Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-10-23, Page 17Crossroads—Oct. 23, 1985 eisure, features and entertainment Serving over 20,000 home in Ontario's heartland MRS. CHERYL FRITZ—of Clifford Is one of the organizers of the Harriston Trlple- C CB Club's annual Christmas toy drive. The drive collects toys for underprivileged children In Wellington County and then the toys are distributed through the county's children's aid agency. TOY DRIVE—Mrs. Annie Dale and Mrs. ,Irene Copland, both of Harriston, are two members of the Harriston Triple -C CB Club who are heavily invdlved in this year's toy drive for children in Wellington County. The ladies collect toys for underprivileged county children and then the toys are distributed through the- Wellington County Children's Aid. CB Club's toy drive aids children By Margaret Stapleton Due to the efforts of the feisty little Triple -C CB Club at Harriston, Christmas will be brighter this year for a number df children and their families in Wellington County. The club has launched its third annual toy drive for the Wellington County" Children's Aid and club members are determined to make this _—__..yeaFs..drive-better than -ever_. The toy drive has become a labor of love for the club as a whole, but especially for Cheryl Fritz of Clifford and .Irene Copland and Annie Dale of Harriston, the committee in charge. They are trying to get an early start this year in order to prevent the last- minute crush which occurred last year — that is making two trips with truckloads of toys for distribution on the day before Christmas. However they realize. they may have to do a lot of rushing around right near Christmas, even if it means they will have less time to spend with their own families. At first glance the toy drive may appear simple — tack up a couple of posters, pick up the toys and then give them to the Children's Aid for ----distribution. But as the three ladies will tell you, it's a lot more com- plicated than that. They started preparing for the toy drive last August by putting out "the word" that they are looking for good, used toys. Sometimes they even buy some of the toys if they get an ex- ceptionally good bargain, like they 'did this year when they bought 17 dolls for $1.00 each. Next comes the painstaking task of cleaning the dolls and fixing any toys that are broken or in need of repair. Once that is accomplished, new outfits are knitted for the dolls using yarn that has been donated or bought on sale. The ladies also knit slippers for the eh tlta Being a small club with a mem- bership of about 30 (including family members), means that funds are at a 'premium. However when it comes to the toy drive, said Mrs. Fritz, none of the -committee'-g- requests for funds ever have been turned down. The Children's Aid also makes requests for certain types of toys. For instance last year when wooden blocks were needed for toddlers, a carpenter at' Clifford donated th blocks and then CB- club member sanded them down so there would b no rough edges for young hands an mouths. Mrs., Fritz said boys 10 to 12 ar something of a problem because they do not get many toys donated for tha age group. However she said they have found model cars and trucks are Very -good -for boys that age and this year they even have been given a remote -control car, which will delight some boy this Christmas morning. Games are another perennial favorite, Last year the donation of four board games, all in excellent condition, was very much ap- preciated. Mrs. Dale related the story of one little boy with no brothers or sisters whose mother permitted him to select a toy for another boy and girl for the drive. "These are for your children," he solemnly told Mrs. Dale when he presented her with the gifts. Mrs. Dale i said she was smiling inside because all her children are grown, but she knew what he meant just the _same The other ladies agreed no matter how "hairy" things get around the time of the toy drive, there is great satisfaction in knowing you are helping someone else. PRECONCEIVED NOTION Not meaning to be sexist, but these three charming, mild-mannered ladies are the last people you would expect to be CB enthusiasts. Mrs, Fritz laughs at the suggestion because it is one she has heard many times. CB, or citizen -band radio lovers are not all leather -jacketed truck drivers, but can come from any walk of life. Citizen -hand radios first „ gained popularity during the mid-1970s in the Southern United t.a.te_s.__Tii.e__.f a -d_.. e ' the Triple -C Club, said Mrs. Fritz, but s it does make participating in certain e club activities, such as the "meter d ' hunt" (a form of hide and seek played in cars >, more enjoyable. e • In the three and one-half years since its formation, the Harriston club has t kept up a comfortable membership,. made of families and single people, but new members always are . ' welcome. At first the club was .somewhat "male -dominated", according to Mrs. Fritz, but the women soon put their collective feet down . nd said they wanted to play a bigger role in club matters. And it worked. Today the women have a good deal of respon- sibility in the workings of the club and are instrumental in getting the toy drive off the ground each year. The notion of family is very im- portant to club members and children are allowed to attend club meetings. Many of the club's events are planned around the family, such as toboggan and barbecue parties and the Valentine family dance which is coming up next year, No„ alcohol is permitted at club functions either and — gra one r"has challenged- hat ruling, said Mrs. Fritz. in additon to the toy drive last year, the club also donated $600 worth Of CB equipment to Birmingham Lodge at Mount Forest, a home for handi- capped people. The money was used to install a CB system in the lodge van. Club members also patrolled the site of the 1984 plowing match at Teviotdale. It was an exhausting job, according to Mrs. Fritz, as club members had to patrol the grounds day and night. Winter is when CBers are at their busiest though. said Mrs. Dale — a time when they practically "sit" on their sets. Mrs. Fritz saki they have --h eo-k c d —rooms-• fur--tru-crk s' a nd motbrisfs stranded in the winter storms, told them what restaurants are open and have been known to stay up all night waiting for distress calls in the middle of storms. The big job ahead of the group now is to.coordinate this year's toy drive. For pick-up and delivery those in- terested are asked to call 338-2370 or 338-5102, Harriston, or 327-8247 or 327- 8161, Clifford. spread t'b Canada clubs started forming like wildfire. But the trend died down during the early 1980s' and today only a handful of true, died-' in -the -wool CB lovers are left. To these people CBs havebecom.e.a... way of life, Mrs. Copland said her son has a CB in the house, in the barn, on the tractor - you name it. Once you have been bit by the CB bug, the ladies agree. it's hard not to succumb. You don't have to own a CB to join Media get blamed for the evils they uncover On Saturday, Sept: '23, 4 chener-Waterloo - Record carrie column on the page devote religious subjects an article t "Media seem to get the blame for mess they uncover". The writer of the column is Fr Morgan, a retired minister served as pastor of Trinity Un Church in Kitchener for many ye His article follows, reprinted by mission of The K -W Record. tet- .., Americar4 citizens would never haute• d a known that they lost the Vietnam. war d to had newscameramen not gone to the itled ~ battle zone and filmed it. The Pen- the tagon never told them. Canadians would , not have been ank shocked into shelling out millions for who Ethiopia had not Canadian media folk ited gone there and brought the whole ars. horrible situation right into our living per- rooms. Blame the media again for upsetting -us. We would likely be still lending money to the South African govern- ment had media men not. gone and taken videos of white policemen using horsewhips on little black school children, If the Botha government crumbles, blame the media. A -LOT OF TROUBLE The media really go' to a lot of trouble just to disturb us. They follow the ,Israeli army into Lebanon; they duck rnad ine-gun bullets in the streets of Beirut and some of them get killed, just to let us know how the other half lives, They go to South Africa and South America and get manhandled by the dictators' brutal police. This, past month three newsmen were killed in action. And here at home their reputations are often in jeopardy. Reporters on this continent can be sent to prison if, when reporting some skulduggery, they refuse to tell a judge where they got their information. That is akin to demanding that the RCMP reveal where they get their information about the Mafia, the motorcycle gangs or the presence of foreign spies in Cana dayB.jt-wP m,v_e— to have someone to blame for bad news. There is a cartoon in the Kitchener Library in which Garfield, the philosophical cat, says, "When all else fails, blame the media." When a 'politician makes a damagingly honest statement, he claims the media• misquoted him or took his remarks out of context. Citizens become annoyed at prying reporters at the scene of tragedy. Richard Nixon- would have finished his term unsullied had it not been fel- two nasty reporters and their editor who plastered the scandal of Water- gate all over the front pages of the World's newspapers. Blame the media for that. .. Jean Drapeau would still look•like a white knight bringing the fame of Expo 67 to Montreal if unfeeling reporters had not uncovered his financial hanky-panky, for which MVIontrealers arestill paying. Blame the media for that too. The government of France would not have egg all over its face over the Greenpeace (Rainbow) Warrior af- fair had not the Paris newspaper ex- cavated under the official cover-up, It's the media's fault. .—itis--a-long time-since-we-had-at5ank failure in Canada and we might not have known that this latest one wa aided by the fact that the president o the Canadian bank operated it from California and drained off much of the resources south of the border. It was left to TV media to draw this to our attention. Canadian financial circles have been shamed before the world, so blame the media. TUNA TRAUMA Consider the trauma of the tinned tuna unfit for human consumption. It was to have been shipped quietly to starving Ethiopians, but a United Church minister cried "Foul" so it was sold to Canadians. We might never have known that _Cons eLvative coil n4; n., ��,o=: ori mot e s When we look at the state of affairs f , in many other countries we ought to be thankful we live in a land like Canada, but that doesn't mean we are able to live without these wretched media people. No government, no corporation, no union and no church ought to be protected from the scrutiny of the media. SILENCE THE PROPHETS In case you have forgotten, all this does have a' religious background. David, the hero -king of Israel, seduced the wife of one of his good soldiers. To cover up he had the soldier killed in battle. Well, why be k' ng unless you can do this? _ _... But Nathan the prophet nailed hini publicly and accused him plainly of adultery and, murder. The prophets have always done this sort of thing -- judging leaders by their own professed moral standards. —In orabusocietyov.. have .- -- r._ ._ we avery fewprophets, do have their sec'j1i r descendants — those wret- ched, prying media people. Leaders have always tried to silence the prophets. Today we blame them for the evils they uncover. Garfield was right. impbrfant than national health had not TV investigative programs opened up the smelly cans. So a minister resigns — blame the media again. And I'll bet those nosy reporters are --_-no.going-tostop-the-r-e—T-hey-wi-li-warm to know who was -telling the truth', the PM or his minister. Gee, these guys are never satisfied. But it's not only in scandals like these that the wretched media in- terfere, they even get into in- ternational politics. Ordinary I