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The Huron Expositor, 1980-08-14, Page 3•,•7771,77•=-... 11 BIRDS EYE vigw—Seeing Seaforth from the air gives a whole new-perspectIve to this beautiful little town, as photographer PaiilEIIis.dDy'overeq while doing an interview with pilot Ross Behind the scenes by Keith Roulston People, it seems, love to pay out their money to be scared. Television anclt the movie makers have taken note iand provided plenty of opportunity for p4ple to do just that. We've had the, horror science fiction pictures: The Creature from Outer Spaces, The Blob and even The Attackofthe Killer Tomatoes. There were the occult movies: The Exorcist, The Omen and others. And In recent years there have been the disaster movies: Earthquake, Towering Inferno, Tidal Wave, Jaws, you name it, they've tried it. In each case some quite Improbably happenings are made to seem quite possible and therefore terrifying. But while fertile imaginations have been at work dreaming up terrifying situations there has been one real life story more terrifying than any of the above that has been virtually ignored by the story tellers of the major media. The story came briefly, to mind again last week. thirty-five yearntOs after it happened. It has changed the whole reality of the earth and someday may be repeated to end the earth. ' THE GO OD GUYS The story, of course, is the actual explosion of two atomic bombs at Hiro- shima on August 6, 1945 and at Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Those two events not only ended the Second World War but they changed the course of history. There w -as perhaps a certain smugness on the part of us on the "good guys" side for a couple of years afterward. We, after all, had a weapon at our disposal that had ended a four-year-old war in just four days. But that smugness turned to fear in a few short years when we realized that out= new enemies, the Soviet.Union, also had the bomb. The chill of the cold war took over. • Suddenly the tables were turned and we had to think of what it would be like if we were the victims of that horrible weapon. We built fallout shelters. We hi films on what to do in case Of nucleeyeittack. We had training in how to spot enemy planes. We spent millions, probably billionsibuild- ing huge radar systems to spot the bombers before they ot us. Perhaps I'm too young to remember, but I don't remember ever having seen much to realty bring homd te us just how horrible • this new weapon was. I can remember the fright of a book and movie like On The _ Beach which dealt with the aftermath of a nuclear war wheo only. a W gtirviV611 were left but with all its ve of gigantic spectacles I can neve member Holly: - Smith of RR. 1, Mitchell about his 1946 Fleet Canuck, a Canadian built aircraft. Watch for the feature story in an upcoming issue of the Village Squire. 21' ' THE ething to :ky.$1usari White rac AO^. • HURON EXPOSITOR?, GUST "11, perfect. • I've got a confession to make. Despite constant practise all weekend long at throwing and catching (I only took time out to go and listen to The Good Brothers Friday, night at the arena)and practise as the, veorst of the Bad News Beavers Wednesday night, I ana rotten baseball player. That's not news tie my husband who's been trying in vain for 12 years now to teach me ,the game. Or to those whicereindifther the last time I played real, actual baseball, back in Grade 5 at Seaforth Public School. • But it is news, and a real Remember/ h takes but a moment to place an Ex- positor Want Ad. Dial 527-0240. " e ignore this real life scare story wood taking on the biggest man, -made spectacle this world has ever seen: the two „ , atomic bombs. .• Hollywood has liad a fascination .with so many aspects of the Second World War. There have been endless movies about the attack of the Japanese on Pearl Harbout Nearly every battle in the island -hopping Pacific war has been portrayed. We've had movies about D -Day and The Battle of the' Bulge and movies about the secret intrigue Inside Hitler's camp. We've had Quite a number of movies based on the Holocaust: the Nazi program of exterminating the Jews in all those parts of Europe they controlled. And that's as it should be. We should never forget thehorror perpetrated on one people by another. We shouldbe on guard for the next time someone tries to perpetrate such a horrible scheme '(as undoubtedly someone' will.) THE OTHERS' PLIGHT Yet if we remember the plight of the ews in Europe.' why don't we remember ally the plight of the hundreds of nds who were wiped out in seconds, mlnuts and slow, painful hours at Hiroshima and Nagaski? Theirs is an equally horrifying story Some of those people who did survive still bear the scars, both physically and psychically of those' horrifying days in 1945. • Could it be that we haven't dealt with the reality of the Atomic bombings of two Japanese cities the way we've dealt with Pearl Herbouror the Holocaust because we aren't the victims but the perpetrators for a changerCould it be that the Americans, who have come •te terms with their own guilt feelings about the Vietnam war)have never been able to- handle the guilt when they think of what happened at Hiroshima: Could tt be that the whole reality of an atomic blast is too much for us to deal with? WE NEED TO BE REMINDED We need to be reminded of the real honor of an atomic explosion. We know in the back of our minds that nuclear warfare is unthinkable but after 30 years of living with the possibility it tends to numb us to the point we forget what it really would meatf. All the people of the world should know just what thae. bombs,in Hiroshima and Nagasaki did to real people, to real homes and hospitals. They need to know the pain and suffering that went on. Only if we keep remembering the horror of people experiencing a real atomic attack will we keep hammering at our leaders to make sure it doesn't happen again. We can't afford to be complacent about war ally more. More and more countries possess the power to do what was done to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. War isn't a school yard fist -fight over hurt pride or spoiled honour any more. It_ isn't a battle .between knights on -horseback. It isn't even the horror of trench warfare of the first World War or the Blitzkrieg of the Second. Another war just may be the war to end all wars. To the editor: Johnny, the adopted son At the Township of Tuckersmith Council meeting of Tuesday, August 5, four ctuncil members voted in favour of bylaw # 11-1980. One council member recorded his negative vote. Bylaw #11-1980 is council's attempt to make -sure that the . full burden of the original 5130,000.00 deben- ture on the Township's recreation centre, located in Vanastra, be and remain on the people of Vanastra only. In respbrise to council's determined"' persistence in unfairness I would like to share with all our neighbours throughout the township my story of Johnny. Johnny was the youngest in a family of six. He was 17, a tall lad for his age. Scruffy looking he was too, and far from handsome. Acne all over his face. a couple of front teeth missieg. And as he walked, he moved about clumsily and awkwardly. Yet he was actually a happy active kid, trying to do well and be accepted by his family. But that's where the rub came in. You need to understand that Johnny really wasn't one of the family. He was adopted. How all of this actually came about. nobody seemed to know for sure. Dad never wanted Johnny in the first place. And he made sure that everybody in the family understood this. including Johnny. One day Johnny said to Dad: "Dad, I want to buy a car, orie of those small jobs, 4 cylinders, a•compact you know. something I can afford. I need your help with a loan. But 111 pay you beck. Every month you can take 510.00 out of my pay cheque and 111 drive careful. I promise." "Well," said Dad, "I'll think about it But you better put something on paper. boy. I don't trust your word.'• ' Johnny didn't even hear the put down. He felt so excited. He already saw hi sitting behind the wheel of this tittle d car. With that little cat he would meet his girl in town more often. He also would use the car to go to college next year. Yippee! Two months later a big eight cylinder job stands next to Dad's car in the driveway. The whole family thinks that the big car is a great idee, except Johnny. Since Dad had to put up extra money for the big car, the whole family of course is now entitled to drive the car. It is a family car. But that includes Johnny. Well, yet, up to a point. And every month Dad deducts 510.00 from Johnny's pay cheque because that was -'his intent, as Dad puts it. And everybody in the family agrees, except Johnny of course, but that doesn't count. Billy! Johnny's older brother also doesn't , agreh. But then Billy is a bit of an oddball anyway. Yet he is family. In the' meantime Johnny hitchhikes most , of the time to town to see his girl. He feels frustrated. bitter and betrayed by Dad and the family. But Dad is bigger than him: he feels like the whole family is against him, even like the whole world is against him. Six months later. the big eight cylinder is traded in for one of those nice big vans. As Dad explained it to the family; now the whole family can even go camping together." And everybody in the family agrees, except Billy and Johnny, of course. WHAT'S THE MAItt LR Johnny is furious. He stamps his feet. kicks the furniture. bangs with his fsits ont the table and shouts and -screams: "not fair, not fair." But Dad is bigger than Johnny and also can shout louder. And the e wholo family, except Billy. thinks: "What's the matteeewith Johnny?" • And at the end of each month Da deducts S10.00 from Johnny's pay checi because as Dad puts it to Johnny: "That was your intent boy; I got it black on white. Ha, ha, ha." Now my question is: Who is doing what to Johnny. and whiy? .. or does 4 disappointment ti5 the hordes of, prri, struggling, fledgling baseball players Who, make up the Expositor team. "You know the Expositor team, right? It's the ,one that's playing Roth's' Food Market this Sunday afternoon at the Optimist Park, with all pro- ceeds from a silver collectioo going to Seaforth Community, Hospital. Although we try hard to jolly each other along and not face pp to our fear, we Bad NewsBeavers are more than a little worried abput facing, the challenge from Roth's. We quiety assess the ball playing potential of the food store's many young em- ployees while we shop there. I'm forced to admit that we don't like what we see. They're young.. .much younger than us...they're strong...ditto...and they're enthusiaetic...well we're workihg on that. TRYOUTS? • From our weekly forays intothe store alone (and they thought we were only buying groceries) we were a little pessimistic about our ability ,to fake on the Roth's bunch. Then we heard they were having tryouts (tryouts!) -for their team. Now tryouts for the Bad News Beavers aren't quite the normal sort where you pick your best players, or understand. Tryouts here are more like a draft. We strong- arm, threateh and cajole fellow employees into play- ' The draft is what they get afterwards at a local water- ing hole, if and only if, they You're Seaforth's BIA Study Group invites all merchants and anyone else interested in Seaforth's downtown to at - teed a meeting in the town hall, Monday. August 25, at 7:30 p.m. A Business Im- provement Area for Seaforth and the results of a survey of Seaforth and arca shoppers conducted this summer will put M two,hours at practise. There's the additional re- ward of a team party after ' Sunday's- game, but that's hard to control. So far there are an awful lot of people who work at the Expositor who just won't be able to make the same but fully intend to recover, be back in town; or whatever; in time for the post -game bash. Not me of course. I'll be there, fumbling, and limping at each practise and at the Big -Game itself. That's -be- cause though the staff has been disillusioned enough to realize that I'm not a great slugger and can't catch a ball even when it lands in my glove, they're too petite to ask me to stay home. ) We may however, work, out a compromise. Having had a great deal- of exper- ience carrying around wood for iney husband's home renovation projects, I think I'd make a very acceptab le bat person. (That way I can legitimately go to the -party, and the watering holes). But lest those keen beans at Roth's (tryouts for fteav- en' s sakel) somehow read this column and get the idea That the Bad News Beavers are all like me, I want to dear something up right now. They're worse. Why we've already •lost two players, due to 1) a stubbed toe and 2) a very' hard ball, after the first practise. I'll let those on the injured list remain anony- mous for now as we don't want Roth's to know the depths of our predicament. invited be discussed. The Seafortleittewn council will hold its monthly meeting this evening in the Town Hall at 7:30. Children 4 and up are invited to make their very own Big Bird at the Lebrary Thursday 'Aug. 14th at 1:30 p.m. but the tho are among the more senior members of the staff. (Ageethat does not, as in the case of the Roth's team, mean they're' aged from 20 to' 2,5.) • SECRET WEAPONS e Ah, but we've got our secret weapons. One is a very chase member of my .. family (our oldest 'boy, my husband insists on calling ' him) who is very keen to catch for the Bad News - Beavers. Look for big photo with the designer otiginal team T -Shirt on, elsewhere in the Expositor. . Then there's Reggie Shov- eller, veteran of absolutely top calibre baseball in Sud- bury, London and Winthrop. Seaforth's Smokeaterp (the local fire department team) are actually quaking in their hip waders I understand at the thou ht of having to face our own Reggie. They will you know, be- cause they've,challenged the i winner of the Roth's-Beavers game to a rematch. And we all know who the winner will be, don't we Reggie? And there are others... Hotstu'ff Hunt, who throws a ball with—the same finesse that she brings to classified ads in the front `office; Slugger Malkus and Babe Ruth Godkin who bat just as hard as they typeset; Bucky Butson who pitches as well as he shoots yages; Quick Draw McGrath who's a good fielder as well as an ad setter upper and of course our goalie (I told you we don't know too much about base- ball) Sparky Caldwell. 1 could go on and on, but that just might give our strategy away. For more about whn the team and their numerous capabilities, you'll just have to attend the game. With justifiable pride, I think I can say you'll see baseball as it's never been played in Seaforth before. As it says on the notices of our many team practises (would you believe two?): "Be - there." This Sunday, 2 p.m. at, the Optimist ball park. • Last week's featured building Make me an offer for two grandboys People keep asking me if I have any plans for the rest of the summer, such as • going on a trip; renting a cottage, learning to scuba -dive or whatever. To each and all of thern I have one answer: "I'm going into a rest home where nobody under the age of 50 can get near me." We've just had' a lengthy visit front our grandboys, the first in more than six months. If you have any druthers when your children are expecting children, put in an application for girls. There is no girl or girls on earth who could have put their Grandad through the physical obstacle course I've been through in the past week. When school ended in June, I thought I'd hang around for one more year before making way for a real teacher. I wa.; ih pretty good shape and another 10 months in front of the cihalkboard would be : no sweat. This week, I've almost decided to retire on the third of September. Somehow, I don't think either the authorities or thie students want an English department head cranking ard'und in a wheel chair. The bursitis in my shoulder is killing me, after throwing a baseball to a potential Babe Ruth for hours. My right foot is bruised, batterea and sprained from trying to prove 1 can still kick a football over ti big spruce tree; My knees are scraped, ' my hands are raw, my torso is thorqpghly pierced frost climbing trees to bring down small boys who can get up, but, like cats, A Sugar arid spice By Bill Smirey can't get down. My back door had to be removed and repaired after being slammed approx- imately 3,000 times by the boys and their buddies up the street. My face is burned to lobster -like hue from being out in the sun as long as seven' hours at a stretch. The boys neyer burn. They're moving too quiekly for the sun to hit them a single direct blow: I don't know much about girls. I had one about 28 years ago, and she was no problem until she became a teenager. The only idiosyncracy she had was.wanting to go to the bathroom at the most inopportune times, such as sailing along on the three -lane highway at 60, with two turkeys tail -gating you, and not a tree or bush in sight. But I'm sure girls are not ascurious, daring and dicey as small boys. Who want to climb as high as pessible, lean as far as they can over a dock or cliff, and hit each other as hard as they can Over the head with a fist, a stick or a baseball bat. • Do little girls get all cleaned up, dressed up, and then dash through the lawn sprinkler immediately and frequently'? Do little girls go down to the dock § with you, ask how deep the water is, then lean over at an angle of 65 degrees to look doyen and make sure' ye, re not prevaricating? Do little girls eat junk food all day, then come home and gobble down enough dinner to keep a healthy lumberjack going? Do little girls piague you because everyone else on the highway is passing you, and when you tell them the other drivers are turkeys, suggest with a grin that maybe you are a chicken? Do little girls put on boxing gloves and try to hammer the daylights out of each other, no quarter asked or given? Po -little girls, the moment they've arrived for a visit. ask that everything be turned on: the fireplace (in July), the hi-fi. the fans, and the law -n sprinkler? Do little girls go from six in the• morning until nine at night without stoneheeet in one place for more than nine seconds, aside from the odd four -second pee demanded by Grandad? Well, maybe little girls are' not as angelic as I've suggested, but little boys - are just as demonic as I've intimated. • In fact, my wife heard at the hair- dresser's that little boys are more honest, more affectionate and more lovable than little girls, who of course, are practising to be big girls. That May be. However, I'm about as bruised, battered bewildered and burnt as though I'd climbed a mountain without any ropes, or crossed a desert without water% Peter Mantel r Vanastra Gran doesn't take the punishment I do. Oh, she does a lot of work. The washing machine is thumping most of the day. there _isn't a dry towel in the house, she's about run ont of Band-Aids, and she spends hours in the kitchen. whipping up such delicacies as honey -and -peanut butter sandwiches and strawberry shortcake. (Guess who picks the berries?) She had a whirl in the backyard one day. batting. fielding. being shot with the hose,. did nobly, but hasn't been out of the house since. and spent most of the next day in bed. Thank goodness for good neighbors. John "fixeded' the car doors when', the boys. through some miracle of mechanics, had made it impossible to close them. He also "fixeded" the sprinkler. (Ballind. the. little guy, wants to make sure the past tense I's quite deal., so he adds an extra • Jim. another neighbor. fixeded the door, which was just about to -fly away by itself. All in all, however, it hasn't been too bad, except for the sleeping arran,gements. The boys are peripatetic while somnam- bulant. You go to bed in one room, alone, wake up at midnight in eanother bed, another room, three of you, and may wind up in the morning in still another, four of you. I wouldn't trade them for all the Samanthas and Mary Ellens and Joannes in the world. But.make me an offer. • . ..--4114106 Ruth Campbell of R.R. 1 Seaforth correctly identified Tasty -Nu and Donut Shop as the home of the trick pillar featured in last week's Look Up to Your Heritage contest. Contestants for this week have till Monday. August 18 to identify this week's fea- ture. The fire of 1876. which devastated Main St.. began at the site of the present Tasty -Nu Shop and the Huron Expoeitor. in what 'was Mrs. Griffith's grocery shop. Andrew Calder had his photograph gallery then next to Mrs. Griffith's shop. From dates to 1895 the time of the fire nil 1895, this was a vacant space. That year Michael Jordan bought it and built the present brick store. Tom M. Schoondere w-ood is -the present owner. This is a two and a half storey building of predomi- nantly grey brick with red brick detailing. The cornice ,has been removed. Four square pillars become round- ed above the second floor level. This is polychrome detailing in the entablature and alternating colours in bands across the facade and he the three segmented arch- es in the rowlock arch above the three windows, The sill is of red stone or concrete; the bricks of the pillars, and other detailing have -an irreg- ular. moulded surface. At either end of the store front the rough molded Nicks of the pillars are still obvious. though palmed. There are two inset doorways at either end cif the store front with metal posts at the inner edge of the doorway. Woodwork panels on the thsei wall of the doorway are original. This building is so entirely different from the dasign and colouring of the others on Main St. that it is a valuable part of our heritage. e 4 • 4. - ' - • ie.%02