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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1984-06-13, Page 3L A2 — THE HURON EXKISITOR_,AINE 13, 1984 E= 4EllilrOn .4. SI NCE 1880, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST BLU PliNON AWARD 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 $18.75 a year (In advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year (in advance) Single Copies - 50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1984 Second class mail registration Number 0696 1=1 Cn Day Care a priority Day Care Is an ideawhose time has come. The issue is no longer whether subsidized day care will be provided to free women to work. Women are choosing to enter the labour force because they want a career as well as a family and in some instances, because the two earner family is a necessity to raise a family. Women are In the work force to stay. The issue now is the quality of child care being provided to the children of working parents. The issue is no longer only an urban concern. A report on rural Ontario women entitled, The Changing Scene, tabled recently by Agriculture Minister Dennis Timbre'', noted that 61 per' cent of farm women work full or part time often carrying an outside 'job as well as farm and child rearing duties. The women identified the provision of affordable day care as their second or third most important priority. The province currently provides subsidies for only 16,218 day care spaces in a province where there are 319,000 children under age five whose parents work. Ontario Treasurer Larry Grossman's recent budget offered funding for an additional 1,500 day care spaces and as yet, the provincial day care coordinator, John Pierce has no time table set up for the allocation of the day care spaces mentioned in the budget. Provincially subsidized day care is seen only as a form of welfare for the very poor, not a universal need. High income parents parthe full fees of about $5,000 a year for each child In day care centres, but the vast middle class, with an average family Income In Ontario of $34,021 In 1982, cannot afford day care and are forced to leave their children In Informal arrangements. Eighty-five per cent of young children are outside of formal care - with a- grandparent, unsupervised baby sitter or in the worst cases, sent home after school with a latch key tied around their necks. Day care should be considered an extension of the education system rather than a form of welfare. Indeed Mr. Timbrell's report told the Ontario government, that the continued relegation of day care to a back burner, will be as dangerous in the future in the rural ridings as In the cities. It Is time for .the federal provincial government of this country to recognize and accept the correlation between day care and equal opportunity for women In the work force. A major day care initiative should be expected following the federal -provincial meeting of women's ministers held In Niagara -on -the -Lake last week. It Is time for the federal and provincial governments to establish co-operative funding programs for universal day care in this country. The need Is more than abundantly clear. The politics are ripe. Another generation of children shouldn't have to spend their first four years deprived of quality care while the politicians catch up to reality. -From the Lucknow Sentinel To the Editor D -Day veterans remembered Dear Editor: Re: D -Day, June 6, 1944 Remembered. Oh Poppy red above the bed Where sleep our brave and valiant dead, Stand tall and strkght. Commemorate June 6th of '44. Your petals form a Chalice As of Sacrificial Wine In memory of our gallant dead. So young. so brave, so fine. Oh scarlet flower, Crimson flame - Your beauty helps suffice The ache we feel For those we lost In selfless sacrifice. You bloom atop the Marble Graves Of Soldiers young and good and brave. And down the years of time 'we yet • Remember still, Lest We Forget... Lest We Forget. Julia Eckert -MacLean 222 Fournier Gardens Sudbury, Ont. P3B 2H4 A native of Seaforth, Julia dedicates the above to Veterans of the Seaforth Legion and to all who made the Supreme Sacrifice. Reader shares letter Dear Sir You might like to have the enclosed letter. It came to me as a result of my sending the article regarding Miss Sinclair's birthday in your Apr. 25 issue, to the Gypsumville school. Sincerely, Mary K . Smith. Dear Mrs. Smith: 1 am writing to thank you for the newspaper clipping about Miss Sinclair. 1 am the secretary at the school so it seemed rather unusual to me that the letter landed in my hands. Miss Sinclair and Margaret Mustard's daughter visited my mother here about seven years ago. They sent a rnetnorial plaque in honor of Margaret Mustard (she had the United Church built here in 1933) to the church for the 50th Anniversary. 1 will give this clipping to the Women's Institute who are compiling a his -tory of Gypsumville. Thank you very much. Yours truly, Frances Shabaga Broadfoot will celebrate 150th On June 30 and July 1. many of the descendants of the pioneer Broadfoot families will gather in Seaforth, to com- memorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of that family in Huron County. For over a year, a committee, under the chairmanship of Rev. James R. Broadfoot off Colchester. has been planning for this great gathering. Margaret Porter of St. Marys, the secretary, indicates that many of the descendants will be coming from all over Canada and the United States. They will be coming to visit relatives, to discover their family roots, browse among the many artifacts that will give some insight into how these early pioneers lived, and how they stervived. There will arse be an opportunity to visit the farms where these pioneers lived and to remember them at their graves in Harpurhey Cemetery. John Broadfoat, of Brucefield has been involved In preparing the itinerary for the tours, and Cliff Broadfoot has brought together talent for the Saturday evening program. A hand -made quilt, depicting Broadfoat historical names will be auction- ed off, and a water color of "The Mains" - farm, by Neil Broadfoot of Peterborough will be a raffle prize. A full program for the two days should appeal not only to old and young alike: but should also provide that opportunity to view artifacts and photographs, and be the place to meet long lost relatives or to make new acquaintances. The Clan Broadfoot has been invited to join with the congregation of First Presby- terian Church on Sunday for their regular at -my -ice. Rev. Jamds R. Broadfoot Will be the guest speaker. This service will be followed by a visit to the Broadfoot graves at the pioneer cemetery et FIarpurhey, and a cairn, marking this 150th anniversary will be dedicated. The Clan Broadfoot is a very old Scottish family, which has its roots in the border lands of Scotland, as well as in the Presbyterian Church. All descendants of the Broadfoot families are invited to join in this special weekend. If we have failed to contact you, please accept this as your personal invitation, to come and join in the festivities. Rev. Jame a R. Broadfoot LE. #1 Harrow, Ont. 1 MACK AND FIELD was held at St. James water and frozen Freshle. Top left to right school last week. Students participated In are: Pam Nolan, Monica Ryan, Janice Merp, races, long and triple Jumps and standing and Pete Menheere. Pete won the triple long Jump. Afterwards some cooled off with Jump. (VVassink photo) Let's clean up environment The day of the goose has finally come -- and for the goose, it's been a long time in coming. It's time fol revenge, and the Canada Goose is doing a tipper job of it. The unfortunate farmers who are being picked on don't know what to do. The geese are eating their tender corn plants, plants that aren't more than six inches high. The problem doesn't seem to be in Huron County, but is a problem to car southerly neighbors. In the he years, the numbers of Canada Geese aeclIned. Some were even wondering if the majestic birds would soon become extinct. Reasons given by experts for the decline was because of lack of habitat. Simply put, the birds just didn't have enough nesting areas. But because of the work of many individuals concerned that the Canada -Goose may soon be gone, and through the work of Ducks Unlimited (an organization SENSE AND NONSENSE by Ron Wassink supported by migratory game bird hunters), the geese have more natural habitat. The Hullett Swamp is one such project. Poor farmland has been left idle, has been flooded and is controlled by Ministry of Natural Resources personnel. Geese now have a home, a place where they can raise their young. But the reason the habitat was lost in the first place is probably due to the efficiency of the farmers. In the last 20 years, they have drained fields, drained swamps, cut down trees and even cleared swamps and forests. There just wasn't any place for the geese to go. The same holds true for other forms of wildlife. And the declining numbers of wildlife that did survive,' did so by feeding off the farmers' fields, who took their habitat. It's now to the point where the geese don't know any better. They've found a good thing corn plants. The geese don't know it, but they're getting back what was taken from them. SUMO farmers are desperate, so desperate that they've installed propane - fired bangers in hopes of scaring the geese. Hunters may have a field day this fall. The geese will be so used to the bangers, that a shotgun blast wouldtet ruffle a feather, that is unless the blast is directed at them. It's not just Ontario farmers whb are being blamed for taking habitat for crop land. After all, these are desperate times. Farmers need a good return for their money to survive. However their draining and even averdraining could see their demise. HABITS BLAMED A recent newspaper article stated that world farming habits are being blamed for the spread of deserts. A United Nations report warns a rapid spread of desert around the world is destroying millions of acres of once productive farm and rangeland. Cautioning that drought is not the root cause of desert expansion, the UN environ- ment program study, entitled Harvest of Dust, concludes drastic measures are needed to attack the principal causes - bad farming and grazing practices, improper irrigation and forest destruction. SOCIETY/ PAGE 3 World leaders can learn from past wars The study of history can save us from repeating the same mistakes in the future, but only if we listen to everything, not just what we want to hear. That's why the recent Celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the D -Day landings ire Normandy were disturbing. Canadians. Americans and British and the other nations that took part in a smaller way in the landing have a right to be proud of what they accomplished. It was indeed a fantastic accomplishment to put the whole operation together and, moreover, keep it secret from the Germans. The individual soldiers, sailors and airmen have a right to be proud of their accomplishments and feel sad at the loss of sa many comrades and friends. But as the flags were raised and the 21 -gun salutes sounded and the media told us over and over how this one day changed the history of the world, I heard the name of one of the biggest factors in the war. Russia mentioned only once. That was by Ronald Reagan who used the opportunity to blast BEHIND THE SCENES by Keith Roulston Soviet imperialism (he could use a/child'a birthday party as an opportunity to blast the Russians). The Russians were not part of the D -Day landings to be sure but the constant remarks that D -Day marked the beginning of the end of the war ignored the fact that the Russians were already driving the Germans back across •gurope_ from the east. In fact, as - military analyst Gwynne Dyer noted, the most tnlportant outcome of D -Day may be that we don't today have a Soviet -bloc that reaches to the English Channel. The importance of mentioning the Russian contribution to the war is not Simple fairness. The Soviets. having started out co-operating with Nazi -Germany and having spied on their western allies all the time we were supplying them with arms, can expect nttle sympathy. The important point is the future. of not remembering all the past to help us explain the present and the future. We have done ourselves a disservice in treating what happened in eastern Europe during the war as an insignificant footnote. It wasn't until I saw a television documentary a few years ago 1 realised just how vicious and devastating the afar between Germany and the Soviet Union was. Millions died from the war and from starvation. The scars remain in Russia to this day. In many ways, the war in western Europe was a picnic by comparison. Even if Russia is today our enemy, an "evil empire" as Mr. Reagan calls it, one must know how the enemy thinks in order to oppose him well. The thinking of Soviet leadership. most of whom are old enough to have taken part in the horrible war, is. shaped by their memories of that tragic time when their country was raped and pillaged and on the edge of defeat. They have the general support of their people because of the vivid memories of the siege of Stalingrad or, going back .more than a century earlier, the invasion of Napoleon. The country is determined that never again will it be overrun by armies from Europe and its policy is shaped with that in mind. It explains much of the intransigence we in the West find so hard to comprehend. Only by studying the past, all of the past. can leaders like Mr. Reagan understand the Russians and deal with them in a more effective way than shouting insults, insults that may only draw us closer to war. Canadian society coarsened in 30 years There has been a tremendous change in the manners and mores of Canada in the past three decades. This brilliant thought came to me as 1 saw a sign today, in a typical Canadian small town: "Steakhouse and Tavern. ' ' Now this didn't exactly knock me out, alarm me, or discombobulate me in any waY. I am a part of all that is in this country, at this time. But it did give me a tiny twinge. Hence my opening remarks. I am no Carrie Nation, who stormed into saloons with her lady friends, armed with hatchets, and smashed open (what a waste) the barrels of beer and kegs of whiskey. 1 ani no Joan of Arc. 1 don't revile blasphemers or hear voices. I am no Pope John II, who tells people what to do about their sex lives. 1 am merely an observer of the human scene, in a country that used to be one thing, and has become another. But that doesn't mean 1 don't have opinions. I have nothing but scorn for the modern "objective" journalists who tell it as it is. They are hyenas and jackals, who fatten on the leavings of the "lions" of our society, for the most part. SUGAR AND SPICE' by Bill Smiley Let's get back on topic, as I tell my students. The Canadian society has rough- ened and coarsened to an astonishing degree in the last 30 years. First, the Steakhouse and Tavern. As a kid working on the boats on the Upper Lakes, I was excited and a little scared when I saw that sign in American porta: Duluth, Detroit, Chicago. I came from the genteel poverty of Ontario in the Thirties, and I was slightly appalled, and deeply attracted by these signs: the very thought that drink could be publicly advertised. Like any normal, curious kid, I went into a couple, ordered a two-bit whiskey, and found nobody eating Steaks, but a great many people getting sleazily drunk on the same. Not the steaks. In those days, in Canada, there was no such creature. The very use of the word "tavern" indicated iniquity. It was an evil -30,1641.- place. We did have beer "parlours," later exchanged for the euphemism "beverage rooms." But that was all right. Only the lower element went there, and they closed from 6 p.m. to 7:30, or some such, so that a family man could get home to his dinner. Not a bad idea. In their homes, of course, the middle and upper class drank liquor. Beer was the working -man's drink, and to be shunned. It was around then that some wit reversed the old saying, and came out with: "Work is the curse of the drinking class," a neat version of Marx's(?) "Drink is the curse of the working classes." If you called on someone in those misty days, you were offered a cuppa and something to eat. Today, the host would be humiliated if he didn't have something harder to offer you. Now, every hamlet seems to have its • steakhouse, complete with tavern. It's rather ridiculous Nobody today can afford a steak. But how in the living world can these same people afford drinks, at current prices? These steakhouses and taverns are usually pretty sleazy joints, on a par with the old beverage room, which was the optiome of sleaze, It's not all the fault of the owners, though they make nothing on the steak and 100 per cent on the drinks (minimum). It's just that Canadians tend to be noisy and crude and profane drinkers. And the crudity isn't only in the pubs. It has crept into Parliament, that august institution, with a prime minister who used street language when his impecable English failed, or he wanted to show how tough he was, It has crept into our educational system, where teachers drink and swear and tell dirty jokes and use language in front of women that I, a product of a more well-mannered, or inhibited, your choice, era, could not bring myself to use. And the language of today's students, from grade one to grade whatever, would CLEAN/ PAGE 3