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The Times Advocate, 2004-01-28, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, January 28, 2004 Opinion Forum News Seniors' Perspective Continued from page 5 wife's car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freez- er. The wife wants a wood stove in case the hydro goes out. I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska after all. Dec 16 - Ice storm this morning. Fell on my rear on the ice in the driveway, putting down salt. My rear end hurts like crazy. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think is very cruel. Dec 17 - Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Hydro was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to keep warm, nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should've bought a wood stove. But won't admit it to her. Boy do I hate it when she is right. I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room. Dec 20 - Hydro's back on, but had another 14" of the nasty stuff last night. More shovelling! Took all day. Blasted snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbour kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey. I think they are lying. Called the only hardware store around to look into buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they're lying. Dwayne says I have to shovel or the town will have it done and bill me. I think he is lying. Dec 22 - Herbie was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of that white mess fell today. It's so cold it probably won't melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to use the bathroom. By the time I got undressed, went and dressed again I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Casey's Lawn Service, who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter; but he says he's going on holidays. I think the lad is lying. Dec 23 - Only 2" of snow today. And it warmed up to 0. The wife wanted to decorate the front of the house this morning. What is she, nuts!!! Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did, but I think she's lying. Dec 24 - 6". Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the guy who drives that snowplow, I'll drag him through the snow by his Panther Profile EXETER — Due to the number of snow days we have had because of poor weather it has been difficult to maintain a routine, though I don't think many students will complain! The senior boys' basketball team will play Listowel this afternoon at South Huron. This Friday, Ms. Bogorin's Grade 11 and 12 Physics classes will be going on a field trip to St. Marys, where they will spend the day tub- ing. The bus will leave at 8:50 a.m. and return to the school at 3 p.m. Tomorrow, the girls' hockey team will face Goderich in a game in Exeter. The game is at 2 p.m. for anyone who wishes to attend. The players are excused at 1:15 p.m. Also tomor- row, the girls' volleyball team will compete against players from Stratford Northwestern and Stratford Central. The tournament will be held at Stratford Central. The boys' hockey team will play Stratford Northwestern Friday at 2 p.m. in Exeter. On Friday, the senior boys have a tournament in Parkhill after school. Good luck to everyone partic- ipating in this week's sports! Course selection is coming up so students should start thinking about which courses they would like to be enrolled in for the coming school year. Coming events Jan. 28 — Senior Boys' basketball at SHDHS Jan. 29 — Girls' Hockey in Exeter at 2 p.m. — Girls' Volleyball at Stratford Central Jan. 30 — Physics classes to St. Marys — bus leaves at 8:50 a.m. — Boys' Hockey in Exeter at 2 p.m. — Senior Boys' basketball tournament in Parkhill Feb. 3 — Girls' Volleyball at Goderich — Student Health Clinic from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 4 — Boys' Basketball at South Huron ASHLEY LEY ER fingernails. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shovelling and then he comes down the street a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I had just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas Carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching the snowplow. Dec 25 - Merry Christmas. 20 more inches of the messy slop tonight. Snowed in! The idea of shov- elling makes my blood boil. Gee I hate the snow! The snowplow got stuck up the street and he had enough nerve to knock on my door and ask to borrow a shovel. I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she is an idiot. If I have to watch the Food Channel one more time. I'm going to scream. Dec 26 - Still snowed in. Why the heck did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She's really get- ting on my nerves. Dec 27 - Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze. Dec 28 - Warmed up to above -50. Still snowed in. That woman is driving me crazy!!!! Dec 29 - 10 more inches. Doc says I have to shovel the snow off the roof or it may cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am. Dec 30 - Roof caved in. The snowplow driver is suing me for a million dollars. The wife went home to her mother. Another 9" predicted. Herbie said, " All the years I have been here the snow is usually all gone by July." I do not believe him. Jan 2 - Weatherman says it's the warmest win- ter they have ever had, but it looks like a cold streak coming. Jan 4 - Set fire to what's left of the house. No more shovelling needed. Jan 8 - I feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed? Winter wonderland? Residents of Huron County have been rudely reminded so far in 2004 what it's like to live in Canada. I'll admit now, I'm not a winter person. I don't ski, I don't snowboard and I definitely don't see the thrill of skating around on a potentially risky lake. However, I will say that the amount of snow days have been greatly appreciated, though I do still have some snow issues. I feel bad for the school administration regarding snow days. Just because of one snow day called as an understandable pre- caution they've taken a lot of criticism. Obviously if we were sent to school on a day that would be become bad weather for transportation, the school would be blamed for having students sent in unsafe conditions. Just let the people do their jobs, forecasters can't always predict what exactly will happen with the weather and neither can they. Now, the other week after we got dumped on, I decided that I would be the helpful daughter at home and offer to go clear out our drive- way. Big mistake. Outdoor physical labour in the winter is nearly impossible as far as I'm concerned. I think next time I want to be the helpful daughter I'll call a snow removal company myself. I was watching the news the other night and I saw what I think has got to be the biggest scam ever. With all this snow there are con- cerns about its weight on roofs and the risk of collapsure or leaks, which is completely understandable. However, I find it a little far fetched for companies to offer to climb up on your roof and shovel it off for the low, low price of three to four hundred dollars! That's ridiculous. I'm sure that residents would have no problem in finding local students who would be willing to do it for half that. There's no risk with all that snow on the ground to cushion a possible fall. I think for now, until this all melts, I'm going to continue to enjoy my winter tradition of hibernation and constantly tune into the radio for school cancellations at the first sign of a snowflake. Here's hoping for Spring. DEBRA TOONK Community meetings to discuss ethanol plant BRANTFORD — Two hundred and fifty people gathered at the Best Western Brant Park Inn Jan. 20 to hear details of Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative's plans to build an ethanol plant in Brantford. The Brantford meeting, the first in a series of community meetings over the next three months, officially kicks off IGPC's equity drive. "We've worked on this project for two years and we're seeing tremendous interest from peo- ple throughout the region," says IGPC Chairman Tom Cox. "There were a lot of new faces in the crowd tonight and that's very gratifying. We've had tremendous support from our current mem- bers and we look forward to building on this momentum as the equity drive moves into high gear." IGPC's next equity drive community meeting is scheduled for Feb. 3 in Norwich, Ont. "This is an important project for this region," says Cox. "Demand for ethanol as a gasoline additive continues to grow and Canadian produc- tion will have to increase to meet current renew- able fuel use targets set out by Canada's federal and provincial governments." Steve Smith, Chairman of the co-operative's Equity Committee believes the time is right for IGPC. "When the plant is operating, IGPC will create a new value-added market for corn grown in the region. Increased ethanol production will also create jobs, contribute to the rural economy and provide environmental benefits," he says. IGPC's Offering Statement allows the co-opera- tive to offer up to $43 million in shares and debentures to producers and other interested community members wishing to participate in the development of the IGPC ethanol plant. When production begins in 2005, the plant will produce 125 million litres of fuel ethanol annually, 96,000 tonnes of high quality distillers grains and 60,000 tonnes of marketable carbon dioxide. Ontario Corn Producers' Association General Manager Brian Doidge says increased ethanol production is good for the environment and will also have a positive impact on corn prices. "Ethanol helps reduce both carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions," says Doidge. "It's also good for rural economic development. For every litre of ethanol production, one dollar in rural economic spin-off is generated." Doidge also adds production from a facility the size of the proposed Brantford plant would increase corn basis on corn grown within an 80 - kilometre radius of the plant. Andy Sallee, Marketing Director for Eco - Energy, a Tennessee -based ethanol marketing firm that has signed a letter of intent to purchase the ethanol produced by the IGPC plant, told the Brantford audience IGPC's location would allow the co-operative to serve growing ethanol mar- kets in Canada and the eastern United States. "Right now a substantial amount of ethanol is being imported annually to meet Canadian needs. There's also tremendous demand growth in the New York and Connecticut markets, which has the potential to consume two billion litres annually," says Sallee. IGPC equity drive community meetings will continue throughout February and March. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Meeting schedule Feb. 3: Norwich Arena Feb. 10: Woodstock Quality Inn Feb. 19: Cambridge Best Western, Cambridge Hotel Feb. 24: Festival Inn, Stratford Feb. 26 Grand River Employment and Training Theatre, Ohsweken March 4: Best Western, Little River Inn, Simcoe March 11: Dunnville Optimist Club March 18: Copetown Community Centre All meetings begin at 7:30 p.m.