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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1984-02-29, Page 3t. (fxpasitor since 1860, Serving, the Community first Incorporating 4 BnissiAS. ost Mended 1872 12 Main St. , 527-0240 Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO eVer)./1tVednesday morning JOCELYN A:SHRIER, Pablisher RON WAPSINK, Editor ' KATIE O' LEARY, Adyertiaing Ropresen tat lye 4.1111*4341iiik, Member Canadian Othrtippnity Newspaper Assoc; Ontario ComintinitY.NeOPeper AssoCIation and , Audit Buree1e. 0 1 OIrcelation A member of the OrthiiIo Press Council Subscription rates: Canada $10,76 a Year (In advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year (In advance) Single Coulee:- 50 cents each • SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, .WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1984 Second class mall registration Number 0896 Learn CPR. Without the proper training, most people feel helpless to do anything but call an ambulance or watch when theysee someone choking, having a heart attack or drowning. While waiting for those trained to help, they could match the victim, die. Members of the Ontario Heart Foundation and employees of the Seaforth Community Hospital want to preventlhat situation with regular courses on cardio -pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and other ilfe-saving techniques. Last week, approximately 15 people learned how, to help a person who is chokinger keep a heart attack victim alive until they get to a hospital. "We encourage anybody to take it. All age groups are eligible and when you know how, it's easy to help somebody," says Shirley Leasa, of the Ontario Heart Foundation. The course takes a day to complete and the foundation recommends that a person re -certify every year. The time it takes is worth it especially when you consider the alternative. You could find yourself helpless to do anything but watch a loved one die. - S.H. Bank on relationships' Tough times during the past couple of years have demonstrated the importance of a good relationship between a businessman and his banker. In all industries, however, are some individuals who learn slowly, or never learn at all. Canadian Farm Survival Association president AIIan Wilford Is among the latter. Wilford recently accused the Chartered banks of adopting a "starve -out" policy toward farmers on shaky financial ground. By that, he means the banks don't foreclose, but, rather cut credit and stand back until the farmer himself recognizes the inevitability of having to close odown. What else could Wilford possibly expect? Last year, he helped organize a series of demonstrations at farm'foreclosure sales,. Those demonstra- tions gave the banks publicity of a type they definitely don't want. Next came proposed federal legislation (not passed) permitting hardpressed farmers -to walk away -from their,IOarOPterAliatid. repayment obligations. Needless to say, the-benka-didret-likekthatreither, - There is no evidence whatever that banks are shutting the door to farmers who have reasonable chances of survival. However, it would not be surprising if some borderline cases, who might have been given extra credit a year ago, are now being refused. No one can blame the banks. Events of the past year orso have taught them to back off any potential farm foreclosure• situation. It's worth remembering, too, that when bankers make a loan, they're not lending their own money. They're lending money entrusted to them by depositors. If the banks have adopted more cautious lending policies, and if some farmers who might otherwise have survived are forced out of business, the blame belongs in one place. That's on the shoulders of AIIan Wilford and his fellow "farm survivalists." 'Country Guide Newsletter is logical V© 'eh@ Ecnia. Dear Sir: I am writing to answer concerns that have been raised by some community newspaper publishers regarding this Ministm's new monthly publtcation. "OMAF News..• Some publishers felt that OMAF News will compete for advertising revenue with community newspapers. This is not the case. We will not be soliciting private or public sector advertising for our publica- tion. It is true that as part of the savings generated for this Ministry by OMAF News we will not be making a claim on the Government's central advertising program for community newspapers. Last year, the Ministry used about S75.000 worth of advertising through this program. How- ever. the program, and the budget for it. will remain in place for other Ministries to use. The only real decrease in advertising revenue will be from a 5.30.000 savings in the Ministry's budget which was formerly used for ad hoc advertising to support. for example. announcements made last year concerning the Beef Cattle Financial Protection Plan and the Beginning Farmer Assistance Program. A more profound question is whether or not the government should be producing a monthly publication for farmers at ail. It is necessary' for this Ministry to inform all farmers at the same time about a great deal of technical and program information and 'a newsletter is a logical vehicle to accomplish this. Neither advertising nor issuing press releases completely meets this need. APthe same time. though, 1 understand concern over the possible impact of a newsletter and Mr. Timbrell has instructed Ministry staff to ensure this publication is never used for partisan purposes. The prospect of competition with com- munity newspapers from the "news" standpoint has also been raised. We will send the contents of OMAF News one week to 10 days in advance of publication to give editors an opportunity to use whatever material they choose. Once you see the kind of technical information in OMAF 'News, 1 believe you will agree it is not in competition with community and farm publications. A final point concerns the cost of OMAF News. By consolidating a number of other communications activities in this publica- tion , we actually spend less money overall. This was also the original notion behind the publication. The annual cost of OMAF News „is expected to be less than SI40.000, including mailing. Half of this will come from cost savings within the Communica- tions Branch - the elimination of the Agri-Pac service. lewd press releases and savings from re -allocation of staff re- sources. Also, we will not be making a claim on the 575.000 I mentioned previous- ly. Additional savings. including using OMAF News as a vehicle for printing small technical publications and eliminating the annual fee to Farm and Country magazine for publishing technical articles. will result in total savings estimated at almost 5220.000. An advance copy of the February issue of OMAF News is enclosed. Please feel free to use any of the material of interest to you. You will note that it does not contain advertising and is not a partisan publica- tion. but that it does contain technical information especially for farmers. Once you have read OMAF News, we would be pleased to hear any concerns or suggestions you may have. Sincerely, Clay Switzer Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Dublin image still blemished To those who think Dublin is a pretty place•to live — take another look. What kind of an impression are we leaving our visitors or passersby as they drive down the Highway 88 through our village? Whet do people notice first? Beauty or the beast? On one hand we have people who eared -enough to landscape and maintain an otherwise empty lot in order to beautify our village tomer. On the other hand we have the beast, a burnt out shell which was once an histinical landmark — Th6 Huton On St. Patrick's Day let's not sing "Dliblin in the Green." It would be more appropriate tO sing "Dublin in the Ruins." Its been over two years since the fire. I Mit& we are ready for a spring clean up! They say keep Ontario beautiful. Dublin belongs to OntariO. Maybe for Ontario's Bicentennial it will get cleaned Hp. Willy Kroonen • A Concerned Dublin Resident 1 Wit:blantstra, THE SEAFORTH , VETERINARY. clinic is an • interesting place to %/Ian, especially when you're a grade line St. James Separate School student, Looking at adeformed piglet with Dr. ,BrIan Nuhn in the top ieft photo are Jennifer Marion and Colin Devereaux. Top right are Heather Blake, Colin rievereatix, Judy Dotmage and Jeff - Williamson. Listening to a cat's heartbeat, bottom left Is Siegfried Meler. At the bottom left Is Judy Dolmage. (Wassink photo) (VVaSsink photo) ' • I'm still waiting for'a: leap year date Today (Wednesday) is a free day. Instead of the usual 365 day year, we have 366 days and this is because,1984 iaa leap year. It's satisfying for people like me, who occasion- ally regress, have an extra day every four years to make up for lost time. Leap year brmgs to mind tbe rhyme learned' iri publicg11 alwaya, had, one heck of &bine rernethb4tirill whieb month had 30 days, 31 days or 28 days untlfany teacher set me straight. "Thirty days hath Septem- ber, April, June and November. All the' rest have 31 except February which has 28. And leap year failing once in four. February then has one day more." • - 1 always looked forward to leap year. It wasn't because I had a birthday, but because leap year is the year girls are supposed to ask boys out. instead of the traditional boy ask girl. • NO LUCK It usually took me. three years to get up enough nerve in my teen years to get to know a girl. That didn't leave me enough time to secure a date. But every leap year 1 waited patiently, hoping the phone would ring, or a perfume scented letter would arrive in the mail. But no such luck. Since then my favorite motto now is, "If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." SIGIng@ and N©iiteGilite0 by El,cm WatOrak ' And asl waited anxiously for leap year, my high school held a Sadie Ilawldns dance every ,P,Prin,fl• rr-11,V33108r. ft:091d 111,fl..;nch. a • whim was that girls' Worilds bave.he , opportunity aska boy to go a few naiads on - dip dance floor; It gave girls a chanceto ask iheirsecretadmirer, who like me was usually fooaisytoaskaglr1 even the time of day, for a date. But once,again, I Struck out. I'd stand on the sidelines, on stag row, waiting patiently but not even getting a nibble. 1 finally quit going to Sadie Hawkins dances becauseat the end of the night, my feet were killing me from standing in one spot. If there was a prize for the spot dance, I would have won it. BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED But leap year is very important to many individuals. Those, lucky, or unlucky enough to be born on February 29 will celebrate birthdays. Since leap year only happens once every four years, it tends to be a long wait between birthdays. Even though leap year babies are only aeven-years-old when ajl their friends are in their late 20s, they aren't as young as their age implies. Once people reach the age of 40, they probably all wish they were leap year babies. Leap year holds a certain fascination for me. I want to know all about It and more. Two weeks ago, 1 decided a feature story on leap year would be an excellent idea. Especially since the Wednesday, Feb. 29 is publishing day for the Expositor, SEVEN BIRTHS A call to *e Seaforth Community Hospital revealed only two ki ds had been born there on Feb. 29, since 1960. But the odds were that there were more than two leap year kids in Seaforth. A two hour search through 34 years of Huron Expositor files was fruitful. Since 1948, seven leap year births were recorded in the birth section of the paper. Leap year birthday kids should be honored. And so everyone can wish them happy birthday, here they are. Lisa Anne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Lansink of London was born on Feb. 29, 1972. Tammy„ daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Nash, RR5, Seaforth, was born in Stratford hospital on Feb. 29, 197/ • Katherine Kay, daughter of Mr. and Mts. Glenn Eaton (the former Karen Kerr). was born in Seaforth hospital in 1968. The birth of a daughter in Seaforth hospital was announced by Mr. and Mrs. Derek Yeadon of Mitchell in 1968. David Britton, son of Rev. and Mrs. Clifford Btittbilfwits_loartiiiin _ChathamAn 1948. A phtitogritph•lii the, Feb. Pr 100 Expositor slowed David celebrating bis leap year birthday. Today, his mother makes her home in Hensall. On Feb. 29, 1960, Cpl. James and Ruth Neely of Varna, stationed at RCAF station, Clinton, born a daughter at Scott Memorial Hospital. A photo of John McClure, McKillop township resident was featured in the 1956 Huron Expositor. He was celebrating his 22nd birthday on Feb. 29. Born in 1864, Mr. McClure was actually 92 years old. The last birth found was in 1956 when Charles, son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard. Downey of RR5, Seaforth was born. There was no leap year births in Seaforth in 1952. Today is a day of celebration. Let's hear it for all those leap year birthdays. And don't forget girls, it's your turn to ask a guy out for a date. I'm still waiting. Being a woman is too complicated these days When 1 realize that it was a50 -S0 chance that had me born a man instead of a woman, I'm more grateful than ever I was born male. It isn't the prospect of sexual harassment on the job, unequal pay for e,qu'M work or even the pain of childbirth that makes me grateful not to be born a woman; it's the horrible complication of being a woman in today's world. Life is so simple being a man. You can do what you want with your life and have only yourself to answer to. You can write columns like this and get called a male -chauvinist but you take that for granted. As understanding as a man tries to be of women's position in the world today, he is still likely to be branded one of those who wain to keep women subjugated at the worst extreme, or at best, unable to truly comprehend the problems of being a woman, because he has the wrong hormones flowing through his body. You know you're going to be rejected and that makes life easy. DIGtOnd th@ Rog®fi@O. Ely IC®ath ElaullaDa But the poor woman in today's world — for her, things are complicated. Everything a woman does today she is doing not just for herself but for all sisterhood. Everything she does becomes a political statement. If, for instance, you are a woman who just wants to stay home and raise your children, you are letting your sisters down in their fight to get out ofthe kitcheb. Even if you are a woman who has built an out -of -the -home -career, you may feel guilty about the carter you've chosen because it inay be denigrated as a "traditional" woman's job like a teacher or a nurse. Instead, you should have hetd out to. be a doctor or a computer programmer or a lawyer (although there are so many women lawyers these days that to may lose prestige as a career option.) Out say you've been a good girl, er...woman, and you've read all the books since the movement took hold and you've done the things you were supposed to do: you got a career, you proved that women can be just as casual about sex as men, you finally married then found out he didn't understand your needs so you divorced, you've done whatever was needed to bring you to the perfect state of feminiam. Then they changed the rules on vou. Suddenly, -instead of children being the thing that kept you from true fulfillment in the workaday world, you're told that women most have children because it is the one experience in life that truly separates women from men. A woman who hasn't borne a child is unfulfilled, Suddenly we have thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of career women in their mid -thirties rushing to have children before it's too late. Suddenly, too, after adopting comfortable clothing as a protest against the tyranny of the fashion world (another exploitation of women by men) it is decided that women should advertise their differences from men in the clothing they wear. Back come dresses, plunging neekline7s and spike heels (if I'd been born female I'd never have given in to that one.) And now cones Germaine Greer one of the leaders of the feminist revolt, the new society which said the pill gave a new equality to women saying ,that maybe the old days of holding yourself back, of being chaste, were better all the time. Sister, you can have it. Thank God for the simplicity of being male. There's nothing wrong with conformity There's a great hoo-haw these days about conformity, which has become a dirty word. Educationists and editors, social workers and sob sisters Wain us that one of the great threats to freedom in the modern world is conformity. These Cassandras claim that we're turning into a 'nation, a world, of conform- ists. They threaten that the golden age of the real individual, the rebel, the non -conform- ist, is nearing an end, and that very soon we shall all be slaves, eating what everybody else is eating? Weaning what everybody else is wearing, &ring what everybody else is &ring, and thinking what everybody else is thinking. I find myself remarkably calm in the face of these prophecies. Iri fact, I think they are pure poppycock: In the firstplriee, I see nothing wrong with conformity, It merely means, "compliance with established fatins." In short the individual aceepts the responsibilities and the restraints which society imposes on him: The vast majority of people have always been conforniists. If you happened' to be a cannibal, and the piece de resistance was Sugar clitd Spice hair cut regularly. pears worked atrociops hours, lived an exemplary life, arid never missed getting his Alexander the Great, Napoleon, the Marquis de Sade, Hitler and Lee Oswald were non -conformists. You know what they contributed to the world. Does this mean every non -conformist is a nut? Not necessarily, though probably. He is usually an unhappy chap who, for some deep -buried reason, must attract attention, Trouble is, the people who constantly Warn us of the dangers of conformity have confused the non -conformist and the individ- ual. The former is to be pitied. He is seeking firm ground in a quagmire. The latter is to be envied. He has found a prune (himself), in the porridge of society, and he chews happily ever after. Perhaps old Polonius put it best in Hamlet. His son is going away to college. The dad gives him a lot of advice about conforming. Then, in an unexpected and untypical flash, he adds, "This above all. To thine own self be true; thou can'st not then be false to any man." by INEll Soaliby roast missionary, you sat down with the rest of the boys and enjoyed the preacher. You didn't say, "Gee. I don't know, fellas. Maybe we're making a mistake. Maybe we falritulda boiled him." Na, sit. - You con- formed. You went ilongiiiiith the crowd. • If you happened to -be a Roman legionary, happily hacking Hp Gauls and ancient fltritons, you didn't stop inthe Middle of the :orgy and ask yourself,-"lithis the real me, or ant 1 just doing this because everybody else is?' If you did, you were a dead rion-oariforiniat, 8guaily, if you happen to be a modern Man, arid your kids and Wile are putting you over the junips, you conform. You don't take a two-by-four and poand your kids into sabraisSion. You threaten to cut off their allowance. In the second place, the deliberate, or conscious, non -conformist is a simple pain in the arm. He is the type who thinks he can't be a painter unless he has a beard, who thinks he can't be a poet unless he needs a hair -cut badly. Perhaps the greatest conformists in the world today are teenagers. In their des- perate attempt to avoid conformity, they become the most rigid conformists in our society. They dress alike, do their hair alike, eat the samefood, listen fo the same music. All this, in an effort to revolt against society, to be non -conformists! Not that there haven't been great non -conformists. Beethoven, Tolstoy, Gau- guin eorne,fo mind. But they were great not because they were non -conformists, but in spite of it. They had talent, Mae. On the other hand Bach was a church organist, music teacher and had children. Shakes - A 11