Loading...
The Wingham Advance Times, 1995-11-22, Page 44 itbeiVingbam 1bbance-Sinie0 Published each Wednesday at: Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road, Wingham, Ontario Phone (5t9) 35'7-2320 Fax (519) 357-2900 J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 We are: Jim Beckett - Publisher Audrey Currie - Manager Cameron J. Wood - Editor Cathy Hendriks - Ad. Sales Stephen Pritchard - Production Jim Brown - Reporter Margaret Stapleton -Reporter Eve Buchanan - Office Louise Welwood - Office .44.04 sn r lll� . Editorial Viewpoint Are we as friendly as we like to think Has all the discussion regarding horse droppings on the main street of Wingharn sent out the wrong message to people? Town council, in all fairness, had simply examined the issue of keeping the main street clean at the request of lo- cal businesses. After all, who wants horse droppings in front of their business? Council, at about the same time, commissioned new entrance" signs for Wingham .with a catchy slogan: "Where people meet and people speak." So far, we sound like a friendly place to do business and spend money. But imagine if your mode of transportation into this friendly community was a horse. And imagine if you knew the feelings of council and some of the local busi- nesses towards your mode of transportation. "Where people meet and people speak" takes on a whole new meaning. Wingham, surprise surprise, has not been widely known for its overly friendly atmosphere. In fact, many surrounding communities joke about just what kind of at- mosphere we have...one business owner in a nearby vil- lage described Wingham's attitude regarding a recent re- tail change as the best thing for his business. And we still can't see the big picture. Last week, a gentleman visited the Advance -Times of- . fice to discuss Wingham's attitude towards horses and their owners. In describing his outlook on the issue, he <' imply asked what does it take to help people feel better about that particular mode of transport: a particular mode • that was popular long before Henry Ford developed a more convenient method. What does it take? Unfortunately it doesn't stop there. Imagine if the town didn't clear it's municipal parking lots. The business community would be up in arms over council's attitude towards people wanting to spend' money in town. So imagine this particular gentleman's feelings over why he was unable to hitch his horse to a hitching post on municipally -owned property because snow had been piled up in front and on top of the post. The man won- dered what it would take to convince the townsfolk his money was just as good as those who happened to park . cars instead of horses in the municipal parkirig lots. We want people to come to our town to conduct busi- ness, spend money and contribute to our economic bet- terment. But why do we stop at those who just drive past our new signs? It seems our new found modern attitude will also be our undoing. — CJW. 0 z a O Member of: OCNA CCN A WEDNL.'SDAYY. NOVEMBER22R 195 A reason. to smile gMingfirri. The Madill Mustang Junior Girls Basketball team and the Junior Boys Volleyball team: both brought home champion- ship titles in the past week. Tremendous effort all arotand. er Is it education, or is it funding? with Margaret Stapleton The Wingham Advance -Times is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership. Letters Policy All letters to the editor must bear the writer's name, telephone num- ber and address. The Advance -Times wel- comes letters. We re- serve the right to edit, but will endeavor to preserve the author's intent. Deadline for letters is Monday before 10:00 a.m. Some exceptions may apply. Fax: 519-357-2900 or mail to: P.O. Box 390, Wingham, Ontario NOG 2W0 NOVEMBER 1948 not had, a resident minister since Quite a number of interested the death of Dr. Alexander Nim - citizens took advantage of the mo early in the spring. open house at the newly -erected County honors certificates for fire hall on Monday evening. completing six clubs were pre - Members of the fire department seated at the 4-H achievement day were present to welcome the visi- held at Wingham District High tors and explain the workings of School last week. Recipients were the fire equipment. The modern Ruth Coultes, Lynn Hela, Mary building is a credit to the Town of Craig, Marilyn Campbell, Joyce Wingham and will greatly assist Procter, Ann Arnold, Doris Car - the firemen in theirwork. swell and Grace Mathers. In spite of the unpleasant A good many interested parties weather, many attended an open in town have been hoping to see a house at the Wingham Public new front built on the arena and if School last Friday evening to see the temper of the nomination modern trends in education and meeting is any indicator, it could examine the building. Many be that action will be taken in voiced approval of the new look 1962. NOVEMBER 1971 of the school and all were delight- ed with the latest addition, the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Kindergarten. Church, Wingham, was the set - The home of the bride's parents ting for a candlelight wedding on was the scene of a charming late Friday, Nov. 19, when Patricia autumn wedding when Audrey Joan Remington of Wingham be - Janet, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Hunkin of Belmore, became the bride of Harvey Ed- gar, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Edgar of Wingham. It has been announced that the Carter Scholarship for Huron County has been won by James S. Hall of Wingham. Leslie Mae Wall of Wingham was second. These scholars had the highest ag- gregate marks on 10 Upper School papers. NOVEMBER 1961 Members of the public are cor- dially invited to attend the bless- ing and dedication of the new Sa- cred Heart Separate School in Wingham this Sunday afternoon at 4 o'clock. Rev. Gordon Fish of Brantford has accepted a call to St. An- drew's Presbyterian Church here. It is understood he will move his wife and family to Wingham dur- ing the Christmas holidays and take up his ministry here at the first of the year. St. Andrew's has There's been a great deal of re- sponse to an editorial penned by your's truly some two weeks ago regarding the recommen- dation made to the Huron County Board of Education concerning lim- iting the number of available credits to students. In the . past couple of weeks, CKNX-Radio has twice aired a news story reflecting the Huron County Director of Education's response to my editorial. Paul Carroll took obvi- ous exception to what I described as a potential "travesty of education." "Thanks for the publicity. First things first. I am a graduate of Grade 14. During my high school years I was in the advanced program - a five year diploma in six years. When I completed Grade 13 (now known as OAC), I had the necessary number of, credits to graduate. How- ever, my academic standard fell somewhat short of acceptance into university. With the prospect of permanent employment at a local department , store, I decided (with the help of my parents) to return to high school for an additional year to upgrade my ac- ademics, pursue further education and realize my creative potential. Since that time I have obtained a university degree, and moved onto a career that is actually connected to that education. I found success. came the bride of Reginald Doug- las Gibson of Gorrie. The Wingham area fire depart- ment will have a two -frequency, two-way radio communications system just as soon as it can be in- stalled. The total cost of the sys- tem- is $4,470. Wingham will have to make plans for acquiring another dump site soon, Councillor George Cart- er reports. NOVEMBER 1981 This year has been the worst in recent memory for local builders as interest rates, which during the summer touched 22 per cent, served to make new housing starts a thing of the past. Martha Cathers, a resident of the Fordwich Village Nutting Home, will be 104 on Nov. 26. She was born in a log house on the 14th Concession of Howick and retains a keen memory of her early life in the township. There will be no Santa Claus Parade in Wingham this year. The Outer Edge Cameron J. WOOD I can't help wondering about what town council must cope with in ,terms of teenagers in the community. Last week we ran a story on how council was concerned with the young thugs hanging out in the com- munity parks, causing trouble and perpetrating vandalism. The easy excuse is "blame the par- ents". Next comes the teachers,, Fol- lowed by the system. But the burden of blame is the re- sponsibility of all of us. • Had I not been given the chance to pursue and upgrade my education, who knows what my own future would have been. Would I have been able to' make a life for myself - a creative, thinking individual - with- out the chance to try again? Many of the teens hanging out on 'the streets of Wingham are bored. Bored with what the whole system has left for them. Bored with an edu- cation system that didn't completely capture their attention. I can only wonder how many more youths will not be able to re- align their personal goals if educa- tion opportunities are restricted to a specific number. Certainly, what the education di- rector is saying is that some kids don't just return to school as I did to upgrade. What he is saying is that some return to school for several years to play sports or simply waste time. But consider this, if our kids are in school (and I mean in class), 'that is a few less the town councils around the region have •to worry about dam- aging municipal property. L'm• pot saying turn our education, •sys4i into a babysittingservace; But, if We as a whole help our school boards develop a curriculum that will effec- tively deal with 'high risk students, we are that much farther ahead. If we allow our school system to limit education opportunities - to any degree - I feel we are only limit- ing the potential among some stu- dents who may blossom after more life experience. When we deal with people, we must accept that individ- uals progress at their own pace: which may not necessarily be when they are 17. If financial concerns are truly. a priority when considering extra cred- its, perhaps our school system may consider an extended -credit tuition versus restricting access for all based on the exception of a few. Tuna for some, caviar for MPP and Ontario party president who used to get written up in U.S. papers as a future Tory rime minister and ran the convention that made William Davis premier, refuses to go to the U.S. to answer charges of fraud while he was executive director of .the National Hockey League Players' Association. Some former stars have now launched a lawsuit against him. On nowhere near .as serious a level, former Tory minister Dennis Timbrell, so admired that he could have been leader instead of Harris if he had run in 1990, has lost some respect because -- while the legal wrangle is still going on -- he clearly tried to prompt the Ontario Hospital Association to pay him a healthy $1.1 million when he left after four years as president. Claude Bennett, another former Tory minister, has resigned as supposed part-time chairman of the federal Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a position to which he was appointed by Mulroney, after criticism that he billed it for more days work in a year than most people work full-time, and on top of his MPP's pension. Harris may not be to blame for the actions of Tories in other provinces and those here who are not part of his government and some may argue they are being unfairly raised against him. But Harris. has launched a crusade to cut government spending and "tighten belts for the public good". Clearly some Tories are not willing to share the pain. TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris is admonishing the poor to be content with their lot at a time oddly when a record number of concerns are being raised about how fellow Progressive Conservatives live off the fat of the land. Harris and company keep assuring welfare recipients that they can survive on 5520 a month by shopping around for dented cans of tuna. It also is difficult to recall a time when as many questions have been asked about ways members of a party make money as are being asked about Tories. These include Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, whom Harris sees as a role model and inspiration in cutting costs and services mostly to poorer people. Klein believes governments should intervene as little as possible, but twice publicly boosted a company in which Tory associates and his family own stock and they made a profit of millions. An ethics commissioner ruled that Klein did no wrong, but such commissioners are political appointees and it is ironic that a premier whose number one creed is that people should stand on their own feet should give a leg -up to political friends. In Saskatchewan, a minister aria top official in the former Tory government have been jailed for roles in a seheme in which shell' companies submitted false invoices to government that were paid and money passed to Tory MLAs for party and personal use. Ten other former Tory legislature members still face charges and a judge has called it "the most serious fraud ever perpetrated on the people of this province by elected members. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police this week asked Switzerland to freeze bank accounts through which a European manufacturer allegedly funnelled $20 million to "politicians and others" connected to the former Tory government of prime minister Brian Mulroney to coax Air Canada to buy $1.8 billion worth of planes. Reminders of Mulroney's own financial opportunism keep popping up. A sale of furniture by the retiring prime minister to a grateful government for $150,000 was cancelled after a public outcry, and how the furniture has finally been appraised at a modest $39,050. Welfare recipients must wish they could find someone so generous in buying their used sofas. Closer to Harris's home turf, the saga continues long past overtime in which Alan Eagleson, a former Tory