The Huron Expositor, 1979-12-27, Page 2Saw' 1864*Sarriagthg tarn ninny First
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, McLEAtitifROS, PUBLISHERS LTD.
:ANDREW Y. McLEAN, Publisher
SUSAN WHiTE.. Editor
ALICE GIB$, News Editor
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SEAPORTH,. ONTARIO„ DECEMBER 27; 1979
Not a back year
If it's remembered for much at all 25 years from novo, this year
1979 will probably be remembered in Canada at least as the year of two
federal election campaigns,
-Granted the one now underway will gather steam and expend most
of its hot air in 1980, but we got hit with the fact of it, the, cost; and the.
bombast of it this year. A rerun, you might say,, of the effort in May.
Internationally 1979 has been a tragic year.. But from that tragedy
has come some evidence that people still•care for our fellow human
beings, Yes, thousands drowned. escaping Vietnam in rickety old:;,
boats, but thousands of other boat) people found homes thanks to 4,
generous Canadians and others milling to share their blessings.,_
Perhaps millions have died•from starvation. in Cambodia, but there is,
an international effort to Oet aid there... if it can only reach those who
need it. Then we've got the chaos in Iran with 50 American hostages
.spending Christmas'in captivity there, But at least the Iranians have
freed themselves from: the tyranny of the Shah and there's a glimmer
of hope as the year ends that the hostages will be released after .a show
trial examines CIA crimes, ;•
It's in Zimbabwee or Rhodesia that the most hopeful' development of
the year, maybe of the decade, took place. The country is wel_tpn its .
,way to black majority rule; there's a truce in the: long guerilla fighting
and all sides have accepted a ;short term administrator from Britain.
• Let's hope the situation is more stable at the end of 1980!
Although the world, is smaller every, year, and we should, try and
understand theevents and people who move and shake it, not many of
us in Seaforth and areaare touched by Cambodia ,Zimbabweeor even
,by the national election.
For most of us the big issues of 1979 weren't even the Local' dispute.
over fire coverage, foreign ownership of our. farmland or the fact that
Seafprth and area, Continues to, haver top athletes, in.dividuals and,'
teams. ,k
No, 1979 for rnost of us meantworries about how we're going to heat
the house as fuel costs rise, or a decision on whether to junk oar big old
car which, though .it `sure is broken in, guzzles- gas, like there's no
tommorrow.
If we're lucky we worried about how we could afford a trip to Florida
or maybe we dismissed that entirely and enjoyeda camping trip at ..
Lake Huron: i` •
For most of us,'1979 had its joys too, whether they, were watching a
youngster score her first goal, and atoddler take a step or greetingan
older relative we -'thou ht we might_ •
g never: see again. : • �•.` .
1979, yearofbeltihtening for a
the' child, a year of cutbacks and tightening 9
lot of us, was still a vegood .ear. ,
A ROUSING. CHORUS These were some of the youngsters who •
entertained parents ancf friends in: St. Jame's School's annual Christmas;
concert last Wednesday afternoon. ,(Expositor photo)
.i.
THE. HUNTER = This fierce. -looking hunter is: out searching, for the
crafty Christmas turkey, whichmanages to elude him in the end, in the
presentation by senior stude nts, at the St. James Separate School
concert, which was well -attended by family and friends, on Wednesday,
afternoon, (Expositor Photo)
AN UNEXPECTED GIFT — It's obvious Father Cooney hadn't expected
to be presented with.this Christmas gift, which wast : given o :him b
•.ythe '
students •� of St. James School following their Christmas. concert on
Wednesday afternoon,. (Expositor Photo)
e years agone
A lot of distress in town,.
DECEMBER 26th, 1879'
The amount of distress in this town at this
s
time, eems to be more than usual.
.
The following namedmembers
of the
Seaforth Presbyterian Church were ordained,
to the eldership at the close of the mornin
8
service, newly,' Simon Young, Roderick
.
Grey, S.G. McCaughey; Wm. ''Ballantyne,.
William Wilson, M.Y. McLean L. McFaul;•
and'. Hugh; Robb.
t.
The Dominion Skating and curlingrink
was opened for the first time on Tuesday '
evening. The evening was very pleasant and
a'far a number - of both
8, � sexes enjoyed' -
themselves to their hearts content.
On Fridayeveninglast,* gentleman, '
. n. � 8awho
has the control of the lumbering business in
this 'locality was driving a lively horse
belonging to A. Forbes of Seaforth when the
animal became frightenedand ran from
Kinburn towards Seaforth. When it came to
as standstill it was discovered that:, both its
" hindlegs were broken.
DECEMBER 30th, 1904
The thaw during the end' of the.
'1 8week
spoiled ed the sleighing at Hensall:
As Taylor and White of Tuckersmith, the
West End threshers, were moving their
engine from Gifford Crich's' to Jos. Crichs,
they had to cross the river. Afraid to go over.
the bridge, they were going through the
water when the engine sank in the mud and
had to be drawn out with a barn
moving
outfit.
Ralph White of Tuckersmith isbus
getting Y
g g material ready to raise his barn:
John Pepper of Tuckersmith has moved to
the farm which he bought from J e h
8 os p
McCully of Stanley Twp.
Many of the farmers of Brucefieldare
complaining of the scarcity of hard andsoft
water.
It was almost a green Christmas but the
thaw came a day too late at Walton.
positor asks:
What areour wishes for
Ythe new year?
BYDEBBI.E RANNEY
There are only a few days left in 1979.
Perhaps 1980 will be a better year. Nobody
knouts just yet what it will be like, but this
week, Expositor Asks decided .to find out
from area people what their wishes for the
new year were.
Marilyn Lightfoot of 127 Victoria St., in
Seaford' said, "More peace, and that the
government gets settled."
Paul Graham of R.R. 2, Seaforth said,
"solving the energy crisis." He thought
that the solving that could' bring the
economy back and also that it could' bring
8
peace and; could stop the arms race.
Mrs. Clara Ridley of 211.176 Oxford St,
in }Ionian said, "If we had peace that
*mild be wonderful I guess that's all
anyone can. hope for."
Peace and employment Were' her wishes
for the new year.
Art Alexander ofl . . r`,.I
Brucefield said,
think:we've got the greatest country in the
world to live in, and that he would like to
see the government settled,
His main wish though is to have another
Christmas in 1980. He and his family have
had 36 Christmases together and he said
there are 18 coming home again this year:
PP
Marilyn Maxwell of R.R. 2, Ki en said,
"A better lob situation, I guess that would
be Number 1."
Lois Carruthers of R.R. 1. Staff* said,.
"I'd like to get rich.'"
Kar , Menheere of R.R. 2, Dublin. s
Karen ea'►d,
"I think a happy, health prosperous*p -
peaceful new year,"Yr
The hay ;presses are still at work in the
vicinityof Leadbu
ry.
Ernest Elligson son of Leadburyis getting out.
8.. 8 g
some fine cedar posts from the farm which
he purchased recently. F
James Dorrance .
ace. . and: Mr. Beattie of
McKillop have made An important purchase
to the stock line. They have bought from
W.J.'Beggins of Stanley, the splendid young
shorthorn boll "Matchless Star:
:' At the nomination a � n meetin,•in McKillo
there was a full ticket P P , ro osed. For Reeve
Messrs. M. Murdie;. Daniel` Manley, and
James Lockhart, but Mr:, Lockhart withdrew.
The following were nominated for council-
lors: Thos. Archibald, Peter C. Kerr, John
M. Govenlock, James Ryan, Chas. Little,
John S. Brown, M. 'Rowland; and Francis
McQuaid. .
John Decker, of the Babylon Line, sold
another heavy pair of. horses to ;Thos.
Handford of 'Exeter, for 5350.00,
We deeply regret to record the dismiss of
another of our worthy pioneer of Hillsgreen
in the person of James .Hagen of Hay
Township.
3, 1
JANUARY934
Quite a number of the apnrisrn n of
Hensall, have been making raids on rabbits
during the past week. meeting *ith pretty
good success despite the gown),
and deep snow in the woods.
A very pleasant evening was .spc:.it at the
home of Mr: and Mrs..iiarvey Moore when
• neighbors and friends:inlet to honour W.G.
Strong of Ottawa on his approaching
tharriage. He was presented with a purse of
money by Chasr:.tJpshyll., the address being
read by Alex Alexander,
Miss Mildred Johnson has taken a school.
at Wabashene and leaves thiii week to
commence her duties there.
Owing to the bad conditions of the roads at
Varna, the butchers and rbatkera have not
been able to make their usual rounds.:
E. Epps and Sons. have added to, their
alread fullequipmenta overs e�
Y, g m nt snow
plow.
The many friends of Peter Eckert
of
Manley will be glad to know that he is
teeovering from being hit by a horse
ploughing $
through a snow drift.
The Chief of Police has asked the
Expositor to draw the attention of the public
Sind *Specially young 'boys to the serious
1879
ractice of throwingsnow :on the streets.
P s. t
Mr-. and Mrs,, Scott Habkirk have returned
from their 'honeymoon ;and are living in. the
Broderick Apts.
DECEMBER 31 1954'
The residence of Richard Adams on James
St has been sold to W.E. Southgate through
the real estate office of W.C. Oke.
Members of Hullett :council; officials, of
the council; and former warden ' J. W:
i Armstron and their' wives were'guests
8at ..
'the home of Reeve -elect Wm. Jewitt, when
Huron Warden and Hulled Reeve W.J.
Dale, was honored, He was presented with a
smoking set.
and Mr. Mrs. R..W `
. Jewitt marked the'.
55th anniversary of their marriage.,
At a largely attended meeting of ratepay-
ers of school section no. 13, at Roxboro, the
ratepayers voted 24 to 11 in favour of
re -opening the school.
Mrs: Margaret Wright marked her 95th
birthday. She lives with her niece, Mrs.:
Margaret White. •
The regular . meeting of the Amber
Rebekah Lodge at Hensall was held with
Miss Mabelle
s
Mi White 'a•
m n in
the chair.
Following a social hour and impromptu'
program, a gift exchan8e under the
leadership of Mrs. Laird Jacobi was carried
out. A Christmas cake was sold by Dutch'.
Auction and, was won by Mrs; A.R. Orr.
Tuckersmith will vote for a reeve and four
councipors it was revealed following
Township nominations held at Hensall.
James Doig, the present reeve, and: Roy Bell
will seek the reeves post.
Bert Garrett, van'Forsyth,
ttIAndrew
Crozier, and Victor Lee, and Frank. Falconer
will run for .o_.
or the four positions.on the council.
Let us know your
C snae news
..
hoz t
Christmas Is the season of family get-
togethers, visits to friends or relatives living:
outside the county and even' those important
.
telephone calls from someone we can't sec in
person during the holidays, ''
Here at the Expositor, we'd like to know
about your family's Christmas festivities.
Drop into the office or give us a call, and
we'll add the news of your family's .holiday
*divides to our People colutnni,
OPTIMIST.CLUiB DRAW` - Tom Burke of R.R.2, Staffa is the lucky,
winner, of the grocery draw sponsored by the Seaforth Optimist Club:
Here SDHS band members Carolyn VVilso n and Jayne Baker assist
Optimist; Club member Lloyd Eisler in making theL draw on Friday
afternoon. (Expositor Photo)
and spice
By Bill Smiley; ,.
Season :.greetin.
Owing to the: exigencies of the. Canadian
winter, the decrepitude of the Canadian.
postal service, which can't handle the mail
in the height of summer,.'let alone:the
Christmas rush, and variouother factors,
toomiscellaneous to mention, this May not
reach you until after the holiday, when all
you have left of Christmas is the colors, a
red nose and a little green around the gills.
Howsomever, (and I do this only about
every 12 years) I. am going to extend that
hoary oldcliche of the 20th century, "A
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year"
to the whole world
First, to the editors and publishers who,
have stuck by me for more than425 years,
even when ' this column was puerile,
enicious,or. political(on. what 'the .:
Pe petty,P Y
thought was the 'wrong `.side). Bless you,:
chaps and gals, for allowing; me into the
homes of so many Canadians: Were I.
writing for only one paper, 1 would be in a
fury. of frustration . that 'these: Great
Thoughts of mine were being read by only
a paltrycouple of thousand.
Second', and more important, to my
P
faithful readers: who scold me, admonish
me, weep p for me,' pray for me, and •laugh
with 'as
me, we. proceed: together, through
;8
this vale of tears. •
And third, to mywife,who has borne b me the
slings and arrows of outrageous. Bill Smiley
Y
for longer than sheto
cares,think about,
and with remarkable equanimity. She has
never responded in kind when I was less
than kind to her, and through her, to all::
women: g
Oh, she has responded: Yes, she has
responded. And 'I have a broken nose, and
a lump over my right ear, where she hit me
with a plate of roast beef, potatoes and
gravy, from a distance of eight feet, some
Years ago: Ah those
great
old
whenyou could sling roast beef around. Today it
would be a plastic plate and hamburg, and
I wouldn't even have a lump.
Finally ., to my children and grand-
children. Just by being so rotten, they have
provided' me with acres of material for this.
column, and brought me into touch with
: th
hundreds of parents Of equally rotten kids.
Last, and absolutely last, to the mem-
bers of myEnglish department
$ p est: You notice
I said "my". I don't own it. I
merely serve
as ve
as surrogate unc e, father figure, psychi-
atrist,
and wailing wall for the odd
assortment of human beans in our depart-
ment
But they stand by me: like reeds in the
wind; like twigs in an ice storm; like snow
in a March sun. And theyalso stand behind
,._ e Bind
me - well, behind, when someone m one is after
my scalp, But I depend ori them. To
slander me; to mock nypartial ,plate .
and
hoary hair.
l think that covets a.
fair assortment of
the people I want to sayM.0
M.C. and a Il.hlN, .
to. Exce tforall
P my friends; and they both
know Who they tire.
,a+
Now, I don't' wish to be anything less
than benign on this occasion: But it maybe
more of a hairy :.Christmas and a crappy
New Year than the other, if what our new
Tory government has produced so far is
any indication of our future.
Not another word. I'll get to that in the
new year,. Mustn't spoil this jovial mood
I'vebuilt up.
Must stick to Christmas. Well, there've
been some dandies and some stinkers. Like
most people, the stinkers are the ones ;I
remember,
One Was when my mother had prepared
a great Christmas dinner,for about five
o'clock, working from 6 aim. 'My older
brother and sister went off skiing with a
. friend. My kid brother and 1 went off to the
special' • Christmas: matinee. We'd all
promised to be home by four. We all. got
home about , six, the dinner ruined`: A
modern :mother would have bawled the
daylights out of us. Mymother just looked`
1 ted`
so hurt it hurt my heart.
Another was when mytotal' loot under
der
the Christmas tree was one suit of long
. That Wasn't
underwear, with the backfla
p
so bad. We knew there was a depression
on, whatever that was. But going out and
meeting the other kids, some of whose
fathers were working, and exchanging,
"Whadja get?", was painful. How do you.
describe toa guy' who has just got *pair of
skates the: joy of receiving longjohns?
But there have been some great Christ-
mases too, and they linger. Decorating the
tree with tiny kids looking on. Then going ..
out to a Christmas Eve party, (the most
stupid social occasion in our calendar);
arriving home at 4 a.m., doing up the kids'
stocking and hanging in$
them up,
getting
one hour's B 8 ur s sleep before tiny hands
are plucking, at your hair, eyes,nose and:
treble voices, "Daddy, get up, We want to
see what Santa Claus brought" Oy vehl
Another. great Christmas, strangely
enough, was in prison camp. We had saved
for months the choice" items from our
rapidly diminishing: Red Crossarcels.
From the graham P
crackers, chocolate,
powdered milk and other stuff, we'd made.
a magnificent Christman cake.
From the prunes and sugar, we'd made a
potent Christmas brew, enough for about a
q $
quarteach. Dinner began with � horn
d'oeuvres, a piece of cheese the size of a
dime on a piece of sour German bread the
size of a quarter. Then the entree. Canned
Salmon and smashed' spuds. Then the
coup de grace, the cake, like lead but full Of
calories, And all Washed down With a wine
that was neither red nor white; but sort of
mud -coloured,, A Memorable
evening h. Enou$h,aboutThink
your
dandies and your stinkers, and make this
the best holida sc
y axon you've ever had,
With a sober thought about the reaves tot It
alit and Whit it means to you.,