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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1965-04-01, Page 12Page 4 - Wingham Advance -Times, Thursday, Apr. 1, 2965 County Council Votes To Expand Huronview BY W, E. ELLIOTT Goderich, Ontario. GODERICH-Huron County Council has seldom heard a case presented with more elo- quence than that of smaller homes for the aged, supported by Wingham and Exeter dele- gations Wednesday. "We cannot make all our decisions by the number of dol- lars spent," Barry Wenger of Wingham said, "We are giving all possible facilities for our young people in schools, and should consider our older peo- ple. Erection of a home in the northern or southern area would not deprive the people of the central area, but would make Huronview beds available for those waiting. An unprecedent- ed number of people in our area have interested them- selves in this question. In a 9,000 circulation area we have had about 900 replies, perhaps 25 per cent of adult population'. It was reported that a poll taken by Exeter Times -Advo- cate showed 933 persons in fa- vor of small homes in north or south, only two in favor of en- largement at Clinton. Previous to presentation of the committee report, clerk - treasurer Berry read communi- cations from South Huron Mini- sterial Association, Senior Citizens of Exeter, United Church Women of Crediton, Belmore Women's Institute, Exeter doctors, Wingham Lions and Lakelet W.I. Typical was that of the Senior Citizens, who pointed out that schools are not located in the centre of the county "and we feel we de- serve similar consideration, We are definitely opposed to en- larging the home at Clinton and favor establishment of smaller homes." There were several appeals for delay. Elgin Rowcliffe, Tuckersrnith, said: "All we need to do here to let best judgment prevail is to give our- selves a little more time. I would ask that you refer this back to your committee." "It might be wise for the county to hold off this project for a year," suggested deputy- reeve Delbert Geiger, of Hay, "to see if there are more pri- vate units. " "We are representing the people of the county who are taxpayers," said Reeve John Corbett of Hay." I would go along with Mr.Geiger if we could possibly wait a year and overcome some of these. prob- lems. " WINGHAM MEN SPEAK "Any addition to the home would be unwise," argued Mayor DeWitt Miller of Wing - ham. "I believe an institution -can become so large as to be unwieldy, and it is inhuman to take an elderly person out of the area in which he has lived all his life and transplant him into an institution where he is a total stranger, maybe having to share a room with a stranger, and is some distance from home and relatives. I would suggest that rather than building an addition to the present home, that smaller homes be built in the county, whereby senior citizens could receive more personal attention in their own area, and where neighbors could drop in once in a while for a chat, also their local doc- tor and minister. I think our first consideration is the wel- fare of our senior citizens." Spring Calls for Coats That Let You Go Anywhere in Any Weather Looking Right Always! 8.95 To 32.50 HANNA'S Men's & Boys' Wear Mr, Wenger, who has served on the provincial committee on institutions, said he had no doubt as to the sincerity of purpose of the men who had dealt with the problem here, nor as to the high standard of Huronview, "one of the finest in the province." "However," he said, "it is for this very reason we are concerned about enlarging pre- sent facilities. I have had many conversations with offi- cials in the department of wel- fare, and they think a maxi- mum of 200 beds is the outside limit for the type of service we are providing at Huronview. A large percentage of people in the home are dependent on Mr. Johnston's personal relationships to them. It would be utterly impossible for one human being, however dedicated or able, to take on more of this personal attention. " The taxpaying public has been given the impression that great economies will be reali- zed. The truth is that further construction at Clinton must be in the form of a separate insti- tution with limited opportuni- ties for management economies. Consideration must be given to the humanitarian aspects. Plac- ing a home in the north or south would make it more ac- ceptable to families and resi- dents who must spend their last days in the home. Admittedly, costs would be somewhat high • - er. Mention is made of $44,000 but debentured it would mean a very small amount per year per taxpayer. "Huron's population of older persons is exceptionally high, and that trend will continue. A small institution would likely grow to meet future needs. This is not an effort to grab the goodies the county controls." EXETER DELEGATION "Under the terms of refer- ence on which your committee acted," said Elmer D. Bell, Exeter, "there could be con- siderable argument as to whe- ther or not they could have reached any other decision. They did not have terms of reference permitting them to break new ground. "Concentration in one cen- tre of facilities for our old folk is out of step. Best thinking is that homes for the aged should be of a size to accommodate approximately 100 people. The trend is to require homes for the aged in every town. What- ever we do we are going to have, because of the need, homes in every town and in a lot of villages. Failure to rec- ognize this may put us out of step with the sociological trend and the science of geriatrics. Dearness Horne at London is losing effectiveness because of its isolation, even there, and the trend now is to the projec- tion of smaller homes. We owe it to the old people to provide accommodation in the social area in which they previously resided. The provincial author- ities are now heavily against building large centralized units. "It would meet the over- whelming support of the citi- zens of this county if present plans were referred back to the committee with instructions to make a study of an alternative system as suggested." Mrs. Brock, president of the Senior Citizens' Society of Ex- eter and South Huron said:"We are definitely opposed to en- larging the home and very much in favor of building smaller units in different localities. Our Letters to the Editor Dear Sir; I would like to reply to the letter signed by "Mother Who Knows" (March 25). The fol- lowing comments come from an amateur coach who, with the talent he has tries to do the best he can with limited time, limited funds, and limi- ted player ability. Probably this mother has never discussed her problems with the coach in question and maybe she doesn't know it takes a lot of child psychology along with some hockey know-how. However, I do agree with the statement that to win the game is not the only reason a coach spends his time, money and effort. During my years of hockey coaching I have yet to see any boy benched if he was really trying and working to the best of his ability. Some boys have more natural ability than others, while some get to play more through sheer desire. Now, maybe some of these lads who have neither of these are not getting much encour- agement from home. It is a sad statement but true that there are some parents who do not go to the arena dur- ing the regular schedule and when their son comes home only ask if his team won or lost- -no other particulars. And then when the crucial games are on they turn up and wonder why their child isn't in the first line. Maybe this mother won't believe this, but it bothers this particular coach quite a lot when all of his players cannot compete with the opposition, that is not only for the benefit of the team but there is a risk of personal injury with the ability of some players. life expectancy has increased and our age of retirement is going to become less. We are going to need many more homes; and we feel we have a right to a home among our friends and relatives. On behalf of all the older people, I.plead with you to think of their welfare in the declining years of their lives." CHAIRMAN SAYS MAJORITY STAND ON RECOMMENDA TION The committee report noted that "a great many critics have never been near our present home. How many have studied the problems as deeply as the committee?" Speaking to the report, Reeve Elgin Thompson said a majority of the committee still stood by its recommendation for a 75 -bed unit, with poten- tial expansion to 150. "We will have little homes mushrooming up all over the community if that is what those opposed to our plan want," he said, " but I do not feel that is good." "I am in a minority in the recommendation," said Reeve A. D. Smith. "I was not con- vinced exactly what is best for Huron. The wishes of the peo- ple north and south shows what they are thinking, and their op- inions should be respected. However, I have no axe to grind, and will go along with a majority of council." Nearly every member spoke, and finally Reeve Reg Jewell, Goderich called for the vote, "in fairness to the committee." The request of the two dele- gations for decentralization of county home facilities. and also a proposal by several coun- cillors for delay, was rejected by a 20-19 vote. Council ap- proved a committee report recommending "that a building by-law be passed at this session and that we proceed with our building program at Huronview: Please turn to Page Five For all of your Construction Needs Call .. . eat CONSTRUCTION CO. General Contractors DIAL 357-2344 WINGHAM When organizational meet- ings are held every year it is very seldom that there are any volunteers to coach teams, So, parents, please try to realize that if a coach is as good as they would like him to be, he would be in some sport as a business. It seems to me that in our schools there is very little in- dividual attention given to children and with limited time at hockey practice, a coach is not able to ask every boy if it is convenient for him to listen before he coaches on some particular aspect of the game. This is one more instance when their home discipline shows up. I have personally seen boys who have gone through a whole season or even more without learning even what "off -side" means. Parents of all hockey players should realize that even if their child isn't on the ice as much as they would like to see him, he should have benefitted from the practice sessions all season and from the team co- operation as much as the others. The largest percentage of these boys are first year members of the team and will have a better chance next year. When the play-off series comes along, it is the players who have worked the hardest who have gotten the team into the play-offs and would it be fair then to let the boys this mother speaks of give the game away? This letter is not intended to be critical of "Mother Who Knows" but rather to sympa- thize and try to point out some of the difficulties a coach en- counters. Hockey isn't every- thing in a boy's life. Let's hope those who don't make it to the top in sports find a place for their talent elsewhere. Amateur Coach. 41 N. Ocean Ave, , Daytona Beach, Florida. Box 390. Dear Mr. Wenger; As we will be leaving in a few days please do not forward any more papers to us here. We are sorry to leave this beautiful t' climate and the ocean but the time has come to say good-bye again. We have visited with most of our fellow townsmen who come to Daytona Beach --the McCools, McKinneys, Howsons, Wilsons and Mrs. George Wil- liams. In fact, Mrs. Williams and I were interviewed here on the boardwalk along the ocean last week and later appeared on TV and several times in the news under the heading, "Visit- ors' Visitors' views and opinions." Thank you for your fine ser- vice, sending on our Advance - Times. We would love to live here but our roots are in Wing - ham and there our interest abides also. Sincerely, Norma Parker. • 4 Beautiful? Naturally. It's a Pontiac. Strato-Chief 4 -Door Sedan Economical? 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