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Times-Advocate, 1988-06-15, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, June 15, 1988 Times Established 1871 •Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 - Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 ROSS HAUGH Editor PCNA fist BECIst Publisher A Adsertising Manager HARRI DORIES DO's SMITH Composition Manager Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada; $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $15.00 Let's, help our seniors Jude is Senior Citizens Month. Many activities are planned - by local service clubs to entertain residents of nursing and retirement homes during this special month. All of us have relatives or friends in this type of facility orstill living by them- selves in their own homes. Why not make a special effort during' the month of June to drop in for a visit or take them for a drive? Doing this may be so rewarding that you might want carry on this act of kind- ness on a regular basis. The benefits could work both ways. - The need to be loved and appreciated as a human being should never be neglected, regardless of age. Those persons in the 65 years and'over category account Tor about 10 percent of the total population of Canada. It is estimated by government re- searchers that the proportion of the eld- erly in the Canadian population will go up by three percent by the year 2001 and to 18 percent by 2021. These projected percentages are already being felt in ,a number of European countries: For too long in our modem society, the most emphasis has been put on the youn er population and agingwas equated with sickness. '. Despite the continuing need for more healthcare facilities because the age span of Canadians is increasing, we can feel fortunate to have one of the best health care services anywhere. A recent report from the Canadian_ Medical Association's committee on Health Care of the Elderly says although the elderly are major consumers of health care, most of them are not sick. Less than two percent of those aged 65 to 74 are in long-term facilities at_ any one time. This percentage increases to 15 of those 75 years or over who are perms- nently in a health care facility. On the financial side of the picture, health care costs for those 65 -plus are running -about $17 billion a year. That amounts to 40 percent of all health care spending in Canada. How about all of us doing something special during the next couple of weeks for our seniors? Remember, most of thein have worked hard to make our country a better place to live. By Ross Haugh Letters to the Editor Dear Editor. I and several others are very upset at the reporting of the athletic ban- quet. These proceedings are to hon- or all of South Huron's top athletes and teams. Your paper spread the re- port over three pages, no continuity at all (the same is not done to the Mohawks). The report rewrote the two speeches of the guests - not at all necessary. There were many awards given that night to all MVP's and, most improved, etc. for all the sports. Several teams and individu- als were given awards for winning Iluron-Perth and advancing to Pro- vincials your paper did not see fit to print any of this. All the kids and coaches who worked so hard should be given some recognition. Before supper there was one and one half hours of awards, all ignored by your reporter. It could have been listed in the space you took to relay the speeches. Giving more recognition to them than to the kids who worked so hard. The part of the pro- gram - after supper - the reporting was incomplete. I realize that Mark Bisset is away but someone responsible should re- port this large an event in the year for our town's young athletes. The students and coaches should be rec- ognized by the paper and the town. Its really disgraceful when a paper is so blatantly biased. Hockey has no problem getting ink. I and several others feel you should make another try at report- ing this event - all the stats are available at the high school.. A Concerned Taxpayer Editor's Note: Normally, unsigned letters are not printed. But, as this criticism is against the newspaper we will bend the rule. A check of the last two years re- veals coverage was basically the same this time around. Depression bargains I picked up a couple of old copies of National Geographies at a garage sale the other day, mainly to look at the ads. I'm always fascinated by old ads. But here, inside a copy dated July 1937, was a four-page T. Eaton Co. flyer entitled "Rare Bargains - • Midsummer Sale 1937". Perhaps a few of my readers remember the 1930's. Those of you too young to recall, let me explain: when these bargains were offered, it was the middle of the Great Depression. The bottom of the ordcr form read: "Relief vouchers when properly authorized are accepted in paymcnt for goods". 1937 was the year that "Hepburn's. Hussars" ended an illegal sit-down strike "by auto workers in Oshawa. It was thc year the CBC launched the "Happy Gang", Trans Canada Airlines launched its first regular flight, and Joseph -Armand Bombardier patented the snowmobile. The Mackenzic- Papincau Battalion was formed of 1.200 Canadian volunteers ready to fight Generalissimo Franco in Spain, and Prime Minister Mackenzie King paid a personal visit to Adolf Hitler who he said was a simple sort of peasant, posing no serious danger to the world. Well, ladies, in that depressed summer of 1937 you could have purchased a navy and white polka- dot cotton print dress (bust sizes 34 to 44) for 54 cents. For the same price you could have had a "Print Hoover" dress styled in the popular wrap -ground way that "is so easy to slip into, simple to launder, neat -looking and cool". For only a nickel more you were ., offered a "colourful little flowers pattern dress, simply styled in a way both cool and becoming for larger women." PETER'S POINT • For a dollar you could have bought not one but two "cool, crisp organdy blouses with breast po kers wand rick -rack braided fronts, double collar, puff sleeves and all-around belt". 39 cents would have gotten you the "dressy hose and dainty hankie" combination ": a pair of stockings (colours: Cubatan, Swanky, Plaza Beige, Gunmetal or Moondusk), ' knit in seamless style of rayon and real silk with a mercerized cotton garter welt, heels and toes, plus a hand -embroidered white cotton handkerchief with hand - rolled edges". To "add chic to your summer outfit", you might have carried the convenient white leatherette Avenue Bag, top -handle. style with zippered centre pocket, two expanding pockets and mirror ", with a big brassy initial of your choice, priced at only 69 cents." "Neat -looking, arch -supporting' women's black kid 4 -eyelet Oxfords with Cuban heels sold at $1.89. Men's "Harvest work boots" made of sturdy black split leather, with a "dirt -excluding half -bellows tongue", were "priced to save" at $1.49. Six cotton terry towels sold for 50 cents, ,unbleached cotton sheets at 73 cents, men's shirts at 35 cents each or 3 for a dollar. How about an aluminum "straight cooking kettle" to put on or in your stove? It had a capacity of 15 pints and a diameter of 10 inches. The lid was included, and it cost 83 cents. A two-compartment bread and cake box made of metal. in an ivory finish with "green tinted decoration" could have graced your kitchen for $1.43. But you would have had to hurry, because the sale ended on August 31st, -A three-piece toilet set made of "rose-coloured celluloid in modern design" included brush, comb and mirror in a box. It cost $1.00 in the year of our Lord 1937. You would have given it away as you grew 'more sophisticated and discriminatingover the next half century. In the year of our Lord 1988 you'd fork over $50 in an antique shop to buy it back: 1937 was a good summcr for some of us. A hot and difficult one for others. I wonder if any of my readers would care to tell me (in absolute confidentiality, of. course) if they remember the days when happiness was a new 54 - Cent polka-dot cotton dress. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited Time sure That old saying, " Time flies" came to mind quite strongly while attending Saturday after- noon's calf club show and sale at the Hensall Spring Fair. While Bill Strong. of Ag -Com Trading was handling the master of ceremonies duties, we looked at the engravings of the Times Advocate trophy which goes each year . to the winning calf club member. Lo and behold, the winner in 1957 was Bill- Strong. That's right, the same Bill Strong who was telling all about this year's activities, only 31 years later. By the looks of Bill today, he must have been one of the younger calf club members at that time. Over the years, Strong has been a judge several times and now has taken over as MC since Jack Riddell's provincial duties keep him on thc go. We should add that the T -A tro- phy was presented for the first time in 1955 and the winner was Pat Sullivan, who now farms north of Mount Carmel. Thenumber of calves at Satur- day's show and sale was down considerably to only 24. We can remember as many as 60 or 70 for a number of years and Bill Strong tells us he remembers when the amount of calves in the first couple of years of thc com- petition was as high as 175. One of thc reasons for this de- cline is the changing environ- ment on thc farm with many les barns completely empty of live- stock. The directors and supporters of the Hensall Spring Fair are to be congratulated for their efforts in keeping a spring tradition alive and well with the presentation of the fair early each June.. The buyers who show up faith- fullyeach year to purchase 1 From the. ,'editor's disk by 13 Ross Haugh calves and sheep and pay in many cases much more than market prices are to be com- mended. This year's top two calves were bought by W.G. Thompson's and Hensall Co -Op. Worthy causes The Oakwood Inn golf club at Grand Bend was host last week for a special tournament and to- day, Wednesday is no exception as Oakwood owner Dave Scatch- ard presents his annual Invita- tional Classic. First of all, a week ago the Blucwater Shrine club members, more than 120 strong held their annual fund raising event at Oak: wood. Since 1922, Shrincrs Hospitals for Crippled Children have served children throughout North America. A tip of the hat should go to Earl Long, Bob McKinley, Lorne Kleinstiver and company for providing and excellent tourna- ment for their members and friends and for raising funds for a good cause. • Dave Scatcherd's Charity Invi- tational Classic today is reaching record proportions. According to the latest press release, 62 teams of four golfers each have en- tered. Six years ago, Dave Scatchard invited a few well-chosen friends to his newly -acquired Oakwood Inn gold club in Grand Bend for his first classic event. With excellent facilities, great golf and a generous helping of Scatcherd hospitality, the event was an immediate success and from humble beginnings has grown into one of the country's most prestigious events. At tonight's dinner following a day of golf, the head table list will include Rob Ramage of the Calgary Flames, former NHL'ers Dave Hutchinson, Dar- ryl Sittler and Paul Henderson, former Montreal Canadians GM Sam Pollock and Labatt's chief executive officer Peter Widder- ington. - Father Joe Nelligan, former parish priest at Mount Carmel will be the master of ceremonies and Al Eagleson of hockey fame will be roasted. Trusty old shooter Most of us remember the trusty old pea shooters which every- body seemed to own when we were kids. Some of us also probably remember being caught by the teacher as we tricd to hit the little girl in the front row with one of the little white beans. I can recall a king-sized pca shoot- er that came to my attention once. One morning my primary teacher came to me with an odd look on her face. She took me aside and said, "One of my stu- dents said that his brother brought a bomb to school." I grinned in disbelief and said that 1 would look into it. The brother was in my Grade 8 class. I brought him out into the hall for a moment and asked him if he had anything of an explosive nature at school. His fact went white and then By the Way by Fletcher he confessed that he did indeed have something with him. He went and got it. The device was a piece of copper pipe about a foot long with the ends folded over. In the centre was drilled a small hole. Apparently the pipe was filled with gunpowder. One put a small wick into the hole and lit it, then ran, hopefully to a safe distance before it exploded. He had brought it with him on the bus, 'just to show the other kids', and swore that it would never have been set off.' - The police officer who investi- gated the incident and removed thc pipe to dispose of it properly, said that it had enough power to blow out every window -in the classroom. Although the boy never ended up being charged" the letter of the law was surely read to him by that officer and the boy's dad. Sometimes one gets lucky and- . finds out about these things be- fore they turn into some sort of major disaster.