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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1972-06-15, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1972 Fireworks restrictions needed! ' Now, while the memories of children (inclu- ding some adult -age ones) playing with fire- crackers is still fresh in the mind, is the time to pass bylaws prohibiting these dangerous products. They have no useful purpose whatsoever. Their potential for serious damage is increased enormously by the climate of violence which today's young people have become accustomed to on television and in the movies. Too many children (including those older ones) are not merely content to make a noise with firecrackers, they must also scare some- one or do some damage. The proper solution is to ban the bang- type firecrackers altogether and require a municip- al licence for displays of the other types of fire- works. The licence would deter frivolous, un- controlled use and keep police and firemen aware of locations of displays. Many lawmakers are hesitant to go this far because they somehow believe it is part of Canadian rights and traditions to set off fire- works. Such notions are as ridiculous as the official name of the holiday on which the nonsense usually takes place. Victoria Who? The very least which must be done is to ban the setting off any firecrackers or fireworks on any public property except for an organized group that has been given specific permission. There is nothing more annoying or disgusting than to have to thread one's way through a minor battlefield in order to walk down a side- walk or through a park on Victoria Day. If the law is to allow immature citizens to play with such lethal toys, they should at least be forced to do it on their own property where the damage will not affect others and where they will have to clean up their own messes, (from The Elmira Signet) Why work? As unemployment continues to be one of our national problems, periodically a head of the government will say philosophically --in refer- ence to those who refuse a job paying only $1,65 an hour, "well, if they don't want to work, why should they?" Other intellectual types will echo some dream for the future when, according to them we'll all be on a 3 or 4 day work week and ours will be a great society of leisure. Is this what we really want? Any society, all in the way from primitive cultures up to the sophisticated and complex North American variety, consists of individuals who are mutually dependent upon each other. We found this out in recent garbage strikes and remember it well from some postal strikes of the past. It is a fact of life that we are interdependent, The work ethic is not a hangover from the Puritans. It is fundamentally good for man to work, to have challenges and to meet them, to put his skills against problems. To provide a service to society through work, even if it isn't always the kind of job we would choose if we had a large choice, does give one self- respect and a sense of value. Man needs to contribute something to the general pot, as it were. The insidious effect of continued unempl- oyment is to create first anxiety, then hope- lessness, and finally apathy which in turn leads to degeneration of the human being. Instead of treating unemployment facet- iously, heads of state and governments could be seriously involved in developing more beautiful cities with greater public services, thus creating employment. Preventive med- icine in the form of gymnasiums, more ten- nis courts, golf clubs, bicycle roadways, gardens, you name it --where some people can be employed and others find recreation --is another area governments might consider. As a recent survey from coast to coast reveals, Canadians from labourers to executives, believe the right to a job should be a fundam- ental right for all. (Unchurched Editorial) ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERE TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 stt Member: " Canadian. Weekly Newspapers Associatio1111 �' Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association * Subscription Rates: $4.00 per year in advraince in Canrada; $5.00 in United States and Foreign; single copies 10 cents THE SPEAKER WAS SPEECHLESS Life, as some sage put it, does have its ups and downs, does it not? Item. I have a beloved aunt and a beloved uncle. She was widowed a couple of years ago, and he became a widower some years ago. They were very close Each was living alone in a good- sized house. They finally dec- ided to pool resources, sell their houses and live in an apartment, as co.npany for each other. They went off to Florida this past winter. In the same mail I received news that she was ill with terminal cancer. and he, at 80, was getting mar- ried, Well, "Life is the life, " as my daughter said when she was about five. We thought it a pretty philosophical statement, at that age. I covers a lot of ground. Speaking of daughter, the bride. She and her husband made it to Vancouver and half- way back in a ten-year old car, which is about the same age as an 80 -year-old man. Coin- cidentally, my uncle is going to Vancouver for his honey- moon. Kim rolled the car over at Regina, on the way home. I haven't got the details, but of course, it wasn't her fault. They got $10 for the remains. I hope my uncle makes it to Vancouver, and doesn't decide to roll himself over in Regina, unless for a very good reason. This prelude, as usual, leads me directly into my theme: making speeches. My daughter hasn't made a speech, my uncle hasn't made a speech, and I haven't made a speech. And therin hangs a tail. The tail hangs between the legs of a good friend of mine. Five weeks ago, he asked me if I'd make a speech, just three or four minutes, at a ceremony to make the retire- ment of a dear friend and col- league. Reluctantly, I agreed. I hate making speeches. How- ever, this was a special occas- ion. The lady who is retiring is a fine teacher, a gracious per- son, beloved by her thousands of ex -students, of Irish descent, and a good Anglican. What more could a person have? Two weeks later, my good friend, who was in charge of lining up the occasion, asked me if I would make a short speech at the ceremony. Rath- er puzzled, I told him he had already asked me. He assured m that the speeches would be short there were only four speakers, and I would be last. This suited me. He who lasts last laughs last, or something. Another member of the dough -headed committee in charge of the big event kept reminding me that I was to It is particularly dangerous to borrow or lend motorcycles, according to U.S. research, reported by the Ontario Safety League. Approximately 2 per - cera of all motorcycle mileage is attributable to borrowers, but of 1, 230 reported crashes studied in the 1970 study, 22.8 per cent were attributable to borrowers. Borrowers had a significantly higher proportion of nightime crashes than owners. speak, and needling me about having the speech ready. I replied with a certain haut- eur that I never failed to deliv- er, and that the speech would be ready. And it was. At 11.45 a.m. on the morning of the cer- emony, I sat down and wrote a light but loving tribute to the victim. The ceremony began at 2 p,m. It was a huge success. The retiring lady was almost over- whelmed. She had expected a tea with perhaps forty or fifty people, and some kind of a gift. Maybe a watch, or a brooch, or an oil painting. By 3 p,m. there were over 500 people in the place, some of them from over 1, 000 miles away. Then the speakers began. They ranged from her first principal, who plodded with kindly intent but size 12 brogans, through her early life, revealing her age and various other unmentionables. He was followed by a couple of former students, a couple of former colleagues, and the local member of parliament, for whom she wouldn't vote if it meant she was damned for eternity, and a temporary col- league. The temperature in the cafe- torium (how do you like that word?) was about 110. The acoustics were hopeless. A great groundswell of murmur- ing arose from the back of the hall, where people couldn't hear a word and started having a reunion. The speakers were intersper- sed by the reading of telegrams from the Minister of Education, the Prime Minister of the prov- ince, and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, whoever he is. I was sweating about a quart a minute, not from fear, but from humidity. My wife started to get hairy, as speaker after speaker mounted the podium. She shot looks and hisses at me, and murderous looks at the chair man. My speech rustled in my breast pocket. The gifts were fabulous: an oil painting set, a french poodle live, and an in -perpetuity scholarship, in her name, for students of French. It ended, and the mob's murmur became a roar. My wife leaped up, went to the chairman, and said something probably not worth repeating. She came back to me, eyes blazing, and blurted, "I'm going home. Right this minute. And she did. She stomped out, which, as a lady, she'd never have done. This is how you know your wife loves you. It didn't bother me much. I hate making speeches. I gave my manuscript to Dear Grace. On Monday, she wrote me a note that can only be called by that old-fashioned adjective: beautiful. It meant much more to me than a thunderous ovation, And my good friend, who had fouled up, couldn't sleep all that night. Before me, I have five invit- ations to speak at various affairs, right up to May 1973. Should I burn them? Bury them? Accept them, and then find out I'm the speaker without a speech. Life is the life. Business and Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS J. E. Longstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527-1240 Tuesday, Taursday, Friday, Sat- urday a.m.. Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 10 Issac Street 402.7010 Monday and Wednesday Call either office for appointment. Norman Martin OPTOMETRIST Office Hours: 9.12 A,M. — 1:30-6 P.M. Closed all day Saturday 'Phone 235-2433 Exeter INSURANCES Robert F. 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