The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-02-08, Page 17sykes
Inside:.
W.E. Elliott writes about the tanner with imaginative
ads
The Fifties Dance at Robertson had -plenty of
Fonzies
The Rotary symphony concert is coming again in
mid-February , Page 7A
Captain Comet's new book review by Caroline Cass
is catching on Page 8A.
Goderich and area deaths Page 12A
Its Pete Mahovolich up past centre
ice, he dumps a pass off to brother
Frank whc moves up left wing and
•
feeds a pass to Yvon Cournier, Cor-
nourier, er ah Cornyorier....anyway
Kharlarnov just scored for the Soviets.
That was a rather subtle humorous
anecdote emanating from the 1972
Canada -Soviet hockey series. The first
ever of its kind.
That cartoon, which adorned
editorial pages in papers across the
country depicted .announcer Foster
Hewitt at the microphone desperately
attempting to pronounce a Canadian
player's name. While he tried to un-
tangle his tongue the Russians had
scored a goal.
The cartoon was sickeningly ac-
curate.
- If there was a common denominator
that linked this multi -cultural country,
it - was hockey. We spoke the
language,we •knew the rules -it was our
game.
'}'hnrn fir•, , nn.'iSr ins' rfll-Stinn ahont
Page 3A
Page 4A
it. We were the revered masters of the
game of hockey, our national sport. No
contest.
But in the 72 series the Russians put a
rather large dent in our pride. They
✓' kicked our butts around the rink!
And after our hockey egos were
deflated these hockey series have
become more political in nature. It's
now Us versus Them. e
That translates into the democratic
process against the evils of the Com-
munist .block and now there is
seemingly more at stake than a hockey
trophy symbolic of victory in the
'Challenge Cup series.
And analyzers insist that politics
dictates the style the play. The
Canadians, because of their political
backgrounds, play a more impetuous,
improvisational and emotional brand
of hockey. The Soviets, on the other'
hand, are apparently incapable' of
playing on emotion and are more in-
rlin�d to he syctemized and ealrulated.
The style never changes.
Gtoderich
SIGNAL -STAB
The series turned into a -my dad is
better than your dad -situation. Winning
was close to the hearts of'all Canadians
not% just to prove that we could play
hockey better than anyone else,but also
to point an accusing finger and say that
the democratic system would prevail.
I was no different than any other
Canadian in wanting our team to pile
up 15-20 goals in a game with relative
ease. I rather expected that it would be
so.
Our heads were hung low for a while
but the misconceptions about our
hockey prowess_ were soon over-
shadowed by the fact that the hockey
was the best produced in any, rink,
anywhere.
This week we will again witness a
classic confrontation between the NHL
all-stars and the Soviet national team
in New York.
At least now names like Petrov,
Kharmalov, Mikhailov and Tretiak are
as well known as Lafleur, Sittler or
Clarke but the Russians will ice a few
new names this series that fans will
likely learn in a hurry.
Reading material about the series is
dominating sports pages lately and
there is some disturbing news. The
Soviets are not only smug about the
,series but arrogant.
Thats never been their style .but now
they, have nothing to fear from playing
Canada's professional hockey players.
That scares me.
Regardless of political philosophies
or'even the fact that its just another
hockey series, I really don't want the
Russians to win. I guess it's just the
pride thing.
Nonetheless, I suppose it doesn't
matter in the least who wins the hockey
series.
It will undoubtedly be the best darn
hockey Canadian's have seen since the
last time the teams tangled.
132 YEAR -6
I'!lhRSDAY,,iF EI11tUARY 8,.1579. _._. __.
SECOND SECTION
Peter Burley stays busy
Although Peter Burley likes restoring and refinishing furniture best; he also
caneschairs and stools. Caning involves Weaving with a palm called Rattan.
It is a time-consuming task but the end result is a beautiful piece of work.
(Photo by Joanne Buchanan)
BY JOANNE
BUCHANAN
When . some people
retire, they have nothing
to keep them occupied.
-Peter Burley of Goderich
is glad he is not one of
those people.
In 1977, after 24 years of
working as a construction
carpenter, - Burley was
N reed, into an' early
retirement because of a
heart condition. So, he
turned all his attention
and efforts to a hobby
which has always in-
terested him --restoring
and refinishing furniture.
Burley has always
liked working with wood.
He remembers making a
book case at the age of
seven or eight guided by a
picture he saw in a
catalogue. -He used a
butcher knife to cut the
wood for the case because
he didn't have any other
tools and he remembers
working and sweating
over his project in the
evenings. His sister kept
that book case, his first
effort, for many years.
It seems only natural
then, that Burley would
seek a job in construction
carpentry when he got
older. He served in the
navy during the second
World War. Following
that, he worked as a
maintenance carpenter
for the Department of
National Defence at
Camp Ipperwash, for
nine years. This job in-
volved repairs and the
general 'upkeep of
buildings in the Camp.
Burley also worked for
many private con-
struction companies. He
was mostly involved in
constructing houses until
he got a job at Douglas
Point where he worked
for eight years as a
carpenter prior to his
retirement.
While he was working
in construction, Burley
had already begun
"playing around" with
antiques. For•• about a
year he operated a store
on Hamilton Street in
Goderich where he sold
used furniture and an–
tiques. But because he
was still working, he
found that operating a
store on the side was just
too much and he had to
abandon the project.
He continues to be
"fascinated" by antiques
though and is surprised at
what some people will
throw away.
"I don't think there is
anything that can't be
restored," he says with
confidence.,
He should know. He has
restored many pieces of
furniture and finds a real
sense of accomplishment
and satisfaction in this
hobby.
'`I love it. I'm fortunate
• to have such a hobby. A
Jot of people have nothing
to turn to when they
retire."
Restoring and
refinishing furniture is
not a great money-maker
so Burley pursues it only
as a hobby", mostly
buying antiques himself
to work on. I-Je does do
some custom `work
however, if people seek
his services.
Burley finds that his
hobby consumes a great
deal of his time. He likes
to work at something
until he gets it done and
allows himself only a
short break or two while
working on ,a piece 'of
furniture.
The transformation of
an old piece of battered
and scratched up fur-
niture into a thing' of
beauty, is reward enough
for Burley.
Antique furniture is
becoming scarcer and
more' expensive .all the
time, says Burley. Many
American buyers are
coming to Canada and
buying up all the antiques
they can. For, example,
he says, two years ago
there was a certain an-
tique rocker which would
sell for about $6:5 and now
it sells for over $100 and
still has to be refinished.
KNOW YOUR WOOD
People are becoming
more interested in an-
tiques.all the time and as
they do, the prices go up.
Burley feels the reason
that people are taking a
likim to old furniture
again is because they're
tired of synthetics. They
want real wood.
If you're going to buy
antique furniture, you
should know your woods,
says Burley. There is a
big difference in the
values of different woods.
Cherry and walnut are
the two most expensive
woods with walnut being
the scarcer of the two, he
says. Oak runs a close
third. There is a lot of it
around and it is a nice
wood, he claims.
Burley learned a lot
about the different types
of wood from cutting it on
the farm as a boy. He has
also done a lot of reading
on the different wood
types and feels that he
knows practically all
North American ones. He
will admit though that
there are still many
imported wood types that
he does not recognize.
Being able to identify
different wood types is
not only important for
getting your money's
Turn to page 2A •
Peter Burley stands with this unique conversation -piece coffee table and a
old bureau which he refinished..The coffee _table is made of -cypress -wood
from Florida. Cypress wood• is rot proof. Burley restores and refinishes
furniture as -a hobby. He is a retired carpenter. (Photo by Joanne
Buchanan)
Farmers are up in arms and it ap-
pears as though they haveonly just
begun to fight. Protesting lowly returns
on farmproducts thousands of angry
farmers converged on Washington this
week to make it clear to everyone that
they don't intend to stay on the farm for
nothing.
Protests aimed at focusing attention
on the plight of the farmers have
wrought,havoc in the American capitol.
Farmers driving huge tractors at a
snale's pace down major thoroughfares
in the capitol city paralyzed traffic.
Police had to . smash through glass
windows of cabs on the tractors to get
some farmers to stop driving the
machinery over police mbtorcycles
and other vehicles.
People inconvenienced by the
protests had a tendency to get a little
hot under the collar. Scuffles were not
limited to farmers and police. One
angry businessman jumped from his
car after having his path blocked by a
tractor. He motibned the driver of the
traCtor"rOtit of the cab with gorhe choice
language threatening to cause some
physical damage to the farmer's body.
The move was not wise. According to
one account the businessman was
quickly subdued by a strong right hand
to the side of his head.
While the confrontation is not
pleasant farmers could hasten the
country's administration to improve
economic conditions for farmers by
changing their tactics slightly. While
protests got the attention of govern-
ment there may be other things far-
mers could consider that would get the
government moving a little faster.
As everyone knows one of the
byproducts of `farming is a type of
fertilizer that has a rather pungent
odour. Perhaps farmers, since they
don't want to work the land for nothing,
could consider taking a little of the
fertilizer to town. Lawns at the White
House would probably nev2r be
greener if they had a few loads of pig or
chicken manure spread On them.
Imagine the complaints consumers
wuuli make if they were served fond in
a slightly different fashion than they
are accustomed to. Farmers could
change their marketing tactics slightly
and although they may -not -make more
cash they could cut down their
overhead which may improve their
profit and loss statements.
If all that work is being doneo,for
nothing then the farmers could deliver
the product to market without any
effort. Imagine how Jimmy Carter
would feel if he went to breakfast and
instead of two eggs sunny side up and a
glass of milk he was given two
chickens, about to lay eggs, and a
holstein cow with a bulging udder.
Perhaps farmers could consider
going back to the era of farm gate
shopping. Rather than shipping farm
products to food processing plants and
warehouses belonging to food stores
the farmers could merely leave it in the
barn, the silo or the grain, bin and
consumers woulhave to go shopping
in the country, t may seem slightly
plausible in small communities but I
can't envision the millionseof residents
in New York heading out to the country
to pick up a dozen eggs, a few quarts of
milk and some grain that has to taken
home and pounded into flour.
The whole idea is bizarre and of
course impossible but if the farmers
have a bona fide complaint govern-
ment should listen very closely. The
protests could slowly subside and the
normally placid farmers go back to the
land but that's when the problems will
really unfold. If the farmers simply get
fed up with low incomes and head to
town to get a better paying job the
result may be less land in production
and swift moves to cure that could
result in exorbitant food costs. Better
government should listen to the
complaints of farmers and see if
anyone other than the producer is
making a killingoon food. If the problem
is solved by higher food prices ham-
burg will have to be listed on the stock
market.,.,,. right up there with gold and
silver.
jerr
Seddon
e