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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-07-31, Page 4BAQ W� TTON N ` W CORD, TN.QR$ ttiot.ot d, 1MdFitiated •aCit �dalr sit P.O. POP 31. Onto*, Ontario rdM, NOM Ili. M+nth.r. 00terto Weekly Wiwesservf AY* UL' x1.1880 It is registered ala 11400004, a11144 Man ky the post- Mfk. 4n!d• thN f milt rumhor 0017, 1 Fwk Npws•Picg rdtocorpo rated; .1n Ito the Hw'on Nowlt-RprOprd. fognd.d in,10411. and lthe Ciinto,+t New Ora. founded; in VMS. Total press . F11rli 3.3.41, Clinton News -Record Mantibr Canadian Contatu ity $.wapaper Association ' blsplay advertising m004 available on. request. Ask for Rate Card Ho, ,10 effective Sept. 1.1170: General Managar..1. Howard Aitken Editor .,lames R. Fitzgerald Advertising Director - Glary 4. Hoist News editor - Sheila), McPhee Office Manager. • Margaret Gibb Circulation .Freda McLeod I0 ABC C 0 0 0 Subscription Rate; Canada - •15,00 Sr. CIfi*Un.`13,00 per year U.S.A. & foreign . X50.00 per year write letters It really isn't fair at all to the people of Vanastra to ask them to pay for the debenture on the Vanastra Recreation Centre. And thesesidents don't think so either. The people at the former armed forces base, south of. Clinton, are fighting a move by• Tuckersmith Township council to make only the • residents of Vanastra pay for a debenture taken out six years ago to set up recreation facilities for the small, but growing community. Vanastra people at the time agreed to the modest proposal which included a small hall, an outdoor swimming pool, and a small skating rink in the curling building. The size of the facilities and the price were ideal at the tine for the new community. Butl \.in the intervening years, the facilit has muskroomed into a major recreation spot for the county, with a covered pool, saunas, fitness rooms, a covered pool, a day care centre, but no skating rink. Vanastra residents still have to pay the capital costs of the project, and on top of that, have to pay.to use the facilities the same as everyone else. And many times can't even get touse them. The facility is now used by people from across the county, and is a major project involving many communities. As such, the cost. of building the centre, and thge operating costs should be shared- not only by all Tuckersmith residents,'but by the whole county. Tuckersmith council should ap- proach county council and work out with them a fair way of financing the cent, . Vanastra residents alone sh ul not be burdened with the whole los By J.F.) Terry Fox needs you Few endeavours have stirred as much interest and public support as the courageous, exploits of Terry Fox who is running across Canada on one leg and an artificial limb, says. the Exeter Times -Advance. Fox lost his leg to cancer and is now half way to his goal of completing the 5,200 mile run and to raise money for• cancer research. Everywhere he goes, Fox generates spontaneous donations from the thousands who see his pain -streaked Oh, Canada! face and get a personal insight into the •demanding challenge he has set for himself. But it is also a challenge for others. It is a challenge to provide the necessary funding to beat the dread disease which has robbed Fox of his leg and shortened millions of lives. It is a challenge to everyone to not allow adversity to undermine deter- mination. Terry Fox has no doubts that he will accomplish his goals, but he can't do it alone. He needs you! MY WIFE5 VERY PuNcAUI-- PAYs EYf&MING 4N TIME While the rest of you were winging around the country, smashing up and down the highways, belting about in a boat, or whining because you hadn't got the Monday off instead of the Tuesday, I, like a good citizen, stayed home and had sober thoughts on Dominion Day, Canada Day, or the Firsta July, as we called it when I was a kid. I evenput them down on paper. It's difficult to write something succinct, sincere, and sentimental when you have a lump in your eyes and tears in your throat. But I tried. Like most moribund Canadians, I didn't run into the- back yard and tun the whatever -it -is up the flagpole. We don't have a flagpole. The nearest we come is a cedar post that holds one - -end--of the clothes -line, the other -end of which is attached to a cedar tree. Nor did I set off any fireworks. We have those practically every day around our house, and they don't cost a penny. What I did was slump before the slob machine and listen to a flood of flatulence from a posse of politicians who doggedly dragged out every old chestnut that had already been opened and exposed as wormy. Not only hope but anticipation of the future. My anticipations are a huge heating bill, higher taxes and worse arthritis, Our immense size. The Incredible Hulk? Our vast riches. Mostly owned by foreign companies. Our confidence in the future. Of the Canadian dollar? Our unity in diversity. Albertans letting us freeze and Quebecois letting us do it in the dark? And so on and on and on. It was so moving that '1 had to go to the bathroom. Especially when the CBC types involved in reporting the whole dumb job kept telling us that it was just peachy -dandy that we now had an official national anthem, 0 Canada. When I heard this, I felt a real surge of something. I can't describe it in a family journal. What do they think the organ has been playing at hockey games for years, while thew players slouched around at the blue line, scratched their jocks, chewed gum, artd looked bored. What do they think the kids in my classroom have done every morning for the past few years, just before the principal's annbunceirnents that we beat Hayfork Centre yesterdav in basketball, and that the Christian- Moslexn Fellowship Group is meeting at 4:05 beneath any cars left in the parking lot, and then' says', "Please rise for our national anthem."? I'll tell you what happens. A doleful dirge which even the kids know is 0 Canada comes over the P.A. system. We all respond. I stand like a guardsman, chin in, chest out, 'ollow back, thumbs aligned with the seams of my trousers. Encouraged by my stance, the kids also eagerly respond to the stirring tune and inspired lyrics that fill them with pride, hope, confidence and such. One knocks her entire inath set to the floor, stoops to pick it up, and is aided by classmates who kick calculator, set, squares and compass in all directions. Another, lost in a world of his own, sits silently until the 4th bar, then leaps to his feet and begins to disco. A third rises with the speed of an anaconda emerging from a deep freeze, leans on the window -sill and watches the dog across the street doing his business. A fourth is back down at her desk and scratching obscenities on it before we hit the second, "We stand on guard..." For at ieast,a decade, our Olympic athletes have stood, hand on heart, listening to what they thought was our national anthem. Tears have flowed freely over that . repetitive song, written about a hundred years ago by a couple of guys nobody ever heard of, but who weren't Rodgers and Hammerstein. Now, by an act of. parliament, to which all parties agreed, because it didn't involve the building of a new post office, the paving of some high- ways, the funding . of some losing industry, or the cutting down of some trees to make a new national parking lot, we have an Official National Anthem. It figures. We don't move too fast in Canada, but we move. It took us only 100 years to beget a national flag. It is a maple leaf, a piece of foliage remarkable by its absence in about 95 per cent of the country. Our national emblem is'the beaver, a large rat which specializes in cut- ting downtrees, building dams which flood farmers' fields, and doing. nothing whatever for anybody except other beavers. Don't get me wrong. I'm not being cynical. I think the beaver is a fine animal, if you like fat rats. Some of my best friends are beavers. 1 love our flag, too. Every time I see eto4 ex.f.f.„ "Why should the government have all the fun of being fiscally irresponsible?" 5 Y ARS AGO J It 31, 1975 The Clinton entennial Celebrations were _officially _o ened last Saturday af- ternoon when two former Clinton mayors cut a ribbon during ceremonies marking the return of over 500 men and women who were stationed at the Base. Senior Queen Connie Colclough, former mayors Bert Stanley and Ken Waters along with MC Spence Cummings and Junior Queen Joanne Palmer took part in the cutting. Former Commanding Officer Keith Greenway addressed the crowds on behalf of the former Air Force personnel. Fire last Monday night destroyed a Hullett Township landmark on the farm of Piet Reinsma on Highway 4, about a mile north of Clinton. 10 YEARS AGO July 30, 1970 Approval of a loan for the building of a senior citizens' apartment in Clinton was announced last week by Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation in Ottawa. The loan which will assist Ontario Housing Authority to construct the 18 -unit, dispensed 'by bill smiley a Canadian flag that has been out in the wbather for a week,- something, sweeps through me — like a desire to mop up the kitchen counter. And I love that song. 1 must admit I had a certain leaning toward the other old one the Maypull Lee, that we all learned in public school. The second line goes: "Fouremblumdeer." But it's long gone, and I doubt if there are many Canadians who would remember, or dare, to sing, "Wolfe, the dauntless hero came..." What the heck. We can always depend on our money. I just checked my.wallet. Sure enough there was the Queen, looking not a day over. twenty. But what's this? Horrors? On a ten dollar bill was John A., looking _as though he'd never had anything but a Canada Dry in his life. Even worse, on a fiver, was Sir Wilfrid Laurier, looking like Pierre Trudeau without been through Margaret. And the whole wallet would have bought me a b-ox_.of--strawberries, a quart of rye, and a gallon of maple syrup. Oh, Canada! two storey building at James and Maria Streets. The theme song should have been "The Bells Are Ringing in Clan Gregor Square" when over 300 people attended the Bell Reunion in Bayfield on July. 25. A brief ceremony on Friday ushered in a new commanding officer at Canadian Forces Base Clinton in the person of Major• F.A. Golding:. Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Duggan of Main Street, Bayfield celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary ,on July 20 when friends and neighbors called to offer congratulations. 25 YEARS AGO August 4, 1955 As the situation now stands, no one will be able to open a garage in Clinton for the , selling of gasoline other than those now in -operation. There are 16 garages engaged in the sale of this product within the town limits. Two other buildings equipped with pumps and storage tanks, are presently unoccupied` by anyone interested in the sale of gasoline. One of them houses the town machinery and supplies. For the first time in Clinton's recent history there are two stores vacant in the main business district.' This leaves to good opportunities for businesses in Clinton, one of the most progressive. towns in Western Ontario. Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy Poth, accompanied by Miss Thorne Spear, took a motor trip on Thursday last to see what the shore op- posite Bayfield was like; Haying -sten -the lights over the lake for years, but more often this year, the Poths' curiousity was whetted. The Bannockburn Band of Clinton and Varna has had a very busy schedule throughout the past few days. They have been taking part in many of the parades which make tip the celebration •of the Seaforth Centennial. 50 YEARS AGO • July 31, 1930 There were a lot of rumors circulated during the election campaign, most of them foolish. One was that the local creamery _ had been importing New Zealand butter to supply their trade. The local plant sometimes has to buy butter from outside but so far has been able to - supply the demand by Canadian butter and has had little but its own make for some time, so the local man>i.ge'i' informs us. Two motor accidents occurred on Sunday in Brucefield, one of the drivers did not heed the stop sign so collided with a car which was driving on the' pavement. Both cars were injured but no one hurt. Tl -e- other occurred one.melee -south- of Brucefield where a man from London had his leg broken. Italy had an earthquake last week and To top it off A few weeks ago I wrote a column about hats, primarily how hats dominated women's fashion years ago, how they reached near oblivion in the 1960s, and how they're enjoying a current resurgence in popularity. When I read the column in print, I said to myself, "'Hey, you didn't mention a thing about men's hats!" I assure you it was an unintentional slip. Perhaps it happened because most of the men I know fi'aVen't worn hats since their mothers' last futile scream, "Pull that hat down over your ears!" Some men will insist they wear hats not according to the dictates of fashion but according to the dictates of practicality: for example, cold weather calls for a hat. Upon reflection, men's hats have held a certain amount of significance through the years. Sometimes we can tell a man's occupation, hobby or homeland just by glancing at his hat. The mention of a certain type of hat is many casualties. Canada hasfew ear- thquakes, she satisfies her thirst for thrills by turning out a government once in a while and did so emphatically on Monday. The casualties were quite heavy. The crops are. looking fine in Goderich Township. A bunch of oats -grown o •Mr. Fred Hanley's farm, the 8th concession, which is, worked by W. Williamson,_. measured four feet, 10 inches in length and is well headed. There ought to be no starvation of stock this winter. 75 YEARS AGO August 3, 1905 One night recently one of the inmates of the House of Refuge, William Somerville, opened the window of the room he was sleeping and tumbled Qut. Two of his mates who 'were aroused by his movements got their eyes open just in time to see him disappear. The fall was too great for William who is. now "At Rest," The county council did a wise thing in selecting Mr. John Cox of Goderich Township as one of the County valuators. for he combines experience with sound judgement. Mr. Cox will do the work as expeditiously as possible and his share of it at least will be well done. We are informed that business is booming at the Londesboro butter factory and the output is likely to be in excess of that of former years. The, creamery is under the management of Wallace McGregor, son of Mr. John Mcgregor, near Constance. I06 YEARS AGO August 5, 1880 4 On Sunday night a little child of Mr. Thorton Wallace, of the 7th concession of Hullett, was attacked by a rat while sleeping with its mother. It appears that during the night• it cried out several times and the mother, never suspecting the cause of its restlessness and not knowing what was the cause of its crying, en- deavored to hush i.t_to sleep, but it could not be comforted and Mrs. Wallace got up a lighted a lamp, When she was startled to see the child's face and head covered with clotted blood. This was at once Washed off, when the teeth marks of the rodent were found on the forehead and skull. It is presumed that had it not been disturbed, the rat would have inflicted serious injury on the child. - • 0 Near the centre of Clinton on Saturday were counted 25 cows. What a raid they would have made, had they got into a plot, where potatoes, peas and corn, were luxuriously growing. Clinton possesses about 70 brick —buildings. For seven consecutive weeks it has rained here on Monday, in addition to several other days in the week. by Blaine townshend often associated with a• country, a famous person or a period of time in history. Many of the above can be symbolized with a hat. If I mention a sombrero, what do you think of? I feel a heat wave, and I picture a relaxed fellow leaning with his back against a tree with a bright poncho over his shoulders and an equally bright, felt or straw,wide- brimmed hr.': completely hiding his face. 1 hear a Mexican hat dance playing in the background, and in the cool of the evening I imagine a spirited dance with lots of swinging and singing. Of course, my picture can't be called authentic. It's a product of. - movies and tv shows. Wherr- I --mention-- —stetson;--I--see---a- - -- true cowboy out on the range on his pony working those doggies. Who can forget Hoss' Cartwright, Dan Blocker In real-life, and his ten-gallon hat? Even if you don't go to Clint Eastwood movies, you're bound to see somewhere a flash of his lean, mean face chewing a match stub under a soiled cowboy hat. The story -lines of early westerns were easy te' follow; The good guys %Sire white hats; the bad,guys wore Dear,E.diter: I thought you might like to know how 1 appreciate the Clinton Boy Scouts. • A few weeks ago, I was taken for a short drive, leaving the -shady driveway on a hot day, in my usual dingy, ungroomed condition. But• to my surprise, I had a most' delightful treat. Every centimeter of Mme was soaped and scrubbed, rinsed aid rubbed by 13 members of the troop; I came home just GLEAMING.,, So many -friends admired me and people patted me. Usually my friends don't seem to notice me, but come out of side streets right in front of , me. Now they wait for me to pass and give me lots of room inparking spaces. Rut best „ of all, I am kept in a sparkling condition because of the Scouts' good work, instead of my bathing just getting added to the :list of no Round Tufts. ; Very gratefully Chevy Nova Slonian, Clinton Dedication black hats, and no matter how rough the fights the hats never fell off: The stiff felt derby or bowler with its curved brim and round crown immediately brings into view an English gentleman with impeccable posture, diction and manners. Equally as impressive is the gen- tleman with the tall silk top hat, black tails and tie and walking cane. Who can forget the hat and pipe of the master sleuth himself, Sherlock Holmes? Hats have always played a major role in the dress uniform ofthe military as well.. Even without his Gap,._..-.ypu.,. oan always pick out a farmer in a crowd; he's the one with the white forehead. I've often thought' a fisherman must be a- safer -hobbyist: ,low painful it would be if he sat on his hat! Fedoras, low hats of soft felt with the crown creased lengthwise, come ,and go but always seem to come back again, in tiny checks, bold plaids, pin stripes or plain. For practicality in these cold climes, the fur felt hat isn't out of place, and the `swinger', a hat with turned -down brim, tries to attract younger mien to the idea Of topping it off with a hat for fashion's sake. Dear Editor: On .behalf of the Bluewater .Shrine Club, I would like to take this op- portunity to sincerely thank Clin- tonians for their dedicated and ef- ficient service in helping us during the Mocha Temple Shrine Ceremonial held in Clinton on May 31,1980. Today, people with their ability are hard to find, and we feel fortunate to have devoted people like yourselves who are so willing to offer their assistance so generously for the work of Shrinedom to support Cripple- and Bulrnt Children's Hospitals. and u ort we co -operations Fi� received was most appreciated. . Yours sincerely, R.J. Boussey Co-ordinator for Bluewater Shrine Club Objection Dear Editor: To Tuckersmith Council Gentlemen I am writing my strong objection to the changing of By-law 40-1974 to By- law 11=1980. Six years ago "a petition was passed aroundto the people of Vanastra. These people expected to be able to use the facilities as suggested by the plan circulated at that time. An arena (in the curling rink), a swimming pool (outdoor pool), an auditorium (in the church). There was not much expense to this and the people thought it would make a great community project. Since that petition, the pool has been covered (at large expense), the curling rink has never been used for an arena, .and approximately 90 percent of the people' of Vanastra have never set one big toe inside that building. The auditorium is rented out so much that it. is hard to get time for the local groups succi as brownies etc. I fail to understand why a by-law , which reads thatall.rateable property of Tuckersmith be taxed , for. this debenture was not applied to -the taxes accordingly. This means for six years we have been paying alone what the whole of Tuckersmith should have been paying. Changing a by-law and per- manently shoving the complete burdon on Vanastra will not make up for the past six years error on your part. It also won't get rid of the deep bitter feelings in Vanastra about this whole complex. When the majority of people in Vanastra wanted to stop the addition, we were told outright NO. If we have no say about the complex and do not profit from it whatsoever, why should we alone be taxed for it?? Now I realize that council feels that the "intention" was to tax Vanastra only ; but, remember Vanastra's "intention" was to have a relatively inexpensive community project, not a corriniercial "money maker" for Tuckersmith Township. You may see this complex as a bouquet of roses; but, most of the people here see only the thorns because of the continuing injustice on the council's part. In closing, I must say although I did not sign the original petition, I would not complain about paying the debenture if I felt the people here got what they had signed for, but they did not. I wrote a letter to the OMB dated April 17,1980 and as yet have received no answer. That letter stated much of .___.the same wording as this letter. - --.. ._.�--Sin°cerely. Claudette Brideau Vanastra 1 Do you have an opinion? Why not write us a letter to the editor, and let everyone know. All lettere lie tr published, providing they cam" be authenticated, and pseudonym* are allowed. All letters, how,. are. subject to editing for •Mugt&► ` 4 or libel.