Goderich Signal Star, 2011-08-03, Page 8Au 3, 2011 f GatiefiGh Si f . -Staff . 7
to the editor
onomic realities of
a small business
9
tor,
IBarnett's letter in the July 27th edition of
rich S -S attracted my interest like few
-. «-int times. I too am passionate about
in general and the, core area specifically.
t impression of the letter was that the
buted the demise of her "dream" to
actors beyond her control. Perhaps
d reflection, earlier and on an ongo
might have helped her to craft a plan
it; bringing fiscal and economic reali-
ar in short, take her head out of the
sere are two kinds of dreamers after all -
o see a desired future reality and wish it;
• who see a desired future reality and
an they are prepared to adapt and carry
Not every dream is viable.
tonished that Susan Barnett began with
t to BIA to help these businesses [small
• s just off The Squarej. As members of
• ber of Commerce in Goderich, I am
reed that we have yet to receive even a
of concern regirding our dosing on
Nothing has been said tows from the
r:' Were you concerned enough to pick
one?
have you been for 3 1 years Susan? You
ember of the BIA and the C of C; as such
• have taken a leadership role in these
ons if you did not:eel they were meet-
usiness needs. You owed to your
As an uninvolved observes I find your
ndemnation of these two organizations
enslon their volunteer boards of direc-
than helpful.
went on to say that no matter how much
ey spent on advertising, residents of
did not know they e~dsted. Okay. So
that tell her as an entrepreneur? It
• ve.told her a combination of things:
he did not know her potential custom -
to reach them: Perhaps the product
ot respond to local market needs. Ani-
retail space; staff eating in front of cus-
• • rsonal phone calls while customers are
re; shouting to personnel between
d on and on. People will tell a business
ot doing the right thing by notusing the
It is up to the BUSINESS to figure it out
w many customer surveys were con-
s id you tend to dwell on favourable cus-
mments, rather than aggressively look -
appy customers who had the potential
• you improve?
stated "We also realized that you cannot
r business owners in town." She was
to other business owners who picked up
product line she had just added. This is
I�td you think the traveller was just sell -
because he/she said no one else had
up yet? A traveler is going to try to sell to
ential retailer on his/her route. Exactly
y business courses did you take before
• ed to go into business? Seriously - do
think other local businesses contrib-
ur demise? Was your business plan
tion actually responsible for .
1
CONTINUED > PAGE 8
Writer offers ideas
for Goderich
To the Editor,
As a volunteer for the Goderich Adult
Day Centre (One Care), I enjoy hearing
the anecdotes of the clients to stimulate
morning discussion topics. One recent
topic of the day was "All Around the. Town".
Goderich is blessed with many attrac-
tions - the Square, the beach and board-
walk, museums, festivals, etc. One client's
husband who used to work at the salt
mine reminisced about taking a tour
underground and what that experience
was like.
That story got me thinking. I drive into
Goderich once or twice a week; over the
bridge and up the hill, takea quick glance
over to see if there is a ship docked, check
the condition of the lake and carry on
driving towherever...groceries, shopping,
business.
In the Goderich Visitor's Guide, p.14, it
states, " There's a Virtual City of Ac tivity
under the Lakebed at our Waterfront."
Historical information about Sifto Canada
is available at the Huron County Museum..
Public tours are no longer available which
I can understand for safety reasons. What
goes on underground can only be learned
from employees, present and past.
Here we have the largest producer of
rock salt in the world, right underneath us
with little or no access to all that fascinat-
ing activity. Sudbury has Dynamic Earth,
where you are able to experience and
learn about nickel mining, geology, etc.
Why couldn't Goderich have its very own
Dynamic Salt! Museum (or Salt and H2O
museum or the Samuel Platt Museum?)
Looking on the Internet, I found Hutch-
inson, Arkansas has the Underground Salt
Museum, (www.undergroundmuseum.
org) and there are other smaller museums
in the U.S plus some in Europe.
It seems we have difficulty attracting
new businesses. to Goderich, but we have
no problem attracting people. Just drive
down to the beach on a hot, summer day
and try to find a place to park, or the mul-
titudes of people who come into townfor
festivals and other attractions. Kids love
museums, parents on holidays like to take
their family to new museums and school
boards are alwayslooking for different
places for educational experiences.
Uwe can't go down the tnine anymore,
bring the mine to the surface and simulate
what it is like underground. The empty
Volvo plant would make a great spot. Add
a few levels, throw in a section on living
beside a lake and you could integrate
water quality, environmental concerns,
and more. It could be an extension of the
Huron County Museum including new
exhibits, like the Champion road grader
Grass is grass.
My name is Phil and... I have a
problem.
I'm addicted to grass.
Wow. It feels so good to say that
out loud finally.
It's only been a week since I last.
used, but I figure I need to start
taking responsibility for my
actions hnmediately..That's why I
came to this meeting.
It all started innocently
enough... I bought some. seeds
from a guy I know, and figured I'd
put them out in the yard and see if
anyone %Mould notice.
Well, they took off immediately,
and pretty soon I had more grass
than I could handle.
So, I cut, dried and bagged it
and never thought anything of it.
the then, t e temperature
started to rise.
Next thing 1 knew, my grass
wasn't so green anymore. It didn't
even smell the same.
Around the edges, it was getting
brown and dried out
t know, or at least I should have
known at the time, that it would
grow back. If not, 1 could have just
re -seeded it. But I wasn't thinking
straight. My
head was all
foggy from that
sweet, sweet
green.
So ... I
took my first
serious •
plunge into.
my
addiction.
I bought a. hose.
Every morning and every, night
1 was outside, watering my grass.
At first, I stuck to the rules,
watering only on even-nt...thered
days, dusk and dawn. -
But it was never enough.
No matter how much 1 watered
one day, two days later the grass
would be brown again.
It occupied my mind
constantly.
Soon, 1 was skipping work to go
home and tum on the sprinkler in
the afternoon..
But it was worth it - or so I
thought.
My neighbours never said any-
thing about my problem. Many of
them had the same habit. Some
collection. Kids love to climb and explore.
Anyway, wishful thinking can't go any-
where without money, but it doesn't cost
anything to dream!
Driving around Goderich, waiting for
relatives after a movie I:observed a few
things: the tree in front of Scotiabank
needs pruning, since it is starting to
obscure the murals on the side of the
bank. Speaking of murals, wouldn't it be
great to have a few more around town?
How about all that empty space on the
Goderich elevators; if the surface is paint
able, totem pole style? Or Sifto could Dave
one on the side of its buildings on the
north side of the harbour. Now that the
train overpass is painted coming into
Goderich from the north, a nice two-sided
seasonal mi'ral could hang from the over-
pass...one side could have spring and
summer, the other side fall and winter
activities.
And driving down West St. to the beach
it would be nice to see both sides of the
road past the Park House landscaped
instead of grass. (Yes, I know... more
money), and once you're down there, all
that grass in front of the old train station
would make a lovely floral labyrinth. (I
guess it is on hold for the moment).
My two cents worth,
Jayne Miltenburg
Lucktlow
don't be a dope about it
of them even had
better stuff than
mine. 1 couldn't live
with that.
That'when I
beganiwatering
8 8
every day, usually
Column during the hottest
Gerard Creces
9et.LiIAB
part of the day.
Iknew alot of
that water was just
evaporating, and that It could be
put to better use, but I didn't care
because nobody ratted me out.
Pretty: soon, I was breaking
commitments with my friends,
coworkers, even my family just so
I could pull the sprinkler out for
another half hour.
My trees, my flowers, even my
vegetables were suffering because
1 was putting all my time into
My wife said 1 was neglecting
her, that 1 was transfixed - a dif-
ferent person.
One day, as I was sneaking out
to irrigate, she caught me.
Standing between me and the
shed door, she gave me an ulti-
matum - the grass or our
marriage.
I tried to reason with her and
for the moment she put up with
my excuses. Luckily, there were a
couple days of rain in the forecast
so I was able to control my -urges.
But it all came crashing down
on me.
It was 'Thursday before last, the
hottest day ever in Goderich, and
I was home alone for about
twenty minutes. I knew I had to
be quick, but that I could get a.
small watering in if 1 hurried.
As I opened the shed door, 1
saw something that no parent
wants to see.
There was my son and a cou-
ple of his teenage friends, pass-
ing around a sprtnlder head.
Right then and there, I knew 1
had to quit the grass.
It hasn't been easy, especially
with such a hot summer, but I'm
taking it one day ata time..
1 just need to remind myself
that it's only grass and it will grow
back.
That said, you should come
over and see my pot plants some
time.
www.goderichsignalstar.com
Community nevus: Dominique Milburn
email: gssnews@bowesnet.com
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