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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1978-06-15, Page 3• The weather station outside Norman and Edith Baird's home at R.R. 1 Brucefield has been a familiar site on the old Baird homestead for the past 70 years. Three generations of the family have been going out daily to take readings from the maximum and minimum ther- People in Profile: ir mometers for their reports which are sent to Environ- ment Canada each month. For 70 years of service, the Bairds recently received a special award of merit from Environment Canada for their weather observations. (News -Record photo) Bairds carryon weather watch by Shelley McPhee The ancient stone house, some 130 years old and the surrounding land, the huge old roll top -desk, the old clock, the cane bottomed chairs and the table of parquetry design are only some of the things that have remained in the Baird family for at least three generations. But perhaps the most interesting and important heirloom, that is even valued by the Canadian government, that has been passed down to Norman and Edith Baird is the weather station. For over 70 years now the Baird family has been gathering daily in- formation regarding the high and low temperatures and the precipitation levels, recording the figures and sending a monthly report to the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Fisheries and Environment Canada in Toronto.From there, the figures are combined with similar data from some 350 other voluntary climatological observers and the statistics are used for the support of commerce, industry and agriculture. The job of collecting the weather is neither a paid position nor actually really a hobby for the Bairds. "The old folks did it and we just followed on with it," explained Mrs. Baird. The small weather station was first started in 1903 by George Baird, better known as "The Master". George, Norman's grandfather, lived at the stone house in Stanley Township, lot 21, concession 2. "The Master" agreed to keep the local weather conditions for the government and took twice daily re dings. As well, he held a position as tcher at SS No. 1, known as Baird's school. George Baird gained his nickname . "The Master" for teaching 50 con- secutive years at the school and upon his retirement in 1910, he was presented 'with the beautiful desk that still sits in the Baird home. Along with Mrs. Baird's quilting needs, the drawers of the desk are filled with "The Master's" reports and notations all written in fountain pen, with perfect penmanship. Apart from the tem- peratures, precipitation levels and wind directions, "The Master" in- cluded personal reports like: April 30, 1903, swallows returned; May 8, 1903, plum and cherry blossoms out, hum- mingbirds seen; May 14, forest in leaf; May 27, hail at 6 p.m.; June 24, smokey (Mrs. Baird presumes that this means smoke had drifted down from northern forest fire). There are some things in "The Master's" reports that remain a mystery to the Bairds and will probably never be deciphered. Certain initials, and symbols are repeated each day and it is unsure what they actually mean. After "The Master'', Norman's father George Thomas took over the weather station watch and it was In turn handed down to Norman, some 30 years ago. Norman's wife has kept the recor- dings in a book for the past 45 years. "Norman's mother Maude, used to do it, but she got tired of it," Mrs. Baird explained. Neither Norman or his wife ever think of retiring the weather station or passing it on to someone else. Despite the fact that they must be home every evening to take the readings and they are not paid for their services, does not deter the couple. The government supplies them with the instruments necessary for the job but no other pay is given by them. Mrs. Baird admitted though that she enjoys getting her small cheques from the Clinton News -Record who have been using her weather statistics in the weekly paper for decades. The Bairds also give weather in- formation to Ross Scott Fuels, in Brucefield so they will know when to fill people's heating furnace tanks with oil. Although they don't offer regular weather data to anyone else, oc- casionally people call to see what it is like outside. As well, farmers who have had crop failures due to excessive moisture or frnct have come with their insurance men to the Baird home to verify their claims with the actual records, -- Even though the Bairds take the weather statistics, they do not generally give forecasts. In fact, Mrs. Baird noted that they don't even own a barometer. Like everyone else, Mrs. Baird just checks the Fahrenheit thermometer outside her kitchen window to see'what it's like outside. Yes, it is a Fahrenheit theremometer, but for the written reports a Celcius thermometer is used. In April of this year, the Bairds had to make a big switch to Celcius and Mrs. Baird admitted that she doesn't really know how hot or cold it is anymore and said that it's even harder to calculate the amount of precipitation in millimetres that has fallen. "I listen, to the weather on the radio, see the temperatures and then go.to the Fahrenheit thermometer and compare the two," she explained. While an inspector came to visit the Bairds and explain the changeover in measurements, Mrs. Baird claimed that while she might get the weather figured out someday, she'd never be able to bake a cake in metric. But despite.ehanges, they' B'an'ds plan, to continue collecting the Weather and hopefully maintain' the family tradition. Already they have received a special award of merit from Environment Canada for 70 years of satisfactory service. There are still a number of Bairds around the Brucefield area to carry on the family name and its heirlooms and with any luck the Baird's grandson, Dale Jones., 20 may carry on the weather station for a few more decades anyway. CLINTON NEWS RECORD THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1978—PAGE 3 Book attracts..... • from page 1 Callwood said teenagers will turn parents' hair "snow white" assaulting everything the parents believe in. She said it doesn't matter what the parents believe in the teens will assault it at some point in their development but if the moral teachings are strong the youth will return to them. Callwood said parents can't trust books to teach children but have to do that teaching themselves. She said books will help the children become aware of human realities but the effect of the material will be based on the moral values instilled in the children by their parents. She said one saving grace about using the novels in question in a classroom atmosphere is that parents have an opportunity to talk with their children about the books before they leave home. "When they walk out the door they'll be good friends if you're lucky but you'll have very little opportunity to offer them guidance through life once they leave home," she said. Callwood said she did not feel as concerned about the effects of English textbooks on children as she did car- toons. She cited The Road Runner as an example pointing out that children watch the cartoon and continuously see a character "smashed to smitherines" and get up and walk away. She said children can get the impression it is alright to hurt someone because they can just getup and walk away. "I can't believe that the Road Runner can erase the belief instilled in children that you can't hurt people", she said. David St. Jean, a Grade 13 student at Goderich District Collegiate Institute, said he felt a double standard was being applied by people wanting the books, removed from classrooms. He said he is considered an adult legally and is old enough to decide if he wants 1• to drink and how he wants to vote "yet people tell me what I can read and what I can't read". St: Jean said he can't make up his mind about the novels unless he has the material in question presented to him, something that will be impossible if the books are removed from the classrooms. "Why can't you trust me to make up my own mind?" he asked. Another student said if students are old enough to fight for their country they are "mature enough to handle mature literature". Colin Lowndes, an English teacher from South Huron Secondary School in Exeter, acted as moderator for the debate and pointed out to some angry parents that the students teachers see in classrooms are not made by teachers but are products of society. He said the material used in classrooms is not held up as models for students but used as examples of society. He said students are taught to use "sound judgement" in confronting the social issues. He said students are taught about Adolf Hitler in history class but teachers don't ask students to go out and emulate Hitler. A 60 -year-old woman from Exeter who said she was a third year student in South Huron Secondary School said she had read all the "so called dirty books". She said she resented watching television and seeing sex in toothpaste ' advertisements. She said she resented ads where women are told they can send a picture of themselves to a gynecologist and never have to show up for an examination. "I love young people more than people my age," she said. "At least they're honest." She pointed out to parents that if children are "not taught the facts of life by the time they reach high school then it is you that have failed as parents not the children" Elmer Umbach, a pharmacist from Lucknow, said he had been listening to comments throughout the meeting and felt people on both sides were "very sincere in their beliefs.". He said he felt the people that were speaking on the subject were speaking from their hearts and was concerned that the audience wasn't listening. He asked the meeting to calm down and listen to the beat of their hearts before they spoke and listen to the hearts of others. He held a Bible aloft and challenged anyone to refute its teachings claiming no one in history had been able to prove the Bible wrong. Umbach asked the crowd's in- dulgence while he led them in prayer and after a brief devotion began to strain the crowd's patience. "I'm going to lose my babysitter in five minutes. Sit down and let someone else speak," one man shouted. NOT "(HAT EASY A young student told Lowndes, who earlier had said that if a student or parent objected to a textbook used in a classroom they can be exempt from reading the book and be given an alternative, said it wasn't as easy as that. She said she felt schools should offer students alternative lists to allow them to choose their own books. She added that the list of books should be accompanied by a review of some sort that outlined what subject the book dealt with. She said that at least movies "had the decency" to let viewers know what they'll see, books should let readers know what they will be reading. Another student said it wasn't as easy to refuse to read a book as Lowndes had described. She said she read the books and would like to say she found them very educational. But she said she didn't think one of the books supported good Christian morals. stuck in e middle Everyone has a friend, acquaintance, relative, business associate or even an enemy who is a perpetual worrier. They're not hard to spot and on first meeting you can usually tell who's the "easy come, easy go" sort of person or the guy who's suffering from the anxiety plus syndrome. If the constant frown and chewed off fingernails don't give it away, their look of impending doom that is just around the corner gives it away. Perpetual worriers are tormented by almost every occurrance that could occur in daily life. They worry about getting in an accident, they worry about their money, their jobs, the weather, the way they look, what other people think of them, and when they have nothing concrete to worry about, they then worry that everything is running too smoothly which is supposed to indicate that some big disaster is going to happen. Newspapers may be the most natural resting place for worriers. There's always a deadline to worry about for one thing. You also worry that your pictures will turn out, your stories are accurate and you spell everyone's name right. Then when the paper comes out you apprehensively flip through the pages looking for atrocious errors, sometimes your fault and sometimes not, and then wait for the telephone call from the reader or service club you just offended. I could probably sit and cry for days and days if I remembered and dwelled on all the dumb things I've done in the newspaper business, and outside of it. `But I'm not much of a real worrier and I realize that it won't get me anywhere, other than with a stomach full of ulcers. Granted, everyone must worry now and then, but there are prac- tical, present time things to be concerned about, not future hap- penings. I may worry about someone close who is suffering from an illness, or I may worry about not paying my bills on time and facing the con- sequences. But I can't be bothered punishing myself by wondering when I'll get my next dreaded illness or when my apartment will burn down. I'm not going to sit with the daily,newspaper and spend a few hours worrying about the high price of beef, the Russian spies or whether the Bluejays win their next game. Sure I'm concerned about the state of affairs in the world, but my little bit of mental anguish is not going to solve any of those problems, I'm afraid. Instead, I'll sit with my Alfred E. Newman look, the crazy guy in Mad Magazine with his infamous ear to ear grin of pleasure and say, "What, em worry?" at least until the next time an irrate reader calls me. 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