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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-01-24, Page 15• I am cupboric: 13ring on the beer, - bring- on the. do iglinuts and phone Weight Watchers, This kid is on the way out. The euphoria stems fyorn ° a recent alarming discovery of fleshy bits about the midsection. I put on some weight.. Granted, that may pose as a dilemna for the average person and necessitate large purchases of lettuce and "celery, but for this ,willowy writer it'shardly detectable. • , Let ne,share this big moment with , youaand Set the scenario. A couple of weeks ago I "noticed'that the. 30 inch waist Levi's were :a• trifle more snug than ususal; ]vow my little bod is of the bony variety and generally there isn't ample flesh for•the jeans to hang on to. Actua1ly,I'm just too tall for my weight. .I'f I was about three. feet high. - my physique might be acceptable. So I. had experienced great difficulty keeping the Levi's properly belted and • tl Bbl ul in the pants always hung down . back leaving plenty Of room for trnlial shorts. 11 as previou1sy mentioned, the pa its were r fitting , snugly and I presumed the dryer had wreaked havoo with the fabric. never weigh myself since I've never,. been concerned about it but I did detect a ,sltgbt bit o`f fat hanging over the top edge afiny pants. I was dizzy with joy. =Now -the roll or overhang was rather modest but it's my first ever and I felt anurge to .call in friends and neigh- boutsfor a first hand look. Tt.was time to celebrate. That evidence was further sub- stantiated by a- formal •weigh-in cer mo:ny that corroborated my suspicions. .Now there is more of me. You see, life can be' miserable for skinny people. , Edo you think we enjoy eating and drinking as much and as often as we toderich 132 YEAR -4 v.idAgAVOEm,,-,,,,, Maxine Switzer, one • of 21 clients at the Adult Rehabilitation Centre workshop, packages pens for the Sheaffer Pen 'Company of Goderich. Sheaffer has provided work for the workshop's clients since the workshop • opened 16 years ago, says workshop manager, Evelyn Carroll. (Photo by. Joanne 13uchanan), f With a bit of supervision and sometimes help from One of her fellow clients, Christine Knapp, , a client at the 'Adult Rehabilitation Centre workshop, makes out menus and shopping lists, goes grocery shopping and prepares lunch for 23 people daily at the workshop. Here, she skillfully whips up some pizza burgers and salad. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Sixteen years ago the Adult Re'habilittation Centre Workshop '(ARC) - opened in the Goderich Kinsmen club house. Three young mentally handicapped women, under the supervision of Evelyn Carroll, kept busy at the Centre • for three hours a day making saleable crafts. Today the - Centrc is open 71%2 hours a day, five days a week for 12 months of the year. Tiiventy:one mentally handicapped `,adults (or clients as they are called), • still under the supervision of Mrs. Carroll, not only make saleable crafts but fulfill contract work far several different companies „as well Mrs. Carroll says the workshop was started largely through, the ef- forts a Mrs. Bonnie Graham, principal of the Queen ' Elizabeth School for mentally handicapped children. Three students had reached the age of 18, were finished ' their. ,schooling ' at Queen Elizabeth' and had no place to go. The need for a workshop was then perceived. Representatives from several different ,organizations in town were assembled into a committee in the hopes of startinLa workshop. The committee advertised for a workshop manager for •several months but to rib avail. Mrs. Carroll, who was representing the Ladies' Legion Auxiliary on the workshop committee, then volunteered to try the manager's position herself. "I volunteered to get it (the workshop) ' off the desire without fear,of• gaalin;g Pure torment. Skinny gays .always `f ono the top air a human . pyramid, .get sand ..l nye qVin. their face, are always .stuffed v4e lockers in high school and generally -get little respect. 4 • • In fact I can still bear my wither - say: "Better fetch' that little sucker fro mbutsi:de before he blaws•awayu' But, that's all behind me now, We1L, some of i-t's.behind me. - The scale wobbled and . wavered before registering 137 big ones. Muscle city. So with any luek plus a case•of 24, five Meals a day and snacks in between.this . sligght•,scribe could surpass 140 pounds. Then.tbere will be no stopping me. • In .fact, I have often fantasized of being the proud owner of an expansive midsection, laying about the house watching television in a dirty- un- dershirt and belching 'rudely between sips from a can of special lite. The discovery of that modest little ,•nil offers hope in these grim times. ittedly, there is a long way to go s, . ore protrudlh a . ;are - Oaoufdagpd with but the dimiinishing sag in ti, a rear. of the pants: does offer some consolation. I' am holding off on the diet for now but am 'fear'ful of its impending , im- ,plementation. .. •To be honest, I- would be insufferable ase,, dieter. i t:,•, . It • is . difficult for me to function adequately without, four; • meals and an. assortment of Snacks. My problem, I sui pert, is that I don't consubie enough fattening jupk. . So this scribe may have to leave the X -large undershirt in mothballs for now and only offer it the occasional longing glance. - ' For now I am content with the modest bulge in the,midsection. And readers may share this correspondent's glee by dropping in .and taking a peek. It may never happen again. THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1980 SECOND SECTION wor -ground for three months providing they'_ (the committee) keep ad- ., yertising fora manager. I ' ••thought anybody could do, it with patience and a few craft ideas," she says. ' Sixteen years later, Mrs. Carroll can look back and say that it has all been "really "rewar ding" For the first 13 years, the Kin Oen Club of Godericlt, siu•pplied their club house `•on• Keays Street for the workshop rent-free, Then ° three years ago a new addition was built onto the club house (known " as the Kinsmen Centre) and two years ago the program • was extended and two 'more staff members were hired to teach the clients woodworking, ceramics and life skills such as cooking, cleaning and grooming. The workshop was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Goderich for one year. But when the Board of Education took over the Queen Elizabeth School from the Goderich Association for the Mentally Retarded, the Association asked to,take over sponsorship of the workshop s� • it "could remain active. The Sheaffer Pen Company provided work for the workshop's clients right from the beginning, says Mrs. Carroll. At first three clients could package 200 dozen pencil leads per month •for`the company and now four, clients can package 100 --dozen pencil leads• per day. They also make up gift boxes and package ink cartridges and erasers for the company now. Four . clients are responsible for a contract involving the making of drain flags for. drain contractors. They make 400 flags a day along with their other work. The, • clients also• fold ,and staple the Legion Ladies' Auxiliary - bulletins so they are, , ready for mailing. They ,have done some cataloging work -in the past too. They look after • the grounds at the Kinsmen Centre, shovelling snow in winter 'and raking leaves • and cutting the; lawn in the -other months. They arequite willing t6" do yard • work for other people too (phone 524- 4664). re busy. f e lks ers are They do ceramics .'and make wooden toys under the supervision' of Mrs. Barb Lennon. Their products are for sale but it is often a , problem finding a market, , says Mrs.. Carroll. They are given space' at the Metropolitan Store in the Suncoast Mall about once a month in which to sell their products and people canalsogo directly to the Centre to make pur- chases. • - - • The clients at the, Centre workshop start each day off with rythmic exercises at 8:50 a.m. to wake themselves up Jane Netzke- 'of.. the Goderich Recreation Office supervises this part of the day. Local clients ,Walk to the Centre (seven of them simply have to.• walk across thestreet from the Gr• oup,°I;l.ome where they .live) and those from the surrounding townships and ' Clinton are driven there inavan. • Work begins after fthe exercise's' tolTiAtiet "'•by' coffee break at 10 a.m. and then workagain until noon. At noon the clients and staff all eat lunch at the Centre. With a bit of supervision, „I clients plan the menus for the week, make, out grocery, lists, go shopping and prepare the meals each Monday to Friday. for all 23 peoples , It'sback to work again after lunch. Mrs. Carroll says they all used to go skating and bowling during the week once in awhile but now "it's strictly work". • A lot of the work is repetitious but it doesn't seem to bother the clients, says Mrs. Carroll. "They don't like to be Turn to page 2A • Mary McNeil and Dianne McAuley, two clients at the Adult Rehabilitation Centre workshop, package pencil lead for .the Sheaffer Pen Company. Whe'h the workshop first started, three clients could packaged 200 dozen pencil leads per fnonth. Now four clients can package 100 dozen per day. They . also package Ink cartridges and erasers and make up gift boxes for the company. {Photo by Joanne Buch aran ) Somehow I get the feeling the American government is short some - bargaining power in this current world crisis over Afghanistan. Jimmy Carter is giving it his best, Shot but I'm not sure his stand means anything, other than the fact that at least he's taking a stand. If • I understand the situation the Russian government decided to quell an uprising against a pro -Soviet government in 'Afghanistan." To do that Russia moved a few hundred thousand trobps into the tiny nation on its border and dug in. That was two weeks ago and more.. Russians are still digging in. As soon as the Russians made their -move the American government jumped on the diplomatic band wagon. Protesting the Russian intervention into Afghanistan Jimmy Carter im- Mediately took action. • He halted all grain shipments to Russia and added fuel to the fire by refusing to sell any of the high level =lo.gical equipment the Americans had apparently , been sending to Russia for years. Personally I don't know what effect that move will ,have. Unfamiliar with high level diplomacy the average man on the street can only. 'imagine what effects the Rus'sian and American moves are having on one another. Russia moves into Afghanistan on what it terms a housekeepirtig situation. It claims it is only going to stay long enough to quell the uprising and.get the country back on an even keel and then it's going home. ' Jimmy Carter can't believe it takes over 100,000 troops, armoured vehicles, helicopters and the works to do a little housekeeping. -He, says the Russians' are guilty of open aggression and must be punished. -So what he does is send the Russians to bed without any wheat. He vows not to sell any, more grain to the Russians and halts all shipments of sophisticated technologicalequipment to the 'Russians. • The world waits patiently to see if the Russians are willing to live without bread and Coca Cola. - They are. The Soviets say no one in their country will do without a single gram 'of bread as a result of the American moves. They say they can survive without trade with the United States. They say they live by the Golden Rule...he who has the gold rules. Knowing man's penchant for gold the" Russians, who just happen to be„ the largest gold producers in the world, - offer to pay gold to anyone willing to send them grain. - Argentina steps in and says it can put up with an American cold shoulder for a couple of boat loads of gold and cuts a deal with the Russians, Realizing he -has to pull out the stops Carter then delivers the classic blow. He tells the Russians he is taking his javelins, his hurdles, his pole vaults and his swimsuits andgoing home.. He plans an ' American b� cott of the Olympic Games in Moscow this summer. • . The Russians say who cares. ". On the surface that may appear as a Weak decision by Carter but, give him credit. He faces a re-election and has told thousands of people in the United States they can't go out -and play this summer. He told thousands of farmers they °can't sell their grain and he told thousands of businesses they can't ship their alarm clocks overseas. •• For the Russians similar problems arise. The Russian people. hungry .for contact with the world, badly wanted the Olympic Games in their capital. They are supposedly going to be upset by the cancellation of the Games arid will be angry with their government. I just don't understand it all. Let the Afghans decide their own fate, let -the Russians eat their bread and let the Americans run and jump in Moscow this summer. I guess we're just lucky no one at- tacked us in December when the Conservative government was ousted. fi