Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1979-09-13, Page 4ft PAGE. 4 ---CLI .. QN NWS -RE CQRD,'TIIJRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1979 The Clinton N.ws.Record is published each Thursday at P.O. Otos 39. Clinton. Ontario. Censlda. NOM 110. Member, Ontario Weekly Newspaper A5ro0a t ion it Is registered as second class malt by the post office under the permit number 0013. The Neri-R«cord incorporated In 1624 th,e Hurpntiews•Record,,tglinded in 1U1. and The Clinton itei+s Era. founded In 1163. Total press run 3.300. Mesib.r Canadian Ctia ntunity`Newspeper Assocle*Ion Display odvertisinp rates available on request. Ask for Rote Cent No. 0 effective Oct. 1. • • 1070. General Manager • J. /toward Aitken Editor - James E. Fitzgerald Advertising Director Gary L. Hoist News editor - Shelley McPhee Officio Manager • Margaret Gibb Circulation • Freda McLeod Subscription Rote: Canada -94.00 per year Sr, citizen • '12 per Year • U.S.A. S. foreign •'30'per year Nothing personal Although it appears as if this newspaper, and in particular this editor, has a vengeful, spiteful fight going on with Clinton town council, particularly with Mayor Harold Lobb, nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter a fact, Mayor Lobb and most of his council have been a hard- working, dedicated council who have carried out their work well., They have accomplished much in town while holding the t;.tax rate- to the lowest of all the towns in Huron county, and still managing a road rebuilding program, repairing the arena; and maintaining a high level of public.services. This • paper erroneously . reported that the taxes were the highest in the county,, based " en ' outdated in formation, and this editor also said that because council was acclaimed, they didn't represent the people, also a false statement. Although we do apologize profusely for those two gross errors, we still stand behind our other allegation that there is no need for all those closed door, secret meetings where everything is hashed out without the public ever knowing why. A survey conducted and published in last week's paper showed that most other area municipalities don't need them, and the only reason closed. meetings are held in Clinton is more on a habitual nature, a sort of un- necessary tradition. It is extremely difficult to criticize•a man like MVltayor Lobb whom I have worked beside in many community events. He is one of our best mayors . ever, being accessible to the general public at all hours, as well as being caring .and compassionate, so our prods are meant as nothing personal. A need for trees Does Clinton have a. new tree planting program in town? If not, then one should be initiated right away. In the past several years, a large number of older trees have been cut down, and in all likelihood, even more of our majestic trees. will succumb to ,• the ravages„of time, disease, and old age. But few, if any of these trees, are being replaced which willresult in a nearly nude town in a decade. Because there is no parks depar- tment in Clinton, many people have presumed that the public works department was looking after the replanting of new trees, but their responsibilty is •fp r road maintenance, and most of the'''time that keeps s them fully occupied. In other towns, like Goderich, the parks department has worked out a plan to replace old trees with new saplings of better quality that will stand up to the pollution and salt spray along our streets. And it looks like they've done a fine. job. The beautiful shady Maple, our national symbol, can no longer tolerate the °-demands of our modern society, and will not survive in future street- scapes. Certainly, the panic button doesn't have to be pressed yet, but neither should it be left too long. A tree doesn't grow overnight, and if we , want our children to know and enjoy the same restful assets as we do under our ;present trees, and to, enjoy the sight of a lush green street instead of mere concrete and asphalt, then some action is necessary soon. by JEF. sugar and spice Municipal politics If you have never been involved in municipal politics, you• should have a go. Run for anything from dogcatcher to mayor. If you lose, it will be good for your ego. If you win, it will be good for your humility. I speak, as always, from personal experience. For two years I served on a town council. It was illuminating, if not very enlightening. L was elected, of course, by ac- clamation. As was everybody else on ''the council. So keen were the citizens to serve that some years', on nomination eve, we had to go down to the pub, drag a couple of characters out, and guide, their hands while they signed up. When I ' was elected, 1 was present as a reporter. There were only five other people in the council chambers, so it was decided that I would be elected as the necessary sixth. Since I had already served on the executives of various moribund organizations which had died forthwith, I agreed. It didn't die, as I'd hoped. The next year we were all re-elected. By ac- clamation. Itwas pretty heady stuff, at first. As a partner•in a printing plant, and a newspaperman, I was immediately appointed. Chairman of the printing, advertising, and public relations' committee of council. This meant that our firm automatically received the contract for the town's printing and advertising, which we already had. The public relations part meant that I had to stop 'suggesting in the paper that the town council was made up of .nitwits, nincompoops and nerds. Another chap, with a pretty good heating and plumbing- business, was named Chairman of the interior "rnunieipal Modification committee. Heating andplumbing. A third; who hada tr, 'ctor, a back. w low t' :a , hoe and a sno p a ��pphinted Chait'man of the public works in- departrrient. m Ile imed a tela... y tr d u'cedaby 1 w raising the ratess "There — see? I'm putting conservation at the top of the list for cabinet attention.” remembering our past 5 YEARS AGO' September 5, 1974 Mr. and Mrs. Lorne Vjilson of Brucefield celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on the weekend and were honored at their home by many friends and relatives: Mrs. Wilson's sister, Mrs. Isabella Hamilton of Huronview, celebrated her 100th birthday on August 18. Anyone who says small town fairs are on the way out should have been in at- tendance at the Bayfield Old Time. Fall Fair last Saturday. It was a tremendous success with nearly 2,000 people crowding the fairgrounds. Although the final figures are not in yet, the bike-a-thon held to raise money for .the Clinton Centennial Band will bring the band about $1,500. Only three of the 43 riders who started the course failed ,to completethe 50 mile ride. •The jaunt began at 9 am and the last riders arrived back at ;; 6 pm, . I . ^ _1 10 YEARS AGO September 4, 1969 The sound of guitars may replace the bagpipes at CFB Clinton if county officials are successful in an effort to have a satellite campus of Conestoga College opened herel when the armed forces leave in two ye-ard. H.C. "Tubby" Lawson in the real estate and insurance business and active in community affairs for more thap30.years, died in Clinton hospital on Sunday: He was 65 years old. •, The road from Varna to Brucefield is now being blacktopped, which will make a per hour of such equipment. It passed, four to two. The opposition was from another councillor, a retired farmer, who also had a tractor and a threshing -machine, which he thought could be converted to plowing snow. His brother-in-law voted with him. But these moments of •power. and glory soon faded: The conflict of in- terest became apparent, •and there was no way out for a man of honour except to resign. It took me only two years to reach that conclusion. You may think that a fair time, but it's not easy to walk away from a $75 a year stipend. The mayor made $150. As a reporter, I had been more interested in the conflicts than the interests. I had delightedly heard, and printed, one councillor call another councillor a "gibbering old baboon."' And watched the victim of the pejorative, a stripling of 78, invite the name -caller outside, stripping off his jacket during the exchange. Cooler heads prevailed. It was thirty-four below outside. Well, as you can see, as a member of that august body, the Town Council, I couldn't print that sort of thing. I had to report that the two councillors "had a difference of opinion." When I wrote that phrase and had to omit that one of the councillors was obviously in his cups, I knew I had to quit. All of this is a .preamble to -a thickish document I got • in the mail the other day. It is' a new by-law printed and dispersed (at what enormous cost I shudder) by our local town council. There are 39 numbered pages of legal inanities, and about an egttal number of pages of maps of the town, equally unintelligible, As 1 said, the mailman delivered it, regardless 'of expense. A dozen kids could have covered the town in two hours, or stuffed them in the sewer. Despite my wide experience as a municipal councillor, Or perhaps because of it, this by-law completely baffles me The fist thirteenpages are definitions. Theytell uwhat is a let, a yard (front) anda yard (rear), a garage, a Wilding, They also inform, the ignorant 0,1fl llortt 1ehof n rhnnl is, a person, 'a 'restaurant, a motel, a boarding-house. All alphabetically. There was no mention of "brothel" under the B's. The by-law' tells us how high our fences or hedges can be. It tells us how high our houses can be. How many square metres of floor space we must have if we decide to ask Auntie Mabel, crippled with • arthritis, to share our. dwelling. How many parking places we need for each establishment. Again no mention of Turn to page 5 • a look through the news -record files smoother surface than we have had all summer. Bean producers, more than 150 of thein, tried their own product for breakfast at sunrise with a white bean program held by the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Association at Jack Peck's farm in Kippen last Thursday. Enrollment in the 39 public schools • in Huron County is up, 3.3 per cent over last year, according to opening • day registration figures, 25 YEARS AGO September 9, 1954 At a charming double ring ceremony in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Clinton, Jeanne Claire Garon became the bride of Peter Joseph McCauley, St. Marys andher sister, Marie Lorine became the bride of Clarence Denomme, Clinton. The i• brides art -the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. ',AntoineGaron of Clinton. The big church shed at Brucefield is finally being brought down. One of the few of its kind still in existence, late last week work was begun on the corrugated steel roof, and yesterday the remaining expanse of metal was removed. • A petition from 29 citizens of Clinton on Tuesday night requested the town council to pass a bylaw prohibiting the keeping of chickens, livestock etc:, within the town limits. 50 YEARS AGO September 12, 1929 According to the report- of the Penny Bank inspector, 58 per cent of the children in the Clinton Public School made deposits in May and June, the total amount on deposit at the end of June being $724.23. The heat wave, which lasted over a week and was at times a sizzler, fled before a gale which blew from the northwest all night Monday and all day Tuesday, the mercury almost dropping to freezing on Tuesday. • Grandmothers' Day, which has become an annual event with the Londesboro WI, was again the magnet which attracted 'a large crowd of members and visitors to,the community hall last Thursday. Service in Holmesville United Church was held in the basement of the church on Sunday morning owing to the work of painting and decorating of the auditorium having commenced. Preparations are going forward for the jubilee services to be held in the church, commencing Sep- tember 22. It is expected that many former' write letters Urange Order lives Dear Editor, When I was looking over yottir column in the July 12th edition of the News -Record I came across this dirty little slam ethe Orange Order. - You, started off alright when you said "this is the gloriqus 12th, thatis if you happen to be an Orangeman or a Protestant." , Then• you went on to • say that "it seems to be a tradition that is dying out and well it should-." You. finished it by saying that "I'm a Protestant by the way." • Well, you have a perfect right to your opinions and here is my opinion. I was up to Blyth on July 14 to their Orange celebration and they had a real nice parade and a good crowd 1 and it sure didn't look like the Orange ' was ready to die yet. I was up to Grand Valley to the Black Knight celebration and they had a real nice parade with lots of music and again it didz t look like a dying Order and I know I won't see the end of them and I don't think you will either. It will be a bad day for the country if the Orange Order dies, for they stand for noble principles; religious freedom to all; equal rights to all; special privilegestonone; one school; one language, English and one flag, the only road to unity. I wish Jim, we had enough mem- bers in the Order to dominate this country. Then we wouldn't be bothered with this language law which they passed in 1969 making the French language official all across the country and bilingual in order to get a job in the federal government. Nice going for 'the French. According to the 1976 census there were 5,887,200 'French speaking people in Canada in a total of 23,000,000. Fewer than one million of the French speaking people reside outside Quebec. In Ontario the French speaking people make up 5.3 per cent of- the population (462,000) and the great majority of these people -speak English. The remaining half -million French speaking people are spread across the other eight provinces and territories so it his not difficult to see from these statistics why it is un- necessary to °have bilingualism outside Quebec. In February of this year, a com- puter survey of 270,998 employees in. federal institutions' for whom the treasury board is the employer was carried out. Keeping in mind that French speaking people make up less than' 25 per cent of the population of Canada, here are some interesting employment statistics with respect to their employer whose mother tongue is French:, Canadian ,Dairy Commission, 58 per cent; office of Chief Electoral Officer, • 80.48 per cent; . Canadian intergovernmental . conference (secretaries), 72 per cent; Canadian Labor Relations Board, 56.97 per cent; Commissioner of Official Languages, 81.52 per cent; Governor General Secretariat, 59.75 per cent; Canadian Livestock Feed Board, 73.68 pth cent; representation commissioners, 100 per cent; CRTC,. 50.21 per cent; secretary of state, 67.77 per cent. There are many more sections in the 30 to 50 per cent range. There was a refusal to give any in- formation concerning the prime minister's staff. Not anti -French, I just d ' like seeing the 25 per cent runni g he 75 per cent. I am an Orangeman by the way. members will take part in the several services. 75 YEARS Ago ` September 8, 1'904 As a rule the attendance at meetings of the town council is slim, but on Tuesday night it overflowed the council chamber, very good evidence of the interest aroused in the question of Local Option. It was expected that the proceedings would be somewhat exciting and the result definite, but neither expectation was realized. A vote of electors of Bayfield will be taken on October 4 on a proposal to loan $1,500 for 10 Years to William Mustard to re -build his saw mill. Messrs. Joseph and Thomas Watkins have bought the Noble Lovatt farm in Summerhill, the purchase price being $2,500. There are 80 acres in the lot. 100 YEARS AGO Septe4mber 11, 1879 • The demand for fruit jars was so great last week, that the stores were almost entirely cleaned out. Coon hunting is now a favorite sport hereabouts. On Sunday evening in Blyth a ruffian under the influence of "King Alcohol" entered one of the churches and conducted himself in the most disgraceful manner. Should any be guilty of such conduct again, they will be properly dealt with. A drive in almost any direction, shows that the Act relating to the cutting of Canada thistles is a dead letter, for, they are seen on every hand' blooming in all their glory and profusion. The Broadway Theatre Co. gave en- tertainments here on Tuesday and Wed- nesday evenings, to fair audiences. There' is considerable talent in the troupe, but it appears to suffer from financial em- barrassments. Mr. Thos Jackson is determined people will not forget his place of business. See Page 5 for particulars. A certain person in town is said to be receiving interest at rate of 25 per cent. Sometime ago, Mr. T. Dyke of Goderich Township, who is now 65 years old, issued a challenge that he would walk 20 miles and cut three acres of standing wheat before sundown, but even among the sturdy youths of this township he could not find anyone willing to take him up. Another one of Londesboro's residents is about to pull up stakes and move to the Northwest. This time it is. Mr. Jas. Whenham, who took land there sometime ago. He has many friends hereabout who will miss him. Summer firsts For the past few weeks, I've avoided mentioning the phrases "end of August" and "summer's almost over," because they are synonymous with "September" Which is synonymous with "school" which is a dirty word in the minds' of several teen-age relatives and friends of mine. • N But now that September has settled inevitably over us, I feel I can saf ly reminisce about the summer of 19 9, which brought same "firsts" for me. My first taste of Malriitime life in June was everything I expected and more. The only disa'ppoin'tment was that two weeks was not long enough to •see all the sights, but at least I have the incentive to go back another year. My first experience' in a non- English -speaking situation was not as trying as I had feared. Ordering two *chicken breasts plus one hot chicken sandwich for two people was the only .casualty. My first flat tire happened on a •Country road which wa not too far from hone but was no familiar to nie.• Fortunatelyar I was' near a' f . - tnhouse, and when I asked to use the Mono. one of the residents took pity �ll on a damsel in distress who did well to .know where the spare tire was, let alone how to put it on. He changed the tire and refused payment. Thank goodness a rain storm held off until he was through, In another motoring "first", my car decided that a sputtering two -miles - an -hour was fast enough to get me through the busy main street of a summer town at noon. Thanks to a mechanic, who took time from his lunch break to follow my jerky progress_ _ to a garage, I escaped a towing -charge and was smoothly on my way in less than an hour. • In mid-August, I gained my first experience at judging a Queen of the Fair contest. A few days before the fair, I was asking myself: "Why did I get myself in for this? I don't know what I'm supposed to do." • Then •common sense prevailed: "When the night comes, I'll just ask the other judges for some tips." There were three judges. It was the first time for all of us, and I was back to square One: Fortunately, the master of ceremonies knew what he was doing. n was divided The competition v led l to i and�i a explained the three cote or ins, which a -..on point cyst in 'ay acii c testant sho 1 ''be judged. The rest was up to us, 1 d" the girls didn't make it They were ,seven attractive and articulate young ladies. During a privateconversation with each of them, my natural interest in people sometimes carried me away and I forgot I was supposed to be marking them on poise, conversational ability, etc., etc., instead of just chatting. That was tough! The other judges were the same, and maybe that's why we were ten minutes late. Next came their speeches in front of the audience. Having done some public speaking myself, I ` could sympathize with them. At the end of e each speech, we judges bowed our heads to 'the score sheets, and after the last speech, we added up figures without benefit of a calculator. (That's probably why we ran another ten minutes overtime.) A seven -way tie would have made our job much easier, but it doesn't work that way. We compared notes, and strangely 'enough, we agreed without dissension on Queen of the Fair aivd her runner-up: The enthusiastic response of the audience, when the winders were fthe, them ' it o announced, "s a r toldu o Y 3 people agreed reed with us. That was relief. I' had envisiotied another .firs r..� -. un out ofteenb ana being r b�� g , Y mob. Mr. Ira Deeves, Hensall. Many thanks Dear Editor: I would like to thank everyone who donated to the Red Cross Boat People Fund. If there is anyone else who would like to donate, the money will be accepted at both Clinton banks and the Credit Union until Monday, Sept. 17,. after which the accounts will be closed. After that date, the Canadian Red Cross would be most happy to receive your donations at their london office at 840 Commissioners Rd, E., London, Ontario N5W 5G9. They are always in need of funds to help provide food, clothing and medical supplies wherever it is most needed around the world. Mark the front of your cheque "Boat People -Fund -'or -Tornado relief fund" or whatever, and print your name and address on the back so you will receive.a receipt for your income tax: - With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming along, you might like.to count your blessings and help your neigh- bours both near and far- in this Tangible way. My most sincere thanks to all. Grace Hussey, ' Egmondville reastwwwwWWwwwwwwisuivionvainammennenstinesernavirsalaNk Do you have an opinion? Why not write ,us a letter to the editor, and let everyone know. All tetters are . published, pro id tKtheYcan be authenticated, and 'a'r allowed. Al! letters, however, ar subject to editing for length or ibel. I