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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-01-14, Page 4PAGE 4—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1987 Farm ponds, dotting the vast, desolate expanses of the Canadian prairies and the cold, over -used arenas of municipalities across several provinces have been the spawning grounds of many proiessional hockey players. They have been, and still are, the places where kids dare to dream; where kids dare to emulate the every move and shift of their Favorite NHL hockey player and where kids dare to work towards career goals. It represents the classic boyhood dream -of` every earradiarr yttmgster, -t& -rise- le - hockey stardom from endless shinny. games on backyard rinks, frozen ponds and paved driveways. 0, For it is in the arenas, and on the ponds and backyard rinks' where young people learn the exhilaration of team -work, pro- ducing through effort, friendly competi- tion and sportsmanship. DAVE SYKE Hockey has always been an integral part of Canadian life; a key component in the developmental stages of young people. Hockey has provided many lessons to boys and young men beyond forechecking, the tactical aspects of powerplays and defen- sive strategies. The impact of organized sport, not just hockey, I would suggest, is immeasurable. Saturday, Jan. 17 I epresents the start of Minor Hockey Week across Canada, a week that focuses on the positive aspect of the system and that seems to be important these days in view of the recent controver- sy over the Canada -Russia junior tan brawl in Czeckosiovakia at the world tournament. Hockey has been a much -maligned sport in recent weeksand some experts are sug- gesting that the' roots of the malidy extend .into .the minor. s.ystenk.. - .......... , ...... _ .. Rather than repudiate the ► acy of the vague and sweeping gene tement, I would like to offer some m sure of con- fidence to the men and women who give of themselves for the good of minor hockey associations' across the country. Thousands of youngsters are better off because those people care enough to volunteer their time and energies. As a young hockey player, I remember that Minor Hockey Week was something special and posters and advertisements admonished parents with the cryptic message, "Don't send your boy to the rink, take him." It was a simple but compelling message reminding parents that when their children were.pparticipants in the minor hockey syste. their responsibility ex-. tended beyond dropping the kid off at the arena door. Involvement is the operative word. Asa player on one of-the..minor teams; during Minor Hockey Week, we got to display our talents to the public during the intermission of one of the junior games on Saturday niht. At that age, it was the ri equivalent f a stint at Maple Leaf Gardens. was one of the few times.a crowd of any appreciable size witnessed one of our games. ,Another year, I recall that all nlaverr, were given a 1' rank Mahovolich album. The revered Big M talked about skating, checking, playing goal, chewing gum and anything else needed to fill out his only foray into the recording studio. But any self-respecting kid in those days would get his hair cut like the Big M if there was the remotest chance it would help his game. In fact, we were willing to do just about anything, including listening to a Frank Mahovolich album (he had the whiniest voice,), to improve the prospect of becoming an NHLer. 'Miner "Hockey Week gives us a chance -to focus on the positive aspects of the system and to offer thanks to the many people'who give unselfishly of themselves in Goderich, so that young people can learn about life and the game of hockey. We salute the volunteers. Your efforts are appreciated. Dpinion__ THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 184 Oe r BEST ALL ROUND COMMUNITY NCWBPAPER IN CANADA the P.O. BOX i ,L -LO P-99.9C',,FiINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PAWK GD ER[CH, ONT. N7A &b®S I PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL—STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded In 1448 and publishedevery Wedneodey at Godorlch, Ontario. Member of the CCA end nCIVA. Subscriptions payable li, advance 882.00, [Senior Citizeno 81E1.00 privilege card number required] In Co- -1n, 1980.00 to U.S.A.,, 880.00 to all other countriao, Single oopleo SOC. Display, 1"➢➢atlonel and .alfled advertising rotas evoilable on requeot. Pianos ask for Rate Gard N7o. 18 effective October 1, 1525. Advertieing le accepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, the advertising opera scrupled by the erroneous item, together with the reasonable allowance, for elgnaturo, .will not bo oherged for but that balances of the adv ortl,omont will be paid for et the applicable rate. 4n the event of o typographical error advortlaing goods or earvicoo at a wrong price, goods or eorviooe may not be sold. Advertising le merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn, at any time. The Signal -Star is not reoponsible for tho lobo or domega of unsolicited manuaoripte, ,photos Or othet materials used for reproduoing purpcaee. General Manager SHIRLEY J. KELLER .s Editor DAVE SYKES Advertising Manager DON HUBICK FOR BUSINESS OR E®[TCRIAL OFFlCES...p[®ase phone 15'x91524-261'4 Second clQss mail registration number 0716 Member: PCNA C CNA /) 11,Mbies. is still a problem The hot spots for rabies in Ontario next year will shift to eastern Ontario counties south of Ottawa, and to those south and west of Kitchener -Waterloo, according to provincial wildlife and health officials. Hot spots, or areas with a 75 per cent or..grea.ter;,,prebability of outbreak in eastern Ontario next year include Ottawa -Carleton Region, Leeds, Grenville, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Counties. 'In southwestern Ontario, they include Wellington, Waterloo, Huron, Perth, Ox£ord,,:Brant and Elgin Counties. In the first 10 months of 1986, a total of 3;462 people were treated:Mi rab es = a 97-per-cene• increase over 1985. This makes it the worst year for rabies since 1958 when records started being kept. . "At the current rate, the number of people treated for rabies by the end of 1986 could go as high as 4,454," said Dr. Charles Le I3,er, senior veterinary consultant with the Ministry of Health. . He said that between January 1, 1986 and October 31, there were 2;946 reported cases of rabies reported involving wild and domestic animals, compared with 1;651 cases for the same pe i od last year. This represents an ,78 -per -cent increase. , As usual, high numbers of cases were reported in eastern and southwestern Ontario. Foxes topped the list, with skunks a distant second. There were no surprises, escept for the 28 raccoons reported in 1986. Dr. Le Ber said raccoon, rabies is a major problem in Pennsylvania. If it moves nor- thwards, it could spell trouble in southern Ontario communities where raccoon populations are already sizeable. But long-term prospects are nevertheless encouraging, says Dr. Andrew Rhodes., Chair- man of the Rabies Advisory Committee of the MNR. Le Ber and Rhodes were cautiously optimistic about MN1i.'s program of .vaccinating wildlife by dropping thousands of baits containing live vaccine from aircraft, For the past two years, the ministry has tested the program on the fox 'population in an experimental area within Huron County. Although rabies will continue to be a serious 'problem for the foreseeable .future,. D.r. Rhodes said that an expanded bait -drop program will lead ultimately to controlling •out breaks of rabies among foxes - the primary wildlife carries of the disease in Ontario. God's word a' sure cure for smoking addiction says reader Dear Editor: Next week being non-smoking week and having read your article giving good tips on how to quit, I felt impressed to comment on what I believe to be a sure cure. Having started smoking at an early age, and being a heavy smoker, I know what it is •to be enslaved by the cigarette habit. There was a time in my life, in 1959, when I became desperate and wanted deliverance from smoking, along with other things in my life not pleasing, to God. Romans 3:23 in the Bible states For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Bear in mind i had attempted to quit many times on iny_ own but with no success. Bet this time I asked God for deliver -n7 ( and he400k the craving away also ). Being involved in prison ministry for. many years since then, I have seen God deliver many inmates from the smoking habit, and the Bible has taken the place of cigarettes in the shirt pocket. "2nd Chronicles 7:14" If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. "God's word is a sure cure." I Was delivered 28 years ago; .John Fraser Goderich, Ontario Outdoor dogs Inust be kennelled De. Editor: It a sad and unacceptable fact that every y ar thousands of dogs suffer through long an•` harsh Canadian winters with in- adequate . ~ er or no shelter at all. These dogs canno ' f ti,, in shelter and are forced to endure terry le weather conditions. Tremendous co"d spells, vicious blizzards and freezing rain can prove fatal for even the hardiest of dogs. Most of us would not even consider being out in these elements, even for a short period of time, so how can we expect dogs to live in these conditions? What kind of existence is this anyway? While winter emphasizes the need for ade- quate shelter, "outdoor" dogs also need ade- quate housing the rest of the year to protect them from the intense heat of the'sun as well LETTERS as the rain. Under the Criminal Code. of Canada all dogs are,, by law, required to have • "adequate" shelter. A doghouse should be large enough for the dog to stand up, sit down, turn' around and, stretch out comfortable to the fullest.extent of its limbs. It should be insulated, have an interior 'windbreak, exterior door flap and be elevated 6 inches off the ground, facing away from the prevailing winds. These are the minimum standards the Ontario Humane Society has set ' regarding a doghouse. Realizing that not all dogs are "indoor" dogs, the Ontario Humane. Society has published a pamphlet detailing how to con- struct an "ideal" doghouse. The pamphlet, ','Ideal Doghouse for Ontario's Outdoor, Dogs", provides the dog owner with all the necessary information to construct a "custom fit" doghouse that will, if con- structed properly,. provide an outdoor dog" with good shelter. Copies of this pamphlet can be obtained by simply contacting the Ontario Humane. Society at: 620 Younge Street, Newmarket, Ontario, L3Y 4V8. Sincerely, N. Glenn Perrett Director, Humane Education Ontario Humane Society Margarine ban law called short-sighted Dear Editor: • Just prior to New Year's, some very short-sighted individual with some affilia- tion in the dairy industry , dug up an old, law from horse and buggy days and put it into force, making it illegal to sell margarine brought' into Ontario from Quebec, to'be sold in Ontario. The only purpose of this law is to reduce. as much as possible, any competition against the sale of butter in Ontario. Where is our Canadian Combines Act on a deal of this kind? The banned product in question is made from 100 per cent soya oil — natural color and natural flavor. (No Chemicals here. ) Most, if not all soya beans in Canada are produced by farmers in Southern Ontario, who are, at the present time, very hard- pressed financially. Soya margarine needs no advertising: The way sales expanded in a short time proves this. The inroads are being made. into other brands of margarine, and not butter, as statistics seem to show. The other, brands dark -colored and some distasteful, are clearly marked vegetable oil, or any one of a number of things. These- uknown oils are mostly, imported, as anyone knows. Imagine the benefits to our Ontario soya - bean producers if some people would keep their noses out of others' business and let this trend continue as well as having a solid industry all in Southern Ontario. As it now stands, our soyabean pro- ducers got stabbed in the back. Our, or - dimity milk producer has a lot of bad friends and there are no winners, on ac- count of a stupid law, Signed -An irritated bystander Canadians could lose prestige if winters remain soft Where has all the winter gone'. Here it is mid-January a time when the hearty Canadian is usually red-cheeked and brimming with health from regular cold -weather excercise. Normally, marathon snow -shovelling sessions and lengthy walks to call tow trucks keep us all fit as polar bears ( and twice as cranky ) from late November „until the end of March. - Prior to this'weekendl' light flurries, my snow shovel had yet to be moved from its summer resting place. My home heating bill has not forced me to approach a finance company for a .loan anal'.not once has my car become hopelessly "stuck in the dad gum snow!" I'm getting nervous. ' The trend toward survivable winters should have every patriotic Canadian shivering in his pile -lined sneakers. What will happen to our international image as' fur -covered barbarians, kept under con- trol only by the constant vigilance of red - coated policemen on horseback? Where would we be if word got out that most 'Canadians now own at least one Hawaiian shirt and few still keep a team of Huskies in the backyard in case the Bronco fails to start in the morning? For one thing, winter tourism would tail off dramatically. Visitors, who mile to behold the miraculous sight of a civiliza- tion progressing despite sub -zero temperatures and blizza -cis leaving veritable mountians of snow, old hardly - settle for a few slushy sidewa is and some kids with runny noses. They Could get that in Buffalo. We've got to give them the real thing or they'll all hop the next plane to loos 'Angeles. - A series of wimpy winters might also leave us open to the threat of invasion by a foreign power. The popular local impres- sion that Canada has not been invaded since 1912 because we are nice people and ' no one wants to bother us is, alas, a fallacy. The real reason,is that no country believes they have the manufacturing. capability to win a war .fought entirely on snowmobiles with hockey sticks. " If we don't get some genuine "brass monkey"cold snaps ' soon, our national debt, could quadruple from the expense of operating ice -making machines at full tilt for eight months in hocker'inks across the country. We may even `have to give up hockey as a national pastime and revert to some warm -weather sissy game, like cer or professional wrestllrtg. Of course, if the sub -seasonal weather ' from this angle Patrick Raftis M.. keeps up long enough, there could be some side benefits that will make' up for some of the lost prestige. For one thing, we could go back to put- ting salt on our french fries instead of our roads, where it ends up—destroying as many automobiles through rust, as it saves by lowering the incidence of ac- cidents. We would no longer have to tie up the washrooms on Toronto to Miami flights, while changing' from long Underwear and touques, to T-shirts and Bermuda, shorts. Grandma's sure-fire cure for frostbite would no longer need to be pressed as a family heirloom. And, best of all, we would never have to suffer through another television commercial showing close-ups of people's nasal passages being relieved from cold symp- toms by some , phenomronal new spray Substance. ) - , Where has all the winter gone? Who cares? Good riddance!