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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1977-09-07, Page 4Page 4 Citizens News, September 7, 1977 FIRST WITH LOCAL NEWS Published Each Wednesday By j.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. � SNA Manager — Betty O'Brien Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rates: $7.00 per year in advance in Canada $18:00 per year outside Canada Single copies 204 Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association Editor — Margaret Rodger -1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111I11111111111 1111111IIIIIIIII11111111111111111111111111111I11111II11U�• Viewpoint Z.C.N. =f 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111I111I111111I111111111111111111111111111111i11111NIIII11111111i111111111111111111111111111111111II111111111111IlI1111I1111111111111111r As if people attered North America's vision of the good life has been based on the premise that more is better - more production, more consump- tion and more growth. Today it is being challenged. Our good has not been linked with that of our neighbours. It has been at their ex- pense. If the rest of the world lived at our level of consumption, in just 10 years its resources would be depleted. Growth itself has become a critical issue. Robert McLean, chairman of the United Church of Canada's task force on environment, told the 27th general council of the church in Calgary recently, "The world can't afford North America. It can't afford you and it can't afford me." A change in attitude is demanded. The world's resources are in trust to the generations. They are owned by none, anywhere, at any time. The eminent European economist, E.F. Schumacher, has written a book, titl- ed "Small is beautiful: economics as if peo- ple mattered." Consumption, he said, is merely a means to human well-being, not an end in itself. Our aim, therefore, should be to obtain maximum well-being with minimum consumption. To many that sounds like heresy. Our pioneer forebearers would. have un- derstood. Consumption, in their day, was strictly a disease. We would be healthier with fewer calories, fewer drugs, fewer cars, less tobacco and alcohol, less canned entertain- ment, less haste and less waste. Living on a smaller scale and with smaller groups would be better for us, too. The Vanier Institute of the Family, which is sponsoring a Canadian lecture tour by Mr. Schumacher this fall, is dedicated to the study of economic and social questions affecting families. Its stated objective is to promote a society "in which our life relationships, founded on caring and shar- ing, are seen and valued once again; and where our lives at home and in the com- munity are seen as inseparable aspects of a whole fabric." Family life has suffered in this cen- tury, because of emphasis on i iaterialism Letters Welcome We welcome letters from readers Your opinions and concerns will be given space on this page. If you send us a letter, we ask that you sign it and give your address. Letters will be published as long as they contain no slan- der, are in good taste and com- prehensible. We reserve the right to shorten any that may be ex- ceptionally long. Editor and technological expansion. Organizations of all kinds - government, business and social - have swollen,lost sight of oririginal purposes and become dehumanizing forces. Relationships between people at home, school, place of employment and in the community have been impoverished. Somewhere we took the wrong turn. Now we must alter course: Unless we do this voluntarily, diminishing resources and angry human beings elsewhere in the world will force us to change. So far, we have failed to act. Contem- porary sin, as theologians say, takes the form of apathy. We are like the frog who slowly stewed to death in an open pot over a low fire when he could have jumped out any time. Recently, a television documentary, titled "Five Minutes to Midnight", vividly depicted the gap between Third World nations and those like ours with plenty. Millions are starving. Millions more are dying by inches of severe malnutrition - crippled, blinded or mentally stunted. The film's moment of greatest impact came when the camera shifted abruptly from emaciated hands clutching scraps of gar- bage to plump well-dressed North Americans and Europeans brooding over possessions and saying they saw no reason for settling for less. The underlying theme of "Five Minutes to Midnight" was plain: those ig- nored by us are going to demand and fight for a decent life. We stand at the last five minutes of the eleventh hour. Wants on this continent are not distin- guished from needs. We have been brainwashed to such a degree that, when unable to attain every desire, we think ourselves poor. It is time to re-examine values. Basic environmental and economic issues can be dealt with no other way. The United Church task force on en- vironment commented in a report, that "the passage to an ecologically responsible life style is closer to an act of repentance and new birth than to an educational process." It is time to put first things first. SCHEME (J7 L "What happened to 'think'?" u111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 INNI11111111IL11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111.11111111;: Editor's 2 Desk By MARGARET RODGER Country Shakespeare A play bringing Shakespeare and small town Western Ontario together in new ways took shape at Seaforth this summer. Theatre Passe Muraille's latest show, Shakespeare For Fun and Profit - A Canadian Dream, was rehearsed at Seaforth's curling arena during July and August, under the direction of Paul Thompson. It opens in Toronto's St. Lawrence Centre September 21 and runs to October 1, then goes on tour. It will be staged at the Seaforth Memorial Hall in October. • Many in this area will recall having seen enjoyed other Passe Muraille productions. At least two, The Farm Show, and 1837, played at the Clinton Sales Barns. The new play's hero is John Bottom, a local agricultural implement dealer, who with his neighbours plans a centennial celebration financed by a Wintario grant. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is the play within this play. It was staged at Stratford, Ontario this summer. The group mimics the classic Shakespearean inter- pretation, then adapts its basic themes - love, death and family feuds - in down-to-earth fashion. About 65 percent of the original text is used in the Passe Muraille production. The rest is the invention of the group, who work without for- mal scripts, creating as they go along. Ted Johns has the role of John Bottom. ile and his wife, Janet Amos, directed the Blyth Memorial History Show this summer. Others in the case are Alan Brydle, Connie Calder, Lin- da Griffith, David Fox and Donna Butt. Most stayed at Seaforth's Commercial Hotel during rehearsals. Paul Thompson and his family lived in a farm house near Brussels, while Ted and Janet Amos rented a place in Stanley Township. 75 Years Ago September 1902 A novelty in the shape of four young ladies parading our streets, dressed in male attire and blackened faces, was one of the sights one evening this week, Miss Bertha Hodgins was quietly married to Mr. A. P. Smith of Exeter last Monday in St. Paul's church (Hensall). The ceremony was performed by the groom's father, Rev. S. L. Smith, Thedfgrd,assisted by the rector Rev. W. J. Doherty. After the ceremony the happy couple took train from Kippen to Detroit before returning to Exeter. 50 Years Ago September 1927 The first Floral Exhibition held under the auspices of the Zurich Horticultural Society was • held on Saturday, September 3rd in the town hall, Zurich. An aeroplane was at Dashwood on Tuesday and took out passengers, and was kept busy for a while. Mr. and Mrs. H. Mousseau and Mrs. Merner were at London on Wednesday. While there Mr. Mousseau purchased a large Cadillac 8-cy. touring car, which he intends using as a service car. 25 Years Ago • September 1952 With Tuesday morning roll- ing around, the sound of the old school bell again grazed the quietness of the past nine or ten weeks, and children all over Canada again hustled off to school, some very jubilant about it all, while others not so enthusiastic. A small change in the teaching staff of the Zurich Years A o... school has become necessary ow- ing to the resignation of Mr. Vic- tor Dinnin as principal. On Saturday morning Mr. Maxime Geoffrey, who lives on the B.W. Highway at the family home, but as a farmer on the 15th con., on arriving at the farm barn, noticed that things had been moved, and on further in- vestigation also noticed that four of his six hogs were missing, the hogs weighing about 140 lbs. each. The 8th Lions Frolic was held on Monday evening to a large number of spectators. Nothing could have been timed any better than the storm and downpour of rain and the monster parade, which both arrived at the same time; those lovely Majorettes, followed by the fine bands, in their nice un- iforms, and what a drenching they all received, is hard for one to forget. 10 Years Ago September 1967 When School opened on Tues- day morning it was the first time for man Y area Youn g.ter ...One of the kindergarten pupils at the Zurich Public School who was not too sure how she felt about the idea was Christine Burgess. (A photo showed her being consoled by teacher Dianne Peck.)...Due to a full cast on her leg, Sue Ann Schroeder is attending school this term in a wheel chair, and when recess comes volunteers take her outdoors into the fresh air. The Zurich centennial com- mittee received words of praise from Commissioner John Fisher this week (in a letter) and also received a flag.