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The Times Advocate, 2005-01-26, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 located between Cherbourg and Le Havre on the English Channel Craftsman Dennis J Collins was with the Canadian Army, when it fought its way into Caen, and north-east towards Boulogne, and Calais advancing up the French coast into Belgium and the Netherlands in pursuit of the retreating German Forces. But Dennis only made it as far as the Boulogne and Calais area, when he was killed in action on September 23rd 1944. He was 21 years of age. Calais was liberated by the Canadian First Army early in September of 1944 as they advanced up the French coast into Belgium. Dennis was buried in the Calais Canadian War Cemetery in Leubringhen. The Calais Cemetery contains 704 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. Craftsman Dennis J Collins was the son of Timothy and Ellen Collins of Highland Park, Michigan USA. Next week: Donald Elliott Hicks Red Skelton'sTips for a Happy Marriage: 1. Two times a week, we go to a nice restaurant, have a little beverage, then comes good food and companion- ship. She goes on Tuesday's, I go on Friday's. 2. We also sleep in separate beds. Hers is in Ontario and mine is in Tucson. 3. I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back. 4. I asked my wife where she wanted to go for our anniversary. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said. So I suggested the kitchen. 5. We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops. 6. She has an electric blender, electric toaster and electric bread maker. Then she said, "There are too many gadgets and no place to sit down!" So I bought her an electric chair. 7. My wife told me the car wasn't running well because there was water in the carburetor. I asked where the car was; she told me, "In the Lake." 8. She got a mud -pack and looked great for two days. Then the mud fell off. 9. She ran after the garbage truck, yelling, "Am I too late for the garbage?" The driver said, "No, jump in!" 10. Remember: Marriage is the number one cause of divorce. 11. Statistically, 100% of all divorces start with mar- riage. 12. I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always. 13. I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months. I don't like to interrupt her. 14. The last fight was my fault. My wife asked, "What's on the TV?" I said, "Dust!" Physician Assembly Line: Here's what happened to Buford: Buford walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him what he had, Buford said, "Shingles." So she wrote down his name, address, medical insurance number and told him to have a seat. Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aid came out and asked Buford what he had. Buford said, "Shingles." So she recorded his height, weight, a complete medical history and told Buford to wait in the waiting room. A half hour later a nurse came in and asked Buford what he had. Buford said, "Shingles." So she gave Buford a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, told Buford to take off his clothes and wait for the doctor. An hour later the doctor came in and asked Buford what he had. Buford replied, "shingles." The doctor looked at him and asked, "Where?" Buford said, Outside on the truck, Where do you want them?" and often. Who has told you it wasn't? A facilities manager per- haps? Did the facilities manager draft a report addressing the arena issues in the municipality of Bluewater? Does a report exist Mr. Mayor? Is it public? The staff at the municipal office didn't seem to want to answer these questions. Just a yes and no answer to each of these questions please. No need to sit on the fence this time. To my knowledge the users of the Bayfield arena have not been approached about the future status of the arena in Bayfield. Minor hockey has not been consulted, Figure skating has not been consulted, Men's hockey leagues have not been consulted, and the taxpayers have not been consulted. How can reports be written about a facility and its future without some input from the users? Clearly they shouldn't. Wake up Bluewater council! Your taxpayers have a right to know what your inten- tions are. No more back room meetings please. The Ward of Bayfield pays taxes, a lot of taxes, to the municipality of Bluewater. These taxes pay for the Bayfield arena and the other services provided by the municipality. The arena is not supposed to run at a sur- plus. No arena in Huron County runs at a surplus. The taxpayers of Bayfield only want the municipality to pro- vide the services it desires and charge the appropriate tax to fund the arena deficit. The taxpayers didn't ask the municipality to consider any other direction. The municipality should concentrate its efforts in efficiently and effectively delivering the recreation services to the users of the arena. If the taxpayers of Bayfield desire anything different, the residents of the ward will let council know. Until then, the municipality should provide the recre- ation services that the Ward of Bayfield expects and demands. KEEP THE ARENA OPEN. RON BURT, BAYFIELD Jan. 27 is Family Literacy Day Dear Editor: There's a wonderful and free service available in Huron County. It's called Literacy. There are regular weekly classes with instructors (called Literacy Practitioners) to assist adults with their reading, writing, math and communi- cation skills. Or, if privacy is an issue, one-to-one help can be provided by trained volunteers. The practitioners also specialize in workplace training and essential skills. This means that the Literacy help given can be geared to match a person's employment goals. For example, if an adult's goal is to become a licensed truck driver, then the Literacy materials used to help that person would involve useful information about the career of truck driving. Another common reason to attend a Literacy class is to prepare for the GED. This is the General Equivalency Certificate to a Grade 12 diploma. This certificate is becoming increasingly recognized by employers and col- leges. The best part is that all of these services are free to the public, thanks to support from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. However, this support will only continue if the services are needed in our communities (in other words, if the services are used). Literacy services are available throughout Huron County with daytime and evening classes. For more information, call: • Clinton, 482-7948 or 482-1700; • Exeter, 235-4079; • Goderich, 524-2515; • Seaforth, 257-0305; • Wingham, 357-4995 ext. 21; • Or call Lynda at our toll free number: 1-800-592-5437 ext. 141 Visit our Web site: wwwthecentreforemploymentan- dlearning. ca If you or someone you know could benefit from the support and training available through our Literacy pro- gram, please drop by or call us soon. Keep the arena open Dear E tor: When the municipality of Bayfield amalgamated with four other municipalities in 2000 there were many promises made. One promise, in particular, was that the Bayfield arena and the other two arenas in the Municipality of Bluewater would remain open and no significant changes would be made. When the new Zurich arena was proposed and ulti- mately approved the politicians again assured the resi- dents of the Ward of Bayfield and the Ward of Hensall that the arena's in those wards would continue to oper- ate as usual after the Zurich arena was completed. Now, the Zurich arena is open (less than a year) and the taxpayers in the Ward of Bayfield are hearing of a plan to close the Bayfield arena. The plan is not yet public information. Yet the mayor has been quoted as saying "use it or lose it" when talk- ing about the future status of the Bayfield arena. Well Mr. Mayor, the facility in Bayfield is being used, FLOYD HERMAN Site Co-ordinator The Centre for Employment & Learning (519) 524-2515 Education Matters Randy Wagler,Trustee, Huron Area 4 - South AVON MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD WHY STUDY FRENCH? My children have often asked me this question, and I'm sure many others in our community have asked the same question. I want to briefly address this question especially given the fact that our children all study French from grades 4-9 as a mandatory part of the Ontario curriculum. In addition, the Avon Maitland District School Board is currently surveying parents to determine if there is sufficient support to begin one or more new French Immersion programs. I certainly believe that learning French, or more gen- erally, another second language, has many benefits, and research points out a number of these benefits. For example, students who study a second language generally do better in school compared to those who don't study a second language, and have higher test scores in reading, language and mathematics. Contrary to what many of us might think, second lan- guage education actually improves English or other first language skills in areas of reading, vocabulary, grammar and communication. In addition, students studying a second language have better cross-cultural skills and adapt better to different cultures compared to students who only learn a single language, and these children also have greater cultural sensitivity - they understand and appreciate cultural differences. I think this last point is especially important for us as Canadians who live in a multicultural society and a bilingual society where both French and English are recognized as official languages. Even though some of our local communities do not necessarily reflect the diversity seen in other parts of our coun- try, we are becoming an increasingly global commu- nity and we all need to appreciate and value the dif- ferences among cultures. In my own experience, where I deal with people literally from every continent on an almost daily basis, I know that it's important to be sensitive to the different cul- tures that exist. In Ontario, students in English-lan- guage Boards such as ours must study Ocore, French as a minimum. Core French is a program offered from grade 4-9 and aims at develop- ing basic communication skills in French, knowledge of the French language, and an appreciation of French culture in Canada and beyond. Currently, our Board also has one French Immersion program for grades 1-6 in Bedford Public School in Stratford, where math and language arts are taught in English and the remaining subjects are taught in French. As a result, the students receive half of their instruction in English and half of their instruction in French. Though such a program may not result in students becoming fully bilingual, they certainly will become proficient in reading, writing and communicating in French. As I mentioned earlier, the Avon Maitland District School Board is surveying parents to determine if there is sufficient interest to begin new French Immersion programs throughout the district. Although there are challenges in providing French Immersion for students in rural communities like ours such as costs of transportation and materials, as well as program location, our Board is seriously considering offering French Immersion where it is feasible. Another challenge is to ensure that our other programs are not adversely affected by offer- ing this optional program, although additional fund- ing is available from the Ministry of Education to assist in offering French Immersion. I would encourage all parents who are interested in French Immersion to complete the survey you have received from your school by January 31. If you have not received a survey, contact your school for one, or go to the Board's website (www.yourschools.ca) and down- load a survey which can be printed, completed and turned in to your school. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at 235-4445, or email me at rwagler@fc. amdsb. c a. RANDY WAGLER EDUCATION MATTERS Youth heading to court over driver's licences SOUTH HURON — On Jan. 21, 8:30 p.m. an offi- cer on patrol came across a black 2003 Ford pick- up truck committing a traffic violation at the intersection of Dashwood Road and Airport Line in South Huron. The officer stopped the vehicle and found the driver in possession of a fake driver's license, another altered license and then a valid one as well. The 18 -year-old male from South Huron has been charged with failing to stop at a stop sign, possession of more than one driver's license and possession of an altered driver's license under the Highway Traffic Act. He will attend court March 17.