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The Times Advocate, 2008-04-30, Page 44 Times—Advocate Wednesday, April 30, 2008 OC =CNA T. TIMES ADVOCATE Editorial Opinion PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs. Canada Deb Lord — Production Manager Scott Nixon — Editor t The Times -Advocate is owned by Metroland Media Group Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Media Group Ltd. Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • 519-235-1331 Doug Rowe -General Manager, Southwestern Ontario Division EDITORIAL Thank a volunteer It's really something we should be doing every day, but this week especially we should all take the time to thank a volunteer. If you look around your community it won't take you long to realize that volunteers are the people who make things tick. Without them it would be impossible for many agencies to offer all the services they do. National Volunteer Week started Sunday and runs until Monday. Many organizations such as hospitals, nursing homes and non-profit agen- cies are taking the time to pay tribute to the people who help make people's lives a little bit easier and more enjoyable. Places like South Huron Hospital, Queensway Nursing Home and Blue Water Rest Home depend on volunteers, as does the Canadian Cancer Society, which uses volunteers to drive patients to and from medical appointments. The Blue Water Rest Home, for example, has over 200 volunteers, who perform tasks such as helping with the snack and library carts and assisting residents to mass. These are jobs that help make the lives of the residents more pleas- ant and comfortable. Volunteers are selfless, taking their personal time to make their community a better, more caring place. We all need to thank them more often. Let's pay tribute to them this week, but let's not forget about them next week. Good news, please It's hard not to feel the bottom is falling out of the economy when lately we seem to be bom- barded every day with news of a major closure. Locally, we had the unfortunate news that the Exeter canning plant, a staple in this communi- ty for decades, was closing. The spinoff effects of that closure are still unknown, but it's a major blow to the local economy as 150 people lose their jobs. Bad news from about an hour north of Exeter surfaced Monday when it was announced the Campbell Soup plant in Listowel will close with- in the year, taking with it 500 jobs, a devastat- ing shot to a small community. Also Monday General Motors announced it is cutting 900 jobs from its Oshawa plant. Enough with the bad news. What happened to Canada's teams? It looks as if the Toronto Maple Leafs might finally be joining the rest of the Canadian teams in the NHL, although not in the way that any of them would have wanted. It hasn't been a great year for most of the six teams north of the border with the Vancouver Canucks going back to the drawing board; the Ottawa Senators trying to figure out whether they need a new board and of course the Leafs trying to decide if they even want to bother with a board. It wasn't supposed to be like this in the post - NHL lockout era. For years, Canadian teams and their fans repeated the mantra that the big market teams and inflated salaries made it impossible for smaller teams to compete evenly in the NHL. All that was needed, it was believed, was to reduce the payrolls to a level every team could afford and the Stanley Cup would find a home north of the border. But it hasn't quite worked out like that. Some of the teams, like the Canucks and Senators were figured to be locks as Cup favourites, as Guido from the 401 on the Fan 590 sug- gested about the Leafs. The Senators are still trying to figure out where the train came from that ran them over this season, after they decided to only play the first 20 games of the sea- son and declare themselves the Cup winners. Coming back into the post -lockout NHL, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, both still trying to sell off the last of their Stanley Cup finalists T-shirts from 2004 and 2006, were under the impressions that all things and payrolls being equal, it would be only a matter of time before NHL players would line up to experience the delights of Western winters and Canadian taxes. But the Canadian bosses didn't remember that NHL players are married to NHL wives who would rather shop in New York or sun themselves in California After Ryan Smyth and Chris Pronger took their acts south of the border, the Oilers once again found them- selves on the outside of the playoffs looking in this year. As did the Canucks, who forgot that hock- ey isn't played in a 15 -foot circle around their own net and general manager Dave Nonis took the bullet for it. What the Canadian teams forgot, except for the Leafs who have never learned it, is that money isn't a substitute for a quality organization as the teams still in the play- offs prove, as the Canadiens and Penguins are reaping the fruits of years of careful drafting and putting in place effective lead- ership. The Senators learned the hardest lesson about leadership as they failed to discipline goalie Ray Emery for on and off -ice problems and watched them- selves fade during the season before finally being fm- ished off by the Penguins. But all hope isn't lost for Canada's teams. With the salary cap expected to hit $68 million by 2010, they can go back to blaming everyone else for their failures instead of their own decision making. Except for the Leafs, who will only need enough money to take the whole team to the Hockey Hall of Fame so they can finally touch the Cup. PAT BACK VIEW About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. CLOSED ON HOLIDAYS. Contact Us By Phone or Fax Classified ad & subscription sales 519-235-1331 24-hour automated attendant 519-235-1336 Fax number 519-235-0766 Fax number for accounting dept. 519-235-2449 Subscription Rates One year rate for addresses in Canada: $42+GST Two year rate for addresses in Canada: $75+GST One year rate for addresses outside Canada:$160+GST Call 519-235-1331 to order a subscription. BOLEN 40 Classified Rates Word ads: $13 for 20 words, 20t for each additional word+ GST. Notices (births, announcements, coming events, memoriams, cards of thanks): $16 + GST for up to 50 words, All ads must be pre -paid. The classified ad deadline is Monday at 10 a.m. Display Advertising To place a display ad, 519-235-1331 weekdays 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. or evenings 519-235-1336 (leave message) or toll-free at 1-888-270-1602. Deadline: Fri. 2 p.m. Web site: www.southhuron.com E-mail Us TA e-mail addresses consist of the person's first initial and last name followed by @southhuron.com. For example, Deb Lord's e-mail address is dlord@southhuron.com Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. The Times -Advocate Team COMPOSITION Manager Deb Lord ext. 103 Nikki Cyr ext. 101 Kelly Gackstetter ext. 101 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 EDITOR Scott Nixon ext. 105 REPORTERS Pat Bolen ext. 113 Nina Van Lieshout ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Jennifer Skonieczny ext. 102 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Marg Pertschy ext. 108 Heather Clarke ext. 111