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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-02-18, Page 4PAGE 4 - GODEFUCH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1987 It was certainly difficult, if riot entirely impossible, cot to get wrapped up in the Rendezvous '87 hockey series between the,Soviet National team and the Na. tional Hockey League All -Stars last week in Quebec City. We've seen international hockey mat- ches come and go since the ultimate eight -game series of 1972 and Canadians, disappointed by too many dominant Soviet teams, have easily discarded .the importance of such international competition. It's far too easy to cast off the impor- tance of the meetings with an indifferent and callous shrug and claim the Soviets have all the advantages because they play together longer, their lines are established and other meaningless factors. There have been heartbreaking series over the years when the Soviets have • DAVE SYKES shown that their hockey talents are con- siderable and every bit as effective as those employed by our NHL players. 'l'he fact that we do get beat on occasion • should inject the necessary impetus into the restructuring of our national game. The games that we saw from Quebec ('ity last week generated a good bit of ex- citement and injected a measure of an- ticipation into an otherwise drab and dull hockey season. The NHL's regular season games, and most playoff games for that matter, can't generate the excitement and brand of hockey that was on display. The two -game series wasn't enough for me. And I'll be willing to bet that other hockey fans were disappointed when the' series ended after game two Friday evening. There's a market for that brand of hockey and the series was a great inter- mission from the usual hockey fare. It was a anadian showcase that grabbed the attention of Europe and North America. And it would be ludicrous to suggest the games were meaningless exhibitions 4. that ad!, 1 a great burden to the players who toil for 80 games in the NHL. They took the games seriously and played with emotion and an obvious intensity. The result, 1 would offer, was a great exhibition of hockey. It was fast, the superior skill level of the players was evi- dent, it was clean and it was exciting. I'll bet it was difficult for the NHL All - Stars to return to the rigors of the NHL schedule after playing with such intensity and at such a high level for two games. Obviously that kind of tempo cannot be sustained over a lenghty schedule, but it is electrifying in a short, series. Any hockey purest would gladly trade the league's annual all-star contest for an international exhibition series. And . there's no reason a series of games couldn't be arranged. Marcel Aubut accomplished that this year. This hockey was good stuff and people want more it. Why not have a series bet- ween the NiiLers and the Soviet Union nationals each year at the same trine".' ' It would be good for hockey angi it would be good for long suffering fans who keep recalling memories from the 10721 series. The world hockey championships, which are played while most NHLers are busy with playoffs, prove little. We send good hockey players not involved in post - season play, but the team, obviously, isn't representative of the NHL's best. An annual international series could generate the same kind of exeitement as the Olympic Games, when athletes get to test their talents against the world's best every four years. With the Olympics, cost prohibits competition orLa more regular basis. With hockey, an international series would be a sure hit. 00 ion THE NEWS PORT FOR GOE LRICH & DISTRICT SIi\ICE 1848 aedeT1C SIG:',.` AL -STAR EOT ALL ROUNO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IN CANADA 'E0 HUCKII\IS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK ®OOERICH, ONT. !09768 4 E, PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PU-BLISHIN LIMITED , pounded in 1248 and published every. Wednesday et Ooderlch, Ontario. Member o the CCNA end•OCNA. Bubocriptlone payable In edvenco 828.00, (Senior Citizen. 818.00 privilege carnumber required) in Caned., 960.00 to U.B.A., 860.00 to all other countries, Bingle copies 60C. .fepley, National and Cleenified odvertiaing rote. available on request. Pleeee sok for Rote Card No. 16 - ffective October 1, 1986. Advertiming ie accepted on the condition that In the event ofe•s typographical or or, the, advertising _ space occupied by .the erroneous Item, together with the reasonable ellowonce forsig ature, will not be charged for but that bolance of the advertisement will be paid for et the applicable rate n the event of a typographical error advertising gouda or service® at a wrong price, goods or services ay not be sold. Advertising le merely en offer to mall, and may be withdrawn et any time. The 8i'gnol-,Star io of roepanelble for the loot or damage of unaollcited manuscripts, photos or other materiels uaod fo reproducing purpose.. General Manager SHIRLEY J. KELLER. Editor • -DAVE SYKES Advertising M 'DON HUB' ager Ku FOR BUSINESS DR EDITORIAL OFFICES...please phone 15151524-2614 Second class" mail registration " number 0716 Member: The challenge pis before us Residents of this community and the surrounding area have voic need for a•recreation facility in the town. • The facility , according to public meetings and surveys conducted by the Consulting firm of Stevenson Associates of Toronto, should first and foremost, contain a community indoor swimming pool. Otli;.: ,najor items of interest that people would like to see in a facility in- clude squash and raquetball.courts, and meeting and exercise rooms. The consultants have probed, listened to and consolidated the ideas of the citizenry of the town and townships and consolidated their findings into a proposal. The proposal, which is only a concept at this stage, calls for a 25,000 square foot facility that includes all the above metnioned itmes. The estimated cost is $3.6 million. The jab of the consultants is, coming to a conclusion. Now it's time for the people of Goderich, through its sports complex committee, to review the recommendations and start making some decisions and commitments. If the people of this community want such a facility, then they have to get involved, they have to make commitments and they have to make things happen. There were many items listed in the con'sultant's proposal that, for the sake of reducing the overall cost, could be eliminated. The town has to ultimately decide 'what it can realistically afford. Ostensibly, it would be great to have a facility with a leisure pool, all the required raquet skiA courts, saunas and whirlpools, and exercise and meeting rooms. . However, it would be folly to entertain serious thoughts of constructing such a facility if the funding could not be met realistically. Perhaps compromise is the operative word in this project. ' The tough part of the process lies ahead and the work of the committee will grow increas- ingly complex. But, one thing is for certain, it must be a community effort. The community has to be behind the project or it won't fly. Without the firm resolve of the community, a project like this can easily fall prey to fun- ding and image problems. When this town was made aware that its intensive care unit at Alexadra Marine and General Hospital was deficient, it raklied.and raised the necessary funds, and more, to con- struct and equip a new facility at the hospital. • That is not to suggest that a community recreation facility ranks as highly on the priority scale, but the example at least serves to illustrate that a community can accomplish great things when it works in unified fashion and when its focus is clear. That kind of commitment will be required for this venture and it will only be achieved through the kind of public inkolvement that has gone into thepreliminary process. The specifics of what goes into the complex, should the town decide to puruse the project, will be dealt with later. What has been presented so far, is merely a concept of what could be done to satisfy the requirements of the community as presented through the meetings and surveys. The town is in no way obligated to build a complex as outlined in the consultant's recom- mend f,ions, We now have the opportunity, given that a decision is made to proceed, to tailor the facility to the realistic needs of the community and its ability to finance a project of this rnagnitude. The opportunity is before us again. Government grants will be needed to complete the pro- ject but the onus will be on the community to make good its dream. D.S. Excerpts from the "And 1 thought i had a hard time finding a place to live," file. For the past five or six years, it seems ' like I have been obliged for one reason or another to relocate my person and possessions from one abode to another. I had just gone through the horrors of moving again only a few short months ago and was wondering, what it was about me that made finding a new place to hang my hat so difficult, when I spotted a couple of articles in The Star ( yeah, the other one) that made me realize just how lucky I had been. ' One artielr detailed, how a conrted broom closet', measuring, only 5.5 eet by J1 feet, in an exclusive neighborh od in London, England had attracted a line-up of prospective buyers even though/ the asking price had been $74,640. Granted, the place came with a radiator and a folding bed; but 1 still can't imagine anyone (except perhaps Papa S&'nurf 1 having, designs on such a stuffy domocile. While I can't lay claim to ever having lived in an offical broom closet, I have made my home on numerous occasions, in places which might have made such ac- comodations seem appealing. One -room apartments, run-down apartments, base- ment apartments, over -crowded apart- ments, temporarily -abandoned apart- ments and, on one brief and rather un- comfortable occasion, the hatchback of a '76 Monza, are all places I have inhabited. at one time or another. Because of this varied exposure to the wide -world of rental real estate, I feel qualified to offer a few tips to those engaged in the housing rata ace. Rule Number One — if you must have a room -mate, choose a complete stranger. In fact, the stranger the better. More friendships have ended over debates on such weighty issues as whose turn it is to take out the garbage and which end of the toothpaste tube to squeeze, than have ended Over love, rtroney and the pursrlit of happiness combined. This rule does not apply to married couples who, as a u5y' o $TAR S ford resident Lawrence Harrison in hospital after being kicked by bull 0 YEARS AGO February 15, 962 When Finance Minister Fleming tabled initial estimates o government costs in the House ,of Common.., initial amounts to ap- proximately $7 billi n, it was revealed that about $1,328,000 will I ' for Goderich. It was noted that $700,00 was earmarked "towards harbour rel irs and improve- ment" which means the l ng awaited money for removal of Ship. Island rom the harbour, A $628,000 hospital tConstrUction grant was approved by the federa\government towards the cost being undertaken by the Ontario government in building, the Ontario government hospital south of Goderich. Ot- tawa money will subsidize Ontario govern- ment costs for the hospital which is to con- tain bed accomodation for 314 mentally ill patients from Huron and Perth Counties. Missing for almost 8 months, Thaddeus T. Gower, 47, of 77 Hamilton Street, was in Toronto last week' according to a letter received in Goderich Saturday. He was last seen boarding a bus at London Isat June 24 when he was to have gone to Springfield, , Missouri, to attend a Pentecostal conven- tion. No definite word of his whereabouts had been received 'until Saturday's letter. When the Toronto address was checked from which the letter was sent, the oc- cupants of the house stated that. Mr. Gower had left for a U.S. destination.' When he left Goderich, it was believed he had from $150 to $200 on his person. Mr. Gower is a native of Westfield. The Goderich Ski Club E+,n the Maitland Driver farm, Huron Road, is attracting many new skiers. Among them on Sunday afternoon' was a new Canadian who is not ac - group, seem to have developed an in- credible capacity for tolerance of toothpaste tube and garbage detail faux paus. Always read between the lines in any classifed advertisement of apartment vacancies. There are a number of readily -recognizable terms which generally have a double meaning, com- monly used when advertising vacancies. For instance, the phrase "heat included in rental price," conjurs up images of hundreds of thousands of British Thermal Units flowing into a room full of nearly - naked occupants. In reality it means "Thermostat in landlords apartment. Br- ing a sweater." "No pets allowed," can often mean, "The last tenant's cat has whizzed all over this place and I'll be darned if it's going to happen again:" "Partially furnished," should often more accurately read,. "Haven't gotten around to throwing outjhe moldy sofa and busted La -Z -y boy the last ggly left LOOKING BACK quainted with most skiers. He was -watching John Hindmarsh, well-known resident of. RR 2 Goderich; going down the hill in fine style. John was dressed in farm clothing and not in what the well dressed skier should Wear. After watching John in action, the new Canadian commented that farm boy sure goes goo, doesn't he?" 50 YEARS AGO February 18, 1937 Work is progressing by The Bell Telephone Company in making necessary changes in the telephones throughout. Goderich, preparation. to,installation of the new switchboard announcement of which was made some time ago. The outside pole and cable work is nearing completion and subscribers lines are now being cut from the old to the new'cables after which old poles, 'cables, and wires will be removed from the streets. No longer will it be necessary to turn the crank to signal the operator with the new switchboard. Lawrence Harrison, Saltford young man, was seriously injured on Sunday night while driving'a bull to the barn at Bisset's Saltford Heights plant where he is employed. Mr. Harrison slipped on a patch of ice and the bull kicked him in the head. He was remov- ed to the hospital and is now recovering from the accident. The bull is not a par- ticularly unruly beast and it is felt that the animal being startled was the cause of the from this angle Nomovisommmonamili Patrick Raftis here, so it's all yours." I could go on, but you get the picture. . Actually the best way to discover where the real jewels of the apartment world are, is to take the first one that comes along. Invariabely, the next issue of the local paper will contain at Last a dozen places ideally-sufted to your budget and Injury. Seaforth and the Goderich Marines tied their game at Seaforth on Tuesday night. Up to the last four minutes, the Sailors were leading 3-1 but•the homesters fired up in the dying moments and scored two in breathtaking suddeness. These teams play here tonight, and as goals count and they are just where they started, tonight's game will be a roarer. ' 70 YEARS AGO February 15, 1917 Tuesday's casualty list contained in the list of wounded the name of Pte. Alfred Charles Cornell, son of Mrs. Sarah Cornell of Keays Street in Goderich. No particulars as to the seriousness of the wound have been received. He enlisted in the 65th Battalion at Saskatoon in November 1915 but was transferred to the 46th Battalion on .his ar- rival in England. He is 45 years old and has not lived in Goderich for about 17 years. A brother, Albert, is serving ,in the 49th Battery, Many Signal readers will be interested in knowing that Miss Lou Mason, of Toronto, a daughter of the la Judge Mason of Goderich, has enlisted as an army nurse. She was to sail on Saturday last from an 'Atlantic port with a party of nurses for overseas service. Hodgens Brothers announce that their dressmaking departrnent will be opened for the new season on the 26th of this month, in charge of Miss Pearl Duff who was associated with Miss Coutts in the depart- ment for several years. lifestyle, Which brings us to the second newspaper article I was telling you about. Seems a Winnipeg man has been told a by a Provincial Court judge, that he can continue to live in a city bus shelter, while he'awaits processing of an welfare application. Judge Charles Newcombe suggested the transient, who had been arrested for fighting in the bus shelter, try the Salva- tion Army, but since Canada is a free county he can continue sleeping there as long as he refrains from punching out people who enter the shelter. The article didn't say, but I assume the shelter's occupant pays no rent, has little concern for the heating situation and now, has no•fear of eviction. This could catch on. If you see an ad boas*n 'Accomoda- tions for one person. Rgsonable rent. Close to public transportion," be wary. The W.innepeg transient-many-have-dec�it; ed to sublet. 1