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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1989-04-26, Page 2ZlIMHuron gie./XPOSItOr Incorporating The Brussels Post Published In Seeforth; Ontario Every Wednesday Morning The Expositor is brought to you each week by the efforts of: Pat Armes, Nell Corbett, Terri -Lynn ®ale, Dianne McGrath and Bob McMillan. ED BYRSKI, General Manager HEATHER McILWRAIT14, 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 • 97.00 a year In advance Outside Canada '60.00 a year, In advance Single Copies - .50 cents each Second class mail registration Number 0696 • Editorial and Business Offices - 10 Main Street, Seeforth Telephone (519) 527-0240 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seeforth. Ontario, NOK 1WO Routine pesticide use questionned The alarm raised recently by a U.S. environment protection advocacy group over the use of the chemical daminozide -known as Alar- in apple orchards had caused families to question whether the old adage "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" might not be a little less true now than it once was. Meanwhile, people who have been having strange reactions to certain .fruits and vegetables are wondering if they are not exhibiting allergic reactions to chemical residues in fresh produce. They may well be, given that some 500 active.chemical ingredients contain- ed in about 6,000 different brand name pesticide products are being used in Canada to prevent weeds, insects, and rodents from reducing crop yields. But while the alarm bells have been ringing, it should be pointed out that the chemical traces actually being found in produce are minute and, according to Agriculture Canada (as reported in The London Free Press, April 15) are well below what are considered to be maximum acceptable levels: With Alar, for in- stance, 61 "per cent of apples tested between April 1986 and March 1987, showed levels of the chemical ranging from .01 to 3.7 parts per million. Health and Welfare Canada considers 30 parts per million as the maximum residue limit. The use of chemicals to control weeds and insects is nothing new, though it would appear that chemicals are used more routinely now on crops, than say, in•grandfather's day. But it's precisely that routine use that is bothersome. For as insect pests and weeds build up their natural immune systems, higher doses or different chemicals are required to subdue them. As well, the natural predators of harmful bugs may also be destroyed, leading to a worsening of the original problem -.and more pesticide use. - While we can concede that without the use of pesticides crop losses would probably be greater, it's interesting to note one apple farmer spends as much as $20,000 a year on a pesticide program which enables him to produce 70,000 bushels of apples,. You have to wonder if that amount of money could not be spent on an alternative •program to enable the farmer to ..produce ".organically -grown" apples free of pesticides. It's probably true that routine use• of pesticides makes for an easier -to - administer crop protection program than a series of measures geared to actual problems observed in a particular crop year, but it doesn't sound right to have to peel tomatoes in order to avoid chemical residues, to have to boil broccoli • rather than steam it, and not to be able to place one's trust in a raw carrot. , A couple weeks ago, Guelph University President Dr. Brian Segal, speaking at an annual Rural -Urban night in St. Marys, made a plea for the continuation . of,support for university education and research into agri-business. He spoke of a brave new world of modern science and technology keeping Canadian agri-business competitive and holding out a promise for the future. Perhaps what is needed instead is more research into how we can reduce the technological and chemical dependency we have created for ourselves and.thereby restore some kind of harmony with nature - without jeopardizing our current impressive levels of crop yields. There are farmers out there.who are growing stuff organically, saving money on chemicals they don't use, and producing superior crops and livestock for market. Since there is apparently a strong consumer preference for chemical - free produce ("Polls suggest that more than half of consumers would prefer organic products and would be willing to pay more at the supermarket checkout to get them") it makes sense to be heading in that direction. It might even be beneficial in cleaning up the pesticide -polluted creeks and rivers of rural Ontario. -Journal -Argus. • in Near fire a lesson science I think I got a re-education in science on the weekend. Although I'm not really cer- tain. It's been a while since I've .had to separate experiences in terms of school cur- riculum titles. However, I'm pretty certain that what I was privy to on Saturday, could be identified in scientific terms - just what they are though, goes beyond my power of recollec- tion - something about light, water, refraction... You see, I nearly set fire to the interior of my mother's car. Not intentionally of course, but I must admit it would never have happened if I hadn't dragged mom away from her coffee mug Saturday morn- ing, and into the wide expanses of Kitchener. But there were errands to be run, and some of them which required the expertise only my mother could provide. However there were some more mundane errands to be done before mom could let loose her expertise. And one of those er- rands included pick up (for later delivery to a source in Seaforth), of two bottles of purified drinking water. It was those same two bottles that caused all the problems. The pick up was easy. But the delivery was a little more difficult. It almost never came to fruition. You see mom and I had mapped out our course through the city. And in order to get Letters must be signed Dear Reader: This space is general reserved for Letters to the Editor, but I am making an exception in this case. In recent weeks a number of letters have arrived on my desk, most expressing ge- nuine concerns people have about activities happening in and around the community of Seaforth. Most of these letters have made their way into the newspaper. Some, however, have not. There are at least four letters sitting on my desk at this time - letters which I would dearly love to publish - but that I can't SWEATSOCKS by Heather McIlwraith imearmiseir everything done in the least amount of time possible, we vetoed any in-between jaunts back home to drop off merchandise. That meant everything we picked up at our first stop, meaning the water, stayed with us. I guess you could say, it was well travelled. For lack of a better spot, and to prevent breakage, we stored the two bottles on the floor of mom's car, just behind the driver's seat. And that location seemed idyllic - at least until sometime around noon. At that time, after several stops and starts, mom and I re-entered the car, and prepared to head somewhere for lunch. Lunch was soon put on the back burners of our brains, however, when mom insisted that something was burning. I smelt nothing, and joked that mom had probably left a lit cigarette in the ashtray. Either that, or the car parked next to us, was in dire need of a mechanic. However, in an effort to placate mom (I couldn't have her worrying) I scanned the back seat. On first glance I saw nothing, but a second look drew my attention to what I thought had been sunlight bouncing off of dust particles. It turns out those sunlit dust particles were in fact, a thin column of smoke. I followed the column down to its root, ex- pecting to find there a carelessly tossed cigarette butt, but there was nothing - nothing except a smoldering piece of floor carpet, sporting a hole -that was growing larger by the second. It was spurned on, ap- parently, by a ray .of sunlight reflected through the glass and•onto the carpet in a sharp point (similar to that achieved when you catch the sunlight with a magnifying glass). It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Certainly, I had not expected these simple water jugs to nearly set fire to the in- terior of the car. And thank goodness they weren't empty - or else we'd have had no means to drown the flames. I hate to think what might have resulted if mom and I had delayed our return to the ear, on that particular instance. I guess from now on, we will take par- ticular cares to ensure that any glass we carry, sports a cover up. because of of the policies of this newspaper. Whether or not you want to sign a letter with your name, or some facsimile of 'A Concerned Resident', the author/authoress of all letters must be identified before those letters can appear in print. That means let- ters from unidentified sources, as good, or as bad as they may be, will never be printed. Please sign your letters. Then, if you wish to have that name kept from print, add a p.s. that says so. It is also important to include your phone number on all letters, so that they may be verified, if there is any question as to their truth. Thank You, The Editor Death, taxes only sure thing Do you realize we pay $5,000 a head to educate kids for one year in our schools in Huron County.? Kind of makes you want to invest in birth control doesn't it? I recently covered the Huron County 'Board of Education's annual Budget meeting (for the paper of course, I don't go to three hour budget meetings for thrills) and watched the trustworthy trustees set their budget at 51 million dollars. Also presented were the stats on school enroll- ment which will peak in 1989 at 10,151.75 students. If you want to know who that .75 of a student is you'll have to contact the board office. Last year there was .84 of a student, so I guess the poor guy is slipping. But if you divide the $51,000,000 by 10,000 students you find you're paying in the neighborhood of $5,000 per year for each student in the system. Not a brilliant observation, but a significant one. You might argue that not all of that $51,000,000 comes from the people of Huron County, because the provincial govern- ment kicks infor about half of education funding with various grants. But we all MY TWO BITS by Neil Corbett know where the government gets its money. So every person in the county contributes, 50 million smackaroos is a lot of money for people in Huron County to pay. A university student buys all his own books and pays for the priviledge of being educated, and he doesn't put out $5,000 for education alone. Think of the poor people in the county who don't have children, but who will still cough up about $440, on their average $44,000 residential assessment. Kind of makes you want to make kids doesn't it. Then you can put them through 13 years of school and not only get your moneys worth, but nail the other ratepayers in the county. . I figure if I had 10 kids and drove each of them through to least at Grade 12, I'd have earned $600,000 for my family in tax money from other ratepayers. No way could they get me for that in taxes over the same period .of time it would take to educate those kids. But then again, if I lived too long even- tually I'd pay it all back in the years when my kids were out of school but I was still paying education taxes. So it's a no win situation. It usually is with government. To really beat the system I'd have to have multiple children only years apart, then die shortly after they all left school -and home. Now I know why they say the only sure things in life are death and taxes. About a dozen autos in Brussels IN THE YEARS ALONE from the Expositor Archives APRIL 2,6, 1888 A meeting of those favorable to the forma- tion of a Live Stock Insurance Company will be held at Clinton on Monday next at 11 o'clock. Messrs. Broadfoot and Box have recently added to the splendid machinery in their cabinet factory one of the largest and best sand papering machines in use in this country. ,At the annual races on Fairview Park, Seaforth, on the Queen's Birthday, the sum of $560 will be offered in purses for three races. We notice with pleasure that Mr. J.T. Ireland has had conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. One more Seaforth boy comes to the top of the heap. It should be of great value to Ontario if this spring could witness an increased amount of tree planting; and perhaps not of less value if a more general care were taken in the preservation of the small portions of forest which here and there still exist. We should remember the experience of all na- tions is that when the forest is destroyedfer- tility ceases in the land. What is wanted here is not so much the planting of lines of trees, though these are excellent in their way, as the planting of, large numbers of young trees in plantation form, covering:a strip of some acres. MAY 1,1914 Mr. Philip tneni of Brussels hasinvested in .a large touring car .Which arrived ,from Detroit week. It is a saulek mailufac tura. Samuell Carter, and;DoeiVarwiek, also of :Brussels, .are out with new -Ford .cars. There are now about a dozen autos owned in Brussels, with more to follow in the near future. Mr. George A. Sills of Seaforth has been awarded the contract for the plumbing, heating, etc. of the new $30,000 public school building to be erected in Mitchell next sum- mer. Mr. Joseph Keating has been awarded the contract for the wood -work. Another old landmark in the Township of Tuckersmith has been removed. The old Red Tavern on the Kippen Road, that has harboured many a weary wayfarer during the last half century, with the adjoining stable and shed, have all been torn down, and Mr. George Strong, the owner, is having the material removed to his farm nearby. A large number of the youngsters in town are laid up with a sort of rash somewhat resembling measles, but doctors. say it is not measles. APRIL28, 1939 Clerk of Huron County for 16 years, George W. Holman 'Sled suddenly Wednes- day;afternoon at;his-residence in Goderichh, ;while:workitig in his;garden. Death was due too heart attack He WAS 84 years of age and retired as clerk 0f kluronain 1934. Henson public iadid continuation .schools were closed Ihuriglay Thursday.morliiogAgainst to oke $preadoef 041stpnt teaac ter in tnParlet e;public school, contracted the disease and the deci- sion to close the schools followed as a precautionary measure. Plans for Seaforth's summer sports pro- gram were discussed at a meeting of the directors of the Amateur Athletic Associa- tion this week. Seaforth teams will play in the Huron -Perth Softball League, the Huron Football League and a juvenile team in the Huron -Perth baseball league. After a very slow start, spring arrived with a bang on Sunday and by Monday after- noon the temperature on Main Street ther- mometers was ,82. Tennis enthusiasts took advantage of the warm weather and the new courts at the Seaforth Golf and Country Club have been crowded iRIL each2s,evening1;9t14 this week. The SDHS auditorium was filled to capaci- ty when students presented the annual Variety Night program. A highlight of the program was "The Three Little Pigs in Latin,' with Allan P.atierson, Ted Lamont and,Jim Sillsdepicting the three stars of the skit. 'Representatives of more 10000 members of the Royal Oanadion Legion, ftrom ,55,,bi snches throughout 1 astern-On- talLo, will bej0 Seaforth St nday far the;ppr- ing Cont/ tion of ]District C . Between 3100 ,aiid,400 i egates,are.eapected to att lid the Turn,to•page 20