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Clinton News-Record, 1985-2-6, Page 4Page 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 6.1985 The Clinton Nowa-Record Is published each Wednesday at P.O. Bos 39, Clinton. Ontario. Canada, NOM 11.O. Tel.; 482-3443. Subscription Rate: Canada • 519.73 Sr. Cltiaen • 516.75 per year U.S.A. foreign • 553.09 per year it Is registered as missend class mall by the post office under the permit number 0817. Tho News -Record Incorporated In 1924 the Huron News.Rocord, found9d in 1881. and The Clinton News Era, founded in 1863. Total] press runs 3.700. Incorporating - (THE THE BLYTH STANDARD) J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher SHELLEY MCPHEE - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENDECK - Office Manager CCN,A G. A MEMBER MEMBER Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rote Card No. 15 effective October 1, 1984. Vanastra will survive Ask Jack McLachlan how he is these days and he'll tell you simply, "Just terri- ble." The clerk of Tuckersmith Township shares the feelings of many Vanastra peo- ple these days and rightly so. The small hamlet suffered another major Toss last week when fire ravaged one of the community's largest industries. Bayfield Boats was a major employer with more than 65 fulltime workers, and a reputation as one of the best boat manufacturers in the country. The $1 million dollar fire Toss at the plant is not only being felt`in Vanastra, but the rest of the. area as well. Still it is Vanastra that will carry the weight of this loss. Economic tragedy is not a new problem for Vanastra. Since'this community was formed in the 1970s, it has faced a long, up -hill climb to self-sufficiency and respect. The task has been hard. Industries have opened up and shut down. People have settled in .the area and just as quickly left. The continuing battle has left Vanastra with the reputation of being the "white elephant" of the area the "poor side -of town." A closer look at this community shows something different,, and the image is slowly changing. More people are making Vanastra their permanent home and they are taking a renewed pride and interest in their community. The public response to the an- ticipated closure of Vanastra Public School in 1984 clearly demonstrated that local residents are ready to fight for their community, that they care, that they want quality. services. Quality is evident in the variety of businesses and services that are now based 'in Vanastra. The area is currently enjoying an industrial boom, as more large companies are locating in the community. Currently there are 22 industries operating in Vanastra, employing over 200 people. New developments are also in the works and further industrial expan- sion and employment opportunities are. anticipated. Apartment facilities are being upgraded and 50 town house units are being remodelled in a $2 -million renovation scheme. As well Ontario Hydro and Union Gas services are being upgraded in the community. Further municipal improvements will be made over the next three years with help from a government grant through the Ontario Neighbourhood Irnlprovement Plan. Vanastra is optimistic about the future, but the devastating loss at Bayfield Boats and a previous fire at another large business, Vanastra Home Furnishings, has dealt the community an unfair blow. Still, Vanastra peep e are not quitters'. They have strived to create a community from an abandoned airforce base .and in less than 20 years have formed a solid core community. Community spirit is alive and well in Vanastra. With that solid beginning the community will continue to survive. by Shelley McPhee qlqiduscopQ Ah, to dance like Fred and Ginger, to trip the light fantastic, whirl and twirl across the dance floor The days of beautiful ball room dancing are now few and far between. The syle of dancing today matches the pop music sounds - free and fun, energetic and original.' I can manage to do my fair share of moving on the dance floor, but plegase don't ask me to waltz or polka, I may fbse count and step on, your toes. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, weekly dances were regular entertainment for local folk. Poss Livermore brought in a dance card one day which "cordially" invited everyone to attend a Fowl Supper and Opening Dance of the Old Time Dance Club. After supper at Bartliff's Restaurant dancers headed across the street to the second floor, above Herman's Men's Wear. Mrs. Addie Irwin was the piano player and a fiddle player would join in the musical. entertainment. Waltzes, one steps, jerseys and square dances were the favorites. Poss was the president of the Dance Club for three years. It involved young and old, town and country folk and boasted more than 100 members. Now, .dancing from yesteryear and today go hand in hand. In Hoimesville Loilis and Melaine Morello of Mitchell are teaching the smooth steps of the rumba and fox trot. In Clinton a teenage break dancing class is being offered to local teenagers. How romantic it would be to twirl and whirl, to dance cheek to cheek. How invigorating and exciting it would be to spin and jump, moon walk, to Flashdance • For me? Well, at least I can do a mean twist! Behind The Scenes: By Keith Roulston Keeping the economy in shape . Evergreen blanket By Shelley McPhee ++± Youngsters from the ages of 3 to 8 are invited to a Valentine Party at the Clinton Library on Saturday, February 9 at 2:30 p.m. It's free. Parents take advantage of this time to do some afternoon shopping, without the little ones in tow. +++ The Huron County Federation of Agriculture members meeting will be held on Thursday, February 7 at 8:30 p.m. at Seaforth High School. The meeting will feature a panel discussion on Noxious Weeds, with Joe Gibson, Huron County Weed Inspector; Jim Ross,. president HCSCIA; Brian Hall, OMAF farm management specialist. ' There will also be a resolution dealing with adding proso-millet and velvet leaf to the Noxious Weed Act. +++ Dr. Alan Cochrane, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Cochrane of 122 Mary Street, Clinton was featured on the January 29 television program, Nova on the PBS network. The program, Conquest of the Parasites, dealt with the new medical research techniques to combat malaria and other parasitic diseases. Alan, an associate professor at the New York City University Medical Centre, is working tv',th a team of doctors to develop a vaccine to prevent malaria. Alan is a graduate of Clinton Public School, Central Huron Secondary School, the University of Western Ontario and Althouse College of Education in London. He received his Master's Degree and Doctorate at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Calling all Girl Guides Dear Editor: • Due to the continuing mobility of our society locating people has become a major problem and we are hoping that a letter in your paper will reach those with whom we have lost contact but who would be Inds terested in our plans. A "Homecoming Weekend" will be held in Trenton, Ontario, April 27-28 of this year for all former Guiders and Guides etc. (now adult) of Trenton Division of the Girl Guides of Canada to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Guiding in Canada. There will be a wide range of activities • and time for looking back and reminiscing. The Registration fee is $10.00 to be received by the undersigned no later than April 1. Further information is also available upon request. Your cheque or money order should be made payable to Trenton Divi? sion, Girl Guides of Canada. Yours sincerely® "Homecoming Committee" 84 Stanley St., Trenton, Ontario, K8V 4V5 It's the time, of the year when I get in shape again. If the snow keeps coming, I should be in fighting trim by about March 1. If it wasn't for shovelling snow and pushing the car out and walking the lane about a mile and a half when the wind's at your back, ,three miles when it's in your face) I'd be an overweight, flabby slob 12 months a year. As it is, if I get in shape in the next month or so, it should last at least until April when I go back to being a slob. My wife likes the new me that all this winter exertion brings. She doesn't, however, like winter. Getting in shape this way is supposed to be a one-way street. If it takes winter to be svelte, she'll stay dumpy, thank you. Now I know 1 should feel guilty about all this. Being the kind of person who even feels guilty about feeling guilty I can get my guilt trip in two ways. I can feel ashamed of myself for getting in such had shape that only the rigours of a snowbelt winter can .give me. After all, I'm part of the generation that's refusing to get old. People my age are running around like mad fools to stay in shape. We've made. fitness a growth industry. We' are going to be the first generation in history that, when St. Peter comes to call, punches him out and says "not yet buddy". I'm letting the side down I know. I didn't even make a resolution to get in shape this New Years.I figured, why waste the effort. Now and then my conscience gets to me And I try an exercise program. It usually shape just by shovelling snow. Why I'm lasts about a week. I tried the 20 Minute practically a communist, destroying our Workout but who wanted to bend over and way of life. miss the action on the screen. Now I just sit and watch while I eat breakfast. But I can feel guilty even while I'm getting in shape in the winter. You see I'm not getting into shape the right way. It's hard work, it's old-fashioned and it's adding nothing to the economy. This is the age of speculation. I'm not supposed to shovel snow. I'm supposed to buy a snowblower. This gets.my lane blown out in record time and with little expenditure of effort so that I can then get in my car and drive down to a health .club where the membership costs about as much a year as the snowblower. I then put on my regulation, designer -signed workout suit and go through an hour of a socially - approved exercise such as racquetball, or water polo or dancercise 'or whatever the latest "in" sport is (tiddlywinks anyone? The result is the same. I get in shape. But' the latter method is so much more socially beneficial. I have helped put the economy in better shape than my tummy. I've kept people at work at the plant that makes snowmobiles, the people who make cars (because driving down to the health club I picked up enough salt to take a year off the life of my car), the garment industry that makes the sporting clothes, and construction company that built the health centre, the utility company that keeps the . pool and sauna warm, not to mention the instructors at the health club. How selfish of me to think I can get in Better mail deliver Dear Editor: ►-'ersonally, I do not think As civil citizens, just a bit relaxed from mail service men and women would endorse hold ups and stagnations of the last mail such a strike at all. No hold ups to be ex strike, the latest news is telling us now that pected in our rural area and offices, even if the bargaining does not go well, we are in the last snowstorm made that clear. for another strike. I think this comes from the big offices and That's for our information, just like that. mean cit, areas where the lump of mail If the citizens of the land like it or not is not material comes through. important. If business is held up, it's not im- I am basing this on mq observations of portant. If communications (national) are four decades. In the 1960s, mail delivery, na- badly reduced, is not important. If cam- tionwide, took two or three days and mail munications (international) are harmed, is from overseas took three to four days. not important. Now in the 1980s, nationwide mail delivery Only if a new contract is to the liking of the takes five to six days and overseas, nine to union leaders, that's important. 12 days, sometimes 18 dr by Shelley McPhee Sugar andSpice Good start for 485 I've been a bit under the weather lately. Now that's a strange phrase, "under the weather." No wonder foreigners find English idiom so difficult to master. You can be under the car or under the bed, although I don't know what you'd be doing in either case, but how can you be under the weather? You never hear people, with the possible exception of airline pilots, saying they, are "over the weather." On the other hand, you encounter people who say, "I'm over a cold," but no one says, "I'm under my cold." Oh, well, ce ne fait rien, as we bilingualists say. That, ' translated, means, "this not makes nothing," proving that French idioms are just as silly as English ones. However, today is one of those rare but glorious winter days, when, after three days of steady snow and the roaring, growling and clanging of snowplows, the air is like ic- ed champagne, the sun is blazing, there is no windchill and the snow lies, deep and white and everywhere. The sky is light blue and lcloudless. My, needed t our rural And that, despite computers, despite airplanes who are flying the mail overseas in eight hours, that is to Europe and visa versa. Something must be wrong here. I propose a remedy for the problem: 1. ci- ty postmen , including your union, straighten up your act, and make it into ac- tion, which means start delivering mail "warm from the stamp." 2. talk about a con- tract, but make sure you deserve it. Your mail deliverance, A. Jongean, RR 2, Hayfield By Bill Smiley spruce in the back, now about 60 feet, seems to leap toward the heavens, with only her lower branches, laden with white, bent to the earth to hold her there. Hey, maybe I am still under the weather. The spell of the weather, which does make sense. But it's.the sort of dayy on which only an idiot would contemplate suicide. Not that I know what type of days they do. I'd guess one in November, when there's another long winter looming, or one in February, when it seems that spring is six months away. Got through Christmas pretty well. Managed to erect a tree, by holding it carefully while my neighbor did all the dirty work underneath with the stand. He's an ex- pert. It didn't fall down once and only began to lean a bit after my grandboys had slid under it eleventy-seven times to pull out or push in the plug for the lights. They enjoyed this almost as much as they enjoyed burning half my winter's supply of wood in the fireplace. The latter made me a bit skitzy. Not because of the wood, but because of the way they tender the fire, once lit. They didn't. As soon as it was blazing, they forgot about it, and himself had to lumber out of his armchair and close the firescreen or whatever. Took the whole mob out for Christmas din- ner: son, daughter and two grandboys. I hate to disappoint you, but it was a great success. Last time I tried that, years ago, it was a dismal failure: tough turkey, lumpy turnips, cold dining room and half -sloshed waitress. This time, the idea was to give Kim a break and save yours truly from making the stuffing, doing the stuffing, trussing the bird and interfering with the gravy making. 'And Hugh is on a vegetarian kick, another com- plication. Kim, who had typically forgotten her dress -up clothes, dug up a classic black dress of her mother's along with a couple of gold chains and some earrings, didn't have to lift a finger and put on about two pounds. Hugh, nattily attired in blue jeans and a jacket from Honest Ed's, with a pair of shoes I had given him, found a vast salad barand was in heaven. The boys kept runn- ing from buffet to salad bar, plate in hand, one way empty, the' other way loaded: And all around us was ambience, whatever that is. Soft lights, fires burning, great service, excellent beef and seafood. No dry turkey: No lumpy turnips. No lukewarm gravy. No runny pumpkin pie, ak but fantastic cakes and tarts. But the clincher was that it didn't cost me g. a cent. All I had to do was sign a little thing, which will probably be lost in the holiday rush. Sounds idyllic, eh? No family fights, no major disasters. Even the TV set worked through the holidays. It usually breaks down when there's nobody to fix it. But my old acquaintance, Nemesis, was lurking in the wings. In my case, it took the form of a garage, an ancient wooden struc- ture that looks like a green, swaybacked horse, it you can visualize that. On the Saturday evening after Christmas, I came home from a brief shopping trip,, after dark. Drove into the garage, always tricky, because I think it was built for a Model -T. Got out to plug i my block heater. Discovered my front eels were si on the cable. Put her in re erse to o ca Driver's door swung op ned far left to grab door before it hit side of garage. Simultaneously stabbed right foot at brake. Hit accelerator. Still in reverse. Went shooting backward, right across street, before getting foot �n brake. Mangl- ed door of car. Mangled garage. Mangled ego. Good start for 1985.