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The Times Advocate, 2005-11-23, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, November 23, 2005 Opinion&Forum,News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 Flanders. During the tremendous bombardments of that war, the chalky soil became rich in lime from rubble, allowing "papaver rhoeas" to thrive. When the war ended, the lime was quickly absorbed and the poppy began to disappear again. Lieut -Col John McRrae, the Canadian doctor who wrote the beloved and poignant poem, "In Flanders Fields", made the same connection 100 years later dur- ing the First World War, and the scarlet poppy quickly became the symbol for soldiers who died in battle. Three years later an American, Moina Michael, was working in a New York City YMCA canteen when she started wearing a poppy in memory of the millions who died on the battlefield. During a 1920 visit to the United States a French woman, Madame Guerin, learned of the custom. On her return to France she decided to use handmade poppies to raise money for the destitute chil- dren in war-torn areas of the country. In November 1921, the first poppies were distributed in Canada. Thanks to the millions of Canadians who wear the flowers each November, the little red plant has never died and neither have Canadian's memories for 117,000 of their countrymen and women who died in battle. Diabetes; Get Serious: Over two million Canadians have diabetes. Diabetes is a leading cause of death by disease in Canada. If left untreated or poorly managed, it can lead to heart and kidney disease, blindness and amputation. Diabetes costs our health care system an estimated 13.2 billion annually. With good reason, Canadians are beginning to pay more attention to this complex disease and recognize it for the serious health concern it is. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the disease is approaching epidemic proportions: more than 300 million people worldwide are expected to have dia- betes by 2025. In Waterloo Region, Wellington and Dufferin Counties it is estimated that almost 23,000 people live with diabetes and some 467,000 more are at risk of getting it. • Baby boomers are aging, putting them at risk for age-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes. • We're becoming more or less sedentary. We are less active and becoming more overweight, thereby escalating the risk for Type 2 diabetes. • We have growing populations of people at greater risk of diabetes, including First Nations. The current price tag for diabetes is staggering. This cost will only escalate as more Canadians are diagnosed. If we do not take steps to prevent or delay the health complications of diabetes, the health care costs of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and limb amputations will skyrocket further. So what can you do? • Know the risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. • If you are at risk, you need to talk to your doctor and get tested. • If you have diabetes, work with your health care team to keep blood glucose levels in check and learn how to manage your diabetes. • Learn everything you can; knowledge is the key to learning how to properly manage diabetes. The Canadian Diabetes Association and Sheila Penn at the South Huron & District Hospital or Grand Bend & District Wellness Centre can help with information and resources. Canadian Cancer Society - South Huron Branch: • Yes! There is a group of Canadian Cancer Society volunteers that service the South Huron area, although a small one. • Yes! We need more volunteers to work in South Huron area - as peer support volunteers, residential campaign canvassers, and team captains, and espe- cially volunteer drivers. • Yes! We offer transportation free -of -charge to cancer patients, to any cancer -related appointment. These rides may be to a local appointment or in London, Stratford, Kitchener, or Toronto. • Yes! We need people to visit cancer patients either in person or by phone to offer peer support for people who have cancer or their families and care- givers. • Yes! We need campaign workers for the annual door-to-door canvass in April (Cancer month). • Yes! If you are interested in becoming a peer support visitor, volunteer driver, campaign worker or belonging to the Cancer Society, please contact Janis Cunningham, Unit Manager or Nancy Langille, Unit Assistant at 1-800-294-0086 Aging Disgracefully:A letter from a mother to her dear son! 1. The only difference between being in a rut and being in a grave is about two and a half feet. 2. Kids in the back seat cause accidents; accidents in the backseats cause kids. 3. The only time the world beats a path to my doorway is when I'm on the throne. 4. You finally got your head together son - too bad your body's falling apart. 5. If all is lost, where the heck is it? 6. Soon you will be holding all the cards, even if you're not playing with a full deck. 7. Son, you started out with nothing - unfortunate- ly, you still have it. 8. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere. 9. You won't find it hard to meet expenses - you'll meet them every day. 10. Some days you'll feel like the top dog; other days you'll feel like the hydrant. In response to his mother: • If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees. • I know you can't read fast mom, so I'm writing this column very, very slowly. • You always accuse me of being absent-minded, but frankly mom, I don't remember you saying that to me. • Yes your rich brother-in-law does have 300 men working under him - he's a cemetery landscaper for heaven's sake. • Finally mom, I do not want to be cremated and my ashes scattered at the finish line at Woodbine Race Track. That way I'd be certain all my friends would visit me every day. Overall, I guess there's one quip that mom and I can agree on. It's sort of a prayer that most Prime Timers have recalled many times over it goes like this; Dear Lord, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good fortune to meet the people I do, and the eyesight to tell the bloody differ- ence. Christmas for every family Dear Editor: The Huron County Christmas Bureau will be held at Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church, 200 Sanders St. Exeter. You can contact Joan Agnew or Wendy Meidinger-235-4546 or call 1-800-265-5198. Five county churches manage the Bureau, collect and distribute your donations to families in your area. The Bureaus need to receive your gifts of food, new clothing and new toys the week of Dec. 5-9. Eligible families must live in Huron County and the person registering the children must be the custodial parent. Financial donations are used to purchase food certifi- iglf Letters cates and clothing. All items are pur- chased from local busi- nesses. Drop by the church and receive a receipt. If you notice an Angel Tree at one of your local schools or churches, take an angel and buy a new article of clothing and return it to the tree. Drop boxes can be found at various businesses. Place the toys, clothing, food items in a drop box and they will be brought to the church for distribution. New underwear, pajamas, socks, hats, mittens, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste, tooth- brushes and soap are a few examples of items to donate. Plan a meal: spaghetti sauce, pasta, cans of tuna, salmon, soup, crackers, juice, baby food, toilet paper, kleenex, diapers, cans of fruit, pudding, coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Be generous with your donations! Due to the outreach of the Christmas Bureau, 1,087 children had a brighter Christmas in 2004. You will brighten someone's Christmas with your gift! Thank you from all the volunteers. WENDY MEIDINGER to Ed the ltor Don't be part of the problem Dear Editor: At the public meeting regarding an application for subdivision it has come to light that the grading on a municipal drainage easement behind the properties on Shadow Lane was not graded properly. The regrading of this drainage easement has now become part of this subdivision application. I disagree with this approach for many reasons. This drainage easement was part of the previous phase of this subdivision application. It was approved by both the developer's and the the municipality's engineers at the time and from my previous experience it would also need the approval of the operations man- ager and then the approval of council. This is the engi- neer's and the municipality's problem and has nothing to do with this phase of the subdivision unless it needs to be upgraded to handle additional flows (which is apparently not the case). It was said at this meeting that any problems with grading and works design are ultimately the responsibility of the engineers and coun- cil. Why is this problem being handed to the develop- er? This application has been in the works for a year and a half according to the mayor. How long has staff and council been aware of the issue with Shadow Lane? Why wasn't it addressed immediately? Why wasn't this brought up at previous meetings? This problem obviously contributed to the flooding that some resi- dents in the area have endured. Council did promise to keep residents informed. Why hasn't this issue been mentioned until now? According to the mayor, the actual physical work on this subdivision may be years from taking place. Are we going to risk more flooding before this problem is remedied? I would think that the municipality is set- ting itself up for problems now that it is public knowl- edge that they are aware of their mistake and are attempting to postpone the remedy. At this same meeting Mayor Morley attempted to shut down a resident speaker who was attempting to make council accountable for previous promises and resolutions. This council is not used to being ques- tioned and criticized. They have spent most of their two terms sitting alone in council chambers making decisions as elected representatives, although most were acclaimed to their position (no one else ran against them in the election). Being acclaimed is not a public vote of confidence but a sign of public apathy. Listening and acting on complaints would reduce this voter apathy. At the meeting regarding flooding earlier this year the mayor also pointed out that the Town Hall itself is also contributing to the excess water being added to the sanitary system. On a recent visit I noticed that the rainwater leaders for Town Hall are still connected to drains, which I assume are connected to the sanitary system. Why has this still not been addressed? Are we awaiting another study? This is a problem which would require very little material cost and only a few hours of staff time. The municipality needs to set an example for how problems are fixed instead of being part of the problem as is currently the case. Yours truly, DEAN DUCHARME, Huron Contractors Ltd. Panther Profile EXETER — Heck yes, winter is here. Egg nog, threats of suspension from school for snowball throwing, the Exeter parade — it has all arrived. This last festivity, the Exeter parade, is an important one, because it's happening this Saturday. We Panthers have our very own shiny float lined up for the weekend. If you're feeling like showing your school spirit, or if your com- munity service hours are looking depressingly low, talk to Janita Pfaff (Grade 10, female, nice per- son) about helping out with our float. Folks are needed to help set up Friday and to ride along Saturday. It's the cool thing to do. I hear they even give out free candy at these parades. And now, for the other events of equal impor- tance: Wed.. Nov. 23 — Canadian open math contest — Laurentian University presentation Fri.. Nov. 25 — Hat Day — Senior boys basketball tournament (large gym, 3 - 9 p.m. Friday, all day Saturday) MATTHEW MINER PANTHER PROFILE