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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-09-14, Page 4AMIN PAGE 4,-/POP� RACTISli TAR, 'RSA,. A SEPITMERA14 1978 •a 14 e jrnterrigtfy,nal Plowing Xatch _t wewbi- g.--.. .....e.nu...rs..+..uwtjarrrk_s_4ow.ry ji:-nD^. 1:.. uro ...-..._ y.- year! .'.': ;la =6"Wfaismismiximmommommia CA GodenchE SIGNAL-STAR The County Town Newspaper of Huron Founded in /Wand published everyThursdayat Goderich. Ontario. Member of the CWNA and OWNA. Advertistng rates on request_ Subscriptions payable In advance •13.00 In Canada. •1L00 to U.S.A.. 1M.00 to all other countries. single copies 30 ants. Display adver- tising rates avaltable on request. Please ask for (fate Card No..O effective Oct. I. 1077. Second ciassmail 6gistratlon Number 0710. Advertising Is accepted an the condition that. En the event of typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item. tngatherwith reasonable allowance for signature. will not be charged for but the balance of the odwrtisament will be paid for of the applicable rate. In the event of o - typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price. goods or service may not be sot& Advertising Is merely an offer to sell. and may be withdrawn of any time. The Signal -Star In not reapoes101e for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts or photos. 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 .1. BYRSKI — advertising manager Mailing Address: P.O BOX 220, Industrial Park, Goderich Second class mail registration number — 0716 Some for everybody With the International Plowing, Match less than two weeks away, it is time for Huron County residents to make their plans to attend at least one day of the biggest farm show in the world. Acres and acres of exhibits and farm related activities are there for viewing just one mile east of Wingham on Highway 86 from September 26-30. The farm of James Armstrong as well as neighboring farms will be turned into a gigantic tented city, the largest ever with more than 550 -exhibitors. Farmers will love the outing. The displays of machinery and equipment will be hard to beat anywhere - a few of the companies will be demonstrating their products in action and in a few cases, prospective buyers will be able to actually test drive the equipment_ And of course there's the plowing, with con- testants from around the world vieing for the prizes. There will be classes for horse-drawn plows, and tractor powered plows ' ranging from two furrows to as many furrows as the contestant chooses. There will be plowmen as young as 12 and plowmen who are as old or as young as they feel. There will be classes for men and classes for women_ There will be a contest for politicians and even a competition for press, radio and television people. But the plowing match is for everyone. There will be a competition for plow horses which should entice a good many men -farmers or not -to remember the good old days. There will even be daily exhibitions of antique plowing with oxen! And what would a plowing match be without, a horseshoe pitching tournament? This year's event takes place on Saturday, September 30 and should attract contestants from everywhere. The women aren't forgotten either. There will be a 600 -seat theatre tent for continuous fashion shows, cooking demonstrations, ' hairstyling exhibitions and evenan audience participation exercise program. There will be a much -expanded hor- ticultural display with plenty of opportunity to learn about all aspects of gardening and growing house plants. There will be house craft displays and a show of quilts from a special quilting contest. The kids will have a ball. There's a midway, of course, and daily parades featuring top bands, farm machinery, steam engines, new model cars, teams of oxen, floats and much more. And to lend to the atmosphere of a fair, there will be caramel corn, fudge, apple cider, candy apples, hotdogs home cooking, and everything to make a young or old mouth water. Huron County is one of the top agricultural counties in all over Ontario. Its fame has spread across Canada and with the International Plowing Match, its importance will be known throughout the world. Why not get out to the show? Why not take the whole family to the plowing match and get involved in things?-SJK Much more to do It was indeed gratifying for the management and staff of Signal -Star Publishing Ltd., to acknowledge receipt of five awards from the Canadian Com- munity Newspapers Association (CCNA). For the past six years, the Signal -Star has always been in the CCNA winners' circle, earning at least one award although not always first or second. But this year was special, for in the 1978 competitions, Signal -Star was judged the best all-round weekly newspaper in Class 4 for publications with a cir- culation of 4,000 to 7,499. The award was particularly meaningful since this is the first time the Signal -Star has competed in this category. Circulation has reached the 4,000 mark and a little better this past year, and pushed the Signal -Star into a higher class for competitions. Winning the top prize, therefore, was just that much more of an honor. The Signal -Star also won first place for the best • editorial page in the class as well as third for the best front page. In addition to those prizes, which were confined to the newspapers competing in that one class, Signal- Star won second place for best women's news and -features in a class . .which encompassed all newspapers in the medium range of circulation. The local paper was bea'ien out for the top honor by The Milton Champion, a fine weekly in the Toronto area th:. took second place in Class 4 for the best all round newspaper. But perhaps the.most exciting award of all was the Signal -Starts second place win for the best advertising. idea. The competition was open to' all newspapers regardless of circulation or size...and it is indeed a feather in the cap of Signal -Star's ad- vertising staff under Captain Ed Byrski to win this recognition for Goderich. It is to be hoped that Signal -Star's advertisers will be assured that their confidence in the local ad staff is well placed and that nationally, the Signal -Star's ad staff stacks up well against other ad staff from towns and cities across the country. Putting , together an award winning weekly newspaper is a team effort, and at the Signal -Star }there is a remarkable team that is the envy of'many newspaper publishers in and out of Ontario. From the front office to the mailing room - from the time the customers come in the door to the time the papers are printed and sent out the back door for distribution — Signal -Star staffers care about the product. And it shows. Surprisingly though, the effort is not made to win awards in provincial or national competitions. The effort is made to supply the people of Goderich and district and all the Signal -Star subscribers wherever they may be located in the world, with the best newspaper it is possible to produce in this community. The effort is made to ensure a quality product with a reputation for getting the whole communication job done in the best possible way. Signal -Star. staff is proud of the Goderich Signal - Star. They want the readers to be proud of The Signal -Star too. Rest easy there is no intention to stop at the laurels already attained. There's far too much to do if the Signal -Star is to reach all the goals you, the readers, set for it. Ancc that's the ultimate intention of everyone connected with Signal -Star you can be certain. —SJK BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER With another summer holiday season drawing to a close, it may be time to reflect on one of Goderich's unique methods to get' the word out about this town's beauty and friendliness ... the tourist of the week program. This was the third year for the scheme. It begins at the first of July and ends just before Labor Day. It involves en- tertaining one tourist couple per week - usually on Thursday - and is thought to be one of the most successful tourist promotions undertaken by the tourist committee. The first two years 'of the program, I was heavily involved with it. On most Thursdays, I accompanied the tourist of the week and the representative from the tourist committee to lunch and on the sub- sequent tours. During the first year, the tour was usually . provided by the tourist committee representative in his or her own car. Now, the tourists are simply passengers on the town's tour vehicle which is available to the public on Thursdays only. This past summer, Joanne Walters has taken over this duty of helping to entertain the town's guests and has done an admirable job. Much of the work, as you can imagine, is knowing Goderich, grabbing every opportunity in the con- versation to gently sell Goderich, and sending the tourists away with a warm feeling about Goderich. Tourists are selected from all over the place. They come to town for a variety of reaso'ns...some are chosen from the marina visitors, some DEAR READERS from the tourist booth customers who have stopped to ask questions, some from the guests at motels and hotels around town. The one requirement is that they be in town on Thursday when the program is scheduled, and another is that the party number no more than two. As a normal rule, families are not chosen for tourist of the week privileges. -1- The The day usually starts off with lunch...and the tourist committee tries to move the location of the luncheon around. There are some good eating places in Goderich and an effort is, made to show the tourists a pleasant dining experience with a bit of atmosphere plus a chance 1,9 talk in relative peace. Lunch isn't hurried because the object is to create a friendly, relaxed feeling. Tourists need not be any certain age to enjoy being named tourist of the week, for every effort is made to key the con- versation to the topics most interesting to the tourists who have been chosen. If the tourists are young, for instance, they might want to know about the variety of fun ac- tivities there are in Goderich - sailing, hiking, tennis, golf, swimming, sun bathing, dancing. Tourists who are older mightvwant to know more about the history of Goderich, or the churches in Goderich or maybe even what other diningrooms are available in Goderich. Couples with young families still at home might ask about schools or about housing. People - with itchy feet might ask about job opportunities. Every tourist is dif- ferent. Each wants to know something dif- ferent, and it is up to the hosts to be able to answer just about anything about the town of Goderich. +++ Following lunch, the tour begins. Now the tour is pre -planned and even scripted with special, stops to attractions like the museum and the jail. But still some of the ideas from the original private tours by com- mittee members are incorporated...there's a look at Goderich's historical side such as old houses and the lighthouse and the cannon and the ship chains; there's -at- tention drawn to the tree - lined streets, the multitude of parks and parkettes, all neatly kept and there's always- a word or two about the sunsets; there's a quick tour of Goderich's in- dustrial park with mention of all the in- dustries in town including those that are not in the park; there's a stop at the harbor and a look at the town's marina, Domtar, the shipping industry and the beach; there's mention of the hospital, the schools and similar services; there's always a trip around the Square and a look at Goderich business districts; there's a drive out to 'airport and discussion about the services available; and much, much more. A tour of this nature is one of the best ways to promote Goderich. Tourists are usually quite receptive to a tour because they have learned from experience it is the quickest and most complete way to get to know a community. The advantage is still greater if the people on the tour get into the act and ask questions as they come to mind. The Goderich tour bus is never that crowded that it can't be a very per- sonalized kind of outing...and the tour leader is always pleased to answer questions. What does it cost? What advantages are there for the town? Well, the cost is most reasonable...probably under $50 per week for the eight or nine weeks of the program. I haven't - really examined the accounts of course, but I would think that $500 during the summer would quite handily take care of ally, expenses for the program. The advantages are not anything you can list from proven results of the program. But any time you have visitors leaving Goderich with the special good feelings that tourists of the week have, you can count on much good will of the very best type...word of mouth promotion. I know from my own experiences with the program that tourists who have been singled out for the tourist of the week- treatment are absolutely delighted. They are enthusiastic supporters for the town when they leave and there is little doubt that they go home and pass the good word along to as many people as they meet before the ex- citement wears off. And you can also be certain that when the talk gets around to vacations some time in the future, they are going to remember Goderich with a special fondness...and put in the plug for the town long after they have been here. +++ I suppose there are ways the program could be improved. Maybe the businessmen in town could come up , with a special voucher package for the tourists who are chosen for the honor as tourist of the week. Maybe they could be given free passes to the movies, to the jail, to the museum. Maybe they could be sent on their way with a free tank of gas as their special gift...or maybe they could be put on, the mailing list to receive The Signal -Star for - three months ;after. their visit. There are probably dozens of ways to beef up the package for the tourists of the week. But the important thing is that the program. continues for the summer of 1979. The important thing is that citizens of Goderich understand that in the long run, the money spent on the tourist of the week comes back to Goderich over and over again. The important thing is that people of the town are made aware that tourism is big business and that tourists here must be made welcome so they will want to come back again...and bring their friends. If you have any new suggestions for the program, won't you get in touch with some member of the tourist committee? You can call Mac Campbell or Bert Squire or Jean Adams or Howard Aitken, for in- stance. You can put a bug in their ears so that when next summer rolls around, Goderich can have the most successful tourist season to date. Got something to say? Write to the editor today 75 YEARS AGO Miss Kate McLellan, lately a member of the Goderich Collegiate staff, was on Monday evening appointed by the board of the Toronto Junction Collegiate " Institute a's assistant in the com- mercial department of the school. The Government has granted foreshore rights south° of the south pier to the Goderich Lumber Company for booming logs. The Ontario Govern- ment has appointed C. A. Humber to the position of police magistrate of the town of Goderich in succession to C. Seager, appointed county Crown attorney. Mr. Humber has been a member of the town council for many years. C. J. Harper has LOOKING BACK opened out a store on West Street in the plumbing and tin- smithing business, the stand formerly occupied by the late Alex Wallace. A proposition for the establishment in Goderich of a factory for the manufacture of a new patent harrow has been before town council. One of the , most in- teresting and attractive displays to be witnessed at the. Great Nor- thwestern Fair next week will 15e that of George W. Thomson and Son, our well-known music dealers, 25 YEARS AGO Acclaimed as the best in a number of years, the annual Dungannon Fall Fair held Tuesday by the Dungannon Agricultural Society drew a crowd of over 1,500 and attracted the largest number of entries in the various horse classes for some time. Town Council intends to investigate the cost of having a town police force here to replace the Provincial Police detach- ment which serves town. Predicting a con- tinually increasing enrolment at the Goderich Public School for the next few years, Principal H. M. Shackleton briefly reviewed the ac- commodation problem at the school Tuesday night during the "Get Acquainted Night" program of the Goderich Holme and School. Possibility that the gyinfiasium at the old Collegiate Institute may be used for training of Goderich's two bands as well as for a rifle shooting range for Collegiate army cadets was discussed at last Friday night's meeting of town council. 5 YEARS AGO As approximately 2,000 elementary school students returned to classes in Goderich and surrounding area for the 1973-74 school term, they found in their midst '15 new teachers. Dr. R. W. Hughes, 20 Wellington Street South in Goderich, is retiring tomorrow after working as a dentist in Goderich since 1948. Goderich raceway is busily preparing for its final night of racing for the I973'season. •A special attraction for , closing night is the donation of $1,250 by Dominion Roads Machinery Limited as the purse for the ninth heat This purse is the largest ever offered at this raceway. During the past week Goderich police officers have had a rash of ac- cidents involving parked cars. On Sunday Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Young of 48 Newgate Street in Goderich celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with an open house at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Vern Smith. Goderich Town Council has received official word from provincial and federal authorities that the municipality's winter works program has been approved. The program includes storm sewers in the Eldon, Blake, MacDonald and Bennett Street area.