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The Huron Expositor, 1984-12-26, Page 2EExp p ositor SINCE 1880, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST r JOCELYN A. SH RON WASSINK, `Erstz$ Incorporating Brussels Post 10 Main Street 527-0240 Published In SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning RIER, Publisher Editor Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription rate& Canada $18.75 a year (In advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year (In advance) Single Copley -50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER, 26, 1984 Second class mall registration Number 0896 Christmas Luke Chap. 2 Verse 1-20. And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his owrrcity. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem; (Because he was of the house and lineage of David.) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should •be delivered. And she brought forth his first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Arid there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field; keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye Shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into, heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. A simple song And so this is Christmas That simple line from a John Lennon song sums it all up for us, a season of joy and more important, of hope. It's a bleak Christmas 1984 for many Canadians, for children and parents in food aid camps in Ethiopia, for people who live in fear in many countries in this world, for political prisoners and those who go to bed hungry every night, not just in Ethiopia, but all over the world. But this is Christmas, a time when we renew hope for a better world for all. Trite words perhaps, but there's somethlnig about this time which brings out generosity, the best in all of us, that allows us to think our hopes might just eventually come true. This year, that generosity has been shown in Seaforth. People did send money to Ethiopia for food, we also donated to the Huron County Christmas bureau, to the Ronald McDonald House, and the Optimist Club is continuing along their theme "Friend of Youth" by donating to children who need help. But we have to continue to work at it. Those of us, who like -the majority of Seaforth and area residents have more than we need, have a duty to remember the .rest of the world, with our prayers if we are so inclined, certainly with our money and our actions We have a duty to bring up our children to care about others, to understand that they are blessed by being born In this time, in this land and that they can share those blessings with the less fortunate. At this time we owe it to ourselves and our children to keep a spark of joy in living alive, to enjoy the wonder of life and its possibilities. Remember that, keep it in your hearts. your words and your deeds all year long • And maybe, just maybe, Christmas 1984 will be a better time for at least some of the human family. Merry Christmas COUNTRY CORNER by Larry Dillon The government of the United States has sent their version of a Christmas greeting to the Canadian Hog Producers. The U.S. international Trade Commission has decided that Canadian imports are injuring U.S. farmers. As a result of this decision, we can expect a punitive tariff against Canadian hogs. The result of this tariff can be disastrous for the Canadian producer. We are presently exporting about 30 percent of our production now and most of that goes directly into the United States. Our prices are set by the North American marketplace - that's the U.S. market. Any tariff on exports to the U.S. will have the immediate effect of reducing the Canadian price by an equivalent amount. This can hurt producers who art now operatingat a loss or break even level, Any hopes ofhigherprices in the future will be wiped out by the negative effect of this tariff. is it fair on the part of the Americans? That depends upon how you look at the situation. The American producers were upset about having to compete with Quebec produced hogs which are highly subsidized by the provincial government. They cannot close the border to hogs from just one or two provinces, MORE MITTENS—Grade one students of the Dublin Separate School did a recitation about what they wanted for Christmas. Nobody wanted mittens but....everyone got school's Christmas them. The recitation was part of the Dublin night. concert Wednesday (Mcllwraith photo) No more "Sense and Nonsense" so they are trying to block all Canadian hogs That part of their decision can be justified However. the grounds on which they considered the situation is biased. The European Economic Community produces hogs with even higher subsidization levels. They export many times more pork to the United States than Canada does. The subsidies are greater and the volume is greater. Yet the U.S. International Trade Commission dealt only with Canadian pork imports. The thing that makes me angry is that if the American packers buy Canadian hogs. our producers lose money on the low price caused by the tariff. The American government gets the profit we so desperately need. Then in many cases the American packing plant will cut and prepare the meat and ship it back to Canada to sell on the Canadian market. We have no tariffs on pork brought in from the U.S. The only thing we will have exported is the profit. We cannot ignore the American market and go it on our own. We have become too dependent on it. Approximately 25 per cent of our production goes there. if we lose the MERRY / ON PAGE THREE SENSE AND NONSENSE by Ron Wassink It's the Thursday night before Christmas and I'm sittinglipre wracking my brain. trying to find a sla1ahlc way to start my last column for the Explisitor. Silent Night is pla\ing on the radio. t'\c just finished developing photographs for the next paper and on m\ desk is a photo of a pour hugger whose mug shot will appear in this newspaper. If you have time to read the Expositor this holiday season. cut may find the photo. I have to admit he's a handsome chap 11'm not modest) and his smile would melt cyrn Scrooge's cold heart. His hair looks like %Irak, his cycs look ;t bit bloodshot and hags arc starting to form under his eyes. I eau es en count one or Iwo iirinkles (gives him that distinguished lookl But hc's only 21'. rhe photo is for an ad announcing the appointment of. \nu guessed it. ink self :is editor of the W aikei ion Herald Times. But let me warn you. don't let that smile Goal you. Actually I'm kind of sad. It's became I'm leaving this ncwsp,iper and man \ friends I've made in the thtk tats I've worked In this community And lel 'me 'reassure• 'you, the bags and bloodshot eves aren't from t,,,, much drink. but because of ohr w.+rk is taken to put out a super duper Christmas issue. I can safely say. the rest of the Expositor staff look the same. We've all put our hearts into our and your Christmas edition. We put out the largest newspaper since I've been on staff. a magnificent 38 pages in three sections, And to do it. many of us worked Sunday. Monday and Tuesday night. And we're working tonight so we can get the next issue together by tomorrow (Friday). I must say with Christmas falling on a Tuesday has really messed up our schedule. I almost didn't gel into the Christmas spirit. but Silent Night did it. Then there were the Christmas goodies and Egg Nog we had earlier today. I even received a gift -- a pen and pencil set with niv name engraved on it. Hcv. now I'm a somebody. It was just like Christmas Ludas. but really it wasn't. The staff was saying goodhve. The staff. like myself weren't all that happy. Damn. it's hard to sa goodbye. think they should ban the word from the dictionary. I've gotten into a habil where i almost refuse 10 say goodbye. I like a safe, sa long. Goodbye seems to he so final Here we are. I'm truing to say so long. hm it s tough. I haven't told many people that I'm leaving because it's been hard -- it's hard to leave friends, especially when there's so many of them. That must show good co-operation. and that's made my job easier in Seaforth and Brussels. There've been rough times. con- troversial times, and good times. I remember them all and for me, it's been good all the way. And it's been good because of the staff 1 worked with. They all worked equally hard to produce a good product every week. That's what's rewarding. I can only thank Joan. Pat, Bessie. Heather, Susan W.. Susan H.. Janet. Steve, Dianne. Marlene. Anne. Cathy. Christine. Tom and A.Y. for making my job easier. (And if I didn't mention it earlier today, the pen was perfect.) And then there's you, the readers who've called with news tips, ideas, constructive criticism (which I love). and concerns of your community. Last of all. there's our corre• spondents. Thanks guys, I'll miss you. I consider myself fortunate for having had the opportunity to work in Seaforth and for the best darn newspaper in Huron County. I've learned rpuch especially in the field of gcmd citizenship. co-operation. and of how a small community works together. It's great to see everyone pitching in and working together. 1 think that's why it's so hard t.Q leave. ,Forgive me for not saying "so long" m person •• I don't think 1 could stand it. Who knows. I might even come hack. A petition might work. filar. har). Se long. The roaring 20's, the boring 80's BEHIND THE SCENES by Keith Roulston The remnants of the Christmas turkey will hardly be cleared off the table when a whole flock of turkeys of a different kind will come out to gobble their predictions for the new year. We'll hear experts and economists and professors and politicians and newspaper columnists telling us the economy will pick up. slow down. stay stagnant, or maybe all three. We'll hear about leading indicators. gross national product. utilization of plant capacity, house starts and deficits. .lots and lots about deficits I'm not much of an expert on all this and I can't say when the economy will pick up but 1 can say what will make it pick upit will pick up when people get so bored they go out and start doing something. Given the penchant for giving decades a nickname (remember the Roaring 20s1 we may be heading for the Boring 80s unless something happens to change things soon. Nothing is happening. How can you get excited unless sou take the same delight as Sinclair Stevens in watching civil servants line up at the unemployment office. Having watched economics on the small scale of the community level for a couple of decades, it now seems that there are natural energy levels that work on the local economy. But such levels have nothing to dd with the meanderings of the bank rate. the national balance of payments. or the price of oil on the stock market. They have to deal with the creative energy level of the population in general. Huron County of 10 years ago was an exciting place to be. People were doing interesting. innovative things. One or two individuals would get an idea to set up a little shop. to manufacture crafts in their homes or start some kind of community program. And the first thing you knew. others would catch the bug and all kinds of interesting things were happening. There were new restau- rants. new craft and book shops. two new professional theatres, new publications. Towns undertook organized downtown im- provement schemes. Businesses expanded and became more innovative. Ten years has taken its toll. Some people got hit by the reality of a shrinking economy. Some got hit by the reality of being older, Energy generally got sapped. Nobody with new energy came along to take over and keep things going. Still there have been instances of going against the trend. Clinton's town hall restoration gives the feeling that there's a new energy in that town despite the recession. Generally though, things are just plain boring now. The bad news about the economy. the constant stream of gloom and doom doesn't helppeople get excited, it's deeper than that, ventually there'll be a few brave individuals who will decide to go out ' and do something despite theQ predictions of dire consequences, Their eihmple will be follow'bci- others because generally small business pe' pie don't start a business because of a 'ce from financial experts. but because the want to do something that interests them I can hardly wait for somebody to do it. lt's getting tiresome seeing people huddle around the fire waiting for the economic storm to blow over. Simple celebration now overdone SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley Like practicalls everything else in the frantic 20th century, Christmas is vastly overdone. A day that was. for our ancestors. a simple observance of the birth of Christ combined with a family get•together of reasonable jollity has grown to the propor• tions of a nightmare in which shopping for gifts. exchange of cards, Christmas enter- tainments. high•powered advertising and a steady and relentless stream of so-called "Christmas" music make up the accumula- tion of horrors in the good old days. the fancily rose early. and went to church, where the parson gave them a two-hour appetizer. They then went home and took a nip of something to take off the chill. While the servants were sweating in the kitchen, preparing the vast dinner to come, they took a bit of lunch. Then the ladies set off to distribute food parcels to the poor, while the men put their tails to the fire and went after that chilli again. That's your ancestors I'm talking about. Mine were among the people the ladies were taking the food to. I can still see them kicking the pigs under the bed when her ladyship came in, tugging their forelocks, scraping their feet, and saying "rank yet, milady, fank yer, mum" as she pulled one of the geese that had died of disease, and one of last year's bottles of blackberry brandy, which had turned vinegary, out of her basket. Today. of course. my ancestors' descend- ants will eat turkey on Christmas Day until they bear a resemblance to purple pigs, while the descendants of milady, who have managed to hang on to the old home only by taking tourists through at a shilling a shot, will be dining meagrely. in the only room of the big house they can afford to heat. on a nice bit of brisket and some brussels sprouts. And serves them right. However, that's not what i started out to say, but i can't remember what it was, anyway. Oh. yes, about the old days and today. Well, despite all the wailing and throwing of hands in the air at the paganism and commercialism surrounding our Christ- mas today, 1 wouldn't trade it for the old-fashioned one of a hundred years ago. And don't forget, 1 said "surrounding' out Christmas. Sure our kids believe in Santa Claus. Sure our pre -Christmas preparations are getting more and more hectic and more and more subject to commercialism. But our kids grow out of Santa Claus, without any dire effects. And we get over the pre -Christmas panic and celebrate the day with just as much reverence and just as much family fun as ever our ancestors did. I'll warrant our youngsters know just as much, and maybe more, about the story of Christmas, and the coming of the Christ child, as their counter -parts of a hundred years ago knew. Mine do, anyway, thanks to their Sunday School teachers. And i'll bet we're not half as smug and selfish. despite our much -touted material- ism. as our Victorian great•grandfathers were. sitting on their fat rumps by the fire on Christmas day. and letting the poor worry about themselves. On this corning Christmas Day, in our own little town, the band will be out in the cold, playing for the old people and shut-ins. Groups of ladies and men from a dozen different organizations will be scurry• ing about with vast baskets of food and treats for the needy. And the needy are pretty few and far between these days, simply because we have a whole lot more social conscience than our ancestors had. Outside that warm, cosy, jolly Pickwickian Christmas of a hundred years ago lay a world of cold and hunger and degradation. We wouldn't let is exist today. So don't let the worry -warts spoil your Christmas, with their perpetual complaining that Christmas is being paganized. Nothing can sully Christmas, because Christmas is in your heart, in the simple story on that day, in the shining eyes of a child, in the loveliness of the carols. Yes, and it is in the Christmas tree, and the gay windows, and the colored lights against the snow and the perspiring Santa Claus at the Christmas concert, and the card from a friend you haven't seen in years. Just gird up your loins, plunge into your shopping, enjoy the giving of gifts, run yourself away into debt, be happy in the family reunion, go to church on Christmas Day, stay away from the hard stuff, and don't be a pig with the turkey, and you won't go far wrong.