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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-02-02, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 journal can help you identify unhealthy eating patterns and reveal where you need to make changes. Nutrition Information: Fats & Oils: Food: Carbohydrates Calories Barbeque Sauce 1 tablespoon 0 12 Salad Dressing 2 tablespoons 0 71 Bacon 2 strips 0 73 Oil teaspoon 0 45 Mayonnaise (light) 1 teaspoon 0 15 Cream 10% 3 tablespoons 0 55 Butter 1 teaspoon 0 35 Meat & Alternatives: Nuts, dry roasted 1 tablespoon Hummus commercial 6 tablespoons Egg hard boiled (1) Legumes Lentils, chickpeas _ cup Peanut butter 2 tablespoons Poultry, cooked 3 ounces White fish cooked 3 ounces Lest We Forget Donald Elliott Hicks was born on February 17th 1915 at Centralia Ontario. He attended Centralia Public School, and after graduating from grade 8, he continued on with his education by attending Exeter High School and graduating at the end of Grade 13. After graduating from Exeter High School, he fur- thered his education by attending O.A.C. Ontario Agriculture College at Guelph. After College, he was employed by Canada Packers Exeter Ontario. In August 1940, he decided to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He then completed his tests and his selection procedure. He was admitted into Air Crew and finished his basic training at Manning Depot in Toronto, which was located at the Toronto Exhibition Grounds. He was then given his service # J/22450. Then he was posted and received further training at Debert and then to Sky Harbor, north of Goderich. Later, he traveled on to Summerside, where he graduated and received his pilot's wings. Following this, he took an instructor's course at Trenton Air Station and was posted to instructional duties at Hagersville, Ontario. After a year and a half as an instructor, in February 1943, he was posted overseas to England . Flight Lieutenant Donald Elliott Hicks took further training in operational flying missions Twelve missions were then completed flying over enemy territory, includ- ing attacks on Berlin. On November 11th 1943, Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Hicks of Centralia, received word from Ottawa that their son was missing. He had been piloting a bomber on operations over Germany on November 3rd 1943 and failed to return. Donald had been in the Air Force for about 4 years up to that time. Later on January 6th 1944, word was received that Flight Lieutenant Donald Elliott Hicks, who was reported missing after a mission over enemy territory two months prior, was now officially reported to have lost his life at that time. He was the Pilot of a Halifax Bomber and was 28 years of age. In a letter to his parents the Commanding Officer of F/L Hicks Squadron, states - your son was one of our best Captains, and a man possessing a fine sense of duty and courage. He will be sadly missed in the mess and on the squadron. Flight Lieutenant Donald Elliott Hicks # J/22450 from Centralia Ontario was killed in action on November 3rd 1943. He was attached to #76 Squadron, flying a Halifax Bomber # LK 948. His plane was shot down at Monchen-Gladbach, Germany during a mission to Dusseldorf, Germany Donald was buried at Monchen- Gladbach, later exhumed and reburied in the War Cemetery at Rheinberg Germany. Flight Lieutenant Donald Elliott Hicks was the son of Andrew and Ethel Maude Hicks of Centralia Ontario. Besides his parents he was survived by one brother Lorne of Centralia, and 3 sisters Mrs. JL McCaulay, Montreal Quebec, Helen of Vancouver, British Columbia and Mrs. Sidney Henry of Harriston, Ontario. Next week: Gifford `ord Waldron Hicks. • A man and his wife were dining at a nice restaurant when they overheard the couple at the next table dis- cussing their bill. "Well Mary," said the man, "Near as I can figure, based on the price of the ham dinner you just ate, we've got a hog back on the farm that's worth at least $37,000." 0 15 1 20 7 0 0 90 139 78 115 200 152 95 The Municipality of South Huron has had a lot of dis- cussion on what rates to charge and still has not got it right. So far we have not had any discussion about how much water we should get from Lake Huron or who should get it. Water rates legally have to reflect the cost of providing the commodity. We currently have in place a costing system to recover water costs and provide a reserve fund for future capital expenditures. Council has real- ized that the current pricing structure with a high per meter fixed charge creates an advantage for high vol- ume users. I feel it is now time to ask one important question: How do we set rates to support the conserva- tion of water. The answer is simple lower the fixed cost to reflect the bill processing costs and set water rates based on volume ideally a variable rate with large users paying more. Lower water consumption is a valuable goal as long term cost savings in equipment and extend- ed ability of the system to meet demand will occur. The present water rate with over half the bill a fixed per meter charge provides little economic incentive to cut consumption of water. The pricing structure for water needs to be an incentive to conserve unless we want Lake Huron to be the size of Morrison Dam. North America is the largest per capita user of water in the world. We need to develop some new water use habits. The Municipality of South Huron is currently working on a proposal to use Lake Huron water to meet our needs. The amount of water available and its related disposal will determine the size of all communities along the pipeline. The current discussion is focused on the cost. We cannot forget to ask and answer some of the more important questions like: How large should com- munities be in South Huron? Where should growth occur? Should a major community be developed between Grand Bend and the water treatment facility or perhaps Crediton, or Exeter or maybe the industrial park at Huron Park could be expanded? Should growth be allowed at all? The land we are talking about is the most productive farm land in Canada. Currently based on a Chamber of Commerce survey people in South Huron like the friendliness of the community. At what point do we lose that? South Huron has for several years experienced virtual- ly no growth. The amount of water available from the Lake Huron pipeline will determine the ultimate size of the community. This decision needs to be a good one as the future will be determined. FRED SIMMONS , EXETER Be careful how quickly you reply ear Editor: The same-sex marriage issue followed Prime Minister Martin on his journey around the world last week. After he heard Stephen Harper had made some connection between polygamy and same sex marriage, Martin almost became indignant and over -reacted a bit, leading the media to believe this issue was so dear to his heart that he might call an election over it. But wait. Seems now the media must have heard him wrong, because by the time our Prime Minister reached Hong Kong he clar- ified his earlier statement. No, he did not mean to call an election over the issue of same-sex marriage, but he would call an election if the likes of Harper were to get their way. Should the traditional definition of "mar- riage" remain as is, that would in effect deny minority rights to all gays who have 'tied the knot' so to speak. Since minority rights are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights, such denial would essentially mock the Charter. What he really meant was that an election would be called if the Charter is ever mocked. And as he was quick to point out, a free vote in the House of Commons on the [as yet hypothetical] same-sex bill, can not in itself topple our minority Liberal government. It would do us well to reflect on these 'sound bites' from our political leaders. Like, is the reference to polygamy by Stephen Harper really outrageous? And the Charters' inclusion of minority rights, would such rights be denied if "marriage" is not redefined to include two people of the same sex? Without thinking this through, most people may easily say "yes" to both these questions. And that is exactly my point. We should never be hasty, or give knee-jerk responses to issues that are deeply engrained in the fabric of human society. Rather, we should think about the issue for a time, and carefully reflect on what has brought us to this point in the history of human society. Why is it that all through time, in every country, and in every society of this world, marriage is considered the unique relationship between a man and a woman? And why has the traditional definition of marriage come into question in the late twentieth and early twenty first cen- tury? The answer to the first question is obvious. Marriage has always been considered the beginning of new family units, and in the majority of cases, such We need toget it right. Water rates and Lake uron waterwi determine the future of South Huron. Water and sewage disposal are the two conditions that determine the size of a commu- nity. man/woman relationships produce children, which in turn assures the continuance of human society. Until recent times, marriage between a man and a woman, has to a varying degree, given stability to the homes in which children are raised. Recent pressure to have marriage redefined also has a root cause, and two words says it all: Gay rights. Granting rights to gays followed a two-step process. Until the early eighties the sexual union of two people of the same sex was called sodomy, and was forbidden by law. Step one was the striking down of this law by the then Trudeau Liberal government. The second step fol- lowed quickly, in the granting of rights to minorities through the Canadian Charter of Rights, a document instituted by the same Trudeau government. So..., here we are today. Same sex unions, although naturally repugnant to the majority of society, are now permissible, and as a minority (liberally estimated as less than 10% of society), safely protected by the Charter of Rights. And now this same minority wants their union together to be classified as a "marriage". Do you see how one thing has led to the next? And I suspect this is what Harper had in mind when he made a connection to polygamy. Did you notice how quickly Liberal politicians appeared on camera and to point out that polygamy was "not part of their agenda"? No doubt not a part of the agenda today, but it may well be on someone's agenda in the near future! If we allow marriage to be redefined to include the union of two people of the same sex, then what's to stop a small group of like-minded men to later request that we allow marriage to include the union of a man and multiple women? Ridiculous you say? Be care- ful in how quickly you reply. Be mindful of how easily one thing leads to another, once we brush morality aside. JERRY DE BOER, EXETER. Proud of our young people Dear Sir, On Friday evening January 28th 2005, the Exeter Branch 167 of the Royal Canadian Legion played host to a Tsunami Relief Benefit Show put on by the young peo- ple of the area to raise funds for the victims of the Asian Tsunami. The evening was attended by over 250 people who had a great time dancing or just plain listening to eight of their favourite bands. Now we have to admit that Heavy Metal music was not necessarily of the kind we poor old Legionnaires understand or that our delicate ears can tolerate for too long but being in the presence of such a dynamic group was an experience we would not have missed. We were bemused at the style of dancing of course and were thankful that we were not invited into the "Pit" for sure- ly had we done so, we would have spent the balance of the evening recuperating on a hospital bed somewhere. Being of the foxtrot and waltz generation, we wisely resisted the temptation. It mattered not of course because it wasn't our evening. It belonged to those play- ing the music, those listening to it and those dancing to it, which everyone did with enough energy to power a dozen diesel locomotives. The evening was a huge success thanks to the hard work the young people put into their show. Those par- ents who were on hand to help out did a great job. We were impressed with our young guests. Their music might have been unintelligible to our ears but a more polite, courteous and pleasant group of people you could not have wished to meet. Through their initiative the Red Cross Tsunami relief fund is the beneficiary of a good sized donation. Well done bands, Kill the Lights, Bleeding Green, A Dying Melody, Paris Burning, Shadows of May, Going Down Screaming, Hope is last to Die and The Summer I Lost Everything. We are proud of our young people and look forward to being involved with them again in the future. RON HELM PRESIDENT BRANCH 167 THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION We couldn't have done it without you! Dear Editor: I am writing to say thanks to the Exeter Legion for donating use of the hall for our Tsunami Relief Benefit concert this past Friday night. We had eight bands playing to a crowd of 200+ pre- teens, teens and even a few parents. Everyone had a great time and we raised more than $1500 for the Red Cross. Thanks to all the bands who donated their time and talent: Kill the Lights; Bleeding Green; A Dying Melody; Short Change; Shadows of May; Going Down Screaming; Hope Is Last To Die; and The Summer I Lost Everything. Special thanks goes to the Exeter Music Studio and the Exeter Legion for all their support - we couldn't have done it without you! NATE DOUGHERTY AND THE MEMBERS OF BLEEDING GREEN.