The Huron Expositor, 1997-08-20, Page 4( )pi l nod
4-1!1181111f1111ON IXPOSIT'OR, Awwt fat 11107
A 1997 Conodtort Lc, nwyy N.wspapsrAssoc. Awad Recipient
Your Community Newspaper Since 1860
PAVE SCOTT • Editor
GREGOR CAMPBELL
Reporter
BARB STOREY
- d strilwtion
TERRI-LYNN DALE • General Manager
& Advertising Manager
PAT ARMES - Office Manager
DIANNE McGRATH - Subscriptions
& Classifieds
A Bowes Publishers Community Newspaper
,5U8SCRWPTlON RATE4: LOCiAL - 32.50 a year, in advance, plus 2.28 G.S.1
5eN1ORS - 30.00 o year, in advance, plus 2.10 G.S.T.
USA 8 foreign: 28.41 o year on Defence, plus $78.00 postage, G.S.T. amp*
SUsSCRIPTjON j Al
Published weekly by Signal -Star Publishing at 100 Main St., Seaforth. Publication
moil registration No. 0696 held at Seaforth. Onsano. Advertising a acaephed on
cond,tion that in the .rent of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied
by the erroneous item, together with o reasonable allowance for ugnoture, will not
be chorged, but the balance of the odwrbement will be pole for at the applicable
rote In the event of o typographical error. advertising goods or services at o
wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to
sell and moy be withdrawn ce any time The Huron Expositor Is not responsible kr
the foss or dornoge of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used lor
reproduction purposes. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions and undelrr-
roble copies cry to be sent to The Huron Exposits
Wednesday, August 20, 1997
Editorial and Business Offices - 100 Main Slreet.,Seafotdh
Telephone 15191527-0240 Fax (5191527-2458
Mailing Address • P.O. lox 69,
Seaforth, Ottlario, NOK IWO
Member of the Canadton Community Newspaper
Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Association
and the Ontario Press Caunol
Views expressed on our opinion page(s) don't
necessarily represent those of The Huron
Expositor or Bowes Publishers. The Huron
Expositor reserves the right to edit letters to the
editor or to refuse publication.
Editorial
Small town living not necessarily safer
Last Tuesday's drive-by shooting of a dog in Harpurhey
once again shows that small-town living isn't necessarily a
safer one - especially when morons (or more frightening -
armcd morons) start taking target practice at people's front
yards.
Thank goodness there weren't any children outside at the
time or that the bullet didn't fly through a window and injure
someone.
Why should we be worried about being outside of our own
homes'.' - At any tirne of the day or night?
We shouldn't have to. This is supposed to be a friendly
town. - D.W.S.
isLetters
to the Editor
Reader enjoys Westcott pieces
Dear Editor:
Before i start to read your
paper I look to sec if there is
an article by Clare Wcstcott.
This is the most interesting
and fascinating reading. With
his long career in politics and
government. there arc hope-
fully many more he will
share with us.
It's just like listening to
Paul Harvey on the radio -
"and now you know the rest
of the story".
Betty Leonhardt
Why close Savings Office
if staff, customers happy?
Dear Editor:
In threatening to close the
Province of Ontario Savings
Office. the Ontario govern-
ment is caving in to pressure
from the big banks and trust
companies:
For 75 years the Province
of Ontario Savings Office has
supplied financing to thc
province and financial ser-
vices to the public. It has 23
branches and at 1996 year
end had $2.2 billion on
deposit.
It does not, make loans to
the public like a bank, but
gives competitive interest
rates and superior service to
thc public especially in
regard to service charges for
smaller accounts.
The province, instead of
borrowing in the open market
at six to eight per cent or
more, gets the advantage of
using the funds while provid-
ing service to depositors. On
top of this in 1996 the sav-
ings office earned $11 mil-
lion for the taxpayers of
Ontario.
The customers are .happy,
the staff are happy and the
taxpayers are happy, so who
could possibly want to close
or privatize the savings
office?
Thc big banks and trust
companies pay million dollar
salaries to their presidents
and insignificant interest to
depositors. They nickel and
dime depositors to death with
service charges and look bad
in comparison to the Savings
Office.
In 1996 the CEO of
National Bank got
$1,241,320 (Bedard). The
CEO of Canada Trust got
$1,319,602 (Clark). The
Deputy Minister of Finance
got $139,493 (Gourley),
about one tenth of the private
sector salaries.
If the government really
cares for the interest of the
citizens and taxpayers of
Ontario as it claims, the
Province of Ontario Savings
Office will be retained and
expanded.
John C. Medcof
Mt. Albert, Ont.
Mitchell Homecoming in 1999
contact: The Registration
Committee, P.O. Box 609,
Mitchell, On. NOK 1NO or
browse the internet site at:
http://granitc.cyg.net/—mitche
11.
Hope to see you then.
Debra Satchell-McCarthy
Secretary
Mailing an 1 Registration
Committee
Dear Editor:
Greetings to all present and
former Mitchell residents.
in the year 1999 the Town
of Mitchell will be celebrat-
ing its Homecoming Reunion
(125th Anniversary). At the
present titnc, many activities
and events arc in the planning
stages for the week of June
29 - July 4, 1999.
For further inquiries please
Bobby Hackett - an honest musician
•
As well as being one of the
greatest cornet and trumpet
players North America ever
produced, Bobby Hackett
was a nice man.
He had been many things in
his Iife...an ardent Catholic
who in the '30s and '40s
played in speakeasys owned
by the mob. Hired by Glenn
Miller to play the guitar...he
picked up his horn when the
band was recording A String
of Pearls on a 78 for Victor
and made music history with
a 30 -second solo that has
been heard by millions...and
copied by every horn player.
He was map other things
over his short life - a good
friend of Louis Armstrong.
Studio conductor for the
ABC network, he played
with Miller, Gleason, Glen
Gray and for two years had
his own band. He played
back up for Teresa Brewer,
Tony Bennett and Frank
Sinatra...and he weighed
about as much as his cornet
case.
And for a while he was a
drunk - and for the last years
of his life he was a diabetic.
But most of all he was a gift-
ed and inventive performer
with one of the legendary
sounds of modern music.
Whether dreamy and soulful
in the sensuous sound of If !
Love Again or strutting jaun-
tily through old Dixieland
favourite or jamming Oh
Baby with Eddie Condon it
was a fusing of beauty and
the best. Jackie Gleason once
said "Bobby's playing is like
hearing the truth." His ply-
ing was honest...anti he was
honest.
• That's why 1 have to
believe a story he told me as
we drove to the airport on a
Sunday...three days before he
died on June 7, 1976. The
day he handed me his album
"The Bobby Hackett Four"
with his son Ernie on drums,
that he produced with his
own Hyannisport Record
Company. On the jacket he
wrote a note of thanks to
me..,when I should have been
thanking him for thc count-
less hours of pleasure his
music brought time over most
of my life.
It seems he and the aging
Joe Venutti, one of the best
jazz violinists in the world •
each had a gig in Chicago at
different clubs, both finishing
on a Saturday night. Over
lunch it was decided they
would fly back to New York
together on the Sunday morn-
ing - Joe coming to Bobby's
hotel fora coffee before they
Leave for O'Hare Airport.
Joe came early and in
Bobby's words..."I was still
shaving when Joe arrived and
slid his big frame onto one of
the chairs in the tiny kitch-
enette and immediately began
telling me a joke."
In describing the scene
Bobhy told me the bathroom
mirror faced back into the
kitchen area so with the door
open he could see Joe while
they talked.
"Joe wondered why I was
going to New York instead of
Boston - my usual stopping
over place before 1 go home
to the Cape. 1 told him 1 was
picking up my wife who was
in New York playing in a
bridge tournament - and from
there we would fly to Boston
where son Ernie would pick
us up and drive home to
Chatham."
1 never let on to Bobby that
Edna once told me she didn't
like the Cape. She was New
Yorker who loved bridge and
was considered one of the
best female bridge players in
eastern United States. She
loved New York and Bobby
loved Cape Cod. For him it
was the perfect place to relax
and rest after hectic weeks on
the road playing dates all
over North America.
"Joe asked me how my
record company was doing
and wanted to know, 'in his
words,' if I was making any
dough." And Bobby added,
"the big Italian was also
drinking all my coffee."
What Bobby told Joe w
what I had heard
some mon
mostly bl
often ack
hi
..He
If for
ged that he
did not have a head for busi-
ness . And most of the indus-
try knew that Bobby got very
little out of the fortune Jackie
Gleason made from his
albums. And that it was
Bobby's comet solos that
gave glamour and warmth
and a beautiful sound to an
otherwise tun -of -the -mill
band.
As Bobhy answered Joe's
question and told of the limit-
ed market for jazz...and that
rock stars make more in a
week than he made in a
year...he went on to tell Joe,
as he had once told me, about
his record company and his
two Massachusetts business
partners and recording a cou-
ple of albums in the Royal
Box Room at the Americana
Hotel in New York.
On hearing that Joe appar-
ently said something like...
"that should make you a bun-
dle."
As Bobhy is explaining to
Joe...and still shaving, he
found that he is only a minor-
ity shareholder in his own
company. His two Boston
business partners somehow
took over ownership of his
CONTINUED on page 5
PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT
NEW SIDEWALKS - Workers have been busy the past few weeks removing old sidewalks and pouring new ones along
the north and south sides of Goderich St. West. Residents in the neighbourhood have had to park there cars on the side
streets until the work is complete. One section of sidewalk had to be redone because of vandalism.
Seaforth bacon sold in New York in 1897
FROM THE PAGES OF
THE HURON EXPOSITOR
AUGUST 27,1897
BACON FOR NEW
YORK - The excellence of
the bacon manufactured by
T.R.F. Case & Co., of this
town, is becoming universal-
ly known. On the recommen-
dation of a party who had
partaken of their bacon in
Toronto, a Targe New York
dealer has sent them an order,
offering a price which will
pay thc firm a larger margin,
after paying the heavy duty,
than the same article docs in
the Canadian markets.
This bacon will be put up in
the most tempting fashion
that it may tickle thc palates
of the epicures of the
American Metropolis. It is
always profitable to turn out
a good article and Messrs.
Case & Co. arc reaping the
benefits which their painstak-
ing and strict personal super-
vision of their business
deserves.
EGMONDVILLE NOTES
- Mrs. Ledger, of Hartford.
Connecticut, has been on a
visit here to her parents, Mr.
and MRs. W. Clarke, for sev-
eral -weeks. - Mrs. W. Logan,
who has occupied Mr.
Landsborough's fine resi-
dence 'for several months, left
on Wednesday last for her
Manitoba home at Carberry.
She will be much missed by a
large circle of relatives and
friends in this neighbour-
hood. - The many friends of
Miss Mary Ferguson arc
pleased to welcome her back,
after an absence of seven
In the Years Agone
years. She spends Iifc busily
at responsible office work in
Fort Wayne, Indiana, where
she has a good situation.
AUGUST 18, 1922
Dr. Craig Has Good Record
- Out of four silver medals
given by the Toronto
Conservatory of Music
(University of Toronto). for
thc whole of Canada, two
were won by pupils of Dr.
A.T. Craig, former organist at
the First Presbyterian
Church, Seaforth. Ten of his
pupils secured "first class
.honours" and four "honours"
in the piano, pipe organ, and
theory departments.. This is a
record not equalled by any
individual teacher in Canada
so far.
Scrambled Wives - The
Murless Players, under the
auspices of the Bowlers' and
Golfers' Clubs, will present
the splendid comedy,
"Scrambled Wives," on the
evening of Tuesday. August
29th, in the Strand theatre.
This will be the second pre-
sentation of this comedy and
it is only at the urgent request
of thc clubs that the Murless
Players have consented to
repeat the performance. Thc
seating capacity of the theatre
did not accommodate the
crowd on the first presenta-
tion and people who saw it
then wish to attend again, as
the play is considered thc
finest of the comedy sort ever
put on the stage in Seaforth.
AUGUST 22,1947
Three Seaforth ladies, Mrs.
E.H. Close, skip, Mrs. W.M.
Hart and Mrs. John Beattie,
won the King trophy in a
ladies' Irish trebles tourna-
ment at Wingham on
Wednesday. They also
received embroidered pillow
cases, donated by Mr. King,
of Wingham.
A rink, composed of Miss
Alice Reid, Miss Frances
Matthews and Mrs. Bruce
MacLean, failed to get in thc
money by a narrow margin,
losing one of their games by
a couple of points.
* 4 *
James Habkirk, former resi-
dent of Seaforth, Stratford
and Wingham, and now a res-
ident of Vancouver, made a
brief call at the plant of The
Huron Expositor Tucsday
afternoon. A veteran printer,
Mr. Habkirk was employed
by The Huron Expositor in
the late eighties.
Mr. Habkirk was born in
Wingham in 1874, son of the
late Mr. and Mrs. John C.
Habkirk. He was a nephew of
the late James Cowan, of
Seaforth.
Leaving for Winnipeg in
1893, he joined thc Winnipeg
Free Press staff, eventually
becoming night foreman of
thc composing room, a post
he held for twenty years.
Later he was composing
room foreman of the Regina
Leader and the Winnipeg
Tribune. He left the Tribune
in 1924 to take a similar posi-
tion with the Vancouver Sun.
In 1935 Mr. Habkirk asked to
be relieved of supervisory
responsibilities and reverted
to thc position of linotype
operator.
AUGUST 31, 1973
The farm of William
Stecklc, R.R. 3 Bayfield, in
Stanley Township, was the
site of the 45th annual Huron
County Plowing Match and
farm machinery demonstra-
tion. The match held on
Tuesday was under the aus-
pices of thc Huron
Plowman's Association.
While attendance was good
president Ken Stewart said
undoubtedly the bright warm
weather had kept many farm-
ers home at work. "You can't
afford not to take advantage
of good weather like this at
this time of the year," he said.
***
John M. Scott, son of Mr.
and Mrs. James M. Scott of
Seaforth left by air on
Monday to spend three years
teaching in India. Mr. Scott is
going to Woodstock
Residential School at
Mussoric which is located
about 180 miles north of
Delhi in the Himalayan
Mountains.
A graduate of the
University of Toronto and the
Ontario College of Art, Mr.
Scott has been studying the
Hindu language for the past
two years.