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Clinton News-Record, 1985-5-1, Page 5) Page4--CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WE NES 1 AY, MAY 1,1985 Tho Clinton Nowa-Record is published each Wednesday of P.O. bon 39. Clinton. Ontario. Canada, NOM 90.0. Tel.: 482-3443. Subscription Rote: Conada-$19.75 5r. Cili ten . $16.75 per your U.S.A. foreign . 655.00 per year 1 is registered as second class moll by tho post office under the permit number 0817. The News -Record incorporated in 1924 the Huron News-Rocord, founded in 18131, and The Clinton Nowa Era. founded 1n 1865. Total press runs 3,700. Incorporating THE RLXTH STANDARD J. H' 'WAit;s' AITKEN - Publisher SHELLEY IVIcPHEE - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENOECK - Office Manager =CNA MEMBER Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rote Cord No. 15 effective October 1. 1984, A MEMBER Soil conservation KaIi oscopQ Some area farmers are employing soil conservation practices on their farms and are finding it is economically feasible to control erosion. In fact productivity has increased, says The Lucknow Sentinel. Farm land stewardship is a question of ethics and how faithfully stewardship is practised depends on the values of society. In our society to own property is an inalienable right. But does the right permit the farmer to do whatever he wants with the land? When a factory dumps harmful waste and chemicals into a river, the public outcry forces a clean-up. But when a farmer allows soil laden with large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to erode into the ditch and ultimately the river, little is said. History provides many lessons about the failure of land stewardship. One North American example is the Dirty '30s' dust bowl in Oklahoma. Exploitation of the soil combined with drought and high winds caused the destruction of the soil and vast migrations of people. Land stewardship requires a fundamental agreement on the "value of land. Vast amounts of money are spent to preserve our heritage of old buildings, but little is done to prevent our true heritage, the soil, from washing into the lakes. Falling industrial projects which threaten the loss of thousands of jobs are bailed out by the government, but the erosion of our land which in- evitably will cost much more than jobs, goes virtually unnoticed. The Ontario Institute of Agrologists published "Agriculture and En- vironment" in 1981, a report which estimated the equivalent of 8,000 hec- tares of top soil to a depth of 15 centimetres is being eroded annually by water from Ontario farm land. Ontario has a considerable amount of land but only seven per cent is fit for agriculture and this seven per cent is already under intense competition from urban and rural interests. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food has recognized the pro- blems of soil erosion and has appointed advisors to assist farmers in developing programs to control erosion„ on their farms. But a commit- ment is required from both rural and urban residents if the problems of soil erosion are to be corrected. -Writers praise volunteers Dear Editor: Here is a letter of bouquet. With your per- sonality it must really get you down on occa- sion to print letters of beef, week upon week, Volunteer Week is no time for that. . This is addressed to you to say thank you for all the 1iJtle extras you do for mankind, and to the 28 adults•and four little friends who attended, my vanishing party -today, ( April 25 ). I just had a lovely time. There was even a self appointed clean-up. crew in action. The donations of the spring flowers and the orders for Tupperware received before the party, today and yet to come are appreciated - •the financial dons-. tions from those who couldn't come is a very thoughtful gesture. All for the benefit of the Clinton Public Hospital. I'rn thrilled! Incidently for those who are part of the Goderich or Seaforth hospitals, I'm sure those auxiliaries would welcome any new male or female as we do at Clinton. Interest in others or our endeavors makes our volunteer work a pleasure. • A reminder; please support our teenage volunteers at the capping ceremony to con - Main Street rumblings and grumblings have criticized the Clinton BIA Board of Directors for not holding an annual meeting in two years. Discussion on the main street indicated that the board of directors had been operating the BIA business without in- put from members. There was even some talk of resignations, if the situation didn't improve. So where were the more than 100 BIA members on Monday night when the annual meeting was held at the Clinton Town Hall? Apart from the seven board members, only three Clinton business people attended the meeting. The obvious lack of support and interest il- lustrated by the no-show meeting defeats the aims of the BIA. The organization was established as a business group, designed to better the community through unified ef- forts and joint promotional ideas. Its success to date has been well proven. Clinton, without a doubt, boasts one of the best looking main streets in Huron County. Promotional. ideas and special events, whether it he Klompen Feest or. Harvest of Savings have brought new customers to town and have enhanced retail sales. The BIA Board of Directors is working to keep the BIA alive by trying to instill in- terest, new ideas and enthusiasm for the betterment of Clinton's business community and the town as a whole. The lack of support at the "annual meeting" was discouraging. Board Chair- man Clarence Denomme noted, "We've ( board of directors) been accused of not giv- ing enough information. Then we hold a meeting and only this many....If we're not' doing things right, well, we get a lot of com- plaints, but we don't get input." Why did only three out of a possible 100 people attend the annual meeting? There's no easy answer. Apathy, disinterest, complaints, dissatisfaction aren't new problems. They're evident in every organization. Volunteers on boards too often learn that there's little gratification and support for .the work they do. Still they manage to temper the criticism, maintain their en- thusiasm and interest in their efforts. The BIA Board of Directors showed this at their Monday night meeting. Their disap- pointment was obvious but -the board members went on to present detailed reports and discussion of BIA activities and. plans for the future. "We just carry on," Clarence told the three lone business people in ,the audience. "The sad part is that we can't get enough people interested." gratulate the girls when they receive their awards, this Sunday afternoon, May 5 at 2 .p.m. at Ontario Street United Church, Clin- ton. i an Thank you, - very sincerely, Joyce M. Chilton, • ' ' President, Clinton Hospital Auxiliary • birds Dear Editor: On Wednesday, May 15th there will be a Blood Donor -Clinic held at Central -Huron Secondary School. The Red Cross. asks the people of Clinton and Area not to forget us before they prepare to have fun in the sun. Sincerely, Susan Eckhard Mobile Clinic Co-ordinator By Shelley McPhee Perhaps the empty auditorium indicated that there are few complaints or issues of controversy amongst the business people in Clinton. Maybe so, but a main street observer wouldn't get that impression if they heard the everyday conversations of the business people. It's human nature, I suppose, for people to complain and talk of hard times....the bad economic state, high taxes, poor business days, city store competition, lack of support frorrrcouncil and the community How serious are these problems in Clin- ton? These issues should have been address- ed by BIA members at the annual meeting. The lacic. of interest at the meeting shows that perhaps things aren't as bad as the main street critics indicated. Personally, I'm proud of our business community, our attractive main street, our well serviced stores, the variety of special events and promotions that the business people sponsor. Clinton would surely be a ghost town without the services of our business community. The failure of support at the BIA annual meeting indicated that some of the business community's enthusiasm may be waning. The town's business people should look at this as a well heeded warning. They must give an extra effort to boost their main street spirit, not undermine it. +++ I sit in on a lot of meetings. I see all types of organizations at work, hear their plans, their complaints, share their hopes and aspirations. - The dedication and work shown by volunteers, be it council members or service club workers, Boy Scouts or senior citizens, always impresses me. One of our p,me aims as a community newspaper (is to recognize and applaud the efforts of aur Clubs. nrtani7atinnc . inctitntinnc anri in- dividuals. The Clinton Public Hospital (CPH.) is an outstanding example of community spirit and support. Next Wednesday, May 8, CPH is holding, Hospital Day. The public is invited to join in tours of the hospital facility, from 2-4 p.m. +++ Remember - it's newspaper pick up.day in Clinton and Bayfield on Saturday, May 4. Be sure to have your old newspapers bundled and out at the curb first thing Saturday mor- ning for the Lions Club collection. + ++ On April 27, Russ Archer of Clinton graduated from the Southwestern Ontario School of Auctioneering in Woodstock. The diploma course included study in all aspects of auctioneering and Russ was among the first graduating class in Canada. + ++ Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Greer, Jennifer and Philip Greer of Hamilton, and Mr. and Mrs. William Govier, Kevin and Jeffrey Govier of Goderich visited with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Orval Greer in Clinton on Saturday. + ++ It never fails, every October and every April 1 end up on Shelley McPhee Time, nut Daylight Savings or Eastern Standard. Turn your clock ahead, turn your clock back. 1 can never get it straight. straight. I've posted the little jingle "Spring ahead. fall back, " ' on my bulletin board as a reminder. We'll see if it helps come fall. + ++ In a report on the 1985 Clinton racing season in the April 24 News -Record. I gave the track one extra race day this year. The Clinton Raceway has 14 race date. this year,'Sunday afternoons from June 1ti to September 15. Political notion would increase alcohol Dear Editor: In proposing the sale of .vine and beer in Ontario grocery stores, Liberal Leader David Peterson is ignoring vital research conducted by the Addiction Research Foun- dation of Ontario. - 'A 1981 Addiction Research Foundation study+ found that such expansion of cur- rent outlets .would result in increased alcohol consumption, adding, between 2,650 and.14,260 more heavy drinkers to Ontario's population.. Alcohol. already our Number. One public health problem accounts for one in every 10 deaths and half of all traffic fatalities. Can society tolerate an increase in alcohol abuse because of poorly conceived political notion? Sincerely. Karl N. Burden. Executive Director . + "An investigation into the, Relationship among Rate of Off -Premise Outlets, ('o1i- sumption of Alcohol"and Health Llamage". ARF, February 1981. Musical morning Behind The Scenes Sagar an By Keith Roulston No ne'e'd for cruise Menlo to: Mr. Ronald Reagan, President, The United States of America, IMO Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., U.S.A.. Dear Mr. Reagan, .Just a note to commiserate with you (01 the difficulties of trying to give people what's good for them. i mean you just c'an't please people today, no matter what you do. Here you have all these people saying you're endangering their lives with a massive arms buildup when all you're real- ly doing is to try to protect them from the Russians. They complained about the indecisive leadership of your predecessor, Mr. Carter, then complained that you are too aggressive when you go out and win a brilliant victory in Grenada. They refuse to listen when you warn them about the danger to the United States from the three mullion commies down in Nicaragua. They complain about. the MX missile, even when you called "The Peacemaker". just like the good guys used to call their six- guns in the old west ( doesn't anybody remember those good old western movies anymore? Maybe we should still be having the had guys wear -black hats so we can tell them apart more easily. ) They complained about the Cruise and they complained about the Trident sub- marines and they complained about. the defence budget. So with them complaining that your defense policies were too much of a threat to the Soviet Union, one would think they would be delighted when you came up with ill Hurl LIIUL NU1 LULcilly l.OGla I1C. 1 Il1Gr-ttl, how could anybody see it as a threat when you 'promised to protect America from the nuclear weapons of its enemies. But instead. they ridiculed your Strategic Defence 10- - I ilairve n--ILlnuve oy catling it Star Wars. 'Tien they started mimicking the Russians who com- plained this was an escalation of the arms race and claimed it's development broke agreements against the development of anti -ballistic missile missiles. Just what do they want'.' What could be more harmless than a system that would protect. us all from surprise attacks, that would blow up the missiles in outer space ., ( or over Canada which is about the same thing) before they could hurt anyone in the U.S. They say they don't believe you when you say that this would not give the U.S. any advantage. Well i, for one, think it's a great idea, How can you argue against putting the defence back into defence policy. How can you argue against the madness of the M.A.D. ( Mutual Assured Destruction) policy. You've come onto a great idea. i look forward. soon to the announcement that as Star Wars research progresses. the U.S. will begin a Complete dismantling of all the present nuclear weapons. After all, there is no need to have MX or cruise or any other kind of missiles to threaten the Rus- sians if the Russians are no threat. I'm sure even the general of the air force and the ad- mirals of the navy will see the sense in that and 1 look forward to the complete dismantl- ing of the nuclear arsenel. fi,ven the wacky peace activitists won't he able to argue against your policies then. Sincerely, etc., etc. icQ Anne Nar jk() cerneereasara (Ark' 11Il1. FOR SOME reason, and I've no idea what It is, this column is going to be about girls' names. There are several possible reasons, any of which might be the right one. First, • it might be just an unconscious' reaction to the worst cold spell I can remember. The names of girls, exotic or otherwise, seem to help ' fight those Jan./Feb. winter blues or blahs. Secondly, I might simply be getting senile. 'Who knows? A couple of years from now 1 might he turning up at playgrounds with nothing on but a raincoat. And thirdly, the more I thought about it, the more i thought about it. I don't know whether this happens to you, but every so often I get some silly old song in my head, and 1 whistle and sing it, inaudibly, of course,.beouse i don't want to be put away. for perhaps fifteen hours. It. could be Colonel Bogey, and i play it, with variations, through my head all day. No other tune interferes.. ,lust a few days ago, i got one into my skull that roust date back to the '20's, and it went on all day, through conversation, eating, shaving. it was: You can bring Rose, with the turned - up nose, But don't bring i.ula. You can bring Kate with the partial plate, Hut don't bring hula. Some old-timers might remember it. I'm sure it goes back to the days of vaudeville, or the grarimphone, as we used to call it. But i've no idea where .it carne from, where i heard it, why I remembered the tune, or what was wrong with Lula. Anyway, I began to contemplate the names of girls, and whence they derived. We chose the name Kim for our daughter, because we didn't know whether she was go- ing to he a daughter or another son, and the By Bill Smiley name fitted either sex. There wasn't a Kim on the horizon then. Now you can find one on every street corner. In my home form, I had two.Kims, two Karens, and a Carol, and until I knew which was which, I'd ask a question and start saw - ding like the old song, "K -k -k -Katie." Girls' names seem to go in cycles. One year I had five Debbies in one class. Hardly ever hear a Debbie anymore. Aside from the fads, when every third gal has the sarne name, there seem to be some basic roots from which be-leaguered mothers and fathers label their offspring. ( I've known a Robin Bird and a Pete Moss, but those were exceptions). Some girls are named after jewels, but there aren't many Pearls, Rubies, Opals, Sapphires and such around these days. They're as old-fashioned as Elmer and Gor- don for boys. Strangely, i've never heard a girl called Diamond, though I've met a few hard enough to -live up to such a sobriquet. Girls are named after some months, but not others. We can label a girl May, April or June, but you don't hear too many Februaries ar Novembers floating around. I think Febbie would be kirida cute for a short girl born in that short month. Then there is the practice of naming girls after flowers. We have Iris and Ivy and Pan - ;y and Daisy and Marigold and Rose, and even, on the occasional farout encounter, Tulip or Virginia (if her last name happens to be. Creeper). But they, too, have pretty well gone by the board I don't know why. A girl is just as pretty as a •flower, and often smells even nicer. Why don't we go back to that and call girls Petunia, Begonia, Phlox, Crocus, Daffodil? Think of the sweet little abbreviations they'd acquire. Pet, J eggie, Flocky, Cr oice� and Daffy. Once in a while there is a flare-up of old- fashioned or foreign names. Then we have 0 rash of Samanthas, Marthas, Ingridst Fleurs, Leslies. The trouble is, with. our fondness for nicknames, even these august names become Sam, Marty, Ingy the dingy Flour, and Les. Thank goodness there is a solid element of parents in our society who stick with the good old Biblical and fundamentally Anglo- Saxon tags: Ruth, irNlary, Rebecca, Margaret, Elizabeth, Jennifer, Susan, Jane, Sophia, and such. Not for them the exotic and subtly suf gestive stuff like Sylvia, Sonya, Roberta, Giselle, Juanita. Those are the sort of names that can get a girl into trouble How about Carlotta? Or Vivien'. Trouble, ti•ou ble. Personally, if I had six daughters, Lord forbid, I'd try to get one into each category , Emeralda for jewellery. September for a • month. How does September Smiley sound? Sweet -pea for flowers, Sweet -pea Smiley" Ursula for an old-timer. Once had a slight fl ing with a girl by that name. Mary for the solid virtues and the religious connotations And Diana, goddess of love, for the dangerous group. If I suddenly and unexpectedly had a seventh, I'd name her for one of the great women in myth or literature. Perhaps ' Circe, or Cordelia. Everybody, happy with ' those? Thank goodness my daughter has two boys, one Nikov, after a character in a Rus- sian novel, the other Balind, a name she made up. She'd drive us crazy if she had a batch of girls. 1