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The Times Advocate, 2006-04-12, Page 66 Exeter Times—Advocate Wednesday, April 12, 2006 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 Eight Spring Rally is May 4 in Dungannon Agr. Complex. Any one wishing to go please contact Olga Davis 235-0499 by April 27 and meal tickets are $7. The next Euchreama is April 28. Olga Davis was chairperson for the program; She gave a brief history of the early years of the club. Lillian Mathers read the minutes of the April 3, 1956 meeting. Musical entertainment was with Marlene Mathers, Bill Rowe, Dennis Rowe, Ross Rowe and Eric Kints. All enjoyed the music. Marlene's son Mark sang a song with his mother, music that everyone enjoyed. Trivitt Memorial Church ladies helped with the potluck supper and also entertained with a skit "The Tater Family". Those taking part were (Dick Tater) Mildred Northcott, (Agga Tater): Catherine Elston, (Spec -tater) Lousie Rether Copp, (Emma Tater) Phyllis Mommersteeg, (Hessy-Tater) and Betty Warner. Commentator was Marion Astle. Olga gave a biography of The Frayne Family. Helen Patterson related sister events through the years and Marlene introduced members of her fam- ily and friends that were present. Cecil Squires present- ed Marlene with a gift of appreciation for the many times through the years she has entertained us. Share The Wealth winners were: Kay Elston, Jane Dearing, Chris Phillips, Madeline Sweitzer, Lee Thomas, Joyce Lavender, Lillian Mathers, Mark Frayne, Eldon Heywood, Larry Mathers and June Hillen. Door prize winners were; Phyllis Crawford, Eldon Heywood, Ruth Insley, Maureen Wood, Harry Mathers and Phyllis Mommersteeg. Olga read "So You Die" and the musical entertainment ended off a very enjoyable note. *One worm said to another. "I saw my first robin today ----and just in time too".* Centralia/Huron Park Lions next bingo is to be held April 30 instead of May 7 at the South Huron Rec. Centre. Never Bring Plants Into The House: Garden Grass Snakes can be dangerous... Yes, grass snakes, not Rattlesnakes. A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants. During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze. It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants and when it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa. She let out a very loud scream. The hus- band (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa. He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it, about that time the family dog came and cold -nosed him on the behind. He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor. His wife thought he had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance. The attendants rushed in, wouldn't listen to his protests and loaded him on the stretcher and started carrying him out. About that time the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital. The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbour man. He volun- teered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled -up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief. But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa. The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to revive her. The neighbour's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the gro- cery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches. The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbour lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat. By now the police had arrived and they saw the uncon- scious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake. The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbour and his sobbing wife. The little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table. The table fell over and the lamp on it shattered and as the bulb broke it started a fire in the drapes. The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car. Meanwhile, the burning drapes, were seen by the neighbours, who called the fire department. The fire- men had started raising the ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires and put out the electricity and discon- nected the telephones in a ten -square city block area (but they did get the house fire out). Time passed and both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car, and all was right with their world. A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night. The husband asked his wife if she thought they should bring in their plants for the night. That's when she shot him. Costs were avoidable At the last South Huron council meeting on April 3, the bomb was dropped. The par- tial cost of the avoidable work completed at Devon Corners was released. I say avoid- able because in my opinion, based on the Municipal Act, council had the choice of whether to take ownership of this property last fall or to leave it in the hands of its previous owner and their financiers. Council could have had all the environmental studies done on this property before or after the predictable failed tax sale and added these costs to the outstanding tax bill. It could have been expected that these studies would have only confirmed the obvious: this was a former gas station. Based on these assessments it then would have been prudent in my opinion to back away from the property and leave the mess for the pre- vious owners to handle. The back away option was the preferred route of many tax- payers who were aware of this impending tax sale. Their views were known to council and duly ignored. But, let's for argument's sake pretend this cleanup was a necessary exercise. It was stated by council at the April 6 meeting that the costs of cleanups of this nature can reach the $1 million range and that we were lucky to get away with the $220,000. invoice we incurred. This information, if there was any homework done whatsoever, on potential liabili- ties that may occur from taking possession of the Devon Corners proper- ty would have been available at the start. With this information in hand the administration and council set aside $50,000 to cover the costs of this project. Not a reasonable sum given the potential Letters risks. has caught and killed will be missed. All he really had to do is spray a pest deterrent under his hood and his problem would be solved. We will get more squirrels in our yard as we have chestnut trees in our yard. All I can do is hope he finds an alternative next time. The reason for this letter is to remind people that in a world where there is so much technology, please remember that nature is an integral part of ours and our children's lives. It should not be squandered or abused by the ignorance of uncar- ing people. LOUISE MAXWELL Comments were "short-sighted" The last thing you probably want is people talking to each other through your news- paper, but your readers should not be left solely with the comments last week of one of your subscribers. Kim Monden, in commenting on Rick Hundey's plight said a few things that beg a response. I commend Rick on having written the letter lamenting the lack of resources and options for a very difficult situation, but once a person steps out of the shadows to draw what he perceives to be a problem to our attention, it appears that he is fair game. I understand exactly what Rick's intention is/was: raise the awareness level of all of us as to the difficulty faced by some people as they try to live decent, `normal' lives. Kim took issue with Rick's reference to the people supported by Community Living as `clients'. In this age of political correctness, silli- ness reigns. Somehow, some people have concluded that `client' is a demeaning term. Depending on what services I require or products I am purchasing, I am a patient, a customer, a user, a consumer and certainly a client. I don't feel demeaned by any of those terms. The people supported by Community Living, in effect, purchase a service, and so are, indeed, clients. The term `people first' is as meaningless as `Community Living' to many peo- ple. Not a month goes by that I'm not explaining to someone what `community living' means, and this is after 30 years of the term's being in use! We're all people, but we are designated, for convenience, into categories, and I know, all of us, at one time or another, are clients. Residents in group homes are treated with respect, dignity and where appropriate, compassion. Gilbert is no different. Regardless of the number of years a person has worked in the field (even 17), he or she does not walk in the shoes of a developmental- ly challenged person; all the best any of us can do is help, support and advocate for those who are taking advantage of these services. At recent meetings attended by psychiatrists, nurses, ministry officials, officers of the court, other support agencies and staff of Community Living, the conclusion, from all these bodies (including `third party planners') was that Gilbert did not belong in prison, in the London Psych Hospital, in a standard group home, on the streets or in an institution, and he cannot live on his own. OK, he then can choose to live .. . As an interim measure, Community Living has put into place safeguards and extra staffing to protect both Gilbert and others with whom he will come in contact, but everyone involved recognizes that this is not a permanent solution. I believe Rick's point is clearly stated: Gilbert is just one of many (as Judge Hunter said) who has fallen through the cracks. All three parties, while in government, pushed for the emptying of the institutions (both developmental and psychiatric), but not one laid out a reasonable plan for integration or even an alternative for those who just cannot adjust to life in the society of others. For Kim to vilify Rick and fault him for his attempts to draw attention to the problem is short-sighted and ignores the need for another 'shoe size' or even another `shoe'. BRUCE SHAW, Executive director Community Living - South Huron •O toth Then when it should have been obvious that this project was not going as per plan (the number of trucks and the size of the hole should have been an indicator) council and the administra- tion failed to communicate this problem to the public. This pro- ject was for the most part complete in January of this year due to favourable weather. In January, chief administrative officer Larry Brown was questioned on the costs of this project and he still stood behind his original estimate of $50,000 (see Jan. 16 minutes posted on the municipal web- site). Even though, in the fall, there was some objection to the idea of taking possession of this property, a unanimous vote was given to its purchase. Now, with the mishandling of this project, not one councillor at the last meeting expressed their displeasure. All were in damage control mode. Who is minding the store here? There are a number of individuals fed up with the status quo in South Huron. To date two informal and one meeting at council were well attended. More are planned If anyone else is interested in becoming involved and affecting change in this commu- nity (as well as having a little fun) please contact Dean at hurcon@cabletv.on.ca or Wally Fydenchuk at wpf13@hotmail.com for information on the next meeting. DEAN DUCHARME ,Exeter for Nature shouldn't be abused Last week I had the misfortune to witness the senseless killing of the squirrels in our neighborhood. These squirrels were an unexpected source of pleasure and enjoyment to everyone who witnessed their antics over the winter. To keep the squirrels away from our birdfeeder, we fed them peanuts in a differ- ent part of our yard. It was fun to watch them eat and hide them anywhere they could. Our neighbour said squirrels chewed wires in his vehicle that cost $1000 to repair. I don't know how he knows it was squirrels; we share a driveway and our vehicles are fine. It was more likely a cat or a mouse in my opinion. Anyway, his answer to this problem was to set live traps outside, bait them with peanut butter and then kill them after he caught them in his trap. The squirrels he