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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-01-21, Page 15Bert McCreath retires Loyal service Senior postal clerk, Betty Westbrook presented Bert McCreath, retiring assistant post master, with a p1zque from Prime Minister Trudeau for 24 years loyal service during a retirement dinner Saturday evening in the MacKay Centre. Mr. McCreath, who enjoys woodworking, also received a radial -arm saw as a parting gift from fellow Goderich employees and managements (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) emembers the four cent stamp and long line-ups at the wicket BY JOANNE BUCHANAN When Bertram (Bert) McCreath started working as a clerk at the Goderich Post Office in August of 1966, it cost four cents to mail a letter in town (five cents out of town), there were no mailmen to make deliveries and the Christmas season was - sheer bedlam. On December 30, after 241/2 years with the post office, MraaMcCreatithretired as the assistant post inVstm. here. BM he still can't help wondering what changes are going to take place in the business next. a The biggest change which stands out in his mind from the past is the institution of letter carrier service in town 16 years ago. Before the mailmen came on the scene, everyone picked up his or her mail at the post office. "There were continuous line-ups at the wickets which tied up one,or two clerks all day, so sorting mail was an on-going process that was almost never finished," recalls Mr. . McCreath. "Some people would check for their mail in the morning and then come back again in the afternoon 0 James Saar, a professional director from Toronto and his assistant, Ann' Coulter of Goderich listen to a reading by Goderich Little Theatre veteran, Kathy Jenkins during auditions for the upcoming GLT play, Witness for the Prosecution. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) whether there had been another delivery • ornot." The Christmas season would go on for a month at the post office and even though extra staff was hired ("we were tripping over each other"), there were boxes and boxes of Christmas cards that couldn't gee sorted or delivered for various reasons. In those days, says Mr. McCreath, the clerks made a concentrated effort in trying to find out the right addresses for those cards and letters which were marked .wrong. Now the responsibility for correct ad- dressing lies strictly with the sender., Mr. McCreath rentanveas that the post office also used to handle unemployment insurance stamps which caused real hassles. About a year or two before letter carrier service was implemented in town, the post office was moved fronaWest Street (where town hall is located now) to a new building on East Street. The clerks in Mr. McCreath's early days at the post office, including himself, had to pass annual exams with high marks in sortation according to the railway mail eric G. service patterns. These days Berks only have to pass an exam for the first few Years. The postal code has made a dif- ference in the sorting of outgoing mail All Ontario mail, except for London and points west, goes to Kitchener where it is sorted mechanically if coded and manually if not. On weekends, it goes to Stratford. So, the clerks here only have to sort mail into very few separationsas compared to hundreds of different separations in Mr. McCreath's early -days. Before joining the post office, Mr. McCreath served in the Canadian army for six years and then ran a general store on The Square (where Blue's is located now) for 10 years. After joining the post office, he workedhis way up from Berk to assistant post master which meant that he had to look after the post office in the ahserice of the past master who had other area post offices to look after. He fiat worked under post master Mac Hornuth who started at the Goderich office just before he did. Then, seven years ago Mel Farnsworth became the post master, here. Mr. McCreath's duties included staffing and dealing with public inquiries and complaints. He says he won't miss the latter duty -hut he certainly will Miss his co-workers. "I've only been retired a few weeks and already I'm talking to the walls," he jokes. He plans to spend more time on lois various hobbies now. He enjoys grafting and working with fruit trees in his yard at R.R. 2 Goderich (he has a sour cherry tree that produces sweet cherries). He also enjoys woodworking and has built several looms on wb h lee.. weaves. -.Me- .is a member of the Goderich Township Enterprising Seniors group. He is also a member of the Uotario Legion Mass Band and has haver to Scud on and to the Rose Parade. in California three times (most recently this year) to play his bagpipes in this band. All of these activities. will keep him busy now bet he is still ;aria to be interested ;a new happenings at the post office. He has seen so many .changes, that he can't help being curioo. Courier service already a big chunk of former post office business and he sees data processing and electronic transmissions cutting into business even .further in the future. But no doubt, he says with confidence, the post office will survive. 133 YEAR -3 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1981 SECOND SECTION I Agatha Christie mystery featured Professional is directing GLT play. BY JOANNE BUCHANAN James Saar is a professional director -,who is pleased to be offering his services to Goderich Little Theatre (GLT ).' Saar, who held auditions two weeks ago to select the cast for-GLT's upcoming pro- duction of Witness for the Prosecution which he will direct, will also beholding two workshops in town for those people wishing to upgrade their acting and direc- ting skills. Saar was recommended to GLT by Aileen Taylor -Smith, the artistic director at Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend. As an actor, Saar has appeared on the stage at Grand Bend in Hello Dolly, Anne of Green Gables, The Boyfiend, Irma La Douce and You're A Good Man Charlie Brown. He also appeared in an Edmonton production of Godspell and in a Sudbury production of Death of a Salesman. Last summer he directed The Young Players at the Playhouse. They staged Alice in Wonderland and were involved in children's workshops and cabaret. They also performed Flicks, a musical comedy revue written and directed by Saar spoofing old movies. Flicks, which was originally written for Old Angelo's theatre. in •Toronto, •was ac- tually Saar's professional debut as a director. And a very successful debut it was. Flicks ran for a record 16 Month's at Old Angelo's and has been performed by . seven other theatre ,groups as well. Way Off Broadway, a musical revue of current Broadway hits, also written by Saar, is now running indefinitely at Old Angelo's. After two years of research; Saar recently completed writing Miss Lilly, a play based onthe life of Beatrice Lilly, a Canadian who; as a young girl, went to England and became famous as a comedienne in the music halls there. This play, which is full of comedy, songs and anecdotes about the life of Miss Lilly, now a woman of 81, features a cast of only two people and will be staged in Charlottetown this summer. Saar is presently working on another musical in Toronto and also hopes to be able to guest direct a play at Huron Country Playhouse this summer. "I've sort of left my acting behind in favor of writing and directing," he says while admitting that acting did give him a good base•to start from. Involvement in. 'Canadian theatre isnot a lucrative business unless you're really prepared to develop yourself,. says Saar. "You have to make work for yourself," he explains. , • He feels he has a double 'advantage in that he studied not only theatre . but MUSICAL•theatre at Sheridan College ,in Oakville. Saar, who grew up near Pembroke, Ontario, now calls Toronto his home. That city has over 60 professional theatres and he feels that within the next few years, theatre will become much more of an industry there. He knows the importance of community theatres such as. GLT too, He worked in community theatre while attending college and last February he directed a play for the Ingersoll . Theatre of Per- forming Arts through a Theatre Ontario grant. , Saar says people involved in community Former Goderich man cuts country record BY JOANNE BUCHANAN By day, Wayne Jessop works on the produce counter at Zehrs in Listowel. By night, he sings and plays country and western tunes in area bars and dance halls. The Goderich native, who has been playing bass guitar for 17 years now, has just released his first single entitled, Country Star, on the Maxim label, He hopes to hear it being played on local radio stations in about a month's time. Last week Wayne returned to Goderich to meet old friends and promote his single. He set up the trailer used by his band, the Train Robbers, inside Suncoast Mall from ursday to Saturday. ayne left Goderich at the age off9 for a lif on the road, playing his guitar. He w to Toronto first and then ended up in Kitchener, playing with Bruce West for seven years and then with Neil Pascher for four years. He just started writing his own songs five years ago. Country Star is the first of those.songs to be recorded. The B side features another song Written by him entitled Curtain is Down. He is hoping to release another single in April featuring Sitting in a Bar in Dallas on the A side and Blues in the Morning on the B side, both written by him. " By 1982 he hopes to have an album of his songs out, This album will feature Carl Kees of the Good Brothers along with Becky Barry and Barry Kirk and the members of the Train Robbers, Earl Filsinger, Wayne Brown and Ed Wells. Wells is often referred toy as `The Tom T. Hall of Ontario' because he can sing just like that famous C&W star. Wayne now calls Stratford hie home. The . Maxim studio, where he records his music, is located there. He hopes to be playing at the Goderich Legion soon and will take his band to the Country Singles Dance in Clinton in April. He likes playing in the area and em- phasizes that his music is strictly a part- time occupation. His family, including mother and step -father Alec Boa of Goderich, first gave him the en- couragement to put his music on record. They told him they liked his songs and he is now hoping 'that other people will feel the same way. Wayne Jessop (right), a Goderich native, set up a display at Suncoast Mall last Thursday, Friday and Saturday to meet with old friends and pr%mote his new single, Country Star, recorded on the Maxim label. He is shown here with Ed Wells, one of the members of his four -man musical group, The Train Robbers. Ed is sometimes referred to as 'The Tom T. Hall of Ontario' since he imitates Hall's singing voice so evell. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) theatres work very hard. They do it because they like it and he feels that this is important. Directing amateurs in a community theatre is a lot different frorn directing ,professionals in Toronto. "Basically it's all in the communication. You have to explain in lalyman's terms exactly what you want done," he explains. He says it is also important to maintain a balance between the social aspects of community theatre and the disciplinary aspects. "You can't be too much of a dictator but you can't be lax either. You have to work out a tight schedule without getting people too upset about the number of hours they are working, Six weeks of rehearsals started Sunday, January 18 for Witness for the Prosecu- tion. It's an Agatha Christie mystery and will be performed at the MacKay -Centre February 25, 26, 27, 28 and March 1. Saar says it is an exciting play to do but also a tough one in that it features a large cast. There can be 20-24 people on stage at one time and there are 18 speaking parts. There are more male parts than female parts and that presents a problem because more females showed up for the auditions than males. It is also a two -set play meaning that the set will have to be changed twice. Saar is hoping to have some input into the technical aspects of the show, such as set design and lighting. He is being assisted by Ann Coulter of GLT on this play while Colleen Maguire of GLT will assist him with the two workshops. "Workshops are tough. You're never sure what stage the people are at. You don't want to bore them with too many basics but you don't want to go over their heads either." he explains, stating that he also likes to give lots of individual at- tention The first workshop will be held on January 30 and 31 for those people in- terested in developing their acting shills. The second will be held February 14 and 15 for those interested in developing their directing skills. There is no fee for either workshop and those interested in attending should contact Colleen Maguire. • Saar is looking forward to his stay in. Goderich. He has been here before on play .tours and says he particularly remembers the delicious -products of Culbert's Bakery. He also hopes to do some research on places such as the salt mine for his writing files while here. Directing can be nerve-wracking but also exciting, just like takieg that -first jump in skiing, explains Saar. Once a • production has started in front of an audience, it is out of the director's control. He can't stop everything and 'tell the actors they are doing somethir)g wrong. Hut if he has done a good job, his influence will shine through. "