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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-12-20, Page 32PAGE 8A —GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1979 It may sound like the pompous mediocrity of mid dle-age but a few things about Christmas these days don't -turn me on the way some of the old-fashioned Christmases did. In the newspapers recently was an item about ma trees no longer being allowed in public buildings including churches. In other words, only the sterile artificial trees are allowed. When you're well past the sunny side of 50, a lot of memories flood the mind at Christmas. It's more than 40 years since I have been present when a Christmas tree in the wild was cut. It was a gay but almost sacred occasion when our church young peoples group went tree -cutting. We always took one of the older men of the church with us because he had the best axe. In old Victoria County, the church tree was always a huge work of art. Those old churches had ceilings so high even the bats used lifelines. A tree to fill the space had to be a dandy. Some words have disappeared from the English language over the years and one that was familiar to the lumberman of those days. was helve. An axeman thought if his helve - axehandle - almost as a work of art. I can remember my grandpa - Grumpy,•we called him snorting at the store-bought axehandles. He would pick two or three helves Pram the bush every year and store them for future use. When they had dried sufficiently, he would shape them with hand tools. He was left-handed, as I am, and he always contended that a good helve for a southpaw should bow left. He "sanded" it with glass and gave that throat and waste as delicate a shine as any finegrained paper. He loved working with an axe and when he went with the young people for the church Christmas tree, he would regale the group with stories about lumber camps in the early days of Canada. And he made that tree -cutting ceremony into something almost awe-inspiring. The sound of an axeblade biting into the bole of a beautiful, straight spruce is both sad and glad: sad because a living thing is being removed, glad because it would grace God's house for the joyous Christmas concerts and the Letters are apDreL•atea by Bob trotter• Eiaaie Ro EIr,' ,a On' N38 2C 7 - secure in a huge tub with guywires across the choir'loft. This came about -because ene year, -the whole thing toppled across the front pews during the Christmas concert and almost pinned Santa Claus to a 1 lectern. , Ah, shucks. I guess the trees are prettier today. , They have flickering lights and fancy decorations, not just strings of 'colored crepe paper, popcorn balls, last year's Christmas cards and candy canes. But it sure was more fun getting the tree in those days, listening to the older folks talk of pioneer days. As mentioned earlier, I have a lot of memories of past Christmas.es and most of them are sweet. Grow up as soon as you can, said Hervey Allen in Anthony Adverse. It pays. The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty...The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regret. Only the middle- aged 'have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits. A merry Christmas to you and yours, my friends! Christmas services. In two or three deft strokes, Grumpy could cut through"a six-inch trunk in a few seconds. He knew exactly where a tree would fall, too, and he made sure the least possible damage was done to any saplings surrounding the felled tree. What a tree! It was always chosen from a neigh- borhood farm long before the festive season. The young people would start looking in early September" and would have a dozen. or more b the church People who serve rural communities. Course instructors include farmers, and representatives from farm organizations, agri- business and the Oi?# rjo ,Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The 1980 program, which runs from January 8 to March 29, features several new courses including effective presentations, using high cost money, farm welding, and a cow -calf field day. The -short courses are either one or two-day sessions with the ex- ception of the Basic Pork Production course which is scheduled for four days. The cost for each course is $4 per�erson per day: Lunch is available for a nominal fee. Fora complete list of the short courses, write to: Agricultural Short Courses, Centralia College of Agricultural Technology, Huron Park, Ontario, NOM 1YO. Offer new courses Centralia College o Agricultural Technology is reaching out to the community this winter with an expanded program of agricultural short courses. "The short course .program has been suc- -cessful for the past 10 years," says Don Cameron, course coor- dinator. "This winter we are offering 17 courses, and we're expecting a total enrolment of about 600 people." Course topics are selected to interest beginning and established farmers and their families, but many from which to _ will also be of interest to_ f choose. The final decision was madey board and the minister because nothing was cut without permission. In the early years, the tree was hauled to the church by dozens of willing hands and it was a happy crew of young people who set the monster up in front of the old pump organ. In later years., a.tractott was used to haul it to the church and hired hands made sure it was AGRICULTURE MAILBOX Drawn from letters to Agriculture Canada 'and Agriculture Minister John Wise Dear 4lr. tl'ise Dear J.M.: / wish to question the • Canadians are among the r('gulatinrr. jar certi%ic•crtion u/ world's great mushroom /frrvc(//0.sis-/•rcc /.is•tetl /lercls. lovers. Last ...year we had a which requires that a herd per capita consumption of must he higeijicr as a unit fur 1.8 kilograms - one of the two t'c'urs a herd highest in the world. cnvru'r can apple'. Ibis pre- To keep up with this demand, the mushroom in- dustry. in Canada has grown dramatically. Between 1968 and 1978, production more than doubled and is now about 23,000 tonnes annually. At one time most mush- room production went into the processed market, but in recent years the trend is toward fresh mushrooms, ' Because of their perish- able nature, fresh mushrooms are mostly grown near major cities. About 80 per cent of sents a financial hardship to /icrcl owners like rrirsc1/ who are just getting starter/ in the cattle business. -111.1!. , Markham, Ont. Dear M.H.: The regulations for cer- tifying Brucellosis -Free Listed Herds are not meant to penalize new farmers. But we must be certain that listed herds are indeed free of the disease. There is a higher incidence of brucellosis in recently assembled herds than in herds that have been the mushroom industry in established for two years or Canada is concentrated in more without additions. Ontario and Quebec. However, your herd may Dear Minister qualify for listing without Are therear11• commercial - waiting two years if it is .scull' herds of wildlife. mill made up from animals pur- as deer, raised lr,r (noel in chased from Brucellosis -Free ('auacla Listed Herds. l3 .\ . Duni un. /3; Herds not meeting this requirement may still qualify Dear B.N.: provided they undergo four consecutive tests at specified time periods. Please contact the federal district veterinarian in your maintained in the Northwest area to see if your herd can Territories'hy a native group. qualify for listed status with- i know of no commercial out the two-year re uirement, deer herds in Canada. q Provincial wildlife laws The only managed herd of wildlife for food that 1 am aware of is a reindeer herd Dear Sir: ' ! ttv,lilcl like to know something ahold the com- mercial lilushrncurr growing industry in Canada. usually prohibit the raising of wild animals in captivity. For more information, you should contact provincial wildlife 'and game agencies. DAVE HAYLOW ELECTRICAL Serving Industrial, Commercial, Residential Needs 524-6038 TAME•'EM mato-ski (IF YOU CAN) HOT DEALS ON NEW AND USED MANY UNITS ON HAND TO CHOOSE FROM AFTER HOURS: JERRY...345-2372 SEAFORTH' 521.01130 \\ FARM EQUIPMENT LIMITED el Riddell says minister needs to wake up Jack Riddell. M.P.P. Riddell, M.F.P. for Huron -Middlesex, says Ontario's Minister of Agriculture seems to be asleep on the job. Riddell says the minister and his officials failed to notice that the federal government had downgraded the Agriculture and Food Processing classification in its Petroleum Product Aflc�tatie�r� P-Ia+T. - -The President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture drew at- tention to this downgrading two days ago. Yet still the in- formation didn't per- colate through to the Minister's ivory tower," says Riddell. "When 1 questioned him about this matter today, he said he was unaware of any change. Surely it's his respon- sibility to he aware --to keep up -to date with federal actions which at' fect Ontario's 0 .. agriculture industry. Who else should be looking after the interests of the farmers if not the Minister of Agriculture? '1 nder• the former le/lei-al government, the Agriculture and Food Processing classification was given top priority for energy supplies. Now it has slipped down the ladder to he given the Sa-m-e priority as garbage collection and snow removal. What happens if \ we are faced with a real and serious emergency with respect to energy supplies, with cutbacks, shortfalls and rationing? "Does the Minister not feel that food supplies for the people of Ontario are Important? Doesn't he know that it's his rt•sponsibility to keep a vigilant eye on federal legislation on regulations which could drastically .affect.ourfood supplies? •A former provinicial FARM CLASSIFIED SECTION C. 'Wanted WANTED TO RENT: Crop land in Colborne, Goderich and Ashfield Townships. Top dollar paid for top land. Call Steve Buchanan, Go,derich 524- 4700.-38tfnc D. Livestock FOR SALE: Good selection of Hampshire, Yorkshire, Hamp X York and York X Landrace boars."'' Also available gilts of these breeds and crosses. Bob Robinson, Walton 345-2317.-50,51 £ nergy Minister con- demned the previous federal government's Energy Supplies Emergency Act as a 'camouflaged War Me,lsures Act for which there is no present need'. ' Yet now the Minister and his cabinet colleagues dociley accept what their Conservative friends in Ottawa an- nounce without even bothering .to check out changes in priority which can have very negative and damaging ,effects on our future food supplies." WATER WELL DRILLING "79 YEARS EXPERIENCE" . FARM o SUBURBAN 4 INDUSTRIAL o MUNICIPAL t. FREE ESTIMATES e GUARANTEED WELLS o FAST MODERN EQUIPMENT 4 ROTARY & PERCUSSION DRILLS "OUR EXPERIENCE ASSURES LOWER COST WATER WELLS" DAVIDSON WELL DRILLING 4 Rotary and Percussion Drills LIMITED ' PHONE 357-1960 WINGHAM Collect Calls Accepted 'ONTARIO'S'FINEST WATER WELLS SINCE 1900" ORDER YOUR ANDERSON'S FERTILIZER fl FO1FAHAPPIER NEW YEAR What's The Advantage?... Substantial. Savings! •1 PAY 1979 PRICES ON FERTILIZER ORDERS NEEDED FOR YOUR 1980 GROWING SEASON! CLAY - Silo Unloaders Feeders Cleaners Stabling Leg Elevators Liquid Manure Equipment Hog Equipment BUTLER — Silo Unloaders Feeders Conveyors FARMATIC — Mills Augers, etc. ACORN — Cleaners • Heated Waterers WESTEEL-ROSCO Granaries B & L . Hog Panelling LOWRY FARM SYSTEMS RR 1, Klnca dine, Ont. Phone 95.5286 Take advantage of our early low prices. Buy your fertilizer NOW! You'll sleep better tonight and have a lot happier New Year knowing you saved so much by buying in Decem- ber. We have an analysis to suit your needs... 6-24-24,8-32-16, 16-16-16, 6-26-26, UREA, NITRATE PLUS MANY OTHERS AVAILABLE The Good Guys at M. J. Smith need to know how much fer- tilizer will be required for next year, By ordering now they can bring in enough stock to be prepared. -And being prepared is important to them at M, J. Smith. Get in on the High Rewards or shall we say, 'reap the benefits' for ordering your fertilizer now. WHILE YOU ARE HERE HAVETA COFFEE ON THE HOUSE No need to try - there's only one place to buy or sell We can save you money What ham (it►(it'rieh► "ALL OF OUR FACILITIES ARE TO SERVE YOU BETTER"