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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1981-09-02, Page 4PAGE 4 —CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 ,1981 A The Clinton Nosys-Nesord Is patstlshed meth Thursday of p.0. fish 31. Clinton. Ontario. Carnmda. NIM 161. Tel.: 518.3143. _Subscription Nate: C.enede-°16.51 Sr. Clflamn • •15.11 per year U.S.A. ®foreign - •31.11 per year It Is registered es cacoaad dura small by the post office under the ourMlt number firth. The News-Elecord Incorporated In TOSS 3hm Huron Naws1teaord, founded In 1111. and The Clinton New Erste, focandmd In liief. Total areas ran 3.351. A MEMBER JAMES E. FITZGERALD - Editor SHELLEY McPNEE - News Editor GAB* HAIST - Advertising Manager HEATHER BRANDER - Advertising MARGAR[T L. GIRO - Office Manager kikMARY ANN GLIDDON-Subscriptions MEMBER Display advertising 'utas available on request. disk for R®It6>Card No. 11: effective Oct. 1, 1511. Hospital proves worth The recent emergency at the Huron Day Care Centre, located in the Huronview complex at the south edge of, Clinton, in which 11 people were injured when an explosion rocked the structure has opened many people's eyes. Fortunately, none of the 11 clients and staffers were killed or permanently maimed, but the memories of that dreadful day will long remain with them. But there are a number of positive things to come out of the disaster, (besides the lesson that the smell of gasoline fumes in an enclosed building shouldn't be ignored) including the belief that the medical profession, the police, the am- bulance attendents, the staff, and even many members of the general public should be well versed in first aid. The professionals' smooth, calm and cool handl- ing of the affair is a tribute to their success in keeping an otherwise bad situation from turning into a panic. But the most important lesson to be learned is the necessity of having a skilled and ready emergency ward ready and waiting only o mile away. The staff of the Clinton Public Hospital more than proved their worth in handling the injured swiftly and calmly. There is no doubt now that we need a good emergency facilities, and we need them nearby. This should add ammunition to the hospital's fund raising appeal to raise funds to construct and equip a new emergency wing at the hospital to replace the pre- sent decrepit and out -dated facility. Emergencies of such a large magnitude can happen at any time. By J.F.- Two or three year terms? Ontario municipal affairs minister Claude Bennett told the Association of Municipalities at their annual meeting recently that he would agree to the de- mand that local politicians have been making for years, and introduce legislation to give them .three-yearterms, instead of two year ones, starting with the 1982 election. Most politicians argue that with a three year term, they would have more time to do their job better, instead of worrying about getting elected every other year. They claim that especially for new councillors, the first year of their term is a learning year, with their worth to the municipality coming only in the second year. They just start to do the job they're paid for, when they have to face an elec- tion. The saving in election expenses in tough economic times is also another consideration. , But defenders of the old system (and they seem to becoming fewer and fewer with every election) claim that an election every two years keeps the politicians on their toes. They can't blindly ignore their electorate for two years. Just look at the federal and provincial scences of late, they claim, where majority govern- ments have been pretty well a license to plunder, showing little responsibility to the public need like the minority governments before them did. But there is a big difference between those who believe the purpose of govern- ment is to govern and those who believe the purpose of government is to.get re- elected. The United States House of Representatives seems to be able to run quite nicely while having to face election every two years, and we can't see why Ontario politicians should be any different. No, three years is just too long in local government. let's continue to have the option of turfing them out after two years. By J.F. remembering our post 5 YEARS AGO September9, 1976 Once again, the Bayfield Fair was blessed with perfect, warm, sunny weather last weekend for the annual fair, and attracted more than 2,500. Enrolment in ,Clinton area schools is down with only 3,032 students enrolled as of Tuesday in the seven areas schools compared to the 3.000 enrolled the year before. Patients will be readmitted to the second Floor of the Clinton Public Hospital, if the need arises. The original hospital budget cut of $225,000 caused the top floor of the hospital to be closed and the lay-offs of four full-time em- ployees as well as 14 part-time staffers. A further 13 persons were shifted from full-time to part-time work. 19 YEARS AGO September 9, 1971 Seventeen women became the first graduates of Conestoga College's Huron ('entre when they received their diplomas in a ceremony at the Clinton Legion on Thur• sday night The graduates had successfully completed the certified visiting homemakers course they began in early summer under the direction of Mrs Gail MacKenzie. The building fund for" the new Brucefield •rated Church is 5570 richer this week after some unusual donations were made to an auction sale in Brucefield on Saturday Possibly the strangest item sold was a 250 pound pig donated by John Broadfoot of RR 1. Brucefield The pig was purchased by F'red Mc(;regor of Brucefield and hmught in 546 of the $112.000 needed for the new building 25 YEARS AG() September 13, 19.556 The death of Billy Bishop, Canada's fighter ace of the First World War -was the cause of a cancellation at RCAF - Station Clinton yesterday of a musical concert The RCAF' ('entraI Committee concert hand was to have played at the Recreation ('entre on the Station Visitors to the Centennial Fall Fair at Bayfield on September 27, may well have an opportunity' to gain experience in the field of radio for the ('BC has decided to originate their Roving Reporter Program direct from the fairgrounds on that day 50 VEARS .AGO September 3, 1931 �1r Elford on Tuesday night addressed a gathering in the Holmesville Church, giving a (ravel talk and a description of the Passion Play which hesaw last year while abroad Had there been time to properly announce the meeting many more would ha'e availed themselves of the privilege of hearing this Man and friends by Shelley McPhee sugar and spice dispensed by bill smiley Too much to handle If this column appears in your local paper with a black border around it, you can shed a silent tear, or a noisy one if you'd rather. ' The black border will mean this is the last column .you will ever read by Bill Smiley. It will mean that he has a brand new set of wings, and is swooping and gliding about with , the cherubim and seraphim. Or that he has a brand new coal shovel, and is shovelling away with the in- cubi and succubi of the other place. It will mean that he has succumbed; 44, simply' succumbed, to a combination of playing three roles at once: Head of the'"''— English Department, a German general and A Man Called Intrepid. Head of the Eng. Dept. in June is enough to whiten the hair of a newborn black baby. First, there is administrivia, about 10 memos a day: Please have your inventory completed by yesterday (60,000 books); Your list of books for rebinds has not been submitted; it was due last Friday; You have not completed the inventory of the classrooms in your department (as though somebody had walked off with six desks and a waste -basket since last June) ; a look through the news -record files address. ._. Better be Safe than Sorry. Avoid disease, by using Pasturized Milk and Cream. Delivered daily, commencing on Monday, May 4th, Milk 10 cents. cream 40 cents from the McManus Dairy. Phone 235. 75 YEARS AGO September7, 1906 The correspondent of Londesboro seems to have his ire raised because of the fact that a neighboring creamery (in Holmesvillei has been getting higher prices for their butter than they have at the creamery of the noted burgh. He has seen fit to make some remarks that are entirely uncalled for. We wish to inform him that our efficient butter maker has not been sent to the wild west for lack of business, but is here still attending to his duties in the making of first class butter that always commands the highest price in the market, and no lack of cream either to put with it. We have a reflection to cast on the Londesboro Creamery. We hope they may prosper, and he able in the course of time to rank with the neighboring creamery in regard to quality' and quantity of butter and prices And although we had the misfortune to have our ice house struck by lightning we have ice enough left to send him some to cool off with. A woman went into a store in town last week, and while being waited upon she pushed a pair of stockings into her pocket. After she had gone out the articles were missed She was followed. and the missing articles recovered 100 YEARS AG() September 9. 1651 Monday last is a day long to he remem tiered by more than a few. in the forenoon the weather was warm and about 1 o'clock the sky began to cloud over, and for some time had an orange appearance Between two and three everything was darkness and business had to he suspended Lamps were lit in the shops and had very much the appearance of electric light The reflection on the windows. prior to this also bore the same resemblance. Some thought the world was coming to an end. but the majority seemed to be of the opinion that the cause was too much smoke. Darkness prevailed until Tuesday morning, when the sky being clear put every person's mind a i rest. Telephone dialogues are becoming very popular They are so entertaining you know. But when you get mistaken on the person it's a different thing Holmesville's village poet, having proved a complete failure at sonnet writing, has given up in despair. and has assumed the role of a critic Being of an envious, as well as penurious nature, he cannot subscribe for your journal (The Huron Record ), but always takes the trouble to "borrow it" not only for the news. but for_ the purpose of publicly criticizing the style of the paper. • Let him criticize these statements as much as he pleases. he played this mean little underhand game long enough, and it is high time you were aware of some of his sayings and doings. when you can deal him out his deserts � �l( Where were you when the emergency meeting of the department heads concern- ing gum -chewing by custodians was held? - Where do you hide every time you are pag- ed? When will you have your course outlines ready, or are you going to use the same old ones, merely changing the year'? And so on. That I can handle. I usually stagger through and collapse in a lawn chair the day after graduation. But this year another ingredient was tossed into the mire in'which I wallow each June. It was known as Operation Get Kim -and -the -kids home from Moosonee. With complete disregard for my advanc- ing debilitation, she blithely suggested that I hire a U -Haul trailer, drive 500 miles, load her stuff - including a piano - in- to it, and drive home, with her and the kids in the back of our car, no doubt sleeping. The piano weighs ofily 700 pounds. I can =heft 25 without throwing my back out. I wouldn't drive 500 miles in a day to see Cleopatra kissing Joe Stalin. That was out, and even my wife agreed that there comes a point. As far as I was concerned, she could hitch -hike, including the 300 miles from Moosonee to Cochrane, which contains no road. But I had to think of the Boys, perhaps being carried off and dumped into James Bay by mosquitoes, or eaten to the bone by black -flies. So I swung into action, with my calipers, my maps, my calculator and my wife shouting at me to tell her not to sell her toaster, and to sell her ironing board, because we have lost her other toaster and we have an ironing board, an extra one, that almost works. She hired a box -car from Moosonee to Cochrane. A mere $380. Still 500 miles to go. I dropped a few hints around the staff room, cheerily describing my problem. Two friends of mine, who are entirely out of their minds, announced they'd go and get her and the kids and the stuff : "No problem. We'll drive up Saturday, pick up the stuff, turn around and drive home." "What about the piano?" "No problem. We've done pianos before." "What about all that driving?" "No problem. We'll take turns sleep- ing." As far as they were concerned, it was a mere jaunt. As far as Kim was concerned, during $80 worth of long-distance, no pro- blem. As far as I „was concerned, it was a logistical nightmare. Supposing my friends got to Cochrane on a Saturday afternoon, and the freightyards were clos- ed for the weekend and they all bumped in- to that old malicious bureaucracy: "Sorry, we close at noon on Saturdays. Nope, there's nothing I can do. Just hafta wait till Monday." In some countries you can bribe officials but not in this one. Suppose all the .0 -Hauls were taken for ,that particular date. Suppose the furniture storage place had no room when they got here. Suppose the wife of one of my friends broke a leg, and the other friend slipped a disc before they started. Suppose the boys had scarlet, fever when they arrived in Cochrane.and the whole expedition had to be quarantined for three weeks. Now I know how a general feels when he's planning an operation. Do all the paperwork, get everything set, and then some idiot shoots his foot off with an automatic pistol and he is your key man for the whole works. At times I felt like General Rommel. Tl e trip was laid on. The freight yards would be open ( according to Kim, whose In- telligence Service I trust as far as I could kick a jeep), the U -Haul was reserved. At others I felt like General Scheisskopf. The storage place gave me the gears and demanded a financial rip-off. Kim calmly said she'd meet my friends in the Cochrane station at 4:30. I've been there. You could not find your Uncle Dudley in the Cochrane station. Anyway, the green flares have gone up, the Operation is launched, and I am crouched at home, feeling Trepid, which I presume is the opposite of Intrepid (mean- ing fearless ). "We might be able to make it one more year.." The beef farmer, young and bronzed, looked wistfully at his grazing herd and then stared into the distance. His attractive wife stood at his side, a worried frown creasing her concern- ed brow. These are friends of mine. They inherited a run-down farm eight years ago and have been slowly building it up, repairing buildings and adding modern machinery. Because of the ma- jor expense of bringing their farrn up to date, he has worked part-time all those years. They were anticipating some relief. They were hoping he could quit his second job and make it full-time on the farm. Not now. Not today. High interest rates and inflatiop are slowly, inexorably shattering their dreams. When they went to their bank this spring for the annual accounting, they could not get quite enough money to carry them through the year. In fact, they figured it out on paper and both of them worked the year for nothing. No return for labor. Their banker, sympathetic as mist bankers are, was simp- ly unable to extend their loan to the point where they could get through the entire year. Their farm, although worth much more now than when they took it over, has for them, ac- tually depreciated in loan dollars because of the inflated dollar and the high interest rates. The money to make it through last year is not enough for this year but the banker, also restricted in the amount of cash he can reasonably loan, can't give them a penny more. "One more year and then...? °' This beef farmer is not alone in his predicament. Grain farmers, hog farmers, even chicken and egg producers are in the same quandary. I know of one pork producer who needed moore money to keep going. His banker could not advance the money. The farmer threw the keys to the barn on the banker's desk and walked out. "You feed tele hogs then," he said as he left the bank. Too much blame has been thrown at local bankers in this mess in which agriculture finds itself. Some heartless tales are being told. Much criticism is available for some cases against hankers. But it is not all the fault of the banks. Too many farmers have over-extended themselves. They have bought too much on time and banks have been forced to foreclose. - It is a product of the times in which we live. r. Many other businesses have taken a beating but it seems to be hitting agriculture harder than others. I worry about these people. There are not enough young people who are eager to get into farming these days. This country needs every one of them, especially those who have tried and lothe land. When they are tic, out of business, wnere are inc ve peupre c•uiiung 'rum wnofowul take their place? Nobody but a damn fool would get into such a precarious business. Until farmers can get a better return on their labor and investment, it is lunacy to work your heart out only to be forced into bankruptcy in a few years. I'm sure you have all heard the story of the farmer who won a million dollars in a lottery. He was asked what he was going to do with all the money. He looked around his fields and his big, beautiful barn. He watched his cattle grazing peacefully in front of him. He turned to the questioner and said, with his honest face beaming: "Guess I'll just keep on farming 'til she's all gone." - It's an old story but the truth in it is scary. I!i the readers write petters Careful planning Dear Editor: There have been several articles on the Ontario Hydro Listowel working group and its decision to postpone its future meetings to November. I thought your readers might find the thinking of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture on this matter of interest. The Power Line Group of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture Energy Committee held four meetings during the winter of 1980.81 to discuss with other farm groups the line out of BN -PD. We were hampered in our efforts by the refusal of Ontario Hydro and the Provincial Government to release the South Western Ontario Study. This study of alternate transmission systems was to have been released in the fall of 1980 and was ready for release. However, Hydro at govern- ment instruction, withheld it from . the public until June 1981. Copies didn't get out to members of the farming community until late June and July. At the suggestion of the Energy com- mittee, the HCFA executive had weitten Hydro and the government on three oc- casions, November, January and March to express our concerns about public in-, volvement and request the release of the study. We clearly expressed our concern that farmers have access to the study during the winter months so that we would not be trying to deal with it during our busy seasons. While we received bland assurances, our concerns were ignored. The study was released in June. Hydro scheduled public study meetings for July, August and September. The Huron County Federation of agriculture executive discussed whether to participate in these meetings, whether to boycott them, or whether to try to get them postponed. We decided on the latter course. Tony McQuail was appointed delegate with Nick Whyte as alternate and they wept to the first meeting in Listowel on July 9-81. They presented a motion to postpone the next meeting until November 1981 and that motion was carried. Hydro said it would be going. ahead and would prepare a recommendation to cabinet on a preferred route in October 1981. It is unfortunate that Hydro's recom- mendations will be made without the participation of farmers from Huron, Perth, Wellington and Waterloo c unties. However, their representatives felt it would be better to study Hydro's proposals when they would have adequate time to thoroughly dig into them. We felt we would be in . a better position to deal with the environmental hearings scheduled for this winter. The tendency for Hydro to use public participation for public relations was illustrated at the first meetings. Hydro representatives talked about the need for a second 500 kilo volt line to get "bottled up" power out of Bruce. On questionning, he admitted that the existing lines can handle both Bruce A & B's out put and the second line is only needed as an emergency back up if one of the other lines isn't working. Hydro is also using a load growth prediction of 3.3. percent per year for the period 1981-2001 and suggests that it might be safer to build transmission facilities to meet even higher growth rates. Hydro's actual growth rate was well below three percent in 1978 and 1979, was less than 1.0 percent in 1980 and was a negative 1 percent in the first quarter of 1981. To adequately deal with this study, your farm representatives felt they must have time to study, prepare questions and in- dependently research figures. We felt it would be impossible to do a good job when we would be trying to get our crops har- vested and fall work done. Our desire is to make sure Hydro does not build facilities it will not need and that those"ft does build will serve the best interests of all Ontarions not just in providing secure power supplies but also in preserving high quality food lands. Hydro will be hosting Information Centres in Clinton, Sept. 2-81 and in Lucknow on Sept. 3-81. We hope your readers will get out and express their concerns at these meetings. We would also appreciate knowing of your readers concerns. They should contact Tony McQuail, RR 1, Lucknow, Ont. NOG 2H0. Yours truly, Tony McQuail, official delegate, Hydro Working Group, HCFA. Council notes May get grant The minstry of culture and recreation is studying a Wintario grant application sent in by the town of Clinton. Council expects to hear in the next few weeks whether they have financial support`'' from the government to help pay the costs of the new dressing room and washroom facilities that are proposed for the Clinton Community Centre. Help the match Clinton council has approved a donation of $50 to the Huron Plowman's Association. The Association is preparing for its annual Huron County Plowing Match which will be held this year at the farm of Mrs. Viola Adams near Brussels. Last year over 80 competitors took part in the match and over $2,400 in prize money was awarded. Harvest Days The Clinton Business Improvement Area (BIA) is planning a special fall promotion, Harvest Days. Harvest Days will take place in .down- town Clinton from October 13 to 17. Along with special sales, the BIA will be hosting special entertainment including pony rides for children.