HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-11-23, Page 4PAGE 4--GODERICH SIGNAL STAR, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23,190;§
DAVE
SYKES
U�
—
•
t
That I have lived to regale your minds and
senses with these explicitly vague, h
corrigible, and mostly exaggerated, in-
coherent sentences, may be considered a
major human accomplishment.
Or, at the least, a fitting testimony to any
unrelenting fortitute in the face of grave
danger. I faced adversity on the weekend,
and stared it down. .
This, fair folk, Lk a tale of woe. A tale of the
ravages of disease and sickness, a tale of
human frailty and suffering a tale of an
indomitable human spirit. Mine.
Mother often took it upon herself to
remind my two sisters and myself of the
incredible sacrifices involuntarily placed
upon parenthood. Not unlike other parents,
mother would remind her brood that she
often would be awake all night battling the
diseases and illnesses that invaded our
bodies. In the darkness of night, she was a
guardian of h=,Ith.
That, she would profess nobly, was the
price of being a parent.
Of course we would guffaw at the very
suggestion and say things like "Aw common
mother," while turning our heads in
t -laden stories
wdisbelief.rre f po popular the onesose types of prefaced with
the famous words, "Now, when I was a d."
They carried little weight with kids,
especially us and were tossed to the rear of
the memory bank.
But parents, being of a particular mold
and composition, are a regular cornucopia
of cliches, many of which would bring any
self-respecting child to its knees. "Just wait
until you have kids of your own," mother
would yell when we failed to grasp her logic.
"Then you'll know what I'm talking about."
Of course we could never imagine having
kids of our own and when we did, they would
be of the perfect variety. When mother was
having particular difficulty with her three
young on myself being the youngest, she
would counter with the favorite, "You just
wait until you're on your owthen you'll
appreciate the things I've done."
Of course, parents are right in many_
cases, it just takes kids 30 years, 50 in some
cases, to recognise the truth in their cliches.
Some of those truisms became hauntingly
clear for me on the weekend as I battled
sickness, disease and illness along with the
resident another and two children.
The only thing worse than being sick is
being sick at the same time as the children.
Sleep was at a prensium and absolutely non-
existent for the mother of the children
Thursday.
While sleep was still a luxury Friday, it
came in shifts and in different beds. First
Bradley was in his own room with the
vaporiser churning and the parents retired
for needed rest. An ailing Laura awoke and
was taken into our bed by her sick another.
Then Bradley awoke and father joined hie
son in bed. Then Bradley went to sleep with
his mother and sister. I think we were all in
the same b -:l'. at one point, but the details
remain sketchy.
In the morning no :: ;n was in the right
bed and we were still ill. - -: ere is no justice.
But, while the diseases and lack of bed
rest were gladly contended with as parental
responsibility, there was still one thing that
bothered me. With everyone in various
states of illness, the father of the family was
left to fend for himself. No sympathy, no
accomodating children to fetch things, no
obliging wife to warm up the chicken soup.
I was just another patient on .a long list.
And newsroom colleagues offered little in
the way of sympathy.
You were right mom, there will come a
day.
Member.
eNA
Second class
mad registration
number 0716
BLUE
RIBBON
AWARD
1983
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Preservation needed
The late Robert F. Kennedy once said that "Progress is
a nice word. But change is its motivator and change has
its enemies."
Change has its enemies, even in small communities
where the folks sometimes would like things to remain the
same. Civic planners and elected officials have an
inherent responsibility to reconcile the need for change
with the desire to keep things as they are.
It is a most difficult challenge at times.
It is a natural part of our human nature, particularly
perhaps in the older generation, to take care to preserve
the surroundings and environment which are familiar and
which reflect the history, culture and acestory of the local
population.
The need to expand and adapt to changing social con-
ditions must be weighed carefully against this
background.
At the local, municipal level, this requires a fair
measure of time and thought, public input and con-
sideration given to preserving our distinctive charac-
teristics and landmarks.
Our own community is a treasure of history, preserved
for the edification of generationis to follow. Careful
measures to preserve that history have been pain-
stakingly taken over the past few years.
Goderich can boast of many heritage homes and great
effort has been expended to preserve the unique ar-
chitecture of The Square and radiating streets. Efforts to
create a heritage district are ongoing.
Is it a love affair with the past or a sense of kinship with
our ancestors that has made us preservers rather than
builders. One paper has suggested editorially that the
recession has provided the impetus to preserve our
abundance of heritage buildings.
Perhaps, at one time, it made more sense,
economically, to demolish and rebuild on the same site.
Today, municipalities are maintaining a sense of history
and preservation, renovation and restoration has been the
order of the day.
Locally, the architectural conservation advisory
committee has maintained a high profile with respect to
the preservation of heritage buildings. While they may be
in abundance and reflect nostalgic thoughts of days gone
by, without prudent and consistent efforts, they would be
lost forever.
The Ontario Heritage Foundation has been in-
strumental in the restoration program taken on at The
Livery and in many other small municipalities in Huron
County, buildings have been preserved.
Heritage conservation has become an integral part of
planning for many communities and recently the town of
Seaforth unveiled an ambitious conservation plan for its
main street.
The Ontario Heritage Foundation provides funding
through the Building Rehabilitation and Improvement
Campaign (BRIC) and if a bit of our history, our colourful
and exciting heritage can be preserved, then the tax
money will be well spent.
Community spirit
An important and integral component of the celebration
of Christmas is the community parade.
'his Saturday. beginning at 1 p.m. from the corner of
Elgin Avenue and South Street, the Goderich Santa Claus
Parade will begin and make its way around the pre-
determined route.
The parade, which will celebrate and illustrate the
theme, An Old Fashioned Ontario Christmas, is un-
doubtedly one of the biggest events of the year for young
children. It not only delights their senses and imagination
with colourfull floats, cosutmes and characters, but it
provides them with a glimpse of the main attraction,
Santa Claus.
Nothing can be more memorable for a youngster than a
face to face visit with Santa Claus.
The parade also creates a sense of community in that it
gets people together building floats, creating costumes,
bantering around ideas and helping one another. It also
brings people outdoors to the core of the community and,
in a sense, ignites a Christmas spirit
A large number of people in the community will have
contributed to tht success of the parade and their efforts
are commended. The recreation department does a
yeomen job in organizing the event, judging and providing
trophies for winning entries and setting up Santa's Court
for the kids.
It's truly a community effort and hopefully the com-
munity will be out in force to share the joys of its labour.
By Dave Sykes
Trails
DEAR READERS
Sounds like the federal party leaders are
gearing up for an election. The first of the
promises are beginning to flow out now, at least
from the Progressive Conservative camp. Brian
Mulroney is trying to get his oar into the water
first I suspect, with his
srpledgt togive so- me
special attention g pos
o
Canada's ethnic community.
Apparently Brian is trying to woo as many
votes as possible in Toronto and area, a key
region to anyone who proposes to become Prime
Minister of Canada. Certainly a concession to the
ethnic population is one sure-fire way to get
attention in Canada's Hog Town.
I also read that Mulroney says the Progressive
Conservatives will restore the distinctive
uniforms of the army, navy and air force if they
come to power. That should put a dent in the
military service vote which has traditionally
been heavily Liberal. At least Mulroney hopes
so.
Meanwhile the old smoothy Pierre Trudeau is
far away from the *stings. He's covered in rose
petals in Bangladesh, the papers say. The people
there see the Canadian Prime Minister as a
symbol of something very desirable, a nation
rich in resources, compassion and freedom. I
wonder if the average citizen in Bangladesh
knows that the PM meg t be theylted care?arith
o
omatoes by his own people?
All this really isn't of much consequence at all,
except that it proves once again how fleeting is
the hour of a political figure - how h one kyle ise the
te
voter. You may be riding g
caught in the curl of a giant wave of voter ap-
SHIRLEY KELLER
proval. But who knows when you'll make one
false move that will toss you to the depths of
resentment, with tons of public pressure
crashing down on your head, crushing you and
choking you.
It was 20 years ago this week that John Fit-
zgerald Kennedy plummeted from the heights of
power. With the world at his feet, JFK died as
easily as any other human would. It didn't
matter that the majority saw him as some kind
of a saviour for his time. He had enemies who cut
him down in full flight, reducing him to a lifeless,
helpless shell in a flag -draped coffin - sending the
entire world into a frenzy of mourning.
It took just one man, one rifle, one shot, one
second to turn hope for the future into chaotic
despair.
It may also be significant that during the same
anniversary week, North Americans sat glued to
their televisions as a movie portraying a nuclear
holocaust gripped their attention. Those few who
didn't see The Day After were treated to all kinds
of reaction to it - people who ranged from in-
censed to terrified at the prospect that such a
disaster could indeed befall our world, our
community, our family.
One television commentator used this
rationale to stem the tide of panic: "I didn't like
the movie. 1 didn't think it addressed the moral
issue, the very real probability that mankind will
not perpetrate this kind of hideous warfare on
itself. World leaders know such an act is wanton,
that it means certain death for everyone. There
will be no winners. No one will be able to ever
justify making such a decision."
1 understand where that commentator is
coming from. I'd like to believe him. In fact, I've
said that very same type of thing myself.
But I'm beginning to doubt just a bit whether
mankind will have the wisdom to save itself from
annihilation. Will some nut or some minority of
nuts make the decision for mankind in the name
of peace and prosperity with the futile prospect
of gaining some kind of political advantage?
Nuclear weapons don't frighten me half as
much as ambitious politicians who will make any
promise under the sun to get- that extra bit of
leverage at the polls so they can take the reins of
power entirely in their own hands.
Cruise missiles don't pose as much danger to
mankind as one over -zealous politician with his
finger on the button, someone who believes he
has been destined to rule supreme. History books
are full of just such stories, but never before in
history have the stakes been quite so mon-
strous.
The answer doesn't rest in disarmament, in
peace talks, in protest marches, in hunger
strikes, in United Nations negotiations.
The solution rests in The One outside this
miserable atmosphere, beyond this tormented
universe, far from this dying environment we all
share.
Whatever your impression of God, it remains
for each one of us to recognize our weak, short-
sighted human selves as unfit to be in control of
anything more than yesterday's mashed
potatoes.
It's time to get on our knees in humble
acknowledgement of our human limitations, and
ask for mercy from Above.
For several yea; s the Goderich Town
Council has taken the stand that it ought to
have prior knowledge of any changes, ex-
pansions or improvements planned for
Goderich Harbour. The Harbour is owned by
the Federal Government; the decisions are
made, carried out and financed by the
Federal Government. However,
geographically the Harbour is part of
Goderich and it is the people of this town
who have to live in close proximity to har-
bour -related activities and conditions. Thus
the Town Council and the residents can
realistically expect to be fully informed of
any development in the harbour area, not
only as a matter of common civility but also
in the interest of mutually beneficial and
sensible business and public relations. I am
pleased to see that Mayor Palmer and the
current council continue this policy a
nd
(d
keep in touch with the principal power
question.
The desired harbour expansion was
covered with suitable and welcome
prominence by the media last week. The
town is cortunate to be close to salt and
water and to have two major users of the
commercial harbour facilities. It is impor-
tant to show that the expansion plans of
these companies and the subsequent har-
bour development possibilities have strong
municipal encouragement and moral sup-
port, because such improvements almost in-
evitably and most fortunately result also in
increased job opportunities and more
money in many coffers - every municipal
council's dream for the private and business
people it represents.
There can be no disagreement with the ob-
jectives of economic stimulation and one
can add nothing to the basic principles and
attractions of this vitally important situa-
tion which is well in hand. The companies
are suitably equipped to look after their af-
fairs and interests and they have the
necessary municipal support.
However, there are some fringe thoughts
and secondary considerations which so far
have remained without known attention, but
which are quite valid under the cir-
cumstances. Other than job seekers, where
do the people in general come in, if at all? Is
there going to be a public explanation
meeting? If there is going to be Increased
truck traffic - how much increased? What
precautions and remedies will be in place to
deal with the environmental concerns
relating to the rivermouth? As of last week,
the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority
knew nothing of the expansion plans.
After the Mayor and the Commissioner of
Works returned from Toronto last week
where concept plans and designs brad been
discussed with the government appointed
consultants and with representatives of
Domtar Chemicals Group and Godeeich
Elevators Limited, i asked whether the
municipality plans even a cursory overall
study locally, with a look at the complete
picture, not only the industrial advantages -
The answer was no. More regrettably still,
the Commissioner of Works was of the
opinion that people who might seek answers
are opposed to the projected expansion. I
am still trying to figure this one out.
When the recreational beach development
was planned, there was a full and well at-
tended public meeting plus several con-
sultations with specific groups. Everybody
had an opportunity to express support or to
receive answers and explanations. I realize,
of course, that the commercial and in-
dustrial expansion and development is a
completely different kettle of fish. The
physical design has to suit the industry, not
the public. The companies concerned do not
owe us any explanations at all, unless they
value good public relations and support.
That puts us firmly on the doorstep of the
municipal government.
Being a strong believer in keeping the
public fully .nforrned and in providing a
forum for proper dialogue, I may be rushing
things a bit at this stage, I agree, and 1 am
ready to be put in my place. However. I hope
that my message will find its place on the
agenda or harbour -related events when the
neat stage commences.
ELBA HAYDON