HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-03-16, Page 15Page 14—The Wingham Advance -Times, March 16, 1983
SPOTLIGHT
ROBERT THOMPSON of Wingham is await-
ing St. Patrick's Day with his usual zeal and
enthusiasm. Bobby, 74, came to this country
when he was 16 years of age with his parents
and their nine other children. Even though he
has been in this country for over 50 years,
Bobby still has a particular fondness for the
Emerald Isle and all things Irish.
What St. Patrick's Day
means to Bobby Thompson
By Margaret Arbuckle
If you see a little man tomorrow with a twinkle in
his eye and mug of beer in his hand, don't
automatically think it's a leprechaun, because it
might be Robert Thompson of Wingham.
Bobby or "Hammer", as he is known to his
friends, is gearing up for his yearly St. Patrick's
Day celebration. He loves the holiday, first of all
because he's Irish and secondly because it's a great
chance to dance a jig, drink some green beer and
sing a few of the old songs.
Although he said he loves Canada, his heart still
belongs to the Emerald Isle, the place of his birth
and home until he was 16 years of age.
He was born in the County Down in the town of
Comber, at 20 minutes to midnight July 11, 1908. One
of his only regrets is that he hadn't waited those 20
minutes, but said he is "pretty near an
Orangeman" anyway.
As a boy in Ireland, one of his most vivid
memories i watching the St. Patrick's Day parade.
Although its originally was a Catholic holiday, all
Irishmen have taken up the banner and made it
their national day.
Things were tough in Ireland when Bobby was
growing up. There were no jobs, very little money
and the first rumblings of civil strife had begun to
stir after the First World War. For Bobby's father,
it became almost impossible to care for his wife and
11 children, so when the local shipping agent told
him about the riches of Canada, he decided to pack
up his family and head for the land of milk and
honey.
Now, Bobby admits, he doesn't know how his
mother and father ever did it, leaving the land of
their ancestors and setting out a new life thousands
of miles away. !But they did it because they had no
other choice.
In 1924, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson and 10 of their 11
'children (the oldest son was in the English army)
set sail for Canada. The trip took them seven days
crossing the ocean and when they anchored in
Quebec City, Bobby said he remembers he and his
brothers and sister were lined up like ducks on the
dock.
From there, the family traveled by train to
Toronto and then went on to Blyth where they went
to work pulling flak at $10 an acre. But Bobby said
he didn't care, because he was so happy and excited
to be in Canada.
Since then the family has grown. In 1974, a 50th
anniversary of the Thompson arrival in Canada was
held in Blyth and from those original 11 Thompson
children (the oldest brother immigrated to Canada
in 1931), over 300 immediate family members were
in attea$dance and another 100 were not able to at-
tend.
Bobby has four daughters and two sons, 16 grand-
children and two great-grandchildren. His wife
passed away six years ago.
Since his retirement, (he worked as a farm hand,
on construction and at Douglas Point), he devotes
much of his time in the summer to his garden. The
rest of the year, he plays darts at the Legion, goes to
the "singles" dances at Clinton and the Over 508
dances at the Wingham Armouries.
Also, he has returned to Ireland six times since
1969 to Visit relatives there and hopes to go again
next summer. Ireland is the most beautiful country
in the world, he said, and there is nowhere else like
it.
This summer Bobby will celebrate his 75th birth-
day. And what a celebration it will be because
Bobby doesn't believe in sitting around.
What's his philosophy of life? "Work like hell and
drink a lot!"
ED TOUR HELP
To Eliminate
Brain Tumors
BRAIN
RESEARCH BUND
Victoria Hospital
South St.
London, Ont.
Nutrition Month
Suggestions how
stretch your f
By Robin Gilman
What is this all about?
March is Nutrition Month in
Canada and, in its second
,annual national campaign,
the Canadian Dietetic
Association is calling
Canadians to action. Now is
the time to be more , con-
scious than ever about the
value of your food dollar.
This year's slogan for the
month is-;, "Choose Nutrition
Now...It Pays!" and em-
phasis is on buying'nutrition,
not just food. Choosing
nutritious food alternatives
benefits our bodies as well as
our budgets.
In these financially
stricken times, Canadian
consumers are increasingly
concerned about getting the
most value, for their food
dollar. Well, there is hope!
Good nutrition can cost less
than most people realize if
one has access to good in-
formation on shopping for
food and nutrition.
Dietitians, nutritionists
and home economists are the
most reliable sources of the
information which con-
sumers need. To make this
year's campaign the most
successful ever, these
professionals are working
hard to convey their
r
message to the public
through various Nutrition
Month activities.
Special activities here in
Huron County include the
"Food Dollars and Sense"
evenings in four different
locations and the county
supermarket promotion.
Many area grocers have.
generously given their
support. in bringing this
special, event. Look for
Nutrition Month recipes at
your local grocers; look and
listen for media coverage of
Nutrition Month events.
Nutrition professionals
want to help you spend your
money in the most effective
way possible. See if you
stretch your food dollar
wisely by doing the following
quiz.
This food shopping quiz
highlights some proven
inflation -fighting tactics.
Multiply the number of times
you eat or do something by
the number shown. The
negative scores and the
positive scpres are weighted
to good nutrition practices.
1. How many times a week
do you eat poultry? (2x)
2. Number of supermarket
nutrition specials you know
of this week. (2x)
3. Number of servings of
Huron is offering
4-H financial clubs
The 1983 4-H Club year was
"kicked off" at a gathering
of club leaders in Clinton.
Agricultural Representa-
tive Don Pullen said the 1983
4-H agricultural club year
presents new challenges.
programs and dimensions.
He said financial manage-
ment clubs are being con-
ducted across the county,
marking the first club of its
kind:
Various new clubs were
started last year and Mr.
Pullen said the Huron
branch of the Ontario Minis-
try of Agriculture and Food
is prepared to offer any new
4-H Club that would be ap-
propriate in the community.
Always looking for new 4-H
Club members, Mr. Pullen
said communication is the
name of the game. Contact
with potential club members
is encouraged. In Tight of
that fact, club leaders heard
from Shona Rae of RR 1,
Clifford, who was a recipient
of a 1982 4-H Club member-
ship award for ` recruiting
new members.
Miss Rae said she put up
posters announcing the date
of her club's organizational
meeting, asked a friend to
join and offered rides to
meetings.
Guest speaker for the eve-
ning, Dr. Doug Pletsch of the
University of Guelph,
praised club leaders .for the
amount of time they spend
with youth in 4-H projects.
"Working with young peo-
ple is the greatest challenge,
but the greatest reward as
well," said Dr. Pletsch.
Across Huron County, 34 4-
H agricultural clubs will be
holding their organizational
meetings over the next
month. There will be calf,
swine, horse, crops, goat,
tractor, sodbusters, poultry,
veterinary, dairy manage-
ment, gun .safety, sheep,
rabbit and conservation
clubs throughout the county.
Numerous activities will
be held throughout the year,
including a careers program
at Central .Huron Secondary
School in Clinton on Friday,
June 17, an educational bus
trip in July, judging com-
petitions and Achievement
Days. The year will end on
Nov. 25 at the annual awards
night at CHSS.
n
Hars
left -over or spoiled food you
threw out this week. (-2x)
4. Slices of bread or ser-
vings of macaroni,
spaghetti, cereal or rice you
eat per day. (ix)
5. Cups of coffee you drink
per day. (-1x)
6. How many times each
day do you drink water as a
beverage? (lx)
7. Disyou have a vegetable
garden? (1)
8. Do you regularly make
and use a shopping list? (2)
9. Do you regularly use
unit pricing for comparison
shopping? (2)
10. Do you usually buy
store brand or generic
foods? (1)
11. How many restaurant
meals do you purchase per
week? (-lx)
12. How many bag lunches
do you make for yourself
each week? (1x)
13. Servings of prime cuts
of beef you have per week. (-
2x)
14. Do you use poly-
unsaturated fats and oils for
spreading or cooking? (1)
15. Hous many packaged
cake and pancake mixes,
frozen pies, TV dinners and
other prepackaged meals do
you eat per week? (-2x)
16. Do you use the coupons
you find in newspapers and
magazines? (1)
1?. Do you normally use
powdered sklin milk (2),
skim milk (1) or two per c®
milk (1) for drinking and
cooking?
18. Do you drink at least
two cups of milk per day? (2)
19. How many alcoholic
drinks do you have per
week? (-2x)
20. How many times per
week do you shop at a con-
venience store? (-2x)
21. How many times a
week do you buy machine -
vended foods? (-2x)
If you scored 20 or over,
you are a great inflation
fighter and nutrition con-
scious too. Scores of five to 19
are average;. keep looking
for ways to improve. If you
scored under five, you'd
better be rich! .Nutrition
know-how and better buying
skills could lower your
health risks and your
grocery bills.
This has been a Nutrition
Month activity of the Ontario
Dietetic Association. All
Huron County Nutrition
Month activities are brought
to you by the Huron County
Nutrition Committee, a
group of local nutrition
professionals who are
available to you as
resources. For more in-
formation, contact Robin
Gilman, public health
nutritionist, at the Huron
County Health Unit,
Goderich, 524-8301.
"I must do something"
will always solve more pro-
blems than "Something
must be done."
Shows boost
power demand
Two recent television
shows, "The Winds of War"
and "MASH", boosted more
than TV ratings during
February. The demand for
electricity also surged dur-
ing the broadcasts, Ontario
Hydro reports.
Hydro recorded a power
load pickup of 100,000
kilowatts, equivalent to
about 300,000 television sets,
when the first of the seven
instalments of "The Winds of
War" was aired on Sunday,
Feb. 5. However the rest of
the week showed no notice-
able load pickup during the
program's air time.
The final episode of
"MASH" on Monday, Feb.
28, caused energy demand to
increase by 15,000 to 20,000
kilowatts (equivalent to
about 60,000 television sets)
when the program started at
8:30 p.m.
Throughout the 21 -hour
episode there was a pattern
of small spurts and drops in
energy demand. A Hydro
spokesman said the changes
could have been caused by
viewers turning on lights and
opening refrigerator doors
during the commercials.
WINGHAM
357-2320
en. We're
Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The best tasting chicken
there is.
TwINS
Kenl'ucky fried C
The Colonel's taste is best.
Josephine St., Zehrs Plaza
Corners of Hwy. 4 & 86, Wingham, Ontario
rs�
��..sist
.
S A FACT.
People rate community newspaper
advertising more. helpful
COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPERS
RADIO TELEVISION MAGAZINES
"Tells you all you need to
know when buying a new
product"
50%
"Gives useful information"
71%
"Tells me where I can buy
things"
SIMON HALLAHAN of East Wawanosh Township
may look a little puzzled but he really isn't. The cake is
in recognition of his 85th birthday and was presented
at the 4-H club leaders kick-off on March 10. Mr.
Hallahan has been active In 4-H since it started In
Huron in 1952 and has maintained his Interest.
83%
34% 40%
54% 58%
56% 53%
Source Audit Surveys
"The Newspaper and Its Reading Public"
48%
65%
41%
Call us today and let us be more helpful to you!
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES
Josephine St., Wingham, 357-2320