HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1980-10-09, Page 2Once. 1060, Serving the ,COrrirnurlitY First
Published at SE.Ai01111, ONTARIO ,eVell, Thaeritbly Meriting
Lii LIE
P!BBON
Ao.",APD
1980
by iliktUADi*BRUS'. 01,1014SBEPSX,T1i,
ANDREW Eablialter
^ SUSAN WHITE, EdItor
• MACE Gintt.Newa Editor
tOer'0.anaditin OnitnanIty NealinsPer Association
, Ontario 'Weekly, Newspaper Association
and Audit )tirean of ,pregi*tio.la
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Telephone 527-0240'
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, OCTOBERIA 1980
uture.'a ea o
. -
..The tutor° of Seaforth could ride on what happens during the.next‘
ten days.
That's because those who are running, for election to town council
:here have only until Monday, October 20 to make up their minds.
Asof yerwe've seen nastampede of people announcing Candidacies.
At t is writing, there are not even enough declared dandidatesto fill all
the seats on council, by acclamation, let alone to cause,an 'election.
• We believe that an active contest for councills a better way toseiect
who's going to run Seaforth than is an automatic acclamation.
Most politicians agree. Those who are elected have a mandate, those
who are acclaimed sometimes feel they've been labelled better than
nothing- but that's about alL
, An election stirs discussion and thinking about what course Seaforth
should take ever the next two years. It should ensure that those who
are proposing to make policy for the town have clear cut plans. And
that the voter has a chance to agree or disagree with those plans.
Acclamation -gives no such sense of "we know where We're going
•and we're working -together."
Seaforth's next two years are crucial. A Business Improvement Area
could be helping to revitalize our Main St.. An eagerness to attract
light industry here, -and a search for more industrial land should be
• continued, •
The West Branch subdivision may get back on the rails if the
economy improves. Seaforth citizens will be asked to help make
important changes to zoning and to our official plan. We should bre
considering our heritage architecture on Main St. and taking steps to
' preserve What could be a major attraction here.
Then of course there are the per ennial, and important, questions of
sewer back ups, sidewalk repairs, tree replanting and road paving.
Whoever makes up the 1981 council will have a great deal on their
plates. We -need the best representation we can get.
That means an election. Will you and your friends give Seaforth and
Its needs some serious thought? If you can't run for council, do you
know someone who should?
Behind the scenes
by Keith Roulstort
Who's the hypocrite?
- It's such a tempting thing to say: -He's
a hypotrite." "She's hypocritical—.
We all do it now and then I'm sure. We
can all see the contradictions in others.
Calling someone a hypocrite has such a,
nia holier than thou ring to it. The trap ofc.,
course is that every time we call someone a
hypocrite we are aurselves being hypocriti-
cal because we too are full of contradic-
tions, chodsing to believe what we want to
believe when it suits discarding it at others
but being blind to the same needs in other
people.
Hypocrisy is evident in the news every
day. We've been served with a platter full
lately on various fronts. There has bean,
for instance, the huge fuss over a television
show *ailed "Playing fo Time." The show
tells the true story of the experience of
Jews in the concentration camps of Nazi
, Germany. The horrible 15 year period of
Nazi rule in Germany is sopnething
Canadians of German extractidn have been
complaining recently is being played up too
much. Many claim they are being perse-
tuted because of their German names even
though their families may have been in
Canada for a century. long before Hitler
came along. Ironic. isn't it that this
mistreatment of German -Canadians today
is but a shadow of the mistreatment, the
persecutions the Jews have felt all acr oss
the world. but in Europe in particular for
nearly 2000 years.
But the irony of this telling of the story
was the casting of the actress Vanessa
Redgrave as the Jewish heroine. Ms.
Redgrave made headlines a few years back
because she had made a film on the
mistreatment of the Palestinian people in
the territory given to the Jews as their
homeland of Israel after the mistreatment
of the Jews in Gemiany at the end of the
Second World War. Sher supported the
Palestinian Liberatiol Organization, the
hated terrorist organizalion responsible for
hundreds of deaths.
A certaiti number of Jews have always
bad a hard time distinguishing betWeen the
discrimitiation against Jews and legitimate
critidsm of the state of israel. With some
of these people„ any comment against a
governmett policy of Israel is regarded as
being against the whole Jewish people,
including fifth -generation Canadians. So
Ms. Redgrave's comments against Israel's
treatment of the Palestinians were quickly
called antisemitic by many Jews. The idea
then of this hated woman playing a Jewish
heroine was too much for them to take.
The reaction has been astounding.
•
Jewish protesters have burned the actress
in effigy. Rocks and bullets shattered the
windows of television stations in the U.S..
which broadcast the program. There are •
more letters to the editor in some Canadian
newspapers over that movie than there
were over the constitutional hassling.
The irony again was that the more they
protested the use of Ms. Redgrave in the
movie, the more they prompted the
watchng of the movie to see what the fuss
was about. The double irony was that
although the Jewish protesters thought
they were doing a disservice to Ms.
Redgrave because she was doing a
disservice to them by playing a Jew. they
were in actuality (as was Ms. Redgrave,
whatever her political views) doing a
service to the Jewish people. Because the
more people who watched the show. the
more would be reminded again of the
horrible treatment of the Jews by the
Nazis. Nearly all the reviews of the show
spoke of what a tremendous job Vanessa
Regrave did in the part.. The movie has
been regarded as one of the best portraits
ever of the Holocaust and M s. Redgrave
was a leading factor in its success.
What the Jewish protesters could not see
was their own hypocrisy in the matter.
Here they were. victims of thousands of
years of diacrimination, discrim inating on
the basis of political not religious beliefs.
Here they were. victims of so many unjust
laws over the centur ies. trying ,to deprive
a woman both of her freedom of speech and
her freedom to work at her profession no
matter what she believes.
Freedoms aren't easy things to live with.
Everyone is quite willing to talk about
freedom when it suits them but wants to
turn off the freedom when it doesn't. Many
Canadian liberals, for instance. get worked
up about the lack of freedom for the
opponents of the govertunent of ;Chile to
get up and speak openly against the
government. Yet these same Canadians
get worked up in Canada because idiotic
neo-Nazi groups of Klu Klux Klannmen
claim the tier to have their say too. The
liberal would often like to stop these people
whose message they don't like, from
having the freedom to give speeches or the
freedorn. to work in the press.
What each of us has tO do is to search in
ourselves for our hypoocrisies. We must
examine our own beliefs andour weakness-
es so than when we see the hypocrisies in
others we don't get too smug about it all.
As Jesus said, "tet him who is without sin
cast the firsf stone."
Write a lettertothe editor
. BY ALICE GIBB,
Hikers On. the' Allaable-Bayfteld Conser-
vation Arca didn't let SimditY afternoons
dT'izzle d4thP0Ij their spirits.
n
-0,Tr hiym,•accOmplOpti*Gpso.
N4.00tv Authority staff, wound their wav
throughthe'Onaere site. watching fer'aigns
Of Wildlife?, learning . about edible' plants
flrat discovered by the pioneers and
carefully avoiding the poison ivy .f•ottrid
along trails.
The hike wound ` through a transitional
forest, open meadow and over a nutnber of
swift -flowing creeks and the Bannockburn •
River, swollen slightly. by recent rains.
Steven-- Lane, corntimnity relations co-
ordinator With the authprity, told hikers
-when settlers-eame-to-the-area,-theY4ould—
"smoke it, boil it, eat it, everything" to
find uses for plants found in the area,
One plant he pointed out was the
,delicate, white -flowered daisy fleabane,
which settlers found would keep fleas away
when put in mattresses or clothing.
Another valuable plant was the touch -me
lant with distinctive (manse and yellow
looms, which proved valuable as an
antidote to poison ivy.
John Small the other guide on the colour
tour, said the old, rotting forest 'found in
some parts of Bannockburn is becoming
scarcer in this part of the country. He said
one of the few similar areas is the Hay
swamp, located near Hensall.
Mr. Sinail told hikers two extremely rare
hirds which can be found in this decaying
vegetation are barred owls and pileated
woodpeckers. These woodpeckers, which
have black bodies with some red and white
markings, are almost as large as small
crows. Their bills are the size of a man's
finger and they., leave very large holes in
'trees where they've been feeding,
' Steve Lane ' said recent studies bave'
shown Woodpeckers' brains are surround-
gd"-1?-Y a iluid which acts as a cushion When
the .birds are hitting theirhearlS, against
tree ttatlka. Sincc this tluid preventsiniurY
in birds, scientists are enolloitnif,tryietsnwsorinndup1kat it for use in .
hy race car drivers.
When hikers reached the transitional
forest section of the site, John .Small
pointed out a tall; black cherry tree. The
guide said wood from these trees is second
only to black walnut in ,hardwood ,value.
He also pointed out a number of hemlock
trees and told hikers Bannockburn is one of
the most southern sites where they're
One of the plants commonly found in the
transitional area is the wild ginger, with its
'broad, heart -shaped leaves and strong,
ginger-flavoured'roots, used by pioneers„as
flavouring.
Steven Land also pointed out 'the
Solomon's Seal, with, its brilliant red
berries, and asked hikers to guess why ,
settlers gave the plant that name. He
explained in the spring, the pioneers found
if they broke off a leaf, the mark it left
resembled the ancient seal of King
Solomon. -
Another plant named by settlers was the
white baneberry, whose white berries, with
a black dot in the centre, are deadly
poisonous to humans. Mr. Lane said the
popular name for this plant among settlers
was "dolls' eyes."
At the end of the hour's walk, staff from
the authority treated "hikers to steaming
cups of hot chocolate and donuts.
AN UPHILL CLIMB—The hour-long hike through, the Bannockburn
ConserVatIon Area on Sunday afternoon had a few challenges for hikers,
like this climb uphill in rather slipbery conditions. (Photo ISy Glob)
THIS IS THE WAY TO END A HIKE—Jeanette, John Paul and Diane
LONA of RFI3, Zurich, welcomed the steaming cups of hot chocolate and
donuts provided by Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority staff at the
end of Sunday afternoon's hike through the Bannockburn Conservation
Area. • - (Photo By Gibb)
..**••••••••••••"
STARTING OUT—Steve Lane and John Small, Ausable-Bayfield
Conservation Authority staff, handed out walking sticks to assist hikers
Bill McAsh of Varna, Eileen Rennie of Mensal!, Eleanor McAsh and
Dorothy Klpfer of Varna on Sunday afternoon's annual fall colour tour of
the Bannockburn Conservation Authority. (Photo by Gibb)
1880 man brought back to life
OCTOBER 8,1880
For the fourth quarter, which ended Sept.
14. the published list of cxmvictions showed
Goderich credited .with ..s4, Clinton with 15,
Seaforth 14, 'Wingham 16, Brussels 11 and
Exeter 1. In total there were 111 convictions,
of which 29 were for drunks, 22 for assault. 6
for larceny, 6 for abusive language and 5 for
violations of the Liquor License Act.
A gentleman residing In Clinton who has
been married twice, has had 19 children
born to him, none of which has lived for any
tength of time.
Last Saturday a painful accident took place
about two and half miles south of Dublin. i.
Brimicbmbe, of Usborne, dug a 35 foot well
and as he usually does at anon, he came out
of the well for his dinner. The platform on
the edge of the well gave way while he was
standing on it, and he fell to the bottom of
the well. When brought to the top of the
well, Mr. Brimicombe was pronounced
dead. but after some medical attention, he
was revived. Besides severe internal
injuries,' he has a broken arm and broken
ribs.
Readers will be pleased to note that Huron
residents again fared well in the Provincial
In the years agone
Exhibition. Mr. Peter McGregor, of Bruce -
field, won first prize for the best draught
stallion of any age on the ground. Thomas J.
Bell, of Londesboro, on first prize for the
aged agricultural stallion.
Henry Colbert, of the Egmondville
Brewery, has had his residence in that
village re -painted and otherwise improved in
aPPearainnthe
ce. ltpliascen.ow the handsomest re-
sidence
OCTOBER 6a 1905
Messrs. Greig and Stewart, who bave
been carrying on a large clothing and
furnishing business here, have dis,solved
partnership. Harry Stewart, who has been a
member of the firm for the past three years,
has purchased the interest of J.C. Greig and
will continue in the business. Mr. Stewart
will have associated with him his brother,
Charles Stewart, and the firm will be known
as Stewart Bros.
James Dunn, who has run the cigar store
and barber shop in Seaforth for the past
thred years, has sold this business to S.
Jordan, who has been employed in the
business. as a barber. Mr. Jordan is a good
mechanic and a good fellow, and will no
doubt do a good business.
Rev. Joseph Eckert left here for
Minneapolis an the No. 4 Express last
Saturday, after a three week visit to Father
McKeon and other St. Columban friends..He
is about six feet tali and will be a good ad for
St. Columban wher ever he goes.
R.W. Scott, who for the past three years
has been the very effitient manager of the
Seaforth Electric Light Works, has retired
from that position and will devote himself to
electric repairing and_ wiring for the
company. •
Mai& Anderson was out on his first
hunting expedition for the season and came
-back with a full bag. He corralled three
' coons, four hares, and four partridges. This
is pretty good for one day and will keep the
.other fellows on the jump to beat his.recotd.
OCTOBER 10, 1930
The post office which was operated in the
late William Nears store of over 40 years,
and later by W.J. Bernie, has been moved to
Clarence Bennett's store on North Main St.,
Walton.
The Seaforth Lions Club, at their regular
meeting Monday night, were afforded the
unusual opportunity of a moving picture ttip
through the Hudson coal mine a of Scranton,
Penn. The film was supported by a
descriptive lecture by one of the repre-
sentatives of the coal company.
Pearson Chalets of Tuckerstnith had the
misfortune of ranning a nail into his food.
We are glad to itear he is improving.
OCTOBER 7,1950
Care of the hair and soil testing high-
liktited discussions held by • the Junior
institute and Junior Farmers as the Seaforth
District organization met Tuesday night.
Construction of a new office to serve as
headquarters for the Seaforth detachment of
the OPP is almost compieted. Erected in the
arta between the town hall and.the RegetT
theatre. the one storey structure provides
two cells, as well as office space.
White driving on the Mill road Saturday
evening. Ken Comb i saw three dexsunning
into the path of his car. He at itrripted to
avoid the animals. but was unsuccessful.
In search of the best holiday
As a Canadian: what is your favourite
holiday in the year? Think carefully. now.
(No objection to Yanks playing the game.)
(YriTnally. our holidays had religious
overtones. Hence. the term holy days:
Christmas, Good Friday. Thanksgiving.,
Then we developed patriotic • or. if you
prefer - political holidays. These include
such stirring times as Dominion Day, now
better know as the First of Ally: British
Empire 'and Commonwealth and The
Queen's Birthday; Armistice or Remem-
brance Day.
Finally. we have a few pure pagan
holidays tossed in-. Labor Day; Civic
Holiday and New Year's Day.
Well, let's start at the bottom, and
eliminate.' Civic Holiday has no signifi-
cance whatever. It's the day on which
everyone gets out of town for the weekend/
except the local merchants. who are
supposed to get a civic holiday. but spend
it working like mad at the service club
carnival. raising money for some worthy
cause. It isn't even a national holiday. Big
city stores ignore it.
Labor Day, as we "all blow, far from
being a tribute to organized labor. 'it a' day
,Sugar and spice
By Bill Smiley
on which nobody does a tap of work. except
for getting their kids ready for school. or
,closing up the cottage.
The next in insignificance is difficult to
I choose. We have Dominion Day. of coirrse .
Once it was a day of horse races, picnics.
boat excursions. and speeches in the park.
Now it iS merely a day which, annoyingly,
doesn't always fall on a Monday or Friday.
And we have that what -ever -it -is Day int
May. It used to be Queen Victoria's
Birthday. In the morning trees were
planted. For the rest of the day. and night,
you burned your fingers on fire-crankers
and your eyebrows on Roman Candles. I
guess what we're supposed to do now is sit
around and think of our Commonwealth
brother in Zambia and Senegal. or the
Queen, Whose birthday is in another
month, or something? What we actually do
is open the cottage or go fishing.
And,then of course. there isNev. Year's
Day. Hangovers and broken resolutions.
Actually. New Year's depends on how
fervently you first-footed it on the preced-
ing eve. It can be as bleak as a beverage
room, or as rambunctious as a rooster. lint
ahead of it there lie three cold, dark, dreary
and deadly months of winter.
The two saddest holidays of the year are
Rernerriberance Day and Good Friday.
And, appropriately. they come at the.most
dismal times of thi year.
On Nov. 1 Ith the sky weeps, the ,wadows
and mothers weep, the flags clfotp at
half-mast arid the bells toil. The only joint
in town that jumps is the LegioAall. After
the solemn rites have ended, old cronies
gather to exchange lies, enjoy good food
and drink, and listen .to the inevitable
speaker trying to convince them it was all
worthwhile.
Good Friday is gloom, darkness and
bitter wind: remnants of snow drifts. A day
of death. sacrifice and sorrow Cold,. cold.
' and.the earth is dead and frozen.
Christmas is another thing. A season of
peace and joy on earth with goodwill
toward meta according to the ads and the
interminable carols. But, let's be honest.
By the time The Day has arrived, you are
baffled. bushed and broke.
That leaves nothing else but ThanksgiY-
Ing. That's my choice, every year. It's the
beat Canadian holiday.
First, there are the physical delights.
Weather is usually fine - brisk and bright.
Scenery is magnificent: blue. bronze and
crimson; blood bubblet in the veins. Fire
feels good. Food tastes like never before.
Lungs lap clean air. Sleep is sweet,
smoith and as dreamless as whipped
honey.
And then there's the thanksgiving itself.
Thanks for good health. Thanks Pm alive.
Thanks for children. Thanks for a good
harvest, or fat beef, or a steady job. Thanks
for a chance to go Cm living through another
year of those other holidays until I can say
thanks again.