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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-10-15, Page 4Page 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1986 The Clinton views -Record 1s published each Wednesday at P.O. cos 39, Clinton, Ontorle, Canada, NOM 140. Tel.: 40:-3443,, Subscription Raft: Canada .121.00 Sr. Citizen -110.00 per year U.S.A. foreign 300.00 per year It 1s registered es second class mall by the post office under the permit number 0017. The News -Record Incorporated In 1974, thoHuroe News.Recard, founded In 1001, and The Clinton News Ora. founded It, 1003. Total press runs 3,700. w Clinton News -Record Incorporating THE BLYTH STANDARD) J. HOWARD AITKEN,- Publisher ANNE NAREJKO - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rate Card No. 13 effective Oc- toberl,19S4. BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Farmers need action Local farmers are looking at the prospect of losing close to half their white bean crop and receiving less than expected for the remainder. And that's if the rain holds off and they can get into the fields within the next couple of weeks to harvest. Record rainfalls have caused damage which could spell ruin for some farmers and will undoubtedly leave others in a precarious situation. As Ashfield Township farmer Ray Hogan put it, "If we had had a profit for the -last five years, we could live with it." But as anyone who knows farm- ing understands, farmers have not had profits for the last five years and the' damage to this year's bean crop is adisaster. This year's `wheat crop was mouldy so prices were low and the corn while it is a good crop so far, will not bring much of a return because the price'is too low. The bumper bean crop was the only thing that looked like a cash crop, says OMAF representative Don Pullen. And it looked like a beautiful bean harvest until it started to rain. Farmers who toured the county with Jack Riddell, the provincial agriculture minister on Friday, were waiting for their colleague to pro- mise relief. Riddell, a white bean farmer himself, understands the crisis and he had come to assess the damage. But he told the farmers, the type of emergency relief they are seeking is a federal jurisdiction. A's thefarmers suggested, there is something immediate, Riddell could do. He could enhance the existing interest rate relief program which would heease the short term tension. He can also look at other ways ex- isting programs will help orhe and the cabinet may have to commit new money to a new program because of the crisis at hand. But the responsibility lies with the federal government as well as their provincial counterparts.. Ottawa is quick to respond when the oil industry looks for assistance and the Mulroney government bailed out two banks which collapsed. Federal minister John Wise should do as local farmers suggest. Come to sop , a erFf94i4,� #M, .!e§S eh da i gew ai d then respond;as.thy government; h . - 'a off'Set the'•cluriiage axed -W poor *heat prices for the prairie farfners and the beleaguered oil industry in Alberta. Local farmers have been bruised and beaten by low commodity prices, high, input costs and high interest rates. Many cannot tolerate the loss of this year's' bean crop and crisis -management at this point could deter- mine how many of them will still be on their farms to plant next spring. Everyone in the local community also has a responsibility to tell government that some type of aid for the farmers is expected. The local economy is very dependent on agriculture. If the farmers have a bad year, local businesses and industries are affected. Agriculture is the backbone of our economy. Support the local farmer's efforts to persuade the provincial and federal governments that immediate relief is essential for the viability of our farming community and additional programs are necessary to bring long term stability to the agricultural industry. Phone your member of the legislature, who just happens to be the provincial agriculture minister, Jack Riddell and phone Murray Cardiff, MP. It's time the farmers saw action. = Goderich Signal -Star. World Food Day is October 16 -think about world hunger issue Dear Editor: October 16 is World Food Day; an oppor- tunity for all to reflect on the importance of dealing with the issues of global hunger and food problems. The Ontario World Food Day Co-Ordinating Committee is a coalition of voluntary and private sector organizations, government agencies, busineses and individuals. World Food Day is commemorated in 147 countries and honors the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Quebec City in 1945. 1986 being the International Year of Peace, the Ontario World Food Day Co- Ordinating Committee wishes to stress the importance of solving world food problems to achieving a more peaceful international community. The theme for this year's World Food Day is Food, Water and Fisheries. Each year the world's fresh water supply is depleted due to increased usage and desertification. This has raised the issue of how to create new supplies, including' research into desalination of ocean water and more efficient ways to store and. Time to work Last week marked my second and final week of holidays for the year. Now the longest holiday -I have to look forward to is the break around the . festive Christmas season. Holidaysore great for a person, and if I had my way, everyone would be entitled to at least three weeks off. There are 52 weeks in the year, so what's the big deal of taking three away from that? -- Holidays are a time to rejuvenate the old body, give your mind a break and do what you want to for a few days. After this, you can come back to work refreshed, bringing with you some brilliant- ideas and .a new energy. Unfortunately, my body decided it wanted to make part of my holiday week miserable. It decided it was time for me to become ill, and although it has let up somewhat, it still thinks I should be feeling a little under the weather. Nevertheless, I did enjoy my holidays. My mother, father and myself headed north to see country none of us have seen before. We hoped to see autumn at its best with the leaves turning color and a little chill in the air. At 6:30 a.m. on October 6, we were on ours way. Destination - the Agawa Canyon. With the weather we have been having lately, I was expecting nothing but rain, but fortunately my mother put in a special re- quest and the weatherman only let it rain one day, and that day we were inside so it didn't really matter. However, during the beginning of the trip, the weather conditions didn't look too promising. The sky was dark, (and not because it was so early in the morning), but because snow clouds were overhead. Sure enough, by the time we hit the little village of Arthur, wet snow was melting on the windshield. At that point I wanted to go home and get my winter boots, and perhaps crawl back into bed until the week was over. But my opinion didn't mean too much so on we went. Perhaps the most exciting part of the trip for me was when we hit. Tobermory and crossed. the Georgian Bay on the Chi Cheemaun. My mother had told me we would be cross- ing on a ferry, but this ferry was nothing like the little boat I had pictured. Buses, :cars, trailers and any other form of transporta- tion entered the ship's large mouth and later tnad`e-their exit at Manitoulin Island. The many islands around Georgian Bay were pretty and being a person who could look out at the water for hours on end, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. As for my mother, well, she would have liked to have skipped that part of the holiday. My mother has never been on a boat of that size so she had no idea she would become sea sick. I imagine the choppy water had a great deal to do with it. Actually she was fine when she was sitting at the rear of the boat, but as the trip was over two hours long, she decided to wander up to the front and take in the view from there. This turned out to be mistake number one. My mother doesn't have very good sea legs. She had problems keeping her balance when the boat would collide head on with a large wave. Mistake number two was sitting at the front of the boat where she could feel the full impact of the waves. After threatening to be sick, my father and I helped her back to the rear of the boat where she laid down until we docked. It took her awhile, but she regained her composure. The next day we made our way to the Agawa Canyon by train. The ride was nice, and although the majority of leaves had fallen from the trees, the scenery was beautiful. It's a trip I would take again. After spending the night in Sault Ste. Marie, we headed to Sudbury were we visited the Big Nickel and Science North. It was during our drive to Sudbury that I began to feel out of sorts. My legs ached, my head ached and my throat ached, but the worst was yet to come. During our tour of the nickel mine, where the dampness really bothered the old legs, I began to feel weaker by the minute. Towards the end of_the 30 minute tour, my head was light, my ears were ringing and I was sweating. I made it up to ground level without pass- ing out but I sure didn't feel well. Needless to say, all I wanted to do was crawl into a bed at the closest motel. The following day we continued on our way, stopping in Bracebridge where we boarded the Lady Muskoka for a tour of Lake Muskoka. (Yes, my mother did take in this journey and no, she did not become ill. ) Believe it or; not, this was the most color- ful scenery we saw during our travels. The islands along the lake were picture perfect. Ah, holidays! They're over now, so I guess it's time to get back to the real world. transport fresh water. As well, the con- tinued depletion of the earth's fisheries creates new problems for the large propor- tion of the population dependent on fishing for survival. It is imperative that these pro- blems be addressed in the near future. There is no singIe simple solution to the world hunger problem. However, through increased awareness and efforts to address the situation, it is still possible for the world to feed itself. We have the technology; the capabilities are there. The developed world needs to take a more active role in the pro- blem; our international survival depends on it. World Food Day on October 16 will bring these issues into focus; a solution to world hunger can be found. Sincerely yours, Marilyn J. Sanders Chairman, Ontario World Food Day Co-Ordinating Committee Reader liks . the CFL • Dear Editor: Just a note to comment on your sports reporter's column. Despite what some pea le sayxithereare a !ot of CFI: fans in'�the Chilton ar"ea.•.I' peri" sonally do'not care for the NFL'game; I have been an Argo fan for 20 years. I at tend games in Toronto and ,tiamilton; as many times as I can. I Have friends Who are from Saskatchewan' and are great "Rider Pride" fans. '1 understand that you have to havalocal sports coverage in your report. But, please include a comment, or story on the CFL. Keep; uP the great, job you're doing. The - - Clinton,News Record should be pleased to have someone who has other interests writing for them. Once again keep up the goodArae work. _ L and CF Pans in Clinton Singing in harmony By Anne Narejko Sl'iQIIQy McPbeQ-IicdSt He was a good man. He was a brave man, swallow them, and they did not work. r hey a gentle man. He was a strong man, a proud tried morphine through injections, but his man. He loved life. He loved his family and pain was so great that the drug could not he loved his friends. ease his suffering. In the end he found relief He was my Dad. He died last week. - through the steady flow of morphine given I'm sitting here in front of the typewriter intravenously, accompanied by additional trying to find the right words to tell you injections of the pain killer. about my father. The words do not come Visiting my father in the hospital became easily. They seem inadequate. Simple a day by day vigil for our family as we kept words alone cannot describe this special a constant bedside watch over him. man, the impact that he had on my life and We made the daily trek to Alexandra the immense loss that I feel without him Marine and General Hospital in Goderich here. - for a day short of two months. He was a great Dad and I miss him so. We were emotionally drained, and yet we I'm still reeling in a wave of aftershock found great consolation and comfort in be - from his death. My senses are dulled. My ing together as a family. It was difficult to eyes are still burning from the hot streams walk down those hospital corridorsday of tears that have rolled down my cheeks. after day, yet we found great security in the My mind is still wandering aimlessly. I can- medical care offered by the doctors and not collect my thoughts or my motivation. nurses there. 'And let, the worst is over for my father,The days seemed endless, the nights even His nightmare has ended. conger, one following another with no mean - It was last year on his birthday, ing, no sense of time. December 3, that he first saw the doctor. My My father hung on to life quietly and pa - family felt greatly relieved that he had tiently and he accepted his sentence stoical - finally agreed to see a doctor. We hoped that lstrength Het has al always se obl a to gather ate joke with he could help Dad with his lifelong problem - g cigarettes. But, perhaps in our hearts we all the nurses or chat about the weather knew that it was too late. At first all the machinery and equipment After an extensive battery of tests, the in the intensive care unit frightened us, but cancer was finally detected in the early part ` soon we were able to find great comfort and of this year - a small tumor in the right lung.; peace of mind in the quietness of the The news devastated our family, although it medical ward. The white cleanliness `of the wasn't completely unexpected. My father room, the calm, cool air, the fresh bed had smoked for more than 40 years, taking , linens, all gave some relief to the longtours his first puff from a cigarette behind the that we sat with Dad. barn when he was a young boy. The, nurses in the crisp white uniforms, His cancer was inoperable with compassionate souls and excellent bed - Chemotherapy was started immediately side care brought great comfort to our fami- and our family hung on to the thin thread of f ccThey could bring mile to our ol of und'erear y hope that the drugs would both prolong s Dad's. life and offer him some comfort. ding. `they were there to fluff a pillow, to The chemotherapy was stopped after a comfort Dad in his pain, and to bring us hot few treatments. The cancer had spread at midnight cups of tea. These magnificent an alarming rate. It was a rare form of the men and women helped us through the long disease and the doctors described its growth days and nights and they worked diligently as that of a strawberry plant, sending out to make Dad's days both painless and trailers throughout the body, attacking and peaceful. killing the good cells in its path. In t . e last two weeks of Dad's life lie fee - The cancer spread to the bone, to the ed a eart wrenching series of ups and; liver, perhaps, in the end; to the brain. . down The telephone Would ring, the family My mother cared for my father at home would: called to the hospital. The nurses as long as she was able. Private nursing ' would be visibly shaken. Dad's breathing a eventually Dad would be harsh, a long rasp, then silence,' care was hired to help, but even y then another labored breath. We quietly alas a pain wined. ' stood by each wondering if his next 'breath His pain was intense. At first he took mor= feel phine syrup to help control the pain that , would�be his last. We'd hold his hands, would make him cryout and bring tears to , their wai'nith, and grimly brace our selves his eyes. Soon the sra" 'did not work. Next for the'end. Then, another night would d s He would be comfortably resting he took morphine pil s but he cowl n't pas• � F again by morning and we would stumble through another long day. My father's body fought death until the end. His constitution was so strong, his heartsopowerful that they would not give in easily to death. In the end he died in his sleep. He was at peace. We are thankful for that. And, we are thankful that at long last his suffering has ended: It is now our own suffering, our own loss that we must learn to live with. My father's death seemed so un- necessary, so unfair. He had a good heart, they said. He had been physically strong - in very good shape for a 58 -year-old man. In all likelihood he could have lived to have been an old man. He came from a strong stock of people, from a family whose many members have lived well into their 80s and 90s. - My father didn't have to die, but he could not face the consequences of smoking until it was far too late. By the time he had put away his pipe and his cigarettes there was no hope. My father paid for his choice and he did so with many regrets. However, it's too cruel, too late for us to look back on hindsight now. Instead, we remember my father for all the good things he was - a wonderful family man, a hard, honest worker, a friend to all. His funeral was a overwhelming tribute to a man who was known and respected by many people. These people, passing ac- quaintances, lifetime friends, country neighbours, cousins, work associates, old school teachers, bowling buddies, all remember Dad for the good man that he was. They remembered his drawl way of speaking, his easy going style, his familiar wave when he went driving by in the pick-up truck, his sense of humor and his friendship. My father was not a scholar, he was not a politician. He did not make headline news, he was not a shaker and a mover. However, my father made a positive and important impact on many people's lives because he genuinely liked people. He was never in a hurry, never too busy to pass the time of day. For these things I so often proudly recognize thyself as "Jim McPhee's daughter." And, for these things I will carry on niy life to the best of my ability. My Dad taught me well. Ile taught me to work hard, to hive people, to love life and if I can carry on his legacy even half as well as he showed me, then my life will also have been worthwhile. - rr