The Huron Expositor, 1978-02-09, Page 2•'To th.e_editOr:'
Don't call police for road info
The winter -wiiids—lit-dTtio''"' Sire UPon us,
y A's wel( informed a5 we like to think we are
creating, as in,,, the past, very :difficult .a . . aspolice agency, we do .not have the
decisions for many people. information tou require ag.to 'weather repOrts
"Should I go to work?" is perhaps the most and road conditions. In fact only prayer could
frequently asked question for commuting ' answer some of the questions asked. We do
workers. "Can you tell me how the roads are have a pretty fai;;_solution to youir problem and
possibly, if yourethe travelling type person,
you should cut these telephone numbers out of
your newspaper:and put them near your
phone.
Weather Station - Goderich 524-9331
Ministry of Transportation Sz.. Corn muni-
-cations, Stratford for road conditions in
Ontario.... 271.3550
R. W. Wilson #3629
Plovincial Constable
• .K.etarded•actuits beautiful people
facilities to make the residents happy and
comfortable. Particularly impressing was 'the
recreation director. He had the ability and
patience to try to help several residents feel
like he of she could accomplish some form of
physical exercise.
The retarded residents responded to the
warmth and love my co-worker and I felt in our
hearts, maybe inn verbally. but by touching
an,d trying to please us. .
If ever yon're feeling • as though life has
dealt you a low blow - go and help these truly
beautiful people. They ask' for go little, just to
have a fellow human being say - I care. May
God Bless and keep them in His. Care.
Ruth Steinmap.
Bob-meets a groundhog
To Elaine Townshend.
About that nutty groundhog, I will agree
With you. Any animal that would entrench
God's green earth to the extent of upsetting
my load of hay and not to mention the rocks he
dug up for my mower blade to chomp onto,
deserves a full Slit months' sleep. -
13ut can you imagine going all winter
without a bath? I have no doubt that 'he
appears every February ,2, so itchy and lousy
-es to awaken even the deepest hibernator;
"-This morning a4trtidged in from the bairn
with hay chaff in my hair and the sun almost
blinding tae, 1• met this gaunt weary old
groundhog labouring' across the yard.
I asked him where he lwas going. He only'
grumbled .something about "stupid humans
and their blasted -snow machines". He kept
right on his Way heading south but as he
passed I detected something trailing behind.
In the bright ,sunlight, I still can't mhke up
rity mind if it was his shadow or, a suit of dirty
Underwear he was trailing. He must have
sensed my thoughts because as he slid
-„„ittliAtigh the fence, he growled that "some of
the foxes lead a dirtier life.than Wei, and' hey
run through the provinces all winter.
Bob Hulley
to Toronto. I'm going anyway because-I have
to, but I was wondering ..." "Is this weather
supposed to continue or will I be able to go
home or, to' work tomorrow?"
Telephone calls such as these are very
common to us at the Ontario Provincial Police
Detachments on stormy dayS. In fact these
Calls during bad weather are so numerous that
people who have Jegitimate emergencies at
times cannot get our telephone line and advise
us of the help they require.
Recently I had the opportunity of working as
a "Volunteer Helper" at "Huron House'°;-
Blueyvater Centre, Goderich. This is part of
my "Clinical Experience" for the
"Homemaker's Course" at Conestoga
College in Clinton.
I'll have to be honest and admit that I was
,rather dubioug about going to work with the
retarded adults, as I didn't feel I could really
be of any assistance.
. Most humbly dp I regret thinking this, as
today was a true Learning Experience I'll
never forget.
The staff that work at "Huron House" are
specially gifted people who are able to cope
and at the same time maintain organization
and co-operation. There are well equipped
(
ind Ole cenes
By [Keith Rouiston
Volunteers, or sue -erg
he Timm
-Since.1860, Setving the CommunitY-Fifa- ''
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, every Thursday morning by McLEAN. BROS. PUBLISHERS LTD. Published at
• There is an axiom that old veterans tell
young recruits in the army: never volunteer
for anything. The same thing might apply to '
newcomers in-any cpmmunity.
As anyone who has lived 'in a small town
knows, the grapevine is the fastest way of
transmitting any piece of news and the
grapevine will quickly make it known when a
new resident in a town volunteers for even one
thing. The word might as well be branded on
his or her forehead: "volunteer", or more
likely "sucker". •
There are those who like to claim that a
small clique in any town hogs the spotlight
•that they want to run anything that's going. I
think_that can be' disproven by the rapidity
" with which they're willing to pass on some of
those duties whenever a new sucker, I mean;
volunteer, comes along.
I speak from experience in this. When I
moved to .my new hometown some six years
ago, I seemed to be quickly spotted as a
sucker, I mean volunteer. My job as a
....newspaper reporter took me to a good many of
the community events where a new face was
looked on as a chance to put off some of the
heavy workload already burdening the
shoulders of the group running that particular
organizalion.
The first group to grab was the local fair
board, They were the most desperate for
helping hands so I guess they were the most
likely to take a chance on a new boy in town.
They asked my-opinion on Some subject at a
meeting one night, I gave it and the next thing
I knew they'd made me a director of the fair.
My success can perhaps be, measured by the ;-
fact that was the last fall fair ever held by the
group,
That didn't seem to scare off the other
groups however. I had become a member of
the local business organization and with my
propensity for shooting off my big mouth on
various subjects, had come to the attention of
the other members. Toward the end of my
first year in town there was an election of
officers for the group. Within minutes' I
jumped from being 'the new kid in •town to
being the president of the group. It was
obvious that the old "clique" really were
working hard to hold onto their power.
And so it went. After a year of that, 'there
was another' organization that was ready to
promote me to the top job, the job nobody else
was silly enough to want. A year later, before
the term•was 'even finished for that group, I
found myself in the top job, of yet another
group, a new one just starting up.
It was about then that I learned the single,
most important word for anyone getting
involved in community activities: no, I mean
this cli. que that ran the town was so hungry
for power that they were ready to promote any
"Parliament ' Hill Gong Show"
started: We'd wager more people
approve of the televising, now that
they've.- seen our honourable"
members at work.
The Perth people who answered
Mr. Jarvis' questionnaire are
"strongly against" Quebec
separating, and against an economic '
association with an independent
Quebec._ A majority feel that
Quebec's future in COnfaderalion
could be decided by a referendum in
Canada.
The Federal government's
•biliIngual program got thumbs down
overwhelmingly, as "unsuccessful"
(41 percent) and very unsuccessful
(40 percent) in uniting Canada. The
respondents aren't against
bilingualism though; They just think
it should start earlior, in public school
(69 percent)..
' A smaller majority is in favour of a
10 "year moratorium on pipeline
construction in the north, until native
Land claims and 9ther social and
environmental 'concerns have been
settled.
• On abortion, the questionnaire
_results show that we're divided, and
pretty evenly too. 24 percent say
present laws make abortions 'too 'easy
to obtain; 27 percent'say too difficult;
-28 percent say present abortion laws
are aboutr right and 21 percent two
no opinion.
If Mr. Jarvis' findings are typical,
and we think they are, those of us in
rural Canada don't have to take a
back seatio anyone when it comes to
awareness of our country's 'biggest
issues. Our heads are out cf the sand
and being put to good use, looking for
answers.
Now it s up to our- elected
representatives to act on our views.'"
xposito-r asks.
Doou agree
ReCently. after a trip to Georgia's prisons,
correctional services minister for Ontario,
Frank Drea announced that he was planning a .
harder line for Ontario prisons based on what
he had seen in Georgia. Expositor A ks this
week decided to find out if local people agreed
with his views and asked "Do you agree with
correctional services Minister Frank Drea's
views on 'a harder prison life for criminals?"
Although she hadn't read about Mr. Drea's
views Mrs. Preston Dallas of R. R. #4,
Seaforth said she would certainly approve of a
harder prison life for criminals.
f "I think they're getting off too light. It
(prison) seems to be a rest home for them in
between crimes, I would say that there's a lot
of criminals out on the street that should be in
jail that have never been caughf," she said.
Mrs. Larry Gowan of 40 West St., in
Seaforth said, "I think they should do that if
it's going to get better. I don't think they
should Make it easier for them."
Mr. and Mrs. John O'Rourke of R. R. #1.
' Dublin had a different point of view,
"We decided that it's rough enough on
them If they go to jail, that should be enough
without making it tougher on them," the
O'Rourkes said.
Mrs, Kenneth Pullman of R. R. #2,,Staffa
ANDREW Y. McLEAN, Publisher
SUSAN WHITE. Editor
DAVE ROBB,.Advertising Manager
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association _
and'Atidit Bureau of Circulation
Subscription Rates:
Canada (in advance) 512.00 a Year
Outside Canada (in advance)520.00 a Year
SINGLE COPIES — 25 CENTS EACH
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0696
Telephone 527-0240
SEAFORTH ONTARIO, FEBRUARY 9, 1978
What we think .
FEBRUARYS, 1878
James McFarlane of Stanley Township, has sold his
farm of 100 acres to Mr. St rong of Bruee.fieid for $6,000
and buys the Brick Hotel of Mr. Strong' for $2,000.
Mr. Perdu of Goderich Township sawed for
JamesDonaldson of Stanley 120 logs in 7 hours.
A milk Cow belonging to William, Carnochan of
Tuckersmith gave.birth to twin calves; This cow had six
calves within a period .of 31 months, having had three ,
pairs of twins in succession, .
" 'The Tuckersmith council was held-in -Strong's Hotel,
Brucefield, when John Young was appointed assessor
at a salary of $80 and Sam Crnochan as collector at a
salary of $90..
. FEBRUARY 16, 1903
• • The brethren of Britannia-Masonic-Ledge; -Scaforth,
held their annual "At Frome" in their neat and
comfortable lodge rooms on Wednesdy evening. After a
couple hours spent in progressive euchre, crokinole and
other such amusements, Rev, W. Hedgins introduced ,a
short program. Those taking part were Mrs. D.T.
McCallum, Mrs. George Baldwin, Mister 'Reed, and a
recitation by Mrs. J.C.Grieg.
Mr. Duncan McLaren, Hibbert, spent ' Sunday in
town with his- son, J.P.McLaren. He was looking up
thoroughbred stocks in Hamilton.
' On Saturday, John Smith Jr.:-Wagon maker.' slipped
on the ice and as a result fractured his wrist.
Mr..1. B. Henderson of the Huron Road West, sold a
ncie heavy draft gelding of John McMaan this week for
$160.
Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Hepburn left town on Saturday.
Mr. Hepburn going to Orillia and , Mrs. Hepburn to the
parental home in Oshawa, Mr. Hepburn was
entertained by a number of his friends as a farewell,
party at the Commercial Hotel,
Mr. John Stacey of Chisellnirst who has sold Ms farm
intends coming to town to reside.
A bright little lad, youngest son of S.T. Holmes, fell
on the sidewalk Saturday evening ,fracturing his arm.
Mr. Jame Lockhart's farm is to lie offered fo: sale at
the Commercial Hotel. It is one of the best farms in
McKillop.
Everything bids fair to be in splendid shape for the
skating carnival on 'the rink this Friday..
Mrs. Parkes of the 'Bank of Commerce had the
misfortune,to fall on the slippery pavement and had her
arm fractured.
Tlitr ice storm on Tuesday night has not done much
harm to the trees and has Unproved the sleighing.
Miss Tillie Smith while on Main Street -on Friday
slipped and dislocated her arm at the elbow.
Mr. Thomas McAsh of Varna has moved the Post
Office to his new building and has opened out a well
sorted stock. of- groceries.
The Village Council met in Bayfield to consider the
matter of granting aloan to Alec Mustard for the
erection of a .new v RollerEBR u A RFyloulro,M19i1218.
The basement of the United Church in Honsall is
being redecorated this week by Mr. Kay, and staff of
Hensall.
A number of the young men in Hensall have recently
been quite successful in bagging a number of rabbits.
Skating and hockey has been the order of the day
duringthe past week but the thaw of a day or so ago is
working rather disastrously for open rinks.'
the•severe cold spell last week soma of our
citizens report the thertnometer reaching 20 degrees
below zero.
The Happy Bunch met at the home of Free Eckert of
Manley last Wednesday evening to give his daughter
Mary a kitchen shower on the eve 'of her wedding.
• A number of two-legged jack rabbits were seen on
the road at. Winthrop in the small hours on, Monday
morning. The moon being full made them easily
spotted, coming and going in all directions:
Upwards of 2,Q0 neighbours and friends gathered at
the home of Mr., and Mrs. James H ogg to, spend 'a
social evening with them before their removal to
Buffalo. They,yvere presented with a well filled purse.
, A very pleasant evening .was spent at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Jackson in honor of 'Joseph
Holmes and his bride, Cards and dancing were •
indulged in and the music was furnished by Messrs. J.
Leming, Lindsay Stewart, M. Jackson, and H. H arris
with the violins and Mrs. J. Leeming, Miss Anna
"Stewart, Miss B. Davidson and Mrs. T. Storey, at the
A banquet was held in the, Olympia Restaurant,
Seaforth, to mark the closing .of a short successful
course in agriculture and home economics. After the
toast to our king and country was proposed by the
toastmaster Edwin Chesney, and responded 'to by
singing the national anthem and 0 Canada, Mr.
A.D.Sutherland proposed a toast to the class which was
ably responded by by Elwood' Stackhouse.
Mt. Joe Sills; son o Mr., and Mrs. George A. Sills of
town, manager of the Yellow _Cab Taxi Company at
Rochester, Minnesota, has been appointed general
manager of the company at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Mr. Robert Smith has purchased the Geary property
on Goderich Street East . It consists of a modern brick
residence and fine ground's., Mr. Smith will have a
beautiful home:
TEBIWARY 13, 1953
Betty Storey, 15 year old McKillop girl, won top
honors in the All Canadian Junior Calf Judging
competition. She had a score of 146 out of 1,50 possible
points.
-,-""*"..
—sucker that _came along-10' the top of their
organizatidn unless he said no. The problem
'Was that it was a small town and there were
only so many new suckers, I mean faces, in
town that I kept getting .all the jobs that '
nobody else wauted.
My fault was that I hadn't learned the rules.
People in Small towns, you see, always like 'to
see things done as long as they don't have to
do the work. Thus you'd se to a meeting,of
this or that 'organization and hear plenty of
people expressing marvellous ideas for things
that should be done but when it came time for
someone to actually do the work thereviiaS a
chorus of "no, I'm too busy" from everyone
asked to help out. Naive as I was, I got so tired
of hearing good ideas-go down-the drain that
when I was aksed if I'd help out I'd 'say
something utterly silly like "Well I'll see what
I can do" upon which everyone breathed a
sigh of relief knowing that they themselves
weren't going to get backed 'in a corner and
forced ,to tat--; the job. •
The other th I learnedover the years was
that once you volunteer to do something or
at least' you hadn't said no when you were
volunteered, you immediately got a inuttilifed•
chorus of "Oh I'll be glad to help you out if
you need a hand, " from most of those in the ,
room. When it came to draw on that help,
however, it was not unusual to .call on 10
different people before being able to find two
who remembered they made such a promise in
the first- place or, who couldn't think up an
excuse why they: couldn't help out now, I
learned ~"What many another volunteer has
learned before: 'it's easier 'to do the job
yourself llian to try to round Up' Volunteers to
help out.
After a couple of years of this, the sucker is
obviously going to get worn to a frazzle and it
comes necessary to find a new sucker to keep
the group alive. The problem ,is that suckers
don't come along everyday, the majority of the
population being ever ready with their "I just
have the time to be pry' sent " excuses.'That
is why there is so much trouble keeping
.community groups alive and active because
for se long a mere handful of people are left
with all the work while the majority of people
say they're too busy, then sit around and
complain about how a few people run
everything. Mostly that few people just run
themselves into the ground.
Yet it's amazing how resilient these
suckers, I mean volunteers are. I know a few
people well into retirement age who still
apparently havenalearned their lesson on
how to say no and sound Convincing. They are
still community leaders, who work hard, long.
hours making things happen in their
community. I don't know whether they should
be recommended for a .medal, or for priority
admission to a psychiatric hospital'.
year
Seaforth Mayor Dr. E,A.McMaster was appointed
last week by the County Councirs'Warden's Committee
to head the management of the Huron County Overseas
Relief Fund.
Percy Passmore, 65 years old, former Warden of
Huron, died at his home in Exeter: He had lived in this
district all his life and farmed' in Usborne until he
retired 8 years ago.
Miss Blanche Westcott, daughter of J.A.Westcott of
town, -has been awarded the. Dominion Provineial
Bursary. S=s-•a student at ,the Stratford Normal
School. Thee bursaryis worth $200.
Bill Brock of Kippen , a student at Seaforth District
High School, was selected by the Canadian Junior Red
Qross_tQ be one o~two -sponsored _students to attend the -,,
Coronation Ceremonies in England next June.
A five year old McKillop township boy, Stanley
Glanville,. suffered from a fractured skull when a car
driven by his teacher, collided with him as he was
walking home, from school.
Nearly 150 fathers and sons of the First Presbyterian
Church's Men's Club gathered for the annual Father
arid Son's Banquet. 'Constable ,Ross of Sherbrooke
Quebec, a member of the Canadian ROM-Mounted
Police was guest speaker. Robert J. Spittal sang two
solos, followed by a quartette of Fred Willis, James
Wallace, James T. Scott and. his son Robert Scott.
A marriage of interest was solemnized at Th omas D.
Wren's residence in Cromarty when Miss Grace
Chalmers was united in marriage to Th o mas D. Wren.
The Women's Hospital Auxiliary to Scott Memorial
Hospital, sponsored a bridge andeuchre party held ,at
the nurses residence. Mrs. J. James was in charge of
events and Mrs. A.Y.McLean welcomed the guests. A
sum of $44.25 was realized. ,
with harder prisons?
agreed that prison life should be made harder.
"Why make it easy for them? They should.
pay some kind- of penalty for what they've
donee and not have everything handed to them
on a silver platter.".-she Said.
' Mrs. Leonard Strong of Egmondville didn't
jigree with that viewpoint,
"I think it's difficult enough for then really.
She said that a lot of them were victims of
their own circumstances but that she thought
being in prison was punishment enough for
them.
Mrs. Earl McNab of R. R. #2, Kippen said
she thought prison life should be tougher in
some areas. She thought some prisoners got
out` sooner than they should) such as people
who are proven insane and not completely
cured when they leave prison.
Don McCurdy of 98 King St. in Hensall
said, "In Some cases in the old prisons I den't
see how they can make it any worse and inflre
newer ones they could be let down- a bit
perhaps,"
Although he hadn't read.Mr., Drea's views
on prison'Iife either; George Wasson of R. R.
#3, Walton thought that prison life should be
harder.
"There's. been too much escaping and
taking hostages. I think, myself, something
should be done," hr. cniri .
•••,,
Canadians get a lot-of flack. for
not being interested In national
'" affairs. Rural Canadians especially
are often portrayed as being •a lot
more concerned, about what's going
on at the house or the farm next door
than about what's going on in the
country as a whole.
We know and you know that it's not
true. But we've come across some
evidence Tecen.I .y that-indicates that
local peo• e-ta ,en agreat deal of
thought to - ere this 'country is
going.
It's in the form of results of a
questionnaire that Perth MP .Bill
Jarvis conducted among constituents
last fall. We don't .know the total
' number -who-answered Mr.' Jarvis'
questions but those who did seem to •
be a thoughtful, mature bunch. Very'
few of those ...who .replied had no
opinion on some pressing issues.
.Here's a bit of an idea how your
fellow,, rural Canadians -.and close..
neighours, are thinking. •
the cost of IiVing, most of them say,
is Canada.'s' number one problem,
followed closely' by government
• spending. The Anti Inflation Board, a„...
•
majority says, is doing a ,poor job
controlling prices', but 'a good job
controlling.Wages. Controls should be.
kept permanently, 35 per cent say;
more than want them abolished now
or at ther'end .of: the year.
Our fellow- Canadians aren't.
against all government spending. The
largest percentage for any one
question, ',a. whopping 78 " percent
would like to see ."substantial sums"
of government money used to
investigate alternate ergy sources.
like solar:am:1'1101 power. 2 percent
seem to fell that televising th Ouse
of Commons proceedings is awas of ..
• money. But that was before the
A wide open 'ski
In the years agone
1878 Assessor makes $80
fxpositor