Loading...
The Brussels Post, 1978-09-06, Page 2Brussels P(7)t. DRUMM QAPTAR 10 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1978 Serving Brussels and the surrounding community. Published each. Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario by McLean. Bros.Publishers Limited. Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Member Canadian Community Newspaper -Association and. Ontario Weekly Newspap'er Association 4GINA Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $9.00 a Year. Others $17.00 a Year. Single Copies 20 cents each. Canada needs tourists KINDERGARTEN IS FUN — David Johnson, Darrin Johnson and. David Smith enjoyed playibg with blocks at their first day of kindergarten at the Brussels Public School on Tuesday. (Photo by Langlois) Behind the scenes by Keith Rouiston School's. in A government task force has recently reported facts that many already know - Canada's tourism industry is in serious trouble. in the first half of 1978, Canada. suffered a national tourism trade deficit of $1.4 billion', money that might have helped solVe at least some of the .our nation's growing unemployment. The reasons forourdeclining tourism are obvious. Hotels and motels in Canada often charge higher rates than; those in other countries. Even the declining Canadian dollar, hasn't brought the influx of American tourists into the country that many government experts predicted it would. In Europe, perhaps the part of the world most experienced in catering to tourists; bed and breakfast accomodations and pensions in private homes provide accomodation for people travelling on a limited budget. They don't offer fancy dining rooms, elaborate bars or entertainment, but they do' offer clean, comfortable accomodation, breakfast, and ususally a' bath with hot running water: In Canada, Vancouver has already started an alternate accomodation program of housing touristsn private homes and this year the city reported a record year for American tourists, one of the few parts of Canada to experience a tourist boom. Another problem is that we Canadians still tend to view the tourist as someone we 'can rip off., After all, a tourist must have money if he's travelling in another country, so some of us overcharge him All along the line, often refuse to allow hifn the proper exchange on his currency and sometimes we forget there's such a custom as friendliness. Our own Canadian tourists are also often choosing to spend their hard earned dollars outside the country. Despite our falling dollar, Canadians still find their money stretches further in the United States or overseas. It's still cheaper to fly to Europe than it is within our own country. Many of the special charter flight prices available in Canada are honored only by Air Canada. This means the tourist is stranded with a worthless ticket when the national airline shuts down, as is happening with startling frequency lately. Canadians can find alternate forms of transportation, but the time involved in travelling by train or bus often takes a sizeable chunk out of their vacation. We need cheaper air flights within Canada, on more airlines, and a revamping of tourist accomodations offered across the country. Let's start making an effort to be more hospitable hosts. We'll feel friendlier, our economoy will get a much needed boost and if we do a good job, maybe the visitors will come back next year. After all, Canada-has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world to offer.' Roy Pattisbn, vice-chairman of the International Plowing Match committee, and forrtiet reeve Of Wawanoth Township; demonstrated his skills With the ditc plow at the Huron County Plowing Match, held on the Campbell farm in MdKillop Township on Saturday.. alguittwoniNatitiagoalr.,.Q.412v.,LitS.V. Z.tkvigit*QUu..tAwkatiLxweksott C-ext I don't know aboutyour house, but in ours ' there was a gigantic sigh of relief when Tuesday morning rollled around this week. The kids are back to school. Mom and pop are back to sanity. Usually it's only the mother that feels this great relief since father is off at work or out in the fields most of the summer and only sees the kids in short spurts during the holidays. Around our place, with our office inour home, both parents have to try to deal with the boredom of the kids in late summer and still try to get their regular jobs done. It's no easy taks. I think most kids are secretly glad to get back to school in September, even though they make a big noise about hating school.- I know I did and so did most of my friends back in those days long past. Our kids are different. They missed school they day after it stopped in June— They make no bones about the fact that they like going to school and hate to miss it.. In the winter when a snow storm used to block our road, we kids used to send up a cheer. My kids send up a wail of disappointment. It's a refreshing atttitude, but it's no easier to live with than the usual reluctance about school. It's nice to see the kids get up on a September morning eager for new adventures at school, but it's frightening to see'thern bored in their first day of holidays in June., White I liked school once I got used to it back in the dark ages it took me some getting used to. First off, was a shy kid who clung to the hem of his mother's dress at the first sight of a stranger, even in our own back yard. It was extreme tortune for me to go off to school for the first time, not knowing what fate was about to befall me. H eck I didn't even know if I'd ever see my mother, father and dog again. They might stick me in a cage and keep me there. LUckily, we had a marvellotis grade one teacher. In fact I think all grade one teachers are marvellous. They have such an important job, those teachers of the early grades. They can often influence for. life the attitudes that yoUngsters will have toward salad!. If they are kind and understanding, then kids will think all teachers are kind and Understanding. If they aren't, then every teacher the student meets for the rest of his life will have to break down that feeling of distrust. Luckily, I've net very feW grade one teachers who fell into the latter group. But besides being iiice,the grade one teacher has to instill in her children the sense of wonder at learning new things. If the teacher can put across that joy of discovery that comes from learning things about the world, then the battle of educating a person is half over. If a child once gets that thirst 'for knowledge, then he'll spend' the rest of his life trying to quench that thirst. That's why I often think we've somehow Often our whole education system turned upside down. We give our highest respect .(not to mention financial security) to our university professors. Next in order -come the secondary school teachers and at the bottom of the line both "in terms of prestige and rem,uneration come the elementary school teachers. Yet who is more important in the system than those teachers who first handle our young people? What skill can be more important than the delicate skill of • encouraging those shy, eager youngsters to learn more about themselves and their world? University professors, must know . a lot surely, but they are teaching to the converted. They are teaching things to students who already have 13 years of schooling behind them and are only there because they want to learn. These are students who would learn eve if there wasn't any university to go to by reading all the available books, often thatshow students at university are left to learn anyway. High school teachers have it a little harder because some of the students just can't wait to get old enough to .get out of school. Teaching people who don't want to learn is one of the most difficult and frustrating tasks known to man. Yet the difficulty the high school teacher encounters in this area can be greatly lessened, or added to by the ability of the elementary school teacher. If the teacher of young children has failed to make them enthusiastic students, then by high school it's too late to do much more than babysit them until they're old enough to quit. If the elementary teacher has succeeded, then the enjoyable challange for secondary school teachers is to give those enthusiastic students the knowledge they crave. Teaching then is a joy, riot a gruelling endurance race. So as the kids go down'the lane to the bus this morning, a little silent prayer of thanks goes up from our household along with another prayer that the teachers waiting for them can have the special talent and enthusiasm to give th ern the sense of joy, they need to want to learn more.