Loading...
The Brussels Post, 1974-11-06, Page 2Sugar and Spice THE STREAKERS... Serving-Brussels and the surrounding community. Published: each Wednesday .afternoon at Brussels, Ontario - by McLean Bros.Publishers, Limited. Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Member Canadian Community •Newspape'r Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association.„ Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $6.00 a year, Others $8.00 a year, Single Copies I S cen ts each. Second class mail Registration No. 0562. Telephone 887-6641. icing ived t thar attonal rtunit orshi Fatly his hap chi bed ye. istory. 1111111 S 1112 4' Brussels Post BRUSSELS ONTARIO Preserving land The influence of the Grey Township plan which ,was distributed in the Brussels,Post last week will extend far beyond the borders of Grey Township. It's to the credit of the people of the township and the Huron County planners that this is the first plan developed for a rural township in all of Ontario. The most important thing about the Grey Plan, according to Huron County's provincial agricultural representative, Don Pullen is that, as it states.in the plan 90c/0 of the area of the Township is Class or 2 agricultural land. "You can grow' 100 bushels of corn to the acre without 'much trouble in Grey", Mr. Pullen says. "The big significance of the plan is that this land will be preserved for agribulture", Mr. Pullen said. He along with agricultural engineer George Penfold worked closely with planners.. ) Planning in a rural township with irreplaceable agricultural land will ensure that the strip housing, Commercial and industrial development that interfered with and destroyed agriculture in other counties can be avoided. Grey Township farmers can relax knowing that agriculture is the number one land use in their area and that its status is protected. Mr. Pullen hastens to add that 'there is still room for recreational and industrial development, but in controlled areas and not at' the expense of agriculture. The plan attempts to avoid the. kind of conflicts that have developed' in ether rural areas when an influx of non farming residents with complaints about pig smells and crop spraying, move into farming areas. The scope of the Grey plan' is enormous as it tries to cover all aspects of life the township, remembering that it's prime goal is the pr'eservation and nurturing of agriculture. The scope of the Grey plan is enormous as it tries to cover all aspects of life in the township, remembering that it s prime goal is the preservation and nurturing of agriculture.. Don Pullen calls the Grey plan "monumental". He hopes that it will serve as a model for other rural township planning. In these days of worries about food 6hortages and the irreversible loss of food producing land, let's hope that it will. As the introduction to 'the plan says "Grey Township is an agricultural community. Land is it s life". The plan should help ensure that it stays that way. There is nothing drearier, fcir anybody who is not one, than an "Old Sweat"; unleSs it is a collection of Old Sweats, exchanging cheerful lies and trying- to drink Canada dry, about this time every year. Although I'm not much for the old soldierbit, 1 find myself, each year, doing a lot of remembering when. Remembrance Day rolls around. Just the other day, I came across a photo that brought back a lot of memories. There we were; the two of us. Tony Frombola, grinning as though he owned the world, and looking over his shoulder, with a crop- of dark hair, a huge, sweeping, handle-bar moustache, and a devilish glint in his eye, yours truly. 1 think it was taken in Brussels, shortly after we "escaped " from prison camp. We didn't actually escape.'We just got sick and tired of hanging around, and left., The blasted war had been over for about seven days, and there we were, stuck behind barbed wire.The only difference between that and the' situation a month before was that tlie guards up in the sentry boxes were Russians, instead of Germans. At our camp, our incarceration didnt end with the Yanks or the British rolling into the camp in jeeps, and throwing cigarettes and chc colate bars to the joyful prisoners, who wept and kissed their liberators. We-were "liberated" by the Russians. They didn't have any cigarettes to throw around, they didn't know ,what a 'cholcate bar was; and they didn't particulatly want to be kissed.. They threw a guard around the camp and told us to stay put. Our senior officers told us the same.They didn't want us wandering around the countryside being shot by some drunken Rooshian. Bored silly, Tony and I decided we'd had enough of that dump.. So,, about four o'clock one morning, we nipped. the wires with a paie of borrowed Wite-elippers, crawled several hundred feet through grass (very wet), and headed for home, It sounds incredibly daring and fool -hardy; and' it did Make the heart thump a bit, but it WaSn't either of those: It wa's Howust Stud. ever, we made it tel. the Canadian lines in three days, hitching and hiking, and a very enjoyable time We had of it.. In fact ; we caught a plane to Brussels, another to England ; and were there about feint days before the other chickens got out of the coop. Frombola was an irrepressible character. He was a Yank, from 'Oakland, California, who had joined the RCAF. Most of his compatriots switched to the:' U.S. air force when the latter got infd the:war, but Tony didn't bothef. He didnf iiother about much' of anything, except -enjoying life. He had a big, homely mug, but was ? terror with tyre ladiesAe 'was strong ant tough / and cynical and witty. This may ,be hard to1 believe, but this incident, which I personally witnessed; showed what he was made of. It was August, 1944: One evening, after flying, we decided to walk down to the beach in Normandy. There was nothing of interest to do back at the wing, and the padres had cleaned up the tiny whiSkey supply in the mess. At the beach, a 'Liberty ship was unloading jeeps.There was a line of them, parked on the sand, guarded by two British soldiers. Tony walked up' to one of them, and said: "How much do you want for a jeep, buddy?" I nearly fell over. "Five quid," responded the Limey. Tony peeled off five notes. He •was always, flush, as he was a gambler and a dealer. he drove the jeep away to' a place of privacy; rounded up some paints and'painted ROE roundels and, the legend "Canada" on He was the only ,loWly Flying Officer fP have his Own, jeep'' dining' the Nonnan0 campaign ; and he Made,' good use of ,iti such as visiting field hospitals. :Not to ,Visit the sick and wounded, but to date 'lugs. We came home on the 'same ship. He, picked up five hundred dollars in the twenty-font hour crap 011ie ; lost most of builtit back tip to $2,000: ,Haven't seen ,him since we landed, but wherever.he is to'claY,, I'll bet he's riCh." • Not all the Memories are so pleasantref course. Three of us shared a tent Normandy. Werwere all shot down 10 days; and I'm 'the only one , My parents received Mite teldgtanli from the Department of National Defense, Each of them.begati, "We regret to infOral YOU Son was lileky/f4 by a land thine, and lost an eye The second 1005: missing in actibil, The tlii d was shot doOm over the Channel. 84 sothe str6IK working of fate, Wete air alive. But thousands of lads; gealegi them. • • •, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 197