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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-08-02, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, August 2, 2006 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 reprieve, thank heaven. It would have been a shame to never again experience the taste of homemade coleslaw and freshly baked rhubarb cobbler, served on heavy ceramic plates in a church hall. It is real food, tradition- al food and it is a traditional means of fundraising in all rural communities. What many high powered government officials failed to understand was how the majority of fundraising in this province was done. Fundraising to most of us is not $500 a plate dinners, massive "charity" casinos, and huge corporate donations. In this part of the world, a worthy project is funded one homemade apple pie at a time. The minor ball team serves hot dogs, the church ladies make sandwiches, and the community centre folks hold barbecues. Church bingo and Nevada ticket revenue is not what it used to be. We do not have many major corporate donors who cough up cheques for hundreds of thou- sands of dollars. We have a lot of small ones, though, and generous individuals. We work together and accom- plish great things, a few platters of egg salad sandwich- es at a time. By forcing churches and markets to operate by the same rules as commercial food outlets, the new govern- ment rules on food safety were effectively shutting down service club dinners and farmers' market food booths. A large city church might have the means to run what amounts to a commercial kitchen, but not a small rural hall. Those little halls and food booths have produced some fabulous meals over the years, and they have done it safely. Strawberry shortcake and hot dogs have built arena walls, bought fire trucks and equipped baseball teams And thanks to a sudden and welcome burst of common sense they will continue to do so. There is only one way to celebrate this triumph of Networking for a job EXETER — The summer's winding down, but there is still time to network and find that perfect job opportunity that could continue into the school year. To get a job, you need to know where to look. Networking can help you find job opportunities. Networking can be described as talking with people who can help you reach your career goals, and it can be formal or informal. An informal chat with a neighbour or a formal scheduled meeting with a company manager are both examples of networking. You can learn to network effec- tively by following a few simple rules: • Keep your visits brief; • Appear enthusiastic about the information your contact is shar- ing; • Never ask your contact to do your job search for you; • View the meeting as an oppor- tunity to gather information rather than as a job interview. Some questions you might want to ask your con- tact are: • How did you break into this field? • Do you know of any companies that are expand- ing rapidly? • Can I keep in touch with you? The more people you network with, the better your chances are of finding a lead on a job. Everyone you have contact with can be part of your networking circle: family members, social acquain- tances, co-workers or former co-workers, supervi- sors, graduates from your school, teachers and pro- fessors. Networking opportunities are endless. Networking can help you fmd great jobs to match your interests and skills. Your contacts can help you learn what it is like to work in a particular industry. You can find out about different companies. Your contacts can help you research the training neces- sary for the job or career you want. This informa- tion and experience can be invaluable during a job search. If you would like to fmd out more about network- ing, contact the Goderich Service Canada Centre for Youth (SCCY) by calling (519) 524-8342, ext. 232, or 1-800-265-5185, ext. 232. For information on the Government of Canada summer work experience programs, call the toll- free Youth Info Line at 1-800-935-5555, the touch- tone phone or teletypewriter line (TTY) at 1-800- 926-9105 or visit youth.gc.ca TOM PETTIGREW SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OFFICER reason - find a charity food event and enjoy. Savor the ham and try the homemade relish. Go for the second piece of pie, and pile on the whipped cream. Editor; Arthur Enterprise News. Eight SignsYour Loved one is Using Drugs? There are so many illegal substances on the market today and each has its own characteristic "fingerprint." 1. Inflammation of the eyelids and nose is common. The pupils of the eyes are either very wide or very small, depending on the kind of drugs internalized. 2. Extreme energy may be evident. Either the individ- ual is sluggish, gloomy and withdrawn, or he may be loud, hysterical and jumpy. 3. The appetite is extreme - either very great or very poor. Weight loss may occur. 4. The personality suddenly changes; the individual may become irritable, inattentive and confused, or aggressive, suspicious and explosive. 5. Body and breath odour are often bad. Cleanliness is generally ignored. 6. The digestive system may be upset - diarrhea, nau- sea and vomiting may occur. Headaches and double vision are also common. Other signs of physical deterio- ration may include change in skin tone and body stance. 7. Needle marks on the body, usually appearing on the arms, are an important symptom. These punctures get infected and appear as sores and boils. 8. Moral values often crumble and are replaced by new avante-garde ideas and values. You will catch them lying and the loose change you had or thought you had will disappear. Some people are able to hide their drug use better than others. The Fight against Fraud: An Informed Consumer is the Best Line of Defense against Fraud; the nature of crime is that criminals will always try to find new ways to defraud individuals and companies, however, prevention efforts can make a dif- ference in how often they succeed. Financial fraud includes everything from too -good -to - be -true scams that promise money or jobs, fraudsters that impersonate companies, card thefts and unsolicited emails that attempt to steal personal financial informa- tion to commit identity theft. Fraud Prevention Teams that work behind the scenes to protect you; Canadian banks work hard to protect their clients and operations from financial crime. Employee training, tight internal procedures, customer awareness pro- grams and co-operation with governments and law enforcement agencies are all part of their efforts. Whether you choose to deal with your bank or finan- cial institute online, over the telephone or in person, They follow rigorous security procedures and use state-of-the-art technologies to protect your information and transactions against unauthorized access, disclo- sure, alteration and misuse. In fact as a precautionary measure, they will attempt to contact clients' if their fraud detection systems identify unusual account activity that could indicate financial fraud. The banks technolo- gy and fraud management teams have been instrumen- tal in stopping fraudulent activity, catching attempts in early stages, and find criminals during investigations. Farmers and Families: Where to turn if you need help; Feeling under stress? Is someone else in your family in need of help? Here are some contacts to turn to if you need help. Queen's Bush Rural Ministry (Collect calls accepted) 1-519-369-6774 or 1-866-902-7828. The farm Line 1-888-451-2903. Ontario Farm Animal Council Animal Care Helpline 1- 519-837-1326 or www.ofac.org Kids Help Phone 24 hours per day up to age 21 1-800- 668-6868 Parent help Line 1-888-603-9100 If you ate today, please thank a farmer. Website to help youth with issues By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF HURON — A new interactive, youth -driven website will help Huron County's young people deal with issues such as drugs and alco- hol abuse and mental health issues, as well as keep them connected with their community. The SPARK website, found at www. youthspark. ca, launched its new format last Friday, with web co- ordinator Erica Horbanuik saying things are off to a good start. She said early feedback has been positive. "So far, people are liking it. Youth and adults alike are seeing a need for it and seem to like the design and the layout, which is great." The roots of Spark began in 2003, during a 'Get Huron County Connected' event, where local com- munity organizations gathered to talk about where the county could improve. One of the problems identified, Horbanuik said, was a high rate of youths leaving the area for work after they finished post -secondary school. "The idea came from that meeting that we needed to find some way to reach youth where they're at and where they like to get information about the community." Horbanuik adds the intent was to help youths create deeper ties to their community so they would choose to stay in the area. A website was decided on as a good way to do this. The effort "struggled" for a while, Horbanuik explains, but fed- eral funding of $232,809 last year allowed the hiring of six youths to help design the site and develop the program. Horbanuik, who has been with the project since its inception in 2003, says one of the goals was to always have the site youth -run, "so to have this funding come forward was real- ly a dream come true for a lot of us, to see it come to fruition." From the home page of youthspark. ca, users can click on various links to take them to infor- mation on bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, health, sexuality and mental illness. There is also a calendar for upcoming events in the county, an interactive discussion forum on sev- eral different topics and a section where users can anonymously ask questions of a health professional. Answers will be posted on the web- site so others dealing with similar problems can also gather the infor- mation. There is also a job bank and information on volunteering and career opportunities. The site will be updated every cou- ple of weeks and will continue to grow. "It will definitely be growing and new content will be added all the time," Horbanuik says. In addition to helping Horbanuik design and come up with the content on the website, the six youths hired for the project helped run focus groups with youth throughout the county to determine what kind of features were needed on the site. The biggest issue that came up during the focus groups is "that there's nothing to do," Horbanuik says. As a result, that's why the events calendar has been included on the site. She says in many areas there are things for youths to do, they just aren't aware of them. Other topics that came up at the focus groups were requests for information on drug and alcohol use, binge drinking and depression. One of the main features of SPARK is that it is geared for a rural group. Horbanuik says most other youth - oriented websites are geared towards urbanites who have many different issues than Huron County residents. 'A Ray of Colour' EXETER — It's hard to believe but the Playground Program is already half over! No worries, though, because there is lots more fun to come. Our trip to the African Lion Safari is tomorrow, Aug. 3. There are still spots available, so give us a call at 519- 235-2361 if you are interested. Because of the trip the Playground Program will not be running tomorrow. Also, there will be no planned program Monday, due to the Civic Holiday. Next week's theme is 'A Ray of Colour.' We have lots of colourful activities planned including cre- ating grass heads on Monday and chocolates on MAGGIE MILLER EXETER PLAYGROUND LEADER Thursday. Friday is sure to be a blast with a big game of Bingo. Because of the colourful theme we encourage children to dress to match the colour of the day: • Tuesday — green • Wednesday — blue • Thursday — red • Friday — rainbow (wear lots of colours!) Don't forget about our upcoming trip to Fleetway Bowling and the Fanshawe Pioneer Village Aug. 17. Call to reserve a spot. Also, please send a bathing suit and towel with your youngster everyday as water games are a good way to keep cool in this heat. We hope the kids have been having as much fun as we have. Keep coming out for the summer fun!