Loading...
Clinton News-Record, 1986-10-01, Page 4(THF BLYTH STANDARD) 'age 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1988 The Clinton News•Record Is published each Wednesday at P.O. Roz 34, Clinton. Ontario. Canada, NOM 140. TWA 409.3443. Subscription Raw Canada • $21.00 Sr. Citizen . 111.00 per year U.S.A. foreign 160.00 per year H Is registered as second clow mall by the post office under T� permit number 2117. The News•Record Incorporated In 1414 theHuron News -Record, founded In 1001, and The Clinton News Ira, founded Io! 1063. Total press runs 3,100. Incorporating Jr HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher ANNE NAREJKO - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager Display advertising rotes available on request. Ask for Rote Card No. 15 effective Oc. tober1. 1984. A Qa.. OLUE RIBBON AWAFIO 1985 Family violence is a public act The Ontario government's $5.4 million program to crack down on wife - beaters is just one step down the long road to breaking the cycle of violence faced by hundreds of innocent women and children, according to The Toronto Star. By more effectively prosecuting wife -beaters and in- creasing family counselling and improving shelters for battered women, Queen's Park will start chipping away at one of our least -recognized social problems. Many still consider wife -beating a family matter best dealt with in the privacy of the home. Wrong. It is, in the words of Attorney -General Ian Scott, "a public act of violence". It is estimated as many as four in every 10 women are battered by their mates. That brutality has enormous social costs. It rips families apart, con- demns many women and children to a life of virtual slavery, teaches children that violence is acceptable and puts those who try to intervene at enormous personal risk. Yet, it is the victims who continue to be victimized: Women and children must hide in hostels while the bullies are released from police custody within hours of being charged and are often free to return home. Those convicted often get a mere slap on the wrist - most are fined and put on probation. Few go to jail or are ordered to get counselling. While battered families can often get help, there are still few counsell- ing programs for wife -beaters. Queen's Park plans to spend $1 million on news programs, but they are primarily aimed at entire families rather than men who most need help. The government's initiatives, while ad- mirable, are not comprehensive enough. Scott's pledge to "make the legal process more responsive" to family violence is welcome - but it must be followed through, as strongly as government measures against drunk driving. And so must earlier com- mitments from the province to increase the amount of affordable housing. Meanwhile, women are being turned away from Ontario's 80 shelters. While the government's long-term solutions are being put into place, where will they stay? Wingharri Advance -Times. Co-operation helped meeting Dear Editor: Going back in time The executive of the Huron County Lqttqrs Federation of Agriculture would sincerely like to commend the custodians, Mr. Wooden and office staff for all their help when we used the CHSS gym for a meeting tops! last week. The co-operation when planning the meeting, as well as that evening was Major project It turned out to be a major undertaking but the jobs done and it, looks great! I thought constructing a "wooden. mini - barn" (more commonly known as an 8' X 8' shed) would be fairly simple. I thought all that would be required was the purchasing of the kit, a little bit of hammering and presto, a shed would be up, providing a ner!' home for all of those outdoor tools. That just goes to show how much I know about carpentry work. Thanks to the knowledge and efficient help of six people, the job went fairly smoothly, but without them, my shed would have ended up looking like something Charlie Brown would have built. With all the rain we've been having lately, we were surprised at the good weather we had. The first day was beautiful while rain sprinkled down off and on the second day. But the workers didn't complain, they kepi right on measuring, hammering and saw- ing. The project took two days, well three if you include the final painting. While my boyfriend, his father, his brother-in-law, my father, my neighbor Lon Matthews, and my mother, who acted as cook, were busy trying to figure everything out, I was a safe two or three blocks away in my office. I didn't care how the shed was constructed, as long as it was up and was go- ing to stay up. My biggest contribution was purchasing the mini -barn kit and leaving some money at the house in the event some last minute nails or whatever had to be bdught. The rest was up to them. There were a few stumbling blocks,' but much to tny surprise, everyone kept their cool and sorted things out in a very rational manner. The first of these blocks was not knowing if the doors had been delivered. The inven- tory sheet said there should be two cedar doors. I don't know my woods very well so when the delivery man dropped off the sup- plies, I took his word that everything was there. However my boyfriend, Colin, has a pret- ty good knowledge of wood and quickly in- formed me the doors weren't there. So the next time he was near the store, he stopped in to find out exactly what materials we were suppose to have and compare that to what we actually did have. He was told we weren't really suppose to have cedar doors and the materials that were delivered were correct. After some discussion, it was decided that the material the store had delivered for the doors wasn't good enough, so next trip we'd have to invest in some interlocking wood for doors. (I'd heard of interlocking bricks, but never interlocking wood.) Our next problem involved the shingles. My house has dark brown shingles on it, so I requested dark brown shingles for the shed with my second choice as black. When the dellveryman dropped everything off, he gave me the black shingles which didn't bother me too much. However,. the "crew" thought brown would be better, and not mattering to me one way or another, Colin exchanged them. I'd have to say that the crew are perfec- tionists, and as Colin's brother is a carpenter, this job had to be done right. So out came the measuring tapes, the pencils, the levels, the power saws and the hand saws. Once they had all the materials, they really made time. Once they had' the basic frame up, it was time to stain the trim and paint the shed. This is where I made my biggest contribution. While my mother was climbing a ladder to paint the upper portions of the shed, I was heiping Colin stain the trim, a job neither of use were too keen on. The following day, they put the brown shingles on the roof, and attatched the in- terlocking doors. When I came home from work that night, "presto," I had a shed. Thanks to the crew's quest for perfection, and my mothers ability to keep their stomaches full, I can't find one flaw in it. (Even with the amount of rain we've been getting, my rakes are still dry.) Thanks gang, without your help I'd still be working on it this time next year! Sincerely, The Members of HCFA Executive Give thank, help others Dear editor, Thanksgiving is that special time of the year we pause to give thanks for family, friends, food and all the other blessings we as Canadians enjoy. How fortunate we really are that in spite of setbacks or adversities, that may from time to time affect some, in the main we can be thankful for the availability of the necessities of life such that we may par- ticipate in the activities of our choosing and to enjoy the sight of all scenic pleasures that Canada has to offer. People in other parts of the world are not as fortunate. I read an item recently, quoting the World Health Organization, which indicated that there are 40 million blind people in the world - mostly in the developing countries. People unable to be productive due to lack of the right vitamins, unclean water, lack of education as to proper health care. About one half of these people are curable blind people that due to lack of funds or availabili- ty of nearby medical help continue in their helpless way. Fortunately there are some fine organiza- tions in the world that are giving help to try and eradicate these problems, and I am thankful and proud that one such organiza- tion is a Canadian based one, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, that this year has as their objective the treatment of one million eyes, and the restoring of sight for 100,000 curable blind people. For a donation of only $25 which is tax deductible, sight can be restored to some in- dividual in the 17 countries in which they now have seventy projects in motion. Their name and address is: Operation Eyesight Universal, P.O. Box 123, Stn. "M", Calgary, Alta. T2P 2H6. Yours sincerely, Marion Torrell 2 Dell Glen Court, Thornhill, Ontario 1.3T 2A3 Auto pact support crucial... Dear editor, Perth M.P. Harry Brightwell, recently hosted a meeting of Perth County auto parts manufacturers, auto dealers and officials from the Federal Department of Regional and Industrial Expansion. The meeting was designed to air the con- cerns of local auto manufacturers and dealers regarding the future of the Cana- dian automotive industry. Data from the Canadian Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association (MVMA) shows how important this Canadian industry is to Canada, and particularly to south western Ontario. The auto industry accounts for one of every seven manufacturing jobs and for 10 per cent of manufacturing exports. Direct auto employment of 130,000 generates 428,000 other jobs in auto manufacturing, component production and spin-off effects throughout Canada. Auto manufacturing, for instance, ac- counts for 14 percent of iron foundry produc- tion, 11 per cent of rubber, 7 per cent of machine shop production, 9 per cent of wire products, 6 per cent of. carpeting . and fabrics, 6 per cent of processed aluminum goods, 9 per cent of glass products and 20 per cent of steel shipments. Spending on goods and services is $13 billion per year or over $1,000 for every per- son in Canada per year. In addition, investment since 1980 is a fur- ther $12 billion. The key to the strength of Canada's auto manufacturing and its spinoff effects is the auto pact. In Canada the auto pact requires 60 per cent Canadian content. Also, production to sales ratio requirement of 1:1 means $10,000 in Canadian production requirements for each $10,000 in sales in Canada. In the U.S. the auto pact requires 50 per cent North American content. Compliance with these requirements eliminates cross border (Canada- U.S.) duty. Car companies in Canada operating under the auto pact are American Motors, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and Volvo. Importers of vehicles are not required by the governments of Canada and the U.S. to Turn to page 5 a By Anne Narejko • SheIIy McPhqq-IIciist Books It's raining again. September has been drenched in a continual downpouring from the skies. The last summer flowers are hanging their weeping heads, the leaves on the trees look weary. As I look out the window this morning, I feel the same way. I can't shake myself awake today. It's as if the rain itself has made my body and mind groggy and lethargic. I've stumbled through a few routine jobs of the morning, making the bed, preparing the baby's bottles for the day, cleaning up the kitchen - but my enthusiasm and energy has ended there. I cannot face the prospects of tackling another constructive, laborious task. Instead, today I've plunked myself in the middle of my kitchen floor surrounded by piles of books. Every so often I gather my collection of books into one heap and begin the task of sorting and rearranging my book shelves. The main objective of this exercise is to. determine what books I'm ready to part with, which ones I would like to read or reread again and what books I would like to pass on to friends. It's an all day task, this sorting and perus- ing through my books. I'm surrounded by a Himalayan sized pile of hardcover and paper backs. Many of them are old friends, for the companionship they have given me, for the entertainment they have provided, the lessons and the insight they have given me. I lode books. I love their smell, of fresh new pages of paper and black ink. I love the stories that they await to tell. I'm attracted to books like a bear is to honey. I cannot visit a shopping mall without spending an hour or so at the bookstore. I cannot do my grocery shopping without a quick browse through the book racks. I can spend hour after hour poking among the library shelves. I never rntss a book sale and I stop in at the used book store at least once a month. I collect books like some people collect records or salt and pepper shakers. There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason to my, collection. For the most part my book shelves contain a variety of ratty well used paperbacks. I also have a collec- tion of classic works, the kind that come so nicely bound in simulated leather. I haven't read any of these books in their hardcover version. They seem too nice to touch, but I like to look at them, so neatly lined up bet- ween the book ends. But, I know the stories these books hold, many are old favorites, stories that I have grown up with. My favorite books are the ones that I've always known, and loved, from Alice in Wonderland to those wonderful James Michener sagas, from my Nancy Drew novels to Margaret Atwood. My collection of books knows no bounds or limits. I have a box of old books that I read as a young girl, another box of books that came from my grandmother's old trunk, and another box of textbooks from high school and college days. I have a shelf of books written by Cana- dian authors, another of Victorian literature, and yet another shelf of books written by today's best selling authors. I love a story of romance, the historic civil war variety. I like a good story of intrigue and adventure or a Stephen King thriller, or an autobiography by some well known person. My book shelves contain works by a varie- ty of authors, from Ayh Rand to Danielle Steel, James Michener to James Joyce, Charles Dickens to Frank Herbert, Robert- son Davies, Norman Mailer, John Irving, John Updike, Margaret Laurence, Barbara Taylor, Bradford, Gabrielle Roy, and on, and on, and on. There are some books that I can pick up time and time again, like Gone With The Wind. There are others that I will never read again, like Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim. These books are part of my life. My day would not be complete without reading a few pages at bedtime. Christmas would not be Christmas without finding a new book under the tree, or giving a book as a present. A conversation with my Mother or my sister would not be coluplete without comparing notes on our latest find at the library. My book comforts me when I cannot sleep. It offers a wonderful afternoon's entertainment. It helps pass the time when I'm waiting at the doctor's office or travell- ing in the ear. Of books, Charles Kingsley wrote, "Ex- cept a living man, there is nothing more wonderful than a book, a message to us from the dead - from human souls we never saw, who lived, perhaps, thousands of miles away. And yet these, in those little sheets of paper, speak to us, teach us, comfort us, open their hearts to us as brothers." I have always enjoyed the company of books - how my sister and I loved our weekly Saturday visit to the library. I remember whiling away an entire day with the com-, pany of a good book reading it from start to finish in one sitting. I could still spend an entire day with a book in hand, but unfortunately my time dic- tates otherwise. Today seems different though. This rain has gotten the best of me. I think I'll curl up on the couch with a good book. Perhaps I'll read it from cover to cover - what a great way to spend a dreary day. Newspaper columnist Gwyn Whilsmith discovered a delightful piece of prose in ail old book that she found in a second hand store. Gwyn passed on the words "A Book Speaks" to readers of her column. I think it's worthy of repeating. "Between my covers you will find the heartaches, the passions, the dreams, the struggles and aspirations of mankind. I br= ing you laughter and tears, gaiety and wisdom. "The ancient past, the fleeting present the marvels of the future... all are inscribed upon my leaves. At your will, I can transport you to ancient cities... or project you into the vastness of the unborn future. "The thoughts for which wise men risked their lives, the discoveries wrought by scientists with incredible toil and disheartening years of struggle, the vibrant lines written with the heart's blood of an unrecognized poet, the revelations of pro- phets and seers... all are part of my vast hoard. "Many have feared and hated, loved and honored me through the centuries. I have caused revolutions and shaken the very foundations of society. And some men hay sought to destroy me... but all attempt have ended in failure. I live forever. "I am a book... the friend, guide, enter twiner, servant and counsellor of mankind._, am yours to command." •