Zurich Citizens News, 1978-08-10, Page 4Page 4
Citizens News, August 10, 1978
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A job well done
Few too many times governments are the butt
of criticismawith praise or an acknowledgement of
a job well done, very rare.
One provincial ministry that members from
both sides of the legislature agree does a good
job is the ministry of community and social ser-
vices under the able directership of Keith Norton.
An example of the progressive attitude which
this ministry has taken in certain areas is the re-
cent announcement that an additional 100 residents
in mental retardation facilities throughout the
province will be given the opportunity to take up
residence in a group home environment. This is in
addition to the 667 places that had already been
planned for implementation this year.
Citizens of this area are well aware of the
group home concept thanks to the efforts of the
South Huron and district association for the men-
tally retarded.
The association's two group homes in Exeter
provide a family -type atmosphere, a relaxed, car-
ing atmosphere that is more conducive to their
return to 'the mainstream of society than the cold
sterility of a large institution.
While there will always be a place for large
treatment centres, it's heartening to see a return to
something that's "old fashioned" in nature but
modern in concept.
A traveller's prayer
We hope Art Buchwald, the widely -read
American columnist, will forgive us for reprinting
this prayer from a traveller abroad.
According to the Times of London (says
Buchwald) the Greek Orthodox Church has just
issued a new prayer asking the Lord to protect the
Greek people from tourists. The prayer, which is to
be said by monks and nuns every morning and
every evening goes like this:
"Lord have mercy on the cities, the islands and
the villages of our Orthodox fatherland, as well as
the holy monasteries which are scourged by the
worldly touristic wave.
"Grace us with a solution to this dramatic
problem and protect our brethren who are sorely
tried by the modernistic spirit of these contem-
porary Western invaders."
Now it's only fair, if the monks and nuns are
beseeching the Lord with anti -tourist prayers, that
the tourists get equal time. So I have written a
prayer for tourists which they must recite when
they get up in the morning and go to bed at night.
"Heavenly Father, look down on us, your hum-
ble, obedient tourist servant who are doomed to
travel this earth taking photographs, mailing post-
cards, buying souvenirs and walkingaround in drip-
dry
y g
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dry underwear.
"We beseech you to see that our plane is not
hijacked, our luggage is not lost and our over-
weight baggage goes unnoticed.
"Protect us from surly and unscrupulous taxi
drivers, avaricious porters and unlicensed English-
speaking guides.
"Give us this day divine guidance in the selec-
tion of our hotels, that we may find our reser-
vations honored, our rooms made up and hot water
running from the faucets (if it is at all possible).
"We pray that the telephone works and that the
operators speak our tongue and that there is no
mail waiting from our children which would force
us to cancel the rest of our trip.
"Lead us, Lord, to good, inexpensive
restaurants where the food is superb, the
waiters friendly and the wine included in the price
of the meal.
"Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in curren-
cies we do not understand. Forgive us for under -
tipping out of ignorance and over -tipping out of
fear. Make the natives love us for what we are and
not for what we can contribute to their worldly
goods.
"And if, perchance, we skip a historic monu-
ment to take a nap after lunch, have mercy on us
for the flesh is weak.
(This part of the prayer for husbands).
"Keep our wives from shopping sprees and
protect them from `bargains' they don't need and
can't afford. Lead them not into temptation, for
they know not what they do."
(This part of the prayer is for wives.)
"Lord keep our husbands from looking at,
foreign women and comparing them to us.
"Save them from making fools of themselves in
cafes and night clubs. Above all, please do not
forgive them their trespasses for they know exactly
what they do."
(Together).
"And when our voyage is over and we return to
our loved ones, grant us the favor of finding
someone who will look at our home movies and
listen to our stories so our lives as tourists will not
have been in vain. This we ask you in the name of
Conrad Hilton, Thomas Cook and American Ex-
press."
Wingham Advance -Times
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Miscellaneous
Rumblings
By
TOM CREECH
Reading about
people.
1 nnAHti nn Litt
If there is one thing that people will always be
interested in, it has to be the doings of their fellow
human beings.
From almost the beginning of the recorded
word, Joe Smith has always had more than a
passive interest in what John Smith (or Mrs. John
Smith) did on the weekend or who visited.
Needless to say, the local printed medium has
carried on this form of personal communication
with what are broadly known as personal columns
attracting a very high readership.
While the popularity of such news is somewhat
expected in small rural communities, there seems
to be a switch to similar types of communications
in other broader appeal mediums.
In the past, the conveyor of personal com-
munications (i.e. dirt, gossip, whatever you want to
call it) has been left to the trash or secondary press
such as the multitude of movie magazines or mass
appeal weeklies such as the "Star" or the
"National Inquirer".
In the past three years, publications such as the
above have been legitimatized by the appearance of
Time Incorporated's "People" magazine.
Through the use of a slick layout, a heavy
promotion campaign and a format that appeals to
our prurient interests but at the same time is
restrained, "People" has tapped a large urban
market that is actually interested in whether
Richard Burton uses Grecian Formula eight ("and
they don't even know it.")
The impact of "People" has not been limited to
the written medium as CBS announced in the spring
the debut of a "People" television show debuting
sometime in the fall with Canada's own Al Hamill
(the Al Hamill show, Razzle Dazzle, husband of
Susan Sommers) being one of the hosts on the show.
While "People" magazine may have only been
around for a few years, gossip columns have en-
joyed an "off again -on again" type of relationship
with the dailies of North America for many years.
For many years Hedda Hopper had big follow-
ing, while in this decade Rona Barett enjoys a wide
readership.
One of the things that got the writer thinking
about this subject was seeing the play "Parlor,
Bedroom and Bath" at the Huron Country
Playhouse where members of the socially promi-
nent lived in fear of what might or might not appear
in the "Daily Tattler."
Today, such gossip columns exist in prominent
dailies with the Toronto "Globe and Mail" being a
prime example.
In a recent edition of the Globe one could dis-
cover that: "Richard Marcus Tait, assistant deputy
minister of immigration and ambassador designate
to the European Economic Community in Brussels
was married on Friday evening to Veronika Von
Nostiz, an officer with the Treasury Broad current-
ly on leave. Both are divorcees.
The bride is the daughter of Mrs. Wolf Von
Richthofen and Count Oswald Von Nostiz of Minich.
The bridegroom is the son of Mrs. Marcus D.C. Tait
of Toronto and the late Prof. Tait."
Whew! Von Richthofen, really. One. almost ex-•
pected that the Red Baron came diving down from
the heavens and placed a kiss on his now un
divorced relative .
This column which is either called or written
by (take your choice) Zena Cherry also lists some •
of the more prominent individuals Who -attended the
wedding luncheon.
Another ditty (Good grief! Writing this stuff is
Please turn to Page 5
..s.1,111! WHH =RI NLWS _
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News Editor - Tom Creech
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