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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1983-08-31, Page 2• tititt f tr rOn. ffp°i!'- SInc* 1860; Serying th¢ Comn(tlnfry fjrarf r +? Incorporating .1BrlusseIs Post foundef11872 , 12 Maln 81, 527.0240, Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO every Wednesday morningr,,, 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 SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1983 Second class mall registration number 0696 We're one community There's nothing like standing together in a corn field, looking around at land that studies show Is the best site for the area's garbage, to make representatives from three separate municipalities see they've got to work together. For the site is, the engineers assure everyone, simply the only one within more than 10 K's of Seaforth that stands a chance of approval under the Environmental Assessment Act. That site is in McKillop, but It could have been in Tuckersmith or in Hullett, a township which isn't even Inolved with the disposal site. Seaforth, which Is, doesn't have the space for a landfill site anywhere within its boundaries. All three councils involved deserve credit for getting together as a gYotip to review landfill site planning up til now. That planning has been done by experts, working with a three-man, somewhat Itiformal, committee which has town and township representation. All the councillors, from all three municipalities, wanted a handle on what was • happening and why and we don't blame them. They got that information, in an atmosphere of openness and trust. The on-site session and the meeting afterwards probably went a long way towards allowing a community -wide garbage disposal site to develop with the same co-operation that got our new arena built. Members of the three councils certainly acted that way. There was no sign that anyone was saying "my municipality, right or wrong." Instead everyone considered the entire community, urban and rural. Reeve Bob Bell of Tuckersmith had an excellent suggestion. Because every municipality in the area is going to need new garbage disposal before long, perhaps more could band together and look at incineration. The incineration part is not feasible even with a somewhat bigger population base, the experts say, but Reeve Bell is on exactly the right track by saying since we -all have the same problems, let's face them together. It's too late, likely, for any other afea municipalities to get involved with the landfill site. But we all have to think of ourselves as part of a large farm and small town community. Call it Seaforth and district or whatever, the reality is that the farmer north or south of Seaforth and the factory worker or teacher in town must aSULhareLthe same facilities. , We need each other and toifet#eer we can afford much better facilities, from dumps to ball diamonds, then we can in strict isolation or with barricades up across town or township boundaries. Although we have different localgovernments, and at times different priorities, we are, town and townships, one community. There's a small example in the statistics on who took swimming lessons at the Lions Pool here this summer: 95 of the kids were from Seaforth, 176 were from the surrounding four townships and further out of town. Incidentally, the park and pool itself is in Tuckersmith, but Seaforth's recreation committee helps the Lions Club manage it....another example of urban -rural co-operation. And of course the new district community centre wrote the book on that sort of cooperation. All in all, signs are good that instead of thinking small and bickering, municipalities in the area are concentrating on what we have in common. It's a good trend. - S.W. 40 fh@ @dotaoQ Dublin is a good place Two weeks ago the Huron Expositor and c the Mitchell Advocate printed a letter from t Mrs. Marjorie Moore in connection with the closing of the Dublin grocery store. This was a well written and fine example of community i pride by one of its citizens. What a shame no -one took the time to show their approval in writing in to that column. The letters to the editor section is not only for complaints, but for comments, whether good or bad, for constructive criticism, and to give credit where credit is due. No one feels very happy about the toss of our store in Dublin and we all hope to see one return soon. I -do believe it was unfair for the residents of this community to be blamed for, as the Stratford Beacon Herald headed an article on the store and 1 quote. "Lack of Local Support Kills Local Store" on August 12. When stores close or go out of business in London, Stratford or other heavily populated centers. you don't hear the papers blaming the citizens of that much larger area, Stores close for a variety of reasons but most certainly not soley for lack of community support. Dublin and the surrounding rural 5 "No thanks Ma'arn, I'm on duty," If your household is like mine, the TV hasn't been on much all summer. it's just too nice outside to spend any time in front of the box. Besides, there's not a heck of a lot on anyway. And so, we get lulled into thinking that the boob tube isn't a big item in our lives. it wasn't a big jolt, more like a gradually dawning understanding, one morning this summer when our five-year-old exhibited the classic symptoms of someone for whom TV is more real than life. We were in a roadside restaurant in Owe Sound, eating breakfast. A policeman at the counter, in full uniform, gun, holster and all, was also eating breakfast. Must be a good place, her dad and 1 said the police and the truck drivers eat here. Or words to that effect. He's a policeman, but he's not on duty, the kids tells us firmly. Now listen, we say, of course he's on duty. Policemen don't go around dressed like that when they're not working. A POSITIVE IID He's not on duty, comes the stubborn reply from this kid, who has inherited a positive streak from both her father and me. How do you know, we say wearily. ommunity are not heavily populated enough o maintain a large supermarket, but a well stocked. well managed. competitive grocery store could function well and provide a good ncome for someone or some family as it has for many years gone by. Dublin is a fine village to live in and the rural citizens surrounding it are a loyal supportive part of this community. We have a bank, post office, church, school, hardware, furniture store, mill. -transport company, construction companies, poultry plant, park, etc. and no grocery store, which is always the main feature of any town. This community houses a great deal of potential for growth and prosperity which comes from hard work and planning. To those who had considered starting a store -- take a second look, re-evaluate the situation -- the opportunity is here if you are willing. This is a friendly, outgoing, multi -cultural community with a deep rooted pride in their country and an overwhelming loyalty to their fellow man. To sum it up 1 leave you with a thought - United we stand, divid o n we Cfall. J lio @ihring ' () �©y by t6giab WM® Because policemen can't eat or drink when they're on duty. How do you know that? It's on TV. Yup, all those countless scenes on countless shows when cops turn down a sandwich or a cup of coffee, with "No, thanks mam, I'm on duty," are indelibly inscribed in her little brain. • Our logical arguments, the- evidence of reality right in front of her had absolutely no impact. On TV they say "not when I'm on duty", ergo, he's not on duty. Now all of the above is no big deal, right? But if you extend her conclusions on this point, and her total faith in what TV shows over what real life is, we're in trouble. Because, according to aRvorkshop held by Huron elementary school this spring, the average child has seen 18,000 murdeks on TV by the time he or she is in high school. That same high school age kid will have spent 50 per cent more time watching TV than in the classroom. Her younger sister or brother, glued to Saturday morning cartoons, will be watching an average of 20 violent episodes per half hour segment of Bugs Bunny or The Pink Panther. This is real life? To our TV -watching kids, it's even more real and powerful than real life. A PROiL4111 1 guess that's not inuch;of a concern if you like the kind of false reality TV projects.... phe glamor But,r if likee,, the i youce donnd pornography). we've got a problem. According to the material teachers and parents discussed at that PA day back in the spring, it's not unsolvable. We can help our kids get a more accurate view of TV and life by making them active, not passive viewers. Most of us aren't willing to get really drastic and throw out the TV altogether. We can, though, monitor what our kids watch. Critical TV viewing means not letting your kids watch someone you wouldn't invite into your own home. Or at least it means discussing what the kids see on TV with them. Is an especially violent episode necessary to the story? If not, why is it there? Turn the box off after a show you've watched together and ask: did the character do the right thing? What alternatives did he have? If your child is upset by something on TV, talk about it. Explain it's not real and the characters are only actors. With older children you can compare the TV and booicRt`#it3w,pmer treatment of the samesubject,, iowdeesi,the,overage differ? Why? If you doubt TV is an important force in shaping how we feel about ourselves and how we act, check your family's reaction in the next few weeks, as you go from an active summer back to sitting in front 'of the TV screen. Likely you won't be quite so willing to suspend belief, to be neutral about what you re seeing. It'11 hit you harder, simply because you've been away from it for awhile. Once you notice that, maybe, like me, you'll start turning your kids into critical, thoughtful and active TV viewers. At our house that starts first time someone on the tube says "no thanks mam, I'm on duty." Is it important to win for the Motherland Sports can display all the best of the human creature, the beauty of the human form, the courage that let's people fight through pain to their goal, the graciousness to accept defeat when the best was not good enough. Unfortunately in modern times, too much of that has been lost in the quest for victory. American football coach Vince Lombardy said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." In`these days when Cold War politics are as much a part of struggles on the athletic field as on the battlefield, that seems all too true. The scandal over athletes being caught taking anabolic steriod drugs to develop their muscles is only scientific proof bf what people who follow athletics have known for a long time. Canadian athletes were among the hardest hit in the scandals, losing several medals at the Pan American Games when drug tests turned up positive. it's easy to put the blame on the athletes. But if you, as 1, Cancer drive On behalf of the Huron County Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society. i would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to all the people of the Sdaforth area who contributed so generously to the 1983 Cancer Campaign for funds. As a result the Seaforth branch. under the capable leadership of Jud Walker, has achieved the impressive total of $7,692, which in turn enabled the Huron County Unit to exceed its $77,000 objective by $4.400. over the top t ttorts such as this enable the Cancer Society to continue its important work in research, treatment to patients and education of the public in the prevention of cancer. With sincere thanks to all citizens, service clubs and organizations who helped out in this great cause, 1 remain, Yours truly. Jim Remington, Campaign Chairman Huron County Unit Canadian Cancer Society A poem to share c/know some of Your readers like poetry. 1 me across this little poem that 1 hope you win print. 1 thought it was quite good and wanted to share it with the other readers. Mrs. Robson, Dublin. What I want out of life, is it all but a dream Or is it much easier than it really seems. Do we live day by day and be thankful for what we got Or do we work endlessly for those things we have not Good kids. nice house and a pool in the yard These things don't come with the turn of a card. For if you read further I'm sure you will see Life is much harder than it needs to be. GOD gave us the things that we really need Our health, each other and our children to feed HE gave us the tools to work with each day. To better our lives in each of our ways. So lets use these gifts that were given to us You'll find life is easier and not such a fuss Live your life as best as you can, For this is all GOD expects from a man. Don Hunt, Kingsville, Ontario. C3@ rind ill @ M®ngg, by I1cQ64b Rmalm have ever grumbled or complained about Canada's poor showing in international sports, then you too bear some of the responsibility. in the name of winning the goals of sport have been perverted. Even the beauty of the human body is even being attacked by these drugs which can virtually turn women into men and men into disfigured remnants of their original self. No one knows yet what the long-term results of steriods may be, if cancer or heart problems may shorten athletes lives. This is only the latest exarhple of the high cost of victory on an international scale. There are rumours that some female gymnasts are given drugs to slow down puberty because women reach their peak in gymnastics before the changes brought on by puberty change the muscle to weight ratio. , We do know that in Eastern Block countries the best young athletes in the country 'are recruited early and taken away from their families to central locations where they can get the best of coaching and competition. in the U.S. distortions in sports are seen at an older age where universities often rig the academic qualifications of good athletes so they can get into college and then spend most of their time being stars of the university teams, not students. in Canada in our nationalistic furies, we have agonized about not being on the winner's podium often enough. While we haven't started taking young children away We have good social assistance It's still too danged hot and dry to get steamed up about anything, if you can figure out that mangled metaphor, so I'm going to give you something light, yet not without weight. This came to me via Jack Ryan, who clipped it from someone who had reprinted it from the newsletter of the English equivalent of the Workmen's CoMpensation Board. Therefore, it's at least fotfeth hand, but I'm sure it will tickle the risibilities of any person who has ever had to deal with the civil service, whether it be Revenue Canada, the County Weed Commission, or the Sewage Committee of the Town Council. It's a bricklayer's report for compensation for an accident. It might be entitled Poor Planning. Here it goes: "Dear Sir: i am writing in response to your request for additional Information in Block 3 of the accident reporting form. 1 put "Poor Planning" as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that i should explain more fully and i trust that the following details will be sufficient. "I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, i was working alone on the roof of a flew six -storey building. When 1 completed my work, 1 discovered that 1 had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry them down by hand, 1 decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which, fortunately, was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor. ��goQ ©fid Mc* by BOO k1 8lco y from their parents to train (in fact have prevented professional hockey teams from doing this) or perverted university education, we have started to find ways to provide public money to athletes, in a sense, making them a surogate army to fight for our glory. Giving the money so that athletes could train full time, so they could have top coaching and equipment, has moved more Canadians near the top but not to it. But the must decide if we really want to pay the cost of winning. is it so important to win that we will start playing by the new rules of competition, of drug taking, of taking away the youthful years of athletes in the name of winning for •the motherland? Is it worth taking away the glory of the individual performance and replacing it with the 'victory of teams of coaches and scientists? Do we really want to play this new game even if we could win it? "Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then 1 went back to the ground and untied it slightly to insure the slow descent of the S00 pounds of bricks. You will note in Block 11 of the accident form that my weight is 135 pounds. - "Needless to say, I was jerked off my feet so suddenly that 1 forgot to let go of the rope. Due to my surprise, 1 proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. "In the vicinity of the third Floor, 1 met the hazard, which was now proceeding in a downward direction at an equally impressive rate of speed. This explains the fractured shoulder. "Slowed only slightly, 1 continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the two fingers of my right hand were knuckled deep into the pulley which 1 mentioned in paragraph 2 of this correspondence. "Fortunately, by this time, i had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of the excruciating pain i was now beginning to experience. "At approximately the same time, how- ever, the barrel of bricks hit the ground — and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now, devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel weighed approximately 50 pounds. i refer you again to my weight in block 11. As you might imagine, 1 began a rapid descent down the side of the building. "In the vicinity of the third floor. I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and severe laceration of my legs and lour body. "Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when 1 fell into the pile of bricks and. fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. "I am sorry to report, however, that as i lay there on the pile of bricks in pain, unable to move, and watching the empty barrel six stories above me, 1 again lost my mind and let go of the rope. "Sincerely XYZ." 1 know that Workmen's Compensation Boards get stories like this, and even more fanciful. but they're a hardnosed lot, and 1 programs hope this bricklayer got tull compensation, and was out moonlighting on a construction job two weeks later, purely for his imagina- tion. We have a pretty good social assistance system in Canada, one of the best in the world, even though I'm one of the "middle- class" who get stuck for most of it. There aren't too many people really hungry in this country. There are very few people who can't get medical attention when they need it. We talk about a "poverty level" in this country that would be riches to most of the people in the so -Called Third World. 1 was talking to my son the other night, swatting mosquitoes in the back yard. He's lived in a dictatorship. i've fought against one. We talked about the best place in the world to live. We don't always, even often, agree. But we decided, unanimously, that Ca- ada, despite its vagaries of politics, economy, and weather, was just about the first choice in the world to be born, recreate, find a decent living, raise a family, and die. Without someone breathing down your neck every minute. !think I'II stick around, as long as The Lord lets me, Where else can you feel morally superior to a vast nation next door to you?