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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-04-04, Page 4'4 April 4, 19'84 ing1jant bbance41rtwo Published at Wingham, Ontario, P.U. Box 390 - NOG 2W0 b} Wenger Bros. Limited Robert 0. Wenger.•Sec.•To s: - Audrey Currie. Advertising MAttager Barry Wenger. President Henr; Hess. Editor Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member — ( anadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Subscriptions S20.00 per year Second, Class Mail Registration No. 0821 tario Community Newspaper Assoc. Six months SI 1.50 Return postage guaranteed- Not uaranteed Not a biood sport In recent months a new call has gone out to curb the violence in Can- ada's favorite if unofficial national sport. At the heart of the concern this time is not the bullying goon tactics which plagued the game in the 1970s, but something much nearer the heart of hockey purists: bodily contact. Contact, which translates into the bodycheck, rubbing out an opposing player against the boards or flattening an unwary skater at centre ice, has al- ways been considered integral to the way North Americans play hockey. Even the tentative step by minor hockey several years ago in outlawing bodychecking at the younger age levels is considered a sacrilege by some, who argue checking is an art which to be mastered properly must be introduced at an early stage. Now some people both inside and 'outside hockey are questioning wheth- er the associations went far enough in their ban on contact. They are suggest- ing it be extended all the way up to the Midget age group of i5 and 16 -year- olds. Itis crucial, they argue, to protect growing bodies from the injuries which can result from a crushing check, as well as to give players more time to fully master the skills of skating and puck -handling without the fear of being ambushed by a larger — though not neccessarily more skilled — opponent. The proposal will undoubtedly draw screams of protest in some quarters, but It -deserves consideration. Certaily there is mounting evidence. that something must be done to protect young players from themselves and each other. Hockey has tried to go the route of football in protecting players by improving protective equipment. The response to an epidemic of head and eye injuries has been the manda- tory helmet and face mask. However whe ootba"irtou id -hat not even the best equipment could protect against all injuries, it responded by outlawing some of the more dangerous tactics and strictly enforcing the rules. Hockey should take a lesson. One need only have watched the matches at the recent Wingham Midget Hockey Tournament to realize equip- ment alone is not the answer to hockey injuries. Though few of the games were particularly vicious, they sent a steady stream of boys to the local hospital for treatment of injuries ranging all the way up to fractured limbs, whiplash and concussion. If anything, it appears the helmets and facemasks have creat- ed a false sense of invulnerability, leading players to carry their sticks higher and almost routinely cross- check or slash across the head or face. It also appears to have lulled referees into a growing tolerance of this behav- ior. There is something wrong with a sport that can and does maim our youth. Children not even out of scl pol suffer injuries on the ice that some- times stay with them for the rest of their lives, coming back to haunt them long after the game itself has lost all meaning. It is a risk they are forced to accept to prove their manhood in a sport which for the vast majority will never be more than a passing fancy. Whether eliminating the body - check from minor hockey will produce the desired result is an open question. It is possible more might be accom- plished by outlawing its more vicious forms, such as boarding, charging, elbowing or high -sticking, with penal- ties sufficiently severe to ensure no coach will tolerate them, and making sure referees enforce the ban. Certainly something must be done and quickly, and if hockey is unwilling or unable to police itself the govern- ment has a duty to step in. Hockey will always remain a contact sport at some levels-for-fhose ww o wis�i to ply i tat way. It was never intended to be a blood sport. What makes a Although there were never more than 7,000 American servicemen on the tiny island of Granada during or fol- lowing the recent invasion by U.S. forces, no less than 8,612 medals have been awarded by the American defence department. Eighteen , servicemen were killed in that action. About 50 achievement medals were awarded to personnel who never were closer to the action than their own of- fices in the Pentagon at Washington. Still other medals went to support staff 4, Items from Old Fi.I APRIL 1937 Overheated stovepipes caused a fire at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Gook, 6th concession of East Wawa -nosh, which com- pletely destroyed the two- storey frame building. Neighbors saved some of the furniture and other buildings were 'saved due to -the fact that the wind blew the. flying • embers in an opposite direction. The friends and neighbors met at the home of Boyd Marshall to bid farewell to. Mr. and M.S. W. H. Marshall and son Aleck before leaving for their new home in Gorrie. They presented them with two upholstered chairs. e The sign l_anrl ibe Ctar. Goderich's two. weekly newspapers, have amal- gamated and will be is- sued as one paper twice a week. Proprietor •of the merged publications will be W. Wilkes of the Star. W. H. Robertson . of the Signal will be managing editor. In a three -cornered election for councillor at Brussels, Harry Bowler was elected by a small margin, defeating Finlay Samis and Joseph Kelly. The vacancy on council' was caused by the. death of William Clouse. 1JIr. and Mrs. W. Leggatt of Whitechurch have moved to town and have taken up. residence on the corner of Frances and Victoria Streets, which was formerly occupied by C. VanNorman and family. The Dionne Quints are now hero? in the "rear" areas at Fort Bragg, N.C., Fort Stewart, Ga. and Fort Lewis, Wash. An American forces spokesman said 275 medals were awarded for valor, combat deaths or wounds. in addition 8,337 medals were distributed for individual performance. Given a real war to fight the American defence department might find it difficult to maintain its supply of guns and shells; available supplies of the necessary metals would probably be required for the minting of medals. Who pays the piper? The New Democratic Party has been persistent in its demand that cur- rent governments do something realis- tic about inflation. They point to the erosionof the buying power of workers' wages as prices of goods and services continue to escalate, in some cases faster than pay cheques. But the NDP is equally concerned about the high rate of unemployment in Canada. The party's leaders are now calling for a shortened work week,- as little as 32 hours, so that available jobs may be spread over a greater number of workers. They demand, 'however that weekly wages be maintained at their present Levels for the shorter work week. - - Somehow the two proposals don't seem to fit one another. Just how, we wonder, can any employer manage to produce the same amount of goods, pay the wages of considerably bigger staff and at the same time avoid raising the price of his product? The net result, of course, would be inflation on a truly grand scale. Good will never legislated A government committee which has recently concluded a long-term study has decided that Canadians are a people with very definite racist bias. We don't welcome newcomers to our land; rather we try to exclude them from equal opportunity both socially and econornically. Many of us might protest that statement as totally untrue. Many among us have nothing but good will to offer the people who have come to us from the far corners of the world. We Five at peace with our new citizens. Witness the assistance which has been freely given to the "boat people" in their ,effort to integrate successfully Into Canadian life. All of which is true - of some Can- adians, but not all. We who live In small places, where the numbers of new- comers are not significant, find no dif- ficulty in extending the hand of wel- come — for the obvious reason that we feel no threat from their presence. It is quite, different, however, in larger centres where the people from a given country tend .to find housing in the same neighborhoods; where new- comers find jobs that Canadians have rn worth over $500,000. Those kids sure have what it takes! APRIL 1949 The most disastrous fire of recent years destroyed the plant of the Wingham Manufacturing Company. The factory, owned by Charles Cook, has been in operation for the past 21 years in the manufacture of toilet seats and other small articles. It employed about 20 hands. George Smith, a former manager of the Wingham branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, has gone to San Francisco, California, as president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce there. Miss Grace ' Holmes., School ,eomiiiercial course, has accepted atposition in the office • of the Wingham Utilities Commission. Charles Blythe, CNR Agent at Tara, has been.> appointed agent at Wingham, replacing W. F. Burgman who recently retired. ; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hutchison and family moved from their home west of Whitechurch in West Wawanosh to their new home east of the • village, on the farm vacated by James McInnis. Miss Gladys Musgrove of Wroxeter, who has for some time been with the Xray department at Victoria Hospital, London; has moved to Toronto where she has taken a position in the Xray department of Sunnybrook Hospital. APRIL 1960 A heavy rain on Saturday night and Sunday morning, adding its waters to the melting snow throughout the countryside, broke the ice on the Maitland River and created flood conditions in Lower Wingham, the worst since the record water levels of 1947. Many homes had to be evacuated. The Wingham firm of Owen King Construction has been awarded the contract to erect a bridge and two culverts in the Glamis area in Bruce County,'at'a cost of $11,825. Stores in Wingham will remain open each Saturday z. . Despite the fact that a good many residents of Wingham and the surrounding district have been outspoken in their desire to have a swimming pool constructed, response to a widely -circulated ballot was so slim that the pool project has been dropped. A campaign .committee has been set up -by the Wingham United Church to raise a minimum of $50,000. for the erection of a new manse, improvements to Sunday School facilities, the preparation of a parking lot on church property and the possible re -roofing of the church. The 85 -year-old manse on the corner of John and Minnie Street will be removed and a new residence erected in its S Seniors' Day Centre News Boy Rita Rice A few weeks ago, I read a newspaper that seniors enjoy their best month of health in April, the beginning of spring. So, this is your month if you're in that category. That's if you believe in statistics. This Saturday, April 7, the day centre is holding its annual flea market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ar- mouries. We have had an excellent response to our table rentals from the community. The centre itself will feature a good supply of baking, a lunch booth, a used -articles table and a ticket booth for the radio and cassette recorder we are raffling off. If anyone has any articles to donate, even baking, we would be most appreciative and if you're doing some spring cleaning and have some articles to get rid of, bring them to the centre this week or call for a pick-up at 357-1440. Upcoming April programs at the centre include: April 4, David Anderson, a field officer from the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security office in Sarnia spoke; April 5., Rev. Paul Mills of St. Andrew's Presby- • terian Church, speaks at 1:30 p.m. on his bee -keeping hobby; April 12, seniors from the centre will be attending the Belmore Maple Syrup . -Festival's seniors day; April 17 at 1:30 p.m., Connie Jamieson of the Jack.Reavie Vocational Centre will speak on the operation of the cen- tre; Peter Chandler of East Wawanosh Township will share his art of violin making April 18 at 1:15 p.m. ' The centre's fifth an- niversary of operation is Thursday, April 19, but we place. T. A. Currie was elected president of the Wingham Curling Club at the annual meeting held last week. Vice presidents are F. E. Madill, Warren Callan and J. Lloyd. APRIL 1970 This community, along with, other parts of Western Ontario, experienced the worst blizzard for many years last Thursday evening. Eight cars were abandoned between, Highway 4 and Whitechurch. Those who did get through to the village reported that it took two hours to make the trip. At one stage there were 35 people stranded at Morrison's garage. David Slosser, son of Lee Slosser, Wingham;• and the late Mrs. Slosser, has been named vice principal of Sacred Heart 'Secondary School in Walkerton. Peter Chandler, RR 3, Wingham, was elected the new president of the East Wawanosh Federation of Agriculture. Eldon Cook is vice president and Simon Hallahan is secretary - treasurer. Kevin Kieffer, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. Kieffer of the Belmore area, .played the male lead in the Teeswater entry in the Junior Farmers Provincial 'Finals held at Guelph University. For 'his fine performance in "Still Stands The House", he received the honor as run- nerup to the best actor for the evening. The D. A. Rann Furniture will be celebrating June 21 at our annual meeting. A guest list is being prepared for the event and an open invitation is extended to the public. Approximately 40 per cent of our users live in Bruce County and we are pleased to report the county has awarded the day centre a grant for the 1984-85 budget year. A thought for this week is: "To be eighty years young is sometimes more cheerful and hopeful than being, 40 years old." Oliver Wendell Holmes. ov00000ao><aoaoomooo00000moa CC rd appreciates all who helped Dear Editor, On behalf of the Belgrave Community Centre Board I would like to take this op- portunity to thank everyone who supported us at. our March dance. We raised almost $500 to help with the installatio o the new ball lights in B " ave. I would like to thank the Belgrav Ladies' Club for preparing serving the lunch and everyone who volunteered their help to make the evening a success. Also thanks to the men and ladies of the community who helped with the flooding of the ice, worked in the booth and did any repairs around the arena. Your volunteer time has helped keep operating expenses down and is appreciated. Lloyd Michie Chairman tore in .: russe s w1 now ' e known as The House of Max. The D. A. Rann Funeral Home will be the M. L. Watts Funeral Home. An NHL Players Hockey School will be held in the Harriston and Minto Com- munity Centre in August. Paul Henderson, the fast - skating forward with the Toronto Maple Leafs, will be the top instructor at the school. missed. There have, indeed, been ugl incidents, even in our smaller cities, i which racism was clearly apparent. The study committee recommends the passage of legislation which would force employers to provide work for new Canadiahs on a percentage basis of total payroll. I`n other words the law would enforce what natural good will fails to provide. If such legislation is passed, as it probably will be, it will eventually prove more bane than boon to the people of other races who will live among us. Whatever antagonism now exists among native Canadians will be crystalized into active hatred and or- ganized methods of circumventing the law itself will be found. Racial good will cannot be legisla- ted, any more than morals or good manners can be enforced by law. What is needed is a broad -scale effort to ed- -ucate and inform Canadians about the many admirable qualities of our new citizens, and a program of advice to the newcomers about the ways to avoid un- necessary irritation in a land where customs are unfamiliar. The Advance -Times is a member of the Ontario Press Council which will consider written com- plaints about the publica- tion . of news, opinions and advertising. If a com- plaint can't be resolved„ with the newspaper, it should be sent to''fhe- On- tario Press Council, 151 Slater St., Suite 708, Ot- tawa, Ont.,K1 P 5H3. TODAY'S CHILD Grant is 17, and . he knows what he needs. A family who would be able to go to bat for him when necessary and be there for him no matter what happens. Grant is young for his 17 years and has a number of -handicaps. He is epileptic, and has mild cerebral palsy and learning disabili- ties. The epilepsy is fairly well controlled by medication but he does have occasional seizures, both grand and petit mal. Grant is left behind in his development. He needs a large amount of supervison and firm limits, and he doesn't learn easily from expe- rience. He gets along with much younger children. and adults. He is at grade five level in reading and grade 3 in both spelling and math, at a special private school operated by the group home where he now lives. He enjoys BY JUDITH ADAMS biking, swimming and -is very, fond of auinials, especially horses;.;• Grant is a, likeable, trusting boy Witha`real zest .for. life.. •0 he weren't so resilient, e wouldn't, have wea„fa- ered - the rocky pattern of moves and separa- tions his life has been up until now, and still looks forward- to find- ing an adopting. family. "I don't want parents to spoil me,' said Grant when asked what kind of family he would like to belong to. He's open to the possibility of a single parent or both a mother and a father, and to having younger children in the family. It's thought that Grant will be able to move on to either a vocational -high school or at 18, a sheltered workshop setting where he can learn a skill or trade, but will always be needitlg some guid- ance. He needs parents who will welcome hitn just as he is, parents willing to advocate for him, and direct him in obtaining community resources. To inquire about 'adopting Grant, please write to Today's Child, Ministry of Community & Social Services, Box 888, Station K, Toronto, describing your fairiily and way of life.