HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal Star, 1976-02-19, Page 12,ODERfCH$IQNf�f "ST'Alt,Tf-URSDA:Y,•FEBRU RY 19, 19,717
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The .-Ontario gijvernrnent-appears*. to
be dead serious :about its Energy
Management Program, and, some of
the things .being done are downright
UTteresting. They m'•ight also`be helpful
to local .people in.avariety of ,ways.'
In January, °a release from Data
Gneral (Canada) Ltd, reported that
data, processing. equipment was
monitoring energy consumptionin two
schools in Cambridge, to demonstrate
•wa.ys of minimizing, energy -con-
sumption in, schools. The monitcfl>t~ g
°program in the two schools is costing
the Mttnistr.y csf Education $90,000 but
th'e testing will be carried on for four
years:"__ : • : '
Preliminary results are in already.
According to 'Education Minister
Thomas Wells, consumption of fuel oil
has dropped dramatically at Ryerson
Public . School. which was reinsulated
last fall, along with having its windows
doubleglazed. The other,school in the
attt dy,, Alison. P9rk 'Junior. Public
.School, had no work done on it. Both
schools.were of similar size and con-
:struct•ion, with :similar : mechanical
systems. ,Both were built in 1967.. '
'A pleasant sideeffect. h.as,been noted
as, well:,R;yerson school: is more
comfortable-fhan Alison, much to the
delight of staff and students: Th'is•may.
'contribute to the,rate of absenteeism. at.
Ryerson. .The study .w.il'I reveal that*
i.nformation,. too, since absenteeism at
.both schools will, be manito:red as part '
of the 'program: -
Mr;,' Wells 'said that When more•
complet" results areytabulated :this
spring" it. s iould':bs.•conclusive
fhe effectiveness .of inst)lating older
buildings' and irgluding . additional
insulatioh On new school, construction:
This same Data processing• equip-
ment is available free ofcharge to
industries ;:in` fhe province !through
Qntario's Energy Ma.nagernent
Program. A mini -bus gives on -the -spot•
• advice to industries about reducing•. -
operating costs through • efficien•t
utilization. of electricity,•gts'.and oil. A
mini computer in 'the bus analyzes
electrical o power consumption and :•,
.gives an .immediate read-out of dollar
savings that can be attained through
management.
The program is purely'voluntary. In
most. instances, it isthe company that'
call"s
a government field officefor an•
evaluation of its energy use.'
The government is :aiming for a. 10
percent reduction in ind,uStrial energy"
• consumption for the first year of •,the
pro1e.ct. If it can be accomplished,. it
Will not only save money for
everybody, it will seve valuable nergy
resources' for future generations., And
that's' a mighty important goal for any
government in these •troubled, times.
SJ K = •.
akeside per,
With restraint the key word in. the and improving the : prografris `.now
municipal budget this year.,ii.t:is- to be offered at. the beach and establishing
hoped' that the harbor and fiinance new ones. �+
committees can find the money :to Last summer with the Lion
s Aqua
lease the baa;h property now vacatedCarnival,. there was evidence that well
by Imperial Oil, For the sum of 51,200 planned well co-ordinated beach
per annum and taxes, a great deal of. programs can be .an. attraction for
additional park and recreational .space young and. old. Following a successful
.could. be' made'` availablej.,.God.erich •• par.ks._,progta.m-._Iast year,people
•are
citizens and visitors. in a prime
rej'axation area.
—It would be useless, however, to lease
• the piaoperty. without first preparing..
some plari•for utilizing the premises
this year. This matter might best be
discussed by the Parks Committee, the
•Recration and Community Centre
'Board. • and . the Goderich Tourist
Commission, with. an' eye .to expanding
more award of the benefit of'green
areas for all sorts of uses by a1Tsorts of
• folks.
Let's give some real thought to the
value of this piece of real estate now up ...
for Lease: Wirth .the. 1977 founding an- •'
niversary looming, some real and
° exciting ideas could evolve to .make
this spot the lakeside oasis the envy of..
everyone.=SJ K .
What is love?
Love' defies definition: There are
•things that cannot be defined but which
areperceived 'and understood- by the
heart. '
It is not always easy to express our
a, love to someone.; our tongue is tied and
our, throat is all choked up! Why?
I-ecause rove. is felt but 'not spoken:
In other words, it is often 1by ten,
d'ernes's alone that .love is -manifested.
•
Tenderness is atthe•centre of love, just •
as poetry is found in the interior. of
things.
Put two ounces of tenderness into.
your relationships with others and. you.
will see that you do ,not' need to know
the definition of love nor to have a rich
vocabulary in Order to make _others
reajize melt you• dit� at �nnli,y• dUuul
them and that you rove them.
' What Modern . man suffers most
today.'is coldness and dryne'ss..Noise
and alcohol, gifts and „parties will •
never warm fhe heart :of a man if.•
kindness and :tenderness -are lacking.
We often rightly say 'that we must:
• take time out in order. to live and not let
ourselves be victims of situations. It is •
no less.true to say •that we. must :also
take ti -me .out to love and prove it by
our ac --Pions. ,What is the definition of
Love? Don't look for it in books!. .
Rather, look for•it in. the everyday 'acts
of life! Build it yourself with the events
that happen and people you meet!.And
if you need a special time try:it during
Brotherhood Week,' February 22 29. •
pini t nu n10111dnlllltnllllhlllllg111,
`Hari ey, dear -- did von know that this is Bitotherhood A k �1 ht'11 111(1: ail* f'Oi� more
forgil'Niiess, lillderstand•i11 . .
Recent. uproarat theHuron
.County .Board of Education
'meeting over _s'taternent's
attributed t Ji '.P
b ed o Jim. eters
Goderich Town Councillor, '
have:Stimulated thought once
agajn .cancer"ning the system
, of education in• Ontario •
I recall 'the late 1950s and
the early 1960s when rrty.own
children were very.young and
I was becoming interested in
education all over again..I
was.•. o .:longer, .the 'student.
Now was a taxpayer' and a
parent. ° .
Our eldest 'son started to
school^•in a one -room country
class in Stephen Township AT
thait time, the school was still _
self-governing school.
section. We' had our,own .
'board of three or fouin-
tereste•d parents. We- hired.
our own teacher and we made
our own decisionkabout most •
matters affecting our •own
children:s education:
But something was lacking.
Sone . of my nieces' and
nephews who . were .'being.
educated in city schools were
getting much, much more in.,
the way of enrichment. Our
son wasgetting g tt ng the basics ... .
and to this day' I'm convinced
he got 'the basics in.. those
early grades without all the
modern frills. But he wasn:t .
getting the exposure'. to .,
libraries and art and music_
and athletics that I felt were '
necessary to make. him a t
well-rounded student. •
Our 'school section had
fought for• years to maintain s
autonomy. • But around e
about 1961 or 1962, the pushn
was on for our school section i
to join the area school
system..:and to phase out the
one -room schools" in the
township and .transport the w
children to a beautiful new t
central school. t
The idea appealed to w
me .... but not to, my husband '' t
and not to.,riaany, many b
other . parents in the . school •b
section. But, ':as we've "ex-, W
perieneed :so many times • t
since then, the government
decision was made. If the'
people in- the- school section 0
wouldn't join willingly; they n
would be nudged into •it by "D
inancial pressure..Yes,- the 0
ize'of grants to single school t
ections made ,it. near im- y
possible 'to keep the school a
going. There was little else to d
do hut accept the change : , ,
and hope for the best.
+++ .th
a' few :miles of every tax-
payer',.and usually .you could
say you • knew• many of'theni
ersonall asfrien
s or even
personallyt1
I
ne hbers. t still. •
lg s 1 made • it
possible to have 'your say
when.., there' ' was ' a
problem...and to feel that
though you were a' part of
making the decisions which
affected your children - and
their education. ' • '•
The • quality ,of education
had . improved . immensely
from the. ,p•n.e-room school to
'the central :.school.. Again, it
wasn't that -more of thebasics
were being taught better.^No,
it was simply that there was
more time and opportunity
for the extras -'Like sports and.
music: and art and student
,overnment - which helped -to
produce a more balanced and
mature student,
• ••• A +++ •
* I .was working as a reporter
at that time, too.'" 'remember
covering board meetings and
I •.recall being, ;absolutely
engrt�•Ssed in almost all of the
•busines's..Wh'y? Because 100
percent.' of • it pertained
directly to.our readers.
' ^I can recall we wrote reams
and reams of copy 'about
beard decisions. •
• And the readers, lapped it:
up. They liked to know all the
background. about the
building . program in their
area ... and what Charlie -had
o say • about hew football
equipment at the sch;Jol..,and
what the principal of the high
chool thought about sex.
ducation. ,,That was local
ews...and readers were
nformed...:IF they weren't, it,
was their own fault.
Oh certainly . hoard
members got upset.. There
as the usual hassle about
he • press, rnis%uoting and
eking out of context;there
ere the attempts to sweep
his 'under •the rug, not'
ecause they were -wrong but
ecause it :say.ed haggling
ith the reporters and 'the'
axpayers• about' something
v;
decision
to be done anyway:
And •1 ' can' renidmber.
overing• one • of the last
leetings of the.South H.urpn
istrict High. School _Boar.d.
ne of the members turned to
he press and said, "What are
au people •going to . write
bout` when this • board -is
issolved?"•
+++.
1 started tight in covering
e new Huton'County Board
f Education. It was a whole
ew ballgame.'
f ca>;i`reirierhher,at the'very
rst meeting' I attended, one
the` -view trustees said,
What's the. press .doing
ere?" Maybe that pertion '
h •come from an area where,
rens coverage of the local
oarcl hadn't . happened.
aybe it was .just ignoran-.
...maybe it was innocence.
of it was to he anomenof
kings to come.
I• covered Huron County.
(mrd of Education meetings
rough two chairmen-,JoJin
ivis and Bob Elliott,
T.
A
eiobert.tfj .�:.
SIGNAL -STAR
—C]- The County Town Newspaper of Huron. -.0-
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rounde'dan 1848 and published every'Thursday at (ioderich, Ontario. Member of the CW',A and
OWSA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable in advance fi1.00 in Canada. 1{12.50
in all countries other. than Canada. single copies 25 cents. Display advertising rates available on
request. Please ask tot Rate Card tio, 6 effective Oct. 1, 1975.'Seeond class maiiRegistration
Number.0716: Advertising -is accepted on'the condition that, In the .event iif typographieai-error;
the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable. allowance for
signature, will not be charged for but the balance of the advertisement will he paid for at the
Applicable, rate, in the event of a 'typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong
price, goods nr service may not be sold, Advertising Is merely an offer to sell, and may be, with-
drawn 01 any Wile. The Signal -Star is not responsihi'e for the loss or damage of unsolicited
manuscripts or photos,
Piiblished' by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. '
RO R1'_G. :LiRLER-:president and pub.li.sher_..
SHIRLEY J. KELLER-editor .
.JEFF SEDDON•--eeditoria•I staff
••DAVE $YKES-editorial. staff
EDWARD•J. B' RSKI-advertising manager
Bu$ih ss and Editorial Office
TELEPHONE 524 8331.. °.
• ,antic `code 519
Mailing Address:
Goderich
f3ilcond claat mal) ,rooisirat'lon number -0716
f
s
s
I forget now exactly when • o
Stephen .Central School was n
built and.:opened, btitboth ant-
two
ur
two older children were fi
enrolled there. And I can of
honestly say, . tla.t ,I was "
satisfied with the-systeni as' h
well .l s the quality of
;education•at that time. Some p
parents- were still miffedA.°. h
• about closing the ono -room, M
se-heo1...ltllt for the most part,' ce
the parents I knew were B
pleased with the new sohool: • t
The area hoard was a little
farther removed than 'the li
preyious section board, but th
all the members were- within. >l.i
' ••4a
suppose that going from a
Local ar.eaboard-to �--count
`board, I. thought these two
f
allows' --were pretty tight-
lipped 'an'd
cautions.
pp s In
--retrospect., .. I now see :they
were : both. c'ouragenus--antd
open-minded chairmen. Good
men; both of them.,'
• I remember. that this
newspaper took a couple of
- nasty swipes at Bob Eiliott•at
the end of his term of office.
• I've ,lived to regret .' that
Mightily...and .realize:I was
too quick to criticise and_too
slow. to praise.'
Fortunately. for • all, 'Bob
Elliott is a big rnan in lots of
ways...and when many others
41idn't understand what it was
I was trying to say and to -.d ,
Bob did. And even though °I!e
didn't agree: with what had
been said .and do..ne, • he
straightened himself to his
• full height and grinned `that.
friendly grin and said; "You
could have been kinder. You
sure hit a 'fella _where, it
hurts:
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1 'quit covering .hoard • of
. education. at that.point. I was
getting too 'cynical for
everyone's good. •
But I maintained' an in-
terest in .the ,,board ` of
education... partly becaus.e I.
have children in the school
system and ,partly because
. I''om a taxpayer who is
pumping,.a fair share of
money into •the system = but
mostly because; •.as editor of
the paper, itis'my job to keep,
an eye on board affairs. ' ,
From time to. time
' editorials were written:
Those that praised the board`
brought. no comment at all:
those that criticised became:.
an incident. Once in a while, I
was contacted personally by
board officials about things
which appeared in the Signal-.
Star.. '
Oddly enough, some board
members were delighted by.
the Criticism levied against
the board. When there was no .
criticism; some board
inenrbers.were angry. I can
recall .being flagged down one'
night at a public meeting not
'involving hoard of education,
and being told by on.e hoard
member that it appeared. the
chairman : of the board
'�(Cayley. Hill at that -time) had
found a. way to ' quiet' the
Signal -Star. •
It `was an untrue, silly in-'
sinuatien,-but that's when it
•
about board .. activlti.e,
Y 'especially those involving
finances,
The words were hard) out
Y
D' P
of r. eters' mouth, and the
board . of', education ;'`had
reacted o, . : They 'were
miffed, of course. The. feeling
of• the board was ,that the
people -in the county .ARE
INDEED well informed.
+++
A week or: se ago; I. had a•
.friendly . call•from' Mrs.
Dorothy Wallace, one df
Goderich's representatives to
• the board. of education She
wanted to draw •my attention-
•• to the Director's Monthly
Memo Which `goes oat to all
board members, all'staff.end
all representatives of the
news media.
Mrs. Wallace said she'd
,just read her.copy and had
thought she, would call the
Signal -Star to encourage
them to publish those parts of
"`the memo in which Goderich
--residents would, be interested..
I responded -by telling Mrs.
Wallace that. I'.h'ad looked
over the " memo, and had
found nothing pertaining to
• the readers of the Signal -Star.
Mrs. Wallace said -this
might be true, but she:urged
• me to keep an eye on future
editions: I promised I would.
The January issue is in'. It is
dated February 9... and Since.
there is'a minor dispute about
the coverage in the Signal -
Star, I=d• like to. outline to the-'
readers exactly what is in the ,
report -this month. No doubt
you'll be -fascinated.
First of- all, -'-there'-s'•. -a'
. paragraph explaining that
there's been.lots of white stuff
in the snbwbelt and `some
hoard mernbers hada hard
time getting to the meeting
"last month. • -
Then there's a list of four
items of business to which:the
hoard attended at the
. meeting. 1 quote:- . ' .
"In regular .session the
Board: •
a.. ,app'royoti the working
drawings of the.Exeter Public
School:
h.. confirmed' Don Tremeer
as the acting• principal of the
Blyth. Public School during.
the il•lness of. Margaret
Michie;
c..approved the.reten'tion of
the `present policy relating to
the age required. ,for ad-
mission twKindergarten, and
•d.• au'thorized'the Director.
to accept r� : school year
Calendars •the balance of
the year from • those• schools •
most affected by the storm."
The next section was about-
the annual Red and Black
•Irf•y;a,tantional Wrestling
Tournament: ' held Friday,„
December 1.2 (doesn't' say
where but I think' Red 'and
Black are •Exeter • colors)..
There were nine teams.
Cod'erich was one. The event
•startedat 1 p.nl. and went to
6:30 p,rn. The finals started at
and continued until 10
p.m. There were 200 matches.
The new wrestling surface
• • (continued on page.5)
became abundantly clear to
me that the hoard of
education' in Huron was
divided in -a very unhealthy
way. I stepped up dire' watch
...;(to determine exactly what
wasgoing on...then even-
tually dropped it because I
was getting absolutely
nowhere. '
'Now Councillor .Peters
suggests that the local paper
(and I suppose he means the
Signal -Star although •Dr,.
Peters may f -subscribe to
otherweeklies as well) isn't
keeping the people informed
m
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O[AiF�IT�i
evei11e
pear E.ditor,
The. Royal. Canadian Legion
unnecessarily followed the
TDepa ent '4161—National al
Defel<Yger, somer�time Ago• in.
substltu'ting for the bugle call
,Reveil`le;a short and ugly one
palled 'the Rouse, and that is
what •is • ground out at
_Remernbrance;Day services,'
Canadians . who "visit, the•
British. Isles or Com- •
monwealth countries;will still
hear Reveille; not only at:
army stations hut. • at
Remembrance Dayservices.
L checked through, theLopdon
bureau of Canadian. Press,
and received the information
that "the British Army still
sounds the old traditional
ReVeille." •
W.E. Elliott
Are. open• -'let ter
to CCC
Gentlemen:.
In "a recent press release,
the Ontario Association for
the Mentally Retarded is
quoted as saying.that they do ..
not want, or do not need, a
Resource Centre located near
Goderich. The saute feelings
were expressed at 'a meeting
of the London Area Regional
Council held in Goderich on-
Saturday, Feb. 1.4th. This
Council is composed of the
local Association Presidents
in Huron, . Perth, . Elgin,
Larrlbton and Middlesex
Countie•s•,-two members of the
Working Group of.OAMR; in
dLondon, plus.a representative
of.OAMRin'Tor:onto.
The meeting:went;on record •
as -saying that they are
strongly opposed to the
closing:..of. the Goderich .
Psychiatric Hospital,.and feel'
that .it.would be,a gross error '
•on•'the part of .the Ontario
Ministry of Health. •
Further, at a meeting,of the
Board of Directors of the
Goderich and ' •.District •
Association for the Mentally.
Retarded' held on:' Sunday,
• Feb. ° 15th the.: said' -Baer('
• passed a nibtion'r:agr•eeing
with the press statement
released by. the Ontario
Association..•
Although our first and only
duty:, is to the. retarded and
physically handicapped per-
sons in our ' area, we; the
Board :of Directors,: feel that.
with the 'lowering of° the
drinking age, and the access
to drugs,' and the many other
problems'that }ave.increased
in this Modern age,
eliminating the services
o 'fered by the GPH would
setiously `deter: the help and
counselling which aids in the
curly cure 'of 'many of these
disturbed young people.
Our Association was
originally formed . arid in-
corporated to tend to the
wants and' . needs_ of. dein
•
stitutionalized retardedand
handicapped persons •in this
area. If the facility is turned
into a Resource Centre for the.
;Retarded, we will. in no way
he involved` or associated
with such a venture:
• We respectfully 'request
'your.. attention to the above
information duly submitted.
Yours truly,,
William M. Cameron
President,
Goderich and District
• Assoc: for the
Mentally Retarded..
Trees again
Dear Editor:
I am considerably annoyed.
-Ordinarily, it would be'w,iser
to •sitnmerr down before one
commences, to speak,; but in
this case it concerns a matter
of such unnecessarily.
frustrating and` unproductive
repetition that I do not •see'
any benefit in turning yet
another cheek. Nor do I se'e a -
betterway of getting -my
message across,clearly and
with no doubt left aboutwhat
was said.
As far as thetre'e aspect of
pur,parks and boulevards is
concerned, a deliberate and.
rather' immature' working on
cross-purpose seems to
surface periodically.
Please note -that if any of
youis told that dead trees and
branches are not cut because
.Councillor Haydon, Par.ks'.
Chairman, prevents it, this is ~
•
most • assuredly not only
completely untrue„ but it is
also incredibly silly nonsense.
Leaving for the moment
aside thevery small number
(continued on page ,5)
.. �...,
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