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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-09-19, Page 2iF 1PAQE 2- ,•QDeitjCi SIGNAL -STAR, T1nHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1974 It's a Huron attraction In last week's Exeter Times -Advocate, Editor Bill Batten worked a great piece into his Batt'n Around column about the 'Huron County jail., , Writes Batten: "After' months of haggling, a save -the -jail committee managed to have the jail opened .for tourists and other interested parties and the project appears `to have been suc- cessful, thereby.., silencing the many critics.who had doubted anyone would Want to visit a° jail," But he goes on: "It. probably won't be.. . too long before someone cashes in on' the attraction and we'll see,. youngsters on the street .with "I was in oderich jail" emblazoned on their t -shirts:" It is a tip ofthe'hat this week to'Town .Public *Works Foreman Stan •Meriam who last week was presented with a cer- tificate showing he had successfully com- pleted the. C.S. Anderson Road School hool huma'n relations course. In Stan's own words he explained the' value of the classes. "I'm having more dealings with people all the timet" Stan. told council: . He's dead right. The Public 'Works Foreman in the Town of Goderich has full schedule and a heap of responsibility which is growing every year, .Witness the new streets, the •.rraushroorning sub- divisions, the extra duties,- the expanded The comrriittee. in charge of the jail - has spent many long hours and much energy to promote the jail as a Huron County attraction. The jail is located, in Goderich, that's true. But it once served Huron County, it is still Huron County property,' it is managed by a committee of Huron County citizens, it is beneficial to .the Whole of Huron County. The comments in the T -A on the suc- cess of the jail program for 1974 are truly welcome, but it good to remem- ber that the project has a county -wide' thrust. Huron citizens should be remin- ded of this whenever articles about, the jail are included in news stories or promotions anywhere. A tip of thehat q �a • parklands, . the additional municipal holdings.' The days are long gone when the Public -Works Foreman can keep °everythingin his head although Stan Meriam does a fair job of that too. The position is becoming so demanding as the town spreads' out and grows.up that more and more records are kept, more and more .administration is required. , "8-oit is -a tip of the hat to Stan Meriam who is.keeping abreast of the times by at- tending classes which will help him in his .work - and in turn make him more._ valuable to the community. Congratulations Stan. School spirit alive With the excitement of the first home .games for the Viking .fcsotball teams. in th'e air, the Signal -Star editorial staff took fast Friday afternoon off to attend the, exhibition contest between Sarnia Northern and the Goderich boys, What was most amazing was the •number' of citizen from the community who. took, time out -to watch the lodal youth in blue and white. And fans were'°not disappointed: The .GDCI teams performed well - the juniors losing a hard-fought battle which. brought nn shame to the Viking 'honor and "the seniors coming up with eta last second effort to win over their worthy opponebits by a score of 7-6, " b 'There' was plenty . of school.- spirit evident although not as many students as one would have hoped came out. to urge on their -classmates. The 'school cheers were led by a group of leaping, twisting, kicking and otherwise •• animated gals and the school band en- couraged hand -clapping and foot stompingaas they_put forth their tuneful renditions of football -type music. -All in all, it was a typical" high school scene. and .anyone who attended the games probably went avvay pleased, and prbud About the GDCI community. The next home games for the Viking. •sq football uads is October. 3. It is to be hoped that many more Goderich .and area residents will take this opportunity to watch the prowess• of these good looking young teams and give them the kind,. of enthusiastic support .they. deserve. It would be well to remember as well, that football is only one of many .'sports played at GDCI - and only one of a host of events of wide interest throughout the district, ". It. won't be long before junior andsenior girls' basketball gets underway. Later it will be boys' basketball and girls artd boys' volleyball. In the spring it will be boys' soccer. ,At the end of this month, it is the an- nual. commencement exercises. Through the year there will be drama nights and musical offerings. There's really and` truly something for everybody and GDGI staff and students are pleased to welcome -anyone• anytime who is in- terested in what's happening at the 'high school.' There's no: better way to build for the future &than to show today's young pe tple the community is *behind :them. every way. rp• CIRCULATION Ztrye OoDericfj SIONAL-STAR —4 -- 'The County Town Newspaper of Huron —0 --.. )ndh i 1 1139 31 1 p ,hl sne,,1 every Thurs lav a' ra.,der,^h On'ari) - Member )f the OWNA ani OWNA A�v�r s r a'es )1 regiie.s. Subscriptions pavabl"e In advance 'S9 50 , 0 311,13, $1.0 00 1 311 t,n: rips ) n°er 'non Canada single• c )pies 20 cent's S'3 -)n,1 ass mad ,R,11,5',3' )1 N,tmr3.r 0716 Adv'3r' s.t{1g Is accepted on the cond�'�an h3r 'he ern )' )f 'yp)1r1ph,,,31 ,?r•1r 'hq ,3riv?r'ising space 'Coupled by. the' ) )'i •em ')ge'her tort), re 3S )13bte 3" 3w 3 3 e I )r s�gna'ure will r ' be charged f)r h,• ..)Y, t73Ja') e �f'hq advgr',semen' Nit be pa 1 1)r'at 'he applicable rate In the qve'' )f a 'vp72r,aphir;al s±Pr )r 3'1vgr') tt4,. )1'14 )r serylr,gs1' a wrong price goads 7r 3erv,;:e 113y 1r ,-)e? s511 Adv rI-sY11 s mfrgly 3n ''ter ') sell and may be withdrawn at adv ° me The igi•Pi't'S'3r �o' res )1siblq t)r 'he lass or damage of unsolicited rt'Iani rip'S )r ph3rt)4 -0 , Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524.6331; name code 519 " . 4• - Mailing Address: 0,0: BOXn220, GOderiCh Second ciaarr Marl registration number—title Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. 'ROBERT G. SHRIER-•-progidedt' and publisher SHIRLEY J. KELLE ft-edi#or .BILL DIMMICK.elditbrial, staff JEFF SEDDOa--editorial staff EDWARD J. j BYRSKI- adv'ortising-manager DAVE R. WiLLIAMS•advertising reprirsentative 44.1 DEAR READERS Bi .Shirleo J: Keller The question of 'whether or not the Huron County Board of Education has a policy on the care of students who° are in- jured while attending school came to the fore this week. One area reader called the Signal -Star this week to com- plain that her 47 -year. old son, a student at Central Huron •Secondlary (School in. Clinton, had received an eye injury Friday morning about 10 am and did not receive proper medical attention until about 2 .pm. • What's More, the - mother complained that she was not notified of her son's accident until- almost noon when a nurse at.. Clinton Public Hospital telephoned to say there was no doctor available to treat the youth there. The boy was given an eyepatch and sent back. to CHSS, °' The injured youth's mother. then telephoned CHSbS and ad- vised that her son should be taken to Goderich: hospital. He wasthen transported by the vice-principal . to Alexandra Marine and General . Hospital. By this time, it was about.2 pm. `The mother was also angry because her son had been sent by taxi to the ,hospital at Clin- ton without being accompanied, by a teacher or other staff member :or student. She noted her son had been ,seribusly enough injured to require hospital care and.- she felt he should not have been left alone. A call to the office of John , Cochrane. director., of education. for •Huron County, revealled that he'd been notified of the accident. According to ' Mr. Cochrane' the report said the schoof had . attempted unsuc- cessfully to call the boy's mother immediately" following the accident. (The boy's -mother claimed she was at home all morning and received . no telephone calls.) Mr. Cochrane said the board has no direct policy with regar to -handling such emergencies•, in the schools. n "Just common sense," com- mented Mr. Cochrane. He did, agree the school' 1should have provided an escort 'for the ,youth, but added that th'e most important thing was to attempt to secure medical attention for him. This °was done The ,problem of accidents in school is difficult to handle. By the very nature of the problem, these emergencies arise at the .- most unsuspected moment. Classroom teachers are required to `react calmly and coolly. With common sense, as John Cochrane puts it. . But there is - an added measure ;of responsibility. The classro6rn Lacher 'must deter- mine the seriousneVs of the ac- cident • instantly.. He or she must decide whether or not the student requires medical atten- tiori; whether or not immediate first aid is adequate; whether•_ or not the student can continue in class. • .Very likely there is a danger that when the initial decision is reached - right or wrong proper followup r'nay get lost in, . the shuffle. The'-comrnon sense sequence of things may go afoul in the wake of an .emergency. But. (_Yea'►ernlly nen' VJ'W]ri tend to believe that if, a student is to be sent to hospi•tar for at- tention, he or she should'not go alone. Here, the student mayor may not appreciate the com- pany but that should be a . secondary consideration. An of; ficial of the school should ac- company',the injured sctudent •for the very real purpose of protecting the school's interests so that no parent,, guardian, • doctor, student or taxpayer can claim neglect on the part of the teacher and/or board. Finally, the school probably, should make it. .a practice to notify parents of all accidents' involving their sons or daughters in which first aid treatt-hent or 'hcispita. attention , was necessary. Admittedly, this 'could . be a time-consuming, frustrating job. But then whenever - you deal with ' the public there is'•need for patience . and understanding - with an extra measure of tolerance for unreasonable or incomprehen- sible demands. This -is • not the first time a problem : of' this nature has come to the attention of the Signal -Star editor., Other.' cases of. students being injured dt school and receiving emergrency care - in or out of the hospital - have been reported. • Nearly always, it is upsetting to , parents to learn their children have been in distress without them knowing. Parents who care deeply for their children want to be in on all decisions affecting them. Parents who have only norpinal concern for their children Usually display an uncommon amount of interest in such a , situation and have every right" to demand information of their - children's • welfare ,in such cases. . On the ;other hand, parents should always be mindful that schools make every effort to en- sure the best possible care for their 'students. Seldom 'is there any real neglect, for teachers 'are well trained to recongnize a problem and deal with it. And when neglect seems apparent, there should be some com- passion on the part of the parents- and/or guardians to assess that neglect in the proper perspective and to meet it with rational intelligence. In the case put forth in this ' column, the ;youth is presently under the care of a specialist in a Toronto Hospital after com- plications - developed following medical treatment. But there is rid' indication- the complications are as a direct „result of the way, in which this emergency • was handled at CHSS Ieonly serves to further iritate the boy's mother who , questions the school's methods of dealing with her• son's dif- ficulty. ' To sum up then, serious ac- cidents are .infrequent at ,eschools, but when they do 'hap- pen, teachers must deaf with, them in a "corinnon sense" manner while parents must at- tempt to understand- that all schools do their level best for all students at all times. 'With this . kind ' of co- operation and understanding, there should be less basisfor complaints and fewer enraged parents. •, 'Kinsmen' hurt Dear Editor: : ' Your last issue contained a report on a meeting.of the Sum- merfest Committee under the heading, "Suminerfesters Offer New Plans to .Council," Although the members, of the committee appear to be laying the ground Jvork for next -Year's events, I take 4Personal objec- tion to some of the references to "other groups" -- in particular to the comment, 'other groups walked away with "X" number of thousands of dollars." If Mr:• Markson is suggesting that the Kinsmen Club, is a private enterprize, with no, community con'scierice, that grabs money on the Square and Squanders it at their whim, then I suggest he attend one of • oui regular meetirigs and see hbw mentally retarded children • from this area' are able to at - "tend summer camp, how some of the young boy's of this .com- munity are able to belong to . minor hockey, or how people who can't afford eye glasses are ,able to purchase them. These are just a few of the items sponsored' by the Goderich Kinsmen Club and every two weeks sees a new list of • community requests ,to be supported whenever. and wherever we can. `, • In addition to 'these' in- dividual-" appeals a facility is maintained on South Street which serves as a playground for the area children which is staffed by local girls seven days a 'week in the summer, at a sub- stantial cost oto" the Kinsmen, not the taxpayer "as is other similar facilities in, the town. This sarne building serves as a training center for th+e mentally .,. retarded adults and is protided' end maintained for their uuee free of charge. The Kinsmen: Club donates almost $10,000.00 -annually to community service projects. It is not' my intention to brag about our • achievements, but rather to"be sorry thatwe can- not do more for the ."people in our town. However; our funds limit the number of projects we can support. ' • The suggestion that appeared in the article that, "they (the Kinsmen) should. pay .for the privilege of making the amount of -money they do" appears to mean that this Summerfest Committee feels that° the above mentioned' community needs are not very important and do ,not need to • be pro'ided. Thankfully the rest of the residents • of • Got,derich' do not have the same feeling. Without their individual support in. the past, we could not have fulfilled our objective of "ser- ving the ..communitiesgreatest• needs" at least to the extent that out funds permitted. The accusations made in the article are a terrific blow to the ambitions ' of thirty-five kin members who .annually give up hours and hours of their free time in an effort to provide some of the things they'feel the community needs. In sum- o motion, I feel, that the referen- ces to the Kinsmen Club have been ` unthoughtful,' unfounded 'and uncharitable. - Stan Connelly, President; Goderich Kinsmen Club. Argues points Dear Editor, 1 would like to take' issue • Withsome of the points . made' by Milvena Erickson of Clin- ton in her letter to theeditor which appeared 41 the Septem- ber 12 edition of the Signal - Stare. The letter. I: amreferring. to urged the construction of nuclear power facilities in Huron County, ' In my opinion, the disadvan- tages of a nuclear plant here iii Huron far outweigh the advan- • tages.' The' people of this area have a Cinque life style which is free of the many problems that would be created by thein- flux of a large number of Hydros employees. If a nuclear com- plex was built, property values would go up, but so - would rents, and °nanfortunately, it. would,. -be only the Hydro workers,' with their high wages, - 'who could afford to pay them. When the Candu project first started up near Kincardine, . .property ' values ' and rents doubled and even. tripled, However, the unfortunate people who 'could not afford to , pay the high rents were cer- tainly not the Hydro em- ployees,' but rather the natives sof" Kincardine who were .em: ployed in' such places as the furniture factories. - Mrs. Erickson states that, with..the location of a nuclear plant_ here, people who have been xisting on unemployment insurance would he able to have, as she puts it, "really good jobs". Doesshe not realize that it' someone Wants a- job in this'' area, he can cer, tainly find one? However," there are other places 'in the world besides Kuron County, and if a person cannot find suitable em- ployment here, then he should seek a job elsewhere. As for our young people having to leave the county, many of them will likefy do this anyway, arrd will find em- ployment in. an urban situation. Most of 'the jobs in a nuclear plant are highly skillet1 ones, (continued:on page 3) +.3 BOOKING .BACK 75 YEARS AGO. While helping to • unload a •car of tir'rrber for Moore and McGillicuddy 7 at° the break- , water Thursday last the pole worked by Richard Sprung slip- ped 'and he vacs -thrown headlong to the ground, meeting with a severe con- tusion over one of his eyes. Fortunately the injury was not sufficient to cause Dick k to quit work. Monday last was payday, for the men employed at the break- water and was a wet day in more senses than one. The large majority of the men got their earnings and placed them where they could: do ,the most good, but there were some, 'un- fortunately, who no sooner got their money than they hastened to fill up with red liquor in the fastest manner possible, As a result, there was music around •-" he Square for most of the af- .l ternoon and far into the night. It is too bad that men who have to work so hard -for their money have not discovered the way to make it do the best ser- vice when they get it. A very distressing accident happened at Saltford on Tuesday afternoon. One of the local residents of the village was driving into town to show a visiting cousirfrom Scotland the sights of the town. The sight of a -dead horse" in the ditch at the side of the- road caused the Saltford animal to • bolt and the buggy overturned in tithe ensuing ride. The Salt- ford girl was thrown clear of the buggy and received a great deal of scratches and bruises and her ankle was severely sprained • and partially dislocated. The Scotland lassy did not fare as well. She was struck on the head and received a -gash over her eye--and-was rendered unconscious. •A�doc- tor was called to the scene and under his care ' progressing well. •• 50 YEARS AGO Although this , has been a quiet season for sports- in Goderich, it seems that the sporting element in town has not altogether died out. Early in the summer Clem Pen -Y' nington and Jack Snell' got talking as to`'their respective sprinting abilities, and. as each thought he could show the other his heels, a race of one hundred yards was decided upon,and each put up fifty ' cent; to clinch the matter, deputy sheriff Gundry being chosen as•the stakeholder. Af- • ter this, weeks .passed . by without . ,any -. race, and . the deputy sheriff began to be afraid that he might have to .spend the dollar that had been deposited with him; but he managed to get the .boys together and the event, came off. The course was once around the Court House, Harry . Rutsonacting as starter and v the deputy as timer. , At the • word go the gravel flew and the great crowd' of spectators. con- • sisting of the aforesaid starter and timer, were in a high state of excitement. It was a :keen race, Snell winning by about two yards: Time, . 22 seconds. Those who witnessed the sport were more than delighted and say it was worth twice the price of admission. • - There were a number 'of • ' pretty pansy collections in the window of Mr, Wilson's restaurant on Saturday,. The flowers were placed there a as „part of the Signal pansy com- petition for youngsters. The winners and their prizes will be announced at the same time as the winners of the• aster stow that is displayed in the Signal window., " 5 YEARS AGO The . Honorable W.G. Davis, minister of education, and the Honorable Charles MacNaughton, treasurer of On- tario and minister of economics, were greeted at Sky Harbor Airport by Major F.AI• . Golding, base administrative officer for G'B Clinton 'and ". John Berry, Huron County Clerk, 'when they arrived en-- route n=route to CFB Clinton to meet with other officials for a tour of the base.- -'.. Goderich council, in a ` joint 'rneetink with .representatives of Clinton sand Goderich °Town- ship councils discovered that an agreement between' - the Municipalities and George , Lavis of . Lavis Construction Co., Holmesville,. had. been changed aer it was sent to Mr. Lavis` lawyers to be drafted... The changes tended to favor the owner and operator of the Site, George Lavis.. tf an agreement with Mr. Davis 'can- not be reached, Goderich will be set back eightpmon'ths in its hunt for a new dump.'