The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-02-15, Page 19ee
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Inside:
Denise Dalton is the new co-ordinator at
Kingsbridge 1'rt•r,( ;Lt
.Don McArthur retires after years with
Bell Telephone 1'age 4A
Jack Riddell MPP disCusses rising food c'(,' t.
in his column 'J' • 1'(rge 6A,
ALPHA Huron praises local mall for
far-sightedness
Goder'ich Twp. artist says art really doesn't
hurt anyone .. 1'age 9A
Six figure skaters win trophies in an trim! ct'pnt Awe 19`1
Page 8'A
�t4
Housecleaning is just one of many independent. living skills the residents
learn at the Group•Home on Keays Street. Here, Mary, who will he moving
into her own apartment with two friends in the spring. takes her turn al.
vacuuming. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan)
A writer in Oklahoma City has filed a
'62 •" million lawsuit against a beer
company and a tavern that served him
beer.
Woodrow Bussey filed the suit
against the Coors Beer Company and
the tavern'where he drank the beer
claiming. the 3.2 per cent alcohol
content of the beverage pickled his
brain.
Now Bussey admits to have been a
regular patron of a bar where he -
consumed much Coors -beer. Afteratl,
you only go around once in life.
He claims that this ingesting of Cuors
beer has pickled his brain, rendering
.him incapable of writing up to his
potential or even : writing in a
professional manner: The ' suit is
seeking $1.5 million for irreparable
brain 'du mage, damage to h is
reputation, damage to his sexual
prowess iind dantage.,to his literary
career. He threw in arr:extra $500,000
for pa-. unci futtrr ntc dl nl exl,enu.: s.
Undeniably, the suit has caused a stir
among the writing profession.
Those laboring in the media field
have not only laid clairo to the fact they
are able to consume large quantities of
comforting beverages in a single sit-
ting but have gone so far as to boast of
their consumption prowess.
But now Bussey has laid bare the
facade.
Now the public knows the truth.
Newspapermen, novelists, television
broadcasters, creditable people all,
despite cocky boasts may have dipped
their beaks into one beverage too
many.
Are all writers now to he hr•andt;d as
a brain pickled lot whoste sexual
prowess is suspect?
Frankly I'm crushed.
Who would have thought that ( in my
case ) a few casual visits ( truthfully, 1
can only recall one or two times at most
to the tavern would render• the sect ion
of my '6'rain where writing ability is
stored, useless? I would actually be
surprised if the alcohol was able to
locate Such a function among my
limited thinking apparatus.
As near as I can recollect I haven't
given in to tits q,of severe saliva
displacement problems. ( slobbering)
And though 1 have yet to uncover a hint
of sexual prowess in my possession, is
it now beyond repair?
Writers, naturally will watch this
case with fervor, hanging on every
w'o'rd of the outcome. It will he in•
teresting to see how Bussey proves his
brain is •pickled, let alone that his
sexual prowess has been damaged.,
But. perhaps the crafty Hussy has a
s1o k• visual aid pr•eslentation vital to
proving his sudden lack . of romantic
inclinations. It could spark a bit of
interest in a usually staid courtroom.
Really, it's disturbing. The case is
rather unique and it just happens to he
a writer. Does is it mean that doctors,
lawyers, housewives or a laborer in
Moose Javeis immune to brain pickling
and destruction of sexual prowess?
It may lead.readers to think so.
In that respect the case is
descriminatory and while writers are a
harried lot to begin with, should Bussey
win his suit, our typewriters will be
retired in a padded cell.
The case definitely has far reaching
implications for those of us -with a
poised pen and it is not inconceivable
that' all writers will give up the trade
and make their cool million in court
with claims of pickled brains and a
disgusting lack of sexual prowess.
It's worth a thought and I'm certain
that no self respecting judge would
disclaim ii suit initiated by myself and
seeking dollars for brain damage. No
contest.
I think I'll knock off early and have a
beer.
thederich
IGNAL STAR
1't• \U—.
tilt ItS1)\Y I:I•:131tt \ItY .i, i 1. 1
SECOND SECTION
A dream come true!
They are on their own now
13Y ,IOANN'I:
B(_ CHANAN.
lt's ai dream come true.
After years of living in
institutions, Viola, age 52,
Mary, age '4?, and Fran,
age 45, are moving into
their fi'er'y' own apartment
for the first time in their
lives. •
The three women,
presently riesidents of the
(;roup Honm at 200 Keays
. Street in Goclerich, are
mentally retarded. -rimy
are insuperable friends:
having known one
another for !,tiny years
in the various institutions
in which they have 11ved.
A mentally retarded
person can he defined as
someone who is slow to
learn across the whole
range of human skillst
Butt most retarded pcoplg
CAN learn. .
There are 250,000
mentally retarded people
in Canada. Orily five per
cent of them are severely
retarded. Eighty per cent
are only mildly retarded.
•The mentally retarded
are people with feelings,
thoughts and emotions
just like everyone else.
And many of -then -lean be
taught to live in-
dependently and to in-
tegrate successfully into
society.
Viola, Mary and Fran
will prove this when they
move into own apartment
,sometime in the spring.
The three women have
lived in the Group Home
on Keays.Strcet for about
six .months now, all the
time learning in-
dependent living skills
such as cooking,
housecleaning, use of the
.telephone,' -how .to wri-le
their 'names, .'how to
budget, how to do laundry
and ironing, how to
.groccry.shop:, etc.
They will, be •the first
three people to move out
on 'their ow.n from the
Gi=oup Horne and they.
mayhe followed shortly
by two others.
"So.ma...peuple. may. not
think they can handle it
but we • dont rush them
here. We keep them until
we are absolutely sure
they CAN ha.ndlc it," says
Elsa Felker, one of four
counsellors at the Home.
Idt'ally,says the
Horne's director•,Kelvin
Colbourne, it takes three
to five years to put
someone through • the
Hume. .There could
eventually he a second
Group Home for those
who would take longer
. than that to. learn in-
dependent living skills
and Colbourne • is
presently conducting a
needs assessment for
such a Horne in Huron
County.
"That way a person
(who isn't progressing)
could fall hack (into the
second Home) or go
forward (into apartment
or independent living),"
says Colbourne.
APARTMENT
SUPPORT PROGRAM
An apartment support
worker will stay with
Viola, Mary and Fran for
several months (or as
long as it takes) after
they move out of the
Home, making sure that
what they have learned
about independent living
is being . practised
correctly.
--The apart!-ent support
worker is a . type of
supervisor and . the
ultimate goal of the
apllrtmcnt su:pp_or.t
program is to release
those on the program
fron't supervision_....
.altogether by slowly
tapering it off, explains •
Colbourne,
Thc' apartment support
program is not - in
operation here yet but it
has already gone through
the first . two levels of
government approval
and Colbourne sees no
difficulty getting it
through ....the third . and
final' stage of approval
very soon. The program
comes under a spearate
budget but- under the
same supervision as the
Group Horne.
WHAT IS LEARNED
"Many people ' don't
realize what we're
teaching the residents
here,'Q.says F.elk-er-.-about
the Group Home. -"We're
teaching them how to be
independent, how to be a
part of society. This is' a
home' to them just like
any other home. We also
encourage them to go to
activities outside the
home."
Every weekday from
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the
residents •-___.week- at -the
Kinsmen Centre across
the street from the Home,
performing living 'skills,'
doing- crafts and doing
contract work for various
Turn to page 2A1•
A •.
Mary, Viola and Fran (left to right) were over-
whelmed by -the gifts they'reeeived at an apratment
shower held. at. the Salvation. Army. for them last
week. The three women, residents of the Group
Home on Keays Street, are moving into their ow.n
ivemen
apartment in the spring. After years of living in
institutions. they are starting from scratch as.far as
eosscssions go so the gifts will really come in
handy. (Photo b, Joanne Buchanan)
Want to have some winter fun. Go
south
Can't afford to go south. Get ready to
slowly go out of your mind like me and
thousands of other Canadians that
would like winter to start December 21
and end December 28. A week is good
enough.
Since it is fairly obvious that two of
my thoughts on how to cure cabin
fever that's what they call it when
you' feel like you're going off the deep
end and there's still two months of
winter ahead are out of .a lot of
people's league I have come up with a
few ideas on how to be -at your basic
mid -winter blues.
Before we can cure the problem we
have to make sure you're suffering
from it. Do you hate. everybody and
everything? Would you rather go into
the basement and take your- electric
saw and cut off your arm than go out in
the cold to go to the store? Do you start
to drool uncontrolably when it even
looks like snow and do you have teleth
marks in the steering wheel of ybur ear
where you gnawed on the wheel after
getting stuck?
Okay, you've got it.
The first thing you've got tri do is get
yourself a pocket notebook . and pen.
You'll need that to jot down the names
of those rosy checked yo•yos that
chcserily tell you winter can he fun as
they set out cross country skiing or
tobogganing, You can spend hours and
hours during the long winter evenings
ahead planning things for these people
to do when spring finally comes. Call
them up some blazing hot afternoon in
August and tell them they were right,
cross country skiing can he fun and ask'
them if they would like•to join you in
some mid -summer skiing. Without
sounding too offensive .tell them it's a
piece of cake to ski in the winter, it's
summer skiing that's a challenge.
If you don't want to bother trying to'
go skiing in the summer wait by the
window.so you know the greatoutdoors
types are corning to sec'you. When they
pull- in the driveway race upstairs arid
got your bathing soil on. Tell them you
can't..go skiing your going to the beach
to swim.
' Next time you are dressed to go out in
the cold take a little bit of extra time to
build a snow man. Build a5 nice, big one
on the front lawn. While it's still cold
you can take a rifle and slowly and
methodically demolish the• thing with
bullets, you can drive over it with your
car or you can put it in the freezer, take
it out in .Iuly and snicker and sneer as it
slowly melts on your front porch.
The next time I'm lamenting the fact
that it's winter and 1 guess it's just
foolhardy to wish for a mild, snow free
season and somebody says this winter
hasn't been had -1'm going to do my part
to rnakc it had. I'm going to my local
moviestudia and rent one of those huge
fans they use to create hurricanes for
movies. I'm going to take the fan to the
front of thi'• guy's house, turn it on, and
leave it there for the rest of the winter. i
don't want to he vindictivb. 'All I'm
doing is taking the surprise nut of
winter. He will never have to worry
about what winter Weather is going to
be like tomorrow, he'll know. Winds
will be 40 miles per hour with drifting
snow.
If all else fails go out and buy
- yourself some battery operated, flesh
tone, winter underwear. Put them on,
turn the heat up -to high, cover yourself
with a pair of your best summer shorts
and head out into' the frigid air.
Everyone that you meet will figure
you've gone off the plank but rather
than explain what you're doing just
keep walking around with a contented
smile. You'll be warm and everyone
else will have" their minds .taken off
winter trying to figure out what hap-
pened to your sanity. By the time the
bus comes to take you to the home
there should be several other people
ready to join you after they've snapped
their minds trying to figure out what
you're smiling at. If nothing else it will
be spring by the time doctors have
determined if your fit to be turned out
into society.
jerr
Seddon