Goderich Signal Star, 2011-11-09, Page 8to the editor
celebrates
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• ,r2,2011.Today isthe 75th
of Canada's national public
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erre grown from a smattering
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full-service broadcaster with
from coast -to -coast-to-coast.
roadcasterthat brings you
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•1
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we nurture a strong Cana-
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portunities.for national,
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s to celebrate, and know that
ighted to be a part of that with
•
Hubert T. Lacroix President
and CEO CBCJRadio-Canade
mine
hsignalstar.com
1 of your news, sports and more.
•
t;odench and surrounding area
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Signal -Star 7
www.gaisridhsignalstar.com
We can make the world a better place. We owe it to the fallen and ourselves
To the editor,
Horace Morgan Cayley Hamilton,
Dickinson . Hamilton, the Duck-
worth
-
worth and the Munday brothers, Ed
Jenner* Hooley Moh ing, the Brim-
macombe brothers, Lionel Eliot
These are names from the St.
George's parish church, part of a
much longer list of boys who served
in the armed forces, some who died
in places like the Somme and Vimy
and Normandy. They are recorded
on lists posted on the walls of this
church and mostly forgotten by us.
Why bring their names up? Why
bother to remember them at all?
When 1 was a child, every year on
my birthday, mum made me stand
against the doorjamb in the kitchen
in my sock feet with a straight back.
She would stand over me with a
ruler and pencil and she would
make a mark on the door jamb. She
would date that mark and note four
foot two, right there on the wall.
When we left that house years later,
there were six marks for me and six
marks for each of my two sisters.
As the last kitchen chair and the
last box of spices and dishes were
carried out of the house, the family
stood there and recalled life. 1951,
four foot one that was the year
Allan ran away from home on his
tricycle and got brought home by a
nice RCMP officer. 1954, that was
the year Mary Jane got stung on the
tongue by a nasty wasp and we
thought we were going to lose her.
These marks on the door post
told us of steady growth, a process
of maturing, of learning to deal with
the circumstances and incidents
that life lays before us, of growth
from childhood to a peaceful adult-
hood. We remember the stories of
life with a mix of affection, of grief;
of resolve to move on.
Is that why we post these lists of
names on our church walls?
Perhaps.
More so, we place these names
on our walls out ofgratefulness for
what these folk achieved for us. We
post these names so that we can be
reminded to nurture our sense of
thankfulness.
When we see these names
posted, we begin to ask questions in
our attempt to understand the past
as way of figuring out the present
and the future.
How does that play out in life?
Given the right fame of mind, we
can stand and look at a farm com-
bine blowing dust as it harvests the
soybeans and realize that all that
steel could have just as easily been
part of a bomb -resistant LAV vehi-
cle rolling down a country road m
Afghanistan blowing machine gun-
fire at some enemy on the run. We
remember what could have been
and we are grateful for the way of
life we cherish. We have been
granted a way of life that came at an
incredible price. The reality is that
peace has been expensive and these
names posted remind us of the cost.
Is that why we remember them?
Over the years the lists of names
of those who died grew longer just
as the marks on the door post
seemed to climb endlessly.
But this list of names does not tell
us of steady growth.
Instead, it reminds that in spite of
the fact that one generation of men
sacrificed themselves for victory
and peace, another generation
found itself embroiled in the same
bitter battles over and over again.
And so we begin to lose our opti-
mism for life and ask, if they will
ever learn.
Is that why we remember?
Well, some others say we remem-
ber these endless lists of the fallen
as a kind of apology to their families
for us letting them sacrifice them-
selves over and over again in the
recurring evil of humanity. These
poor folk got caught up in humani-
ty's endless cycle of greed and hate
and selfishness.
And we let them repeat this injus-
tice, generation after generation. We
are so very sorry but even so we
watch the wheels of life turn around
and around and plunge into
another war and another war,
because humanity seems addicted
to power and greed and selfishness
and hate. And so we remernber. We
ask ourselves when if we will ever
learn.
And lest you feel our generation
should bear the guilt more than
another, let me remind you that the
ancestors of our Jesus, the Messiah,
the (.:hrist included thelikes of
Jacob the cheat, Tamar the prosti-
tute, David who killed a man to get
his wife and Solomon who wor-
shipped two gods.
So what is it we should really
remember, anyway?
Out of all the weaknesses and
faWmgs of humanity, there is cause
for optimism. In spite of all the fail-
ings and repetitive sins of humanity,
there carne a Messiah who taught
us that grace and mercy are always
more powerful than violence and
hate and greed and selfishness.
We need to do more than team
these lists of fallen soldiers. We need
to know the stories that brought
about their sacrifice. The stories of
power hungry generals and politi-
cians and the stories of mad men.
And yet in the midst of all these
stones we meet veterans who come
home and express unbridled opti-
mism for our way of life, for our
longing for peace, for justice for the
downtrodden, for food for the hun-
gry and cure for the sick. It is possi-
ble, they say. These lists of ineo and
women did not die in vain.
We Christians believe in the
power of resurrection. Never do we
glorify dying, but always we say that
out of death can come resurrection;
the new life. It is possible.
We need to dedicate ourselves to
studying these lists of the fallen. To
knowing the. stories behind then i. .
To searching for the thread of Chris-
tian values wandering through all
their stories -that teaches us to dedi-
cate ourselves to a sense that we can
make our world a better place. We
owe k to the fallen. We it to our-
selves. We owe to our God.
The Ven. Allan Livingstone, Rector
St George's Anthican church,
Goderich
UK doctor has fond memories of 1950s Goderich Prayers for Goderich from
Kamloops
To the editor,
I was shocked recently to read about the
August tornado, and to see the photos. They
tore a hole in me, just as they laid waste to the
heart of your town.
'the Goderich I remember Is the Goderich
of the late 1940s and early 1950s..I have won-
derful summer memories. Being a youngster;
I was particularly keen on the splendid
beach—by the harbour, as I recall. The
weather was hot (usually), the sun bright, the
waters of Lake Huron clear and sparkling. I
usually made the mistake of taking too much
sun, too quickly. And 1 suffered for it.
We spent many hours wandering round
the town, and through its elm -shaded sec-
tions; and a few evenings at the cinema thea-
tre. I remember well one of the films we saw:
Showboat, with the sultry Ave Gardner and
Howard Keel.
1 also had my first experience of young
love, aged 12. And though a subject of much
Jest and mockery for my family and friends, it
was for me—to my own surprise and aston-
ishment—very much the 'real thing' and has
remained so throughout my life. One never
knows.
Though I have lived here in England the
past nearly 50 years, I have never forgotten
Goderich. Many good memories remain. It is
very painful to view the damage, and to think
of the much greater pain suffered by today's
residents. It cannot be easy to deal with the
shock, first hand, that nature has dealt the
town in her savage and random fashion.
My hope is that swift steps will be taken to
repair the damage. My further hope is that.
care will be taken to 'restore' rather than hast-
ily to 'replace.'
ast-ilyto'replace. In this Sussex town where 1
live, we have suffered greatly from much
'replacement,' and very little 'restoration.' The
spirit of this lovely old town has not quite
been destroyed, but it has been badly dam-
aged. I would not wish this for Goderich. It
deserves the best. And I am sure it will get it.
As my small contribution to the restoration
process, I am sending on a cheque for $200 to
the Editor `of.the Signal Star, to be passed to
whoever is organising the local prugramme
of'testoration and re -development:
I wish the folk of Goderich, and Town itself,
well.
Dr. M. Vickers,
Burr Side, Turners Hill Road,
East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 41.x(
UNITED KINGDOM
To the editor,
To the people of Goderich. I was born and wentto
school in Goderich. I am grateful to my brother Gene
Powell and his kind wife Rita for sending your paper of
Aug. 24 showing all the devastation.
When I was in my teens, I delivered papers in most of
the are hit so badly. My grandmother lived on Arthur
Street and 1 have a niece and her husband that live on
Bennett, not that far off West Street.
flow fortunate there was not more lives lost.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you and may
Goderich once again be as pretty, as my tapestry wall
hanging with the courthouse and all the historical build-
ings just as they used to be.
The reason 1 have taken so long to write is I had hip
surgery at University of British Columbia Hospital in
Vancouver and was away recuperating.
My prayers are with you all.
I also went to Victoria United Church in my teens and
have nice pictures taken outside the church.
Sincerely,
Margaret Norris
Kamloops, BC