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Times-Advocate, 1999-04-21, Page 8lit b l>' 1'isnes.-Advocacci Wednesday, April 21, 1999 ACNIP 1;114 `111N/11.S-A1 A'( )(A1 PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 $m Bedkett Publisher and Editor Don Smith Deb Lord General Manager Production Manager Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL A salute to volunteers He looks a bit, well, unusual, especial- ly in the nursing home where he can often be found, listening to an elderly gentleman describe his war experiences. This high school senior, with his hair spiked into a blue Mohawk and tattoos on his massive arms, has the physique and manner of a profes- sional wrestler. But when he visits the nursing home. where his mother works, 1 e is polite to the extreme. He treats the residents with tremendous respect and admiration as he listens to their sto- ries. "They have been through so much," he often says. "Their stories about the war are really inter- esting." To her family and friends, this elderly woman is a kind and gracious hostess, a very pleasant per- son. She shows a somewhat different side when she is in the middle of a fund raising campaign for this charity or that community project. The sweet grandmother becomes a tireless _worker, a finan- cial whiz, a dynamic public speaker. Even the tight fisted town miser meekly hauls out his cheque books when she calls. Then there is the middle aged businessman who spends most Saturday afternoons in greasy old clothes, happily working on restoring an old junker with the- boy he calls his "little brother". The two are clearly not brothers in the conven- tional sense of the word, and in fact only met a year ago. But they share. a love of tinkering with old car engines and getting their hands dirty. The boy thrives on spending time with a caring adult; the man has discovered a boyhood hobby is more fun than ever. These three people might not seem to have much in common with each other, at first glance. They live completely different lifestyles, in different communities. Scratch the surface, though, and you can find quite a few similarities. All three feel a personal responsibility for mak- ing their various communities better places to live. All three have a certain generosity of spirit that makes them special; other people may not under- stand it, but they respond to it. None of the three sits back while other people pitch in and help. One word describes these three - volunteers. They come in all shapes and sizes, both genders and any age. They strongly believe you get out of life what you put into it, and they get a lot out of life. Without volunteers, .most children's sports pro- grams would not operate. -Hospitals and nursing homes would not only -lack in human warmth, but would also do without important equipment. The Santa Claus parade and fall fair would never hap- pen. Churches would have their -doors closed_"tight except for an hour or two Sunday mornings - and forget the wonderful anthems by the church choirs. The work that volunteers accomplish goes far beyond rich ladies pouring tea at charity lun- cheons - although those kinds of events have, over the years, raised a tremendous amount of money for hospitals, libraries and medical research. Many of the things which make this community such a good place to live would disappear in the blink of an eye without volunteers. During volunteer week, April 18-24, take a few. moments to think about the volunteers who help you and your family - the young mother who visits your child's class at school and listens to individ- ual children read, the friendly teenager who' helps nursing staff feed long term care patients at the hospital, the couple who take turns driving a dear friend to London for cancer treatment. We can never thank them enough, but we can pass the favour along by volunteering our own time, and giving generously of our talents. Reprinted from Saugeen City .News Editorial&Opinion Bravo forArmstrong and why so many car washes? Since this column is titled 'Missiles and Musings' and I don't have just one topic I'm passionate about this week, I'll clear out the tidbit file in my twisted brain. The golden laurel goes to... Exeter Coun. Peter Armstrong did not just one but two things recently that impressed this scribe. First he ques- tionedwhy council was going to go behind closed doors to talk about an issue that wasn't one municipal councils usually go in -camera for. It was an issue to do with poli- cy, specifically Exeter's policy on homeowners in town- ships surrounding the town hooking up to the town sewer system. The more business done in open session the better. Yes, there are good reasons for going private with some issues, like contract talks, land purchase/sale negotiations, inter -municipal negotiations and personnel problems, but coun- cillors must remember they are representing the public who voted them into office who they are accountable to. The public needs to know what decisions are made and how their repre- sentatives made them. It's the public's right. The second thing Armstrong did recently was spearhead the movement to create an Exeter medical centre. Though the idea may not fly, at least someone is trying to do something con- structive about our family doctor shortage rather than write up reports and complain. Will it work? Not likely. Doctors graduating from med- ical school want the perfect package that includes an established thriving practice — a turn -key. operation. They don't want to pony up cash for renovations since they're already up to their eyeballs in debt. Existing Exeter GPs would also be asked to give up their practices and relocate to the clinic. While our doc- tors get along just fine, giving up their cozy offices and teaming up with their colleagues may be taking it a little too far for their tastes and pocketbooks. Why leave something you're happy with and pay to set up some- thing else? Armstrong's 'Field of Dreams' comment, "build it and they will come" is apt. But it has to be done right with our existing doctors' input. If we upset our existing doc- tors we won't get any new ones. Who do you think the young doctors will call to find out whether it's worth moving to Exeter? We need businesspeople and community groups with successful fund-raising track records to take this bull of a project by the horns. Find out what other communities are doing to attract doctors. Surely other towns are building clinics as we speak. Let's get a plan, get the existing doctors on side and raise the money. Let's build a stand alone facility with all the bells and whistles a green GP would want. Build it and they will come? Maybe. Let's just do it right. Keeping a lid on it Town staff deserve a clap on the back for bringing in a zero per cent increase draft budget. Although there is some question over $70,000 left over in '98 on top of the '97 surplus, chief administra- tive officer Rick Hundey successfully explained why the surplus was needed to make up for added projects and unexpected expenditures. Yes, the recent restructuring could've turned into a tax break or at least extra cash for things like a new library. But the province continues to shuffle the deck with its multitude of download- ing and legislation changes making it difficult for municipal staff to juggle their numbers to make things work out. Council should -rely more on their staff instead of using: a microscope to examine every one of their recommendations. It's the staffs job to do what council decides, granted. But each staff member is a professional who generally comes up with good ideas and sound policies. Council should focus on the big pic- ture and the big money items rather than second guess their staff on the little stuff. To the Exeter town staff: you're doing fine. To Exeter council: keep on looking out for our best interests, but trust your staff more. Car washed to the max How many car washes does Exeter need? We now have four separate operations including three that have automatic drive throughs. You can't tell me there are that many dirty cars in the Exeter area. Shoot, with that many car washes, every vehicle in Exeter should be pristine 365 days a year. Why bother getting the bucket, soap,.sponge, hose and shammy out to get all wet in your driveway? Maybe to save the $5-$10 car washes charge to do the job right... CRAIG BRADFORD MISSILES AND MUSINGS About the Times -Advocate . Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 186. 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