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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1984-04-25, Page 2T Huron E pos*to SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST SINCE 1860, tditi) BILK RIBBON AWAR(I 1983 Incorporating Brussels Post 10 Main Street 527-0240 Published In SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning JOCELYN A, SHRIER, Publisher RON WASSINK, Editor KATIE O'LEARY, Advertising Representative Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc , Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription rates: Canada $18175 a year (in advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year On advance) Single Copies - 50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1984 Second class mall registration Number 0696 O cn Taxes too high A quick glance at the 1984 budget for the town of-Seaforth shows that ratepayers will pay about 5.8 per cent more on their local taxes .than in 1983. Overall, taxes will increase 6.1 per cent. This percentage Includes county and school board levies. A first reaction Is that the percentage of taxes required to pay for local services,- sounds low --It's within the federal government six and five guideline, Back in 1983, the town was faced with a $49,000 deficit at the end of 1982 and It was a deficit that had to be discussed before the 1983 budget could be adopted. Instead of paying the deficit off in one year, council decided to defer $46,000 to be included in 1984-85 budgets. And In 1983, Seaforth taxpayers learned they would have to pay 14.2 per cent more in local taxes. When the county and school levies were Included, the percentage was brought down to 9.4 per cent. Actually the 1984 budget doesn't look as healthy s one would like to think. In two years, 1983-84, taxpayers will pay 20 per t ein local taxes. At their May 24, 1983 meeting, council worked out a three year budget projection. They had projected a 1984 tax increase of 2.9 per cent and a 1985 increase of 7.6 per cent. "Let's do it next year," was a comment made by several councillors when the 1983 budget was discussed. But council Isn't doing it this year. Seaforth taxpayers will in reality, have to raise 2.9 per cent more than the 1983 projected percentage. If council takes the 2.9 per cent off their 1985 projection, local taxes should only Increase 4.7 per cent In 1985, not 7.6 as originally forecast., Chances are slim that council will stay within their 1985 projection. e only way they can do It Is by cutting back. There were cutbacks In 183 and they should take a serious look at 1984 spending. The 20 per ce definitely not within the six and five guidelines. is Take me out to the ball game Got a beef? Write a letter! TO THE EDITOR Easter greetings to Seaforth Dear Editor: Easter Greetings across the miles to my home -town of Seaforth and to your many readers. 1 share with "Huron Expositor" readers my thoughts of Christ's Agony of Holy Thursday in The Garden of Gethsc• mane. In The Garden of Gethsemane He lay. Prostrate in agony upon the earth. His body, soul and mind are spent with grief. Elis heart was aching with the dreadful - hurt ! In anguish, fear and sorrow there Christ lay. Beads of bloody sweat upon His brow Within His mind He saw what yet would be: a scourge • a cross - a sword - a bloody crown! Against His sacred brow He felt the thorns: the cold. wet spittle spat with profane bteath! He heard the guards in mockery call Him "king". And Pilate pass the sentence of His death! In terror. pain and shock His mind recoiled from this death He was to suffer for Man's sake, and all the strength drained from Him as He lay, and tears of fear and dread coursed down His face. "Oh God! Almighty Father! Please," He cried, "I beg You, take this Chalice that I dread!". And then His heart, with courage, found the words, "But not My will, but Thine be done," he said. Sincerely Julia Eckert -Maclean Note: A native of Seaforth Julia Eckert -MacLean is a teacher and free-lance writer in Sudbury Ontario. Diabetes Assoc says thanks Dear Editor On behalf of the Canadiap Diabetes Association 1 would like to thank everyone who helped in our 1984 annual appeal. Those who canvassed did a fantastic job and those who contributed helped to make this year's campaign a complete success. With the help of people like you. diabetes will someday be cured. Sheila Bauer National Appeal Chairperson Kids column inspires reader Dear Editor: Our family gets the Huron Expositor every week. 1 enjoy reading it. 1 especially like the column "Kids. Teens and in-Betweens". I think that it really captures the true feelings and emotions of all teenagers. After reading Trish Rimmer's column, 'I'm always inspired. Usually the next day. i'11 try to do Harmony is a real treat for Easter Easter has come and gone and it was the first long weekend in four months -- a weekend many looked forward to. But Fatter for Seaforth area residents didn't just mean a day off. Residents celebrated Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday -- some made a weekend of it, attending mass and church services all weekend, some only went Sunday and some didn't go at all. Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Seaforth and area citizens spent Saturday night "at the ball game". it was the annual Seaforth Harmony Kings and Seaforth Hi -liter barbershop show. The first half of the show indeed featured a ball game, acapella style. The show itself was a special treat because it's been only two years since the barbershop chorus was formed. The ladies chorus is even younger. Over 700 spectators filled the Seaforth and District Community Centres and judging by their reaction they got their monies worth. The ahow was very professional and to think that the singers whose voices blended in four part harmony, are farmers, business men, housewives, teachers and professionals is amazing. it's amazing In the sense that the singers represent a cross-section of Seaforth area talent and to bring that talent together for a show such as seen Saturday night calls four main fightingforces failed to resolve a SENSE AND NONSENSE dispute over the dployment of a buffer force in five frontlineposthous. TH by Ron Wassink BEng, but also said It's depressing, but 3814 that many for a standing ovation. And that's just what happened -- the barbershoppers got a standing ovation. WHAT HAPPENED? The Easter mood in Seaforth seemed to be one of joy, especially when one hears 700 plus spectators laugh it up "at the ball game". Seaforth may have been a quiet, serene community this weekend, but what happened to the rest of the world? It started Good Friday with a hockey game. The Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques derided to crucify each other in a 20 minute brawl. The late news followed hockey, and it was depressing. In fact all weekend news reports were depressing. Top stories were murders on the Easter holiday! Item: Served in Goderich, Exeter. OPP corporal shot to death in home. The 33 -year-old officer was found in his Oakville home Saturday night with a bullet wound in his head. Item: Tot found alive after mom, brother slain. A two-year-old girl was survived unharmed after spending Saturday night alone beside the bodies of her mother, brother and their suspected killer who committed suicide. The incident occurred north of Massey. item: A Romanian emigre was shot and wounded by Secret Serviee•-agents at his house in Texas on Saturday after he threatened to kill Democratic presidential contender Walter Mondale. item: Crista Rican government official and anti -Sandinista guerrillas say the US Central Intelligence Agency has been supplying a Nicaraguan rebel group through airlifts and is directing the group's military strategy, the New York Times reported Saturday. item: A jeep loaded with dynamite exploded in the Angolan town of Huambo, Belgrade, killing about 30 people and injuring more than 70, Yugoslav news accounts said Sunday. item: Shooting broke out across the front lines in central Beirut on Sunday after the 4 people have missed the whole point of Easter. In Jerusalem, p_ilma followed the trail of Christ, the trail He walked on the day of His crucifixion. But today's pilgrims could only celebrate the occasion under the stares of' gun -toting soldiers. in Rome, 350,000 worshippers crowded St. Peter's Square to hear Pope John Paul II read Easter greetings in 45 languages. But the pontiff faced reality when he said the world seemed to be preparing feverishly for war. He Said an ardent desire for peace was threatened by "thefeverish preparation of destructive means of war". He asked Christians to allow Christ "to guide humanity toward a better future beyond the threshold which separates the second from the third millennum". if the rest of the world would only follow the example of Seaforth and area citizens, the world would be a better place to live. And Saturday night in Seaforth just shows how much people do enjoy life. Here's looking ahead to next year and a third annual barbershop show. Weather is backwards in New Zealand (Editor's note: Expositor managing editor Susan White is spending a year in New Zealand. This 1s the second of a series of occasional columns from there.) "C00000, it's cold," says a friend 1 meet rounding the corner at 8:55 a.m. (She's on her way home after delivering her six-year-old to • school; my daughter and i are on OUT daily walk to her classroom). "it's that nasty southwesterly wind again." My mind automatically rejects some'thg she's said but, yes, i agree, it's bone chilling cold, about 10 celdus, quite fall-ish really." Fighting the same wind on the way back home, 1 figure out what it was that sounded strange: a COLD south wind. Yup, living in the southern hemisphere means literally turning the weather upside down. Here's another example. We're taking some time off at Easter, just 10 days- or so _ from now. Because winter's coming and it's getting colder here in the senthern part of the North Island, we've picked our destination with an eye to enjoying a few more days of summer -lite weather. That's why we're going north. a good deed for someone in town to show that 1 care. Her column reminds us to be good citizens. i would just like to say that everyone should recognize the true import- ance of this column and benefit from it. Keep up the good work Trish! A reader. Sandy Doig says hi Attention: Editor Here's a possible news item regarding Sandy Doig s activities during the winter season in Naples.... Hailing from Seaforth, Ontario, a likeable guy is Sandy He spends the winter hi Florida where associates consider him "dandy" Tell his friends through your Huron Expositor That this fellow's a South Bank depositor... Makes withdrawals as the tellers make faces Thee know he's enroute to the Naples Dog Races.... He plays euchre. he bowls...200 is his aim To date he's been reasonably close to that fame He shines as he plays on the shuffleboard court Searches out Flea Markets in each southern resort His last name is Doig...As he plays here in Naples He misses his old friends, but not the snow on the Maples. Sincerely Doherty 5560 Rattlesnake Hammock Rd. Naples, Florida SOMETHING TO by Susan Ifyr e DID YOU GET A MEDAL? Of course there's the obvious: While you're relishing a well deserved Canadian spring (it always is. but from what we hear about your winter, medals should be struck fat all of you who made it through, we're looking at winter. All the time a North American tries to compare but that most basicg the weather, has flipped. Like, these thin days feel a bit like October... guess wellrake the leaves. Then you realize there aren't many to rake; the climate here is mild enough that most trees stay green year 'sound. Tulip bulb planting is an right now though. The blooms will be out in October! As veterans of a Canadian snowbelt, our big preoccupation of course is: How bad will the winter be? it's sometimes chilly enough now at night that we keep the doors to the lounge (living room) closed and have a small space heater in there, but the sun is warm at midday. "Sun?" says a New Zealand acquaintance, "There won't be any from now on." But everyone told us that a month ago when we went on a trip to the majestic South island ("Say goodbye to the sun, say goodbye to the people, you won't see much of eithef down there,") and we had gorgeous weather. As with everything else, we've just got to wait and see for ourselves. Understandably this 'down -under" busi- ness bugs New 7ealanders a bit. They don't appreciate the assumption from the northern hemisphere that being on the other side of the etluator is a little weird; in the real world April is spring and cold winds come from the north. THE WIZARD SAYS There's a man, also a tourist attraction, in Christchurch called The Wizard. A one-man Speakers' Corners, he harangues and enter- tains from a stepladder in that relaxed and graceful southern city's main square. He comes into contact with plenty of tourists as well as Kiwis and he's produced a map that goes a long way towards explaining the one to the other. instead of tucked away down at the bottom left as on most world maps, New Zealand and Australia are top and centre on this one. The rest of the world, appropriately, is called "up over". New Zealand is "Godzone, the loyal British Colony of ', while your country and mine is titled "The United States of Canada". NZ's arch -rival across the Tasman Sea is labelled The United States of Australia. Don't know about that, haven't been there yet. but 1 have to agree with the common New Zealand Please see WEATHER/ Page 3 SI ash N. Hackettisth� man for the job "Ladies and gentlemen," the chairman of the news conference called, banging the gavel on the table to bring the rowdy assortment of newsmen to order. "I am here today to announce a new candidate for the leadership of the party, the one man who can save this country from sure destruction on its present course. "May 1 introduce you to Mr. Slash N. Hackett, a man for our troubled times." "The first priority of my government on taking office,' Mr. Hackett said, "would be to attack a government out of control. We must slash the deficit and get the government off the backs of the people." "Does that mean you would adopt such controversial measures as User -fees for hospitals?" one reporter asked. "I believe," Mr. Hackett said, "that people using hospitals should charge fees according to the need of the patient. The more he needs the hospital, the more he should pay, A man in the middle of a BEHIND THE SCENES by Keith Roulston coronary thrombosis is obviously going to be more willing to pay more than someone with an ingrown toenail. It's the law of supply and demand at its best. "We must," Mr. Hackett continued, "get this country back to the right road of baric principles of the free enterprise system." "But how," the reporter asked, "will this affect the more than a million unemployed in the country?" "Frankly," Mr. Hackett said, "if the unemployed just had more ambition they could be productive members of society. Look at me, 1 used to be poor but today i've got so much money i can afford to run for the leadership." "But," the reporter asked somewhat hesitantly "do you think all million and a half unemployed can be lucky enough to find oil on their farms like you did." "This country has been too pampered," Mr. Hackett continued ignoring him. "We must improve our productivity. How are we going to compete with the emerging third world countries the way we're going? Look at all the money we waste on family allowances and old -age pensions. We can't afford these leaches on society. If kids and old people want money, let them contribute to society." I'm sure there are businessmen in this country who would be delighted to hire kids to work in their factories. Then they could keep their factories here instead of moving them to southeast Asia and kctep all that money in Canada. We could save all that tax money and create more jobs as well." "What this country needs is new ideas, fresh approaches and that's what 1 intend to offer. For instance. why should we pay politicians at all? Let's let them tender for the job and the person who pays the most gets the privilege, almost like a franchise, to get what he can out of government. They can use supply and demand then to get as much out of selling their votes and influence as they can." "But surely there are some government services that are essential and can't be turned over to private enterprise. What about highways for instance?" "How about toll booths? We let big companies run the roads and charge tolls." "But won't that drive up costs for the large trucking conglomerate you own sir?" 4 9