HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-08-09, Page 16ar
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PAGE 4A---GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, At UST 9, 1973
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Bert Soother to of Princess Street operates his ham radio while his'wife Helen and son Don
watch. Mr. Sootheran, who moved to Clinton to become a piano tuner with Sherlock -
Manning and ,says he enjoys living in a smaller town very much. He communicates with
other operators from around the world. (News -Record photo)
Blind couple move
to Clinton location
Working, in .Clinton and
travelling to— Guelph every
weekend by bus. to see his wife
and 12 -year-old son, Herbert
-Soot-her-an -had-plenty of t irtte-to
consider whether he liked his
new job tuning pianos enough
to uproot his family.
Bert, 46, and Helen, lived in
Guelph since they were married
16 years ago. Could they start
again'' - leave familiar surroun
dings, settle in a, new lawn and
a new neighbourhood, make
new friends Could they make
a go of An nanwou,d ask
himself that.
But Burt is blind. He lost his
sight as a boy in Niagara Falls,
through an eve infection when
he caught the measles. His wife
has. ,partial. yisiOn. There were
other things to consider.
- Guelph, with a population of
60,000 had public transpor-
tation. Clinton, a4dwn,.of 3,200•
people, did not. How would-
, they get •aroun.d? And what
about shopping? They would
have to tend .i place close to the
stores.
He often thought on 'those
bus_ trips how different - con-
, ditions . are today, particularly
_the high -c t Df.. I,ying.Att.ci.
W. J. Demme
(LOWER
SHOP
Phone
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would like to call on you with
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formation about your new
location. The Hostess will be
glad to arrange your subscrip-
tion to, the Signal -Star
Call her at 524-7854
when he was 20, he definite1
had more nerve. Now, more set
tled in his ways, a move would
be difficult. But did he have a
choice? -He - -had - -been- out of -
work for over a year. He had a
family to support.
He trained as a piano tuner
at the Ontario School for the
Blind in Brantford. When he
graduated in 1946, he travelled
around Ontario for five years
tuning pianos with a blind
friend who did repairs. A
sighted salesman drove them
from town to town and set up
jobs for them in piano stores.
Manv's a time he thought
about those days - steadv,work
and good pay. He never forgot
one lady whose piano he,'tuned.
She .had the, police search him
because she misplaced her
cheques. Turned out her
husband picked it up.
When Bert got married, he
and Helen settled 'in 'Guelph.'
He soon grew tired of being
away from home so much and
eventually gave up tuning
pianos on the road. That was 21
years ago.
Lately he had been thinking
about, how. hard it had been on
the family `since pe was laid off
his motor packaging -=job --.in- an
electrical company. H had
worked there for 16 year . He
never thought he would be out
of- a .job: --In 1970 the company
decided to move .to its other
plant in Sarnia. Bert was
willing to move. His job was
protected under the terms of a
union contract with the Guelph
plant. But the Sarnia plant had
a different union which only
guaranteed him a 50-50 chance
of a job.
In the meantime, with the
help ' of employment officers
from The Canadian-- National
Institute for the Blind, Bert
looked around for other em-
ployment. He lined ,up a job in
a manufacturing firm that was
willing to hire him when his job
terminated. Word got around
he had started this job already
and he was laid off in July '71.
He remembered when the
manufacturing job fell through
too. The_ company shipped its
products to the United States
and when President Nixon
levied the excise- tax,, business
w -as cut in half and Bert was
out of a job.
CNIB! employment officers
spent the next year in every. fac-
tory in Guelph and area • in an
attempt to find suitable em-
ployment. There. were no jobs
available:
In October of last year, CNIB
heard that a blind piano tuner,
employed by Sherlock -Manning
in .Clinton, was retiring. Bert
went for an interview. He war
hired on a three-month frial
basis. During that time -he
Small Farm
_. _ _ _.._.._DeveIopment plugs -.._
FARM LISTING SERVICE
Under the SMALL FARM DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM the Farm CreditrCorporation
maintains a listing service at its local- offices.
If you are .the owner of a small farm which you --
wish to sell for not more than $20,000 you should
visit the local F.C.C. office before completing the
sale_ arrangements to -list your farm and inquire
about the Possibility of a grant under the
Program.
if you have just' sold your farm you should im-
mediately check with F.C.C. as to whether a
grant is available.
The listings w.J11 be available to any interested
purchasrs. If you are looking for Iand.to expand
your present farm you should check to see Warty
of the land listed will` meet your needs. You may
qualify for special credit to buy it.
♦ J
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boarded in Clinton and visited
his family on weekends. He
liked his new job tuning pianos
in a factory and' the company
as- so satisfied with --his wor-k-
that, after - the ,assessment
period, it gave him an increase,
in salary. And then Bert
decided. In February, he, Helen
and their son moved to Clinton.
."It was a big step," says Bev
Powell, CNIB employment of-
ficer. "There were sacrifices.
Both of them were active, in the
corttanuriity. Bert was on" the
ernplovment airport itoties com-
mittee of the Canadian- rrtrncil
of the Blind (CCB), an odd
turn of events since he could
not get a job ' -himself. 'And
Helen had to give up a small
business selling iosmetics."
"We've made a lot of new
friends in Clinton,'-' says 'Bert.''
"It seems easier in a small -
,town. People always stop to say
"Hello'." -
Bert .has .been spending a lot
of time fixing up their house on
Princess. Street. He likes -wood-
working.- He is also a ham radio.
operator. Some nights he may
.be in touch with Europe, other
nights Aitralia-or 'Africa;
"When we lived in Guelph, I
used to talk to a young man -in
his twenties who worktd in a
weather ,station in Alaska. His
family -lived -in Guelph: --At a
predesignated rime his Dad
would come over to talk to his
son. I finally met him a year, ,
later."
Since the. Sootherans have
moved to. Clinton, .they have
been back to Guelph twice to
visit friends. But Bert has no
plans to retire there.
"I'll just have to see how
things go. If.we continue, to like
Clinton as much as we do now,
we'll probably. stay put."
Country -Playhouse
Stage first "musical
by. Shirley J. Keller
Huron Country Playhouse
staged •its first musical last
week. The Fantasticks is a
delightful fantasy with some
fine music contained
throughout.
The story has been termed A
Parable About Love and that
about sums it up. Main, action
centres around a girl and boy
who believe themselves to be in
love, then have a quarrel and
part before finding their lives
are incomplete without each
other.
,The girl was played by Can-
dace •O'Connor, a lovely thing
with a truly sweet voice.. The
boy was portrayed by Allan
Stratton, a member of The Ap-
prentice Group, who shifted
easily and believably from hap-
piness to sadness and back
again. Stratton has a good
Voice and his duets with Miss
O'Connor were ear -pleasing.
Rob Garrison as The
Narrator was excellent. Shawn
Lawrence as The Girl's Father
and Keith Bradley as The
Local man
Allan Morrison Masson, of
Oakville, who has been appoin-
ted chairman of the new
Halton regional government, is
a grandson of the late James
Masson, county judge of Huron
k'om 1896•to 1902. Mr. Masson,
59, will preside over a region
embracing Oakville,
-Buffington, Georgetown and
several townships. It is con
sidered a full-time job, and
carries a salary of $27,000.
Mr. Masson is one of four
regional chairmen chosen by
the provincial government. One
is a woman, Controllei. Anne
Jones of Hamilton, who heads
the • Hamilton -Wentworth
region at $31,000. Three of the
four are known as active Con-
servatives.
Mr. Masson was party can-
didate in Halton for the House
of Commons in 1965, but was
defeated by- a Liberal.. He en-
tered Oakville council 'in 1959,
ws mayor from 1964.to 1966,
then dropped out until elected
reeve in 1970, which office he
has, held up, to the present. He
retired' from b fsiness- -after
selling his consumer loan firm
in, 1965.
In an interview he said fears
that reginal government
would force unwanted growth
upon Oakville were unfounded.
He thought the region would be
as responsible to the jeople as
their local system.
James Masson, who was
Conservative member for North
Grey from 1887 tri 1896, was
appointed county judge for
Huron in the latter 'year and
BU S IN SS
DIRECTORY
R. W. BELL I
OPTOMETRIST
The Square
524-7661
Ronald L.
McDonald
CHARTERED'ACCOUNTAN
39 St. David S4. 524-6253
Goderich, Ontario
CHARTERED' ACCOUNTANT
39 St. David St., 524-6253
Goderich, Ontario
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Pumps and Injectors
Repaired
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Bayfield Rd. 482-7971
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The Square
Goderich
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Cards For
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BOOK CENTRE
33 EAST St.
Goderich
CHISHOLM
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Boy's Father turned in fine per-
tormancea excelling perhaps ,in
their duet numbers.
Star of the show once more
had to be M.E. Evans who was
on stage for the third con-
secutive time this season as
'I'he Actor. Pluxhouse etudien-
ces are enjoyiWfg Evans' work
for he has shown he is as ver
satile as an actor should be.
The remaining two members
of the cast were Liz Richardson
as The Mute, silent but very
much in evidence throughout,
and Peter Dower as The Man
Who Dies. Both these young
people had unusual parts to
play and, did them excep-
tionally well.
Although the musical lacked
some of the sparkle that may
have been expected, most of the
dazzle was lost because of cir-
cumstances beyond anyone's
control. The heavy rain last
Wednesday evening left the
cast and the audience ham
pered due to the fact that the
accoustics in the big tent were
at an all-time low with people
constantly moving to escape the
egion-bead
.
took up residence in Goderich
in the "House of Four Judges"
now owned and occupied by
Judge Glenn Hays.
Later the family removed to
the Acheson house on Nelson
street, now a nursing home,
and whenillness caused the
judge ' to retire, the family
removed to Toronth. The" ,
judge's wife was Jessie
Morrison, a sister of whom was
the wife of Dr. Hugh I. Strang,
formany years principal of
Goderich Collegiate Institute.
The judge's eldest son,
Thomas Morrison Masson,
never 'resided in Goderich, but
married a Goderich girl, May
Allan, daughter of A: McD:,
Allan. He was executive vice-
president of the Aikenhead
Hardware Co., Toronto, when
he retired to Oakville, He died
there in 1956, aged 80. His wife
died in 1965, and is buried in
Oakville. Their only child wag'
Allan Morrison,Masson, now
head of Haltonregion; there
are four grandchildred.
water dries from above.
One of the moat amazing'sur-
prises of the evening was the
tremendous backgroupd -music
which was supplied by pianist
Linda Roland and drummer,
flute player and mandolin ar-
tist Erni Van -Daele.
Thy exciting sounds and
marvellous accompaniment
supplied by this pair of talented
people astounded moat theatre-
goers Wednesday evening.
Their efforts were highly com-
mendable and there's little
doubt they will long be remem-
bered as the highlight of this
first musical production.
Next week, I'll be seeing
Like Father, Like Fun, billed
as a "riotous Canadian comedy
about the generation gap" try
Eric Nichol.
If you can find time, get
down to the Playhouse to ex-
perience summer stock in
Huron County. If you haven't
yet visited, you are missing one
of the area's newest and most
exciting adventures in enter-
tainment. - ' -
SUPPORT YOUR
LOCAL RED CROSS
LOVE'S
LAST
GIFT
REMEMBRANCE
M►Nethw h'• a
• MONUMENT • •MARKIR • INsc
You are rea ANN
LET aM,
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HELP YOU DECIDE ON YOUR MEMORI
IN GODENICH . DOI DeuIDippe Al guru .
SEE 77 HAMILTON ST. '` S24-1761
FarrnersAttention
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