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Clinton News-Record, 1985-2-20, Page 5Page 4.-^ 4?N NgW§.- CQIEiAt WEDNESDAY, FERRUAktY 20, 1985 The Clinton News•Record Is pabllshed each Wednesday of P,O. Bax 39, Cllntog,Ontario, iConpdo, ff0M ILA. Tel.; 482.3443. Subscription Rote: Canada • 419.93 Sr. Citizen,. $!$.93 per year 81.3.A. foreign -133.00 per year It Is registered as second class mall by the post office under the permit number 0817. The News -Rekord Incorporated In 1924 the Huron News•Record. founded In. 1881, and The Clintcln News Ere, founded In 1863. Total promo runt 3,700. Incorporating ,THE BLYTH STANDARD GGNA J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher SIHELLEY McPNEE - Editor GARY WAIST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENRECK - Office Manager MEMBER A d? MEMBER Display advertising rates available on request. Ask for Rate Card No. 15 effective Ocl'bber 1, 1984. recreation programs need municipal support Misunderstandings, misinformation, misinterpretations of guidelines and goals have left Clinton's recreation committee and council members at loggerheads in recent months. The debates reached serious and senseless proportions as the two groups argued amongst themselves until Recreation Chairman Ron McKay and Clinton Mayor Chester Archibald agreed to hold a special meeting between the two groups. This is the first constructive action that has been taken on the part of these two groups in months. The meeting allowed councillors and committee members the opportunity to hash out their grievances and concerns. Best of all the meeting cleared the air. It offeredthe two town bodies the op- portunity to state their purposes and their ambitions for Clinton. It re -opened communication lines and re-established the recreation committee and council as two groups, working together for the betterment of the community. In recent months council and recreational committee hive appeared more as opposing factions than municipal colleagues. In the past year Clinton Recreation has undergone many changes and im- provements. With the hiring of a recreation director in 1984 came a larger,, more diverse recreation program. Activities for people of all ages and interests are now being offered in this town, from hockey to bread dough art, from baseball to break dancing. The programs have been supported with enthusiasm, by the public and the recreation boom in Clinton could easily be further advanced. Council, on the other hand, has been concerned about recreation ad- vancements in Clinton, particularly where any extra costs may be incurred. Coun- cil is approaching extra projects with caution and reserve. They feel strapped to the town hall renovation debt yet to be paid. Problems have been aggravated by a split between council regarding the role of recreation in the community. Some councillors stand by the belief that recrea- tion is -a necessary service, and like many other community services, is not designed to make great profits. As a community service, recreation must be of- fered to as many citizens as possible anid provide as much variety as possible. The other council stand believes that recreation is a luxury, an expensive lux- ury. These councillors feel that the town can't .afford additional programs and those that aren't making a profit should be. cancelled. This argument went as far as consideration of closing the Clinton arena at one council meeting. The reality is, that. Clinton has now established a strong, diverse recreation program that is comparable to those offered in neighboring towns, like Goderich and Seaforth. Cancellation of Clinton's programs would be a major step backwards. Today's lifestyle places recreation and leisure time activities at a new high level. People'from all walks of life consider recreation, in all forms, as a very necessary part of their daily existence. Clinton's recreation programs are now serving a variety of interests and age groups and are keeping in step it today. There comes a point, unfortunately, when strict economic factors must limit the recreational services offered in a small town like Clinton, However, at this point the recreation committee believes that their financial obligations are not about to bankrupt the town. In fact they believe that additional revenue can be generated from a diverse recreational program. A strong, progressive recreation service has developed in Clinton over the past year and an enthusiastic committee is carefully overseeing, its development. The recent meeting between council and recreation appears to have confirmed this. With renewed support from council and serious commitment on behalf of the recreation committee, this town should be able to continue developing a durable and profitable recreation program—by S. McPhee Behind The Scenes Snow crazy Even if you're not one of those people who hates winter from the first fluffy snowflake that falls, February can make you paranoid about weather and all things connected with it. It's the time of year when you begin to wonder: is this going to be the first year in history when spring didn't come? It seems increasingly hard to believe that the land- scape frozen and buried under feet of snow can ever be fields filled with daisies and dandelions and thousands of humming bees. There is some paranoia that is more grounded in fact. 1 think the guy who drives the snowplow is out to get me. I don't know what I've done to him but he definitely seems to be out for revenge. As proof I offer the fact that twice in one week he has knock- ed down my mailbox. Now usually it would be impossible for him to do that because it takes me weeks to get around to fixing little things like that. But this time I was right on the job and put the mailbox iip within 24 hours of when I found it buried in the snow several feet from where it usually sits on a post. I was rewarded for my efficiency by finding it back in the snow within another 24 hours. It could have been accidental I suppose although it must be tempting to misuse the power that big machine gives you as driver. One little flick of the wing and whee, there goes another mail box. Much harder for the driver with revenge in his mind at our place at least is filling my laneway day after day. Now I have lived in son.:: truly horrible places when it conies to laneways in the winter. I survived the By Keith Roulston alaidoscoPQ Plunk, plunk, plunk .,.. Leak number five has ' sprung. The roasting pan is put to work as a drip collec- tor. Thesedays our back porch is a maze of buckets and pails. It's quite a task to manoeuver around the obstacle course of pots and pans. This week we're confronting a new homeowner's dilemma - the leaky roof. It seems that we're not alone. Throughout the area, owners of new and old homes, big and small, are talking about leaks and roof problems. The winter o'f 1985 is giving more than its share of roof problems and some say it hasn't been this bad in years. The problem is simply too much snow on roofs and ice building up in the eaves. The solution - removing the snow. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to get snow off your roof. It's a matter of getting the ladder out, crawling up on the roof, arm- ed with shovels, picks, hammers and assorted other toolery. It's a mammoth job and can be dangerous if you're not careful. And ever so scary up there too. As I sat on the peak of our roof, wondering how many bones I would break if I did slide off, I took comfort in reasoning that if I did fall, I'd land in the mountain of snow that had ac- cumulated below, bruised, but all in one piece. Actually, the view from the world atop the roof is rather nice., but there's not much time to enjoy the scenery when you have three feet of snow to dig out before the roof caves in below. The job is 'simply frustrating and ex- hausting. By Shelley McPhee I asked Clinton contractor John Kassies for an expert opinion on snow build-up - how it happens and how to prevent it. How it happens is supply a matter of too much snow and not. enough warm days to thaw the build-up. The ice beneath the snow builds up, plugs the eaves and melts into places it's not supposed to. Avoiding ice and snow build-up is a conti- nuing job. For some, trimming ice back is a daily chore. No-one has invented - any miracle machinery or tools to help with the task. John says 'hat some people use axes and hatchets to chip the ice away, but they also risk damaging their roof and shingles. John advises using a straight clawed hammer, a lot of determination and energy. The real key of course is clearing the snow off your roof before it results in a build-up. I've heard of people taking their garden hose and running hot water through their eaves. In a fit of delirium, as we tackled our roof, I briefly considered dynamite or a blow torch. Perhaps the most frustrating part of cleaning the roof is completing the job. No sooner are you done when the snow starts falling again and you realize this is a thankless chore. That's one of the unpleasantries of winter. It never gets you anywhere. You shovel for hours, and within a day's time, there's a new pile of fresh snow to clear away. There's no sense of accomplishment or gain with jobs like this. At this stage of the season, winter holds little interest. A month ago I didn't mind winter. I was content to put up with the inconveniences of the season. Today, my patience has worn thin. Today I hate snow. +++ Still, we must face old man winter for another few weeks. Here's some snow shovelling advice from Dr. John B. Arm- streng from the Ontario Heart Foundation. His advice is simply, easy does it. That's the sensible way to cope with the layer of wet, heavy snow that blocks your sidewalks or driveway. "If you feel lightheaded or short'of breath while shovelling, stop and rest," Dr. Arm- strong says. "Take a slow, measured pace." "Don't go out if you don't have to." The Toronto doctor was taking his own ad- vice when a reporter from The Toronto Star called him. "That's why you found me at home when you called." Spring, believe it or not, is on its way, and with it comes one of Clinton's biggest events - Klompen Feest. This year marks the fifth year of the Dutch heritage festival. As well, May 1985 is the 45th anniversary of the liberation of Holland in World War II by Canadian forces. The News -Record and Klompen Feest committee members are preparing for their special edition booklet, put out in conjunc- tion with the May 1.7 and 18 celebration in Clinton. If you have old photographs, stories or suggestions for our 1985 Klompen Feest book, please call the editorial department at the News -Record, 482-9502. And too, if you are interested in helping the committee in their preparation for the fifth annual event, please contact Bob Campbell. historic blow of 1971 living on highway 4 on the hill at the north end of Clinton when drivers going through the single -lane tunnel that was the highway_,soinetimes thought they'd taken a wrong turn and ended up in the Goderich salt mine. That winter I spent half my waking hours shovelling out the Janeway. I would bring the car home, leave it in a parking lot a block away and walk down to the house and shovel out the drive, walk back to the car and just as I stepped in the door, another plow would wheel by and, grinning all the way, the driver would • obliterate all evidence of my 20 minutes of digging. Our present lane is a dream by com- parison (1 think it's God's small compensa- tion for a lane that's only slightly shorter than the MacDonald -Cartier Freeway ). The topography of the neighborhood leaves huge banks 100 feet west of the laneway and 100 feet east of the laneway but only a skiff of snow at the laneway. How then could he have found enough snow two days in a row to leave me 15 minutes of digging to get the car through'? Could he have taken a front end loader and transferred snow from dow..the road into my laneway? Could he have work- ed out a speical deal with the street cleaning crew in town to dump their excess in my lane now that their usual dumping places are piled high. Okay, okay, doctor. I haven't gone com- pletely round the bend yet. If spring is com- ing as everybody promises it is, I may just be rescued before I need to be in- stitutionalized. Centre ice by Shelley McPhee Sugar and Spice eekl'. newspapers IIAVE just been reading a story in Canada's so-called national newspaper about the plight of weekly newspapers, or community ' newspapers, as they , now, rather swankly, call themselves. They have fallen, or are falling, on harder times, due to the usual causes: inflation, high interest rates. These factors are decreasing advertising revenues and in- creasing costs at an alarming rate. It is my considered opinion that a corm rnunity without a spry, lively, intelligent and sometimes irreverent newspaper is lacking a vital substance of its existence. If the people in town don't say, "Well, it said in the Echo ( or Times, or Free Press, or Advocate i that it's all the mayor's fault," then there's .something wrong with the newspaper. If they don't know the editor of their local paper; if he is a gray anonymity in the com- munity, then there's something wrong with the editor. But if they don't know that he/she is work- ing 60 hours a week, and the paper is headed toward bankruptcy, then there's something wrong with the community. And if that's the case, it doesn't deserve a decent newspaper.. I've been the whole road. It's gone through a weird cycle in the 20 -odd years since I left the business. Flat, boom, and potential bust. I entered the fraternity in the flat period. It shouldn't have been flat. The Canadian economy was healthy in the post-war euphoria, circa 1949. Rut newspaper editors were supposed to be dedicated, like teachers, not wealthy. They were supposed to work any given amount .of hours, belong to everything in town, shell out handsomely for every chari- ty, and give free advertising from everything from a church bingo to a Lions' Club carnival y I'm not picking on the Lions. By Sill Smiley The other service clubs were just as cheap. ) But even they weren't as cheap as the merchants. A $12 ad for a Grand New Open- ing was supposed to be automatically ac- companied by a front-page story describing in glowing terms the 20 -foot concrete block addition somebody had made to his business. A half -page ad, with everything crammed in but the kitchen sink, and no wasted white space, which took half a day to set in type, was a phenomenon. Grocery stores and five- and-tens ran the big ads, two columns wide by eight inches deep. Oh, boy, how the money rolled in. With a partner, I bought into the weekly newspaper business. We didn't have 20 cents 'each, but managed to raise the down pay, ment of $5,000 by putting the heat on all our relatives and a few businessmen. The rest was a mortgage of $21,000. at five per cent. "Don't weep any tears for him," you say, "at five per cent interest, when I'in paying 20." But don't forget coffee was a dime, beer 20 cents a draught, a hamburger 20 cents, a movie ticket 50, an apartment 45 dollars. For the first six months, my partner and I took home 10 bucks a week, out of the till. I had a small service pension, and he lived at home. After that, we took $30 for him and $35 for me (I had a wife and kids). Our machinery was ancient (some of it run by water power, if you can believe.) Our staff was loyal but underpaid - total wage packet was $33 a week for linotype operator, $30 a week for journey -man printer, about $20 for a bookkeeper -secretary. But we put out a pretty, good, lively paper. It was respected, and we were. I might add that we were both lousy businessmen. We didn't have the killer in- stinct. We hated raising subscription and advertising rates. With that huge mortgage, we didn't have the guts to expand. Well, we missed the boom. New methods of printing sprang into being, cheaper and better -looking. Photography and a sharp pair of scissors replaced the painstaking layout of real printing. "The guy with a shrewd head replaced the haphazard business methods of the gifted amateurs wlap mostly made, up the business. Came the supermarkets, with their full- page ads, and the sudden discovery by other merchants that it did pay to advertise more than a three -dollar Christmas greeting ad. Ai Revenues soared. Subscription prices kept, pace with inflation. Printing costs were cut. 11. Younger publishers expanded, built up a small chain of two to five weeklies, even replaced their creaking, old, groaning buildings. They bought new equipment. They borrowed money to buy it. They got themselves deeply in debt. But never mind. The money was rolling in, God was in His Heaven. . And. if things were slow, they'd sell a cou- ple of pages of ads for National Clean Up Excrement Day, supported by a lot of small advertisers, with a pile of excrement in the middle of the page. • I used to twist arms and stamp on toes and appeal to the tiny glint of humanity in mer- chants to sell a two dollar ad. Well, the bubble has burst. The younger publishers have worked just as hard or harder. But they have finally realized that the sky is not the limit. The interest rate is, They have my sympathy. It's a tough game. But one chap in the article I mention- ed went into bankruptcy because he had a $70,000 mortgage. That's chicken feed com- pared to the one we took on. At today's in- terest rates, ours would have been $120 000. We didn't go bankrupt. We just carried on. Like idiots.