The Huron Expositor, 1976-03-18, Page 3(A guest column by
Expositor advertising manager
Dave Robb)
William John Cordon
McGvin, one of Huron County's
best known individualsx.died• in
Seaforth Community, tospital on
Thursday March IL
A final farewell to a good friend
is the most difficult thing to say
let alone write.. Thoughts and
memories' are hard.to put to print.
A month ago Cathy McGavin,
Gordon's grand-daughter wrote
the story of Gordon's life for a
public speaking competition - she
had entered. Her words say it
better than mine.
My Most Unforgettable Person
• By Cathy McGavin
I would like to tell you about my
most unforgettable person, My
Grandfather, William John
Gordon McGavin. He was born in
the house where I now live and
wem to school at what they then
called "Leadbury Corner". He
was raised on a farm with much
livestock. His father shipped
cattle for a living but when my
grandfather grew up he wasn't as
interested, in shipping cattle as he
was in farm machinery. With the
interest he' had in farm
machinery, he then started a
business, McG a yin's Farm
Equipment.
My Grandfather, in his younger
days was a \Try active citizen. He
was also interested in plowing. In
1926 he won the Canadian
Plowing Championship. He was
appointed to The Ontario.
Plow4IO's Association as
representatiye. for Huron County
in 1938.
Tihes Ontario Plowmen's .
Ssociatton organizes and
supervises the International
Plowing Match which is held each
year throughout the province of
,11 Ontario. Representatives from
each of the provinces of'Canada,
and sometimes other countries of
the world come to eompete at this
event. As well as watching the
plowing competitions one can see
the largest outdoor display of
farm machinery in Canaa,
Canada.
I'm certain many will
remember all the rain, mud,
'rubber b oots and stuck cars and
trucks here in Seaforth in 1966!
Grandpa and Larry Snider were
Coble. TV
corning!
Long awaited cable tv service
for Seaforth is on its way. PUC
manager Walter Scott had no
estimate on when the local cable
franchise will be signing up
Seaford)... people but he said
•employees of the firm, 'owned by
Listowclaw accountant John C.
Ward, .are in town 'now,
The PUC has been working
with the 'cable company' while
they have mapped the town and
planned their installations, he
said:
In another development' at
Wednesday's PUC meeting,
mayor Betty CArdno told fellow
commissioners and Mr. Scott that
there hasn't been a final decision
yet' on where the new 14 unit
Senior citizens apartment site will
be built.
The PUC wants to know the
location so that it can make plans
and order materials. Mayor
Cardno said OHC had decided
that Munn's bush location was
too far from downtown. She said
OHC reps • couldn't underVancl
council's, objections to that Site at
first., • • '
"They'll all have their cars,"
the mayor said the OHC people
replied when council told them
the distance wasv too far for senior
citizens to Wa c. The provincial
employdes were politely told' that
few people who live in senior
citizens apartments itt this area
-have ears, "They had a different
point of view entirely. "Mayor
Cardno said.
'to
relations me
Rex didn't
time befOre, C,B.C. had interviewed him and
the program didn't say too many nice things
about him. Reporters have that way. They
come on nice and sweet and then come off
with a barbeque--a good roast that says Rex
Humbard is Rex Humbug.
Bah humbug yourself. I wasn't getting
Apypja.ce. But one mere try.
May I'have an interview with Mrs,C.oreetta
King? I'm passing through Atlanta today, and
I wonder if I could set something up."
Her secretary was shocked, "You want an
interview? Atthis short notice? Impossible!
Write a letter apd request one"
- "But I'm here..Right here in Georgia. I
could come over today Or tomorrow."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. King doesn't work that
way. We need .a letter stating who you are,
what you want and why."
I'm the kind that never gives up: One more
turn. I'd give the telphone. one more try.
"I'd like to speak with Rev. Martin Luther
King, Sr." '
"Sorry, Rev e' King is flying out to
Jacksonville. Florida today. He's going to
preach at a rally there tonight. Yoiti could go
oft down there, and hear him. Maybe talk to
him afterwards:.'.
Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Lesson turn er
five. Never make a firm commitment. Hold
out for a while, With "ifs" and "maybe" and
..next time".
Was I ever glad to get home. To pick up
my phone and dial your number. You
answer. No press secretaries. Desk, appoint-
ments. And public relations men.
You may not he a V.I.P. But what gpod is a
if he never talks to yOu?
I'll stick with a person who can answer his
own phone. That makes hini a very important
person--in my telephone book.
now, He's in Texas. You'll have to talk to his
son, Rex Humbard Jr, and find out his exact
schedule.
"Rex is a very busy man, sir, He's
preaching at the Cathedral of Tomorrow -,on
April 11, then flying out the same day,,. Then -
he's back in Akroh_for„.three days. Then out
again".
This is hard work. Lining up one man
through a bey of secretaries and public
B,t I was getting the point.
want to see a C.B.C. man. A
If roe maki$g
yottg t.4raise
this week.
The, Minimum Wag-e rates for'Ontario went up on Monday, March
15th.. If you are presently earning minimum wage, - read the
following schedule to find out what your new rate will be.,
New minimum rates
General. minimurn ,,nourly • $ 2.65
General learner rate. hourly . • ......... 2.55
(during first month of employment)
Construction rate' hourly
Guard on•construction projects, hourly ..
Student rate. hourly
(applieS,to students under 18• who work 28 hours
or lesS per week, or during school holidays.) k
Arnbulance, industry rate:
a) weekly . • ......... . 127.2.0
b) hourly (less than 48 hrs- a week) 2.65
NEW: Minimum hourly rate for an employee who
serves liquor directly to .a customer. guest, member
or patron in any place operating under license
or permit issued under Liquor License Act. •
New room and board... crates
The following maximum rates apply when room and board are
used in calculating minimum wage'
a) room . (weekly) 11.00
b) meals . (each) 1 15 OR (weekly) 24.00
c) both room and meals (weekly) 35.00
You can get more information
about the new Minimum
Wage rates and the
Employment Standards
Act by writing or phoning
Employment Standards Branch.
Ontario Ministry of Labour,
400 UniverSitY Avenue,
Toronto. Ontario
M7A 1V2
965,..5251
Ministry of
Labour
Employment
Standards
Branch
Ontario
. Bette Stephenson, M.D.
Mu ster
,at
P. • 2.90
. 2.90 •
2.15
2.50
PETER DECOO
74 TORONTO STREET
MITCHELL
Phone - 348-9412
I Long Distance Call Collect]
- Home - Life Auto
- Commercial -
- Farm Liability -
- Acciant & Sickness
In second place among the nine
speakers was Jane Morton 12, a
tii.aele '7' student at Seaforth
1-)ti,blic School, talking about tier
- left handedness.
Vicky and Paul will go on to
represent the Seaford), Branch of
The Legion at the zone Legion
finals in , Seaforth Saturday
afternoon.
Somethi
By Dave
g. to Say
obi)
MIA.•4•4•••••
z
4
o
STUDENTS
for
Farewell to a good frien
By the way, maybe Seaforth
residents are a 'little more
resistant than the ordinary
Ontarian to the idea of filling out
bewildering forms. Mr, Grund
says Seaforth is •the only place
where they've had this problem in
getting the instruction forms back
from the public.
Let's show the sewer people
that we can deal with officials like
the best of them. Get down to the
'town hall now and fill out your
sewer connection form. •
lode members I realize he is a ''...e".4 ;'°:44,00g0:::''''.":''''Am•Ra440-4WPMANnalfrAklems"204"br"
MAPLE LEAF BONELESS DINNER HAM 1.69 ,
ready to serve
Freezer Specials
SIDE of BEEF ,FULLY PROCESSED * 89e lb.
HIM) of BEEF rail. PROCESSED L09 lb.
1.19 lb.,
SIDEOf PORK FULLY PROCESSED 90e
BEEF KIDNEYS 29e lb.
,19Ab..,bag-of,RE.EFTPATTIES 7,90
10 lb. box of TURKEY WINGS 4.50
10 lb. box of TURKEY DRUMSTICKS 4.90
Store 262-2017 A bbatoir 262-2041
LOIN of BEEF FULLY PROCESSED
FRESH GROUND
CHUCK 89eib.
SLICED MINCED HAM
950 lb.
co-chairmen of that match and the their own house to go so that the thought the form was • very
mud surely created problems for contractor can plan where to confusing and can imagine many
them! Plans are being made for branch off the main sewer. Do householders who found it stuffed
1978 when the plowing match will they want it near the fron tdoor, under their doors couldn't under-
be held near Wingham. beside the.basement window or at stand it and therefore ignored it.
In 1958 Grandpa had the the corner of the house? But that won't help them get their
honour of coaching the Canadian The contractor, doesn't know sewer connection . in the most
plow team in West-Germany. He unless the form, with a drawing convenient place/
is still an honourary director of indicating distance, is turned in at If you can't fig ire out what .the
the OP.A. the town hall. According to Mr form is asking for, or if you don't
Grandpa is a member of the Grund fewer than half the people have it, around anymore, ask at
Masonic Order and is a past who will be hooked up to sewers the town clerk's office in the town
master of that organization. have turned in the form, which halland.get some help at filling it
When I hear him talk about the was distributed in the fall. I out. ..
pranks he 'played on his ''felloue___„,„. .
mischievious character.
He was interested in the
education of his children and was
a member of the Seaforth District
High School Board for 16 years.
He was chairman when the
present gymnasium was built,
Politics were another highlight
-ine. his life. Be was an
unsuccessful candidate for ,the.
federal liberal party in 1963. He
served as president of the Huron'
riding association for 2 years.
One of his many hobbies is
fishing from the ponds he had
dug on the farm. He enjoyed
many quiet summer evenings
feeding his fish and watching
them jump.
Grandpa is also a great picture
fan. He travelled to many
countries and has a lot of exciting
pictures. When he's around, you
never know when . your picture
Will get taken. Grandpa is a most
interesting person to talk to.
Gordon McGavim is a great
' fellow and I'm proud to have him
for my 'Grandfather.
I have personally known
Gordon for many years. He was
my Grandfather's cronie, one of
my. father's best friends and
supporters and a second father to
me. Over a year ago when Kathy
'and came to Seaforth,. Gordon
and' Mrs'. McGavin, opened their
home to us until we found an
apartment. We shall never, forget
their hospitality .and companion-
ship.
Huroit County haSloSt a Man''
that loved what this area owes it's
living to - agriculture.
I'll end this the way my
Grandfather ended his letters to
Gordon with 'an Ojibway word
meaning farewell.
To William John Gordon
McGavin I say Oney.
***.s
(By Susan White)
It appears as if some of the
complaints about sewer construc-
tion in town have been caused by
simple misunderstanding. Mayor
Betty Ca rdno said she and other
councillors learned at their
monthly sewer liaison meeting on
Thursday that the setter
contractors have indeed been
compacting Seaforth Streets.
But. the two machines doing
the compacting didn't look like
compactors and town officials
didn't realize the work was being
.done. Meanwhile a' machine that
looked. like a compactor appeared
to be sitting idle and unused.
Mayor C'ardno agreed that
perhaps once a Month isn't often
enough for town representatives
to meet with those in charge of
the sewer construction. Coun-
cillors don't perhaps get all the
information they need to handle
complaints from , residents,
complaints are hound'to still go to
elected people, not always to the
complaint box at the town hall,
and misunderstandings build up.
Representatives of engineer
J,F.McLaren Ltd., who arc
responsible for inspecting' the
construction for the environment
ministry, emphasized that they'll
try to answer complaint's and
queries that are turned in at the
town hall,
Harry Grund of McLai.en says
Sea forth the- response from
people to the form that the
engineers left at every house in
Seaforth has been discotiraging.
Home owners are supposed to
indicate on the sheet where they
want thP t o
ate'
BEST BEST SPEAKERS — Winners in the local Legion finals for public speaking last
Tuesday night here were, left, Gregory Riley, Jane Morton, Vicky McCreight and
Paul Louwagie. The winners Went on to speak at zone finals on Saturday.
. (Photo by Oke)
Legion sponsors speakers
INSURANCE
CO-OPERATORS
INSURANCE ASSOCIATION
Amen
•
by Karl Schuessler
VIP's
I was trying to get a hold of some
some vet yimpertant people by telephone. I
wanted to interview them for a two hour
C.B.C. radio documentary on preaching.
Now I knew enough to phone in advance.
Anyone knows that's common courtesy.
Phone ahead. Make an appointment. Let
people know you're coming. You may drop in
on your best friend':without any notice, but
even that's freAvned. on nowadays.
Well. let me tell you. lAlidn't make very
many appointments. But I did learn how to he
a very important person.
Lesson number one. Never answer your
own telephone. If you're a V.I.P. stay away
from the phone. Have someone else, your
wife, your secretary, your kid, anyone--your
cat, if you have to--answer the ph n ,.'That
keeps the V.I.P. one person--or one tnimal--
removed from his contact.
Because, a V.LP. isn't going to talk to just
anyone. He's way'too busy forThat. He needs
every screepiegdevice he can get to strain out
all the gnats that swarth at hiS door.
If you're V.I.P e enough, then you call that
gnat strainer, a public relations.man or a press
secretary or an appointment desk director.
"So you want to interview Billy Graham?"
said the public relations man in the Toronto
eoffice, I'll have to giVe yar his North Carolina
nutobete,',„'eleiorth Carolina gave me a 'Philadel-
' number:
' 'And that's lesson number two. If you're
going to be a' V.I.P. then have telephone
numbers. all over the country. I suppose it
doesn't matter if,the phone rings, in a carpeted
office of a swank high rise office building or if
• it rings in just some old hole in the wall. The
caller';, never going to know. So just be sure
vett have out-of-town numbers.
Calls like that make the dimes run out of
your pocket real fast. That's discouraging
• enough to weed out all the weak and
ill-intended..
•• But I wasn't put off. I called Philadelphia.
The news was grim. Mr. Graham 'gets 7,000.
• invitations a year for speaking engagements
and interviews. So it's quite a selection job.
etad did I realize that Mr. Graham had just
..fume out 'of the Mayo Clinic? And couldn't I'
wait until 1978? Mr. Grahaiii-Wae-Coming . to
the F.x. in Toronto that summer. I could
interview him then.
'That's lesson number three. Never say yes
right away. It takes time to move of mountain
of a V.I.P. •
"'I'm sorry, sir." said a lad y press
secretary, "Rex Humbard isn't in Akron right
' • ''
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(By Wilma Oke)
At the .public sKaking contest
Tueday night sponsored by the
Seaforth branch of the Legion
boys walked off with the. two top
positions in the Junior division.
Speaking on War History. Paul
Louwagie, 11, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph Louwagie of R.R.3.
Mitchell, placed, first. H e is a
Grade 6 student at St. Patrick's
School in DUblin.
Gregory Riley, 12 ,"of Winthrop
-a grade 6 student at Seaforth
Public School placed second over
the remaining eight students, with
a talk on Snoopy.
Girls took the top honors in the
senior division.
Vicky McCreight, 12, of Dublin
speaking on Chubbies was first
choice of the iudgeS. A' daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Matt McCreight .
the is a Grade 7. student at St.
Patrick,'S School.