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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-10-26, Page 22"L".41Huron .xpositor SINCE 1860, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST Incorporating The Brussels Post ED BYRSKI, General Manager HEATHER McILWRAITH, Editor Published in Seaforth, Ontario Every Wednesday Morning The Expositor is/brought to you each.week by the efforts of: Pat Armes, Nell Corbett, Terri -Lynn Dole, Dianne McGrath and Bob McMillan. . Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. _Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute 'Subscription Rates: Canada '20.00 a year, in advance Senior Citizens '17.00.a year in advance Outside Canada '60.00 a year, in advance Single Copies - .50 cents each Second class mail registration Number 0696 Wednesday, November 2, 1988 Editorial and Business Offices - 110 Main Street, Seaforth Telephone (3119) 327-0240 Mailling Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK IWO Halloween today an adult affair Is it my imagination or has Halloween lost some of the appeal it once had? Oh, I don't mean to say the occasion has gone by the• wayside, but it does seem to me, that it 'isn't as widely a celebrated • event as it used to be - say, for example, during my era. Then again, there weren't the fears about child safety, way back then, that there are today. Parents did not necessari- ly have to accompany their children from door to door, and they certainly didn't have to limit their children's trick -or - treating to the homes of people they knew, and therefore felt they could trust. I don't recall that there were any real concerns over the quality of the treats either. Apples were not laced with pins, candies were not tampered with, and ,homemade goodies were not seen as poten- tial death traps. And, while warnings were given to be careful of vehicle traffic, little thought was given to the dangers that might evolve from the pedestrian traffic. Back then it seemed, Halloween eve was the only night youngsters could roam theitreets with a carefree air. Parents did not have to employ extra policing tactics such as the SWEATSOCKS by Heather Mcllwraith Pumpkin Patrol. Well, it's a whole different ball game to- day. Those things that concerned parents when I was a trick -or -treater still concern them, but it appears there's a whole host of other concerns to consider before a parent either allows, or vetos a'child's participa- tion in Halloween activities. As part of a small and close knit com- munity, Seaforth children are probably better off than their city counterparts when it comes to such occasions as Hallo- ween. Certainly parental fears are destin-✓ ed to be less in a community where everyone and everything looks familiar. However judging from the reaction to Halloween 1988, I would say not all fears have been alleviated --even in the Town of Seaforth. While the number of children canvassing for, goodies seemed high, the age bracket of those children was high as well. It seemed to me there were fewer of the town's youngest populace partaking in the October 31 festivities. But maybe I'm the onlyperson who noticed the increased age of this year's trick -or -treaters. Maybe other streets saw • an onslaught of the real young-sters, and few from the middle and upper age category. Maybe my theory that Halloween is becoming more an evening of frivolity for teenagers and adults, than an occasion children anticipate almost as much as Christmas, is all washed up. Maybe I'm imagining things when I remark that there seem to be fewer and fewer homes each year sporting jack -o -lanterns and more and more in darkness. I realize the impossibility of going backwards, however, I do wish the children of today could experience the Halloweens of yesterday. Recycling an alternative Recycling. It used to be something associated with long-haired, environmentalists - the back -to -the earth typs, living in tents and log cabins, rebelling from the mainstream. To paraphrase (ironically) the cigarette ad, it's come a long way. Figures presented by the Ontario Recycling Information Service located in Toronto, trace the outlines of an incredibly wasteful society: -Ontarians throw away 7,000,000 tons of garbage each year. -At least 20 per cent of the food Ontarians buy spoils and is thrown away, wrapped in plastic bags that don't decay. -A whopping 30 per cent is made up of excess packaging, like the bubble packs that pens come in,' or bagged milk - three bags inside another bag, and all of them plastic. -And then there's the hazardous wastes. This includes not only the obvious, the dioxins and PCBS, but also the motor oil used in cars. Of the 30 million litres of motor oil bought each year, the ORIS estimates a mere 810,000 is returned to be "re -refined." The rest goes down the sewers or into a landfill site. And although it is biodegradable, there is still the possibility the heavy metals and other contaminants in it might leach into the groundwater. -Current landfill sites are running out of room at an appalling rate, and (thanks in part to stringent government regulations) it's getting prohibitively expensive for an individual municipality to set up new one. But slowly people's attitudes are changing. Small communities.gre no longer willing to sit back and passively accept the tons of waste dumped on their land by large cities. A few months ago Toronto was scouring the Saugeen area for a municipality that would be willing to "rent" enough land for a new dumpsite for Toronto. The best they got was a somewhat patronizing smile that said plainly "you've got to be kidding" And recent recycling meetings are beginning to draw respectable audiences. However there are still a few questions going begging, and the answers to those questions will determine whether we win this war or lose it: -Is the public willing to put up with the loss of convenience? Separating the trash, rather than dumping it all into one bag, isn't a major undertaking, but we're a society that prides itself on finding the quickest way to do something. The quickest way to dispose of garbage is to just chuck it into the nearest receptacle. -There's the initial cost of setting up recycling programs. Are we willing to look at something other than just the dollar cost? The cost of continuing on our present course can't be measured in dollars, but it's much higher. -Can we get government and industry to carry their share? This ties in with the previous question: most politicians would prefer not to espouse something that alight raise taxes, and most industries are answerable to 'their shareholders, who want to see rising profits. Recycling. It's come a long way - but it's still got a ways to go. And we're the only ones who can make it go.-Goderich Signal -Star. Homemaking service a god -send Editor The Huron Expositor We have been asked by the Town and Country Homemakers to write you a letter telling what the Homemaking service has meant to us. My sister and I are able to stay in our own home, pay our taxes, make some contribu- tions to our community, be available for local requests. We depend on our homemaker to do our washing and ironing, yr keep our house clean, help make beds, run errands. Perhaps as important are the regular visits of someone who is interested, caring, willing to stop a moment and chat, to note things which need to be done, and volunteer to do them. When my sister and I returned home from our last stays in the hospital, the VON nurse made regular visits until she was assured that we were able to be left on our own. This meant much. It is an invaluable service which the Town and Country Homemakers perform for the elderly and the shut-ins. We appreciate the value of the service and are grateful for it. Sincerely, Alva D. Elford Florence E. Elford Heart of Gold winner says thanks Letter to the Editor: I would like to thank the Ontario Newspaper Association and Air Canada for not only the wonderful weekend in Toronto, the plaque and the holiday for two, but also for letting me become acquainted with 25 other award winners. We became good friends and expect to have a reunion in the future. At one point we all decided that we shouldn't have accepted the heart of gold but instead should have given ft to Lillian Rayson, Community Affairs for Air Canada as she had to wipe away tears as she listen- ed to some of the speeches. We also had a comedian amongst the heart of gold winners, he was from Markham. l have never heard a group of people laugh so hard as when he said he had taken his wife to Florida as she had back trouble and he said, "if I hadn't have taken her I would have had to kiss her good bye. , He is blind but said he didn't want anybody to feel sorry for him and believe me he was the life and light of the party. I also want to thank everyone who stopped me on the street to say how happy they were for me. Also the ones who sent cards of con- gratulations. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Love Betty MacLean Egmondville One of the Pacemakers Nurses assistants to hold reunion To the Editor: Reunion plans are in progress to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Nursing Assistant program of Conestoga College of Applied Arts and Technology. To aid in this celebra- tion, we are seeking information, ie. name, address, phone number, year of graduation, employer, on all graduates of the program. We ask any graduates, or anyone who has information about a graduate, to contact: Phyllis Matter, Nursing Assistant Program, Conestoga College, 299 Doon Valley Drive, Kitchener, N2G 4M4, (519)653-2511 Ext. 430. We look forward to a successful and memorable reunion in the Spring of 1989. Phyllis Matter, On Behalf of Faculty and Staff Nursing Assistant Program Conestoga College Don't send him to the chair If you try to take out someone's eye on the street you're sure to be jocked up, but if you do it in the NHL you get a 10 game rest. Rick Tocchet of the Philadelphia Flyers was slapped on the wrist by the league after he attempted to gouge out the eye of rookie Dean Chynoweth of the New York Islanders during a fight last Thursday. The hockey issue getting the attention these days is the stick swinging done by Dave Shaw, as he slashed Mario Lemieux across the chest and left him flattened for about five minutes. Almost everyone I've talked to says Mario was just getting what he had coming to him, and wasn't as much a victim as his team's response may have suggested. The Penguins went on the war- path when their leader hit the ice, and I was sure there was going to be a brawl. Hockey violence always comes up as an issue a couple times virtually every season, and it's tough to act shocked. But it would be nice if the league would take some kind of appropriate action, so the courts and legal system don't have to be in- volved in the game. Equipment has been getting better and better for the past 100 years, and you've now got to be pretty accurate with your stick to seriously hurt someone. You've got MY TWO BITS by Neil Corbett to get it up near someone's face, like one Penguin's stick was in Shaw's face just after he had downed Lemieux. Every player in the league has a layer of hard plastic and a layer of padding between his sternum and someone else's stick, and should be able to skate away from anything short of what a baseball bat can do. I can't put down the league's action in the Lemieux -Shaw incident yet, because they haven't taken any and Shaw is under suspension until a hearing. But I think Toc- chet should get something more than 10 games for a deliberate attempt to injure another player. Stick swinging looks bad, and there's more potential for injury than in a fight, but I bet the reason the league will throw the book at Shaw is because he took out one of the league's superstars. The NHL has to restore the public's faith, and the legal system's faith in their ability to handle their own affairs, but they should have started a long time ago, and they could have started with a joker like Tocchet. They shouldn't give Shaw the electric chair because he messed with one of the guys that brings in their tickets. • • • I never did find out what a whale retails for, but the estimated cost of the rescue of the two California grey whales who made it was tallied at $1.3 million. A lot of inuit were scratching their heads as icebreakers, helicopters, and a swarm of media types with armloads of camera gear faded into the horizon heading back to warmer climes. And then they likely went off to find another spot where another whale was trapped by ice, and proceeded to unthaw their barbecues. But while the whole operation may have been a financially ridiculous way to go about• conservation, it showed that some people care and that's hard to fault. Storm leaves foot of snow in 1913 NOVEIMER 2, I Dr. Bell and Mr. Merritt, two members of the Ontario Mining Commission, were in town on Tuesday enquiring into the salt in- dustry here. They took the evidence of Mr. Wm. M. Gray and Dr. Coleman, and after gleaning all the information they could here left for Brussels. Farmers in this vicinity are now busily harvesting their roots. It was thought during the summer that this crop would be almost an entire failure due to the dry weather. The crop in most places in unusually good, and there will be a large yield. One evening last week, the 8 -year-old son of F.R. Hamilton, near Cromarty, met with a painful accident. He was leading one of his father's horses, when the horse suddenly kicked and struck the boy in the face. His face is badly disfigured and will very likely bear some ugly scars for many a day. Mr. George Murray has purchased the draying business of Mr. Arthur Forbes, and will now have control of the draying business of the town. Mr. Murray is an oblig- ing, industrious young man, and will do well in this line. NOVEMBER 7,1913 Workmen are now busy building and repairing bridges on the Grand Trunk Railway between Seaforth and Goderich. The work must be done between trains and consequently is being carried on under dif- ficulties but the regular trains have been lit- tle delayed. A very heavy snowstorm fell here on ARS AGONE Thursday night, there being about a foot of snow on the ground, and on Friday a few cutters and sleighs came into town in the morning, but the snow was all away by night, leaving the roads muddy. Mr. Wm. Oke has purchased the Robert Govenlock homestead in McKillop, north of Seaforth, and has already moved onto it. It contains one hundred acres and was pur- chased for four thousand dollars. On Monday afternoon between the hours of four and five o'clock, fire was discovered in the fine barn of Mr. Henry Soldan, a little north of Hensall. If it were not for Mrs. John Carmichael, Mr. Soldan would have lost many of his horses and cattle. Mrs. Car- michael raced into the barn and drove out all of the animals, and for that she is receiv- ing much praise. Mr. and Mrs. Alex. Gordon, of McKillop, have leased their farm and intend coming to the village to live. They have rented part of Mrs. Jas. Cumming's house for the winter. NOVEMBER 4,1938 W.J. McIntosh, of Seaforth, held the lucky ticket for a new Ford V-8 Sedan which he won at the Lions Hallowe'en Frolic Monday evening. Mr. McIntosh did not attend the frolic and was not aware of his good fortune until Tuesday evening. Members of the Lions Club enjoyed an unusual program at their last meeting, from the Aichives when Edmund Daly, assisted by Ian Mao- Tavish, showed how various sounds heard over the radio were produced. The inaugural church parade now to be made annually to the various, churches of Seaforth, will this year accept the invitation of Chaplain Capt. T. Hussey to attend special services at St.` James' Church on Sunday Nov. 6th at 7 p.m. Despite the fact that Seaforth's normal population was more than doubled on Hallowe'en night, police report no trouble of any kind. The only damage done was when a number of street lights were smashed in the southeast .. corner of town early in the evening. NOVEMBER 8,1962 The public each year has an opportunity to share in the work of the Royal Canadian Legion on behalf of needy veterans through the annual Poppy Day appeal. Poppy Day is but one feature of a series of events planned in connection with Remembrance Day. The land use and farm pond advisory board of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority carried out a tour of farm pond sides in the Clinton area. Harry Tebbutt, clerk of Hullet Township, reported that nine applications for farm pond subsidies have been received. Marking the end of a career on Seaforth Turn to page l7 ii A