The Brussels Post, 1974-07-10, Page 12Jarvis, back left and Jim Prior, right, presented Pee Wees
Scott with their most valuable and most improved player
(Photo by Pat Langlois)
Columnist for 10 years
Helen Allen finds homes
for eioda Vs Child'
PEE WEE'S John
Doug Cousins and Brian
awards respectively.
TODAY IS CHILD
BY HELEN ALLEN
FISHING His HOBBY •
Eddie, 14, is short, sturdy and healthy, Anglo-Saxon in
deSeent. He has brown eyes, dark hair and fair, clear skin. He
wears glasses for short-sightedness. Eddie is an intelligent;
outgoing lad with a nice. sense of hurnatie is going into Grade
eight.
Though high average in intelligence he has some learning
difficulties and at present lacks a well developed sense of
responsibility in regard to school Work. Verbally he is above
average and is a delightful, vivacious coriVergationalist.
Fishing is Eddie's hobby, He belongs to the YMCA and reads
a great deal On a variety of subjects,
Eddie needs a home where he will be the youngest family
member and where the parents are Warni, stimulating and at the
same time firm, For such parents he will be a rewarding son.
inquire abaft adopting Eddie, please *Hid to Today's
Child, Ministry of Community and Social SetVices, Box 888,
Station K, Toronto M41.' 21I2: further general information,
please contact your local Children's Aid Society:
The
Blooming
THING
By
ED VAN
GEES`
Ducks that fly upside &WO,
quack up.
•
Remember the good old do.
when a teenager went into
garage and Mlle out With I
lawnmower?
• • •
Singles bar: a "meet" maid
• • •
When we describe someone!s
faults, that's analysis; if be
it for us,, that's criticism
• • •
Of ,all the tie racks ever
we have yet to see one that
a dOorknob.
• • •
AND N o GI BEATS
CONTENIENCS'OPORD
FLoWEES.Bli rlior 11,
Listowel Fkn
198 Main, Phone gill
We are also rep110.0"
Max Watt$, BruF0el/
Council.. may by
(Continued from Page 1)
installed.
Councillor Campbell will be in
charge of finishing up the park.
Sidewalks will be fixed in front
of the homes. of Frank Alcock,
Frank Cobb and Bob Higgins.
A request for severance from
Jack Bryans covering a 98' by
132' lot at the corner of James
and Thomas Streets was
recommended for approval.
Mrs. Jean Leach's request for a
change of assessment on her
property was approved. Mrs.
Leach closed her jewellry
business last December 'and was
asking for change from commer-
cial to non-commercial.
Building permits were granted
to: Ross McCall for a swimming
pool; Jim Smith, a home; Mervin
Bower, to move his building;
Topnotch Mill, to redecorate
• walls; Dave McCutcheon, for
siding on his house; Clayton
Sauve, a new home; and Gerald
Gibson for a porch.
Demolition permits
granted to Jack McCuteheoa I
an old house and Bill. Wheeler`
an old barn.
Arrangements were made'
get a leak fixed on the pimp
the fire truck,
Attempts will be made, remove the cement from
remains of the Waxman buildi
Reeve Jack McCutcheontea
copy of a letter from the Plaid
Department that had been sent.
the Ministry of Environmi
regarding the proposed seise; treatment plant.
In the letter, the Hi,
planners said that growth
Brussels should be expectedoj
the addition of sewers. They sl
a possible 2,400 people could
within Brussels' prest boundaries.
The Ministry of Enviromm
also sent a letter to the eon'
stating they approved of fh
proposed site but suggeste
sitting the plant further north
the property.
News of
Huronview
choice",. Adorned with finger,
painted, smiling members of a
family, it bore the simple
heart-tugging caption:
Happiness is having a brother,
sister,Mother, father and a
bike."
Members of the' Clinton Christian Reform Church provided
a song service for the residents on Sunday evening led by Aire
Van Der Ende Wifh devotions by Rev. Buekema. A group of
young people from, the Ottawa area, 'The Swim, Team,' who
are doing evangelistic work with the young people of the
Church sang several numbers with vocal solos by Henrietta
Stryker.
The Tamily.Nighe program of band music scheduled to be
held on the lawn was cancelled due to weather conditions. his
hoped to have a band concert each Thursday evening during
July and August and we are looking forward to a visit from
Clinton Centennial Band on July 11th.
A group of teenage girls workirig under the 'Opportunities
For Youth Program' will be at the Home each Thursday and
Friday during the summer and will provide recreation
activities and individual contacts with the Residents.
By Leslie K. Tarr
Helen Allen's task that was
intended in 1964 to be "a couple
of hours a day" side-line, has
become a lifetime passion.
"I can't imagine another
newspaper feature that h,.s
altered for the better so many
human lives," says Andrew
MacFarlane, dean of the faculty
of journalism at the University of
Western Ont arid.
Although she has lived most of
her life in the Toronto area, Miss
Allen was born in Dundurn,
Sask., where her father was a
Presbyterian minister. Two years
after the birth of their only child,
the family moved to Ontario.
From their home in Aurora,
Helen proceeded to University
College, at the University of
Toronto' with the dream of
becoming a high school teacher.
She joined the staff of Varsity, the
university student paper, and
dreams of teaching vanished.
"From my frist day on Varsity,
I could think of no other career
but journalism," she recalls.
On graduation in 1929, she
headed immediately to the staff of
the Toronto Telegram and a
variety of assignments.
"Nothing I have ever done has
given me the satisfaction that I
received from Today's Child. I
feel absolutely privileged to
have a part in finding homes for
those wonderful children."
Asked about her method of
preparing columns, Miss Allen
makes it sound simple. "I try very
hard to tell the story se that the
child will emerge as an
individual."
The individualism shines
through. One day three' children
appeared at the front desk of the
paper. Their mother had written
to apply for a specific child
described in Today's Child. Their
hopes raised to the breaking
point, the children had come to
see their new broiler. Where do
you keep the babies?" they asked
• a baffled receptionist:
No Children's Aid Society is
more concerned than Helen Alien
is to protect the child. "1 could '
never forgive Myself," she says
with deep conviction, "if
something wrote wounded a
child who has probably already.
had more eiati his share of
knocks."
She's equally persuaded that
the child should be honestly
described.
"I don't feel it is discriminating
to mention a child's racial origin
or mental ability. People say that
a child shouldn't be labelled, but
in the early days of Today's Child
our descriptions weren't
extensive or' honest enough.
"In one instance, 40 to 50
families applied to adopt an
attractive looking 8-year-old boy,
but all fell by the wayside when
they learned he was a slow
learner.
"I feel it is better to tell what a
child is like at the beginning.
Then prospective parents are
much more likely to follow
through."
The value of the column has
been recognized byother.
Canadian provinces and U.S.
states which have adopted the
concept and initiated similar
columns.
Success has added new
responsibilities. First there was
the inauguration of a TV
program, Family Finder. The
station, CFTO in Toronto,
insisted that Helen Allen must be
the commentator-hostess on the
weekly half-hour features which
spotlight in person children
available for adoption.
From a one channel
presentation in 1969 it is now
shown on 13 Ontario TV stations.
Public honors have come her
way in recognition of her labor of
love. Ten months after
inauguration of 'the column,
Premier John Robarts presented
an Ontario Government Special
Citation to her. In 1968, the
provincial government appointed
her to the advisory committee on
adoption and foster care.
The Canadian Government
recognized 'her contribution in
1971 when she was awarded the
Medal of Service of the Order of
Canada.
The reccigniti ich sh e
covets More thanpublic honors is
the type that periodically come
from grateful children who have
found a home,
One mother packaged up
poster designed by her "sot of
12-Aug turugstius Post, nix to, 19741,