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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-10-10, Page 4Right from under bushel eMar.r:::),:':::•4,"!•)••):),' • • ' • ' "' " axr4THANKS /frice 611-114? • 0011Ma*. Ampri-M)400 1).,0 You Moo TOE OWITION. , OUR POINT OF VIEW Eliminate the risk The early Thursday morning fire at a Stephen Township residence again points out the dangers which exist in the area due to the fact that residents do not always have access to their nearest fire depart- ment. The home from which Mrs, Ed Presz- cator and her three children escaped is located about half a mile south of Huron Park, yet the call was answered by the Ex- eter area fire department. It would have been much more sensible had Mrs. Preszcator been able to call the ODC brigade from Huron Park. Presumably, they would have been able to get to the scene of the fire some five to ten minutes quicker than the Exeter Try a 'little thankfulness brigade, and in a fire of that nature, those minutes can be most precious. What would have happened had Mrs. Preszcator been unable to rescue her three children? That extra five to ten minutes could certainly have been the difference between life and death for three children trapped on a second storey. Allowing such risks to exist is just not acceptable in this modern age ,,and area municipal officials should consider it of paramount importance to review this par- ticular situation and ensure that such a risk is alleviated. Failure to do so would be a flagrant of abdicating their responsibility, Let's clear the air This newspaper supports wholeheartedly the call by MPPs Jack Riddell and Murray Gaunt for a complete review and investigation of the administra- tion of justice in Huron County. This support is not generated basically by the present "mess" in Clinton, but rather on the basis of the criticism that has been levelled for all too many years from various communities in the county. While the recent complaints from police officials in the county have spurred the two politicians to call for the investiga- tion, those are not entirely new complaints and, in fact, elected officials have at many times in the past voiced concern over justice in Huron. At the same time, this is not to suggest that the courts and officials are the sole reason for the concern and criticism, and it is encouraging to note that all facets of justice and law enforcement are being in- cluded in the MPPs' suggestion. Then, and only then, will the many questions be finally answered to the satisfaction of the public and the officials involved. In fact, there is even a suggestion that such 'an investigation will show that our problems in Huron are not related to any particular officials, but at society in general. That may well be the most fearful part of supporting such an investigation. "Get me the prime minister's office. I've just discovered the major cause of rampant inflation in this country — my wife!" There are many qualified Why be thankful? have not been seriously con- sidered by other members of the group. Because women make up half the voters, it is certainly beneficial that elected bodies have female members. In fact there are many areas of the task in which women are actually much better qualified to make decisions than men. So come on ladies, get some candidates into the field! This brought a ray of sunshine into our man's mind and en- couraged him to try another letter of appreciation and another and another, until he had written 500 letters! Gone was the despondency and the gloom. In the years that followed, whenever he felt depression coming on, he would get out copies of some of the letters he had written, and happiness and thanksgiving would well up in his heart once again. Psalm 92 says, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord," and how much we have for which to be thankful! Most of us wouldn't be able to find a, piece of paper long enough to list our blessings. It was Henry Thoreau who said we ought to give thanks every day of our lives for the very fact that we were born. "Just con- sider", he wrote, "what you would have missed had you never been born. You would never have felt fresh, cool rain upon your face. Nor would you ever, he says, have felt the crunch of snow under your feet on a starlit winter night. You would never have had your cold bones warmed by a roaring wood fire. You would never have seen the lovelight in the eyes of your beloved. You would never have felt the curl of little fingers around your own. You would never have known the ecstasy of victory over pain. You would never have known the triumph of the soul in God." Yes, it is a good thing to give thanks to God for our lives and what he has given us, and one way of thanking Him is to show some human our appreciation for what he or she has done for us. The other day I read a story about a man who had suffered a nervous breakdown, He sat for months in abysmal gloom and mental darkness, Everything was black; everything hopeless. One day a friend of his told him that with God's help he could bring himself out of his despondency by practicing thanksgiving. This is what he suggested: "Think," he said, "of the people who have greatly benefited you in your life and ask yourself the question whether you have ever thanked them." "I can think of several right away, but I don't recall ever having thanked any of them," the man confessed. "Well," proposed his friend, "why not select one and write that person an affectionate letter of thanks?" As the man thought it over he remembered an old school teacher with whom he had had no communication for years. He recalled the gift she had of being able to inspire. It was she who had given him an appreciation of literature and made him love the great poets. So he sat down and wrote her a letter, telling her that her influence had been a tremendous blessing and that he had never forgotten her and he thanked her for what she had done for him. Later he received a reply written in the shaky handwriting of an old lady. "Dear Willy," she wrote, addressing him by his boyhood nickname, "when I read your letter I was blinded by tears. You have warmed my old heart. I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first letter of thanks I ever received from a student. I shall cherish it until I die." Thanksgiving Day? Whatever for? Families who shop for groceries and find that twenty-five dollars' worth can be contained in a couple of brown paper bags; who listen, night after night to the regular load of disaster on the eleven o'clock news, are likely to feel more than a little cynical. Obviously contemporary life is no paradise — but wait; on balance there still is a good deal for which to be grateful. Money may evaporate, but when — until our generation — has it been accepted that no family's income must be allowed to fall below a certain minimum, not as a hand- out, but as their basic right. When, before now;:have all Canadians had access to good medical care, irrespec- tive of financial standing? On a broader canvas, when before in Our response to now history has the notion that rich nations have a responsibility to share their bounty and their skills, ever been entertained, let alone been acted upon? Surely these are realities for which to be grateful. So is the current concern for the good earth. Parks and green belts within and around our cities are growing; men and women realize their need of contact with basics if they are to be whole. Urban or not, we still depend for physical sustenance on the fruit of soil and water and wind and sun — those marvellous elements our fathers recogniz- ed as the gifts of a Creator God. A thankful heart is not outmoded, and a pause to express it, enriches us all. Contributed r &MCI, By ELMORE BOOMER Counsellor for Information South Huron For appointment The announcement last week by Exeter councillor Bruce Shaw that he would enter the contest for mayor should prompt all area citizens to do some serious thinking with nominations less than one month off. In the upcoming issues, the T-A will be polling all area councillors to get an indication of what contests and vacancies may be apparent. However, citizens interested in the welfare of their communities should not feel that vacancies have to exist before they can present their names for public office. The democratic system works to its best advantage when several people permit their names to go before the voters. This stimulates interest in the issues of the day as candidates attempt to garner support and, it also gives voters a choice. in the persons whom theylwish to run their affairs for the succeeding two years. All civic positions are open, regardless of the intention of sitting members of various public bodies. Those interested in presenting their names should certainly not be swayed to change those plans merely because they think they may cause an election. They have as much right to run as sitting members and certainly there is considerable merit in having elections. Forcing elec- tions, so to speak, is doing the ratepayers of your community a favor, not a disfavor. Experience in the past has shown that municipal elections are conducted in a most gen- tlemanly (or ladylike) fashion, so candidates generally do not have • to fear some of the mud-rucking types of campaigns associated with provincial or federal campaigns. Not only that, but municipal elections are waged with practically no expense to the candidate. + + + People who consider public office, should realize that it is full of contradictions. It can range from being rewarding to exasperating . . dull to exhilarating . . simple to com- plex . . . etc. to etc. However, in general it can be one of the most rewarding ex- periences you can undertake if of • i.. c11.. c, 1a s 11,4 + + + One thing that will probably be missing from the scene in most communities this year is public meetings prior to elections. the chaige `Yefirs in nomination procedures, most councils decided ' to '' stage a"" ratepayers' meeting in place of the former nomination meeting to outline the work they had undertaken during the two years in which they were in office. However, the turnouts in most cases were most disappointing and proved to be almost a waste of time, Councillors ended up giving reports to their own members. In situations where there are no elections, the meetings serve no valuable purpose because the ratepayers just don't appear interested. However, in communities where elections will be held, a meeting at which the candidates canoutline their views on various topics of local interest would appear to beimost worthwhile and should be encouraged as they provide an excellent method for ratepayers to question can- didates and hear them expound on their ideas for the future. The Sahel you're prepared to give the time, effort and consideration required for one of the more important tasks in our communities. There may be some people who would not be suitable candidates due to an inadequacy in their personalities or abilities, but those people are certainly few and far between. What is required are those who are prepared to conduct the af- fairs of their community as they would want others to conduct them. In short, the main requirement is a great deal of common sense and a measure of foresightedness. Many area residents are gifted with those abilities and should seriously consider running for public office or at least en- couraging others with those abilities to do so. To dismiss the' challenge without any consideration is in fact abdicating one's respon- sibility. + + + There is certainly an obvious need in the area for female candidates. We think most of the women in the area who have participated in public capacities in the past will tell you that it is one area in which women are treated equally. The men will be glad to give you as much work as you wish and we have never yet ex- perienced any situation in which the opinions of distaff members lady from ancient Troy, who was given the gift of foreseeing the future, and, at the same time, the curse that nobody would ever believe her. O.K. It's time to go public. If I'm right, I'll have politicians and poets, actors and authors, beating a path to my door. Will I win? Will I be famous? Will I wow them? Will I write the great Canadian novel? I've decided to take on an assistant, though it's only to keep his mother from starving in a cockroach- ridden apartment. He will be Nikov Chen, my grandbabby. He's half fey Irish and half blunt Canadian. That makes him 150 percent. A natural. If he chortles, I'll tell my whining clients "Yes". If his face wrinkles and he starts 'to whimper as he does, I'll give my customers a blunt, "No." We should make a million. With the new child labour laws, I'll probably have to give him ten percent. Well, here's my first predic- tion. This is being written after the first half of the Canada- Russian series. They are all tied U , With that group of tottery old This week, I'm going to make two predictions. For too long, I've been hiding my light under a bushel when it comes to forecasting, and it's time to come out from under the bushel and reveal that I am somewhat of a seer, when it comes to the future. Years ago, I came out against capital punishment. It was done away with. I said we should let Red China into the U.N. It was done. I said the trout were disappearing from our streams, because of pollution. They did. I suggested I would never be rich. I'm not. But nobody paid any attention, Only within the family did anyone realize that I had the gift of prophecy. I told my son, "If you don't stop goofing around, you're going to flunk out of college." He did. I told my wife, "If you don't stop worrying so much about everything you'll be a nervous wreck." She is. I told my daughter, "If you pick that baby up every time he utters a whimper he'll be spoiled silly." He is. You see, even my own family didn't put much faith in me, even though I'm always right. I'm somewhat like Cassandra, the men, who have given a great account of themselves, and those unknown young players who make up the WHL team, it takes a lot of courage to come out with a blunt forecast of the final result. But here it is. I predict - and if I'm not right on the nose, I'll drink a bottle of vodka on the town hall steps - that 2,400 of the 2,500 Canadians going to Russia for the games there will be drunk sixty percent of the time, and hung over the other forty percent, As for the series itself, what does it matter who wins? It's only a game, though a rather en- trancing combination of ballet and mayhem. Besides Canadians are the biggest sports cry-babies in the world. If we lose, we were rob- bed. If we win, it's a victory of free enterprise over authoritarianism. This is a nation of Monday morning quarterbacks and late Saturday night referees. We're a nation of experts, especially in hockey. After all, for several generations, all that the world knew Canada was any good at was producing maple syrup, rye whiskey and hockey players. neamatreamm, Advocate Established 1881 moramlemiva,,,,,4dtda,,,,trames~wr Times Established 1873 Amalgamated 1924 `EAle rVou-Ahaeate SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W,N.A., 0,W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Women's Editor — Terri Irvine Phone 235-1331 Mauritania in the bulge of Africa has raised $10 million dollars from taxes on businesses and a compulsory contribution of a day's wage from each worker. But what is so little among so many. Niger has budgeted for 12 cents per citizen for health needs in these emergency times while in Canada the standard is $200 per person. Any stress we suffer here seems small against the stark background of the Sahel. Food is the immediate need. Children who should be drinking milk fight with animals over the tree roots. Most of those con- centrated in straw mat cities live in squalor, on the largesse of others, eating only every other day. A program of immunization is another current need. Diseases easily passed off by the strong are fatal for the weak. New techniques of mass immunization are already in use whereby 1000 can be treated in an hour. It is to be noted that the city of Oshawa as part of its fiftieth anniversary celebration is investing money and time in such programs of help to the Sahel. Aid over years to irrigate the land, educate the people to new farming methods, to initiate plans for self-help, will be necessary. Even to stop the Sahara a tremendous miracle must be worked. Any reclaimation is only a future possibility. The Oshawa Project team returned with recommendations as to the most effective agencies. U.N.E.S.C.O., U.N.I.C.E.F., W.H.O. are the international agencies mentioned. C.U.S.O. is the Canadian agency doing the most. Church agencies are particularly active and those mentioned as being more prominent than others are the Church World Service, Baptist World Relief and Roman Catholic Caritas. Here is opportunity then to be part of a world-wide helpfulness, possibly even to participate in a miracle. .The Sahara desert creeps foot by foot further south and that day by day. In some areas 30 miles per year - 400 feet per day. All of this because of an unusual drought seven years in length. Such dry times ahre not unusual in the Sahel but this is one of the longest and most calamitous. Thirty million people are starving. The bones of former herds are scattered over the sand. Many, especially children, are dead because of disease or malnutrition. In northern Niger, an area larger than France there are only 25 water holes. In Niger the peanut crop was cut by 80 percent. The Sahel is an area just on the southern border of the Sahara which is as wide as Canada with about as many people. It must be described as a desert. There are trees but few in number and sparse in foliage. The bushes are twisted and cling in shifting sands to some source of water deep in the ground. Grass is tough and brown. This is a land of bone dryness with not even dew at night. This southern semi-desert has become a desert and its people have gone south. They have arrived at farming areas where people already live at subsistence levels. They have come with only the fewest of animals. And where they have come they are settled in waist high shelters in camps, to be fed on food contributed by the rest of the world. Will they ever return north? The answer seems to be no! There is and will be nothing to which to return. Even tribal patterns of living are destroyed. The pride of the nomad is his herd, But the animals are largely gone. The need of the herds is for grass and foliage but this has disappeared. The nomads cannot wander but must come to a halt. Their former life is finished. Even their tents of skins have cracked and become unusable because of a shortage of butter and animal grease to soften the leather. The straw nets supplied by relief agencies provide little shelter. R1111 PIRPIIN A WADI. Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation March 31, 1974, 6,30 Canadci S9.06 Per Year, USA $11.00 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 15 Years Ago Exeter Dairy Ltd. can now pasteurize and bottle milk, The local plant recently installed new short-time pasteurization and deodorizing equipment which makes it the most modern dairy in Western Ontario. The first rural central school in the area will be officially opened this Friday night. George A. Pearson will be guest speaker at the ceremony marking the completion of McGillivray Township School at West McGillivray. The district got its first taste of below-freezing weather early Wednesday, but the forecast indicates milder temperatures for Thursday, 10 Years Ago The Mary-Ellen Memorial Chapel at the Grand Bend museum of Peter Eisenbach was dedicated in a special service, Monday. The quaint chapel with its antique furnishings was filled to capacity with 165 people. The Exeter Businessmen's Association decided to sponsor six Orphans this Christmas with each receiving $50, bringing the total to $300, Another $500 was set aside for several draws to be held throughout the ChrifitnIng shopping season. Area residents will have an opportunity to view the new Usborne Township central school • this Friday when the official opening will be held at the eight- room Structure, I've heard women who wouldn't know a shift from a nylon slip castigating the Canadian players for all sorts of sins. I've heard mature men, who couldn' teven skate on theiranklee when they were kids, shouting obscenities at our players because, "They're not hitting enough, fergawsake." I've heard teenagers of both sexes cheer when some Canadian ape rammed his stick into a Russian's teeth. Well, that's my first prediction. The second is that I'm going to win Mayor Drapoo's lottery, First prize, A cool million, tax free. This prediction is based on a combination of prophecy and logic, not just a wild hunch, Look, in the past two years, I've broken my toe, my nose, two ribs, and the, law. I'm not saying that the Lord is picking on me. I just don't think he's been keeping an eye on this little sparrow, when he falls, It's time for a different kind of break, and the law of averages suggests to the occult tide of the, that it's going to be the Big Million, c flaffrgangrifAileaMNS 'INPAVIS 50 Years Ago Mildred Rowe, Ruth Lamport, Gertie Frances, Mary Homey, Carrie Davis and Mr. E. Christie, Normal students were home for the holiday. Mr. J. M. Southcott showed lantern slides in James Street Sunday School on Tuesday on the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association trip overseas to Belgium, France and Great Britain. Mr. & Mrs. J. S. Harvey were in Port Perry on Saturday attending the wedding of their son. Rev. Linden C. Harvey to Lillian Follick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. H.Follick. The ladies of Centralia are having their big fowl supper tonight - great preparations are being made. 2S Years Ago Plans are being made for the organization of a Home and School Association in Exeter. Adorning the front of Exeter's post office is a huge thermometer that, in the future, will mark the progress that is being made for the raising of funds for the erection of a new hospital to be known as the South Huron Hospital, The Sweitzer Lanes, owned and operated by Mr, and Mrs, William Sweitzer have been sold to Rene Francois of Tillsonburg, William Ellerington returned home last week after a trip to the west going as far as Calgary where he purchased 350 head of feeder Cattle,