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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-12-17, Page 21C.i'mmunit Stui,::Lents BY ANNE NAREJKO CLINTON - Earlier this year, a survey was designed and conducted by youth in Huron County to examine and analyze the special needs of those between the ages of 15 and 24. The results of the survey were tabulated and presented to the students' councils of each of the secondary schools in the county during a seminar at Central Huron Secondary School ) CHSS) on November 21. "All of the recommendations will be sent to groups who can make 'things happen. The question is, will you ) the students) be there to push for this?" asked Paul Carroll of the Huron County Board of Education. Mr. Carroll, who was chairing the meeting, stressed that if the students want changes, they have to be prepared to follow the matter through. "The thing that discourages us (adults assisting with the survey project) is that we get this far and then no one follows it through," he said. SURVEY METHODS Surveys containing questions on health, education and social service• -were sent to each high school in the county and were completed .individually during class. As well, surveys were sent to those who drop- ped out of the high school system, a Grade 8 class at Robertson Memorial Public School, Goderich, and a Grade 8 class at East Wawanosh Public School, Belgrave. The survey was also printed in Focus Magazine which is circulated throughout the county. Of the 453 completed surveys, 215 were filled out by males and 237 by females. Breaking the survey down into age groups, there were five 12 year olds, 35 13 year olds, 6014 year olds, 101 15 year olds, 90 16 year olds, 68 17 year olds, 63 18 year olds, 24 19 year olds, one 20 -year-old, four 21 year olds, and one 23 and 24 -year-old. A final part of the survey method was interviewing.. OVERALL SURVEY RESULTS Listed below are some of the questions and results from the entire county. Some percentages do not total 100 due to roun- ding or incomplete responses. Answers in the form of verbal comments are not listed in any particular order. SOCIAL: Social: • Would you be interested in a dance spon- sored by all high schools in Huron County? -44 very interested -33 fairly interested -16 partially interested. -5 not at all interested -2 not very interested • If there were dances available for high school students only (ages 15-19), would you be interested in attending? -32 fairly interested -21 very interested -20 not at all interested -19 partially interested -4 not very interested •How do you react to police? -nervous -friendly -respectful -normal to no reaction •Would you be interested in theatre if it was directed at youth? -35 partially interested -23 fairly interested -16 not very interested -15 not at all interested , -12 very interested ®Entertainment •FeOtures • Religion *Family • More GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1986—PAGE lA must push for ice" Central Ewen Secondary il+ tSDES•Seata ' IM Matti& now often do you ounsume alcohol?Everyda Twice aweek Once a aura Not at ali How often do you do drugs? Everyday Twiceaweek Mee aweek - Once amonth Not atoll Do you feel it would be bane tVeryx Valeneficial b Partially beneficial Notvery beneficial Not,atall Wen10 sof • Do you feel the media reflects the in- terests of youth? -37 partially -31 fairly much -14 not very much -6 very much • Are you happy witli your community? -38 partially -28 fairly -12 very -10 not -very -7 not at all • Would you be interested in organized ac- tivities such as bus trips, concerts, ice capades, shopping, etc.? -36 fairly interested -33 very interested -19 partially interested -6 not very interested -6 not at all interested •Would you volunteer to help with facilities and programs? 9 would -35 would not • Do you feel active in your egmmunity? -38 feel partially active -28 feel fairly active -13. not very active -9 not at all active -8 very active • What types of recreation facilities would you like to see in your community? -indoor complex- -theatre -winter roller skating rink -teen bar , , -dirt bike trails • What types of programs or groups would you like to see? -girls' hockey teams -concerts -fitness or sports club • Do you feel you are 'Welcome to par- ticipate in programs'that are available? -77 feel welcome -20 not welcome HEALTH At the seminar, students were divided into four groups to discuss Youth and The Law, Social Needs of Adolescence, It's A Matter of Health and Education: Then What? The students were joined by experts from each field and were given the oppor- tunity to ask questions. The results of the talks in the health and social groups overlapped somewhat, discussing a crisis hotline and hostels. In the social needs group, students had the opportunity to learn more about the services available in the county as their panel members were John Penn of Family and Children's Services; Shirley Hackman recreation centre and sports SECTION change of Huron -Perth Centres for Children and Youth; Dave Overboe of Huron County Social Services and Marlene Morrow, area resource teacher with the county board of education. The question of establishing a hostel. or 0 crisis centre raised mixed responses from students in the social needs group. While one student felt the centre would be abused with people "who were not fac- ing the problem, justrunning away from it," others disagreed. "What we need is a place where we can get counseling, where we can cool off, not run away from home," answered another student. Another suggestion was that it be used for unresolvable problems only. To enlighten the students on the existing services which are available to them, each of the four panel members briefly describ- ed what their agency offers. Mr. Penn told the group that his agency works with children under 16 who need assistance because of physical or emo- tional abuse, or with parents who are hav- ing difficulties handling their children. "Our main focus is trying to work with the family," he said. Legislation introduced recently has allowed youth to ask for help without their parents' consent, Mr. Penn said, adding, "You have a big say in the counseling you receive." This last comment sparked another question from the panel's audience. What happens if you have a personality conflict with your counsellor? "It is important for you to say if you don't get along with the counsellor. By all means, say something and we'll try to make another connection (referral) for you." One thing the students agreed unanimously on was the need for a hot-line number. Family and Children's Services has a 24 hour line but deals basically with those under 16 or. 17, "although you will get some type of response regardless of your age." The majority of students also said they , would be willing to act as volunteers with the system if so required. In the group discussing health matters, the panel consisted of Kathy Thompson, nutritionist with the Huron County Health Unit; Dr. Harry Cieslar, member of the implementation committee for mental health services in Huron County; Shirley Fisher, public health nurse at CHSS, and Marlene Roberton, public health nurse. The subject of establishing a youth hostel and a crisis line was also raised; but on a slightly different level, discussing the method of counseling they would like to have. Students agreed that they would like a place where they could stay overnight and which had counsellors. However, they would also like to have group discussions. As for the .hot-line number, the group was in favor of this but added that initially, students want to talk to 'those in their own age group because they believe there is less intimidation. • But the biggest element that came•out of the health group's discussion was there is a need for more discussion - time to make plans and delve into the issues more. YOUTH AND THE LAW The discussion from the youth and the law.. group centred mainly around drugs Turn to page 2 Truck -driving pastor hits the road The travelling preacher of Auburn counsels many along the way A pastor who adopts as his motto for the ministry the philosophy of the Apostle Paul, as stated in 1 Corinthians 9:22: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some;" finds his schedule both busy and varied. The Rev. James Carne is the pastor of Huron Chapel Missionary Church in Auburn but he hasn't been home much this fall. Near the end of August he received a call from a transport company at Clarksburg, Ontario, for which he had worked briefly during the summer of 1985, asking if he could do some driving for them during an extremely busy period. What the truck -driving pastor thought might involve an occas ional _ trip has developed into a schedule that sees him bas- ed for most of the week at Clarksburg, with hurried 100 -mile runs home on Wednesdays for prayer meetings and on weekends for preaching. He now has the approval of his church's official board for a temporary leave of absence in order to "minister" in this way. • The pastor's tractor -trailer trips usually involve an overnight run to Sudbury, Sturgeon Falls, North Bay and Gravenhurst where he delivers boxes of apples to stores and warehouses: Other loads of bulk apples go to juice plants in Chatham and St. Jacobs. Known as "the travelling preacher" over his CB radio, he came by his transport driv- ing experience when he took a year off from the professional ministry in 1971. For a change of pace, he learned to drive a former parishioner's flatbed rig, hauling travel trailers, snowmobiles andomotorcycles. It was then that he discovered that a pastor in the guise of a trucker could con- tinue ministering by counselling hitchhikers and warehouse workers about Jesus Christ. One year ago this past summer, after a 13 -year stint as pastor of ids home church in Hamilton, Rev. Carne intended to spend another year driving a truck for the Clarksburg transport company but the year %SIN e",r LTD. vomtwomftwowooWooromme, Rev. James Carrie of Auburn is a truck-dritriiriglpastor WILLIAM THOMAS A good case for free trade If the free trade talks fall apart — something that's as eagerly anticipated in this country as the grand demise of the Mulroney government itself — and the United States fails to get financial con- trol over us, I think they'll just send in the troops. They can't come in by land because the potholes in Buffalo are so bad and the customs lineups at the Peace Bridge are so long — even armored tanks couldn't survive the invasion. I think they'll come in by water from Cleveland directly through Port Colborne on a Friday night at 10 o'clock. Because on Friday nights or any other night at 10 o'clock, most of Port Colborne is sitting in a bar in Buffalo' called Danny Zack's. Everybody that lives within 60 miles of the U.S. border has a favorite "over the river" haunt. I've been frequenting Danny Zack's now for about a year and I've yet to meet an American in that bar. And, the only Canadians I've ever met were from Port , Colborne or Wainfleet, Port's pantry if you will. For revenue purposes, I think our mayor would be wise to twin the town of Wainfleet with this bar in Buffalo and in- sist that Danny send equal numbers of Americans over here to spend money. Canadians know a good thing when it hits them right between the eyes and Danny Zack's is a good thing. The wings are the best in Buffalo, and a glass of draft beer costs you 50 cents. They .take Canadian money at par at the bar. On "Monday Night Football" evenings, they feature drink specials, 10 cent wings and they give away plates of pasta fazul. On certain nights you can buy two Labatt's Blue for $1.50 (Cdn.). Now, that's our beer, that we can buy in our Brewer's. Retail stores for $19.00 a case or roughly two for $1.60. Now that's what I call free ,jade — Canadians going to an American bar to buy Canadian beer at a better price than they can get it at their own-, government'outlet. If Mulroney had'Dari- ny Zack instead of Simon Reisman . negotiating the trade deal for us, we'd own the Statue of Liberty by now. Never mind shingles and shakes, I want to know how we can import Canadian beer from , America. At Danny Zack's, they have depart- ment heads running the place. "The Wing 'lady" makes the chicken wings, "The Clam Man" prepares only clams and "The Rib Man" barbeques the ribs. Because of a grease fire in the kitchen, "The Rib Man" was temporarily out of business last month. It's usually bad for business when the cook comes out of the kitchen slightly charred but juicy on the inside yet at Danny Zack's rib sales haven't fallen off at all. Danny Zack's has that unique Buffalo ambience that river -hopping Canadians have come to love and admire. It's a "dive"; at best, a "joint". It has all the amenities a Buffalo bar requires to be a hit: tables, chairs, a bar and a colored TV and jukebox that go full blast at the same time. The decor is early American garage sale and topics of conversation rise no higher than Jesse Barfield's bat- ting average or Phil Collins' vocal chords. It's a perfect place to lose four hours of your life at the end of a real hard day. - was shortened to four months when he received a call'to minister in Auburn. Pastor Carne's versatility also includes "enough knowledge to be dangerous" in the fields of auto mechanics, electrical wiring and general construction, particularly in the area of cement work and block -laying which he learned as a teenager from one of his former pastors. He has also helped to build a church in Haiti and has made three trips to Brooklyn, New York, to help reconstruct a - century -old church. It was after his experience in Haiti -where it became apparent that if a missionary could not do everything he could do hardly anything - that he enrolled in night school and took four years of auto mechanics and a year each of electrical wiring and cabinet- making. When he pastored in the economically 'depressed east end of Hamilton, it was not uncommon for him to start on his pastoral calling rounds with his tools and coveralls in the car and to come home with grease under his fingernails from having fixed someone's car or washing machine. Since he considers such service as being "part of the ministry", he does not charge for his labors. When he does accept renumeration, as in the case of his current truck -driving employment, lie directs the money into ministry -related fields. Since coming to, the rural church at Auburn he has discovered that his early ex- perience on an uncle's farm near Wingham has stood him in good stead and he is becom- ing familiar again with ploughing, haying and manure -spreading in his efforts to "become all things to all men." One day, his wife quipped that, while other preachers were out spreading the Word, "you're just out In addition to his prodigi'bus ministerial efforts, the Apostle Paul labored at tent - making in order to further the gospel. Pastor Carne believes in getting his hands dirty as well so that he might "by all possi- ble means save some." In short, it's everything a Canadian wants but can't have — a nice little neighbourhood bar. And there really is a person called Danny Zack. You'll know Danny Zack when you see him because when he's in there he's usually buying drinks for his customers and he's square. Really, at about 5'6" by 5'6" he's the only guy I know who buys his clothes by the mill yard. He's one of the few people I know who would look good wearing a fridge. When you look up the word "fat" in the dictionary, Danny has a two -column display a I for his bar on• the opposite page. If I were the Minister of Tourism for Canada, I'd hire Danny as a consultant. The tourist ads we air in the States make us all look like moose hunters or Moun- ties and with the money they cost we could probably buy Vermont. Once we do attract Americans up here, we clip them for four dollar drinks and a hundred -and - twenty -dollar hotel rooms in Toronto and give them 10 or 15 per cent on their cur- rency at souvenir shops on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls. What we really need is a new policy of tourism based on the Danny Zack Pleasure Principle; show the people a nice time at a fair price and you'll have to close the Peace Bridge to keep them away. This past year will be a booming year for American tourists coming to Canada and we ought to send Libya's Moammar Gadhafi a commemorative plaque for single-handedly saving our tourist business with his European campaign of terror. Next year, all pumped up and slapping themselves on the back, our tourist operators will raise their prices, put the clip'em-while-we're-hot principle in place and wonder "where have all the Turn to page 6