Saugeen Times has lost one of its own

The Saugeen Times has lost one of its writers who always wished to remain anonymous. We were introduced to 'Pete' through his consistently thought-provoking Letters to the Editor over issues that concerned his community of Saugeen Shores. Never one to mince words, sometimes his strongly worded 'rants' had to be edited but, then, he would turn around and send in a retort to the edited pieces. Unbeknown to us, Pete was also a poet.  He sent in funny little poems that he had written in the 1960s and '70s and also sent in what can only be described as two odes.  The last poem he sent was prefaced by ... "Sandy, this is a daft one" ... COUNTRY COURTESY  A man and wife went off to bed  As the rain came pouring down  Kids were away for the weekend  Staying with grandma in town  Their house was in the country  A lovely concession road  Lawn and flowers front and back  A wonderful little abode  At three am in the morning  Someone hammers on the door  The guy gets up trips over the dog  Slithers across the floor  He opens the front door cursing  Moose stood there in the rain  I need a push. He sez urgently  His plea was heard in vain  The guy slams the door in his face  The dog continues to bark  No way, the guy swears, at three am  I’m going to get wet in the dark  Who was that? Sez the wife  Telling the dog to shush  No idea, the guy snorts  Some guy wanting a push  It’s 3 o'clock in the morning  Pouring down with rain  The fool thinks I’m going out there  He must be half insane  Go give him a push. Sez the wife  Now sitting up in bed  Remember that storm last winter?  We could have all been dead  That stranger spent an hour  Pushing us out of the snow  If he hadn’t stopped to help us  We’d all be dead I know  She nagged at him for ages  Till he jumped up with a rush  Ok, Ok. he sez finally  I’ll go give the guy a push  Dressed quick, went outside  It was wet and black as coal  His jacket was soaked in no time  Heard distant thunder roll  Where are you? he calls loudly  Unable to see a thing  Moose bellowed out in the darkness Right over here on the swing

Pete's last 'Letter to the Editor' was sent on August 20th about the recent signage issue ...   "Gladys Micks got it right.   "It will be a shame if the mayor and council get away with this. "This little beautiful place is not some thing to be auctioned off to a corporation or petty interference from council.   Leave the signs alone please. This is my town   Pete" Every community needs a 'character' who is willing to speak his mind and  "damn the torpedoes"!  Pete  Maher was one of those characters. He will be missed and our thoughts go out to his family.