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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-07-22, Page 4A PAGE 4—GODERICH,Slc;N.-STAR. WEDNESDAY. JUI.Y 22. 1981 dove sykes *CNA e,tus "0 v so BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1979 Second class mail registration number -0716 • 1k. .•�i There has been a lot of speculation and rumors circulating around town lately. Everywhere you go, on the street, in the bars and barber shops, at barbeques and .private parties and in the board rooms, the same burning question is on the lips of the townfolk. Just what is Dave Sykes going to do on his holidays? • Well, I am quite flattered to have been the main topic of concern and conversation in the community and this paltry piece is designed to put an end to the anxious speculation and nights of restless sleep. So just what' does a relatively boring man • about town do with two weeks of freedom IVa from the slave pit? Well, „to be honest, the two weeks respite from the gruelling pace of the . pulsating newsroom has caught this jaundiced journalist off guard.. You see, having two weeks vacation in the summer is something of a novelty and I'ni not quite sure how the situation should be SINCE 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT founded In 1151 and published every Wednesday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OWNA. Adver- tising rates on. request. Subscriptions payable In advance °17.51111n Canada, °95.15 to u.S.A., °55.IS to all other coun- tries, simple copies 5i°. Display advertising rates available on request. Please ash for Rate Cord No. 15 effective Oc- ,ober 1. 1151. Second class mall Registration Number on.. Advertising Is accepted on the condition that In the event of typogrophlcelwrror, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item, together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but that balance of the advertlpment will be meld for at the an - placable rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising b merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star Is not responsible for the los or damage of unsolicited manuscripts. photos or other materials used for reproducing per. posy • PUBLISHED BY:SIGNAL-STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES=Editpr P.O. BOX 220. HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH N7A 486,, tackled. In the editorial department, holidays among the five papers are scheduled on a first-come first-served basis, since someone is required to fill in at a another newspaper. So in the past, . in keeping with my negligent and procrastinating ways, the summer months were always booked by the time I got around to checking the vacation schedule. My own fault of course. The holiday schedule is usually posted .in January and by the 15th of the month everyone has all the select and preferred dates booked. Such planning is beyond my limited comprehension. • How do these people known January that they will spend two weeks in South Dakota in July or that during the middle cif August it would. be a great treatto take . the kids camping in Israel, Moose Jaw or some other resort: Planning is perhaps my weakest point. In the middle of July I might decide that a trip somelvhere would be ideal, but that slot is invariably filled 'which eliminates the im- mediacy of my plans. So, for the past several years, my holidays have been relegated to the months of Sep- tember and October, 'when everyone else is refreshed and invigorated from summer vacations. Now there really isn't much, in the way of holiday fun to do in September.. and October. Maybe sneak in a little ice fishing, put on the stohn windows and snow tires, clean the furnace, watch leaves change colours or go to a forsaken beach antifreeze. People who don't plan are left with few .options. But this year, moms and dads, friends and neighbours, this dedicated derelict of the deadline had the presence of mind to book these choice two weeks in July in advance. It's not that I have anything special planned for the holiday, but for just once in my life, I wanted to savor the experience of summer holidays in the summer. However, I am not certain it will live up to the hype and expectations. Management here at your favorite weekly expressed alarm at the prospect of my taking two weeks off, insistingthat I have transformed my job into a paid vacation. Some people have an extremely limited sense of humor. While my thoughts are drifting to visions of carefree days of relaxation, refreshing beverages and general nonchalance, there , is a little piece -of paper tacked to the fridge door that will ultimately destroy my piece of mind. Months ago, the little lady, meticulously prepared a list of top priority household jobs that required my immediate attention. Somehow I have a sickening feeling the list will be updated and presented for action on the first day. FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES please phone (519) 524-8331 Public should attend meeting on beer tents with constructive. criticism and suggestions 'Council is once again grappling with the problem of -beer tents. It is an. issue that appeared at the council table for over a year atone. time or another. The most recent chapter on the tent book surfaced after the second -.Optimist Music Festival in June. Last week Council received .a petition,signed by 73 people, asking that all beer tents»be banned intown. The ban, sought by the petitioners, will also include any outdoor licenced area set aside for the purpose of consuming alcoholic beverages. The petitionclaims that beer tents 'contribute to undue noise and unruly behaviour.. The music festival was also - cited for creating loud noise and traffic congestion in a residential area. w The controversy began -last spring when the Optimist Club was granted approval to stage the music festival and a beer tent in Harbour Park. But then on. April 14, 1980 council considered restricting beer tents to the harbour area, The motion was tabled to the April 21 meeting. The Kinsmen Club has been staging a beer tent in Court House Park for nine years and a spokesman at the council meeting suggested that restricting tents to the harbour would create more problems since people would haven) drive to and.from the area. At the April 21, 1980 meeting, council decided to seek. more input on the matter by requesting submissions from service clubs -and businessmen before making a decision. The -service clubs were not in favor of relocating at that time, and a survey of businessmen conducted by the Kinsmen indicated that business people were not ad- versely affected by a beer tent in Court House Park. The Goderich Police Association made a presentation to • council and indicated beer tents created major problems from a policing standpoint. Officers have been injured breaking up fights and the association claimed that . restricting such events to the harbour would create more problems for police. • The association told council it would prefer that beer tents were banned but as a last resort would endorse a bylaw limiting the capacity of the tents to 200 or 300 • people. Without such limitations, the police claimed, it would be difficult for the whole force to adequately handle a disturbance The matter was left unresolved and each application was handled on its own merit. - For now, the matter will go to a public meeting on Thursday, August 6 in the board room of the Regional • Assessment Office at 7:30 p.m. Council hopes to get input and suggestions from service clubs and the general public. The options are varied but will never appease everyone involved. There is no' denying the fact that the atmosphere -in,an outdoor beer tent differs from a hotel situation. But the situation can't be neatly .tucked out of site, too much is involved. To simply ban the tents would deprive some service clubs of valuable revenue. Perhaps it is a sad com- mentary on local priorities, but beer tents make money, quickly and efficiently with no risks involved. And the fact that they are a major source of revenue indicates the patronage issubstantial..A lot of people enjoy beer tents. But that is not to condone the activity if noise and unruly behaviour spill onto adjoing neighbourhoods. People, and more specifically taxpayers, have a right to privacy. The only ideal solution would be to find a location that would serve the interests of all parties. There may not be such a location. Someone, somewhere would find fault.., Would a location like the soccer field in Agriculture Park be suitable for such a venture? Perhaps, if the noise factor were minimal. But if that were the case there would be no objection to tents anywhere in town. The petitioners also complained about loud music from the festival. The situation,is similar to the beer tent problem. The festival is a novel and worthwhile project sponsored by the Optimist Club. It provides a , form of entertainment that was sadly lacking in This area and judging by the attendance, it is well received. Again, if the festival must be relocated, is there a spot that will ap- pease all parties. The service clubs have made their feelings known to council and so,have the petitioners. Hopefully the public meeting will be well attended. But if the,meeting simply turns into a gripe session, it will not have served any useful purpose: Those planning to attend, should be armed with suggestions and con- structive criticism or little will be accomplished. D.S. How many of you can recall the centennial .parade of 1927? This. Masonie Lodge float didn't take first prize because at a certain inaccurate detail,. Can you spot it'? From left are Bill Patton. Frank Dunn, Leighton -Walker. and Bill'Sturdy. The horses belonged to George McLeod who ran the•„Ch Express. (Photo . courtesy of , Ruthann Chapman) • BY SNIRLEY J. KELLER It's an annual protest. Like the postal workers' • walkouts, taxpayers in • Goderich can be .:depended upon at least once, each year to com- plain about the proliferation of beer tents in the community each slimmer - and •particularly their location. • I know we've been' round this horn in this column before.. Nothing's changed. Service clubs remain a° vital part of a progressive community - and this town would be much, much poorer without there. How many • projects in Goderich can you name that .would have to be scrapped if it were not for the service clubs? • Beer tents are popular with a large sector of the general public. They provid4 maximum return on -the minimum investment of money and time. And one beer tent on one evening. can fund a multitude of community projects throughout an entire year. There can indeed be problems with beer tents and the acccompanying entertainment, • par- ticularly if they are in residential areas. Many homeowners would sympathize with the . folks who reside nearby Harbor Park when the Optimist festival is in full swing. And it's a toss up which the neighbors resent most - the beer tent and the occasional stray who. gets a little bit rowdy and a whole lot off course: or the steady thump of the .extra -loud music • which is at its best when you can choose to listen. Fact is, the festival just isn't fun when your livingroom is unwillingly placed smack in the centre of it fora whole weekend. What about beer. tents without entertainment? Are they more easily tolerated? ' Should there be legislation setting a minimum distance from a residence for a beer tent with and without entertainment? What . should that distance be? Should the recommendations affecting beer tents come before town council at one meeting and be set aside for at least two weeks to give the townspeoplettime to think and react to those recommendations? Would a wide cross-section of the community take the opportunity to have a say?Would you have an .unbiased opinion to offer? • Are beer tents in direct conflict with private enterprise? Do beer tents in the business district keep more shoppers away than they attract? If a businessman could speak his mind without being judged by those on whom he must depend for his livelihood, would he be supportive. of beer tents opening during business hours? . None of this hat touched on the moral aspect of beer tents. Should that be a consideration? Why? Why not? Service clubs could undoubtedly present whopping figures to show the percentage of total profits in a year that come directly from beer tents. They could also bring forth a 'list of community projects that are funded totally or in part from beer tent receipts. With- these facts at hand, as well as the legitimate concerns of the public, it should be possible to weigh the entire question - and find a suitable solution. Or at least a workable com- promise. But is that actually feasible? The viewpoint of a homeownersitting next door to a wet bluegrass festival will be con- siderably different from the opinion of a homeowner on far away quiet and peaceful Suncgast, The records of police just may not prove the criticism some people have about beer tents is justified. Even the supporters of beer tents - the service clubs who run them and the people who frequent 'them -"will have opposing views about how they should be run. The Optimist Club has what sounds like a vilid request at first glance. The club wants somebody to rule once and for all on beer tents. Likely the Kinsmen . Club would appreciate a similar decision. There ane possibly others, too, who would like a long term fixed ruling. ,But that's pie in the sky. As long as councils are made up of humans and elected by majority vote, the controversy will continue. Laws are made by one council, amended by another and broken every day by someone. Taxpayers will always have a right to be heard. None of us would want it to be any dif- ferent. People are never of one mind for very long - and the annual disagreement over beer tents and' their related problems will go on as long as there are beer tents'and people. About the best anyone can hope for is some renewed understanding on both sides - and maybe"a future beachfront attraction to make that potentially excellent location most desirable as a beer tent setting. Curse' the bloody weather for making me this way. It's 3 a.m. and it's too humid up here to sleep. Besides, the hay fever is driving me nuts. I get up and sit on the windowsill of this blasted furnace and watch the street for signs of some random and passionate uprising that I can be part of. I want to sweat over The Plans in the dead of night at a table in the dirt floor basement of the five and dime corner store, dagger at my side, whiskey bottle in my fist. But nothing is moving out there. It is too hot f or an uprising. The cat takes her turn on the windowsill and stretches her body until it reaches either side of the window., An undisputed record. As she twists her head upside down nand pushes with her back feet against the windowsill, she opens her eyes and watches the street. She is searching for signs of a creature on her territory. Nothing. But wait! She springs up, her eyes rivetted to a spot in the bushes below. I cannot see what her feline stare has cap- tured, but I know she has to go out there. I let her slide cautiously out the back door, and like a magnet, I too am drawn out to trespass into the heavy night. It's cooler out there. I sit on the back stairs smoking a cigarette, shivering a little in my light T-shirt and jeans. I'm not wearing shoes. For a moment I fancy myself as a female version of James Dean, but a fresh outburst of sneezing denies any notion of that. James Dean never had hay fever. The cat makes sporadic leaps in the direction of the street. Curious, I follow her, picking my way across the stones and wondering how I ever ran through fields of corn stalks as a youngster. Why do feet get softer from walking through the years? The cat plops herself down in the middle of the street, issuing a challenge to all comers except for me. She knows I'm standing there, leaning against a.tree on the boulevard, watching her. I know she knows I'm standing there watching her, and she knows I know she knows I'm standing there watching her. But we've forgotten who was following M, whom. I wander off in the direction of the Square, hoping to discover a pop machine I know darn -well isn't there. The cat thinks she is inconspicuous following me about ten yards behind. The 3 a.m. Monday morning Square is for ghosts only and for store window man- nequins that you could swear are watching' your every move. 1 Through the trees. I glimpse a car slowly coming around from the other side of the Square. Suddenly, I am the fugitive and I can hear suspense movie music in my head. Dum-dum duan-dum dummmmnt duan- dummm. The cat doesn't understand. She is jum- ping at moths having a convention under a street light. I step into the shadows of a storefront, supressing a sneeze, as the car slowly passes. It is the police. My heart beats in my ears. They must know about the eight million dollars worth of diamonds stashed in the crisper of my fridge. Dum-dum dum-dum dummnim- dum-dummm as I walk quickly back. I climb back up the stairs to the furnace. The cat runs up in front of me, also escaping from some imaginary foe. I go inside and check the crisper- Only lettuce in there now. They must have got to the diamonds. Oh well, easy come easy go. I sneeze violently. The cat settles back on the window sill and I go back to bed. Covers on covers off covers on covers off in the humid chill. The alarm finally rings in a rather dif- ferent Monday morning. Everything is moving out there. It's too hot.