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The Citizen, 1989-03-15, Page 5Simon Hallahan shows off plaques from Murray Cardiff M.P. for Huron-Bruce and Jack Riddell, M.P.P. for Huron who honoured him on his 90th birthday. In the background are a few of the many awards he has received over the years for his community work. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1989. PAGE 5. Simon Hallahan at 90 is still full of wit and wisdom Letters to the Editor Fans criticized for behavior THE EDITOR, I am writing this letter as a result of the playoff hockey game played in Blyth on Saturday, February 25, between the Belgrave Pee Wee’s and the Blyth Pee Wee’s. As a parent of one on the Belgrave team players I am terribly upset over the roughness and terrible refereeing that happened during this game. We are especially upset over the incident in the third period when one of our players was down on the ice and was slashed three times by the Blyth player. The referee stood right there and watch and the Blyth parents laughed. If this is hockey to be proud of I want no part of it. I was really pleased to read in your “Opinion” in the March 1 edition of The Citizen where you agreed that a penalty should have been called as a result of this slashing incident. Next year our son is to move up to Bantam level. There will not likely be a team in Belgrave for him to play on. If he should decide to continue playing (I hope not) I know that as a result of this game You just can't get good help BY RAYMOND CANON In this world of advanced tech­ nology the expressions that are frequently used to describe the state of the art systems in place can frequently be incomprehensible. Thus, if somebody were to ask you what marine biology systems were, you would probably greet them with something approaching a puzzled look. You can now wipe that look off your face; we know that it refers to the fact that the American defence department is secretly training sea animals such as dolphins, sea lions and whales to do some of the tasks that were formerly carried out by humans. we will not be encouraging him to consider Blyth as a team for him to play on. I do not want him playing on a team where obviously rough­ ness and winning at all costs is what is important, and parents that laugh when a player is hurt, is just too much for anyone to take. Concerned Hockey Parent. Thanks from the Heart THE EDITOR, On behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, I would like to thank the residents of Brussels for their generous dona­ tions during our recent campaign. A special thanks to the canvas­ sers, Diane Bray, Wilda Higgins, Iona McLean, Laura Barbour, Lois McCutcheon, Mary Lowe, Isobel Workman, Rita Mulvey, Eluned McNair and Joan Jacobs who donated their time. CHAIRPERSON BETTY CAMPBELL. This is not something that has just been started. It has been going on for some 20 years and to date the navy admits to having trained no less than 240 animals. At the present time there are 115 dol­ phins, sea lions and whales at secret facilities in Key West, south of Florida, Hawaii and San Diego. The animals, it seems, are not yet to the point of giving interviews to the press so our sources of informa­ tion are somewhat limited. We have learned that the origi­ nal intention was to see if there was anything that the animals could teach the designers of the navy’s torpedoes but that modest beginn­ ing has spread to many other areas. One of the experiments revolves around the study of the dolphin’s sonar system in order to learn how they are able to find objects in the underwater murk. The dolphins, which can dive much deeper than people, are taught to descend to retrieve parts of missiles that are lying on the ocean bottom. BY KEITH ROULSTON Simon Hallahan, one of those individuals who has left such a mark on his community that it is hard to imagine what it would have been like without him, celebrated his 90th birthday with an open house at his Westfield-area home Sunday. Actually the birthday was offi­ cially celebrated with his wife Beatrice and some friends and relatives on Friday. The evening before at a Liberal Association meeting in Holmesville, the long­ time Grit was presented with a plaque by Jack Riddell, M.P.P. for Huron and Minister of Agriculture. Much to his surprise, Simon said, he also received a plaque from Murray Cardiff, M.P. for Huron- Bruce on behalf of the Progressive Conservative federal government. It’s hard to find something in the community Simon hasn’t been involved in. He was Reeve of East Wawanosh from 1975 to 1982 after having been talked into running by “a bunch of Orangemen”. While at county council he served as chair­ man of the Huronview Manage­ ment Committee for one year as well as serving on the property committee, Social Service Commit­ tee and Children’s and Family Services. Besides his long term as reeve he was also on council for 10 years. In recent years he’s probably best known as the secretary of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hob­ by Association from the founding in 1962 to 1981 but he’s also been involved in many other activities. He was the chairman of the committee that formed the co-oper­ ative cheese factory in Blyth. He recalled last week that it was Walter McGill who had the idea for a plant to use local dairy farmers’ milk. There was a skim milk plant at Monkton and a cheese plant at Holmesville (that later switched to making evaporated milk) but noth­ ing close at hand. Mr. McGill and Simon found out that the planning mill belonging to Ab Taylor in Blyth was for sale for $1,500. The idea was taken to an open meeting of farmers and Simon was elected chairman. Eventually the farmers raised $10,000 to buy and equip the plant. Through Bob Henry, another member of the committee, the Like atomic energy, there are some peaceful uses and some not so peaceful. One of the more warlike activities of the animals is to swim up behind enemy frogmen and shoot them with skewers from air guns strapped to their snouts. They are also conditioned to attach mines with magnets to the bottoms of ships and to tear air hoses from divers who are deemed to be enemy. This latter activity has led to some problems. One of the reports out tells of the use of dolphins to stand guard on American ships anchored in Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. There are indications that this did not work as well as expected and eventually had to be cancelled since the dolphins appar­ ently could not tell the difference between friendly and enemy div­ ers. More recently six dolphins were sent off to the Persian Gulf at the time the Iranians were dumping mines al) over the place. The group was able to lure Carmen Hodgins from the plant at Donegal and he guided the purchase of $6,500 worth of equipment for the plant. Eventually Jim Lawrie and Walter Buttell came along with Carmen Hodgins to operate the plant. The plant went along well for several years but eventually got into trouble and sold out to the United Dairy Co-operative, the forerunner of GayLea Foods which eventually centralized its operation in Guelph, closing out the Blyth operation. Simon also served for 16 years on the board of the Belgrave Co-op in the 1930s and served a term as chairman. In 1936 he became a leader of the Boys and Girls Club that eventually became the 4H Club. In 1952 he helped organize the 4H club lead­ ers association. He led the 4H dairy club for many years and after the Never had a boy or girl who got in trouble Blyth Agricultural Society wound up in the 1970’s he and his son Maurice sponsored the Hallrice 4H club that now has its sponsorship through the Brussels Agricultural Society. “I don’t think I ever had a boy or girl that got mixed up with the law,” he says. Several years ago he was honour­ ed by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture with its award for Outstanding Contribution to Agri­ culture. It’s just one of many awards that hang on the wall of his trim East Wawanosh bungalow. It’s not bad for a guy who never got past “the third book” in schooling at S.S. No. 3. There have been plenty of hardships along the way. When the family got in financial trouble in 1915 they nearly lost the family farm first settled by Dennis Hallahan in 1856. As it was 100 acres of the 300 acre farm had to be let go so that Simon could take over the original Halla­ han homestead (where Maurice now lives) as a 21 year old. There animals were supposed to look for these mines and, while they were at it, to keep an eye or a snout out for any enemy frogmen who might be sneaking up on American float­ ing command posts. Finally, the next assignment is to guard the Trident submarine base in Washington. This has resulted in an expression of fear by the district’s scuba divers who want the navy to give them assurances that the dolphins won’t mistake them for enemy attackers. The scuba divers obviously have the Cam Ranh Bay fiasco very much in mind and who can blame them. The dolphins apparently are not particularly strong when it comes to military discipline and have Mabel's Grill Continued from page 4 to win and any leader who doesn’t win becomes shark food. THURSDAY: Hank was shaking his head over the story in the paper that if you park your car on the street near the skydome in Toronto after it opens, it may be hauled away and it will cost you $127 to get it back. Isn’t that ridiculous, he said. Yes, Tim said, that must be about two whole dollars more than were five boys in the family. It was a struggle to get a mortgage for the young man and a struggle to pay it off. By 1932 he recalls he had a good stock of cows and pigs but the farm was so wet it was hard to grow enough feed for the animals and expensive feed had to be bought. He was recommended for a govern­ ment-sponsored loan to drain the land and after that he “just walked right along.” By 1942 he was milking cows by hand because there was no Hydro available. A gas-powered milking machine solved the problem tem­ porarily but on Oct. 17, 1944 the machine caught fire, burning the barn in the process. It was back into debt again to rebuild the barn. In 1966 tragedy struck again when this barn too was burned on Oct. 14. He started looking at plans to rebuild but didn’t know where the money would come from and planned to wait until the next spring to start. But a neighbour told him the neighbours were ready to pitch in and build the barn and "sympathy only lasts so long” so the project got underway immediately. It was seven weeks from the time the barn burned until the cattle were tied up in the new barn he recalls. What’s more while the old barn only held 25 cows, the new barn held 50-60. Even though the Hallahan broth­ ers were well known for everything from their threshing gangs to construction work, Simon says if he had to do it all over again he’d still choose farming as his occupation. Of course, he says, things were different. Even in the toughest of times, he says, he was never refused money by a bank, unlike many farmers today. Then too the amount of money involved was so much smaller than today. After losing his first two wives to cancer he married Beatrice in 1961 and the couple have lived happily since. Simon continued to drive his car until an accident last fall and Beatrice thinks he has too much time to sit around and worry now instead of getting out and doing things as he has all his busy life. Still the famous Hallahan Irish wit continues to sparkle and makes an hour spent with him fly by as he recounts some of the thousands of stories of his experiences. therefore trouble in submitting to commands. One rather humorous incident that could have turned serious took place a few years ago when a sea lion, in total violation of his orders, chased after a Russian ship off the coast of Hawaii but was finally able to be recalled before he could engage in any hostile action. Who knows what might have happened to detente if he had been successful in mounting an attack? The animals also have another problem. Some of them, like their human counterparts, have manag­ ed to go AWOL. They probably came to regret the day they ever got involved in military service, Flipper style. it costs you to park a car for a day in a downtown Toronto parking lot. FRIDAY: Julia was laughing about the Gallup poll that found one in 10 adult Canadians aren’t sure if Elvis Presley is dead. How can anybody be that gullible, she wondered. Ward said he did know, maybe it mattered who the people were that were polled. “I mean if you took the vote entirely among Canadian Senators, one in ten of them isn’t probably sure he’s alive himself.”