HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-02-23, Page 4Tiff !SIXTH STANDARD)
PAGE 4 —CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23,19g
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Incorporating
SMELLk r McPFOEE - Editor
GARY HAIRY - Advertising Meleager
JANICE - Advertising
PEGGY GIRD - Office Manager
MARY A!1P MOtiUE/ ECIC - Subscriptions
J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher
A
MEMBER
MEMBER
Display odvertlsing 'otos
ovolloblo on roagoo3r. asb for
Sere Cord No. 13 offoctivo Oct. 1
1901
Action better
than stagnation
For more than 25 years now, Clinton councils have been floundering and fum-
ing about the old town hall. In recent years the continuing controversy has includ-
ed the library building.
Our most recent councils have finally brought the controversy to the head of
the table, and have attempted to ot least get some action on on issue that should
have been resolved years ago.
Still, the answer is not an easy one. The townspeople, and even council
members remain clearly divided as to the future of these two buildings.
Costs have been estimated, time and time again, proposals and drawings have
been mulled over and architects and engineers have been consulted. With all the
discussions and plans, opposition and support, the only thing that has been
reached is an almost complete state of confusion, misunderstanding and separa-
tion between the two forces in Clinton.
Enough is enough. Council, believing they have financially acted in the best in-
terests of the ratepayers have agreed to investigate and proceed with a
preliminary propos& to restore both buildings. Their studies have indicated that
it may be less less expensive to renovate the buildings. While the initial
estimated cost, $1,275,000, is more than this town can handle, council has found
that grants and government financing may cover up to $600,000 of the cost.
Two new, smaller buildings have been estimated to cost over $800,000. On new
structures grant funding is greatly reduced. It has been estimated that only
$100,000 in such funding could be received, leaving the town with a bill of
$700,000.
Council has agreed that no changes to the present restoration plan can be
made until they have received final word on than six grant applications for
restoration work. Mayor Archibald has plainly stated that if a manor portion of
this money is not available, the restoration plan will be completely halted.
Clinton residents must bear with council while they await word on this funding.
No one can definitely say what the best proposal is until these financial figures
are avaola.')le.
The mayor has assured that this issue will not be placed on the back burner for
another decade to come. In the event that restoration funding is not available,
then the buildings will come down.
The future of the town hall and library rest on a great deal of unsure
possibilities at this time, but this shouldn't come as a new concern for Clonto-
nians, it's being going on for years now.
At least we have council members who are willing to take action, who took the
risk of winning.and losing at the election polls for their opinions on the issue, who
realize that the problem cannot be left any longer.
Mayor Archibald noted that it would have been easy for him to propose more
"bandage" work on the buildings. He could have spent his term of office "kissing
babies" and by being a hand shaking, smiling politician.
Instead he has realized that action is better than stagnation and Clinton
residents should be proud of their council for making that commitment. -by S.
McPhee
behind the
I scenes
Hospital uses
The news that Toronto hospitals are hop-
ing to get government approval to sell the
services of their laboratories to outside
customers in competition with private
laboratories seems to open up all kinds of
new ways to increase government in-
comes.
In these days of economic restraint when
people are insisting that government in-
stitutions should be run in a riore business-
like manner, the possibility of maximizing
return on investment in government
circles seems to be endless.
For instance, there is an attempt being
made in Toronto for private management
companies to move up from the U.S. to
manage several major hospitals rather
than the normal internal management
system that has run each hospital for
years. I'm sure the new managers with
their Yankee ingenuity will immediately
see some of these possibilities.
For instance, periodically when the pro-
vincial government goes on one of its cost-
cutting binges, hospitals are forced to
close rooms, even whole wings. A sharp
manager would see the potential here for
turning these into inexpensive hotel
rooms. Rather than having those rooms
stand empty, you could rent them out to
visiting tourists and businessmen for $50 to
$100 a day. The rooms might not be fancy
but you could offer what no classy hotel
can offer: a fully -trained and equipped
medical staff on call 24 hours a day.
Smart managers might also see the
possibilities of other hospital facilities. For
rnst.anc . why not in the evenings when the
rise is ,fight anyway, turn the hospital's
physio therapy departments into health
clubs' And after they've served their nor-
mal use in hospital waiting rooms,
magazines rould be sold to antique
dealers.
But this seining of services could spread
through the whole governmen
bureaucracy. For instance, for schools an
organizations having courses on publi
relations, the post office could rent its to
officials as consultants on how to d
anything in a way to get the most peopl
upset with you. If there is too much d
mand for the post office to fill in this area
the folks at the Metric Commission coul
certainly help out. In the same line
Premier William Davis could give in
struction to classes on meditation for in
somniacs. He's guaranteed to put anybod
to sleep after only five minutes of talking.
But it's down in the U.S. where Ronal
Reagan faces criticism for both his budge
Ieficit and military spending that the mos
exciting potential lies. On a small scale
Mr. Reagan could start a rent -a -genera
program. He already rents generals t(
countries like El Salvador of course NI
his would be a plan to help out the poor
harried party -givers of America who ar
ooking for something to give a new charge
o their parties. They could also, perhaps
work out a franchising system with peace
movement groups to rent a protester. The
confrontation between the two sides should
uarantee no more dull parties.
The possibilities go much farther. You
tight even say they're earth shattering.
Why not get rid of those old atomic
warheads which aren't up to date enough
o deter the Soviets by using them to clear
he centres of American cities for
owntown redevelopment It would be
ice to tell the blacks and other poor to
move out first but if they didn't, well that
ould cut the welfare deficit wouldn't it?
nd you could rent out weapons like the
erm warfare, to countries that are wir-
ed about the birth control problem. Just
hink, a good shot of bubonic plague will
ot only reduce the present population but
make people sick enough not to be able to
o anything about increasing the popula-
on.
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IaMeeces"
SU
rand spice
Back to basics
WITH parents screaming "Back to the
Basics", teachers trying to remember
what the basics are, and Ministries off
Education never letting the left hand know
what the right hand is trying to do, it's
almost inevitable that the subject off
corporal punishment in the schools is
revived.
It's a perennial, and it's always good for
a headline, whether you are for or against.
It's almost as popular as capital punish-
ment for criminals. And you have no idea,
gentle reader, how many people, incluf,'ng
students, are in favor of that. I'm quite
sure that a referendum would show a
majority of Canadians would vote to
restore that particular form of official
murder.
But while criminals make up a com-
paratively small segment of our society,
rotten kids are always there in great
numbers. And there's always someone
who wants to pound them, vicariously,
through the school system.
Usually, the business of beating kids is
seen in black or white. Or black and blue.
On the one hand, you have the fun-
damentalists, who go back to the Old
Testament, "'Spare the rod and spoil the
child." These people forget that several off
the disciples were fishermen, and that
what this particular one meant was, "If
you don't let the kid use your spare rod
once in a while, he'll grow up to be a lousy
angler."
I don't remember Jesus ever saying
anything about pounding kids, but I may
be wrong.
On the other side of the schtick are the
other crazies: psychologists and such, who
think a kid who is thumped will be warped
for life; mothers who read articles by
psychologists; and former child -beaters
who are now vice -principals.
dispensed
by
bill smiley
And in between, as usual, are all the
confused, decent and sensible people like
you and me, who have given our kids the
old belt, and felt rotten about it.
Both the extreme camps, of course, are
full of crap. In the first group, we have
people who were whipped unmercifully
when they were kids, and now, by some
weird type of logic, insist it was good for
them. They can hardly wait to spread
some of this "good" around.
And in the second group are all the other
people who were whipped unmercifully
when they were kids and are trying to
prove that that is what has made them
queer ever since.
A plague on both their houses. Most of us
olders were whipped, now and again, but
not unmercifully, and we deserved every
stroke of the hairbrush, skelp of the yar-
dstick, and swish of the willow -switch.
It didn't warp us physically or
psychologically. It taught us something
about the society we would be living in as
adults — that there are certain limits, and
if you transgress them, you take your
licks.
My mother used to work over my kid
brother and me about every two weeks,
whether we needed it or not. She used a fly -
swatter, which has a sting like a scorpion,
or a yard -stick, which transfers fire to the
bum, when we got under the bed and the
fly -swatter wouldn't reach. It did us no
harm whatever, and probably saved her
sanity.
My dad, like most men leaving the dirty
work to the mother, rarely laid a hand on
us. But when he did ... boy, some hand. He
could spank your whole ass, not just one
buttock at a time, with that hand.
The same kid brother and 1 were in the
same class in school one year, and once a
week, our teacher, Old Mary Walker,
would give us a good strapping, along with
a few other delinquents. We thought the
world of her, and she of us. The strappings
stung, but once in a while, we'd jerk back
odds 'n' ends
Winter of surprises
A green Christmas in this part of the
country is unusual but not unheard of.
However, seeing a snowman being pro-
tected by an umbrella on Christmas Day is
enough to make anyone do a double take.
The makeshift umbrella looked like a
cardboard box or a clothes basket turned
upside down. I wonder whether it helped
the old boy to survive the rain that fell all
day and turned the green Christmas into a
rather muddy one.
it was only the first of many surprises
that the winter of 82/83 has dished out.
Last year everyone asked, "Can you
believe this winter?"
The snow kept piling up, covering cars,
sheds and porches, and people wondered
where it would stop. Now famous
by Shelley McPhee
our hand and Old Mary would give herself
a good crack on the thigh. This doubled the
number on each hand, but raised our
status in the class.
I've smacked my own kids, occasionally,
and the grandboys, but their smoldering
anger, and mine, never lasted more than
15 minutes, because the smacking was not
done in malice, and they knew they were
asking for it.
Beating kids in school? Many parents
would like it done. Many others would have
a lawyer on you. There are only two
reasons for a teacher to use a strap: 1) he
or she is a poor teacher; 2) it adds a little
drama to the humdrum off the classroom.
In 50 years, I've never seen strapping
scare anybody or deter anybody.
A word to the bleeding hearts. There are
many more insidious ways to warp a
child's personality than physical punish-
ment. The real sadists of the classroom,
and they are very few nowadays, are those
who use person harassment, hectoring,
and sarcasm. These can do far more
damage than a good thump. Ask any kid.
In the whole debate, naturally, my
sympathies are with the teacher. There
are times when I would have been happy,
not just to whip, but to strangle some kid,
and go to jail for life meaning five years,
with good behavior. Looking back, I
almost wish i had. It's peaceful in prison.
But I have no time for the bully in the
classroom. Teachers who know their stuff
and have some strength of character have
few discipline problems.
However, let's think for a moment about
the sensitive, young woman teacher who
asks a lout to do something, and he says,
"Screw you."? So the punk gets a
"suspension" for a few days t translation:
holiday 1. And the teacher sits, shattered,
among her crumbled ideals.
Whot to do? I'd turf gum out of school for
a year, and let his parents put up with him.
Serve both parties right.
Any opinions? Let's have them.
"streamers" swept oil bake Huron dump-
ing their loads on the ''lee of bake Huron -
or the "banana belt" as some of us cynical-
ly call western Ontario.
This year people are still asking, "Can
you believe this winter"
But the reasons are different. A sifting of
snow is the most we've received. Skis
seldom leave the garage, toboggans stand
in corners and snowmobiles hardly run
long enough to get warmed up.
Besides the fun missed by winter .sports'
enthusiasts, lack of snow has caused pro-
blems for people who make their living
from seasonal sports.
Some of us, who are less energetic in the
winter, have guilt feelings. We're torn
between empathy for our fellowman and
our personal enjoyment of this "easy"
winter.
The unusual conditions have not been
confined to Canada. in Europe, profes-
sional skiers had difficulty finding enough
snow for their World Cup competitions.
But, the most surprised people this
winter were probably the Californians who
woke up to snow one morning. Typically,
the kids didn't mind
Rack in western Ontario, meteorologists
have spotted systems headed our way
We've held our breath thinking, "Now
we're gonna get it: "
Storms have come close, hut surprising-
ly they've stopped before they've reached
our area or they've taken detours
The ground hog didn't see his shadow,
and a few robins have come hack Could
we be surprised by an early spring this
year'
Maybe, but March can be a tricky mon-
th. Some of us are still expecting a wintry
surprise package before it's over.
,1
Dear Editor:
Various good causes are now confron-
ting us and all worthy of support. January,
March of Dimes; February, Heart Fund;
March, Red Cross; and April, Cancer.
It is to be hoped each will keep to its own
allotted month. That has not always been
the case which makes it hard for each.
Last year February very badly ran into
the March Red Cross canvass. This should
be justified if at all possible.
The Red Cross committee wishes good
support for all. The committee headed by
Mrs. Marearet Allan is Ken Flett, Bess
Fingland, Ed Godkin, Helen Cooper, Marg
Caldwell, Wynn Hornuth, Garnet Harland,
Val Galichiuk and Gretta Mediger.
They are geared for action March first.
Sincerely
Bess Fingland
Villa of love
Dear Editor:
Ritz Lutheran Villa uniquely situated
just north of Mitchell on Highway 23 is
truly a home for the elderly, men and
women.
Concern and care ot residents and staff
alike are blended to achieve a warm at-
mosphere.
For the aged, this is not an institution it
is a "Villa of Love" which enables them to
live with continued meaning and purpose.
The handicaps which may seem a hin-
drance to us, are bypassed by the aged, by
means of home and wood crafts, exercises,
cards, and numerous other activities, in-
itiated by the nursing, craftroom, and even
administration staff.
My mother, Anna Middegaal was a
resident of this home for most of three
years, until her death on Jan. 11, 1983.
She and any father Lambertus, im-
migrated from the Netherlands in 1948.
After farming in Blyth area, and
following the death of dad, mother lived by
herself until it was necessary for her to
receive the care provided for by this honie.
The English language always proved a
bit of a barrier to mother. In consideration
of this, the staff at the Villa placed her with
Clara Leasa. Being of German descent,
Mrs. I.easa was able to understand mom
quite well, when she spoke her native
tongue.
Having been so long a part of the far-
ming community, the view from her
window allowed her to see not only the
area farmers working the land. but also
the picturesque greens, and the winding
Thames River.
During mom's declining days she was
allowed to remain in her home, and we,
her family were able to stay with her
around the clock.
The care, love, and comfort she received
from all touched us deeply.
The doctors from the nearby Mitchell
Medical Centre are always within minutes
from the Villa. This was a comfort to
mother and us, One of the doctors even
made a special visit to her Jan. 1st to wish
her a happy New Year.
Most of us have only one mother and
father during our life, and we no doubt
want the best for them, especially when it
becomes necessary for extra care, to be
given to them.
I truly do appreciate the care that was
given to niom by the staff of the Ritz Villa.
This home is an excellent residence for
the seniors of our community and area.
Thank You! Ritz Lutheran Villa for the
respect and dignity you give to our seniors
and parents.
Mrs. Harry ( Helen )
Van Moorsel
RR 5, Mitchell
Children
of note
Always left until the final disastrous
minute, with the yellow bus waning, lights
flashing impatiently, the .cry is heard, "I
need a note for my teacher!"
Small wonder most notes are written on
bizarre scraps of material: wallpaper,
paper towels, bills, candy wrappers,
cigarette packets, old shopping lists -
whatever is closest to hand. Messages are
usually succinct and spelling, grammar
and syntax are the last of the worries while
Susie or Johnny waits restlessly. The
precious note is then crammed into a
pocket or lunch box and produced,
crtunpled, at morning roll call.
Here is a selection of such "Dear
Teacher" notes collected from those un-
sung heroes from coast to coast who
continue to guide and cherish our children,
iiiop up tears ( and worse' (, settle
disputes, wipe noses, share lunches, give
out pencils, stars, tissues. and notes,
notes, notes.
Dear Teacher Please excuse John's
absence for he has a cough and a cold
which c'o'nes and goes Yesterday it came
Dear Teacher Barbara was not at
school yesterday afternoon because her
mother was having a baby. It is not likely
that she will ne missing school again this
year for the same reason
Dear Teacher Anne d1(1 not do her
homework because i couldn't understand
it.
Dear Teacher I kept Monica at home
today i)ecaace she was not feelinw tool
bright - from St Joseph s S. hoi.I
newsletter
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