HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-09-07, Page 4PAGE 4 - CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEIDNE511 , slikerilemBER 7, 11983
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Tho t0mws-m®cord incorporated in 1926 the
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ran 0.21111.
Inc .,qp@r ting
THE RUTH STANDAR
J. 1=10WAR® AITKEN - Publishers
SHELLEY McPHEE - Editor
GARY HAM - Advertising Manager
Ls MARY ANN HOLLENBECI( - Office Manager
A
MEMBER
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Display advertising rotes
available on request. Ash for
Moto Card Mo. 12 effective Oct. 1.
1901.
Dogs a problem in Mitchell
In Clinton dogs appear to be under contol since the hiring of an animal control
officer.
In -Mitchell canine chaos is still running rampant according to the editor of The
Advocate:
You're on shift work, and trying to get a few hours of solid sleep before it's'
time to clock in. Somewhere, not far away, comes the sound of a howl - no not
wolves or coyotes, but the neighbor's dog who resents being put in the yard for
hours on end without the comforts of some pampering, some food and drink and
his soft bed under the stairs.
Okay, the conditions may not be exactly the same in every case, but those
shrill yelps do a great job of keeping you awake when you need the sleep. The
dog will probably be sleeping quietly itself once you're gone for the day, beyond
hearing.
So it's Sunday, and you've put out the garbage for Monday pickup. Lo and
behold, appearing as out of nowhere is that same dog, snooping around the
neighborhood for some mischief to get into, and he finds it in your garbage bags.
Before you have time to give chase, he has clawed a hole in the bag, and strewed
garbage all over the front lawn. Which you have to clean up, and which may be
back there again by morning.
When you awaken Monday morning, there on your nicely trimmed lawn is the
familiar pile - doggie doo-doo which you may dean up as is, or wait until it dries a
little to make it easier. In any case, you know it came from the quiet little dog
down the street whose owner walks it around the neighborhood at night, during
which time the dog finds a place to drop it - usually on someone else's lawn.
In Mitchell, there are, of course, bylaws to prevent such 'crimes' to the environ-
ment, not to mention your sanity. For instance, dogs are not supposed to be
allowed to run loose in town, but this byloaw goes no further than the paper it is
printed on, since the Mitchell Police do not have time to be chasing dogs around
town, even if a legitimate complaint is called in by a concerned resident.
What is needed is a part-time animal control officer, to follow up complaints or
patrol the streets at various times of the week, making the bylaw effective, and
eliminating the loose dog complaints from the duties of police officers.
In the case of outrageous noise, including dogs barking for long periods of
time, or neighbors with loud stereos, or family arguments in extremely loud
tones, a bylaw is being introduced by Mitchell Police in the near future, with ap-
plicable fine, for unnecessary noise that is disturbing to neighbors.
And, in some towns there are even bylaws that prohibit dog owners.from let-
ting their dogs drop their doo-doos on another resident's property, making those
owners liable not only for fines but for cleaning up the mess themselves.
Dogs can be the most lovable companions in the wc. Id, and give a certain com-
fort to people living alone, or to the children in a family. But there is a certain
responsibility for dog owners, who tend to take it for granted that a town is the
same as country, where dogs are allowed and encouraged to run free and protect
property. It is not, and our canine friends tend to adopt the same attitude as their
owners in this matter.
It's time for one more protest in these days of protests, but this one is certainly
more feasible.
behind the
scenes
Soviets and Westerners
need the
truth
The early official reaction in the Soviet
Union to the shooting down of the Korean
jetliner gives an inkling of what a different
world it must be to live in a totalitarian
country.
While the rest of the world was up in
arms, screaming for explanations, the
Soviet news agency Tass was simply tell-
ing people back home that an unidentified
foreign aircraft had violated Soviet air
space and fighter aircraft had tried to
"assist" the plane to land at the nearest
airport. No word of any shooting.
What do you think if you're an ordinary
citizen of the Soviet Union and you hear a
news item like that? Do you believe it? Do
you wait for the other shoe to drop? The
whole story to get told'. Do you become so
cynical you don't believe a word you hear
anyway?
Probably there are examples of people
doing all three of these responses just as
we have a variety of responses to any news
item here in North America. 1 can im-
agine. for instance, the cynical response
by remembering how 1 feel about anytime
1 read or hear news emanating from On-
tario Hydro. Hydro seerns to one of the
few Canadian authorities which has a
measure of control on the news and when
something such as the Pickering accident
happens it feeds out the news a spoonful at
a time so the accumulated dose of bad
news won't be large enough to cause a
reaction w the public.
But in the Soviet Union, that kind of con-
trol is everywhere, in every facet of life.
Here in Canada. even if we did have a
government that got that kind of informa-
tion control, we can't shut out the rest of
the world. if you've ever tried to get a local
AM -hand radio station at night and heard
it blasted off the air by some U.S. station in
Georgia or New York you can see how we
can never be isolated. Even in Nazi Ger-
many the BBC brought the outside world
home. But in the Soviet Union the size of
the country is so vast, is it possible to pull
in any station from a non-Communist con-
trolled country unless with short-wave
equipment?
How do people react when they don't
have real information? Do people still talk
about world affairs as we do over every
coffee corner in the country? Do they
discuss politics'.' It so, what do they say?
Do they get cynical about what they are
told just as we do in Canada about what
our government tells us about unemploy-
ment figures or the need for smaller wage
settlements? Or do they swallow what
their government says hook, line and
sinker?
The thing is, we don't know, just as they
don't know about us. In many ways, we are
kept from the truth about the ordinary peo-
ple of the Soviet Union just as they are kept
from the truth about people in the West.
We do not have the chance to travel and
mix with the ordinary people so we must
get our information from the media. On
one hand we get what the Soviets want to
tell us about themselves through their
state-controlled media, on the other we
get. for the most part, what the Americans
tell us. And how much of that can we
believe either? The U.S. media either
seems to take the same kind of knee-jerk
reaction against the Soviets we saw from
some U.S. government leaders after the
Korean incident t right down to it being a
Communist plot to get rid of the Con-
gressman who was head of the anti-
Communist John Birch Society ). Or we get
a view from the opposite extreme that
either is so left wing that it romanticizes
Communism or is so aware of the faults of
the U.S. that it ignores the faults of the
Soviets.
What we the ordinary people need most
in this time of Cold War, is the truth. We
need the truth in the West and the Soviet
people need the truth. Will we get it before
it's too late?
Horse sense
sugar andspice
Roughing it
in the park
CANADA has almost as many square
riles of parks as it has of parking lots. I
am not against this. I love parks and I hate
parking lots (somebody got me in one the
other day to the tune of a busted fender,
anonymous, of course.)
We have huge national parks, full of
mountains and stuff that nobody ever goes
near, except a few hardy outdoors weir-
dos. They're too rough for us ordinary
human beans.
Then we come down the manageable
parks, like Algonquin, where you can
canoe and make bonfires, and your
chances of death are much less from
wolves and bears than they are from step-
ping on a broken beer bottle.
Then we have parkettes, where you can
go and bake in the sun and watch your kids
trying to break a leg on one of the Star
Trek climbing machines or the unbalanced
teeter-totters.
All of this is, of course, leading
somewhere. It is leading directly to The
Great Camping Trip in the Park.
We had our grandboys for two weeks this
summer. It was great. They are a little
older, a little smarter, and they scarcely
break anything any more that is carefully
hidden away. They don't even fight any
more. Well, only when there is an issue at
stake and one of them wants to- kill the
other with a large stick.
But is was very restful, compared with
other summers. Last year, the total
damage was about $400. This year it was
only about $130. This was somewhat offset
financially, by the fact that the food bill
soared astronomically. Each of them eats
more than my wife and I put together.
Fortunately, they were enrolled in an ex-
cellent day camp ( guess who paid the fees
by Shelley McPhee
the
readers,
Without fear or favo
Dear Editor:
A number of people have asked my opi-
nion in the recent past about the restriction
of Garage Sales in Clinton, Etc.
So here goes. If goods are brought into
town by outsiders to make a quick profit
then leave, I agree with the Council's deci-
sion of restriction. But, to penalize our owri
residents, who, let us not forget, are pay-
ing a hefty overhead to reside in our town
is wrong and then, what has happened to
Free Enterprise...
One argument on this subject revolved
on, cars parked on the streets impeding
the flow of traffic and/or pedestrians.
Does this not happen when a sidewalk sale
takes place in town and you can see
mothers having to push their baby buggies
off the sidewalk to continue on their way?
According to past records, the average
of flea market and garage sales in Clinton
is four per week, (summertime only ). So,
why victimize these people with petty
bylaws? In the past, garage sales have
brought friends and neighbors closer
together for a fleeting minute or two, just
to barter and say hi. I only hope the ruling
body does not cast their baleful eyes on
bingo. If they did, all I can say to you guys
is, "Head for the Hills."
While my two typewriter fingers ( index )
are still working, I may as well get the rest
off my chest.
Klompen Feest, Clinton Fair, various
shows and events, have, in the past been
promoted, been successful, and very well
organized by excellent committees of
citizens. Flower pots, and tree tubs have
been placed around the town to enhance
visitors. This is all well and good, pro-
viding they keep their eyes up.
I made it a point to ask a councillor
about two months ago, "When is the town
going to repaint the crosswalks and park-
ing spaces in Clinton?" I received a Ho -
Hum answer. Even from another source
two and a half months ago I was informed
the "Paint hadn't come in yet." The
residents of Clinton know where these lines
are from memory, and possibly take it for
granted that motorists passing through
town should also know.
I only hope there is rio accident involving
pedestrian, motorist, and obliterated
crosswalk in our town. One would have
thought that, having all national papers
publishing "Hire a Student" Clinton would
have saved a few dollars maybe from our
Town Hall and Library renovation to have
taken advantage of this offer to make our
streets safe for our walking public.
And finally, the facade of our Communi-
ty Centre has been tastefully painted,
"Well done" to 'the people responsi-
ble...The racetrack, park, swimming
pools, are all deserving of merit, but, fol-
goodness
orgoodness sake, let us get the barricade
1 around the beer garden painted to comply
with the other surroundings... If the race
I track is short of funds, may I suggest tak-
ing a dollar or two out of the $20 I lost last
Sunday!
In all Sincerity,
Frederick It Jackson
P.S. I have seen some good paint buys at
Garage Sales. F.H.J.
and all that was required was to rout them
out of bed, make them put on some
semblance of decent clothes from the
warehouse they immediately turned their
room into, get their 'breakfast, make
their lunch, have a good dinner ready
when they got home from camp„and try to
maneuvre them into bed by midnight.
Nothing to it.
Except washing all their clothes every
two days, finding their blasted shoes,
which could be in the attic, a closet or the
basement, and vacuuming the sand out of
their sheets every day.
We were rather blithely looking forward
to taking them back to their mother after
the two weeks, when we learned, with a
slight shudder of horror, that their mother
had manipulated their Uncle Hugh into
taking them on a camping trip for a week,
from our place.
Hugh came up from the city the week
before to have a "conference” with the
grandboys about their wilderness ex-
perience. He was going to take them to an
island, on an Indian Reserve, and they
were going to live off the land, practically,
right in the middle of the bush.
He spent all Saturday morning making a
list of essentials. The kids watched car-
toons on TV.
Hugh had a 'dandy list. Raisins, peanuts,
sunflower seeds, and about 140 pounds of
canned stew, apples, bread, cutlery, pots,
pans, plates, the whole business. It would
have taken a coureur de bois canoe to
carry the stuff. We held our mum.
Next Saturday he appeared all ready for
the camping trip. There were only one or
two things out of joint. It didn't bother the
boys, who were all excited about the camp-
ing trip. But it bothered me.
It seems that I was to drive them to the
ferry across to this island, about 15 miles.
They had one sleeping bag among the
three of them. The food hadn't been
bought, nor the insect repellent. There
were no cooking utensils or cutlery. There
kaleidoscope
I'm looking forward to this weekend. On
Friday, Saturday and Sunday the village
of Blyth will be hosting the Thresher
-Reunion.
This will be a first time event for me and
I plan to take dear old dad along to give me
some details on the big steam machines.
As you will read in a special souvenir
edition that we've published for the
celebration, there's more to the reunion
than just farm machinery. The three day
show will also feature local musical en-
tertainment, contests and crafts.
I'm sure the reunion is going to be a
spectacular showing. Be sure to attend.
+ + +
Elsewhere on the upcoming event
calendar, Belgrave is readying for its
annual School Pair. Now this too is
something of an unusual event. School
was one pup tent,_suitable for one.
Frantically phoning friends, I located
another tent tnat wouiu sleep three, plus
more sleeping bags. It was still feasible.
I haven't mentioned that Hugh had ar-
rived for the camping trip with one arm in
a sling. He'd fallen off his bike in the city
and had to hit the emergency ward when
he arrived here. Wrist broken or badly •
sprained. But spirits undaunted. He was
going to carry through.
I went out in the car to pick up some food
or something, and suddenly I had one of
those brilliant ideas that hit a guy twice in
a lifetime. No ideologue, with one arm,
wandering around in the bush, looking for
a place to sleep, with two tuckered little
guys, each carrying 80 pounds, losing the
faith rapidly.
I went home and laid it on the line.
"You're going to camp in Little Lake
Park." I'd checked it out by this time.
There were tent sites, running water,
toilets, a barbecue, a great view of the
lake, and swimming.
Hugh, bless him, was going to go through
with the original plans. But he put it to a
vote, and.the boys, bless them, said, "Lit-
tle Lake Park" which is almost in the mid-
dle of town.
So they had a great camping trip. Set up
their tents, got a fire going, and had three
great days of summer. Gran, who had
almost gone catatonic at the first proposal,
dragged up some pots and stuff, and we
visited them ( six blocks away) only three
times a day, bringing them only ice, food,
charcoal, candles and a few other treats.
Fourth day it rained. Wet tents, wet
sleeping bags. Wet children. Mud.
However, after we brought Gran down
from the roof, it sorted out. The sun came
out, the sleeping bags went over the
clothesline, the tents were spread out to
dry, the kids clothes were packed, and un-
daunted Hugh took them off on the bus to
sleep at his place in the city, which is just
one jump ahead of a leaking tent.
Shelley McPhee
aged children from schools in the
Belgrave, Brussels and Blyth show a
variety of items including their best art,
writing and craft work. Hundreds of en-
tries are judged at this annual event which
is one of the last remaining school fairs
held in the province.
+ + +
Yes it's back to school time. This week
we've featured a special story on school
lunches, hope you'll find some new tips
there.
The story was written Wendy Somer-
ville. She's joining the News -Record
editorial department through a Conestoga
College student work term. Wendy, a
second year student in the journalism
program at Conestoga's Kitchener
campus, will be with us for the next four
months.
+ + +
If you want some cabbage growing tips,
be sure to call on Warren Gibbings of Kirk
Street, Clinton. Warren came in to show us
a monsterous 15 pound, two ounce cabbage
(according to Ray and Shirt's scales) that
he grew. No doubt there will be lots of cole
slaw served up'in the Gibbings house.
t + +
Happy birthday greetings go out to
Relieve ah (Granny Williamson). This
Huronview nonagenarian, formerly of the
Goderich Township Cutline, celebrated
her 84th birthday on September 2. For the
special occasion Marg and Jack East held
an afternoon party. Attending were Mts.
Williamson's son Nelson and friend Barb
,Johnston, Ametta and Gord Johnston and
Jim East.
Seeks help
Dear Editor:
It has been five or six years since yott
printed my letter to the editor, seeking
information .on the Lawson -Patterson
families.
Since then, I haye been able to use the
vast accumulation of records available to
the public in the Latter Day Saints Library
in,Salt Lake City. I am even living here at
least for the next few years, to be able to
have access to the library until I can find
out a little more of my father's genealogy
and help doctors learn more about the
pattern of our family's hereditary
nephritis.
Also, since the letter was pr.inted in your
paper, I have had contact- with a Bob
Lawson of London, Ontario. but his family
is of English decent, so therefore no
relation to our Lawson's from Scotland. He
did send me a record from a tombstone in
Hullett Township ('enietery for my great
grandmother's sister, Agnes ( Patterson
Grainger, wife of Charles Grainger of
Hullett Township. She died on the 19th of
June, 1878, in Hullett Township.
Could you please check you old
newspaper files and see if there was any
mention of her death or possibly even
something in relatives attending the
funeral?
1 am enclosing a self addressed,
stamped envelope for your convenience
and will surely appreciate any help at all
in this search. Even if there is nothing,
please advise.
Thank you for all your help.
Best regards,
Richard 1). i.awson
Salt Lake City, latah.
Thank you
m
Dear Editor:
On behalf of the Huron County Unit of
the Canadian Cancer Society, i would like
to express our appreciation and grit itudc'
to all the people of the Clinton area who
contributed so generously to the 1983
Cancer Campaign for funds. As a result
the Clinton branch, under the capable
leadership of Gerry Holmes has achieved
the impressive total of $14,729.70, wfuch m
turn enabled the Huron County Unit to cx•
ceed its $77,000. objective by $4,400.
Efforts such as this enable the l'anc'er
Society to continue its important work in
research, treatment to patients and educa-
tion of the public in prevention of Cancer
With sincere thanks to all citizens, ser-
vice clubs and organizations who helped
out in this great cause. i remain,
Yours truly
Jun Remington,
Campaign Chairman.
Huron County riot,
Canadian Cancer Society .
err