurt
us and it might even be fun. We may never
have the chance to have them like this, all
to ourselves, again."
Well, I've got news for her. We not only
might not. We vyil1 not. Not unless it's over
my dead corpds. That's a lot of nots, but
I'm in a rather negative mood. It doesn't
help that I get a pain like a knife in the back
when I reach for a fag or a beer. Yep,
they've sprung my discs again.
Just for example, as I write, the TV
repairman is working behind me. My wife
got a terrible scare today. The littlest tad,
who is as destructive as a bull elephant at a
quilting bee, got in behind the TV when her
back was turned fora second. 'There 'Was a
hiss and a terrible stench of something
burning.
She snatched him away, tore the plug out
of the wall, and, much to their disgust,
pushed the two of them out of the room.
They weren't a bit scared, as older kids
might be, but kept trying to push by her to
see the fun.
Right now, Tom the TV man looked up,
grinning, and holding a half -scorched piece
of Canadian cheddar. The little b...oy had
tossed his afternoon snack, which he had
purloined Lord knows where, into the in-
nards of the machine.
Ever dropped some cheese on to a burner
on the stove? It stinks. No wonder the old
lady panicked.
That's just a sample. Here are some
miscellaneous items. One floor lamp with
dangling crystals, replacement value about
$160, flattened with a great clanging of
chandelier -like glass. Frame bent, shade
broken. We sat with a bare light burning, as
though we lived in a cheap hotel room.
One Indian rug, recently cleaned at
considerable outlay, looking as though a
tribe of baboons had been playing football
with their own excrement. One chesterfield
suite, smeared with jam, honey, tooth-
paste, and various other indescribable but
sticky substances.
One hardwood floor, recently refinished,
looking as though the Canadiens hockey
team had been practising on it. I could go
on and on, but it makes me mad, and it
makes my wife cry.
And that's not to mention all the little
stuff, broken, bent out of shape, rendered
hors de combat by jumping on it or hitting
someone over the head with it.
The day begins about 6:30, with the sound
of one small boy babbling happily to
himself. A few minutes later, there is a
thump as he hits the flopr, the padding of
bare feet, and you look up to find the tiny
turkey by your bedside grinning hugely,
probably with your shaving cream in one
hand, top off, something dangerous, like a
leg off a stool, in the other, and his diapers
hanging down to his knees, ready for some
action.
From there on it's sheer horror, as the
biting and the fighting and the dancing and
the shouting commence. Try to iron, ne of
them is attempting to pull the iron his
head. Try to vacuum, and they pull it apart
in the middle and use it as a voice tube. Try
to sew and the smaller one is stuffing his
mouth with pins. Try to read a paper and a
body comes hurtling across the- room and
leaps on to your groin, scattering the
newspaper.
Even worse than the racket are the
silences. If there isn't any sound, you leap
to your feet and run to where the silence is.
They are inevitably pulling the knobs ,off
the TV, tearing up a manuscript,or stuffing
their mouths with pennies they found in
some forgotten drawer.
Small boys should be treated like
monkeys. They should be kept in cages
containing lots of things to climb on, •
sawdust on the• floor, and lots of peanuts
lying around for the picking.
It's not really what the boys are doing to
us or the house. It's what they're doing to
our marriage. We're so exhausted and
rattled that we're recriminating.
"I was up with that child at 6:15."
"Yeah, but who changed his diapers?"
"Who got them their breakfast?"
"Sure, but who took them out for a walk
and broke up three fights?" And we start to
shout. And the kids wink at each other and
The Clinton News -Record is published each
Thursday at P.O. goo 30, Clinton, Ontario, •
Canada. NOM 1LS.
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XIFiWIVE
• MOSE WOO, MY
TTA,HLW Wltl rite
00 '1 CANT
SPELL!
"What a tough day I had at school today — the batteries in my calculator went dead
and I had to think all afternoon!"
Odds 'n' ends - by Elaine Townshend
Stubborn or determined
Stubborn as a pig on ice" is a phrase
I've heard a few times. My mother has
even used it to describe me, although I
can't imagine why.
What does it mean? Well, I conjure up
a picture of a not -too -bright pig floun-
dering on a sheet of ice. He seems to
think he'll get to the other side, even
though every step he takes forward
makes him slip three steps backward.
A farmer comes along to help, but the
pig just squeals louder, struggles harder
and heads in the opposite direction to
which the farmer wants him to go. My
little drama ends with the pig and the
farmer exhausted and sprawled on the
same spot where they began.
The dictionary's definition of stubborn
seems to uphold my fantasy: stubborn
means inflexible in opinion or intention,
unreasonably obstinate, intractable and
not easily handled, bent or overcome.
Only in the final definition does the *ord
gain any favour: stubbornness is
characterized by perseverance and
persistence.
The last two qualities are ones we
usually associate with determination,
for we tend to attach a negative con-
notation to the word "stubborn" while
giving "determination" a positive sense.
The dictionary says determination is the
quality of being earnest and decided; it
is firmness. A determined person is
resolute and unflinching.
I notice obstinate is a synonym used
for both words. Is there really much
difference between stubbornness and
determination?
When we think of determined people,
we remember Helen Keller, who
overcame deafness and blindness to
communicate with the world, and we
remember her determined young
teacher. We also think of 'the pioneers
who were determined to make new lives
for themselves in a rugged wilderness.
We think, too, of the people who lost their
businesses, homes and almost
everything they owned in the
Depression, but instead of giving up,
they started all over again.
These people set goals for themselves
that must have, at times, seemed out of
reach. But they persevered, and they
succeeded because they were deter-
mined. Isn't it possible that they were a
little stubborn, too?
I remember a story our minister told a
few weeks ago. Of course, I listen to
more than his jokes, but this one seems
appropriate for a discussion of stub-
bornness and determination. He was
talking about the fact that some people
let nothing stand in their way.
A family was forced to evacuate their
home because of a flood. They got into
their canoe and rowed around and
around the house. After awhile, the
father decided to go back in, just to
make sure everything was alright. He
was gone for a long time, and the family
began to worry. Then they noticed his
hat on the surface of the water; it was
going back and forth; in a straight line.
"It's strange for Dad's hat to be going
back and forth like that," one of the
children said. "I wonder what he's
doing."
The mother thought for a minute and
then said, "Well, he did say this morning
he was going to cut the grass today come
hell or high water."
I still haven't decided whether that
man was stubborn or determined, but I
guess he got his grass cut, anyway.
Perhaps the basic difference between
a stubborn person and a determined
person is the,stubborn one plunges ahead
with tunnel vision, seeing only his goal in Dear Editor,
front of him. When he is suddenly con- I wish to object to the use of
fronted by a brick wall, he bangs his the headline "Teacher's
head against it hoping to break it down. Salaries 74 percent of
downs budget" in the April 27th
When the determined person en- issue of the "News -Record".
counters the brick wall, he studies the According to the article,
situation for awhile; then he looks for a which followed 74 percent of
ladder, and if he can't find a ladder, he the budget is designated for
builds one. all salaries within the
educational system, in-
cluding teachers, secretaries,
janitors, etc. In the break-
down of costs provided in the
article, teachers were
lumped with principals, vice -
principals, superintendents,
and the educational director.
As a result, the reader still
has no clear idea of the
amount paid to teachers.
Yet the casual reader who
sees the headline will have an
idea - the .wrong one. Such
wrong ideas are unnecessary,
especially where bitterness
over the recent strike may
still exist.
The observation was also
made that over 50 percent of
the budget devoted to salaries
is unsound business. Much as
some would like to believe,
the manufacturer of minds is
not like other businesses. The
expense of raw materials (i.e.
students) is not fully borne by
the schools, Also, the fact that
the salaries constitute the
largest portion may merely
indicate that spending is
insufficient in other areas.
Anyone familiar with the
state of our athletic equip-
ment and .facilities will
support this opinion.
I urge you to be more
careful in your use of
headlines. If used carelessly,
as in the above article,
headlines may cause
misunderstanding and hard
feelings.
Philip Street,
Blyth, Ont.
What
you
thi k
IIIIIIIIiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I
I IIIII111111111111111
SallyAnn
Dear Editor:
It is during the month of
May that The Salvation Army
makes an appeal -for funds, in
order to carry on its work.
Will The Salvation Army be
able to carry on its service to
the community?
The Salvation Army is
people reaching out to people,
daily touching lives, relieving
burdens and restoring hope
throughout the year.
Reach out to someone
today....God Cares.... Your
gift will show that you care.
Thank you, so much for
your support. 4)
Lieutenant & Mrs.
Neil Watt
(Ministers)
Factual
Dear Editor:
I am a taxpayer, a parent, a
citizen of Clinton and a
teacher in the Huron County
System. In all of these
capacities I am very con-
scientious and concerned
about all facets of life and
education in Clinton.
I take exception to the
misleading headlines and
obvious anti -teacher in-
ferences used in your paper
both during the lock out -0
strike situation, and now.
Especially during the present
time when students, parents
and teachers are trying to
recover from the frustrations
thrust on them by the
misinformation fed to them
during the dispute by a biased
few.
Clarification of the
headlines in last week's
edition of the local paper
which read, "Teachers'
Salaries 74 per cent of
Budget", might help to
reaffirm that an honest effort
is being made on the part of
the Clinton -News-Record to
return to honest -to -goodness
factual reporting and forsake
the , unnecessary sen-
sationalism which creates ill
feeling in an otherwise happy Q
and wonderful community.
Object
Sincerely,
Seamus Doherty,
Clinton
From our early files .
5 YEARS AGO
May 3, 1973
Bill Grigg of Clinton lived up to
his bet to cut the lawn of the
Ellerby family on Queen Street in
Clinton if the Conservatives lost
the last provincial by-election in
Huron. The Liberals won, so Bill
brought along a goat last Sunday
to cut the grass.
Gus Boussey, manager of the
Clinton PUC was elected
president of the Association of
Municipal Electrical Utilities.
District 6, at their annual
meeting in Milverton last Friday.
The district has 34 `utilities as
members and includes Stratford,
Kitchener and ,Guelph. Mr.
Boussey's term will last for a
year.
An executive was picked at the
Clinton Centennial meeting last
Monday night to, begin planning
Clinton's 100th birthday in 1975.
On the committee are: Marg
Dobson, assistant scetretary:
Doug Centelon, secretary; Russ
Archer, chairman; Tom Feeney,
Eugene McAdam,
Don Kay, assistant
secretary;
treasurer;
treasurer.
R.E. McKinley, MP for Huron,
was at Huron County Council's
session last Thursday and held
out strong hopes for restoration
of passenger train service in the
area.
McKinley heartily endorsed
council's action in concurring
with a resolution from Robert S.
Cherry, Palmerston, who is
petitioning the Hon. Jean Mar-
chand, Minister of Transport, to
act "decisively and im-
mediately" in this regard.
10 YEARS AGO
May 2, 1908
df 24 cars given safety checks
at Waterloo Lutheran University
only two were free of defects and
one was a 1930 Model 'A' Ford
owned by Douglas Wells, on .bf
Bill Wells, Clinton.
Police said that they were
surprised to find that the car was
"perfect."
The trout season has barely
stared Saturday when Piet
Reinsma bagged himself a two
foot, four pound rainbow. He
hooked' it about 10 a.m. still
fishing with worms in a stream
flowing into the Bayfield River.
His luck also included two
smaller speckled trout. His trout
is one of the biggest reported for
opening day in the Clinton area.
If the weekend weather is
favorable and labor plentiful,
Clinton's grandstand will be
readied for a new coat of paint
and the fair ground will get fresh
sodding. Councillor Harold Lobb
has donated the sod to the Clinton
Park Committee.
Despite the frost on Saturday
night, 95 cadets, 18 instructors
and five Army officers
thoroughly enjoyed weekend
exercises held at Kendalls 'bush
about two miles northeast of
Bayfield.
The weekend program in-
cluded, construction of overnight
sleeping quarters, cooking hunter
safety, map and compass use,
first aid.and field craft.
The 18 teams of cadets par-
ticipating were judget on
leadership and initiative during
the training program.
25 YEARS AGO
May 7, 1953
With 10 rooms of the new Public
School ready for occupation, as
chairman of the board A.F.
Cudmore, stated last night, there
remains one vacancy on the
teaching staff yet to be filled.
Last Friday night, Miss Win-
nifred Grtry, who has been
teaching in Hensall Public School
for the last four years was hired
to teach an intermediate grade, a
position filled last year by Miss
Mary Shelton, Ingersoll.
An especial honor has been
bestowed upon N.W. Trewartha,
by the Huron Presbytery of the
United Chtirch of Canada. Mr.
Trewartha was elected chairman
of the Presbytery and is the first
layman ever to hold this office in
the Huron Presbytery.
Nine platoons of smartly
turned -out cadets will pass in
review on Monday evening, May
11, when at §even o'clock the
Clinton District Collegiate Cadet
Corps undergoes its annual in-
spection at the CDC! campus.
Inspecting officers will be
Lieutenant P.A. Rankin, London,
who will be assisted by another
officer from headquarters.
Keen competition was shown at
the second annual Music Festival
held in Londesboro,e,. United
Church yesterday when 202 en-
tries proved that interest in the
Festival has grown considerably
since last.year.
SS 3 (Mrs. N. Sills, teacher)
won the Hullett Township Council
Shield, awarded to the school
winning the highest number of
points.
Provision has been made for
the expenditure of $38,000 on the
extension of the retaining wall
and tying -up facilities on the
south bank of the river at
Bayfield. This was made in
supplementary estimates sub-
mitted to the House ofCommons
in Ottawa this week, A.Y.
McLean, MP for Huron, reports.
Mayor W.J. Miller officiated at
the lucky draw held Saturday
night, May 2, in Schaefer's
Ladies Wear, just opposite the
theatre, on the occasion of the
opening of the store. Following
three days in which the public
was invited to the store and free
tickets were handed to those who
wished them.
50 YEARS AGO
May 10, 1928
The London Road is being torn
up in readiness for paving and the
gravel thus released is being put
on the streets needing same.
We in Colborne Township have
excellent facilities, perhaps as
good as those in towns and cities.
Rural mail, two grocery wagons,
two bread trucks, butcher rig and
gasoline trucks for gas and motor
oil. Besides pure air and green
fields and sunny slopes for
scenery. Who would live in
dingy cities?
Mr. R.A. Hearn is in town this
week and on Saturday will hold a
sale of his household effects and
will also sell his house, if he gets a
good bid for it and it is not sold
before.
Mr. and Mrs. Hearn have been
in Hamilton all winter and intend
maintaining there.
The young people of Hensall
gave a very interesting play of
good moral, "Eyes of Love" at
Benmiller Church, on Friday
night. There was a very scattered
audience, perhaps it was because
of seeding but it is regretted that
more did not see it. The parts
taken were splendidly acted. The
proceeds were $33,000.
100 YEARS AGO
May 9, 1878
We understand that several in
this neighlyotilhood have made
offers of their farms to the "Poor
House Committee" of the County.
Six of our councillors have bald
spots on the top of their heads, No
insinuations
tlemen.
A couple of females, bearing an
unenviable reputation have
"located" in town. Respectable
people should make the locality
too warm for them.
On Saturday last a case was
tried before Messrs. Fisher and
McGarva, JP's of more than the
ordinary interest of magistrates'
cases.
Mr. J. Watkins of the,.Base Line
was charged with being con-
nected with an illicit still seized
out there last winter. Mr. Gavin,
Inland Revenue Officer, con-
ducted the prosecution and Mr.
Malcomson defended; the court
room being crowded, mostly with
friends of the defendant. A
number of witnesses were
examined with a view to prove
the guilt of the defendant, and
although some damaging
evidence was elicited against
him, the cases were dismissed,
owing to the discrepancy in some
of the evidence.
Full grown and active potato
bugs have made their ap-
pearance.
Mr. Searle, our worthy Mayor,
after a week of hard labor, has
succeeded in getting all the trees
on the streets well pruned and it
is hoped that every nousenoloer
will look after all that are con-
tagious to their premises in
future.
Foot racing has become a
mania here, the latest phase it
has assumed being that two of
youths racing around a block
each taking opposite directions.
intended, gen-
Porno
Dear Editor:
Re: Hullett's concern... April
27, 1978, News -Record
It is commendable that
Hullett Township Council and
the members of the St.
Joseph's Catholic Women's
League have read "The
Diviners", "The Catcher in
the Rye", and "Of Mice and
Men" (by Margaret
Laurence, J. D. Salinger•and
John Steinbeck respectively)
and that they are concerned
over the content of these
books.
My copy of "The Diviners"
has rested at Buffy's for over
a year available to anyone
who wishes to read it.
I too, am concerned about
the literary education of my
five children. Three have
managed tb escape unscathed
to post secondary education.
Must be something they
picked up at hccme!
I am . equally concerned
about the pornographic
display and judgement of
young girls competing for
"Queens of Fairs"!
Yours sincerely,
Marny H. R. Walden
RRl Bayfield
fi