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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 1981-03-19, Page 4PAGE 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, MARCH 19,1981 A Wks Cling &/sono-Itseard u gsdirlighed *nth ��'' Tisearadsy et 0.0. Lax 39. ante*. ®asteria, Cst®da. NOM NA. Tel.: 4924s92. Subscription hater Cauda -4630 Sr. Ch s, . •ts.S® per year U.S.A. & foreign-'.1L.9®per year BLUE RIBBON. AWARD D 1 80 it is reglstsrtsd so sensed clove small by tits pest office trader tuts It itomber Ont. TWa itaarao-iscarti In toad In 1924 tits Marron Nstwallscerd, foondsal h 110111. end The Canton NiemBre. foandad In 1®@S. Tots) gyrase rot 9.999.. .0 A MEMBER JAMES E. FITZGERALD - Editor SHELLEY McPHEE - Nowt Editor GARY HAIST . Advertising Manager HEATHER BRANDER - Advertising MARGARET L. GIBS - Office Manager MARY ANN OLIDDON-Subscriptions MEMBER ®Tapley advertising rates available on reappoint. Ask for Rete Card No. 11 effective Oct. 1. 19®0. The future is tough CAGE, the. Citizens Action Group, for Education, a concerned group of citizens ancV parents fighting to keep courses dropped from area schools, faces a tough, uphill battle in their fight with the Huron County board of education. The board trustees have been caught in the middle of a battle that will eventually change the face of education in the county. They are faced.with declining enrolments and hence fewer grants on one side, demands from teachers on the other side for smaller classes and more pay, while all the time trying to pay attention to the taxpayers' demands for smaller increases in levies. • It's not an easy .spot to be in, and being a trustee in this day and age will mean making Some tough, gond very unpopular decisions It's nd going to be the easy job it once was, where an elected representative went to a couple of meetings a month, rubber stamped a few recommendations from the administrators, and went home smiling with his or her $3,600 annual stipend. The closing of a number of courses represents only the tip of the iceberg, as anyone can conclude after looking at the projections of student enrolment for the next five years: student populations will literally plunge. - . It will mean further belt tightening by the board, more class cuts, more teacher lay-offs, and even, horrors of horrors, the closing of a couple a public schools and maybe even a secondary school. The party is over in the education sector, the never ending supply of megabucks is gone, and we're going to have to learn to live with a shrinking population, something new to this generation. The adjustment period wil be tough, but everyone must be willing to give a little and listen to the other side, and that in.. eludes the. trustees and administrators, who seem to think they know better than those paying the bills. by J.F. No rhyme or reason Recognizing that the 1981 Fruit and Vegetable Production Recommendations will be in metric only, we asked Bob Wilcox, Extension Horticulturist at Vineland_ Station to -write -an article -for -us about making conversions. Apparently we are about to undergo what's termed "hard conversion", mean- ing containers will be labelled in metric sizes only. No doubt many will find "hard conversion" to be just that. And no wonder. Converting 100 Imperial gallons to 455 litres, 2.2 lbs. to 1.0 kg. and 2.5 acres to 1.0 hectare should keep growers busy this spring with their pencils and calculators. Just the same, we'll probably get used to spraying in metric much sooner than say- ing in metric. It will be along time before we stop finding inch worms in our cab- bages and we'll still put a foot in our mouth on occasion. And no doubt we'll continue to measure our achievements with a yard- ,, stick of some sort or other. --During-a..discussion on •metrification -at___.. the last annual meeting Of the Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association, a number of opinions were ex- pressed on the impending conversion. • Howard Bridgman had'this to say about it:. P Oh give me a home, Where the metrics don't roam; Where the miles and the inches still play. Where seldom is heard, A kilometred word; And the sky is not Celcias all day. It's clear that for some, there's no rhyme or reason to the change.—The Grower - R.; Fingers of doom by Shelley McPhee Burned out I remember writing something about teachers' "burnout rate" in an early column. With the eager help of my English remembering our past a look through the news -record files 5 YEARS AGO . March 18,1978 The voice of the Clinton Fair for the last 30 years, and a man who announced horse shows at dozens of fairs across Ontario including Hensall, M.L. (Tony) Gregg of London, died Saturday. He was 70 years old. Members of11`uckersmith Township council were upset at the $900 increase in the 1975 audit fee they received from the township auditors, Diegel, Malcolm and Hagey of Stratford. A letter will be sent to the firm protesting the bill for $3,000 compared to $2,100 last year. Clinton will be seen on nation-wide TV this Sunday, March 21 on CTV's W5 newsmagazine program. W5 is doing a news documentary on the closing of hospitals in general and Clinton was chosen as an example of a small town hospital. 10 YEARS AGO March 25, 1971 Sandra Idsinga, the 1970 Queen of the CRSS At Home, crowned Jo -Ann Bates as the 1971 At 1-lome Queen at the annual formal held at the Central Huron Secondary School on Friday night. The new queen defeated five other c on tes tants for the crown. The directors of the Clinton Spring Fair have applied for a class 'B' status for the 1972 fair, so it is hoped that fair goers and exhibitors will turn out in great numbers this year, to show the Canada Department of Agriculture that the Clinton Spring Fair is going ahead, Joe Koene of Bayfield is having a fairly successful syrup run out in the bush. 25 YEARS AGO March22, 1956 Clinton Colts. by virtue of their 13-5 win over Kincardine last night, have assured themselves of at least one more series in the WOAA homebrewplay offs. In preparation for the coming of dial phones next month, Miss Swatridge of the Bell Telephone Company has been visiting each classroom in the public schools of Clinton and throughout the area to use the new phones. By means of an outsize dial she shows the entire class the fine points of "dialling" at one time. Zurich and District Centennial celebrations have been. -set for July 1 to 4 inclusive. Committees have been organized and plans far the centennial are being made. Though next Tuesday is the official date for their 55th wedding anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. James Lockhart, Rattenbury Street West, held a turkey dinner on Sunday at their home and all members of the family attended. 50 YEARS AGO March 19, 1931 The plows have opened the road to Wingham this week. Mr. Henry Joyner of Clinton, tomorrow, March 20th, celebrates another birthday, his 93rd. He is still smart and active and is seen on our streets almost every day. His friends trust that he may this keep his health until the end. Much sympathy is felt for Mr. and Mrs. T.M. Woods of the 4th concession of Goderich Township, in the death 'Of their only son and firstborn, Ehner, a promising lad just bud- ding into manhood, having passed his 17th year. Elmer took ill with influenza on Monday of last week and, in spite of all that could be done by medical skill, the disease progressed, and complications setting in he was unable to rally and passed away on Saturday. Owing to the serious nature of the disease the funeral was held Sunday, a private service being held at the home. A large number of the young people from the Varna community took in the dance held in Bayfield on Tuesday night. 75 YEARS AGO March 23, 1906 A number of farmers in the vicinity of .Londesboro are trying to organize a threshing syndicate. The repairs necessary to the Auburn chopper after the high water damage of some weeks ago are about to be completed, and it is expected if weather permits, it will be in running order again by the end of this week. The contract for a new school to be erected in Summerhill, has been let to Mr. McDonaugh of Blyth. It is to be of pressed red brick and will be built on the Hullett side of the road. To the ladies of Londesboro and surroun- ding country - Having opened shop above the store of Morell, I would appreciate your kind patronage. It is immaterial to me where you purchase your goods. I am conducting my own shop and working for the ladies of the community. Experience has developed ability by which you all may profit at a very modest consideration. A trial order is respectfully solicited, and no effort will be spared to give entire satisfaction. - Miss M. Stafford, Dress and Mantle Maker. 100 YEARS AGO March 18, 1881 For a good piano go to Doherty and Gib- hings. A new oyster saloon has opened in Clinton, at least we would judge so from the outward appearances In the Record we would like to see: Clinton the county town: the council make a liberal grant to the town's brass band; printer's well ink patronized by a few more of our mer- chants, tobacco chewers leave their tobacco at home when they go to church, or else swallow the liquid and spittle. On Wednesday last an event of no common occurrence took place in our town, it being the occasion of the marriage of our town- sman, Mr. William Jackson to Miss Clara Rance, daughter of the late Samuel Rance Esq. The ceremony was performed in St. Paul's Church and it was crowded to its upmost capacity. After the ceremony was over, the party were conducted to the carriages and driven to the Rattenbury House, where a sumptuous wedding supper was partaken of by a Targe number of friends. We understand that an effort is being made to organize •a hook and ladder company in Clinton. As such a company is greatly needed in this town and will give good assistance to the fire company, we hope that it may be organized and receiveevery encouragement. (Do you have an opinion? Why not write us a letter to the editor, and let everyone know. All letters are published, providing they can be authenticated, and pseudonym. ia, allowed. All letters, however, are- subject to editing for length or libel. department, I'm rapidly approaching the condition of a cinder. The original article, written by. Calgary teacher and psychologist Stephen Truch, gave the symptoms for teacher burnout, which is third to only surgeons and air traffic controllers. Here they are: Constant fatigue, insomnia, and depression. I have the first two. I let my wife look after the depression, though she's also got the other two, just from living with a teacher. Every time I start getting depressed, I think back to the late fall of 1944, when I was locked in a railway freight car. I didn't have rings on my fingers, or bells on my toes. I had bars on the windows, and wire tying my wrists and ankles together. And a face that looked as though I'd challenged Muhammad Ali when he was in his prime. That always makes me im- mediately undepressed. It also makes me turn up the heat and go out and buy a lot of food. In those days I slept on a wood floor, no pillow, no blanket, shivering like a dog with rabies. Daily meals were four slices of bread and two cups of burnt -barley coffee. But that's all behind and forgotten now. The cellar is piled to the ceiling with canned goods, and when the oil runs out, or becomes too expensive to buy, I have two huge oaks and a bunch of maples to see me through until St. Peter says, "Where's Smiley ?"I'll never behungry or sleep cold again, if I have to murder. However, I have all the other symptoms Good old songs Writers certainly don't pen songs the way they used to. When I was a teenager, I was influenced by tunes with unforgettable melodies and deep meaningful lyrics. To- day, in moments of solitude, the haunting phrases flit through my mind once more. "Dum dum a diddly dum. What I say? Dum dum a diddly dum: Oh yea! Duni dum a diddly dum." How could anyone forget such thought- provoking lyrics? "I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still. Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron. Somebody told me that his name was Bill. Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron." It still brings tears to my eyes, and speaking of tears... "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, Cry if I want to, Cry if I want to; You would cry, too, if it happened to you." Some musical questions have yet to II,e answered: "Who put the bop in the bop shu bop shu bop? Who put the wham in the wham a wham a ding dong?" BacU,-vwrc vital in thn.-n of teacher burnout, and that causes a little concern. As the learned psychologist said, we also suffer "frequent minor complaints. such as colds, dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, loss of appetite and loss of desire for sex." These are minor? I've had 'em all, in varying degrees during this cruel winter. Not all at once, thank goodness. If I had, they might as well put me in a green plastic bag and throw me into a snowdrift on one of the back copcessions. But somehow, as department head, my colds are not as bad as my teachers' colds. My dizziness is just a slight buzzing in my ears when my wife talks a blue streak. Theirs makes them stagger from wall to wall and take six days off. My headache is created by their con- stant absence. Their headaches are migraines, demanding three days off, with all the lights out, medication, and tender loving care. Diarrhea? Theirs, to hear them tell it, is ten times worse than any mere six or eight times a day. It's a hundred times worse than what I had in Normandy, 1944, when I had to be carried to the facilities. More days off. Loss of appetite? Even though I gag over my breakfast of toast with peanut butter and half a banana, they think they've lost their appetites if they don't have juice, cereal, bacon and eggs and hot buttered toast with jam. Loss of desire for sex? I have to have ° Turn to page 20 • days. This was never more apparent than in one of my all-time favorites "The Lion Sleeps at Night", in which the pulse of the jungle was brought alive with a continuous chorus of... "Weem-a-whip; a whem-a- whip; a-weem-a-whip; a-weem-a-whip." Classic stories were told, such as "I'm Henry VIII, I am; Henry VIII, I am, I am; I got married to the woman next door. She's been married seven times before. And everyone was a Henry. She wouldn't have a Willie or a Sam. I'm her eighth old man; I'm Henry Henry VIII, I am." The following is a list of song titles that still tease my brain: Witch Doctor; Do It Rat Now; Hot Pastrami: Yakety Sax; Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini; Welkin' My Cat Named Dog; Bird Dog; Roll Over, Beethoven; Don't You Step On My Blue Suede Shoes; Gonna Buy Me A Dog, and One -eyed One -horn Flyin' Purple People Eater. An old favorite, On Top Of Old Smokey, was modernized and became a popular sing -along: "On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meat- ball, when somebody sneezed. It rolled off the table and onto the floor And then my poor meatball rolled out the door. It rolled in the garden and under a bush And then my poor meatball was nothing but moosh. The mosh was as tasty as tasty could be And early next summer it grew into a tree. The tree was all covered with beautiful moss. It grew lovely meatballs and tomato sauce... So if you eat spaghetti, all covered with cheese, Hold on to your meatballs and don't ever sneeze. Songs like that still choke me up. Writers always try to reflect the mood of the times through their songs, and a few years ago this tune brought music lovers to their feet: - "Here he comes, There he goes. And he ain't wearin' no clothes... Oh, yes, they cell him The Streak. He likes to show off his physique. When there's an audience to be found, He'll be streakin' around. Causin' public critique." In recent. years, I have bemoaned the lack of meaningful music on the airwaves. Writers just don't seem to write the way they did when I was a teen. I had almost lost hope, until this morning. It was music to my ears: "What's a matte you? Why you looka so Sad? It's a not so bad. It's a nice -a place. Shut uppa your face!" It's in the jingle Dear Editor: You are entitled to your opinion as per your First Column in the News -Record dated March 12. Now here is mine. I take exception to your opening paragraph, "Come on people help keep the promise, Davis can do it." if you knew about the advertising business, you would realize that !these "jingles" impinge on a person's con- sciousness, as did one about three years ago when Cadbury's Smarties appeared on the screen and tovi'ard the end of the commercial, an awkward looking girl popped her head from the side of the picture and said, "Save some for Lulu." This was aggravation personified. As Cadbury's readily admitted this was their goal, and at that time their biggest ad- vertising gimmick, which caused a tremendous jump in sales. I suppose. you also do not like the "jungle" (as you -Call them), to the current screening of, "Good things grow -o -o in Ontario." (I don't think you dare comment on that one. ) You know Mr. Editor, you, yourself, without knowing it are a "jingler". The Main Street Twit...adding his two cents worth... n o further comment. If you want to give some credence to your first column, why not 'enquire about an incident that happened to the second World War vets (commissioners) who have been moved recently, out of the Parliament Buildings because they were not bilingual. Guess who replaced them? One word on the Constitution - nuts. Let us get our country going again and we can turn to diversional items. Fred "Doc" Jackson, Clinton Good work Dear Editor: I wish I had written Shelley and Jim's columns last week ! It's refreshing to find that common sense isn't extinct after all. Keep up the good work! Steve Argyle, Bayfield. Keep away -Dear Editor: I'm writing a letter that concerns all the people of Clinton, it's the topic of people who follow the fire department when they are going to a fire. I am wondering if you like following fire trucks and watching fires.When you're going to fires behind the fire dept. It slows them down and puts the victims life and belongings on the line. One of these days you people are going to cause an accident and the fire dept. may not be . able to get through and someone may die at fire. What would you think if it was your friend, family or relatives that died. The fire dept. would appreciate if you would keep away from fire so that they could work more efficiently. If you want to see where the fire was read the paper but please stay out of the firemen's way. Sincerely, Anonymous, Clinton Not to be forgotten Dear Editor: I'm sure all those present at the Ontario Street United Church on Sunday evening, March 15 will agree with me. Those of who who were not, missed a real treat. Junior choir voices from Goderich, Seaforth and Clinton held a Sacred Song Fest, singing individually and then as one mass choir numbering close to 100 voices. It was a very enjoyable evening, not only for the "slightly biased" parents like myself, but also for many who did not have children participating, judging from many comments. To the children, Mary Hearn, Doris McKinley, Irla Stewart, Audrey Mcllwain and all the accompanists I say, "Thank you." That standing ovation was truly earned and the evening will not soon be forgotten. In fact never, as I have in captured on tape for anyone to enjoy. Yours truly, R.N. Holland. A clarification Dear Editor: It seems that because of the article "Strict Rules Stop Dance" which appeared on the "Chronicle" page of the March 12th Clinton News -Record, several members of the Clinton arena board have been receiv- ing flak. Let me make it perfectly clear that it was not the Clinton arena board which brought about the cancellation. In fact, the Clinton arena was not even the intended site of the post -exam dance. Rather, it was several members of the Bayfield arena board who forced the cancellation of the dance which was to take place in the Bayfield arena. It was entirely my fault that the name Bayfield was omitted from said article and I humbly apologize for any inconveniences this drastic mistake may have caused to anyone. (Sorry about that Mr. McKay.) Sincerely, P. Hartman, Editor, CHSS Chronicle. More, on Page 17