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Clinton News-Record, 1984-10-31, Page 4CLINTON nws-RECORP, WEDNZ SJD!AY, QCTO1iER 31, 1904 Ow Won 94.110.13Polca NMS p4131 s CwOossoley lPle i1 O*Ptsa4 2.3 .4:Ile9tR , 8i1,�arPptlppl.443. 3044/ . 319.73 tk. aldigwt • 21003 PSI Pear %ILA. *wows • ssA,00 pelt Year iritfrovsiotcyroo 460.0.0p14dop .0,0o w tv �e ks „gree * 1getlgo t !on:Morix. la441110,14 fillis97.DePlite3 1191{0gl !/rive. ll. 109P4P0 11n 1j1.. PP0 1PIig Glllto0 Nolo 11.fe000.44Pn1(A $. Tool POO. nags a.ZOD. Incorporating THE SLYTH STANDARD) Jr HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher SHELLEY McPHEE - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager eA ""' MEMBER GGNA MEMBER Display esker/Isles rates available as reposes. Ash far late Carr. No. 14 effective October 1, 1989. Editorial - 1953 More and more these days we hear the opinion that Clinton does noionger need a town hall. A lot of folks seem to think that the town can get along without . an auditorium in which 1k hold public meetings. Our contention is: There never was a town yet that could not benefit by a public meeting place. Old European towns were built around their market place and there was the centre for public meetings and gatherings of all sorts. In Canada the custom has, been, continued (from necessity) by the building of central halls for the same purpose. Besides the need for a large auditorium for the presentation of the annual CDCI Commencement, there are numerous other meetings held in town that would benefit from a large auditorium. Consider the agricultural organization meetings, which would be held in Clinton as the natural place in Huron, since Clinton is at the "hub" of the county. Consider the possible little theatre group which Clinton could have, if there were adequate accommodation for one. This is a matter for thought by the townspeople. Of what use is a promotion of our town, and encouragement of growth, industry and greater business, if we are not prepared to grow with it, and provide the community with some of these needs. -Clinton News -Record, November 26, 1953. qIqId.0 Wow - what a weekend! I'm completely overwhelmed with the tremendous performances and displays that have been put on in connection with the Town Hall Grand Re -opening. Many a council meeting night I quietly wished that the old building would just fall down - only to stop the arguments, the same old debates that were rehashed time and time again. It's almost impossible to believe that the renovation is complete, that our old neglected town hall has been restored, that the controversy has ended. What will we print on the front page now? There will still be/ arguments about financing the project. Equally as important, we hope that ' in the future News -Record pages will highlight the accomplishments and the performances that will be held. Edit�rial' -1984 Bravo Clinton! At last the Clinton Town Hall has been restored to the stately, grand position that it held more than a century ago. Clinton's grand old lady has been the centre of controversy for more than three decades. Restore or demolish was the argument as townspeople and council 'debated the issue again and again. The Town Hall debate resulted in bitter arguments, heated council discussions, wins and losses at the polls. It divided the townspeople. A vote held in conjunction with the 1974 municipal elections saw Clintonians vote 887 to 410 in favor of restoring the town hall. Still the controversy continued. Costs and the immensity of the restoration pro- posal concerned council and they continued to search for alternatives. The restoration proposal gained further strength in 1978 when the Town Hall was designated a heritage building. Rebuilding the foundation of was under- taken in 1980. Finally in 1982; Clinton Council' voted in favor, of the complete restoration of the Town Hall and Library. The decision did not come easily. It involved grave concerns about the financial implications, hesitation, heated arguments and long, tiring hours of discussion. The result of the labors is a magnificent muncipal complex that every Clinto- nian should be proud of. Clinton used to be known for its great white elephant - the Town Hall. Today the focus of our town centre is an impressive municipal building, library and Police station, that can't be matched anywhere in this area. The tremendous weeklong celebrations being held in conjunction with the re- c.:r .,ning have easily won public favor. The exceptional comeback performance hopefully indicates the successful future of the Town Hall. It's taken countless years to get to this stage. We're on the right track now. Hopefully future councils and interested citizens will have the wisdom and convic- tion to maintain the municipal complex that we fought and paid for. -By S. McPhee Behind The Scenes Is it better? It is ironic that many of the qualities of mankind that make us most admirable, are the same ones which can ultimately lead to our destruction. One of these is our inconquerable drive to improve, change and reach for the' unreachable. It is a drive that has.taken mankind from living in caves to a comfortable lifestyle where things other than grubbing out an existence are taken for granted. The drive has given us many heroic stories of_ parents who have struggled against all odds to create a better life for their children. But somewhere along the way we've lost track of where we're headed. Our drive for more is still intact but we seldom asked why we want more. We're like people who climb mountains. Once upon a time people climbed mountains because they were in between where they were and where they wanted to be. Today people climb mountains because they're there: The "because it's there;' attitude dominates our life in an era that our ancestors would see as already being as close to heaven on earth as they could wish for. It drives the businessman who will tell you "if you don't get bigger, you're dying." I've never heard anybody ask "Why?". It's just taken for granted that business should get Nigger. We see this natural tendency in government where the drive to grow and improve has bureaucrats trying to build little empires that they can rule. ' We see it in our own lives where we have a drive to have more has led us to an ever more 'complicated world where we must continue t,, work, even at jobs we don't like, to buy the latest gadget as if it will bring us perfect -happiness. And the drive has led our scientists to go on inventing even if there isn't really a lot of need for what they're inventing. While their ancestors invented drugs that saved lives, By Keith Roulston c By Shelley McPhee A, dedicated group of volunteers, the Town Hall Steering Committee, has shown us that Clinton will support a diverse selection off performing arts. Applause at Variety Night was equally as enthusiastic for step dancers as it was break dancers, for the comedy of Bob Mann and l3arry Stevens as it was for the classical delight of pianist and violinist, Anne and Cyril Leiper. A wonderful, well deserved beginning for a century old building. + + + In the midst of all this celebration comes Hallowe'en. I even missed a Hallowe'en party last Saturday night, because I was just too tuckered out from all the town hall excitment. And I'll tell you, I don't miss a good party for much! Anyway, back to Hallowe'en. It's here again, October 31 and the Eve of All Saints Day. Our Bayfield correspondent Helen Owen has written a bried synopsis of Hallowe'en and included some of her own original poetry. All Saints day, Helen writes, onNovember 1, dates back to the 7th century and was instituted by Pope Boniface as a special day for the commemoration of Saints generally, or such as have no special day set aside for them. October 31 is the feast day of St. Bee a 7th century nin, Abbot Foillan and the 10th century Bishop Wolfgang. Many stories and superstitions have developed over the years associated with All Hallow's Eve, as it was called originally, some being the adaptation of pagan beliefs. One interesting story relates to the common turnip. In the days when religious persecution in England resulted from failing to 'conform with the current religious denominations, it is said that groups of puritans met secretly at night. To safeguard themselves, against unwanted intruders, turnips were hollowed out and carved into fearsome faces with a candle inside. This was then suspended from a long pole. Prancing around and through the woods, this alarming spectre was used to frighten any trespasser and drive him away from the meeting place. Pumpkin people Sitting in the windows, glowing bright inside, Pumpkin people greet the children ( watch the witches ride) Fairies, ghosts and spacement come tripping down the street Running up and down the steps, calling "Trick or Treat?" Supermen and goblins with merry, sparkling eyes, Clutching bags of goodies, grow bold in their disguise. Follow in the footsteps their parents trod before Celebrating Hallowe'en when they come to the door. , As the evening passes the candle burns away Pumpkins glow less brightly - they have had their day. hen, their lights extinguished, evening's work all done, , Next day - in the garbage. But Hallowe'en was fun! machines that made those lives more bearable,. many of our scientists today seem to. be doing research just to prove they can do it. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for instance, a team of researchers is hard at work building an intelligent computer, a computer that works like the human brain in not only being able to store information, but interpret it into new answers, to create the way human brains do. Another researcher at M.I.T. worries that if they are successful, the machines may one day take over from man. .So far there is no demonstrated need for intelligent computers except from one area; the U.S. armed forces. The military has provided $600 -million to develop a computer that can pilot a plane, a robot that can captain a ship and an unmanned tank„that can work like one that has a h �u >1 commanding it. But morality has no place for the scientists. Their job is to invent, not to decide whether what they're inventing is us- ed for good or bad. If this artificial in- telligence is used for good, so much the bet- ter but if it is used for evil, it's not their fault. It's the same justification that has been used by the people who invented all the horrible weapons of the past. It isn't.just the scientists but most of us in our own small way who are using it. Morality has a very small place in our modern world where people hide behind the argument of specialization. Morality is the responsibility of the politicians and the churches. Well perhaps it's time to listen to the Catholic bishops and their call for a re- examination of what all the wonders of modern business and technology are in aid qf. If the betterment of mankind isn't the goal, then why are we doing it? Harvest time Sugar and Spice -i- -I- + Staff and clients at the Huron Day Care Centre for the Homebound thank everyone who participated in their Oct. 27 bazaar. Special thanks to John Alilovic for the loan of his location and St. Joseph's Church for tables. Draw winners were: carriage clock, Mervin Ritchie, Blyth; Bainton's blanket, W.J. Stauttener, Clinton; ceramic cookie jar, Monica Malkus, Seaforth. + + + Don't forget, Nov. 3 is the first Saturday in the month, time to put your old newspapers for the monthly Lions' collection in Clinton and Bayfield. Euchre results CLINTON - On October 24 there were seven tables of euchre in play at the Knights of Columbus match, held in St. Joseph's Hall, Clinton: Winners included: Ladies high, Jerry Ten Hag; Men's high, Margaret Thorndike; Ladies low, Gladys Hoggarth; men's low, Mr. Fothergill; ladies lone hands, Agnes Carbert; Men's lone hands, Omerine Watkins; Lucky door Prize, Vera Priestap; Lucky Chair Omerine Watkins. Lest we forget I feel quite hurt this year. Nobody has ask- ed me to speak at their Remembrance Day dinner. I would have turned it down, of course, because I think you can' flog the old poppy and talk about throwing the torch from our failing hands only so long, before it becomes irrelevant. However, I've not been ignored entirely. A teacher asked me to send a copy of a Remembrance Day column I wrote either last year, or the year before, to be read by a Grade 8 student, to the whole school, I presume. Some order. If I kept a decent file of col- umns, I could put my finger on it, run off a copy and shoot it to him. But my. files are something like my mind: scattered all over the place, confused, mixed up. My wife, in a fit of pique over some little thing, once stuffed about 200 of my columns into a large plastic bag. It's a little difficult to reach into that bag (it's really a garbage bag, as she implied when she did it) and pull out the right column. And of course, I haven't been forgotten by the good old administration of our school, which has requested that I write a two - minute thing about Remembrance Day. My, how that day has shrunk. When I was a kid, the whole school marched to the arena, bedecked with flags, heard speeches about our "fallen" and "our glorious dead." I think we got tlfe afternoon off, to enjoy more immediate pleasures. But before we were dismissed, we heard some haunting hymns, such as "Abide with me," and, Lord help us, "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and saw some real tears fall from the eyes of people who had lost a husband or father. After World War II, but not for several years, I joined the Canadian Legion. Not because I wanted to, particularly, but because I was a weekly editor, and you had to join everything to get the news. Each year we swaggered, with a certain amount of the old flair, down the main street to the cenotaph, followed by a rag -tag of Scouts and Guides and Brownies, to make up a parade, and led by the town band. The By Bill Smiley names of the local boys were read, a prayer, a hymn the Last Post, some sniffles in the meagre' audience, and some wet eyes and lumps in throats among the Legionnaires, who really did remember. Then back to the Legion Hall for beer and b.s. There was a good feeling between the old-timers of W.W.I, and us young veterans who had never gone over the top, deloused ourselves, coped with a gas attack, or been under heavy bombardment of artillery, as the old vets frequently reminded us. The native Indian veterans turned out in force. This was before they were allowed to buy any kind of spirits, and they made a day of it. Now, the tiny remnant of old vets of that time are rapidly becoming old men. Then I started teaching school. Remem- brance Day was still observed, With the whole school being called- for a special assembly, and the old platitudes recalled and regurgitated. I was asked to speak, at one of them. The head of the students' council preceded me, and pulled out all the cliches and hackneyed references. "Sacrifice," "the fallen," and carrying "the torch" were among them. I didn't mean to, but pulled the rug right out from under him. I pointed out that the dead didn't fall; they were killed; that the sacrifice made by millionsof young men, from many nations, all of them fighting for "the right," achieved. absolutely nothing; that if someone threw them a torch tacarry, they should throw it right back, and so on. The kids loved it,. but the administration thought it was iconoclastic. These assemblies went on for a few more years, steadily disintegrating as the remembrance ceremony was turned over more and more to the students, to whom both wars were ancient history. They degenerated into folk songs like "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" juvenile diatribes'against war, and maudlin sentiments about peace, far worse than the Legion, which always had a certain dignity, could perpetrate. Eventually, the assemblies were cut en- tirely, and yours truly became the goat. His task: to write a two -minute commerical reminding the students that Remembrance Day is not just a school holiday. Try doing that in 200 words that will stir the students' emotions, uplift their souls, and make them want to rush out and defend their country against something or other. The wars mean almost nothing to them, and the only things they'd fight to the death for are their transistors, motorcycles, hi- fi's, and high allowances. Most of them have only the vaguest idea of the tensions in the world, and small reason. They're sick to death of politicians and are inured to violence by seeing it daily on TV. They don't really care much about abstracts like patriotism, loyalty, sacrifice. But I get my quiet revenge. There's no eaching, in the usual sense, in my classes on the day before the "holiday." I show them souvenirs, pictures of "your hero" standing beside his Typhoon, and tell them funny stories about stupid senior of- ficers, and make them realize that if it were 40 years ago, most of them would be in the process of being shot at, or losing a sweetheart. It works. Move equipment in daylight Each year in Ontario there are several motorists often find out too late; ethat im- tragic accidents involving farm machinery plements such as tractors and combines on our highways. Presently there are no move at a slower rate of speed than normal laws restricting farm uipment to daylight traffic. "DO IT OUR WAY + IT WON'T hours, but it makes g sense to move your HURT". This has been a message from the equipment only in daylight hours. Unwary Farm Safety Association. • 1. 11.1