HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-09-21, Page 21dave
Sykes
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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.
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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
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