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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-12-21, Page 66 Exeter Times—Advocate Wednesday, December 21, 2005 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 Deck of cards For more information visit www.fedex.ca YER NITE AFORE CHRISTMAS T'was yer nite afore Christmas and all thru our home Not a friend or relative should be left all alone. The chimney to dry hanged my stockins, In hope that Santa Claus might just come by. Our children have left and we're all by ourselfs. At this time of year we could help all the elfs. An the missus in her nightie, an I in my hat, If yer want to good laugh, just picture that! When out on the lawn there was such a noise I thot Santa's sleigh had upset all the toys. Away to the window I flew like a flash Tripped over the bedpan, and made quite a splash. The moon on my chest was like new fallen snow, And I marveled at the wonderland down there below. When what to my old squinting eyes should appear? but a sleighful of toys and a six pack of beer. With a little old driver so fat and so round, I wondered if he could make it off of the ground. More rapid than rabbits in corsets they came As he whistled and hooted and called them by name. Now Nathaniel, Daniel, and Abraham, On Isaac, on Raymond, on Peter and Sam. From the top of my Porches, to the top of the wall, Go very steady, I don't want to fall. So up to the house top the reindeer they flew, with a sleigh full of toys and St. Nicholas too. And then as I listened I heard on the roof, the light little touch of each little hoof. As I turned around not to be mislead, Down the chimney Saint Nicholas came on his head. He was dressed all in fur from his toe to his head with his big black boots, and his coat made of red. A bag full of toys he flung over his shoulder, I thot to meself, he's not a day older. His eyes they still twinkled, his dimples how merry, His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry. His little round mouth drawn up like a bow, and his long white whiskers continued to grow. An old clay pipe he held just so. I said there's a new law (there's no smoking you know) A good lookin' man, a big round fellow, that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of Jell -0. He was chubby and plump. I said he should diet. With a twinkle in his eye he said he would try it. When asked about the North Pole and all of his deer, he soon let me to know there was nothing to fear. He spoke not a word but got on with his job, On his next stop he would visit our Bob. And laying a finger along side of his nose, He gave a big blow, and up the chimney he goes. He sprang to his sleigh and cut the deer loose, And away they all flew like the down of a goose. But I heard him holler as he went out of sight, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. It's been a long Nite. Remember your friends. (This is just a thot.) Being near to relatives and friends is better than things that you bought. From the original poem, with help from Don Herron and others. Rewritten by Harry Hardy, Lucan, On. Exeter Library News: Exeter Library Book Club met to discuss The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart. None of the members present had read anything by this author and all agreed that the book was a good read. The story, although a sad one at times, is a gripping one that all would recommend. The next club meeting is on January 6 at 12:30. We are read- ing new Canadian YA and Juvenile books over the holiday season. Please make your selection at the desk. New members are always welcome. The Library is now taking registrations for Story hour and Toddler Time for January. Please call the library at 235-1890 to save a place for your little one. Stories crafts and games make this a fun time for preschoolers. Please keep in mind the holiday hours at the library. Closures will be December 24, 25, 26 as well as January 1st and 2nd. Remember, stock up on good books for your reading on cold blustery evenings. The library staff will make every effort to keep the branch open in winter conditions. If in doubt call the library at 235-1890. Jane Hundey and her staff want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Legion News: NewYears Eve Dance; At the Legion, Saturday, December 31, 2005 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Music by Don Harvey and you will be served a delicious late buffet. Tickets are $15 each or 2 for $25. Call the legion at 235-2962 or 235-1167. Seats will be reserved. For a great evening of fun and danc- ing, plan ahead and reserve your tickets. Speak now or forever pay the bill I am getting more than a bit frustrated with the manner in which our government and their agencies find yet more ways to put their greedy hands in our pockets. Their latest endeavour is allowing power distribution companies to compel the use of Smart Meters to encourage us to conserve energy. While I applaud the need for energy conservation there are many ways in which it could be done more effectively than using Smart Meters. The Smart Meter method is a scheme put together with very little thought. It is a Draconian approach to encouraging conservation which amounts to nothing less than a punishing tax on those who can ill afford to pay. Smart Meters are designed to impart punitive mea- sure if we don't drastically change our way of life. They will increase the cost of electricity by 86 per cent at the very time power is most needed in our homes. The need to earn a living and the hours that are devoted to this dictate the schedule of our day. The morning and evening, when the punitive charges will be applied are the times when family activity in the home is at its peak. To be driven to a new way of life to avoid excessively high electricity costs by rescheduling daily activities is virtually impossible for the average family. Using Smart Meters therefore will have little or no effect on energy conservation since the families use of electrical power will remain the same. It is hard to believe that those who concocted this new metering idea could not have known this. The introduction of Smart Meters therefore must be viewed as nothing less than a huge money grab. What is disturbing about the Smart Meter scheme is that whatever scenarios one wishes to examine; it is going to put pressure on already stretched family resources. As an example, if one uses electricity for home heating when it is most needed, it will cost close to double that we pay today. If this is not bad enough, adding insult to injury, we also have to pay an extra $60 per year 411, for the privilege of being fleeced. That $60 is after tax money too, so one may expect to have to earn between $80 and $95 to pay for this privilege. The resulting revenues will no doubt have the federal government salivating at the thoughts of more money to squander on their ill conceived schemes. The Gun Registry comes quickly to mind. The Smart Meter plan will take money out of the economy which downstream will result in the loss of jobs. More immediately, for many on fixed incomes, they will be com- pelled to turn off the heat and sit in cold homes during the very time heating is most required. The alternative could well be to buy fewer groceries so they can pay the hydro bill. Fixed income people have no way of raising the extra money required to satisfy Smart Meter charges. Most are already stretched to the limit as it is. The fact is these meters are just not required. Certainly they will allow power companies to see in an instant where, and by whom, power is being used. But why is it necessary to collect information at such a micro level? The present meters pro- vide adequate details of power consumption for virtually every need the distributors could ever want. Providing micro information that the Smart Meters will do is noth- ing more than applying information technology for information technologies sake. It is time to stop this madness. Governments and their agencies must realize that because some salesman has a new toy, they don't have to buy it. We simply cannot afford to go on and on paying out money to apply a new technology which is not required. The old adage "Better is the enemy of good enough" certainly seem to apply here. Encouraging businesses to turn the lights out on their high rise office building and the useless floodlights they use to illuminate their properties or their billboards that nobody looks at would be a good first start in hydro conservation. This solution is perhaps too simple a choice or maybe because it's not a today's fashionably 'high tech' approach, it was never considered as a solution. Our politicians must address this issue before it gets totally out of hand. Recently several letters have appeared in the press on this subject but none seem to address Let to Edi their complaints directly to our MPPs who are the only people who have the power to do something about the injustice that is being inflicted upon us. If we citizens don't stand up and let our views be known, nothing will be done and we shall be made to pay criminally high prices for our hydro, whether we like it or not. We shall have nobody to blame but ourselves if we don't take action. I would urge everyone who has to pay a hydro bill to contact their MPP and stir them into action to get this Smart Meter program cancelled. As your editorial last week so rightly points out, voter apathy is a Canadian tradition; so is our apathy in the art of complaining when we are being badly treated. It is high time we changed that. Concerned Citizen, RON HELM Thank you from Bureau Dear Editor: The Huron County Christmas Bureau would sincerely like to thank all of the busi- nesses, churches, schools and individuals who contributed with their generous donations of food, new clothing and new toys. Over 130 families lives will be brighter this Christmas because our caring commu- nities from Grand Bend, Zurich, Crediton, Dashwood, Centralia, Hensall and Exeter responded so well. Special thanks to the staff at the Times -Advocate for the excellent coverage the Bureau received. Greatly appreciated! A huge pat on the backs to all of our fantastic and organized volunteers. It is in giving that we receive and we are very blessed with amazing people in our lives. Thank You! The Bureau could not exist without a strong, energetic, well -organized, and caring leader - Joan Agnew. It was a pleasure working with you and all of our dedicated volunteers. May everyone have a healthy and happy Christmas and remember to take good care of each other every day and again a big thank your for your generosity! tars p the tor WENDY MEmuvGER, Publicity, JoAN AGNEW Bureau Manager AWish List In the spirit of the Christmas season I decided this week to make a wish list: 1. Open, honest and accountable government. This needs to start at the municipal level because these are the only people we can get access to readily. 2. A council that stands up to higher levels of government and its agencies on behalf of its citizens. 3. A well thought-out stormwater management plan that is actively pursued: Time and money spent on projects which will have the greatest physical impact. A regional stormwater facility, instead of studies and upgrades to pipes and gutters which have the greatest political impact that council has in the past and currently been spending millions on. 4. Review (scrap) our latest building bylaw and its fees. This ridiculous document is turning otherwise honest, law abiding citizens into lawbreakers. 5. Cameras in council chambers focused on the public gallery to record the pub- lic's questions, comments and concerns; these comments are seldom reflected in the council meeting minutes. 6. Utilize the existing cameras (currently focused on council for closed "in cam- era" meetings) as well as the suggested gallery cameras to broadcast council meet- ings on our local television station. I am sure sponsors could be found for this. 7. Make better use of our municipal website. Most written comments, complaints and concerns received by council get filed as correspondence not specifically dealt with. These items could be scanned and posted on the website to spark more public debate. DEAN DUCHARME Huron Contractors Inc.