Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1985-07-03, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, July 3, 1985 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 3 imes i• dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 *CNA "w LORNE EEDY Publisher BILL BATTEN Editor ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager DICK IONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $23.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited Seems like only yesterday he was adamant on pension de -indexing It WAS yesterday! A cabinet .minister After an absence of close to a dozen years, the area riding has again been fortunate in having its member named to the Ontario cabinet. While he is to be congratulated on his appointment, the Hon. Jack Rid- dell faces a tough challenge in ad- ministering the affairs that affect On- tario's farmers. He arrives on the scene at a time when many of those farmers are facing extreme dif- ficulties and there is a growing mood of militancy within their ranks that could prove troublesome for the new minister of agriculture and food. As agriculture critic for the Liberals for the past few years, the Huron - Middlesex MPP is well-acquainted with the situation, and unlike many of his other cabinet colleagues, will pro- bably not be given as much time and leniency in moving to correct some of the problems which he has outlined in opposition. Hopefully, Ontario farmers and the groups which represent them,- will . seize the opportunity presented by a new government and a new minister, to make their views known and work with them in a constructive manner to fashion the solutions for which agriculture has been searching. The planned militant action which has been supported at recent farm group meetings, should be put on the back burner and the energy put in to working with Mr. Riddell and his associates in getting agriculture back onto more solid footings. Mr. Riddell is a dedicated politician and should provide a strong voice for Ontario agriculture. That's both literally and figuratively, as area au- diences know. Local riding residents must also understand that with his new position, he will also require some extra cooperation to meet the needs of his - constituents as his duties will demand that much of his time be spent • elsewhere, Preserve the squirrels The majority of people will find it difficult to comprehend why Exeter council members are again finding it necessary to take steps to protect the town's unique population of white squirrels. Community pride alone should be reason enough for all citizens to recognize the need for ensuring that the white squirrels continue to thrive and replenish. No ong knows how Exeter Was for- tunate enough to have such unique creatures to be enjoyed by all ages, but surely everyone must know that the numbers are such that any human interference combined with limited life spans and traffic accidents could quickly lead to total eradication in a very short period of time. It should also be noted that there is no way of knowing the p entage of the white squirrels and those of other colors should also be protected PM HOPES FOR L ENS(ON REVERSAL because their offspring obviously can be white, as evidenced by the fact the litter of one dark squirrel mother recently shot had one white squirrel in her litter. While the white squirrels may never develop into any major tourist attraction for the community, their presence does provide a unique pro- motional advantage that the local Business Improvement Area members are currently planning to extol. Members of council should be en- couraged to carry through on "any at- tempt to provide the necessary bylaws for the protection of the spescies, even if it requires a Private Members Bill in the Ontario1gislature. Meanwhile, those who are en- dangering the wliite squirrel popula- tion should come to their senses and curtail their activities which must be greeted with total disdain by their neighbours and fellow citizens. Last look at Canberra This week we begin with a win- dup of our stay in Canberra. the capital city of Australia. Canberra's Diplomatic Corps originated in 1936 when England assigned her first High Cornlnls- sioner to Australia. Since rela- tions with other countries have also developed there are now 70 official representatives making up one of the larger communities in Canberra. A week ago we made brie) mention of a visit to the Com- munications tower where every corner of the city could be seen. 11 is located on the summit of Black Mountain and rises to a height of 195.2 metres and con- sists Of a self-supporting concrete circular shaft carrying three levels of technical equiprrlentland two public levels. The high Court of Australia is located in Canberra. This building was opened in 1980 by Iler Majesty Queen Elizabeth fi and is situated on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. Canberra was designed in 1912 by Walter Burley Griffin. A very unusual waterfall designed by Robert Woodward] runs beside a long ceremonial ramp leading for more than 500 feet to the foyer of the Great Hall. The design of the building came from a national architec- tural competition. A guide told us all the materials in the building came from Australia eatcept for some Italian brass. .,. The entrance to the Australian by Ross Haugh War Memorial is also very in- teresting. This building is the na- tional monument to the 110,000 Australian men and women who gave their lives serving in nine wars over the past 120 years. Anzac Day which is Australia's counterpart to our Remem- brance Day on November 11 is celebrated on April 25. Anzac means Australian New Zealand Army Corps. Getting a little ahead of our trip we were in Sydney onAnzac Day and their celebrations are quite similar to ours with parades and wreath laying. They still have a national holiday to observe this occasion. 4 After two nights in Canberra we travelled the same 300 kil( netres to the Sydney area an( )u►• abode for a week at Palm Be, ch. Thanks to the courtesy of Jeff's aunt Betty Allen, the four of us had the use of her Palm Beach house. it's almost impossible to describe the beauty of Palin Beach. Rows and rows of houses are built into the cliffs with a direct view of the Pacific Ocean The layout of the house was much different than most in North America. First of all the carport is located some 30 feet up from the road. From here it's up two flights of steps to the first floor. Located on the first floor were two washrooms and two bedrooms. On the top level were the kit- chen and living room with a balcony giving a wide open view of the ocean. Laundry facilities were also on the top floor. At the hack of the house it was up to another level to hang out the wash. Here we saw one of the on- ly two' snakes we ran across dur- ing our three weeks in Australia. Please turn to page 14 A stu.ER SERVICE; Two low blows Now I think I know how a fighter feels when he gets not one, but two punches below the belt. A couple of fouls. First, I got•wordjthat my kid brother had been delivered his death sentence, at the age of 62. He has anywhere between three months and a year to live: He had retired to Florida. But not in the usual way, sitting around in the sun, waiting to get old. He still acted like a whirling dervish, as was his wortt, when I visited him two winters ago, even though his health was not great. But his heart was not really in Florida. though he'd gone there in disgust with Canadian winters. He had been through about four winters in northern Quebec, enough to curdle one's blood for ifew years. In fact, when he received his sentence, he was in the process of moving back to Canada. He had' bought some property not far from the old home town. Florida in summer is as bad as northern Quebec in winter. When i talked to him on the phone recently, I was astonished at his stoicism.. No whining. No "Why me?" He was as brisk and lively as ever, making plans to sell his property, get his affairs in order, and organize what re- mains of,his life. Ile even said he might take me on in a golf game one of these days. There was only one slight falter, when he said, "it seems a little unfair; though," and ex- plained why. Ile had done two tours of operations on - fighter planes in WWii, ma been in numerous dogfights, had been shot down and spent a couple of days and nights in a dinghy in the English Channel, blinded from the cordite of a cannon shell that had gone through his canopy, had survived about a dozen crash lan- dings, had come through a couple of hairy operations (surgical), and now this. The rotten little worm of the guts. A little unfair, indeed. May I have his attitude when my days are numbered, as, of course, they are for all of us. -But, as he said, he'd had a good life, done most of the things he wanted to do, and accepted the hand he'd now been dealt, without rancour. He's off to England, to spend the rest of his time with his famt- Dispensed. by ' Smiley ly and see more of his grand- children. I hope to see him there this summer, if my own grand- children don't get me hopelessly bogged down. If not, a belated salute to my lit- tle brother, Colonel Blake Smiley, D.F.C. I know he always wanted me to salute him. Another kick in the groin came recently with a message from Port Perry, Ont., that my old friend of many years, Pete Hvidsten, had died. Though he was not an air force buddy, he had been in the Norwegian Air Force during the war, had come to Canada to train, married a Canadian girl and gone into the weekly newspaper business after the war. That's where I first met him, at a newspaper convention.. Per, his Norwegian first name, or Pete, the English equivalent, was a prince of a good fellow, and we got on together from our first encounter. He was a man of many parts, though he didn't flaunt them. He could operate a linotype, play the flute, keep people happy just by his presence, and cope with dif: ficulties by staying calm and reasonable. Per was an intelligent talker, a good listener, and a loyal friend when you needed one (as I know from personal experience). He had manners that could charm the ladies right out of their shoes, an excellent sense of humour, and both feet on the ground. Over the years, though we met only at conventions, we became closer. Even our kids got to know each other. He brought his fami- ly to the city for a concert my son Hugh was presenting, on a winter night with the temperature 30 below, and that wasn't Celsius. 1 watched his daughter grow from a terrible teenage brat to a lovely and charming young woman. His son from a teenage. goof to a responsible, likeable young man. With our wives, and another charming eccentric, Gene Mat- donald of Alexandria, the Man from Glengarry, we sat up all one lovely summer night in the bow of a steamer going up the St. Lawrence, exhausted after a con- vention at Murray Bay, watching the lights of shore and passing steamers. An enchanted evening ' Pete and I played eighteer holes of golf one day, after gettin f to bed about 4 a.m. As we struggl ed up to the last tee, we were bott ready for an ambulatice, but h( was out in front by 20 feet, a lit tle purple but not yielding at inch. Last time I saw him was it Halifax, at another convention He took me in hand, made m( walk half around the city, they led me, -on foot, up Citadel Hill By the time we got to the top, could neither see nor walk, as hi amiably pointed out interestinf things. His passing closes off anothe of the happy trails of my life. Take existence for granted I was watching the eleven o'clock news a few weeks ago and got quite a shock. The an- nouncers,' was talking about a plane that had crashed near Thedford. The pilot had tried to make two landings but the wind was not quite right. On the third try somehow he seemed to lose control. perhaps because of ex- cessive wind conditions, perhaps because bf a simple mistake. Anyway the plane went down and the pilot was killed. What bothered me more than the fact that the person who was killed had invited me up for a plane ride just three or four days before that. was his age. Twenty- nine years old and suddenly everything that he had planned for his life and the house he had just built on the lot behind mine By the Way by Syd Fletcher was finished. Just like that. Simple things -like the garden he had so carefully worked up this spring for the first time, remarkini to me that he had been raised on the farm and lik- ed to sort of keep his hand in. Like the little sports car he was so pro ud of and had worked on to keep in the best of shape. The solitary evening dips that he so much en joyed down at the lake on hot summer nights. Too often, I guess, we take our continued existence for granted At any time our lives could b( just as easily snuffed out. Perhaps we should stop once in a while and take a few minutes t( ask ourselves if what we did to day was worth anything, or if w( knew it was going to be our last one whether there was somethin€ that could have been done a hill( better.