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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-08-31, Page 4rTHL MLYTH STANDARD) PAGE 4 —CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESD Y, AUGUST 31, 1983 The Ohtani. Vascse-litecersi ankiisited seen Wednesday at 2.0. ass Se, Mann, Ontario. Canada. MM Vie. Tel.: eil9WW m. Suisseription Eaten Cana. - 948.60 Sr. Citizen - °u.N per year i/.5.�. ®fewilpoo - °9®.6'i9 per veer of D® reisistened oa =send ekes mad Icy, ries vent office ender tint mit number OM. Vise tikerreillecenal inesryteyreted in 1919 Viso Name tietutrilescarti. n in WW1. mai The Clines New Ins. founded in MS. Tota1i eases even 4.Siiik Incorporating J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher SHELLEY McPWEE - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager A MEMBER MEMBER ®belay .eoasrelrine rates .y.II.Ne are vainest. tilde for Mete Na. 12 effestive Oct. t. t9iV. School time safety Next Tuesday could be chaotic on streets and roads in this area. Children will be darting across highways to meet buses, others will be wheel- ing up streets and sidewalks on bicycles, still others will be making the first journey to school on foot. The youngsters will be caught up in the excitment of renewing classmate friendships, meeting new teachers, having a new desk, new books and pencils. It's highly unlikely that road safety will be on the minds of these youngsters. It's the start of the school year and time to remind motor vehicle drivers to take extra precautions. Highway drivers must pay extra attention to the flashing lights on the school buses and obey the road rules. In town, drivers should be watching for young children on bicycles and those on foot who often dart in front of a mov- ing vehicles without thinking. Parents should also be reminding their children about the proper rules of the road and the dangerous accidents that could result if these aren't obeyed. Once classes begin, schools get involved by teaching bicycle and bus safety programs. Goderich OPP Constable Eric Gosse will be making a return visit to some schools in the area with his impressive bus safety program. In June he met with our public schools' youngest students to introduce them to bus safety and in September he will be back with a refresher course. The OPP efforts to teach good safety rules are highly commendable. Equally as beneficial are the regular bicycle safety rodeos that are sponsored by the Clinton Optimist Club, with assistance from the Clinton Police. Parents of school aged children should find some reassurance in the fact that police and concerned volunteers are providing safety instruction in an effort to prevent tragic accidents. Drivers too must show responsibility by driving with extra care and attention, allowing our youngsters to have a save, happy school year. -by S. McPhee behind the scenes Costly victory Sports can display all the best of the human creature: the beauty of the human form, the courageous wars that let people fight through pain to their goal, the graciousness to accept defeat when the best was not good enough. Unfortunately in modern times, too much of that has been lost in the quest for victory. American football coach Vince Lombar- dy said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." In these days when Cold War politics are as much a part of struggles on the athletic field as on the battlefield, that seems all too true. The scandal over athletes being caught taking anabolic steroid drugs to develop their muscles is only scientific proof of what people who follow athletics have known for a long time. Canadian athletes were among the hardest hit in the scandals, losing several medals at the Pan American Games when drug tests turned up positive. It's easy to put the blame on the athletes but if you, as I have, have ever grumbled or complained about Canada's poor showing in interna- tional sports, then you too bear some of the responsibility. In the name of winning, the goals of sport have been perverted. Even the beau- ty of the human body is being attacked by these drugs which can virtually turn women into men and men into disfigured remnants of their original self. No one knows yet what the long-term results of steroid taking may be, if cancer or heart problems may shorten athletes' lives. This is only the latest example of the high cost of victory on an international scale. There are rumours that some keith roulston female gymnasts are given drugs to slow down puberty because women reach their peak in gymnastics before the changes brought on by puberty change the muscle to weight ratio. We do know that in Eastern Block coun- tries the best young athletes in the country are recruited early and taken away from their families to central locations where they can get the best of coaching and com- petition. In the US. distortions in sports are seen at an older age where universities often rig the academic qualifications of good athletes so they can get into college and then spend most of their time being stars of the university teams, not students. In Canada, in our nationalistic furies, we have agonized about not being on the win- ner's podium often enough. While we haven't started taking young children away from their parents to train (in fact have preventedprofessional hockey teams from doing this) or perverted university education, we have started to find ways to provide public money to athletes, in a sense, making them a surrogate army to fight for our glory. Giving the money so that athletes could train full time, so they could have top coaching and equipment, has moved more Canadians near the top but not to it. But we must decide if we really want to pay the cost of winning. Is it so important to win that we will start playing by the new rules of competition, of drug taking, of tak- ing away the youthful years of athletes in the name of winning for the motherland? Is it worth taking away the glory of the in- dividual performance and replacing it with the victory of teams of coaches and scientists? Do we really want to play this new game even if we could win it? Dear Editor Help UNICEF help children around the world Dear Editor, The approach of autumn means that the busiest time of the year is at hand for all of us who work for UNICEF in Canada. It is now that many volunteers are needed to assist us in the various aspects of our two major fundraising projects. Through the good offices of the news media, we seek out fellow Ontarians to help us. We are indeed grateful for the excellent publicity which our organization has received from you. We appreciate the sup- port that you, your staff and your readers have given to UNICEF. We realize how much this has contributed to the success of our endeavours. Funds raised through our mutual efforts mean that thousands of children in many parts of the world will benefit from clean water, better nutrition and the possibility of an education. A little really goes a long way. On behalf of all of us who work for UNICEF in Ontario, please accept our thanks for helping us help those in most need of succour around the globe - the children. Should any of your readers wish more in- formation ,on being a volunteer with UNICEF, hey may write or telephone to the Ontario UNICEF office: UNICEF On- tario, 1992 Yonge Street, Suite 204, Toron- to, Ontario M4S 1Z7. Tel: (416) 487-4153. Yours sincerely, Elizabeth Gordon Edwards, Provincial Chairman, Ontario Unicef Committee. Pretty maids all in a row Csugar andspice Poor planning It's still too danged hot and dry to get steamed up about anything, if you can figure out that mangled metaphor, so I'm going to give you something light, yet not without weight. This came to me via Jack Ryan, who clipped it from someone who had reprinted it from the newsletter of the English equivalent of the Workmen's Compensa- tion Board. Therefore, it's at least fourth hand, but I'm sure it will tickle the risibilities of any person who has ever had to deal with the civil service, whether it be Revenue Canada, the County Weed Com- mission, or the Sewage Committee of the Town Council. It's a bricklayer's report for compensa- tion for an accident. It might be entitled Poor Planning. Here it goes: "Dear Sir: I am writing in response to your request for additional information in Block 3 of the accident reporting form. I put "Poor Planning" as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully and I trust that the following details will be sufficient. "I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six -storey building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry them down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which fortunately, was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor. "Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out • by Rod Hilts and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went hack to the ground and untied.it, slightly in Lure the slow descent of the50Q pounds or ' bricks. You will note in Block'll of the ac- cident fol'm that my weight is 135 pounds. "Needless to say, I was jerked off my feet so suddenly that I forgot to let go of the rope. Due to my surprise, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. "In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the hazard, which was now proceeding in a downward direction at an equally im- pressive rate of speed. This explains the fractured shoulder. "Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the two fingers of my right hand were knuckled deep into the pulley which I mentioned in paragraph 2 of this correspondence. "Fortunately, by this time, I had regain- ed my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of the ex- cruciating pain I was now beginning to ex- perience. "At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground — and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now, devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel weighed approximately 50 pounds. "I refer you again to my weight in block 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. "In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and severe laceration of my legs and lower body. "Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and, fortunately, only three kaleidoscope Summer '83, where has it gone? The weather's been hot, but fantastic; the economy's been in much better shape than last year at this time; tourism in this area has been excellent and local residents have enjoyed our easy living months too. Although September usually brings good weather and a few more lounge chair days, I always feel that when school starts, summer ends. Obviously I'm not a mother of any school aged children, for they're thinking otherwise. By next Tuesday the lunches will be packed, new supplies bought and our young students will be back in the classrooms, no doubt most mothers will be breathing a sigh of relief. + + + I'm gearing up for a busy month ahead. Domestic ambition has captured my heart and I have great plans to make chili sauce, dill pickles, corn relish, green relish, freeze peaches and corn. I'm a novice at this preserving and afreezing business, but last year my first batch of chili sauce was every bit as good as my grandmother's. Perhaps I'll have to call her in for a few days to lend a hand with the job. Results from my ambitious undertaking should be in by the end of the month. I make no promises that my cupboards will be filled with sealers full of fruits and vegetables however. There is still the vertebrae were cracked. "I ant sorry to repot, however, that as I lay there on the pile, of bricks . in pain, unable to move, and watching the empty barrel six stories above me, I again lost my mind and let go of the rope. "Sincerely XYZ." I know that Workmen's Compensation Boards get stories like this, and even more fanciful, but they're a hardnosed lot, and I hope this bricklayer got full compensation, and was out moonlighting on a con- struction job two weeks later, purely for his imagination. We have a pretty good social assistance system in Canada, one of the best in the world, even though I'm one of the "Middle- class" who get stuck for most of it. There aren't too many people really hungry in this country. There are very few people who can't get medical attention when they need it. We talk about a "pover- ty level" in this country that would be riches to most of the people in the so-called Third World. I was talking to my son the other night, swatting mosquitoes in the back yard. He's lived in a dictatorship. I've fought against one. We talked about the best place in the world to live. We don't always, even often, agree. But we decided, unanimously, that Canada, despite its vagaries of politics, economy, and weather, was just about the first choice in the world to be born, recreate, find a decent living, raise a fami- ly, and die. Without someone breathing down your neck every minute. I think I'll stick around, as long as The Lord lets me. Where else can you feel morally superior to a vast nation next door to you? by' Shelley McPhee distinct possibility that I may be all talk and will rely on the frozen food and canned goods section at the grocery stores for another year. + + + My ambitions always run high after seeing the impressive displays at the local fairs. In Bayfield, the fall fair showed particularly beautiful quilts and floral exhibits. 1 only wish that they'd sell those baked and handcrafted items to appreciative but not -so -talented people like myself. + + + The Clinton News -Record booth at the Bayfield Fall Fair held a draw for a club bag, from Shirai's, and Abby Champ of Bayfied was the winner. The new bas will corse in handy for Abby as she readies to head for Poland to study postgraduate work. The draw itself was a great success with 221 entries. Thank you for your interest and support. + + + Along with the Bayfield Fall Fair, the end of summer also means the completion of another season at the Blyth Summer Festival. I'm sure that many Blyth fans will agree that it's always disappointing to see the theatre season in the old memorial hall come to an end. But the theatre is still running full force for another three weeks and is closing with a grand finale, The Tomorrow Box. It's a wonderfully, funny play and I guarantee it's worth the trip to Blyth. A full review of the production is in the en- tertainment section of this week's paper. + + + It's been many years since the Bluebell Club existed in Clinton, but Mrs. C. VanDamme and an old friend had a chance to remember the days gone by and catch up on all current news when Jane Brown stopped in for a visit on Sunday. The former Bluebeller and her mother Florence Wood of London paid a surprise visit at Mrs. Van Damme's. It's been 20 years since the two have seen each other and Jane and her family are happily living in New Zealand where they run an upholstery business. + + + Roller skaters, don't forget that this Friday evening is your last opportunity to take in skating at the Clinton arena. The roller skating season ends this week. Remember to have your old newspapers out at the curb early Saturday morning. The Londesboro Lions will be making their monthly paper pick-up in Clinton bright and early. the readers Garage sales are pr fit le Dear Editor: Just a note to let you, your staff, and possibly some of your readers know that you have been of great assistance to me in preparing the late Saturday night news presentation, "Report from the Country." It seems that elected officials at all governmental levels are bound and bent to clamp down on, forbid completely, or tax exorbitantly, every form of human pleasure. Your recent page one story on the attempt to control, or eliminate the garage sales is, to me, shocking. Women, being women, bless their hearts, can't bear to throw anything away that might possibly some day be of value. But with garage sales, and help from a friend or two, can have a glorious time socializing, and turn their collection into cash. So some merchants say that such garage sales encroach on their field, and cause sales to drop. What a lot of whining, nonsensical drivel that is. The conductor of the sale almost immediately gathers up her hard won cash, heads up town and buys a new set of drapes. Having had personal experience both in the retail trade, and in a series of such sales as a table setter -upper, sign maker, producer of price tags, and of course, the clean-up afterwards, I feel qualified to voice an opinion. Let the lawn or garage sales continue without let or hindrance. They do more to liven up a little town than any of the "Monster Sales" merchants can devise. And who wants a "Monster" anyhow? But thanks again for the help mentioned earlier. Thanks, too, for keeping me posted on all that transpires in the pleasant town of Clinton and environs. Yours faithfully, Arthur Carr, CKCO-TV's "Country Editor". Stanley history Dear Editor: I noticed in a recent edition of the Clinton News -Record where Stanley Township is reported to be making plans for their Centennial in 1986. This is, I suppose, a misprint for they must mean the 150th anniversary of the Township. The following facts taken from the Huron Historical Atlas of H. Belden and Co., 1879 and the Canada Company by Thelma Coleman 1978 may be of interest to your readers. After a director's meeting of the Canada Company in September, 1827, they sent the following instructions to John Galt in Canada: That the river Menesetung hereafter be called the Maitland. The river 12 miles south be called the Bayfield Creek or River. That the space between the two rivers be laid out into a township to be call- ed Goderich. The space south of the Bayfield be laid out in a township to be called Stanley. The name Stanley cameitiom Edward Stanley the 14th Earl of Derby who waw Secretary of the Colonies in Britain. In 1836, a township clerk was chosen and served many years without salary. It was not until 1850 that a regular council of a Reeve and four councillors were elected. By the above facts it seems we have a choice of dates as to the founding of Stanley — 1827, 1836, or 1850, but let's celebrate in 1986 anyway. Sincerely yours, Ivan McClymont, Varna. Support the hospital through penny sale Dear Editor: Fall is fast approaching, and the Aux- iliary to the Clinton Public Hospital is again planning their annual penny sale. The generosity of the business and pro- fessional people in the area has helped to make this event very successful in the past. We hope your continued support will help us make this year the best yet. The new wing at the hospital has been finished, but is in need of more furnishings and equipment. A successful penny sale will help us to supply these needs. A canvasser will call on you in early September. Donations will be displayed at the Anglican Church Parish hall, R.atten- bury Street, and acknowledged in the Clin- ton News Record. Draw date will be September 24, 1983. Thank you for your continued generosity and support. Sincerely, Marjo Vere, Publicity Convenor Try this recipe Take a cup of faith and charity to start. Season with unselfish ways and cheerfulness of hear,. Mix with understanding and dash of fun and mirth. Ladle in some tenderness that's warm and down to earth. Don't omit the tolerance, the joy that Sharing brings And also the ability to laugh at little things Bake it in the warmth of love and :serve repeatedly, That's all it takes to make a home, A pleasant place to be. -from the -Exeter Advance Times.