The Huron Expositor, 1978-12-14, Page 2A
THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS—This nativity scene in front of
Northside United, Church reminds us again this year that the true
eartirt of Christmas was found in a Bethlehem stable many centuries
ago when the wise merr brought gifts to the baby. (Expositor photo)
To the editor:
Santa, you help us
regain innocence
rt ersl ag9ne C he Hur on
Since 1860, Serving the Community First
Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO every Thursday morning
by McLEAN BROS. PUBLISHERS LTD.
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' SUSAN WHITE, Editor
ALICE GII3B, News Editor
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Excellent sleighing
here liock itt187$
'The public institutions inspection panel Which recently reported to
Huron County Judge Frank Carter provides an -oble-ctive 'review of
public facilities which should be of assistance to the municipalities In
which they are located, in assessing the extent to which such facilities
are serving the public.
Too often a local council may become so accustomed to the
accommodation it controls that it misses or ignores opportunities for
change or improvement.. In the day to day concern for the detail for
which it is responsible a council may easily lose sight, of the broad
picture. It can be a case of missing the forest for the trees.
On the other hand there may be concerns-expressed or suggestions
aciyarwed by the panel that indicate a lack of awareness of local
situations or a failure to consider the economic implications inherent
in the proposal it is advancing. In short will the result justify the cost?
Perhaps the panel's recent stig estion that greater use be made of
the third floor of the Seaforth to h hail, falls in this category.
In criticizing as it did a "gross la k of use of a public building" and
suggesting "if it is not used it coul be rented for offices to pro3i ce
revenue" the panel could not have been aware of the many committees
and consultants whothrough the years have examined and reported on
the hall and who have failed to find a practical solution other than to
allow the Space to remain vacant.
Renovations that would create rentable office accommodation while
perhaps a new suggestion also could prove impracticable considering
the many thousands of dollars that would be necessary to make the
space usable by present day standards and the unlikely possibility of
renting office accommodation to which the onlyeccess would be by two
long flights of stairs. An elevator of course is a possibility but could the
cost be justified?
We wonder too whether even the renovation of the third floor space
as a public hall could be justified even if the degree of accessibility that
is regarded today as being minimum, was ignored. .
When the town hall was built late in the last century there may have
been a requirement for additional public halls in the community. But
even so through the years the third floor was used infrequently. .
Probably its greatest use occurred during the thirties when an active
badminton club flourished In town and found, accommodation there.;
However as new schools with auditorium and gymnasium
accommodation were opened and other public halls were built the needs
for the' town hall facility was almost eliminated. At the same time
rising heating and maintenance costs coupled with the demand for
increased safety standards in public buildings made its use - even
without renovation - not only uneconomical but unwise.
The inspection panels are good and certainly should be continued.
They could be even better, however, 'if their terms' of reference
provided the means whereby members could have available to them
some research capacity before writing their reports.
Dear Santa Claus,
If remember correctly, it's been 23 years
since last you received a letter from me.'
Please excuse my lapse in correspondence;
but my coming to the age of reason, my
angry youth, my education, and my present
vocation 'have stood between me and you.
My belief that you were the fabrication of my
parents and their parents also stood between
us. Now I know that my parents were right
and that you do exis and that you live, at
least if not at the North Pole; then in the
hearts of women and men who are still close
to the Heart of the God in whom I believe
arid for whom I live, and work.
Santa, I am writing to you not to ask for
anything; for the wishes of those a quarter of
a century younger than I should be and are
your first priority. I am writing to thank you
for what you are. I want you to know that
your life in the minds, in, the imaginations,
and in the hearts of people re-affirm that
there is good in the world. I want you to
know that without you we, the children and
the childlike adults, would be the less. You
know, Santa, between Boxing Day and early
December our hearts are bombarded by the
cruelty of 'rnen who have grown up and
forgotten the ,magic of, innocence. Between
the time you visited us with your presence
last year and your anticipated arrival this
year: our hearts have become hard from the
world around us'. We've read of corruption in
the lives of people in whom we'd put our
trust, and we've read about a mass suicide of
people seeking for God-knOws-what. There
are wars in countries that haven't , known
peace for a generation. All of this affects us,
Santa. Your coming this year, as it has every
other year, will help us to regain some
semblance of the innoce e of youth for
which God created the ea'of your being.
Thank you, Santa Claus, for everything
you were in my past and in the pasts of all
others. Thank, you for being what you are.
And thank you for offering .all of us the
possibility to regain and renew our inno-
cence.. Santa, may you live forever' and
through your life and its meaning may we all
accept the gift you offer: that of becoming a
child once again.
I'll let you go now, Santa; because 1 know
you've' a lot of preparations to which you
mint attend before your trip on December
24th. 'I'll be looking for you in the faces of
children, young and old, 'who long for the
simple love and good in life. You'll recognize
me, because I'll be the one with a yearning
in his heart for a world Which longs for your
spirit every day..
May the God ,who created, you,, sustain
Your being inthe hearts of all men, Signed
St. MattheW,18:3
DECEMBER 20, 1878
Jame.s Holmes has sold his farm of SO
acres in Hullet to William Cowan, for 52.000.
The Dominion Skating rink will be opened
this Friday evening. The ice is in excellent
order.
The Seaforth agency of the Bank of
Commerce was opened for business yester-
day;
There has been a splendid fall orsnow and
we are enjoying excellent sleighing.
Robert Charters of the Mill Road, Tucker-
smith last spring sowed a small quantity of
white Russian wheat which gave a magnifi-
cent yield of 27 bushels to the acre.
Andrew Govenlock last spring sowed--on •
his farm 17 acres of Last Notion spring
wheat. When he threshed it it yielded over
27 bushels to the acre.
D. McGregor. book binder of this town.
has just completed the binding of 'Shake-
spears works for Mr. Jordan of Goderich. As
a book binder Mr. McGregor has few equals
in Canada.
DECEMBER 18, 1903
„, Mr. Buckley of Wingham has sold his
restaurant to Mr.' Kruse of Seaforth.
E. Buff hauled out from the farm of James
Stevens, Base Line one of the largest oak
logs ever taken to the Stapelton mill yards. It '
was 12 feet long and scaled 1442 feet,
fhe anniversary services in connection
with Duff's Church. Walton were well
attended and the • sermons by Rev. H.
Larkin of Seaforth were thoroughly en-
joyed. '
Hugh McDonald of Hensall shipped a car
load 'of tine cattle to Toronto.
Wm. White of the. London 'Road near
Rodgerville discovered that his large driving
shed' fiad"Caiight tire.
The roads are getting to' be somewhat
blOcked at Hensall.
The post office at Dashwood has been
moved from Joseph Snclls office to the store
owned by P. Mclsaac..
The other. day we had the pleasure of
examining the heating systems being in-
. stalled in Mr. James Dick's hotel by the firm
of Sills' and Murdie.
P.A. O'Sullivan, the noted cattle dealer.
has disposed of 182 head of cattle by public
auction in Seaforth.' •
G.F. Rogers, head maker of the Seaforth
Collegiate Institute has been • appointed
' senior examiner by the Ontario Educational
Council.
Ginteridge has been awarded the
contract for the cement work for 10 bridges
inthe Township of McKillop.
.1. L. Killoran has had a telephone installed
in, hiS law office for the convenience of
himself and his clients.
• S. Barton and Son of SeafOrth recently
conipleted two sets of wagon axles for a firm
'in Fergus.
Noble Cluff has announced that he wtirbe
candidate for Mayor for the next year.
A large pile of snow and ice slid off the
roof of .Scotts block 'and came through the
sky. light in Andrew Young's Store.
John McNair of Kippen is having his yards
filled up with saw logs and is wanting as
many more as he'can get.
The members of Trinity church in' Bayfield
assembled 'at the rectory on Thursday and
presented Rev. M.. Jennings with a load of
oats.
JarneS Gardiner of Farquhar intends
raising his barn on the west farm next
summer and will build a cement wall under
it.
DECEMBER 21.1928
The fishermen of Bayfield had quite a
'haulaperch
this week,
k' C. Eck had the misfortune to
break the rear axle of his car while op „his
way home from a sale. He was accompanied
by Thos, Brown and his son John.
Dan' Munroe of Brucefield" is having his
house wired for eleictricity.
The many friends of Mrs. Joseph Bennet
were sorry to hear of her falling and
racturing her left wrist.
Alex Parke of Lucerne, N. Dak.. in a letter
en losing his subscription to the Huron
Expositor said "this is my 46th subscription
to the Expositor." The paper has many old•
fr6icynedasrs.in the west. but we don't know of any
others whose connection has extended over
4
Many friends in town and country will join
the Expositor in congratulating Thos. Hays
who celetrated his 90th on December 17.
Robert 0. Willis and A.Y. McLean • of
School of Practical Science. University of
Toronto are spending their holidays at their
homes here.
Miss Hazel! Reid picked a dozen pansies
in the grounds at the home of her mother
Mrs. .1,F. Reid.
The mild weather of the past couple of
weeks has given place to winter again and
notbefore it was time as the country roads
are beginning to be in bad shape.
H.E. Smith has leased the residence on
John Street recently vacated by J. Gallager
and has moved his family there.
James.Kerr who has had the International
Harvester Company agency for some years
has disposed of the business to.V. Lane.
DECEMBER 18, 1953
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Scott, Roxboro will
celebrate their 55 wedding anniversary on
Dec. 21st.
Huron County will receive a federal grant
of $1,860 to aid the victims of the tornado
that struck parts of the county last spring.
Hensall's oldest male resident John
Zucfle will next week celebrate his 94th
birthday. Mt. Zuefle has been a resident of
Hensall for, II years. 'He was born in
Germany.
Misgivings about whether or not there
would be a white Christmas disappeared last
week in a snow tilled swirl of wintery
weather which swept over Seaforth.
Motivated by a bid from a local industry to
purchase the old public school building for
$5,000. Seaforth councillorS ironed out
disagreements with the Public school Board
over the terms of transfer which earlier this
fall had caused a ruffle in relations between
the two municipal bodies.
An amusing history recently brought to
the Expositor by Ross Murdie and entitled
"The Cronical", was issued by Students of
Seaforth Collegiate in 1889 and recounts in
a tongue in check' manner the first ten year
history from the students view point.
A successful •turkey bingo sponsored by
the ,Canadian Legion was held in the
community centre, with a large attendance.
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry. Doerr of .McKillop
entertained their family,' the occasion being
their 25th wedding anniversary.'
The annual Legion Christmas party was
held for the• families of all service personnel
in the community centre.
SEAFQRTH, ONTARIO, DECEMBER 14, 1978
Let's be practical
Amen
by Karl Schuessler
Clean air in our house Behind. the scenes
by Keith Roulston
Our liquor habit
Nothing is surer to get (me_ into an •
argument (with the possible exception of
book banning) than the pros and cons of
relaxed liquor laws in Ontario.
The CTV program W5 last week had a
startling show on the liquor trade,
particularly dealing with the use of topless
waitresses and bottomless dances to
stimulate consumption of alcohol and beat
the competition in what thas become a
huge increase in the number of licensed
establishments in the province..
That, together with my reading recently
of A Clearing in the West by Nellie McClug
and her arguments against liquor tended to
make me focus my own toughts on the
whole situation recently. As ususal it
brought more questions than answers. Oh
there are tluise who have all the answers to
the liquor question but .1 think they're
pretty short sighted in their solutions
whether they be advocating outright
banning or throwing the doors open even
wider.
There's littlepf a temperance movement
backgron.0 in.'my family for that matter. a,.
record/ofAonsumption that would gladdet4
the heart of a government agent collecting
liquor taxes. Wine and the odd bottle of
something stronger come into our house-
hold and I see no reason to stop them. But
I must confess, unfashionable as it may be,
that the growing prominence of booze in
our society causes me some concern.
What brothers . me is that drink is
supposed to be something one does as part
of enjoyment of something else, not as an
end in itself. Bars are included in places of
• entertainment to add to the pleasure, just
one more little convenience. But' now it
seems to More and more be becOming a
case of the tail wagging the dog. The bar is
bedoming more important than anything
else.
When Theatre London decided to rebuild
the old Grand Theatre a Survey was done of
patrons to see what they Wanted in the new
builditg. The answers we're oberwhelming
in two areas. Patrons wanted edinfortable'
'seats and a bar. If you go to a fashionable
0
'restaurant the food may seem expensive
but ,the chances are that the thing that's
really keeping the place in business is your
tab at the bar.
Most musicians these days• earn their
living by working in bars, being the carrot
that draws people into the barroom so they
can' drink. The drinks are what pays 'the
musicians. Even then 'bar owners are
switching more and more either to discos
or to topless waitresses and exotic dancers,
partly because they are cheaper but also
partly because people tend to drink more
while watching parts of the female
anatomy boll about.
We've got a lot of expensive new arenas
and community cnetres around these days
that are paying their bills by the revenue
turned in by jhe bar.
It seems impossible these days to do
anything without there being alcohol
included. Theres even been a big outcry
because they can't serve booze at baseball
game in Toronto, ;taking the city the only
one in the major leagues without beer sold
in the stadium.
And the only theatres in Canada that
make money are those performing cabaret;
where the audience is willing to 'Pay
enought by buying drinks to pay the cost of '
production, If they were asked right out to
pay enough in the price of admission to pay
'the full costs of the show they'd probably
say no, but they're quite willing to pay less
to get in then spend enough on drinks to
make the show profitable,
And then of course there's our govern-
ment, the biggest benieficiary of all (next
to the liquor companies) from .our new
penchant for booze, booze and more booze.
In a tithe of declining revenues those liquor
taxes look pretty good taxaerrirru,ni-c
But what's the answer? I don't know.
Nellie MeClurig and her temperance
reformers thought that banning the pro-
duction and sale of alcohol could solve the
problem but we 'know now, after the
prohibition debacle that that won't work,
'recall evert as a youngster going to local
((.bntinued on Page 3 )
As I told you last week, our house
breathed in enough cigarette smoke to
make a smoke detector go off. But no more.
My drastic and draconian measure paid
Off. They brough clean and crisp air into
my life.
Now some of you worried. You thought I
may have clean air, but I just may be clean
out of friends, too. You thought after all the
smell and smoke cleared, I'd be standing
all by myself - alone - without a soul daring
to come to my front door and enter into a
public place with a no-smoking ban in
forte.
But fear not, little flock. The bells that
hang on the front door still jingle. Life still
rushes in - just as it , does in all those
Toronto public places - without the
smoking weed, of course.
You see, there comes a time in life when
"no" is a perfectly respectable word.
"No" has its place. There's nothing wrong
with a dictum. Seems as if today we're so
consensus minded. Everything everyone -
needs a consensus. The first ministers'
conference., The teachers' meetings. The
group therapies. The joint planning
commission. Everyone has to come to a
mutual agreement on a course of action. No
deal is a good deal unless all the paries are
satisfied.
I should know. Every time I teach a three
day seminar, we agree on some house
rules. We get a consensus on some ground
rules: the working hours, the coffee break
times, lunch hours, absences, homework,
excuses and snacking while learning.
Of course smoking always comes up.
Shall we allow smoking during class? All
those tin foil ash trays sitting on every
conference table give mute encouragement.
Of shall we restrict smoking to before the
class? After the class? Or during the
breaks:
With fifteen or twenty people declaring
their oWn agendas, consensus doesn't
come in ten minutes. Or a half hour, either.
Why, sometimes it takes a whole hour to
draw up house rules we're all going to live
by.
Let me tell you. Democracy can be
painful. It doesn't come easy. It's just plain
MOW. But We figure its worth it. Tfild Way
everyone can participate in planning and
decision making. Group Morale improves,
Spirits rise. Evervone's inVelved. Partici*
pation is what counts. •
That's what all these leadership courses
tell you. I teach it myself. With charts,
graphs and game plans you lay out all the
leadership styles. A 9.1 leader is a dictator
at work- a big boss type who shouts all the
orders. He says "Do what I say because I
say it."
At the other extreme is_the 1.1X leader
who doesn't give a damn. Anything goes.
He doesn't direct one 'bit. Everyone does
, his own thing. Of course, there are the
in-between varieties: the compromisor who
tries to et his two feet in one boot He says
ha f a- as is better than none. A half leaky
boat is better than a whole leaky one. But
this way everyone gets a little wet, not all
wet. That really doesn't satisfy anyone,
and that's not much of a leader, either. Or
you could be a country club manager type.
A 1.9 sort of fellow. You want to make
everyone happy.' A peace at any price
guy—very busy, but going dizzy trying to
please and appease everyone.
Of course the ideal' leader is 9.9 person.
He works toward a consensus. He knows
you can't always get it, but at least he takes
the time to hear everyone out. He senses
th, mood and direction people are moving
toward. He coalesce's support and involves
people in decision making ?
In one of —my classes, not too long ago, I
wasn't'in a consensus mood. I didn't have
time. I wanted to get on with the business.
I c. want to spend an half hour
listening to the same old pros 'and cons of
smoking I go through with every new
group. I decided right then I'd be a 9.1. I
gathered up all the tin ash trays and
dumped them in the waste paper basket. I
stood up in front of the class and
announced, "No ,smoking during class
time."
It worked!! No one 'Whimpered. No one
retested. No one walked out. With that
Onesentence I cut right through consensus,
I gained at least a half an hour in teaching
time. I kept the air fresh and my sinuses
cl•nr. And I convinced myself a 9.1 style
d•)es merit.
ot all the time, of course. Time, mood
and circumstance can change your style.
But this time I took my chances. I told
myself different folks need different
strokes—and smokes. And I gave it to
them.
' Not many of you readers have attended
one of the many wedding ceremonies of,
Elizabeth Taylor, right? You and I. don't
exactly travel, with that jet set crowd, right?
Well, you're wrong. I recently attended
one of the 'marriages of Elizabeth Taylor.
And I didn't crash it: I was invited. And I
hope, it's the only one she ever has, It was
her first.
NO. no. Not that fat, beautiful, silly
Elizabeth Taylor, the movie star, who has
by now pledged to love. honor and obey.
in sickness and in health, until death do
them part. about six or seven guys.
I mean, the real Elizabeth Taylor. Liz,
the kid who was a close buddy of my
daughter Kim from about Grade 5 on,
whom I taught in Grade 10 and Grade 12,
who .became somewhat of a second
daighter.to us when her mother died, who
dropped in to the Smileys' every vacation -
home from college to regale us with her
ups and downs. •
She's now a young Phys. Ed. teacher,
and a darn good one, I daresay. because
she's always been a good athlete, and haS
had a way with kids since her camp
counsellor days. She's also now a young
bride, and i take this • opportunity of
wishing her a happy married life. I could
scarcely get near enough.at the wedding to
say it. so many guys wanted to. kiss her.
Usually. I hat e weddings, and avoid'
them whenever poc,ible But 1 enjoyed this
one. The church :is a iiii‘tnre of
traditional Nngli, . id • wingii)ulcrtt
w lb a mod t..1 ‘,31. 1. t 2 gull., s :out
out the ‘‘ord to t .osehatinon.
My old lady and lit ere so moved that we
actually went up and took communion for
the first time in years. Even more unusual,
my daughter joined us.
Great reception afterward: free bar,
magnificent roast beef dinner, good and
brief toasts. .a,nd a party afterward with
dancing For the Young Turks of whom there
seemed to he many.
It must have cost her old man a small
fortune. But it was worth it. He's two
down, and only one daughter left ot marry
off, out of the three of them.
But you must wonder why .1 hate
weddings. Most men do. Why? Mainly
because of the women involved. And I
don't mean the bride or the bride'smaids,
or the bride's mother or aunts. I mean
one's.own women-folk.
•As long as two months before the
wedding. they start panicking. They have a
feeling that they will be the cynosure of all
eyes. even though they knoW in their
hearts that all eyes will be on the bride.
There arc infinitely lengthy and 'ineffably
boring talks about what to wear to the
wedding. Sensible_women will drag out,
that long gown they wore to the Christmas
dance last year and wear it. But I don't
have any Of those. Not long gowns.
Sensible women.
It must be something new and striking.
I his 'results in one of two things: ever
more agitated' shopping excursions as the
big day nears: or, if your wife sews, as
mine does, ever more frantic searching for
material, sewing and ripping, tears and
anger and frustration and, finally., triumph.
At which point . a hapless male, who is
merely going to wear his good - suit and
shine his shoes, is. expected to rapturize
over the "creation." By the hour.
I swear my wife was working on the
final touch. a white hat that looks like a
longshoreman's cap. until tkvo hours
boorc we took off for the wedding.
• This time 'it was more complicated. She
also had to impros vc an ()unfit for daughter
Kim. The latter is not sensible in the
opposite way. She's turn up at a formal
wadding in a turtleneck sweater, ragged
jeans, and sandals. Bringing along her
husband, who would arrive in a sweater
with the,, elbow out, even more ragged
jeans, and work boots._
-(Continued on Page 31„
Sugar and spice
By Bill Smiley
Elizabeth Taylor's wedding