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Clinton News-Record, 1979-05-03, Page 4PAGE 4 --CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, MAY 3 ,1979 The Clinton News -Record Is4AubllIhed each Thursday at P.O. Rea 3% .Clinton. Ontario, Canada. NOM 110. Member, Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association It Is registered as second class mall by the post office under the permit number 0017. The News -Record Incorporated In 1020 the Huron News -Record, founded In 1031. and The Clinton New gra. founded In 1363. Total press run 3.300. Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association . Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rate Card No. 0 effective Oct. 1, 107[. General Manager - J. Howard Aitken [filter - James!. Fitzgerald Advertising Director • Gary L. Heist News editor - Shelley McPhee Office Manager - Margaret Gibb Circulation - Freda McLeod Subscription Rote: Cando -'11.00 per year Sr. citizen -'12 per year U.S.A. & fgelgn -'30 per year Worth protesting The Atmospheric Environment Service department decision to re'- install e'install the line connecting the Exeter weather radar station directly with the London weather office is proof that public protests don't always fall on deaf ears. When the direct line between the weather stations was disconnected in November 1978 as part of the government cutback campaign, the protest surfaced almost im- mediately. The weather forecast service had been used by farmers and also by the construction and canning industry and by professional and amateur pilots who required detailed, short term weather forecasts. The cost of operating the weather radar machine hookup to the London airport was approximately $80 a month, This time, people didn't simply complain about the cutback among themselves. Instead, they im- plemented an organized letter writing campaign forwarding their complaints to the London weather office to local MP's and MPP's as well as the press. This time, the public lobbying was successful and the London weather station will be hooked up to the Exeter radar Service within the next few months. The success of this public campaign should encourage in- dividuals and organizations in the future to remember that the public, who foots the bill for government expenditures and elects the men who make the financial decisions, should have the final say in whether or riot a service is necessary. (from the Rural Voice) <r. 4 "The_toughest thing about electiohs is trying to decide which candidate will do the least harm." Deep spring breath The place is a sleepy Ontario village overlooking Lake Huron. The date is late April, when spring rains wash away the last dirty remnants of winter and the town's people gear up for the annual influx of summer visitors that swells the population to double or even triple its normal size. A retired couple walk arm in arm down the sidewalk on main street and a boy on a bike with his dog running behind passes by on the road. All the stores on the short main street look as though they've been freshly painted, but maybe it's just the spring showers and the owners' elbow grease on the windows that make them seem so clean. Shop owners try to make their buildings look bright and new, but at the same time, they cling to the homey old-fashioned atmosphere that at - Child accidents can be prevented In 1976, accidents killed 1,293 children under 15 in Canada, with traffic, drowning and suffocation claiming the three highest number of fatalities. With timely action most of these deaths could have been prevented. This is Child Safety Week (May 1-7) and the Canada Safety Council urges you to make it a week of thought and planning so that this bleak picture can be brightened. Accidents are the greatest threat to the lives and limbs of children and more of them die because of accidents than because of all the communicable diseases of childhood combined. Many more. are seriously injured or per- manently disabled. Medicine can immunize children against some diseases and prevent many others, but parents and educators must immunize children against accidents through protection and education. 1979 has been proclaimed In- sugar and spice It's spring Don't ever try to tell me that teaching school is a dull life. Oh, it can be pretty gruelling, not to mention gruesome, in January and February. But once we get that March break behind us, the whole scene blooms like a riotous garden in May. For one thing, it's spring. And as you walk around the halls of a high school, trying to pry apart couples who are so tightly grooved that you're afraid they're going to cave in a row of lockers, you can't help thinking you were born 20 or 30 years too soon. For another, the cursed snow and ice have gone, or almost, and you know there are only 10 or 11 weeks of mar- tyrdom left until you walk out of that shoe factory, (which most modern schools resemble) and kiss it goodbye for eight weeks. Then, in the spring, all kinds of things pop up. The drama festival. The teachers vs. students hockey game, in which an assortment of pedants, from nearly 60 down to the late 20s in age, pit their long -gone skills against a group of kids in their prime, who would dearly love to cream the math teacher who failed them in the March exams, or the English teacher who objected gently to their use of four-letter words in essays. As I write, our school is bubbling with excitement. First of all, our custodians are on strike. This gets the kids all excited, and rumours fly about the school being closed, and a free holiday. Then their faces drop a foot when they're told they may be going to school in July, to make up for lost time. And they start cleaning up after them- selves, instead of leaving it all to the janitors, as they usually do, and hope the strike will be over tomorrow. They don't give a diddle about the issues in the strike. They are practical. They want to be out of here on the first possible day in June. Don't blame them. It's human nature. For the teachers, who generally respect the caretakers, it is an object lesson in how important are the latter - the guys who swee the floors, vacuum the rugs, wash, the windows, and generally do the h rd and dirty work of keeping the school spruce and sparkling. As an old floor -scrubber and lavatory -cleaner, from the first job I ever had, I perhaps respect them more than anyone. Unlike other countries, like England, where unions are closely knitted, we cross the picket line and go to work, however much we respect and sym- pathize. If we don't, we're fired. Simple as that. But we are forbidden, by our union, to do any of their work, such as emptying a waste -basket, sweeping a floor. Sort of fun. But the really big excitement among our staff, at least the males pn it, is the shuffle -board tournament. Oh, I don't mean the out -door kind, where elderly people push with a pron,geld . stick a plate-like object. No this is the kind you find in taverns across the land: guys with a beer in one hand and a two -dollar bill in the other, shouting their bets through the smoke. We don't have beer in our staff room, but we do have a shuffle -board table. It's ro frill from the school board. A staff member built it, and the rest of us bought it from him. It's the greatest relaxer in the world, after teaching four classes in a row the great truths of. the world to 120 kids, 90 per cent of whom are about as interested as an aardvark. Shuffle -board is to curling what dirty pool is to English billiards. Curling is a gentleman's game, theoretically, where you shake hands with the win- ners, and both teams sit down for a drink and discuss the fine points of the game. The spectators are either behind glass or up in the stands, where they politely applaud a good shot and groan with sympathy when someone makes a near miss. Something like h cricket match, with good manners as im- portant as winning. Shuffle -board is a game where you walk away after losing, face red with rage at your stupid partner, who missed a key shot. I have never seen any hand -shaking, but have heard a lot of muttering. The spectators con- stantly heckle .and offer coaching tips designed to destroy the player's con- centration. "Put a guard on it. No, draw around it. Tap yours up. Draw deep. Play safe and cut therm down." etc. There is universal delight among ternational Year of the Child by the United Nations. It is also the 20th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, It is our responsibility as parents, educators or simply as adults to make sure that our children have and enjoy the right to safety, which is ultimately the right to life. It is too late to resolve to do better as the result of an accident. Prevention is the answer. Adult responsibility is clear. The time for thought and action is now. tracted the tourists in the first place. • Businesses on main street range from gift shops to antique shops to friendly corner markets that stock everything from milk, bread and eggs to hardware. Places to eat vary from cozy, village -type restaurants to luxurious "inns" to pizza houses. A couple of fast food drive in restaurants are found on the busy highway just outside of town. The main part of town consists of two , or three country -style churches and large older homes belonging to per- manent residents. On the side streets leading to the lake, rows of cottages in all sizes and styles have sprung up in recent years. Some have been winterized and are used all year long; others have win- dows ,boarded up just waiting to be opened some hot summer weekend. On the bluffs overlooking the lake sit a few benches, empty now and in need of paint after another harsh winter. The ground is still spongey soft, almost muddy, but the grass is turning green and tree branches hold fuzzy buds. A wind blows up off the lake, fresh but not ' cool. It carries the cries of contented seagulls wheeling and diving far out from shore. It also brings the unmistakable summer sound of waves lapping the shore below. The beach looks a little muddy and desolate, but the waves will soon clean it up. The beach is empty, except for a few lazy gulls; the waves roll slow and easy and sunbeams draw an arch on the water from the shoreline to the horizon. The whole scene is hushed as though taking a deep breath in this interlude between winter and summer. Soon the water will come alive with laughing and splashing people. and the sand will be covered with beach balls, sand castles and suntanned bodies. Main street will teem with cars, bikes and pedestrians, and the screen doo4s on the stores will slam - repetitiously. Meanwhile wooden shutters on cottages will' swing open wide. Old friendships will be renewed as permanent residents welcome back their summer neighbours and the sleepy village turns into a busting tourist town. Some businesses unwanted Dear Editor: In regard to the lengthy letter to the editor in last week's News -Record submitted by our dear friend Mr. C.D. Proctor, Town Clerk, I have a few views of my own. The first thing that came to mind while reading this lengthy letter was wondering if by some chance our tax dollars were spent -in the writing of such letters, and if so how many? Our Town Clerk seems concerned as to where industry or business locate. The records over the past 18 years, since I came to Clinton, should prove that there is, very little concern for fellow ratepayers over desirable or so the watchers when a great player misses an easy shot, and reluctant grunts of appreciation when a poor player makes a brilliant shot. Out -psyching the opponent is a vital part of the game. Just as he is about to shoot, you lean far over to blow away an imaginary speck of dust, hiding the rock he is shooting at with your tie. You always blurt, "Don't miss it now," just as he is about to make game shot. And he frequently does. It sounds like foul play, and it is. But it can be hilarious. Shuffle -board brings out the absolute worst in characters who are normally considered to be people of integrity. As played in our staff -room, it is not a game for those who believe in winning in a gentlemanly fashion. They wind up with ulcers and don't sleep nights. In our type shuffle -board, the mighty can fall, and the turkeys become eagles. I teamed up with another venerable gentleman, both of us for- mer prisoners -of -war (on opposite sides), and we showed some of those young punks who were in their diapers while we were trying to make a better world for them. We came out of eight games with four wins, .500, the best I've ever hit in my life. And if that dummy Hackstetter hadn't missed his draw in the fifth game and bumped the opposition up for five, we'd have won the tour- nament. remembering our pas t 5 YEARS AGO April25,1974 Postal service in the area was spotty as some post offices were sorting mail and delivering it, and others, like Clinton, were shut down when the inside workers walked out. Service in Clinton was restored Wed- nesday, but no settlement has been reached in the national strike. The Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Clinton and Goderich will be joining together next week in a combined attempt to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis. The Clinton Police got down to the bare facts last Saturday when they apprehended an area young man ,who streaked across the main intersection in Clinton. 10 YEARS AGO April 24,1989 Clinton plans to revamp its main in- tersection, a key crossorads in Huron County, and the $45,000 project holds the promise of several bonuses for the town. Lewis Elston Cardiff, Conservative MP for Huron County for 25 years died in St. Joesph's Hospital, London on April 16. He was 77. The Bayfield ACW met at The Hut for their April meeting last Thursday. Everyone was glad to be back at The Hut, because it meant that Mrs. Diehl felt better. 25 YEARS AGO April 29,1954 Gleaming in cleanliness and with its new equipment, the operating room at the Clinton Public Hospital has recently been remodelled and redecorated. Surgeons called undesirable industry or in fact any industry at all ever locating in Clinton. I do think if the records were available to me, it would show a small percentage of employment created compared to employment lost in Clinton. If the next 18 years show as large a loss of employment as the past 18, it is to be hoped that the County of Huron would enlarge Huronview to take in the whole Town of Clinton. Then we could have people sitting on lawn chairs on neatly cut lawns. This would make a pretty town to drive through, but would not create much revenue or even cause any outsider to even stop. • Sincerely yours, The owner of an undesirable business, Gerald Blake, Clinton Sale success Dear'Editor : The Rummage Sale committee of the Ontario Street United Church would like to say thank you for the efficient and very fine way in which the Clinton News -Record advertised our sale for last Saturday. Thank you for letting us in the coming events column and helping us find a date that didn't conflict with another event. It was help and co- operation like yours that made it the success that it was. Sincerely, Shirley Elliott, for the Rummage Sale Committee a look through the news -record files compliment the room for the permanent finish which has been applied to the arborite walls, which lights without glare and en- sures little expense for maintenance. Town employees have been busy cleaning up the areas between the Rance property and the Town Hall in preparation for a parking lot. When this is completed and perhaps black topping laid, an eyesore will be gone. 50 YEARS AGO April 25, 1929 The paving of six miles of highway south of Clinton, the London Road, has been let to Messrs. Boss and Brazier. The work on the Wesley -Willis Church is going very -satisfactorily hut, owing to some delay in getting materials, it is not expected that the opening can be held until sometime in early June. Some more hydro poles are being put on several street corners for more lights in Londesboro. The barbers of town will commence their Wednesday half holiday next week, and continue during the summer months. Mr. Ernie Shaddick of Mensal], a rising young decorator, is busy these days lightening the labors of our busy housewives, with his capable papering and painting. • /5 YEARS AGO April 28,1904 Mr. Harry Watkins handed the News - Record on Tuesday, an apple tree branch all in blossom. From evidence such as this it might be inferred that gentle spring is at hand. Mr. H.B. Higgins has now got his im- plement warehouse completed and well stocked with implements so the Varna farmers may look out for big bargains for Ben makes them all hustle. Rev. Mr. Rhodes, the new incumbent of the Middleton parish took charge last Sunday. Her sermons created a favorable impression 100 YEARS AGO April 24. 1879 It is not much to be proud of, but we will wager a brock copper that some of the corner loafers in town can out -stare passers- by more perfectly and expectorate a greater amount of tobacco juice than those of any other place of its size. There is a promise of having a telegraph office in Holmesville soon, which will be kept by Mr. Hill who has rented Walker's store. He is an operator. Mr. Jas. Walker intends working his farm. Rev. Mr. Philp has been conducting ' revival meetings at Ebenezer Rudd's place in Holmesville for about four weeks. A number have professed a change of heart. When we hear of farmers hereabouts being "taken in" on an article to prevent lamps exploding (which is only salt, colored) we are led to wonder if they are a class of farmers who "don't believe in taking a paper," as this and similar swin- dles have been exposed over and over again. Voting issues Pear Editor: With another election before us, we) should make a very special effort to find out what is really going on in this country before we decide who we are going to vote for. I don't know the answers to all the questions and maybe most -people don't even know the questions. It's the job of the media, to dig up facts and figures and make them public and I hope to see some points clarified before May 22. In my opinion the government is giving away too much money to the large corporations. The yearly amounts of corporate welfare now must surely run into the billions of dollars. The excuse for this massive give away is that the corporations need lots of money for research and development and explorations. All that is supposed to produce more jobs, or so we are told beforehand anyway. Could someone please give us some figures? Are there more people em- ployed in mining, manufacturing and energy than, say a couple of years ago? Or are these industries producing more than they did in the past? I think the answer is no. In fact I do believe that several coal and gold mines have been closed in recent years, and possibly some other operations too. What does the government do in such cases? Ask for their money back or do we just pretend that everything is okay and keep handin-g out money even if we don't see any results? Furthermore, some' giant cor- porations let their Canadian production slow down to a crawl, while they are very active in other countries. Is it possible that the Canadian taxpayers are supplying the money to operate mines etc. in foreign lands? Is it indeed likelythat. we have developed a new form of export, the export of cash. Let me just say that we have to demand a record of performance from the firms that are involved in those industries, especially those who have holdings in other countries because they are in the position to abuse any capital gathered in Canada, by whatever tneans. This is just one item that requires -high priority even for the average people in the riding of Huron Bruce: -e- are not as much involved as in- dustrialists, but we all .are taxpayers whether it be in the form of income tax, gasoline tax, sales tax or whatever. Maybe other people may have some information that will shed some light on this, or maybe we will hear other questions. I am sure the candidates i the up- coming election must have something to say on this topic, and I don't buy the excuse of creating jobs. or helping business, because we all know that unemployment has reached record levels and so have bankruptcies. I hope you will print this letter and I hope that we can stir up something, because it is onlyf on election day that we have the polder to make changes. Your vote is your only weapon in this battle. Make good use of it so you won't have to curse government in the next four or five years for taking more and more of your money and giving it where it's doing no good. Yours truly, August De Groof, RR 3, Clinton Amputee sports Dear Editor, The Ontario Amputee Sports Association is pleased to announce that they,, have been asked to host the 4th National Amputee Championships for the Canadian Association. The Championships will be held at McMaster University in Hamilton from June 30 through July 2, 1979. Com- petitors from every province and territory have been invited to these championships and it is hoped that more than 100 athletes will participate. Twenty of the invited athletes hold more than 50 world records between them. Two national teams will be selected in Hamilton to represent Canada. The first for World Games in England in August 1979 and the second for the Olympiad for the Physically Disabled. in Arnhem, Holland in June 1980. More than 30 countries will compete in each of these events and it is Canada's aim to finish in the top five. John Gibson President Games Co-ordinator Reunion Dear Editor: All former students and staff of East Northumberland Secondary School in Brighton, Ontario are invited to share in the festivities of the silver an- niversary weekend. Although a high school had existed in Brighton since 1916 on another site, the present school was opened in May of 1955. To celebrate the 25th year on its present site, students are invited to return on May 16, 17 and 18 in 1980. Former students and staff should contact: Mrs. Edna Faulkner, ENSS Reunion, Box 219, Brighton, Ontario KOK 11-10 Yours truly, Brian M. Todd, Principal.