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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-01-16, Page 4• • • • lal�. A'IV y*RT^*gIST !Tjaf'T 4 7 xce .f cow mos E 1 �t for Ta reoter . There are alwaYS eX ePtierla But, by the very deeffirafien of the..te,riti, whaich initinates that fools are overtly silly and stupid people, I would have to assume t nay life epitomizes the essence of the d inition.. Fools,aiways get themselves in grave dif- ficulty without really trying. I tend to make rather .grandiose plans and promises which I invariably have difficulty keeping. I'm trying to make good on" one of those promises this week and am failing miserably, thanks to the weather. Eimeriences over the past week have lead this intrepid correspondent to the realiza- tion that only fools would offer to build a gone 'whish whipl the snow40 Makin stnenth,b1 1 41n' I have no experlenen , in the rink-bulldin business, !hut it appeared to be,;a loglca ,start. With my surface�`smooth set out ou a hose hunting mission only o find that the ggarden hose had been left in the shed. It was. frozen solid. End of attempt nurinber one'to build a rink. Undaurited, 1 put the hose in the basement to thaw, full of resolve to tackle the project on another evening, In the meantime the snow conintued to le ear not titdere .,TM • wouldn't he ave ble for a few'S.. • ; eve e1v n1ng. J the second attempt, a 'eves get'the water to run and I foolis y aquieseed-''to my son's demands to water theerink. Within seconds he sprayed me, on purpose, and�y winter parka had more ice on it than will ever accumulate on the rink. That was Sunday, and while the rink got off to a healthy start,,, strong north winds damped approximately 329 inches on my latest effort. I don't have -the heart to tell the kid his is buried. Oh, what the hell, maybe we'll just start all over again. THE NEWS PORT FOR OOOERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 184$ Founded in 1848 and published every Wednesday at Goderich, Ontario. Member, of the CCNA and' OCNA. Subscriptions payable in advance '20.85, (Senior Citizens '17.85 privilege card number required) In Canada, 458, to U.S.A., '55. to all other countries, Single copies 5®4. Display, National and Classified advertising ratite available on request. Plaine ask for Rate Card No. 15 effective October 1, 1984. Advertising is accepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, the advartiaing space occupied by the erroneous itefn, • together with reasonable allowance for signataare, will not be charged for but that balance of the advsrtlaament will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services et a wrong price, goods or services may not he sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to cell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star Is not responsible for the lose or damage of unsolicited manusoripte, photon or other materials used for reproducing pimpernels: PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL -STAIR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIEA - President and Publisher DON HUBICK - Advertising Manager DAVE SYKES = Editor P.O. BOX 220 HUCKINS ET. INDUSTRIAL PARK f30DERICH, ONT. N7A 4B6 member *CNA Wesearaweewenownweir 'weeelioner Se PAIO Second class mail registration number 0716 FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICE$...pleei phone (1518)11124:42614" An end to tnicertainty The federal government passed the Young Offenders Act in 1982 but it still may be at least a year before the final provisions of the Act are securely in place. Which means that the Bluewater Centre, formerly a residence for the developmentally •. 'handicapped; -may not active as -a-detention-= centre .for juvenilesfor at least another year. The transition, from a home for developmentally handicapped to a detention centre for juveniles, has been a slow one for those who worked at the facility. As of December 31, 1984, 84 former employees were reinstated by the Ministry of Correctional Services and are now actively employed in an extensive 16 week retraining program in preparation for their new roles. But one -of .-the--_key provisnon& of_theActa that which._ defines a juvenile as a person under the age of 18, may be delayed by the federal government. The age varies with Pia- Notices ro-vinces throughout the country and many provinces, who have defined juveniles as those under 17 or even 16, are finding it difficult to find or'construct centres to house the young offenders. Many provinces are finding it difficult to comply financially with the ,Act by April because of the cost of building new centres or eenovating buildings. • While employees are getting ready for the conversion, there is no doubt the centre here will not be ready. It will take a year before all the renovation work is complete to transform the facility into a detention centre. , , • • The centre will have western Ontario as its catchment area and the population should peak at about 1321 residents, only 12 of which would be female. The Bluewater Centre has catered to many special needs since its inteption, but it las, been difficult for many employees, and the families of the residents of the former centre and even the comniunity to live withihe uncertainty of the past few years. Hopefully that uncertainty is over. iotterji1unacy hits. ... It is rather interesting to watch the growth of the weekly lotteries as millions of people scramble at the chance to become instant multi -millionaires. People who are seemingly disinterested or would give lotteries little regard, are sud- . denly transformed into ticket buyers, lured by the promise of millions of dollars. . This week, Lotto 6-49 offered over $11 million to one lucky ticket holder in Ontario. Rr -- �_ ---- osta�ya�ar-to-t.=},n-dw, �7_.�lntfsr.d-couPle pocketed $13 million..------,---_--- To offer that type of prize is sheer lunacy and lottery officials should thinl seriously about limiting the prize money offered. If the pot builds up, more prizes of lesser amounts should be added Winter fun By Dave•§y , POSTSCRIPT JOANNE BLJCHANAN Saturday was.a most enjoyable day. It brought back a lot of fond memories of growing up in Goderich and also made me reflect on the value of friendship. I am among the world's luckiest people when it comes to friends. My friends are the absolute" best. They have stuck by me through thick and thin, even when the miles have separated us. I can always count on them. I have one friend in particular whom I want to devote this column to. I have known Valerie since Grade 4 and that feels like a long time to me now that I am approaching 30. Actually, we started out as rivals in Grade 4. Each of us was competing for the top mark in spelling that year. I'm not sure who won but after we got the rivalry out of the. way, along with a bout of hepatitis, we became fast friends. This past weekend, Val was in town and we decided to get together on Saturday just like we used to in high school. The game plan was to meet at a store on The Square, then slowly work our way around to all the other stores,' stopping at a restaurant for coffee along the way. --- `"itis ifi Glib sfilrhasifie"Wat rice pud- ding anywhere," Val claimed as she nibbled away during our coffee break. She was ob- viously enjoying everyspoonful. . g to thinking city it was funny that a person misses certain foods from the old hometown when he or shh has been away for awhile.WhenI lived ' T to I d to• } No-one really needs to win $11 million or even 'hall that amount and yet when the top' I h prize creeps to the $7 million range over 50 million tickets are sold. It wasn't that many years ago that the $100,000 top prize ofring of Wintario was big news. Now, hardly an eye t lionaof• loll _ .._ How standards change. D.S. - 'crave Culbert's honey -dip doughnuts.. Nobody in' that whole city could . make doughnuts taste quite like Culbert's. Val and I started tanking about our Grade 6 class. Now that's -a lqpg� time ago! We were wondering where som` of our classmates had gotten to. Our Grade 6 teacher, Stella Crawford, still lives in Goderich and Val had seen her the day before. "She told me 1 still looked the same as I did in Grade 6," Val said. We laughed. We loved Mrs. Crawford back then and we still do. We find it amazing that she always remembers us among all her other students. It makes us feel special. We didn't make ma �';' purchases uptown on Saturday. We,rnostly just wdow shop- ped and I made the observation that we didn't seem to have any more money new than we did in highschool! Our purpose in going uptown was not to spend money though; it was simply. to get together. As we made our way around The Square, it was nice to see familiar faces and to stop and say hello. That's something that you can't usually do in a big city. It's something I appreciated about Goderich after I had moved back from Toronto. —"-" e a sfld I Weatsouu i'ate ways Saturday, I was still f eeling nostalgic. It was like time had stood still that day.. I remembered how, besides, going uptown to browse on Saturdays, we abed to go to Elvis Presley movies at the Park Theatre on Fri- day nights, and teach Sunday school at Knox In cion use Church on Sunday mornines. Those were the leisurely weekends. before we got jobs. Although Val is married now and lives in another city, we can just pick right up where am• we left off whenever we get together. I the talker and she is the listener. With me, it's sometimes hard to get a / word in edgewise, but Val manages when' she wants to be heard. She knows me inside out. She is a good listener; a concerned listener who comes up with intelligent advice when asked (even if it means being painfully honest! ). She is also the type of person whom you tan ` tell something to with complete confidence that it will go no further. That type of person is very rare. -1!)7' As we get older, I tl ink we value friend- ships more. And the of er the friendship, the more valuable it seer I'am often remind- ed emind ed of the words to a s ng we learned in Girl Guides. It went som( ping like this: "Make new friends but keel the old. One is silver but the other is gold.' I'm glad Val and I had the opportunity to grow up in a place like Goderich together. It's important to be able to share your childhood and adolescent memories with so- meone who knows exactly what you're talk- ing about, • As well as -having- sonseone�•to •s#�e-•tlae-aa--- good times with; it's also important to have someone help you get through the bad times. So, here's to growing up in Goderich and hese's-tc-fri cath Mp-I-wish-e yone-had t�h2 opportunity to have a friend like Val. It would make the world a more enjoyable place to live. • This is Local Government Week in On- tario. Although therehas been much talk about peace, rye do not allow the subject to drop from our sight. Although there is a constant flow of references to economy, religions, justice, sex, • computers, health and ''countless other components of our collective and individual lives, we db not, act as if fur- ther messages on the topics were of no relevance to us. Along the same lines it remains of impor- tance to stay in touch with our municipal bodies, procedures and services, particular- ly as we provide the funds for their lifestyles and in return find ourselves much too often at doors closed against us by ignorance, ar- rogance orindifference Tin the other side: For >:nany year I have preached the im- portance of and participation in our municipal systems. On My side is the advan- tage of having practiced whet I am• preahing• This time I am celebrating the Local Government Week by merely offering ad- vice. When the Minister of Municipal .' Ffairs and Housing called for this special week, his intentions were expressed . in -good .points aimed at increasing public awareness, public interest, public respect public par- ticipation. Placing all emphasis on educating the public in municipal matters goes only. half , , the distance. It ignores the obvious fact that niany officle holders in elected and ap- pointed positions are very much in need of a great deal ; of municipal education, with thorough understanding ofupdated realities and -attitudes. It is my advice and hope that these men and women use the special weekas a time of thoughtful examination of their duties, rights and responsibilities and where they as well as their colleagues fit into the great democratic picture of munieipal structures and relationships. It is my advice and hope that the meaning of "public interest" he dusted off and polished in the minds of all in- dividuate. holding either elected.. or -ap-. pointed public office. When,the minister talks about the aim l of increasing public awareness, interest . rnd participation, is he sure that a welcome mat is indeed waiting in all municipal offices for informed and interested citizens? What if there is hostility, ridicule and put-down in- stead? What if there are indications that one is intruding on the privileged, territory of some minor kingdom? In this connection. I have. reason .to refer specifically to the top administration of Huron County offices 'where a great con- tribution could be made to the celebration of municipal government principles, by cheer- fully accepting the "fact that this is indeed 1985 and that old attitudes which served to some degree in the past have become frayed around the edges and are ready for the dustbin of changing times. What might have been a tolerated practice at one time could now be interpreted as attempts at intimida- tion and harrassment. if the County came up with clear, accep- table and known guidelines for enlightened and positive work relationships, it would no doubt find many friends and admirers. Then it could be said that things are done in "public interest". In the meantime, my friendly advice to Huron County is - look at your message - always look at the message you are sending. It really serves no purpose ' to try to "kill the messenger". Differences, even controversies, are an inevitable and perfectly natural part of public office. In my opinion the single most valuable quality -in an elected or appointed public official is his or her, ability to deal with differences openly, politely, fairly and in a businesslike manner, without turning' them into bitter personal battlegrounds. "In public interest" ought to be the gasaww®rd iii the,mirds and -offices of public representatives; during Local Government Week and at any other time. ELSA HAV EDO N