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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1959-12-23, Page 11pva "HI -TIME" DANCERS—This year's kickline in the "Hi -Time" SHDHS show performed in natty red and white costumes before an appreciative audience. The members of pP C . the line, not named in order as they appear above, included Ann Grayer,. Judy Tennant, Elizabeth Bannister, Judy Eatson, Sandra Snider, Susan Beach, Helen Hum- phreys, Carole Smith, Margaret Oke .and Betty Pickering. —T -A Photo Fieldman comments Too busy producing to consider results By J. CARL HEMINGWAY HFA Fieldman The directors of Huron County Farm Forum met last Friday in the agricultural board rooms and I am, sorry to say that there could have been a better attend- ance. The theme of this year's pro- grams is "Adjustment," key to farming's :Future. cine adjust- ment that farmers seem to have made is to become so busy with production that there is little or ro time to attend meetings such as Farm Forum to consider whether or not their efforts are Will vote on turkey plan At the request of the mem- bers of the Ontario Turkey As- sociation, the Farm Products Marketing Board has arranged to take a vote by mail of the producers on the question of a proposed plan designed to sti- mulate the production and con- sumption of Ontario grown tur- keys. Voting regulations, including the drafting of the -Proposed plan and regulations have been pre- pared by the board. The plan is in respect to all turkeys grown and marketed in Ontario except a number of territorial districts. A preliminary voters' list has been prepared which includes all the producers known to the board. Copies of the list will be available for inspection by Jan- uary 10 in the office of the id- eal agricultural representative. In addition, a letter will be sent to every person on the prelimi- nary list informing him of a forthcoming vote. Officials of the marketing board point out that any turkey grower who does not receive a letter from the board by Jan- uary 12, should contact his agri- cultural representative who, .if satisfied that the applicant is a bona fide giow'er will place his name on the list Additions to the list will be made up until January 21. Revisions of the list will be completed by January 25. A vote of 66-2/3 per cent in favor of the proposed plan will be necessary. The mail vote will be held un- til February 12 when it will be counted in the presence of scru- tineers. Every effort has been made to ensure that the vote is secret with special self-ad- dressed envelopes being used, going to bring the results they want. Perhaps we in Ontario are too fortunate and as yet haven't felt the squeeze sufficiently to cause us to re -act. Farm forum. was born in the latter days of the depression of the thirties and Can be given a great deal of the credit far the advancements that have taken place in farm living and organization, Over the prosperous post war years farm forum interest and activity declined sharply but ap- parently difficulties have arisen in all parts of Canada except in Ontario to arouse the people to again participate in the discus- sion with the view to improving their condition. And, believe me, there is room for improvement. A rural school teacher's sal- ary in the early thirties would equal the price of an average standard car. Today, it still does. Other salaries would bear about the same relationship In the forties a farmer could purchase a tractor for $1,000.00 and pay for it with 50c oats but to -day .a similar tractor will cost $3,000.00 and he will still have to pay for it with 50c oats. At present prices it would' take abut 100 cases. of, eggs • to pay my taxes. This is, getting close to the limits of the deficiency payment quota. • Perhaps we should be 'thank- ful for our increased efficiency for enabling us to manage to survive even for a limited 'time under these circumstances but on second thought perhaps it is our efficiency that has placed us in this unviable position. This is a probl'ein,that Farm Fo- rum might well solve for us. But you must be interested. Plans were laid at the direc- tors meeting to hold the county farm forum annual the second week of January, in the after- noon. It will be open to all fo- rum members and to any other A farmer wanted to use his party -line telephone but found it busy. "I just put on some beans for dinner," he heard one party say to the other. A few minutes later he tried again and the same two parties were still monopolizing the line. Rising to the occasion, he broke in, "Say, lady, I smell your beans burning." There was a scream, two re- ceviers went up and the line was open. IiR:1lZTls !R fi► f��L► fir: 1/ ►J3l/ l� ►la1/ lrc +l Ur ���?��1/ If lam: ►J • 110E14 A wish for you front us: May your heart be filled with joy and good will on this, the birthday of Him whose message was Peace on Earth. To you and yours, a happy Noel! EXETER DISTRICT PHONE 287 COLLECT BESIDE CNR STATION KENNETH * GORDON * GEORGE MURRAY * RUSSELL * • LLOYD * LARRY tAff'. ii'1_ !14iti113i1111s:030 (1:10;114 il0Z0's, 0 it Z) 0 Acc't books at The T -A Ontario Farm A c c o u n t Books, preparedby the Agricultural Economics Co- ordinating Committee of the Ontario Department of Agri- culture, are now available at The Times -Advocate. The books are provided by the provincial department without charge to farmers. They are distributed through the ag rep's office,. Clinton, which places them in The T -A office for the convenience of farmers in the south section of the county. Fairfield forum enjoys yule party Fairfield Farm Forum held the annual Christmas party on Monday evening with 38 attend- ing. Ted Lamport as chairman con- ducted a sing -song of Christmas carols. The children presented a pro- gram of Christmas choruses, recitations by Ruth Ann King and Wendy Neil, Marie and Elaine Powe and Wayne King, solo by Margaret Haist, skit by Judy Lamport and Ruth Ann King, piano, solos by Judy Lam- port, Elaine Powe, Margaret Haist and Wendy Neil; piano duet by Marie. and Elaine Powe, vocal . trio by Marie Powe, Bobby Haist and Elaine Powe, vocal duet. by Margaret Haist and Elaine Powe and accordion solos by Jimmie Neil. There Was an exchange of gifts. Next meeting will be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs, Elmer Powe. interested persons. We hope you will be watching for the an- nouncement of the details. In closing let me wish all of you a Merry Christmas. Let us count our blessings for the pre- sent and leave our troubles for the new year. Second Section Cartier in the wilderness. EXETER4 ONTARIO, DECEMBER 23x 1939 Canada's First Christmas The evergreens stood tall along the shore and back to them, their branches barely out- lined against the sky, the oaks and maples beckoned the explo- rers into the mysterious, un- know land of Donnacona, now called Canada. It was Christmas Night, 1535, and the explorers were Jacques ,Cartier's men, wintering far the fist time at Stadacona (Quebec City). In his famous "Voyages," Cartier records that it was bit- terly cold that winter with snow four feet deep outside and ice of four "fingerbreadths" in thick- ness below decks in his three little ships. Scurvy had broken out, and, but for a miracle, Cartier might never have seen France again. It happened that on his first vo- yage the previous year (when he did not stay the winter) he had taken two Indians to France. He brought these In- dians back home on this second voyage and one of them, Dom Agaya, was able to tell him how to cure scurvy with a tea made of evergreen needles Yet the scurvy did not deter Cartier and his Breton crew from a good Christmas. Because they were Breton men, their sort of Christmas included the Yule log ceremony. An aak was the "Yule log" in this traditional observance. The master of the 'household spilled wine three times upon it and then exhorted it to rekindle the Christmas fire •— symbolic of Christmas Lope. Then the Yule log was burned amid prayers and hymns, followed by general merriment. Aside from the Christmas ob- servances of early settlers in Newfoundland, Cartier's may well have been Canada's fiat Christmas, and it is certainly the first one we know anything about. On this first voyage, .when -the Captain was 44 years old, he named the ,Gulf of St. Lawrence and discovered and named Mount Royal. Another famous early Canad- ian Christmas was that of Jens Munk, the head of a Danish ex- pedition that landed on the shores of Hudson's Bay (where Fort Churchill now stands) and winter- ed therein 1619. This expedition of 65 men was also stricken with scurvy, and they, too, did not let the fact hamper their Christmas cele- bration. Munk records that on Christmas Eve they drank wine and beer and had a gay time. On Christmas Day there was a sermon and Mass, then each gave to the priest according to his means. The poor ones gave the skins of white foxes, trapped along the coast. Then all enjoyed games and general merriment. But Munk's expedition ended in disaster. Lacking any cure, scurvy killed all but three men before winter released the ships. Order of Good Cheer An earlier and happier Christ- mas was spent by Samuel de ;10P113f13 f13f13f13i13 >13lPI !1s'. P. f1;tf agrl rZf1 113ig.il1 a: Here's to you, our good friends and patrons . our sincere appreciation for the privilege of serving you and best wishes for a happy holiday season. . } R;'Sx:kK'3d'. •sa Canada Packers L d. .Management and Staff PHONE 256 114,01#40410`011P000*Z1Z s a . EXEtr R POOPPIPPOPPOV Champlain at Port Royal, Nova Scotia, in 1606. He had estab- lished the famous Order of Good Cheer to raise his men's spirits. Every day, a different pian was named to take charge of the hunt. At dinner time ,this man, wearing a special ornamental chain, led the procession of tasty dishes into the dining -hall, Thus it was during the Fes- tive Season of 1606. The hunter of the day led the members of the Order into the log -built room and placed the steaming dishes on the rough, wooden table. Champlain himself would lead the prayer of thankfulness for the bounty of the year, and then the company would fall to, with appetites commensurate with. their spirits and the rigors of Canadian winter. After the meal, singing and story -telling and the playing of musical instruments would end the great day. Christmas customs which de- veloped in Canada were, of course, transplanted from Eur- ope, although they underwent some .changes to suit the Canad- ian scene. The traditional holly and mis- tletoe were not available, so early settlers rapidly learned to use other types of berries and greenery. Pine branches, cran- berry cuttings and wintergreen became popular Early nativity sone In 1672, Father Jacques Bruyas, in Iroquois country, reported a very successful Christmas to his superiors. In his tiny chapel, he built a nativity scene and lighted it with lamps and can- dles. He adorned the chapel with boughs and encouraged the Ldians, Christian and otherwise, to come and see. They stood, he said, in wonderment. So im- pressed were they that they con- tinued singing hymns till East- er!! For a long time the prinicipal influences en Canada's Christ- Frenchmases .were the British and the The' later French :hristmases were marked by the traditional Messe de Minuit (Midnight Mass) f..11ewed by the revellion de Noel and a big family dinner. Among the traditional dishes of early French Canada of pioneer days v ere meat pie, fowl, meat balls, suet pudding and doughnuts, The dinner was followed by dancing and games until daybreak. This celebration of Christmas was still influenced by an earlier French age, for presents were not exchanged until New Year's Day (the Feast of the Circum- sion.) British immigrants celebrated Christmas with an .enormous dinner of fowl, beef, plum pud- ding and mince pie. The pio- neers had a large program of outdoor sports at Christmas time —sledding, sleighing and skat- ing. Skiing was not part of the festivities, for it was not intro- duced until quite recently in Canada. A typical pioneer, British - type Christmas was reported by Mrs. C. P. Trail!, of Rice Lake, Ontario, in 1838. She refers to a dinner of which the piece de resistance was a "glorious goose, fattened on the rice bed of our lake." Turkeys, said Mrs, Rice, were not available except in older comunities and beef was rarely seen in the backwoods. For dessert there was a steam- ing plum pudding. After dinner the children played with a little sled made by the family. As another example of a Brit- ish Christmas, there was an early record of sports on the main streets of Winnipeg where sleds were driven at breakneck pace. The police, says the report, did not intervene. • After the American Revolu- tionary W a r, the Loyalists brought Puritan customs to Can- ada, and Christmas went into temporary .eclipse. The Puritans themselves .didnot celebrate Christmas at all for they looked on it as a pagan festival handed down from Roman times, A further striking change in Christmas came about after the middle of the last century, and it is from this time that most of our modern .observances date. Some of them, like the Christmas tree, came from Germany. This customwas brought to Canada by German settlers in the Kitch- ener (then known as Berlin), Ontario area. At about the salve time, though, British and Ameri- can influences contributed to in- troducing the Christmas tree in- directly. Queen Victoria's con- sort, Prince Albert, introduced the tree into Britain from Ger- many, and this custom spread to Canada and America. The turkey, which is native to the American continent, became increasingly popular for Christ- mas dinner, and this is one cus- tom which we exported to Eur- ope Meanwhile, Christmas stock- ings, also a German idea, spread to America and Christmas cards, originated in England, were ad- opted rapidly the world over. The very concept of Santa Claus changed, In early litera- ture he is pictured as a funny little gnome covered in ashes and soot (from descending chim- neys) and dressed in a brown tunic. He was depicted this way in early versions of the famous poem: "Twas the Night Before Christmas," Christmas in Toronto The price of Christmas, like everything else, has risen with the years. Back in 1876, Toronto's new Timothy Eaton store would sell gifts of ladies' French kid gloves for prices that seem ludi- crous today: 24 cents a pair for the cheapest, 38 cents for the best. In those days stove coal was six dollars a ton. At the St. Pia: ONY011 Lawrence Market, where most citizens shopped, housewives had a choice of 'turkey, partridges quail, squirreil, duck, deer, bear, moose .or beef. But if the prices were low, so were .salaries, Thus, we're no worse off :at Christmas today than our forefather's were. In those days, ships were an im- portant means ..f transport and the passenger vessels of the lakes fleet were laid up along the waterfront near the few rail- road tracks. Above the docks in 1876 lay the homes of the wealthy, strung out on lower Jarvis street, Wel- lington and Peter streets, Horse trolleys rattled along King Street in the drifting snow, and the town of 75,000 people was lit by gaslight. It was to be another three decades before Canada's most famous Christmas observ- ance was to be launched—the Santa Claus Parade. The first parade was a tiny affair, in which "Santa" rode up from the railway station on a barrel, in a wagon drawn by a couple of steaming horses Today the parade is seen by more than a million people in Toronto alone by personal at- tendance or television; then it goes to Montreal for Santa's an. pearance there. A different pa- rade takes place in Winnipeg and goes on by railway to other Canadian cities. The growth of the famous pa- rade underlines the way in which Christmas customs develop, and seldom really die out. The age- old nativity scene and the Christ• mas carol—ancient observances —are being blended with modern developments like the Christmas tree, a clean Santa Claus and the giving of many presents, into a kind of Christmas which seems traditional to us yet which actually, is a relatively new kind of Christmas. For those who say, as we all —Please turn to page 11 With ail the Warmth of. the Yuletide Spirit, we exidi to e't060611e 8iir very best wishes for a holiday as bright and giOvving ea a. Christmas candle..,as joyously beautiful as the sound of chtlt'ch beth MI across the land. May the happiness of the Seasols Leman forever is your h141801. MANN'S MILL LTD. Alex, Carfrey, Art and Employees Exeter Whalen