HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-10-09, Page 4sr,
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A
.'EMBER
JAMES E. FiTZGERALD . Editor.
SHEI.LET McPHEE - N•ws.Editor
GARY HA1$T rAdeertising Manager
HEATHER !WANDER- Advertising
MARGARET 1..., GIBE - Office Manager
aBBONNIE. SCRIVER- Circulation
a
r
MEMBER
'Display *dvertisrnp rates
available on request, Ask for
Rafe Gard No. 10 effective Sept.
1, 1079.
Finally the truth
Finally .the truth has come out on
inflation. Or at least it's there,
whether we- pay any attention to it or
not is another thing.
We've always blamed the gover-
nhents, or the unions, or big business,
but s the great comic st ip character
'Pog, . once said, "We h ve seen the
enc y and he is us." "
'Th underlying causes of inflation,
for which we all are to blame, is the
emergence of materialism and
hedonism as the dominant
philosophies influencing values,
claims one man.
"The symptoms are an insatiable
urge to consume and an ac-
companying self-indulgence, self-
absorption and just plain selfishness.
It's the age of me too, me first, I want
it and I want it now," this man claims.
He says this good life is sold through
advertising and is now considered a
basic enticement, with people's needs
exceeding their incomes. Govern-
ments spend more than they take in
because groups and individuals
demand more money and services.
Who said those nearly
revolutionary statements? Some left
wing radical communist? Or a
befuddled churchman? Or perhaps
some soul lost in an ivory tower in
some university? None of the above.
They were spoken by William Dim -
ma, president of the giant real estate
firm of A.E. Lepage, and chairman of
the huge Polysar Ltd.
Mr. Dimma, in a recent speech,
said that wage and price controls may
be coming, one of the four basic and
unsatisfactory ways of dealing with
the excess of demand over supply
called inflation. The others include
tightening the monetary screws,
walking a tightrope between inflation
and unemployment, or learning to.
live with inflation.
This has all lead, Mr. Dimma says,
to growing alienation, intolerance and
confrontation among individuals and
special interest groups in the country.
"I think we are losing our senses,
our sense of proportion, our sense of
perspective, our sense of humor.
There's almost no sense of a broader
community, of a national purpose, ,no
vision of what this country is all about
or at least could be all about," he said.
-by J.F.
Were you at the plowing match?
by Jim Fitzgerald
01V113 hearing
Dear Editor:
On Thursday Qctobe23, there will
be an OMB hearing at 1 a.m. in the
Vanastra Rec. Centre. This hearing is
scheduled on the issue of the people of
Vanastra opposed to bylaw No, 11-
198b versus thf , Tuckersmlth Town,-
ship
own*ship Council's majority in favour of
'the bylaw. Bylaw No. 11-1080 >i:s
council's attempt to force the
payment, through taxes, of :View,"
original debt of $130,000 on the peoRle a=`
and the community of Vanastra only,
while in fact the township for years
already has completely taken over
the ownership and management of the
centre.,
This rather ridiculous, but even r.
more so totally unfair position
-----trough a -my mind -the -star f -the—__
little country of Astria. But before I
tell you my story, let me assure you
that our fight is not against the
township or its people. We are neigh-
bors! Our fight. is a fight for fairness.
It is the old old story of the small
versus those who are big, of the weak
versus those who are powerful.
Perhaps through the committee of the
United Countries, . meeting shortly,
there will be fairness for the people of
Astria. But wait, now I'm ahead of my
story.
Years ago, there was a small but
beautiful country called Astria. The
melodious name reflects something of
the happiness and expectations of its
people The people had great hopes,
great plans. They wanted their little
country, to be really a good place for
all the people, the many children, the
teenagers, and yes, also for them-,
selves.
At one of the people's meetings,
someone suggested to build an am-
phitheater. An amphitheater would
be a place where all the people of the
whole country could get together.
That would be a place for the famous
and beautiful Astria folkdances. It
would be a place to schedule the many
competitive games. It would be a.
place where young and old could sing
their beloved national anthem and
where the people could proudly fly
their flag, a green circle on 'a white
field with a lotus flower in the centre.
The amphitheater would be a people's
place, filled with music and fun -and
children's voices.
Everyone was in favour. Men and
women volunteered. The women of
Astria were a rugged and hard-
working lot. But then one of the
elderly 'stood up and pointed out that
even though an amphitheater was a
good idea and certainly worthy of the
spirit and ambitions of the people of
Astria, actually the country was poor
and the treasury chest empty.
Well, the people of Astria were not
easily discouraged. A delegation was
sent to the rich and powerful country
of Usserit to the North. Soon the sound
of hammers and trowels could be
heard throughout the country. The
rulers of Usserit had agreed to help
out. And there was joy and laughter in
the streets.
But then something went wrong.
More and more -workers of Usserit
replaced Astria volunteers. The
building became larger and larger,
much larger than the original idea.
And with amazement, the people
noticed the outline of a dome covering
the whole amphitheater. This was
not their idea! But then rumours
spread around that the rulers of
Usserit had decided on a -dome.
The people _,,f Astria held their
breath. They were poor. They were
also- small in numbers, and the rulers
of Usserit were very powerful. Yet
they knew in their hearts that
something was wrong. And the streets
became empty and silent. But behind
the heavily curtained windows little
groups of men and women were
meeting and whispering about plans
of protest. Some of the more
courageous ones made secret trips to
the United Countries headquarters,
for help - and understanding. And
anger filled the hearts of the people of
Astria. Slowly but surely, their
freedoms of choice and decision were
wiped out by the heavy hand of the
Usserit rulers. And in- addition the
people were burdened with heavy
. taxes to satisfy the imperial am-
bitions of its powerful neighboring
country to the North.
Each year at harvest time, civil
servants from Usserit, riding heavy
motorcycles and wearing leather
jackets would cross the border. They
demanded one third of the crop, also
one third of the flocks and herds. They
drove into the yards, knocked on the
doors And wheeled around as if they
owned the country. The people of
Astria felt that these civil servants
really did own their country, they
were tax collectors. They demanded
payment or else exile at the mercy of
the Usserit rulers. And the people
silently sighed and struggled un-
derneath their heavy burdens. At
times they cast a quick glance at the
rising dome in the centre of their
country. And they listened to the
sound of strange words of the Usserit
workers. And if no Usserit people
were around they would shake a fist.
Then came the day for the big
opening ceremony. But the streets of
Astria were empty and quiet. From
behind their curtains the people
watched the Usserit parade of bands
and banners, and dignitaries and
workmen and soldiers. In front of this
5 YEARS AGO
October 16,1975
Clinton and Huron County are under the
magnifying glass of the mass media again
because of the highly controversial.
Steph n Truscott affair.
ecently released Canadian made
m vie called "Recommendation For
M re hais put Clinton and area back in
the national spotlight and Clinton and
Goderich received more unwanted
publicity again last week when Stephen
Truscott went on a Torontoradiostation
and the interview received nationwide
coverage on the CBC National News.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Feeney of Mill
Street in Clinton celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary last Saturday when
they renewed their vows and were then
honored at a dinner and reception. They
have lived in Clinton for 14 years.
10 YEARS AGO
October 15, 1970
The big question these days among
Conservation Authority officials seems to
be "Why?" did five municipalities -
particularly the village of Bayfield - vote
Against a move to enlarge the Maitland
Valley Conservation Authority.
Connie Hickey, 20, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph Hickey of RR 3, Auburn was
chosen as Queen of the Furrow on
Saturday at the 43rd Huron Cqunty
plowing match.
An 85 -year-old parrot known as Polly
died in the spectacular fire Saturday
morning which levelled the main hangar
at Sky Harbour, north of Goderich.
25 YEARS AGO
October 27, 1955
Fire raged yesterday morning through
the C.M. Shearing block at the corner of
Albert and Ontario Streets, completely
gutting the interior of Pinger's Restaurant
and the apartment above it in which Mr.
and Mrs. f Elgin Hoffman an h
and their
daughr Bonnie lived. Also damaged was
an apartment rented by Mr. and Mrs.
Gordon Lawson and the J.L. Heard Barber
Shop downstairs.
Smoke damage to the stock and interior
of Pickett and Campbell Men's Wear on
the corner:may total $10,000. Total damage
to the block has been roughly estimated at
$40,000.
This year apple growers are exhibiting
their fruit in a county Apple Festival to be
held in Clinton on November 5 in the town
hall. There will be a prize list of over $160
and more than 17 classes will have exhibits
shown
For sale a 1951 Pontiac, seat covers, air
conditioner. Full price $695. Phone
CLinton 212J.
Norman, Long of Kippen has given
nearly 20 years of service from the Kippen
Post Office to the CNR Station in that
village. This service was discontinued on '
Is absentee land ownership a problem here?
One thing should be 'made ab-
solutely clear.
The current controversy about
foreign investors buying up Huron
farm land is -not about bona fide
immigrants, says the Huron
Expositor.
No one's worried about those from
other countries who buy farms here,
move here and work them, joining
their neighbours and the rural
community.
What is worrying the Huron
Federation of Agriculture enough to
ask for the provincial agricultural
minister's resigns,ion over the issue
is what absentee Iwnership of large
blocks of our rural land will do to our
community here as we know it.
, We're worried too.
As several McKillop people have
,said, absenteeand concentrated
ownership of farm land depopulates
the area. It can make all our in-
stitutions ... schools, churches, clubs,
much weaker. Instead of 20 farm
September affair
fair
Every year about this time, I have
an affair, whether my wife likes it or
not. I fall in love and let the chips fall
where they may. I have my Sep-
tember Affair.
In movies and novels, that title
means that a man, or woman, falls in
love in the fall of his or her life. It has
a sweet, nostalgic note, with a touch
of sadness in it.
But I've had a September Affair
since 1 was a sprout. Every year, I fall
in love with the month of September.
And it is sweet and nostalgic and a
little sad. And achingly beautiful.
As a tyke, it meant coming home
from two months'of wild, free running
about at the cottage, one of a big
family. We were sun -burned and
bramble -scratched an& just a couple
of jumps ahead of the gopher or the
groundhog, socially.
What a thrill to be home! Flip a
light -switch, flush a toilet, in the big,
old house with the high ceilings and
cool rooms, after eight weeks of
grubbing it.
And then, the magic of modern
living re -discovered, it was out into
the streets to -find the "kids" and race
around in the glorious September
evenings, playing Run Sheep Run,
and Redlight and Hide and Seek.
Mothers called, but nobody came. It
was the first fascination with the
September Affair. Our mothers
seemed to sense it and let us have a
last fling before life became serious
and autumn dimmed the lamps.
As a teenager, working five hun-
dred miles from home in September, I
had my Affair. There was a churning
yearning to get back to school,
friends, ,football - and the interrupted
romance with the brown -eyed girl. It
almost hurt physically.
As a youth, there was the headiness
vand tension of going off to College, a
big word, in September. A strange
and frightening place. A small-town
boy in a big puddle. New people. New
manners. New everything. A Sep-
tembe!• Affair
And at college, first year, there was
the wrenching affair with a South
American wench. Syl/ia. We met by
chance and it was wrenching because
she had to go back to Rio in four
weeks, and I was really gone, and I
knew I'd never see her again, and we
wandered in• -,,the soft, September
dusk, hands clutched, and my heart
turned over in its grave.
Then came the war years and there
were- a few memorable Septembers.
One on the Niagara Peninsula, with
the grapes and peaches lush, and the
thrill of knowing I had passed
elementary flying school and could
put the white "flash" of a pilot in my
'cap.
One in England, hot and hazy and
languorous after a cold, wet summer.
And the weekend leave in London,
twenty years old and a pretty girl on
my arm and death lurking in the
wings, and caring not. Too fast it
went.
One in Normandy and jump to Lille,
and jump to Antwerp and life every
day on a tenuous, white-hot wire, and
the beautiful weather and the terrible
daily disappearance of Paddy and
Mac and Taffy and Dingle Bell and
Nick and Freddy.
And that long, hot September of
1945. Home. Alive. Unreal. Really
unreal: the family, the places, the
peade, the boredom, and then the silly
young people back at- the university.
But the September Affair with the
trees and the cool blue sky and the
long dark hair and yet another pair of
brown eyes, browner than ever.
And the next September. Marriage
to the «brownteyes and a wonderful
families on a given stretch or rural
line ypu'll have five or six.
That's a process that's already
started of course as 300 or 400 acre
rather than 100 acre 'farms have
become the norm. But now, still in
Huron at least, the owners live in the
community. That gives them more of
a stake in everyone's future,
so.mething an investor who lives
thousands of miles away doesn't have
to know or care about.
"What's all the fuss auout?" some
dispensed
by
bill smiley
week at the old cottage in Quebec,
with this strange woman. Canoeing
and swimming and me teaching her
how to cook. And she's just as strange
today. And just as brown -eyed.
And a lot of Septembers since,
golden and blue, with the last breath
of su-m-m-er-in-th green ees and the
first kiss of fall in the cool nights, and
the magic that makes me fall,for the
ripe charms of that ripe lady of the
year, September, oozing with
plenitude, gorged with the fruits of
summer, yet wakening with a sigh to
the brisk business ahead.
I have a bad crush on the lady.
say. "We can always rent the land
back from these guys. They have the
bucks and the bucks talk."'"
And it is a complicated ques-tion. Is
a farmer who's thinking about
retiring supposed to turn down an
offer of say $2,000 an acre from a
foreign investment syndicate with the
comment "No, I'll be a good citizen
and sell to my neighbour for $1,500?"
Can the community as a whole
require that ' sort of sacrifice from
farmers?
Not likely.
But the answers to complicated
questions aren't found- -by turning
your back on them in the hopes they'll
disappear. No, the provincial
government, and those of us who live
in rural communities have to look for
answers ... controls on absentee
ownership, residency requirements
for land buyers. Whatever. Other
provinces have legislation that ad-
dresses the problem.
It will---be---cos*1nd it----wen't be -----
October 15 when truck service replaced
the rail.
50 -YEARS AGO
October 16,1930
Mrs. H.R. Sharp will receive for the first
time sine her \marriage at her home on
Thursda ' afternoon, October 23, from 3:30
'to6pm. , ;
Miss Lucille Grant of Clinton ex ibited
painting, china, watercolors and Oils at
Stratford, Mitchell, Seaforth,0 Goderich,
Owen Sound and Wingham fairs this year.
And she was successful in carrying Off 80
first prizes and eight seconds, besides a
special prize at Stratford for the best
collection of painting. Pretty good for
Clinton talent. .
One of the features of the big plowing
match at Stratford this week will be the
entry of Mr. W.M. Doig; L.L.B., Port
Huron and Tuckersmith, who will use a
plow which his grandfather won at a .
match in Scotland in 1811. •
By the way,°a girl carried off honors for
tractor plowing at the big plowing match
on Tuesday. The young farmers had better
look to their laurels,
74 YEARS AGO
October 11, 1906
For the gun club tournament, which took
place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this
week, a. large number of pigeons are
required.- Glenn Cook- gathered, 170 and
stored them in the stable, but two brothers,
'one 13 and the other 11; broke in the door
and carried off a number of the birds
concealed under their coats, but while
doing so they were caught.
The case was tried by P.M. Andrews on
Friday evening. He fined the older boy $1
and costs, but let the younger one go on
payments of costs. Accompanying this
light sentence was the intimation that if
they appear before him again, they will not
get off so easily.
When Mr. J Roberts, artist, left for his _
old home in Listowel on Saturday af-
ternoon very few were aware that on his
return he will be accompanied by his
bride, one of Paisley's fairest maidens, but
such is the case, • the bride being Miss
Minnie Bryce. The happy couple are now
enjoying a honeymoon trip to the cities,
but next week they will return to Clinton
and take up housekeeping.
easy.
But we think there's not much
choice. As one farmer, • the third
generation of his family to -occupy the
home farm said: "Our ancestors
came here to get away from a feudal
system. We don't need a new one
starting up here -now."
Oh those thrills
The latest tv controversy revolves
around shows that use daredevil
stunts to boost their ratings.
A man let a three -ton elephant walk
on him; another drove a car under
four burning vehicles. Every week
some new idea was staged, and
viewers got their vicarious thrills.
But nn all stunts work. A man tried
to run 0 -cough a flaming tunnel; most
of his boy was set ablaze; his hands
were burned bvond use.
A motorcyclist tried to jump over
fountains iti- front of Caesar's Palace
in Las Vegas. The most famous
daredevil of all a Evil kneivel, had
tried the trick earlier and failed.
The latest attempt resulted in
failure as well and sent the young
motorcyclist to hospital in critical
conditon
Five thousand people had gathered
105 YEARS AGO -
October 21,1875
It would be to the accommodation of the
public if crossings of the streets were
either scraped, or a quarrti+` cif gravel
dumped upon them, so pedestrians may
not, be wading in two or three inches of
mud and slush at these places.
Some forgetful person sent a postal card
to this office last Saturday on which only
our address was written. ,It was post-
marked Constance. Will the sender please
furnish us with the other side?
On Monday night some person removed
a shutter from the shop of Mr. W. Taylor
and smashed two, lights of glass in the
ing,
it is presumed that some person did it out
of mischief or spite.
Mr. W. Elliott, 7th concession, Gocierich
Township, threshed for Mr. A. Chisolm 105
bushels of oats in 291/2 minutes. The
machine used was one of the celebrated
Climax Machines, manufactured by
Glasgow, Macpherson and Co., Clinton.
Last Sunday morning the ground was
covered with a coating of slushy snow
a III
by
aine townshend
to watch; several were injured when
he rammed the wall in front of them.
According to • professional stunt-
men, too many things can and do
go wrong. They claim inexperienced
stuntmen are used, and in some
cases, not -enough precautions are
taken before a stunt is staged.
The public is beginning to.question
tire ethics of the whole scene. But, as
the ratings continue to rise, producers
night argue they're giving the public
what it wants to see.
Most viewers watch out of
curiosity; some out of admiration. A
sick percentage might secretly like to
see the guy "wipe out."
Some people defend the'events with
the argument where would the world
be without daredevils like the Wright
Brothers?
Perhaps a man flying above ground
was as inconceivable, at one time, as
a man letting a six thousand pound
elephant walk on,him.
Another fear has been expressed -
that some viewer, especially children,
may try some of the stunts with tragic
results.
The show that has received the.
most criticism lately, is aired in,early
evening in some parts of the U.S. and
Canada. The painstaking research,
preparation and precautions,. that are
a part of each trick, are explained,
and viewers are warned not to try it:
Sometimes the thing we are told not
to do is the one thing we want to do.
Arguments have been made that
fantasy movies like 'Superman
carried no warning. It was reported
that a little boy jumped from an
apartment window after seeing the
movie; because he thought he could
fly.
Similarly, tv and movie heroes
come out of fights, falls and car
crashes without a scratch. Real life
doesn't work that way; even good
guys get hurt.
Seeing a stunt man crack up may
drive reality home or give spectators
vicarious thrills, but it doesn't
balance the risks or waste involved.
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