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Times-Advocate, 1985-04-24, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, April 24, 1985 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 imes Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235.1331 cn LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager PCNA BILI BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $23.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Alternatives risky Exeter council and the local plan- ning advisory committee members have a tough decision confronting .._• oc ange e zoning for the present Pentecostal Tabernacle. Sizeable opposition tothe proposal has been mounted by neighbouring property owners. One of the major factors that must be considered is the suitability of the church to remain under institu- tional zoning. It will soon become a surplus and vacant structure and there appears little hope that some other institutional use can be made of it. While neighbouring property owners express some fears regarding the devaluation and deterioration of their homes and neighbourhood through commercial development, they can not ignore the fact that a va- cant and deteriorating institution facility could become more of a risk in that regard. Once vacated, a church is nothing more or less than a building. As hopes to realize a sale of that building fade, so too does the upkeep. The congrega- tion can certainly not be expected to indeterminably send good money after bay so t� • . , ew= of their sizeable economic undertaking in their new facility. There is no reason to assume that commercial development will result in nearby property devaluation or neighbourhood deterioration any more than it would under some other in- stitutional use, even if that rather doubtful goal was attained. Site plan agreements with com- mercial development can allay many of the concerns of .neighbors and other steps can be taken to overcome some of the other problems they have cited. Many of those could, of course, even arise with some other institutional use. While the concerns of the residents must be fully considered, so too must the alternatives. Not doubt the congregation would be happy to have viable alternatives suggested, and that should be a challenge undertaken by those in op- position if they hope to gain support for their cause. Remove the cloud Retirement should be a happy and special occasion for any individual, but unfortunately there are those, who through various circumstances, have that event fall under some dark cloud. That appears to be the case of former Exeter Police Chief Ted Day. Health problems, and perhaps some departmental situations, prompted council to seek a replacement and so Day's retirement was possibly not ac- companied by the usual good feelings. It would, however, be unfortunate if the final few months of his service were allowed to completely over- shadow his long and dedicated service to the community. Ted Day was a good cop. He brought many major changes and im- provements to the local police depart- ment which served Exeter's residents well through many years. The opera- tion of the department under his guidance was continually given high marks by those whose duty it was to rate it. Thanks for a tough job well done, Ted. Where were farmers? While the current provincial election campaign appears to be having trouble getting warmed up to any extent, there is little doubt that the three parties are aiming a considerable arllouilt of iheir anlmunitition at the agricultural community. Each campaign promise outlin- ed has been thatched with a big- ger and be'tte'r one by the other contenders and it that practice continues through to 3. lay 2, there is little doubt that it should peak and result in area farmers being on "easy street" as soon as they cast their ballots and head for the mailbox to pick up their subsidy cheques and interest rebate handouts. 1)1 course. tanners don't want subsidies in general. as they would nitich prefer to get a de - cern price for their commodities. The politicians haven't offered any ray (►t hope in that regard and farmers thenlselyes, or the groups which represent them. have also been unable to collie to grips with that challenge. However. the agricultural voti' is obviously seen as imperative to the success of 1he three parties. and in the same vein. one would assume that the success of far'ttters is partially at stake in this election. One could also assume that the agricultural community would therefore be out in Cull force to hear the politicians and to join in dialogue wit hthem in the platter of righting some of the problems being experienced out on the con- cessions of rural Ontario. However. that is an incorrect assumption. if the crowd at the all -candidates' meeting in I•ucan last week was any indication of the interest being generated among the farming community in the predominantly agricultural riding of Huron -Middlesex. About 100 people attended that event which was co-sponsored by the federations of agriculture in Iluron and Middlesex. Many of those in attendance were sup- porters of the respective can- didates and are not directly in- volved in agriculture. The ma- Batt'n Around 1111111kThe t throe jority wore buttons to indicate quite clearly they have their minds made up about how they will cast their ballots. * While the turnout may not have been surprising when compared with previous sessions of that nature. it has to be considered disheartening as well as being in- dicative of the apathy and lethargy in today's society in general and the agricultural com- munity in particular. Despite its acknowledged shortcomings. the fact remains that the political process is still the best method for any segment of society to correct any ine- quities with which they are fac- ed. Governments and political parties have to be in tune with. and swayed hy. the wishes of the majority. When that majority sit at home and fail to take advan- tage of opportunities to express their concerns to those who will represent them. they have no one to blame but themselves for any predicaments` in which their apathy places them. A Iluron County hog producer was recently quoted as lamenting the fact the politicians were un- concerned about their plight and weren't considering any remedial action in their campaigning. Well. where were the hog pro- ducers last Tuesday night when they had an opportunity to grill the candidates on their parties' response to the current market situation? Where were the pro- ducers of all the other com- modities who are supposedly in serious economic trouble? in fact, where were the federation members of the two counties who purport to represent the agricultural community in Iluron and Middlesex? The excuses will be many: the validity suspect! - F'armers have the option to sit at home and grumble or wait for the hanker or sheriff to show up: but if they choose that option they should do it quietly and not ex- pect politicians and other segments of society to come run- ning to their assistance when their apathy pushes them to the wall. True, one all -candidates' meeting isn't going to result in drastic changes overnight: but it is a starting point that can in- dicate quite clearly to politicians that agricultural issues are im- portant. and more imperative. that farmers arc a force to he reckoned with but also prepared to exercise their responsibility to help themselves. Farmers in the riding of Huron - Middlesex have given little in- dication of that' Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited 43 1 l Sorry — Canadian money not accepted A gruesome winter In many ways, it has been a rather gruesome winter. To begin with the little things, around our neck of the woods, we had about fourteen feet of snow in about ten weeks, beginning on New Year's Eve. That creates a survival course, all by itself. But that's nothing to an old, retired guy like me. In fact, it gave me something to do:. just getting myself in and out of -the house, and my car in and out of the garage. On really bad days, there was a tendency to just lie in bed with a good book, take an oc- casional glance through the win- dow at the white whirlwind out- side, and hope your neighbour with the snowblower would have you dug out in a couple of days. My only problem was a short but fierce battle between my car and my garage, won by a knockout in the first round by the garage. And the ice backing up on the roof, creating a spooky stain on my bedroom ceiling and some sagging plaster here and there. And two nearly broken elbows when I took the garbage out one night, got one leg up to the hip in a drift, couldn't move, and fell on some stones because I wouldn't let go of the garbage. The only moral to this is: "What does it profit a man if he cling to the gar- bage can and break both elbows?" But any red -bloodied veteran of a Canadian winter can hack this sort of stuff. Do we not live in the "temperate zone," according to the old geography lessons? No, it wasn't this type of minor misery that made the winter of 1985 a sour'one. There was the continuing war between Iraq and Iran, with two Moslem neighbours fighting a four-year conflict with no sign of peace, anda quarter of a million casualties, about something we in the West don't 'begin to unders- tand. Sick. There was the dreadful Bhopal disaster in India, with thousands killed or poisoned due to a failure in ''technology" our latest god. Sick. There was the concurrent hor- ror of Beirut, in Lebanon, where everybody, regardless of religion, common sense, or economics, wants to kill someone else. Sick. There was the on-going fighting g & Spice • Dispensed by Smiley in Central America, with thousands of innocent bystanders killed, or burned out. Sick. There were the endless pic- tures of children in Africa, with bloated bellies and flies crawling over their faces, dying in a world where we Canadians debate whether we'll have 'chicken or steak or "Oh, no, Mom not ham- burg again." Sick. Of course, that was a media mecca. The starvation had been going on for years. Suddenly it was NEWS. And almost as sud- denly ( I'll swear I saw the same baby with the same flies and same swollen belly twenty times) it almost ceased, though millions of conscience-stricken North Americans contributed millions of dollars for relief, which was like spitting in the ocean. Sick. Back home, despite our com- parative luxury, we had trouble with (what else? ) the Canadian dollar. Every day we were told breathless1 ' that the dollar had "plunged" to a new low or"surg- ed" to a new high, compared with yesterday. The dollar never drop- ped slightly, or rose a quarter of a cent. Sick. Before the last election, the cry from all parties was "Jobs" as first priority. Seen any drop in the unerdployment figures? Nope. Only warnings of cuts in this .or that program or of increases in expenditures for this or that, a euphemism for higher taxes. Sick. We have a new government, with a tremendous majority, and a mandate to make some major, courageous changes. What has it done in six months? Cosied up to Ronald Reagan, put out some trial balloons about slashing social securities, and spent millions on patronage, bigger everything in Ottawa, and a general feeling that the new Tories are the same old gang we've had for fifty years, with a different label. Sick. And speaking, of sick, I've almost thrown up by the media coverage of a couple of little twerps who have captured much of this winter's news in this country. One is Dr. Henry Morgen- thaler, strutting like a banty rooster toward his next battle with the courts, With ordinary, sensible Canadians booing or cheering, much to his gratifica- tion, as he strives to set up more abortion clinics. The other is Ernst Zundel, the blatant Nazi, who says Hitler was a gentle man and the holocaust was a hoax. He was convicted of something or other, appealed the conviction, and looked like the proverbial cat who swallowed the canary as he left court, surround- ed by his hard-hat goons. Best publicity he could have hoped for, for his warped views. Sick. If I could be a dictator for a day, I'd deport Morgenthaler to Ethiopia to set up his clinics. Too many babies there. And I'd deport Zundel to Israel, give him a fifty -yard start, and devil take the hindmost. Sick winter. Name that tune For a period of about three or four months a large department store from whom i had made a credit card purchase did not send me out a hill. i wasn't unhappy about this mind you, but after a while i began to think that somebody was going to be knock- ing on my door about it or mak- ing some nasty phone calls. I decided to call the store.. "Sorry" said the sweet young thing, "but you'll have to call this toll-free number in Toronto". As you might guess, a robot answered that phone and said. "Sorry, all our lines are busy at the moment. Will you please hold." Not that 1 was to he given a chance to say. No. 1 never hold. On came the music and on and on. Ten minutes later, i hung up. i tried again, an hour later. Curious to see how long I would be put on hold, I waited fifteen minutes before another sweet young thing said, "So sorry to keep you wading". "it's all right." i said. "1 think i've got it. The third one was 'Tea for Two' and the second one was 'Flight of the Bumblebee'. if you'll run through the first one again, I'm sure i can get it too. "Pardon me, sir," she said, a trifle impatiently. "This is 's account office." "Oh, I'm sorry. For a minute i Ick!By the Way by Syd Fletcher thought we were playing 'Name that Tune'." 1 went on to tell her that I thought that nobody at the 's store loved me anymore since they weren't sending me out any bills. "I'm so sorry sir. The com- puter is broken down today and if you will call back tomorrow I'll he able to tell you exactly what the problem is." Would you believe that it was twenty minutes the next day on "Name that Tune"? f figured out that the first one was the overture from 'Oklahoma' but gave up finally on the rest. A trifle hostile i called the manager at the Lon- don store and he said that all would be solved by the next day. Here comes the cruncher. The next day came along and a very huffy lady called up from Toron- to to ask why I was complaining about their poor service when there was no such person as an S.Fletcher as far as their.com- puter. was concerned. but that if i would like to make a proper ap- plication for a credit card that she would see that it was process- ed immediately. Now i may be a little slow at "Name that Tune" but 1 had pret- ty well figured out the basic rules of this new game. 1 assured her that wouldn't he necessary and. politely hung up. i must say that despite some in- itial doubts that i had that it is truly pleasure to deal with that store.