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Times-Advocate, 1988-01-06, Page 4• Page 4 Times -Advocate, January 6, 1988 Times Established 1871 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 BLUE RIBBON AWARD imes _t - dvocale . Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 ran, PCNA ROSS HAUGH JIM BECKETT Editor Publisher & Advertising Manager DON SMITH HARRY DEVRIES DICK JONGKIND Business Manager - Composition Manager Vice -President SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 A worthy or There is one organization which may not be very large as far as membership is concerned , but it quietly goes on its way helping others in the area. We are talking about the South Huron Junior Farmers. • - This` group has been in. existence for 11 years now and continues to assist a num- / ber of causes with financial help. During the past year they made contri- butions to the South I luron Association for the -Mentally Handicapped, the South Huron Rec Centre, the Friends- of 4-11 .and the Children's Wish_program. _ They put a lot of effort into their can- vassing each year for the Huron Heart and Stroke Foundation. They collected $485 from only a --part of Usborne town- sPiip.. - - If anyone gets hungry at the I-lensall Sprang Fair or the Exeter Fall Fair, you can count on the Junior Farmers booth to help lessen your appetite. They are currently- looking for new members to. help keep the organization going. Any young men and women be- tween the ages of 15 and 30 are eligible and you don't -have- to live on a -farm to qualify.,, - The current executive includes past president Al Renning; -president Mark nization Ryan, vice- president Doug Cooper, e etary Sco t Eveland and treasurer en - - I . Any of these young eople would be pleased to pass on the necessary information to prospective members. The Junior Farmer song puts into words what the organization is all about. " The Junior Farmers everywhere are marching right along Our eyes are bright, our steps are light and on our lips a song We give our best with all our zest, in harmony we grow, The Junior Farmers in the Province of Ontario. The land of ours, we treasure it, a heritage have we. This country is the finest place, on this we all agree. So let us face the future, one and all with_hearts aglow, The Junior Farmers in the Province of Ontario." Let's all support this well deserving group in all they may try to accomplish in 1988 The readers .write To the editor: 1 am a resident of Lucan, who, as a recent consumer in your retail community, experienced something very positive. I believe it should be shared. It's been a hectic season as most would agree, and not difficult to find retailers and consumers a bit curt. However, while visiting the Exctcr Canadian Tirc for prices and general information on a couple of items, the manager there, Ray Gallagher, assisted me as few retailers have. Mr. Gallagher was informative on the product.and took thc time to ex- plain details which had confused me. He cleared my mind. He was personable and open regarding store service policies. This enabled me to trust him. He was polite and courteous to others - while attending my !engthy inquiry - that earns respect. He was also ac- commodating during thc close of salt and with delivery, which made me comfortable. in short, Mr. Gallagher is not just an order taker or a good salesman, but an asset the community needs. Thcrc arc others of course Iikc Mr. Gallagher, but perhaps more re- -milers could follow this man's ex- ample and perhaps .more consumers should give them a chance. Regards John Forsicr by ' Ross Haugh To the editor: Thanks to. the generosity of Jerry Webb for donating a Christmas tree for the north end of Exeter, wc wcrc once again able to enjoy the beauty of the lights. Thcrc has not been a trcc available for the last three or four years. Ac' cording to the clerk's office one has to be donated before wc can have one here. Thanks also to Jerry MacLean for Ictting it be placed on his property, for Ben Hoogenboom, Kathy Kirk for helping to find someone who would donate a tree, and the P.U.C. for decorating it. It was all very much appreciated. Mary Ford Revolutionary ideas Last week I talked about Dr. Lou Brown of Wisconsin who has some revolutionary ideas about where wc are going with our techniques in dealing with mentally handicapped children and adults. His feeling is that as opposed to placing these people in sheltered workshops and schools that they should he placed in the mainstream of life where at all possible. Let's not forget that we. are talking about a very small minori- ty of the population, somewhat less than one percent so it is not a matter of the work place 01 schools being swamped, with a flood of students and workers who arc going to make either system unmanageable. Brown feels that with" the prop- er training,that almost all children can accomplish work. le* has an. interestingdcfinition for that little four-letter word. I to says that: "if: a disabled per- son has to have a paid worker do a task for him/her then that task is 'work'. Thus. if the disabled per- son can he trained to do that task then work is being accomplished and money is being sand.." •If money is being tamed then Iair- ness would indicate that the ear- ner should be paid. His contention is that children with mental disabiliticsshould be placed in meaningful life skill sit- uations as soon as possible. For example, if the child is unable to talk normally it is probably easier By the Way by Fletcher when he is taken into MacDo- nald's restaurant for the parent or teacher t� order his meal. It is better though to teach the child to order personally by using plastic hamburgers from his own pocket and to give the money to the clerk himself. i was amazed at the number of jobs which Dr. Brown had devel- oped by following through on this philosophy for young people within banks, restaurants, depart- ment storks, flower shops and so on, They were opening enve- lopes, delivering inter -office mail (using a picture - technique), cleaning floors, washing dishes. And wcrc.the jobs being done well? Ycs, they were. Better in some casts than 'normal' people might do them. In most cases the employers were more than happy with the results. Then comes the question. Were 'they being paid for the job? Well, if they were being trained they might receive nothing, but if they were eventually able to do a job which saved somebody else some work then they received an appropriate salary. If the employ- er could not see fit to pay the per- - son then the policy was to say, "Thanks, but we'll move him on to something which will pay and will make him a productive mem- ber of society." What docs this mean for teach- ers? - Teachers of such children will have to use every opportunity to integrate them into the main stream of existence. Dr. Brown feels that by the age of 11 that each child should have a 'job' for aticast 1/2 day a wcck which will train him to work. By the tinge he leaves the 'school system• at the age of 21 then that working time should encompass almost the whole week and many different jobs should have been worked at so that he is rcady to fit into soci- ety. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by 1.W. Eedy Publications Limited 'MY PAT1f:t10E. Is t i TNERE - STAMP IT'FRAGILE'!" A tribute to Bill This is the second time in a couple of months we have had the opportunity to write tributes about persons who have made untold contributions to our com- munity. The first was Charlie Mac - Naughton who gave more than 20 years of dedicated service to the electors of the Huron - Middlesex riding. This time it's our editor Bill Batten who was not only a val- ued business associate, but a friend who you could count on for advice and guidance at any time. It's difficult to put into words what a person you have worked closely with. for more than 20 years means to you. The word dedicated may get overworked a bit, but that's ex- actly what Bill was to the news- paper business. It was his life. from thc time he started as a printers devil here at the T -A . Early in his journalistic career he was a sports reporter and edi- tor and was known affectionately as "Cotton" Batten. He branched out to editor of the summer Grand Bend Holiday and after a time as T -A editor he headed off to a similar position with the Clinton Nows Record. Other than a short_ stay with a Toronto based company in-house magazine and six months at the Exeter Independent with yours Willy and Ted Rowcliffe, Bill was the•editorial chief here at the T -A for close to 20 years. He gained a reputation, espe- cially in Exctcr and arca munici- by Ross Haugh pal circles as a tough, but fair and analytical reporter. The terns -used to describe Bill ranged from "the conscience of the town" to "the official opposi- tion.', One characteristic of Bill was his punctuality and he expected the same from his staff. If he wasn't the first at a meeting or function,"he would consider him- self late. Although he worked until noon of July 24 of this year before go- ing to the hospital we know he had difficulty getting his work dont for sometime before tbat, but being the person he was, no one would know about it. lits brave and courageous battle against cancer. was typical of his whole being. His optimism and enthusiastic attitude in face of the great odds against.. -survival wcrc unbelievable. We arc sure most of us in similar situations would not be able to stand up to adversities the way he did. In playing hockey and later coaching a number of minor hockey teams including some on which tiis sons played, he was aggressive and certainly knew the basics of the game. One could say Bill put some of himself into the fund raising ef- forts when the new South Huron Rec Centre- became a reality in 1.977. Ile had his beard shaved off idexchange for a considera- ble amount of pledges on the first and probably the only live show on cable television in Exeter. In the last few years he used that same fervor and determina- tion in leaning all about the sheep business. He did that with the help of short courses and his wife Barbara who has been in- volved in furry flocks, weaving and kriitting for more years- than she probably cares to remember. In closing it's farewell to a fel- low joumalisi and probably most important a very valued friend. Shovelling it "I hope you'll have time to shovel snow today," Elizabeth said, "the walks need doing again, and the snow plough' came during the night — there's a huge pile in front of the lancway." "I guess I'II find time," I grumbled. Shovelling snow was not on my agenda. I also vaguely remembered reading an article about the risks of snow shovelling to men who have reached — shall we say — the age of ma:::: ay I've always been a good shoveller. 1 was practically born with a shovel in my hand. i have shovelled sant.. gravel, coal, grain, potatoes, sugar beets, manure, you name it. I'd like to have a dollar for every ton of material i've shovelled from one place to another. Ycs, I've contributed my share to mixing up the surface of this planet. And as far as -snow is concerned, I don't usually mind shovelling it either. It gives me an opportunity to interrupt my desk work, to put on my parka and gloves, to breathe some of that crisp, clean winter a;- we're blessed with. And yet, the article said that a lot of people drop dcad while shovelling snow. I used to think it was bccause these guys didn't know how to Itandle a shovel. They were probably city folks who never had a shovelling lesson in their liven. I think most people don't even know that there is a right way and a wrong way of holding a shovel. I'm sure most of my readers who live in a small town or in the . country know what i ' m talking about. The first thing you do is to find out whether you're a left-handed or a right-handed shoveller. Some people shovel from right to'left, holding their left hand at the bottom, their right hand at the top of the shovel. I'm the other way around. The point is that you'll find it a lot easier to shovel in the direction that's "natural" for you, not in the opposite one. --------- - - - I've seen guys literally "killing themselves" trying to shovel snow. They stand too far away from the shovel, they do all the heavy work themselves instead of Ictting the shovel do it for them. Or they run with the shovel and dump the snow instcad of throwing it in an elegant, mc.iun. And :hey use the wrong shovel for the job. You've got to have three or four PETER'S POINT • different kinds of snow shovels: .one for pushing on paved surfaces, one for digging through snowbanks, one for stairs and porches, and maybe one for hacking through really hard and crusty stuff. But the article i read recently made me think. It said that while some forms of exercise arc good for you, -the kind that snow - shovelling provides is all bad. So .I -thought I'd talk to my doctor about it. And when li saw Mark a few days ago, i buttonholed him. No point in wasting a doctor's valuable time in the office, is there? So Mark gave me an explanation in medical lingo that he thought I deserved. I'm completely in thc picture now. Let me explain it to you in laymen's terms. I think jt has to do with my arteries. My veins? Well, m y blood vessels at any rate. When 1 run or play tennis, the blood flows in one direction and makes my hcarr'pump in three-quarter time. That's good for me because it stimulates m cnzymcs into doing a little jig. But snow - shovelling makes my blood run backwards and forces the heart-- into eartinto the wrong rhythm. This confuses my enzymes, and they will try to dance the tango to the tunes of a dixieland band. Bad, all bad. The best -kept secret i n North America -But the most enlightening information, the great revelation was this: while shovelling snow is bad for mcn, it's actually good for women. And here we are, risking our lives every winter, when We could do our womenfolk a favour by Ictting them wield the snow shovel instcad. How many of you knew that? I bet this is the best -kept secret in North Ai,i,r i:,3:Gd ay. So 1 took a deep breath -and said to Elizabeth: "' think you should -shovel snow from now on." I was doing it not just for me, but also for her. "What? You're not serious?" Another deep breath: "You should do the shovelling from. now on because it's good for you hnd bad for me." Whcn 1 gave her the medical reasons on which i based my idca, she broke out in hysterical laughter. i should explain that Elizabeth has a bachelor's degree in nursing. "O.K.," i said, a little • annoyed, "maybc i am over- simplifying a fairly complex physiological process. Maybe it isn't the cnzymcs, maybe it's the lipids. But whatever they arc, they're different in mcn than in women, and they respond, negatively to my . shovelling snow, and positively to yours." I must AO back to Mark, I decided, as I worked my way throug1t,the huge snowbank the plouglritad left at the end of our !driveway. 1 think I'll actually make an appointment to sec him in his office. And . you know what? I'll take my talk recorder with me. Stay tuned! Reminder: Keep all January Peter's Points for the PPC (Peter's Point Contest). _Rules to be announced in the first February column. Prizes!