The Huron Expositor, 1983-06-08, Page 21
elf Tiuron Q!xp�sitor
Since 1860, Serving the Community first
Incorporating -Brussels Post founded 187'
12 Main St. 527-0240
Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO every Wedpesday morning
Susan White, Managing Editor
Jocelyn A. Shrler, Publisher
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association,
Ontario Community Newspaper Association and Audit
Bureau of Circulation
A member of the Ontario Press Council
Subscription rates:
Canada 517.75 a year (In advance)
outside Canada $50. a year (In advance)
Single Copies - 50 cents each
O pin
ion
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 1983
Second class mail registration number 0696
Initiative finds jobs
How often have you heard it said, "there is work for those who want to
work." The unemployed, having spent countless hours in unemployment
,lines and unsuccessful Job interviews, would probably reply, "bull roar."
The past two years has been especially tough for the unemployed.
Companies, in the process to survive, have instituted austerity programs.
Staff was cutback and few were hiring. Also cut back was summer
employment for students.
We don't need statistics to show that students who wanted to work, were
the ones whd found a job. Area Manpower centres have assisted. The rest
spent the summer idling their time away, wondering what the heck to do to
relieve the boredom.
There is also the group who want to work and couldn't find a job. They
thought for a minute and said, "Hey, why not create my own employment."
The work was hard, hours long, but they had a job, and money.
First prize for creating his own employment goes to the Winnipeg student
who came up with the brain -wave of holding a lottery. The prize was himself.
The student applied for and received a lottery license. He sold 265 lottery
tickets at $5 a throw. The winner would receiv 12 weeks of labour as long as it
wasn't dangerous or degrading. The lotte was a success. The student and
winning ticket holder were both satisfied:
The need for student employment is limited in small communities. For
those who cannot or do not wish to apply for a student summer employment
loan to set up their own business, there are other possibilities.
Three students in the area, two secondary and one elementary, with the
help of parental loans, rented a two acre plot to grow pickling cucumbers. The
work was hard but paid off with an estimated $1500.
A London youth has set up a bicycle rental stand. Ten bicycles, some
salvaged and repaired, others borrowed, make up the fleet. Although
business is slow, he was hoping summer tourist season will keep him busy.
It's great that many, whether students or the unemployed, take the
initiative and do their own thing. If most have a success rate equivalent to the
Winnipeg student and his lottery draw, then job prospects this summer look
good. - R.W.
Await and see budget
,Wasn't that a party?
MANY YO(,fNGSTERS attend the community centres
official opening. Shown above is 10 month old Curtis
Murray and mother Debbie. Top right: left to right, Jimmy
De Jong, Michael Huglll, Matthew and Mark McNichol.
Bottom left, Cheryl Ribey, one year old. Bottom right,
Nicole Munroe of Egmondvllle. (Photos by RonWasslnk)
Well the long awaited 1983 budget for the town of Seaforth is out. And
taxpayers have already paid the first installment of a tax bill that represents
a 14.2 per cent increase.
Although it's a budget that was delayed at least once as the clerk,
accountants and council wrestled with a $49,000 deficit from last year, a
quick look backwards shows this year's tax increase was announced about
the same time as last year's. Seaforth people had a 10.8 per cent tax
increase for local spending then.
The 1983 increase is heftier than that, and it doesn't include partial costs
of some of the capital projects the town is committed to. To the average
public school supporting taxpayers, Seaforth's budget, plus levies to school
boards, and the county means a bite out of the pocketbook of nearly $70
more.
self-employment or having had layoffs in the last year or taken cuts in pay,
that $70 won't be easy to find. After all, it must be added to the more than
$700 Mary and Joe Citizen paid last year.
But we've also got to look at what we get for the money. As well as
schools and county services, we're paying part of the town's share of a new
fire hall, for a new and bigger police station, a new police cruiser, and
sometime this year, a new landfill site. Plus, of course the recreation, public
works and other services of high calibre that we've come to take for granted
here.
Support for this year's budget though has to be qualified by waiting to see
how tight a rein is kept on spending throughout the year.
We've been promised that will happen.
"No more surprises," says Mayor Alf Ross, referring to the 1982 deficit,
just revealed this spring. Council members are putting a lot of hope in the
new BACP'AC program, the province's system to standardize municipal
accounting. Monthly financial statements will be available at council once
the new system is in place. they want to keep spending at, preferably
below, what's budgetted and the reports will help.
The forecast that council worked from in preparing this year's budget
calls for a tax increase of 6.1 per cent next year. Perhaps it's unrealistic to
hold the town goverment to that figure.
Spending on buildings and equipment must be made. Services and
programs have to be kept up and operating costs rise every year. Saying
"next year" to everything is false economy. -
But at the same time, it's unrealistic to expect Seaforth people to pay a
good deal more. -S.W.
An interview witll the Queen would be interrupted
When you work for a newspaper in a
small town it's not very often that you go to a
special event just to enjoy and take part. You
also go to work.
And while reporter -photographer Ron
Wassink had the heaviest assignment at
Saturday's community centres' opening...,
taking photos for about six hours straight...it
was my job to get the story.
Because we re part of the community
too, niy family came with me, all of us looking
forward to seeing old friends and feeling part
of the giant and well-deserved pat on the back
that Seaforth and district gave ourselves.
There was no conflict between my, work' and
their enjoyment early in the proceedings. We
all sat and listened to the speeches, and the
music. only 1 took notes. Our five-year-old ran
around a lot, likelenty of her peers.
SPEECHES OVER
Speeches over. we joined friends on the
arena floor. We met Virginia Westcott, wife
of the ribbon cutter, Clare who is Ontario's
best Seaforth booster. And their son Chris
who was full of compliments for the quality of
the SDHS all girls band and the terrific
community spirit that flowed through the
place during the opening.
Nice people, thoroughly enjoying the visit
Somgelnwg t�U gay
by SliJZCIW �Mt @
to their'husband and father's hometown.
"Can you spare 10 minutes for an
interview?`' I asked Clare, respectful of the
fact that everybody who knew him when was
ready to talk, "Sure," he said and with a
glass of wine each ("You can put that on your
expense account," said my boss when she
saw us) we headed to a quiet corner for an
on -the -record chat.
VERY HELPFUL
The results of that are printed elsewhere in
this week's Expositor. But let me say that one
of the province's busiest men is modest,
funny and very, very helpful. He told
Seaforth stories, he told Queen's Park
stories. He told me that Seaforth people have
an in at Maple Leaf Gardens when they want
hockey tickets, and ditto for Blue Jay ball
game tickets. (More information available on
request. You have to bribe me first.)
We talked for awhile more than 10
minutes. And while Clare Westcott was not at
all impatient, had all the time in the, world in
fact to spare for his small town paper, I can't
say the same for my family.
They were decidedly unimpressed with the
fact that this reporter was working on a scoop.
an exclusive interview with the man who runs
the Premier's office. They would have been
unimpressed if I'd been interviewing the
Queen.
LET'S EAT
No, what the several members of my family
who interrupted the interview with some
regularity wanted to know was "when are we
going to eat?" Unlike the generous Mr.
Westcott, they took me literally about the 10
minute interview. And 10 minutes into our
talk, the visits started. My husband first, and
1 handed him the meal tickets and suggested
they go ahead. "Pick up my dinner too."
"i don't want to carry it, we'll wait," said
the better half as he retreated, with a smile at
Clare and a glare at me.
We just got back to talking about how the
premier's executive assistant once put John
Robarts on hold and got him an audience with
the Pope, when my daughter appeared,
bringing her grandmother for protection.
More on the when are we going to eat theme,
plus a what are you doing from the kid, who
doesn't understand that her mom is working.
Not just talking and drinking wine.
With promises that we were almost
through, I got rid of her and her escort. In the
middle of a tale about Stephen Roman's
reaction to Mr. Westcott's request for $25 for
the new Seaforth arena (he was sure there
was a catch of some sort) my father wandered
into view. "When you're finished," he began
and then launched into a story of how my
husband, daughter and in-laws had all been
urgently inquiring about my whereabouts.
He also wanted to chat with Clare.
"1 think we're finished," that gallant man
said. And the interview which must have
reminded him of a typical half hour in his
office, with the visitors replacing constant
phone calls that he loves, was over,
Lilacs to the teachers who deserve them
There are few times when 1 feel the urge
to return to my youth but early June each year
might be one of them.
Those were the best days of school as i
recall. days where the drugery of the long
winter was giving way to a new sense of
liberation, The summer holidays were
tantalizingly close and both the students and
the teachers seemed to feel them. It was
sometimes difficult`for the teachers to hold
the attentions of youngsters whose imagina-
tions were already romping in the sunshine
beyond the school windows and often they
didn't really seem to want to try too hard
anymore. They too were tired from the winter
of work. looking forward to the time of
freedom ahead.
And so school became fun. Sunny days of
May became excuses for trips to some nearby
farmer's bush to see wild -flowers and on
return. draw pictures of them and study their
parts.
June brought warm afternoons of ball
games against other schools from the area out
on the school ball diamond. 1t brought trips to
b}y (@StlIi Mullgt30O ln1
visit local industries, to see how things in the
real world applied the theories we learned in
the book world.
Thinking back on those days i recall the
bouquets of lilacs and peonies that we used to
almost bury the teacher with this time of year.
Students seemed to vie with each other to see
who could most reward the teacher with
whom a bond had been built up over the last
long months.
There haven't been a lot of bouquets, for
teachers from the general public in recent
years. As teachers a decade or so ago became
more militant in their demands, as education
costs soared, respect for teachers on the Dart
of the public often plummeted. Teachers had
once been held high in public esteem but
their dedication was taken advantage of to
keep them working for far less than they
should. The new generation decided it would
no longer be taken advantage .of monetarily
but in doing so, lost a lot of respect. People no
longer saw the teachers as dedicated
professionals, but as people who cared more
about the money they took home titan the job
they did.
And it is a shame because there still are
teachers who are just a dedicated as the
teachers of the old one -room school house
days. There are people in the classrooms who
would be teachers even if the salaries were
still low because they feel there is nothing
more important in life than being a teacher.
You can see that kind of teacher even
through the smokescreen put up by county
boards of education, centralized schools and
teachers' federations. They are the teachers
who are excited about their job and by being
so. excite the children they teach. They are
the ones who don't merely teach what they
have to teach but go the extra mile, work that
much harder to give their students a good
school experience.
For many years there the school system got
carried away with bricks and mortar, with
fancy teaching aids, with a bureacracy which
was supposed to bring about efficiency in the
system. The simple fact that education is an
interpersonal relationship between the teach-
er and the student got mislaid. if your child
has a dedicated teacher who is excited about
the job of imparting knowledge to children
then the education will be fat better off than a
child who has,a teacher who is bored with the
job and just wants to get through the day no,
matter how much is spent on teaching aids.
So sometimes I'd like to go back to school
and take a big bouquet of lilacs to some
teacher who deserves it.
(
The Tory leadership is a cross-country endurance test
As I write. the race for the Iory leadership
is at the tape. after a cross-country course
that would have taxed the endurance of a
kangaroo.
Its participants have lurched and shambled
and jogged across that rugged terrain,
through those bogs and quagmires that make
up the minds of Tory delegates.
For some, it has been uphill most of the
way, owing to a lack of charisma, money,
ideas, or all three. Others have taken some,
dubious short-cuts. hitched a ride when
nobody was looking. or floated along on a
carpet of hot air.
They'll he a bedraggled lot when they get
near the grandstand and try to flog
themselves into a final sprint toward that
finish line.
The winner, and he has my sympathy. will
he handed the magnificent trophy that goes
with the job — a Pandora's box.
If he opens it, and he will, politicians being
what they are, it will be the Pandora myth all
over again. Out will fly all those evil spirits:
1
broken promises, financial disaster, and the
cold fury of the losers, who will have him for
breakfast as soon as they get their wind back.
But one spirit won't pop out — Hope. That
peculiar Hope that seems to belong to the
Tories will be too tired to leap out of the box.
So our "lucky" winner will pick it up, hold
it tenderly (in both hands), and prepare to do
battle against the invidious, insidious hordes
of the black -hearted King Pierre. who retire
into the swamps. and wait patiently,
chuckling, licking their lips, each time a new
dragon -slayer is chosen for them to devour.
On the other hand, maybe, just maybe, the
new St. George will be ambidextrous, and
with a sword in each hand will be able to fight
off his friends as they help him from the rear,
and attack and slay the monster in front of
him. who has got a bit swollen with pride. and
a hit slow from lack of exercise over the years.
Which of these fine, fulminating fellows
will he our new champion? if our fairy tale
were to follow its course, it would have to be
David Crombie. He has the right name, and is
the right size to stand up to Goliath. He might
even knock him off, because the giant is
getting old and fat and overconfident.
But, even though he wields a mean
sling -shot, does little David have the killer
instinct. the ruthlessness required to get the
job? Is he too decent, too human, too caring?
Could be.
Let's go on with our fairy story and look at
the other hopefuls. Joe might startle the big
fellow by shaking his jowls and stabbing his
finger at him. He did once before. But the
giant quickly realized that behind that
mastiffs mien lay all the terror of a spaniel,
uttered one roar, and sent him scuttling.
What about Brian? He might try to tow the
big guy by jutting a massive chin at him,
pointing toward massive reinforcements in
Quebec, and hurling some insults in French.
But a couple of massive shrugs and some fat
subsidies toward Francos would squelch that
threat.
There's Jolly Jack the giant -killer from the
$11pgct cmd opk*
by DON Srm000j
Island. He might putt and puff and stick out
his not inconsiderable belly at the giant. But
unless he made the creature incapable of
action by some witty remarks that sent it into
paroxysms of laughter, it would have him for
lunch.
Last time he tried it, with a perfectly honest
1 ii -cent tax on gas, the critter laughed all the
way to the next election, then charged twice
as much. That creature can out -tax anybody,
any day.
How about the others? "Puck" Pockling-
ton has the richt nickname for a fairy story,
but what chance has he. an entrepreneur,
against a monster that goes to bed with sick
corporations, gobbles up others, and washes
them down with oil companies?
it's just possible that Michael Wilson. far
too honest and logical to win anything, might
put the dragon to sleep long enough for some
of its own minidragons to devour it. But that's
a long shot.
That leaves John Gamble. All he's got is a
looping right swing that is telegraphed all the
way. The giant, dragon, creature, will merely
counter with a few sharp, left jabs, and John
is no longer even a bet, let alone a gamble.
Well. 1 hope I've sorted things out for you.
with this melange of myth, analogy and fairy
tale.
I really don't care who wins, since the
Tories have no way to go but up. is Joe a
loser? Is Mulroney too smooth and untested?
Is Crombie too tiny? is Crosby too far away?
is Wilson too dull, Pocklington too business -
oriented, Gamble too neandertal?
1'd be more comfortable with Crombie than
any of them, with Crosby as second choice,
But nobody ever listens to me. i told them
MacKenzie King was a charlatan. Diefen-
baker. a dope, and Trudeau a cynic, but they
wouldn't listen.
Too bad Flora McDonald didn't run, i'll bet
she'd poll a huge vote. But being raped once
is enough. I guess.
See you at the polls.
Write a letter to the editor
i