HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-07-04, Page 4A
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Cytiteism " has slowly eroded my
perspective on many sof life's. little
pleasures.
Or maybe it's just that this business has
twisted, dented and bent my outlook on a
variety of matters.
Parades, for instance, have held little
more significance or distinction than any
other assignment on the weekend board hi
the pulsating newsroom. One tends not to
reallviewed
see a paradene assortment ofarade, en it is
zoom
viewed through s
lenses. '
But with young children, parades have
taken on a whole new significance and I
hastily discovered on the weekend, while
taking pictures of the Canada Day Parade
with family in tow, that I am, relied on to
have a certain measure of expertise about
these affairs as they unfold in front of us.
Son Bradley is at the age where a string of
20 why's in a row will not adequately
produce a solution or satisfac.tory answer ;to
a question.,E.aeh answer that I dutifully and
carefully produce simply leads to another
volley of whys.
It's the most frustrating game' in the
world, this business of trying to find the
answers to the rapid-fire questions of a three
year-old.
It tends to siphon the patten e.,out of dad in
a hurry and there are days when I seem to
have little to spare. '
Trying to take suitable photographs of the
parade Sunday while my son tortured and
tormented my mind with a myriad of
questions was an experience.
- The exchange went something like this.
"I hear something, it's loud noises. What
is it?" he asks frantically while climbing all
over me in fear. "What are those noises.
They sound like sirens."
"They are sirens," I offer in response
while attempting to peel his body off mine.
"It's just a police car at the beginning of the
parade and he's activating his siren for fun.
You don't have to be afraid of sirens. Noise
can't hurt you."
The Idd barely has time to ponder the
explanation when a feels obliged t,
rationalize his behHi+iour and perhaps save'
face in the process.
"You don't have to be afraid of noise," he
says. "I'm not afraid of the sirens or the
loud booms (which are now emanating from
a steam engine). They don't scare me, dad.
But I think Laura (" his 11 month-old sister) is
afraid."
Laura couldn't care less. She sits in her
walker enjoying her first official parade and
takes great delight in the loud noises .that
are staring the bejeepers out of her brother.
She.giggles alot and looks most fearful.
"Well, I think she might be a little afraid,"
I reply. "Maybe you 'could tell her that loud
parade noises aren't scary." •
The little man, so full of bravado,
comforts his tiny sister and in the face of
grave danger, informs her that "it will be
alright." °
Member:
eNA,
Second class
mad registration
number 0716
BLUE
RIBBON
AWARD
1983
THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT
SINCE 1848
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Take severe action
Yet another coroner's.jury has made recommendations
that action be taken to discourage drinking and driving.
An inquest into the death of Constable Bruce Crew of the
Goderich detachment of the OPP resulted in a recommen-
dation that measures, such as increased enforcement, and
more severe penalties and programs, such as public
awareness and education, to discourage drinking and
driving be continued and stressed.
The inquest into Crew's death was held earlier this
month to determine how CreW died and why. It was deter-
mined by the jury, that CAl►stable Crew died from Injuries
sustained during a collision involving two police cruisers
and a civilian vehicle, following a high speed police chase
through Goderich and Goderich Township last September
25. •
Two Lucknow men, who were driving the car being
chased and three police officers.who gave chase, testified •
at the inquest. They were convicted of driving while im-
paired and for using licence plates not authorized for a
motor vehicle.
Coroner Raymond Floers, in his closing statement,
said the present deterrents and fines for impaired driving
charges are not enough and suggested that drunk\drivers
have their licences suspended for years, to be resumed on-
ly when it is proven that the drivers are safe to society. •
Other inquests in recent months have resulted in juries
malting similar recommendations which are being echoed
by public action groups such as MADD - Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, which advocate stiffer penalties tor those
convicted of impaired driving charges. .
A coroner's jury in Milton this month recommended a
graduated licence system which would limit new drivers'
driving hours and restrict the number of passengers they
could carry, to discourage teenage drinking and driving.
It's time the transportation ministry acts on these
recommendations and brings forward legislation, which
will acftas a deterrent to drinking drivers, while stressing
a driver's licence is a privilege and a responsibility.
• A second recommendation of the Goderich inquest said
training of law enforcement officers in the strategy of pur-
suit and skills of high speed and defensive driving be man-
, datory and that such training include both theoretical and
practical experience and compulsory re-training on a
regular basis.
Perhaps police colleges and police forces should also in-
clude in their training, skills which would effectively
reduce the number of high speed chases. Surely 'with
modern computer technology there must be some method
of obtaining licence plate numbers from a speeding vehi-
cle without giving chase. Once the licence number is ob-
'Mined, a quick referral to computer resource data can ob-
tain the name of the owner of tree vehicle and police can
abandpn the chase and follow up by going to the home of
'the owner of the car.
. Police officers should learn effective driving skills but it
should also be emphasized that ahigh speed chase is the
last resort. — Lucknow Sentinel
The right to choose
The contentious retirement, issue is back in the news
again. �..
The question?' Should healthy individuals be allowed to
continue in their jobs beyond the age of 65, or be forced to
retire?
With 73 -year old President Ronald Reagan running .
again for the highest office in the United States 'he'll be 77
if he wins and completes his term) and a'surprising
number of Canadian politicians who are over 65, the issue
becomes fundamental. .
If Reagan is capable of running the most powerful na-
tion on. earth, why can't healthy and capable individuals
handle ordinary jabs .after the mandatory retirement
age?
Indeed, with many unions negotiating agreements that
force workers to retire at age 60, or even 55, we seem to be
swinging in the oppositekdirectiofl.
• We're not suggesting that Canadians should be forced to
r
The young lady continues to giggle despite
the adversity. It'sobvious she's scared out
of her booties.
With the initial line of questioning out of
the way, we wander into more serious
territory as the parade progresses.
"Why are there clowns, dad? he asks and
then proceeds without waiting for a reply.
"Why do some mans Want to be clowns? Do
they like it? Do they wear those clothes to
work? Why do they do it, dad?"
"Well, Bradley they.."
"Look at that dad.,What is tha? Why are
they driving that in the parade? What is that
supposed to be. Get me some candy. They're
throwing candy, go get me some. Why are
they, throwing candy? Are they supposed to
do that? What's that coming? did you see
that dad?"
Between taking pictures, and beating up
smaller children to get candy for the kid, I
can't say I saw much of the parade. It looked
good though.
4
worK past retirement age, but neither should they be forc-
ed to leave their jobs. Politics, of course, is one of the few
professions where there is no retirement cutoff date. The
other is small business„where people still maintain the
freedom to work after 65.
Members of the 64,000 strong Canadian Federation of
1ielependent Business, for example. fully support ,uch a
right.
In a vote among members, a full 77 per cent rejected
lowering the government -mandated retirement age.
The open-ended retirement principle also seems to be
winning some support from the courts. In at least two
situations, courts have decided in favour of individuals
who wanted to work after they were 65.
While the cases may be appealed, this seems like 'a
move in the proper direction.
Like politicians and individuals operating smaller
firms, ordinary Canadians should have the right to
choose.
Summer loin '
By Darrell Kloeze
DEAR READERS'
(---SHIRLEY KELLER
r.,
1 believe that one of God's greatest gifts is the
privilege of old age.
Having said that, I know there are those who
will disagree. They claim that they would prefer
to be spared those long, lonely years in a nursing
home, perhaps, where you are forgotten by
family and children and only tolerated by staff
and society.
I know there are horror stories about the plight
of the elderly - and I suppose many of them are
true. But so are there sad, depressing stories
about -babies who are abused, young children
who,. are abandoned, teenagers who, are cut
adrift, young adults who are left along middle-
agers who are destitute. Does all this mean it
would be better to miss life altogether?
Would you agree with me that the situation of
Canada's elderly is improving?, That most of our
senior citizens now live in circumstances that,.
preserve their dignity? That many people in
their 70s, 80s and 90s are happier, healthier and
wealthier than ever befbre?
Just last week I spent an evening at MacKay
Centre for Seniors and there I saw a hall full of
older folks who were enjoying life to the fullest
extent. Oh I suppose there were some long faces
in the group, but I didn't see them. The people I
saw were straight like arrows, well dressed in
attractive styles, smiling, surrounded by friends
and possessing minds like steel traps sharpened
by years of working and striving and
experiencing.
It was variety night that evening and I was
thrust back in time to my childhood when my
own mother taught me to sit around the family
piano and sing, or to share a corner of the oven
kour feet warm, and recite poetry.
And I thought how much my mother and father
would have enjoyed that variety program had
God spared them to live to this time. But alas ....
The program opened with the singing of 0
Canada and what a beautiful, beautiful tribute to
this great land that was. Boy,•can those seniors
sing.
From behind me from someone came the
statement, "Nobody sings 0 Canada like senior
citizens.” And I agree with her. Could it be
because it takes a bit of sacrifice and a whole lot
of living•for us to truly appreciate what Canada
is?
There was plenty of music that evening. We
sang some of the old favourites like You Are My
Sunshine and In The Good Old Summertime and
Shine On Harvest Moon. 4 haven't sung those in
years and I just had a ball.
There were people in the crowd who sang
harmony and even one person who whistled - not
the ordinary whistle you would hear as someone
works but the real concert whistle, the kind of
whistle that used to be an art performed on the
stage: What an unexpected pleasure.
Ed Stiles was there at the piano. He makes it
all look so -o -o -o ea$y and I suppose, f r Ed it isn't
all that difficult. But what a great deal of
enjoyment he has brought to people in Goderich
and area throughout his lifetime - and what a
bonus that it goes on and on though now Ed is no
longer a boy.
Bill Chase sang foui�solos and I could have
listened all night. What a voice. Bill even sang a
song he said had been performed only twice ...
and just as I was wondering'how he would know
that, he said it was a song. Ed Stiles had written.
Who knows? Maybe Ed will go on to become
another Paul Anka.
ee
door to p
I loved the readings -the monologues I guess is
the proper name: There was one about a
Newfoundland mother who wrote a letter to her
son that really made me smile. It ended up with
something about the fact she was going to
enclose $10 in the letter but she had already
sealed it when she thought of it. I'll have to
remember that line.
I couldn't help wondering what senior citizens
meetings will be like when today's teenagers are
retired. Can you imagine their singsongs? Their
monologues? Their guest performers?
During the evening, Janet Kalbfleisch gave a
report of the activities of the MacKay Choristers •
who recently won second prize in a seniors choir
competition. She said that each of 'the 37
members of the choir would receive an official
certificate commemorating the achievement.
Mrs. Kalbfleisch gave tribute, on behalf of the
choir, to their director Irla Stewart. And there's
no doubt that Irla is a large part of the reason for
the choir's success.
But I'm sure Irla would be the first to say that
most of. the credit should go to the members of
the choir - the men and the women who are
sharing themselves with the community in this
very special way. The singers who are willing to
work hard and to practice long h.ours to attain
the degree of competence they have shown.
And I couldn't help thinking as I'sat there what
a mighty force is bottled up in the seniors of our
town, of our area.
And I wished with all my might that more of
that power could be loosed so that the wisdom
needed for day today living and the knowledge of
surviving when the going gets tough', could be
shared with those who need it so badly in 1984.
How about it seniors?
"Summertime and the iivin' is easy"
This beautiful song from Porgy and Bess
surfaced in my mind repeatedly last Sunday
when we were treated to a perfect summer
day that made it delicious just to be alive,
Everything was exactly right. The nature
provided a gorgeous frame for our celebra-
tions of human talents, relationships and in-
stitutions. At the end, not to be outdone by
the impressive fireworks display, the even-
ing came up with a spectacular sunset while
a thin sliver of moon remained above the
shimmering lake, in a cheeky challenge to
"match it, if you can". and
civic ceremony, the lively parade
other well prepared events were also a
pleasure and did credit to the organizers.
Only briefly did I regretfully miss
something. The efficient official ceremony
was admirable and followed the timetable
snappily, but did it really touch our feelings
and imagination for the things we had come
to celebrate? Amidst the polite introduc-
tions and the bringing of pleasant greetings
I should have likedto hear just one speech of
Ittarmth addressing the gathering directly
with words concerning the substance of the
occasion. -
I am old-fashioned in this when I believe
that there is room in our lives for public ek-
P
r
pression of pride, gratitude, warmth and in-
spiration when ,we gather to celebrate the"
birthday of pur cotlntry, oursprovince, our
town.
Speaking of birthday celetjations and
history makes it timely to deaMith a small
item out of our town's past to which Mr.
Pete Henry has referred recently in a
published letter.
•Mrt, Henry is quite right to be startled
about the placement of the plaques on the
town pillars at Huron Road and Britannia.
The plaques are on th oad side of the
pillars and thus d ficult to read.
However, there is a bit o a story behind this
state of affairs.
The plaques were erected in 1929 by the
federal government on the stone pillars at
the town's entrance. is w done to
honour the pioneer famili o ttled the
one million acres of Huron Tract during 1828 ,
to 1928„ It- should be remembered that the
plaques were placed where they are in the
traffic and lifestyle conditions of 65 years
ago. •
In 1978 there was a great deal -of con-.
troversy locally and in many other
municipalities where the Ministry of Indian
and Northern Affairs had decided: in a bil-
rr�
ingual push, to rrepdace more than 200
historic English plaques with new signs in
French and English, with a revised wording
far different from the original text. The new
plaques had been prepared by the ministry
without prior local knowledge or consulta-
tion of any kind.
The plaque says in beautifully :simple
language that it is "commemorating the
lifework of the me ho opened the roads,
felled the fore , uilded the farmsteads,
tilled the fields, reaped the harvests - and of
the women who made the homes, bore the
children, nursed them, reared , th 1,
brightened andennobled domestic life in the
Huron Tract during a hundred years".
The ministry's new bilingual sign started
by saying that "The Huron Tract, over -
1,000,000 acres in extent, was opened to col-
onization by the Canada Company ...." and
attempted to convey a totally different
message, adjusted to the politics of the day. ,
The town's definite refusal to let the
federal government tamper with local
historyied to many meetings and letters'
with the ministry. At one point a federal of-,
rR ficial said that the plaques could be seined
by the RCMP. We had fully co-operated
when the federal government erected a bil-
ingual sign at the historic jail and had no ob-
jection to the federal policy to be applied to
future signs, but we made a strong case for
the historic integrity of these particular pla-
ques. I was chairman of parks at the time.
During our determined dispute with the
federal government The Globe and Mail
quoted Councillor Don Wheeler's statement
that most of the early settlers were Scottish
"and tc tamper with their history does
7othing to further the cause of bil-
�� gualism" to which I added that if the
original settlers had been Chinese and the
plaques were in Chinese, I would feel the
same about it. We were also determined to
fight the matter all the way to the prime
minister's office, if necessary.
To make a long story' short - we were
allowed to keep the historic plaques. The
new' bilingual text was placed on the
grounds at the County Museum. Public sup-
port was with us all the way. Covered by by-
law 50 of 1980 the town entered into a formal
agreement with the federal government, ac-
cording to which the town has custody of the
plaques in the present location "in the pre-
, sent state". Any further steps should be ex-
tremely carefully thought out. It appears
. strangely that history is rather fragile, in
our part of the world as well! _
ELSA HAYDON
learMANLIMINMOIMMISIAAIMIKURVIRS
week
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