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Clinton News-Record, 1985-2-13, Page 5( THE BLYTH STANDARD) • Page 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13,1985 The Clinton News -Record Is published .ch Wednesday et P.O. ba 39, Clinton. Ontario. CartnL,-.NOM 11.0. Tel.: 442•3443. Subscription Rel.: Canada • 319.73 Sr. Citizen • 1114.73 per year U.I.A. foreign • 933.00 per year 1t Is registered as downed claw mall by the post office under the permit nusttber 8417: The News -Record Incorporated In 1924 the Huron News•Record, founded In 1841. and the Clinton News Ere. founded In 1843. Tote! pr *so runs 3,700. Clinton News -Record Incorporating .1. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher SHELLEY McPHEE - Editor GARY HAiST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENSECK - Office Manager MEMBER A MEMBER Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rate Cord No. 13 effective October 1, 1984. Love: there is no definition Love defies definition. There are things that cannot be defined but which are perceived and understood by the heart. It is not always easy to express our love to someone: our tongue is tied and our throat is aII choked up! Why? Because love is felt but not spoken. In other words, it is often by tenderness alone that love is manifested. .Tenderness is at the centre of love, just as poetry is found in the interior of things. Put two ounces of tenderness into your relationships with others and you will see that you do not need to know the definition of love nor to have a rich vocabulary in order to make others relaize that you are thinking about them and that you love them. What modern man suffers most today is coldness and dryness. Noise and alcohol, gifts and parties will never warm the heart of man if kindness and tenderness are lacking. We often rightly say that we must take time out in order to live and not let ourselves be victims of situations. It is no less true to say that we must also take time out to love and prove it by our actions. What is the definition of love? Don't look for -it in books! Rather, look for it in the everyday acts of life! Build it yourself with the events that happen and people you meet! Author unknown Distributed by the Canadian Imperial Council of Christians ondJews' .For Brotherhood/ Sisterhood week, 1981 immersion weed] "Inexcusable prejudice" Dear Editor: Did Stephanie Levesque get it right in _quoting Trustee Frank .Falconer in her report 'on the , proceedings of the Huron Board of Education last week'? Did he really say, "...'remember one thing, who won the war between Wolfe and Montcalm"'? If so, I hope that the Board will see fit to' denounce his position by passing a resolu- tion to, that effect in the near future: Other- wise; how can young people attending school have any respect for it? It seems to me that it is vital to take a strong stand against such inexcusable prejudice. To take a position that money cannot be made available for French Immersion is legitirnate enough: However. I hope that those who are taking such a positionare ful- ly aware of the loss of culturalvalues to the - Students for whom they are responsible, to say nothing of the material values. The last figures that I saw on the subject indicated that bilingual people in' the country's work force command much higher incomes. Parents, it sg ems to me, have every right to be angry at Mr. Falconer on this score on its own. let alone the moral and ethical grounds, or laL.. '.en., :,a's standing on. Sincerely, Alexander McAlister ' RR 1, Bayfield Unbelievable ignorance Dear Editor: One reads with deep regret, reports of meetings where men who • have -.-been ap- pointed to positions of trust show ineptitude for their responsibilities.. We pray for peace and then foment dissension •ley, caustic remarks which have no bearing on the subject and only show pet-, tiness of spirit 'and . an " ignorance almost unbelievable. Pax Vobiscum Behind The Scenes By Keith Roulston Opinion extremes Why is it that the pendulum of public opi- 'nion can never swing to 0 more moderate central point hut always'.swings- from one extreme to the other? Such seems to be the, case with thc current swing to the 'right'" in Canadian, politics. I'm currently in an ongoing correspondence debate with a now -retired but very suc- cessful journalist who wrote a column in a newspaper with the "letthem eat'cakc" at- titude toward CBC and artists in general. If, he said, artists can't make it without government subsidy, let them drive cabs or ,wait tables in a restaurant.In other words, get a "real job". What was disturbing was not what he said Lord knows i've heard it from enough other people over the years I but the vengeful way he said it, a sort of 'You guys have had it your way for years and now we're in control • and we're going' to get ours" attitude. Allan Fotheringham; writing in MacLeans recent- ly mentioned that he called "the revenge factor" in the current government. 'There. is, on the part of many government supporters, no feeling of it being a dirty job that has to be done in cutting CBC or Canada Council spending, there's sheer delight. There's no doubt there is fat that can be cut at CBC. There is fat that can be cut in any large organization, even if it isn't government financed. There is no doubt that Canada will go on even if the CBC didn't. Likewise Canada will survive even 'if there aren't any writers, poets and artists nut there. There's no doubt that the pendulum had swung too far away from hard economics and into the world of utopian ideals in the last couple of. decades. Our world in general has been a bit like the education system. When I was in school, in the days of com- pulsory curriculum set in Toronto, in the days of departmental examinations, there was a kind of concentration camp mentality to the school system. It was right that there should be reforms hut when the Hall -Dennis Report carne in, it -went to the opposite ex- treme tr, the point that there was so much freedom. students graduated without know- ing how to write and speak proper English. We've had a swing in the last two decades toward a world that .should be not a world that made hard economic sense and perhaps it's time to get back to reality. But there are those who want to take us beyond reality and all the way back to the bad old days, the same as there are those who would like to hring.back all the elements of the repressive school system of long ago. You get the feeling that some of the people now speaking out on the "right" of the political spectrum would like to take us back to the days when people were hanged for stealing bread and kids were sent to work in the 'mines at age 12. Now I know that's un- fair but there is such a sense of delight on their part, such a sense of having the whip hand now and going to run the world the way'' they see it, that one tends to -over -react in the other direction. And therein lies the danger. If the "right" over -reacts now they will eventually turn the great majority of people who hold a moderate position against them. The "left" which has reacted against the dominance of the right will then get the people's ear and the mood of the country will swing to the left. Eventually the reaction will be repeated in the opposite direction. Britain shows us an example of a polarized country which swings violently from left to right and back and governments spend most of their time undoing what their predecessors did while in office. Surely we can do better than revenge and over -reaction. Surely somebody can yell: "Stop the pendulum, i want to get off'. KaIeidosce An interesting question was posed to readers in the February 11, 1885 News Record. The editor asked, "If Mrs. John Smith were left a widow, should she assume her own given name or continue to use that of her late husband when being addressed by letter or signing her name? Answer - when that calamity happens to Mrs. John Smith (and to Mr. John. Smith too) she should be addressed by letter asiMrs. Mary Jane Smith. "Some women prefer to use their own name in that way during their husband's lifetime, but that is rather evidence that they rebel against the present relations of men and women, and that they do not enter- tain the respect and admiration of their husbands that is the basis of true matrimonial felicity." Today, to confuse matters even more, married women often .choose to keep their "maiden" name and still others go hyphenated, joining their own and their hus- band's name. We not only have Miss and Mrs. but Ms. is now an accepted title. Name titles in 1985 are more diverse and more confusing than they were in 1885 but it's a price worth paying for a woman's in- dividuality. Technically, I'm hyphenated. On my driver's licence and all those legal forms, I'm Shelley McPhee-Haist. It wasn't easy to become a McPhee-Haist. It meant filling out endless government forms, sending proof that I really was mar - By Shelley McPhee ried ... and all for one little hyphen. McPhee-Haist has also proven to be an in- convenience at local stores and the bank. I confuse the filing system. Sometimes I'm under"M" and at other times under "H". I. now advise clerks to look under both in- itials. I'll be in there somewhere. Professionally, I decided that it would be much simpler to leave my name unchang- ed. "By Shelley McPhee" are three words that I've become comfortable with, and readers are familiar with. And so, for the most part, I'm simply known 'round about these parts as Shelley McPhee and that's fine with me. Occasionally I'm introduced as Shelley Haist, or Mrs. Gary Haist • and after a few seconds of confused silence, I do come to the realization that someone is addressing me .,. and too my husband has been confronted with mistaken identity. He's been known as Gary McPhee. Being liberated isn't easy, for women and men alike. Something as simple as name titles have taken, on a new complex.status and philosophy in recent years. Back in 1885 it may have been easier for married women to take on their husband's name, but it wasn't necessarily better. And it certainly wasn't. as much fun or as in- teresting as being a modern day hyphenated woman. ++ Area fanners are reminded that a membership information meeting of the Christian Farmers Association of Central rs Huron will be held on February 14 at 8 p.m. at the Clinton and District Christian School. An issue of major concern today, SoilA. Water Conservation, will be discussed. Robert Traut, agronomist withthe Huron Soil and Water Conservation District will be the guest speaker. He will discuss the relevance of conservation on the farm,'the use of no -till to conserve soil and how to keep water courses clean. Wind break crop rotation and plow -downs will also be discussed. +++ Jill Wheatley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dyke Wheatley received first class honors in ear training in December from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. Miss Wheately, studying under teacher ( and a "great organist" according to the music student) E.C. Harley of Mitchell, also received honors in Grade 2 theory. Miss Wheatley practiced her music by singing to her cows. "They like classical music, not this new stuff," said the Seaforth woman. +++ You can work safely in your home workshop by making sure you have good lighting, plenty of room, a sturdy workbench and ventilation for dust or vapors. And keep work areas clean, floors dry and tools stored safely, advises the In- dustrial Accident Prevention Associate Being- organized and working safely sav� time and gives better results. My love is like a red red rose My love is like a red red rose That's newly sprung in June: My love is like. the rnelod,' That's sweetly play'd iii tune. As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in love am I: And I will love thee still, my dear, .Till a' the seas gang dry. ,'fill a', the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun: And I will love thee still, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run. And fare thee weel my only love, And fare the weel a while! And I will come again, my love, Tho' it were ten thousand mile. Robert Burns • Sugar and Spice A rek8 questions' NOTHING overwhelming this week, as usual. Just a few questions, a few sugges- tions, and a note of regret. First question: Why, are the Toronto Maple Leafs! - Second: How come Jane Honda, Barbara -Frump, Jaynes Mason and Richard Burton didn't reply to my invitation to my New Year's party? Answer: It seems that the two gentlemen, both fine British actors, had returned to dust in 1984. And the post office must have mislaid the ladies', merely because I, didn't have a street address or an area code. Mason was always good entertainment, whether playing a silky seductor or a menacing Gestapo man. But Burton! Ah, there was a glorious flash across the stage when he wasn't -in his cups. That magnificent voice, that could move from a.purr to a bellow in the blink of an eye: He couldn't sing or dance, but by George, he could move you. . I saw him in Camelot, the original ver- sion, with my wife. No, no. My wife was not in Camelot. She was in an excellent seat, beside me. But 20 years later, we'd play the record and both dissolve into wistful tears. We saw hirn again in his daring Hamlet, sitting in the midst of about 40 open- mouthed teenagers, the girls literally drool- ing. This was about the time he first mar- ried Liz Taylor. Burton led a life larger than life and died comparatively young' Just as well. He was burned out, and would have been pitiful hanging on as an aging actor, though some have done it well. He made movies for money, and never made a great one. On stage he was a shining sword. Good night, sweet prince. Another question. in all those endless beer acts, which equate the beverage with youth, By Bill Smiley goou looks, DI of Metl uvure ,, JCA; ut)wi y music and I'iUN, none, of the participants is allowed to, do more than wave bottles around, pour the stuff, but never drink it. Yet, when a bunch of hockey players, or those' steroid monsters who play football, win a trophy, they are seen glugging down champagne right on the screen. How come? Question. Can two live as cheaply as one -'- an old adage? As we all know,.the answer is no. But I have another problem. Can one live Os cheaply as two? In my case the answer is again a resounding no! I throw out mire food than my wife used to serve to both of us because it's gone a bit . "iffy". in other words, it's covered with green mould or smells like what the Chinese refer to as "night -soil." i find bits of cheese you couldn't crack with a hammer and chisel. My soda crackers turn into something resembling wet blotting; paper. The other night, in despair, 1 bought a chunk of that charred chicken they dispense in supermarkets as barbecued or broiled. Needing something to choke it down. f looked in the fridge. Ah, a jar . of my wife's home-made cranberry sauce. i slathered some on, 'gulped a bite and discovered the succulent sauce was strawberry jam. It's not so bad — strawberry jam on charred chicken. 1 ate worse in prison camp: turnip jam on char- red toast, But the food department is only one aspect of the problem. it seems there is a tiny flaw, perhaps a gap, maybe even a void, in my managing of accounts. ' As the bills come in, I toss them carefully on the kitchen counter. A few days later, it seems about three, I gather them all up, and pay them. Plus penalties for late payments on the telephone hill, the utilities bill, the Visa account, and an insurance premium. if my wife is in heaven, I don't want to go there. 1 nere wouia be a lot of explaining and plain lying to do. • Just this week, I came across a document that I was supposed to have signed in Feb., 1984. That means I hadn't drawn any in- terest on this thing for a year. I was lucky the company was still in business, though I drew some peculiar looks from the ladies who untangled the mess. A suggestion. Read "God Knows", by Joseph Heller, author of "Catch-22", my favorite modern novel, banned from most high school English courses; I don't know why. "God Knows" is a hilarious and deep moving account of the life of David, King Kings. Unless you are an extremely well-read person, you shotild read it on your lap, with a copy of the Old Testament on one knee and the -collected works of Shakespeare on the other. The dialogue ranges from today's Jewish Bronx to the great Psalms of David. Solomon is portrayed as a dummy. Finally, a note of regret. Shirley Whit- tington, writer and syndicated weekly col- uminst, has left the fold, and I am left alone, heart murmur, enlarged liver, arthritis, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all, to totter on with the banner of weekly, subjective columns; Shirley, an old friend, has a touch at the typewriter that is like herself: witty, vivacious, concerned, humane. She is a mistress of the pun, and will punish you with them to,the screaming point. She didn't start writing seriously until she had coped with a family of four, but it wasn't long until she was a real pro., turning out Tight and serious articles on a myriad of sub- jects. Dirty trick, Shirley, to quit. But good- night, sweet princess of the ink -stained page.