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Clinton News-Record, 1976-04-29, Page 4Much a'ii - as they did before a it patients deadline. Ely al open long a by tha 1st. - he hospital board and the citizens Action Committee . have now moved into another phase of their battle against the TOi h., s to Save OW hospital. ,and they need all the verbal and moral support we can muster. Many people say that the fight is over so what's thesense. If the hospital officials and a few hard working citizens had not continued the fight, we would have been closed in March. #al Is st ire still MI ', an in the r fro, VerY tinuing. Continue -to t'ie May 1st Clinton will- be the arbitrary decision ernment to be closed by ,tune • the spirit of taxing In a rather humorous comment in a column written by Bill . Batten in the Exeter Independent News of last week, Bill noticed that the Liquor Control Board is not the only dispenser of Spirits to be zeroed in .upon by the taxman. The provincial government has now commenced a study on taxing churches. "Imagine", says Bili, "the ushers hustling around with the collection plate on a Sunday, feverishly scrib- . They as'. Ont #l) ensure quip t with 0444 0* 10000 hot;r Ds patients. g.o quick ewe ging to give that pp �. without a fight? Are we going to let down. aft our predecessors whohave dedicated their lives and money? Are we goh!g to 1et the Conservative lackies close something they don't even, own? There should be an em- phatic NO! Thegovernment and the other people of -Ontario must be shown that we love our hospital as dearly as a member of our own family, so if you're asked to help, either by a vocal protestor just to volunteer a few hours of your timet pleaise give willingly. An old adage is applicable here: "United we stand, dividedAwe fall." bong out receipts: Blessings, 75c, reassurance premiums, 50c, philosophy. 65c, PLUS entertainment and sales tax." And appropriately notes Bill, "while the choir dutifully sings 'Bringing in the Sheaves,' or perhaps that should be 'thieves.' " "The province may even have a footnote at the bottom of the receipts," Bi -it notes, " Sintario tickets available at the door on your way out." Su ar and Spies/By Bill Smilcy The big tie When you manage to totter through to what is euphemistically called these days "middle age," you are supposed to be able to relax a little, slow down, take it easy, enjoy all those things you never had time for before. After all, your kids are grown up now, and on their own. The mortgage is paid off, or nearly. Passion is not exactly spent, but let's say that you don't exactly turn to jelly atthe sight of a big buzoom. If your health is reasonable, you should have a quarter-century of mellow living ahead, time to travel, to contemplate your navel, to read all those books, to cultivate your own garden, before you art quietly shuffled off toxone of those institutions with the ghastly names, like Sunset Haven or Trail's End Paradise. I am here to state, quietly but with grim ferocity, that this is one of the Big Lies perpetrated by our society on young people when they are raising their children. It's a lot of poppycock, chaps. Take my advice and have all the fun you can while you're young. Go to Europe, buy a farm, take a year off. Do what you want to now, because you won't have time when you're middle-aged. I just sat down here for a minute, to stop my head spinning, and it struck me that it's the first chance 'I've had to sit down and take my usual cool perspective of life for weeks. Life is not exactly a gay, mad whirl when you're middle-aged. It's more like a case of the blind staggers. Just for example. If we're not running in one direction to see our two grandsons, we're running in another to see their 83 - year -old great-grandfather. • Recently, in a wave of good feeling, we decided to treat my daughter and her husband to a night out. They are students, •broke, and never get out. So I hawked up the price of dinner and a show, and my old lady told them we'd be delighted to baby- sit. Fine. Any grandparents would do it. But it was akin to a disaster. First-born grandbabby, Pokey, was so wild with ex- citement at seeing his favorite toys, ser- vants and sycophants, that he ran around the apartment like a demented chipmunk, up and down over the furniture, leaping into arms. jabbering and laughing and roaring with defiance at any effort to cool him down. And the other guy, the Iittle,lat new one, is a bawler. He doesn't even bawl at the drop of a hat. He bawls at will'. A.tid at Suse. That's my wife. I'm Will. The youngcouple left at 6:30, baby • asleep. Pokey fed. Two minutes later, the bawler was at it. Two hours later, he was still at it. Somewhere in there I'd managed to stick our dinner (a frozen chicken pie) in the oven. At 8:30, my wife was sitting with him on her knee, trying to give him a bottle with one .hand and spear a bit of chicken pie with the other. Across from her, I sat with Pokey on my knee, feeding him every second bite of my meagre portion. ISt 9:20 we had them both asleep. We collapsed. At 9:45, little fatso woke up and bleated for titty. He scorns the bottle. Suffice it to say it was a long evening. But that was unusual, you say. Most of your il'fe'is pretty tranquil and even in tone. Well, that's what you think, Buster. I didn't even curl this past winter, and scarcely had time to blow my nose. Right now, aside from a full day`s teaching, I am doing the advertising and publicity for the., school Open House, preparing to be a guest on a panel discussion and modelling for an art class. In my spare time, I mark papers and prepare lessons. Modelling, did I say? Yep. I'm a model. The art department at the school wanted a live model. They conned ine into it by pretending they wanted somebody with character in his face. Well, I have lots of that: wrinkles, broken nose, bloodshot eyes, the lot. Later, I discovered the reason I was chosen was because I was the only teacher who had a spare that period, except for one woman teacher, and she refused to modehn the nude. I didn't. ' Iwas all for it. So were the student painters. But the puritanical old administration wouldn't allow it. They were afraid they'd' have girl art students fainting all over the place. Not in awe. In horror, So I have to do it in a loincloth, with a mask over my eyes so they won't know who I am. You think I'm busy? You ought to see my wife. Aside from her regular housework, she teaches piano, knits and sews (simultaneously, it seems to me), prepares the income tax return, chooses and uses new paint and wallpaper, runs around trying to find clothes for two grandsons, and gallops down to Simpson's order office to return things three times a week (it was she who put Eaton's catalogue out of business) . And we haven't even started on the garden yet. So. Just a word of wisdom to you young people. Don't swallow that bromide about a serene middle age. It's about as serene as Saturday night in the corner saloon. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Ye. won't have time when ye're old and gray. Member. tnrtone weekly weaspaper Ass elation^ The Clinton tiews•Recaed Is published each Thursday at P.O. Ras 3, Cldettae..Ostarle, Canada. Kahl it& It is registered as setead class mail by the post *Tote carder the permit amber N1t. Tin Nevrs•Recerd incorporated in 11211 the flsTen News -Reeled, feveded le 101, and the t1httirn New Era, fetaded le NIL sal tidti lat311, • \trinlwr. t'an mita n Cern wonky %ewxpaper Ussielaliaps P_hiliay advertising rater avaltaibla ret raspiest. Ask fair Rho Coad Ns. It eWTertiee Oct. 1. Editor • James E. Fitzgerald Advertising director • Gary L hl 'Ise einem' l> nager - J. itoward Aitken' News staff Bev Clark Subscription Rates: Canada.. 4u per year U.S.A. • S12.51 Single copy , .23c "Marsha, how co _ you think of such a thing ... et today's gas prices?" Odds 'n' ends - by Elaine Townshend Schoolday pranks Many adults are shocked by the things the kids get away with in school these days. The ministry of education can't seem to decide which is the best teaching system. First, they closed the small one - room schools and, built huge new ones with dozens of classrooms. Now they're tearing out a few partitions. The result is some noisy classrooms run in an unorthodox style. With the banishment of the strap, the teachers lost much of their control over the students, and a few parents contend the kids now have the upper hand. "Things were certainly different back in our schooldays," we adults contend. Or were they? Think back and be completely honest. Didn't more go on than reading, writing, 'rithmetic and minding the Golden Rule? Of course, most of us were model students; but we can all recall our schools' mavericks. They were the ones that stood tacks upside-down in the teachers' boots and developed a deadly aim with their erasers. On class hikes through the woods, they always managed to find a patch of leeks and to stuff themselves. They were subsequently relegated ,;oe end of the line by their teacher and fe'tiaw' studeii h�' alike. When they returned to the classroom, they sat alone. Perhaps they thought, if they became unpopular enough, the teacher would send them home. • ' Before\ the schools had running water, a different student was selected each day to fetch the water from the well. The trouble -makers were the ones who took short cuts through .the back windows; some of them didn't return until the next morning. When the students weren't allowed to leave the school grounds between nine o'clock in the morning and three in the afternoon, it was considered daring tosneak down to the creek for a swim during the lunch hour. One fellow remembers the day he and two pais were spotted by their teacher's boyfriend. For the next two weeks, they spent their recesses and noon hours inside. The true pranksters were dedicated to contriving new stunts, and each one had to be bolder than the previous ones. For example, two bigger boys took advantage of a heat register, about 3' by 3', in the centre of the floor. They removed the cover and were threatening to swing one of the girls over the gaping hole when the teacher came running. In a local school the back door opened at the end of a cupboard. A former student recalls that someone balanced a pail of water on the top of the cupboard and the edge of the door, which stood ajar. The next person to open the door was the teacher. Three other boys took a goat to school one morning. they went early for the purpose of arriving before the teacher. (I'll bet it was the only time they went early.) They teased the goat until he was in a rage, and when they saw.the schoolmarm coming,, they turned him loose. Meanwhile a lady remembers one of her teachers - a nun wearing a long black habit. After the May 24 holiday, a couple of girls saved some fire crackers. They sneaked, up behind the nun, while she wrote on the blackboard. One of them gingerly lifted her skirt, while the other slid a firecracker under and lit it. Isn't it shocking what the kids got away with in school back in those days? From our early files • • at • 10 YEARS AGO May 5, 1916 The fourth addition to Clinton's secondary school since it way constructed originally, will cost just a little over $506.900 to build, according to a contract awarded Tuesday night by the Clinton District Collegiate Institute Board. John Hayman and Sons Co. Ltd., London, was the lowest bidder among four tenders received and opened by the board last Thursday night. Approval was received yesterday by Mel Graham, clerk of Stanley Township, from the Ontario Municipal Board to proceed with the building of the 16 -row school. near Brucefield. Next Wednesday. May 11 is being observed as National Hospital Day at Clinton Public Hospital. Clinton Hospital will be joining hospitals throughout Ontario and other parts of the world in celebrating National Hospital Day. It will be a day when all people in the community will have an op- portunity to pay tribute to those hospital people who maintain the healthy order of our community. During 1965..Clinton hospital admitted 1,558 patients, up 89 from 1064. Other statistics at the hospital include: 196 births; 5,122 x-rays; 680 ,operations; over 100 employees, full and part-time, including nearly 40 nurses;` last year's payroll was nearly 5292,000.. • Bayfield subscribers of the Tuckersm.ith Municipal Telephone System can learn the proper technique of dial phoning by attending a demonstration in Bayfield Town Hall on Monday, May 9 at 3 p.m. The changeover to dial ''goes into effect at 3 a.m. on Sunday May 15. Over 200 Air Cadets from the Stratford, Kitchener - Waterloo. Galt and Guelph areas visited their- unit to take part in the sixth annual Inter Squadron Drill and Sports Competition. 25 YEARS AGO Y _. Mav 3.1951 A distinguished honour has come to Huron County in the election of Rev. David J. Lane, minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Clinton, and Knox Presbyterian Church, Bayfield, as moderator of the Presbyterian Synod of Hamilton and London. He succeeds Rev. Donald Machines, Ridgetown. A plebiscite for property owners of Grand Bend to decide whether the village will become part of Lambton or Huron County will be Reid not later than May 28, a joint committee from the two county councils has decided. Rev. W. J. Woolfrey., for the past five years, pastor of Ontario Street United Church, Clinton, and Turner's Church. tuckersmith, has accepted an invitation to the pastorate of the Tara circuit, Bruce County, west of Owen Sound . Mr. Woolfrey will be succeeded here by Rev. A. Glen Eagle. Effective Monday next, May 7. John D. Butler, will commerce his duties as assistant Agricultural Represen- tative for Huron County, with headquarters in Clinton and residence also hare. He succeeds Fred O. Wilson, who left April 1 tc return to active farming operations with his father. At the April meeting or' Huron County Health Unit in -the filth Unit offices, Ctintt-' n, Friday last, Dr. RA. Aldis, MOH, in presenting his report. said that measles, mostly red, have been prevalent throughout the county and that, they seem most common n the central part of the county, • Huliet Township. Despite efforts of small boys to frighten it away and the urge of some "big" boys to- take a pot shot at it, the swan is still down at the river at Bayfield. • Clinton's baseball Colts will be active again this season in the Huron -Perth Baseball Leagbe, an OBA Intermediate "C" group. 50 YEARS AGO May 6, 1926 Major Jackson, at the council meeting on Monday night, stated that he would give instructions that the by-law for- bidding the riding of bicycles on the sidewalks was to be strictly enforced. As a consequence, a number were hailed before the magistrate yesterday afternoon and paid fines. Clinton's band concerts will be given in. Recreation Park this summer. This ought to be quite an ' advantage. Motorists can drive into the park and find plenty of room to park within listening distance of the bandstand, while those who have no cars can go up in the grandstand and sit in comfort during the concert. Mr. Hit. Sharp has moved from the house hews been occupying on King Street to the double residence o Mr. A.J. Holloway, the old Fair residence. Watson -O'Neil -at the home of the bride's mother, Denfield, on Saturday. May I, 1926, by Rev. Mr. Shore, Gertrude A., daughter of Mrs. E.E. O'Neil, to Frank G. W. Watson, son of Mr. David Watson and the late Mrs. Watson. For some time the groom has been engaged in the grocery business here. Markets were: wheat 51.35; oats. 40 to 45 cents: buck- wheat, 60 cents; eggs. 20 cents to 27 cents ; butter. 35 cents to 36 cents; live hogs. $12.50: 75 YEARS AGO May 3. 1901 The Furniture Association met in Toronto the other day, and "tabled" its reports. It would be'plane to anyone that all the chairmen were present. Business is starting to boom at the Central Creamery. On Wednesday Mr. Baskerville, the manager, started to make butter every day, the average 300. Ib. per day. but in a week or so he expects to have a turnout of 1500 Ib. daily. and even 2,000 Ib. if •possible. There are four on the 'staff, Messrs. Macintyre and Johnston, oI London, having joined, but a force of half a dozen or so will be on hand and the establish- ment will be kept going day and night. At present three wagons are on the road gathering cream, and in a month's time some 25 or 30 will be employed drawing milk. Prospects point to a busy season here. The Rattenbury and Clarendon hotels have been rushed with travellers lately, particularly the forepart of the week. At the former on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the registration , run up to about 50 each day.Clintora will soon have a horseless- carriage. We understand J.P. Tisdale has. given an order for a steam automobile for which T. McKenzie has built him a house. The trout season opened on Wednesday. May 1st_ Now we will hear of fishy stories. Seeding is going ahead in the country, judging from the way the stores are disposing of seeds. The high school entrance examinations-wilIbeginon June 26th. at 8:45 a.m., and the department exams begin on July .-2nd ft the same hour. Candidates who purpose writing on these examinations, must notify the inspector either directl3i or through the principal oi the school which they attend. Mears Dear Editor: The Meals on Wheels, Committee of Community Care Services (metropolitan; Toronto) -incorporated 'is planning an Ontario con- ference for Meals on Wheels groups es well as . for in- dividuals or groups whct might be contemplating starting such a program and' who are looking for in., formation and supportin. getting started. The con- ference is planned from the evening of May 8th, to 3 p.m.(,: May 20th. It' rill be held at Villa Colombo, a newly opened Italian Home for the Aged in Toronto. Information pamphlets have been mailedto all those Meals on Wheels programs throughout Ontario of which we are aware. However, there is every likelihood that some operations have been missed. The cost is exceedingly reasonable - $25. for registration which includes in addition to conference ex- penses. two lunches, one dinner, in addition to an evening reception for all delegates on 18th May: Those people ,.wishing ac- commodation Tuesday night through to theconclusion of the conference will pay $40. to cover bed and two breakfasts. In other words; the total cost is 565. Anyone who wishes further details is invited, to contact Community Care Services (Metropolitan Toronto) Incorporated- at 185 Bloor Street East, Suite 224, Toronto, M4W 3J3. Telephone 416-961-3885. Total registration is limited to 200: Sharing Dear Editor : The proposed closure of th Clinton Public Hospital as a active care facility will affec not only the people of Clinton but the population of Huro County. The decision to close th Clinton Public Hospital i irrational, morallywrong and unjust. The most disturbing aspect of the whole situation is that the people ' of Goderich and Wingham have been deceived into believing that nothing could be done to prevent Clinton being closed. Had there been co- operation . between all Hospitals in Huron County, with each willing to accept a share of the cut backs, Clinton could have remained as a viable active car facility. I would hope that when the axe falls again in Huron County, and let's make no mistake about this, there will be further cutbacks. that the people of Huron County will unite and insist that the cutbacks be shared by ail. Doug Coventry, Clinton, Ontario Guns Dear Editor: As a representative of the Firearms and Responsible Ownership Inc., organization, 1 am corresponding here regarding a matter• of the greatest urgency- This is in Sonnection with the Peace & ecurity legislation, Bill C-83, which is now in Second Reading in the House of Commons. A section of this bill contains new amend- ments to the Firearms Section of the Criminal Code which, if passed, will contain all the avenues necessary for. `putting a swift end tr, .sts legitimate actittilesoni mor.. than three million law- abiding, tax -strangled Canadian firearms -owners. The implications of this bit to farmers cannot be un derestimated, and in thei interest, we of F.A.R.0. fee that they should be im mediately made aware of i .,,,and of the awesome results i will most certainly brin about. In this connection, I has written an article on Bili C- - a copy of which you will fee enclosed. We are providin copy of this article to all run newspapers in Ontario in th hope that they will print it, order that farmers can informed and be aware of t magnitude of what they be facing (continuein dterms on pang'