Wingham Advance-Times, 1980-09-24, Page 4ADVAI10E 1111111 TIMES
Loyal citizens needed
The time for municipal elections Is
almost upon us and so far we have
heard nothing concrete about local men
and women who are prepared to fill the
gaps on town council. Mayor Bill
Walden and several of the present
councillors have stated publicly that
they will not seek office.
• In some ways service on a muni-
cipal council is a thankless task. The
honorariums paid are chicken feed,
considering the hours involved. Public
office -holders are open to criticism, es
any member of the present council can
tell you — and there are very few
people who will step up and say "well
done" when the next election day rolls
around.
Nevertheless, the local council,
whether urban or rural, Is the very
backbone of the system upon which our
form of government is based. No other
elected official Is more aware of the
will of the Canadian people than the
local councillor who meets his or her
constituents face to face every day of
the year. Municipal councils are the
foundation stones of democracy — i
fact which provincial and federal gov-
ernments have all too often failed to re-
alize.
The penalty for neglect of muni-
cipal office is increasing centralization
of government power. We have all seen
happen In our own Times. School
boards were centralized and active In-
terest by parents and taxpayers de-
clined. Municipalities were grouped
into regions and eventually the smaller
centres were pushed into the back-
ground.
It Is quite true that In most cases
the larger grouping can operate more
efficiently as far as the mere me-
chanics of government are concerned,
but efficiency, important though it may
be, has never been the paramount goal
where self-government Is concerned.
The signal word Is "self" — govern-
ment by the people themselves, not by
some other fellow the voter has never
met.
In conversation with a resident of
the former town of Acton recently, we
learned that he and his neighbors
would be delighted to find some way to
rid their community of its enforced as-
sociation with the Region of Halton
Hills. Efficient or not, they would like
to make their own decisions about their
town and Its future.
The municipalities in our area
have, so far, escaped enforced partici-
pation in regional government. We
must elect a strong and responsible
town council as the only means of
proving that we are still capable of
finding solutions to our own problems.
Pierre has the ball
There is little doubt that Mr. Tru-
deau will find agreement among his
cabinet ministers that the Canadian
constitution should be brought home to
Canada, whether the provinces agree
or not. The recent premiers' week-long
meeting in Ottawa failed to find full
agreement on any of the major points
under discussion.
Unfortunately the average Can-
adian is so ill-informed on this import-
ant subject.;hat most of us do not have
any valid opinions. It is apparent that if
the interests of all the provinces are to
be fulfilled we will find ourselves not
one nation, but a loosely -formed alli-
ance of six or seven nations. As such we
would be economically, geographically
and militarily helpless in a rapacious
world where the weak will surely
perish.
Unless our provincial leaders can
discover a new sense of nationhood -
an understanding that compromise and
the will to share with others is a neces-
sary ingredient in national unity, there
is little hope that we or our children will
ever see the culmination of those bright
dreams on which our founding father, s
based their hopes. Those men who laid
the pattern for our future 117 years ago
relied not only upon the rich resources
of this land, but much more import-
antly, they believed that Canadians, of
whatever national background, were a
sturdy and honest people who would
seize the opportunity to make the most
of the blessings with which we were
endowed.
As things stand at the present time
Prime Minister Trudeau has no choice
but to act unilatteraly, bring the con-
stution home to Canada and enact an
"amending formula" so that as times
and circumstances change, so too can
the constitution be changed to meet the
needs of generations of Canadians as
yet unborn. Our Fathers of Confed-
eration, were we able to _ ask 'them,
would have to admit that no politician,
however ,astute, can accurately foresee
the world 100 years hence.
Mr. Trudeau Is right in his belief
that the constitution must be handed
ver to Canadians. It is neither sensible
nor tolerable that the government of
Great Britain must approve any
changes in our constitution. If the
provinces cannot find enough spirit of
accommodation ft) agree on any of our
basic rights and principles, then the
prime minister must live up to his re-
sponsibility and act for the nation as a
whole.
Bless,those beautiful girls
During recent months it has been
our personal experience to visit every
week with an aging and stroke -ridden
member of our family who has been
confined to a nursing home. The pa-
tience and good humor demonstrated
vy ,ie w .�iri-sy; a�oi. �[� ��,ia,
home never ceases to amaze us.
In previous generations the old
folks were usually well taken care of in
their own homes or those of their chil-
dren, but those days were different.
With larger families and usually larger
homes, aged parents and grandparents
could receive the care they. needed
without disruption of family life. Today
many mothers are working outside the
home, homes themselves are frequent-
ly too small for extra occupants - and
the nursing home becomes the only
ansa. sr to the problem.
The home of which we speak here
is staffed, to a large extent, by young
women, many of them in their late
teens or early twenties. One might
logically expect these young people to
be more than a little patient with old
folks whip cannot walk, cannot feed
themselves, or can no longer speak and
, case,, owe ,,oily. rivwever, wiihout ex-
ception we have found that patience,
good humor and even affection are
lavishly available to the unfortunate
patients who must spend the rest of
their days in utter dependence on those
girls. It has been a rewarding ex-
perience — a renewal of our faith in the
basic worth of human character.
We speak of our experience in only
one such nursing home. However, hav-
ing seen what sympathy and under-
standing the problems of old people can
elicit in one place; we are quite pre-
pared to believe that many other
homes are equally blessed. We owe a
tremendous debt to those yoylrg angels
of mercy.
Avery green fall
Nobody in his right mind would ac-
cuse the weatherman of providing this
part of the world with one of those
humdrum, run-of-the-mill summers.
Things have been a little off -beat since
spring.
One of the more unusual phen-
omena this year Is the scarcity of color
in the hardwood trees. Very few trees
showed any color at all until last week
and even now the predominant shade Is
summer green. In previous summers it
was not unusual to see the first change
of color in August.
Someone who knows a lot more
about trees than we do once explained
that this year'sfor Is caused by
something that happp ned to the weath-
er pattern last year. But such is the
shortness of human memory that we
cannot recall what sort of weather we
had last year.
Considering the fact that most of us
do so much grumbling about the
weather, maybe it's time to start keep-
ing a diary.
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES
Published at Wingbam. Ontario. by Vie -,ager Bros Laersite-d
Barry Wenger. President
Rober' tl W e-nger Ser Treat
Member Audit Bureau of i in u;a•
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc
Subseriptkon $15.00 per year
Second Clans Mail Regiat rat ton No 0821
(intano 1Aevklr 4.e., paper Agri„
SStx mos tics 18 OO
R, urPF postage guaranteed
A page ofeditorial opinion
`? tit:,:. t '+ v. 4 ,'?1*r.••�
r�:
mkuktotw-
„i(kLC, OWE Ni/VG-,
&E VE GOT 1 GORGE405
c .i)GGL5 OF GEE��- E
a
News Items from Old Files
SEPTEMBER 1933
. Miss. Louise E. Hanna left
this week for the University
of Toronto where she will
continue her studies in
Household Economics.
Dr, A. W. Irwin has pur-
chased .the Morton house on
Shuter Street. His mother,
Mrs. A. J`. Irwin, will move
into the house soon. Dr. and
Mrs. Irwin will occupy his
mother's house, corner
.Patrick and Centre Streets.
Miss L. H. Hammond of
Atwood, local high school
teacher, has been granted a
year's leave of absence and
will sail this week for Paris
where she will take a course
in French at. Sorbonne
University.
The Canadian dollar is
commanding more respect
in the United States these
days. It is worth almost par, '
The weather was ideal for
the annual High School•Field
Day. Senior champions were
Hazel Armstrong and
Murray Rae; intermediate,
Audrey McMichael'and John •
Preston; junior; Isabel
Habkirk and Gerald
Edmonds.
•Miss Reita Hastie,
daughter of Gordon Hastie of
Wingham,' Ieft Monday -to
attend Queen's University,
Kingston.
Walt McKibbon and W.
McFadzean left last week to
continue their studies in
medicine at Western
University, London.
SEPTEMBER 1945
Congratulations are due
two Wingham soldiers who
were honored by being
...decorated for services
rendered overseas. Sapper
William W. Broome was
awarded the Distinguished
Conduct Medal and Major
Walton A. McKibbon was
made a Member of the Order
of the British Empire •
The ladies of the neigh-
borhood east of Mr. and Mrs.
Leask M,s home in East
Wawanoth/Paid a , surprise
visit 'tiler -e ,in honor of their
daughter, Nellie, who' was
recently married.
Mr. ' and Mrs. Norman
Thompson of RR 1, Belgrave
announce the engagement of
their daughter, Lillian Ruth,
t� John 'E. Tiffin of
Wingham. The wedding will
• take place early in October.
The directors of the
Teeswater Fair are making
improvements for the fair
being held October 2 -and 3. A
cattle building is being
erected to house an extra 100
head. The grandstand is
being enlarged and will now
'accomodate 3,800 people.
J. R. Cook, who purchased
the former Neil White fac-
tory building in Wroxeter, is
now established in a garage
TODAYS CHILD
BY HELEN ALLEN
Nine-year-old Kenny would like to have a mom and
dad, and is really looking forward to being
adopted. A
et, happy child of Cree. Indian origin and registered
w r status, he responds very readily to people and has
a close, warm relationship with the Adults who care for
him.
Kenny really loves any sort of sports, and he has plenty
of energy for both play and school work. He needs lots of
stimulation, along with firm consistent guidelines to help
him deal with life in a more controlled way. But he is easy
to manage and discipline, and very willing to be cor-
rected and try to do things differently.
This young fellow needs parents who can cope with his
efforts to catch ,,.b is his ,_
--r ease -Alone social ane actau+�„r'd
development, and provide him with the support and
affection that will help him to grow.
To inquire about adopting Kenny, please write to
Today's Child, Ministry of Community and SOCIal Ser-
vices Bolt ��y;, Station K, Toronto, Ontario, Me 2112. Iri
youriietter tell something of your present fatnil,Y and y
. way of life.
and service station business.
Added is a grocery store and
snack bar, the latter filling a
need in the village.
The Belgrave Co -
Operative has purchased the
chopping mill from Alex
Manning who has operated
the business for more than 18
years. In other business
transactions in Belgrave, R.
J. MacKenzie of the fourth
concession of Morris has
purchased the hardware
business from„ J. A. Geddes
and Leslie Bolt has pur-
chased the McKenzie farm.
SEPTEMBER 1956
John Congram, son of Mr.
and Mrs. W. Congram,
Edward Street, won a
Dominion : Bursary award
valued at $500./J,hn\is at-
tending Waterl t ,`s , liege.
Beginning on Sunday a
truck -mail service will be
introduced to replace the
present rail -dispatch of mail,
Alvin,Smith will handle mail
between Wingham and
Bluevale and Fraser Forgie
mail from Wingham . to
Teeswater.
The first meeting of the
Wingham CGIT was held in
the United Church. The girls
were divided into three
groups led by Sue Nesmith,
Eleanor Goy and Mary Lou
Moffat. The new leader, Miss
Janet Thomson, was in-
troduced to the girls.
n.�_r_ia i%n n_aa _
_
over his gas and con-
fectionery business in
Bluevale to Jack Gamble,
retaining the post office. Mr.
and Mrs. Gamble are oc-
cupying the dwelling ad-
jacent to the store.
Archie Scott of Gorrie held
an auction sale of garage and
household furnishings. Ed
Bolander of Fordwich has
purchased the property and
will open a shoe and harness
repair shop.
George Webster was
elected president of the
Literary Society of the
Wingham District High
School. Vice presidents are
Agnes Lane and Bruce'
Grainger; secretary is Helen
Haines and treasurer Barry
McQuillin. .
The Public School Board
will re -award the contract
for the construction off a four -
room addition to the school
after Norman Rintoul, who
was awarded the contract,
notified the board he could
not take on a job of this
magnitude because of his
health.
SEPTEMBER1966
The Wallpaper Shop,
owned and operated by
Elmer Wilkinson for over 40
years, has been purchased-
by Murray Gerrie. Mr.
Gerrie, who has been
associated with Red Front
Grocery for the past 11
years, will leave that firm to
take charge of his new
business.
The six gals at the Toronto -
Dominion Bank are looking
very attractive in their new
Uniforms, navy blue tunics,
and grey skirts.
Hundreds of friends were
saddened 'to learn of the
death of Mrs. John Hanna on
Saturday at the Wingham
and District Hospital.
Two Bluevale residents
are continuing their
education, Brian Kerr at
Waterloo University and
Gordon Mulvey the Radip
College of Canada at
Toronto.
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Neal
Fortune will live at RR 1,
Wingham following their
marriage in St. Peter's
Lutheran Church, Kitchener.
The bride is the former
Geraldine' Marie Brown of
Kitchener.
The new Kinette officers
were installed last week at a
joint meeting with their
Kinsmen husbands. Mrs.
Dave Burgess is president;
Mrs. Keith McClure and
Mrs. William Natalia vice
presidents; Mrs. George
Gam nage secretary and
Mrs. Ron Wingfield
treasurer.
New Books in the Library
UNICORNS IN THE RAIN
by Barbara Cohen
The weather was terrible.
Rain or even snow would be
better, Nikki thought. She
was riding on a dreary train,
going to visit a grandmother
she did not want to see, who
really did not want to see
her. That is why she listened
to Sens, the ha' some young
man who sat next to her,
when he invited her horhe to
dinner — to his family's
place. Even before they
reached Sam's home, Nikki
knew she had gotten mixed
up with something strange.
CRAFTS FOR THE
DISABLED by Elizabeth
Gault
Unlike the vast majority of
craft books currently
available, this new step-by-
step guide does not take it for
granted that the reader has
full use of both hands.
Prepared by two young craft
teachers who specialize in
working with the disabled,
this book will be a valuable
sourcebook.
A PRESENCE IN AN
EMPTY ROOM by Velda
Johnston
To Susan Hapgood, a shy
girl doubtful of her own
charms, it had seemed
almost miraculous that a
rich, attractive man like
Martin Summerslee would
want to marry her. Before he
even brought her as a bride
to his native Maine village,
Susan was aware that some-
thing shadowed the miracle:
her own jealousy of a dead
woman.
MUSEUM
MUSINGS
JOHN PATTISQN
From the time of the early
settlers it was the custom to
dry apples for winter use.
The women and girls peeled
and quartered the fruit,
strung the pieces on cords
and hung them up to dry, or
spread them on metal
screens suspended over the
ki%hen stove. When dry they
were stored in cotton bags
and hung up in the attic be-
side the chimney. The dried
apples made very tasty pies
and applesauce, when no
fresh apples were to be had.
The surplus dried fruit that
was not needed on the farm
was traded in like butter and
eggs at the grocery store for
other staples. This practice
was continued long after the
commercial evaporators
closed down.
The first commercial
drying of apples was pro-
bably started in Wingham in
the summer of 1892 when the
Mahler Bros. of Bothwell
had the old Heayn planing
mill at the east end of Alfred
Street fitted up as an apple
evapprator plant. By the
first of September they were
asking for 15 to 20 boys or
girls to work there. The plant
ran day and night as long as
apples were available.
Mahlers continued to oper-
ate the ,evaporator until
February, 1906 when they.
sold the plant and business to
Brown and Irwin of Blyth.
They improved the operation
to be ready for the fall busi-
ness. Mr Brown had much
'experience in the trade be -
Cause he had operated an
evaopator in Blyth for many
years. By 1907 it was Brown
and Wilford who controlled
the Wingham Evaporator. In
September they were open
for business and offered to
buy all apples large enough
to peel. e
in July, 1911 Brown and
Wilford purchased two lots.
south of the W. A. Currie
Machine Shop on Josephine
Street at the Scott St. corner
and built a 40 x 70 foot con-
crete building for a modern
evaporator. The plans were
drawn, the building erected
and the Machinery placed in
position by Mr. Brown, after
a trip to inspect large
evaporator plants in the
United States.
The machines were
operated by a five horse-
power gasoline engine, set on
a solid concrete floor. In the
centre of the workroom was
a table with six paters
mounted on it. They were
powered from an overhead
line shaft. The parers peeled
and cored the apples. The
cores and peelings fell
through apertures in the
table onto an endless belt
which carried them to the
loft where the waste was
dried for shipment to
France. The pared appled
rolled down the slanted table
to trimmers who removed
any skin that was left. They
were then carried by another
belt to an elevator which
took them upstairs to the
slicer after they passed
through the blancher. When
sliced they were carried to
the dry kiln, underneath
which two coke furnaces fur-
nished the necessary heat.
Four such furnaces were
used in the plant. Each parer
could peel and core 75
bushels per day for a total
input of 450 bushels.
As more modern methods
of storing and preserving
fruitbecame available the
commercial evaporators be-
came redundant. The build-
ing was sold to be used as a
handle factory in 1919. It was
finally torn down after being
burned out in a fire in 1933
when it was being used as a
gelragee.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
06iltadt/lice/Edirmi
••••••••••••••••••••••'•••••••
Dear Editor,
I noticed a news item in a
local newspaper lately; the
heading read 'Morris Town-
ship disturbed over gravel
pit licence'. I, too, was
disturbed by the proposal'put
forth from the Ministry of
Natural Resources (MNR)
in Wingham.
I have owned and operated
my own gravel business for
19 years and can clearly see
that if the pit that I am
working out of was closed
and 1 was torced to drive
several miles further for
gravel, some a my costs
such as gas, oil, truck
repairs, could easily double.I
I made it a point to find out
from an elderly neighbor of
mine how long this pit has
been open. It has been open
for over 80 years, and in my
opinion it could be open for
another 40 years. How come
the government decided all
of a sudden it is an eyesore
on the landscape?
People picnic in this gravel
pit; deer come to drink at a
spring -fed pond; wild geese
and ducks are often in this
pond as I load gravel. Young
couples stroll through here
on moonlit nights and many
happy and enduring
marriages have been the
result.
Now along conies the
government and wants to
either close it down, licence
it or bulldoze it in eventually,
and they want to charge
every gravel truck operator
or farmer pit owner eight
cents a ton for every ton of
gravel we draw. I wonder if
the taxpayers of Morris or
other townships realize the
suns of money the govern-
ment will take in with such a
plan. With this money they
won't have to buy any dump
trucks, no gravel loaders, no
gravel crushers, just a green
car with a white top and
flashing light. They will sell
pieces of paper, collect fines,
get their eight cents a ton
from everyone's gravel.
Now I am not against
cleaning up unused gravel
pits and making the country-
side look beautiful. In fact I
am all for it, but it can be
done at a fraction of the coat.
a One example is the gravel pit
just west of Wingham on
Highway 86. It produces tax ,
monk'\ instead of disposing
of it. (Looks good too.)
In most cases this extra
expensewill be passed on to
the consumer of gravel, and
I have found that in most
years 90 per, cent of my
gravel income goes for costs
of machinery, gas, oil,
licence, insurance, crushed
gravel, etc., and the most we
can hone for is TO ?r rpnt for
my own wages.
Now along comes Mr. Big
Government and wants eight
cents a ton, which is five per
cent of my load of gravel and
also is 50 per cent of my
wages (no wonder we have
inflation). I belong to the
Federation of Agriculture
and I wonder what would
happen if we passed a law
that in some cases took 50
per cent of the wages of the
government officials who
pass these laws. (I think they
would be displeased. They
might even go on strike.)
On our farm we have 30
acres of woodland set aside
for growing trees; it is also a
place for deer and partridges
and other wild birds and
animals. In 1970 we built a
dam across the Maitland
River which cuts through our
property. Before this was
built a lot of fish died from
low water, with green algae
growing which caused lack
of oxygen. Now the water is
deep and cool and people
come from miles around to
fish above this dam, and we
don't charge them one cent
nor licence them either.
I am also in the process of
filling in an old gravel pit on
my own farm without
government help. Most
farmers and gravel truck.
operators are quite con-
cerned citizens Without
government harrassment.
Funny thing, I never fish in
this river of ours. What I
really enjoy is to draw
gravel and soil. That makes
people's laneways, lawns
and gardens look beautiful
again.
Glen Van Camp:
RR 4, >l3tte