Times Advocate, 1991-06-19, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, June 19, 1991
Publisher: Jim Beckett
News Editor: Adrian Harte
Business Manager: Don Smith
Composition Manager: Deb Lord
suasnammumSecond Class M&I Registration Number 0386
E3• CAN Q�
wit n 4o mit.. (es kn.) addre..od
to non lotto? cantor addresses $30.00
Outlet's 40 mpo. (85 km.) or taws $2.10 03.T.$3o.o0 plus $30.00 any letter canter address
postage (total $60.00) phi* 114.20 CULT.
Outside Camels 11641.00
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"Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
... Thomas Macauley
Published lash Exeter, aa�do h' J J.W.
Teispheile
at424Nab st.,
tlhi*ealloes Ltd.
s.s.T. lRmosnms
I;DITOIZI��I.
What's .the real issue?
hen it really comes down to it,
the contentious issue of
whether or not Exeter's Pryde
Boulevard should have sidewalks or
not, is all an issue of poor planning.
Even though Pryde residents are com-
ing up with a hundred and one reasons
why their street should be the last place
on earth for a sidewalk, the key reason
is that the only place to put one on that
street is halfway up their lawns.
If the town•could manage to install ce-
ment in the usual place, with a two me-
tre boulevard at the curb before the
sidewalk, then most objections would
disappear. What would it hurt to have
a walkway there?
But, if one were to put sewers along
that precise corridor, and then allow for
a line of trees to be behind that zone,
then the only place for a sidewalk is on
the very last strip of town road allow-
ance, some six metres away from the
E
curb.
The residents are probably quite right
when they say pedestrians would likely
not use such a sidewalk. Who would
want to walk down the middle of a wide
lawn, with a nearly equal stretch of grass
on either side of house and curb.
It seems relatively obvious that either
the trees or the. sewer and gas lines are
not where they ideally should be.
Perhaps indeed the eventuality of side-
walks on Pryde was never seriously con-
sidered when that street was rust
planned out, even though a fairly wide
road allowance was included in the bar-
gain. But with the road's proximity to
the recreation complex and two schools
it should have occurred to somebody.
It's a shame that a relatively inexpen-
sive ($15,000) sidewalk should be short-
changed when it comes to finding a de-
cent place to put it.
A.D.H.
Letter to Editor
Open letter to people of Grand Bend
Let's put our current situation
into proper perspective. We have
one of the finest stretches of fresh
water beach in the world. This
beach, except for the relatively
small portion owned by Mr. Gibbs
is Crown land. The village main-
tains this beach on behalf of the
Crown. By definition, the
"Crown" is the citizens of Canada.
Therefore every Canadian citizen
has equal right to use and enjoy
this natural resource of Canada.
We should be promoting this as-
set and encouraging visitors and
tourists to the area. Not only are
we blessed with the beach and wa-
ter and their related activities, but
we also have beautiful golf cours-
es, campgrounds, hotels and mo-
tels, live theatre, shopping, restau-
rants and bars with entertainments,
etc. Tourism is a huge industry in
this area bringing in millions of
dollars annually. In fact, it is the
only major industry. Without visi-
tors and tourists there would be
vacant stores, hundreds of lost
jobs and a huge reduction in tax
revenue. So why do we constantly
have rate payers and council mem-
bers alike bad mouthing the vil-
lage to the media. We read of these
inane ideas of fencing off the
beach, banning alcohol, restricting
bar hours, hiring Q.A.P., discourag-
ing special events, etc. All of which
is aimed at keeping people away.
We and not without
namely lack of washroomproblems,
and
pang on the side streets. The
washroom situation is- being ad-
dressed, albeit several years too
late. Once the final disposition of
the Gibbs appeal is handed
down, the vil-
lage must build
new and ade-
quate washroom I
facilities As to the
pig situation,
we all sympathize
with the residents who have suf-
fered over the years from people
partying and sleeping in their cars
m front of their property. This has
been a problem for over twenty-
five years. I find it incredible that
there is no by-law in effect that
bans overnight parking on the
ls
ha�ve�been unbelievand remiss iscefor
not addressing this situation. A few
years ago, the council in its wis-
dom, sfSent over $5000.00 of tax-
payers money on a rope fence
along Government Road and effec-
tively eliminated about a hundred
much needed parking places. Some
solutionl,�sal m To me obleseems
gtute simple - Issue -Parking Per-
mits to the residents in the problem j
areas, post signs stating "Permit
Parking Only" - Unauthorized Ve-
hicles Towed Away at Owners Ex-
pense". Get by-laws with some
teeth in them and enforce them.
Hundreds of thousands of visi-
tors have enjoyed this area over the
years and we can't let a small mi-
nority of undesirables spoil if for
everyone. If we enforce the by-
laws and improve the facilities, it
will discourage these problem
makers from coming here. This is a
beach resort and people come to
enjoy their leisure time. We not
only have to accept this, but we
must encourage visitors. Anyone
who can not accept these facts is
living in the wrong community.
Let's get our priorities straight and
promote Grand Bend positively.
Nick Carter
Grand Bend
Purity
and Corn R
ekes Part 3
'"'this is the third in a series of now -a -days than a century ago. Increase of vice
excerpts from J.H. Kellogg, The bold and flippant style of There is an alarming increase
M.D., to be read while you bearing so exceedingly
munch your breakfast com among girls today Iaa ommina- n jpropagated p 'fence of skepticism,
flakes. If you prefer rice crisp- ble. Mothers should check in aandencouragedmby a cerin
ies, harvest crunch, or ham and
eggs with toast, don't let that class of scientists who array
their motions respecting the
keep you from enjoying Dr. , Pe ter's teachings of nature against the
Kellogg's advice. I'm not saying
that it's all that timely - or Point
Bible have a marked tendency
wholesome for that matter. I'm ; s .' to lessen the influence of mo
serving it strictly for laughs. IHer, aspreiniced, is more of
• They vi
Kellogg's (1895) advice: ' ' its est forms, whit
Fashionable life Fater Hassel j from the freedom
Fashionable life is a foe to vil- the newspapers of day deal
tue. It is calculated to stimulate with crimes of this sort, with
the emotionl mature •- and leads their daughters the very first little or no attempt at delicacy
directly to the exaggeration of manifestations of a tendency to of expression, and usually
unnecessary par_
in
arises
which
Th
the propensities. e thousand boldness of manner, and should dwelling with
and one nothings which make oamfupy shield them from the tkularity upon the details of
once of those who exhibit ► has a decided tendency
up the sum total of a fashionable nth
woman s life, are by no means
conductive to purity and the re- The appo�ides afforded by
pression of her animal instincts. theatres, balls, parties, etc. oor-
Theatre going, novel -heading, the morals as though orga-
dancing, attendance at fashions- nlzers of modem sodety had
ble parties, and flirtation ate the purposely aged for the de-
means by which the moral sense s<nxaion of virtue, which we
becomes depraved and the char- see all around us. The feelhion
actor so unbalanced as to break by which young people who
down the barriers to impurity, are contemplating marriage
Degenerate manners may sit up until the small hours
The manners of the time are of the morning, with canaille
such as to abolish the reserve of drawn and light pursed? Or
maidenhood. A bashfW gid is ems, is tuned._
much more difficult m find with piracy Of morals.
to trait.
n thls direction.
City dangers to
The streets of our large cider be
swarm with persons whose pm- 11
fession is vice, who pursue sen-
suality as a trade, who make sal
merchandise of their own souls A
or tragic in the souls of others. i
Harlots, rakes, seducers and se- a
duced the jostle one another, and
and ammo- me
ant passersby as well.
I have explored myself the *o- w
did dries. Ittnderground othegreat the the
gilded
Plow stn b pop S. up
Life in a television
I•I1 is the last decade of the cen-
tury. In fact, this is the last
ade of the millenium, but tha
subject a little too large to
into here.
As one cynical character i
film I watched the other
commented, the 1990s. is a d
ade without a purpose. All
great themes have already
played.
Although I have a hard time
accepting th notion that each
decade has a personality of its
own, I can't deny that it's prob-
ably true. Mention any particu-
lar decade this century and you
will conjure up an image in y
mind to match.
The '90s are still
what do we ha in stone
ourselves? all the gre
themes hav been played, the
are we
ment sending a family back to
dec- Poland who tried to stay here il-
t's a legally. And yet I've met fami-
get lies in England who write off
coming to Canada as an impos-
n a sable dream these days, possibly
week
ec-
the
been
Hold that
thought..
By
Adria
because they do not fit into any
category of desirable minorities
but or refugees.
for Are we out to correct all injus-
at rices of the past, no matter what
n the cost?
t left to analyse and
correct . ur mistakes until a ne
cen dares us to try son
thi new?
y the other week, Ma
leans magazine ran a piece o
how "politically correct" crusad
ers are squashing freedom o
speech these days. Anyone i
the public eye cannot say wha
they truly think, lest they be in
terpreted as racist or • sexist.
Everything has to adhere to ac
cepted "correct" social policy.
Even exhibits on the honors of
racism have been interpreted as
promoting racism.
The Same holds true to all the
other causes. You can't watch
kvision for an hour without
ung lectured on drug abuse, 11-
teracy, drinking and ,driving,
racism, the environment, or sex-
ly transmitted diseases.
greed, these are all important
*sues, but I sometimes feel like
character in Orwell'* 1984
who can't escape his govem-
nt's dde of propaganda.
We see the government in hot
W.
because they fast -tracked
immigration of an Iraqi am-
bassador. People In London are
in sums about the govern -
If you sew a few steaks togeth-
w er into the shape of a dress and
e- hang it in a gallery, protesters
will gather outside to claim you
- are giving a slap in the face to
n the homeless and the hungry.
- Yet if you wove a dress out of
f solid gold at a thousand times
n the cost, would anyone com-
a plain?
It's almost li' -"
side a made -for -television mo-
- vie. You know the kind. Unlike m
Hollywood films which deal tho
with decadence and violence, Lo
TV movies are wholesome at- d
tempts at giving the networks a el
social conscience. The
lected according to skin colour
and sex, and even people who
used to complain about "keep
off the grass" signs who are now
campaigning to keep horses and
mountain bike off nature trails.
No, none of these things is a
particularly bad trend. It's just
that they're coming all at once,
as if, in a wave of puritanical
fervor, we are hell-bent on cor-
recting all the evils of • ' : in
the next � ' eon minutes, an
woe be ' . e anyone who dares
we may be overreacting.
In fact, you may recall two
weeks ago I asked for letters on
what you thought about replac-
ing local fair queen competitions
with "ambassador" contests
open to males and females of all
ages. Is this a true step towards
an enlightened attitude towards
women? Or are we losing a val-
uable part of rural Ontario agri-
cultural heritage?
We all know what we're sup -
aced to believe. Equality is al-
ways a positive step.
Which may explain why 1 re-
ceived exactly no letters at all on
the subject.Or is it that no one
would dare contradict "correct"
ith light and speak his or her
I did get one phone call
ugh, from a gentleman in
ndon (a former Exeter resi-
ent) who said he could appre-
ate the cultural aspects of the
r queen contest, but said he
ad to side with the "ambassa-
" cation because fair queens
too unfortunately. associated
th beauty contests. I found
to be a very reasonable, and
11 thought out opinion. Ap-
Y, no one else cared
gh, or dared enough, to
e in. Even the London gen-
an did not want his name
mentioned.
I itnow is, from my study
literature, eras of puritanical
orm over the centuries have
produced very little of any val-
ally involves a sodalr worker h
who overcomes a history of dor
child abuse to tackle her illitera- are
cy problem and battle cancer in wi
time to join the ski team at the his
Olympics - and then get married we
in time for the credits. pard
Okay, I exaggerate, but you do enou
know the kind - a sugar coated wd
Reader's Digest. dem
Reality isn't much different.
Today government decree the All
of wheelchair of
rtlrnps arc never used, park ref
-
bg spaces for the handicapped
that act empty, committees se -
lie.
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