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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-06-21, Page 4PAGE 4--GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1979 toderic SIGNAL -STAR The County Town Newspaper of Huron Pounded Mall and published every Thursday at Godorich, Ontario. Member of the CWNA and OWNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable In advance '14.50 In Canada, '75.00 to U.S.A., !75.00 to all othor countries, single copies 73'. Display advertising rates available on request. Please ask for Rate Card No. 0 effective Oct. 1, 1470. Second class mall Registration Number 0710. Advertising is accepted on the condition that In the event of typographical arrar, the Overflying space occupied by the erroneous Nom. together with racjsonabio allowance for signature, will not bo charged for but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services gt a wrong price. goods or sot -taco may not bo sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to soil. and may bo withdrawn of any time. The Signal -Statile not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts or photos. Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524-8331 area code 519 Published bycignal-Star Publishing Ltd. ROB RT G. SHRIER — president and publisher SHIEY J. KELLER — editor DONALD M. HUBICK - advertising manager Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 220, Industrial Park, Goderich Second class mail registration number — 0716 Congratulations grads It is June and June means graduations. Once again it is time to say "congratulations" to the boys and girls, the fellows and gals and the men and women who are graduating from elementary schools, from high schools and from post secondary institutions. Tid Bits on Page 2 of The Goderich Signal -Star carries many pictures of the post secondary graduates from the area. There is no charge and none is refused. This is only one The Signal -Star has to express the community's pleasure at the success of these young people. Another way is through editorials such as this one which say how proud this area is of everyone who reaches for a goal and attains it. At the end of June, Signal -Star will be putting out its annual Grade 8 Graduation Edition which will feature pictures and stories from the ceremonies in A gut issue - To fire or not to fire. That's the emotionally charged question facing boards of education across the country as student enrolment dwindles. The issue in a word: money. Many elected education officials argue strongly that savings from declining. enrolment in elementary and secondary schools should be passed on to the public in the form of lower taxes. Canada's teachers and many Parent-Teacher Associations, on the other hand, vehemently oppose this position, favoring a reduction in class sizes and an increased' emphasis on special education, thus maintaining the present level of employment. The reason for the reduced enrolment, of course, is Canada's low birth rate and cutbacks in im- migration. As a result, there are fewer children to be educated. The teachers defend their position by contending that smaller classes would upgrade the quality of education by allowing instructors to spend more time with individual students. Naturally, such a change would require more teachers. But the education officials who control the dollars point out that teachers' salaries are responsible -for about 75 percent of education spending. By limiting ''the number of teachers they can at least hold the line on tax increases. the six elementary schools in and around Goderich. In that edition, many businessmen of the com- munity will join this newspaper in wishing these boys and girls well during their high school years. In September, Signal -Star will once again publish the GDCI Commencement Edition that will honor Year 4 and Year 5 graduates of the local high school. Once again, businessmen will extend their heartiest congratulations to all those who finish high school and go on to other things. Signal -Star believes in education. This newspaper is only too happy to recognize educational achievement at any level and makes every effort to do just that. Congratulations to the grads, to their families and to their teachers. You are a credit to this district: - In addition, they also point to a U.S. Study that indicates smaller classes have little effect on the quality of education. The battle between diametrically opposed fac- tions in the high. stakes game is being waged from Halifax to Vancouver, with emotions running high as layoffs continue. In Toronto, for example, 3,000 people turned out for a board of education session that overturned an effort to•lay off several hundred instructors. In other areas of Canada, the radio hotlines hum as well -organized teachers take the offensive in attempting to achieve taxpayer support for their position. Fallout from the situation has caused turmoil among those considering teaching as a profession. Enrolment in teacher -training .courses has been chopped dramatically and more than 25 percent of last year's teacher's college graduates still haven't found jobs. Meanwhile, fights over the closing of schools continue, with some secondary units dropping course options to trim budgets. There is no simple solution to the problem. Education has become a gut issue in Canada and it's not about to go away. About those polls When glib -tongued -heavyweight Knowlton Nash of The' National informs Canadians that a poll conducted for CBC „television has placed the Con- servatives ahead of the Liberals, he's believed. Two nights later,, Nash unblushingly refers to a Gallup poll that gives the Liberals a five point edge in the election sweepstakes. • To the public, it might appear that someone is terribly wrong in these seemingly contradictory assessments. Not so, say the experts. There is no real difference between the results. Both polls are correct. "Canadians don't •understand the significance of the sophisticated polls that now take place," in- tones one pollster. "Everything is computerized and we take great pains to get the.broadest possible input. The public simply hasn't accepted the fact that there is a margin of error built into the system." That nifty explanation may be quite legitimate. But by publicizing such results the media can be accused of blatantly misleading Canadian voters. Worse, the "sophisticated" poll results may end —Mainstream Canada up affecting the outcome of elections, pushing Canadians to support the party that appears to be winning. For this reason, British Columbia has outlawed polls during election campaigns, forcing voters to decide for themselves which party to support., without an indication of what their neighbours think. The burgeoning number of newspapers, television networks and private organizations conducting polls believe the ban unjustly restricts freedom of the press. Many are concerned that legislation similar to that in British Columbia will be introduced at the federal level. To many laymen, though, media treatment of poll results simply increases the credibility of something that, .in at least some cases, verges' on the absurd. What's, clear is -that voters are influenced by polls, perhaps to such a degree that even an in- correct poll result becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.—Mainstream Canada. Home and school By Jeff Seddon Is it needed? Dear Editor: First, let me congratulate the Recreation Committee of Goderich Township for calling a meeting of the taxpayers in regard to the proposed township hall and secondly for the good coverage inregards to advertising same. When only 90 from a possible 2,300 taxpayers attend such a meeting, are they not interested in local affairs, for they DEAR EDITOR figure "why bother to attend when the issue was cut and dried before the meeting was called;" or doesn't . a posible ad- ditional 'six to 10 mills make any difference on your tax bill? Yes, we know we elected the township council to make "wise" decisions for the people they represent. They told us they had accepted a legacy which stipulated it was to be used to build a township hall. Both council reeve and chairman of the recreation committee told us a hall was going to be built regardless and the people were being asked to choose where to build it and the type of building to build. On the slide film, the possible location for the hall was shown beside no. 8 high- way- - but nowhere else. This again, looked to me like a decision already made: It is a known fact the present gym at the Goderich Twp. school in Holmesville does not have a standard basketball area and one group suggestion was made to build a hall with playing floor space ap- proximately 50 by 94 feet with kitchen, smaller meeting room, janitor's room and washrooms added. During the school hours, this sports com- plex could be used by the school children and by adults,in the evenings for sports and dances. This complex would have to be built very close to the school. Enthusiasm appears to be lacking to a great degree in Goderich Twp. Possibly the answer is because part of our' residents live close to Bayfield where there will be a new arena and dance hall etc. A goodly number live in the V.L.A. section and close by, they are just a stones throw from Goderich, which offers a roller skating rink, ice rink,: swimming pool, lighted ball diamonds etc. Many live close to Clinton and Vanastra where swimming and a com- Turn to page 5 • 75 YEARS AGO Mr. A. Shiels and family of Port Elgin are now in full possession of Huron House and give every promise of keeping the popular hostelry up to the old-time `popular standard. Chas. C. Lee has the contract for putting in a Kelso heater at the new church being erected at Auburn for the Presbyterians of that village. The Marine Band made its first appearance on the Square this season last week. A raft made up of a million feet of logs reached port this week from Moon River for the Goderich Lumber Company. A surveying party, LOOKING under C.P.R. engineers, started out from Goderich this week and so far this work has been chiefly along or near the Maitland' and its con- tributory streams. John, the umbrella mender, is in town at the present time. He says' this is his 33rd annual visit to Goderich and that while he is fixing up broken ribs, he is mending himself with lake breezes. 25 YEARS AGO Shifting of Huron County Health Unit operations from Clinton to Goderich was started this week and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. ' Consideration will be given to placing a clock on the new county court house, Deputy -Reeve Joe Allaire told Goderich Town Council last -Friday night. A grant of $4,000 was 'made to Goderich Recreation and Arena Committee last Friday night by town council to help offset a deficit in- curred largely from arena operations. The new mile stretch.of No. 21 Highway, with new bridge, to• bypass the dangerous curve and light bridge at Port Albert, was opened to traffic last Saturday. • Change in the system of remunerationfor town fathers became official last Friday night ` in a bylaw passed by Goderich Town Council. Remuneration of the mayor was set at $8 a BACK meeting and councillors at $4 for attendance at regular committee meetings and regular and special council meetings. 5 YEARS AGO ^ Concrete plans for the second phase ' of The Square beautification project, which calls for landscaping sidewalks, were made at a special meeting June 12. Miss Wendy McNab, a planner with the Ministry of Natural Resources at Point Farms Provincial Park, told Goderich Town Council last week of plans to make some im- provements at the site just north of Goderich, including a new road entrance, a children's playground, hiking and trailing paths and a recreation centre in the old barn. The Huron County Jail became the responsibility of the Historic Jail Board on Tuesday afteroon at 4 p.m. The lease between the county and the board was signed by County Clerk John Berry apd' Warden Bill Elston. Jail. Board members Coun- cillor Elsa Haydon and Dorothy .Wallace signed the agreement and took possession of the keys to the jail. The Goderich Signal - Star's new plant on Bayfield Road was of- ficially opened on Friday afternoon attracting 2,000 friends and well-wishers. The Signal -Star received the Royal Canadian Legion's media award for assistance to the club''s programs on the weekend. DEAR REALE BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER Very soon now, school will be out for the sum- mer for all the kids still in classes in the area's elementary schools. In fact, at the end of next week, the children will be underfoot every day of the week until school reopens in September. I remember in all the books I read from the school library when I was a child, the heroes and heroines, had exciting summer vacations. Some of them went to the sea shore; some to the mountains; some to the farm; some to the country. And I recall that -those summers for those boys and girls were just wonderful - warm but not too hot; sunny and seldom rainy; fun but never boring; exciting, and never, never dull. And do you know what? I even remember my own childhood summers as something absolutely great. I remember playing for endless hours with my friends; long, lazy hikes with a packed lunch and a bathing suit; diving into the "deep side"- in the cold, cold water under the bridge; roller skating after the sun went down all up and down the sidewalks in town; riding in the back of'a pickup truck to those occasional family outings miles from home. And I remember something else too. I remember getting up early • in the morning. to help mom and dad. Chores they called them. I fed the chickens and the dog, hoed the garden, ran errands, helped with the house cleaning and even once in a while went with my father on his egg route. Well, all that's changed now that 1979 has arrived. Now summer is just one long drag for the kid- s....and it is really hard to understand why.. First of all, the weather is usually too hot or too cold. You know what I mean....it is too hot to mow the grass but too cold to go swimming. Why doesn't the grass get cut when it is cold so that there is time for swim- ming when it gets hot? You tell me. When the kids have a golf date pr a tennis twosome lined up, it rains. When the sun Comes out, ndb(ody is interested in j•. ining your son on the links or on the court. Boredom sets in almost as soon as the school closes down in June. Modern parents don't take the whole summer off and pack the family up for a holiday ,at some fun -loving pleasant resort. Mom and dad. usually have to work, except for two weeks off sometime in July. And the kids are scot-free to do just about anything (within reason) they can find to enjoy during the day time. What do they do? I wonder too. Check the swimming pool and the playgrounds around town. You will find only a handful of children, even though these programs are some of the best you will find anywhere. T.he recreation , department's summer programs for children usually reach their quota of youngsters, but there is seldom a flood of interest so that the recreation depart- ment has to work over- time to meet the''defnand. Children don't seem to be hanging around the beach, although one might expect that would be a favorite gathering spot. They don't congregate in large numbers on the sandlots to play ball or in the public parks to romp and run or at the school yards to take advantage of the facilities there. In summer, children seem to vanish. Where do they go? That's kids in general, of course. Your own "children are underfoot, bored, unhappy and bothersome. Day after day you hear the same plaintiff whine: "Morn, what can I do?" A favorite ploy at the Keller household to counteract that kind of statement is to, offer work....anything so long as it is something the child can realistically manage. Inventive moms and dads can come up with lots and lots of suggestions for sons and daughters. It'works like a charm. Within minutes after you've suggested that Johnny paint the fence, the telephone will ring with an invitation for Johnny to go to Billy's house to play under the hose. Johnny won't, be bored any more...,and you can paint the fence in peace.