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The Times Advocate, 2004-01-14, Page 5Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Exeter Times–Advocate Editorial Opinion ROSS HAUGH BACK IN TIME I OYEARS AGO January 12, 1994 - The first baby born to a Times Advocate subscriber in 1994 arrived Thursday afternoon to Dianne and Brian McGregor of Usborne township. Matthew weighing in at 8 pounds, five ounces was born at the Clinton hospital during a snowstorm. Beginning the first of April, the village of Lucan will have their collection of blue boxes done by the Bluewater Recycling Association. Lucan will join 45 other municipalities in Bluewater. 20YEARS AGO January 13, 1984 - Three area residents have recently joined the ranks of book authors. Former SHDHS teacher Andy Dixon has published a book of poems, "Whimsical Notebook" and Grand Bend public school principal Syd Fletcher has written a book of poems, "Bury Me Loose'. Marilyn Barbe of Ailsa Craig is the author of a cook book, "Basically Bread". 30YEARS AGO January 10, 1974 - The first baby of 1974 has arrived at South Huron Hospital. She is Tiffany Nicole, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Tryon, R.R. 3, Exeter. The Tryon's have one other child, two and a half year-old Traci. 35YEARS AGO January 16, 1969 - Exeter's newly appointed police chief Edward Day took over his new duties Monday. This completes the local force at four men. Grand Bend reeve Orval Wassmann said at Monday's inaugural meeting, "With the imminence of regional government, I don't think we will be back again with this type of opening ceremonies." Clerk Murray DesJardins agreed when he reserved the right to resign his position on 30 days notice if and when he secures other employment. The first skating carnival of the season at the Exeter arena was held Friday night. Some of the winners were Eileen Snell, Mrs. E. Beaver, Mrs. Graham Arthur, Mrs. Wes Ryckman, Laureen Zurbrigg, Dorothy Forrester, Marie Melville, Frank Sheere, Frank Brintnell, Gord Kirk, Orland Taylor and Billy Pollen. 40YEARS AGO January 13, 1964 - Baby sitters in Hensall have taken collective action to raise their rates. Some 20 attended a meeting and agreed to up their rates from 25 cents to 35 cents per hour before midnight and 50 cents after midnight. Biddulph township council raised the salary of clerk Austin Hodgins from $1,000 to $1,300 per annum. The reeve was given a raise to $300 and councillors will get $250 each. Payment of $10 will be made for each special meeting. At a recent meeting of the South Huron Hospital Auxiliary it was decided to take over the operation of the travelling cart from the Exeter Kinettes. 45YEARS AGO January 15, 1959 - Larry Snider was re-elected chairman of the SHDHS board for 1959 and E.L. Mickle of Hensall is vice-chairman. E.D. Howey remains as secretary -treasurer at a salary of $1,250 per year. Guenther- Tuckey Transports Ltd. has established a new office and parking lot in Goderich. Clare Paton was elected president of the Lucan Junior Farmers at their annual meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. P. Toohey. 55YEARS AGO January 14, 1949 - Jack Orchard of Byron who recently graduated as an optometrist has purchased the practice of John Ward. Robert J. Nicol has joined the staff of The Times Advocate. Mr. and Mrs. Luther Penhale left Friday for Australia to visit their daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Keith Colby. Telephone subscribers in Mount Carmel, Shipka and Khiva areas were connected to Dashwood Central recently. This brings the number of sub- scribers at Dashwood to almost 650. I I OYEARS AGO January 13, 1894 - Rates of pay for Usborne township employees have been set. They are, clerk G.W. Holman $100; treasurer Thomas Coates $70 and assessor W. Miners and tax collector A. Duncan $50 each. The Exeter Advocate was awarded the printing contract for $37.50. Offering strength, hope and love Dear Editor: In a small village near the town of Exeter lives a young man, his wife and their two sons. Both parents worked, the boys attended school and took part in their favorite sports. Two years ago something hap- pened that changed their lives drastically. You see, Daddy was diagnosed with leukemia. He was sentenced to many rounds of chemo, illness and separation from his family due to lengthy hospital stays. As a friend of this young man's parents, I knew about his illness and like many others I did not know what to do or say. Do you visit the hospital or do you stay away because he is weak and you do not want to take fam- ily -time by tiring him. So, like many others, my con- tact was kept to, "When you see Mike, tell him our thoughts and prayers are with him." All that changed yesterday when I came across an internet site called Caringbridge. It is a site dedicat- ed to allowing families of patients post daily updates on their loved one's progress or lack of. After read- ing the journal on Mike posted there, I walked away from my computer in tears realizing that there had to be more than my "tell Mike..." that I could do. This letter is a result of that feeling. I challenge each and every person reading this let- ter to visit the www.caringbridge.org site Canada and type in Mike. Read the story of Mike as written by his wife. It is a story filled with pain, illness, hard- ship, loneliness and sadness but shining through all of this, it is a story full of strength, love, devotion, dedication and hope—a story that puts real meaning to the word family. It is a story filled with the love of a woman for her husband and family. It is a story of inspiration. It is a story that makes me want to be a better wife and be thankful for every day I wake up with my husband beside me. It is a story that makes me appreciate the small things in life I have taken for granted and reminds me, "don't sweat the small stuff." After reading about this journey of tears and yes, laughter, I dare you to not be moved. I dare you not to want to do something however small for someone you know. I ask that each person who reads and is touched by the journey Mike and his family are tak- ing, to pick up a pen and drop them a card, sign the Caringbridge guestbook, say a prayer or offer a wish for a brighter future for this incredible, strong, lov- ing family. May our cards, thoughts, deeds and prayers give this family even more strength, hope and love. LINDA FINKBEINER, Exeter, Ont. Seniors' Perspective By Jim Bearss ADULT ACTIVITIES CO-ORDINATOR Bus Tours from Exeter and Lucan 2004 Harry Hardy Tours. Wed. Feb. 11, 2004 Dinner Theatre at the Acorn theatre in Wallaceburg, `Vincent and Valerie's Valentine', A humorous musical comedy, Bus, and Dinner Theatre. $68.00 PP Thur. April 8th, Wingham, Fiddle and Step, and Belmore Maple Syrup Festival, with Crafts, Music , Bingo, etc. Transportation, Meal,& Theatre. $60.00 PP Wed. April 28th, 2004, Toronto Canon Theatre, "THE PRODUCERS " winner of a record 12 TONY Awards, A Musical Comedy, A rip-roaring, knee slap- ping, good time. Simply the funniest show ever seen on a Broadway stage. Transportation, Theatre, and meal incl. $130.00 PP Limited Tickets! Harry Hardy, PO Box 249, Lucan, On NOM 2J0. 227 4887 E Mail harry@cruiseselloffs.com ComPaSS Leading the Way to Senior Security Ontario Provincial PolicePolice Provinciale De L'Ontario Huron 0.P.P. P.O. Box # 6, Highway # 21, South R.R. # 2 Goderich, Ontario. N7A-3Y5 Phone: (519)-524-8314 Fax:(519)-524-4434 Detachment Commander Inspector Gary Martin Seniors are one of the fastest growing population groups in Canada. In 2000,there were an estimated 3 8 million Canadians aged 65 and over, up 62% from 2.4 million in 1981. In fact, the senior popula- tion has grown about twice as fast as the overall population since the early 1980s. As a result, more See SENIORS' PERSPECTIVE page 6 The Turner Report 2004:A LOT LESS TO BE FRAID OF The Toronto stock market coughed up a return of more than 20% last year, at a time when infla- tion was less than 2%, the prime bank rate was 4.5%, and GICs struggled to pay 3%. But during 2003, what was the media focusing on as the "hot" investment story of the year. Yes, it was residential real estate, which managed to rise by about 8% in most markets. That was an impressive return over inflation, for a handsome real return, but it was truly hum- bled by the equity market and those mutual funds based upon it. So, here we are a couple of GARTH weeks into 2004, and just nicely TURNER into RRSP season. People, listen THE TURNER up: you have some decisions to REPORT make here. Where will money earn the best return this year, and what should be the Number One Strategy on everyone's new year hit list? Well, let's look first at what might drive the stock market. For starters, inflation will likely remain low all year, which means that interest rates will, too. The Bank of Canada might even chop the prime down to 4% in less than two weeks, despite the fantastic growth in jobs that we saw last month. Low rates are good news for everything and everybody. They keep corporate borrowing costs low, and likewise payments on corporate debt. That translates into increased corporate prof- itability, and - as a direct result - higher stock val- ues. Also, the market is now less vulnerable to exter- nal shocks than it was in 2003. There is no pend- ing war in Iraq, because that one has been fought and won, complete with the sucking of Saddam out of his spider hole. We have already been through SARS, mad cow, a continental power out- ages, terrorist alerts, wild fires and earthquakes. There just isn't much that can be thrown at mar- kets they've not already dealt with, and survived. Meanwhile, where else is money going to go? People sitting on cash, short-term GICs, savings bonds, high -yield savings accounts or money mar- ket mutual funds, should have received the mes- sage by now - rates are not about to catapult higher. So, if you don't have enough money already saved to fund your retirement, then you'd better get the heck out of those dead-end invest- ments, many of which pay less than nothing after inflation and taxes are factored in. Bonds? Ha, ha - good one. Remember, there is an inverse relationship between bonds and inter- est rates. When rates are high, bond prices are low. Conversely, when rates are low, bond prices top out - and today we have the lowest rates in 50 years. That means over time bond prices have just one direction to travel in, and that's down. Buying a bond today could be akin to loading up on Nortel shares when they were north of $120 each. And how about real estate? Still momentum there? Yes, there is, and it will continue fairly strongly so long as mortgages remain as ridicu- lously cheap as they are today. But as the econo- my improves, the cost of money will inevitably rise, and with average house prices now at the highest point in Canadian history, any drop in affordability will have consequences. One of the country's top economists made that clear in an interview with me last week: Rising rates will bring what he called a "one-two punch" for homeowners who are carrying big mortgages. Monthly payments could rise dramatically, at the same time as the value of the house goes down. So, all of this brings us back to the equity mar- kets and your RRSP. Seems to me that retirement money is, by definition, invested for the long haul, and history has proven that - over decades - there is no better place than stocks, or mutual funds based upon them. If the markets are, as Bay Street experts tell me, returning to more routine annual advances of 8-10%, and if you can win a big tax deduction by investing through your RRSP, why wouldn't you? Already rich? Or afraid of risk? Pick one. Finally, the best possible single move you can make in 2004? Tune in next week. Garth Turner's Investment Television airs Sundays on the Global network. www.garth.ca.