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Times Advocate, 1989-06-21, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, June 21, 1989 Times Established 1871 Adsotate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone S19-235.1331 ROSS HAUGH Editor eNA CCNA IM BECKETT Publisher & Adsertising Manager HARR1 DEVRIf5 DON SMITH. Composition Manager Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by I.W. Eedy Publications Limited Let's sign letters e are contin ally on the look- out for letters 'he editor and welcome them any subject, but we do have a policy hich readers who become writers s follow. Letters published d not necessarily re- flect the editorial positions taken by this newspaper. The use of any contributed material is subject to the discretion of the editor. • - We reserve the right to edit letters to . meet space requirements, to ensure clari- ty, lanty, to meet our standards of good taste, and to avoid libel, slander or the invasit of privacy. The main requirement is that letters must bear the signature of the writer and include an address and also a telephone number for,,verification purposes if ne- cessary. In recent weeks, a couple of letters have been received which were com- pletely void of a name or signature. Nat- urally, these were not and will not be published until proper identification is forthcoming. The T -A welcomes letters of -all kinds on any topic imaginable whether they are. critical or praise any group, organiza- tion or, this newspaper or just put forth ideas. Thumb addiction "Why arc you so sad, Stepha- nie?" I asked the little girlin the rocking chair sucking her thumb. "Because some people in school call me Suckie?". "Well, you could stop .the name-calling by stopping to suck your thumb". "I try, Daddy, but I can't stop it." The trouble with Stephanie is that she has an addiction: her thumb. It just keeps slipping into her mouth. We've tried incen- tives, and they don't work. Actu-. ally, we've played it down quite a bit because apparently the cure can be worm than the affliction. However, there is the tooth sit- uation to consider. At the mo- ment she has 'only one incisor. All others have been collected by a' very busy tooth fairy. But when her new teeth come in, they should be given a chance to grow straight. Our friendly neighbourhood orthodontist doesn't work for nothing. Alexander has the same addic- tion. ddiction. He no longer sucks his thumb in public, only when no one is looking. He was fitted with an "appliance" last winter. The first one (which cost consid- crably more than my first car) ended up in the McNab Town- ship dump via the bowels of the McNab Public School garbage disposal system. The second one is slightly more difficult to re- move from the mouth, but has already come close to being lost twice. - We might have to do without such luxuries as. food, shelter and clothing just to keep these two kids supplied with, braces. And it's all because of thumb sucking. How do you make your kids break the habit? I'm open. to PETER'S POINT • by Peter Hesse' suggestions. Don't tell me to bribe them: I've already spent $400 on an electronic keyboard that was supposed to end Alex- ander's thumb sucking once and for all. Alexander even signed a contract, duly witnessed and all. We now have a broken contract in my office, and a confiscated keyboard in Elizabeth's. When- ever one of us has to pay yet an- , other orthodontal bill,we can console ourselves by playing the Broken Promise Blues. • An don't tell me to wrap the thumb in a mustard plaster pr in tar. Unless you supply the pat- ent lock that keeps the plaster on By Ross Haugh the thumb. We'vetried every- thing but hypnosis, child batter- ing and deportation. Here's the deal. Anyone who suggests a cure that works will receive a glossy photograph of Stephanis and/or Alexander without thumb in the mouth, au- tographed by them, by Dr. Glo- ver, and by myself. Not only that, but I will also mention the cure in my column, so that other parents of thumb - addicted children (POTACs) can benefit from the advice. Why is it that some kids suck and others don't? Duncan, for exam le, doesn't know what all the ft ss is about. He was never a thumb sucker, not even as a baby. And yet all our children .have had the same parents, the same environment, the same at- tention. Duncan and Stephanie arc twins, for heaven's sake. Is there a genetic factor involved? Do only some babies suck their thumbs in the womb? Too many questions, not enough answers. Maybe you've read .. good arti- cle or book on the subject. Don't tell me to read it. Give me the sa- lient points, all neatly pre- packaged, pre-digested and ready for application. I would be much obliged. We POTACs have to stick together. Besides, I really do resent it when other kids call my daughter a Suckle. Letters to the Editor Dear Sir: A lot of people are complaining about the new group postal delivery -boxes, among other things. , If anybody has a complaint about these boxes, or Mr. Wilson's bud- get, or anything else, instead of complaining to ybur neighbours and friends, pick up the telephone and call Murray Cardiff's consti- tuency office at ZE 31020 - toll free. . The telephone operator will ask for your phqnc number but you will not be charged for the call. It's your duty as a Canadian citi- zen to speak up and voice your opinion. M.J. Connor ix z i Dear Sir: Qn behalf of the Huron County Community Child Abuse Coordi- nating Committee (CCACC), I would like to thank the business community and many individuals of Exeter who contributed to the suc- cess of our Teddy Be& Dream Auc- tion and Raffle on May 13. The evening raised a total of $9,300.00, all of which will go to- ward the work of the community Child Abuse Coordinating Com- mittee, a 23 -member voluntary group composed of professionals and community members concerned about child abuse. The committee is the sponsor of the Kids on the Block child -abuse prevention program, presented at public and separate schools across Huron County. The money raised will go toward this and other pre- vention projects, including a library resource bank which will make vid- eos and children's books on street - proofing available to parents and professionals in Huron County. The Community Child Abuse Coordinating Committee is com- mitted to developing a community response to child abuse. The partici- pation of the people of -Exeter and arca in this fundraising event is a step toward that goal. Thank you to everyone who donated raffle and auction items and to those'of you who came to dinner, had fun, and raised money toward the prevention of child abuse. Sincerely, Betty Bedard -Bidwell Chairperson, Fundraising and Public Relations Committee Dear Sir: I would like to thank you and your staff for your coverage of 'the Grand Bend Beavers and Cabs throughout the year. The boys all got a kick out of seeing their pictures in the paper and families reading about the dif- ferent activities that took place. Thanks again. Sincerely yours, Marlene Lane. Dear Sir: Our family would like to thank two caring and tompassionatc •men in your community. Oo May 18, our family was trav- elling from Petrolia to Lindsay when our transmission "blew" out- side of Exeter. At Thruway Muffler System, Al- bert spent much time arranging for our car to be towed to London as well as trying to rent us a,car. Leon Coolman of Leon's Buy & Sell, loaned us a car for the week- end, so our plans to attend our' school's 100th anniversary were a reality. Albert stayed overtime to fix up this car and getting if in run- ning order for us. The community of Exeter should be proud of these men, who extend- ed a hand of friendship and caring to our family. Whenever we travel through Exet- er, the warmth and kindness of your community will always be remem- bcied. Sincerely, Jim and Elaine Willis and family, Petrolia. THE PEOPLE suppou ME. Water pulls We had the opportunity and the pleasure to be a part of a recent bus trip of the northern portion of the Ausable Bayfield Conserva- tion Authority watershed along with some directors and staff members. Before we started out on the trip, communications manager for the Authority Kathy Monk said, " We manage water, but a lot of the time water manages us" and we saw one very dramatic demonstration of that. One of the last stops on the trip was in to Poplar Beach in Hay township. We remember stop- pingat this point on a similar trip three years ago and standing be- side a tree on the bank overlook- ing the lake. On last week's trip to this spot, to and behold that tree is now well down the bank towardsthe lake. Kathy Monk told us that the amount of bank lost from June of 1973 to January of 1988 amount- ed to 20.6 metres. at this loca- tion. In old fashioned terms that's a bit more than 60 feet. About half of that total was lost during a span of one year from August, 1986 to August, 1987. In the last couple of years the Level .of Lake Huron has gone down about three feet, so. that probably will slow erosion down a little bit, but Poplar Beach seems to be the most dramatic erosion spot along the shoreline. From the editor's disk by Ross Haugh The Lake Huron shoreline is a good example of the changing of human nature. When the levels were high, most owners along the lake were trying to devise all kinds of methods to protect their shoreline and banks. Now that the levels arc down a bit, . instead of continuing with protection, some arc thinking of putting docks out into the lake. Quitc a change instrategy. Monk said the quality of water at Morrison Dam is the best in the watershed as most of the sed- imenti settles before the water gets to this location. The source of the Ausable River is near Staf- fa. Our newspaper was mentioned in the May 29 issue of the Publish- ers' Auxiliary. Printed in Wash- ington, DC. it is the newspaper industry's oldest newspaper. Edmund C. Arnold is a profes- sor emeritus of mass communica- tions at Virginia Commonwealth University and has a Page of the Week in this publication. Ainolyl• was a critic at the Onta- rio Weekly Newspaper conven- tion in Toronto early in March and in the recent Publishers' Auxiliary we received he showed two of our front pages. The one that won the best front page com- petition and the one of the week of the convention. In his concluding his comments Arnold said, " Thc T -A is a dam good paper in areas other than front-page layout. But then, so are most Canadian papers. He has Arnold's Ancient Axi- om each, week. The two recent ones are, " Journalism is boom- ing north of the border" and "Readers and staffers should have fun from special issues." Pun of the Week - Courage at. the critical time is half the,victo- ry• A fine and decent place The school year is nearly over. Students will soon be set free upon an unsuspecting world. Some will inevitably make their way to that ultimate summer character -builder. camp. With no children of my own yet, I don't have to decide wheth- er to send anyone to camp. I'd probably be more inclined tobar- ricade them in the basement until September. You sec, I was at camp once. Not as a camper, but better - a counsellor - my first real summer job. The camp (which shall remain nameless to protect those already signed up) is not very far from here: a decent, Christian, camp. This was some time ago, but I doubt any detail has changed. . There is a certain timelessness to summer camp, reinforced by messages pencilled on rough wood walls in the cabins: "Joe Smith was here, 1962", written the year the camp opened like it was yesterday. Written before Kennedy was shot, before man walked on the moon, before many of us were born. Natural- ly, we added our own names to the walls, feeling very high-tech about kicking off a new decade with "Adrian Hartc, 1980". Thc rules to camp seemed very simple. Counsellors were the ones with the biggest, most pow- crful flashlights. They also were the ones allowed the most fun. To anyone else, camp can be a traumatic experience. Every so often a newly -arrived camper would take exception to his r Hold that ' d thought... by Adrian Harte r bunkmates, the rules, the food, and -would hightail it through the woods and across the fields. We used to dispatch Mike, who had thc fastest and longest legs, to chase down these runaways and convince them there was no way they could reach home in a rea- sonable time, assuming they even knew where they were. It never took them long to realize camp could be fun after all. Of course, we'd have to keep re- minding them. Take for e7tamplc tho time 1 wore a gorilla suit for an evening stroll around the camp courtyard. It took an amazingly long time for anyone to notice mc, but when they did thc reaction was swift and terrible. Small chil- dren werc•screaming and scatter- ing in all directions. If kids " don't go to camp to have the liv- ing daylights scared out of them, then why do they go? It took only a few more sec- onds before thc campers discov- ered this monster was only a cos- tume, something like an oversized teddy bcar. Almost immediately, I found myself be- ing pursued. I headed for the swimming pool where our life- guard was c1eanilhg up. He later told me this was one of the more surreal experiences of his life - watching, almost in slow motion, a hoard of yelling kids scrambling through the woods toward his pont, lcd by a gorilla. To this day I still don't know how 1 escaped. • As counsellors, we had to show leadership. While the kids were spending their days collect- ing flora, singing songs and playing games, we were spend- ing our nights pondering the more pressing questions of life. We 'disco•iered the uses of a package of food colouring at four o'clock in the morning. We ex- plored the possibilities of a ven- triloquist's dummy with a flash- light in a cabin window. We made ghost stories very, very real. So would I send my own kids off to camp? Not a chance, I want to go back first.