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The Citizen, 1995-05-17, Page 4Spring in the step Photo by Jeannette McNeil Carrolls seek aid for Cuba Letters THE EDITOR, The time has arrived once again to ask your readers for help in gathering humanitarian aid for the 1995 Canada-Cuba Friendshipment venture which is departing by ocean freighter from Montreal to Havana in late June. My wife and I are co-ordinating the collection of hospital and medical supplies, bedding, school supplies, paper and miscellaneous items to support the overwhelming needs of the impoverished Cuban people. Clothing will also be accepted, although this is not as high a priority as other items. Shoes, in good condition, are always useful and badly needed. Surplus hospital equipment would be welcomed, as would any clinical supplies from local medical centres and surplus stock from local pharmacies. Security can be provided for medicines. We are also hoping to round up some older computers and software. Through the efforts of the Pastors for Peace organization, and the Toronto-based Canada-Cuba Friendshipment Committee, mater- ials will be gathered from across Canada and the United States. They will be funnelled by road and rail across the continent to Montreal. All items will be gathered together and loaded on to a sugar freighter headed back to Cuba. Aid will be delivered to the Martin Luther King Centre in Havana, and re-distributed from that location across the island to places of the greatest need. We can assure donors that all items will reach their intended destination and will be distributed directly to the people across the island. We have been present to witness this happening. Cash donations (payable by cheque to the Canada-Cuba Friendshipment THE EDITOR, The Salvation Army began its National Red Shield Campaign with a canvassing blitz on Monday, May 1. To date they have raised almost half their target of $17,000 and are looking forward to reaching their target by the end of June. The National Red Shield Campaign is an annual funding drive for the maintenance of such Salvation Army programs and facilities as: suicide prevention services, day care centres, sheltered workshops, hostels and rehabilitation, services to the handicapped, hospitals, alcoholism recovery centres, senior citizen residences, ministries to shut-ins, jail and hospital chaplaincy as well Committee) can be directed for specific purposes as well. Items - well-packed in labelled, cardboard cartons - can be dropped off at our residence address at 131 West Goderich Street in Seaforth - no later than June 17; or folks can call us at 527-1860 and we'll make arrangements for a pick-up. You can also leave a message at 524- , 7969. Thanks for your help; it is sorely needed by the Cuban people. We're hoping to surpass last year's Huron County collection of 216 cartons of humanitarian aid. Mary and Paul Carroll, Seaforth. as many other ministries. To those who have already sent in their donation, The Salvation Army would like to express their sincere thanks, and to those who have not yet done so, we would ask that you consider the very real need, for we need your help, now, more than ever before. By your generous contribution, you contribute your strength to The Salvation Army's battle against the poverty, illness and hopelessness which are so prevalent in today's society. Donations can be sent to: The Salvation Army, National Red Shield Campaign, Box 610, Wingham, Ontario. NOG 2W0. Captain Ray Scott The Salvation Army, Wingham. Red Shield campaign underway PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1995. The North Huron C • •• Amen 6NA eNA P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM I HO NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $23.00/year ($21.50 plus $1.50 G.S.T.) for local; $33.00/year ($30.85 plus $2.15 G.S.T.) kr local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $62.00/year for U.S.A. and Foreign. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event u! a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Remembering, but not vengefully One of the pleasures of watching'the V-E Day celebrations, especially those from Holland, was that people seemed determined to learn the lessons of history, but yet were remarkably free of hatred toward those they defeated. History is a double-edged sword. If we forget history we are, as the old saying goes, doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Yet too often people dwell on injustices of the past, real or exaggerated, and hatred festers underneath, awaiting a chance for vengeance. In such cases, one would wish that people had forgotten the past. Most of the world's trouble spots come from people nursing old grievances. In the Balkans, Croats, Bosnians and Serbs who lived beside each other in peace for decades, now recall hatreds dating back to World War II and far beyond. In the Middle East, violence continues as Islamic extremists attack Jewish targets, then the Israeli government strikes back. Ireland has, for the moment, managed to put aside old hatreds and for the first time in decades the Irish people live in peace. Grievances from the past allowed the evil of Adolf Hitler to fester in pre-war Germany. Germans felt they had been humiliated by the terms of the Peace treaty after World War I. Hitler fed on this sense of grievance to gain power, then to expand Germany's borders to take in parts of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland he claimed were rightfully part of Germany. It was so refreshing, then, to watch people celebrate the end of World War II without apparent hatred and bitterness toward the German people. The V-E celebrations seemed to be about the defeat, not of Germany, but of the evil the Nazis represented. Countries like Holland and Belgium, which suffered so badly at the hands of the Nazi occupiers, are now partners with the new Germany in the European Economic Community. Hopefully; people will learn from the Dutch that it is possible to remember without seeking vengeance. And hopefully countries will learn the lesson of history that Germany and Japan represent: they lost a war that killed millions, but today they are more powerful through their economic victories than they could ever have been through military victory. — KR Thank goodness for summer The warm weather couldn't have arrived at a better time. Ontarians need to get outside and away from theteleyisions for a while if they want to retain their sanity. It may be good to breath some fresh air and think clearly instead of being befuddled by the news on TV. The next few weeks will be depressing times. There is, of course, the upcoming election in Ontario. This seems to be one of the most stage-managed election campaigns in recent memory. Burned by memories of how then-Premier David Peterson was ambushed by protesters at every election stop in 1990, the Liberals are carefully making sure that party faithful are on hand when leader Lyn McLeod appears. The other parties seem to be doing much the same. Heaven forbid the leaders should meet real voters. Not that they have much to say anyway. It's pretty hard to make promises when the province is in the hole billions of dollars each year. For weeks the opposition leaders tried to outbid each other in what they would cut from spending. Not that anyone believes anything the politicians say anyway, figuring when they get in power whoever becomes the next government will claim they didn't know the real story of the provincial finances and they'll have to change their plans (just as the NDP did in 1990). As if the election isn't enough, this week the Paul Bernardo trial starts, our Canadian-content version of the 0. J. Simpson show. Night after night we'll be treated to the unappetizing slavering of TV news crews bent on giving us every disgusting detail. Luckily, we don't have live courtroom coverage so the networks won't be cancelling regular programming to show the trial in boring detail. Then there's the continuing soap-opera in Quebec. Here's a story that might not only require we get outside, but that we go off to the wilds of Algonquin Park or the Arctic.. This would help not only to prevent insanity but might prevent us from getting fed up with the provoking stunts of the PQ and say something that might really get people upset enough to vote for the separatists. Thank goodness the weather is warm enough for gardening or walking or biking. Even black fly bites will be more welcome than the news. — KR E ditorial