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The Huron Expositor, 1983-09-14, Page 2Qa Biu! AWARD AWARr 19&3 lie3iuron (.xposilor--- Since 1860, Serving the Community first Incorporating Brussels Post founded 1872 12 Main St. 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 $17.75 a year (In advance) outside Canada $50. a year (In advance) Single Copies - 50 cenis each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1983 Second class mall registration number 0696 Statistics alarming Recently, three game show contestants were asked if they would rather live a life similar to their childhood, or the lifestyle of today. Two middle aged contestants chose childhood, and the younger competitor was satisfied with life today. It Is understandable why two would prefer a style of the 50s and 60s. Sure there were problems, but they were not as evident as they are today. Who worried about nuclear war, back then, or radioactive leaks; jets being shot down; men fined for sex crimes with a 14 -year-old; or the problem of providing housing for "wandering youth" aged 16 to 21, all recent news items in the dailies. More disturbing is an article which appeared In the American Medical News. A national study found that about 25 per cent of all fourth grade children felt pressured by their friends to try drugs and alcohol. By the time the kids reached seventh grade, 60 per cent felt pressure to try liquor and 50 per cent felt pressure to try marijuana. These kids are only 12 -years -old. Unbelievable as it may sound, children as early as fourth grade believe some kids their age have used hard drugs such as cocaine, LSD or "angel dust". These kids are only nine -years -old. Seaforth, a small, rural community, doesn't have to worry. Right? Wrong. "The level of awareness present in grades four, five and six students was astounding," says Paul Carroll„ principal of Seaforth Public School. "They are very aware of what'$ going on." Although we are probably less apt to be exposed to problems with our children, we shouldn't fool ourselves that liquor or drug problems are non-existent because we live in a small town. "The level of awareness our kids have, is shocking to adults," says Mr. Carroll. "We don't give as much credit to kids of what they know, as we should." Peer pressure is a factor in what kids think or do. Even in Seaforth. It is a factor in decisions kids make whether about jogging suit styles or, drugs. Each year, the Seaforth Public School holds awareness programs to which parents are invited. Last year, the school, through the Ontario Association of Police Chiefs presented, "Consider the Source." But very few parents attended. The kids are aware of what's going on around them. But are their parents? As parents, we must be able to answer our child's questions, not sidetrack the issue. - "Kids often ask about things they see on television or read in newspapers," says Mr. Carroll. "In my own family, we have talked about drugs for three years and my oldest son is now 10. We were responding to questions he asked, but I don't know if all parents respond." . Parents must keep lines of communication open with their children and show them how' to "have a good time" without getting involved with alcohol and drugs. This also means they must spend more time with their kids, knowing what they are doing in their leisure time - and with whom. Do you know where your children are? - R.W. Cash or charge? Got a problem with money? As in, you don't have any? Relax. Evidence is mounting that you soon won't be able to spend it anyway. That is, as long as it's cash. First we heard a constant "is that cash or charge?" every time we attempted to buy at a major department store. An acquaintance tells a tale of trying to pay for a document at an American government office. "We can't take cash," he was told. He offered a cheque, but it was a Canadian cheque and that met with disfavor. "Please take my cash," (American cash), he pleased, but to no avail. The impasse was broken only after he went to the post office next door, used the American cash to purchase an American money order, and handed that to the bureaucrats. A couple of weeks ago a Calgary man who tried to pay cash for a Pacific Western Airlines ticket was told it would cost him $5 more than if he used a credit card. It's more work if someone pays cash, a manager explains. Office routine is organized around the paper that credit card transactions produce. The latest episode we heard is from friends who were making reservations with. a travel agent. "We'll take credit cards. We'll take cheques and they needn't be certified cheques. We'd rather not have cash," the travellers were told. Ah, well. It's old fashioned, bulky and dirty stuff anyway. And it's obviously going the way of beads and shells. - S.W. `r© @d°o © Advertisement was right It has been brought to the attention of the Brussels Agricultural Society that there appeared to be a discrepancy in the advertising for the recent Family Brown Concert held on Saturday, May 30. 1983 at the Brussdls, Morris and Grey Community Centre. As President of the society, I would like to clarify the situation. The contract with The Family Brown Ltd. stated that the hours of engagement and starting time were 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Therefore our advertising for this event included the above times. When I met with the ernup's leader prior to the concert, he OpOodon notified me that they would start the concert at 8:30 p.m. and continue to 1:00 a.m. Since the contract was not available to verify the starting time of the/concert, we waited until the seating area was nearly full before beginning the concert. On behalf of the Brussels Agricultural Society. 1 extend an apology to those in the audience who were inconvenienced by the delay of the concert. Yours truly Neil Hemingway, President Brussels Agricultural Society A farm accident remembered Seventy-five years ago, a freak and painful accident happened on lot 32, Con. 5. Logan Tow nshi f owned by Joe Burns, three miles N F of Dublin. With a traction steam engine and a threshing machine, they were planning to thresh the farmers two grain stacks. As the men were all ready to work, Henry Wesenberg. the Ihresherman, and Charles Ahrens. his engineer, decided to start the wheels turning even before Mr. Wesenberg had not finished greasing and oiling some of the bearings. So he reached through between the belt and pulley and he had forgotten to button the sleeve of his smock. Then a plop and "bang" everything stopped. Please see FARM page 3 Cleared for take -off Photos by Ron Wassink Learning to sail in Goderich harbor Fair enough, we'll learn. My husband, with his usual forthrightness, went to a Ipcal dock and asked around. Eventually a kind' sailor (most of them are, we've discovered) took him out on a teaching trip. Eventually he crewed, with three people who knew what they were doing, on the long and boring stretch between Goderich and Tobermory. It took 20 hours out of his life, and some of his enthusiasm for sailing. The kid and i drove to Tobermory (four hours for a lovely, leisurely, plenty to see trip) to bring him home. • 1 saw enough to get intrigued; he hadn't . experienced enough to be totally turned off so next step was sailing lessons. in nice 30 Most of us are so involved in our own little worlds...busy, busy, routine, routine ....that it comes as a shock to discover that there are others. Yes, other subjects and interests that are fascinating, all-encompassing, and as involving and invigorating to true believers as our little worlds are (or used to be, or could be) to us. FORESTAY? if in the middle of an otherwise perfectly normal conversation about kids, work and the garden. 1 suddenly throw in words like "halyard, bowline, beam reach and fore- stay" you'll think I've lost my mind. What 1 have done in fact is take a few tentative steps into another world....(are you ready?) sail- ing. Oh I've sailed before. As a passenger, on friends' trusty and tiny old scow. And my husband's family has owned a flat board with 5o@t[Ong 'Vo gay b� SUI5c if�11 °W` M@ a sail on top of it for 20 years or so. While the better half operates the rudder and the sail, i've gone along for the ride. But 1 didn't really know, or care, anything about it. The complete involvement, the glassy -eyed con- centration that happens when sailors talk to other sailors was incomprehensible to me. HORSE LOVERS Sort of the way i feel about horse lovers, dedicated joggers, or the possessors of any obsession that 1 don't share. And the way they feel about my fascination for words, quilts and well-written biographies. But, we peered a little bit into the sailing world this summer. And we liked what we saw. Sort of. it all started because we thought renting a sail boat might be a really quiet, getting -away -from-it-all vacation. Nothing fancy, no long trips, just a little in and out, up and down a coast somewhere, spending lots of time at the dock. No storms, high waves or rough weather allowed. Sounds good, but those who own and charter valuable sailboats have this funny idea that you must prove you know how to sail before they will take your money. Please see SAIkIj 1G page 3 Small is beautiful, but it's being squeezed out Many in Canada, including most provincial premiers, look forward to the day when Pierre Trudeau departs the political scene because they think it will bring an end to what they consider his centralizing tendencies. They may have to fight an even larger talc against centralization, however, in the form of a stronger enemy: modern technology and economics. There has been more and more emphasis in recent years, on the need to decentralize the political structure. There have been calls for more power to the provinces, more power to the municipalities. in order to bring govern- ment closer to the people. But in ordinary life, the trend seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Modern technology and economies of scale. particularly in communications, are threatening to make us what some have called a "global village" but might better be called a "global suburb." In television, for instance, while costs of producing shows have risen to astonomical heights, satellite communications have made it possible for a few to make larger profits than ever before for the few, Take the case of a controversy in Saskatchewan right now, Local cable com• [3@[ own 2•C@EGO b}y KG,Nh Mullz,mot panies, at the urging of complaining customers, have asked the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission) for permission to change from bringing in U.S. stations from just across the border because they don't have strong signals and instead bring in satellite signals from stations in Detroit and Seattle. Opposition has come from local television stations in Saskatche- wan which can see the beginning of their end as satellites beam signals from a few huge stations at a fraction of the cost per customer. Faced with competition from super stations which can cover half the world, how does a small local station exist? AN EXAMPLE We have a graphic example right in our own backyard. in the early 1960s before the proliferation of cable television, CKNX television produced incredible amounts of local programming, There were women's shows in the aliu„wuu, mobil: shows, news shows, all adding up to making the station an integral part of local communities. But the station in those days had little competition. People were still willing to accept the rather primitive production qualities of the CKN) shows. When more and more television became available two things happened: on the one hand people saw more of the Hollywood shows that cost millions to make and turned their back on the local product made on a shoestring, and on the other, with so many stations available, the limited number of viewers in our rural area became split to the point the market wasn't interesting to big-time national advertisers. Why, if you were the advertising agency for Proctor and Gamble would you spend money on CKNX if you're getting a good part of the area audience on Global? If you're advertising on some American superchannel, then you won't even have to bother advertising in all of Canada. SPELLS TROUBLE Modern technology harnessed to the profit-seeking private industry spells trouble for community unity, regionalism within a country and for whole countries who want to do more than be bombarded with a foreign culture. Local television stations are in trouble. Local newspapers may follow if the trend people predict comes true and we get all our news electronically. But the trend favors the already powerful. As superstations grow we will get our news and views filtered through powerful city stations. Since the United States has much of the wealth and the apparatus to produce television, we will be even more dominated by U.S. culture. So will tiny countries on the other side of the world that have been protected by distance until now, That's why we should call it a global suburb because like a suburb, the rest of the world will be dominated by the major centres of money and population. For those who worry about a sense of community, about human scale and one-to-one relationships, the future may not be as rosy as the futurists predict. Summer is the reason we can survive winter Well. you can't say it hasn't been a hummer of a summer. with all those bright hot days beckoning everybody to the golf course and the beach. Who's at the beach? Who's at the golf course? Well, 1 know who's at the beach. The cops. 1 took the boys out for a swim one blazing afternoon, found what 1 thought was a fairly legal spot, even though it said "Nn Parking, ' and it cost me 10 bucks. Why aren't our boys in blue out chasing motorcycle gangs. instead of hanging tickets on doting (doty?) grandfathers? 1 guess it's fairly simple. They re not going to be beaten up by the odd grandfather. Just to add to my summer fun is a busted eardrum that isn't healing. But even that has advantages. If 1 push my finger into my good ear. I can't hear a word my wife is saying. It drives her woolly, because i've been pretending for years that 1 was getting deaf when she went into a tirade. "Why haven't you trimmed the hedge?" Eh? swept the ledge? "Why don't you get the grass cut?" "Watch your language, lady " "Why aren't you useful about the house. like other husbands?' "Eh, 1 wouldn't be seen ��goQ clad Mc@ by I38MIi $w1i OO@y dead in a Mother Hubbard?" Just to add to my summer fun, my English staff has disintegrated, in almost one swell foop. One lady, an outstanding teacher, has become sick of the system. pulled out and started her own business. Another has gone on half-time, so he can write poetry. Two others are knocked out for some time with heart trouble. Another has been having a baby, with six months leave. Her kid will be ready for Day -Care by the time she gets back. i'll probably wind up with a couple of jocks who don't know the difference between, "1 seen the both of them," and "The whole team wore gloves on its right hand," or "Shakgspeare wrote in longhand because the. typewriter was not yet invited." However, as summer wanes, don't think we haven't had a swell time. My wife took a music course, driving 60 miles a day to do it. 1 had some nice trips, too. To the beach - $IU. Eight miles. We talk vaguely about going to Stratford or the Shaw Festival, and wind up watching a re -run of "Dallas." I sit in the backyard trying to get inspiration from the trees and all 1 can see is dust, and all 1 can hear is bulldozers. Speaking of dust, that's all you'll be able to see of me, even if it's only snow -dust, come Dec. 31. And I'm sure you had a lovely summer. too, with all those relatives dropping in. just at meal -time. No. no, they wouldn't think of staying for lunch. it would be an imposition, which it is. Half afi hour later, they've drunk all your beer, commented on your "lovely" house, anddowned the canned ham you were saving for an emergency, gobbled the fresh corn you were saving for supper, and cleaned up your fresh green beans. • You don't even know whether the guy's name is Rob or Rod, or whether the woman's name is Myrtle or Marg. You just sit there in the debris. not caring, and hating their kid for breaking a branch off your lilac tree. Summers, on the whole, though, are therapeutic. They make you realize how horrible winter is in this country. They make you realize you are too fat and blowsy, and that, next winter, you're going to ski and walk in the snow, and not be such a slob, eating pig food and lying around like a eunuch or a harem member. And, of course, when winter comes, you realize that you must keep up your strength by eating lots of carbohydrates to beat the cold, and watching TV "to keep up with things," and that next summer you're going to exercise and get fit and brown by running down in the car to the supermarket, and jogging all the way from the car to the house with the groceries, and striding angrily across to the boy who cuts your lawn and demanding why he hasn't cut it. And all the time, millions of kids are starving in Asia and Africa. Serves them right. They should have been born in Canada• e t•