Times Advocate, 1999-06-02, Page 7Wednesday, June 2,1999
7
War
.Et
1 OYEARS AGO
May 31, 1989 - The Lions
Youth Centre has a new- con-
crete sidewalk thanks to the vol-
unteer efforts of a few Lions and
off duty town employees.
The new IGA store in Grand
Bend owned by Peter and
Brenda Haist opened Mondy
night. Art and Betty Haist
opened the family grocery store
in 1954.
20 YEARS AGO
May 31, 1979 -Two students from South Huron
District High School placed in the top 10 percent
of a nation wide mathematics competition spon-
sored by the Univeristy of Guelph. They are Paul,
McAuley and Paul Wein.
Gord Ross of Exeter was the winner of a $1,000
prize in the recent draw sponsored by the Exeter
Order of the Eastern Star.
Winners of individual awards at the annual
banquet of the Exeter Junior Hawks were Fred
tvlommersteeg, Dave Bogart, Brian Mercer, Phil
__ght,: Dave. Shaw and Bill Glover.
M ,.YEARS AGO
May 31, 1964 - Sharon Fletcher, R.R. 1,
Woodham was judged this year's SHDHS "Posture
Queen". She won= the GA Webb trophy in compe= •
tition with two others, Nancy McTavish and
Darlene Parsons, both of Exeter.
Bill Murray, Grand Bend and Dennis Lamport of
Crediton copped the senior award in the SHDHS
science fair with a demonstration of the working
parts of an electric motor.
At the meeting of the Exeter Senior Citizens club=
in the Legion _ Hall, selections by the Beatles
.. William Rohde; Almer Pssmore, Ray Cann and
Robert Jeffrey) to recorded music evoked mild
screaming. •
40 YEARS AGO
May. 31, 1959 - Murray Desjardins, municipal
clerk at Grand Bend receivd "B" honours in the -
clerk and treasurers extension course given by
-University this winter for the fired".
Rev. Duncan Guest -Wyoming, who will emceed
Rev. J.T. Clarke as pastor of Centralia and Whalen
churches was on Tuesday elected president of the
United Church of Canada London Conference.
Members of the SHDHS board decided Tuesday:
night to ask seven municipalities in the district t 'k
approve a $160,000 atditiotn to .include two class-
rooms, one laboratory, • ene shop and one cafete-
ria. The existing cafeteria will be made into two
classrooms.
A new record of thunder in May was established
last month when it occurred on nine days during
the month. The previous record was seven in
1956.
The Sarepta. Hotel, one mile east of Dashwood,
which was purchased by the Ontario Department.
of Highways has been bought by Andrew
Hamilton for $450 in public auction.
The new site for Darling's IGA now undergoing
extensive renovations will open next weekend.
The former Simmons implement building on the
corner of Main and Sanders streets has been com-
pletely revamped to provide 3,000 square feet for
the market.
SO YEARS AGO
May 30, 1949 - Mrs. Pearl Cochrane has sold
Leavitt's Theatre. to , G.D. Thompson of St. Marys.
The sale marked the end of 37 years of entertain-
ment service to the poeple of Exeter and district
by the Leavitt family.
Norman Amos has purchased the veterinary
practice of Dr. Jose at Kirkton.
W.W Taman who has been in the gent's fur-
nishings business for the past 38 years has sold
the business to Len McKnight and Norman
Walper.
75 YEARS AGO
May 31, 1924 - "Happy John", the corn and
rheumatic cure ",endor held forth north of Jones
and May store Saturday night an(' did a land-
office business.
The Central Hotel for the past 35 years owned
and conducted by W.T. Acheson was last Friday
sold to Mrs. Chester Lee of Paisley.
Mrs. W.J. Neaman, Mrs. Skelton, Mrs J.A.
Stewart, Mr. and Mrs. R.N. Creech and J.M.
Southcott left here Monday evening for a two
month's trip to Belgium, France and the United
Kingdom . .
ROSS
HAUGH
BACK IN TIME
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Writer hopes thief
remembers the
crime
Dear Editor:
When we moved to Exeter in 1988, people from
Kitchener were amazed that we were able to dis-
play wooden white squirrels on our front porch
without fear ofrvandalism. In the six years that we
had our B&B, the squirrels were stolen or broken
14 times. We had welcomed more than 800`
strangers into our home and nothing was ever
broken or stolen, not evena towel. It was sad to•
think we couldn't say the same abs some mem,-
bers of our community.
We closed the B&B to make room for our adopt-
ed son Joshua, who was born in Peru. He and hie
mother were seriously ill with tuberculosis and-
couldn't afford $6.00/month for medicine. He was
left to die in a Roman Catholic parish. The
Canadian Embassy heard about him and matched
him with us, airtdrlie traveller to Peru to pick him
up. While there, a five-year-old boy who worked
in a clay factory spent time, at night making bell-
shaped chimes, painted yellow with white flowers,
for Joshua. He asked us to place the chimes at our
front door to ring a welcome to everyone, as we
had welcomed Joshua into our. home. Last month
as Joshua turned five, those chimes were stolen,
again by someone in our community. All that's left
for Joshua is the story of a youtg boy who
believed Joshua was chosen: to live a. better life in
a better place.
We finally replaced the bell chimes on . Saturday
afternoon with clay birds purchased= on our next
trip to pick up our daughter. Paranoia made us
attach them with a locking clip. When our thief
couldn't steal it on Saturday night, they chose to
knock over our plants instead. This time they'll
have to bring scissors to commit their next crime
against a five-year-old bey. y . Wm not naive enough
to believe I'll ever see the. chimes again. -because
only decent people would return them. My only
wish ts•.that every day they pass our house or see
our children., they'll remember the crime they
Committed : awl whom they actually hurt - because
I will tots.
Sincerely,
WENDY BOYLE, Exeter
Carefuiij review all
candidates and
what they are
offering
Dear Editor:
The impact of a few hours spent or not spent
., reviewing the campaign platforms of the c andi-
1 dates in the June 3rd election could be with us for
'the balance of our lives. Our future lifestyle
depends on our ability to think beyond the 1 or 2
minute sound bite or brief newspaper article to
what exactlyis it that these people are talking
about.
The Conservative reversal on health care fund-
ing is evidence that they do not have all the
answers and the timing of thisreversal seems bla-
tantly opportunistic. The proposed policy to con-
duct drug tests on recipients of social assistance
may appeal to many of us at first, however, when
one thinks of the logistics it falls apart. Who will
be tested and haw often? Who will perform the
tests and assure reliability? What are the direct
and indirect costs? Will more treatment facilities
be required and in placb before testing begins?
Municipal restructuring may be a nightmare in
its infancy. If we are to have local fending of a
service, ie. policing, will provincial and national
standards be maintained. Is it not Conservative
philosophy to say that one who pays the bills calls
the shots?
I'm not convinced that either of the opposition
parties have the answers but I hope everyone
carefully reviews what they are offering. If this
current government is given free reign for anoth-
er four years we may win l up comparing them to
our last federal Conservative government.
Chuck Doyle
R.R.1 Dashwood, Ont.
Distasteful election
TORONTO— Televiewers
looking for somethingore
wholesome than the snntario
election are switching to the
Jerry Springer show and WWF
wrestling,
The campaign between
Progressive Conservative
Premier Mike Harris, Liberal
leader Dalton McGuinty and
New Democratic Party leader
Howard Hampton is by far the
most distasteful in recent
Ontario history, although some predecessors had
their nasty moments.
There was the 1990 election in which Liberal
premier David Peterson, after polls predicted his
defeat, warned that the "crazy" New Democrats,
who looked like they were winning, would wreck
the economy and starve children, but only fell from
favour faster.
There was Progressive Conservative premier Bill
Davis using tax money to saturate TV with cola-
mercials saying Ontario is great, "preserve it, CON-
SERVE it." Other Tories used government money
for partisan ads long before Harris.
Or you could go back to the 1950s, when Tory
premier Leslie Frost slurred NDP leader Donald
MacDonald as "a pig yammering away in the .fir
and getting himself covered with. it" for which his.
wife made him apologize.
Harris, who paved the way for bad taste by
spending far more government money on partisan
ads than any previous premier and oddly com-
plains most that opponents treat him shabbily,
began the nastines$witithis first attack adshowing
Liberal McGuinty grim -faced as if in a police lineup
surrounded by question -marks and charging that
he had no p;.which was untrue.
The typical- Tory ad since has dbrid ad M -
as "just not up to it" and Harris got in other, odd'
negative twists. He claimed McGuinty as a lawyer
who defended criminals could not fight crime like
Harris, who had;thiew of a small business oper-
ator (running a golf club:)
But being a defence lawyer is a jab and politi-
cians usually slip quickly out of whatever jabs they
had. Harris would resent a suggestion that he
could not support the arts because he spent so
much time looking for lost golfballs. .
The Reny premier also has= called Mninty Mr.
No and Mr. Negative, but then the wholeicampaign
from all sides has been mostly negative.
The Liberals- responded, with increasingly hostile
ads, culminating in one showing Harris threatening
.he will be a "mean,mad premier" followed by
scenes of riot police clubbing strikers, which sug-
gests he prompted the beating.
But Harris warned -that he wouldle moan spetif-
ically . if 'the federal government cut: transfer . pay-
ments so the Liberals took his quote out of context,
. and the pictures implied he created a society
where riot police commonly club demonstrators
when there has been only one- such incident, never -
justified.
McGuinty ,also called Harris "a thug" on the.
ground he failed to provide enough health care, and
cut welfare benefits and derided recipients. Harris
had also stopped an allowance for prbgnant recipi-
ents
i-
ents saying they would spend it on booze.
McGuinty would have hurt Harris more if he had
reminded voters of these facts and let them speak
for themselves. Words like `thug' are barred in the
legislature because they escalate tensions, and they
do the same in the campaign.
NDP leader Hampton has likened McGuinty to
Norman Bates, the notorious killer in the movie
Psycho, because he looks like Anthony Perkins,
who acted the part. Hampton thought he was mak-
ing a joke, but all the public knows is one more
candidate is saying nasty things about another.
Hampton's whole campaign since he performed
strongly and McGmty stumbled in their TV debate
as
h been to attaMcGuinty to win votes and. the
odd spectacle of the government and one opposi-
tion party spending most of their time ganging up
on the other opposition party is distinctly negative.
This also has been a campaign of mostly. U.S.-
inspired stunts catering to the lowest common
denominator, such as Harris using a dial with
flashing lights to display the cost of McGuinty's
promises and more dangerously contriving a meet,.
ing with non-partisan police as a prop, so they
could ask him for power to arrest beggars, which
he promised while charging that McGuinty is soft
on crime.
ERIC
DOWD
A VIEW FROM
QUEEN'S PARK