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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-05-14, Page 21Last Sunday muchof the world of- fered ffered a communal toast to motherhood in observing Mother's Day. A day set aside in reengnition of -all the great moms and the wonderful thingsthey do for kids and grownup kids too. Noble deeds that often escape recognition. So, Sunday was a day for burnt toast and rubbery eggs in bed for mom with a little petunia to brighten up• the breakfast tray. And moms are great at pretending they know exactly what those pictures are the kids drew on the cards made with careful patience and a measure of wild abandon at school. But the mainpointof the day is recognition, In all modesty, if moms had children of my mold and temperment, their lives would be fairly uncomplicated. To be truthful,I was of little trouble to my mother but, then again, there were the times when she: Had to gently separate 39.. pieces of Goderich Mayor Harry 'Worsen signed a document last Friday, proclaiming April 30, 1980 to April 30, 1981 as Beta Sigma Phi Year. The sorority is celebrating Its golden anniversary this year. Martha Rathburn, who is Goderich's chapter's oldest member, presented the mayor with the proclamation. (photo by Cath Wooden) We Wawanash Twp. Council bubble gtlrn from my hair after I fell. asleep With a rather large wad in my qrQ�tit.'" Made me give Valentine cards ' to girls and other people'I wasn't overly fQud bf. lout Web after patch on the knees of my pants and other parts of my school andgoQQin' around apparel. Made me go to school at age six while I argued that it might be easier if I stayed home and did neat things promising to learn more than school would teach me. Curled my hair through the lengthy Toni process to attend a wedding when I was too young to know any better. Going to watch me play ball even though she didn't have the least in- clination of what the game was about or how it was played. Always usingthe cheap presents you bought her for Christmas or birthdays when aim pany was around. Stayed up late at night to sew neat the derich things for Easter or birthdays or something. ,Always cherished mother's day and Chri_stmatl' cards and other assorted objets d'art that were painstakingly assembled at school. Going to parent -teacher night at schdol and learning her son repeatedly disrupted the class with jokes. I, naturally, toldher there was little credence in the teacher's testimony and offered feeble explanations. Putting up with a path -worn lawn and some damaged shrubs so her kids could play hockey, baseball, golf and whatever on the front lawn. Had to haul me out of the poolroom, and in the midst of an important match, to tend to neglected chores around the house. Controlled her anger even though you busted one of the most prized members of the bric-a-brac collection in the living room and were unable to offer a reasonable explanation for its �lPml e. Made me eat spinach, brrussel sprouts and other assorted unpalatable- green things so, I would grow up Wile_ the strong man that I atn now: Became irate when 1 -accidentally bladed a chip shot through the basement window and into the recreation room. Making a neato Superman cape out of old material that I strapped to my back and pretended I could fly faster than a locomotive by jumping off the front steps. _ Letting me get my own way and insisting my sister take me along with her girlfriends to Friday night skating. Letting you stay home from school knowing full well the maladies were not of a serious or contagious nature. Allowing me to, put a mess goopy stuff on my hair and an equal portion of smelly stuff on my face for an im- portant occasion. And finally, knowing that little boys will be mischievous. SIGNAL S 132 YEAR -20 WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1980 SECOND SECTION Quebec wants new deal says Joliette teacher BY JASON AINSLIE Next Tuesday, May 20, is Referendum Day. For the peopleofQuebec, it is a very important day, as' it is for every Canadiap. But it can hardly be considered , crucial, because the truth of the issue is that it will yield little in the way of any decision. made and certainly nothing that is binding. According to Jean- Pierre Beaulieu, a high school English teacher in Joliette, Quebec who recently visited Goderich, many Canadians are under the Brindley auction dance hail? A minute's' silence in memory of the late Reeve Leo Foran was observed" by West- Wawanosh Township Council members when they met for ' the regular May session on Tuesday, May 6. . Gordon H. Brindley requested an . official letter of permission from Clinton, Goderich hospitals get funding The Ministry of Health is allocating $360 million over three years for 114 hospital capital con- struction projects in Ontario including a project at Goderich's Alexandra Marine and General Hospital to. provide space for amalgamation of the hospital's psychiatry program and a project at Clinton Public Hospital to replace an elevator originally installed in 1947. The cost and govern- l ment share for the AM&G project is still being worked out and con- struction is due to start in July. The Clinton project construction began in Decemeber. The estimate& coif -is $88,000 with the estimated government share to be $55,000. The Ministry of Health's allocation in- cludes $100 million from lottery proceeds, largely from Ontario's share of Super Loto. I am approaching this column from a new perspective this week,•a new angle as it were. Standing up. It isn'b that there is anything wrong with the old perspective, mind you. I just can't sit down. Everytime I give it a shot, the part of my anatomy in question cries out, "Mais non! Mais non!" And I must heed its protests. You see, it is like this. The ding dong that used to occupy this space you find me in now keeps several horses. Always eager for new experience and discomfort I have never felt before, I accepted his invitation for a weekly evening riding lesson. Pleasant recreation, I thought. I liked the idea of something else run- ning around for exercise and I perching upon it. Ha. More like bouncing upon it. And if something else is doing the running around, why am I so exhausted after every lesson? Nobody told me that riding a --horse was such hard work. I went into my first lesson confident council to hold dances in his Auction Centre in Dungannon 'and the clerk was directed by council to write such a letter., Building permits were authorized by council for G. Webster -house ad- dition; M. Turner - implement shed; W. Shetler-two houses; D. Stutzrrian-house and G. Humphrey -house. The clerk was directed to mail a nomination form to Wingham and District Hospital nominating Frank MacKenzie to represent them.unicipality_ on t__he Board of Governors of that hospital for the year 1980-81. • Carl Seeger was ap- pointed to the Blyth District Fire Area as representative from West Wawanosh Township, succeeding the late Leo Foran. The 1980 budget was discussed and several mill rate proposals for the general municipal rate were examined. A motion was passed to set the general municipal mill rate at 46.94 mills for farm and residential and 55.22 mills for business and commercial. The clerk was directed to write the parade committee for the Dungannon 125th bir- thday celebrations in- forming them that West Wawanosh Township Council has approved the closing of concession 4 --and-5-ft um'sides ua t5- 6 and the designated streets in Dungannon for approximately three hours before and during the parade on Saturday, August 2. The road accounts and the general accounts totalling $15,541 were. ordered paid by council. and wearing a suitable personna. I said, "Howdy," a lot, yelled, "Get •-:• them cattle outa here," and even hummed "I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande," until the horses started to howl. Jeff got annoyed. (He doesn't even wear a cowboy hat.) Then I got on one of the horses. Or rather, attempted to get one of the horses. He was waiting for me to put my foot in the stirrup before he made his move. Hi•s move involved galloping towards the other end of the arena with' me hopping violently along beside him. Jeff giggled in an uncontrollable way and offered to hold the horse while I mounted. I finally got up there, telling 'the horse to smarten up or I'd bite him. "Walk your horse," commanded the teacher. "No problem, bucko," said I. It was a slight problem. The horse took off at the approximate speed of light with me. impression that a 'yes' vote will ultimately mean Quebec's secession from the rest of Canada. ._Far from it. What it should spell out clearly, he said, is that the French speaking 'province is unhappy with its present position in Confederation. The referendum will give the .,governmentthe number* It . needs to •1('nn-I'1,'rir l;null n assess the severity of the Quebec question. If May 20 produces a 'no' vote, Quebecers fear that this will be a sign to the rest of the country that all is well and no steps need be taken to ensure national unity. A 'yes' vote, on the other hand, may be in- terpreted as a cumulative request for the review of the terms of con- federation, laid down over 100 years ag • p At that time the major French -English issue was the Manitoba Schools Question. Had the Manitoba Schools Question, which concerned language and religious rights within the school system, been dealt with properly, the problem could have been resolved to the satisfaction of the majority of .the population. The gover- more or less on top of him :Ind hugging him very tightly around the neck. "Check your horse, bozo," com- manded the patient teacher ." "Check! Check!" I grunted. The horse eventually got tired and walked. Jeff said that perhaps he should have told me that the horse hadn't been exercised in, like, six months. I Said I appreciated knowing that and could he untangle my fingers from the horse's mane? And I actually went back for more one week later. The first week I managed to stay on a horse without falling off. The second week I learned how to sit on a horse properly, even if it meant falling off. Well, Jeff° and the horse did their utmost to see to it that I fell off] First, the horse decided to make a run straight for the wall and stop within inches of it. However, I did not stop. I kinda bounced off it and back onto the horse. Dismembering myself from the saddle horn, I bravely carried on. hment, however, viewed the situation, from the English perspective only and the result was that Louis Ri'el, the ringleader of the franco-Indian cause, was hung. A century later, in a new but similar English - French conflict, the referendum will serve 'to give Quebecers a voice in „their own future. Mr. Beaulieu, who taught French in Goderich five years ago on'an exchange program, said,'We love Canada. We do not want to leave confederation but we want a new deal.' He emphasized that the referendum . will not be binding in any way and that 'before any steps other than negotiation could be considered, another 'referendum would have to be slated. That would not occur for, perhaps, five years. He indicated also that Rene Levesque's aspirations of separation are little more than a political 'or else'. Mr. Beaulieu feels that a system in which Quebec's tax dollars could remain in Quebec would better benefit that province's people, but said thatithis could be accomplished under a revised con- stitution. The Globe and Mail reported recently that while a majority of Quebecers want Quebec to remain a part of Canada, the status quo is clearly unacceptable. Only one in seven (15 per cent) favours keeping things as they are, while eight in 10 (79 per cent) 'are looking for some form of change, and 41 per cent overall want a revised form of Confederation. Goderich ambulance attendant, Dave Barrick explain$ the functions of this in- cubator, used for transporting newborn infants, to an interested Cathy Hildebrand at a Hospital Day display set up at the Suncoast Mall on Monday. In 1979 the 'Goderich ambulance service made 1,206 calls. There were 2,086 ad- missions to Alexandra Marine and General Hospital; 142 babies born; 652 operations; 18,862 examinations in the x-ray depart ' Mt; 1,462,446 units of work done in the hospital lab; 6,253 visits to physiotherapy; 1.3,669 visits to.emergency; and 41,370 meals prepared for hospital patients. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Jeff did not seem to be satisfied with the way I was lurching around in the saddle while the horse loped. "You look like a sack of something," he com- plimented. "Heels down, hack straight!" I was proud that I was simply remaining on the horse's hack. Jeff thought that an appropriate cure would he to take away,the stirrups and the reins. So he did. "Lope your horse." he commanded. "You have finally fallen out of your tree," I announced from my precarious perch. "The power has gone to your head." Nonetheless, he got his way and so did the horse and I was left helpless. But, stiprises upon suprises, I did not hit the dirt. I learned to sit on top of horse properly, although the aftermath is rather painful. And gosh darn it if I'm not going back for more next week. I'm an old cow hand....from the Rio Grande. Yo! Let's circle the wagon train and git them cattle outa here...