HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-07-12, Page 3• MESS LEFT BEHIND — Vandals did over $1,000 in damage sometime
Tuesday night when they broke into the Seaforth Legion. About $135 was
stolen and police have .three suspects. . 6
(Photo by Frank Phillips)
•
Something to say
• Although I come from a
family of bird lovers, 1 don't
really share their sentiments.
(The 25 chickens in my
backyard which we're going
to eat next winter are per-
haps an exception.)
That makes it tough for me
at gatherings like our recent
family reunion, when talk
gets around to departed
dear departed who received
hostess's pet bird Stirling.
Now it's been more than a
year since Stirling passed on,
but his absence was really
•noticed this year, because
the reunion was held at his
owner's (mother's?) house.
Stirling was a special bird
and his owners, my cousins,
are special people. And while
we no longer had Stirling
swooping around the room
family members, One of the
mention this year was the
a
•
joining in the festivities,
there are subtle reminders
all over the house that- bird
lovers live here. Paintings of
birds, china and metal birds I
mean, not the unwelcome
bird reminders that most of
us find on our newly washed
cars out on the driveway.
The funniest Stirling story
is the tale of one Hallowe'en
when my cousins, both
students 'then, lived in a
small apartment, • with
Stirling of course. Oh yes,
Stirling was a budgie and he
• had a normal bird cage, but
he was rarely in it. -
• The cousins were • very
friendly with another student
couple who lived upstairs.
One October • 31. Stirling
wanted to take part in things
rather than just getting
scared out of his wits when
small ghosts and goblins
• HAERY HINCIKEY
There must be hundreds of former pupils,
now scattered to all parts of the world who,
would be sorry to see the old Seaforth;
Ptiblic School fall before the wreckeen
hammer. 114any of us have never been
inside the building since before we left to
"try the Entrance." Perhaps we never
again will even see the old building. But we
all have memories of the ,day.s we spent at
the old school.
The year 1 graduated from pittilic school
one of the great events was the Coronation
of King George V. Another great event In
Seaforth was the oiling of Goderich Smelt.
With black oil all over the road we had to•
ride our bicycles on the sidewalk.
A great attraction was the horse races
which for many years ,used to always be
held at the Fair Grounds in June. We boys
had no money to buy tickets and we might
not have clone so even if we did have the
funds. We wanted to see the races so we
did the next best thing. We crawled
through a hole in the fence. We all knew
where there happened to be a loose board
that with a very slight push would swing
open so we could squeeze through.
Inside the fence was a guard who was
usually an elderly gentleman who walked
with a cane. We would delegate the
bravest and most daring of our number to
slip through cracks in the fence. Once
inside our friend would be pursued by the
gentleman with the cane. His chase was
doomed to failure. The boy was too fleet
of foot although perhaps in fairness to the
guard he did not strive much beyond the
call to duty anyway,
This " was the chance for the rest of us.
One after another we quickly went through
the hole and scattered. Then, .as pre-
arranged, we sould meet near the Grand
Stand not far from the Wheel of Fortune -(2
knocked at the front door.
So Stirling's owners made
a little black cape, a tiny
peaked hat and maybe even a
broom and got him dressed
up for Hallowe'en. He was, if
handled right, a docile bird.
They took little trick or
treat Stirling upstairs to the
door of their friends' apart-
ment, knocked, yelled trick
or treat and beat it around
the corner.
When Joe and Jane
opened the front door they
• found a three inch high
witch, demanding
- Hallowe'en goodies. It's
true, 1 swear it, although
maybe you'd have to know
the cousins involved to blieve
When Stirling passed on,
since he lived in Ottawa. he
rated practically a state
funeral or at least a short
Id hate t
*TS and a trey.) Or We *Olt littger' Mat
the stand and, wonder About the taste Of a
teal Coney Island Red -Hot and wish we
bad enoueli Money to buy one.
those days J.T. Curtis (Jerry to us)
Was PrindPal of the Palle School, His
assistants included Miss Mackay (always
Min) and the Misses Gillespie, Steeds and
Bethune. Miss McLean was in charge of
the Kindergarten but she was over 0,, e
"little kids" and they were beneath, our
Pnotice.
Jerry was a good teacher, 'But he had his
•Win ideas of discipline. One time Reg Reid
and I were guilty of some infraction of one
of,. his rules. Our punishment was to get
down on our hands and knees, take our
• pocket knives and scratch the ink spots off
the floor. There were plenty tog because in
those days before the baU point pen all our
desks had ink wells.
Another time Jerry made a rule that
after dinner no pupil was to return to
school before 1 o'clock, In those days
public school students did not wear wrist
watches so we had no way to check the
time. Anyway we did not see why we
should cut short our games period so a
good many of us boys just went back to
school at our regular time, which happened
to be before 1 o'clock.
Along came Jerry and into the yard. "All
right, you boys, into the school. I want to
talk to you." In we went and took our
seats. Then in came Jerry and he closed
the door and began - and 1 still remember
his words - "Since I carne into the school
yard, the clock has struck, the bell has rung
- and the whistle has blown. And you were
• all here before 1 was . .
One time in early winter when the snow
was good for packing we spent the morning
and forenoon recess in rolling up big balls
•yo u Stir ing
I The old Seaforth
which hangs out in the back S d _
ugar an spice
It of course was not to be By Bill Smiley
•
1
H
,
;
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, 'WY 04.W*
of snow and piling them to make a huge
0>rt. Then after this was done JerrYis
room. 1 think it was, took possession of, the
tett while the rest of the school endeavored
dislodge them in a big snowball battle.
Now, as we all knew, throwing snowballs,
during school, hours was in direct contra:
vention of Jerry's rules, He promptly
appeared and ordered every boy into the
school. Then one by one, beginning with
the smallest he brought every boy before
the older boys of the Fourth Oats who.
acted as members of the court.
The trial consisted of one question
"Did he throw snowballs?" If the answer.
Was in the affirmative, - and it usoally •••
the sentence Wu swift-
"H_old out your hand." And down came.
Jerry's strap.
During the course Of the afternoon there
must have been dose to 5 Score boys who
,101t the weight of Jerry's Strap. It could.
tante been the biggest mass straPFinilin
the history of $eaforth.
The old school has a certain dignity and
style of architecture of its own. It is a part
of Seaforth. Let us hope that some use .May,
be found for the old building and that at
least the 'trent walls. tea), be pmerve4
listact•
Public School on Church St.
memorial service on the back
lawn. • His owners were
miffed when another cousin,
after all he's a civil servant,
failed to get a half day off
work for the occasion.
• Stirling was well known in
Seaforth, he even travelled
here on vacation once in
awhile. He rated the Huron.
Expositor on ce too when
some f thefamily
• "Mr. and Mrs. Smith and
Stirling in Ottawa" and it
was recorded in the local
briefs. •
Stirling's "grandmother"
was then berated by friends
from here vvho said "how
come you didn't let us know
they'd had a new baby?"
• It's hard to understand
why Stirling's owners
haven't been able to bring
themselves to get another
bird. (Unless it's because
they were too busy planning
a four day family reunion.)
But we noticed they do
spend an awful lot of time at
the bird feeder by their back
door.
And probably the most
welcome news to the bird
lovingbranch of the family
during our invasion of
Ottawa, was the fact that my
better a is cultivating his
own bird batch out in
McKillop.
They'll be right up to see it
their first free weekend, the
cousins assured us. And they
don't mean the chickens.'
No, they were delighted by
news of the other birds at our
place, the ones that are
sorely trying my non -bird
loving nature. •A starling you
see built it's nest in my
husband's old Bo S t h
porch. • •
disturbed, even if that meant
all so mother bird could get
not locking the back door at in and out to sit on her eggs. .
A sigh of rehef
We've • now got five
starlings in that nest in the
back porch and when mother
starts teaching them to fly,
and as the bird droppings
increase in quantity -1 hope
that will be soon, wove got.
front row seats from the
kitchen door.
The Ottawa cousins had
better hurry if they want to
see it all.
But failing that, we've
• promised, guaranteed, that
we'll loan them the Boy
Scout hat so they can installit
near their bird feeder at
home and hope,
fugees
ne in Per
BY USE GUNBY
• The bright -faced young men and women
are already speaking in halting, but clear
English. Their apartment is neat and
• well -furnished. They have already worked
at part time jobs.
, The seven refugees from Vietnam were
homeless only one month ago. Now, with
the help of the Tavistock Mennonite
Church, they are comfortably settled in an
• apartment in Tavistoc%.
Once professional people in Vietnam,
they were subjected to high taxes, wage
• cuts, and finally, a choice of going to a
labour camp or leaving the country.
• In Vietnam, the ethnic Chinese, as these
people are, cannot own businesses or go on
to a higher education. After the. North
1 Vietnamese were declared victorious, the
Chinese students could no longer learn
Chinese in the Vietnamese schools.
The family is made up of three brothers
and two sisters. The oldest sister is
accompanied by her husband and their 18
month old baby, bringing the number of
extended family members to seven.
The parents and a younger brother and
sister had to remain behind because they
didn't have the money for the trip. The
refugees must pay the government to leave
Vietnam.
Their names are as follows, written with
the family name first; Houng Hue Hai,
Holing Hue Thanh, Houng Hue Chung,
Houng Hue Dung, Houng Thi , Ngoc, Tram
• Banh Tai, and Tram Bich Van.
The husband, Tram Ban Tai, sold his 65
passenger bus in order to leave Vietnam.
Additional funds came from the father, a
dentist. The seven able to leave pooled
their money with 510 others to purchase
fare on a boat to Thailand. They fled Ho
Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) by night,
arriving at Thailand safely despite the lack
of food, a leaking boat, and being chased
by Thailand pirates who have cruised the
China Sea for centuries and are now
plundering refugee boats.
They were rescued after two days at sea
by a Thailand freighter, where they spent
two weeks. A child was born at sea, raising
the party's number to 518. The freighter
took them to a camp on the maisiland,
where they lived for two months.
When the family fled the country, they
did not know where they would go. Only
after they reached Thailand were they told
they could make their home in Winnipeg,
Manitoba. They were flown to Canada via
• Paris, France. They will repay the
Canadian government for the 54,500 air
fare.
In the 'meantime, the Tavistock Men-
nonite Church had signed up to take a
refugee family, and the members were
settling in for a six to eight week wait. On
May 24, they applied. On June 8, the
family was in Canada.
At 11:55 a.m., both the church and the
refugee family found that Winnipeg would
not take the family. Manitoba does not
recognize a sister as a guardian, and does
not admit extended families.
The federal government was contacted
in Ottawa, and the Ttivistock church
sponsors traced.
By 2:30 p.m. that same day, the
Tavistock church said they would take the
family, even though they hadn't had tinte
to prepare for them.
The Mennonite churches are working
under the Mennonite Central Committee
(MCC), an umbrella group which co-
ordinates the effort. to sponsor the
refugees.
The Vietnamese family was picked up by
a limousine at the Toronto airport, and was
billeted temporarily in a Kitchener home
prepared for another refugee family, with
the help of the MCC,
David Jutzi, co-ordinator for the Tavi,
stock Mennonite Church comMittee, made
an announcement in church that Sunday,
asking people to reaffirm their commit,
ment and request furnishing for the
apartment.
The response Was wonderful. 13y Tues.,
day, the new home was completely
furnished, right down to the last ,detail -
bicycles 'for the young eOple
A HOME IN CANADA—Three members of a family bf seven Vietnamese
• refugees who found a home in Tavistock in "comfortable" Canada. From
left to right are Houng Hue Hai, his brother-in-law, Tram Banh Tai, and
• his brother, Houng Hue Thanh.
• Houng Flua Thanh (pronounced Tonne)
explains his need to leave Vietnam. Thanh,
is 17. He has not been to school since 1975.
If he had stayed, he would have had to
become a soldier. He wants to become a
dentist. But in order to be a dentist in
Vietnam after the revolution, he would
' have had to have • a relative in the
government, and get permission to follow
his career.
Thanh took some English in school.
"Really, in Vietnam," he said, "the battle
,never stops."
"We want to have abrighter future than
we would have had in Vietnam," said
But the Most important reason for
coming here, he said, is that "Canada is
the freedom country." He "couldn't live
with the communists."
The family is receiving five weeks of
special English classes. The sister and her
three brothers will be going to high school
in the fall. In addition to taking the English
classes in Kitchener, which are run by the.
Waterloo County Board of Education, Mrs,
Doris Bender, a church member and
supply teacher, is helping the family.
The family hopes that the parents and
younger siblings can come to Canada as
well. At present, the Canadian government
is trying to get an agreement with Vietnam
to allow the reunification of families, said
Mr. Jutzi, co-ordinator of the Tavistock
program.
The church is responsible for the family
•
for one year, and will supply housing,
clothing, medical care, employment and
education needs. The government has cut
much of the red tape surrounding the
issuing of SIN numbers and OHIP coverage
for the refugees.
• The husband, Tai, 25, is a dental
technician, and has accepted a job in
Woodstock. His wife, Ngoc, 23, is a
seamstress. Her younger sister, 20,
assisted her father with his dental office
and is an accomplished embroiderer.
Thanh has worked at hairdregsing and'
barbering in Vietnam. The two youngest
boys are 14 and 13, and the baby is 118
months.
A committee has already been set up to
find jobs for all. Eventually, within 10 km,
of Tavistock, four churches will take in
seven families.
- "It's a real challenge for Canada right
now, for individuals, groups and churches
to pick ,this up," said Mr. Jutti,
Canadian immigration sets a 100,000
limit on immigrants, he said, and the
Vietnamese refugees arc a percentage of
that figure, so Canada iS not letting ih any
none immigrants than usual. The MCC has
agreed to take in 500, and already has 350,
Quebec, said Mr. Jutti, has taken in 4,000
out of the 5,000 so far,
"We're pretty lueity to live in Canada,"
• Said Mr, Jutzi. •
And, said Thanh, "The important thing
is freedom.''
Every year, when July rolls around, I
breathe a pretty heavy sigh .of relief. Not
holiday Ahead. That's nice. But I can teach
• back. And I'm not that wild about holidays.
No, the reason for the relief is that I have
managed to wiggle my way through
another year of being a department head
• without having any deaths, suicides or
• nervous break -downs among my staff.
Being head of a large department in a
large high school would seem to be a rather
enviable position. You are paid extra for it,
• and usually teach one less class than the
• other teachers. •
Those are the good aspects. But there
are others, and they are not all a piece of
cake. I won't bother moaning about the
incessant paper work, the scrambling to
stay within a meagre budget with cost of
books soaring steadily, the taking of
• inventory of about twenty thousand books.
Those are the drudge jobs, and everyone
has some of this in his work.
because school is over and there's a long
English with one hand tied behind my
•
It's the personalities involved that make
the job something less than a sinecure. A
department head must be a combination of
Momma, Polonius, Machiavelli, Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde, a priest, Napoleon and a
touch of a psychiatrist.
For one thing, English teachers are a bit
more creative, articulate and rebellious
than most of their contemporaries, perhaps
because they continually deal with ideas,
not facts. Ideas are shifty things, and the
conveying of them to students is more
slippery than the teaching of more prag-
matic subjects: science, math, geography, .
• sholss'a result, the English deparment head
• must serve as a wailing wall for his
teachers who loudly and sometimes
• tearfully vent their frustratioss at their
inability to impart their own skills to their
students. He must oil the joints of his
department frequentlY, when some of its
members seem about to come to blows with
each other. He must act as a buffer
between them and the administration. And
he must stand up for them vigorously when
someone is trying to shaft them.
Now, I hope you are not expecting me to
say that I do all these things. A pat on the
back here, a word of praise there, a
shoulder to cry on, long one-on-one talks to
restore their confidence, a stern rep-
rimand when necessary, frequent depart -
Ment meetings where we "talk things
out,' '
Not at all. If I tried to do all those things,
I'd have been committed or had a heart
attack long ago. 1 just leave them alone, let
them crack up or break down, and try to
show them, with invincible calm, my Old
theory that there is nothing, absolutely
, nothing in this world to get elated about.
It seems to work pretty well. I am rather
shy and don't get involved in their personal
lives, except to listen once in a while, if I
• can't avoid it. When they are seriously ill, I
don't bug them, don't even go to see them.
We've had three department members
with serious heart trouble in the last three
years. They're all back on the job better
than ever. Probably because I left them
• alone, didn't show any particular sympathy
• and let them solve it themselves.
When a couple of members are at each
others throats, I tell them to sort it out
themselves not come running to me for
help.
We'd never think of having a meeting at
which we "let it all hang out." We have
the shortest department meetings in school.
Most of them are taken up with ribaldry, a
• little business, and a quick acceptance of a
motion for adjournment.
We have quite an assortment. Three
• working mothers. One artist. One student
who has been taking extremely difficult
courses for several years. One poet, One
guy writing a novel. One syndicated
• columnist. Three of us are former
• newspaper people. One lady teacher is a
dsaolgagryedcoamnmfte
and ideete.rmined member of the
We have a devoted Catholic and a couple
of agnostics. We have a mixture of racial
backgrounds: Polish, Scotish, Irish, Greek,
French-Canadian and German.
Occasionally, one or two members of the
department need a good blast from their
head for recalcitrance, mopery or gawk.
But I am psychologically unable to ream
• somebody out, and the trouble usually goes
,away, like bad weather.
Once in a while, when I become a little
depressed at the way they are draining me,
without knowing it, I take out a booklet
entitled, "Duties of a Department Head."
This gives me a good laugh, when I realize
that I am a lousy department head, and I
feel better.
There is only one area in which I fulfil my
function. And this is 'a holdover from
wartime. A good officer always defends the
men under him. Unless, of course, they are
hopelessly incompetent. When somebody
climbs on the back of a member of my
department, the usually benevolent Bill
Smiley unsheathes his claws, and the
attacker backs off. •„.
Some departments have lengthy meet-
ings, terrific infighting, and resultant
smoulderings. We have the happiest, most
relaxed department in the school.
Just want to say thanks, guys, for a good
year. And 'nett fall, don't tell me your
gtrcrentabtlesye,ar,tell your husband or wife or
Mother or kids, and we'll have another
To the editor:
• (Coritinned from Page 2)
names were added to the already collected
list of the Winghato Centennial Invitational
Committee who then mailed out all the
invitations. However, we know we did not
get all the names and addresses of those
•involved in the Winghatn educational
systems and we are hoping that those who
know about it will spread the word and invite
any who attended or were involved in
0
agiitt44......_40,,,.,...., 4..
Schools in Wingham throughout the years to
"Come Back To School" Saturday morning,
August 4th,
The school bells are ringing to welcome an
back.
We are looking forward to a happy
reunion. Be sure and come. '
The Winghatn Centennial School
Reunion Committeee,
Florence Iteavie, Chairmen