The Goderich Signal-Star, 1982-11-24, Page 4PAGE 4 --GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1982
DAVE
SYKES
In sporting and other circles, the city of
Toronto has been long been heralded as a
city of losers.
It's not that the metropolis isn't a vibrant
and exciting place, it's a cosmopolitan city
amply endowed with cultural isntitutions,
incredibly tall buildings that impress the
heck out of country folk, fineinstitutions of
higher learning, traffic, expressways,
smog, crowded streets, the science centre,
the Canadian National. Exhibition, mud
wrestling and the world's tallest free-
standing structure.
If ever a city was perceived to have
everything, it is Toronto.
Visitors find Toronto an attractive and
appealing city, a lively city that has
maintained a squeeky-clean image.
Despite that image, Toronto also has
something that many cities and towns
across North America lack. Toronto has
always been a town of losers, the sad sack of
Canada and indeed :North America. If ever
there was an underdog in the league of
cities, it was Toronto.
Toronto has carefully nurtured its image
as a city of losers to a point where it now
stands at the top of the heap. The city is
champion, comparatively speaking, in the
league of losers. •
From the boys of summer to Harold
Ballard's glorified boys of shinny, the .city
has spawned and supported an endless
string of losers.
The bellicose Ballard, doesn't take kindly
to losing, but he has turned it into a
,profitable art. The Maple Leafs couldn't
beat two eggs in the morning and some of
them get hit by buses reporting for practice.
It has to worry an owner.
But, that owner is still making a.decent
living and people are still thronging to
Maple Leaf Gardens to watch the Leafs lose,
as if out of a sense of duty. If the crowd
failed to show up the Leafs, heaven forbid;
could conceivably win a game and Toronto
folk aren't equipped to handle such a
situation.
The Blue Jays are now considered for-
midable opposition in the American
Baseball League, where little boys can toil
in relative obscurity and command big
bucks. If a game happens to played in April
in Exhibition Stadium and its snowing, the
Blue Jays will win. It's a spring ritual, win
the opening game of the season in below zero
temperatures and fold when the sun shines.
But now, the Toronto folk are so engrossed
in their suds at ball games, they are
probably uanble to recite from memory, the
numbers of the latest Jay losing streak.
In sporting cities, success is measured in
streaks and unfortunately, in Toronto's
case, those streaks are definitely on the\
losing side. Despite the ineptitude of the
Leafs, Jays and Blizzard, the Toronto
Argonauts have been the saddest case of all.
The Argos are a sports legend and it has
been difficult, over 30 long years, not to
`empathize with the Argos. They were the
losers' ball club and anybody who cuts
himself shaving in the morning or has a
mother-in-law who visits regularly for two-
week durations, is an Argo fan.
You could spot an Argo fan a mile away.
He's the guy who runs to catch a bus,
narrowly misses it, but ends up getting
splashed with muddy debris as the bus pulls
away. In sports vernacular, they could
snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and
generally did.
They couldn't win if the other team failed
to show up and now they find themselves in
the Grey Cup, the national football cham-
pionship.
It's difficult to speculate on how Toron-
tonians will react. They've nurtured and
maintained a losing image for 30 years, and
a bunch of gung-ho youngsters threaten to
destroy all that Torontonians, and
Canadians, have cherished.
But there's still hope. They can still blow
the final game in the dying seconds.
A
Second class
mail registration
number -0716
SINCE 1848
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DAVID SYKES-Editor
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changes
:The federal Electoral Boundaries Commission, an in-
dependent commission responsible for readjusting the
distracts in Ontario ,has re-
� 4 Mama-�-'�`_. �jy;
. votingitnhicts based on recent popula
bolt* wes3.
Boundary adjustments are made every 10 years, after a
17�Efieus and according to a new formula, Ontario will
receive10-of the country's new 28 ridings. Nine of those
new ridings will be located in an area between Kitchener
and Oshawa while the other riding will be located in the
Ottawa area.
The readjustment will have ramifications for voters in
thia,area as theformer Huron -Bruce riding, represented
by Conservative MP Murray Cardiff, was re -arranged.
The new riding has been named Huron -Perth and will
Include Huron County as well as Listowel and the town-
ships of Elma, Wallace and Mornington in Perth County.
Also, McGillivray township and Ailsa Craig in Middlesex
County have been taken from the Lambton-Middlesex
riding and added to the Huron -Perth constituency. The
riding will also include the townships of Huron and Kinloss
in the County of Bruce.
• The total population of the riding is estimated at 80,236.
The province of Ontario will carry a lot of weight in the
House of Commons as the province receives 10 new seats
in the realignment, increasing the total to 105. k
During the months of January and February 1983 the
commission will hold eight public hearings to hear
representations by any interested person. The hearings
will be held in Hamilton, Toronto, Windsor, Thunder Bay,
Sudbury, Ottawa, Belleville and London. The London
hearing will take place in the Court House Friday,
January 28 at 9.30 a.m.
If any interested citizen wishes to make a represen-
tation to the Electoral Boundaries Commission, notice
must be given within 23 days.
The last electoral district change was effected in 1976,
five years after the 1971 census. •
Back to the basics
Ten years ago, had you seen a middle-aged man in
shorts and tank top jogging along one of the sidewalks in
town you would certainly have wondered if he had all his
marbles intact. Not so today. Joggers are everywhere and
not anly men, but women as well.
There is a new consciousness of the values of physical
fitness. Thousands have given up cigarettes and more
thousands are paying attention to their diets. Good health
has become more than a fad. It is a goal for which many
people will make the necessary sacrifices.
It may seem 'strange that Canadians, who have
inherited a land of broad open spaces and limitless fresh
air, should have permitted themselves to become so soft
and flabby that an entirely fresh regime of exercise is
needed to get us back into normal good shape. On the
other hand it is not so strange after alL
Great numbers of us are the descendents of pioneer
stock, people who came to the new land after generations
of deprivation in Europe. Our great-grandparents faced
they hardships of pioneer life, with all its dawn -to -dusk
labour and crude living conditions simply because that
way of life was infinitely better than Servitude and
hopelessness in the lands of their birth.
These rugged people managed to survive the gruelling.
years of clearing land and building crude homes. Their
children had to work hard, but success was in the air. New
. and better homes replaced the log cabins. The food supply
was more dependable as stump -ridden fields began to
produce bountiful crops. It became a mark of affluence to
be able to set a groaning table. These second and third
generation 'Canadians fed themselves well and, little by
little, they found they could make adequate livings with
shorter hours of work. Modern machinery replaced the
back -breaking effort of human muscle, so a . little fat
began to replace the tough sinews of the pioneer.
These new type Canadians were neither lazy nor
gluttonous. They were simply the product of changing
times. They bore the ingredients of ill health and shorter
life span without ever knowing what was happening to
them. Now a new generation bas become more aware of
the facts of life.
Somewhat the same metamorphosis has taken place in
our buying habits, with disastrous effects on our
economy. For the past 40 years we have enjoyed such
affluence that we lost track of the line of demarcation
between our wants and our needs. Our industries
produced and we paid for goods and services far beyond
our actual requirements. Finally, our, markets became
glutted with excess merchandise; our vendors convinced
they could get ever higher prices for their wares and we,
as buyers, reinforced that belief by paying whatever they
asked.
Now the house of cards has come tumbling down. As
thousands of unemployed can testify, we're getting back
to the basics. Wingham Advance Times
Writers wanted.
..._---_iorothy_'_otter,..-president_ of -L oeal-122 -of-the-Ontario
Public Service Employees Union, has written several
poems to this newspaper concerning theimpending
– -closure oaf-the-Bluewater -Centr e--for-the- l3evelopmentally
Handicapped.
Those poems, while humorous in nature, have made
several good points in the process. That type of of writing
is not easily accomplished but, perhaps there are others
who have a flair for prose and would be willing to share
their offerings.
The union is hoping to sponsor a limerick writing
contest and the content, naturally, must deal with the .
Bluewater Centre and the fact that it should remain as a
home for the developmentally handicapped.
Potter, who- signs her poetry _under- the .name of . the
Huron County Hick, has offered a limerick to initiate the
contest. It reads as follows:
COMSOC is led by Frank Drea
He is dumping retarded away
And because he's afraid
Of those he's betrayed
He cannot be found night or`' i1ay.
Fall scene -
, By Dave Sykes
DEAR READERS
SHIRLEY KELLER
Last Thursday evening, I spent two hours at
Goderich District Collegiate Institute to hear the
musical progress report from the music students
there. I was very glad I did.
I was impressed with what I heard and saw,
and I was encouraged about the future of the
boys and girls who are currently enrolled at
GDCI. There really is more to education than
reading, `riling and `rithmetic.
Naturally, there was a marked improvement
in the quality of the music attempted by the
senior and intermediate band members. One
does expect as, the music program matures at
GDCI, the ability of the students and the staff
will grow too. And it has.
The school choir was a welcome step.forward
at GDCI too. Although Thursday evening's
performance may have been a disappointment in
some ways to the fellows and gals who make up
that choir, the choir's efforts were much enjoyed
by those parents and friends present. Many
perhaps, like me, regard the vocal program as
fledgling but extremely promising. Wouldn't it
be great if choir could also become a credit
course for interested students someday soon?
But the high plus was the realization that the
music appreciation of today's GDCI student
population has grown by leaps and bounds over
the past few years.
If the world is richer because of music, so
GDCI is greatly enriched because of the music
program. And if GDCI is richer, so the town of
Goderich and its environs is enriched. And if our
neighborhood is richer, so my life and your life is
enriched.
There's so much more to music than learning
how to read music and practising an.instrument
so faithfully one can perform a piece of music
without error.
There is the sheer joy of being able to entertain
oneself in those leisure hours everyone has.
There is the pleasure one can give to other
people, and the increased enjoyment one can
receive from other musical performances
because of one's own musical knowledge.
But there's even more than these things,
something so much more rewarding that it is
difficult to measure.
It's the wealth of understanding that comes
with music appreciation.
It's the understanding of feelings, for instance,
both the feelings of the composer and the feelings
of the person who is performing the composer's
work. And then there are your own feelings
because of that understanding.
There's the tolerance one learns from hearing
different kinds of music, all kinds of music
whether one likes it or not.
There's the insight one gets into one's own
personal and inner self because of music ... and
the deeper insight possible into the thoughts of
others who share that same love. Or even a
different love.
As I looked around the auditorium last
Thursday evening, the music filling the hall
appeared to have a different meaning to just
about everyone there.
Some people were on the edge df their seats in
rapt attention to detail; some were far off in
their own thoughts, the music apparently
providing only a background for their own
deliberations; some were tapping happily along
in a purely rhythmic appreciation of the per-
formance; some were smiling because the
musical selections were among their favourites
perhaps, or very much to their liking; some were
obviously disenchanted, maybe because the
accoustics are so poor in the small gymnasium
or maybe because of the unrelenting crash of
brass on ears or maybe even because of the
imperfections that were evident to the trained
musical ear.
But all ,persons there were affected by the
performance is some way, and in that sense the
program was entirely worthwhile for everyone
who attended.
For me, I experienced tears of happiness as I
saw another beautiful side of some of the kids I
knew from previous occasions. I was thrilled by,
the team work as well as the individual efforts
that went into that concert, and I was excited by
their devotion to the challenge before them. •
The young men and women who took part in
last Thursday's concert have "the potential to be
among the most well-rounded graduates of GDCI
because of their participation in the music
program at GDCI. There's no doubt in my mind
that the music program is as valuable to its
graduates as science or mathematics or
languages or business, for through music the
kids will have learned some of life's most im-
portant lessons.
The audience last Thursday evening had the
enjoyment; the participants had the benefits of
• something exceptionally useful for years to
come.
Accurate representation should be made
Dear Editor:
A few comments ought to
be made concerning peti-
tions and claims by in-
dividuals that they repress t
some others who are not pr -
sent on a given occasion.
More careful attention to the
accuracy of such claims is
imperative on the part of
both sides, as otherwise
some very -embarrassing (to
say, the least) and seriously
bad situations with far-
reaching consequences
could be created.
The most recent case in
point involves the alleged ob-
Centre._on: West: Street.. Your
report on the front page of
last week's Signal -Star gives
the story as it unfoldedin the
presence of many people at
the Council meeting.
Mr. Peter W. Pocock of 109
West Street stood at the
Council table and read and
presented a letter which
clearly amounts to an objec-
tion to the Family Crisis
Centre. It is his good right to
do so. However, he said that
ETTIRS
he was \ also\ speaking on
behalf of four other property
owners in the immediate
area who had signed his let-
ter and whose names and ad-
dresses he read out loud
from the letter.
Whilst I have no direct
knowledge of the reaction of
the other three residents
hose xee werem both
understandably upset when
she telephoned me, stating
that she and her husband
laid neither signed a letter
nor authorized anyone to ob-
ject or speak on their behalf.
On the contrary. After
originally discussing in
general terms some of the
concerns one might rightly
have under similar •cir-
cumstances, they did not and
do not object to the Family
Crisis Centre and had
already blade their feelings
known t� the . committee
responsible for the establish-
ment and operation of the
Centre. Mrs. Legg has re-
quested that I make these
facts known.
The fact is, as it was
subsequently discovered
'that not nlin%of-* f p
_sons^mentioned __iLy . Mr._
Pocock had signed the letter
their names and addresses
were simply typed on his let-
ter, no doubt with good inten-
tions from where he looked
at the situation:
I am not accusing anybody
of anything. All stories have
different sides and inter-
pretations. If a petition is of
a straightforward and
general nature and supports
a cause one believes in (the
local Museum, the sentiments or that they have
Bluewater Centre) there is had second thoughts based
no need for hesitation. on more complete informa-
The other kinds of peti- tion.
tions we are talking about Naturally everybody is
ought to be treated with a free to take up a petition or
greater degree of informed to sign it; it should be done
responsibility on the part of with a greater sense of
those who originate them responsiblity. Experience
and of those who sign them. has also led me to the conclu-
At times we have all witness- sion that no matter how im-
ed occasions _ where a peti- pressive, the totalnumber,
tion may have been based on petitions should not be ex-
a one-sided or even false pected to carry the same
claim of something or other weight as individual letters.
and created misinformation, In municipal matters fa,tual
misunderstandings, confu- information can be obtained
sion, expenses, delays, con- at the Town Halls _ nobody
fro itstiolis-€a-ithin aria—'— attodepend on rumours. if
wears_ Sucb-petitions_arelre -it--is--a -subject- sit-:vhiph-
quently followed by a one feels strongly enough, it
number of later statements should be a small matter to
by those . whose signatures take a- few _ minutes .to _ex- ._
are counted In °• the total press one's opinions, obiec-
number, that they did not tions or approval in one's
really understand what it own words, with individual
was about, or that they sign- signature. One would thus
ed only to get rid of a very make use of democracy at
persistent -person circulating its best.
the petition, or that they I feel rather strongly on
wanted to avoid possible the point of individual
hard feelings in the
neighbourhood or similar
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