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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1972-01-13, Page 94 4 a:. ♦ What's the ObjectIon? The story featured in this paper last week about the shrinking number of cus- tomers for "meals on wheels" poses a prob- lem which is not, only hard to define but rather alarming in its irriplications, which are • sufficiently serious to metit some per- ' sonalinvestigation to find outhy only two elderly people in the entire community are willing to accept tile service. Originally 18 people indicated their de- sire to make use bf the service, which was set up on the recommendafion''o'T-the Min- isterial Association to provide one hot meal every day for elderly or handicapped people in their own homes. As all doctors and many laymen are aware, lack of proper nutrition is one of the, more important factors -which con- tribute to ill health among the elderly seg- ment of our population and the preparation of hot meals the hospital kitchen and free delivery to individual homes appears to be a logical solution to a _known problem. It is difficult to conclude that price of the meals is a viable factor. The charge per A meal is only 75 cents—a fraction of the cost a person would have to pay in a public eating place and quite likely less than the ingred- ients would cost if the individual was_making his or her own hot meal. The delivery service is provided free by volunteer drivers who supply their own cars. •'1•. It is to be hoped that the decline in reci- pients is not due to any feeling that they were receiving "charity", The program was never intended to be a system of handouts (although in any cases where monwas ac- tually a problem no payment whatever was -asked for the meals.) When the plan was 3i rst proposed -this column hailed it as a practical act of good neighborliness which wouia provide, in addi- tion to the meals themselves, some antidote for the loneliness which is all too frequently one of the burdens borne by the aging and the handicapped. We firmly believed that"meats on wheels would be a practical way of say- ing, "Yes, we do care". Such thought was given to the project that the special needs of individuals 'were taken into account. Low fat diets and dia- wbetic meals were available for those who needed them. Since the ministers of the community were thoughtful enough to initiate the pro- ject, they would appear to be the persons best fitted to find out why the ready -to -eat meals are being declined. We believe :that the service is one which should have a valu- able place in the life of this community and there must be a reason why it is failing to meet sucki an obvious need. The Right of Entry On Monday morning there was a dis- creet knock at the front door and acourteous young rnan -announced thathe was from, the 'provincial assessment department and ''asked permission to look through our home. It was an inopportune time—the beds were Still to be made and the litter of a family weekend at home had yet to be restored to its proper resting places. . Being the, trusting sort we didn't even ask for his credentials—which he no, doubt could have. provided and would have done without hesitation. At first we anticipated a brief question .period in the comparative tidiness ,of the' front- living room, but that was not the pur-, pose of the young man's visit. When he said he wanted to "see" the home he wasn't fool- ing ..He wanted to see every room and clothes closet—including the basement where father. fools around with sortie power tools an'd sel- d-'om anages to houseclean. n Thank God the little wife was away at. work for the day and not at home—otherwise she would by noon have'been a patient in the nervous -breakdown department •at the hos- pital. The young assessors visit didn't bother us much, personally, because.,we happen to believe firmly in the wisdom of a provincial assessment. system so that taxation "., on property can, at last, be put into proper bal- ance between, nei4hbors, communities and counties. What did puzzle us was how many home owners raise any real objection to al- lowing a perfect stranger to Iook'into every nook and cranny of their dwellings. Ap- parently the old saying that "an English- - man's. home is his castle" no longer has' -much validity. The assessor answered our question in this regard. He said that very few housewives object to what is obviously an in- vasion of privacy. Unbelievable! It would have been bur guess that at least every sec - and householder would refuse him admit- tance. Of course the assessment people can be refused admission. You don't have•to let any one—even a uniformed policeman, into your home unless he is armed with -a search war- rant. (And the assessment people can return with such a warrant if the need arises.)' Certainty one of the reasons this particu- lar young man is meeting so little resistance , lies in his innate -courtesy and pleasant na- ture. He wouldn't have had so much as his toein the door at our place had he tried to,use, the weight of his authority. The ease with which• these inspectors can enter so many homes poses a problem which will inevitably lead to trouble. How long will it take the crooks and con artists to equip themselves with clipboards and ball- pointsand start-ringingthe doorbells of"tii'e trusting to find out wheher or not a house Is worth.a clandestinecall when its owners are away? How soon wil,lthe first of the racke- teers start telling innocent old ladies that a $100 deposit cheque will, get them a big tax saving at' the' end of the year?. We have had very little of this sort of crime in our community, but in some places there are swarms of canners afoot, just wait- in°g for opportunities of this kind. We believe that the assessment department has a duty to protect householders from a threat which is of govern.ment making. ANeekprevious'to the ° assessment inspector's call a ,letter should be sent out to each household to be vistted and it should bear -the picture of the man who is going to make the.•ca•I1, as well as a diagram of the credentials he will be re- quired to present. Thus the housewife could retain the letter -for some means of identify- ing the assessment officer as the real thing. Sureit would cost money—but then what form of personal and property protection does not? The Backlash Has Started As any sensible person might have,pre- dicted, the advertising techniques which have been employedby many.' of television's sponsors and advertising agencies are at last beginning to pall upon even the most abject slave of "the tube''. In the pre -Christmas - rush for Yuletide dollars -a new mass hyp- nosis method was thrust upon the viewing public. The same commercial for the same product would be repeated time after time in the same evening. Apparently the plan was to somehow brainwash the viewer into for- getting that any but that particular product was available to the shopping public. • • It is quite probable that the mass hyp- nosis technique( did, in fact, sell merchan= dise. The planners of advertising campaigns fortelevision are committed to getting re- sults for the millions of dollars of their clients' money which they expend. -It was in- ter sting however, during the past couple of wee to note that. General Foods is taking an entirely different approach. On Sunday evenings they have been sponsoring the fas- cinating historical series "Elizabeth R".. . fascinating, that is, to the people who are in- terested in history. It is quite probable that they would have a larger viewing audience if they sponsored a hockey game or even afew bogus wrestling bouts, but as the GF commercials (limited to only two during the hour and a half screening of "Elizabeth R") point out, they have given up their pursuit -of the mass audience, in favor'of a smaller and perhaps more percep- tive group of viewers who can be impressed by their sincere effort to provide. quality products at fair prices. Alot of nasty things have been said in re- -cent years about advertising in general—and myth of the unfavorable comment -has been generated by the indiscriminate use of TV brain washing techniques.. The prime purpose of advertising, and the only reason it is of value to our society, is to provide truthful information aboiit'goods and services available to the public. When it departs from 'the role of public assistance and enters the field of hypnosis it is headed for public rejection. Some television advertising does fill a valid role by providing useful information— but a large percentage of it does not. News- paper advertising because of the very nature of its medium, is simply not able to inject the monotonous, hypnotic approach. It must rely almost entirely on solid, factual information as the basis of its saleability. Television advertising Is with us to stay, but it certainly faces a monumental task of image re -building. • THEE WINGJ-iAM ADVANCE -TIMES Published at at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited: Barry We . er, President - Robert 0: -Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer 4 Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member Canadian and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Associations. Subscription Rate: ' Subscription $10.00 a year, $5.50 for six months, in United States $12.50 in advance Second Class Mail Registratidn No .0821 Return Postage Guaranteed And afar Can be Part of All This This is the time when pundits across the land speculate in type about what the coming year will bring forth. If there is one thing 'we don't need more of in this country, it is pundits. We have political pundits, eco- nomic pundits, sports pundits. Most of them spend most of their verbiage disagreeing with other pundits in the same field. • What is a pundit'' It is a -person who knows a little more about practically nothing than we non - pundits. Having unburdened myself of those sour sentiments,. I now propose to leap into some pun ditry (pundineering?) concern- ing 1972. `Read carefully, now, so that you'll have a clear picture of what we shall face this year. Most parts of Canada will have lots of snow. I hope nobody will give me an argument on that one. Right now, outside my window, it looks like plucking day at the chicken factory. The population; taxes, and your fuel bill will increase. This state- ment is not based on fact but on pure intuition. Especially the part about taxes. According to some of the rosy statements in the new tax reform bill, hustled through parliame9t, I will pay less taxes this year a about enough less to buy an overcoat from the Salvation Army. But they can't fool an old tax- payer like me. I know with sickening clarity that if one level of government hands me a few bucks, some other level will be digging three times as much out of my back pocket: The wage -price spiral will con- tinue, though perhaps not as rapidly. The reason? We're all greedy, as pigs at a trough. „And the biggest pigs—the strongest unions and the most firmly en- trenched eapitalists—will get more out' of the, trough than the runts,the ordinary Joes. , There will be a federal election, and whoever wins, there will be promises galore, new brooms be- • ing waved in all directions, and the country, according to the pundits, ' will still be going straight ,to the dogs. • The churches will continue to .be one-third filled and svramb- ling for enough money `to sty alive. But .there will be -a coptinu- ing search for some sort of spiri-t- tial experience by our youth. Thousands who are now merely a gleam in somebody's eye will be born. And ,good luck to them when they enter,a=, mighty com- plex world. Thousands will die, (it'd let's just hope you and I are i.,)t among them. I don't want to .:‘) until I get my mortgage paid '11 Isn't that the supreme pur- pose of`tiving? Thousands of kids will experi- went with drugs and, some of them will end up tragic figures., ,hattered human beings. But thousands of others will ignore the chance of becoming vege- Jat,les, and will lead happy, healthy, useful lives, loving and learning. sad and happy. l'nemployment will continue to he- a fairly desperate situation., And the schools will again be lammed to the rafters with stu- dents who shouldn't be there and d on'f want to be there, but for,. ‘k huin there is nothing else to do. Th -ere will he thousands of broken homes and marriages turned to dust. But there will be thousands of dreamy -eyed brides and proud young grooms, posi- t t1e that nothing could ever hap- pen to their love, which is some- thing special. There will be wars that have no victories. and peace conferences that go on interminably proceed- ing from nowhere to nowhere. The United Nations will again an- nounce that it is going broke, but nobody will ante upenough to pay the bills. Thousands of bright young people will emerge from ,ollege, spilling over with knowledge, and come face to fare with that -brutal edict : you can't get a job with no ,I xpcerien;9e, and you can't get ex- perience until you get a• job. But thousands of others will break their 'backs- to get -into college, where they will learn ,all about .Life and find the mate of their choice. Does this all sound sort of familiar to you? It should, Does it alt sound rather depressing? It shouldn't. You'll. have your downs, but you'll have 'your ups, too. those glorious and fleeting !Hiles when you wouldn't be any- one else or anywhere else. Your children will change; pre- ferably for the better, but don't count on it. The year will fly by. Make it a good one by thinking positivly. A. Celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well kni)wn; then wears dark glasses to avoid being recog- nized. TODAY CHILD BY HELEN ALLEN HAPPY ANI) CHEE:RFt'I, This happy -looking baby is Larry, seven months old. Jamaican in descent, heis a big boy for his age, sturdy and solid,. with lovely dark eyes, black tightly curled hair atnd medium brown skin. Larry is in excellent health but he has ab enzyme' deficiency known as G6 -PD, It is a fairly common condition among American Negro males and also affects Italians, (reeks and Middle Eastern, African and Oriental races with' quite high frequency, ranging from 5 10.4'0 per cent. This is a benign condition through which the hemoglobin is affected by certain drugs — the sulfas, anti -malarial drugs, as'pir'in and Vitamin K. People with G6 -PD have a normal life' span and no treatment is needed except to a'. oid the prescribed drugs. Larry is an alert, responsive baby, reaching all his milestones at - appropriate times. He has an easy-going, cheerful disposition, chuckling and blowing bubbles at the slightest encouragement. This baby's medical condition shbuld not be a problem.. He needs parents who will welcome a lovable little son and accept the drug situation calmly. to inquire about adopting Larry plea"se write to Today's Child,' Box get, Station K, Toronto. Por general adoption information ask your Children's Aid Society. -�~- PARTICIPATING IN an impromptu singing competition at the Wingham Harmony Men's . dinner Wednesday night at Lee's Tavern are Harry Chapman, Kincardine; Don Cameron, - I.,ucknow; Raynard Ackert, Holyrood and Gerry Crooks, Kincardine. —Advance -Times photo. fingbam Abbance&Ziints Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, January 13, 1972' SECOND SECTION News Items fromOId Files JANUARY 1937, George Carter had the rrisfor- tune to fracture his right leg on Monday afternoon while working in his father's bush in East Wa- wanosh. His co-worker, Ruther-. ford Reavie, had his arm cut by a cross -cut saw. Councillor J. H. Crawford has been confined to his home for the past week with an attack of chicken pox. F. Towson was named su- perintendent of , the United Church Sunday School at the annual meeting. His assistant is E: Wilkinson; W. B. M,,cCool is treasurer; secretaries are J. Tiffin and E. Coutts. A team of horses, drawing a load of hay ran away on the Turan- berry farm of Jim Fallis on Mon- day and Walter Simmonds, the driver, was thrown to the ground and suffered a fracture of his right ankle and •a' badly sprained left ankle. • Maitland Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Canada convened on Thursday in South Kinloss Church to induct -the new minister, Rev. G: M. Young, formerly of Nairn. Mr. Young succeeds Rev. J. L: Bi~irgess. The Glenannan Literary Society. met Iast ;week and pre- sented Reuben Stokes with an up- holstered chair on his retirement from the school board. The election/ of officers of the' - young ' people of the 'Wroxeter United Church took place last week with Jean Sangster being elected president, Clifford Denny vice president ; Muir McLaughlin treasurer. • A miscellaneous shower was held at Salem in honor of Mr and Mrs. -Harvey Reidt who were re- cently married. The bride -was the, former Lida Willits of this 'locality. . Mrs. B. Wade of Wroxeter picked a'bouquet of pansies from her garden on New Year's Day. James McGee, Mason Robin- son: Jack Taylor and Lorne Scott have returned to their homes in' East Wawanosh after taking a course at the OAC in Guelph. JANUAR%' 1917 - H. A.'Fuller,-H. Machan, W. A. Crawford, P. C. Staintorr, W. A':: Galbraith, and H. L. Sherbondy were named officers of Wingham Lodge., A.F.&A.M. No. 286. • John McMichael, . a , former Winghamite, was re-elected mayor of Listowel by acclama- tion at their nomination rr>,eeting last week. East Wawanosh Federation of Agriculture will send Mason Robinson 'and Simon Hallahan as its delegates to, the provincial annual meeting. The inaugural inaugural meeting of Wingham Public Utilities Com- mission was held January 3rd. A. J4 Walker was appointed as chairman of the Commission for .1947., - The Wingham merchants have rented Foxton`s barn and if will be open to the public for the re- mainder of the winter. Rev. Oliver J. Coupland, pastor of the Olivet Baptist Church, M,eaford, for the past six .,years, commenced his duties here last Sunday in the Baptist Church. 1tiingriatn's oldest established garage business changed hands on January lst when the Craw ford Garage was sold to James Carr of Toronto. The Winter Sports Festival was held last weekend and was a worthwhile success Skiing events were won b),• 'Murray Gerrie, Willard Platt, George Gamnmage, Margaret Sanderson, Maxine Cowan and Marion Gerrie. Skating prizes were taken by Billie. Reavie, Larry Hutton, Gerald Gerrie, Bill Lockridge, Mary Somers, Shirley Locktiidge • and Maxine Seddon. After serving 18 years on the Kinloss Municipal Board. Rich- ard Elliott is retiring this month. He has been reeve for .the past 12 years. Miss Eileen Dark, formerly of ,Wingham was successful in .re- ceiving her Reg. N. degree after three years of training in Victoria Hospital, London. The Westfield .School is being wired for hydro this week. Mrs. Wm. Wright of Wroxeter has been engaged to teach at' Lane's School commencing with • the New Year. .• JANUARY 1958 Twin daughters born to Mr. and Mrs. James Johnston on Friday night were thef,t,,, twin babies born at the. Wingham General Hospital in 1958. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston, who live at RR 1, Wing - ham, have one other child, a son Paul. 'Scott. Paye who has been a resident of h gham for the past two .years, employed with How- son and Howson . and with the Wingham Manufacturing Co., has joined the police force inthe Town of St. Marys. Rubinoff, the internationally • known concert violinist, will be in Wingham on Friday evening, ' • • February 21st. The • Wingham Lions Club is sponsoring the visit. A tragic accident last Monday evening cost the life of Percy King, well-known resident of Turnberry Township, when his car was in collision with a truck on the 25th sideroad of Turn - berry. Mr, and Mrs. Vic Loughlean moved to London on Thursday of last week where the former will represent the Northern Paint and Varnish Company of Owen Sound. His barber business in Wingham was purchased re- cently by George Tripp of Ridge - town. .u,. e Lloyd Carter was installed as president of Wingham branch of the Canadian Legion. Other of, ficers include George C. Tervit, Jack Orv,is, Bob, Chettleburgh; Jack Sturdy, George. Brooks and Les Armtrong. Installed as presi- dent of the Ladies' Auxiliary was Mrs. DaNiid' Crothers, with Mrs. Joe King, Mrs. T. Gauley, Mrs. J. ,Jackson and Mrs. L. Dawson other officers. - Schools re -opened in the White- church area on Monday, with Mrs. George Fisher teaching at Fordyce, • Mrs. Collins at SS 10,. Kinloss, Mrs. David Stroud at SS. 9 and Mrs. Orval Elliott at Lang. side. ' • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Toronto, Ontario January 4, 1972 Dear Sirs, I am an old Winghamite and interested reader of the Advance - Times with children who are Wingham 'fans. However your transportation problem some- what restricts their travel. Our daughter (13 yrs.') had . planned to visit in Wingham dur- ing the Christmas holidays but .'when I contacted 'the bus line, it meant a five hour trek from Toronto to Wingham with an hour stopover . in London(?) and' vVe hesitated to allow this. Winter driving makes us loath to travel by car and .,train transportation, our favourite, is now nil. Hoping for improvement in drain or bus service to my favour- . ite Ontario town. . Yours sincerely, -Mary t Ross) Allen. Dear Sir : ., In early .May Glebe Collegiate Institute of Ottawa will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. A com- rid%%j mittee of staff and students is. working very hard to produce a variety of festivities for this occasion—a full stage produc- tion, specially written for the anniversary; a banquet for Glebites past and present, re- unions and the like. But, we need help, and hence this letter. GiebeK _graduates, ex -staff members (and anyone else who can shed some light on the fifty years of Glebe through pictures, anecdotes, history) are' encour- aged to write to the undersigned relating their experiences. We would also like to know .where Glebe graduates are living so that they may be contacted when plans are finalized' for the anni- versary celebrations and an indi- cation of those interested in returning to help the present gen- • oration at Glebe celebrate. Sincerely, J.T. Parry, Glee 50, Glebe Collegiate Institute. 212 Carling Avenue. Ottawa. • Ii//OW ` COME i (/7"'/ME' ,404/Ai? /S 7�E FLIPPING NO 4HFYE'r*i T rHA A) ME Z