Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-06-18, Page 19dove sykes I feed compelled to dispell a long standing myth. During the past week I have been engaged in several conversations relating to f amily life and relationships with brothers and sisters. The nature of the conversation was sparked by the fact my older sister from Edmonton is returning fora visit this week and we haven't seen each other for a few years. =lnv l}1y, .._when dice�i_-�c,4-411g. 411e - matters, and .it is important to some people, they ask; "Are you the baby of the family?" Now let's just set the record straight right here. I have two elder sisters and therefore, would have to admit to being the baby of my family. But, tobe honest, I rather despise the label and the derogatory connotations it has attracted. There is a social stigma attached to being the last born child in a family. Seaforth apartments open An official opening of Seaforth's 16 -unit apartment building for senior citizens on John Street is scheduled for June 27 =- much to the delight of the project's 18 residents. This building was built by Don Riehl Con- struction Ltd. of New Hamburg. Total cost, including land and all' other charges was $384,706. Joining, in the ceremony will be some 21 residents of Seaforth's first OHC senior citizen building. eally,1 had no choice in the matter. If my folks had a choice the offspring outcome would have been different too. They had the name David picked out for the first child, a girl. They clung to their hopes and high ideals the second time and again, a.girl. On the third attempt, bingo, they fulfilled their dream and spawned a David.. Those of you who have an un- derstandiang, or at least a faint notion, et .the-p*o-af -huff= :tp. 'tletion• would• realize my involvement was limited. And this stigma of being the last born child in a family carries en with one through life and we must carry it with us as a mark of infamy or disgrace. Family babies are also stereotyped as dependent, lazy, spoiled kids who have their life mapped out by others. Perhaps in many cases that is true, but in all modesty, I am the exception to the stereetvne thederich SINAL.—STAR In fact, my OM:ther- hast all but abandoned any hoped for her Pan tkdOg anything useful with • his life, and resigned herself to lot of praying instead. My mind was not capable of grasping things of a mechanical nature, like wheelbarrows, and there was much family concern as to my niche in life. There is some credence to the fact my two older sisters looked after me as a child. Mother often relates anecdotes, ;-1ationS..ecre—e time would spill milk, insert spaghetti in my nose , chuck my plate of dinner 'on the floor or stuck a wiener in my ear. Before mother had a chance to move my sisters would yell; "Don't hit him, don't hit him." That, to -me, is not being spoiled but just a form of sibling protection and the favor was returned many fold later on. Quite often when my sisters brought home• dates I hung around for hours awaking sure there. were no lmprdpelr' advances. Not every • brother that would go to the trouble. --t My oldest sister treated me rather. well and on many occasions' aranned •a. load full of young guys in her small car and drove us to a dance. On the return trip the car smelled like a gymnasium after we had danced to a few tunes with our favorite girl, who usually had kleenex stuffed Miter bra. The second oldest sister was more -- mtetit-on akrng ch•.e-a-scalae. pelt,... me through torturous hours.of study. It . , had no marked effect on my scholastics. achievement and She eventually left ' me alone in despair. As evidenced by this retrospective piece, despite being the baby, this scribe was not the recipient of any preferential treatment. The family was more apt to ignore me while I haunted the golf course and pool room. As for mother, she's still praying. Heads up. Bill Cole's Descenders, a parachute team, will perform free falls and various parachute designs at the giant air show planned for the Goderich Municipal Airport on Saturday, June 28. The view from my desk is `not a spectacular one. One would not think that staring at a large stack of old newspapers would be as conducive to column writing as, say, staring out the window at a passing tornado. I just discovered that this is not so. While gazing aimlessly at the pile of old Globes, Stars, Free Presses, and various weeklies, your eagle-eyed correspondent noticed a whole bunch of bits of headlines gazing back at her. One headline in particular caught my wandering attention. "How long is 15 minutes?" it asked me. At this point, I Was torn between jumping up to read the article under the headline, thus quenching My insatiable thirst for knowledge, and going for a coffee. My hands shaking, my head spin- ning, I reached for the newspaper in question. Under what I had read was another line of the head. "It's 15 minutes, court rules." Good heavens! The justice system is becoming more radical everyday! 132 YEAR -25 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1980 SECOND SECTION Participate! Cauda Week celebrations all set BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Goderich is going to celebrate > Canada Week in fine ` style on the; weekend commencing June 27, complete with a music festival, parade, fireworks, sailing regatta and giant air show. Remember how much fun you had during the Sesquicentennial celebrations here in 1177? Well, a lot of people have been working very hard to bring you the same kind of excitement again. All you have to do Is participate. It's difficult to know where to begin •when listing all the activities of the action -packed weekend. But here goes anyway... MUSIC, MUSIC AND MORE MUSIC The Goderich and District OptimistClub has organized a bluegrass music festival for the weekend. A festival tent will open at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 27 and will remain open until 11 p.m. It will be set up ,,in Harbor Park. Performing on the band shell at this time will be Doug McArthur, South Trail, Willie P. Bennett, Frank Wheeler, Tim Woodcock and B.W. Pawley and Plum Loco. Various arts and crafts displays will be set up for the Mire weekend also. On Saturday, June 28 the festival tent will open at noon and the music festival will begin again simultaneously. This time it will feature David Bradstreet, Doug McArthur, Willie P. Bennett, Rick McGhie, It seems that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled there are 15 minutes between 3 a.m. and 3:15 a.m., not 13 minutes as a Vancouver lawyer argued. The question had something to do with the time elapsing between breath tests for alcohol and the lawyer claimed his client only had 13 minutes rather than the 15 required. "I am strongly inclined to the view that 15 minutes means 15 minutes," observed the judge astutely. My, what edge -of -your -seat issues our courts are dealing with these days. What ''-pertinent questions requiring much—deliberation and thought are being dealt with by our public servants. It would help if they came up with the right answers. Everybody, especially Albert Ein- stein, knows that 15 minutes is not always 15 minutes. That judge should have loosened his collar for a second and thought about when he got up that morning. When his alarm- went off, I'll lust Richard Knechtel, Eleanor and Warren Robinson, Bob Burchill, Bruce County Grass and Kent Thorburn. A children's show featuring music by Rob Cadman, performances by a gymnastics team from Stratford and other entertainment will commence on the Harbor Park grounds at 2 p.m. Day care will be available for children on the grounds from. 2 to 6 p.m. On Sunday, June 29 the music festival will commence—it noon and will feature Bruce County Grass, Rick McGhie, Doug McArthur; South Trail, B.W. Pawley and Plum Loco, Tim Wood- cock and The Allstars, Java Jive, Jan MacDonald,, Frank Wheeler and Rob Cad- man. The festival tent will open at 2 p.m. and will remain open until 8 p.m. A beef and chicken 'barbecue will also be conducted' during these hours. A children's show with magic by Geoff Dibbs will commence about 3:30 p.m. and day care will be available on the park grounds again until 6 p.m. The Optimists are asking all people at- tending their festival to park at the beach (at the bottom of the hill) to prevent traffic congestion. A shuttle bus will be available to give people rides back up the hill. A weekend pass for all these events can be purchased in advance for $10 by phoning '524-6840; 529-2439; or 524-7561. On Saturday, the Goderich Municipal betcha that he said to himself, "I shall sleep for another 15 minutes." That 15 minutes passed in a matter of seconds. I know because it happens to me all the time. And I wonder if that judge has ever visited the dentist? I'll betcha the receptionist asked him if he could wait just 15 minutes because the dentist had another patient, and he said, "Fine, fine, I'!! just read this magazine here. Tell the doc not to rush." He barely had the editorial in Bridgework Banner read before the 15 minutes was up. That judge should have thought about the time he was stuck in the living room entertaining his great aunt Bertha for 15 minutes while his wife was in. the kitchen getting the tea and biscuits. I'll betcha he would be strongly inclined to view that 15 minutes was actually 15 hours. And what about all the times that judge sat behind his big judge's bench Airport will be the scene of thrills and excitement as a giant air show takes place. The gates will open at 8 a.m. and the Goderich Lions Club will begin serving a pancake break- fast at 8:30 a.m. The local Experimental Aircraft Association will have a static display, including homebuilt aircraft by Fred Bruinscna, Don Ross, Denver Dickie and. several out-of-towners. Thanks to the generosity of Western Air Services and Donald Fink, free airplane rides will be offered to kids under the age of 16 who have parents' consent. After the air show, rides will be offered for a fee. The actual show itself will commence at 2 p.m. and promises to be very exciting. The biggest act will be the Canadian Reds, touted as .one of the most advanced civilian aerobatics team on the continent. The Canadian Reds are two men from Vancouver, Bill Cowan and Rod Ellis, both ex -Air Force men and now captains with CP Air. •They do formation aerobatics to voice-overs on a PA system. Bill Cole's Descenders, a parachute team, will. also take part in the show. They willdo free falls and various parachute designs. They are an aggressive and totally professional group of entertainers wh-o travel • to about 30 air shows per year. So "heads up" for the Descenders. Oscar Boesch will fly his high performance sailplane at the show to the background music of "Born Free". This will offer a change from the roar and thunder of the other performances. The Canadian War- planes Heritage Foun- dation will be present to fly formation with various planes, including those planes used for training in World War II. There will be a military jet on hand from North Bay as well as one of Bruce ' Sully's civilian jets. There will also be a Polish made airplane with a revolutionary type of wing design. Terry Stuart of Western Air Services will be doing aerobatics and a "beat -up" act. Al Hauff, an Air Turn to page 2A • South Trail is one of the local groups which will be performing In the Goderich and District Optimist Club's music festival on June 27, 28, and 29. The group's members are, back left to right, David McAdam and Mike Reynolds and front, Don Cook and Bryan Ainslie. wearing his big judge's robe reaciy to hang his big judge's gavel to adjourn everybody at 4:45. He looked at the clock believing that at least 15 minutes had passed, when only five minutes had ticked by• He'd he strongly inclined to change his opinion if he'd thought of that. No sir, that judge just must have had his wig screwed on too tight. Time is a flaky thing and 'clocks tend to move very erratically. That judge should know that. Everybody else does. Everybody knows that 15 minutes waiting for a member oche family to finish his or her shopping is really much longer. Everybody knows that when they are stuck in a traffic jam and they have an appointment in 15 minutes, the clock is going to speed up. Take right now. I'm late with this column and I can actually see the 'hands on the clock move closer and closer to deadline. 1 guess I'm close enough. cath wooden -t• 0