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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1985-12-18, Page 4THE BLYTH STANDARD) Page 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1985 Tho Clinton Igow*-Retetd Is published each Wodnosday at P.Q. Rox 19. Clinton. Qnforlo. Canada. NOM 160. Tel.: 662.3,063. Subrcrlptienpvtlate: Canada • S21.00 Sr. Mum • 01.0,00 per year U.S.A. foreign 0f.6.00 per your It It roaleteeed of cecend chow w1n2I by the post office ender the permit number 61$11,. The News•Secord Incorporated in 19211 theNuron Nows-Record, founded hi 1611. a,,td Tha Clinton Neve Era, founded In 1669. Total proms run* 3.700. Incorporating J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher ANNE NAREJKO - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager Display advertising rater available on request. Ask for Rate Cord No. 11 effective Oc- tober 1,1964. ctober1,1964. MEMBER A It takes caring people This is the season of giving, the season of caring, the season of joy. It's the time of year when we reach out to those close to us, and for some, it's a time to reach out to strangers. The Christmas Bureau, co-ordinated by Family and Children's Ser- vices of Huron County and run by volunteers, has been making the Yuletide season a little more festive for approximately 300 families each December over the past 20 years. le Bureau attempts to put a new toy or new piece of clothing under the tree for children whose parents don't have the financial means to do so. They also collect canned goods so the families can have a little extra dur- ing this holiday season. ' What the Bureau provides is an alternate shopping service for families whose budget won't allow -them to buy more than is absolutely necessary. These families can be one parent homes or two parent homes with only one member working. They can be large families or small families. Despite the circumstances, the identity of those involved is classified as confidential information, but there is no need to be embarrassed about us- ing this service. With today's economic situation, it is difficult to provide for a family when one is only making minimum wage. It's hard to make ends meet with only one person working. And it's hard to find a job. If you are of- fered assistance, why not accept it and be grateful? Thanks to numerous volunteers at five bureaus in Huron County, those who knit mittens year round, and the Family and Children's Services, there is a place to turn in times of need. If there wasn't, this festive season could be anything but joyous for many families. - It takes a lot of time, effort and organization to set up the bureaus, but they couldn't work if people didn't offer donations. What it all boils down to is the generosity of the people of Huron County - those who have, reaching out to those who don't. The local Bureaus collected last week, but donations are still accepted at the head office in Goderich. So put the Huron County Christmas Bureau on your shopping list. If you. haven't got the time to pick up a gift at a store, cash donations are also accepted. Let's show each other the true meaning of Christmas. - by Anne Nare- jko. at about respect? While most of the people throughout the wor161 are filled with the good- will that accompanies the Christmas season, there are still those whose actions showust the opposite. On December 12., Dick Roorda's Grade 3 class from Clinton Public School, spent the afternoon decoratiq the Slon-ian School Car on Wheels. They made their own decorations, giving the inside of the car a festive at- mosphere. The students even braved the cold, wintery weather to put the words "Merry Christmas" on the side of the school car. Unfortunately their hands got cold for no reason. That evening, vandals decided to take the letters off the school car, leaving only the 'A' and double 'S' on the side of the car - a word which is probably quite familiar to their vocabulary. Do they not realize what effort these children put into the decorations and the joy it brought them? They didn't see the children asking if they could put up the next letter or the look of accomplishment on their faces when they stood back to admire their work. Whatever happened to respect for people's feelings and property? If at no other time of year, one would at least think that the old phrase "Do unto others" would hold true this close to Christmas. - by Anne Nare- jko. Council moves forward With its decision to open the doors of its committee meetings to the public, Huron County Council appears to have embarked on a new era of openness. Until now, ordinary citizens and members of the media, who have no special rights to closed meetings, were permitted to attend only those meetings of council as 'a whole. The committees, where decisions are hammered out and much of the real work is done, preferred to operate behind a cloak of secrecy, emerging only to present their formal reports to the council. Now, for the first time, the public will have an opportunity to gain some insight into the real workings of the council. County councillors are to be congratulated for recognizing that members of the public have a right to know not only what is being done on their behalf, but also how and why it is being done,—Wingham Advance - Times. Other counties look to Huron for leadership in health education Dear Editor: • Co-sponsored by the Huron County Health Unit, the Huron County Chapter of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario recently completed its third annual series of Blood Pressure Screening Clinics across the coun- ty. The Huron County Health Unit's work pro- moting the Fcundation's public education programs in the county warrants commen- dation. We are particularly proud Of the Unit's initiative in piloting the `Culinary Heart's Kitchen' in the province. Their evaluation will determine whether or not this project will be implemented elsewhere in Ontario. In 1983, their work on the car- diovascular disease prevention curriculum for Grades 7 and 8, again a pilot project, has been well received in many jurisdictions across the province: The Huron County health Unit has, through their work, earned a respected reputation in the province. As a result of their success, other counties look to Huron for leadership in the field of public health education. It is fitting that their work should be acknowledged. Yours truly, Stan Connelly, President SEASONGREETINGS hack's Jottings By Jack iddQII, MPP Now that the holiday season is upon us, and we can now ,all relax as the end of another busy year approaches, many con- stituents in the riding have asked me to outline in my column my responsibilities as a member of the new government. Through the kind courtesy of this newspaper. I have been detailing many of the new Liberal Government's programs in my columns these past five months, so as re- quested by those here is a brief outline of just what a cabinet minister does. Since moving over from the opposition side of the house to the governing side as your new Minister of Agriculture and Food, I have been following a very hectic schedule as have all the cabinet ministers in the new David Peterson government. Some weeks, I can tell you, it is almost too busy, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. In ad- dition to all the normal duties expected of an elected Member of the Provincial Parlia- ment, such as representing your concerns here in Queen's Park, I have the additional duties expected of a minister in charge' of . portfolio. For instance, here's a quick look at week- ly responsibilities at my Ministry. Our day, including that of senior staff members at the Ministry begins at 8:00 a.m. (unless there is an earlier breakfast meeting that has to be fitted in) and many times doesn't end until midnight. Each yonday morning, we have a policy meeting at the Ministry, with an.: BY ANNE NAREJKO agenda that includes a wide -range of topics concerning agriculture from apples to tobacco. During the day, the staff and I meet with a wide -range of agriculture interest groups from both the producer and processor side. We usually see at least two of these groups a day with meetings lasting up to several hours in length. As well, .my duties as Minister take me to all parts of the,province, and occasionally to other parts of the country, where I represent the government at various functions, whether it be the opening of a new research farm. in• Centralia, or the inspection of hail damage crops in New Liskard, or greeting fairgoers at one of the many County Fairs, or meeting One of the province's hundreds of farm groups. I also represented the government at the Federal Provincial Agriculture Minister's conference in Newfoundland in July, where I had the honor of meeting many dedicated people connected with agriculture. So far, I have nearly 60 major speeches and brought greetings from the province to several dozen other events. As a cabinet minister, I also have respon- sibilities to a number of cabinet committees including the Cabinet Committee on Regula- tions, and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy: Each meet once a week and I attend most of them as well. Cabinet itself meets once a week on Wednesday mor - Sugar and Spict ning where decisions are made as to what will go before the.legislature: My duties as a member of the, legislature take me into the House each day to answer questions from the other parties and I am also required to sit in the House at least two evenings a week, as well as attend all the votes. At least twice a month, I sit on the Board of Internal Economy, a committee of members from all parties that regulates the operations of the House. Each Tuesday morning, the Liberal M.P.P. caucus meet with the Premier, and at least once a month we try to have a meeting of the Rural Caucus, which is com- posed of MPPs' from all Liberal held rural ridings. And Last, but certainly not least is my most important responsibility to the con- stituents of Huron -Middlesex. Everyday my staff in the Exeter and Goderich offices work with me and my capable. staff in Queen's Park in answering local inquiries and addressing problems as quickly as possible. To that end I also schedule con- stituent appointments on the weekends. I hope that this brief summary will give you some insight into government functions as a new administration charts a new course for Ontario. On behalf of my wife, Anita and all the Riddell Family, I wish you all a very Merry, Christmas and the best in the New Year. I look forward to serving you all again in 1986. December too soon December is a trying time. For one thing, it's so dung Sudden. There you are, tottering along a day at a time, thinking it's still fall and you must get the snow tires and storms on one , of these lone. Saturdays, and throw some firewood into the cellar, and get some boots and replac¢ the gloves you lost last March. Christmas is away off there. And then — bang! — you Zook out one mor- ning, and there's December, in all it's unglory:' a bitter east wind driving- snow, and a cold chill settles in the very bones of your soul. Winter wind as sharp as a witch's tooth sneaks in around uncaulked doors and win- dows. One's wife, complains of the terrible draught from under the basement door. You investigate and find that one of the base- ment windows has been blown in and has smashed on the woodpile. You clamber up over the wood, knocking pieces off shins and knuckles, and jam some cardboard in the gap. Creep cautiously outside, and nearly bust you bum. There's ice under that thar snow. Make it to the garage, and find that your car doors are all frozen solid shut. Beat them with your hare fists until the latter are bleeding and your car is full of dents. Final- ly get thein open with a bucket of hot water a,pd a barrel of hotter language. Slither and grease your way to work, ar- riving in a foul mood and with bare hands crippled into claws, bootless feet cold as a witch's other appendage. Come out of work to go home and find a half-inch of frozen rain and snow covering your car, and no sign of your scraper, and another deep dent where some idiot slid into your car door on the parking lot. By Bill Smiley'; I could go on and on, but it's only rubbing salt in the wounds of the average Canadian. Get home from• work and find that the fur- nace is on the blink, and the repairman is tied up for the next two days. And your wife is also fit to be tied up over your dilatoriness. Surely there is some way around this suddeness of December. Is there not some far-seeing politician (if that is not a con- tradiction in terms), who would introduce a bill to provide for an extra month between, let's say, November 25 and December 5. I wouldn't care what he called it. It could be Lastember, referring to your fast -dying hope that there wouldn't be a winter this year. Or Last Call, or Final Warning, or She's Acomin! Anything that gave us a good jolt. It would be a.good thing for merchants. They could have special Lastember sales of gloves and boots and snow tires and ear muffs and caulking guns and weather strip- ping and antifreeze ,and nose warmers, before plunging into their pre -Christmas sales, which are promptly replaced by their January sales. It would be great for the Post Office, which could start warning us in June that all Christmas mail must be posted by the first day of Lastember if we wanted it delivered before the following June. It would make a nice talking point for all those deserters and traitors and rich people who go south every year. Instead of smirk- ing, "Oh, we're not going south until Boxing Day. Hate to miss an old-fashioned Cana- dian Christmas," they could really shove it to us by leering, "Yes, we thought we'd wait this year until the last day of Lastember, you know. Avoid the pushing and vulgarity of the holiday rush. If nothing else, it would give us a break from the massive nauseating volume of pre - Christmas advertising, which begins toward the end of October and continues, remorselessly, right'into Christmas Day. Best of all, perhaps it would give dummies like me a chance to avoid.looking like such a dummy. Procrastinators, who flourish dur- ing a sunny November, would have no more excuses. All their wives would have to do is point to the calendar and say, "Bill, do you realize it's only three days until Lastember. Isn't it time you did your Lastember chores?" In fact, if that fearless politician who is going to introduce the Lastember Bill in the house wants some advice, here is a codicil for him. Somewhere in the Bill should be th� warning, in bold type: "Procrastinators will be Prosecuted!" Jeez, why not? They pro- secute you for everything else. If such a month were added to the calen- dar — maybe we could start it with Grey Cup Day — people like me wouldn't go on thinking that Christmas is weeks away. Instead, onl the last day of Lastember, with all their winter Chores in hand, they'd know that Christmas was practically on top of them, like a big, old horse blanket, and they'd leap into the proper spirit, lining up a Christmas tree, laying in their booze; tuning up their pipes for the carols. As it is now, we know that Christmas is like a mirage. It's way off theit sorrieWhcre, and no need to panic. Then, With that startl- ing Suddeness, it's December 22, all° the Christmas trees have been bought, the only remaining turkeys look like vultures, arid the liquor store is bedlam. Who's or 'a Lastember? ani