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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1977-11-30, Page 16C tiw-1 at ti:tiw .w'0�ii:. 1 Page 16 -The Wingham Advance -Times, November SO; 1977 orn in a to By Marion 1. Duke FORDWICH - There is such a thing as growing old gracefully. There is also truth in the old saw that you're only as old as you feel. To see her today, a resident of the Fordwich Village Nursing Home, bright, busy and friendly, one would guess Martha Cathers to be a woman in her seventies or early eighties. Instead she has reached the century mark. She celebrated her 100th birthday on Nov. 26. Martha Cathers was born on Nov. 26, 1877 in a log house built on the 14th concession of Howick Township oy her father, an Irish immigrant named Jacob Cathers. Her mother, Jane Fin- lay Cathers, was born in Canada. She is the second born of a family which would total five girls and two boys. One child died at the age of three years with diph- theria. At the age oc 28 years, Martha married her second cousin, David James Cathers. The couple had one son, James Lloyd, and farmed on various rural home- steads in Howick and near Turn - berry until retiring to Wingham in 1947. In 1957 David James Cathers died at the age of 87. Martha con- tinued to run her own home until she was hospitalized and then taken to the Mennonite Rest Home in Lucknow in 1976. In September of 1977 she came to the Fordwich Village Nursing Horne. , Such are the facts and figures of Martha Cather's life. But they tell little of the woman herself - a woman who lives in the present but who is fond of recalling the past with accuracy and in detail. "My father was the eldeS of nine children in Ireland and when he turned . 19 he figured it was time for him to get out and make his own living in order to make room for the rest of them. "He was attracted to Canada because he heard if you cleared the bush, then you could have the land and the timber. He worked hard. And he never went back to Ireland." "The boys in our family were the two youngest, so the girls had to be the boys until the boys were old enough to do the work. Our father never laid a hand on any of us, but when he said do some- thing we did it." Asked if she attended school, Martha replied with a twinkle in her eye, "Yes, to No. 1 School - that's where I got my number one education - that's a little joke I like to tell." Martha and her sisters and brothers were clever at school, so clever that their teachers (all men) coaxed their father to let two of the girls go on to qualify as teachers themselves. "But he couldn't afford to put all of us through and he wanted to treat us all equally," Martha says. "I went to school until 1 passed my entrance." Then Martha continued to work on the family farm. The days wete long and filled with chores, but along with the work there was laughter. A JOKE "We used to milk the cows out- side in the lane for years and we had a hired man named Jim Jobb. One time when we were milking, he was carrying out salt to put in the trough for the cows and I milked a stream of milk right at him. He turned around and said, 'Just wait until you're finished ...' Well, I had second thoughts and couldn't wait to get done with that cow. I emptied my pail into the can and dug up through the orchard in my bare - feet. Jim Jobb said later I went just like lightning and he couldn't run for laughing at me. He wasa good fellow and I thought I'd played a good joke on him." Like most country youngsters, Martha also recalls squirting milk from the cow into the open and waiting mouths of the barn cats which always gathered at milking time. Martha doesn't remember much about the log house in which she was born and spent her early years, other than the fact that along one side of it there was a trough, hewn from a single, large tree, which was used to catch soft water for washing. . For drinking water, the pioneering Cathers family had the best - spring water, but it had to . be hauled up by the bucketful. Martha and her older sister were the only two in the family born in the log house. The rest were born in a larger brick home built by their father. house, a "The log house was builrat the top of a hill and the brick house was farther down the hill. I can remember us running down the hill and hollering in the brick house so we could hear an echo." Martha also fondly remembers a man who lived some distance away who would hrine her "golden sweet apples, my they were good." Martha was 28 when she mar- ried her second cousin, David James Cathers. Asked if that wasn't considered quite an age to be married back in the early 1900s, Martha replied: "1 suppose it was, but you know it was my own fault. I have always had this thing about beauty - I like nice looking people, I still do. Mind you, now I can like homely people as long - as they themselves are nice - but not so much their face. Oh I was pretty saucey." A -major disappointment in the Huron County Council sR ha lives in t young couple's life carne when they» purchased a farm from a man known as "Yankee Taylor - because he.came from the United States". Mr. Taylor was known far and wide for his tree -grafting ability and the farm had an or- chard of 75 trees. However that winter was one of ('anpflion histrn-v with the thermometer dipping to -50 degrees F and . when spring 'finally came, the Cathers found Land severance fees could rise sharply Huron County Council didn't come to any conclusion Friday on the question of who should bear the additional costs for land severances - the taxpayers of Huron or the individuals applying for the severances. So the matter was tossed back in the laps of the Land Division Committee for decision. Members do have the authority to charge an adminis- tration Fee ' on any approved severances, or they can choose to MARTHA CATHERS, 100 -YEARS OLD. ( Check the quality and the prices at Readman Cleaners and Men's Wear when you're doing this year's Christmas shopping. Check for the Holiday in-store specials. Clip this coupon and deposit it when making a purchase. You could win a $25.00 certificate. READMAN CLEANERS • AND MEN'S WEAR Wingham 357-1242 continue as at present. The > problem in a nutshell is simple. The present charge, for each application far severan?e is $50. As of October 31, 1977 the average cost per severance was $152, based on 206 severances re. ceived to date. Who should pay the additional $102? The Land Division Committee which is set up under provincial legislation, has certain authori- ties granted to it. Just recently the Land Division Committee in Peel attached fees in excess of $700 to one severance which was approved, and the decision was upheld in the court. According to County Adminis- trator Bill Hanly, the precedent has been set and it is now a ques- tion in Huron. County of "how much should be subsidized by the public"? Bayfield Reeve Ed Oddliefson asked, "Should the people of Huron pay the costs for an indi- vidual who is asking for - a severance so he can make money?" Stanely Township Deputy - Reeve Paul Steckle ,answered: "The people who. are -receiving the benefits should also pay the costs." But. that feeling wasn't shared by everyone. Reeve Jack Tinny of Hay suggested much pressure could be brought on the Land Division Committee if the appli- cants were paying the entire cost of severance. Tinney also won- dered how high the costs forland severances might go. - Reeve Bill Elston of Morris Township thought the Land Divi- sion Committee should be striv= ing to "bring costs down instead of getting,people to pay more. I really am disappointed to see what's happening,' said Elston. The Land Division Committee, it was learned, has been operat . ing at a loss almost from its in- ception. Members of the current land division committee are Roy Westcott, Elmer Hayter, Girvin Reed, John Hazlitt and J. L. Me- Cutcheon. U.W. spring term course planned for Orangeville As well as the winter term political science course that the University of Waterloo will offer in Orangeville, courses in reli- gious studies and sociology will also be offered for area residents, starting in late March. , The two spring courses, Reli- gion and Culture (religious studies) and Social Problems (sociology), will begin in the last week of March and will continue to mid-June. Classes in each will meet one evening a week for thir- teen weeks. Religion and Culture lectures will be given by Prof. Darrol Bryant, who will be considering the lives of certain men and women who have had a profound effect on the cultures in which they lived and who still retain significance today. Prof. Bryant will discuss the perennial ques- tions of human destiny and moral values through examining such noteworthy people as Gandhi, Tolstoy, Martin Luther, Malcolm X and Jane Eyre. Social Problems, the sociology course, will be conducted by Joe Denys of the UW sociology de- partment. Mr. Denys will begin his lectures by presenting a de- finition of "social problems" and will' then ,go on to consider al- coholism, drug use, prostitution and other topics. He will also rase the question of whether cer- tain types of problems are inevit- able in the kind of society we have today. The location of the two spring courses and other pertinent de- tails will soon be announced. Any of these courses' to be of- fered in Orangeville in the winter and spring of 1978 may be taken for credit towards a university degree or attended simply for in- terest. The fee for a credit course is $77.50, waived for persons 60 years of age or over. If attended for interest, the lectures are free of charge. Additional information about the lectures will be available at the information session on December 6. Information is also available through the Orange- ville Public Library (941-0610) or the UW part-time studies office (885=1211, ext. 3447). New centre is inspected by Belmore, area residents BELMORE - More than 70 people turned out for a commun- ity meeting at the new Belmore Community Centre on Saturday night, despite blowing snow and poor road conditions. After everyone had a good look at the new centre, the meeting came to order with Mac Inglis acting as chairman. Several committees were established to direct the opera- tion of the new building for the coming year, They are: auditor- ium area, Mrs. Leonard Met- calfe, John Wilhelm, Bill Mul- vey; arena ice area, Jim Cham- bers, Ralph Metcalfe, Francis Schaefer; curling area, Tom Inglis, Ralph Dickson, Earl Fitch . Mrs. Jack Inglis reported on the meeting of the International Plowing Match committee last week in Clinton. The Belmore Catering Service will be operat- ing one of the official. catering tents at the 1978 International at Wingharim. . At 10 p.m., the meeting ad- journed briefly to make the Bel - more Loto 300 draw. Mrs. Stan Hays, last month's winner, drew the winning ticket for November, the winner being Clem Bohnert, RR 3, Teeswater. Election took place for mem- bers of the arena board. Each 'of the for townships must be repre- sented. on the board. Elected, subject to Council approval, were Tom Inglis (Carrick), Ken Dick- son (Culross), Earl Fitch (How - ick) and Mrs. Mac Eadie 1'urn ferry ). The institute repre- sentative is Mrs. Jack Inglis; council members, Walter Ren- wick and Jack Stafford. There will also be a person appointed from the Belmore Chamber of Commerce to serve on the board. Lakelet Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Schatter of Simcoe visited Saturday with Mr. and Mrs. Ken Dettman and fam- ily. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce McDonald have moved into their new home which they purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Demerling. Mr.. McDonald is employed by Farmatic at Gorrie. Mrs. Sandy Murray, Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Murray and Neil, John Ferguson and Mrs. Ross Mac- Gregor of Seaforth attended a family dinner held Sunday on the occasion of the 40th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Giles, Arkona. - nearly all'their trees had frozen. r'It was bad and many people felt sorry for the Yankee Taylor too because he had a large family and they depended a lot on dried apples for food." David James Cathers died in 1957 at the age of 87 and Martha can still recall every detail con- nected with his death. He died of a brain hemorrhage which struck him one summer evening just after his wifehad gone into the house to make him his customary "lunch" of biscuits or bread and butter and tea before he went to bed. He lived through the night and was taken to hospital the next day where he died shortly after. Martha was 80 years old at the time and she continued to keep her own home in Wingham for many years. Finally after a bout in the hospital, she was taken to the Mennonite Rest Home in Lucknow in 1976. "It was a'nice place and they took good care of you, but I was lonely there. There were eight other people and they all seemed to have their own people to come and visit them, but I was away from the people .1 knew." Last September Martha came to the Fordwich Village Nursing Home which has 33 patients, most of whom Martha seems to know and take a great interest•in_ "It's nice here - but there's no placelike home." Even at 100, Martha likes to `keep busy. She enjoys crocheting and is'very good at it. On the day of her birthday she had a pink and white shawl draped over the back of her wheelchair. It was her own handiwork and it mat- ched perfectly With her stylish pink printed dress. Mar4tha readily admits she still likes to take time with her appearance. • SMOKED ONCE Asked the4 proverbial question about her secret for a long life, Martha replies that she has always been "a pretty ,good eater" but has never been a resert "fleshy" person. She doesn't drink alcohol and she said she only smoked once in her life. "I did it because my father told me to. I had a had toothache at the time. My father smoked a clay pipe and he told me to take a draw on this and to not swallow the smoke, but to hold it around my tooth. I tried to do it, but of course I did swallow some of it and that was the last time I ever tried to smoke - but it did seem to help the tooth." Martha has another secret to pass down - this one is a cold cure which she learned from her mother. Inatcad of the famed pioneer "hot toddy", Jane Finlay Cathers used to give her children ginger tea. "Just some clear tea with a little ginger and sugar which we would take before we went to bed. I once told a German man about ginger tea for a cold and he took it and said that would be his cure from then on." Asked how she would celebl'ate her birthday, Martha replied, "Well, I'm not inviting because I wouldn't know where to stop and start." - When she lived in Wingham, besides her son who now lives in Hanover and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Martha used to have a host of callers for her birthday. "There would be maybe 60 or 70 - oh they wouldn't all call the same day, they would spread it out which was nice." Besides crocheting, Martha en- joys reading and is looking for- ward to getting a better reading glass which "one of the girls" at the nursing home told her about. She also enjoys the news on radio and television. But she some- times loses her patience with the latter. "The people here will be sitting around, watching it and I'll tell them that there's nothing new about what's on -1 knew about it 100 years ago." REMINDER To the Ratepayers of TURNBERRY TOWNSHIP THE SECOND INSTALMENT OF 1977 TAXES IS DUE DEC. 9 Turnberry Twp. D. Kelly Clerk Treasurer 3 Day Sale, Dec. 1, 2, 3 "GOLDEN HORSE" JEANS Considered to be one of the best quality jeans on the market. Boys' 1/2 Boxer Waist Size 4-6X Reg. $3.98 Boys' 1/2 Boxer Waist Sizes 7-12 Reg. $5.98 Youths Size8-16 Reg. $5.98 Men's . Reg. $6.98 SALE $3.27 SALE $4.77 SALE $4.77 SALE $5.37 FREIGHT TRAIN SET Locomotive, gondola, coal tender, caboose. Battery operated with 8 ft. of track. FLANNELETE PYJAMAS For the Whole Family. A Real Super Special. 100% Soft Warm Cotton. BOYS' - Size 4 to 6X Reg. '3.98 SALE $2.77 MISSES -Size 7 to 14 Reg. '3.98 SALE $2.77 MEN'S - Size A to D Assorted Patterns Reg. '7.98 SALE $5.77 Clip this coupon and deposit it with any purchase at Shirai Department Store. You could win a $25.00 gift certificate. GIRLS' - Size 4 to 6X Reg. '3.59 SALE $2.77 YOUTHS - Size 8 to 16 Reg.'5.98 SALE $3.97 LADIES' - Size 32 to 40 Reg. '6.98 SALE 1$4.77 Size 42 to 44 Reg. '7.98SALE $5.77 SHIRAI. DEPARTMENT STORE Name Address Phone DEPARTMENT STORE WINGHAM