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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1972-04-27, Page 13vitries to H� The Voice that Reminds Us of the Heart By Dianne Fines RR 1. Bluevale Events and people and objects IS change so very little on a day-to- day basis that those who are nearest them often fail to see that changes have occurred. Yet; even a short absence is followed by the realization that many things have happened in the interval to make the familiar not so familiar any More. Because I have been away from home .for most of the past two and a half years, I could have C • C 0 • developed a sort of Rip Van Winkle complex about the com- ings and goings of the people and places that timed to know so well. It could have become a place of strangers, with somewhat fa- miliar last names. And I might have lost toilch. with the issues that concern rural Ontario, the issues that are so important to the people I love. Instead I feel that I do know what is happening in my home- town—for, despite the fact that the community and I have physically parted ways, the fa- miliar, dependable, ever -taken - for -granted weekly newspaper has maintained my spiritual ties to the area for me. Tn its accounts and pictures of local events, I see that things are the same as always and yet things have changed. .. 4 -'era and Junior Partners still meet (al- though theyall seem to be young- er brothers and sisters of the people I used to go to meetings with.) And at the high school there are old and new faces and names and events. In the stores and offices and community clubs there have been promotions and retirements, enlargements and mergers and closings. Knowledge of almost all of these events might have passed me by, except for the fact that my wsp hometown newspppelr' its job as communnity and community voice. The hometown weekly; MVOS the local "(not the global) villa and so; more than any htl" medium of mass commmunIcation, it seems to carry people-nev stories about places and pefsonS and a culture with which we Can identify. The "hatched, matched and dispatched" columns, the Ar- ticles, .the photos are about o1W neighbours and relatives and friends and about a way of life that is familiar, good, and ours. The people in those column and articles and photos hold values and attitudes and outlooks competition on life that are too valuable .to be lost. In a world where almost noth- ing else is for sure, there is al- ways the smile on a child's face as she leads her calf, or the strength and serenity of a couple with 50 years of marriage, or the spirit of togetherness in a com- munity -supported event. May those smiles, that strength, that spirit never Ieave rural communities. May the weekly newspaper continue to picture and talk about them, so that "expatriots", such as my- self, can be reassured that life goes on, changed and yet un- changed, and that the heart has not left rural Ontario. - WALKER'S HOME FURNISHINGS SHOWERS OF SAVINGS During One of the three storE r o five combined their buying power to give you the biggest savings ever on items you need. for your home. The other two stores are: The Decor Shoppe and Burke Electric. dee their advertisements on page 4 and 6 of this issue HOME IMPROVEMENT SALE KROEHLER SLEEP -OR LOUNGE a Available in , Hercul6n or Nylon Covers, Figured or Plain With 54 Mattress REG. 259.00 FROM APRIL 27 'TILL MAY 6 ALLlain WAA5 KROEHLER Hi -BACK SWIVEL' ROCKER 1 Gold - 1 Turquoise Reg. 119.00 t.s up., `«; a s, ... " RECLINING CHAIRS • � SWIVEL ROCKERS flAVE'lO%oN HOSTESS CHAIRS PLATFORM ROCKERS • C • TROISTER 2 K. 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Ontario Janet turned toward the win- dow, meeting the warm rays of the early morning sun as it streamed across her bed and old quilted coverlet. Opening her eyes, she stretched back on her pillow and then remembered where she was. Only last night Janet had ar- rived at the old farmhouse where she had been born and spent her early childhood and youth. She had anticipated a long quiet rest- ful summer where she could fin- ish writing, without noise or in- terruption, a . book about people 'and a community similar to Sen - nit. - j- Slowly she collected her thoughts after "intermissions of day -dreaming, and drifting back into the past. As she reminisced she recalled incidents from 'her early life, Suddenly, Janet re- mnember id that there was a sta.- tion wagon to unpack and things to put in order, if she were to be- gin life in her quiet summer, abode. At the kitchen door, warm sun- shine creeping through the old clematis vine suggested that the wooden table built around the Dutch apple tree would be an ideal place to have breakfast. As Janet was finishing a second cup of coffee and watching a robin in the branches she was suddenly disturbed by footsteps near the hedge. Mrs. Minevert, whom she had asked, before she arrived, to put the old house in order, ap- peared. Janet was glad she had come so she could pay her and make arrangements for her help once a week during her stay. As they sipped coffee together, Mrs. Minevert asked Janet if she would be interested in getting The Sennit Scroll during the sum- er, as she would take her sub- scription. Hoping not to offend her, Janet replied, "I shall be very busy and I don't have any interest in Sennit anymore so it would be foolish of me to subscribe to it. In fact, I wish to be quiet and left alone in order to finish my writing." By mid afternoon, Janet had moved her'typewriter inside to the shaded and. cool dining -area. A gentle tap at the side porch door revealed Lori, a little girl 'with a hot casserole and muffins for her supper. Lori welcomed her back to the old house and asked her if she would like to go to the Lancaster Garden party with them to -morrow. As gra- ciously as possible Janet declined. the invitation.,,Janet had been a school chum of Lori's mother. She hated to be rude but she.sin- cerely hoped the neighbours would leave her alone and not feel obliged to visit or entertain her. Next morning Janet woke with the drumming ofraindrops on the roof. Asshe lay listening and re- calling the magic patter they had • once held from years gone"by, she was rudely brought back to real- ity by droPs on her face. A leaky roof required a repair inan. She would have to use the phone that she had hoped never to use that summer so as to avoid commun- ity contact. Lori Strats' mother would know someone 'who re- paired roofs. Agnes' voice and warm laugh- ter sounded familiar. Janet thanked her for the splendid cas- serole and Muffins and remarked that Lori was such a'nicely man- nered 'child. "I • shall send Lori over with The Sennit Scroll for the Want Ad section has several names of repair men with their phone numbers and by the way I got the recipe for that casserole in this week's Scroll." Browsing through the paper, Janet found a repair man; dis- covered the ingredients for the casserole and also the notice that the 'Lancaster Garden Party had entertainment—a play by local talent. For a full ten minutes Janet's thoughts •drifted back to the old stage» plays she and- the neighbourhood children had per- formed in their hay loft. Mike Wildonl'had played the giant and chased Bob Keeken, who played Jack all the way down the hay mow. pole. Taking a second look at the notice she almost gasped as she saw .Bob's name appearing in the cast.. Agnes phoned again to invite Janet to go with them. After she accepted, she felt disgusted with" herself for weakening and be- coming, involved in the commun- ity's social life. She thought to herself, "Well, just this once, I'll have to write all ' day and work quietly and make up for lost time." During the afternoon as she typed, she wondered about some past events and people of the community. Browsing, through The Sennit Scroll she found busi- nesses still in the. family name and familiar families in the social news. She even found three of her school friends in pictures and learned of their achievements and contributions" to the com- munity. At the Garden Party, Janet talked with many former neigh- bours and school friends as Well Advance -Times Thursday, April 27, x97 Page E My PoltutettflOrnitavin y�N�4*5popi' silty, Marilyn amgram, RRR , #�r-in, .. - . . Yesterday I saw a newspaper struggled through "Bill Smiley", lying beside the sidewalk, but I would later contemplate the marked with tracks of a passing subject in the darkness of my car, wet with the declining snow, bedroom. d and appearing to be just another I, cut through the obituaries and specimen of garbage littering our red the movie guide, looked at much polluted world. I stared at th ,pictures, which usually it for some time, pondering why caught my attention. there were so many thoughtless I decided I would dry out my people in this world, who would paper, and cut out the pictures of go to the immense trouble of ob- the "town of the past", for my tanning a hometown newspaper science projects. and then dismissing it with so "Letters to 'the Editor" are little respect! usually associated with coin - As I stooped to pick it up, my plaints, but after wringing the senses warned me of an oncom- paper, . I located some genuine ing car, so I stepped back, and for improvements in the requests the second time this seemingly After skimming through "To - unnecessary "piece of junk" flut- day's Child", I felt sincere regret tered to the other side of the for those less fortunate than I. pavement. I dashed across the I paged past the newlyweds, street, grated my new orphan, ' only pausing to decide if I liked and decided that "this?' paper the outfits. was going to be treatedwith a I read "who" had won "what little more respect than in its pre-. championships", and recalled vious existence. ' whether I had seen them. When I had descended my bed- I stopped to glance At the room and placed my weary self known fact that "someone" had on the bed, .I opened the news- visited "somebody", 'but I made paper to the front cover. Through a personal note to look up on a the now -mangled print, and uncle- map, just where that "some- cipherable photography, I at- where" was. tempted to read the drenched ' As I concluded, I conceded that paper. I spent little time on the whoever had previously `owned" first section, except to ponder the this small-town , newspaper had classified ads, but moved on to obviously been missing some - my favourite: the editorials. thing.Then I walked down the Editorials seem to supply the steps, to the lower portion of our public with something to think dwelling place, and found on the about, something that will either coffee-table an edition of the infuriate them, or something with paper, identical to the paper I which they wholeheartedly, had just finished reading, and agree. It didn't happen to be -"my realized that a paper like _my day", because I was • 'fated drenched orphan was delivered with one statement w ";; said, to our home weekly, and con - "The editorial page • is easily sidered that the best news can be understood by adults." There are located anywhere, and it was like other people besides adults ! the main objective of a news - Don't they receive any con- paper: to inform the' people; and sideration? My temper had that, "world" is what a little pol- cooled down by the time had lution can, do!' The Hometown Newspaper By Isabel Oke, Belgrave Pragmatically, the Hometown Newspaper is a necessity. It keeps us informed on vital statis- tics and saves us from gaffes such as enquiring after someone who was buried last month. It is indispensable to newcomers to a district. Reading the personals, obituaries and accounts of family reunions is an excellent way of sorting out the natives and learn- ing who is related to whom. '(Not knowing about relationships has put many a foot , in many a mouth.) It's a' great curiosity-satisfier. Ilwe we can't find anyone to tell us who was involved in the six -car smash-up at the corner of High- ways X and Y, or *here the fire- .. truck was going, we can relax, secure in the knowledge ' that we'll read about it in the Paper. To political illiterates, the re- ports of Council and Board meet- ings clarify the edicts handed down from Toronto and Ottawa. We can see how government de- cisions affect us, and what they - are likely ' to cost. While posses- sion Of the fats does little to 'ease the pain, there's a certain satis- faction in knowing what is being done to us. The Hometown • Newspaper's editor is a gentleman. His editor• - as several participants from the play. But Janet forced herself to refuse 'their hospitable invita- tions as graciously as she knew how. • Next morning Janet solemnly resolved to write a fixed quota .of pages each day and bury herself in her typewriter and notes. 'Al- ready nearly a week had passed. Hurriedly she reached for an old paper and emptied the contents of the coffee pot. As she wrapped . up the garbage she noticed the editorial. Pushing bask the coffee grounds she read the editor's comments on conservation , and the -community's part in the pol- lution program. Another topic dealt with .young people's con.- cern on-cern with poverty, pollution and prejudice. "That's it, that's what I need for my book," thought Janet. Before she. got started to write a knock came on the front screen door. A man from The Sennit Scroll appeared with a • compli- mentary copy of the paper. How. could Janet refuse? Inside that very copy were ideas and ma- terial for her book. The very shape and mould •of the whole little Sennit community was re- flected in its hometown news- paper. When the reporter suggested an interview and asked questions about her other novels, Janet knew there was no sense hiding her identity and dreaming of a° quiet secluded summer. She needed the community, its people and happenings to make her new book come alive. The Sennit Scroll had shown her this. She must repay them for their help. The book could wait another day. After the interview she would visit the Strats and perhaps Lori would come over. She could show her the magic summer theatre, the willow swamp and the Fairies' Meadow. Janet had a little living to do. Yes, the book could wait. • ials are fair and objective. His political preference is inescap able, as he'd have to be neutral to the point of banality to hide it, but lin rarely .11s' we lac orae to become. an editorial bias. Al- though I'm occasionally incensed to the point of wanting 'to punch him on the nose, and, am deterred mainly by the thought of head- lines in the next issue reading "Middle-aged Mother of Three At- tacks Editor', he never descends to the hysteria common to the dailies. • Even when he doesn't know what tee's talking about, he writes rationally. . Sensation ,is not his aim. One cannot imagine his being guilty of the heartless lack of taste that led the dailies to print photographs of • Robert Kennedy as he lay dying. The Hometown editor plays tra- gedy down, not up. If a man goes berserk, shoots his wife and chil- dren; then turns the gun on him- self, the' Hometown Newspaper makes as little as possible of it. A suicide is .reported, in the 'obitu- aries as having died `suddenly, at his home'. Indubitably, everyone in the county knows the truth, but . the editor doesn't sell papers by gratifying morbid curiosity. ° • These points all make the. Hometown Newspaper ' an im- portant factor in our lives, but its most valuable function is its con- tribution to a sense of identity among its readers. City children get their names and pictures printed only if they chance to be kidnapped or run over by a bus. In Hometown they' appear as team -members, par- ticipants in fairs, recipients of diplomas, awards and prizes, or as performers at concerts. Birth- day parties, tonsillectomies, trips to camp and visits to grandpar- ents are all reported, and long be- fore a child can read he gets a very special thrill from being . shown his very own name printed in the paper. An adult city -dweller, bom- barded by daily• news of people and places he has never seen, has. moments when he isn't certain that he exists. To make the dailies, one must be rich, famous, notorious, criminal or the victim of a particularly heinous offense. We rural people read about our neighbors and ourselves, and even if .the information is .rela- tively unimportant, it's a sort of certification of our existence. Why else do people who left Hometown permanently decades ago subscribe to the Hometown Newspaper? They can't Conceiv- . ably know the people in the news, but when they read that John Jones has graduated from uni-' versity, they can say, 'That would be Bob Jones' boy. I re- member the Joneses'. And for the moment the world is less alien. To those of us who regard city life as equivalent to a sentence to penal servitude, the Hometown Newspaper typifies all that is best in our lives. None of us is merely one of, a faceless herd. We are all individuals and important to each other. Our communities remain communities, immune to the current passion for cen- tralization. Without the . Home- town Newspaper the struggle to retain our individualism would be badly hampered, ifot impos- sible.