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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-04-10, Page 44--CLZNT►N ,.WS-RECORI,• V AY., APRIL Jot, I960 wn the tiew41tecord Ji pobPll+hes! ech ' It .pz re lsteres1 au secand c)g}s. moll by 169, tbarsdey et A►.Qb SOY 00. Clinton. Qnterlp1 past Pills, under tht, permit Bumbler 0011. C1004140. NKt+h411.9, The Newts•*ecor4 inc0'P4rgts d In 1024 the, Ntnrren New!s•ttecard, fpon,Spd IrklMt. and The Cllptgn $9wf 4rg tegtated in 14►5. totalpress run 3,3110, istsistitssis.OptsitlaWitokix P•«sssesp tr sissosI«tispi .Memwir 4anadlan CoMmunity fiew*pap r Asagsltltion Pispta.X astvertisIng �4tes available on request. Ask for Acte Curd No. 10 effective Sept, • 1. 1170 General Manager - J. Howard Aitken Editor. James E. Fit;gorald' Advertising Director . Gary 1.. Heist News editor . Shelley McPhee. Office Manager • Margaret Glbb Circulation • Freda Mckeod~- Subscription state; Canada -'15.00. Sr. Citizen . -1 00 par year U.S.A. 4, far4IQn •'30.00 per year Pay up. 'dear Editor: Since f last wrote to the paper abeut the deg tag increase, . I have pur- chased my dog tag. -7 Before I did this, it was brought to my attention that other residents only had to pay the old price for the tag, simply because they had, been for- tunate enough to apply for their tags before the council decided to raise the price andpass the bylaw. I approached 'Countillor Parr concerning this further inequity and asked him to -bring ,my concern to • council, which he did. However, the answer brought back to me by Councillor Parr from council was "Tough! Seamus will just have to live with it". "Living With something I can do quite easily, providing everyone She's'still withvs She's been part of Clinton's history for the past 100 years and town council has taken the first steps to assuring that she will remain with us for at least a few years to come. She was a grand lady in her prime, but years of neglect and apathy have taken their toll on her. She's been good to the town over • the years despite all the -use she's had and the little cost and care she's been given. Naturally her face is cracked, her foundation is shifting and her insides are falling in ruin for over the years, town councils have given little thought to the large town hall that was build by Clinton's forefathers to show the pride and hope thay had in this community. It seems that this council has revived some of the pride for Clinton's past and its future by finally deciding to repair and restore the town hall. The - final decision did not come easy. Councils -have been debating the future of our town hall for the past eight years. Precious years, in which something other thaw' un- compromising talks should have taken place. Despite narrow minded opinions, this town hall can have an attractive and useful future. With patience, time and work, she can -be restored and renovated into the fine piece of ar- chitecture -she once was. Council has taken the e first positive step in this direction by approving a project to- make-thr building struc- turally sound.uture approval to renovate the inside of the building could utilize rooms and space that have fallen into disrepair and misuse. However, some councillors feel that the building isn't large enough to house municipal offices. They think that to accommodate future growth in the town a larger municipal building must be constructed, Do they intend to build a bigger town hall on the present site? Only if a- new municipal building is made ,a story higher can a larger one be build, Unless of course the library park and cenotaph are taken away to make more floor space for larger offices which no one can determine may be really needed. And how big do they thinly Clinton will get? It hasn't grown much in the last 50 years. There is over 8,300 square feet of floor space in the existing town hall. Only the first -floor, 4,500 square feet is O used and an additional 3,880 square feet lies abandoned in the upper floor. Wouldn't-- it be a logical move to renovate -this upper floor so at least some, or all if necessary, could be used for .Municipal offices and safe storage of town records. - Consideration should also be given to the first floor. Perhaps space could be better utilized here -Is a council chamber, court and meeting room of that size needed? Is the small meeting room in the front of the building well used and to what extend is' the recently renovated room behind the clerk's office used? Council has ,not discussed these questions or possibilities. The architectshave attempted to give them some guidance and suggestions, but perhaps - council needs more help, People who show any pride and interest in this town and its buildings should tell the town's decision makers how they feel. After - all the town hall is everybody's building, not just council'.s. -by S.M. - APO VPIAT ME You G0,, '0 0$ ,f .4f YE.tea0a5 ,kt You Rages Zlr 4Pe "Quick — which n'Ui' is Swecden "„ know this is not so. I would- feel that when a bylaw is being,—considered, that equal con- sideration sh& ld be given, as to the time of implementation so that this law will be fair to all citizens. Word has it that summons will be issued to those who have not yet purchased their dog tag. Shouldn't it be noted that these fines are being levied on citizens who in the past have conscientiously paid a dog tag, but as I stated in my previous letter of ob- jection, not on those who are really • causing the problems, those who never have and never will purchase a tag. It's very easy fgr the so-called "Bylaw Enforcement Officer" in this .case, Chief Westlake, to run down an existing list, and make it look like the bylaw- is being enforced. But since the chief, from all reports wants the job of enforcing the bylaws and proposed stronger measures on this one, which called for action from council ending, in the enormous increase, then - why does he not begin by checking on all dog owners • and asking them to produce the tag receipt just as he would when checking a motorist and asking for his licence and ownership. Producing figures on fines collected from pensioners or other dog lovers 'who overlooked or could not afford the increase does not mean that the bylaw has been effective in dog control. As an honest citizen of Clinton, I feel =that I• have been cheated by our council and that by enforcing this bylaw under different standards without thought of fairness of the law to ail citizens,,,they have put their hands into my pocket and taken an extra $6 in tax for their coffers. Seamus Doherty Clinton remembering a look through our past - thenews-record files 5.YEARS AGO Apr1110, 1975 Despite the foot of snow on the ground outside, the water inside the Vanastra covered pool was beautiful last Monday as the first classes of the public school children took lessons. The pool was of- ficially opened last Saturday and -Tuckersmith Reeve Elgin Thompson christened the pool with an unofficial dunking, suit and all. A freak.,April snowstorm, described as the worest . April storm " in " 53 years, slammed into the area last week, catching most people off guard and dumping bet- ween 12 and 18 inches of snow on the area. High winds on Thursday and Friday whipped snow` into JO -foot drifts in some places, closing roads and keeping students out of school for two days: In the middle of the blizzard Thursday. morning, a thunderstorm moved through the area', but only one-eighth of an, inch of freezing rain fell. 10 YEARS AGO April 9, 1970 Charles "Chuck" Fee;*who served four years as station agent for the CNR in Clinton, has become owner of Herb's Food Market on Albert Street. Mr. Fee bought the store from Herb Bridle iho ran the business for 14 years. We could have shown you lots of pictures of last week's snow storm, but in the in- terestof humanity we decided not to. A coroner's jury in Seaforth has recommended that trains be.equipped with revolving flashing light and more The Canadian nightmare My heart goes out to all the young people who have been saving to buy a home. At today's interest rates, they haveabout as much chance to achieve their ambition as I have of being chosen Best Dressed Man of the Year. Let's take a typical example, and reflect on the grim picture a couple with young children face when -they want a home of their own, with a bit of lawn, a little garden, some room for their kids to explore and set some roots. By dint of cutting every corner, pinching every portion. Dick and Jane', -who have two kids called Jick and Dane, have amassed a total of $5,000 over their 'five years of wedded. bliss. They've been able to do this only by eating cheap food, eschewing all luxuries, such as drinks, steaks, movies. They have taken moonlight jobs on their holidays to make a few extra bucks, And, of course, they have both been working, sending the kids to daycare, for which they have to pay. Their only _ concession to en- tertainment has been a black and white TV, an old car in which they ° occasionally venture forth for a picnic, and extremely careful sex. Mind you, they're not suffering. They're getting enough to eat, unlike those "poor little starving children in China" of whom my mother reminded - me every time I clamped my lips tight and refused to eat lumpy oatmeal. (I wonder what happened to those poor little starving kids in China anyway. Every time I see some little Chinese kids on TV, they look remarkably well-nourished. I think they've all moved to Biafra or Danglabesh or South America). At any rate, this is no horror story about a young Canadian couple who can afford a twenty-four of beer only on Saturday nights. Their kids are healthy, and reasonably well dressed, thanks to ?.eliars and Woolworths and other philanthropical Canadian companies who 1uy cheap but sturdy , rags in Hong Kong and Taiwan. But I still feel, sorry for Dick and Jane. They had a dream, the old Canadian dream of owning your own. - house and a bit of land, and it's tur- ning into a nightmare. They don't want to be up there with the Vanderbilts. They'd settle for a very modest home, around $40,000 if there is still a detached house in the country for this price. Dick would work on improvements and Jane would make it warm and lively with her unerring sense of taste. So they decide to take the plunge. With their hard -saved cheque for $5,000 clutched in one of their hopeful hands, they go to the, bank or a trust company to borrow the rest. No p -,rem, .as the ads said a few years ago. Then comes the crunch. The bank manager, or the realtor, or the trust company bird, welcorhes them with the warmth of an undertaker, and fiddles with his pencil, and mutters about the Canadian dollar and in- terest rates, and_finally gives them a figure, For the $35,000 they still need at 15 percent a.year, their — uh — interest. would be $5,250.00, just $250.00 more than they walked in with. To say that Dick and Jane are stunned . would be like saying that Pierre 'Trude'au is humble. With both their jobs, they gross $22,000. After the Revenue Depart- ment is through with them, they'll be lucky to have $18,000. More like $16,000. But that's still quite a bit, isn't it? Take off another $4,000 just to eat and keep clean and maintain the old rusty car. Take off a few hundred for telephone and hydro and medicare, and all other -deductions from their pay checks, and it's another $1,000 they haven`t laid hands on. We're down to $11,000. Of course, if they have a house, they won't have to pay rent. That will save about $3,600 each year, if they happen to be living•in a slum. But that $3,600 will be gobbled up by taxes, fuel and all the other things, that houses gobble. Then there's that $5,250.00 z year interest on the mortgages. They ate left with around $5,000 a year to pay for clothes, toothpaste, repairs to everything, dental bills and all, the other flack OTrriodern living. And they still haven't bought a washer and dryer, a stove and refrigerator and color TV, or a second car, all the absolute necessities for a proud house -owner. Poor devils. They might just make it, if they were prepared to eat porridge and spaghetti for the next twenty years, never take a holiday, stayed healthy and each got an extra job. They could always send Jick out babysitting and Turn topage 7 • prominent whistle in rural areas -at the inquest into the death of Charles Edward Stiver, 45, of RR 4, Seaforth. The inquest probed the death of Mr. Stiver, who died in a car -train collision, 11/4 miles west of Seaforth on February 23. An oil painting of the Little Inn was presented to the Bayfield Library on Monday in memory of the late Ruth' Hayman Elliott. The • third annual camping and sport 'show will be held Saturday and Sunday at CPB Clinton. The show is sponsored by the Trail Spinners Camping Club. ' 25 YEARS AGO April 14, 1955 - Ronald Steepe has been chosen as Clinton District Collegiate Institute's representative on the Student Leader's Club. Mrs. Reg Francis of Bayfield en- tertained 11 children on Thursday af- ternoon, April 7 in honor of her daughter, Marion's fourth birthday. After exciting games, the little folk went over to Gran dr a„ Francis' home to watch birthday pictures on TV from London arid Marion's picture appeared on the screen. The menfolk took charge of Family Night held last Wednesday evening by the Tuckersrhith Ladies' Club in SS 4, schoolhouse. Ernest Crich presided and. Howard Johns was the pianist. Clinton council gave permission for licences to Wes Holland and G.R. McEwan (stationary) to sell tobaccos in their places of business. 50 YEARS AGO April 16, 1930 _Monday's snow storm is surely the last. Now for preparations for the garden. The Boy Scouts have been busy lately manµ.ifacturing bird houses, a very timely occupation, as all will admit, and they are offering them for sale. On -Thursday Iast the 25th Annual Spring Show was put on in Clinton by the Central Huron Agricultural Ass ociation and it was a good show. As fine' a collection of animals as one would wish to see were gathered together and a very large crowd of visitorksame in from all quarters to see them. - The directors of the Holmesville Cheese and Butter Co. have secured the services of Mr. Mortleck as cheesemaker for the coming5summer. Mr. Mortleck comes with a good'r'ecommend as having taken 100 per cent. It is expected that the factory will soon be going full swing, as butter prices are low and there is a lot more milk coming in now than this time last year. Surely the men who many years ago laid the plans for the beautiful little village of Bayfield had a vision that some day it would be a summer resort worthy of notice. In order to have , those dreams of Bayfield's future materialize we must have co-operation. Unless you stand close by with your support of the business in- terests'of your' community your pride is not sin cere. We are sometimes asked for donations for our different societies. Just now donations are being solicited for a fund to help make preparation for the 12th of July celebration. We would suggest that a liberal donation be made to all societies from transient storekeepers and hucksters. -A Bayfield Admirer. 75 YEARS AGO April 13, 1905 The argument on the Summerhill school -case, which was to have taken peace on Monday, was adjourned for one week tea-- suit the convenience • of one of the barristers who had an engagement elsewhere on that .date. - On Monday afternoon as Mr, John F. Dale --was driving on Ontario Street op- posite the Molson's Bank, his horse fell and was dead almost before Dr. Dale could get out of the buggy. It was worth about $100. Mr. C.H. Carter last week handed a circular to every • householder calling attention to the annual April ,cleaning of back yards. He will call around next week to see how the work has progressed. A meeting will be held in the council chamber next Tuesday afternoon for the purpose of organizing a Clinton branch on the West Huron Women's Institute. 100 YEARS AGO ,is. April 8, 1880 - - It would not be Canadian weather if .it, were otherwise. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the sultry. atmosphere was tempered '• by heavy rains; on Tuesday morning an inch of snow covered the ground. Mr. Twitchell wishes to say that if the party who owns the dog that jumped through the window of his shop -about a month ago, will call upon him he will reward him for his trouble. Sometime since we called attention of the necessity of having a letter box in connection with the Post Office in Holmesville. No 'steps, however, have been takep so far as we are aware of, and Mr. John Lashman has rented his farm of 100 acres near Londesboro, for a term of years, getting $450 the first and $400 for subsequent years. 0 A patriotic boost "Nice day,- eh?" "You're working hard, eh?" "See you at the meeting ,next week, eh?" Tacking 'eh' on the end of sentences °has always been one of my speech habits. I often.asked myself why. 'Eh' doesn't add to the sentence; it doesn't mean anything; and it doesn't sound very intelligent. I looked in the dictionary and was surprised to find it does have a meaning. `Eh' is 'an expression oil inquiry or surprise or an expression inviting assent. Recently I heard that 'eh' is a Canadian colloquialism. Our southern neighbours and even our English cousirns. claim they can always tell a Canadian tourist by his 'eh' as well as his pronunciation of 'oot' and"aboot' instead of 'out' and 'about.' They actually think we talk funny. Some nerve, eh? " I feel better knowing my 'eh' is not peculiar to me, but is a sign of. my Canadianism, although ' there are, many other traits of this nation I hope the world recognizes. Canada has always had an identity crisis, it seems, some of it due to our own apathy. When I was in school, for exaamnple, Canadian history seemed boring and 1' could recite as much American history as our own history. We look to the south for en- tertainment, often ignoring home grown talent until a 'star' emerges in the States; then we exclaim, 'Hey, he's from Canada!" Prospects for Canadian en- tertainers are slowly improving at home, but we're still highly in- fluenced by American TV, music and song. I often find myself watching a U.S. television show on a U.S. station; I could turn to a Canadian station, but I'd likely find the same program. Hockey, Canada's game at one time, became North America's game when big bucks took it to southern cities that didn't even know what a puck was. The point was made clear in the 80 Olympics when the Russian team was upset not by an upstart Canadian team, but by a young American team. For the most part, Canada seems to be a quiet unassuming country that tends to her own affairs and is made up 4f people who don't recognize the nation's potential. Patriotism is often rnet with apathy. We'll stand at attention for the national anthem at a hockey game, ball game or some other function, as long as our hot dog isn't getting cold. If,.we.show little pride in our own nation, how can we expect to gain respect from other nations? A few things happened;in the past year to put Canada in the limelight and to shake Canadians .out of our apathy. The most startling, of -course, was the 'Canadian Caper' in which Canadian Ambassador to Iran, Kenneth Taylor, and his staff helped six American diplomats to escape from Iran in January. Although only a few Canadians can take credit for the plan, all of us have enjoyed the warmth of the gratitude that has flowed from - the United States. Americans have said 'Thank You, Canada' in a hundred different ways. Singer Anne Murray, one of the few Canadian performers who was a hit in Canada before- she conquered the U.S., recalled appearing at a Las Vegas nip} ' e.lub shortly after the incident. In the middle of her act, she mentioned she was from Canada; someone in the audience .shouted `Thant. you, , Canada' and a five- minute standing ovation followed. At the winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the Canadian athletes got a standing ovation when they appeared in the opening ceremonies: Canadians ' and Americans have been friendly neighbours' for. a long, time, but we're not accustomed to this, much attention. The limelight will shift; the applause will _cease; people will forget, but maybe Canadians 'will retain an extra spark of self-esteem, eh? Bylaws not fair Dear Editor: We on the 8 and 9th concession of Hullett Twp., which is situated about midway between Blyth and Clinton have been served`by the Clinton and Blyth telephone exchanges for 70 years. At the present time, there are 18 on the Blyth and 10 of us on the Clinton exchange. About two months ago, we on the Clinton exchange received a leiter from Bell saying that they were changing us over to the Blyth area. To us this was just like a bombshell and as humiliating as - putting an eight grade student back to - the first. Because of this, we met with Mr. Croome, the Bell .area manager and he told us they had to put in a new cable to update the Blyth system and that we had to go on it. However, he did say that if we could ,get 100 percent of the 17 willing to go on the Clinton exchange; we had a chance of keeping our present phones. We knew this was almost im- possible, but we worked hard and did our best and we are very thankful to the 14 who could see the benefits and were willing.to help jus. Bell rejected this, as I'm sure our demise was well planned before we heard from them. You can call this what you like, but it shows the individual doesn'tcount. The only good thing we can say for Bell is they have given us plenty of time to get our affairs all settled before the execution takes place in December 1980: Our last words will be the same as St. Paul: "We have fought a good fight, we have finished the course, we have kept faith," 'but there will be no crown awaiting us from Bell, all we will get is pay up! pay up! and play the game. Grant G. Snell on behalf of the 10 victims of the Bell Purge Horrifying law Dear Editor: The following letter was received by me from the provincial board of the' Knights of Columbus. It does not just apply to members of the Knights of Columbus and their families, it will have a very serious effect on all our families and the future of society. Please read this carefully and then write or contact the representatives of the Government of Ontario whose names are listed at the end of the letter. This act will be brought before the Ontario Legislature Within the next few weeks. Turn to page 7 . 1