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The Brussels Post, 1979-01-24, Page 2Winter shadows Behind the scenes by Keith Roulston Our inherited weakness winks WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1979 otomlio Serving Brussels and the surrounding community. Published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario By McLean Bros. Publishers Limited Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Pat Langlois - Advertising Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $9.00 a Year. Others $17.00 a Year. Single Copies 20 cents each. A chance for the kids Brussels is an active village with the Brussels Business Association promoting events like carnivals and bringing new business into town; the Lions Club who promote International Youth _E xchange programs, the Optimists who sponsor local sports and the many other clubs too numerous to mention who offer a significant amount of support to the community. Now it looks as though something new is being offered to. Brussels residents between the ages of 13 and 18. Lt. Rosemarie Vandenberg is hoping to start a Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps branch if enough interest is shown. As well as giving military training this would offer the youth of Brussels a chance at sports, camping and cross-country skiing and many other useful skills such as first aid, map reading, and learning about outdoor living. People are often heard to complain that there's nothing to do in a village as small as Brussels. An army cadet corps would provide village young people with an interesting way to spend their time and also help them to learn new skill. Being a member of the cadet corps may not be everyone's cup of tea but at least Brussels youth has the opportunity. russels Post Short Shots by Evelyn Kennedy A kindly thought If no kindly thought or word We can give, some soul to bless; If our hands from hour to hour, Do no deed of gentleness; If to lone and weary ones We no comfort will impart — -- Who 'tis summer in the sky Yet 'tis winter in the heart. ****** Gusty wind and blowing snow continues. In addition we have had a snow - rain mixture that has given us slushy conditions. Drivers of motor - vehicles quite often find themselves suddenly unable to see if they are on, or off, the right track when swirling snow makes it impossibile to see. Tow trucks, or handy helpers willing to push, have been called on frequently to get folks unstuck from a drift or an icy spot. The wind left a number of homes in this .k il l age without hydro for a few hours on Satu , day. A tree branch had fallen on a tra -,sforrner south of Brussels and disrupted service: ****** Almost daily we read about fatalities and serious injuries resulting frotu snowmobile accidents. Quite often these occur when snowmobilers are crossing a highway, darting out of a street corner where vision it restricted by snowbanks, running into s parked vehicles. It is invariably the snowitobilet or snowmobile passengers who are killed or seriously injured. 5nowinobile s are a great way to get around in this Weather. They can also be fun. Unfortun- ately they can also be dangerous if the driver is not as capable in handling the Machine at one should be, becomes careless, or is a show - off. Take care! See that you do not become a snowmobile accident statistic. ****** Heat dectectors it appears are not as efficient in saving lives as Smoke Dectector's are. A life was lost recently in a fire in a home that had three heat detectors. It was reported that the heat detectors did not react until the fire had gained too much headway. A smoke detector, it was said, would have given the alarm in half, or less, time. Thanks for the smoke detector. ****** Even with all our cold weather, wind, snow and ice, we are much better off than some of the eastern U.S. states. This past weekend they had torrential rains that made it necessary to evacuate a number of people from flooded areas. At least one train was derailed. New York had a blackout. Instead of complaining we should be thankful things have been no worse. ****** The month of February has been proclaimed as "Heart Month In cana.da." The Canadian Heart Fund Campaign for fubds to fight heart and blood vessel disease Will be conducted from February 1st to 28th, No one is safe from heart disease. Babies are born with heart disorders. The dollars you contribute to the Heart Campaign might help to save your own life, or the lives of your loved ones. Prevention is the best medicine Switch to a heart - healthy, lifestyle. Avoid rich - diets of fatty and high cholesttol foods, Walk. Use yout legs to help your heart. Help the Heart Fund. * * * * * We owe a good deal to the strengths our pioneers brought with them to the new lands of North America. Unfortunately, we still suffer from some of the weaknesses they brought. I was doing some historical research recently when I ran across probably the first major case of religious paranoia in our history. It began with the Fenian raids. The Fenians were Irish who wanted to bring freedom from Britain for Ireland. But they weren't Irish fighting in Ireland, they were Irish Americans who mistakenly thought they could drive the British out of Ireland by attacking Canadians. They spread terror throughout southern Ontario and in the long run were one of the contributing factors to Canadian confederation because the colonies wanted to unite for defensive purposes. The Fenians had brought Irish problems to North American soil and in doing so, they also gave root to the countervailing force: the anti-Catholic distrust of Protest- ants. Reading about the Fenian raids now sounds funny, but it is also tragic. Protestants actually believed that Catholics living in their own communities were readying their guns to join the Fenians when they invaded. In Wingham, one night, the people of Lower Town were roused with the warning that the Fenians were invading. The Catholics, the residents were told, were moving out their wives and children to prepare for the battle. The residents got up and prepared for the invasion but when nothing happened, they decided they'd better see what was going on in the Upper Town, a half mile or so away, and found everyone asleep, including the Catholics. The next morning it turned out that the sound that had been mistaken for the Catholic exodus was actually a drunk who kicked his family out into the cold. Such incidents were pentad in towns and villages and outposts throughout the area. The distrust they show among the Catholics and Protestants is a continuing thing. As a youngster I remember the Orange parade as something of a joke, an excuse for a big drunk. Somehow the real meaning of it all didn't come through. For some of those attending it was indeed a chance for a good drunk. For others, though, it was, and probably still is, serious business. They see a real danger in Catholicism and feel they must fight to keep Canada staunchly British and Prot- estant. We tend to think of out national crisis as I like your Post very much, also the little poem that was in last week. Could we have more of that? Pethaps a little quotation or Bible verse every week, being French versus English but I wonder how much of it was Protestant versus Catholic. In the eyes of the staunch Orange followers, the Quebecois were doubly damned: first they were Catholic, second they weren't British. They didn't want to fight British wars. They didn't take pride in the Empire. Strangely, most of our pioneers came to Canada because of injustices done to them by the system in the old country but once here, suddenly Britain became the epitome of all that was good and those who argued against that were traitors. The first crisis that pitted Quebec against the protestant and English-speak- ing provinces came with the Riel rebellions Riel wasn't French Canadian, he was actually a half-breed, but he was Catholic and he spoke French and the Orangemen of Ontario were out to get him. That was good enough to win him support in Quebec. The animosities built up in 1885 have grown and hardened until we have the mess we are in today. An acquaintance who owns a grocery store was saying recently that he got into trouble with some of his customers if the cans on the shelf were turned the wrong way so that the French side of the label was out, I thought surely he was exaggerating to make a point but then there was the C.B.C. television program M an Alive last week interviewing an old Orangeman who talked about just that and having to turn the can "all the way around" to be able to read what was in the can. He didn't think that was right, he said. My first reaction to such statements is anger. Such a huge sacrifice to make to put a little understanding into our country. Such a shame to have to turn the can all the way around. But then the second reaction is one of deep sadness. One hundred, even 150 years after the pioneers came to this new country, we are still plagued b y their petty prejudices. Today, with the growing nat- ionalism in Quebec, such intolerance is growing harder on the opposite side of the question as well. The chance of under- standing, of brotherhood seems to be lessening every day. How sad. But perhaps saddest of all is that the roots of this whole mess lay in the staunch belief of Catholics on one side and Protestants on the other that they, and they only, had the true way to God. The intolerance, the hatred has all been practiced in the name of the Prince of Peace, the man who said we should love out fellow man. We get the Record also and enjoy "My Answer" by Billy Grahani. Gives body something to think about, and ponder one Sincerely Elaine Smith To the editor: Reader enjoys Post.