Clinton News-Record, 1978-06-15, Page 44--C LINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1978
he'll be missed
1 or nearly 100 years, the piano
(sr.Ei organ factory in Clinton has
1 rt.s'n one of the town's foundations
cif employment. When other in-
tlt .tr ies came and.went, the piano
t r tory was always there,
I r „,nding employment through
o;,r d times and bad. The company
, egarded as one of the town's
t, titutions. •
Nut now that is changing. Likely
Q 'Him the next months the
t, ,r lock Manning Piano Company
i rr,t evill close forever and an era
linton's history will come to a
Clinton company has been
,igamated with Heintzman of
onover, and the company's
„ r ations will be combined at the
lover plant, mainly because of
MOIHiCS.
r was getting too expensive to
nholufacture pianos at two dif-
ont plants and the cost to update
aging and antiquated Clinton
int would be just too great.
or the 36 employees at the
nton plant, the changeover will
I ►I an end to their job$, as many
)f them, even though they have
rr offered jobs at the Hanover
',►, won't likely move because of
,_loseness to the families and
r, ,ends in the Clinton area.
•Jen though the move leaves
.)lily one large manufacturing
ou,Ory left in town Wildex - the
X11. ing of the piano factory won't
;illy hurt the town.
Clinton has more and more in the
:)(st several decades, become a
-u rvice oriented town and so-called
bedroom community.
We have survived the closing of a
rather large armed forces base on
the edge of town, a few years ago
and this recent closing will be
accepted in the same way. It will
create difficulty for some citizens
directly affected, but in the long
run, the rest of us will hardly notice
the change.
The old saying that more in-
dustry meant lower taxes for the
homeowners in town, has little
proof to back it up. Goderich, for
example, is by far the most in-
dustrialized town in Huron County,
and yet, they have the highest
municipal tax rate.
Clinton, then, must turn her
efforts into encouraging more
service industries, like the Targe
feed mills already present.
We live in one of the richest
farming areas in Canada and
because people always need to eat,
it will remain one of the most
important industries we have.
Another industry that is im-
portant to the area, but in-
sufficiently cultivated is tourism.
Each year thousands of travellers
come to our nearby cottage area
and shopping districts and bring in
more dollars to the community.
Except for a few isolated people,
few in the town have taken ad-
vantage of the extra available from
this source.
Yes, the piano factory will be
missed, but we must not let its
passing depress us, but • rather
stimulate us to try new projects.
sugarandsprce
Teaching problems
-;‘,mc of the most refreshing thoughts
`.), gut education I've read in many a
c , .ire contained in a recent article in
VI,- 'Toronto Star by W.E. Franke,
ircipal of a new private senior high
S,Thf )Ol in Hogtown. .
he points out, our educational
• cpm today consists of people
} , r, ing other people for the slipping
• dards of education. The univer,-
pont the dirty finger at the high
• 1, , ,Is, the high schools at the
c' rnentary schools, the elementary
• ;.,lois at the parents. Only the poor
l idered parents don't have anyone
t p 'int at. All they know is that their
'c, <rt Tonal tax hill goes up every year
their• kids don't seem to be learnin'
nu!'r'n.
I • Franke would launch a holy war
a i 'r ,t the present sludgy system, "a
that must be fought for our in-
tc tual, spiritual, and economic
• 11- would make French, English, and
.rth,rnatics compulsory subjects.
,,rrmar would be an integral part of
language course. The compulsory
I r • c h would not he for the political
,.ns now attributed to its study but
[ i -f, we cannot be called
uc ated" without the knowledge of a
tor • ign language.
1 `. ► if;ht he is. I can well remember
when high schools offered
I n, French, German, Spanish.
I o.+:,v, Latin has almost disappeared,
I r',r,ch and German are hanging on by
toenails. and it is a very rare
• I ,o1 that offers Spanish.
' cl vat does that say about our
oars'' I'd he greatly surprised if'
than 10 percent of the teachers in
,• sola know more than one language.
1 ,,,, man wants a powerful
11 1,11 ion in the arts from the federal
rrrrnent He says-: "the soul is
rnourished in our schools, and the
ions aro not addressed," He's not
f r -ff
fir too many years there has been
t c attitude that only a talented few
I. i • an ability for the arts. Any good
1. her of drama, music, dance, and
f .rrtknows this is a lot of hogwash.
I ,1' .4 can he a spark of artistic fire in
!Li, most unlikely lump of a kid.
11.s.d push this further and have
y province establish schools for the
} 'tic elite, as they do now for slow
NEWS ITEM: Get -tough policy for feeding animals in national parks.
Sounds of summer
It was the last weekend in May that I
noticed the change. Perhaps it was
because we were experiencing our first
sustained heat wave of the summer.
Or, maybe it was because the previous
night was the first time in months that I
learners. The system has swung to the
extent that it is now the brightest and
best Who are neglected, who whither on
the vine in frustration and boredom.
Mr. Franke would like to see a return
from mediocrity, which is now the
standard, back to the excellence which
it once was.
But his article is not all just pie in the
sky, an airy -fairy repetition of what
most progressive educators have been
saying. He has some practical
suggestions.
One of them is to cut the provincial
governing apparatus in half. As he
points out, a move of the government,
in Ontario at least, "merely shifted its
top civil servants into the newly -
created positions of directors and
superintendents. Their enormous
salaries now come out of the pocket of
the local home -owners." That
argument has a hole in it, but he's on
the right track.
He claims that "a 75 percent
reduction in administrative jobs would
not make the slightest dent in the
'quality' of education." And he adds
that the wall-to-wall, air-conditioned
palaces of these administrators should
be rented out to somebody who can
afford them. Right on, Franke, baby.
He suggests that boards of education
are little more than a nuisance, that
they have grown into small empires,
that "schools should be run by schools,
not by a bombastic outside apparatus."
I'l1 buy that. There's so much paper-
work involved that teachers will often
give up on a good and valid project
rather than wade through it.
He thinks teachers and principals
should be carefully examined before
they are hired, and should be ruthlessly
fired when they don't do an excellent
job. Fair enough. Industry does it. Most
teachers and principals give it their
hest shot, but they might give a little
more if they were less secure.
Mr. Franke would eliminate faculties
of education. He says the universities
should be the judges of those who have
mastered their subject. I don't agree
there. Universities are far too itn-
personal to know a brilliant academic
who would make a lousy teacher, from
a less -brilliant type who would make a
fine one.
But he has a good idea for training
teachers. After doing away with
teachers' colleges, he would select
young teachers from among the best
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university graduates, put them in a
school on nominal pay for a year, with
half a teaching load. This would be an
excellent training for the aspiring
teacher, wouldn't cost a fortune, and
would provide jobs.
' He feels the same about training
students for specific industrial jobs. He
thinks industry should train its own
people as they do in Europe. Again, I
must agree. A first-rate apprenticeship
system would give Canada the large
pool of skilled workers we don't have
now, one of the factors that keeps us in
the role of hewers of wood and drawers
of water.
He'd like to make it a privilege to go
to school, not a duty. He doesn't say
what he'd do with all the thousands who
don't want to go.
The man isn't the only one crying in
the wilderness for an improvement in
our sludgy, apathetic, bureaucratic
educational system. But he says it
trenchantly, and I hope he goes on
yelling.
left my windows wide open all night.
After the long quiet winter, it was
surprising to wake up to a hodge-podge
of sounds.
It started with the sunrise when birds
of all descriptions started twittering in
varied tones and rhythms from the
treetops. Soon dogs began barking, and
there seemed to be twice as many
around as there was during the winter.
It was still early when lawn mowers
began to roar as people took advantage
of the morning coolness to get a head
start on cutting their grass. Ham-
mering came from three different
directions as handymen went to work
on their summer projects.
Unfortunately, the neighbours'
ambition didn't affect me. I was con-
tent to relax in bed, sleepily listening to
the sounds of early summer.
After being cooped up in school all
week, the children didn't waste any
time getting out in the sunshine on
Saturday morning. Balls thudded into
baseball mitts, swings creaked on tree
branches and skipping ropes slapped
the ground. Bare feet paddled along the
-sidewalk, and sandals flip-flopped on
the cement.
The streets seemed to carry more
traffic than usual. Cars and motorbikes
zipped by, and bicycles whirred along.
Since that first day, almost a month
ago, I've noticed increasing sounds of
summer.
From the hall park,.I hear the crack
of a hat and the cheers of "Go! Go!
Go!"
At the beach, waves slap the shore
and seagulls scold swimmers.
5 YEARS AGO
June 14, 1973
As the result of some hard work and
perseverance by Dwight Strain, the
minister at the First Baptist Church in
Clinton, 12 families from New Brunswick
will be relocating in the Clinton area.
Last Tuesday night three of the families
arrived in Clinton and will start immediate
employment in local industries.
Mr. Strain said that the families are
moving into this area te,fill jobs that cannot
be taken on by local people. All of them are
skilled trades people and will be taking jobs
in local industries as welders, decorators,
machinists, etc.
Work is expected to begin in two weeks on
the repaving on Highway No. 8 between
Seaforth and Goderich.
The 18.2 mile paving program is expected
to be completed by mid-October.
The Clinton Kinsmen decided last week
that they will sponsor and fund a Clinton
Centennial Band composed of children
between the ages of eight and 15 years of
age.
The hand, to be known as the Clinton
Centennial Kinsmen Band will include
children from all the schools in the area and
will be under the direction of Kinsmen Dr.
Graham Bowker, Clarence Denomme and
Dwight Strain.
10 YEARS AGO
June 13, 1988
Canada's first armed forces day was
observed at CFB Clinton on Saturday on
which turned out to be one of the hottest
days of the year.
Despite the sweltering heat, ap-
proximately 500 people turned out to view
the home of the Radar and Communications
School and the School of Instructional
Technique of the Armed Forces.
A pleasant evening was spent at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Len McGee on Tuesday
when a few of their friends honored them on
the occasion of their 50th wedding an-
niversary.
A 33 -year-old Goderich woman will
represent the New Democratic Party in
Huron riding in the June 25 federal election.
A large chestnut tree fell on the Clinton
Baptist Church during Tuesday night's
storm. The storm left Clinton streets
covered with small branches and leaves.
Hydro in the area was momentarily in-
terrupted during the storm.
25 YEARS AGO
June 18, 1953
Gordon Westlake of Bayfield picked up
Motorboats putt -putt through the
harbour, and sailboats glide past the
dock. From swimming pools come
sounds of splashing, shouting and
laughing.
In the country, tractors stir up clouds
of dust as they bounce over the fields.
Horses whinny to each other while they
clip clop through fields or along gravel
roads. Honey bees buzz around flowers,
and insects and flies hum under trees.
Small planes fly leisurely low over
farm land while passengers take
photos or just enjoy the view.
Vehicles on the road range from
large camping units to cars pulling tent
trailers. The wind swooshes when they
pass. Occasionally I meet a
Volkswagen with a canoe tied on top,
and I hear the wind whistling as it goes
by.
Flags ripple in playful breezes. When
the wind grows stronger, tree branches
swish and bushes 'scratch against the
sides of buildings.
Sometimes a night grows still and
black, until suddenly drum rolls of
thunder vibrate and stabs of lightning
brighten the landscape. Then gusts of
wind lash the trees.
Thunder is justanother sound .of
summer, although it's one some of us
prefer not to hear.
On summer evenings, the sound of
traffic, people shouting and dogs
bar--k-inr_g carries for miles on the still
air. But gradually the noise diminishes.
Birds settle down for the night, and the
humming of insects grows faint.
Then the chirping of crickets,
another sound of summer, takes over
for the night.
a look through
the news -record files
several paper- on nis tarm Tuesday mor-
ning, June 9, which doubtless had been
carried well over 100 miles by the tornado
last week from Flint, Michigan.
Winners of the Intercounty tug-of-war in
the Perth -Huron Junior Farmers field meet
held at Mitchell last Saturday were a group
of stalwarts representing the Clinton Junior
Farmers. They were: Charles Orr,
Goderich: Arnold Bell, Arthur Bell,
Goderich; Bob Allan, Brucefield; Stewart
Broadfoot, RR 5, Clinton; Meredith Wilson,
Goderich ; Fred Gibson, RR 3, Clinton.
Mrs. Mary Nediger, Huronic Rebekah
Lodge No, 306, Clinton, received the coveted
Decoration of Chivalry, highest award of the
IOOF Rebekah Assembly at the annual
sessions of the IOOF held this week in
Toronto.
Mr. and Mrs. George N. Turner, Isaac St.,
Clinton, observed their diamond wedding
anniversary at their home on Sunday, June
14, in the presence of their family, friends
and neighbors.
Sixty years ago on June 14, 1893, George
Turner and Emma Shipley were united in
marriage by the late Rev. William Smythe
at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. John
Shipley on the Huron Road, east of Clinton.
50 YEARS AGO
June 14, 1928
Robert G. Hunter, a graduate in arts from
the University of Toronto was the winner of
the G.A. Cox gold medal in science.
The paving of Victoria Street was finished
on Saturday. It will he open for traffic in
another couple of weeks.
Mr. J.G. Sloman has returned from a visit
with his son Mr. Fred Sloman who is in
charge of the CNR School Car in Northern
Ontario.
Mr. W.J. Miller Jr. attended a convention
of coal dea1rrs in Hamilton last week.
John Moon, Toronto, a native of Hullett
and former- resident of Clinton, has just been
appointed-tl ,Justice of the Peace in Toronto.
75 YEARS AGO
June 18, 1903
Fire broke out in the drawing room of Mr.
W II Newcombe's residence on Friday
night last. It originated by curtains catching
face from a lamp and the flames had gained
considerable headway when Mr. Newcombe
was aroused from slumber by the pungent
smoke which filled the whole house. The
alarm was sounded but before the brigade
could arrive upon the scene the fire was
extinguished but not before considerable
damage had been done to the curtains,
carpet, furniture and walls. The loss was
covered by insurance.
The News -Record is the most popular
paper circulating in Goderich Township.
Nearly everyone in Hullett has the
measles which has taken the rosy red
cheeks off some of the girls.
Mr. Peter Cantelon of the 8th concession
of Goderich Township raised his Karn last
reek, but instead of the old fashioned
raising which would have required the aid of
100 men, the frame was put in place with a
block and tackle by Messrs. Jacob Miller
and Wiggington with assistance of about one
dozen men.
100 YEARS AGO
June 20, 1878
The people of this town evidently believe
in keeping posted as to daily events, as there
are over 200 papers sold here every day.
Exeter boasts of a man who can hold 40
pounds at arm's length. There used to he a
"boy" in this town known as Winky Dick -
otherwise W. Carter, who has frequently
held at arm's length -left arm - a 56 pound
weight in this office...
Business is now pretty dull in Blyth.
Everybody talking politics. Weather as
warm here as an old maid's temper. Local
news very scarce.
Twenty years ago a certain farmer in
Goderich Township, living not a great
distance from Clinton, resolved to keep an
account of all his expenses and the profit
derived from his farm, which is something
over 200 acres. The first eight years he made
nothing to boast of, but for the last 12 he has
averaged $100 per month, over and above
the expenses and without counting accrued
interest on capital. If this is ndt profitable
farming we do not know what is.
J.H. Thomson, Blyth, who a few days
since struck a man named Seale with a meat
axe, was last week fined $5 and costs
thereof. A light fine, considering the offence,
even if it was under provocation.
A number of new houses are in course of
erection here. What is equally as pleasing, is
that they are no temporary structures but
neat and substantial buildings.
On Tuesday evening someone forced the
lock of the nound and released some cattle
therein. This is the second time this has
occurred and the authorities are determined
to punish the Offender if detected and offer a
reward accordingly.
Clinton has five tailoring establishments,
exclusive of those in connection with general
stores.
The masons commenced work last week
on the re -erection of Messrs. Searle and
Biddlecombe's buildings.
Deception
Dear Editor:
I, like most of your readers, enjoy
freedom of the press. What I don't
enjoy are those who take advantage of
this freedom and deceive the public.
I'm referring to a particular ad-
vertisement in the "Accommodations
for Rent" by the now, so-called Car-
mela Courts for rentai of townhouses.
The luxury setting, and all the many
recreational activities make it sound
like a very "unreal" place to live,
especially for the area involved.
"Unreal" is the only way to look at
what is being offered. However, let's be
realistic and tell it like it is. The ad-
vertisement should read something
like - "rapidly dilapidating, noisy
townhouses for rent. Utilities extra (if
you can get them - especially fuel oil -
but then we are all trying to conserve
energy aren't we - even if it means
temperatures of about 40-50 degrees
inside your home in the middle of
winter - by the way, fuel oil if the
landlord's responsibility.)"
Recreation facilities - this includes a
never-ending party atmosphere (a
most exciting benefit if you happen to
like squealing car tires, loud disco
music and the sound of beer bottles
being smashed against the side of your
building each and every night - all night
- weekends are the most fun, however,)
And not to mention the very special
language used here - that only a
resident of Carmela Court is allowed to
use or understand - the only
qualification being you start every
word with the letter "f" - no age limit to
this benefit.
Another recreation benefit not
mentioned is playing games in the
neighbourhood. The favourite being
hide and seek - the owner -landlord is
hiding and it's up to you to try to find
him when something goes wrong (and
it usually always does - "nothing
serious" though, e.g your basement
flooding ' from clogged window wells
(who needs a swimming pool?) or
windows broken from U.F.O.'s flying
around (who needs tennis courts?) I
believe however, I am getting closer to
finding him after a long and arduous
hunt as one of my clues is he lives in
London "somewhere".
Paying rent is real easy - you just
make your cheque -payable to your
well -hidden landlord, give it to a
stranger (one of the many superin-
tendents - they usually last a week, two
weeks at the most) at your door, and he
looks after it from there - by the way he
knows the answer to the hide and seek
game but he won't tett.
Spacious lawns - that's true in what
they call the park(?). If you are lucky
you have a bit of lawnin front of your
townhouse, and a nice patch in the
backyard (which happens to be a
combination of clothes lines, and a
community playground for all those
very lovely, well-spoken children in
your neighbourhood). Oh! I forgot to
mention all this spacious lawn is cut
only once in the spring (it,takes all year
to grow) - so don't expect this spacious
lawn to be too beautiful. I am thankful
the name of the place has changed
from Vanastra townhouses to Carmela
Court - we got an extra grass -cutting
this year.
There, are of course, many, many,
more "extras" to this great living, but
you would have to live here to "enjoy"
them all. I can only say, whoever wrote
this advertisement for Carmela Courts
has a very vivid imagination or simply
does not live here - or was he referring
to some other luxury living townhouses
- like London for instance.
Signed - "A stuck -here, former
Vanastra Townhouse renter, now a
Carmela ,Court renter, then a "who
knows wat ' - if I manage to survive -
renter.
Children
Dear Editor:
As you are most probably aware,
1979 has been designated the Inter-
national Year of the Child. It will he,a
year when worldwide attention will he
focused on the needs of children
everywhere. The main objective is to
raise the level of services which benefit
all children on a permanent basis.
For the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF), every year is the
"Year of the Child" because an
estimated 315 million children are still
living beyond the reach of even the
most basic necessities : maternal and
child health, clean water supplies,
nutrition, education and social ser-
vices.
One of the practical ways in which
Canadians can show their support for
the International Year of the Child and
UNICEF, is to buy and use UNICEF
greeting cards and year-round gift
items, because UNICEF is the only
United Nations agency which relies ion
voluntary financial support from both
governments and individuals.
Unfortunately, we do not have an
outlet for UNICEF cards in your area
and we are writing to ask you if you
could ,bring this to your readers' at-
tention. Na urally, we would be pleased
to assist any individual, group or
business who would be interested in
selling cards as a community project.
All they have to do to obtain further
information is to write to: Greeting
Card Department, UNICEF Canada,
443 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto,
Ontario M4S 2L8.
Thank you for your anticipated help.
Yours sincerely,
Colin J. Rainsbury, Director,
Greeting Card Program.