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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-04-19, Page 19sykes \ v . Read something somewhere this week about an election. Politicians have their smiles revved up and tacked on and the hand crushing shakes and baby kissing are being doled out in endless supply. Leaders attack each other relen- tlessy, laugh at opposition platform policies, steal same policies and label it as a sensible and viable alternative. It's called campaigning. Campaigning is an endless torture the Canadian public must bear with until election day, • when voting is reduced to a simple , procedure of picking a name from the top, bottom, middle or 'making a random selection with the eyes closed. That's the democratic process, a right that many countries hold as a model for their own inadequate systems. Our elective procedure is envied probably because their is a choice on the ballot, which only tends to confuse and frustrate voters. For the past couple weeks the throe major party leaders have been trading insults, policies and issues. And while the media has given fair play to the campaign, is it falling on attentive ears? 1 would think not. Prime Minister Trudeau hastily called the election for May 22 in a move that caught other leaders with their. good Stanfield's in the wash. But certainly there was good reasoning behind the PMs move. My own humble interpretation of the election call is quite simple, really. The campaign and subsequently, the election, are smack dab in the m,-iddle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Which, I. offer, is a point worn) considering. Trudeau delayed calling the election for several months and just as playoff time appraoched-it was time to hit the campaign trail. More people are probably concerned about uie uutwnWe ut ute playoii battles than two obscure candidates fighting for a seat III Crossbones, Ontario. I defy anyone to find a person conversant with the latest gallup poll figures or the distribution of seats in the House of Commons. But what Canadian, it is our national sport, afterall, is not up on the hockey scores and the goals and assists ac- cumulated by Guy Lafluer and Lanny MacDonald. Now those are important statisticsto most Canadians. Canadians have a rigid set of priorities and certainly a $26 cup donated by Lord Stanley of Preston takes precedence over a federal election. Certainly .Trudeau was aware of this when he called the election. eWould voters., while totally involved with playoff hockey, forget about unemployment, inflation, a falling dollar, national unity and regional disparity? The possibility is there. And while our -sage political leaders vehemently haggle over national unity the deciding battle is currently being waged on the ice. The whole issue can be settled in a Stanley Cup playoff series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. It's the hottest battle since the Riel rebellion, although the Metis were at a decided disadvantage without ate likes of a Guy Lafleur behind a musket. Admittedly such a series probably causes more,of a rift between French and English speaking people than anyone will own up to. And now that three more Canadian teams have been added to the NHL the country is likely to split up into hockey factions. And why not decide the fate of the country in the hockey rinks with the owner of the Stanley Cup winning team becoming Prime Minister? Why if Sam Pollock was Prime Minister Canada would probably own' Alaska and half of the Unites States without giving up a draft choice. Ed Steegstra, 25, of Goderich does taxidermy as a hobby but hopes to turn it into a business now. He has practised mostly on fish but has also done a few animals from the area like the weasel he shows here. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Inside: Erosion in Maitland Valley Watershed Letter carriers observe anniversary Blyth features Ontario playwrights County gets new housing manager Egg race cracks em up at Victoria Page 2A .Page 3A Page 4A Page 8A Page 12A te1 SIGNAL—STA 132—YEAR 16 GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1979 Taxidermy is a real art! BY JOANNE • BUCHANAN Taxidermy is defined in the dictionary as the art of preparing, stuffing and mounting the skins of animals. A few years ago, Ed Steegstra, 25, of Goderich wasn't exactly sure what the word meant but now he . is , hoping 'to make a business for himself out of this art. Ed has always been interested in animals. While growing up on the family farm near Clinton, he enjoyed hunting, trapping and fishing. Up until about four years ago, Ed ran the family farm with his father. But a car accident changed all that. The accident left him con- fined to a wheelchair as a paraplegic without the use of his legs. It was while he was in hospital recovering from the accident that he hap- pened to read up on taxidermy. "After the accident I thought I'd never hunt or fish again but my all - terrain vehicle solved that," he explains. Ed's all -terrain vehicle has six wheels and is operated by hand con- trols. He can drive it over hilly or smooth land in order to go hunting and fishing. For regular use he also has wear whic'h"he' drives with hand con- trols. • Many fellow hunters and fishermen became curious when they saw Ed out hunting and fishing from his all - terrain vehicle and they would often stop to talk with him. Preston Todd, 23, of Goderich, an avid fisherman, heard about Ed and `his vehicle •from other fishermen, The two of • them 'became acquainted about three years ago and fast became friends. They discovered that they both learnedby doing," ex- plains Ed: had an interest in BUSINESS VENTURE taxidermy. They took a course in London from a What started out as a •professionaL. taxider_rnis-t-11414by has now become a on the art of preparing, business venture for the stuffing and mounting the two men. They are not exactly partners but they work together at Ed's parents.' house in town. Each one basically does skins of fish. 'fWe learned the fun- . damentals . from this course but the rest we .his own work but they also assist one another if necessary. The men charge per inch for fish. The price for animals depends on the amount of time spent and the work done. ' Ed now has cards printed up to advertise his business. He plans to hand these out to others he meets while hunting or fishing': He explains that hi 5 one-time .hobby has now become a business venture because he feels he is ,good enough to sell his craftsmanship. He- doesn't know of any other taxidermists in, the im- mediate area and so he is hoping that •once he becomes well enough known, he can build up a SECOND SECTION good business. Ed and Preston have worked mainly on fish but Ed has also done some small animals from the area like, weasels and squirrel_s..... He . stopped doingbirds because their skin was too thin which made the job too difficult: The art of taxidermy involves first removing Turn to page MA Preston Todd.:(left) and Ed Steegstra, both of Goderich, proudly display the Chinook -salmon -which -they caught: The two men took a course in taxidermy for fish from a professional taxidermist in London. They learned the fundamentals from him and perfected the art with - -hobby into Buchanan) lots of practise. They hope to turn their taxidermy a business for themselves. (Photo by Joanne I think I may have discovered why so rany North Americans are going " banannas. All those deperessed people out there and little wonder. They feel socially unacceptable because they haven't got all the things television commercials tell them they should have if they're rational, good living human beings. Sitting in front of the tube can force the calrhest of people to come unglued i tH 'ie paying attention. The other night I sat through a late show and' when it was all over I almost had to convince myself I wasn't missing out on the good life. The movie was an old war flick about a plot by Hitler to completely destroy Paris rather than lose the city to the Allies. French Resistance fighters trying desperately to stop the destruction of their home, a Gerhian general not happy with the plan to reduce the city to rubble and Allied soldiers rushing to save the day were interuppted by beer commercials, car commercials and hygiene com- mercials that made me feel like 1 was missing the boat. The first six pack of ads caught my attention and I ended up watching the flick just to see what affect the com- mercials would have on m'e. If you reacted to every ad you'd be a raving lunatic when it was all over. When the first ad package came on I was ptanning on making a snack. Thus came my first dilemna. ' One commercial said if I was eating sensibly I'd have a packet of talking margerine in the refrigerator. As I was walking out the door to see if I could chat with our margerine a butter commerical suggested that anything 1 made would be void of taste without nature's gold. I considered passing on the snack until a third commercial suggested I was being cruel to my cheese if 1 didn't take it out of the refrigerator. - I rushed to the refrigerator, found out that the margerine wasn't the talking ' kind and showed the cheddar more warmth by sliding it between two slices of warm bread and setting it near the hear register. Content that all our food was happy I settled in for another ten minutes of movie. Tice' second six pack made me want to cart all the living room fur- niture out on the lawn fora ceremonial burning: Some guy was standing in the middle of what appeared to he three acres of furniture talking a mile a minute about the deals he'll give me if I shop before midnight Easter Sunday. I reassured myself that our living room furniture was not the junk he said it was •and breathed a sigh of relief, I was concerned about paying for the new chairs and tables. What's that. Pay for the new fur- niture. No need to worry about that says a smiling bank teller. With!her charge card the world is only a signature away. Her card is accepted by restaurants in California, gift shops in Spain and hotels in London. I can't go to London I haven't got a passport. No problem according to commercial three. I can use my card to go down, to my local sporting goods store, buy a pair of skis and head to Ontario's north to he treated royally. I can't get enthused about -my vacation because I haven't been feeling myself lately. No worry. If it's a sore throat I can pick up some cough drops that not only I can use but the whole family can enjoy. If it's diarrhea I can get plugged up, if I'm plugged up I can get loosened. If my muscles are aching I can rub on some junk and make my �. hack dance. I finally gave up and went to bed wishing I had just said goodnight to the margerine, put a blanket on the cheese and saved myself :ill the aggravation. Ir • N jeff seddnn —191;91.a • .rj > 1 '