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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-09-15, Page 7ykes The resounding crack of the bat could be heard gut on the street above the din of the crowd that hastily shuffled through the gates and the cries of youngsters in oversized jackets and hats yelling, "Programs, get your programs for only a dollar." I could hardly contain myself. My first major league baseball game. The Toronto Blue Jays played -the- Bos'<on-Red-Sox, a team of powerful men who wielded bats with graceful ease and fielded balls off the slick artificial surface with professional flair. The Blue Jays' flashes of brilliance were eclipsed by their ineptness and the SOx powered their way -to an 11 - 2 win. But it really didn't matter. In fact my memory ,is hard pressed to, recall the score. 1 Men with baseball caps, the peaks pulled low over their eyes, frantically int of ite a riciha -that ng se d city which 'Ctticl And ten opt ial or at a es m 'ood 'd that is in! 53,8 wh ;'0,0 is oil 14,561 ,154 one e sam id 39'. Inc per c ger re feeling the crunch across ince as declining school have left many of' them d students are even being cd from - entering the s of schools across the reported a decrease in this year and, schools in ntyfollowed suit. Public School reported an of 416, a drastic reduction ast year hut most of the drtop to the transfer of Vanastra W HERE students to the new school there. The enrolment at the Vanastra was 135 on opening day but principal John Ross said the number could go up once the initial confusion is sorted out. The rural schools in the Clinton area suffered the most as Huron Centennial School in Brucefield was down to an . enrolment of 520 students from 550 last year. Hullett Central Public School in Londesboro dropped 17 students to an enrolment of. .305 while Hoimesville 'Public School dropped only 10 students to 300 this year. wrote: the starting liteu0 in their programs, -recording every hit and freckle -faced kids cheered en- thuslastically for their favorite players, calling them by name. It rekindled the dreams of youth. Days when every spare moment was spent in backyards and school grounds playing baseball with, a zeal and desire of playingin-the_major--Ieaguome day. 1t°seemed natural. Every kid held that secret ambition to be a professional ballplayer. And every week an entire allowance was spent on baseball cards, guarded and cherished as a prize of youth, and later stored in old shoe boxes that were eventually thrown out. They were days when baseball con- sumed every hope and players names were as familiar as the worn leather of a baseball glove shaped just the way you wanted it. • 't'''` GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,1977 +1 AG; There was no live baseball 'then. Television provided the only exposure.to our heroes and feigning sickness to stay home from school and watch a World Series game on a cool autumn afternoon - was a necessity. But the names were different then although very familiar. A basket catch by Willie Mays, a Sandy Koufa x fastbaalt a Mickey Mantle home run or Jimmy Piersall crashing into the centre field wall. Men to be idolized, You knew their every move. But now that seems to be, gone. I have to check the program for names and positions. Everything has changed. And I wonder how many kids watching that ball game know all those players as I once did and live in a dream world of baseball. Are the days gone when youngsters gather at the school ground to play baseball adopted_, the name Not, . his - favorite player and emulated his every move? Maybe we were different and I have a nagging suspicion that pictures and articles of Willie Mays that decorated mybedroom wall have given way to Charlie's Angels and the Bay City Rollers. Baseball will prevail. It is a game of trail Won to al—and—even--vi th unreasonable salary demands, there are still men who will stop to •sign an autograph for wide-eyed youngsters and are still worthy of adulation. Perhaps not every youngster -has the dreams that seemed to -be inherent in my generation but somewhere there must be kids who are practicing their slide into second base or breaking in that new glove and dreaming of the big leagues. Only fragments of those memories remain but they are cherished. Oh to be a boy of summer again with those lofty dreams. EI AFTER INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND. OPINION IN HURON Some schools showed slight increases this year including St. Joseph's Separate School in Clinton which gained 12 students and the Clinton and District Christian School increased to 215 pupils from 198 last year due to a new kin- dergarten class. Attendance at Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton .remained the same as last year. rIn Goderich, elementary school enrolment dropped considerably while Goderich and District Collegiate Institute attendance reached its highest numbers in years. GI)CI enrolment now stands at 1,015 but that figure may drop within the first few days as students simply keep jobs they held during the summer months. Last year at the end of September the enrolment at GDCI was 962. The major contributing factor for the increase in enrolment is the large number of students in Grade 9 at the schoui as 267 registered on opening day, Grade 13 enrolment is also up with 88 students working towards their diplomas. Enrolment is down slightlyat Victoria Public School , and Robertson School principal Ralph Smith also reported a slight decrease in the student population there. Enrolment has also dropped at St. Mary's School in Goderich and St. Joseph's School in Kingsbridg., t' r stable according to an evaluation report released by the ministry of education last week. Jay Locketrhie,. project cu -ordinator for the Ministry of Education, told the county board that the education. system is"basicallysound but still needs some Colborne Central Public School has an people to offer guidar,ce for •teachers to enrolment of 256 down slightly from last help reap as much benefit from the year when the enrolment reached 263. system as possible. Brookside Public School was forced to Lockerbie stated that thi' general drop one member of its teaching staff as climate in the education syste•m was enrolment there dropped from 380 to 356. good and there were many strengths in - While enrolments are down the quality 414e -system but he also added there were of education Lit Huron County remains many areas for improvement. of y it of Ind ant mill g ro ,B Inc pr six in le •ated 5e m speed 60 kilometers you'don't have a converter on peedometer then by the time e•that one out the speed limit ed to 70 kilometers per hour. e time 'you calculate that it ed again to 80 kilometers per ell with it. But it sure will pay his thing straightened out peeding fines in the metric ave been revised and drivers t to pay more _for their faux es for speeding summonses PROVINCIAL POINTS pert settled out of court have been revised and drivers can expect to pay 60 per cent more than they have in the past for going a few notches over the speed limit. But there are some benefits to the new system as well and drivers caught going over the speed limit by 20 miles per hour will pay less than they would have in the past for going a few notches over the speed limit, But there are some benefits to the newt system as well and drivers caught going over the speed limit by 2'0 miles per hour will pay less than they would have done last week, Anyone who gets ''cult ysef veil 0 ite ns and particularly the world look forward to the of a new federal budget as mister 'Trudeau prepares to ccessor to Donald Macdonald, fled as finance minister last ald resigned as finance personal and family reasons osition members made ac - that he presided over a eterioration in the Canadian Id has denied that his n was sparked by policy dif- with other members of the e said that family and per - ons were the only reasons for caught for travelling in excess of 30 miles an hour over the speed limit will be able to settle .out of court under the metric system, Guidelines set .by the provincial government for policemen igSuing speeding tickets stipulate the amount of fines for motorists willing to settle out of court. The' rule used to be $1 for each mile per hour over the limit up to 10 miles per hour over the limit, $2 for each mile up to 19 m.p.h and $3 up to 29 m.p.h. The driver clocked at 70 m.p.h. in a 60 m.p.h zone would pay $10 plus a basic processing charge of $3. Under the metric system 'which officially took 011 effect on September 1 on the highways, the out of court fines are $1 for each kilometre -per -hour over the limit up to km -h, $1.50 up to 39 km -h and $2.25 up to 39 km -h. The processing cost remains $3, A driver who exceeds the limit today by the metric equivalent of 10 miles per hour (16 km -h) will pay a fine of $16, a 60 per cent increase. But if you are caught doing 32 km -h (20 mph) over the limit it will cost $48 or $12 less than would have been paid in the.old days. A court appearance used to be com- pulsory for speeds 30 or more over the limit. Now out of court settlements are possible up to 60 km,h or 37 mph. The CANADA IN SEVEN his decision but he refused to elaborate. considering or negotiating for a new job. Macdonald was expected to stay on as While the business and investment finance minister until the end of this community was somewhat apprehensive week when Prime Minister Trudeau was over Macdonald's appointment as to have chosen a successor to the port-: finance minister two years ago as a folio. He will remain as a member of successor to John Turner it has parliament for the riding of Rosedale in gradually come to respect and trust him. Toronto until the next general election,.,+' During his two years as finance unless an opportunity comes up that,' minister the:economy in Canada has would he attractive enough to cause hiniy remained relatively weak. The gross to resign sooner. He is not sure what type national product declined and the in- of work might attract him or .if he will Elation and unemployment rates rose return to a Toronto law firm where he drastically within the last year. The practiced before entering politics in unemployment rate rose to 8.1 per cent 1962. compared to 7 per cent when he took He said the conflict of interest over the portfolio in September 1975. guidelines affecting Cabinet ministers However Macdonald was instrumental has prevented him until now from in bringing the inflation rate down ti somewhat over that two year period. It was running at around 11 per cent an- nually in September 1975 and it dropped to 5.6 per cent last November before decelerating again to 8.4 per cent in July. When he was asked about Canada's sinking economy Macdonald replied that Canada's economy has more buoyancy than most people see in it. But he did warn Canadians that economic conditions will be difficult in Canada and for people in other industrial countries for many months to come. While some improvements in our economic policy can be made he maintained that the scope in which the Government can make changes is probably very limited. change was approved by, cabinet through an order -in -council and went into effect last week. But then again a driver always retains the option to go to court where the amount of the fine is left up to the discretion of the judge. It niay prove worthwhile to leave well enough alone. The increase came as a surprise to both the provincial solicitor -general and the attorney -general. Attorney general Roy McMurtry, in charge of Ontarinn courts and any changes in the Ontario Highway Traffic Macdonald said he would have in- troduced tax cuts this fall by am - mending the income tax hill before Parliament if he had stayed on as minister. The tax hill reflects changes announced in his March budget. Since a new minister will he in charge the government may introduce a new budget this fall. The Canadian Labor Congress's rejection of •the Government's plan for voluntary wage and price controls will probably mean that controls will remain for some time. Macdonald said that the CLC stand is not in the interest of Canadian wage earners because wage Act, said that to date the courts hove not been advised of any changes in the system . When Solicitor -General .1 ohn MacBeth was advisee of the changes in the fine system he said that he should have known ahout it hut honestly knew nothing''hout it The changes will take some getting used to for both the motorist and the policematn but most cars huiltafter 1974' also gauge mileage in kilometres and - there is a product available to stick to the speedometre that will indicate the speed in kilometres. • restraint is necessary to improve Canada's traffe corn potiveness on the world market. 1n March Macdonald announced a 86.4 .hill ion cash deficit for the Gni ernnient in the current fiscal year and indicated it would be difficult to go higher w ithottt stimulating inflation. Thi're is now. .t risk that revenue will he lower this- year than anticipated and the cash deficit could he higher even without new Government spending or additional tax cuts. Most opposition mem hers were critical of the job Macdonald did with the economy claiming it is in worse shape now than when tie took over. his ro it Vt 4 and the United States reached ent on a northern gas pipeline week thatis the largest un - of its kind in the world. ed States could end up paying cost of part of the line in the north under the agreement. lust one of the conditions in - he agreement between the two setting the terms for the n of a $10 billion overland move Alaskan natural gas to • dian governemnt agreed in s to drop suggestions of a WORLDWEEK change in the route of the main pipeline' to pass near Dawson, making it easier to build a spur line into the Northwest Territories if one is needed inthe 1980's. But in return the negotiators said the U.S. should pay part of the cost of ad- ditional miles of spur line that would he needed as a result between Dawson and Whitehorse. The Canadian Government will consider construction of the spur line for sometime in the mid to late 1980's when. it may be needed to meet the domestic demand for natural gas. The U.S. gave the lack, of decision on the spur line as one of its reasons for opposing the diversion of the main line to Dawson. 11 said the connection into the Northwest Territorires migfit never he built meaning the U.S. would foot the hill for the highter cost of a re-routed line. The agreement will he formally signed this week with Schlesinger coming to Ottawa for the occasion. Carter and Trudeau, who met privately last week. cited good neighbourliness whri' enabled the countries to co-operate 71n the project, the largest single privately - financed energy project in history. The agreement also requires ratification by the U.S. Congress and Canadian Parliament but no major obstacle is foreseen. Trudeau told reporters that Canada, which Carter characterized as a tough negotiator, approached the pipeline talks in the spirtit of mutual concern which was established when he and Carter met for the first time in Fchrieary. He added that the two leaders only had to intervene personally once to keep the negotiations moving along. The Prime Minister said Canada will proceed with the project determined to ensure the environment is protected and the interests of the native people will he guarded in every way. The leaders' joint statement estintated U.S. consumers will save about $6 billion in gas costs with the southern Yukon line, compared with costs of the 'All- AmericanRl Paso proposal, under which gas would be liquified in southern Alaska for shipment by tanker to west coast U.S. ports, But in last week talks the pipeline was not. the major topic of concern. The three major issues were foreign relations in the Western Hemisphere, the question of nuclear proliferation ano safeguards and the Rhodesian situation Western relations was an obvious topic following the signing of a new Panama 'Canal treaty in which the United States will give up control of the waterway by the year 2,000 and return that control to the Panamanians. There was also some speculation that ,Trudeau invited Carter to Canada for his first visit but no firm plans were an- nounced. During his February visit, Trudeau had asked Carter to visit Canada. r ,