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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1965-12-09, Page 4How do you plan for the future of an area in the face of changing conditions? The Ontario De- partment of Highways, well known for its long range planning and projects, has another factor to contend with now in the light of the recent announcement that the Canadian National Railways intends to seek permission to drop its Goderich to Stratford pas- senger service. As more and more of these services are cur- tailed more and better roads will have to be con- structed to meet the ever growing demands of the area. Recently express service by rail was stopped in this area, and as a result of this, more and more trucks are crowding the roads and forcing eventual reconstruction. If as the CNR claims, there is insufficient revenue to carry on passenger service, and if the express service from this area can be handled more economically by truck, then it would appear that the future of the railroad, in this area at least, is nearly over. And if it is really over, then what is the fu- ture of the area in regards to encouraging industry to locate in this county? Will the withdrawal of services mean the eventual withdrawal of many of the residents? Already there are cries of alarm be- cause of the number of young people leaving the county because of a shortage of employment oppor- tunities. What is the future of this county? A project for county council next year should be a long range study of the future of the county. The information is needed and needed badly by all municipalities in order to carry out planning on the local level. Small municipalities must have projected figures which they can use with a reasonable amount of security if they are to supply necessary services such as schools, sewers, roads and water mains. Problems such as this point out a very good reason why planning and many other services should be on a county or area basis. Trends which are diffi- cult to see at the local level can often be followed by taking a broader look at the picture. We do not like to see a town losing its local autonomy but it would be an even worse fate to go heavily in debt for a project to supply services for people who may not be here in five years time. EDITORIALS How do you plan? "Now, that's what I call ACTING. They'm married in real life, you know," I III II III I IIIII11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111IlII III II IIII II II 1111111 II IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIi ONE MAN'S OPINION by John C. Boyne Too busy? 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111011111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Where is Santa? It is surprising the number of people who will travel many miles to watch a Santa Claus parade. People from Exeter and area travelled to Seaforth to see the parade. Others went to St. Marys and others to London. These parades have become a tra- dition and seem to kick off the Christmas season. There is a lot of work in organizing and run- ning a project of this size but we believe it would be worth while. There is no longer time to hold a parade here this year but the local people should consider this another year when they start planning for the Christmas season. We said local people and not local business- men because it does not necessarily follow that the businessmen should shoulder the responsibility for this. There are towns where service clubs do the organizational work while in others it is the Cham- ber of Commerce. In any event more people than just the businessmen benefit from a project such as this. A Santa Claus parade is a non-profit show for children and adults alike. A little music, decorated floats, a laughing Santa and a little bit of candy give children a day to remember. It is a special memory which can be passed down to the next generation. A start was made towards a parade this year but unfortunately it started, stumbled, fumbled and fell. Lack of organization and cooperation probably had a lot to do with this but it does not really mat- ter at this time. The important thing is to make up our minds that there will be a parade next Novem- ber or December. Just. 13 days left Rural and Urban Homemakers Agree: It's Hotson LP Gas for easy, efficient, low cost cooking. See our display of new automatic tonges. Ask for information on service! Hotson Propane GRAND BEND A PASS-BOOK FOR A NEW SAVINGS ACCOUNT The first deposit in a new Savings Passbook will encourage the "Habit of Saving"— a mighty nice Christmas Gift rf A CERTIFICATE FOR A GUARANTEED INVESTMENT g„ 3 1 3 3 235.0530 EXETER naiso4No;to .tesAiss.444;,41;hosVp.a314,4; ;):5 as,';',0 14.:5• 445A1:5404 Grand Bend MERCHANTS CHRISTMAS PROMOTION 1 COUPON Spend 51.00 on merchandise or services; sign the coupon WEEK EACH $10 4. $5 PRIZES GRAND PRIZE Friday, Dec. 24 Sponsored by Grand Bend and Area Chamber of Commerce 103XOW:51:74o.9;i:o clea Wd.T. :ti C: .11 .11 Christmas Gift Suggestions $74.41 will buy an investment guaran- teed to grow to $100.00 in 5 years—a mighty nice Christmas Gift. eceferZmeeansocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND Member: C.W.N.A., C.C.N.R. and ABC PUBLISHERS: 4. M. Southcott, R. M. Southcott EDITOR: Kenneth Kerr Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Dept, Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash Paid in Advance Circulation, September 30, 1965, 4,208 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $4.00 Per Year; USA $5.00 With the editor in I do not like cold weather and snow. It was not always like this but it has been for the past four years and it was just four years ago December 1 when I started to feel the cold more than usual and began to dread the winter. Before anyone says that I don't know what real cold weather and snow are like, I will say that I got my dislike for this type of weather in Northern Alberta, British Columbia and the North West Ter- ritories. I spent one winter in that area and if I ever return for a visit you can bet money it will be during the end of July or the first of August because that is the only time you can be reasonably sure there will be no snow. In northern Alberta about 60 or 70 miles from Grand Prairie we had frost on the ground on July 20 when we woke up in the morning while we were fighting forest fires. When I was with a geophysical crew surveying and drilling in the same area it started to snow September 19 and I didn't see the bare ground again until I stepped off the plane in Toronto at the end of the winter about April 10. Anyone who hasn't experienced a winter in that area could not realize how cold and miserable life can really be. Rather than suggest that people go and observe it first hand I will give you a brief outline of what men can and do endure. I decided to spend a year in this type of surroundings away from civilization in an attempt to get my own thinking into proper perspective after some personal trouble. It would also provide a background know- ledge for me of the actual area and allow me to make a little extra money through writing and photography. I came to hate the cold and snow Decem- ber 1 because I broke a rule of the north and the north has severe penalties for any- one who breaks with the law. We were in a camp in northern Alberta near the Bri- tish Columbia border surveying aproperty for one of the major oil companies. It had been cold up until that time but when we woke up that morning the temperature was 40 below and most of the vehicles were frozen up as we did not have them as thoroughly winterized as we would later. The crew was divided into sections, the recording crew, drillers and sur- veyers, all with their own vehicles. The recording crew was still using Bomba- diers (tracked vehicles) and consequen- tly had left these 'a the field and used a truck as transportation to and from camp. In consequence they had to wait in camp until we could get some of the vehicles started. We lay under the vehicles with pro- pane torches and heated the oil pans until you could hear the oil boiling and after an hour or so we had a couple of the smaller vehicles started. I had a brand new four wheel drive panel truck with seats we used for our crew and some- times for general transportation. It was decided that I should take the recording crew to the field and then return and start our own work. It is a rule of that country that you never travel alone in case of accident but as the recording crew filled the ve- hicle I went without someone to be in the truck with me on the way back to camp. The area we were working was only six or seven miles from camp and I didn't give it another thought. As soon as we started out I realized that the brakes were frozen solid but I was not surprised as it had been above freezing and slushy when we quit the night before. We were on our own pri- vate road, bulldozed from the wilder- ness a few weeks before, and as I only had a mile or so to go on a public road I took a chance on driving with the vehicle in four wheel drive and the gears to act as my brakes. The crew arrived in the field without any trouble and I was returning to camp when the diffi- culties started. The road ran down hill and across a log bridge. The banks of the creek had been shored up with logs to prevent the bridge from washing out and it was a drop of about 14 feet (measured later) to the ice. I put the vehicle in the lowest gear I could find as the road was slippery and eased forward. I was just at the bottom of the hill when the front wheel of the truck broke off. Whether it was from the extreme cold or a flaw in the metal that caused this we never discovered but the truck swung sidways and, with- out brakes, moved almost in slow mo- tion along the bank of the creek and then dropped over on its side into the creek. It seemed as though I had lots of time to think and yet it happened before I could get the door open to jump, When I felt it tipping I threw myself sideways on the seat face down and hung on. I don't know how long I was unconscious but we guessed afterwards that it must have been an hour. I woke up and I was warm and com- fortable and it took me a few minutes to realize where I was and what had happen- ed. Luckily I wasn't injured and I had little trouble climbing through the wind- Kerr's Korner shield and up the bank of the creek and onto the road. I had no feeling in either my feet or hands and I knew that camp was five miles away. I managed to get circulation back into my hands but I still felt as though I was walking on air with no feeling in my feet. I started to walk to camp and it took a little while to get used to looking down at my feet to help me walk. They could- n't have been completely frozen but they sure felt numb. I played a little game with myself and would run for 200 steps and then walk for 200 steps counting each one. With a cold wind blowing in your face it isn't easy to run but I forced myself to go the required 200 steps. I don't know how long I played the game until I finally just kept walking rather than try to run and then I started to daydream. It could have been the middle of the summer after that as I just kept walking with my head down following the road. I was really surprised when the fellows came running out of camp and helped me in. I was in bed for three days but I suffered no ill effects other than I was cold when the other fellows thought the skid shack was too warm. We moved further north just before Christmas to the borderline of British Columbia and the North West Territories which was to be our main winter camp. The temperatures for six weeks that win- ter ranged between 55 below (warm) and 85 below on some mornings. I wore two sets of long underwear, my pajamas, two pairs of trousers, shirts, sweaters and two parkas and still shiver- ed 24 hours a day. I was not alone with the extra clothing as I didn't wear an awful lot more than what most of the fellows were wearing. We were living in trailers, hauling our own water and had our own electric gen- erating plant. In the wash trailer if you wanted to take a shower you put a piece of cardboard on the floor and turned on the tap as hot as you could get it. You could hardly stand the heat on your shoulders and you could look down and see ice form- ing on the cardboard you were standing on. When they speak of the big men of the north or show pictures of them, remember that 50 per cent of the size is clothes. Most of them are little fellows like me with lots of winter padding. And don't ask why I quitfree lance writ- ing and photography and returned to the south to a warm office. I just don't like the cold. One of the real hazards of the pre-Christmas season in our en- vironment is that we will be so bu- sy that we're apt to overlook the really lasting impact Christmas can make on our homes and lives. We are probably more effective than any other generation in giv- ing our family (things' . We are probably less effective than any other generation in giving them what really matters; our time, ourselves, our presence. Julia Ward Howe, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, was making an impassioned plea to an American politician, seek- ing his aid for a friend of hers who badly needed assistance. The man replied: "Julia I've become so busy I can no longer concern my- self with individual cases." Mrs. Howe answered, "Fortunately, God hasn't reached that stage yet. God finds and takes the time to be interested in and concerned with each one of us. But the fact is that the busier we become the more difficult it is to be concerned with individual personal relations. These relationships suffer from our'busyness' and our preoccup- ation with 'bigness'. But this is a busy age and no one can turn the clock back - - - perhaps no one really wants to. In fact I have always enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the season. The question is not really whether we are too busy it is instead whe- ther we have things in perspect- ive; it is whether we put first thin- gs first; it is whether we have a built in source of stability and gui- dance at this time of the year and all times. Some people seem to manage to be involved in every area of life without the strain, tension and weariness that affects most of us. As one brilliant Quaker put it; "We've seen such lives, integr- ated, unworried by the tangles of close decisions, unhurried, chee- ry, fresh and positive. These are not people dallyingidleness eith- er, nor are they people of obvi- ously mooning meditation. They are busy carrying their full load as well as we but without any chafing of the shoulders with the burden, with quiet joy and spring- ing step. Surrounding the trifles of their daily life is an aura of peace, power, and joy. Where we are so strained and tense with our burdened lives they are pois- ed and at peace." So during this season and any time it is still possible to have things in perspective inspite of the pressure. The point is some people can be as busy or busier 50 YEARS AGO The school trustees whose term expires this year are Mes- srs. A. E. Fuke, I. Armstrong and F. W. Gladman. Captain Beaman has opened a recruiting office in the south part of Dr. Hyndman's office building. Four recruits signed up this week: Hector Heywood, Sylvanus Cann, Wilbert Pfaff, and Fred Hopkins. Names of merchants adver- tising are: W. W. Taman, tai- lor; Cole's Drug Store; J. A. Stewart, general merchant; Nel- son Sheere, tailor; R. N. Rowe, furniture; R. G. Seldon, flour and feed; C. F. Hooper, eggs; Lawson & Trick, jewellers; S. Martin & Son, pianos, sewing machines; H. Rowe, • coal & oil; James Gould, groceries, B. W. F. Bea- vers, dry goods; W. J. Statham, baker; Ernest Elliot, conveyan- cer. 25 YEARS AGO There was no service at Zion Sunday as the roads were blocked (December 5). Ice making has started at the Exeter arena. C. W. Kestle com- menced his duties as manager of the arena Monday. Merchants in town are feeling the loss of trade since the col- lapse of the Exeter bridge. old 1940 motor license plates are being salvaged and can be left With R. G. seldom, It is es- tiniated the 1940 plates would provide about 300 tons of muni- tions steel. than we but because their lives are rooted and grounded in the centre and silence which is God they find direction and renewal in the midst of busyness. They take that moment with God. "We mut- ter and sputter, we fume and we spurt: we mumble and grumble, our feelings get hurt; we can't understand things, our vision gr- ows dim: when all that we need is a moment with Him." That moment, on the job, at home, on the run can bring persp- ective and clarity. We can ex- perience that 'grace to help in the time of need'. We can experience the One who restores our soul and brings 'times of refreshing'. Harry Emerson Fosdick tells a little story which points to the an- swer to busyness: "In the early days of sea travel, seamen faced a disagreeable choice, either to risk unguided adventures on the high seas with no help of chart or compass or else to restrict them- selves to the coastline and beat up and down the shore. Either al- ternative wa s unsatisfactory: loose sailing with no means of gui- dance was perilous and pointless and holding themselves to the sh- ore was inhibiting. The solution of their problem came with the mariner's compass and what that did was to put inside each ship something to sail by. This trans- formed seamanship and made well-guided adventure possible". We too need something inside of us, 'to sail by' - - to keep us going in the right direction. If we are to be involved in our busy world - - and involved we must be - - feverish activity will at times be demanded of us. But as someone has said, "The long- er an orchestra plays the more it needs to be tuned. The farther a plane flies the more it requires ground service". And so the busier and More com- plex our life becomes the more we will need 'times of refreshing'; the more we will need the grace to help in time of need; the more we will need the One who 'resto- res our soul'. The busier we are; the more in- volved we become in big problems and big solutions the greater the danger that we will be too busy to take time for fellowship with God or with our families and friends. So may we take time during this busy season to keep things in perspective so we may never have to say,"I've become so busyI can no longer concern myself with individual cases' !God hasn't rea- ched that stage yet and He does- n't want us to reach it either. 15 YEARS AGO Mr. George Layton was hon- ored at Main Street UC congre- gational supper in appreciation of 19 years of service as treas- urer of the church. A capacity audience in James Street church enjoyed a festival of music presented by the Lon- don all-girl choir under the di- rection of Mr. Earle Terry. The newly constructed air- men's social centre at RCAF Station Centralia, will open Fri- day. Lions Club awards for highest proficiency by grades were pre- sented at SHDHS commencement by C. S. MacNaughton to Joan Hopper, grade 12; John Haberer, grade 11; John Ellerington, grade 10 and Kathryn Hunter, grade 9. 10 YEARS AGO Exeter and Hensall Kinsmen Clubs toured the plant of Gen- eral Coach Works at Hensall Thursday night, Construction has started on the $80,000 addition which will double the size of the plant. Announcement that the Pinery, a 4,000-acre tract along Lake Huron, is now the property of the Ontario Government w a s Made by C. E. Janes, Lambton East MLA and chairman of the Parks and Recreation advisory board of the Ausable Authority. Two Kirkton sisters, Marilyn and Pat marstian topped the list of South Huron 4-11 winners at the county Achievement Night Friday night. OLD 'TIMES'