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Clinton News-Record, 1984-05-09, Page 4MA • • Pt it' FhE rJ AVyARP • it (1linton News -Record larocarporating • BUT STANDARD Jo HOWARD AITK(Nk<Publlsher SHELLEY MPHE(. Edltgr GARY HAI$T - Adv44rtIsIng Manag•r MARY ANN 140LLEN0ECK m Offlop Manager MEMBER • MEMBER Dlestsr wdvertI*Ita9 rote® ovwllsltlw so rooseset. 4416, for IRwte egvd. No. 14 offoative Octo!®r 1. 1999. Mothe:r's: tar -on i used to say to„mother, when friends dropped in for tea, "Oh, mother take your apron off, and don't embarrass me!” .But mother simply smiled and said "[Will when I get through -- But I have needlof it just now; there's work for me to do": I argued and apologized, and often I opined That wearing aprons gave a hint that one was not refined! But mother took the restless babe upon her aproned knee Quite undisturbed by what l said, she rocked on cheerfully, And when the older boys came in, a giggling happy lot My mother with the babe in arms, would stir the old iron pot: And from her kitchen she would bring a dinner well prepared By loving hands for healthy youths who seldom thought or cared, And thus to labor and to serve my mother always wore A large white, crispy apron in days of happy yore. And when the evening meal was. done, I'd say "Oh mother, do Take off your apron!" She'd reply"l will when I get through". 'Tomas thus the happy years sped on, her children grew and wed My mother nursed her grandchildren in her own children's stead. She always found the time to go to soothe a neighbor's cough, But never could she find the time to take her apron off.! The corner of her apron served to dry our childish tears It was a screen for peek-a-boo for more than 50 years.. It told each hungry stranger who came shivering to our door "My apron's on -- I'm here to serve until life's day iso'er'". So.faithfully she worked away she had so much to do And always of her apron said "I will when I get through". And then one night with weary feet, she climbed !heck! home stair And with a conquering sigh she sat down 'on her bedroom chair. And folding up her apron white, as she was wont to do She handed it to me and sighed, "Well daughter, 1 am through". And peacefully s:he entered into rest, so,nobly earned And as the lonely years passed by this Lesson I have learned My mother's apron symbol was of service for her King Naw, inm ._ treasure .chest it lies, a sacred precious thing. Keep OMAF in Clinton Clinton cannot afford to lose the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) office. Yet the possibility. that OMAF may move to a neighboring municipality is very real. • Severe parking limitations is the problem with OMAF's Clinton location and other area towns have.giveri OMAF,at tractive offers to relocate.: The government agency office has been &vital, progessive part of this com- munity since the 'early 1900s and Clinton council must come up with a solution to OMAF's problems. OMAF is just too important to HuronCounty is a provincial leader in crop production'and thecounty's 4-H pro- gram is the largest in Ontario. The local OMAF office is also one.of the busiest in the province This year's annual report showed that the Clinton office was visited by more than 6,650 people. The office received more than 14,000 telephone calls and distributed 6,5001circulars by'mail. Staff sent 'out 24,000 letters and received 7,500.' .Local farmers use the OMAF office extensively and each working day, some 60 mo 70 people come to the office. These people are not only coming to town•to deal with OMAF. These people are also Clinton's potential shoppers. Without OMAF, these people would be going to another town and taking with them valuable business. . OMAF. is also one of the.areo's largest employers.•This employement is essen- tial and the.town is not in the position to turn' it away. There is no reason for OMAF to leave Clinton. A porkin.q solution is •not im- possible to find. OMAF is a important asset Io .this community and we cannot af- ford to give it away. -by 5. McPhee iBQhind ThQ, Scenes' Need to care Recent censuses have shown that small towns in Canada are actually increasing in population but with recent developments in this area one has to wonder if our small towns and villages will continue to be around in the future. Added to the lack of government interest in keeping small towns healthy and the Suicidal desire of small town consumers to rush off to the. cities with their shopping dollars has come a new threat: massive, organized depopulation of farmland. Recently an auction was held in the Tiverton area. Farm auctions are nothing new of course. Farmers have been leaving the land, usually against their own desire, since World War II. What made this one different was that eight farms were involved and it wasn't the farms themselves that were for sale but the buildings: each building to be torn down and hauled away. The land has been bought up by a large corporation along with thousands of acres in Huron and Bruce counties in recent years. This sale made news, however, because unlike many of the farms previously bought by the corporation, these were cleared of all buildings. As long as there were buildings on the farms there was the possibility it might someday return to family ownership or at least someone might rent the house and local population wouldn't die completely: Bui under our taxation system, a farm without buildings is virtually tax free. All the local tax goes on the buildings. Naturally, being profit oriented, the corporation decided it was in its best Tranquility Sugar and Spke By Rod Hilts A grand madness SPRING actually sprang this year, in - ,stead of limping in with a bad cold, •its customary wont, in these climes. Usually, in this country, we don't really have a spring. Weleap from the lingering. frigidity of a cold and wet. April, rather similar to an English winter; into -a hot spell, in May that leaves us dizzy,; stunned, stupefied. And before we know it, we're into a humid June, complete with mosquitoes and things, including young ladies, busting out allover. One hurls one's clumsy rubber boots into one's closet. One disrobes from the massive, blanket -like contraption in which one has, hidden one's frozen bones for the past five, months. One skims one's hat into the top corner of the closet. And one comes down . with one's annual spring cold, snuffling and. sniffling toward summer, that apogee of the Canadian psyche. Deep in that Canadian psyche lurks the suspicion that possibly, just possibly, this year the winter will never end, and that we shall go through a summer of frozen bran- ches etched against a gray sky, frozen ground under foot, no flowers, no foliage, no hot summer sun to peel the skin. At least that's the way I feel, and I'm an average Canadian in every way. Perhaps that's the reason Canadians go winging off to hot places all winter, at phenomenal costs. When it comes to getting ' away to the sun, we have no equals on earth, except perhaps the Scandinavians. ' . - • I know coupleswho, if they were having you for dinner, would argue about whether to give you the hamburg barbecue or the tuna casserole, the cheap plonk or the ex- pensive wine with a body. Yet they'll blow a By Bill Smile couple of thousand dollars for a week in the sun, living and letching and drinking and browning for seven days, and returning to the gray,grim landscape they left. It's in- sane. But then there's something insane about .gall Canadians, when they feel they: are - escaping, once again, the icy talons of winter. They go cuckoo. • Just the other day, I saw an -old lady, ,wrapped. to the ears so that she could scarcely move, out raking. leaves, simply because the sun was shining, and the calen- dar, thoughnot the temperature, told her it was spring. She should have been in by the fire. Before the snow has even begun to melt,' our department stores, have packed away their winter stuff and are flaunting bikinis that would make a stripper blush. Boats are hauled out before the ice on the bay has begun to melt. Ardent curlers stash their brooms and dig out the golf clubs, though they would sink to the -hocks on the fairways. Trout fishermen, who havebeen chained to. the arduous ice -fishing for perch during the past few months, get a wild gleam in their eyes, go out and buy a small fortune's worth of new tackle, and rush like lernmings to the choice spots on Opening Day elbowing and struggling with thousands of their ilk to get a line in the water. • ' Kids go goofy. They like winter, but spring drives them right around the bend. Puddles to splash in. Mud to tumble into. Exploring to be done into all those secret corners that the snow had kept hidden. . . • Housewives go hairy. Their well -kept homes, dusted and vacuumed and polished Kaleidoscope By Keith Roulston By Shelley McPhee to within an inch of their lives all winter, are suddenly, as the suspicious spring sun peers in, "shabby, filthy, disgusting," and they launch into an orgy of cleaning and decorating that drives their men simultaneously up the wall and into debt. -Old people behave oddly, With a sort of glint in their eye, they realize that they've licked the old graveyard one more time and go out and get terrible cricks in their backs planting flowers and gardens. And young people! Well, we all know what happens to them when Canada occasionally. enjoys a real, legitimate Spring. They stand on street corners, after school, bunting each other like young calves. They strip to beach -wear on days that would freeze the brains of a brass monkey, they fall wildly in love with someone they hadn't even seen all winter, except as a snif- fling, snuffling stripling across the aisle in Grade 10 English. They go wild with the sheer delirium of be- ing young in springtime. The boys drive too fast and recklessly. The girls have strange• fancies and dream of sex and summer secrets: What do aging school teachers do in the. spring? They're just as nutty• as the rest. They look with aching longing to their long summer, wishing their lives away. They try to retain their dignity, while they feel like kicking up their heels, running off with a Grade 11 girl, or boy, shooting golf in the seventies, catching a whopping rainbow trout. And dreading retirement. It's a grand madness that seizes this na- tion, come Spring. Long may it continue. interests to get rid of the buildings. In a move reminiscent of John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, the buildings had to come down for big cash -crop operations. The startling thing is that nobody, outside of a few Farm Survival group members, seems to care. The provincial government says there's no problem. The other farmers shake their heads sadly but say a man has to sell his land to the highest offer, even if he doesn't approve of what will be done with his farm. And people in the towns seem to think it doesn't concern them at all. But it does concern all of us, whether urban or rural. A hundred years ago our towns were booming places full of industries filling local needs and exporting manufactured goods. Today few towns have an significant amount of industry. Mostly our employment depends on people services. We have merchants who depend on local farmers to increase their business. We have farm suppliers selling feed or machinery. We have government offices set up to fill the needs of people in the local areas. We have schools giving' work to teachers, administration staff and cleaners so our children can be educated. But take away the people and we don't have any farmers to buy groceries' or children to be educated. Our whole way of life depends heavily on having people living on those farms. Clear the land of houses and have a few huge corporations cash -cropping the ,land and we soon won't have healthy towns and villages either. It's time somebody cared. It was unfortunate to hear that Clinton council is losing one of its best members. For the past six years I've watched Rosemary Armstrong at work with town council. In that time she has always appeared as a conscientious, devoted, interested councillor. Rosemary was never afraid to speak out on an issue that she felt strongly about. She had a good knowledge of many subjects and was always keen to know about municipal business. Rosemary was a confident, honest politician who was truly concerned about the best interests of Clintonians. Time limitations have forced Rosemary Armstrong to give up her councils post, but hopefully in future years, she may take her 'place again at the Clinton council table. + + + I enjoyed an unexpected treat on Monday afternoon with a delightful Auburn lady. A late morning . interview with former school teacher, Mrs. Beth Lansing of Auburn turned into pleasant surprise. When I arrived at her home, Mrs. Lansing had lunch prepared and we chatted over sandwiches, a big pot of tea and cookies. That treat made a relatively regular day a little more special. + + + Special is the word of the day for Sunday, May 13. Don't forget, it's time to remember those special ladies. Happy Mother's Day to you all, +++ This seems to be the time of year for naming queens and the Clinton Spring Fair is preparing for its annual Queen of the Fair contest. The event is being organized by the Clinton Kinettes and . contestants and sponsors are asked to submit their names to Marie Jefferson at 482-3616 or Bette Dalzell' at 482-3196 by May 15. Any Clinton area girl, between the age of 17 and 21, who has never been married, may enter. +++ John Greidanus is proud as a peacock this week with the news of his nephew's latest music accomplishments. John's nephew, Ronny Greidanns, son of James and Theresea Greldanus of Londesboro, recently took first place honors fn piano at a competition in Walkerton. The CHSS student had 84 points for his first place win. • Ronny's only been studying piano for less than four years and will soon be completing his Grade 8 studies. Ronny and his uncle . John are both accomplished musicians. You'll have a chance to hear both of them at this year's Klompen Feest celebrations on May 18 and 19. John will be leading the Festival Singers and Ronny will be providing piano accompaniment. +++ The Clinton Huronlc Rebekahs held a dessert euchre party on May 2 with 15 tables in play. Winners were: ladies' high, Della Slavin; ladies' low, Eldeen Volland;_ lone hands, Jean McEwan. Lucky draw winners were Alice Bowan, Marg Reynolds, Ida Godkin, Esther Moffat, Vera Miller, Elma Jewitt, Olga Chipchase, Doris Batkin, Roberta Plumsteel, Grace Evans, Violet Howes, Isabelle Rogerson, ' Mary Dale, Evelyn Flynn, Florence Rouston, Pearl McKnight, Glenyce Vanderveen, Mabel McAdam, Jean Johns, Get -tie Moir, Mable McNight, Norman Grigg and Bertha McGregor. +++ Saturday, May 12 promises to be a sunny, spring day - perfect for a jaunt around the countryside. Start your day up in Blyth at the UCW Ninth Annual Garage Sale. The giant sale is being held at the community centre and runs all day. From there you can drive down to Bayfield to take in one of the village's bicentennial events, the official planting of flowering trees on Howard Street. The Bayfield Garden Club is hosting this event which gets underway°at 2:30 p.m. If you make your visit to Bayfield a quick one, you can be back to Clinton in time to visit the Clinton Public Hospital. From 2 to 4 p.m. the Auxiliary members will be serving refreshments and the young Candy Stripers will be giving tours of our medical facility. Then, if you want to see euchre at its best, drop over to the Clinton Legion between 4 and 5 p.m. to watch the provincial championship euchre finals. More than 200 Legion members from across the province will be meeting in Clinton on Saturday to participate in the 1984 finals. Oh, and by the way, have a great day! Have your r say wwwwwiage Dear Editor Operation eratio_n Eyesight Dear Editor, I am writing as a Canadian mother, realizing that Mother's Day is fast ap- proaching and that it will be a day, again, when cards and gifts and flowers will be given to many a mother across our country. While manysuch gifts will be appreciated for the thought that has prompted them, my guess is that many will also be superfluous to the needs - even the real desires - of those who receive them. In spite of Canada's rate of unemploy- ment, affecting -all too large a number of people, a vast majority of Canadians con- tinue to livein exceedingly comfortable, even luxurious, circumstances - especially .in comparison with most of the people in other areas of the world. I have travelled in parts of Asia and South America, and have seen mothers in desperate poverty and ill -health, unable to help themselves. I have seen children with swollen tummies and dull eyes. I would like to suggest to those who are looking for ideas about gifts, that a signifi- cant way of honoring our own mothers might be to lend a helping hand to some other mother, or mother's child or even grandmother who is in real need. I think, for example, of the opportunity of- fered by an organization such as Operation Eyesight Universal, who, for only $25 (the cost of a bottle of perfume or a good book) will restore sight to some blind person - in India or Africa or South America - along with new hope for the future. Operation Eyesight will send your mother a card indicting that the gift of sight has been given to a helpless, destitute, blind per- son - sight given in her name by you. Your mother will also receive a patient identifica- tion card showing the name of the patient whose sight was restored and signed by the officiating doctor. Simply send her name and address to Operation Eyesight Universal, Box 123, Stn "M",. Calgary, Alberta. T2P 2H6. Since Operation Eyesight Universal is a registered Canadian charity, a receipt for income tax purposes will be issued to you. Such a present, given in a mother's name, truly honors both recipients, along with the giver, and the reality of human family in our needy world. Yours sincerely, (Mrs. C.H.) Shirley Bentall, Calgary, Alberta. Sunday work Bear Editor: While driving.to•chtirchi Sunday mornings it becomes more and more apparent that many people are planting the fields or doing garden work. This saddens me a lot. We call ourselves Christians living in a Christian country., • Why than not follow Christ's command ments. Oneof them, to Honor God on His day. Fathers, go to church with your families instead of working on your land on Sundays. There is great reward in helping His law. Please read Malachi 3. Sincerely, Mrs. Henke Bakelaar Look alive warning from ARF • • "Look-alikes" now account for more than half the drugs brought into the Addiction Research Foundation (ARF) for analysis. In the past year, there have been 92 drug samples (of a total of 174) identified as look- alikes. The next largest sample . was can- nabis (marijuana and hashish) at 35. ; • Look-alikes contain substances such as caffeine, ephedrine,, and phenylpropanolamine found in such over- the-counter drugs as diet pills and. cold remedies. They are advertised in the 'United States as . stimulants and are often misrepresented on the street as am- phetamines. Initially, they were manufactured to mimic the size, shape, color, and external markings of. amphetamines. Now they are found in a variety of shapes and colors, the most common forms being black or yellow capsules, pink hearts, and tablets with col- ored specks. Caffeine, ephedrine, or phenylprpanolamine are found in over-the- counter drugs and cause only minor side ef- fects when taken as recommended. However, reported adverse effects to look-alikes range from minor ones such as headaches and restlessness to major ones such as heart irregularities, kidney failure, increased blood pressure, and psychotic reactions. There have been reports of deaths in the United States and Canada associated with taking look-alikes. Some have been attributed to suicidal overdose or from combination with alcohol. Another danger is that a person may, buy look-alikes which are really amphetamines. Look-alikes are deceptive because they can resemble amphetamines. Some look-alike users take large quantities at one time, and a serious amphetamine overdose can result. A person can never be certain of the content of street drugs. Many people think look-alikes are harmless because they contain "only caf- feine and over-the-counter . substances." They do not realize, however, that caffeine itself, in high doses, can cause death. Doses of caffeine in look -Mikes vary. One report indicated there was as much caffeine in one look-alike sample',as there is in five cups of coffee. As few as hl look-alike cap- sules can contain the amount of caffeine reported to have caused death in the pats.