6 April 19, 2012 - St. Thomas/Elgin Weekly News
St.Thomas/Elgin
Dorothy Gebert
Reasons to volunteer The green and white flag you see flying high above St. Thomas City Hall this week is in recognition of National Volunteer Week. Although I know that St. Thomas and Elgin County are rich in the generosity of people who give of their time and their money, there always seems to be a need for more volunteers. Just ask any of the hundreds of not-for-profit organizations that depend on the efforts of volunteers, and I don’t think you’ll find one that says they’ve got too many. But why do it? Why get involved with something that doesn’t pay you anything? In this question, payment only refers to money, but there are other, often more important, ways that people get paid for participating. Volunteering can get you out of the house and among other people. Making friends and estab-
Terry Carroll
On-the-spot reporting “Hello, sir.” It was Greg Minnema of our staff on his cell phone, just before 5pm on Tuesday April 10. The word “breathless” would be accurate in this case. He was on Talbot Street in St. Thomas. There was a speeding vehicle, shots had been fired, and Greg had come close to losing the side mirror on his Blazer when he was nearly sideswiped by a speeding vehicle. Pretending to be a hip, savvy, social media type, I posted the following on Facebook: “Shots fired a few minutes ago on Talbot Street in St. T. Our own Greg Minnema almost sideswiped. Police heading west on the main drag in pursuit.” The “heading west” part of the story proved to be wrong. With his adrenalin pumping, Greg had forgotten that he heads east every day when he goes home to Aylmer. (It’s a small detail, almost irrelevant, given the accuracy rate of some online
St.Thomas/Elgin A Community Newspaper, published by Carroll Publishing, Inc. 15 St. Catharine St., (Lower) St. Thomas, N5P 2V7 519-633-1640 Fax: 519-633-0558
Delivered to over 30,000 addresses - WEEKLY
www.theweeklynews.ca
editorialpage lishing connections is a big part of the attraction of getting involved with churches, charities and not-for-profits. Volunteering can offer you the opportunity to learn new skills that you may not be able to obtain in your regular work. It’s also a great way to keep your hand in in the work world if you’re unemployed. You never know, the experience could eventually lead to a paid position. One of the big reasons that people tell me they volunteer is because it’s a way to give back. “For me personally getting out there and giving back to my community is very satisfying,” Scott Taylor of Volunteer Elgin once told me. But I have a feeling the number one reason for volunteering is because it feels good, especially if it’s in your own community and you can see the results of your work. As St. Thomas Mayor Heather Jackson said at this week’s council meeting, “A big thanks to all the people who take time out of their busy lives to make our community a better place to live and work.”
reporting.) Greg gave us more details the next day. The shots sounded exactly as they do in reality TV cop shows: pop, pop, pop. It wasn’t clear who was shooting, but Greg thought it was the cops when the vehicle came right at them. He saw three other people on the ground near a cruiser. And the speeding car, fishtailing its way through police vehicles, seemed to come out of the Van Pelt and Starwoods parking lot. Had it been stolen? By the next day, there were various stories about the quantities and types of drugs seized in the incident – the largest I heard was a trunk full of heroin. Not sure there was any heroin, but you have to love the St. Thomas gossip circuit. It’s better than Facebook any day, and sometimes faster. For our weekly video blog, we’ve invited Constable Cam Constable to participate with police updates, starting next week. Greg Minnema is an occasional show host. With his recent exposure to crime scenes, if we put The Minner and Constable Constable under the lights together, we just might have to raise our TV ad rates.
Community Snapshot
Is this my lucky token? Ruth Davis, a volunteer at Elgin Manor, gets ready to try her luck at the Crown and Anchor game as Jeannette Mirisola of the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital waits to give the wheel a spin. They were part of Volunteer Elgin’s recognition event held April 13 at Fellowship Church in St. Thomas.
Guest Editorial
Theatre of the mind I don’t want to get all dramatic here, but since I have been a drama critic for more than 40 years, it seems I can’t help it. The Harper government’s cuts to the National Film Board and to CBC have really hurt our cultural base. The CBC is not going to film any more television drama, even though only four shows are under production. What hurts even more is the decision to kill all radio drama after a tradition of more than 70 years. People like Lorne Greene, William Shatner and Christopher Plummer came through the ranks in a CBC radio studio, and there was a time when they made more of their living on the air than on the stage. Many of my readers never had the joy of growing up with only radio, but I recall the laughs I would get from Jack Benny as he crossed his
Terry Carroll - Publisher: terry@theweeklynews.ca [Ext. 25] Nancy Kelly Carroll - Sec./Treasurer: nancykellycarroll@yahoo.com Dorothy Gebert - Editor: editor@theweeklynews.ca [Ext. 26] Rebecca Smallman - Circulation: circ@theweeklynews.ca [Ext. 33] Linda Axelson - Sales: linda@theweeklynews.ca [Ext. 27]
by Ric Wellwood
alligator-filled moat to get to his safe, or Amos and Andy arguing over some new hare-brained scheme. Late at night, I would listen to a short drama called “Out of This World” in which Rod Coneybeare played all of the characters. Later, Rod went on to become one of the Friendly Giant’s puppets and a CBC legend as well. Radio drama is “Theatre of the Mind.” All the characters can only be seen as the listener creates them. What may be a beautiful blonde for you may actually be a sultry brunette in my mind. The worst monster ever created is the one you will picture while someone makes the appropriate sound effects in a radio studio. Also, no one has mentioned that Canada’s visually-impaired people are put on the same playing field as the sighted. I can only hope they will keep the archived dramas and play them every once in a while for people who crave some exercise for their imagination.
Chris Heil - Sales: chris@theweeklynews.ca [Ext. 23] Doug Golding - Sales: doug@theweeklynews.ca [Ext. 24] Laura Bart - Office Manager: laura@theweeklynews.ca [Ext. 21] Jim McHarg - Creative Dept: design@theweeklynews.ca
Locally owned and operated member of St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce, St.Thomas Executives Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Association, Canadian Media Circulation Audit
Member:
CMCA
AUDITED