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Village Squire, 1981-04, Page 33P.S. These were people with dreams It's hard to believe it was eight years ago this month that we were busy getting together the very first issue of Village Squire. Often in rural areas we tend to think that nothing ever changes, or if it does, it happens so slowly that you've got to look at things over a long period of time to be able to see it. Yet changes have been great in Western Ontario in those eight years. There's a new awareness of who we are today; that what we are doing is important. There are more opportunities than before for a better life. Today we have one professional winter theatre, Theatre London and three professional summer theatres in Stratford, Grand Bend and Blyth. We also get to see good touring theatre and concerts by top names in the music world. We get better information about what's going on because over all in the last decade our newspapers, at least the weeklies, have improved editorially. That, of course, has been offset to a certain extent by the fact daily news- papers like the London Free Press have decided people in the smaller centres aren't worth serving anymore. For a few thousand people anyway, Village Squire may have played a part in awakening a knowledge of just what this area has to offer. One of the privileges I had during the nearly seven years I edited the Village Squire was meeting so many interesting people in the region. Most of us travel in our own circles -the people we work with, the people we live near, perhaps people we know through clubs or church. There are thousands of interesting people out. there we'll never get a chance to meet. My greatest pleasure in the magazine was that it gave me a chance to meet those people. These weren't the people who sit back and let the world do to them what it will; they were the people determined to go out and shape the world. For some that meant perhaps opening one small craft shop to fulfill a dream they had long had. For some it was building whole shopping complexes. For some it was building reproduction furniture. For others it was building a theatre from scratch or putting a personal stamp on radio or television programming which could have a tremen- dous effect on the whole region. These were people with dreams, and the PG. 32 VILLAGE SQUIRE/APRIL 1981 determination to make those dreams come true.I have great admiration for the dreamers. Without them, we'd live in a dull world. The thing I learned over those years was that the more I learned, the less I knew. When you're 18 or 20, you think you have all the answers. That's mostly because you haven't encountered half the questions. Two people I had the privilege of meeting over the years showed the great drive to never stop learning, in their senior years. One of these men, Robert Laidlaw, who was born only a few miles from where I now live, spent most of his life as a farmer but discovered, at an age when most people stop discovering new things about themselves, that he had an ability to write. He certainly had hints there was talent in the family. He was the father of Alice Munro, one of Canada's greatest writers. He had his own thoughts to record however, quite different thoughts than his daughter's. He had the accumulated knowledge of his many years on earth, his years of seeing the world change. He was a wise man full of life until the day he died. My greatest regret was that he didn't have longer to live after he discovered that he could write, so we all could have gained more from what he had to say. The second such person, one thankfully by Keith Roulston very much alive still, and one I would hope to be like when I have spent more time living, is artist -writer -actor Jack MacLaren from Benmiller. If Canada has a culture today it is because of a small band of men and women like Jack MacLaren who worked against the odds a half -century ago to bring theatre and art to Canada. As a member of the Princess Pats Comedy Company during World War 1, the Dumbells after the war, and as a man who often painted with the Group of Seven painters and knew Dr. Frederick Banting, he is a man who helped shape the artistic history of Canada. But there is nothing about the past in Jack MacLaren. He's busy from morning to night today painting, reading, think- ing, writing. He's vivid proof that living doesn't have to stop when you retire. Retirement from his advertising business in Toronto has simply opened up a new career for him, giving him more time to do the things he always enjoyed as a pastime. There are so many wonderful examples of people living rich full lives out there. Hopefully we can learn from them all. Lucknow native Keith Roulston is administrative director of the Blyth Centre for the Arts. a playwright and a member of the Village Squire editorial board. Coming in May's Village Squire.. . A hiker's delight Stratford writer Dean Robinson will take readers on a tour of the Avon Trail, a challenging 61 mile trek winding from St. Marys to Conestoga, north of Kitchener -Waterloo. The scenic hike can be made in day -long segments or attempted all at once. Famed photographer profiled The Squire takes a look at the life and work of R.R. Sallows, a turn -of -the -century pioneer in photography. The Goderich resident captured the essence of early Ontario rural life through his photography. A treasure trove of bargains Need a tux for a special event? How about some inexpensive work clothes? Not everyone who gets bored with their clothing hides it away in closets. A lot of it ends up in recycled clothing stores, excellent items at reasonable prices. If you want real adventure in shopping, see a review of second hand duds stores in May's Squire. Plus... A profile of a Stratford antique business. a day trip, the most recent news about the local theatre and arts scene, a restaurant review and much more about Western Ontario's fascinating people and places.