HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-01-03, Page 2SINCE 18603 SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST
Incorporating
The Brussels Post
Published in
Seaforth. Ontario
Every Wednesday Morning
The Expositor Is brought to you
each wesk-by-the-.otfpr►s.of Pat
Armes, Paula Elliott, 'Terri -Lynn
®ale, Dianne McGrath end Bob
McMillan,
ED BYRSKI, Gonoral Mpnagio!
HEATHER••ROBINET,'Editor
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 advgnce
Outside Canada '60.00 a year, In advance
Single Copies .50 cents each
Second class mai) registration Number 0696
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1990
editorial andbusiness Offices . 10 Mali Street, Seaforth
Telephone (519) 521.0240
totalling Address - P.O. ®ox 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 W®
Minutes are important
With the coming of the New Year, we're likely to see a barrage of
political promises hitting the headlines. Astrologers and necromancers of
all descriptions will be consulted for. their 1990 predictions, and the powers
that be at People Magazine are already scanning the streets and the
celluloid for the best, and worst dressed of the year. And before we know
it, 1991 will roll around and the ball will be back in square one again.
There will have been some changes in the world, some radical and far-
reaching, some personal and more important, but life will go on much as
it always has.
This past Monday, the London Free Press put out a paper that was
chock full of colour and hoopla about the 1990's. 'Say hello to the new
decade', it urged the reader, and went on to describe many of the events
and developments that are expected to shape the last ten years of the
twentieth century. Ecology, technology and the economy are the big buzz
words, it seems.
We read these forecasts with interest, but how many of us are really
paying any attention? And just how affected do we feel by it all?
When it comes right down to it, it's not the events of the next ten years
that are going to shape our lives, but the events of the next 10 minutes,
10 hours or 10 days.
If we look back on all of the technological and engineering feats that
have come to the forefront in the past decade, we catch our breath in
amazement. Personal computers have gone from being a luxury to a must,
in many cases. Video technology has passed from the hands of the ex-
perts into the hands of the 9 and 10 -year-olds of the country, and the flight
of the space shuttles is now taken for granted.
But on the other hand, a single malfunction connected to a simple 0 -
ring on that space shuttle reminds us all that a human life is still a frail
thing,. and that40- seconds equals a- lifetime
•,,a -Great things '.may be 'orn-the= whiz- �n—for,499LSi3•-but just as we have
always done, well absorb these developments into our everyday lives ef-
fortlessly and without much ado. The changes will come, and maybe over-
night, but the dog will still have to be walked and the garbage won't put
itself out in the morning, either. We can all look forward to the next 10
years with anticipation. But let's not forget that the events of the next
minutes and hours of our lives will have even more bearing on our per-
sonal happiness than anything that will make the headlines.
Happy New Decade, Happy New Year, Happy New Week...have a great
day!
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Christmas spirit alive and well
On Tuesday, 19th of December, six days
before Christmas, a 20 -year-old young man
from RR 5 Clinton lost his wallet on
Gouinlock Street next to the U.A.P. Store.
This wallet contained personal papers and
three hundred and twenty dollars in cash.
The wallet was turned into the police by
an honest citizen. Upon receipt of the
wallet the owner's house was contacted by
telephone. Within 45 minutes the wallet and
contents were back in the owner's
possession.
The young man was indeed surprised to
see the wallet and its contents. He stated
that he hadn't expected to see any money.
He was most grateful and wanted to know
the finder's name and address.
Upon checking with the finder later that
day, I was informed that the young man
had come to her house and given her
twenty dollars. The twenty dollars was a
,taken of appreciation for honesty, and the
'tinder has donated the twenty dollars to
her church. In this way, one act of hones-
ty reaped its own reward over and over
again.
Seeking
1935 Stratford
graduates
Deal• Editor,
A few of us "old timers" who graduated
from Stratford Normal School in 1935 think
that it would be a good idea to have a reu-
nion sometime In the near future.
However, a few people do not a reunion
make and that is why we are asking for
your help to locate more of that group.
Perhaps some of your readers will read
this letter and respond to our request.
Would any of you who were in the class
of '35 at Stratford Normal School please
send your r.ame,fete mailing address
and phone number to Mr. Mel HuCk, 220
Price Ave., Welkin L3C 3Y8 or
phone (416) 734-7137. Also, if you know the
whereabouts of any of your classmates of .
that year, please forward their hail , :el&
to the same address. p°
Mery Dicke, Eirrlirn
J
, The young man has a warm feeling
toward the finder. He also has $300.00 to
help him spread the Christmas cheer to his
friends and relatives, and the finder can
feel good about the quality of our youth.
The finder's church in turn can use the
$20.00 in relieving some of the world's suf-
fering. May we all learn that one act of
kindness and honesty can, in turn, cause
others to do likewise. The spirit of
Christmas is alive and we are a better
community for it.
H. Claus
Chief of Police
appy
JIapPy New Year:
As always with, the usht r g of a
new year, one attempts to dq eertain
amount ,of tidying 'up where, their Life, is
concerned. -
At this time more than any other; eat+
feels compelled to spend at least a #ew
!minutes, (or Hours, or days) in ;silent
reflection: of the pact 355 days no (kW
spurred an by Father Time and the Baby
New Year.
Suddenly, it's time 'to put one's life in
perspective, to correct the wrongs of
one's past and grab :held of the oppbrtiuu
ty for a second chance It's as though the
slate is being wiped clean, and everybody'
is-anxious-to-take-advantage-ef-that-faet., This
Vows are taken - some ridiculous, some
not - and mankind in general, it seems,
seta anew course for the -future, ..a.course
fraught with high expectations and pro-
mises of self-improvement.
r,w
Ld1AT
by Heather Robiiriel
No doubt a lot of the vows and resolu-
tions made at the chose of 1969, .echoed
those made the previous year, and even
the Yew preceding that.: Some Rada,orris, it welts, Ore just impossible .to
keep, although we keep insisting on the
feasibility ,of that task by regurgitating
them year after year.
Others, for various reasons, are easier,
year,--however,—r-wouldn't: doubt---
that a lot more thought has gone into the
resolutions made by mankind. Not only
did we just .usher .in a new year,but we- -
gained entry to a new decade as well.
For that reason I would imagine that a
tot of people, myself anchided, have not
only
set''
et their course for 1990, but have
mapped out a tentative schedule for the
entire decade flat may be lost ` to us
noir in the'80's, call certainly l>e' improv
ed upon ill the 90'a
*War
rz
I for one lgok forward to ° 1990
specifically, and to the 90',s in eneral. I
-emit- it gh a for
all of us. I fully intend to telte advantage
Of any second chances that happen my
,way, .and. urge .others. to :follow suit.
Happy. New Year! Happy New Decade!
Let's make them both good ones.
~/7//5 //Tri e /PPEL /5/9%f!E A/FFHRH/117:
/737;c1R75 ourA n a./v l
uTON✓41/%4RY/5fl+',
T/ie CGi9C//E4 77/R/V /A470 / LX/NpgiAll •
The M.T.C.
As a rule, it's the morning D.J. on the
radio that gets me up and going in the
wee hours. But this Boxing Day was a bit
of a switch. It was an evening D.J. that
stopped me from getting up and going, and
ending up who knows where.
Last Tuesday evening, I had pulled away
from the supper table and was set to load
up the Wonder Car for the long drive back
to Seaforth from Windsor. My father had
just been on the phone with a friend from
London who had informed him that the
roads were pretty grim, so I was gearing
up for an early start and a slow, careful
drive. Minutes later, the phone rang. It
was the same friend, informing us that a
number of roads north and west of London
were nearly impassable, and closed in
many cases. 'Not good', I thought, and
leafed through the Municipal Blue Pages
for the Ministry of Transportation highway
information and closures hotline number.
It was the beginning of the most
grievous 45 minutes of my life.
The first number that I dialled was for
the Windsor area, and the inescapable
recording fired off a list of highway
numbers that meant nothing to me at diz-
zying speed. "For further information,
please consult the 1-800 number listed in
your Blue Pages", she concluded tersely.
It sounded as though she had to go the
bathroom very badly when she recorded
the spiel.
I did as I was told, and duly consulted
the 1-800 number. Ten or eleven tries later,
all I had gotten was a busy signal blatted
in my ear. I then made a mistake of think-
ing that the local police might be able to
help me out. I can understand if the
shou
d hire.
ROUGH NOTES
._... 1 .
by Paula Elliott
Goderich dispatches had had a bad day,
but I really could hl ve,_ done without the
"what the hell do you think you're doing,
tying up our lines" attitude that I got, and
a referral might have been nice, but that
was obviously asking far too much. The
police, incidentally, are the same people
who would have chastised me for being out
on the roads if they were writing down my
accident details.
A London phone book dug out of the
bowels of the house yielded a local road
closures number. "Eureka", I whooped,
and by some miracle of Christmas the
phone rang through on the first try. This
time, the fellow on the recorded message
sounded as though he hadn't done any
serious reading since Grade 3. He halted
and stumbled through a list of road
numbers, but all 1 could pick out was
"track -bare to snow covered" and the oc-
casional "icy sections". "Please consult the
following number for further information,"
the message -man ordered me, and refused
to give me highway closure details. The
people at the end of the line at the number
he had given me must have been stuck in
a ditch somewhere, because they certain-
ly weren't answering their phone.
I was at the end of my rope. Finally, in
desperation, I called the beloved 1-800
number that everyone had been exhorting
me to phone and got through. I waited,
breath baited, for a human voice. `Click'
went the line, and a tinny voice broke
through in mid -message: It was my old
friend, the remedial reader from the Lon-
don hotline, with absolutely nothing new to
say for himself. I almost wept.
I'm going to write a letter to CJBK
radio in London, and find out who the D.J.
on duty that night was. He saved me a lot
of hassle. As a last-ditch effort, I called up
CJBK to see if anyone in the station, or
the city for that matter, could help me out.
"Windsor to Seaforth?" the radio personali-
ty cheerfully replied. "Better carve up
some more turkey, you won't be going
anywhere tonight. Parts of the 401 are
closed, and Highway 4 is closed. We've
had a bit of a storm up here, and the
roads north and west of London are real-
ly bad. Camp out for another evening.
Merry Christmas!"
That was all 1 had wanted to hear, and
nothing that I had heard from the Ministry
of Transportation. It's a pretty sad reflec-
tion on Ministries and governments when
you have to go to a D.J. for life-saving
road information, but that's bureaucracy
for you. Besides, before T.V., radio was
the nation's lifeline. Maybe, in some small
way, it still is.
Parents
JANUARY 3, 1890
On Friday evening while two young
ladies and gentlemen of Biddulph were
driving home from an entertainment at
John Atkinson's school house, the horse
which they were driving became frighten-
ed at some unknown object as they were
crossing the bridge opposite Henry Dobb's
farm and backed them over the fence in-
to the river, smashing the buggy to atoms
and giving the young people a cold bath.
Jackson Brothers store, in Clinton, had
two narrow escapes from being burned
within the last two weeks by a Amp fall-
ing off of a chair.
In McKillop Township, a number of
farmers were ploughing at Christmas time,
and live frog was seen on the 23rd of
December and more were heard singing.
How is that for hard times.
The other day in St. Mary's a cow
belonging to Mr. Archibald Robertson,
gave birth to a calf with two heads and six
legs, two in front and four behind, all of
natural size.
Mr. Charles Spooner of Clinton has a
mare that will , be 25 years old in the
spring, and is today as lively and ser-
viceable as one only five years old, being
able to eat its quota of hay and oats dal-
ly, It pat tri several year service in a but-
er , tldllgr arhard lila ilii' a horse,
h t I ppaiieht1y tfio!iie,thd worse keit.
fined $5 over 1915 measles
JANUARY 1, 1915 "�
tr. Mine, Reeve of Blyth, presented ` 14 THE YEARS AGONE
each member of the council and each town IN
from the Expositor Archives
official with a Christmas turkey and a box
of bon -bons or cigars. Needless to say the
genial doctor was rule ed by acclama,
tion on Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Cu of Goderich were
before Magistrate Kelly of that town last
week, to answer to charges of violation of
the law respecting contagious diseases. The
defendants' son, it appears, took the
measles early in the month and it was
charged that proper precautions were not
observed, Mr. Cutt continuing to attend to
his duties as janitor of the Central School
and Mr. Cutt going uptown. They were
each fined $5 and costs.
Mrs. Carrie, Cambria Road, Goderich,
has received a very interesting letter from
her son, Cyril, dated at Le Havre, France
on December 7th. He is chaplain for a
English regiment and has charge of one of
the Y.M.C.A. camps. He says: "We are
quartered with the officers here in a large
college which has been fitted up. The
camps are principally trade up of wound-
ed and sick men who have been brought
here froni the front to recuperate. We have
a short service and singing every evening,
and the men crowd around. The British
soldier is a splendld.fellow and the British
offL ni are titoroliUh gentlennen. S%u fbver
hear -`8 word' of Complaint. We eet'to
move on to Rouen next week. There is a
much larger camp there. The weather in
the north of France as I write. is
something like our late September weather
at home."
The Christmas dance held in Calder's
Hall in Winthrop the Friday before
Christmas was a huge success, and was
one of the most enjoyed social events of
the year. There was a large attendance
and the music was perfect, being supplied
by the Mitchell orchestra of sox pieces.
JANUARY 5, 1940
Mr. Douglas Rosa of Edmonton spent the
Christmas week -end with his father in
Blyth. In doing this, Mr. Ross set
something of a, record, at least for this
vicinity. He left Edmonton Saturday night,
by plane, arriving .in Melton Airport,
Toronto, Sunday morning, where he was
met by friends and completed his journey
by motor. On Tuesday Mr. Ross left for
Edmonton again, where he is employed in
the banking business and had to be at
,Work again Wednesday morning.
St. 'Paint. Madan Church in Hensall
'held their a1'lnnail Cliristnlis entertainment
in the school room of the church on Thurs-
day evening, the basement presenting a
holiday appearance with lovely Christmas
emblems. Tea was served from very at-
tractive tables, after which the children ''
received giftsand candy from a Christmas
tree at which Santa Claus was present. A
very enjoyable time was spent by all.
If the British fulfill their promise to hand
their washing on the Siegfried Line, it's an
even bet that among the woollies to dangle
in the Nazi breeze will be many bearing
the trade -mark, "Made in Canada". This
whimsical determination is shared by
every member of the C.A.S.F. and it is all
because they are developing a sense of
humour that bids fair to outdo even that of
their British comrades.
JANUARY 7, 1965
There were two New Year's babies at
Scott Memorial Hospital this year, born
and hour and a half apart. The first ar-
rival was at 3?05 p.m. when a daughter
was born to Mr. and Mrs. Gary -Alexander
of Seaforth. Mrs. Alexander is the former
Karen Talbot of Brucefield. The next was
Turn to page 5A