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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-04-24, Page 4PAP { uti 4--GODERI( I SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, Y, APRIL 2411919 DAVE SYKES "Hello Canada. and hockey fans in the United States." Tp a small boy who cold hardly wait for the Saturday evening hockey broadcasts, - the • opening greeting of Foster Hewitt was chilling and l}eld promise. of a ,great even- _ lug's entertainment. For almost 40 years and over 3,000 hockey - l? 'oadcasts, Hewitt was a welcome intruder in the kitchens and livings rooms of millions of people who tuned in to National Hockey „League games first, on radio and then television in the early 1950s. From his first impromptu broadcast beside the penalty box at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1927 through to his final Maple Leaf television broadcast in 1967, Hewitt was the voice of hockey. Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he died in Toronto Sun- day at the age of 82. While Hewitt was the pioneer and revered master of the sport broadcast industry, he only looked upon his job as simply that, a job. But Hewitt's job was bigger than that and he brought a sport to life and transmitted the energy from ice level to the nation's liv- ing rooms with his exuberant radio broad- caqts. fie was the fans link to the world of professional hockey. • More than just an aloof observer, Hewitt injected a measure of intensity and excite. went into the game that seemed to elevate the struggle at ice -level into something meaningful. In the idle days of youth, we'd spend hours on end whether it was in a musty basement, the street, driveway, schoolyacd er local rink, playing a stylized version of the profes- sional game. It was our game. Whether we were using broken stick, make -shift sticks or tennis balls or pucks, we emulated every move, every deke and every mannerism of our favorite players„_ Our hockey heros. Those backyard games transcended our inadequacies as athletes and for, brief flashing moments, when the awkwardness of youth was overtaken by agile and co-ordinated movements, we became those heroes. And regardless of the players we were emulating, the Bobby Hulls, Gordie Howes, Bobby Orrs etc, our games only came to life in describing each movement, each shot, each save in the manner of Foster Hewitt. It'seasy, in retrospect, to understand now that while it was the game that we loved to watch and play, it was.t1 voice that Ala i 1 'exciting, Otherwise hockey was just ate! game And as a play developed' there was an urgency and pitch to his voice indicating something big was about to happen. And no doubt, as we did in our own driveway games, today thousands of streetgames are still punctuated with Hewitt's most famous prase, "He shoots...he scores!" Those four words succinctly- and- most ac curately described the the swift actions leading to a goal. Since his first broadcast. in 1927, Hewitt and others have dffered that phrase to hockey fans thousands of times. One of the final series broadcast by Hewitt was the ultimate hockey duel, the 1972 eight - game series between Team Canada and the Soviet Union. While he capably handled the series at age 69, a daily newspaper cartoon depicted Hewitt hunched over his microphone while desperibing the play in a game of that series, "It's Frank Mahovolich up on the wing with a pass over to Yvan Cournyer, Corynier, Croniiier, Cor ny....anyways, the Soviets just scored." Foster Hewitt was rarely tongue-tied and he will be remembered as a Canadian sports legend. THE NEWS PORT FOR GODER1CH & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 Founded in 1940 anti published every Wednesday at Oodorich, Ontario. Meriher of the CCRIA and OCNA. eubaoriptiona payable in advance '20.95, [Senior Citi ene'17.95 privilege card number required) in Carloads, '55. to U.S.A., '55. to all other countries, Single copies 506. Display, National and Claseifisd advertising rates available on request. Masao ask for Oats Card No. 15 effective October 1, 1994. Advertioing is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but that balance of the sdvertiaement will be paid tor at the applicable rate. In the avant of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertioing in merely en offer to sell, and may he withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star is not responsible for the lose or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photon or other materials used for reproducing purposes. PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL-STARPUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER - President and Publisher DON HUBICK - Advertising Manager DAVE SYKES - Editor P.O. BOX 2@O HUCKINS BT. INDUSTRIAL PARK ©ODERICH, ONT. N7A 4B6 Member: - Second class mail registration number 0716 FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...please pheerits [519)524-2614 Eleanor will be missed. It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of correspondent and Auburn resident Eleanor Bradnock last week.• ' For over25 years she hadbeen the consummate rural correspondent, diligently repor- ting on the news from the village of Auburn and surrounding area. But she was known for more than just the compilation of facts and stories from her beloved village. She was an active member- of the Women's Missionary Society, the Hor- ticultural Society, the. Women's Institute, served on the board of directors of the Federated. Women's Institute of Ontario and was a member of the Canadian parent .group of WI. A lifelong Auburn area resident, she was one of the village's biggest boosters, and sery ed as a trustee for several years. Her indomitable spirit and untiring efforts on behalf of the many noble organizations, clubs, church groups and committees on which she served earned her a Bicentennial medal last year. The recognition for her exemplary community service was most deserve Eleanor. Bradnock gave so much of herself to so many people in the area that her absence will be most notable. She wasa fine lady and a professional rural correspondent. ,D. S. Service for the money There has been much talk about the importance to our economy of small business the Wingham-Advance Tunes says. Both federal and provincial. politicians have made' numerous declarations of their intention to see that small businesses provide by far -the most employment in Canada. The announcements by Canada Post that first-class postage rates will be increased to 34 cents is yet another denial of the significance of small business. The announcement pointed out that an extra two cents per letter will not create any great hardship to the or- dtiiii*y houhehulderand-that ma`•, well-bee-true-for-thnsc-people-whomail-only a fcwletter-s- a month. However, for the small business which must mail out invoices, business letters and other necessary documents, the impact is a matter of considerable concern. For —_many small firms it inky_ mean as much as $100 a month or more. Added to the ever- increasing cost of gasoline and heating oil, these additional costs will have to be passed on to the consumers by way of retail price increases -and that spells inflation. As John Bullock, president of the Canadian Federation of Small Business has angrily porn ou , po a ' .o • 11 still far from satisfactory. 1 • i i • . •1 Waiting or the big o�.-e,,_. by Patrick Rafts POSTSCRIPT SUSAN HUNDERTMARK How responsible are you for the actions of your. ancestors? That seems to be one of the main questions that comes to mind when mulling over the recent furor over U.S. President RonaTilReagan's plans to visit the Bitburg Cemetery when he visits West Ger- many in May. • Reagan became the subject of controver- sy last week when he planned to visit the cemetery where 2000 German soldiers from World War II, including about 30 members of the SS (the elite Nazi guard) are buried. His plans, since changed, did not originally include a visit to Dachau concentration camp and he was accused of honoring the Nazis without honoring the six .million Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Despite •Reagan's arguments that Ger- mans live in constant penance and are ashamed of their predecessors, his critics say Germany's atonement of billions of dollars in restitution to Israel and victims of the Holocaust and prosecution of Nazi war criiriinals is not enough...Germany must ac- ..cept.respo. stillity.forthetr Nazi_,ast _....__._.... Germany's Chancellor Helmut Kohl was also blasted for refusing to take any respon- sibility for the Third Reich since he was only 1 wheu=the ar_endesl_and claiming per cent of all West Germans were born we' after World War II. Many questions arise -How responsible is he actions of a number of their ancestors and how long should they do penance if they accept that responsibility? Was Adolf Hitler a madman who could appear in any nationality or is Nazism a genetic defect in the German peo- ple waiting to reappear the moment_atone- ment stops? Similar situations come to mind. Should Italians (Romans) continue to do penance for throwing the Christians to the lions? How about white people allowing the slavery of blacks to happen in the southern states of the U.S.? Should we all accept responsibility for that? Come to think of it, we still do allow that kind of apartheid to ex- ist in South Africa. I'm not for a moment suggesting that the Nazi Holocaust was anything but a horrify- ing, despicable example of the depths the human race can sink to. The hate -mongers who suggest anything else including Zundel and Keegstra should be dismissed and recognized as twisted liars. We should remember the atrocities of the Holocaust so we never allow human beings to sink so low again. But, should we continue --to t -the finger and -heap -guilt or.-tlie--ons-- and daughters of those who participated? Violence, hatred and wickedness are not ainung that 60 national' or ethnic traits. Unfortunately, re allcapable of them jv' as we e equally capable of good. It does tittle good 'to keep watch for a new Hitler in Germany when he could just as easily spring up anywhere else. But, with the example of Germany in World War II, we should be bet - 1. Ill 1 1'10 • ter prepared to recognize and shun another Hitler if someone like him reappeared on • the scene. Painting an entire people with the same brush is an unfortunate tendency of most. We seem to be most comfortable when we can put others in neat, little compartments-- Germans, bad; - Americans, good (or whatever your own personal prejudices dic- tate). This tendency can be illustrated by the re, cent fascination with the parentage of Princess Michael, a member of Britain's royal family by marriage. Her father was discovered to be not only a Nazi, but a coward and a liar as well. What this has to do with the princess, I haven't figured out yet. But, the assumption remains that there's something wrong with her because of her father's history. Although I seldom agree with Reagan's ideas or policies, I find thyself defending his stance for his German tour. Visiting the gravesite of 2006 German soldiers, most of nem -18 at tll�e tflneifzl-satlr, is nut condon- ing Nazis or the Holocaust. His big mistake was not including the concentration camp in his initial' plan so he could honor all victims of Na21-Gerfm iytagether. We should never forget the Holocaust. But, there comes a time when we should let our bitterness die and exempt from blame the present gener wwir�are taking the blame for their predecessors. Is Goderich 'town council looking often enough before it leaps? Has it perhaps developed a core group who decides in the background what is best, finds a. soothing way to make things sort of palatable to the re; 'visite number of uncommitted in- betweens, and does not tolerate deviations from the rather fierce and singleminded course,,,set from the top? Are principles sometimestrampled unnoticed in the dust of scrambling for expediencey? At a recent meeting I watched with sadness and dismay how nonchalantly the town council passed a by-law containing unacceptable wording of discrimination. It is difficult to believe, but by-law 41 of 1985 actually says (and thus the wording will p0 - pear -on the traffic signs on Keays Street) that on a portion of that street° parking will be prohibited "8 a.m. to p.m.•during school days". Can you imagine signs going up on North Street stating that street parking is pro- hibited from 8.to 5 "during church days"? It would be unthinkable. To what sort of logic and decency do we resort, If we think it is alright to discriminate against individuals who go to school? The parking prohibition was sought by one person. Perhaps there were problems. The fact is that when Councillor Searis sug- gesteu at a previous meeting that abet residents of the area as well as school authorities be consulted, he received no sup- port from the other members. When the matter appeared in the by-law forth, there was nodiscussion at all. It was just another formality to get out of the way. In a recorded vote, only Coun. Searls voted against the by-law. The 'process of passing the by-law was made even more vulnerable by the fact that the council members were, by that time, in possession of a letter written by Mr. H.J. Murphy, Principal of the Goderich District Collegiate Institute. Calling the change "ex- tremely discriminatory" Mr. Murphy ask- ed the coiniI to "-consider-the message you. are sending to the adolescents and young adults of this community by your actions." He mentioned that there had been no con- tact with "school officials to try to resolve any concern in a less formal planner." Later Mr. Murphy added that. he first heard about the matter when he read it in the paper. Mr. Murphy's letter was then also printed in the local paper. At the council table it created no discussion at all; it was simply received and filed before the by-law wase passed. Did the council's action indicate in- difference, ignorance or arrogance? I found it most disturbing, whatever it was. It would Lie Lou generous to call the council's message in this case thoughtless. There had been ample time and opportunity to become mindful of the principles and implications concerned. This council's priorities? Whilst there was no interest in taking even five minutes to deal with the question of discrimination ex- pressedin the school principal's letter and by other persons, the council spent over an hour in a closed session to which the Mayor' had invited the town solicitor, in order to discuss matters pertaining to Coun. Searis, as the mayor had informed Mr. Searls directly. It ought to be noted that prior to that session, Reeve Worsen and Deputy - Reeve Doherty left Councillors Carey and Searls voted in favour of an open discussion. When the remaining majority decided to close the meeting, Coun. Searls walked out. That the •ill-conceived session was not allowed to deteriorate into a complete disaster, gives credit to some cool and in- telligent heads. Out of respect for these in- dividuals, I look no deeper into this rather pitiful affair in local municipal politics. I mention the subject, in order -to let the students know that the adults are often treated with the same disdain and ar- rogance - as it we could not successfully add two and two on our ow;i. Outdated procedure by-law indeed! ELSA HAYDON