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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-05-29, Page 15Serving over 20,000 homes in Ontario's heartland. 1 leisure, features and entertainment Wednesday, May 29, 1985 NATO's.. 'showcase' Force at •Geilenkirchen This is the eighth in a series of arti- cles by Marion 1 Duke, editor of The Listowel Banner, who participated in a Canadian Community Newspapers As- sociation study tolr.of Canadian Forces in Europe, the Canadian embassy in Bonn, Germany, and NATO's military headquarters at Mons, Belgium. by Marion I. Duke It is Wednesday, March 13, and a big day for us' — a day we've all been look- ing forward to. And after the disappoin- ting day at the Canadian embassy yes- terday, most of us think this day has no- where to go but up. This is the day we're to visit what has been described as NATO's "showcase", its Airborne Early Warning force, based four km west of Geilenkirchen, located on the German side of the FGR - The Netherlands border. It's about a two hour drive to the northwest from Bonn and we leave Hotel Konigshof at 9 a.m: We were .scheduled to leave at 8:45, but Frank Kohler, editor of Der Kanadier, the newspaper of the Canadian Forces in Europe, hasn't hustled quite as quickly as the rest of us. . It's a drizzly, foggy morning in Bonn and both our escort officer, Capt. Philip Anido, and our driver, Cpl. Leo Landry, appear impatient to be off — as are the rest of us. Based at‘ Geilenkirchen are the f18 Boeing 707 aircraft of NATO's E -3A Component. However, these are no or- dinary 707s. They are the flying compu- ters with the rear -mounted disk which the Americans call their AWACS (Air- borne Warning and Control System). In NATO jargon they are known as Air- borne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft. Whatever they're called, we're eager to see them. On the roaF1 the weather deteriorates. This kind of heavy fog makes for diffi- cult driving anywhere at any time. But on the autobahn it is tense. As Capt. Anido notes, "These idiots don't even slow down." . Visibility is down to about two hash marks - barely sufficient to see the rear lights. of the vehicle ahead and the outside mirrors of the mini -van are fogged. There isn't one of us who would like 'to trade .places with Cpl. Landry.. To get my mind off the driving, I read over my notes from the previous even- ing: It's been one of my earlier nights. ' PUNK HAIRDOS Immediately after leaving the Maple Leaf Room in the basement of the Ca- nadian embassy, we checked into Hotel, Konigshof, a member of the ETAP in- ternational chain. Within 15 to 20 minutes we assemble outside the hotel and set off on foot to find a place to eat. The sun is setting and still wearing the dress pumps I had worn to the embassy, I find for the first time I have trouble keeping up with the men. The only one traveling at a pace suit- able for a woman in heels, is Mr. Koh- ler. My ill-humored mood does not im- prove when the men leave the sidewalk to cut across a soggy patch of lawn. By the time we hit the cobblestoned square on the other side I'm too angry to give an extra damn when I catch the heels of my pumps between the stones. This is the first of two pairs of good dress shoes I will wreck on the cobble- stones of Europe during. this trip. Now I know why the pumps I've seen in,shop windows have a heavier heel than what women in North America are accus- tomed to buying. The captain has the names of a couple of recommended eating spots, and we tear across one of the most impressive city squares I've seen. And, from the fleeting impressions I get, one of the most interesting. This is the first time I've seen the celebrated European punk look outside the City of Toronto. No doubt it exists in Lahr — certainly I passed beauty sa- lons there advertising punk hair styles — but I didn't seany young people wearing those styles. Here in the Bonn square is a young .\woman in garish make-up wearing a spiked hairdo, the roots of the hair are chartreuse and the tips of, the spikes are an orange -red. She is with another young woman with two -toned blonde hair jelled out in all directions. Both are wearing large black leather jackets, floppy trousers, mid-calf length, and ankle boots. They are part of a loud group of young people who appear to be making comments about everybody crossing Gulaschsuppe (Hungarian goulash soup) and a cup off tea. I've had enough alcohol for the day in the Maple Leaf Room. The soup, hot, thick, spicey and good, comes with chunks of bread. The tea is terrible. GHETTO' BLASTERS After the meal Cpl. Landry says he's going back to the hotel and I walk back with him. This is one night I just don't feel like pub -crawling. I've .had about all I can take for one day. The embassy visit has put me in a mood. Back home it would not have bo- thered me. After 20 years in the busi- ness, I've dealt with my share of career public servants, and politicians. However, I've also reach the conclu- sion, I probably expected too much of the embassy lot, simply on the grounds they are stationed abroad at what is presumed to be an important posting. They probably didn't think we were so swift either.' On the walk back to the Konigshof, I ask co. Landry how his wife deals with his being away as often as he is. "Sometimes she doesn't like it," he says. "But I can't help it. That's my the square. I can't help but think I would have learned much more about Germany had I left the Canadian embassy after the lunch and, sought out some of these young people. Just off the impressive square is a wall scrawled with the same messages of youthful defiance seen in towns and cities across Canada. There's the infamous BIG 'F' — as my nephews used to call it, when they were children and • wanted to anger their mother and the international symbols for the feminist movement and the ban -the -bombers. Richard James of Bowmanville spots the golden arches of a McDonald's and wonders if - they sell beer with their hamburgers. We never find out. On we hurry. I would have missed it completely if Ev Van Duuren of Huntsville hadn't poin- ted it out. There in .a shop window — what kind of shop, I don't know — is a small sign, "Beethoven was born here." So much -for Ludwig van. - ' We end up at a back table in a noisy, smokey pub. The menu has a wide se- lection, heavy on pork... dishes. I still have no appetite and settle for a bowl of job. There's nothing I can do about it:" He adds that army life can be tough for families, especially during. the Fall Exercises. "It's not so bad for us — those of us in transport. We get home about every five days or so. But some of the guys aren't home for six weeks." Then we chat about autobahn driving. Cpl. Landry says it can be tough, parti- cularly during 24-hour hauls. "It's not too bad on the first shift, then the guy not driving can get some sleep. After that you're afraid to sleep for fear the other guy is going to fall a- sleep too. "One time I saw two guys come in, they both had their ghetto blasters go- ing as loud as they could on different stations just to stay awake." - Cpl. Landry also tells me drivers car- ry a lot of money when they travel the autobahn, 1500 Deutsche Mark. "It's in case we have a break -down on the autobahn. That can be expensive. We have two weeks after we get back to get the money back in, or have it ac- counted for." Do any of the drivers ever spend it on their own? Continued on Page 4 A communications operator and technician monitor numerous external communications links with air, ground, and maritime mission elements, and an internal voice communications distribution system. The Joint Tactical information Distribution System pros) aboard AEW aircraft permits a large volume of infor- mation to be sent in seconds to many users, and ensures protection against electronic countermeasures and interception of information by the enemy. The NATO Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Force's E -3A aircraft are Boeing 707s equipped with an,> advance electronic radar to detect, identify, and track aircraft flying at both high and low altitudes, as well as a maritime radar capability to detect surface ships. The standard crew for the aircraft on mission is 17. The squadrons are manned by integrated air- crews from 11 NATO nations. The AEW Force is based at Geilendirchen, West Germany. The United Kingdom's contribution to NATO's Airborne Early Warning (AEW) system is 11 of these Nimrod MK 3 air- craft. The Nimrods main operating base is Waddington in the United Kingdom and the aircraft are manned by Royal Air Force personnel. "If 1 had my life to do over again, I would do it the same" By Kim Dadson Tourists travel by the thousands every year to the tiny ipamlet.of West Montrose to cross Ontario's only re- maining covered bridge. They soak up a bit ofhistory as they walk or drive over the grand River through the "Kissing Bridge": If they're lucky, the atmosphere be- comes 'complete when a local Men- nonite family with horse and buggy crosses at the same time. The earnest history buff, however, 'misses out becauge one of the com- munity's more colorful personalities is not included on the tour! Leander Gole was the village black- smith until his back started to give him trouble 25 years ago and he went into woodworking. He retired from woodworking two years ago — at 96! On May 21, Mr. Gole celebrated his 98th birthday and it was a birthday -toasted-by'the community, _.._ ._. From his kitchen window Mr. Gole can watch the tour buses roll into the village centre and tourists get off to walk across the covered bridge or see, what the Country Store has to offer, (Samples of Mr. Gole's woodworking are among the items.) • "They" wanted me to go on bus trips,"'he comments. "I see enough, without that!" Mr. Gole has spent almost his entire life in Waterloo region. He was born in Berlin (Kitchener) in. 1887 and he at- tended school in Breslau. "We used to ' walk three miles from home to school no matter how much snow," he muses. "I mind we either chewed tobacco or smoked it. It cost 10 cents for a largeplug of tobacco," Like many of his contemporaries, Mr. Gole says he "never got into the fourth reader. I had to stay home and work on the farfn. I had to pick stones." Raised in a family of nine brothers and sisters, Mr. Gole left home- just, before his 17th birthday. He went to Bloomingdale where for three years he learned his trade, blacksmithing, from Henry Hooff. "Just guess what I got for three years work," Mr. Gole says. "For three years — hot one = i got$125." He worked in St. Jacobs for a while and then with his wife moved closer to West Montrose and bought his father- in-law's home at tuber's Corners. "There used to be a bootlegger there," he recalls. "I don't blame him. He was a nice old man and he couldn't work any more." When the highway was built Mr. and LEANDER GOLE recently cele- brated his 98th birthday and was the centre of attention at a party held in his honor at the Country Store where customers were in- vited to have a piece of birthday cake. Mr. Gole enjoys good health- and while' he joins a daughter-in-law for supper; he prepares his own breakfast and dinner. Mrs. Gole moved to the centre of West Montrose. During the depression Mr. Gole tra- velled for work, like many others at the time. He found some in the Walton area. He comments, "You' couldn't get 50 cents nowhere. A fellow told me he drove -stakes all day, for 50 cents." Mr. Gole still resides in the family home. He and his wife, the former Martha Letson, celebrated 50 years o{ marriage — he still has mementos o1 the , occasion. The couple were to gether for 57 years before Mrs. Gole's death 15 years ago. "We were plan- ning to celebrate their 58th anniver- sary when she died," says daughter- in-law Ruth Gole of West Montrose. The couple had been married in Win- terbourne "by Preacher Hamilton". Mr. Gole's parents died in their late 60s but his grandmother Gole was "about 98" when she died. No brothers or sisters remain but family pictures of Mr. Gole's own children, graridchil- dren and great-grandchildren sur- round his living room. "I love them," he says of the great-grandchildren. He now also has one great -great-grand- child to love. Children do get special attention. A visiting boy is welcomed onto Mr. Gole's lap who laughs at the child's antics. "I don't know what it takes," ,Mr. Gole says of reaching life well into 90s. "I had good times and I had rough times. My idea is when your time is here,,you're going to go." - ••"I believe there's a lot of people who have a little ache and they stop. It never' bothered me, but maybe I should have stopped. I'm bothered by arthritis today." While many people• believe age gives them the right to lend wanted or unwanted advice, Mr. Gole resists the temptation. "I won't tell no one what to do. I tell them to do what they think is best. That's their business, not mine!" Mr. Gole still enjoys his pipe and comments, "If I want to kill myself smoking, it's my business. I've used tobacco since I was seven years old." Another pleasure Mr. Gole still en- joys is walking. "I like to walk if I can take my time. He may be out in his backyard, with his cane and pipe or walking across the street to check his mail at the Country Store or going up the road to his daughter-in-law's for supper. "I take supper at my daughter-in- law's. Breakfast and dinner I get my- self." Walking is something Mr. Gole Lias almost always enjoyed. Unlike other people, Mr. Gole didn't fall in love with the new invention of Henry Ford's. "I only had one car in my life, a Model T. I never wished for a car." Mr. Gole says he»feels "pretty good" at 98. He Suffers from some arthritis and he had the flu this past winter but he enjoys fairly good health, likes to visit and is -quite aware -of what's going on around him. His memory is also -standing the test of time very well, His family celebrated hid birthday' with a family dinner at the Heidelberg Hotel. Family includes son Russel from Simcoe, a daughter, Mrs. Myrtle Partridge who lives in Milverton and daughter-in-law Ruth Gole. Son lssac died three years ago. The -community of West Montrose celebrated with a birthday cake, pre- pared by Shirley and Ted Stephens, owners of the Country Store. Custom- ers were invited May 21 to enjoy a piece of cake to honor Mr. Gole's birthday. Most of us would be happy if we could say at 98, "If i had my life to do over again, I would do it the same."