HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-07-20, Page 4Page 4
Citizens News, July 20, 1978
"But Eunice, you can't stay up there THAT long — the kids don't go back to school till fall!'
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rain decisio
The decision by village council not to grant
Mrs. Katherine Letts a waver on the payment of in-
terest on a portion of the John street drain is the
only proper course of action which council could
have taken.
While Mrs. Letts appears to have a valid point
in stating that there seemed to have been a lack of
communication between herself and the village in
this matter, her withholding of payment and her
subsequent request for a waver on interest charges
is not the best of approaches.
Her analogy to not paying for a job which has
not been properly completed is not quite sufficient if
taking into consideration that the actual completion
of the drain itself and its subsequent operation, has
not been questioned by Mrs. Letts.
A better approach, such as the village has done
with the contractor on the job, would have been the
hold -back of a percentage of the payment on the
amount owing prior to the date that interest would
rrec
have been charged, minus ten percent of the entire
amount.
Such a hold -back would have indicated to the
village that Mrs. Letts was indeed serious about
her complaints about the status of the property
which she represents. Let's face it, money talks.
It's indeed unfortunate that Mrs. Letts could
not have been kept more informed of the events at
hand, what with the problems of the village gaining
access to other pieces of property in which there
was still some cleanup work left to be done.
Her appearance before council was a healthy
exercise in the democratic process with both sides
.gaining a better understanding of where each other
stood.
From this newspaper's" standpoint, it was en-
joyable to see a rare occurrence in today's world;
two parties with differing viewpoints willing to
work things out.
The world we live in
When was the last time you read anything good
about the world we live in today?
Judging by the conventional wisdom of our
times, this must be the worst of all possible worlds.
The family is breaking up; the deserts are
spreading; our fish have been poisoned; violence is
increasing; welfare is destroying the work ethic.. .
And the future again according to conven-
tional wisdom — looks even worse. We are
threatened by too many people, too few resources,
too many bombs, too little ozone, too much carbon
dioxide, not enough food, an accelerating rate of
change and a slowness to adapt. Having become the
best -informed society in history about these
hazards, we have also become, in the words of
University of Detroit Professor Margaret Maxey
"the most fore -warned, anxiety -prone, exhorted,
and guilt -ridden of cultures."
Little wonder many
g
yearn for "the good
old days," when life was simpler and easier.
What hogwash! Without denying that today's
world has problems and that yesterday's had some
values we seem to have lost, does anyone really
want to go back to those "good old days"?
When average life expectancy was 45 years?
When you could count on at least one child in
each family not surviving to its fifth birthday?
When kitchen wastes, ashes, household gar-
bage, and toilet dregs were dumped in gutters and
on sidewalks?
When the major insecticide used on almost
everything was lead arsenate, and the most com-
mon red food coloring was lead chromate — both
deadly poisons?
When the main killer diseases were not forms
of cancer, heart breakdown or nerve decay, but in-
fluenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diphtheria and
whooping cough?
When women and children were used as beasts
of burden in mines and industries, and education
•was available only to the elite?
That's all within the last century, documented
in Otto Betteman's book, The Gold Old Days —
They were Terrible.
Or would you rather go further back in search
of Eden, to times when feudal lords could arbitrari-
ly ship any man off to war, or could claim prior sex-
ual rights to his wife and daughters? Perhaps back
to an age untrammelled by technology, when
humans
cowered in caves or tents, shivering
ver'
ing
against cold, injury, animals, ignorance, disease
and malevolent gods?
No, we may not yet have the Kingdom of
Heaven on earth, and much more than material
progress will be needed to achieve it. But let's not
flagellate ourselves into thinking this is Hell,
ei ther.
The many hazards that pre -occupy us now do so
only because, for the first time in history, we have
the luxury of recognizing them. At any previous
time, they would have been submerged in the
greater hazards of daily survival.
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E. Miscellaneous
E. Rumblings
By
TOM CREECH
How I spent army
summer by
As you may be aware, students from the Ex-
perience 78 program under the auspices of the
Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority have
been working on the barn or shed behind the arena
this past week, getting it in shape for this
• weekend's fair.
While some people may pass government spon-
sored youth employment programs as make-work
projects, the fact is they accomplish many duties
which the full time staff -does not have either the
time or manpower to do.
I speak from personal experience as about two
years ago at this date myself and four other
students were in a river bed . of a meandering
stream near Seaforth that was scheduled to be
straightened out.
Have you ever been to the park pavilion by the
lake on Stanley sideroad 10? It was a Sweep crew
(another name for the Experience kids) that put
the steps in down to the water, painted them, plus it
was my crew two years ago that applied the
redwood stain (mostly on the wood portions) to the
pavilion.
It was a couple of years ago during the centen-
nial of Bayfield that the local residents and visitors
could avail themselves of a beach free from debris
and litter, thanks to the sweep people.
And last but not least on this list of ac-
complishments from the year which I was
associated with the program, is part of the Clinton
conservation area where the Sweep people picked
rocks for two weeks from a field that seemed to
have cornered the market on round, hard objects.
There are two results of having summer
employment; the most immediate is the income
which is derived and secondly and in the long run of
more value, the educational experience which is a
result of the job.
In certain summer jobs such as working in a
hospital or a clerk's office, the educational benefits
are immediately recognizable but the dreariest job
in a factory can be a learning experience if for no
other reason that the student realizes this is no way
to spend a life time in the labour force.
Working for the conservation authority was a
great education because it gave you an inside look
at a body which at times, has taken much undue
criticism.
Being a member of the Sweep crew ensured
that one was not going to be one of the richest
students around, but this is more than offset by the
structured educational aspects.of the job. A tour of
the watershed showed the many beneficial results
of having a good conservation authority, plus a trip
through another area gave an indication of what
other authorities have accomplished.
One of the best things that comes out of a
program such as Sweep is the working together of
various groups of people.
In most situations you don't find university peo-
ple having much to do with high school kids or you
don't find university people having a lot to do with
members of the labour force.
After a summer of working with these people
combined with a summer ending party, one's at-
titude changed for the better.
It makes you appreciate the hard work that
goes into some apparently insignificant projects.
While summer jobs can be boring, there are
moments which could be considered lighter in
nature.
How about on rainy days, making paper mache
-Please turn to page 5
LOCAL NEWS
Published Each Wednesday gy w Eedy Publications Ltd.
Mernb,r:
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Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association
eNA News Editor -Torn Creech
Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385
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