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The Citizen, 1987-08-19, Page 5The International Scene THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1987. PAGE 5. Letters Blyth promoters deserve praise The art of mountain climbing BY RAYMOND CANON Depending on your point of view, it is either fortunate or unfortunate that there is nothing resembling a real mountain in southern Ontario. There is frankly something about mountains that bring out the spirit of adventure in a great many people and, although only a few of these ever get to the point of climbing anything that can be considered more than just an afternoon’s hike, the challenge is there and for some it has to be satisfied. While we have lots of mountains out west that can be climbed, the real attraction for the amateur climber are the Alps; this is true to such a degree that anybody anywhere who wants to climb a mountain, be it in Chile or China, is considered to be an Alpinist. To be sure this puts him or her in some rather heady company since the top Alpinists are the ones who look at such peaks as those in the Himalayas with Mt. Everest of course being the ultimate. How­ ever, that takes the ultimate in skill as well as lots of money and for those with neither, itis the Alps that are most likely to attract their attention. You have perhaps heard of Mt. Blancinthe French Alps. It just happens to be the highest peak in Europe and it was first climbed in 1786 which will give you some idea how old the sport of Alpinism is. The two climbers who accomplish­ ed this feat did it for the sole purpose of proving to their fellow­ citizens of nearby Chamonix that a man could spend a night on the mountain and not be spirited away by the devil himself. How times have changed! The following year a Swiss, working on the assumption that anything the French could climb, the Swiss could climb more easily, went up the same mountain armed with all sorts of paraphernalia, barometers and bottles for air samples. He followed this by publishing a detailed account of his adventure and it is he, Horace- Benedict de Saussure, who is generally considered to be the Blyth council Not content with the fact they’ve received on response to their presentation to get a $500 sever- ence fee back from the Huron County Land Division committee that shouldn’t have been paid in the first place, Blyth councillors voted again to send a letter asking what had happened to their request. Councillors Bill Manning volun­ teered to draft the letter. He and councillor Lloyd Sippel had ap­ peared before the committee to argue the fee should be returned since municipalities are not sup­ posed to have to pay such fees but Blyth had paid the fee because of a misunderstanding. “If they haven’t even given us the common courtesy of a letter I feel we shouldn’t let it die,’’ Councillor Manning said. ***** Cats had some uncomplimen­ tary things said about their wandering habits when a com­ plaint about damage caused by cats was discussed at council. “I agree with her,” Councillor Bill Howson said of the complainant, “cats are a bloody nuisance.’’ While all councillors agreed that cats could be as big a problem with garbage as dogs, the question was father of modern alpinism. If alpinism is a sport, how many people practise it? There are reported to be about two million members of the 55 mountain clubs associated with the International Union of Alpine Associations, with just about half of these coming from twocountries, WestGermany and Austria. However, I should point out that this is not the limit of those keenly interested in doing some climbing. At least 15 million people around the world partici­ pate in some form of mountain climbing and this does not take into consideration the number of peo­ ple who find pleasure in skiing down mountains. Perhaps the greatest concentra­ tion of enthusiasts is not surpris­ ingly to be found in Switzerland. There are no less than 100,000 members of the above-mentioned clubs while a further 700,000 are considered to take some part in the sport of climbing or hiking up mountains. In case you were wondering, I used to belong to those 700,000 for I could see from my bedroom window in St. Gall a mountain called the Saentis that fascinated me to the point where I resolved to climb it some day. It is admittedly not in the same league as Mt. Blanc but, at about 8,500 feetitwashighenoughfor me. I immediately went into what I considered to be some form of training and agreed with a school chum of mine to do it as soon as exams were done. It didn’t work out quite that way since his exams lasted longer than mine and I was heading for Spain shortly after I was finished. Foolish and young as I was, I decided to do it by myself. Just to do things the easy way I went up the back of the mountain which had a more gradual slope. I spent the first night on the mountain and continued my climb the following morning. Shortly before noon I got to the top and then started down the other side. It was then that I can face to face with real mountain climbing. It was much more difficult than I imagined; my descent was slow, careful and filled briefs what could be done about it. Reeve Albert Wasson finally suggested that for the time being Merv Ritchie, the town foreman and animal control officer, be asked to keep an eye on the situation and see if cats were really causing a problem. Municipal employees will be able to take part in a dental plan but council will not pay part of the cost, council decided. The plan, offered through the municipal employees association, will offer group rates to employees who wish to pay their own costs. s|c s|c Blyth firemen may be asked to take up an old practice and periodically use their high-pres­ sure hoses to wash down the main street. Reeve Wasson said he had had it brought to his attention that the firemen used to hose down the street and it was his understanding that they wouldn’t be adverse to doing the job again. Reeve Wason said he was concerned with the amount of dust on main street which has especially been a problem since the Ministry of Transportation and Communi­ cations applied tar and a rather liberal amount of stone chips on cracks in the street. with pauses while I took stock. Gradually the side ofthe mountain became less steep and I knew that I had the worst behind me when I •could hear the sound of cow bells not far away. 1 can honestly say that this herd of cattle was a most welcome sight when I came th rough the cloud lay er and saw them below me. Not long ago 1 went back to the Saentis with my wife and looked at the side I had come down. “You didn’t climb down that!” she exclaimed. “You could have been killed.” Frankly when I look at it today, I tend to agree with her. But I was young then and we do strange things toprove a point. There is something about that first moun­ tain ....! I never got around to climbing the Matterhorn or Mt. Blanc for that matter but quite a few people do. Atypical day sees about 250 Alpinists set out for the top of Mt. Blanc and about 75 per cent of them will make it. However, just to show you that it is not for the neophyte eachyearsome 50 people die on Mt. Blanc and a further 30 on the Matterhorn. Hardened veteran that I am, I confess to being nothing less than appalled when I read of the carelessness that sometimes prevails. However, if you really want to climb a mountain, you could do worsethancutyour teeth on the Saentis as I did. The mortality rate there is next to nil! The third and final show of the season at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery was opened Saturday evening by Bev Katzin-Walker, right, the Gallery’s first director when it opened in 1976. Ms. Katzin-Walker discusses one of the fabric designs in the show with its creator, Guelph artist Sharyn Seibert, while visitors Lisa Kennedy and Kelly Bosman, both of Londesboro, look on. The show runs until September 12. Final art gallery exhibit opened “It has been a good season for the Blyth Festival Art Gallery” stated Gallery Director Carol McDonnell. The first exhibition this sum­ mer, showing the work of Huron County Secondary School stu­ dents, drew comments such as ‘excellent art work’, ‘exceptional talent’ and ‘I can’t believe students did these!’. The second exhibition, combin­ ing cool watercolours with iride­ scent glazes on raku pottery, elicited the following remarks: ‘a pleasure to see such refined work’, ‘delightful, cool’, and ‘lovely’. While most of the visitors who signed the guest book were from THE EDITOR, In regard to “Letter to the editor” Wed., Aug. 12,1 would like to suggest that whom ever wrote the article “Wake up and smell the roses.” First in regards to our newest council member being proprietor of a specialty shop, may you be reminded that we all had the same chance of submitting our names for the position. If per chance your name was submitted and not accepted may I say “Jealousy” makes a man small. Secondly, perhaps the writer Thanks to the public THE EDITOR. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the citizens of Blyth and area for being so courteous to us while we were employed at the Blyth and District Community Centre. We enjoyed very much being able to work with the public. It was an experience that will not be forgotten to be ableto work with such fine groups as Minor Hockey, Figure Skating, Lions Clubs, Church groups, the Threshermen, the Bluewater Kennel Club, and many other groups and individuals Mabel's Grill Continued from Page 4 swam across the lake and back. Considering she can hardly do two lengths ofthe town pool, Julia said, he had to admire them. “Well, I don’t know,” said Ontario, addresses have been noted from as far afield as Dallas, Texas; Coquitlam, British Colum­ bia; Emsworth, England; and Utrecht, Holland. The third and final exhibition of this summer opened on Saturday, August 15 by Bev Katzin-Walker. Ms. Katzin-Walker was the first director of the Blyth Festival Art Gallery when it was founded in 1976, and has been closely assoc­ iated with it ever since. The exhibition consists of fabric art from two Ontario artists: Sharyn Siebert and John Muldrew Scott. Sharyn Siebert hails from Guelph. She specializes in em­ broidered and quilted silks in sofr does not realize the efforts that have been made in the past to form a business association with several businesses not willing to join in such things as Christmas draws, regulated store hours, collective advertising, etc. We ought to be shaking the hand of those who are trying to promote their business and therefore the town by any means possible. Hats off to all our business, regular or specialty who see a future for our village and have the guts to work for it. SINCERELY, ANOTHER BLYTH CITIZEN. too numerous to mention. To the roller skaters that we did have: We feel sorry for you as the Arena Board has now cancelled any furhter skating. We felt that with the contract we had agreed upon in July, we would have had a much better year ahead of us in 87-88. We are upset that we have had to resign our position as we enjoyed working with the public so much, and would have continued to do so if circumstances had allowed it. MERRILYN & MURRAY BLACK Hank, “Icansee why you might want to swim across Lake Ontario to get away from Toronto but what I can’t understand is why you’d want to swim back.” pastel colours, which she frames to make beautiful wall hangings. John Muldrew Scott, of Seaforth, has been working in the field of patchwork wall hangings for just over a year. His submissions for this exhibition, entitled ‘The Lat­ tice, patchworkvariations’, are colourful patchwork ‘posters’, varying in size from about four feet by four feet to the large ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ which is sevenfeetsquare. Members of the public are warmly invited to attend the opening of this exhibition on Saturday, August 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Blyth Festival Art Gallery. The exhibition will run through to the close of the Blyth Festival season in mid-September.