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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-06-16, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday,June 16, 2004 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 born we spent the holiday with my parents. After din- ner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild. Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad's arms. "She probably needs to be changed," she said, carrying the baby into my parents' bedroom to diaper her. When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her eyes. She handed Jessica back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room. "Look," she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my amazement, there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins. With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt. Neither one of us could speak. This truly touched my heart... I know it has yours as well. Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings. Never underesti- mate the power of your actions. With one small ges- ture, you can change a person's life, for better or for worse. Author Unknown. God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others. The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched - they must be felt with the heart - Helen Keller Lest We Forget: Alvin Edward Lindenfield Alvin Edward Lindenfield was born in Hensall, Ontario in 1919. In his young years his family moved to Exeter, Ontario. He attended Exeter Public and Exeter High Schools to complete his education. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and A fond farewell Since the start of the school year, I have been a co-op student here at the Times -Advocate, but alas, the year is over and it is time to move on. Of course, it's not like I'm actually going anywhere but my time here is now over and I would like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on the whole experience. Like I'm sure many of my fellow classmates who were also in some aspect of the co-op program, I was very nervous about the whole process; it's like a job you get graded on. It's also designed to give students a chance to see if this is the job path that they want to pursue, which can make them worry that if they learn this is not what they want to do, it's too late to change their minds. I feel that I got a lot of positive learning experiences from my time in the co-op program. At the beginning I was unsure of the idea of going into print journalism since in all honesty the choice to work for a newspaper in the future was not at the top of my job plan list. I think though that proba- bly was the main reason why I wanted to try it, I didn't know too much about it at the time so I felt it was best to at least try it out. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the abili- ty to be able to write freely and had a good time coming up with various topics for some of my columns It was also very encouraging for me at how much public feedback I got and I thank everyone for that. I think that co-op is a good idea for any student, whether they know what they want to do in the future or not. If they really enjoy their placement they leave with the confidence of knowing they made the right career choice, and if they are very unhappy with their placement they can still make some career decision changes before it's too late or they've spent thousands on post -secondary education. Lastly, I would like to that this opportunity to thank my supervisor, Deb Lord, T -A journalists Pat Bolen, Scott Nixon and Mary Simmons as well as everyone else working for the T -A for all of their assistance and guidance throughout the year. I greatly appreciate it and know that the skills I learned here will be taken with me to school as well as my future career. Good-bye! DEBRA TOONK received his service number #J/29690. Alvin received his basic training in Manning Pool, Toronto Ontario, which was located in the Exhibition grounds during the 2nd World War. After his training in Toronto, he was posted to Lachine, Quebec and then to Sky Harbour which was located just north of Goderich Ontario. After he completed his training at Sky Harbour, he was posted to Crumlin, located at the east side of London, Ontario. He then received his commis- sion as a Pilot Officer. He was posted overseas to England on September 4th 1943. After another eight months, he was then pro- moted to the rank of Flying Officer. Eight months later, Flying Officer Bombardier, Alvin Edward Lindenfield's wife Ruth (nee Johnston) of Zurich, Ontario, received word on June 15th 1944 that he had been killed in action overseas on June 7th 1944. His burial took Interview preparation EXETER — The time has finally come! You've been called for a job interview. Now what? You'll have only a short time to demonstrate you are the best candidate for the job, so make sure you're prepared and know what to expect. If you're nervous, try practicing for the interview with someone who has interviewing experience such as a parent, friend, or even the Summer Employment Officer at the Human Resource Centre of Canada for Students (HRCC-S). You'll feel more confident and be more prepared to answer the interview ques- tions. Here are a few tips to help you succeed in an interview: • Learn as much as you can about the job and the company. • Think of some reasons why the employer would benefit from hiring you. • Market yourself — don't exag- gerate your abilities, but don't sell yourself short either. • Prepare answers to questions you think the employer might ask, and practice them with friends and family. • Prepare two to three questions for the inter- viewer. • To ensure you are on time (which means five to 10 minutes early), find out ahead of time where the interview is and how long it will take to get there. Commonly asked questions include: • Tell me about yourself. Expand on the infor- mation in your resume. • Why are you interested in this position? Explain how it relates to your interests and future goals. • What are your greatest strengths and weak- nesses? When stating a weakness, be sure to give it a positive spin by letting the interviewer know how you plan to overcome it. • What skills can you bring to the job? Try to tar- get the skills they are looking for, and convince the employer you are the best candidate for the job by providing examples of when you have demonstrat- ed these skills. • What is your understanding of the nature of this job and our company? Employers want to see you know what you are applying for, so make sure you do your research! • Tell me about a time you faced a challenge, and what steps did you take to overcome it? To answer a question like this, think STAR: tell them the Situation you were faced with, the Task you were required to perform, the Action you took, and the Result of those actions. Don't be surprised if your interviewer takes notes during the interview. In fact, you should bring a pen and paper so you can take notes as well. Also make sure you bring the following: extra copies of your resume, a list of references, your SIN card, and any relevant certificates such as Smart Serve or CPR. Also, keep in mind that being interviewed is a skill that improves with practice, so if you aren't offered the job, use your experience to improve this skill. For more information on successful interview strategies, contact Katie at the Exeter HRCC-S at (519) 235-1711, or visit the office at 281 Main St. S., between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. The Human Resource Centres of Canada for Students are part of the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy. r 1 M KATIE EMMRICH SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OFFICER place June 12th 1944. Alvin was 25 years of age when he was killed. While at war, Alvin was attached to #6 Bomber Group and #1654 Conversion Unit. He was flying a Stirling Bomber #LK594 and it crashed at Lyville, Lancashire England. Upon returning from a mission over Europe F/O Collinge and Frank Donald F/0 from Toronto age 33, and five other crew members not Canadians were also killed. Flight Officer Bombardier, Alvin Edward Lindenfield was buried in the Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road Harrogate, Yorkshire England. Alvin was survived by his parents Edward and Laura Lindenfield and his two sisters Lulu Floody and Avis Cudmore and 2 brothers Lloyd and Arnold. Lloyd was serving with the Canadian 1st Division in Italy. Next Week Ronald Bartle Motz Blind man & his dog: A blind man walks into a store with his seeing eye dog. All of a sudden he picks up the leash and begins swinging the dog over his head. The manager runs up and asks, "What are you doing?" The man replies, "Just looking around." Soap & Water: The minister was asked to dinner by one of his church members. He knew she was a bad housekeeper but agreed. When he sat down at the table, he noticed that the dishes were the dirtiest that he had ever seen in his life. "Were these dishes ever washed?" he asked his hostess, running his fingers over the grit and grime. She replied,"They are as clean as soap and water could get them". He felt a bit uncomfortable, but blessed the food anyway and started eating. It was really delicious and he said so, despite the dirty dishes. When dinner was over, the hostess took the dishes out- side and yelled, "Here Soap! Here Water!" Highly religious horse: There's this guy who had been lost and walking in the desert for about 2 weeks. One hot day, he sees the home of a missionary. Tired and weak, he crawls up to the house and collapses on the doorstep. The mission- ary finds him and nurses him back to health. Feeling better, the man asks the missionary for directions to the nearest town. On his way out the back door, he sees this horse. He goes back into the house and asks the missionary, "Could I borrow your horse and give it back when I reach the town?" The missionary says, "Sure, but there is a special thing about this horse. You have to say 'Thank God' to make it go and 'Amen' to make it stop." Not paying much attention, the man says, "Sure, ok." So, he gets on the horse and says, "Thank God" and the horse starts walking. Then he says, "Thank God, thank God," and the horse starts trotting. Feeling really brave, the man says, "Thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God, thank God" and the horse just takes off. Pretty soon he sees this cliff coming up and he's doing every- thing he can to make the horse stop. "Whoa, stop, hold on!!!!" Finally, he remembers, "Amen!!" The horse stops 4 inches from the cliff. Then the man leans back in the saddle and says, "Thank God." Imposed hospital tax Dear Editor: Funding hospitals by a forced "donation' county wide, on property taxes is neither fair nor equitable. The greater Grand Bend community came together to voluntarily fund its amazing new health centre. There were no levies imposed on the area rate payers. If hospitals are to be funded by property taxes the funding should be tied directly to the postal code of the users of each facility. As all hospitals track patient vis- its by postal code the postal code should be matched to the hospital that it uses most. Greater Grand Bend community residents historically use Exeter, Stratford, Strathroy, London and some- times Goderich hospitals would it not make more sense that their "donations" be directed to one of those hos- pitals? What about American property owners? They use all medical facilities in the province on a user fee basis. Are they not paying twice? Is this not tantamount to "taxation without representation"? If this becomes the accepted form of hospital funding the greater Grand Bend community could be forced to "donate" to as many as seven hospitals. It is not lost on this writer that the four municipalities opposing this form of taxation were those farthest from Sarnia hence least likely to use Sarnia hospitals. Let the funds be raised by those residents who will use the new facility. This clearly is not a good way to raise money for hos- pitals. We are heading down an extremely slippery slope! STEPHANIE F. DONALDSON, president Greater Grand Bend Community Association