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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-10-18, Page 31-' Sui'vey shows residents Iiike it BY ALICE GIBB A. bad press, lack of representation, .on Tuckersmith council, abandoned town+ houses and the need for more industries, were some of the problems discussed by Vanastra residents at a public meeting on Monday night to, discuss results of a recent community survey, The survey of community residents,. including businessmen, teenagers and parents of children, attending Vanastra Public School, was, co-ordinated by Nancy Anstett, then working for the Vanastra. 'Resource Centre. The Secetary of State's Office funded the research with. a $1880 grant. The meeting opened with Mrs. Anstett presenting the results of the survey to an audience of about 50 people. After chairman Hank Bonte-Gelok reported on discussion of the survey results at a meeting of local; service club members, the audience hadan opportunity to suggest their own solutions to the community's problems. Vanastra, which was the Clinton Air Base until 1971, was sold to a Galt firm, Rodema Investments, and Development Ltd., for $468,000. The town, which covers 258 acres of land, contained everything from a theatre to bowling alleays, arena and a hospital. As Nancy Anstett said in the introduction to the survey results, "Vanastra rapidly developed the repution of being a low income settlement or welfare community." She, said much of the population was transient in the early years of the community's life, and "mainly low income and one parent families were attracted because of the inexpensive housing available.'" In reporting the survey results, Mrs. Anstett said this has now chanced. Other comments in the ,survey included criticism of Tuckersmith Township council, the prohibitive cost of recreation center activities, lack of representation on council, and the area press; "We are belittled, condemned and given a poor self image as a community," one respondent wrote, . about newspaper coverage of Vanastra. All of the businessmen. interviewed . said they wanted to see more businesses in the community. "I would like to see anything in retail and manufacturing. There is lots of opportunity if the council wants to promote it," one man said. "Because of the fact we industry and farming is our biggest industry, why not go after the: farm trade? There are all kinds of fuel_ equipment chemicals, seeds and everything else that could be brougth in. I, feel this is where the push should be. We are a farming area," was another comment. A change businessmen wanted was a general clean-up of the community. "If everyone pitched in, it would be ford the.._ good of all," said one. Another told; Mrs. Anstett he, would like to see the garbage cleaned up in the commercial and industrial areas, and old. buildings removed. "As it is, Vanastra gives a but impression to visitors. I hear that from all of the strangers .who come in," he said. A lengthier comment from another busi- nessman criticized Tuckersmith Township council. COUNCIL "Is the,money being returned to Vanastra or going out to the cdtinty roads? I feel it is not to the benefit of Vanastra being a part of .Tuckersmith. The residents should find out what is involved in making an individual town. What type of funds would be available .federally or provincially that would go towards a positive type of community? You can't have a community without having places for people to work. If ,residents go: elsewhere for work, it becomes: a satellite town of a major community,'" the business„ man told Mrs. Anstett. The survey also :interviewed Jack McLachlan, Tuckersmith clerk and John. Ross, principal of Vanastra Public School. Mi. McLachian said he had .noticed an immense improvement in the residential section of Vanastra in the last two years, He, also said he didn't feel Vanastra wouldever become a separate entity since the provincial government won't set up „arty more police villages, Mr. Ross told Mrs. Anstett when: the school was first opened in Vanastra, the people in, the community were generally suspicious of those working at the school. He said they felt the teachers weren't truly interested in their kids. He said this situation has changed recently, and community groups are now showing a special interest. in the school. One of the changes Mr. Ross would like to see is a different attitude on the part of -people outside the community to those living in: Vanatra. He said he feels the name Vanastra gives people negative vibes be- cause of the bad press it has. received. Mr. Ross said tie believes this is done to sell papers and is not necessarily true of the general way things are in Vanastra. Nancy Anstett told the audience they could still apply fora further $1200 grant from the Secretary of State's office to carry out a project suggested by the survey results. Cooks -here's your chance (Continued from Page 1) delectable Christmas recipes to this news- paper, the more I'll be .encouraged to explore- further than, the areas of bran muffins and chocolate cakes. I'm one of the worlds messiest bakers. My mother always told . me to put everything away as I used it, but. I prefer to see a good portion of the bag of flour on those dripping egg remains, sugar, and anything else that goes into the recipe scattered in, full view on the cupboard. That's one way of being able to see what i`ve accomplished. My bran muffin making expertise got started when in my summer holidays, my mother used to suggest I.could make them for dessert for supper. She neversuggest- ed that 1 learn to bake much else besides the chocolate cakeprobably because she hated looking at that messy cupboard. My .mother can follow a recipe by guesstimating, but not me. I follow all directions exactly. 1 don't know if that's why my bran muffins, turn out better than hers or not, but at least I'm able to bake something. ,For cooks like me, include detailed instructions with your recipe please. Those of us who write news fora living would like to learn more about baking and cooking and you readers could help us out immensely by sending in those recipes for the Christmas Cookbook. Recipes for main' dishes recipes for nearly everything : are welcome in_ he Christmas Cookbook. For details see the ad elsewhere in the paper. And if helping me learn to cook isn't enough of a reward; remember each recipe submitted by. Wednesday, October 24 has a chance to win one of 20 $2 prizes that will • be drawn that day. So, from one good (?) cook to another, get those recipes as many good ones as youwant to enter' - into the newspaper office soon. Night school enrollment here is highest yet Enrolment in Seaforth District High School's night school program this fall is the highest it has been in the five years of the school's operation with ` over . 100 people enrolled. Steve Hook, who co-ordinates the program, said the most popular' course has proved to be the crocheting class, taught by Bessie. Broome of Egmondville with 15 students.. The furniture refinishing course, taught by Harvey, Beuerman for the past four years, has also again proved popular and some people are taking the program Tor the second time. A new course *this year is Accounting for Farm and Business, offered by Tom Byers, a chartered accountant. Mr. Hook said PP,many eight eo le m n with an g agricultural background, are taking this course. Other courses include Ladies Keep Fit with Lynn. Devereaux, Quilting with Marie' Muegge, Flower Arranging with Jean. Vantyghem and Men's Basketball • with Howard. James. Mr. Hook said people are • always free to, call him with suggestions for programs they would like to see offered at night school. The crocheting course" was started this year after, two women suggested they'd like to learn the craft. People can still register for C of C plans annual meeting Plans for the annual'Street sidewalks would be dinner of the Chamber of used if proper stands were' Commerce were advanced at ,provided: and Ken a meeting Tuesday evening. Lingelbach agreed to• • Arrangements for the ' investigate. At the same time Q r re event scheduled for the the meeting agreed Legion Hall on Wednesday additional trash containers November 21 are in the • should be provided for Main hands of a committee headed Street and that the present by Nancy Larone. containers should be , The meeting agreed on a repaired and painted during. discussion of Main Street the winter. :development and president The merchants committee Betty Cardno and Paul headed by Jerry 'town will arrange for a Hetherington is meeting this speaker. week to set in motion a It was Indicated problems community promotion for the created b>t biotin on Maio Christrhas shopping season, the fall night school program,. by calling SDHS at 527-0380. This winter, cross-country skiing will again beoffered. Steve Hook said he is also considering offering . a new handyman's repair course, teaching some of the basic skills for men and women making home repairs. Mr. Hook said the course would likely only be five or six weeks long, and, would make use of guest lecturers. For example, in one session, the speaker could teach how to make basic electrical repairs around the house, as. well as skills such as changing worn-out plugs on irons, kettles or other ;appliances. Another night a plumber might speak on the basic plumbing repairs which can be done in the home. W Disco dancing will again be offered in the spring, and golf and tennis instruction will start at the end of April. .Somethiqg to Mayr iy Sulsan White Your Work is vitally important to all of us. For one thing, we wouldn't eat very well if we didn't do it. But did you ever think how much what you do at your job influences how you sed the world and, the .other side of that coin, what your job is. influences the way other people see you?: Take for example policemen. The better half' and 1 have .a number of friends and relatives, who are cops. ( T.d yes, we think In a story which appeared on page 3 of last week's issue telling of the joint world wide communion service held in First Presbyterian Church, the name of Cavan United' Church was inadvertently omitted from the list of the four churches which had participated in the set/lee. The publishers regret the; omission. they're tamps). But because they see a, lot of the underside of life, are often forced to be .the bearers of bad news andsee a lot of unhappiness, failure and: downright wickedness,(a nice: old fashioned word) they tend to look at life with a rather jaundiced eye.1 mean, it's hard to keep a dewy-eyed! innocent view. Of the world when you deal with robbers, pimps and tragic accidents eight hours a day. It must be darn hard not to start thinking; ekc.,yv.na. crook. How can aliceman listen to a friend's all tale at a party for example without comparing it to the alibis he hears regularly from suspects at work? To be a good cop youhave to be a bit suspicions hut a police station style grilling just doesn't go .over well when our v. ire Cvmes home late from, bridge club or your kids won't, practise' the piano.. Yes, it's tough., Then there are journalists OH NO, NOT SIT-UPS — Doug Anstett is looking in surprisingly good spirits as he and his Lentennaire teamates do sit-ups during a recent practise session. Not so easy in full uniform! (Expositor Photo) 1000 winner Wintario draw here luck Edmund Daly of Main Street, Seaforth won $1,000: in the recent Wintario draw,a piece of luck he attributes to the taping of the Wintario show, in Seaforth last summer. Like many people, Mr. Daly has purchased Wintario tickets from the time the lottery began and like many ticket buyers, hadn't won anything. Then last June, Mr. Daly, a retired electrician, decided to drop over to the Seaforth arena to see if the Global television crew would mind if he watched while they set up their, equipment. The first man Mr. Daly ran into was the Global TV engineer, and when he found Mr.' Daly was interested in electronics, he' explained the satellite tie-in and showed the Seaforth man through the studio, and explainedthe operation of the mobile equipment needed fo the broadcast, Mr. Daly said when the engineer went back to his:. Work, he wandered up to the stage area, and bumped into: the Wintario show hosts, Fred Davis' and Faye Dance who proved "as hospitable 1111 lovely a couple as • • you'd want to meet." -At the end of his chat with the couple, Mr. Daly said Fred Davis wished him luck in the evening's draw. That night, on the first draw, Mr. Dalv's ticket qualified him to win both $10 and a book of free tickets. Since then, he's won four S10 prizes in subsegent draws and then his 51,000 prize in the last draw. Who says you can't have a winning streak? THE LUCKY WINNER—Edmund Daly of Seaforth displays his $1,000 cheque from Wintario, his first big prize since he started buying tickets. The prize winning ticket was purchased at a Seaforth store. (Expositor photo) THE HURON EXPOSITOR, TOPER 111, ,10 WA ,tend to treat .all; our friends as potential •news. sources. And they know it, Conversation at ceramics class gets quite a bit less juicy When we appear on the �,l.ki1e, We get so used; to to ong notes, at a meeting :that ,we ,feelpositively incomplete at a social evening without pen arid paper. I've known, journalists to make extensiye notes during a minister's sermon or, their kid's birthday party. Twp. to appeal Tuckersmith township council at a meeting Tuesday voted to appeal the new equalization factors for taxing purposes :as established by 'the Ontario' government. Appeals must be .reigstered by November 1. A title drain loan application for S15,000 was approved by council. Building inspector for the township, Herman Van Wieren of Hensall, will attend an Ontario Association of Properties Standards officers in London on October 29. " New" regulations for, dog licensing' and livestock- ' proultry ivestock-''proultry protection act were sent to council -by the ministry of agriculture and food. Council will again this year. give its 4-H club members in thea township S4.00 each at the 4-H Achievement Night on Friday, November 9 in Clinton. There are 41 members this year. 1.) • Like policemen, we too are suspicious. All .politicians have something .to hide, we think, and we assume blithely that for every open meeting there were two we didn't know about, child has reporter's.as th e most detailed baby book in: the world. And the geneology in the family Bible is annotated with a bit about each ancestor's personal quirks, and political persuasion (see Alice Gibb's column this week) (but their names are spelled wrong) Our letters read like press releases and we type everything, including grocery lists and Christmas cards. Teachers too are indelibly influenced by what they do all day. Conside the teacher who gives a 15 minute lecture when a friend asks "how was your holiday?" Or the teacher who says "I didn't see your hand up' when her kid leaves the dinner table for the bathroom. And we all know the teacher who accompanies a home slide show of his trip to Europe which he's invited the neighbours to watch with a short true or false quiz. Those who fail get invited' to see the slides again. Secretaries can't help thinking the whole world expects them to answer the phone, type and organize things. She gets made secretary treasurer of every group she joins. "No, I'm sorry, my husband's in a meeting", she tells callers at home, while her child's playmates hear "Johnnie's playing with blocks and asked not to be disturbed."' Then there arethe farmers who retire and start looking, at pets and grandchildren in terms of weight gain per dollar expended on feed, They show great interestin the crops (grass) around the new houses in town and go to the sales barn pretending: to buy cattle but bring home, chocolates, We all know mothers of large families who still cook meals for six although all the little dears have flown the nest. These same mothers will call up a 32•year-old son on a rainy morning and tell him not to forget his rubbers. Some supermarket employees can't stop themselves from squirting water on the vegetables in the fridge at home to keep them fresh. These same supermarket people put everything that leaves the house in brown bags and are always getting presented withcents off coup ons by friends at, parties. How about the. mechanic who asks "When did you last change the oil?" when his wife asks him to fix her sewing machine. That same mechanic often finds that an invitation out to dinner at a friend's includes a trip out to the garage for some free advice. I could go on and on about. this but'I have to stop; It's coffee break time ' at the . • Expositor. and I have to, attend and make notes for a story. •Exposi• . t • or asks: It's the col'umn's anniversary BY DEBBIE RANNEY Break out, the champagne and caviar. Well, maybe I'd settle for a bran muffin:. with a candle on it. I've been doing the Expositor Asks column for two years now and the editor realizing Iwason the verge of severe mental depression agreed to let me do an anniversary column 'this. week instead of my usual round of telephone calls. A while ago, I: wrote a column on the frustrations I had encountered and the funny answers 1 sometimes get while doing Expositor Asks. ;Actually I was a lot closer to mental depression at that time as people slammed receivers in my ear, absolutely refused (and not always • politel y) to answer questions and'. generally went through about 20 telephone calls toget seven responses the minimum number'. required for a good column. My editor, in her sympathetic way, encouraged me to goon with this column, thus creating a new adage, "You don't have to be crazy to do the Expositor Asks column but it helps." But in all fairness, I have to admit that things have gotten better since that time, and while I still may get funny answers, people now seem 'to be a ' lot 'more. co-operative in answering the .questions (something I appreciate). But I still don't think I'll ever be able to learn to love this. column. My editor is well aware of that, and at times she reminds me of a teacher Ihad in public school who knew how ,much 1 hated: doing art work -shaping. all thosedifferent things out of paper to take home to my mother. 1 was allthumbs when it came to art. But every week, that teacher asked me to stretch my arms out to show her how much I like art, so every week I stretched my arms out a little more until one week 1 stretched my arms out about a foot. The teacher was quite pleased. Of course, I was Tieing. There was no way in the world you could have gotten me to like art, at that particular time in my life. When I make a protest about doing this column or tell her what a rough time I've had doing it in a particular week, the editor will say, "But you do such a'good job of it." The influence of her position as editor unfortunately outweighs any protests that I as the lowly reporter can make. When I last did an assessment of this column, I told how I usually phone people named Robert because I had found that men whose first names were Robert. usually had a friendly wife who was only too willing to talk to me. 1 have found out since of course, that such is not always the case as a couple of Roberts' wives answered my questions in, what could not be described as dulcet tones. l guess. Robert's wife isn't always good-natured.. And although things have improvedwith this column, it stillhas its bad moments -like the day I called about sonic. questions and woke someone up, got some impolite replies and to add to my frustration, hardly anybody seemed to be at home that day. I only wound up with'. about three answers to the column, that week. But the *editor, of course, is persistent. The next week she asked me if I had a question for Expositor Asks. The Expositor staff is helpful in thinking up questlo :is for the column,but none of them wants this job. Belcive me, Eve asked. Maybe 1 used the wrong strategy, Maybe I should have told them what.. a wonder ful thing it was to be able to do a column like Expositor Asks every week, and they all would have been"after the editor to give them my job. But it's too late now. Now, when I° ask somebody if they'd like to do. the Expositor Asks column this week, they quickly remember something else they have to attend to. Now there are so many people on staff at the Expositor, incuding those who work at night, 1 have about a 50-50 chance of calling somebody who works here and following my pattern of 'Expositor Asks luck, I usually wind up doing just that, at least once every other week. Perhaps since the staff at the Expositor is, always asking me what the Expositor Asks question for this week, isand they usually have their own opinions, on it, I could ask them the question for a particular week. With my luck, they'd probably all tellme not to use their names in the paper. I have another idea, and that's that I take over the Somcthingto Say Column, or the Serendipity Column, and either the editor or the news editor, can do Expositor Asks. Why do I` get the feeling the editor won't go for this idea? Would she settle for a trade off of columnse every v other week? After two years of doing this, I am also running out of people to call:. When I have finished talking to someone I stroke their names out of the , telephone book but sometimes I forget to do this, so I've called some people, two and even three .times. Note to editor -is that a good enough excuse to stop doing this column? In spite of people who still hang: up or they w prefer would not to answer (most of these are good-natured refusals now) there seem to be a lot more people willing to answer the questions. And sometimes they will go even further and engage in short conversations with me, even to one woman who sounded' concerned'. about a . . bad cold I had one week. She advised me that I should go swimming in cold water to cure' it. Not only that, but now people are turning the tables on me. After answering my question they'll say, "What doyou think?" and then I get a good idea of what it must be like for people to have to answer the. Expositor Asks question on the spur of the moment. When I call people, 1 say,. "Hello, my uame Isis Debbie Ranney. I'm calling for the. Expositor." At this point I pause and people usually say, "Yes?" in a tone that sounds like they're thinking they're .about to be the recipient of a rather unpleasant surprise. I can almost picture them saying, "Oh, oh, don't tell me she's about to ask me a quesiton for that Expositor Asks Column. One week, while desperately -seeking. for a way to get out of this column,; I decided that the question of the week, should be on what people thought of Expositor Asks. Hopefully, I would get a lot of people to answer that they didn't like, the column and would prefer not to see it in the, paper. Unfortunately, this plan backfired, and instead I got people who • said they liked the column, and people whet obviously had a negative response, begged:. out of answering the question. Oh, well, as 1I start into my third year'bt calling for the column 1 guess It'll be okay as long as my editor never ass sae to bold out my arms to show her how moch 1 as. doing Expositor Asks.