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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-09-07, Page 4P4WIE .— GODERICH SIRNAL$'AR, THURSDM,Y, SEPTEMBER 9;.1978 (GA Goderich SIGNAL—STAR The County Town Newspaper of Huron rounded In Itis and published every 9haraday et Dederick Ontario. Maarber of the COD and OWWNA. Advertising rates on request. Sobecriptlons payable In adwnc •9$.S 1n Canada. •11.M to U.S.A.. `OAR to all other countrlw. single copies ae opap. Display edam'. eking rates available on request. Please ask for Rate Card tb.IS affective Oct. 1. 1111. Second doss mall Registration Number elle. Misstating Isaowptedian tba;asadHloa that. In the event of typbgraphlwl error, the advertising span ocrosp19d by floe artoawaus Ham. together with reasonable allowance for signature. will sot bechargedfor hut thebols tc. of the advertisement will be paid for et the applinble late. 1111 tiro avawt e1 a typographical error advertising goods or: renins ata wrong prka, goods at servla• MAY not be sold. Advertising is merely an rifler to sell. and may be withdrawn at ear thee. she Signal -Star Is not responsible for the loss or damage of unselldted wpmwcrIpla er plwtoa. Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524-8331 area code 519 Published by Signal -Star' Publishing. Ltd. ROBERT G. SHRIER — president and publisher SHIRLEY J. KELLER — editor EDWARD J. BYRSKI — advertising manager Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 220, Industrial Park, Goderich Second class mail registration number =0716 7:: :TA 17aP PrOaCh It was interesting to note from a readership survey conducted throughout Signal -Star Publishing Limited's five newspapers that the people in and around Goderich wanted more police and court news. It was interesting because in communiti like Clinton and Kincardine where court news and police reports are carried on a regular/basis, the readers there wanted those items taken but of the paper. ut that reaction isn't surprising to people who ave been on staff at a weekly newspaper for any "length of time. People always think they want to / read about arrests and charges and court proceedings until that kind of reporting touches...-.. their own personal lives. When it is their own name in the paper, or the name of a son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother, it is an entirely different kettle of fish. Many, many people believe that putting a list of names in the paper with a resume of their crimes serves as a deterrent. But that isn't borne out by statistics, either. Newspapers who run police and court news don't find theirlists get any shorter' from week to week. And many editors will quickly admit that: many of the same names appear over and over and over again. The cruellest cut of all, though, is to be a law- abiding, upright, responsible citizen who has slipped and been subjected to the ruthless, in- sensitive routine of the local newspaper. Or to be a frustrated, frenzied father who must sit quietly by while the whole town reads about a son's waywardness and a father's inability to control. There's some question wh ther, he public really has a right to know whether John Doe's wife was picked up for shoplifting. What will be ac- complished by running Jane Doe's name through the local press anyway? Will it stop shoplifting? Will it alert other businessmen to Jane Doe's habit? Will it help Jane Doe? At last week's police commission meeting, members once again discussed the best way to inform the public about the work the town's men in blue are doing. While there was probably a dif- ference of opinion on the subject, it was conceded that the police chief's monthly report should be a little more explicit than at present. Now, the chief reports the number of infractions under the High- way Traffic Act, for instance. In the future, the chief will add information such as how many charges were laid, how many drivers were found guilty, what the fines were etc. No names. Just a complete picture of the ways in which the Goderich Municipal Police Force is at work in the com- munity. The Signal -Star welcomes this kind of police reporting and will be anxious to carry just that kind of information. Much of the sport of reading the names will be eliminated, but for those people who.. are truly interested in what the police are ac- complishing and how the courts are ruling on various matters, the information will be there. Watch for it. —SJK Inventory will show need Goderich Township council members were delighted not long ago to accept. a bequest from the estate of the late Mrs. Pearl Woon. The money, believed to be in the neighborhood of $70,000 to $100,000 will be used to build a community centre in memory of Mrs. Woon's late husband, John Woon, a long-time farmer in Goderich Township. First indications are that the community centre will be built in Holmesville within the -next two years. Planning is already . said to include an auditorhimand& gymrlasiumc but the residents of Goderich Township will be asked for their opinions about what the Centre should be before final specifications are drawn up. There's little doubt that the people of Goderich Township will be most appreciative of a community centre, but even more anxious to have their say about the .plans for the building. The Goderich Township recreation committee is one of the most energetic groups of its kind in Huron County and it is a foregone conclusion that such energy will be manifested in a keen interest in the kind of com- munity centre that goes up in the township. Many residents will want to ensure that existing facilities are not duplicated. It seems foolish to build another gymnasium in Holmesville, for in- stance if the gymnasium in Holmesville Central School is available for use and adequate for com- munity needs. Some taxpayers will have exciting ideas for the community centre, such as an indoor swimming pool or a concert hall perhaps. Others will probably feel that an indoor ice surface is a must for either hockey or skating or curling. Still more will opt for a large hall where convention -size groups can meet . or where very large wedding receptions pwill finally have a home. A handful of people may even want the money used for fitness apparatus or outdoor facilities like tennis courts and running tracks. There's no end to the ways in which the provision "communitycentre" can be fulfilled. It might be though, that Goderich Township should consider not only the immediate needs of its own residents, but the best way in which the John Woon Memorial Community Centre can serve the requirements of the whole district adjacent to Goderich Township. Deputy -reeve Grant Stirling who is also chair- man of the township's recreation committee, said the township doesn't want to build a "white elephant". There won't be any chance of that if an inventory of present facilities as well as an assessment of the area's most urgent requirements are taken into account during the planning stages. —SJK Sign up for course A recent announcement that the Goderich Rotary Club will be sponsoring a basic course on local government sounds like a fine idea, and should be on the agenda of many Huron County citizens this fall. - It is believed the Rotary Club will be planning their program along the lines of a similar program held in Stratford two years ago. That course ran once a week for six weeks and featured such topics as the history of -local government, the role of the province, how the municipal corporation operates, local boards and commissions, municipal finance, municipal assessment, parliamentary procedure in the council chambers and community planning. The Stratford conferences had two I-Iuron County speakers on its agenda, county clerk treasurer Bill Haply and Huron's director of planning, Gary Davidson. Both men are obviously held in high esteem in municipal circles and should probably be included in the Goderich Rotary Club's program this fall. • For anyone who is already a municipal cdun- cillor, for anyone aspiring to municipal office or for anyone who just wants to know more about the way in which local government is intended to work, this course should be high on the list of priorities fdr the next few months. Make plans now to be apart of it. - SJK Thepeidulurn swings It is to be hoped that many people will take ad - .vantage of the energy conservation tour which is being planned for this weekend. , If a regent readership survey in Goderich and area is any indicator at all, people are interested in con- servationand the tour should be well patroni-zed. Perhaps some readers read in last week's paper tWo stories about homes in the district where alternate lifestyle measures are already in use to conserve energy. Put in the context of today's modern all -electric, push-button, automatic ease, the alternate lifestyle methods seem almost ex- citing. But for those people wild lived their younger years With those- energy saving devices ... and many more, too ... it still isn't all that appealling. Still the old ways are getting more popular. Last week's paper also carried an -advertisement from The Pottery in Blyth where the virtues of The Tempwood were extrolled. Among other things the ad boasted, "Our stove, in which oldforld quality and craftsmanship are united with a modern air- tight downdraft principle, Will give you the right answer to soaring prices of other energy sources." Doesn't that sound like d sensible wayto'cope with inflation? The pendulum is swinging, backwards, folks. And just when people were getting used to central heating, indoor plumbing and electric tooth- brushes, too. - Last days of summer By Jim Hagarty BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER A long time ago when I was young, I wrote a column entitled From My Window. It was widely circulated to an all-time high of seven weekly newspapers throughout Ontario. When I first began to market it, it described myself as a female Bill Smiley, and I tried hard week after week to live up to that , image I had of me and my column. It wasn't always easy. ' The lifeof a columnist never is. It was rather like a weekly session with a shrink, for it provided an opportunity to pour out my soul to the world, unburden myself of my frustrations and start another week feeling fresh and vital again. Well, that was when I was young. 'Nowadays I vent my frustration in other ways. I have to. If I were to air my innermost thoughts in this column, I would be run out of town on a rail. +++ I'm what is known in social circles as a prude. I looked that word up in my handy -dandy dic- tionary and found .it DEAR meant a woman of squeamish propriety. And I guess that just about describes me, alright. I really have some very definite ideals for myself about the way I like to live and I'm not at all comfortable in a situation where I must compromise even , the slightest bit. The thing I'm asking myself these days is, "How did I get this way? How did I get to be all the things I never really wanted to be?" I've finally ,dome to the conclusion that I'm the way I am because of the -• life I.'ve led - the things I've done, the things I've read about, the things I've observed. And quite frankly now, being a prude suits me just fine. A modern-day prude, mind you, isn't at all like an old-fashioned prude ..:. or so I tell myself. I try to be a modern-day prude ..:. someone who disapproves quietly and unobstrusively, merely avoiding those issues and places that aren'tAo my own personal liking. I'm not a crusader.I guess that's because I believe too strongly in the right of each individual to make up his or her own mind about life just as I have done. READERS + + + It is probably not surprising then,- that I cannot for the life of me- fathom the reason that the Huron County, Board of Education has 'banned The Diviners from the secondary school's senior grades. To me, a self- confessed prude, I cannot accept that banning The Diviners will solve a single thing except. perhaps get a group of concerned parents off the board's back for a little while. . My own daughter, now ` 20, studied another controversial k, Of Mice and Men, when she was in the senior grades at Goderich District Collegiate Institute. According to Lloyd Barth who is p member of the group of concerned parents in Huron County, The Diviners is a very immoral book and Of Mice and Men is "one step worse". The prude that I am, I questioned my daughter about how the teaching of the book. was handled . _in—high - school. "How did the teacher handle the blasphemy?" I asked her. She explained, that the blasphemy seldom was an issue. Many students didn't even notice it and 75 YEARS AGO Starting November 1 a change in the Goderich legal firm of f roudfoot and Hays is likely to be made, a third member, G•.F. Blair of Brussels entering into the part- nership. Col. Peters, D.O.C., London, was in town on Tuesday inspecting the site of the Dominion Government rifle range that is to be built here. It has now been decided to locate -"it- south of the end ... of Britannia Road and the site having been defifitely • located, the riflemen hope thatthecontractors will have the range ready for use this fall. Indications of an early commencement of the work of extending the C.P.R.: ;from Guelph to this point continue to multiply and there is now every prospect that within'. a short time the Ammagemonew when the occasional student did question, it, the teacher skillfully answered the question with a question. "What does the use of that language tell you' about the character in.the story," the teacher might have asked. "What do we already know about -him? Why do you think he uses this kind of language? Do you know.any people like this character today?" Would you believe that a good many students who studied Of Mice and Men are now going back and reading it again to find out what they missed? + + + Of all the subjects I took in high school, my very favorite was English Literature. Why? Because it was through English Literature that I began to look beyond the surface of people. My English Literature teachers taught me to delve into the minds of the characters "in those books. Always we were -ask'ed, "Why? Why did the hero take his own life? Why did the mother batter her baby? Why did the king send the soldier out to be killed? Why? Why? Why?" And slowly but surely, I learned to look under the exterior crust most people turn to the world. And even today in my dealings with people, I find myself justifying their actions because of the kinds of people they are. Trustee John Hen- derson, for instance, who introduced the motion to ban ' The Diviners from the list of approved books for the county's senior English Literature . students is an honest, sincere trustee. There's no doubt in my mind that John Henderson actually believes that he is serving the desires of the majority of Huron County people be voting to ban The Diviners. I've never met Lloyd Barth or Art Haverkamp. But judging from their statements, it is possible that they, too, are sincere men who 'dire"'° truly frightened to trust the intelligence and the maturity of today's youth in the county schools. Then there are people like Cayley Hill who is widely travelled and constantly in touch with people of all walks of life. He supported The Diviners. And there's Dorothy Williams, a teacher, who probably understands Turn to page 5 • LOOKING BACK long delayed project will actually be underway. The big mill ' closed down last Thursday for want of grain and needed repairs to the plant are being made in the meantime. Frank Dunlop has bought a steam laundry plant and expects to be ready for business in a few days in the stand next to the King Edward hotel. 25 YEARS AGO High winds and buf- feting waves kept the pleasure ship S.S, South American in port at Goderich over the weekend and gave about 250 Ford dealers from Cleveland and district a longer stay here than they anticipated. Erection of steel beams has been started for the flew W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company Limited plant on Huron Road. Work on the new plant, which is expected to be completed late this year, has been progressing rapidly. Continuing his in- teresting seriesof ar- ticles. on Goderich in his column, "Maybe I'm Wrong" in the Chatham Daily News, Victor Lauriston, Goderich old boy, recently dealt with the old Central Public School and its present role as Huron , County Museum. His father was for some years Principal of'CUittAl School. The Bank of Montreal is saluted this week on the occasion of the 100th anniversary ofits coming to Goderich. The population of Goderich, 100 Years ago was 2,900. The first location of the B of M in Goderich was a two-storey frame building at the top of Harbor Hill and T. Mercer Jones was the first agent. He was also the first commissioner of the Canada Company at Goderich. While dampened by rain, the 68th anniversary of the local corps of the Salvation Army held over the weekend was in no way dampened in spirit. 5 YEARS AGO On Tuesday nearly 2,70b students reported to classrooms in Goderich and -surrounding area for the 1973=74 year. The figure shows no drastic change from enrolment •of the 1972-73 school term. The action was as hot as the teniperatures during the fifth annual Goderich Industrial League Tournament held Friday, August 31, September 1,2 and 3. Deeming it as the most successful tournament yet, spokesman - Doug Fisher stated that an estimated -400 fans turned out daily to watch the games. Grand champions of the event were the Stratford Memorials. For the benefit of the municipality's young set and their parents, the Town of Goderich is now operating an Ontario Government, licenced Nursery School. The school is provided to meet the need for pre-school education in the com- munity and is under the direction of Mrs. Carol Egener, assisted by Mrs. Catherine Jewell. Recre-Action '73, a project funded by the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services with assistance from the Goderich Recreation Committee, wound up its term of operation last week but is now awaiting word on a program extension which would provide funding to operate another year.