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' Museums worthy of public support LETTERS: Note of appreciation gd, In addition. these sites remain as one of the few forms of culture and re- creation which are " The specialty mu- seums at the University of Waterloo, Woodside and the Schneider House, the area's res- tored historic homes, and Doon Pioneer Vil- lage. offer excellent re- sources for interpretive and educational oppor- tunities AH, WINTER! There's nothing like you to put the iron into the souls of Canadians. We can tuft you out. But the trouble is that the iron stays in the souls. and our short summer is not enough to make it molten. In other words. everybody over fifty has arthritis. May I. through your newspaper, take this op- portunity to thank most sincerely all those very kind and lovely people who came to the aid of my daughter, Irene O'Toole. and my grand- children, Judith and Mi- chael. following the fire at their home just before Christmas in which they lost all of their belong- ings. I am writing to ap- plaud Karen Redman on her recent articles con- cerning museums in the Waterloo region. As Ms, Redman correctly points out, the residents of Kitchener and Wa- terloo are extremely fortunate to have such a wide variety of mu- seums to enjoy. Mine doesn't bother me much, because Um always trying a new remedy that is guaranteed, and hope lives eternal in the human beast. I've tried carrying a potato in my hip pocket. It was a sure thing, I was told. But from sitting around on that cold mashed potato for a couple of weeks. all I got was arthritis in the hip, where I'd never had it before. Then I got a kind of wristband. made of some shiny metal, which allegedly had done wonders for arthritis in Japan. Nothing happened except that I got arthritis in my wrist. where I'd never had it before. there have been so many kind offers of help My son, who is a treat man for herbs and a vegetarian. ex- cept when he's home, when he eats three helpingsof meat. had a surefire recipe that would cure arthritis in three weeks. It's an herb from Switzerland, called Devil's Claw. It tastes like a devil's claw that hasn't been washed since His Evilness was kicked out of heaven. You have to drink three cups of the junk, brewed in hot water and left standing, per day, before meals. I was faith- ful for the three weeks, even though it was an ordeal to look at food after swallowing the swill. Result? I had the worst arthritic knee L've had since a guy kicked my kneecap two inches to the left back in 1944. Dear Sir A kind lady trom Alberta wrote that she could get me a special price on some kind of machine that gives you ultra- BILL SMILEY To date we have re- ceived $11,517 of our 813.000 objective. Your donation will enable us to respond to the 45 per Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region would like to thank Its~sup- porters for donating to the 1980 lundraismg campaign, These msutuuons pro- vide an important con- nection between the past and the present, and are Though I am about to return to my home m England. I know my fa- mily is among so many kind friends. ' May I wish'everyorte a peaceful 1981 and a very grateful ‘thank you' to you all. fordable to all who wish to visit, during the pre- sent period of economic hardship from both friends and strangers alike and words seem to be com- pletely inadequate to express my gratitude Eva Gillan Manchester, England Agency _ is grateful In the past few years individual donations from the community have represented an in- creasing portion of our income. Last year. dona- tions received from in- divnduals accounted for approximately 43 per cent of our budget. all worthy of pubhc sup- port and civic pride, cent Increase In requests for services from our community. I would like to apolo- gize to those supporters who did not receive a fundraising appeal from Planned Parenthood. Although the campaign officially ended De- cember 31, 1980. dona- tions will still be wer come, If you require any additional information. please call Planned Parenthood at 74lr6461, John Carter Chairman Training Committee Ontario Museum Association Dorothea Sprung President Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region What I really set out to do was write an Ode to Winter. And here it comes. I tell my students that any dang fool can write modem poetry, but there aren't many of us left who can make it rhyme, Ode to Winter "Winter. you is a time for Slipping and sliding, Swooping and gliding, Snowmobile riding. But if you decided to spend My wife has about eight books about arthritis. She keeps reading me bits from each, and I get so confused I don't know whether to diet strictly, eat like a hog. get into acu- puncture, or go out and roll in the snow, naked. I imagine any or all of them would have the same result. Anyway, my arthritis doesn't bother me at all. It's just a good excuse for getting out of a lot of unnecessary chores. which my old lady is quite young and iit enough to do her- self. Scrubbing (my knees are bad.) Wallpapering (my shoulders are killing me,) Garbage (doc says don't lift any- thing over 20 pounds; my back.) Anyway. I didn't intend to write a column about arthritis As a topic of either conversation or literature, it's about as exciting as the common cold, another subject which winter provides Canadians some stimulating repartee about. red (or something; treatments, I declined to answer. on the reasonable grounds that I knew it would turn me into a red arthritic, I wouldn't mind being a red politically. or a red ln- dian tsomething I've never seen). but I didn't want to be- come a red arthritic. for some reason. An ode to We man winter I talked to Pam Nancarrow-Snow, program co- ordinator with the Lung Association, and she sug- gested several tips that would help myself and others over the hump. .. It has taken me about ll years to acquire-the habit for cigarette smoking and I still can't figure out why I started it in the first place. It's not something most people find pleasant when they light up for the first time and. in fact. I was vio- lently ill the first time I smoked, Friday was going to be my first attempt at giv- ing up the habit, albeit a rather short attempt, but I was going to give it a try just to learn what the average person goes through, She suggested that I: change my daily routine, reinforce my resolution to quit. have someone quit with me (the buddy system) and try to under- stand why I started and what motivated me to One such group " the Waterloo Regional Inter- Agency Council on Smoking and Health which has declared this to be National Non-Smoking Week and today as “Weedless Wednesday? Their hope is that once people spend a full day away from their weeds they will discover how good they feel and it just may grow from a one- day abstinence to a more prolonged session and maybe it will even turn out to be permanent I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and give it a try. but I couldn't wait until today. Instead, I decided to declare January l6 to be -F'agless Fri- day". More and more Canadians are trying tu quit smoking In fact, statistics show non-smokers now make up the majority of those who inhabit this country and their numbers are growing daily, There IS no magic formula for those who want to quit smoking the wicked weed, but there are numerous professional groups that will help peo- ple accomplish this feat if they are really serious about giving up a habit they've taken years to acquire But I'm sorry to say that never deterred me. I went right back to It and haven't stopped since My fagless Friday WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, "ttt -- PAGE 7 STEWART SUTHERLAND Nah. Winter's not so bad. But my heart sinks when I think that Wilson, the boy next door, is in Grade 12, and will soorl be off to college. In the momings. after a blizzard, I sit quietly drinking my tea and reading my paper until I hear his shovel clanging on the back porch, Then I leave for work, knowing my path and driveway are open. In the summer he cuts my grass. rm going to ask all his teachers to fail him this year. The only other solutibn is to sell the house. That's all. No need to spoil a perfect bit of poesy. But imagine what a modern poet. especially a young one, would do with that. Here's a sample. no rhyme. no rhythm: Hey, Mr Winter “I dig you. Beer and buhs after the ski hill. Downing the drinks after the bonspiel. Knocking down farmers' fences with my Bombardier Flyer. Yoy're a white man, Ole Mister. ' I dig you." Come to think of it, the second ode has more concrete nouns than the first, more action verbs. more appeal to the senses, and sharper imagerym Not to mention a great and powerful use of repetition.in the opening and closing lines. It's a better poem. But how can it be a better poem if it doesn't rhyme? As R. J. Needham would ask, who once stat- ed publicly that there hadn't been any good poetry written since Tennyson. I told him that was utter nonsense. He agreed. He was just trying to get somebody to say some- thing. the winter in F'lor'da Ud adore ya." POSTCRIPT: The World seemed to be fighting my day-long abstinence from cigarettes last Fri- day. The City Hotel on King St, caught fire and I rushed down the street to snap a few glossies. The smoke was billowing from doors. windows and ventilation shafts, I ended up inhaling the equiva- lent of eight cartons of high tar and nicotine ci- garettes! Personally. I think getting through the first day without smoking is no big deal It's the second, third and even fourth day where the wheat is se- parated from the chaff. By then the shock of qutt- ting really sets in and your body will let you know that you've altered your habits drastically _ This is one time that I don't mind promoting that we all become quitters. All through life we're told that quitters never get ahead. but in this case quitting can be a very healthy attitude. So, after this great buildup, how didl make out? Not very well, thank you very much lt seemed that everywhere I went last Friday peo- ple were smoking. And when l was driving my carl found myself automatically reaching for my pack of cigarettes l was slightly irritable and wanted to eat every- thing in sight .__ whether it was well-cooked or not. Instead of smoking, [chewed bubble gum In- stead of inhaling, I was blowing bubbles I spent an inordinate amountof time scraping the results of my bubble-blowing expertise off my face which made me even more irritable' For those who were going to quit in a piece- meal fashion, Pam recommended they choose a cigarette with less tar and nicotine (but don't fall into the trap of increasing the number smoked), don't'smoke cigarettes all the way down to the filter. take fewer draws and don 't inhale deeply, buy cigarettes by the pack and stay away from the cartons and smoke fewer cigarettes each day continue But those tips were for those who were going to quit "cold turkey' _