The Huron Expositor, 1994-12-07, Page 5News and Views
More knowledge, less intelligence found
BY HARRY PALIN
There is such a thing as
knowledge and there is intelli-
gence and there is a difference
between the two. Intelligence is
what you are born with if you
have the right genes and knowl-
edge is what you absorb or are
taught after birth.
I read in the paper scientists
are wondering if there is another
planet out there with intelligent
life on it. They don't seem to
bother to see if there is intelli-
gent life on this planet we are
living on. I would not want to
say there is no intelligent life at
all for that would let me out and
I would not want to do that. But
I would like to say that it looks
like it is a fairly scarce commod-
ity.
Take the happening of the first
week. A father was found guilty
of murder for relieving his
young daughter of a pain -ridden
life while another man was
deemed innocent of an offense
because he was too drunk to
iMY
BY HARRY PALIN
know what he was doing, so if
you want to commit a crime and
get away with it you know what
to do. Now do you think our
government is intelligent? Look
over the past 50 years. We have
upset the balance of nature in so
many ways it is not funny. Fish
are getting scarce, farmers are
producing more food than we
know what to do with and could
produce more if we made it
worth their while and we have
not got enough sense to get the
food where it is needed. I could
write a book about this.
I think the country is being run
by financiers for financiers. I
don't want to be nasty but
Thomas Armstrong's definition
of a financier is a man who buys
a fresh cow, milks her 'til she's
dry and sells her back to the
farmer for more than he paid for
it in the first place. Does such a
man really do any good for the
country and is it fair that he has
as much interest and power as
the government?
Take the Judge who makes the
decision I have mentioned. Take
the man who killed his daugh-
ter...maybe he was guilty in law
but he should have been treated
with compassion and his situ-
ation better understood.
I have personal experience in
this matter. My mother, when
she was 94, was taken sick and
did not want medical attention as
she had come to the end of her
life and wanted to go but I had
trouble with my father on this. I
knew I had to get medical atten-
tion to her so I did and the doc-
tor took her away and put her in
the hospital against her will for
six months and this was before
OHIP and sent me a big bill. If
this had happened in the early
1900's this would not have
happened. Euthanasia and more
was practised in those days and
even as a child of five I knew it.
I was smart and I think I knew
more than I was supposed to.
We may have more knowledge
now than we had then...but intel-
ligence, no.
•Harry Palin is 96 years old.
He is an avid reader of books,
newspapers and magazines and
a frequent contributor to The
Huron Expositor.
Local man recalls past Seaforth parades
Dear Editor,
Last week several people
expressed their thanks to the organ-
izers of the Santa Claus Parade for
a job well done. I too wish to con-
gratulate them for a most enjoyable
evening that was well run with a
good calibre of floats, Bands and
acts. It is not easy to assemble
some elements and it also relies
heavily on local participation as
well to make everything viable. The
participants too share in the glory.
With the advent of the mobile elec-
tric generator a fairy land theme has
been added because of all the col-
oured lights and the aura of a
young child's dream and the past
dreams of a lot of we older people
too.
It brings back memories of other
Parades.
My first participation in a Santa
Claus Parade was in 1929 as a 10
year old Bandsman in the local
Seaforth Highlanders Brass Band.
The Parades took place just a few
days before Christmas and winter
probably didn't but seemed to start
early quite regularly.
Santa came on the afternoon train
at 3 o'clock to be greeted by local
di :' < the Band and a host of
c 111:,., i as well as a horse and
cutter where Santa took his seat.
Santa followed the Band and the
children followed old St. Nick to
the big Christmas Tree placed in
the centre of Main Street and just
off Highway #8. A platform was
placed in front of the tree where the
children could go up the steps on
one side, receive a pop corn ball
and a green netted bag of nuts and
then go down the other side after
shaking Santa's hand. The tree was
decorated with coloured normal
bulbs. Nothing elaborate as now-
adays but it still meant a lot to
everyone and especially the
Letters
children.
Incidentally, Main Street always
had deep icy ruts made by the
heavy bob -sleds that regularly
moved up and down with loads of
chop from the chopping mills. This
made playing a horn a little diffi-
cult. Every time you slipped the
mouth piece on the horn would
bobble on your mouth resulting in a
terrible sound. Another distraction
was trying to manoeuvre around the
gobs of horse manure along the
way without losing the beat.
In the late 50s I remember organ-
izing a couple of Christmas Parades
and there is no doubt that it
requires co-operation of a lot of
people. First of all trying to raise
enthusiasm to enter floats, contact
bands and novelty acts (if possible)
and then get the finished product
into a semblance of order. I had
Tom Wilber as Parade Marshall
and a great deal of help from Jim
Stewart with his artistic ability of
devising floats.
At the time of my first parade in
1929 the streets of Seaforth were
not ploughed but left covered with
snow for the benefit of cutters and
sleighs. The sidewalks were
ploughed by means of one horse
ploughs - v shaped. One was made
of quite thick planks and another
was steel. The idea was that cars
were in the minority as the majority
of people in town went from A to
B by walking. Most car owners put
their cars in their garages and
jacked the axles up to fit blocks of
wood under them to take the weight
off the tires during the winter
How to tackle winter
on a tight budget
The TRS21 lightweight. compact snow thrower is so economically
priced it won't leave you chilled. Easy to handle hut a real heavyweight
performer! Cuts a 21 -inch path and throws up to 35 feet with the help
of a 5 h.p. engine and 9 -inch diameter impeller. So, if you prefer
throwing a lot of snow and not a lot of money, the TRS21 is your best
way to tackle winter
NOTHING RUNS LIKE A DEERE.
SAVE $ 140°°
UP TO
ON A NEW JOHN DEERE
SNOWBLOWER
See Peter Van Herk today for a Hands -On
demonstration. We have a full Zine -up in
stock.
Doors Circle or Erc.Nnce o.,rer
FARM EQUIPMENT (1988) LTD
1
OPEN MON.-SAT.
5:00 A.M.-5:30 P.M
5 MILES
NORTH OF
MITCHELL
County Rd. 11 -- Bornholm
347-2251
months. This prevented the tires
from having a flat spot and a poss-
ible crack in the rubber. My Dad
was one who would walk all day,
hunting, fishing or playing in a
game but wasn't thrilled with walk-
ing down town to work. As a result
our old Model T car braved the
snow as long as it was at all poss-
ible. The tires being narrow had an
advantage at the front but a disad-
vantage at the rear with less trac-
tion. The main advantage the old
cars had was that they weren't
susceptible to snow build up under-
neath because they were so much
higher off the ground. The cars
were lighter and two good men
could lift the rear end around when
in difficulty.
When we had a Town Band you
could always get them to arrange a
exchange with other nearby bands
(practically every town had one). In
other words you play for us in our
parade and we'll play for you in
yours. As president of the Seaforth
band for 15 years I often used that
approach. Sometimes for a special
parade you had to break down and
get a feature band better than your-
self or more spectacular.
Such a thing happened to us"
during a Band Tattoo we organized
to celebrate the Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth. We contacted a
well known Scout Bugle Band, east
of Kitchener, to come to us for
$300. We thought everything was
fine and then through the grape
vine we heard they intended going
to some other place that day. I
immediately phoned the conductor
to see if this was true. He said
"Yes, you can't expect us to go to
your place for $300 when this other
place offered us one thousand dol-
lars." I said "I don't care how much
they offered, you promised, to come
to us." We argued for some time
and he wouldn't relent so I said
"Evidently you don't believe in
your own Motto of Scouts Honour"
and I hung up. It left us in a bit of
a bind but we managed to contact
an Auxiliary Air Force Band in
Hamilton made up of professional
musicians. We had to pay the union
fee of $400 but we had no option
and very little money to play with.
Musically the Hamilton band was
away above the Scout Band but the
latter did have the uniqueness of
their appearance as well as the fact
they also put on drills. However we
survived and the Tattoo went off
quite well.
I am sorry for digressing but I'll
return to the statement that I
enjoyed our Santa Parade last week
immensely along with the great big
thank you for a job well down.
P.S. One of the Santa parades in
the late fifties we had as celebrities
a lot of the people who hosted
programmes on C.F.P.L London
which had just started their T.V.
station a couple years before -
namely Paul Soles, Tom Bird, Alex
Kelman, Hugh Bremner and another
announcer whose name I can't
remember. Afterwards they came
dowii10 otic house where my wife
Dinah had prepared, soup, sand-
wiches, tea and coffee to warm
them up. They were very congenial
and very nice to meet. I forgot to
mention one other celebrity from
C.F.P.L was Miss Dorothy who was
hostess of the children's programme
and likely remembered yet by many
people.
Mr. Editor, I'm sorry for being go
long-winded and using so much
space.
Sincerely
Frank Sills
This Week's
Features!
Diluter Rolls 1.29 doz.
"DARK" -- 450 g.
Pumpernickel Bread 1.29
"I )I LICIOUS"
Pumpkin Pie 8 2.99
'TASTY'
Oatmeal Muffins 6/1.99
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Dfc.mber 7, 1994-5
S50
APPLE AUTO GLASS
PAYS YOUR
DEDUCTIBLE 1m 50
550
on moat windshield
replacement claims
at your HOME OFFICE,
FARM or APPLE'S LOCATION
BON
Ott
y
\noun
tx�at►
726 ONTARIO ST.
STRATFORD
LocaNy Owned & Operated
Ara
273-4040
jT3J
ANNOUNCEMENT
Doug Kincaid, Sales Manager for International Stock Food
Company is pleased to welcome LYLE HANEY to the position of
Sales Agent for the Townships of Tuckersmith, McKillop, Hullett,
Goderich, Stanley, Hay, Usborne and Hibbert.
The products Lyle will sell include quality livestock and horse
mineral and vitamin pre -mixes, special blends of yeasts,
enzymes, buffers, flavouring agents, protein -molasses tubs, min-
eral blocks, farm fly control products and silo guard II.
For Hay, Haylage, Baleage, Corn Silage, and High Moisture
Corn.
Please feel free to contact
LYLE HANEY AT 522-1300
Y(,
Yf
Non -Surgical Treatment o
Varicose Veins
and Spider Veins
with
Sclerotherapy Injections
done by
Mario M. Cauchi M.D.
Lorraine M. Cauchi, R.N.
Doctor Referral not necessary
Initial consultation - Free
For appointment call
27 Bruce St., West, Goderich
524-4121
TRY OUR
Delicious Danish Pastry,
()range Stick Donuts and Cheese Sticks!
FRESH OFF THE BLOCK!
PINE RIVER MEI)IIJM 3.99 n .
DANISH
ESROM 4.f>9 lb.
Deluxe Light or Dark Christmas Cake,
Shortbreads, Mincemeat
Tarts, Fancy Cookies
and more!
Fresh BULK Christmas Candies,
Baking Supplies, Snacks,
and more!
FOR THE FESTIVE
SEASON!
Cheese Trays
Gift Baskets
OUR AN\UAL
PHONE BOOK HAS
ARRIVED!
Purchase your copy at
our office located at 100 Main
St., Seaforth. ONLY $1.00
The following listings were omitted or
listed incorrectly in our phone book.
Please cut out the following portion
and attach it to your book.
Thank you for your co-operation and
we apologize for any inconvenience.
Bakery °Cheese Hoag
14 Main Sr. SEAFORTH 527-1803
DeJong, Pat 60 Church St. 527- 2725
Dietz Milton, Wanda 522-0440
Finlayson. Ron RR2 Kippen 522- 0479
Glanville, Fred 39 George 527-1944
Henderson. John Egmondville 527-1045
Hobby Shop. The Main St 527- 2010
Hodgins & Fisher Catering 527.2885
522-1394
Hubley, Norman 10 Welsh St 527-1106
Janmaat. Luke Egmondville 522- 0134
Leeming Express 96 Coleman 527- 2539
Mclntee Realtor
Sharon Medd
Mary Vanden Henget
Ken Bachert
R. H. Masonry
Richard Horst
Rivers, Jack 173 Main
Sangster, R. Egmondville
Struthers, Randy 96 Coleman
Studio 75 Egmondville
Sunlife Assurance
Company of Canada
Arts, Tony. G , 107 Main St 527- 0794
Home 527-2564
Stinnison. A J. 107 Main St. 527- 0410
Tremeer E. 70 Goderich St E. Apt H8 527-2609
VeMitem, David & Deriene_ Egmondville 522-0418
Wolfe, Ken RAs 01 51
527-0560
527-0968
527-2487
527- 1362
527- 1930
522- 0607
527- 2539 ,
522- 0900
A Expositor