Loading...
The Huron Expositor, 1984-12-12, Page 2Huron _ X OSltOr SINCE 1860, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST ateacttai BLUE RIBBON AwAnn 1aes Incorporating Brussels Post 10 Main Street 52770240 Published in SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning JOCELYN A. SHRIER, Publisher ' RON WASSINK, Editor Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union Cts j International Press Instituto Subacrlptlon rates: Canada $18.75 a year (in advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year (in advance) Single Copies -50 cents each SEAFO!`TH, ONTARIO, WENESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1984 Second clefts mall registration Number 0896 Parking probeLrs Parking, or the lack of it, is a problem in Seaforth during the Christmas season. And it's due to lack of parking that some shoppers will head out of town. That's not what the local merchants want. The parkinrgproblem results from lack of off-street parking. Business pet •., and their employees are sometimes forced to park on Main Street. And "'ere are some people who feel they must park on the street because of the nature of their business. But some could walk one or two blocks to their place of employment and give up- the easy parking convenience to the shoppers. After all, the customer is always number one. if each business made an effort to relieve the "no parking" situation then perhaps part of the problem can be solved. E. ea • business is in business to make money. And they won't ma e money if the par6ing areas are used by non -shoppers. Let's make this a bright Christmas for local 13 iness. This is one way to get people to shop at home. Let's give them the convenience of Main Street parking. - R.W. Government in business The Brand new federal government has decided to rid the people of Canada of the burdensome business enterprises which have cost taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars over the past few years. The Canadian Development Investment Corporation was set up originally so that the government of Canada could provide an infusion of investment capital which would, If all went according to plan, guarantee employment for thousands of workers and a good return on the money Invested. The CDIC Petrofina, a Belgian -owned oil company, for $120 per share, despite the fact that the going price only a few weeks previously was $60 per share. Something similar happened with the share purchase of British Petroleum. Now there Is regret In high places that the government finds Itself in business In the Canadian marketplace. The revelatlon'a couple of weeks ago of the salaries paid to the heads of several crown corporations has been followed by news that some of these monsters will be offered for sale to the private sector. Those mentioned most frequently are Canadair, Canada's largest airplane manufacturer, and de Havilland, another aircraft maker. The prime minister has stated that he has no objection to paying top -hole salaries to heads of public corporations. He knows that private companies do the same. The big difference, however,:Is that in the private sector a highly -paid boss Is expected to earn his money by providing consistent profits for the shareholders of the company. The same demand Is not made of corporation heads working4for the crown. Both of the aircraft companies mentioned above have been repeatedly bailed out by taxpayers' money because they are showing stupendous losses under government-sponsored management. There will be more of these revelations as time goes on, provided the PC government follows through with its promise to provide more efficient management of our affairs. ('Wingham Advance Times) Solution sought for OFA loss membership COUNTRY CORNER by Larry Dillon At their annual convention, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture considered a quick solution to the drop in membership that they have experienced. They could ask the province for a law that would allow automatic deduction of membership fees for a farm lobby group from the property tax return that every farmer receives. The farmer could then direct the money to the farm lobby group of his choice. if he preferred, he could request that the money be refunded. This request could trigger a visit from a membership representative of a farm lobby group such as the OFA. But the decision to join or take the refund would be up to the farmer. The delegates proposing the resolution believe that not many farmers would bother applying for the rebate. They would let the funds be diverted to the group and automatically become members. This would be a quick solution to the cash flow restrictions that the organizations face. Only about 40 per centJef Ontario's '60,000 farmers belong to a farm lobby group. All these organizations could expect significant increases in their membership and member dues. it sounds great for the OFA, but they didn't pass the resolution. They voted it down after some hard consideration. They did consider that all farmers benefit from their efforts and Should contribute to the expenses. They did consider that having more members would give them more input from the grass roots level. They rejected the resolution because of one problem that would accompany it. The strength of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture is based on the fact that it's membership is purely voluntary. The mem- bers that the organization represents each pay $75 a year for the privilege of belonging to that group. When the federation makes a presentation to the government or to the public. it is self evident that they are speaking for the group. No one is forced to join and those who do belong pay for the privilege. The federation has experienced a slight decline in membership in the past year. Harry Pelissero, president of the OFA has said that hard times ons farm are probably the biggest factor icf this decline. Some farmers must reconsider whether they can afford the membership fee. Other members have left because they disagree with federation policies. it's hard for any organization to formulate and implement policies that will please all members. If membership is voluntary, then these policies must please most of the members most of the time, if the organization is to survive. The OFA is going to do it the hard way. They . want members, but they prefer members who -want to belong. They are passing up the easy money and big membership rolls in order to maintain their credibility. They are willing to keep wonting on behalf of all farmers and try to develop policies to help all 'farmers. The measure of their success in these efforts will be the level of membership in future years. 1 think they can do it. They made a good decision when they rejected the system of automatic membership through deductions from farm tax rebates. 14 takes a lot of hard work to represent the farmers of the province, but -they're trying. They made their decision - they are not going to -force farmers to join. , If you are interested in what they are doing, bet that they would appreciate your help. p, UPSTANDING CITIZENS of Huron and Perth counties were presented with some of the 1,984 Ontario Bicentennial medals presented throughout Ontario. Over 50 medals were presented at a special ceremony in Seaforth on Sunday. Huron County recipients Include, back row, from the left: Ellen Connelly, Donald MscAdam, Frederick Bowers, Ivan McClymont, Mac Campbell, Donald Simpson, Bill Gibson, Ken Campbell, Gordon Hill, Rob Campbell; middle row: James H. Kinkead, Lloyd Casemore, Ed Stiles, John Broadfoot, Norman Alexander, Andrew McLean, Benson Tuckey, Valentine Becker, . Leslie 'Jervis, Dou,glas O'Brien. Front row: Marian Dougall, Isobel Miller, Connie Osborn, Nancy MacLennan, Eleanor Bradnock, Annie Reid, Helen Underwood, and Agnes McBurney. Absent when photo was taken were Teresa Courtney, DeWitt Miller and Elgin Thompson. (Wassink photo) Where's the Christmas spirit?, SENSE AND NONSENSE by Ron Wassink Somebody just told me that Christmas is only 13 days away --less than two weeks before an overweight chap dressed in red squeezes his way down many chimneys. My first reaction was "WHAT", I don't even feel Christmassy. You know you're supposed to get alt excited, tell everyone what you want for Christmas. when you're going shopping, etc. etc. 1 don't know what my problem is—maybe I'm getting old (but I don't think so). 1'think I've finally come to realize that Christmas is hypocritical. And 1 mean hypocritical in the sense of commercialization of Christmas. I've come to the point where 1 can't be bothered driving 50 miles ro go "Christmas shopping". And when I'm asked what l want for Christmas, my reply is, what I want for Christmas isn't important. If it's going to come down to somebody buying me a gift because I want it --then forget it. 1 don't want any part of Christmas. Recently 1 overheard a shapely young female explain in a pitiful voice that her uncle has everything he needs and she just doesn't know what she's going to buy him. 1 hear it all the time, but it's starting to get to mc. Here we are. a bunch of fat cats fighting with other shoppers at the Fairview Park shopping mall in Kitchener for that special Christmas gift. Or we drive to Stratford because we say there isn't enough variety in Seaforth. And just two weeks ago, some of us gave 10 or 20 bucks to a church organization because we felt sorry for the famine stricken people of central Africa. We simply couldn't bear the sight of kids who covered their skinny bodies in rags. At the same time. we read that Henry Morgentaler has re -opened his abortion clinic. Meanwhile we're bombarded by Christmas advertising. Andrthis has all happened in the Christmas seaon. It appears we're all wrapped -up in our own little worlds. We're busy shopping for people who already have everything. Yet we manage to send food to Africa to feed starving kids. Yet we sit by while our own Canadian kids are being aborted. I can't figure it out --why are we trying to keep kids in another country alive when we don't care about our own? It sounds confusing, and that's what Christmas is. I've given to the starving and said my bit against Morgentaler. But 1 haven't started Christmas shopping yet. And when I do. 1 probably go into a few Seaforth stores, buy what 1 want to give and wrap my gifts. I learned several years ago that the more variety, the harder the decisiof . And the more variety, the more expensive the store, especially in the city. Besides it's closer to shop at home and 1 don't have to fight stop and go traffic. In the meantime. I've got the office radio set on a station that plays Christmas music. That's what i like about Christmas -- I hope it gets me in the mood. Baby boomers have become cynical BEHIND THE SCENES by Keith Roulston Watching one of my favorite television shows the other night (it's easy to narrow it 'down to one or two favorites these days with the lack of quality shows around), I realized that even It had been effected by the disease of the '80's. The trademark of the excellent show Hill Street Blues for the first number of years was the smiling, fatherly sergean' who every day halted the police officers as they were heading for their cars after roll call with the caution: "Hey, hey, hey. let's be careful out there. " Last year the actor who played the sergeant died and there had to be a replacement named. The writers were in a bind. The audience had come to expect some little pearl of wisdom at the beginning of each show but it would sound pretty hollow to have the same words coming from a different sergeant. So they came up with a new line for the new sergeant. "Okay, let's go out and do it to them before they do it to us." Now this may be making a mountain out of a molehill, but it seemed to me to be symbolic of the changed attitude in our society. Today we are infected by a massive dose of cynicism. It seems to temper nearly every aspect of our life, from politics to the way people regard their jobs to the way people look at home and marriage. The massive bulge of the baby boom seems to have upset not only our economics but also the way society regards itself. especially in the mass media, The baby boomers are so dominant that when they go through a mid-life crisis the whole North American continent goes through one. It must be very confusing if you're 73 and you've already gone through at least one mid-life crisis. 1 can imagine if Hill Street Blues had been around in the '60s, the writers would have had the sergeant say something idealistic like "Remember, you can make this a better society" (if the sixties writers had even dreamed about making a policeman a hero), The '70's sergeant reflected the "me" generation idea of looking out for oneself first., Today the idealism has died out completely and it's get the other guy before he gets you. Part of this can be put down, to the natural disillusionment of aging. We get older, we get to the middle part of our lives and we begin to see all the dreams we had that will never come true. It's particularly shocking to the people of my generation, the generation that dreamed of so much. But we were shocked to sec that dreamers don't win (John and Bobbie Kennedy, Martin Luther King), or if they do, they find out that even in the highest office in the land, (Pierre Trudeau) they can't accomplish the "Just Society" they dreamed of. it's tragic to see how the idealistic generation has become the cynical genera- tion. The non•materialistic generation now can't hold up its head in polite society if there isn't a satellite dish on the lawn and a whirlpool in the bathroom. The generation that wanted peace threw out peace -loving Jimmy Carter who wanted to have his America act like a civilized neighbor and gave a massive endorsation to Ronald Reagan who brought back the Ugly American who bullied others into submis- sion. What comes next for the baby boomers? Which way will their whims take the world next? Everyone had a turkey dinner SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley With your kind permission. 1'11 tell you a little Christmas story this week. We'll call it: "Turkey for Easter in my own home town. when I was a boy. a Turkey Fair was held every winter, shortly before Christmas. There was a district north of the town that was poor farming land. It was rough and rocky, like some parts of the Bruce Peninsula, and its inhabitants had a. difficult time scraping a living out of the inhospitable land. So most of them grew turkeys. They'd let them run practically wild through the year, then bring them to town for the Turkey Fair. The main street would be lined with sleighs. cutters and old cars. all piled high .with turkey for sale. Buyers would come from the cities, and the townspeople would all be out to pick up their Christmas fowl. As a result, the town street would be crowded. Jingling sleighbells, scurrying people, filled with the Christmas spirit, and crowds of turkey farmers and their families. with the sharp -faced buyers from Montreal and Ottawa scuttling to get the best birds for the least money, m ade it an exciting day for the town's youngsters, and quite a few of us didn't show up at school that day, i'll never forget one Turkey Fair, when I was about 12 years old. It was right in the middle of the depression. As usual, the street was lined with turkey farmers, selling their wares, by nine o'clock in the morning. This was the big day of the year for them. The rest of the year, they barely managed to make ends meet. But when they had sold their turkeys, they were rich for a day. Some of them would have as much as $30 or $40, a lot of money -in those days. This was for them. it meant that children would have some- thing for Christmas, that Mother might get a new dress, or pair of shoes, that Father could have a few beers and maybe buy some shells A for his gun, and that their credit at the store could be sustained. They were terribly poor, Well, this one year. something happened. At the time, 1 had nn idea what it was. but it was probably a glut of fowl on the market. and too many people without money to buy turkey for Christmas. At any rate, the Turkey Fair was an utter failure. Only a few buyers showed up, a lot of the townspeople simply did Pfot have any money and were living on credit, and the farmers could not get rid of their turkeys. At first they were selling a few for outrageously low prices. 12 or 13 cents a pound, instead of the usual 18 to 25. But by noon the turke, farmers were nearing panic. They were ruing around with a turkey in each h and, canvassing houses. trying to sell them for seven and eight cents a pound. By tour pain.. the full extent of the tragedy had beenitevealed. Women stood by their sleigh -loads of turkeys. with the tears streaming down their faces, and three or four of theirchildren, cold and hungry wailing,jn sympathy. The men's faces showed anger, fright and bewilderment. it was a bitter day for them. It meant that instead of a Christmas full of warmth and happiness they were faced with a Christmas bleak with despair, lacking everything that usually made it good, as well as as a cheerless winter ahead, existing by the barest of margins. it was a shambles. Turkeys were hurled into the street and tramped on by bitter, frustrated men. Others spent their last 50 cents for a bottle of cheap wine and got drunk. The people of the town looked grave, sympathetic, worried. Even the heavens wept, and a downpour of freezing rain fouled the white snow and increased the general misery. i don't think i have ever felt more sad and depressed than l did that day, child though i was. When igot home. I wanted to spill all my feelings to my mother. but one look at her face told me she knew. She went about her work with that intense fury that always possessed her when she was trying to hide her feelings. and 1 knew better than to start babbling. A while later my Dad came in with a long face. and be and my mother held one of those low -voiced conclaves that drive curious children crazy. Then he went back outside. My mother looked a little less harrassed. Then the rest of the fmaily began coming in, my young brother started horsing around, and with the tough indifference of a youngster, 1 almost forgot about the turkey farmers and their despair. When my dad got home, we all sat down to supper. In those days, you ate supper et suppertime. in our circle. Mother and Dad still looked pretty grave, but not so bad as before, and we kids were all talking at once. as usual. We had hamburg for supper. 1 was feeling a bit disgruntled with my parents for being so serious and uncommunicative, so, probably to attract attention, 1 said: "Ham- burg. hamburg. hamburg. We're always eating hamburg. Aren't we ever going to eat anything else around here?" You know how a kid wi11 say things like that. We did have a lot of hamburg, but I liked it. My mother gave me one look,' got up, took me by the ear, marched me to the woodshed door, off the kitchen, opened it, and said: "Yes, you're going to get something besides hamburg. You're going to eat turkey from now until Easter." There, hanging from the rafters in the woodshed, were about 12 big turkeys. Next day 1 found out that other families in town, among those who were able, had done the same thing, out off sympathy for the turkey farmers. By the time they had given turkeys to all their friends, neighbors and relatives, in an attempt to get rid of them, there were few people who went without turkey THAT Christmas. in the town. i