HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1978-06-01, Page 4PAGE 4--CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, JUNE 1 1978
Inspection needed
Many officials have preached for
years that municipalities need
uniform enforcement of the
building code, and all construction
should be subject to regular in-
spections during the progress of the
building.
With a few exceptions, according
to Roman Dzus of the Huron
County Planning department,
unless a municipality has passed a
bylaw enforcing the Ontario
Building Code, it has no legal basis
to charge for, or issue building
permits.
Dzus told the 26 members of the
Huron County Municipal Officers
Association at their recent annkMI
meeting in Londesboro that the
Ontario Building Code Act of 1974,
passed by the provincial govern-
ment, is the only legislation that
can be used to control construction
in a municipality.
Dzus said the Code stipulated
that a municipality appoint archief
building official to administer the
code and make sure all buildings
conform to it.
A number of years ago, the then
Goderich Township Reeve Gerry
Ginn proposed that the township,
Clinton and several other town-
ships get together and hire a
building inspector, but the idea was
shelved.
More recently, Hullett and
McKillop townships have hired a
building inspector who carries out
several site inspections during the
course of a building's construction.
But in order to afford a full time
man, several more municipalities
would have to join. -
In the past, there has been little
or no actual inspection in Clinton,
just stipulations that the new
building conform to the town's
zoning by-laws.
And we have been fortunate in
the past that the local builders, for
the most part, are men of high
integrity and would not knowingly
put up a sub -standard building. But
what's to stop out-of-town builders
from rushing in, putting up poor
houses, for instance, and then
move on, leaving the poor
homeowner stuck with a lemon and
perhaps a dangerous house?
The building industry is a very
complex business and the sooner
we get building inspection on an
area or county basis, the better for
all of us.
Come out!
Entrants, organizers, and fair-
goers alike are hoping, that this
weekend will turn out sunny, warm
but not hot, as the 124th edition of
the Clinton Spring Fair gets un-
derway Friday afternoon.
While many small town fairs
have diminished in size and im-
portance, or disappeared
altogether, the Clinton Fair has
grown and now with $22,000 in prize
money, is one of the biggest spring
fairs, if not the biggest, in the
province.
It will be a hectic time for many,
including the harried
photographers and reporters of this
paper, but in the end, there is
something for everyone and we
hope everyone goes and has a good
time.
See you at the Fair!
"I already know what I'll get for Fathers pay — the bills from Mother's Day."
A better chance in life
Two weeks ago I wrote about
prevention of mental retardation. It
should be made clear that prevention
means trying to eliminate or lessen the
problems of people; it does not mean
preventing people with problems from
having an equal chance in life.
In spite of all medical knowledge and
precautions, a certain number of
babies born each year will have a
mental handicap. What about them?
How does society treat them? What
does the future hold for them? How do
their parents react?
Society has come a long way from the
1930s, when the mentally retarded were
Got a job
Anybody got a job for my kid? She's
27 years old, has three degrees, is three
times as bright as her old man, can
charm the birds right out of the trees
when she feels like it, and is an out-
standing fund-raiser (from me).
She plays the piano extremely well,
the guitar rather rustily. She composes
music, racous rock or cdntemporary
classical.
She can cook up a storm when she's
at our place, although I've never had
anything more substantial than a cup
of weak tea and a burnt brownie at
hers.
She has an erratic but brilliant
academic career, liberally sprinkled
with A's for essays and glowing tributes
from professors. That's mainly
because she can write rings around me,
and comprehend abstract theses in
one-quarter the time I do.
She is completely versed in all the
modern psychological jargon of child -
raising, but despite that has two happy,
healthy children. Despite the fact that
she's an ardent Women's Libber, she's
still living with a male chauvinist
husband and gets along pretty well
with a male chauvinist father, or at
least what she thinks is one.
She can type at a hell of a clip, self-
taught. She has worked as a waitress, a
bartender, an organist and a helper at
a day-care centre. And finally, she's a
consummate actress.'You should hear
her conning her mother into taking the
kids for a week.
Now wouldn't 'you think that with all
these attributes, she could hack some
kind of living out of our economic
jungle?
But, no. Her problem is that she is
ready, willing and able to. go out and
conquer the world, but she's walking
right into Canada's worst unem-
ployment situation since the Great
Depression.
An added difficulty is that she is
specially trained to be one of those
pariahs of today's society — a teacher.
Being a newly graduated teacher today
is like being an undertaker in some
Utopia where nobody ever dies.
Every occupation has its day in the
sun, I guess. Fifteen years ago, it was
the turn of the teacher. If your body
was warm and you were still breathing,
you were likely to be snatched off the
streets or out.of an office, and propped
up in front of a classroom.
With the post-war baby boom over
and out of the schools, and the reluc-
tance of so many young people to have
children, for whatever reasons, school
enrolment has shrunk drastically and
will go on doing so for several years.
The huge educational empires
created during the boom years are
shrinking, and attrition is - fairly
savage.Thousands of young teachers
are unable to get jobs. Hundreds are
losing their jobs because they are
redundant.
It's nobody's fault, particularly, just
a matter of execrable management by
our leaders. Nothing new in that.
They're the people who study all the
charts, examine all the facts and in/
variably come up with the wrong an-
swers.
Day in the sun for the teachers is
over. Morale of those already in the
profession is low, for various reasons.
Morale of those trying to enter it is
depressive.
I reckon doctors got the next day in
the sun. For years, along with the
dentists, they carried thousands of
dollars on their books, of people who
could not or would not pay their
medical bills. Then came health in-
surance, and suddenly young doctors
were making a fantastic living,
because they were paid for everything
they did.
Now they've had their day too. They
work incredible hours, often in rotten
little offices where they scarcely ever
see the light of day. But their expenses
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have shot up, they pay a whacking
income tax, the government is always
creating more paperwork, and sud-
denly it's become a grind.
Who's having his day in the sun in the
sick 70's. I'd say the service people:
garage mechanics, TV repairmen,
plumbers, electricians. It certainly
isn't nurses or construction workers.
So be it. But there must be something
awfully wrong with a country when
thousands of highly dedicated, highly
educated young people simply cannot
find employment in what they were
trained for.
Maybe my son Hugh had some
psychic foresight. He took off for
Paraguay, as a Bahai pioneer, three
years ago and is living happily, hand to
mouth, without having to go through
the humiliating search for a way to put
food in his mouth.
Max Braithwaite, whose Why Shoot
the Teacher has been made into a
popular movie, perhaps should have
stuck a "not" into his title.
Shoot the poor young devils and put
them out of their misery. Or shoot a
bunch of us old codgers with our stale
ideas and antiquated teaching
methods, and give the jobs to the young
ones.
Anybody got a job for my kid?
called "mentally deficient" and were
divided into three categories - idiot,
imbecile and feeble-minded. Most
mentally retarded persons were in-
stitutionalized.
In the 1950s, parents began forming
associations to share their common
problems and to raise community
awareness. In the 1960s, the public
realized it owed the retarded an
education, and by 1969, the department
of education had undertaken a
program of special schooling for
educable retarded ' children between
the -ages of 6 and 18. Since then, the age
has been extended to 21, and nursery
schools are also operating in some
areas.
In the 1970s, much' of the public has
become aware that many mentally
retarded persons can learn to cope in
society. Workshops are helping han-
dicapped adults to reach their full
potential, and more people are able to
move out of institutions. Some
associations sponsor residences for
small groups of mentally retarded
adults, who can live together with the
supervision of a hostess. It gives them
a feeling of independence, and for some
it is a steppingstone to even more
independence. Workshops are also
helping some adults in their quest for
job placements.
Society has come a long way, but it
still harbours some 'misconceptions.
For example, mental illness and
mental retardation are often confused.
Mental illness results from
psychological and emotional problems
that . require special medical treat-
ment. Mental retardation is neither an
illness nor a disease; it is a condition of
life. A retarded person has impaired
mental ability. Thus his rate of lear-
ning and h -is capacity for un-
derstanding is lower than that of other
people.
Many people seem to think the
mentally retarded have no un-
derstanding and no feeling, but in most
cases, a retarded person knows more
than the so-called "normal" person
realizes. One thing he recognizes is
rejection, and it hurts.
Integration into society would give
the mentally retarded "a feeling of
acceptance instead of rejection" ... and
would help both the handicapped and
5 YEARS AGO
May.31, 1973
Clinton council at a special meeting
last Monday night cut-t.� a tax rate for
1973. All taxpayers wijll benefit from
the move.
Residential taxpayers who are public
school si pporters will have their taxes
cut by four mills or about $8 for a $2,000
assessment. Separate school
residential supporters will be paying
$17 less in taxes on a $2,000 assessment,
a reduction of nearly nine mills.
Walking a 100 pound great dane is no
easy task. Most of the time the dog ends
up walking the owner, but Peter Brown
of Vanastra has solved the problem.
While driving his car very slow he can
"walk" his dog several miles each day.
10 YEARS AGO
May 30, 1968
Clinton merchants Thursday night
voted 18 to five in favor of closing all
day Monday for a trial period from
June first to November 30.
The three month trial period for all
day Wednesday closing terminates at
the end of May.
One merchant said that a survey
taken by a traveller showed 30 area
communities closed all day Monday,
while only eight were closed on Wed-
nesdays.
Huron County.Junior Farmers chose
their first king and queen at Lon-
desboro Saturday evening. Contestants
from four clubs were judged on three
minute speeches, personality and
non -handicapped "to be more at ease
with each other," says Ann Klungel of
Hen'sall, whose 12 -year-old daughter,
Eloise, is mentally handicapped.
Eloise attends an integrated
elementary school in Huron Park, and
Ann believes if integration begins in
today's schools, it will help to break
down many of the barriers that have
afflicted society.
Ann recalls the stages she and her
husband, Harry, went through after
they learned Eloise was. mentally
retarded. First came denial and a
search for a medical opinion that would
oppose the diagnosis. Later came
acceptance, and with it, anger,
depression and self-pity, for in the
beginning, they saw only the negative
side of the situation. They did not
realize Eloise would become their
"sunshine." "She has taught the whole
family a lesson in compassion," says
Ann.
The Klungels have three older
children, and Ann and Harry knew it
was important that they treat Eloise in
the same way they treated the others.
In some families, brothers and sisters
are ` embarrassed by a retarded
member, but that is not the, case in the
Klungel household. Through Eloise, the
older ones, aged 16, 20 'and 22, have
acquired a better understanding of the
problems of all handicapped persons.
Ann and Harry feel they are for-
tunate to live in a progressive area
where many opportunities are
available to the mentally handicapped,
including the South Huron and District
Association for the Mentally Retarded
with which Ann has been involved for
seven years; a nursery school and
integrated elementary school for
children; and a workship and two
residences for adults.
"Eloise sees our older children
leaving home, and it's only natural for
her to want to do the same thing," Ann
admits. "I would never try to stop her,
if she decided she wanted to move into
a residence."
"People tend to underestimate the
ability of a mentally retarded person ...
to pity him ... to overprotect him,"
continues Ann. "But we should always
see the person first and his problem
second, his potential first and his
"imitations later."
a look through
the news -record files
appearance. Fred Uhler, RR 3, Walton Princess of Huron County, Miss
was named king and Barbara Watkin, Donna Tiylor, Brucefield, was chosen
RR 3 Londesboro won the honors for and proclaimed at the town hall front
queen, steps. Douglas Thorndike presented
Retired school principal, James A. her with a lovely bouquet of roses and
Cameron taught a bus -load of students J.A. Anstett made the presentation of a
in his own "laboratory" last Thursday wrist watch.
afternoon. In a setting, made colorful with
The unusual school room was his 21- spring flowers, Miss Audrey Baird
acre efitate on which he started his re- assisted by her mother Mrs. Norman
forestation plan in 1931, behind his Baird and her fiance's mother, Mrs.
home, on Highway 21. C.L. Stanley, Clinton received friends
The students were from Huron on Coronation Day, June 2, for her
Centennial School, Brucefield and trousseau tea at the home of the bride -
came to further their study of Canadian elect on Concession 2, Stanley Town -
trees. Mr. Cameron told them many ship.
facts of interest about his 50,000 trees. Jayne Mary Snell won second prize in
He has 21 varieties, with a prepon- the girl's vocal solo class, open at the
derance of Red' and White Pine, Huron County music festival held in
Spruce, Ash and a few Maples. Goderich last week.
25 YEARS AGO Jane McCool, Auburn, won the Maple
June 4, 1953 Leaf Chapter IOOF $25 scholarship
Two young ladies born in Clinton award for the competitor chosen from
Public Hospital on Thursday, June 2 the girls' vocal solo class of 14 years
will bear the name of Elizabeth in and under.
honor of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Jim MacDonald, Clinton, won third
II.Joan Elizabeth is the daughter of Mr. prize in the piano class for children 10
and Mrs. Douglas Clow, Albert Street, years and under.
Clinton. Judith Elizabeth is the 75 YEARS AGO
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morris June 4, 1903
Riddell, Blyth. One of the best known men in the
Once again, though this is the age of County of Huron is Mr. William Cud -
automotive traffic, the shed at the more whose fine farm and cosy
Ontario Street United Church, is today residence is situated on the London
packed with horses. The officials of the Road about a mile north of Kippen.
fair board have seen fit to hold the Mr. Cudmore came to Canada in 1855
horse show there, rather than at the 4and to Huron two years later. About 30
muddy fair grounds. 'Turn to page 7 •
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Books need study
Dear Editor:
Dear Mrs. Munro, I love mystery
stories, especially the clever ones of
Agatha Christie's and possess nearly
all of them. There's splendid English
for you. I even like Edgar Allan Poe's
but there I forgot he is of the 19th
century and rates with such master
scholars as Scott, Dickens, Thackeray
and Jane Austin.
Like Queen Victoria, our young
friend Philip Street was not amused.
Yes, Philip, I have read all three books
under discussion. I would not have had
the temerity to discuss them otherwise
- a matter which didn't deter you.
As for the editorial on "Good and
Evil", (May 18) I think I have not read
anything so far off the mark in some
long time.
Who said we are trying to shield our
young people from the evils of the
world? Not I Mr. Editor and neither I
am sure were the ladies of
Kingsbridge. The young people of
today are much more knowledgeable
on many matters than their
forebearers ever were. How could it be
otherwise with radio, TV, magazines
and daily news?
It never occurred to me, nor I am
sure to others, we should keep from our
young people historical facts, hideous
as many of them are. I have long ad-
vocated the placing of "The Diary of
Anne Frank" as well as Ernest
Schnabel's, "A Portrait in Courage". in
the hands of every student. These
should never be forgotten.
With racism rearing its ugly head in
Canada, fomented by the young, led on
by their elders who should know better,
it should be fought with all the tools at
our disposal so that never again will six
million innocent people, two million of
them little children, be done to death by
one wicked man and his followers.
Who said we should hide all this? Not
I Mr. Editor nor I am sure did the
ladies of Kingsbridge. Who said we
should hide all this communism,
fascism, Natzism or past history of evil
deed's done by evil men in many lands?
Not I Mr. Editor nor I'm sure did the
ladies of Kingsbridge.
R.J. Thompson gives out the clarion
caV we must oppose the enemies of free
speech. What he fails to see is freedom
to do as you please, talk as you please,
write as you please is not freedom, it's
license. If it is offensive to others it
fails to be permissible freedom and
must be subdued.
If you think men fought the forces of
evil in two great wars so your children
could talk like gutter -snipes you are
sadly mistaken.
So it's "sniffy literary snobbishness"
to give your children some guidance in
good reading. How does any child know
unless given some guidance when
young?
Thompson goes on to say "The
Diviners" left him "farther on than
when he took it up." If so, I feel sorry
for him. He, with little experience in
any of the many facets of life, seems
prone to set himself up as a literary
light, though I find it hard to find the
grain amid the chaff of his literary
drivel. To quote him, "what garbage."
So the best books chosen by
Maugham are not Canadian. Then let
me give you Munroe Scott's
"McClure." Incidentally did you hear
him speak when in Clinton? I dare say
not. Yet he is one of our greatest living
Canadians. There's a book for every
classroom for you.
What are we striving for? A revival
to good English. some purity of thought
and speech in our English language. A
desire to not let it become a mongrel
language either in the spoken or
written word, less perverted with slang
and indecent phrase. Let it become a
scholarly language once more as it
deserves to be.
"Who are the ladies of
Kingsbridge?" Mr. J. Fremlin asks.
They are women with the courage of
their convictions, desirous of more
suitable literature of which there is
plenty, even Canadian, desirous of less
of the crude, the lewd and the vulgar.
More power to them and may success
attend their efforts.
Sincerely,
E.D. Fingland,
Clinton.
Tuckersmith ta�C°es
Dear Editor:
We wish to thank your paper fcn''N
having the privilege to answer James I.
McIntosh's letter.
We were very surprised and
disappointed to see your letter after
being clerk -treasurer for the Township
of Tuckersmith for 16 years. You know
very well the job of clerk -treasurer is
not easy and it is a tough life to be a
member of council.
After reading your letter several
times, the only answer we can come up
with is that you are trying to prove to
the people of Tuckersmith that the
clerk -treasurer doesn't know how to
handle the books and that members of
council are not capable of running the
business of the township.
The press reporter attends all our
meetings and the notes she copies down
go to the paper and we have very little
say in it.
Due to the fact that fortner clerk -
treasurer James McIntosh of the
township had made' a mistake in
bringing in recommendation to council
and the county mill rate was set too
high in previous years, we were able to
lower the county mill rate by seven
mills.
Pertaining to the first time grant of
$600 to the Vanastra Recreation
Association we were elected to
represent the people of Tuckersmith
and not to be a rubber stamp for the
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