Clinton News-Record, 1985-08-07, Page 34 � ,
I,1 . eras
) Y COBOISIE.BOYLE
When John Wilson MCLaren was a =all
boy he used to go into a spam bedroom in his
home,
paint
e was a, character ie all n over
of a full '
length mirror.
Years later, this interest would lead him
to become part of the famous Dungbells, a
comedy troupe of the 1920'S.
When he was in school, the margins in his
notebooks were filled with sketches and
drawings. At that time he probably didn't
realize his artistic talents would eventually
be recognized throughout Canada,
"When I was young I wanted to draw all
the time," he says.
McLaren will be 90 years old on Aug. 11
and he still spends a couple of hours each
day in his studio painting. His spacious
home in Benmiller is filled with pieces of
artwork he has done over the years.
Well-known for his artistic talents, he says
there are few people in Goderich who don't
have one of his works.
He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in
1895. and came to Canada at age seven, then
returned to Edinburgh 10 years later where
he studied art at the Edinburgh College of
Art. He dame back to Canada to live when
he was about 16.
•
Benmiller has been McLaren's home for
years now. Before coming to the area
'vlcLaren and his son ran an advertising and
promotion business in Toronto.
His wife, Lillian, died about five years
ago. They had three children including
John, of Toronto, Ron, of Milton and Sheila
who lives in Benmiller with her father. Pic-
tures of grandchildren and greatgrand-
•
children adorn the fireplace mantel in his
home.
McLaren joined Princess Pat's Light In-
fantry in the First World War and became a
member of the Princess Pat's comedy com-
pany which entertained troups and helped
boost moral.
Following the war McLaren joined the •
famous Dumbells, another group of enter-
` tainers formed during the war which enter-,
tained troups. With The Dumbells he toured
Canada coast to coast and the show later
played for a season on Broadway.
McLaren was painting all the while and
some of his war paintings of the battle ruins Jack McLaren,of Benmiller, well-known for his performances with- the Dumbells in the
of France are on display at the Goderich 1920's and his painting, will turn 90 this week. He is pictured above posing in the same way
Legion. he was painted by Cyril Leeper, of Clinton a month ago. McLaren says he plans to paint until
In the late 1920's he joined the Ontario
he's 105. ( photo by Corinne Boyle)
Society of Artists and was in the Page Challenge and Ed Stiles, a friend of ting to know Jack and enjoy him over the
mainstream of artistic life for 17 years. The McLaren says, "The panelists guessed who . years," says Parsons. "He's such an in -
Group of Seven were members whom he " he was as soon as he opened his mouth; he's teresting gent— he always has a story to tell.
sometimes joined on sketching outings. that well-known." "He is well recognized with artists and ac -
When he sold his Toronto advertising "He's the dearest old min that ever walk- tors," comments Parsons. "He's still look -
business, he retired to his ,home in Ben- ed,", says Stiles. "He is the kind of person ed on' as one of Canada's original enter -
miller, where he spent as much as five hours that we can be proud of having in our area. tainers because of his years with the
a day on his painting. This man is rare."
. Failing health has slowed him down McLaren has always been active in the
somewhat but he still works in his studio for church. He still attends North Street United
a couple of hours each day. every Sunday with his daughter and
About five years ago "Blyth Summer members of the congregation are some of
Festival presented a play titled "The House his closest friends.
That Jack Built", a story "of McLaren's life George _ Parsons, a close friend of
experiences including the reconstruction of McLaren, often takes him to church and to
anecdotes McLaren told: see plays at BI'yth Summer Festival.
A few years ago, he was a guest on Front "It's been a great part of my life just get-
Dumbells."
cum WPIWQT� aY > ISTAAAVG
FrOdUcflOfl c
By Stephaniel, v'es1
A cut in production along with a price in-
crease for farmers appears to be the
simplest way to achieve parity pricing but
there are some pitfalls.
Farmers in the area heard about the Pit-
falls and different views on parity pricing at
an information meeting' last week sponsored
by the Perth County Federation of
Agriculture.
The suggestions, offered by Gertie Blake,
a Bruce County farmer who along with her
husband have produced a report on parity
pricing, received the most favorable
r;sponse from the farmers. that a
In the Blake's report, they suggest
100 head sow to weaner producer cut back to
80 head or reduce production by 20 per cent.
Along with this cut, the Blake's suggest a 17
cent per poundiprice increase.
"That would double the return and
farmers would be better off," she said.
There was hearty applause for her sug-
gestion.
George Brinkman, an agricultural
economist from the University of Guelph
and on the panel, asked how many farmers
would be willing to cut their production.
Some said they would, but others admitted
that there would be farmers who would pick
upthe slack inrketduction to get a greater
share of the market.
"Are you farmers willing to cut back?
Others will expand and you can't tell me it
At present, McLaren is spending his time
working on a series depicting scenes from
the Bible. He plans to keep at his painting
for a long time to come.
"Grandma Moses painted until she died
when she was 104. I pla'n to go on painting
until I'm 105. I'm going to out Moses Grand-
ma."
Junior Farms
By Larry Plaetzer
How many people think that to belong to
Junior Farmers you have to either live on a
farm or participate in some animal club?
Well you don't.
The membership criteria is by age alone,
you must be between 15 and 29 years old.
The name confuses most people because in
the earlier years the motives were
agricultural issues of education and war-
time assistance. Today Junior Farmers is
mainly a social organization.
Th- Junior Farmer motto is "Self Help
and Community Betterment." To be af-
filiated with the provincial organization, the
club must have one meeting per year on
Junior Farmer Structure, Parliamentary
Procedure and present a Community Bet-
terment project.
In 1983 there were approximately 8,000
provincial members of which approximate-
ly 1,500 were actively . involved in
agricultural production. Membership has
•declined to 5,463 provincial members, In in
Huron County. •
M, .Junior Farmers is trying to reverse this
not just for farmers
training and most important social interac-
tion.
For more on Junior farmers, more ar-
ticles will be featured in the News -Record.
Come out, give it a real chance, the Clin-
ton club's next meeting is August 8, at 7:30
p.m. at the Clinton Lawn Bowling Lanes. '
Wear flat soled shoes, see ya there!
For more information call Larry Plaetzer
at Auburn, Clinton's Club Secretary.
trend, by educating and informing the
public about the organization.
Huron County has five clubs, Clinton &
District, South Huron, West Huron, Seaforth
and Howick. The county 'has its. meeting
regularly on the third Wednesday of each
month at the Clinton Ministry of Agriculture
Building. (beside the IGA)
Junior Farmers has something for
everyone, sports, travel, culture, leadership
5
won't happen," said Brian.
Three, of the four panel members agreed
that parity pricing would be poktiealiy
feasible• QnIY Paid Verkely, vice-president
of the Perth Federation of Agriculture
didn't Mink it would be
“Everything's politically feasible," com-
mented Brinkman.
Claude Giroux of the Concerned Farmer's
of Essex County said that to him, parity
pricing is a concept that mean6 a balance:
He exemplified this_ balance by two sets of
statistics.
In 1949-50, an auto worker could buy a
good line. car for 1,200 hours of labor. In 1985,
it still takes the auto worker 1200 hours of
labor to purchase a good line car.
"The • auto worker has maintained a
balance," said Giroux.
In agriculture, in 1949-50 it took a farmer
1400 bushels ,of corn to buy a combine. In
1983, it took 29;900 bushels of corn to buy a
combine, which means no balance was held,
he said.
"Parity does not guarantee success, • it
doesn't guarantee profit and it does not
guarantee a market," said the concerned
farmer, but he added that it gives farmers a
fair price.
The moderator for the even, CFPL TV -
London's Ross Daly, said knowledge is
power and the 75 farmers in attendance
could only benefit by learning more about
parity pricing.
Resident celebrates 94th birthday
Monday
euchre results
Introducing
Jacqueline Bradley
The Hair Shop is pleased to welcome Jac
queline to our staff
Jacqueline hos completed her training at
Marvel in London, finishing second in a
class of thirty
Jacqueline joins Ramona Humphrey and
Janice Stauffener of the Hair Shop, your
full-service salon
the
HAIR
5110
"the friendly shop that cares"
CORNER OF GIEIEIINGS AND
RATTENBURY STREETS, CLINTON
PHONE FOR APPOINTMENT
4S)--74[547/
NW SUMMER M®UR4t' •
Closod Mondays 0111 Septanrbnr. OPEN: Tuasdoy-rrtday and
Saturday 01114 p.m.: plus Tunaday and Thursday evenings.
CLINTON - Mrytle Glazier and Roy
Freeman had'the high hands during Monday
afternoon euchre on August 5 at the Clinton
Town Hall. Winning the low hands were
Reta Wright and Verna Glazier.
The lone hand winner was Margorie
Caldwell with Minlue Rumball winning the
lucky chair.
WEEKLY WEATHER
JULY • 1985 1984
30 27 6 25 11
31 28 10 18 15
AUGUST 28 14 25 8
130 17 24 7
2
3 27 15 25 9
4 26 16 28 ' 11
5 ,29 14 27 17
A, RAIN 11 mm 17mm
HURONVIEW - July 28 was a very special of hymns. Organist was Elsie Henderson.
day for. Percy Vincent. Friends and A devotional reading, He is the Rock, His
relatives, gathered in the auditorium to Work is Perfect, was given by Mary Howell,
honor Percy and celebrate his 94th birthday. followed by Mabel Scott leading in prayer. A
Percy is respected by his many friends and poem, read by Marjoire Herdman was en -
the staff at Huronview where he lives. titled My Heart is Like a Telephone.
Everyone extends greetings to Percy on this. The Bible lesson was The Parables of
happy occasion. Jesus. The meeting closed with the hymn
On July 29, several residents were guests Blessed Assurance and prayer.
at the home of Marlene Verbeek for a swim -Father John Pluta conducted Roman
ming party and barbecue. It is hard to say if Catholic Mass on August 2 in the chapel. In
any of the folk got wet, but it was an after- the afternoon, bingo fans gathered for their
noon enjoyed by everyone. weekly game.
The auditorium was filled the following On August 4, worship took place in the
afternoon when residents gathered together auditorium. Inthe absence of Reverend
for ice cream day. This is a special treat Snihur, Mabel Scott and Olive Colwell were
which they look forward to and the servings in charge of the devotional period. Jim Rud
of ice cream were generous with a variety of dock sang a favorite solo entitled Abide With
many delicious toppings. Thanks to the staff Me.
Huronview residents and staff extend a
for planning this special treat.
The mid -week Bible Study was held in the welcome to Stanley Glen of Calgary who has
chapel on August 1. Mrs. Prouty opened the come to reside at Huronview, and Betty
meeting with prayer, and led in the singing Prest of Goderich who is vacationing there.
HF Alice at Clinton Raceway
• from page 2
following HF Alice's races closely. Some
have gone on the road with her, but others
Will have the opportunity to see her in action
in front of a hometown crowd on Sunday,
August 11. HF Alice will be part of the three-
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