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Times Advocate, 1989-05-03, Page 6Page 6 Times -Advocate, May 3, 1989 Times Established 1871 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgoiated 1924 CNK BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235.1331 Mes ROSS HAUGH Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager � ccw !l►CNA JIM BECKETT Publisher & Advertising Manager DON SMITH Business ,Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 Time changes things We have heard a lot of comments and some of these have not been so nice about last week's budget from Ottawa, but one important factor seems to have been overlooked. Time and in this case, not a lot of it changes things. It was only four short months ago and days before the last federal election when the government was saying -its accounts were in such good shape that the Prime Minister could very easily issue promises worth billions of dollars for almost eve- ry corner of our great country. Only weeks after the election was over the tune seemed to change and all of us were being prepared for the shock of the next budget. We have heard so much in the last couple of months of how each of us must take responsibility for cutting down on the deficit, how cot,' ' it be shock? Most of us were expL .ing the worst. For a few hours, the early leak of the budget documents gained more attention than what was really contained in Mi- chael Wilson's budget. Whether he should resign or not was getting all the headlines while the average Joe was won- dering how hard he was going to be hit in the pocketbook. The budget while expected to be harsh leaves so many aspects almost to the im- agination of the taxpayer. The cost of some of the budget changes are hidden. The new national sales tax of nine per- cent will hurt everybody, but how much By Peter Hessel Suddenly, the kids are skip- ping again, and naturally the stores are sold out of skipping ropes. Storekeepers never seem to loam. They forget that every spring without fail, skipping be- comes the rage again in the schoolyards and laneways of the nation. Trying to track down The kids' old skipping ropes is like trying to find last winter's snow drifts. Thcy just disappear, disintegrate, vanish into thin air. So I phoned around: "Do ou ave any skipping ropes?" "Sorry, we just sold our last one ten minutes ago". "Do you have any skip[ping ropes?" "Are you kidding? We've been cleaned out for days". Last Saturday I finally drove 150 km to get three ropes that cost $ 1.95 each. In retrospect, I should have laid in a five-year supply. Ever since then, the kids have been jumping like a bunch of fleas. The first thing that goes +444e it—stthool -tag -- morning is their skipping rope. TTrT1'rC aftertwuti,the bus, skipping. There is no time for homework or supper. Who dictates these fads every year? And who on earth makes up the skipping rhymes? Have you listened to your kids skip- ping lately? Miami Vice, Vice, Vice, Tickle me twice, twice, Under the rice, rice, rice, Double nice, nice, nice, • To be with you, you, you, Together, together, together... The twins are seven years old, for heaven's sake. I don't want them to be tickled under the rice the pain will be, very few know. It will be nine percent on almost everything but pharmaceuticals and groceries. How this will affect the present 12 percent federal tax already on some products is any- body's guess. The new tax is supposed to replace that 12 percent levy at the manufacturing lev- el, but who would know even if it did happen. A reduction in price of some items.? Who is kidding whom? The cut in transfer payments to the provinces is one move which could hurt the most right down the line. In our province, a freeze has already been put on unconditional grants to the municipal- ities which will be felt by each taxpayer whether he or she be rural or urban. A cut in federal payment to the prov- inces will further aggravate the tax bur- den on the local front. Before you blame Exeter or any other area council for in- creasing your taxes, remember it all be- gins at the top and the pressure is felt all the way to the bottom. - In order to avoid some of the tax in- creases, one would have to avoid smok- ing, drinking, driving and maybe work- ing so unemployment insurance premium hikes could be avoided. Oh, well, the world must go on and in a couple of weeks we will probably have some other problem which will grab everybody's attention and we will forget about the budget which was released on April 27 or was it the 26th? By Ross Haugh Skipping or anywhere else. And. listen to this one: Had a little motor car, Nineteen -sixty-seven, Took it around the comer, Slammed on the brakcs, But the brakes didn't work. Bumped into lady, Bumped into man, Bumped into policeman, Man oh man! Policeman caught me, Put me in jail, All I had was ginger ale, Hot, medium, cold. How many bottles did I have? 10-20-30-40... How many years did 1 stay in jam? 2-4-6-8... "Don't you know any nice skipping rhymes?" I asked, slightly shocked. "Let's do Blue Bells, Duncan," Stephanie sug- gested, and, strictly for their old man's benefit, they did this "golden oldie": • Blue bells, cockleshells, Eavy, Ivy, over. I love coffee, Hove tea, I love the girls, and they love Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no... -• " you know any others?" I. aske . Aiii`'tty tt'e'i;tt"f,'�'tfre tIb this one: Old Mrs. Mac, Mac, Mac All dressed in black, black, black, Silver buttons, buttons, buttons Down her back, back, back, She asked her mother... If she could borrow... Fifty cents, cents, cents To watch the boys, boys, boys Climb the fence, fence, fence. They climbed so high, high, high, They never came back, back, back Till the end of July, July, July... When they saw that I wasn't impressed, they sang this mar- vel: See, sec my playmate Come out and play with me, Come inw my sandbox, Slide down my slide, Slide down my red lips, Into my bedroom, And we'll be jolly friends Forever more, more, more... When they saw my jaw drop in disbelief, they quickly changed to something more benign. "Maybe you like the Banana Split, Daddy,.: _... S Banana Banana, banana split, trike wh i I e the iron is _Orange, orange, orange crush,--�_- Apple, apple, apple turnover, Strawberry, strawberry... This "rhyme" continued through the entire produce sec- tion of a well -stocked supermar- ket. It'll never win a poetry award, but at least it wasn't sug- gestive, or was it? Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited Big bands come back How many of you enjoyed the music of the big bands back in the good old days of the 1930's, 40's and 50's? Talking of this type of music brings back memories of the top band leaders coming to the Lake- view Casino in Grand Bend and the Stork Club m Port Stanley. For the fifth year in a row, the city of London will be hosting `this year the annual Royal Cana- dian Big Band Festival. The theme of this year's festi- val is "Thanks for the memo- ries". The London festival runs from Friday, June 30 to Sunday, July 2. It all gets underway on June 30 at the Victoria Park bandshell with The Phil Murphy Really Big Band- providing the music. Ad- , mission is free to this show and it gets underway at 6.30 p.m. At 8 p.m., the same night it will be The Spitfire Band featur- ing Jackie Rae and Micky Erbe on the stage of Centennial Hall. Master of ceremonies will be Al Logic and 100 percent of the tick- et sales will go to Parkwood Hospital. The Big Band Festival really gets into high gear on Saturday, July 1. One ticket will allow ad- mission to Wonderland Gardens anytime between noon and mid- night and three bands will each cover four hour stints for your dancing and listening pleasure. These bands are The Ambassa- dors, The Little Swing Band and The New Modemaires. The reason for establishment of the Big Band Festival in the first From the ; editor's disk by Ross Haugh place will provide music at Har- ris Park Saturday evening from 8 p.m. to midnight. In 1984, a suggestion .was made that London would be an ideal location to host a musical tribute to Guy Lombardo and the era of Swing music. Guy Lombardo's Royal Cana- dians will be back in Harris Park Saturday night with free admis- sion. In case of inclement weath- er this part of the festival will be moved to the London Regional Art Gallery. The same group will be back at Wonderland Gardens Sunday af- ternoon from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of a Sunday brunch with dancing. The London Free Press will again be presenting a spectacular Canada Day fireworks display at 10 p.m. on the Saturday night at the Forks of the Thames. * * * * A big reunion is being planned for May 5 and 6 for Medway High School in ArVa. This insti- tution has educated a large num- ber of students from Lucan and area over the past 40 years. Medway was buih in 1949 at a cost of $650,000 and was hailed at the time as a model school in the province of Ontario. It is now a fully composite school with a population of 1,000 students. It is unique in that it is the only large school. of its type located outside an urban centre. The reunion kicks off with an open house and registration at the school on Friday evening, May 5. On Saturday, a number of brunches will be held around the area at which time people can get together to meet old friends and fellow students. The whole reunion wraps up Saturday night with a giant din- ner and dance to be held in the Canada building at Western Fair- grounds in London. All gradu- ates and friends of Medway are invited to come and help celebrate this big birthday. Just remember the school will be one year older than Jack Ben- ny at 39. Pun of the Week - Remember, to be a good sport, one must lose to prove it. I do not like housework. It is the most unrewarding of all occu- pations. Beds made in the morn- ing are messed up at night. Dishes washed after one meal are dirtied again at the next. Cleaned windows and dust -free fumiture never stay in that pristine state would find an assortment of baby outfits, female apparel from the fashionable fifties, and some summer shirts my husband long since stopped asking about. At one time I could count on --..-"'fit's do Fudge'' the kids -dc for .rnsre. t as 4� ,•*F_: cided. "Ya, Fudge is our favour- small children around, count on Reynold's ite". Let's hear Fudge: 'fingerprints and nose and mouth i. - . lld tt-.f4,!lggaver all�.t .} �, 'v�ithin the 'hour.- -T�: . Stephanie is having a baby. You can do housework all day, Wrap it up in tissue paper, and nobody will notice, as every - Send it up the elevator,t13jnwitl like it's supposed First floor - stop, ...--.___--'Zb.E °til' '�rrrc —_—. -_ Second floor, stop... My pet peeve is ironing. l-can Girl, boy, girl, boy... Single, double, triple... ."Hold it!" I yelled. "That is aw- ful. Who teaches you this stuff?" "Everybody does it in school, Dad." Where have 1 been? As I said before: "Have you listened to your children's skipping rhymes lately?" Maybe you'll share some of the texts with us. If they can be printed in a community -news- paper. safely pinpoint the start of my phobia to my days as t1Th wife of a military officer. The weekly laundry always included'at least eight shirts; five in airforce blue, and three white. (Believe it or not, I was such a good little help- mate in those days I even ironed my husband's jockey shorts.) I always put off the inevitable for as long as possible, and have not been caught up in 30 years. I'm sure. if I ever got to the bot- tom of my laundry basket I by Yvonne Reynolds my mother coming to my rescue. She used to say that nothing made her happier than ironing. Whenever she came to visit, I made sure she was well supplied with happiness. By the basket- ful. I have learned not to overesti- mate my ambition. Sprinkling clothes, then forgetting to iron them, has resulted in many a mil- dewed pillowcase. I've smar- tened up. Now I put dampened ironabies in a plastic. bag, and store the whole lot in the freezer. I finally ironed the latest batch, put in three months ago, on re- ceiving a warning from my hus- band that the items were in dan- ger of getting freezer bum. I think he was just tired of using nW. ":.s taNg m any wrinkles as a Hollywood star be- fore her third facelift. I was happy iiuingi�l�e'iYes-~ ter period. You could go through the army's obstacle course wear- ing your designer polyester. A short trip through a COT' ',!2S1,. and you would look as goodas new. Ironing while watching a movie was once a reasonably pleasant way to spend an evening. Now the plots and the language of most arc more scorching than; anything I could do with my ap- pliance. I think I've found the solution. I'm going to trade in the steam iron for a No. 5. See you on the green. I'll be the one in the wrinkled golf dress. The one with the uncreased smile.