HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-06-07, Page 2-rr
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PAGE 2-7GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 103
An ounce of prevention
Glancing over Jack Riddell's column
for this week, one learns Ontario's Dr.
Richard Potter is trying just about
everything in the book to keep health
costs down.
But this time, he's going a bit too far
and there's small doubt that the people'
of this province will have something to
say about the doctor's suggestion that
medical checkups be allowed only once
every ten years through medical in-
surance for citizens between the ages of
five and 44 years.
According to Huron MPP Jack Riddell,
• the recommendation was tabled in the
Legislature this week along with several
others including limiting doctors in their
use .of radiological and laboratory tests
and a reduction in the number of
screening procedures which would. be
allowed under the provincial health in-
surance plant,
The medical profession, of course, ad-
vocates annual checkups. Some may
say it is just a ruse to ,attract more
patients and accumulate 'money. But to
men and women who have learned to
visit their doctors once a year for a com-
plete physical workup. the practice is no
waste of time and money. It is an invest-
ment in health which pays dividends
again and again. This privilege should
be open to all people.
There have been many cases in recent
months which prove that the Ontario
Health Plan is being abused by some
doctors as well as some patients. Dr.
Potter's efforts to correct this form of
downright misuse are appreciated by the
majority of professional and lay people
who recognize the health .plan as a
tremendous contribution to the overall
health of the nation.
Once the provincial government has
plugged all these loopholes, it behooves
the members to provide the best of
medical care possible for all ages and
all incomes.
If it costs more money, then the price
will have to be met. Anything l9ss ,is
totally unacceptable in a time when
medical history is being made every
hour and lives are being saved each day
thanks to regular physical. checkups and
a new awareness of danger signals. An
ounce of prevention is; still worth a
pound of cure, even in Ontario.
A puzzling vigil
When Huron County Council met last
week, there was in evidence just one
more example of the type of inconsistent
thinking which sometimes boggles the
'minds of spectators.
In one move, approval was given by
council for study into Urban Develop-
ment in Rural Areas at a cost of about
$110,000 to be financed by an 80 percent
grant from the province and a 20 percent
input by the county ratepayers.
Shortly thereafter, a rather fruitless
debate was heard on the restrictions set
down in the Official Plan concerning
severing lots from farmland in Huron.
While the county officials were ready
tc put out about $20,000 to study the
problems created in rural areas by the
growing numbers of urban -like
dwellings springing up all over, they
were prepared to argue and fight to the
bitter end for the right to sever a chunk
of property from a farm to build a house
for just about any purpose they decided.
The county's Official Plan is not overly
restrictive. In fact, the Official Plan was
carefully written to allow considerable
leaway in nyst situations so that local
municipalities could develop to their
own liking in many cases.
But the Official Plan does point the
way in which this county should be
developing and obviously there is
merit in the Plan's intention to
discourage the construction of homes in
rural areas to be occupied by persons
having absolutely nothing to do with far-
ming or agricultural endeavors:
It seems that the Official Plan -.and the
UDIRA study might come together at
some point since both are striving for
essentially the same end. In the mean-
time, county councillors endorse one
and question the other to the complete
frustration of those who watch from out-
side the rail.:
Talent everywhere
Residents in and around Goderich
were treated to two. _f'Fie_shows last weak
the Lions.. Club. Festi 7 l '73 -an Vic-
- teria Public SChooi Operetta: Falks-who_
took the time to- see both efforts were
not disappointed. Each was terrific in its
own way.
The Town of Goderich with some very
real assistance from the surrounding
area, is becoming a real entertainment
centre'. The theatre bugs.
seems to be rubbing off on all ages and
many organizations.
The -.ions Club and more importantly
Mrs.,Roni Zonneveld who produced and
Azad_ d_ Fest ive+-t."17;,,eay they__w+1I_,be
back next year. The...of Victoria
P•ubl+a_.sehoet ts--eerreft lfy weighing -the
possibility of producing a similar show
in 1974.
It is be hoped that both these new en-
tertainment companies return' bigger
and better in the next twelve months.
Added to the fine company of Goderich
Little Theatre and' ,the energetic and
talented drama group at GDCI, this area
can boast a truly versatile and en-
thusiastic theatrical core not generally
found away from larger centres.
Kill the messenger
Way back in the bad old days, when
kings had the power of instant life and
death, it was not uncommon for a faithful
retainer to be slain when he was unfor-
tunate enough to be the bearer of bad
news.
Today the victim has changed but the
attitude has not. Now it's the press, or
the 'mass media. whenever the news 'is
bad there is a great cry that ,the media
are to blame.
Would we all be better off if we never
heard the truth?
—Wingham Advance -Times.
:0;
A
'the eoberfcfj
s IGNAt.S.STAR
—0-- The County Town Newspaper of Huron --0--
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Business and Editorial Office
TELEPHONE 524.1331
area code 519
locoed class mail registration number --0716
Pubtishad by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd.
ROBERT G. SHRIEK -president and publisher
SHIRLEY J. KELLER—editor
R. W. SHAW -ti -editorial staff
EDWARD J. B,YRSi(t----adv rlising manager
DAVE R. WILLIAMS--adv rttsing, representative
44
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DEAR READERS
By Shirley J. f eller
Dear Readers,
Unsigned letters are
generally not acknowledged by
this newspaper but this week
there is one which, cannot go
unnoticed. It is signed "Just
another overloaded taxpayer"
and is addressed to the
publisher, Bob Shrier.
It reads: "Couldn't help but
notice that there was no men-
tiop made concerning increased
taxes for Goderich citizens in
today's paper. While other
towns (including Clinton!) are
reducing mill rate, we apparen-,
tly will be .,blessed with an
average $75.00 increase! - at
least according to the London
Free Press. As a public service,
shouldn't you have a reporter
investigate these rumors and
publish answers as soon as
possible? P.S. Are members of
council hiding their heads- in
the sand?"
It really isn't a great deal of
wonder this person didn't sign
his or her name to the letter.
Anyone as confused as this
could better use the time wat-
ching television.
First of all, The Goderich
Signal -Star has carried two
front page stories on- the
possible tax increase .... (Note:
wasn' t „'possible' because "the budget
„eked until -..this ...
'week.).
Not only that, the Signal-
Star- has iliacus -ad" the proposed
tax increase on the editorial
page two or three weeks ago. •
As well, the anonymous let-
, ter
et..ter ,writerpicked up the infor-
mation about "an average
$75.00 increase" from the
Signal -Star and not from The
London Free Press as stated ....
and that comes from the local
Free Press reporter, Don
Murray who advises that infor-
mation was .not found in his
story.
Thus it appears the letter
writer reads his news in the
Signal -Star and credits it to
The London Free Press. Now
that's confusion!
The letter writer went on to
suggest that a reporter "in-
vestigate these rumors and
publish answers as soon as
possible".
The sad fact is that there are
no real answers except that
costs are up and Goderich tax-
payers will be paying more! In
fact, if you sit down and talk to
anyone of the town council
members, that's precisely the
answer you will get.
But in this week's issue of
The Goderich Signal -Star, both
on the front page and on the
advertising pages, Councillor
Dave Gower, chairman of
finances for Goderich, has at-
tempted to give the answers.
Basically, he notes that the
mining grant is down and the
school costs are up. Result?
Higher taxes.
* * *
If th writer of the aforemen-
tioneciletter expects this writer
to take council to task for the
increase in taxes, there will be
considerable disappointment
on that score.
No one likes, to pay higher
taxes. Very likely everyone
wishes that taxes could steadily
decline and services" gradually
improve .... even though that's
something like wishing on the
first evening star for the annual
A
horde of June bugs to disap-
pear.
Anyone though, who takes an
interest in council affairs and
knows just how municipal
money is being spent these
days, will realize that .higher
taxes are inevitable in
Goderich .... and that about the
only comment to be made
suggests it is a real wonder
local ratepayers are not paying
more tax dollars than they are.
Speaking about tax dollars,.I
had a brief chat last Thursday
at Huron County Council with
County Engineer Jim Britnell
who reminded me that while
Goderich appears fp, be paying
a large sum into' the county cof-
fers for county roads of which
there are precious few in
Goderich, this municipality is
actually receiving a tax rebate
annually from the county road
budget.
"No one likes to mention
that," complained Britnell.
The engineer reported that in
1972, $117,895 was refunded to
the towns and ,,:villages in
Huron County from the road
'account. According to the High- ,
way Improvements Act, the
cbuntcyozut refund not less
than '25 percent and not more
than 50 jercent- of what they
contribute*' a county road
account. onICounty has
struck a formula of a 45 per-
cent rebate to towns and
villages.
In 1972 then, Goderich
received a rebate of $41,180.40
from the county of Huron.
Britnell -went on to say that
about 1965, the county road
department drew up a set of
criteria by which roads within
urban municipalities could
become county roads. In
Goderich, the dock hill, the
north road to the salt mine,
West Street and Elgin Ave
came within the requirements
and the county offered to take
over these roads,
According to Britnell, the of-
fer was made by the county by
which municipalities could
maintain these roads to their
own standards .... and the"
county would pay the bills.
But the mayors of all five
towns asked for a hearing with
the county road department,
'xplained they did not want.
this to take place and when the
matter came before county
council, the bitter debate ended
in a decision to leave the road
situation as it was.
"We bowed to the will of the
five towns," said Britnell who
suggested that the only reason
the towns didn't want some of
their roads taken over was
because they were afraid they
would "lose their say".
It appears that Dave Gower
is putting a good deal of the
blame for the tax increases
locally on the Huron County
Board of Education. In his
statement found elsewhere in
this issue, he notes that
Goderich's share of the 1973
education cost is increased by
$71,000 over 1972.
As an additional bit of fuel to
fan the, flame of discontent
which is burning over
education in general, Signal -
Star editorial department this
week had a bad experience over
the Central Huron Track Meet
in which the area elementary
schools were involved.
As Signal readers will attest,
this newspaper endeavors to
provide coverage of as many
school events as possible.
We've done such a good job on
occasion that we've been com-
mended by the officials at the
Board of Education office in
Clinton.
Tuesday, the track meet was
on. This newspaper had been
invited by the Holmesville
school to attend and to get pic-
tures of the winners. We were
delighted to comply. In fact,
we'd already assigned a
photographer to that event.
Rob Kellestine went to Clin-
ton Tuesday afternoon to get
photos. He went over soon after
lunch assuming that presen-
tations of plaques and awards
would be made about mid-
afternoon. He was working for
The Goderich Signal -Star and
for The Clinton News -Record
so was interested in the
Goderich Schools, Clinton
Public School, Huron Centen-
nial School, Flullett Central
School and Holmesville Public
School.
Suddenly, he learned there
would be no presentations
made- to the winners. There
were no trophies or medallions.
It appeared this announcement
was also news to some of the
teachers who were involved in
the event.
Furthermore, our
photographer encountered a�
lack of co-operation in getting
the pictures of winners. He
managed to get only the senior
and intermediate winners ....
the juniors and midgets were
loaded aboard buses and taken
home. (In fairness to all, we
will not run some winners in
some classes so will use no
photos at all this week.)
We take this opportunity to
apologize to the Goderich and
Holmesville youngsters
especially whose pictures do
not appear in this issue even
though they have earned
honors for their shcools.
In this case, it was a
situation beyond our control.
PEAR EDITOR
About, VON
Dear Editor,
It was interesting to see the
article in last week's paper
about the V.O.N. and the local
nurse Mrs. Bradley.
Until recently I was not
aware of just what services,
were provided by V.O.N. and,
until time of need, like many
other things, the V.O.N. was an
organization that existed, per-
formed unknown nursing
duties, and as far as I knew,
that was it.
Recently we in our family
were brought into' direct con-
tact with V.O.N. and Mrs.
Bradley. A member of our
family who has had diabetes
for over 20 yearerandcontrolled
it by diet and pills suddenly, at
the age of 80, had to start
taking insulin by injection.
Through our doctor and the
Home Care Service, V.O.N. was
contacted and on the first day
home from the hospital at 8:00
a.m. Mrs. Bradley was there to
check the patient in our home
and give the insulin. She has
trained one of us to give insulin
injections and has been very
considerate and helpful on each
of her daily visits.
This work does not stop for
Saturdays, Sundays and
Holidays. This Sunday Mrs.
Bradley's first call was at our
place at 8:00 a,m. Her last call
this day was to be at 10:00
p.m.
They call and help the sick
and the helpless. Give injec-
tions, change dressings, and in
doing so, I am sure, give hope
as well as help.
All this has made me won-
der! 1. What financial support
is given V.O.N.? 2. Are they get-
ting the support they need? 3.
Are we in this area giving them
the support they get elsewhere?
Their good work has been
4„
going on. for 75 years. It has ap-
parently just started in Huron
County.
If saving jail walls is impor-
tant; if having beautiful pain-
tings in hospitals is important;
then surely a V.O.N. type of
human service rates top
priority.
If the answers to any of the
above questions are inadequate
then something is surely wrong.
I am signing this letter to
show good faith, btrt would ap-
preciate it if you did not print
my name.
Yours very truly,
Appreciative
Editor's Note: At last Thur-
sday's session of Huron County
Council, members voted $l,000
to V.O.N providing the
organization did not solicit
grants from Iocal
municipalities.
Talent please
Dear Editor,
The Artisans' Guild of
Hamilton needs your assistance
in alerting all craft workers in
your town and surrounding
rural area of the opportunity to
exhibit work in "Image '74".
This large exhibition will take
place from June 6, 1974 to the
end of that month in the new
magnificent Hamilton Place
located in the centre of
Hamilton.
At the same time the FIRST
world craft show will be held in
Toronto. It is anticipated that
visitors attending from all over
the world will view the exhibit
in Hamilton!
It may seem to you that June
1974 ie a long time away, but
there are important reasons for
craft people to have this much
advance notice. Some craft
works, weaving, for example,
can take months to, complete.
(continued on pogo 3)
L1OOKtNt 8C"N
M$ goas d'
o
June 7, 1g
Chas E. Shaw h
of his fire70 ir4suraYEnce
Oswald Carey, and
the
will carry it on w'
at the same with hph.
place
occupied by e as
Mr. Shaw
the postoffice. Ile hod
retain all of Mr, Sha
business and will give
attention to the intereetad
patrons.
The Walter L. Main
arrived early on Sunday
ning at the station and
good many of their tents _
ted at the agricultural gr,
by 9 o'clock. They came.ia
two trains and their care
bered about thirty-five orf.
The show is a good one sad
street parade on Monday
ning was the centre of'a,;
tion for old as well as y,
The performances were
well attended, especially le
afternoons. The pyramid
horses directed by a lady
trainer was exceedingly
and very clever, the acr,.
were good and the gr
military spectacle "Sao.
South Africa," was well
ceived. A very large number
splendid horses, a g,
menagerie and several ,
were among the aggregat
and all the comments we
heard were words of pr'
The circus trains left during
night.
25 YEARS AGO
June 7, 1948
I_.
'The largest Northern
calaght at Goderich in
memories of veteran fishe
was landed from the back
nee near the mouth of •
Maitland River at 9
Tuesday. It measdred 38 it,'
in length and weighed 1
pounds.
Bill. Waugh of the
Telephone staff was the
fisherman who made the"'
connection". His only r+•
that it was not a perch, 1'
would have been a surewi
of the Lions Club's ",,
derby" prize of $50.
With Bill Waugh at the
he caught the whopper war
Porter, a Bell Telephone
ployee from London.
struggled for half-an.h,
before he finally got the -
safe on dry land. Playiof
with his steel, rod from
rowing boat he found he
no headway. Finally he a
the fish to Indian Island
out of the boat, and hauled
rifish up on the .island,
mediately the pike was he
on land it threw the spinner
_.which it was caught, ill
subdued the pike with
blows and sat down with'
of relief to admire, his big
On Sunday afternoon
Fruehauf 14 -passenger
cruiser plane broke down.
Lake Huron, and managed
land at Sky Harbour a
with only one engine opera,
The plane is owned
Fruehauf Trailer Corpora'
of Detroit. The Company
informed and parts were:
to Goderich, where the big
cruiser was serviced by
Harbour Air Services,
which it continued on it
5 S
JuneYEAR7, 196AGO
Leon Major of Torontg
of Mr, and Mrser Goderich,Ml
e
The Square,
his New Yorkodirect rheld'
ted Patience as the fifth
final attraction in the
York City Centre semen.
Gilbert and Sulliv Nathan
According
Toronto Star column'
critics were as one In
praise"
Mr. Major, director of
with the Neptune T,
Halifax, and Hart
Theatre, Toronto, will
fall season repeat of
Reel and a performs°,
"Tosca", for the Can
Opera Company. 28,
Mervin Witter,
Kingston, Jamaica, hes
the Goderich Police t
mens els a coneti!►ble.
er
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