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Clinton News-Record, 1984-06-13, Page 4. • • -Iv..., • incorporatin . THE 13LYTH STANDARD J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher mousy NiePHER - Editor GARY MAIO', Advertising Manager • MARY ANN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager A MEMBER Distsiev advertising rates evellaiblo on request. ask for Rate Card. No. 11 effective October 1. 141.1. in great shape 7 . for the shape I'm in There's nothing whatever the matter with me, I'm just as healthy as I can be. I have arthritis in both my knees, And when I talk, I talk with a wheeze. My pulse is weak, my blood is thin, But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in. All my teeth have had to come out, And my diet I hate to think about, I'm overweight and I can't get thin, But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in. And arch supporters I need for my feet, Or I wouldn't be able to go out on the street, Sleep is denied me night after night, But every morning I find I'm alright. My memory's failing, my head's in a spin, But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in. Old age is golden -- I've heard it said, But sometimes I wonder, as I go to bed, With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup, And my eyes on a shelf, until I get up, And when sleep dims my eyes, I say to myself Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf? The reason I know my youth has been spent, Is, my get-up-and-go, has got -up and went. But I really don't mind, when I think, with a grin, Of all the places my get-up has been. I get up each morning and dust off.my wits, Pick up the paper, and read the "obits". If my name is missing,I'm here therefore not dead, So I eat a good breakfast and jump back into bed. The moral of this, as this tale doth unfold, Is that for you and.me, who pre growing old, It is better to say "I'm fine" with a grin, Than to let people know the shape we are in: - from The Pelican published by The Ccinada Life Assurance Company. •Behind The Scenes By Keith Roalston Surveys - changing the future • What a sense of Power those few hundred people who answered the Gallup Poll last month must be feeling. Here they were just a tiny proportion of 'the 'population, just answering a few clues- • tions, and they set the whole country on its ear.1 wonder if they realized how important • they were when . they were giving their answers. I wonder if a few of them might have said, "What the hell, let's give them a thrill". I once answered a Gallup survey. 1 can't remember feeling I had the power to alter history in my hands. It scares me now to • think I may be responsible for. changing en- tire government policies just by the wav I answered those questions Some of 'thuSe government programs you love tohate may have come ihto being because I went "eenie" when I might have gone "moe" as I considered which way to choose. The horrible thing is, I can't remember one single question that was on the survey outside of the one about which way you would vote if there was an election today ( I think I was undecided). I mean, here I might have changed history and 1 don't even rememberyvhat history changed. Which, of course is, the strange things about polls. Politicians are always on record and something they said years ago can be brought up to them today to show how they've waffled ( Pierre Trudeau hasn't liv- ed down the Second World War yet ). But here are these people out there who have had a tremendous effect on which way politicians form policies and those anonymous people may change their mind entirely tomorrow and next week may have entirely forgotten even what they were ask- ed. Then there are all those millions of people who neyer get asked and yet are part of "the people" that are supposed to have spoken when a poll is taken. How come, for in- stance, nobody ever asks me what I watch on television. My television is continually clogged with mindless sit-coms where you can see the punehlines coming and the en- - tire plot by the time the first commercial ar- rives and I'm told that's what."the people" want. Ain't I "people"? They fill the screen with car chases and he-men so chesty .they can't do up all the buttons on their shirts and they sea( that's what everybody wants. Does that rWme a nobody? The trouble is, even if you do get to answer one of these surveys, they may not ask you th€ questions you want to answer Sometimes you want to check off 'None of the above" but the computer doesn't have a place for it. And sometimes you want to give them an opinion they apparently don't want to hear because they have no place for you to give it. Mew years ago I was talking to a writer for the London Free Press about the paltry. amount of space allotted to entertainment news in the paper. But the surveys show, he told me, that people aren't interested. They want information on junior hockey, etc. but not on entertainment. It so happened that I got a call a couple of years later from someone taking a reader- ship survey for the Free Press. Would I say I was: a) very interested; b) somewhat in- terested or c) not at all interested in junior hockey. And so it went through a half-dozen or so questions and just when I was ready for the question about how interested I was in entertairunent, she said, -"That's all, Thank you." I was still stuttering "B -b -b - but" when the phone clicked. So much for my influence on the world through surveys. Will you help stop acid rain? A Gallup poll recently released by the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain indicated 80 percent of Ontario residents were prepared to donate the financial equivalent of a day's work to clean up acid rain. However, a campaign organized by the On- tario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) which would 'earmark funds for the fight agarrist acid rain isn't generating much money. Since mid-March, the sportsmen's Federation, Ontario's largest provincial conservation organization, has been selling the well known'Mitchell 300A spinning reeLs (301A for left-handers) for just $29.95 (plus $2.10 sales tax and $2 postage and handling). As an added bOnus, all reel purchasers receive free an exclusive fishing cap and a Kinsmen Classic Car show on Saturday. The automobiles ranged f Cars, cars and more cars, nearly 100 registered for the Clintonrom Model T's to a '79 Corvette. Organizer, Wayne Hodges, said the show was a definite success. (Wendy Somerville photo) Sugar and Spice We've changed There has been a tremendous change in the manners and mores of Canadain the past three decades. This brilliant thought came to me as I saw a sign today, in a typical Canadian small town: "Steakhouse and Tavern." Now 'this didn't exactly' knock, me out, alarm me, or discombobulate me in any way. I am a part of all that is in this country, at this time. But it did give me a tiny twinge. Hence my opening remarks. - I am no Carrie Nation, who stormed into saloons with her lady friends, armed With hatchets, and smashed open ( what a waste) the barrels of beer and kegs of whiskey. I am no Joan of Arc. I. don't revile blasphemers or hear voices. I am no Pope John Paul II, who tells people what to do about their sex lives. • I am merely an observer of the 41db scene, in a country that used to be one thiirie and has become another. But, that doesn't mean I don't have opinions. I have nothing but scorn for the modern "objective" jour- nalists who tell it as it is. They are hyenas and jackals, who fatten on the leavings of • the "lions" of our society, for the most part. Let's get back on topic, as I tell my students. The• Canadian society has roughened and coarsened to an astonishing degree in the last 30 years. First, the Steakhouseand Tavern. As a kid working on the boats' .on the Upper Lakes, I was excited and a little scared when I saw that sign in American ports: Duluth, Detroit, Chicago. I came' from the genteel poverty of On- tario in the Thirties, and I was slightly ap- palled, and deeply attracted by these signs: the very thought that drink could be publicly By Bill Smiley advertised. Like any normal, curious kid, I went into a couple, ordered a two-bit whiskey, and found nobody eating steaks, but a great many people getting sleazily drunk on the same. Not the steaks. In those days, in Canada, there was no • such creature. The very use of the word "tavern" indicated iniquity. It was an evil place. We did have beer "parlours", later exchanged for the euphemism "beverage rooms". But that was all right. Only the lower element went there, and they closed from 6 p.m. to 7:30, or some such, so that a family man could get home to his dinner. Not a bad idea. In their homes, of course, the middle and upper. class drank liquor. Beer was the working man's drink, and to be shunned. It was around then that some wit reversed the saying, and came out with: "Work is the ?turse Of the drinking class", a neat version • of Marx's(?),"Drink is the curse of the working classes." If you called on someone m those misty days, you were offered a cuppa and something to eat. Today, the host would be humiliated if he didn't have something harder to offer you. • " Now, every hamlet seems to have its steakhouse, complete with tavern. It's rather ridiculous. Nobody today can afford a steak. But how in, the living world can these same people afford drinks, at current prices? . These steakhouses and taverns are usual- ly pretty sleazy joints, on a par with the old beverage room which was the epitome Of sleaze. It's not all the fault of the owners, though they make nothing on the steak and 100 per cent on the drinks (minimum). It's. aleidoscope just that Canadians tend to be noisy and crude and profane drinkers. And the crudity isn't only in the pubs. It has crept into Parliament, that august in- stitution, with a prime minister who used street language when his impeccable English failed, or he wanted to show how tough he was. It has crept into our educational system, where teachers drink and swear and tell dir- ty jokes and use language in front of women that I, a product of a more well-mannered, or inhibited, your choice, era, could not br- ing myself to use. And the language of today's students, from Grade 1 to Grade whatever, would curl the hair of a sailor, and make your maiden aunt grab for the smelling salts. Words from the lowest slums and slummiest barnyards create rarely" a blush on the' cheek of ydqr teenage daughter. • • A graduate of the depression, when people had some reason to use lead language, in sheer frustration and anger, and of a war in which the most common four-letter word was used' as frequently, and absent- mindedly, as salt and pepper, I have not in- ured to what our kids today consider nor- mal. Girls wear T-shirts that are not even fun- ny, merely obscene. As do boys. Saw one the other day on an otherwise nice lad. Message: "Thanks, all you virgins — for nothing." • The Queen is a frump. God is a joke. The country's problems are somebody else's problems, as long as I get mine. I don't dsolore. I don't abhor. I don't im- plore. I merely observe. Sadly. We are turn- ing into a nation of slobs. • it's been reported that there was a big rush on Brylcream sales in Clinton on .•Saturday as the local Kinsmen Club staged their most successful barbecue and first ever '50s -'60s festival. Greased back hair was the fashion of the day, but one wise Clintonian avoided the "little dab will do ya" look. _On, a dare, by Wes and Mary Anne Chambers, Tom McFarlan came home from work on Friday night with his dark hair shorn, and an official brush cut. Tom's in hiding right now. + + + Today Sunset, tomorrow St. Andrew's? Well not quite, but 1 must say I enjoyed by first gelling stint. I jointed a foursome of amateurs on the links Sunday night, in preparation for a big tournament we've entered. Needless to say, we didn't golf well, but.then again we didn't golf bad. If prizes 'were awarded for my first golf game, I would have won for the most holes left in the turf and the most worms rnairned. I am happy to report that I only lost two balls and didn't injure anyone on the course. It could have been worse, I could have hit John Balfour's passing van. + ++ Has anyone seen the Clinton Kinsmen banner? The local Kin are looking for it. According to President Han, ey Carter, the two foot square banner with gold lettering, blew off the club's float during the Spring Faie parade on June 2. It was last seen near Corrie's Red and White grocery story, and Harvey believes that two young boys were seen retrieving the sign. + ++ ,4k The Bikers Rights organization held a 50- 50 draw on May 27 and Nancy Pickett of Seaforth was the lucky winner. + + + Our apologies go out to the Clinton Legion Auxiliary who we had on the wrong end of the cheque presentation last week. We reported that the Legion, ladies received a $5,000 cheque from the men's division. chance to win a Johnson 9.9 hp outboard motor. In announcing the reel deal and in subsequent advertising, the O.F.A.H. pointed out that a significant portion of any profits generated would be used in the fight against acid rain. The balance would sup- port Federation efforts to restock, restore habitat, and preserve the future of fishing in Ontario. To date, less than 1,000 reels have been purchased. The Federation's reel deal is an oppor- tunity for Canadian citizens to make a con- tribution and still personally receive an ex- cellent value. Reels can be ordered from the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, fax 28, Peterborough, K9J 6Y5. By Shelley McPhee However, it was the men who received the money from the women. + + + Don't forget this Sunday, June 17, it's Father's Day. Although celebrated in North America since 1910, it was not offically recognized until 1972. Canada's observances of Father's Day date back to the 1900's and the early . history of the celebration comes from the United States. Back in 1910, Mrs. John Bruce Dood of Spokane, Washington organized the first unofficial celebration of Father's Day to • honor her own father, William Jackson Smart, who had singlehandedly raised six children after his wife died. For years United States politicians considered proclaiming Father's Day an official holiday, but fell short of making this recommendation. All this procrastination leo— Senator Margaret Chase Smith to unleash her wrath on Congress. In a 1957 proposal she wrote, "As far as I can gather, Congress has been guilty now for 40 years of the worst possible oversight...perpetrated against the gallant fathers 'of our land...either we honor both our parents...or let us desist from honoring either one." Finally, in 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a congressional resolution, officially proclaiming the third Sunday in June an annual day of observance. Offically or unofficially - Happy Day Dads! + + + This week we welcome to the News - Record pages, Al Welch. Al is the the new Public Relations Officer for the Clinton Legion and will be providing weekly news on activities down at 13ranch 140. +++ Mr. and Mrs. George Colclough, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Merrill and Elwin Merrill of Clinton attended the Phillips and Barnes wedding in Byron United Church on June 9. Disabled adults are top priority "Physically disabled adults should have equal access to essential assistive devices," according to Wade Hampton, President of the Ontario March of Dimes. "We are very concerned that the government is stalling on the decision to extend the Ministry of Health's Assistive Devices Program to adults over the age of 19 years". On Jantiary 7, 1982, Health Minister Den- nis Timbrell announced that the govern- ment would fund 75 per cent of the cost of assistive devices required by physically disabled children under 19 years of age. At the same time, he made a commitment to review when and how the program should be broadened to include disabled adults. Assistive devices provided in the present program include such items as manual and motorized wheelchairs, artificial limb* braces, ostomy and genito-urinary supplies and respiratory equipment. The budget unveiled by tne government recently outlines several measures to im- prove the lives of physically disabled people in the areas of housing, attendant care and enliployment. "These are all very positive steps to pro- mote integration," said Hampton. "We commend the government for their ac- tions." However, the basic essential needs - assistive devices - have been ignored. Disabled men and women cannot begin to function without them and, therefore, take advantage of these new opportunities. Assistive devices for adults remain the top priority. The Ontario March of Dimes will continue to urge MPPs to press the government to ex- tend the assistive devices program. Sup- port, so far, has been receiVed in con- stituencies throughout the province. :0011? prodi - • . OCOY, Of a regiatilred letter to :.OPitvid40.1.),o0ON. Vilitage4pYlield. r•- m041984 Mr Oavidjolmoon (Roeve), • .• tQa• Nov. 3,ird, 1.0.8.3 a search was 'under- taken of the Bayfield Cooncil Mi utas Book, viz. specifically Atm* 2nd, 1983 which revealed; "Upon motion made to aPpeint tlielegal firm of Deane & Associates and the legal firm of Mitchell, Flochin & Dawson to...repre- sent the Village of Bayfield in the matter of the expropriation of Parts .,. 1 through 9 in- clusive ... part of Hill Terrace on the south bank of the river Village of Bayfield, County of Huron...' This motion was moved, seconded and carried. At the May 1984 Ratepayers' Association meeting, I raised a point of concern regar- ding- the proposed appropriation of my riverside property, cf. Parts 6, 7, 8, 9. Your reply, "... there is no intention of ex- propriation of your property ... we are deal- ing with Parts 2, 3, 4.... you can read the mo- tion in the paper..." plainly contravenes the aforementioned motion of Aug. 2, 1983. Mr. Johnson,does the Aug. 2nd, 1983 mo- tion or your May 19th, 1984 statement repre- sent the truth? (Mrs.) M.J. Bullen Bayfield Concerned citizens and tree lovers Dear Editor: It has been brought to my attention that the 20 white pine trees on the west side of East St. are to be removed. I understand that this request made by the adjacent property owners is for aesthetic reasons only. Surely nature's "debris" is no more unsightly to deal with than that of numan s and certainly. more ecologically balanced. I find it hard to believe that council would so readily agree to an issue without more thought, research and local response. The time value fine tree of that size is important to consider, it adds to property value, the beauty of the town and is . certainly aesthetically pleasing. I suggest if there are any other concerned citizens for .this issue they contact council by hand written letter. and express their feelings. • C. Elliott Clinton Come celebrate Dear Editor: I believe 10 years of hard work, dedica- tion,' good management and thus success deserves to be recognized and applauded. This is where the Blytb Festival is at in its ever-growing life. This year we are celebrating our lOth Birthday with much pride. The season looks terrific, with special opening ceremonies on June 22. Many exciting events are happening throughout the slumber and I would especially like to note our Reunion Weekend on August 11 and 12. Join us to renew old ac- quaintances and enjoy the company of many people who have made the Blyth Festival what it is today. Tickets are going. very well! Remember, vouchers are only on sale until June 16, so why not pick up ontthat saving? Thank you for contributing to the Blyth Festival in the past and please continue to show your support to this theatre whose presence adds enjoyment and richness to the life of our community and region. It is indeed a pleasure to be associated with such a positive, caring group of people. It has given me a tremendous growth ex- perience and many good friends. Looking forward to seeing you in this our 10th celebratory season. • Sincerely, Liz Herman President, Board of Directors "Prejudices" are unfounded Dear Editor: Now that the future of our school - and of our community - is all but assured, we must give a rousing cheer to the school accom- modation committee and to the CanBay Corp., who together brought it all about. Tbe committee must also be commended for bringing the "prejudices against Vanastra" out into the open. It faltered, however, in targeting, "parents who cannot speak English and single mothers," as the victims of this very real prejudice. .In a land where, at this very moment, James Keegstra is being tried before a court of law on charges of teaching hatred and prejudice, it remains a shameful fact that ALL of Vanastra's people have been the target of much unreasoning prejudice for the past 40 years. But to be specific: in a nation where one in four families is now headed by a single parent, if Vanastra has more than the usual quota, itis because rents here are lower, a very large consideration for women who must do the work of two "normal" parents, while struggling to maintain a quality of life for their children on an income usually far below Canada's poverty line. And as for those who "cannot speak English" : surely, in God's name, we should offer nothing but compassion to these valiant people who escaped a holocaust we'll never know and cannot even imagine, In Vanastra, there is virtually no unemploy- ment and no juvenile delinquency arriOng the Vietnamese, a claim few other com- munities can make of any group. Vanastra is a good place to live and to raise kids - a warm, friendly, caring com- munity, And we are proud of it all the way. Sincerely, Toby Rainey Vahastra