HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2007-12-12, Page 5Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Times—Advocate
5
Opinion Forum News
I OYEARS AGO
December 10, 1997 -
Shoplifting in Exeter is costing
businesses money according to
Bob Gehan of Stedman's and
Ruth Miller of Canadian Tire.
Gehan says,"Shoplifting is cost-
ing considerable money, enough
for me to include shoplifting in
my store's balance sheet."
Stanley township reeve Jack
Coleman has been named
Warden of Huron County for 1998. He replaces
Murray Keys of Hay township as Warden.
For the second year in a row, Carrie Kyle of
Lucan has knitted more than 150 pairs of mittens
for charity.
20 YEARS AGO
December 9, 1987 - Gary Middleton who has
been Exeter's fire chief for a number of years on a
part-time basis will become the chief fire official for
the Exeter and area fire board.
AIS Communications Limited, a unique publish-
ing and marketing company which reaches thou-
sands of readers across Canada and in other parts
of the world has recently purchased two industrial
journals from Southam Publications to add to its list
of high quality, well respected magazines. The AIS
operation located on Highway 83 west in Exeter is
owned and operated by Peter Darbishire and Peter
Phillips. With the two new magazines, AIS has a
total circulation of nearly 200,000. The company
for the past 10 years has also produced the official
souvenir program for the International Plowing
Match.
30YEARS AGO
December 8, 1977 - Crowned as Queen and King
of Centralia College of Agricultural Technology
Friday night were Theresa Ondrejicka, R.R. 1,
Exeter and John Dortmans of R.R.1, Strathroy.
The new sidewalks snowplow purchased recent-
ly by the town of Exeter found plenty of white stuff
to push off the walkways this week.
Through the financial support of the Alhambra
Lodge of Grand Bend and the perseverance of ARC
Industries manager Ron Heimrich and baker Dan
Knight, a bakeshop at ARC Industries in Dashwood
started production of pastries this week,
45 YEARS AGO
December 30, 1962 - Principal H.L. Sturgis
reported that there is some agitation among
schools in the Huron -Perth Conference to withdraw
their athletic teams from the Western Ontario
Secondary Schools Association.
Group Captain L.H. Randall, RCAF Centralia's
Commanding Officer presented James B. Kirkland
of Exeter with a Department of National Defence
award of merit for 15 years of service. Mr. Kirkland
has worked at the station as a messman since
1947.
Top prize winner among the area 4-H clubs who
received prize money was Donald Weigand of
Dashwood who placed first in both the Zurich calf
and tractor maintenance clubs.
50YEARS AGO
December 9, 1957 - A barn owned by Howard
Pym, R.R. 1, Centralia, prominent junior farmer
and 4-H club leader burned Tuesday night.
60YEARS AGO
November 30, 1947 - Mr. Eric Mcllroy, propri-
etor of the Lakeview Casino in Grand Bend is suf-
fering from burns received when he carried a burn-
ing stove from an apartment near his winter home
in the Pinery.
William H. Golding, Liberal member for Huron -
Perth will serve again as deputy -chairman of com-
mittees of the whole House.
65 YEARS AGO
December 1, 1922 - The Marks Brothers
appeared in the Exeter Opera House on Wednesday
and Thursday evenings and drew fairly large hous-
es.
Southcott Bros. have purchased from Miss L.
Johns, the Johns Block on Main street presently
occupied by them and by the Post Office.
A special meeting of the UFO was held in
Senior's Hall Thursday evening with addresses
being given by MP W. Black and MPP Andrew
Hicks.
The second annual High School Commencement
exercises were held in the Opera House, Friday
evening. The scholarship for proficiency was
awarded to Harry Seldon and the gold medal for
general proficiency went to Bruce A. Medd.
ROSS
HAUGH
BACK IN TIME
Seniors' Perspective
By Jim Bearss
ADULT ACTIVITIES CO-ORDINATOR
Women speak because they wish to speak, whereas
a man speaks only when driven to speech by some-
thing outside himself -- like, for instance, he can't
find any clean socks.
New Years Eve
Celebrate New Years Eve at the Royal
Canadian Legion RE Pooley Branch #167
Exeter. Time for this fun evening is 8:30
p.m. to 1 a.m. Dance to the music of "Chris
and the Boys." You get lunch and "taxi" for
$30 per person for $50 per couple. 200
Tickets only and for more information, con-
tact the Legion at 235-2962 or Sharon at
235-1299 or 235-2696.
New Years Eve Old Tyme Country Dance,
featuring `Rural Roots' at the KW Community Centre
Dec. 31 8 p.m. to midnight. Ticket includes a deli-
cious buffet lunch and the proceeds go to the
Kirkton-Woodham Pool. Advance tickets are avail-
able from Otterbein's Barber Shop 235-0559, Tasty -
Nu bakery 236-4912, Jeff Miller 237-3424, Murray
Armstrong 236-7746 or Kirkton Market 229-8923
Euchre on NewYears Eve
If you don't want to dance and party, consider play-
ing euchre at the Exeter Masonic Hall on New Years
Eve. A happy social time is planned and for more
information and tickets contact June at 235-2194.
Probus Club of Exeter
The Probus Club will welcome Jay Campbell as
guest speaker for the Wed., Dec. 19 meeting held in
Exeter United Church at 10 a.m. Jay Campbell lived
and worked in Exeter before moving to London to
become our local weatherman on A Channel.
Campbell will speak primarily on climate change and
explore some of the challenges and observations as a
meteorologist. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Probus is an association of retired and semi -retired
individuals or couples interested in informative
speakers and group activities. For further informa-
tion contact Maida Gaiser 235-2606 or Ken Agnew at
235-1358.
Christmas Bureau
Please support the Christmas Bureau. This year's
host for South Huron is the Exeter United Church at
42 James St., Exeter. For drop-off locations and
more info check the Exeter T -A or call the church at
235-0860.
Wingham Town Hall Heritage Theatre
(coming Events)
"South Mountain and Friends" show on Dec. 22, at
2 p.m. Come see and listen to the traditional country
music of South Mountain and friends. The band and
Jake and Laura Rose will be playing a mixture of
their traditional country songs as well as some
Christmas favourites to get you in the Christmas spir-
it.
Reserve your seat today! Only $20 a ticket or $18 a
ticket with a group of 20 or more people and to
reserve a ticket contact the office at 357-4082 or toll
free: 1-866-357-4082 or e-mail wht@hurontel.on.ca
More evening music
An Evening of Christmas Music and Song... Mark
your busy calendar for Dec. 16 for 7 p.m. at the
Caven Presbyterian Church, 68 Main Street South.
There will be a couple of special out of town musical
guests to entertain you as well as local entertain-
ment. Donations go to the Exeter Community Food
Bank. A social gathering will follow.
Bikes, helmets, exempt from PST...
Anyone looking to buy a bicycle or helmet as a
Christmas present will get a break on the Ontario
provincial sales tax effective now.
The province will forgo about $25 million a year to
give people a tax break on bicycles less than $1,000,
bike helmets and related safety equipment starting
now.
Premier Dalton McGuinty says the province is lifting
the eight per cent sales tax on the bikes and helmets
as a "Christmas treat for our families."
He says the idea is to encourage people to become
more active and to allow the kids to experience what
he calls the simple joy of riding a bike.
McGuinty also hopes the tax exemption will encour-
age biking to work and ease congestion on the roads.
New Health Promotion Minister Margaret Best also
endorses this new provincial plan.
Shop Nationally
Keep your town in business by keeping your busi-
ness in town... Chamber of Commerce's in Ontario
are asking you to think about the issue of cross-bor-
der shopping. Before you get caught in the excite-
ment of all the `bargains' across the border or on -
line please consider the following:
First, do the math — add up your travel and accom-
modation costs and compare it with what you save.
Check with your local retailer, you'll likely find they
have already narrowed the gap. It is believed that
many cross-border shoppers are enduring incredible
inconvenience and find empty shelves and rip-offs at
the end of the rainbow.
Second, think about your local retailers. Whether
they are locally owned or National chains, all of them
are trying to react as quickly as they can to an
unprecedented situation. They are being asked
to sell their products for less than they paid for
them, and yet are expected to; pay their
employees, taxes, rent, heat and hydro, give to
many charities and sponsor teams and special
events.
Third, ask yourself what kind of community,
you want to live in. Festivals and events, ser -
Jim Bearss vices provided by both charities and
Governments would be gutted or non-existent
without the taxes and donations from the business
community.
Fourth, the environmental impact for driving for six
hours, and idling at the border for several more,
needs to be considered.
Road condition updates
Don't call the OPP! The Ontario Provincial Police
are reminding residents to not contact their office for
road conditions during the winter.
Their call takers and dispatchers are busy gather-
ing information and relaying that information to
their members to allow them to do their job.
By calling police to find out the road conditions you
tie up needed emergency personnel and resources
during a busy time.
Instead police are suggesting that people call the
Ministry of Transportation at 1-800-268-4668 or visit
its website at www.mto.gov.on.ca
Hitchhiking spiders and global trade
Global trade brings unwanted visitors... We've
probably all heard the urban legend about the unsus-
pecting shopper who takes home a bunch of bananas
from the supermarket, only to have a tarantula crawl
out and terrorize the family. Well, new research
shows that there could be some truth to the story.
As it turns out, spiders are excellent hitchhikers
and often end up taking rides across countries, conti-
nents and oceans. According to a report published in
the journal Diversity and Distributions, spiders are
thumbing rides more and more often as global trade
increases, and as our planet heats up from global
warming, more spiders might decide to make their
vacations permanent.
Researchers with the University of Bern in
Switzerland looked at 87 alien species of spiders
from 25 different families known to have been intro-
duced to Europe from other continents in the past 50
years. They found a near -linear progression of
increased spider introductions correlating with an
increase in global trade over the same time frame.
Both the volume of trade and the number of trade
routes around the world have expanded greatly over
the past century. At the same time, the duration of
each of these trips has shortened due to more effi-
cient shipping routes and techniques, and faster
forms of shipping, such as air transport. Less time
spent en route increases a hitchhiker's odds of sur-
viving a trip, which make it more likely that the crea-
ture will be able to set up home in a new location.
Spiders are also survivors. A three -season study
from New Zealand in 2002 found 31 alien spiders of
seven different species (including several that were
poisonous), plus nine egg sacs, survived trips from
California in containers of table grapes — in spite of
the containers having been fumigated and kept at a
chilly one degree Celsius. However, as with any
introduced species, spiders have the potential to dis-
place native species and disrupt local ecosystems.
Depending on the type of spider, there could be
human health implications as well.
A recent review published in the journal Ibis, for
example, reported on how the highly contagious
avian bird influenza H5N1 spread across Europe.
Again the most likely culprit is global trade.
In summary, although it remains possible that a
migratory bird can spread the virus HPA1 H5N1 and
contaminate poultry, the evidence overwhelmingly
supports the hypothesis that human movements of
domestic poultry have been the main agent of global
dispersal of the virus to date.
We live in an increasingly interconnected world.
That brings with it a host of new challenges and new
responsibilities. Whether it's big spiders or danger-
ous viruses, we'd best find ways to minimize the eco-
logical and human health threats posed by our global
economy. The world is shrinking. And we'd better
get used to it. David Susuki & Faisal Moola