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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-03-06, Page 1single copy 35c -KNPVHSENTJNEL Published in Lucknow, Ontatio, Wednesday, March 6, 1985 , 16 Pages Crash -course teaches parents to streetproof their children A two. hour crash course on "street - proofing" children teaches parents seven delay tactics which children can use if they are grabbed by a stranger. These 'tactics, if practiced by the child until they hecome reflex action, could delay an abduction, attempt to the point where the abductor • will become so frustrated s -he will abandon the attempt. • "A potential child abductor wants to grab the child and have her -him into the car and .be gone iii less than 60 seconds," speaker Holly Keil of. Wingham told about 30 parents, who, attended the course held at the library of the Incknow Central Public Sdrool Febniary 28. If a child can delay the abduction for just on minute, there is a good chance the abductor won't think it is .worth drawing attention to the incident and will flee. The first tactic is to teach your child to take a step back out of arm's reach. Second; teach your child to scream "Fire!" or "You're.a stranger!" Scream- ing "help" does not always get a response in our society today, said Keil. The other five tactics include teaching a child to spin hard if grabbed by the shoulders, to dive and roll along the • ground (Ever tried to catch a child rolling en the ground?), to let their body fall limp in dead weight (Remember trying to carry a sleeping youngster from the car to the house?) and the arm twist to use if grabbed by the arm. "Make a game of it," said Keil in instrUcting the parents who practiced the techniques among themselves to learn how they work. If these tactics become reflex action, you've given your child the advantage. You've given them confidence and the child walking along the street who looks like they know where they're going is not • as vulnerable, instructed Keil. Confidence has a body language. - Rural children are especially vulnerable because they don't have the street smarts city kids do, said Keil. If the child is loud and aggressive the abductor will consider it isn't worth the trouble. • Parents have to teach their children to be loud and aggressive to protect them= selves on the street, said Keil, because society orientates children to be polite and submissive to adults. Teach your child it is okay to say "No!" to an adult. This applies to strangers who approach your child on the street and people they know who may try to take advantage of their compliant nature in a possible sexual assault. The facts tell a sad and startling storys• Ten per cent of Canadian families will be confronted with sexual abuse. One out of every three females will be sexually molested before age eighteen. One out of every nine boys will be sexually molested before age eighteen. More than 85 per cent of abusers are known to the victim. "People who commit sexual assaults Turn to page 3* . . • . .. 00,00,0*... ". • ,V*00404^ • • . Holly Keil of Wingham conducted a two hour crash course on streetproofing and safety proofing children at the Lucknow Central Public School library, February 28. Keil taught the more than 30 parents who attended the course how to reduce the odds against their child being sexually abused or abducted. •••(Photo by Sharon Dietz) Maitland Valley Authority expands to include Ashfield The Maitland Valley Conservation Author- ity has expanded its jurisdiction to include all of Ashfield Township and parts of Kinloss • and Huron Townships. The three townships voted 2 to 1 in favour of joining the authority. Huron voted against inclusion. • The expansion was unanimously approved by 29 of the 35 authority members present at a special meeting on February 21 held prior to the authority's annual meeting. • The special meeting was called at the request of Ashfield Township council who • were responding to a petition of one hundred ratepayers requesting that all of Ashfield Townshipbe included in the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority area. Previously only the portion of the township adjoining and east Of the Nine Mile River had been included. Conservation Authority boundaries are desig- nated by watershed rather than municipal boundaries; so Huron and Kinloss Townships are also represented at the meeting. Allan Gibson, representing Ashfield Town- ship Council, and Barry Johnston, represent- ing Kinloss Council, voted for expansion; Clark Ferguson, representing Huron Town- • ship Council, opposed it. This gave the two-thirds votes necessary for the Authority to ratify the expansion. Ray Hogan, R FL 7, Lucknow, was one of the activists who promoted the Ashfield Council to request the expansion. He says that he is pleased with the decision because the services provided by the Conservatior Authority would be available to all fanne. Hogan, chairman of the Huron Soil and -- Conservation District, was excited by the ni w conservation planning service operated joint- ly by The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food- and the conservation authorities. Ashfield councillor Bill Andre*, who attended the meeting as an observer, says Ashfield Council asked for the expansion in support of large group of farmer delegates. Andrew sar, people are putting a higher priority on conservation practices. •" Ashfield has a serious shoreline erosion problem," he says. "One of the better ways to alleViate thi< is to have better conservation tillage and 'rainage methods inland. By 'g in the authority, farmers will have the . es of a conservation engineer available em. ler the old anrangement, everyone in ownship was assessed for the Conserva- n Authority levy but only those east of the Nine Mile River qualified for assistance. Under the new arrangement, everyone will qualify." Ashfield Township clerk Donald/Simpson, estimates the cost to the township will rise from $3,500 to $11,000. . Andrew believes the council could use the resources of the authority to discourage improper locating of cottages near the lake- front. Barry Johnston, Kinloss Township Reeve, says he doesn't see any major financial benefits flowing into the township but their council decided it was important that the services of the Conservation Authority are available to ratepayers in Kinloss. Johnston explained that a small part of Kinloss Township is in the Saugeen Watershed; Turn to page 4* Bank official says causes of farm pressures here to stay . 'By Sharon Dietz Farmers have traditionally relied on historical c ycles in their industry, a trust that time will correct the problem and if you work a little harder and longer hours and increase production, things will improve. This reliance • on historical cycles has prompted some farm- ers today to believe the tough times farmers are facing now will dissipate when the cycle starts 'an upswing. But a Royal Bank official speaking at a financial workshop in Lucknow last week told - area farmers these are normal times and if fanners are relying on a change in the cycle to bring back the good old days, they should think again. "While it was valuable historically and the work ethie is traditionally a part of farming, this not working in the pressures of modern sitUation. "In the .pressures of the modern situation, the work ethic, work a little harder and a little more,,,Vhile it was valuable .historically and it is traditionally a part of farming, it is not working today," 1 observed Bill 'Bearss, manager of the Royal Bank agricultural services. , In the 70s there was margin for error but they were unique times, said Bearss. In the, 40s and 50s you couldn't make mistakes and survive. "These are normal unties," Bearss told about 50 farmers attending the Lucknow District Co-op financial workshop February 28. "All of the causes and pressures to create a situation of imbalance in a farming opera- tion are with us to stay." Despite what you read and the pressures On some farmers after an assessment of their operation, banks want to do business with farmers, Bearss. -The dollars are there for qualified borrowers and the compassion is there for those in trouble. s. Look around you, Bearss told the fanners, there are people with high debt load who are making a profit. Even in these tough times, there have been fanners who have percolated up through the industry and they have made profits, remarked Bearss. He asked those at the - workshop to think about why one fanner carrying a heavy debt load is able to make it, while another farmer .with a much . smaller debt load is forced Under. One farmer at the workshop commented he had once been told "if you have more money tied up outside. the bani than inside the barn, you'll never Make a go of it." Bearss said financial management makes th'e difference. Farmers who do not make it are slow to react to negative situations, slow to identify a problem and react too little and too late to be effective.. There is no replace ment for good financial and production records, he stated. Good financial and . production rem* require organization, regular maintenance vvhichtakes discipline and consistent figures wind' are understandable to the farmer. Good records can be used to take action...to make diange, said Bearss. Sound financial management permits better planning for the short and long term and prepares a farmer for a down cycle. It also allows monitoring of the situation, when compared, to your plan. Banks were remiss until the mid 70s, said Bearss, because they did not follow up to show people how to use the rnoney they were borrowing. The farm financial crisis in the past several years is testimony to this. It eases the effort of obtaining credit if you are employing a level of farm rmancial Management, suggested Bearss. Many fanners expecially those over 40 years of age feel beleagured. They have dealt faithfully with the Lucknow Co-op, for example, for years and now the Co-op manager Dave Dawson wants to know every- thing about your operation right down to "the colour of your underwear". The kinds of questions asked by trade creditors are serious, the more money you want to borrow, said Beams. Questions,asked to make a credit decision include the three Cs Turn to page 4*