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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-09-21, Page 21dave Sykes r -7 ' Inside: The other day, on a briefwhirlwind tour of the pulsating newsroom, the publisher of this newspaper briefly scanned the headlines of a major daily and shook his head. "There just isn't anything but bad news on the front pages of newspapers anymore," he commented in an im- peccable three-piece nnanner inherent in magnates, "Look at this, there isn't one positive story there_" Scanning a few issues of favorite dailies lying around the office I had to agree_ Unfortunately bad news is news and with prophetic certainty always will be. Front page gloom and doom stories do have merit in news value and such stories repeatedly attract a targe readership. Just when you think things are pretty bad, a front page dose of killings, crime, pestilence and disease can mitigate ones tribulations somewhat Rut what if the front pages of our country's dailies contained only good stories? Stories dealing with goodwill and mans humanity to man. Who would read it? Well any guesseswould only be mere speculation but. a front page of positive stories might read like this: Ottawa (CP) An Ottawa man won a million in the recent Loto Canada draw but at a news conference today declined the lottery top cash prize which he would donate to various charitable organizations. The winner told reporters at the press conference that he really didn't need the million dollars anyway since he was employed with the civil service and would soon be eligible for an indexed pension, which he claimed was just as good as winning a lottery_ Washington (AP) Two Washington Compost reporters startled the free world with a series of investigative articles concerning the conduct of the President of the United States, several i1 top White Nouse officials and other members of Congress. In their revealing articles, Woodpile and Silverstein., quoting several un- disclosed sources close to the nation's top executive office, claimed that U.S. politicians were honest to a flaw, refused to take bribes. were not in- volved with shapely call girls and dedicated all their energies towards effective public service. Stunned Senate members refused comment on the articles but promised a full scale senate investigation on the sudden rash of integrity. New York (UPI) New York police vowed to increase the largest dragnet in that city's history after another incident in the city's west side last night. A police spokesman said the mysterious prowler has been stealing his way into the ghettos offering the poor and minorities monetary assistance and education to help them realize their potential in modern society. "Tile .guy is obviously a psycho," a detective commented, "We have to stop .him before things go too far. The people of New York are scared to death. If you educate these people and offer them. assistance they will want to leave the ghetto and live in our normal neighbourhoods. We'll get whoever is responsible_" Toronto (CP) The Toronto Argonauts won the Grey Cup yesterday as they hammered the Edmonton Eskimos 49-8 in Toronto_ A stunned Argo crowd sat silent and confused through anostof the game unable to boo anything the Argos did. By the end of the game they finally chanted "We .want Leo". Not one Argo fumbled the ball in the game, dropped a pass or missed a blocking assignment and coach Bud Riley said it probably had a lot to do with the leadership of the defence, which played the whole game and scored ail the touchdowns_ Now isn't that boring_ Wed 65 Page 2A Court case dropped Page 3A LMP Page 5A Page 6A New pastor Page 7A - Moderator in area : ... _.._ - _ .... _.. _ . . . Martha Page 10A Weddings Page 11A Farm Page 14A Pebeknhs oaerich SIGNAL. d 4 131 YEAR -38 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21,1978 SECOND SECTION Old craft becoming popular again Weaver forms guild in the area Ruth Knight of Goderich uses this spinning wheel to make some yarn out of carded raw fleece. The spinning process is very time-consuming and Mrs. Knight says she doesn't spin too often. She is a member of the Ontrario Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild and has started a guild In this area called The Huron Tract Spinners and Weavers. (Photo by Joanne Walters) BY JOANNE WALTERS Ruth Knight, newcomer to Goderich, can really spin a good' yarn_ Literally! You see she is a weaver and spinner and she is in- terested in helping others learn these ancient crafts and- - to discover an ejoyahle hobby like she has. To this end, she, along with assistance from Mrs. Wilmer Hardy of Goderich, has helped to form the Huron Tract Spinners and Weavers, a guild designed to give its members an increased knowledge of their crafts and a chance to improve their standards as well. Up until the early 1900s spinning and weaving were popular crafts. Many people would spin their own sheep's wool and if they did not weave themselves, they could usually take it to someone nearby who did_ The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has in its possession, the weaving looms of Samuel Pentland, an Irishman who farmed at -the Nile in the 1800s and spent his long winter days there weaving on his home- made four harness loom for both neighbours and himself. He had learned his craft in the old ` country. Many of the. early Ontario weavers were, in fact, men who had originally been trained in Europe. It is not a traditionally female art then as one might suspect. Later, with the in- vention of certain types of machinery and the ad- vancement of .the textile industry, the old- fashioned arts of hand weaving and spinning were unable to compete. They slowly faded and eventually almost died right out. .But in recent years, 4they have been revived along with many other old crafts. Mrs. Knight" -feels that the reason for the increased popularity and interest in all types of arts and crafts is because people have more time on their hands for recreational activities. Mrs. Knight had some exposure to weaving as a child because her mother was a weaver. But she didn't learn the art herself until taking lessons in 1965. She claims she didn't find the craft too difficult to pick up. She says she has always been forced to sew because she is a tall person and often the only way to get clothes to fit is to make them yourself. But she is not an "artsy" person she feels. At the University of British Columbia she had her training in science and psychology to become 'a medical lab technician. A lot of people start with art and then get into weaving, says Mrs. Knight. "I envy them. Designs don't come easily to me so I don't do many wall hangings," she says. Originality of design and expressiveness aren't strong points with her, she maintains. She sketches some designs but sticks to functional pieces like place mats, belts, rugs and shawls_ She even made a few bedspreads when she had a larger loom available to her. Mrs. Knight especially likes making rugs and she prefers working with natural fibres like wool. Evidence of Mrs. Knight's work is displayed about her house but she ,a1so sells some of her work and gives some of it away as Rifts_ "After all," she laughs, "how many place mats can one family use?" Mrs. Knight will have articles for sale at the Christmas Country Fair in Saltford Valley Hall in October. She says she is really looking forward to the fair. There won't be enough space for _her_ to set up a weaving demonstration but she says she will be in- terested to find out the sort of things people in this area are interested in buying. involved is one's labor_ People don't realize how time-consuming the craft is. it could take about TIME-CONSUMING eight hours to make one When she sells an item, shawl and Mrs_ �.at Mrs. Knight says, she says there is no way she rarely gets enough can compete with money to cove r the cost of, machine -made praducts her material plus $3 an which take minutes to Tolls -s or"—IleT..—tati ll"`r-_< rOdnte= •— ..: ... . Although materizls are expensive,, says Mrs. Knight, the real cost The cheapest wool which ran be purchased Turn to page 3A Ruth Knight, newcomer td Goderich, took up • weaving in 1965 and has never looked back. Here she weaves some placemats on her four harness loom. Along with assistance from Mrs. Wilmer Hardy of Goderich she has formed the Huron. Tract Spinners and Weavers, a guild to increase knowledge of these crafts and improve standards. (Photo by Joanne Walters) Modern technology, the boon of today's society. Pretty hard to believe. , It's modern technology that caused me all my problems today and while the problems may seem trivial in relation to crisis in labour, world peace and natural disasters they are big problems in my hook_ The problem- is that a fashion show was held Sunday and Monday and I was assigned to cover it. I was to capture the event on film and print large, lovely pictures showing new trends in the , world of fashion and the ,clothes well dressed people in Goderich should be buying this fall tot enhance their wardrobes. Well I captuired the event but all I can do is tell readers about it. The pictures yon see didn't turn out. 'I stood out at the Mill in Benmiller for over two hours Monday afternoon with, a modern camera and after developing the filim discovered that the time was wasted. There is next to nothing on the film, The odd frame has a spot of light on it indicating that it went through the camera but pictures of lights do nothing to give readers insight into the latest fashions. I could deal with the problem if it had been the first time it happened. But last year through either good fortune or had timing I got the nod to cover the fashion show. Last year I worked with the editor Shirley J. Keller at the Legion snapping pictures of the latest styles and after developing the films discovered the same thing. No pic- tures. Going zero for two makes it tough for me to convince organizers of the fashion show that it'isn't 'a conspiracy. I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't make a deliberate attempt to screw up the pictures, I was a victim of cir- cumstances_ Last year I discovered the problem 111.1 IIII MON I IN on Monday and still had time to visit stores supplying clothes for the show and arrange for models to pose for pictures. Despite comments about my ability, the abilities of fellow staff members and complaints that some of the models would rather have no pictures used than ones taken hastily with no time given for doing up hair and putting on makeup�,, to give the same appearance given the nightof the fashion show. Undaunted I remained tight lipped through the ordeal and took the pic- tures, this time successfully. This year I had a premonition that some evil would befall my attempts to cover the show but 1 wiped it otit and set out to really do a job. I set up pictures, crawled around the floor of the Mill between tables of well dressed ladies snapping pictures of well dressed models. I didn't particularly want to be there. fashion shows are not high on my list of fun things to do, but I'was not going to let that affect my work. I like to think of myself as relatively intelligent, able to pick things up when they are explained to me, and that's why -I have no plans to cover next year's fashion show: I think there must be some reason I am not the best person in the world to cover the thing and two dismal attempts have con- vinced me not to risk the public image of this newspaper to take a third stab. If by some twist of fate I do get the assign ment next year I'm going to take one of those aim and shoot cameras along. That way 30 seconds after I take a picture I will know whether or not it worked. •I won't have to wait until I'm in the darkroom half an hour after the show is over to find es out I screwed up for the third time and as the song says one, two, three strikes you're out. jeff Seddon di