The Goderich Signal Star, 1976-03-11, Page 1•
L1 ,C 1bietry.,
5 2 Kaxe' r e .1" * A...r.
Gorerckh, On t . NA 204.
Doug McNeil; chairman of the Alexandra Marine .and General Hospital Board, presentsa.
gift to Mrs. Marie Boyes of Goderich who wilt be retiring. after -25 years of. service. Mrs.
Boyes,'who has nursed in Goderich for'25 years, was presented with gifts by the board and
staff of the hospita1last Friday. (staff photo)
Townships must be.satisfied -.
awanos
West- Waw:anosh Township
Council held .", its regular
March •.meeting on Tuesday
afternoon, March :.2,; at the
township garage. All.
members were in attendance,
Reeve Bob Lyons presiding.
It was noted that a motion
for the road. superintendent to
submit the annual, petition for
subsidy to. the Ministry of
Transportation . and Com-
munications, in the amount of
$125,765..86,' has been omitted
from the February minutes.
Juergen Becker had been
advised that, an appearance
before _C.ouncil_-_.Would--=have
been a good plan to air his
coirnpl.aints,.. rather than
letter's to the» editor in the
local . paper. He therefore;
appeared before Council. and,
spoke to the members about
the contents of his letter's.
Becker heft the . meeting,,.
adamant' in his opinion that
Council's action in regard .to
honoring ,retired employee
was not in the best interests of
'the township`s ratepayers:"'
None of the explanations
Councillors offered was
After a long discussion, Mr..
en
There's little: doubt- that
social workers have changed
over the last few years, and
Helen Allen, who was the
special . guest speaker 'at the
annual meetingof the Huron
• County Children's Aid Society
Thursday evening in
Goderich, is perhaps one of
the best • examples ' of this
swing to social workers with a
heart.
"CAS workers used to be
�-r .known as baby snatchers,"
Miss Allensaid in an informal
meeting prior to the evening
event. "And they used to look
under the beds to see what
kind of ` a housekeeper you
were. But that's all gone
now." .•
• Miss Allen is the originator
of . Today's Child, • a
newspaper feature which has
led to the. adoption of more
than 7,000 Ontario children
since 1964.'.She is also the key
figure on the, television
program "The _Family
Finder" which was launched
in late 1969 at Miss Allen's.
suggestion.
She •had no idea after her
• graduation from the
University, of Toronto. that
she'd ever become a social
worker.. She . joined The
Telegram staff and launched,
her career as a general
reporter, movie •critic,
women's editor, features
editor and political writer.
Her exciting work found her
covering royal tours,
inauguratiol~ts of US
presidents, federal election
campaigns.
Due. to her • job, Miss Allen
covered ina•ny"' welfare
assignments. Her warmth
and feeling for people showed
through, and she acquired a
wide knowledge of the field,,
When the idea of Today's
Child was., born at The
Telegram, Miss Allen 'was a
natural to persue the column.
She has been dedicated to the
column and to the adoption of.
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14
fl
1 29'YEAR-11....-
THURSDAY, MARC:H•1 1, 1976,
SECQNO 'SECTi(
Huron County, has sent
another delegate to the"
Ontario Legislature When the';°
House reconvened last
Tuesday but unfortunately,
there Is. little that person can
do to, 'Cur e' .the county's `•'
hospital ills. ;
Anita. Shrier, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs: R.G. ,,Shrier.
was one -:of, several' young,
persons. across the province. •
selected to work as, a page in..:.
the Ontario Legislature which,.
rec.onyened earlier this week: .
Last week, although she
admitted to not -knowing too
much of the workings of our
Provincial Government,
Anita was excited about the
prospect and looking forward
to it.as' a learning.experience.
• Aside. from the learning
experience that is afforded
through the opportunity it ,is
an honor to simply be
selected •as a , page.
Application was made as loltg.
as two years- ago and basic
requirements. had. to be met.
Understandably the applicant
must have exceptional
academic standing and. a
recommendation from - the'.
school is -required.
Allthe pages , are 12 or 13
years -'of age and must
• maintain. an average .of . 80'.,:
percent•
studies:
beco
in• their
Anita, , 13&:
school:
and R
Grade '8 pupil• at Rolaertsb;..secanil: student - .fror i that, of being ` a` page in' the.
Memorial Public Schopl,is tilts . 'school,to attain the distinction , •Legislature'; Lat year •
J e'nnifer Harper of Goderich
served in the House,
Anita will stay, with friends
LW'
btle
of,.ier my w
is in
the ToroSprnto ,afan,d wily. ride the
subway to and from the •
Legislature . each day: Two
weeks ago ' she_ went to.
Toronto to be fitted for her.
uniform which she•described
as plain black with; a white
shirt. She added that she.
"really didn't like it".
Despite her dislike for the
uniform, her enthusiasm for
the job was refreshing. She
had never been to Queen's
Park before. and viewedher
job, as an invaluable learning
experience, But in the Words.
of a 13 year old she applied to
be a page because "she
thought it would be neat".
There was also work in-
volved for the preparation of
the job as certain procedures
must be followed in • the
House. She had to memorize a
list of the members of the
House' and their positions.
The list included 125 names ..
and positions and Anita ad-
mitted that it would take
some time •to familiarize
(continued on page 3A)•.
Anita Shrier studies the. list ofnaMet and positions: of the 125 members of the Ontario
Legislature that she had to memorize in'preparation'for her duties as. page. Shebegan her
dutie's on ,March 8 when the House 'reconvened but -was not sure of the duration sof her.
work. (OA' photo)
.park could beeome MV{A project in the futur
_satisfactory to Mr.,_ Becker._
Alvin Sherwood was - in,
attendance . to . speak to
Council about a water
problem that has arisen in
Dungannon in the area.. where
a new water supply system
has been installed'. by him.
Edward Gingerich • ap-
proached • Council about a
severance which has not yet
been .approved by the Huron
County • Land -Division
Committee. •
Council members discussed
the possibility of Maitland
Valley Conservation
en
hard -to -place children -ever.
since.
Today's Child now appears
in 22 daily newspapers and.
155 weeklies. Helen Allen now
s,an•,emploYee of the Ontario
government's Ministry ,of
Community and . • Social
Services: and the picture-
. story of a child needing
adoption is also handled by
that Ministry. _
"The column had been so
successful in The Telegram,
that when the paper folded in
1971, the government did Pot
want to see the -column lost
along with -the newspaper,"
Miss Allen commented. "And
I went with the -column."
The Family Finder is seen
on :12 television . channels
a"cross the province.
When Today's Child began,
only three Children's Aid
Societies'out of 55 in the
province Toronto,•Hamilton
and Kendra - were,willing to
haye ..their children pictured
and written up in the
newspaper. The • three-week
pilot; project was very- suc-
cessful. Out, of "23 children
whose pictures .appeared in
the- newspaper, 18 were
adopted. .
Then the requests. started
pouring in and a further six
-weeks Was planned: for the
column.
"That six weeks is still
going on," Miss Allen smiled,
At the start, pseudonyms
were used for the children,
Then an older child named
Toinmy'-objected to having a
name other than' his own
used. He said. he'd told all the
kids at schobl that his picture
•wa's to be in Today's Child
and. he thought it would look.
silly to have some Other 'name
attached to his picture.
',(Froin then on, all the Older
children were asked whether
they wanted to use their own
names or, a pseudonym,"
Miss Allen said, showing &ice
again her genuine concern for
t
Authority: taking over - the
East-West WaWanosh: Park;
This .pos.$ibility had been. -
mentioned . someg
ears ago,
Y
but at the time the Authority
considered the area too sr'nall
for their purposes.
•
, With the'acgixisition;of 401
acres of land beside the Park,
the plaitwould now be
'feasible for the
This meeting was ' very
informative; .: with • the -
Authority showing slides of
the area under its jurisdic-
tion, and discussing a=similar
Park for.' which they , had
assumed responsibility. The
3.3101°i -47y members. assured
to ` vouncil members in at,
tendance that the. "Park, if.
taken over by them, would: be,
Authority; if operated according to an
agreement setting out the
conditions which the town-
ships wanted, ' . •
The. Authority will not take
over the Park anddictate how
it should he ,operated. The
the. Townships agree.. Both
township councils and several
Authority executivemem•
-
bers met tri Belgrave on
February, 12 to discuss such a
e new
her young charges, "Most
want to use :their own
names."
During the years of Today's
Child,four sets of seven
children from' one family
have been adopted as units.
One set went to a doctor and
his wife; one group to a
minister anti. his wife;- one to
an •' average middle class
• family;- and the final one to a
childless couple in the armed
forces.
"I've often wondered just
what kind of change.occurred
in.that home where they went
from 'no children toseven
children. in one day," said
Miss Allen.
More black and native
families . are adopting
childrenthese days, Miss.
Allen" noted. Consequently,
more effort is being made by
the Children's Aid Societies to
place • Indian,, Eskimo and
blackhilndr.en inAhomes of
their An race: ,
• And there ' is ' a growing
acceptance of . problem
children. ~ youngsters with
learning disabilities,
emotional problems;;physical
. limitations • and ,.,medical
difficulties. all are being:
adopted into good homes
where they are -accepted and
loved.
There are fewer infants for
adoption these days because
of the improved birth control
Methods and the accessibility
of abortions. As well, fewer
older children are available
for adoption through CAS
because of the trend toward
keeping children in their
natural families whenever
possible. •
"The CAS will take children.
into care • temporarily while
mother straightens out her
emotional problems or fal"liver.
sorts "' out his liquor
problerns,y Miss . Allen
commented. "They will put -
housekeepers into homes and
cin ,'v ' ,ti ...'`.. ,•hahi.bnit.r.'
a family so that -kids "can
either stay at liotn.e. or;retui n, •
to the home after a while.
While single parents who,
want"to adopt .children 'are
discouraged' because of the
belief thatthe ideal situation
is where both a mother and a
father are in the home, in
some • exceptional cir-
cumstances, adoption, by
single, parents is permitted.'
Miss Allen noted an increase
rri'the nuFmb:er t?f stogie -ire
who are applying for childrOn
to adopt.
"There have been ' some
really successful sing -le
parent adoptions," she said.
Today's Child is a, more
effective means of finding
adopting families than The.
Family Finder on television,
"That's, probably because
,the 'television program is
-more easily forgotten after it
is over," Miss Allen - a.d-
mitted. "The• .newspaper -
stays' in•the home and. makes
a greater and longer . im-
pression .on families. But 1
, suppose you could say that
one complements the other: A
child who appears; on
television may turn up in the
newspaper - or vice versa."
She also believes that
Today's Child has been so'
successful~ because it
provides prospective parents
with some say about the child
they select. Often times the
picture :of, a. particular child'
will appeal to a family.fot'.
whatever•reason, and a good
home is found where it
•dtherwis•e could not hal-
townships. must be satisfied,.
it was. pointed out •' ..
.. Coirrmittee . 'delegates for
the year 1976 were set out by''
'Council. The Recreation
Committee will remain as in
•'1-975: Walter . Arnold,
:Chairman: (1975); •-Janice
Rutherford, Secretary
(1975) ; : John Rutherford,
Ross Errington, Susan Cook,
Allan :•- $ Webster, Bill
MacPhers.on, Cecil and
M,ery_belle Cranston, and Joe.
-Hickey. Named to other
committees: were: Joe
Hickey, Farm SafetyCouncil,'
taking the child ."It must be
a mutual feeling - the parents
for the child, the child for the
parents, Miss Allen pointed' .
out. .
. .While Miss Allen has
nothing to do with placing the
children she puts before the
public, she is keenly in- -.M,.,
terested in her children, and
keeps -•track of many of them.
She has some .warm and
,wonderful stories to" relate
-en—about—th•e--a-dopt"iens•- with_
Arnold Stothers_ and Bob
Lyons, Fire ' Protection.
Committee; " Marybelle.
Cranston, Arena Board; and
Bob Lyons, Medical . Centre
Committee.
A -'motion. by 'Councillors
Stotters- - and "Hickey 'that
West . Wawanosh Township.
Council ,;approve tw
payments of the Huron
County levy in,1976, on June
30 and December 15, -was
approved. •
Waterloo and the Town ; of
Chesley, were tabled.
By -Law No. 5, 1976, was
given third reading ,and •
finally passed on., motion of.
Councillors. Cranston and'
Hickey. This by-law •
authorizes the township- to •
o" enter into an agreement with .-
" e-V(11a'ge orLlicknow for the •
acquisition of.a fire hall to be
shared by four municipalities
Resolutions from the
Regional Municipality of
•
•
•
and fire protectionby the
Lucknow Volunteer fire
brigade:
of sociai-wor
•been. •
What's more, children have
a great deal to say about the
homes into which they will go.
The child is given plenty of
time to . assess the home.
through weekendvisits and.
holidays: He must feel
comfortable there and want
to go there. No dhild is forced
into a situation anymore than
a family is pressured into.
which she has been involved.
She has- mixed feelings
about present government
investigation into allowing
adoptedchildren, when they
become of age, to know about
their natural parents..
She tells about -'a Toronto
mother.. of four who -is totaljy
distraught -.,by .. recent
legislation in 'Nova Scotia
which permits an 18 year old �Yry�?_.. " . �...• ¢.
to know ;his °or her parental
background and the , last
known address of his or her
parents. This women has
never told her husband or her
family about the child born to
\her in Nova Scotia. and isnow
.terrified that the child will
turn tip', one day in Toronto
ancf destroy her relationship
with her. present family., '
But there are some cases,
Miss Allen says, where
putting children and parents
together . even after many
long years of separation can
be a beautitu1 thing. She feels
that if should he possible to.
untie where it is desirable,
and to protect parents and
children where this is hest,
• But where adoption is
concerned, ,,tMiss Allen has a
positive outlook. She believes `
in adoption With all her .heart,
and' would like "to find homes
for
thall children. who=require
em. . . -
She muy be moving closer
to her goal. This week, in fact; n 's Child (cenfre) was the `nest speaker of hist week's Children's Aid
the dailTod, 's Child will. Helen Allen. of rod y
y Society annual meeting, With Miss Alien is Bruce Heath, director' of the Huron County
appear only three'
ree or four n Elsie Westc'6t; resiidenf`of CAS here. (staff photo)-
CA5 and Mrs, p ....
'( cumin ucd onpu rr 3A )
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