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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-11-07, Page 1731 Dec . 1 0 9 8 7 6\, 5 4 Public Library , ° 52 Montreal St., Go4w4011., Cert « N?A 2G4 TEO berttb SIGNAL -STAR 127 YEAR -45 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1974 Problem, not solved- = or ' even confronted SEGQND• SECTION Citizens bury their heads as pranksters take their toll BY JEFF SEDDON What can anyone say about the annual Hallowe'en destruc- tion of the town of Goderich that has not already been said. Someone suggested that the ar- ticles that appeared in the papers from a few years back be examined -to see if the problem - is changing for the bettei; or if it 'is worsening. The businesses that are the object of the youthful vandals have changed from year to year. The rest is all the same. Each year the .'town totalsthe damage and' compares the figures to the year previous to decide if this year wag good or bad. gathered in the Square on Oc- tober 31 to vandalize anything is not a police problem. The problem of the police is to try to minimize the damage and seethat no one gets hurt. The problem of keeping the kids off The Square on Halk*e'en is the parents' problem. If your. child was- out Hallowe'en night, there is a better than average chance he or she was on The Square. If the youngster was on The Square there is an equally good chance he._or she was' involved inthrowing eggs atleast and., .maybe even;.bottles and rocks. The police probably would have liked to have gone back to The results show the ainount of destruction ,but do nothing to D a m indicate if the problem is being solved or` even confronted. Each year the residents bury their heads in the sand _ like ostriches and hope that the kids don't do too much. Each November 1 they say, "Well,•it could have been worse." Seeking , a solution to •the problem is a project long .over- due. When confronted the average resident of Goderich the station, called every parent Some others droVe up to "see in Goderich and told them if what they were going to do this their children were not home, 'year." They circled the `Square to go out and find them and .continuously all night . to try take them home. and see something and all A good number of concerned night they provided targets for citizens went to The Square to the vandals. watch citizens, kids perform. They The solution to the problem parked their cars and watched is not going to be easy to the action or they stood on discover The source sof the street corners careful not to let problem b is obvious. Parents the egg •throwers come into who have any jurisdiction over range. their' children should keep These people add to the them in the house" one night of problem as much as the parents the year and for the few that do who allow their children out. get out, the odds against. the They offer the vandals an . police will be reduced enough. audience. It allows the kids to so that they should ,be able to show off and try to shock the reduce the damage to almost older generation. nil. age '2,000 Youthful players perform unnu�l Halloween skit° will either pass ;the buck . BY DAVE SYKES blaming the kids, the police, or both, or will say that the police, Well certainly by now the should go up to The Square good citizens of Goderich have • and bust a few `heads. come 'out of hiding, surveyed Considering the problem the damage and performed•the • from all sides' is impossible, usual November 1 chores of unless the parents, children scrubbing, cleaning, repairing and police can sit down and .and shaking of heads. discuss the subject. , This is `The total Hallowe'en night possibly the best and easiest damage estimate will be manner . to. deal with ° the around $2,000 and it has been situation but could be very dif- said and undoubtedly many ficult to bring off. people in town have voiced the The police could seek an easy .- sarne 'opinion, "Well it wasn't way-out of their responsibilities as bad as other years." by going up to The Square and It appears as if Goderich sim- busting a few heads.o But is that pfy turns an apathetic 'cheek 'their responsibility? They are • the other way hoping that in human.. beings, men with the morning, when eyes are familial who are hired by the reopened, the damage will be town to enforce the law and to .repairable. It is almost as if the protect the lives of the citizens condone such activity .. ratepayers who pay their as Hallowe'en frolic,"�Y childish salary. Can you ask them to enthusiasm or simply spirited disregard their own personal.pranks. 'safety on Hallowe'en to ;go up For those who missed last to The Square and £igltt our Thursday night's play a general children, ' scenario will be provided The Aids that are uptown despite the fact that an endless throwing things, breaking win- number of reviews. 'have dows and are responsible for already circulated .around the wilful and premeditated town. . vandalism each Hallowe'en are not the strangers we see on ' A performance by at least television in the newsclips. 200 young citizens appalled a They are the offspring of the gathering on the Square in parents in,, Goderich." their rendition of Destruction 74 The youncitizens hurled eggs, walnuts, rocks and molotov cocktails with wild and reckless abandon as their exhuberance was eclipsed only by their lack of respect. The audience was unusually ,laigee in number which' inspired the actors to new heights of vandalism. An actor loves nothing more than to play to a full house. But a good percentage of the audience, although the perfor- mance reached and at times went beyond'their expectations, Tad to pay a , handsome ad- mission price. They became the obvious targets of'those on stage and then the play wasn't all that much fun anymore'. But the ,group on stage suc- ceeded in adding new variations to an old,theine. The traditional ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night 'became young children thump,who. went thump, crash, split and we -hate -pigs on this night. Also -the dialogue achieved unimaginable new plateaus of obscenity. • Perhaps the main show in the middle of The Square, which consisted mostly of the defacing of the court house and unloading a barrage of objects at cars and stort windows, was 4 not of particular interest to th% audience. The main stage production was complemented' ' by numerous sidestrec:� highlights of small fires, broken bottles, molotov cocktails and waterworks displays • from at least six fire hydrants. , The frustrated efforts oi' police to stop the performance finally achieved some success in the early hours of the, mor- ning.' But despite the interven- tion of the police, who also took a certain amount of. abuse, the performance would have to be rated as `a success in terms of • dollars. Sixteen broken windows n the court house including two front doors, two broken win= doviws' in Woolworth's, overtime pay for policemen, firemen, P:U.C. employees, board of works employees and town and county maintenance men add up to,a lot, of tax dollars un- wisely spent;' Then such questions arise as, "Who is to blame? Why don't the police do something? Why aren't these young kids at home? Whatan�be done in future years to stop the violence?'." I tri The fact . that they are • g But exactly wherein e solutions lie and who should . take the rap? The answ0rs are not known and certainly there. are many contributing factorA, Perhaps the problem can be traced to the basic root and nucleus of our society, the family. Respect for property and the _ law begins at home and the property"owners of the town and the police.,c.pnot expect to command the respect of the young people if it is not corn- . manded at home, If youngsters under 16 years If the of age were made to stay home Goderich Police Department one night of the year then.there felt they had to prove their wouldprobably not be much of worth as constables on a group to contend with. Hallowe'en night, they cer- Whatever happened to the har- tainly did. rrtless pranks of , Hallowe'en The men, like others in such as removing out `houses Goderich, dreaded the event, from their footings, ringing ekcept they, unlike all others; doorbells and soaping some had to go out in the street and pwindows? be targets for the vandal's eggs, tomatoes and verbal, abuses. How long will the people °of Early in the evening they Goderich simply mitigate• the donned their old 'uniforms, violent Hallowe'ens. Naturally removed their irreplaceable badges and faced the good little everyone assumes that it's thes boys and .girls of our town. other guy's sons or daughter but do you know where your All 'night long they Were in. struck • by eggs and children were on Hallowe'en? decomposed fruit, and lllowe'en used to provoke sometimes nearly strrtrck by hot. nostalgia and fond memories of tles and rocks. They were a peaceful childhood, We renally insulted', assaulted -and have come a long way ht'tt t generally run off their feet an - we. swering the many calls that The shatteredemblem of the Huron County court house building's entrance. (staff photo') lays on the sideVvalk in front of the Even the lights out of reach above the court house doors became' easy targets on Halloween. (staff photo • The traditional November 1 cleanup operations began bright and early Friday morning in Goderich for business owners in The Square. (staff photo) Early Friday morning the court house bore the marks of Haligween frolic on The Square the previous evening, (staff photo) - a a , Goderich police served town well asparefltS permitted kids to frolic BY JEFF SEDDON me tubers of the a►, residents turned in concerning vandalism. Amidst all this they were ex- pected to handle traffic that could pose a threat to young trick or treaters, protect the businesses whose windows were smashed, put out fires, control the traffic speeding around The Sgjtare so that no vandals were struck by cars and when they got, a breather from these duties, go up to The Square and disperse the "crowd that was destroying it. The policemen are only human. To say they, have no faults is ridiculous; But the fact remains that we hired them to do • a job that very few of us could do or would do and if we do not support thein we may as well disband our department and live •with 'the results. There are some who, of course, feel the police do a, second rate job year round but if they think that Hallowe'en night was a discouraging exam- ple of what the •towns'eople are capable of, then they should. learn to appreciate their police because without them every night would he Hallowe'en. Put yourself in a policeman's spot -kfnr a moment, You are trying to do you h to,the best of your ability with every one in town watching' your actions with a critical eye. Someone corners you, threatens you, your wife or your house, degrades you as a person and then assaults you. What would your reaction be? Most of us* would, fight violence with. violence. In civilian clothes you can do that. In a policeman's uniform you can't, A policeman is expected to take it all with a grain of salt unless the person is breaking the law. Then he di quietly and .gently arrests the person and takes him to jail. If one of the vandals on the Square had been struck by a tock hurled by a fellow vandal, he or she probably would have requested assistance from .the police. The ironic thing is the policeman `would hale helped them despite the fact that the person more than likely threw an egg at him earlier in the evening. If one of 'the vandals had. , " seen someone breaking a win- dow, at their house they would have 'probably -called the police and expected them to rush over and arrest someone to charge them for the window. The town of Goderich should tip their hats to their police department and thank them for the manner iti Which they han- dled the youngsters in town on Hallowe'en night.