The Huron Expositor, 1970-03-19, Page 10From My Window
— By Shirley J. Keller —
MARCH 23, 1945.
Dr. R. Hobbs Taylor, -Progressive
Conservative member of the Legislature
'for Huron, was taken, ill during the session
of the House.
While renewing his, subscription to the
ExpoSitor, James Hill of Staffa remarked
that he was the third generation of 'his
family to take the paper, which had gone
to the homestead near Staffa ever- since
it started publication: , •'
A :'colony houS'e at Holm Farm, Hulretr
owned by W.L.Whyte, was completely
destroyed by fir'e.- • -
' Gnr. Frank Grieve;--son of Mrs. Jas.,
L. Grieve of Seaforth,: was . ore of 511
wounded Canadian soldiers, brought home
on the hospital ship, Lady Nelson, Which
docked at Halifax.
W. H. Golding M.P. tendered his resig-
nation as chairman of Scott Memorial
Hospital Board after twenty-one Years
of service.
By the time, this reaches our readers
it may be another story but to date spring
has turned the corner and is with us.
Perhap's not, a record, but not in a decade
or more have we had as near ari approach
to real spring so early in the year.
Hensall 'Red Cross drive away to a
good start, and up-to-date 11,667.00 has
been subscribed, the .objective being
$2,500.00. •
Gunner-Howard N. Smale of -Henson,
arrived In Halifax this week on the Lady
Nelson. He was wounded in 1044, receiv-
ing bullet wounds in his right arm and hip.
B.O. T.D.SillS; who has been seriously
ill In WestiniriSter Hospital, London, has
returned nome,
MA R'C,H 19, 1920.
A pleasant evening was spent. at the'
home of Mrs. R. Frost when the members
of her Sunday School "c,Pos gathered to
'spend a social eyening with Miss Ethel
Daley 'before her removal to Walkerton.
The handsme and into modious G. W.
V. A. rooms • in the Oddfellows block,
were opened for formal inspection when tea
-'was served 'by the ladies. The large read-
ing room contains an electric fireplace,
a handsome Brunswick phonbgraph and
ea,Sy chairs, donated by Messrs: Stewart
and J. 'Rankin. Later the rooms were
formally opened with a euchre. and danc,
ing,to Lombardo's Orchestra.
Geo- A. Sills iniends• moving into
the house on ,,John Street vacated by
Elton HmbaCh. • mini his new home. IS
completed. W. J. Duncan has purchased
Mr. Sills' residence facing Victoria St.
Cecil Simpson of Brucefield is open'-,
This has been quite a Winter, in
more ways than one. Cold, snow, cold,
snow. When it wasn't • cold enough to
freeze the brains of a brass monkey,
God, or the weatherman, or somebody,
let fly with the confetti 'as though it
were the biggest wedding in the world.
And I'm -stuck with three female's:
A broody wife, a moody daughter, and
a pregnant cat. So things haven't ex-
actly looked up as spring hides well
around that corner.
However. there- arc always brIgtt
spots, and I've had a fair share of them.
Terry Barker took me to task, in a long,
intelligent letter in rebuttal to a rather
disgruntled column I wrote about teach-
ing. He didn't convince me. but let's say
that I' m a little more disgruntled than I.
was. •
There are deep and satisfying rewards
in teaching, along with the frustration, red,
tape and the feeling that you're hopelessly
entangled in a huge cobweb. There's a real
thrill in seeing, young people grapple and
grope with new ideas, and light up as the
Ideas get through.
Then I had a thoughtful letter from a
Qualium Beach, B.C., reader enclosing a
clipping from the North Battleford (Sask.)
NeWs-Optimist stating that "Bill Smiley
is by far our most, popular syndicated •
columnist.” That's great for the old
ego, which needs- a little balm once in a
while
Another ego-booster was an invitation
to speak to the Vimy Branch, Royal
Canadian Legion, a unique organization its
London, Ont. It Meets only twice a year,
to observe Remembrance Day' and Vimy
- pay. A charming and kind, chap called
Joyce Roadhouse made the contact, point-
ing out -that It• was a toss-up between me
and, some Major-General, The branch is
-studded with Brigadiers, Colonels and
Wing Commanders, and there' was a ter-
rible temptation to take advantage of this
chance to stand up and tell the brass what
I've always thought of them. But I had to
decline.
ing up a general store in the premises
vacated by Mr. Bowey.
The past week Norman Jones of Kippen
disposed of a matched team of 4 and
5 'year old geldings to Mr. Wallis, of .
Clinton. The -price paid was around $400."
With the storms and bad roads of the
past week, the mail .carriers have had
their own time. One carrier walked seven
miles with the mail en a hand sleigh.
Many shoppers here walked to the village.
MA R.Cfl • 2 2 , 1895 .
. "'One day recently Mr. Barnes of Exeter-
dehorned 2'7 - head of, cattle for Andrew
Bogirt of Farquhar. ,
John Watt Sr. of Harlock had the riiise,•:'-e
fortune to have his arm broken lay.,,,A,
• kick from a horse.
Alex Ellis ,of the 14th concession of -
McKillcip has exchanged his farm for the
town property in Brussels belonging to
R.KDickson.
Fire broke 'out in the hen house and
piggery of G. Manns, Hulled, and it had
, made such headway , before It was dis-
covered that- the building was consumed'
together with to brood sow and eleven
other Pigs.
James McConnell of Hibbert, iiret -with
a painful accident while attending one of
hiS horses-when one , of them kicked him
breaking his arm,
- Joseph Brown of Harpurhey intends
erecting .a new brick veneered residence.
Messrs. -Wright & Edge have secured the
contract for the frame work -and F. Gut-
teridge for the brick work.
Miss 'Susie, Govenlock, daughter of
Thos. Go,venlocki has"gone 'to Toronto to •
putitie her study , orpaIntihg.
' ' One' 'day thi"S'71661(11\e"therrinorrieter'.9 •""
dropped , to nine 'degrees below zero.
D. D. Wilson's •sale of farm stock
and implements took place and was largely
attended. •
During the' past year many changeS •
have taken place in business circles In ,
town and few of the pioneer business
men remain, James C. Laidlaw hds dis-
posed of his grocery business to Fred -
Davis of Mitchell.
The town line from Bennewiess'Mills
was never known to be as bad with pitch
holes as it is at present. A large amountlof„
wood and lumber is being hauled, however,
F. Willard of town has moved his
business into his new stand in 'the Cady
blOck. •
This year the Orangemen 'in this vicin-
ity will celebrate the glorious twelfth of
right royal style by having a
monster-celebration in Seaforth.
Whooping, cough and measles are very
prevalent in town.
However, the brightest spobof all has
been the tremendous and moving response
to• a recent column- about my ,daughfer.
Every day letters have been coming in
from all over Canada,' full of sympathy and
warmtli.Many of themhave beenaddressed
to Kim herself.
Old friends have rallied, round, and
complete strangers haVe taken time to
write, cheering. encouraging letters and
cards. This has not restored my faith In
human nature, because I've never lost if,
but it has bolstered it,
•Here's an excerpt .from a typical
letter. "Whatever happens, don't blame,
yours'elves. It's very easy to do this as
parents. Vhu did whet most of us try
to do - you taught her to stand on-her
own feVt - and let her• go. She fell. So
, she'll get up again and he twice thWgirl
she was before."
And here's another. iljear Bill: De-
tected grave concern beneath your casual
request for a prayer. I have solicited
our Father on your daughter's behalf
and I feel that He has answered , your
prayer, May God bless you and yours ,in
•the nkme of his sqn Jesus Christ."
That was all from a complete stranger.
Prom Red Deer came a long letter
full of scriptural comfort 'and the assur-
ance that his (or her) prayers would be
with us. Others sent prayers that had
helped them in time of trouble.
This is only a sampling. I am not
an emotional or, sentimental person. My
wife cane me am Stoneface. But. it has
touched me deeply that so many 'people
have tried to communicate with, and help,
• - a stranger. Sometimes a colufnnist feels
that he Is writing in- a great, cold void.
It's not a good feeling,
, Now I know better, and I will be of
good heart, Meanwhile, we live a day
at a titre, the sun shines, spring is on
its way. Thank you all It's good to know
that there is still a great deal of human
kindness in ajworld that sometimes looks
a bit bleak.
I'm dedicating this week's epistle to
the teenagers and I -hope some of, them
will,talte time out from whatever excite-
ment they have planned to read and to
digest this column.
NO that I'm an expert on teenage
affairs. Heaven knows that, my own
teenagers suffer just as much as any of
you from the attention - or inattention -
of a mother and father who are stumb-
ling blindly through the trials of raising
kids In this crazy mixed=up world.
I'm very fond of teenagers. I think
they are a great bunch of people. I
admire them particularly, I think, because
so many of them have the adventurous
spirit to step out into the unknown and
try something new.
New, you fuddy-duddy' adults cry.
•
What's new • about long hair and dirty
clothes 'and pre-inaritar sex and speed,
be it by Car or by a shot in•the arm?
Well, maybe it -isn't new to those of us
who have been aroundfor a few years,
but to the kids these things are new and
different. But it wasn't really those things
to' which I was referring.
I -was meaning the kids' drive to
distinguish themselves from the rest of
the world`by talking differently- and
differently and dancing differently
and singing differently. I respect them for
this.
But somehow I would hope that by the
time a fellow or a girl is 12 or 14, he
or she• would have learned to tell the
'difference between "doing your thing"
and becoming just,plain gutless and un-
productive.
I've spent a few hours in the last couple
of days trying to figure out why teenagers
slouch around, shoulders droleaing, heads
hanging, looking like-agony personified. It
frightens me that today's teenagers appear
so horribly sad and I'm not soothed when
a 14-year old boy tells me as one did
recently,--'1've..experienced•life. The-only- -
thing I haVen't experienced is death."
- What kind ,of' an attitude is that for
goodness sake?
So I talked to a °few people who work
with young people and the same chance
remark' was forthcoming from each paid
or volunteer worker: The kids of today
'Are lazy.
I don't believe It. I simplydon't believe
that the 'teenagers of 1970 are one bit
lazier than the kids who grew up with me.
They may be tired, like the rest of . us,
of the rat-race into,which they have been
born. They may be worried, like the rest
of us, by the Jondition of society. They may
be locking, like the rest of us, fer,sorne
way to escape all the troubles and pain An
the world today.
But lazy? 1' can't believe it.
If it isn't laziness what is it? 'What. is
this thing 'that makes adults throw up their
hands in despair and -shout, don't tknow
what more I can do." •
• Some people think we're doing top much
for the kids. One man told e that:teen-
agers -expect •everything gift- rapped for
them aed,fluanT theyf Are jus apathetic to
eVearemove the 'wrappings.
From dealing with my own teenagers,
I know that kids want to be like everyone
else of their own generation, but more than o„.•
that they want to have some purpose in life.
wonder if adults aren't unintentionali.y
taki..g all the purpOse put of life by making
the kids the•centre of attraction in the
home, in the school system, in the com-:
rnunity, in the church.
I wonder if our organization for the
kids, isn't all the wrong kind,• too adult-
orientated, to be pleasant for the kids.
If this is the problem, I wonder why
the teenagers don't take, the initiative.and
create their own diversions. Rather than
running away through• the use of drugs
or booze or some hippie culture, why
don't kids put their heads *ether and
really contribute something to -life As
we have it on this planet.
We all: know teenagers who do just
that, but why aren't there more? ,
If I wereiamopern teenager and some-
body accused me of being lazy I'd he up
and working to erase that false impression.
-Don't tell me ,I'm • so far off the groovy
scene that my reaction would be termed
old-fashioned by today's teen standards.
4... •
"Thai gallant young man whojcissed 'my hand , . . he
bit off a diamond!"
•
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In the Years Agone 1
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SUGAR and SPICE
by Bill Smilpy
•
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"Put them all on Martha . . . 'you know 1 don't lie
about my age!"
0'
1
'the /*mon fxpositor
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PUblialred at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, every Thursday morning by McLEAN BROS., Publishers Ltd.
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SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, March 19, 1970
4-H Program Aids the Community
This is the time of the year when .
4-H clubs in Huron County become or-
ganized for another year's., activities.
The event provides an opportunity to
assess the role of the 4-H program in•
the community.
Those who have watched the pro-
gress of the organization through the
years realize the excellent training
Vhich is provided by 4-H ,groups to
rural young people, not only in Ontario,
but across the country. In' Canada there
are 80,000 members serving in 700 dif- •
ferent clubs.
In this rapidly changing agricultural
world it is increasingly important that
the rural youth has every opportunity
to adopt himself to the new conditions
Realizing that .preliminary steps are
sunder way at Seaforth -Community Hos-
pital — in common with hospitals across
Ontario to move to the metric sys-
tem we were interested in comments of
the AurOra Banner -concerning the pro-
posed change over. -
"We hail without hesitation", says
the editor of the Aurora Banner, "the
federal government's announcement of
plans to begin converting Canada to the
Metric system."
Points out the Banner: "This conver-
sion will 'finally put us in step' with 90
percent of the world •which now uses
the sensibI decimal-based method of
measurement instead of the 'absurd,
logical and unmathematically 'justifi-
able inch-aridLpOund method on which
we .have been -raised. .
To The Editor
Seek Seaforth
Sir:"
A few weeks ago the Senior Scout
Patrol of Seaforth read, in a Toronto •
paper Let a truck driver had taken it
upon himself to help upderprivileged
boys get a hockey. rink•and league going.
The one thIng:he(rieeded was used hockey
gear. - shin pads, shoulder pads, gloves -
you name it and he could use it.-The Senior
Scouts thought this would be a good way to ''
carry Out things they are taught in Scout-
ing and help this mar' and in turn, boys
who are -not as fortbnate as they are.
• These Scouts gpt together- made col-
ourful posters which people very kindly
•put up in their places of business. they
also wrote a story that you kindly printed
but more important, they used some of ,•
their own money to Put a wanted ad in
your paper, this way hoping to reach,
all people.
I don't know if people in this area
Ncion't read the paper, 'don't care what
yetingstere are trying to do to help others•
or whether it's just the same old story -
""it's a good thing but let someone else
do it" attitude, but they received 1 (one)
piece Of equipment and that was from a
Scouter Now I ask you' If these same
Sir:
•
I Would like to bring to the attention
of your readers the campaign launched
by a Victoria housewife to liberalize
the abortion laws of Canada.' Mrs.Eliz- •
abeth, Murrison provokee an imeiediate
public response when she protested,
through the newspaper, the injustice of
the still narrowly restrictive legislat-
ion, The issue was quickly taken up and
brobght before the public thrOugh the
media of hot line radii' programs, T.V.,,
the press, and a public forum. Support
Was overwhelming; petitions have been
cifetailirt . 'throughout- 'the city, and a
letter writing campaign ie underway.pub-
lie rem** from men and women of
all 0e0n0filie and Social levals
'
has been
'JO favorable as tei'itiggest that the govern-
ment is 'gigging iitt behind public opinion
in its policy on this issue, •
Since this is a matter of Federal law,
WO are Seeking support- from all across
-the country, to Make our feelings known
to Parliarneritii• If Ott feel* as We do,
.thal (woinefi &toad'tint have to hear
•
babies which &MY tfectint Want or cannot
he will face. Through the '4-H move-
ment he - and Alle,t too, for girls also
_play a large part in 4-H activities - is
assisted with his personal growth and
development. He gains an appreciation
of agriculture and the major part it
plays in' community life; he developes
self-confidence and acquire§ a sense of
responsibility and the atility to lead.
But equally important is the appreci-
ation of the community Which the 4-H
member acquires and this, added to
the knowledge and skills of modern ag-
riculture which he gains, makes him a
better citizen.
Certainly the 4-H movement has
made a major contribution to a better
Ontario and a better Canada.
"Only the United States, Australi;:t.
New Zealand and us —still 'retain
thrs i",-..11-Tiound.proceclures, and the U.S.-
is taking" long' look at metric conver-
sion .too: ,
"As with Most things new, there will
be cost and awkwardnes; of adj1.1:,•tiTient.
For some, use of the metric system, will
be simply applying a method long used
in profesSional and international a'r:ti
vales; for most-of us, it will take a hit
of getting used- to. But the 'Bathe dOilld
be said of indoor plumbing'.
"The process will he a 'long ono., as
Trade and. Commerce Minister Pepin
.recognized • in his announcement last
week.
"But, metre by Metre we should
make it. We-may even lose the odd kird-* _
gram on the way. Won't hart us a .bit."
Scout §upp9rt
bays, who are i6 & 1'7' year olds had put
half-the effort out tb break someone's store
window or desecrate some signs people
' Would be up in arms to "do something with
those juvenile delinquents" but when-they
try to help. someone they get-nothing -
WHY'
Does Seaforth care- what becomes of
their young people? I wonder
I hope they do - so I would like to
suggest that people' who read about Scout
or Youth activities, entourage the young-
sters by helping them to help others.
We want them to. be better citizens, so
as 'a' parent and Scout councillor 1 would -
like to ask everyone to take more interest
in the youth of our town.
They really are good kids!
(Signed) D.R.Maldens,
Scout Councillor
P.S. I would like to bring' 'to note the
Scout article In last weeks paper. The
article referred to the Scout paper drive
on March 28, and also a Scout require-
ment for repairable older boys and •mens
shoes which will end up, with the Sal-
vation Army.
Seaforth, March 14. lop.
•provide, for - if you'ioel ieve children should
not be brought Into an overpopulated world
to suffer neglect and emotional depriv-
ation - if you think our largely mai e
Parliament has no business legislating
a punitive "morality", bf .which women
'are 'Iremiently "the scapegoats and in-
nocent babies the Victims - therf-we invite
you to join us in our efforts. Any person
or group interested in participating hi a
similar -campaign. in your community has.
only 'to get 'the issue before the 'pUblic
and channel the protest against our present
Criminal Code to Our Members of Par-
liament.' Our campaign was launched by
just. one Woman who had the goufage to
protest. In polities, especially, there is
power in numbers. 'We must Make use.'
of Md. polder' 6 persuade our represent-
' atiirti government .to represent our wishes.
(Signed) (Mrs.) S,d'Estrube,
The Victoria Abortion Reform
Committee,
1542 Athlone Drive,
Victoria, B. C.
'Margit 0, 1010,
1
The Metric System is at Hand
Protests Restrictive Legislation