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Clinton News-Record, 1979-11-01, Page 4' PM g 4r'-CLINTON NFWS-RECORD, T.W.SPAYL NOVEMBER 1 1979 , , • The cHattat Neere-ttecor,d 11 peallehed each Thursday at P.O. Pox SI, Citetee, 9,Ittarle, Canada. PIQM, 11.0. 1400,1fory °MOHO Werikly Nevispo,P•r ASsatiallott • It I registered as Second class mall try the post office under the permit number 0$17. The Hews -Record incorporated In 1,24 the Huron NeWs•Ilecord, foundod In Mil. and The Clinton Pilaw Era, founded In Itas.. total press run 3,300 Clinton News -Record PCNA 41embecConadla rt. Community Ptewspapror AliScKlation Display advertising rates ayallable on request. Ask for Rate Card No. 10 effective Sept. 1. 1071 General Manager ,J, Howard Aitken Editor James 1. Fitzgorald Advertising Director • Gary L. Hoist News editor -.Shelley McPhee Office Manager • Margaret Gibb Circulation • Freda McLeod , I 0 ABC Subscription Rate: Canada - 95.00 Sr. Citizen. '13.00 par yoal U.S.A. & fo,rolgrr- '30.00 per year Look at ourseives It's no wonder people in the know are concerned about a predicted doctor shortage in Clinton, that is already starting to pinch the town, and could become serious if not soon alleviated. According to a story in last week's News -Record by Shelley McPhee, the problem is already becoming a concern among the community leaders and the doctors themselves, as even now, our practitioners have -heavy Vvorkloads, some of them working up to 70 hours a week. Most of our four doctors are getting older, and three will retire within the next few years, with little likelihood they will be replaced, unless something is done. According to one doctor,. Brian Baker, the problem stems from the appearances that Clinton is dying and has little to offer a young doctor. "Clinton's losing its industries and I see many houses for sale," Dr. Baker says. "We have to get off our back ends and start promoting the town. We're a dying community." And he's right. In the past few years, .Clinton has lost the piano factory, the livestock sales barn, and beencs,eyerly effected by ,the loss of fteginditaries atYanastra, . Except for Flerning's Feed Mill, there hasn't been one new job created in Clinton since Wildex opened their plant in 1971. In fact, we don't even have an industrial corhmittee, and can't even come up with a brochure to tell potential industries and businessmen the advantages of the town. The attitude of municipal of- ficials is one of apathy. One big drawback hurting Clinton's chances at getting new doctors - and the lack of doctors is already sending people to other towns where they also end up doing their shopping - is the lack of a medical centre where doctors could pool their resources. It's just too tough financially to ex- pect a young doctor to set UD a practice in a home, which wouiu in- clude buying a lot of expensive' 'equipment. Although a committee has been working hard at trying to lure new doctors, and is still pursuing the matter, the general public will have to get off their derrieres and cease being apathetic. And that can mean as little as cleaning up your yard, or painting your house or business. After all, what kind of impression can you make to a stranger when all he sees is piles of junk as he drives into town, rundown houses, and empty businesses on main street with weeds growing up between to cracks in the ,sidewalk, while others haven't had a coat of paint in 10 years. Come on Clinton, let's get off our bottoms and do something before it's too late! sugar andspice The Press Gang As he promised, James Lamb had his publishers send me a copy of his just - published book, Press Gang, and I'm glad he did. Laid up with a dose of 'flu, I was able to escape from my personal miseries. into this warm and en- tertaining account of small-town Canadian newspapers and the people who ran them in the post-war era. As well as the, newspaper world, the author has produced a social document of some jrnportance, re-creating small- town Canada (the real Canada, in my opinion) in all its quirkiness, wealth of colorful characters, and basic stability, qualities that seem to be eroding rapidly. It is very much a first -person narrative. We meet the young- Jim Lamb, just out of the Navy, after years on the corvettes, and determined to bedorne a newspaperman. Lamb recapture q the excitement and urgency of that first autumn of 1945 and the years immediately following. Canada had come of age in World War II, and Canadians knew it. Europe was shattered, Britain exhausted. This was the best country in .the world to live in, and all we recently discharged young veterans knew it. There was an almost palpable exhilaration in the air. Right across the country, including Quebec, there was a sense of pride, a feeling of unity, that had never existed •in this country/ before, and has sadly deteriorated:since. Our fighting .hien had proved themselves the ecitial of any, our industry was booming, there was lots of room and opportunity for everyone, and the future was rosy. Well do I remember the feeling. This was before the social revolution, the inflation, the monstrously swollen government, the huge deficits, and the shadow of separatism: the things that have turned us into a nation of security - minded, thaterialistic try -babies, But let me not draw a gloomy picture of "Press Gang". It's a delightful book, one that .will bring a nostalgic glow to • all thde ,,people who lived In small towns across Canada in the Polies and Fifties. net s only.a yOurig reporter in a sti'4iige town t an be, Lamb gradually 4 "Don't complain — we saved :you, didn't we?" remembering our past ' a look through the news -record files 5 YEARS AGO October 24, 1974 The Roman Catholic Parich, com- prising St. Joseph's Church in Clinton and St. Michael's Church in Blyth has a nevv: clergyman in charge. He is Rev. Joseph F. Hardy, 41, who has served in the London Diocese of the Church in the immigration and ecumenical fields as chairman of the Diocesan committees. "Mildess" of the Kittens of the Christian Reform Young People proved pretty powerful in their Powder Puff football encounter with the Middleton Church Angels at the CHSS grOunds. The Clinton based girls lambasted the Goderich Township lassies 18-0 on two touchdowns by Jeannette Kuipers and one by Sophia Hoogendoorn, Three attempts at conversion by Cobie Amsing were unsuccessful. • 10 YEARS AGO October 23, 1969 A family of- eight were made homeless when their Goderich Township farmhouse burned last Saturday evening. The fire levelled the. Roy Pickett's family house on the 14th concession. The house and its contents were uninsured. Afer meeting with Police Chief Lloyd Westlake for three hours in committee - of -the -whole, thetown council an - became absorbed in the atmosphere and social life of the places he worked: Woodstock, Moose Jaw, Orillia. And he recreates this feeling of a. younger, happier Canada, when life was simpler and society less sophisticated on those tree -shaded streets of our towns and small cities. From the .author we also get a good look into the workings and machinations of those small newspapers with their ramshackle old buildings and rickety machinery, where reporters worked for $30 a week, and loved it. It's delightful stuff for anyone who has been in the business.. But perhaps the greatest pleasure in the book is the anecdotes and vignettes of characters, all the way from Lamb's first meeting with tight-fisted Roy Thomson, to become eventually Lord Fleet of London and owner of the biggest newspaper empire in the world, down to the grubbiest paper -carrier, ' baffling the bureaucracy of the newspaper with his complete lack of organization. We meet Harry Boyle, self made Canadian millionaire, who wound up with the Queen of Rumania as his mistress. And C. H. Hale, editor of the Orillia Packet and Times, "a prototype of all the old-line newspapermen across the country who ran newspapers because they had something to say, not because they thought they could get' rich." There were ., quite a few of those around wh'en I was in the business, but there aren't many left. The thundering of the editor has been replaced by the wiles of the advertising manager, in the pursuit of the buck. The result isan almost national blandness on the editorial pages of small -city papers across the country. Don't step on too many toes. James Lamb was one of the good ones, and during the years he was editor in Orillia, Packet and Times editorials were quoted across the country. In the last few chapters of Press Gang, Jim Lamb's tone changes from a nostalgic chuckle to a tone of lament arid even anger for a Canada that has been lost, He sounds off loud and clear for the millions of Canadians who must grit their teeth and suffer in silence the "inanit'es and incomprehensions of a new bred (of journalise', or be labelled , 1 I i 1 "rednecks or "reactionaries by the trendy types who today write the news. He comes out swinging at govern- ment that governs in a vacuum. "It is probably 'fair to say that most recent Canadian legislation runs directly counter to the wishes of the majority of Canadians...In a whole range of issues, from abortion and capital punishment to the metric system and the monar- chy, the attitude of the rulers is at variance with that of the ruled." And a lot more of it. This is vintage Lamb editorializing, and while you might not share all his ‘!ews, it ends the book with strength and sting. nounced that it decided to reverse last year's decision to require the chief to live in town. .. Mayor Don Symons said, "I think that the whole sum and substance of it is that he is capable of doing his job, or at least we feel he is, while living in Bayfield. A team from Central Huron Secon- dary School, competing on the "Reach For The Top" program on CKNX-TV, Wingham defeated Shelburne High School last week. . 25 YEARS AGO October 28, 1954 One of the most intensive searches in the history of the Bayfield district took place Tuesday evening for two-year-old 'George Montgomery, son of Corporal and Mrs. G.E. Montgomery, who moved- into Jowett Grove Cottage 3 on • September 25. „ The child was safely found ofi „the beach -about. one *die from his home, below McAlister's cottage, lying face clown in the sand at approximately 10:30 prn by a. group of men consisting of R,E. Henderson, Ken Brandon, George Bell, John Lindsay and James Boyce. 50 YEARS AGO October 31, 1929 On Sunday evening, while the family were at tea, Mr. H.E. Rorke's car was stolen from his garage. At 6 pm it was in the garage and a few minutes before 7 pm it was discovered that it was gone. The police departments of the various towns about have been notified, but no trace has yet been found of the car. This is the season when.our minds are harried by tales of suffering and loss of life on ihe Great Lakes. Those who do business on our lakes take their lives in their hands during the uncertain weather of October, November and December. There are many old coins in cir- culation, and lying around in drawers that have great value. For example, the Copper Penny, dated 1839, with the Bank of Montreal .on its face is today worth $15. It is not so much the age that counts, it is the scarcity of. particular. coins of certain dates, For a rare coin catalogue sent postpaid for 18c to..A.E. Doherty and Co., 93 Wurtemburg Street, Ottawa. 11 odds n° ends Call me Elaine. Call me anything ; just don't call me late for lunch. That's a common phrase used when someone asks how they should refer to you or when someone addresses you by the wrong name. It's a way to let peopleknow you forgive them for forgetting your name; you've forgotten a few names yourself. I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again. I have problems with my name; in fact, I have problems with both my names. Take my first name, for example. It's pronounced with the long sound "EE" followed by "lane", as in a narrow street or road. A silent "i" is thrown in the middle of the lane just to add confusion. Some Elaynes use a silent "y", which probably achieves the same purpose. Elaine isn't an uncommon name, is it? I've run across a few of them in my Por some strange reason, I'm called a variety of names by a variety of people. The most popular is Eileen, but I'm also referred to as Aileen, Ellen, Helen, Lucy, Shrimp and Squirt. (Vie last tkvo I don't eveh dignify by raising my head.) Behind my back, 't•n probably 75 YEARS AGO, October 27, 1904 Two loads of the Model students visited the Goderich Modelites on Friday evening last and spent a few enjoyable hours. At midnight they began the journey homeward which they made in a rather roundabout way' so did not reach Clinton until five o'clock the next morning. On future trips of this kind they will make sure on leaving Goderich that they are on the Huron Road, not the Lake Shore Raod leading to Bayfield. A number from Hullett Township, who had been in the West this fall, are expected home this week, in time for the election. Miss Flossie Harrison from Goderich Township is suffering from a severe sore throat. Just Out - 'Sherlock Holmes' - a new card game. Sherlock HolMes is the,v,ery latest in card 'games. Thp price is dog,. Also all the other popular games, in- cluding the new games of `Trix,' Pit and Flinch are 50c each at W. Cooper and Co. 100 YEARS AGO October 30, 1879 A certain farmer on the 3rd con- cession of Stanley paid no less than 23 visits to Clinton, on business, inside of two weeks. In the G.T. freight shed is a con- signment of picture frames to a person here, which looks large enough to supply the whole country with all the frames it would require for the next 10 years. The way the mail from the east has been arriving during the past two weeks is simply outrageous. Nearly every day it has been five o'clock, and occasionally later, before it is distributed, very much to the in- convenience of the business com- munity. As it arrived at Sti-atford at 11:30 am, there is no justifiable reason for its delay. Lottery tickets have been sent to several parties in the neighborhood, from the States, for disposal. We would caution our readers against purchasing the same, if offered for sale, as lot- teries, are not only illegal, but are a complete swindle, and anyone investing anything in them, may consider it worse than thrownaway. by elaine townshend called.names I'd rather not hear. Many people call me Eileen; I don't mind; I like the name, but I got into an embarrassing situation because of it. I was called Eileen so often, that I fell into the habit of answering to Eileen almost as quickly as I an, swered to Elaine:. One night the phone rang; a man asked for Eileen; without thinking, I said, "This is she." Too late I realized he really did want Eileen. It was extremely difficult to explain that not only was I not the Eileen he wanted but I wasn't Eileen at all. Why 'did I say I was, when I wasn't? never do that again! Now let's look at my last name - Townshend. I understand why peciple omit the silent "h"; I insist the.put it in, but I understand why they forget it. Sometimes people forget other letters, such as the w, s or an n. I've received mail addressed to Elaine Towshed, Eileen Tonsend, Aileen Towsent and Elaine Townthead. . The labels Miss and Ms add to the s/ariety. Once I received a letter addressed to Mrs. Elaine Townshend. That really shook me! The people at the Pot Office are extremely tolerant. They've 'become familiar with most of the variations; if it looks close enough to my name, they throw it in my box, Only nee have I been asked, "Do you SupPose this is for you?" "Your guess is as' good as mine," was. my reply. My middle name, by the way, is Marie, which seldom causes any problems. If you say my initials quickly; though, EMT sounds like empty. Some 'people are named after their parents' favorite movie stars, sports' heroes, political figures or behaved relatives or close friends. When I asked my parents what prompted them to call me Elaine Marie, they were stumped. "Oh, I guess we thought it sounded nice together." Little did they know people would find many variations for the simple name. Oh well, variety is the spice of life. It's confusing at times but I don't mind. ',IIMONNOOMIN would presume mach of the needed funds are available through grants and if, delayed any longer, will cer, tainly be used in some other area which might not be in Huron County. We have a good start in Tucker - smith Township with the only heated pool in the county. Why licit be builders together and show the handicapped we really care by at- tending the ratepayers' meeting on Monday, November 12 at 8,p.m. at the Vanastra Recreation Ha I. Sighed Rath! en WhitrnOre Tuckersmith • the readers emaate.aaromalmot_ No addition Dear Editor: There has been a lot Of talk abOut the Vanastra Recreation Complex addition. A small survey baS in- dicated to Council that t4e tax payers are against this addition. A petition signed by over 100. people was presented to council, asking that they go to the tax payers by means of a vote. The council has decided that on November 12, there will be a ratepayers' meeting. If you are against this project and don't want it on your taxes, then it is time to get up and fight. From the indiction presented to one council member, you want him to fight it alone. This cannot be done. It is one thing to sign a petition and another to back it up. To be fair to your council and council members, every one who is against this iSs,ne should be at the next council meeting November 6. Support the people working for you. If you sit on your butt and allow something tobe pushed down your throat that you don't want, you can cry all you want after but no one is going to wipe the tears. Ask yourself: How many tax dollars have we already paid that you are unaware of? And do you want to continue paying? It's up to you. Let's have some support. Don't miss the rate payers meeting November 12, at Vanastra Rec. Hall. If you support the addition, come, out and fight for it. Lloyd Eisler, Egmondville Need 'addition Dear Editor: I have been concerned recently about the negative attitudes of a few ratepayers of Tuckersmith Township regarding the new addition of the Recreation Complex at Vanastra, as appeared in our local newspapers. It is always most unfortunate when a new project pertaining to the handicapped is rejected by a few people who 1. am sure don't fully understand the circumstances. Possibly having worked as a Board Member and -a volunteer with han- dicapped persons, my experience would be of some value to your readers. I would like to suggest to those in opposition to this addition to consider themselves in a wheelchair at Vanastra Recreation Centre or any public building in need of using the washrooms only to find when you iee a Ch the door you and your wheelchair can get no further - consider the frustration - or suppose you are a gentleman in a wheelchair wanting to exercise in the pool (the only access to the pool in a wheelchair is through the ladies' changeroom) - so while the ladies hide you are. rushed quickly through this area. You would feel embarrassed wouldn't you? As a volunteer I have seen this happen. These conditions wouldn't be tolerated by other members of our society and shouldn't have to be tolerated by the handicapped for in the sight of God all people are equal. It also upsets me to think there are people in Tuckersmith who put the almighty dollar ahead of the needs of people, although I realize possibly this is , due to the lack of un- derstanding. I am sure this recreation addition has been well researched by the Tuckersmith Council, whom we elected with confidence to run the affairs of the township so why in the' name of "common sense" don't we let them go ahead with what they feel is best. The complex at Vanastra has served its purpose well, but like any growing business at the present time isn't large enough to accommodate all the present needs - any good business person, knows you can't stand still in business, you either go forward or backwards. I feel sure if properly handled, this addition could be funded without going to the taxpayers of Tuckersmith through taxes. At the present time priority grants from the Province of Ontario are for the elderly and the handicapped because the government realizes that the most economical way to help these groups of people is to furnish facilities for them to help themselves rather than institutions which are extremely costly. Because the needs of the han- dicapped are shared in areas rather than small comMunities, I don't see fund raising as a great problem, providing the opportunity hasn't been destroyed by the comments (by a very few Tuckersmith residents) which recently appeared in our local papers. Did you know that the most com- mon form of handicap is "aging" which none of us escape. It could well be the ones that oppose the addition to the Recreption.Centre at Vanastra the most, might be the ones who need it first. In conclusion, may I say I see no reason in taking a vote as suggested. Votes are always costly, achieve little and are time consuming. The need for the added facilities is here. Two hundred aid fifty persons takin the Special Needs Program duringthe past months Icertainly indicated this. I A 1 1'