The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-11-14, Page 2Jl
2-00D.'RICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER j'4, 1974
EDITORIAL COMMENT
The race is on
The candidates, are in the starting
gate for the election race 1974. There's a
fine field in the Town of Goderich, and
citizens here should be, proud that so
many residents have put their names
forth for consideration.
Over the next' three weeks until the
December 2 erection hour, each of these
candidates will be campaigning in his or
her- own way for the support of the
people. They will probably seize every
opportunity to put themselves in the
public spotlight so that this town's
citizens, can have a look at them:
It ha% been said a newspaper is only
as good as its readers. That has been
proven as true. It is probably also true
that an election is only as good as the
.00
Need.:furt
• It is long past due but at last,, the On-
tario Ministry of Education is getting
- around to the job of enacting clear cut
legislation which will allow teachers to
serve on municipal councils without fear
of having t� resign or.take a leave of ab-
sence. (Sep this week's Jack's Jottings.)
To be fair, it can be said that teachers
have always been . free to serve on
municipal councils if ,they • so desired.
When meetings and other functions took
place in the evening or on days when
there were no classes,. there ,was no
problem. But when day -time meetings
were.scheduled requiring teachers to• be
away from the cla.3sroom, it was a difµ
ferent and difficult matter to resolve.
Hopefully, this new legislation being
brought forward byothe Hon.' Thomas
Wells will. put an end •to the severe
restrictions placed on school teachers
where municipal politics is concerned.
This province needs the services of
any and all people who are interested in
'
b
electors and a council Is only as
good as the people who elected it.
In the days to come, it behooves every
voter -in Goderich to become acquainted
with the candidates for all the offices; to
talk with them and to find their interests:
to decide which candidates have the
most to offer, both in time and talent; to .
forget personal likes and dislikes and to
make a decision on the basis of what's
best for the Tofivn of Goderich.
These are thinking days. Hopefully
'there will be plenty of opportunity to size
up the candidates and select what you
think will make the best slate of officers
for this municipality.
The candidates are in the starting
gate. As the race unfolds, watch
carefully and make an intelligent choice
before stepping into the balloting booth:
,
er changes
municipal government. All men and
women, no -matter what their status and
job .situation, "should have equal 'oppor-
•tunity to seek office in their own com-
munities. Councils should not be entirely
made up of retired people,' the comfor-
tably self-employed : and the type who
think of 'municipal politics as just
another social club. .
It should be clearly and emphatically
,laid out that municipal councils are im-
portant, bodies in need of .hard-working,
thinking members who are keen and
able to perform in these days of pending
regionalization.
That's why, if the Ontario government.
is serious about this business'of giving
grassroots folks a greater responsibility,
more legislation such as that proposed
by Hon. Mr. Wells must be introduced
immediately._ More .doors must . be
,opened so that more people will be more
ready to spend more time and effort in
controlling their. sawn destinies.
A home is necessity
The Goderich and"District Association
for the Mentally Retarded ,must be •com,
menden for its continuing efforts to'
.establish a residence for'. the mentally
retarded adults of this community !t is
an idea which ,has been discussed and
discarded too many times. Now they
must press' for therealization of this
.much needed service.
The mentally retarded, in this and
other communities, are a fact of life.
They are truly beautiful people with a
special ability to create love in "a home
and a community, Often they , are
capable people with infinite . talents,
many yet to be discovered. But most of
all they are human. beings, flesh ..arid
blood people with flesh and blood
needs.
One of the greatest fears for the
parents of retarded children must be the
time when they can no longer provide a
home for them.. What will happen then is.
enough to ' give . loving. mothers and
fathers hours 'of agonizing worry; Will
their children institutionalized away from
the community -they know and love? Will
they be shut away and forgotten?
Stanley Reeve Anton McKinley, chair-
man of. Huronview Home for the Aged,
said recently .that communities. must
face up to the fact of retarded people
and must provide some means of protec-
ting them other than 'shuffling them. off
to places such as Huronview. Huronview
is' geared to the elderly: Retarded adults
have other needs. They can be of ser-
vice. -They .can live .a full dife and they
haveevery right to do so. '
L,et's get behind the local Association
for the Mentally Retarded. Let's help
them toward their goal of offering life
and love to the retarded adults of this
district.
OoDerich
GNALSTAR,.
—0— The County Town Newspaper of Huron —0-
3
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'i•
Gime b!ood and sa
'ea
•MINIMINMr'y
,ay
You are
�needed,
This was a Goderich area ac-
cident invoIva_ng. district
people, It was tragic ''and' it in-
volved'oi-ss of life. It also in-
volvec? injury ...,injury that
required blood to save a life.
Next Wednesday, the Red
Cross Blood Donor Clinic will
be held at GDCI from 2 to 5 in
the afternoon and from 6:30 to
8:30 in the evening. It will be
headed up again this year by
the' Kinsmen. The GodOrich
Kinettes will provide a babysit-
ting service in the afternoon.
Won't you please drop by to
give the gift that gives life?.
Remember! It isn't always far
away places and far away
faces. Your blood can be just
as vital to your. next door
hei'hbor .. or to you ....
-someday, sometime. That's
Wednesday, November. 20 at
GDCr
Our readers have their say
School dances
Dear Editor,
Should •our schools 'en-
courage Grade 5 students to
visualize themselves as part-
ners in' sex -centered activities?
My whale being —: and cer-
tainly I am not alone — rejects
such a concept.
When my nine-year-old (who
is a Grade 5 student) brought
home an invitation for him to
go to a school dance for
students of Grades .5-8, it for-
ced me into a perplexing quan-
dary. '
If I say to my child, "You are
not going to a school dance
because you are ton young, and
it 'would be irresponsible of me.
to let you go", I am under-
mining my child's respect for
his • teacher's and principal's
wisdom and- integrity.
If instead, I give him no
. reason, but forbid hint to go, I
'am giving him less than he
deserves and if, in spite of my
fears, I let him go, I amforcing
precocity upon him. Should not
parents 'and teachers join ef-
forts for the well-being of our
children and our society?,
My strong disapproval to
dances for' nine and ten -year-
olds stems from the observation.
that although a ten -year-old of-
ten has crushes on members of
the opposite sex, he is quite
content — even eager to let
these feelings . finger in an
ethereal mixture of dreamland
and play. Content, that is,
unless we adults fortify these
emotions by throwing adult ac-
tivities upon our children
prematurely.
Let us permit our children to
gracefully mature in their own
time. The point at which they,
spontaneously commence for-
mal dating is surely the point
at which our. school, system
should provide dating outlets,
•When I was in school there
was disagreement over dances
for Grades 7 and 8. Despite
_their own- disapproval of them,
my parents let me go to these
dances: My memories are of
trying to appear to be enjoying
myself as much as Hollywood
and other media promises I
would. Between the girls, there
were bitter rivalries over who
could get. the boys to dance'
with whom. The boys, apart
from one or two, rough -housed,
or stood in sullen groups on the
sidelines. Most of the girls who
did manage to appear gay and
popular ended up marrying
long before . Grade 12. Is this
what we want for our childrvn?
Is there not time enough
during adulthood to have to
pretend to have a good time?
Do we want to pressure our
children into trying to `prove
that ,they are the most attrac-
tive or popular of their sex in
their class? Why can we not
permit them to learn to enjoy
themselves as people?
IF our schools want to
Provide social activities for"our
children, why not a games -
night — or even better, an in-
formal fun night for students,
teaching staff and parents.
Surely in this day of
fragmented, 'alienated families,
, our schools would he further
ahead to promote joint ac=
tivi'•.... :timed at cementing
child -parent relationships
'rather than creating abrasive
situations „,designed to under-
mine them.
Sincerely;
Carol, Maybury.
c.c.
Mr. John Kane,
Principal, Colborne School.
Mr. Cochrane,
Director,' Huron
Board of .Education.
Serious' disputes
cil. Such a committee could air
suggestions, recommendations,
and objections -from town
"residents on many subjects'in a
relaxed atmosphere which
would be 'conducive to
discussion.
Such a committee would be
obligated to report., to' Council
the full,, extent of their in-
vestigations, acting as ombud-
sman and making recommen-
dations. I believe that this
suggestion warrants .some
thought.
Above &all, make sure that
. you help. to elect town council
Dear Editor, , representatives that are recep-
The very nature of town , tive to community needs.
council meetingscan make a Looking for your support on
petitioner feel very uncomfor-. December 2, I,remain,
table indeed! Unless one is ac-
companied by a lawyer or isr.
cagirying .aformidable petition
one can easily feel at a distinct
disadvantage. It is no wonder
then that • there seems to have
been a general breakdown of
communications between Coun-
cil and town residents over the
past few years._
This is readily seen in the
number of serious disputes that
have arisen. Such ah at-
mosphere of conflict and un
predicability is unhealthy and,
, in large doses, can lead ' to
apathy. It is unfortunate, too,
that inquiries by community
minded citizens can he'
"referred to committee" never
to surface again.
Such conditions must not be
perpetuated. Perhaps' one way
of helping to relieve the
sirtuation 'would be the , for-
mation of a "community en-
vironment .committee" which
would be accountable to Coun-
o.
,
•
Yours truly,
.Joan Van den .Broeck
•175 Wellington St.
Goderich, Ontario
Poor seed
Dear Editor,
According to the,•November 7
issue of the Signal -Star a night,
club is to be built on a parcel of
land next to Bannister's
Motors on Bayfield Road by
Delbar, of which Deb Shewfelt
is one of the directors.
I feel that this would be the
;,appropriate time to tell the
people of Goderich what I
heard on an American 'radio
station last Saturday night.
Remember, New York is not
really all that far from our
town. '
A. few concerned parents in a
New York area asked the police
to ,° raid a night club where
drugs and ' under age drinking
were suspected.. The police
arrested 93 people. Two were
under 14 years of age!
When they got them outside,
the police were grabbed and
held while others threw bottles
and stones at thein. Several 'of
the police were sent to hospital.
After reading last week's
Signal -Star, we've found out
that Goderich has the stone
and bottle throwers as well as
interference with our police of-
ficers.
`On hearing the two accounts
- the one here and the one in
New York - I .feel that Goderich
is at a. crossroads. Which way
are we going to go?. Just
remember, you reap what .you
sow! _
I strongly feel that this
decision for a night club should,
be held up and put on thea
ballot for the taxpayers to
decide. What do you think?
It's going " to.' .be very in
teresting to see how our 'new
council handles' this mattes.. •
A very concerned citizen,
Syd Lawson
Smog in Goderich
Dear Editor,,
As a resident of Goderich, I
am absolutely appalledat some
of the residents of this °pic-
turesque, beautiful town' afor.
fouling up our environment by
the burning of leaves.
In one of the town brochures
for tourists to reed, it says,
"marvellous, fresh air and clear
skies." It is a good thing there
are not many tourists in the
spring or fall. The smell would
drive them away. In ,the
evenings my wife and I enjoy a
long walk or bicycle ride, but
with the stench we have not
bothered to do either.
. We live in the west end of
town, and 'when fog wafts in
from the lake and combines
with particulate matter it's
known " as SMOG. I for one
thought that large cities had
this problem. Seems P was
wrong.
My points are:
(1). Is there •a by-law in
Goderich with respect to air
pollution?
(2) If no by-law ekists, why?.,
(3) If a by-law exists, why is
it not enforced?
Respectfully,
Roger Kenyon,
225 Picton St. W.,
Apt. 5,
Goderich.
Think twice
Dear . Editor,
This is in reference to the Oc-
tober ;31st publications in the
Goderich Signal -Star criticizing
the Mustard Report. Included
in the publications was a "sum-
mary" of the report by the
Huron County Medical Officer
of Health, D. Frank Mills.
Dr. Mills encourages
everyone, to read the Mustard
Report to find the -points he has
outlined. While reading the
report I should like to suggest
continued on page :3
GtE.,if YOU'RE SNORT RIGHT Nog 111116E.Y00 LIKE leo TAM 111)VANTAt; OF My#'20 DOWN,AN!)$5,A WEEK `BERM5.7