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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1973-05-31, Page 17• 0 6 the weekly Iwo le year Wee* Witigheat Advasee Thoto hien* Tenet Cole, dereAe i root by It* POOP the "heartlawl of Midwestern -- 014'3.5 readers bk sols ' homs.) „ • • 0 • • „ • „ • . • • ' • • - The ListOW01 :BrTE orest confookorat* by We 1ngham Advance4!mes for 5ros. Limitd. --May 31, 1973*-, T • • 0 , 4 00 Of the, OldliMeSionehouies boasting a wide range of Indus,. they tumble, these little c II tries, and a y4aunoyed unk NO* the curly black hair and'. the versify. • *clog black-browIt eyes, out Four years ago, the Rotary from the doorways that have seen Club of .Guelph,, seeking ,a new 100 Years of laughing children, venture'. both' financially Profit- onto the tUrViT4 streets of lower able for charity purposes 0041so- Guelph, where the gentle Speed cially pleasant, devised "Wilma River news languidly in the sun- Festa”, an Italian -styled party 'shine. These are the bambinos, named to honor the Guelph 1411 - the children of 16 per xent of tan immigrants, and greet GUelph!s. Population, the second spring with an official :festiVal. generation, the Offspring of the The Prima Festa, tinted to coin - immigrants whose musi- cide with the Guelph Spring Fe's - cal surnames : laceevery list of tival of Arts which had started a workers and players in the once- couple of years before, was a Royal City. • . • successful idea. It has grown and 'And Guelph has grown rapidly grown, until this year, with the *hese pestle* decades, because help of some 'leaned Rotarians of the bambinos and their from Fergus and a bevy Of beau" families; and !Many other new- * tiful secretaries, the Prima Vesta miners Of varied backgrounds, was such a huge success that the The sleepy . town whieb-held,,its,:. Guelph Rotatiani. are ;saying,' population steadily between, "Where do we go from here?" 000. anti, 20,000 for aa long, has Nearly 2,500 Attend awakened, • and SOOdenly. within , Porthe first time, the Prima scar -Celt more than two decades Vesta, stilta z one-night stand, it is busy CIO Of 60,000. people, . needed two auditoria,'th Guelph 40, , ,‘ a * WHILE THE GUELPH' Rotarians were sponsoring this year's Prima Festa, four members took time out to partici- pate in the greasy pole contest, an activity borrowed from( the picnic fun of many of the community's Italian popula- tion. In the upper photo are the smiling faces of the contest- ants before they fell to an ignominious end, clockwise, Len Gaudette (peaked hat), who is known in the Listowel and Mount Forest area through his recreation activity; Dr. Frank Maine, Nick Pestill and Cliff Whitfield. In the lower photo, with grease all around,.Whitfield provides the perch • for Pestill. But all was in vain. Before Gaudette told reach thilltop of the pole the Rotarians unbuckled to the demands of gravity. (Willey & Clarke Photos) ••; ^ . 1 • Curling Cluto (as before) and the enjoyed from the river than,the , tions ranging from a lecture (1) ArMOUry. A total of nearly 2,600street side. The cloister,. by the by Xaviera Hollander to an eve - citizens rhappily played the eve- way, was constructed4tt 1951 Of ;ling of Brahms' trios performed ning away, dancing to top-rated native limestone front another by Isaac Stern and two almost dance bands, and waited on by old. Guelph church,„ the equally -famous musicians. The eager Rotarians algl their wives Congregational Church, wbich two -week-long Spring Festival (plus that bevy of .seeretaries!), fell to the hands of progresS, may have less annual interest to Teams of Overalled gallants St. George's has looked across the jean -wearers than to their swarmed up, or tried to, a greasy the river for a century, and if it* parents' generation, if the type of pole at the Armoury, and the Jovely grey stones could tclik,, we concert -goers is surveyed, but Canada Trust , tea& of slender might hear from themthetale, 4, the young crowd knows it's testi- lads learned that the easiest way those limestone ,tiouses,•{ t by Val time, even if their wallets af- to snatch the 50 -dollar bill at the the workmen for their own •ford the special movies at the a top was to keep your tainnonat: lies and mercifully' preserved downtown theatres better • than and your shoulders broad. Beauty • 'today's people by committees of the concerts at their cramped contests featured everything far-sighted ,Gnelphites who little red and gilt auditorium, from real pulchritude to joking ized that once; the little Ontario- °War Memorial Hall" Rotarians', andslue,kY ticket wins . cottageS of leedatOne have been Not quite: involved in Spring ners found their .evening topped demolished in ujpb, there will Festival, but very involved in by whining a new ' car or a new h&no more of *envto illustrate'- 'Guelph and their futures in it, are chest freezer ,(for 100,6 not thie province'sIiisto the members of the "in-between" chests!). * the stone.-masonswhOlts4400,-- ,group, the high schoolers; Guelph Mountainous / piles of freshly- .daily skill to carve out tbe noble,f:.businessmen, like many others made Italian sausage Melted be- churches, and their own time to' ='elsewhere, have . helped these ' fore healthy appetites; 600 home- * ht1,144 what must be. One 01 the young people wet their feet in the made pizzas diSappeared, and most enduring-and‘Worthflype's ,business world y ,organizing. a • the hungry hordes,gave of laborers' homes in calla ; .'Junior Achievehi evidence of wanting hundreds „ Over on Water and More, had they been available. • StreetS, at least three houses st ' The potables, though cornraer-- \•boast the carved ich cially-obtained, Were designed to trademark the Masonry Or Mat - suit their flavors to the, kat'and thew Bell, the sculptor cold foods; One beverage, with an from Yorkshire.' Just whose unprouncably-elegant title, was physiognomies inspired all these renamed "RotaryRed" and heads remains a mystery proved the evening's favorite. Matthew Bell told anyone, Each of tlke%tWo' halls had is listener failed to write the deta watery decoratient, the Curling for history. And one mim Club's was official: a specially- Witl his sculpture ‘,:eutiestatu gnedimattani;* ea: the (01.4 niches . , centre liftha ; sIzeab1edarnp ten eci dance floorw en the roof failed to keep the raging wind and rain of May 11 completely outside. The coffers of the Crippled Children's funds were expanded • by several thousand dollars from the whole night's fun, --and some eager chap phoned next morning to ascertain if the Prima Festa was still going, oni! He'd had such fun that he wanted more festivi- ties! " All this sounds like .a far cry from the stately homes of ashlar, set in tidy green lawns, graced. with the statuary of Matthew 13e11 and .the joys of Greek Revival architecture. High above all the • rest of Guelph soar the spires of • The Church of Our Lady; still the religious starting -place of 'the marriages of most of the bam- binos as,they grow a little older. (It surprised us to learn recently that until the 1920's, only the thin Gothic spire at the rear of this • magnificent church beaconed Guelph's people. . . the two front towers were an addition less than a half -century ago! ). The church has seen its people change more and more in their ethnic back- ground, and the saints most often remembered in prayers there today are more apt to be Italy's patrons rather than those of the French or Anglo-Saxon Catholics. Still, mirrored down in the Speed, near Allen's Bridge where the old mill used to grind out Guelph's economy and where the W.C. Wood Co. now provides jobs for hundreds, and household equipment for thousands, there stands St. George's Anglican Church, whose people have re- tained their basic Anglo-Saxon background more than almost any other congregation in Guelph. Designed by another famous architect, William Thomas, the first two St. George's Churches were situated in the main inter- section of Guelph, a gardened area, crowned ip lights. still known today as "St. George's Square", a euphemism if there ever was one, because five streets meet here and form a total of three triangles, spaced between a medley of lines of traf- fic. Apparently, even the gentle horse-drawn traffic of Guelph's early days was snarled excTs-. sively by a chtirc!, in the "square". and exactly 100 years ago, the "new" St. George's rais- ed its beautiful, thin Gothic spire to the summer clouds down by the Speed. There is a startlingly. English appearance to the pres- ent St. George's if you view it across the river, it's limestone nestling in greenery, its cloister joining it to the rettory, 'a glorious buitding, far better • ent" program. Ihrough this, interested teen- agers can organize their own , small businesses, make thcprod- ,octs, sell then), and • manage the financing. Advisers and an in- ,ittructor are previded as resource ids and many of Guelph's busi- essmen function as directors of the group, in turn taking a direct interest inthe efforts of the young people.• • Highlight Of . the *Junior Achievement , year is the Awards tbeld ch -0 Churc o OurLady. SOrne�neor',e ones, finished filling malt of0e, thorn; formerly publisher of The niches, but the statuary in *hose ListowetBanner for 18 years, and now the -guiding force behind Peerless Machine and Tool Com- pany, a specialty tool design firm, established in Guelph just about the time the tall towers spaces is not of a taiibre,anytting like the beauty of Bell's faees. Guelph's Sons Young people flock to the little stone cottage on Water Street, near Bell's own home, where John McCrae was born a century ago. One of Guelph's best-known native sons, McCrae \was a physician who became 'a colonel in the First World War; his peom; ,"fn Flanders' Fields" brought fame to the scarlet poppies of the Lowlands, and to its poet, who died of infectious dysentery near the end of the War. • George Drew, another Guelph sten died recently in Toronto after a long political career and service to Canada's Armed For- ces. Mr. Drew's first wife, Pior- enza Johnson, was the daughter of Guelph's most famous son, Edward Johnson, the real in- spiration for the whole Guelph Spring Festival. Mr. Johnson, as was necessary in his era, went to Europe to seek the recognition his . beautiful tenor voice de- served; Italy took him to its heart. He sang its language and performed its operas so much that "Eduardo" became an Ital- ian to the Italians. He married an Italian countess and many of his devotees were shocked to learn that he was really a Canadian who returned to North America once the North Americans had realized he could sing! Top tenor for the Metropolitan opera for many years, Mr. Johnson step- ped into a breach in its manager- ship and continued there until his retirement. One °of those rare men who was loved by everyone who knew him. Johnson never forgot his home town; Guelph was the centre for his family life and until a few years ago the Johnson home was classed as one of the loveliest mansions in the Royal City. A high-rise apart- ment now replaces the Johnson pillars and gardens. Educational Centre Specialists in agriculture and domestic science have carried Guelph's fame abroad for dec- ades; but the expanding need for universities threw a new image onto the educational screen and within the last decade the old • guard, the graduates of the Agri- cultural and Veterinary Colleges, and the "girls from Mac Hall" have been joined by the graau- ates of a full university. The in- credibly -ugly residences of con- crete and brick, mercifully thrown up at the baek of the uni- versity complex, house the new • breeitof students who sport their jemis'and straggly hair at func- • • 1.1 FESTIVAI.'AIDS CHILDREN,--Thq.pritiia, Fe .000.t the.Guelph Itaiian community of the' Rovai City and as weli raises funds for the childre club. The r.ilentally retarded are among. thoSe.,.receiVir4 assistance and swell the coffers was Mrs. Lindsay Howitt. (centre),,atirele5WiVoirger with And a director of the Guelph and District. Association : tory . • • • • , were added to The Church ef Our • LadY, or Edward. Johnson was tossing his golden Italianarias across the footlights. For the Ta- tharn family, Guelph is a "return of the native". Edward Tatham, great WaS., „ ,,t0r;•, • Wdll- biOck hzu tette Stores on Cork Street, - just -off $t. ' George's Square,.is still knOwn as "the Ta- tham Block" in his m4mory. An- other Tatham, George's father, Charlie (C. 0, Tatham) left his Listowel home at age 14 to make his way in the business world, starting his career in the old Bank of Commerce. And Char- lie's grandparents' remains lie beneath the -waving evergreens of Woodlawn 'Cemetery, beside the highway from ListoweL 00whicti pr�velthatth,- 441 atones and brm s and,mpPing. waters ofalit& City like Guelph: many of the significant aspects of that history can be preserved, without impeding growth and progress, if some civic -minded citizens are willing to put the ef- fort into the project, before it is • • 4VI19r work� ese,c r. tarded. IarkePhot . too late. Once; the re e trrilaeetzuerrdinve' rti*e‘ :40'6Pirt°111'.111 ..,ha t44411ze- generat a 6.0 • •:„ t • .:,,.:.'dd bbyogwhrainatabtiYrtorer!inliz23eajt76.0..4hril:2astii:tt:6(naSoltotisi:titi!:;e6PP:1..;:e, Bridge, and thus marked the es tablishment of Guelph:, e dk • good day's Work. s their a • servation offic longer- game war • '4 The Cambridge Division of the Ministry of Natural &sources i5. bounded on the north by the Owen Sound and Barrie Divisions, on the east by the Maple and Niag- ara .Divisions, on the south by Aylmer and Simcoe Divisions and on the west by the Wingham Include.d in the Cambridge dis- trices jurisdiction are the west- ern townships of Maryborough, Wellesley, Wilmot and Blenheim. The Most northern townships are Arthur, West Luther and East Luther. The southernmost town- ships are Tuscarora, Glanford and Binbrook, on the eastern side is Erin, Esquesing, and the Town of Oakville. The Cambridge Divi- sion covers all townships in be- tween those boundaries and in- cluding them. Mount Forest is on the northern boUndary line, which is Highway 89. Any part of Mount Forest north of No. 89 Highway is under Division. The of Owen Sound vis The Cambridge district office is located on Beaverdale Road, with (519) 658-9356 as the tele- phone number. The district manager is W. R. Catton; finance and administration officer, P. • Linklater; fish and wildlife supervisor, H. D. Howell and forest management supervisor, R. C. Gilbert. Supervisor of lands and fields services is J. E. Col- lard, while.supervisor of parks is B. M. Duffin. Conservation work • is an im- portant field and one that builds a better future for those who love nature and everyone in general. Fish and Wildlife Co-ordinator H. J. Gingrich defines a conserva- tion officer's role: "Basically, a conservation officer's job is man- agement, enforcement. and pub- lic relations." • Mr, Gingrich says the role of a conservation officer is changing, and in the process the public's idea of an officer is changing. "At one time a conservation officer was thought of as a game warden hiding behind a tree, trying to catch somebody. This is the pic- ture that has been painted from some umpteen years ago and one of the reasons for changing the name from game warden to con- servation officer, to try and im- More than food cost is rising We're all interested in the price we pay for food, and meat in par- ticular, the key to menu planning. As Canadians we have become accustomed to ample supplies of meat of excellent quality. A look at the various components of the consumer price index clearly indicates the food increases have been very much in line with gains in the all -items index. In fact, in 1972 the housing and personal care index was higher than food. Looking at the indexes in more detail it is noted the beef index steed , at 157.6 in 1972, pork at 132.4. Compare these indexes with other 1972 indexes such as new houses, 192.2; mortgage in- teregt, 215.9; postage, 173.9; household help, 192.6; woman's winter coat, 145.8; children's shoes, 158.9; auto insurance, 191.8; dentist's fees, 180.7; men's haircuts, 1951.. It's a fact costs are generally going up, some faster than others. For specific reasons the rate of increase may not be steady, and at times the index will even decrease as was the case with pork in 1971 when the index dropped to 109.6 from 128.1 in 1970. As, has been noted pre- viously supply and demand factors cause price increases, but it must be remembered they also bring prices down. In looking at prices we nr4ist look bey1/4mtl the very short term aspects and view the situation in a more realistic longer term time span. press upon people that our main jobiis not to roar around pinching peOple.• We're getting- into management which we feel is more important, to benefit wild- life by adjusting habitat and keeping the proper environment as opposed to charging someone after they've shot a pair of geese. The damage has already been done then. Sure, you hurt the guy's pocket book, but you don't do the game any good." To Improve Conditions The main objective now of a conservation officer is to improve living conditions for wildlife and instill in people the need to have the animals alive, rather than punishing people for abusing them. However, the breakers of conservation laws still exist and penalties are administered to violatorc The most common charge is hunting without a license. Hunters can also be cnarged tor carrying a loaded gun in the car. This law is more from a safety angle than an en- vironment sense. Also among the common charges are hunting out of season, hunting,on Sunday, and hunting non -game birds. Concerning the enforcement • aspect of conservation, Mr. Ging- rich says, "Our fellows do lay quite a number of charges and spend a considerable amount of time in court, but basically, our main objective is to deter these violations, to convince people why we have these laws rather than to inconvenience their pocketbooks and make us spend a lot of time in procesding the charges." The ministry has a Winter Works program; utilizing the manpower for creating clearings and better habitats and food sup- plies for the wildlife. During the summer months, students work to improve waterways by doing lake and stream surveys. The name nf this operationas been Ili changed from SWEEP to WORD at least for the Cambrids'e Divi- sion. The students deternine the • waterbodies where fishing could be improved and store data that will inform people as to whereto go fishing and what fish ar4res4 ent in what waters. Hunter Safety ' • The hunter safety prograni initiatedby the ministry requires that anyone under the age of 20 • years must take a hunter safety course before he can undergo a hunter's license test. Bruce Buckland was the examiner for the tests and found that the fail- ing rate was high. He says, "Of people who didn't take the course prior to writing the exam, 35 to 50 per cent failed. The course was really good. It really makes a big difference." Mr. Gingrich says of the course, "The purpose of this hunter safety training course and exam is to get to all new hunters before they get ipto this field and cut down on accidents and fatalitiles. It's been proven that, even though the number of hunters is increasing, the number of accidents is going down all the time." The public relations portion Of the conservation officer's duties is limited by the number of of- ficers as opposed to the many clubs and organizations that in- vite them to speak on conserva- tion. The officers do attend many public functions promoting a good conservation sense and in Mr. Gingrich's own words "preachifng our gospel". The "gospel" of conservation officers makes geed sense. Pre- serving nature and its wildlife is a step in preserving ourselves and all mankind. Correct atti- tudes towards conservation bring about good lives and a comfort- ahle environment The Cam- bridge District of the Ministry of Natural Resources plays a major part In making Ontario's vast wealth of beautiful land even more enhanced and in focusing our attentions on the need for wildlife appreciation and protec- tion. • e • `t • •