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9vn 7 the stouffville tribune tfcuisjjy rotenaw 18 1963 editorial what no discount for bulk buying new grade 13 system in a recent announcement the minister of education william g davis said that a grade 13 students term work will play a greater part in determining his final departmental standing in 1966 than in 1965 this statement is another indication of a welcomed trend towards doing away with the present system of depart mental examinations for secondary school graduation the terrible finality of depart mental examinations has served through the years to frighten stud ents and to leave their teachers nerves in knots beginning with last years examinations 25 percent of a students mark was based on the assessment of his own teachers this year the percentage has been in creased to 35 fa it is highly likely a welcomed change that this percentage will be increased again eventually making the depart- mentals superfluous these exams are used in the united states as a method of choosing admission to tha universities the injurious thing about grade 13 examinations is that an anony mous examiner marks the paper of an anonymous student after fiva years of slugging through high school a student stands before tha departmental cannon and ventures his whole career on a twohour ses sion in each subject under this kind of pressure even the best student can freeze up and find his brain turned off anyone under such cir cumstances can fail not because of himself but simply because of the system it is good to see the system changing the start of something better cant go on forever mrs h g adams president of the stoutfville home and school asso ciation has announced that the jan uary meeting will take the form of a public discussion centred around the topic the community program she observed that in stouffville there are too many separated groups and organizations that could operate much more efficiently and success fully if they were more united to accommodate the crowd that should attend this important gather ing more spacious quarters will be made available it is our hope that the home and school association can indeed stimu late some action that will lead to the formation of a community centre program here the hit and miss ar rangements that we now know just handwriting the handwriting is surely on the wall for the leaders of both the liberals and the conservatives fol lowing last weeks election results it is clearly evident that the electorate does not think too highly of the leadership of either mr pearson or mr diefenbaker and it is almost a certainty that each has seen his last election as a political leader mr pearson is not given to doinir anything dramatic and it is likeiy that he will pass the reins over quiet ly at a future leadership convention if he is allowed to govern for another couple of years mr diefenbaker will be harder to dislodge the fact that his party was able to gain a few more eats will whet his ego to no end and we realize that this meeting is still nearly two months away but let us not merely nod our heads in agreement and then forget about it a community program de serves community effort and com munity cooperation if the end result is to be realized discussions on this topic are in deed not new here in stouffville the problems and ultimate solutions have been explained many many times the conclusion is a handwringing eulogy of where do we go from here hence it has gone nowhere we would commend the home and school for bringing the issue to the forefront of public attention again if you dont succeed the first time is on the wall his passionate desire to once more occupy the prime ministers chair will keep him tightly entrenched we will in the meantime have another minority government the voters have decided in their wisdom that neither of the major parties can be trusted to govern with a majority it is hoped at least that some lessons have been learned as the late adlai stevenson said in 1952 more im portant than winning the election is governing the nation this is the real test of a political party most political observers take the view that all are on probation before a country sick of smallness and bick ering in politics the electorate will insist that every jackman of them this time earns his 18000 a year writers will get their chance through the latest information we have received on plans for the canadian centennial it appears that canadian writers are going to have their real chance on this birthday occasion already no less than fifteen books have been commissioned or are being prepared by government de partments some will be specific edi tions of annuals or periodicals there will be a volume devoted to the papers of canadian prime ministers an other will offer the atlantic confeder ation debates 18641967 literature and drama will be one music and ballet another the parliamentary debates of 186774 will give a view of canada in its formative years a definite book on hudson bay will be published another will trace the story of cana dian ministeries since 1867 other booklets in preparation cover the history of postage stamps and canadian postal services there will be still another on canadian family trees some of these are good solid sub jects but will need attractive treat ment in writing it is hoped that the government is calling on our most talented craftsmen in this field to par ticipate municipal election by eric w baker as the spotlight shifts to the local political stage we see dif ferent players and we should 6ee they are playing quite dif ferent roles in party elections the candi date is seeking to qualify as a representative and only the few who reach cabinet level have any chance to spend money or make executive decisions however a local councillor really has a harder job he must make direct decisions at every meeting in doing so he must weave together the public opinion of his area and enough economic sense to keep taxes under control unfortunately these influences dont always lead in the same direction so experience and good judgment are needed recognizing the dual duties of a councillor markham town ship citizens committee seeks dual qualifications they say that a man who iniends io represent public opinion should get experience with public opinion by work ing with the public in com munity organizations they also say that a candi date should make a success of his own business whatever it is before trying to man age other peoples business only those who meet these basic tests deserve our time for discussion of issues or records the markham committee in cludes members of all major parties but does not favour party action at the municipal level as this ultimately leads to outside influence in local mat ters it is not for or against the sitting council it is for compe tent government lis policy is new councillors if necessary but not necessarily new council lors it believes that citizens who do have competence for local government should offer their service and it believes all citi zens have a duty to seek out the stouffville tribune limited established 1mi member of the canadian weekly newspaper association and th ontario weekly newspapers association authoriii ktondclami mil fcwtoffie dipt otuwa member of the audit bureau of circulations issued every thursday at stouffville ont in canada 400 elsewhere 600 c n nolan publisher ms thomas editor noel edey advertising stouffville has had six skating rinks it will come as a surprise to many residents that stouffville has had no less than six skating rinks over the last eightyfive years chief among the promoters of these recreational facilities in the early days was the late r j daley who was born in stouff ville in 1857 mr daley was in the boot and shoe business at the corner of church and main sts but in 1885 he erected on the present post office corner daley hall used as a public hall and market place in the basement of this hall was a skating and curling rink this was rink no 1 while in subse quent years the upper floor was also used for skating making rink no 2 however the market had by this time grown to such an extent that mr daley felt it necessary to build a new and entirely separate building for skating purposes one of largest the new building was erected below burkholder st and was described as one of the largest and best arranged rinks in the country it occupied an area 150 feet wide and 225 feet in length besides skating the building al so provided a room for the local brass band and a gymnasium the fourth rink with which stouffvillites have been blessed was known as the maple leaf rink and was built by the late nathan forsyth at the top end of park st where the present feasby transport co houses its trucks mr forsyth operated the rink himself for a time and later it was run by sam arm strong and the late robt mc- kinnon mr mckinnon had managed mr daleys rinks earlier the late clayt baker was the next operator an interesting sidelight to the operation of the maple leaf rink which will be recalled by some will be ernie button day which came once every winter on a saturday afternoon when the rink was crowded with children mr button who lives on obrien ave treated every child in the rink to hotdogs and pop as one of those kids we well remember this annual treat built own kink mr clayt baker the last operator of the maple leaf rink erected rink no 5 in stouffville memorial park it was the feel ing of the municipal council that the town was in need of a building that could be used for school fairs the horticultural society and other public events requiring a large building they agreed to provide mr baker with the land and he in turn was to build the new rink this building situated where the present swimming pool is locat ed lasted until 1950 it was in this year that the local athletic club under the leadership of mr bert bell sparked the formation of a lim ited stock company to erect the present artificial ice arena these early rinks carry a great many memories for older residents they were the days of battles royal between hockey teams from markham and stouffville as well as uxbridge and port perry fancy dress carnivals were a big event the days when everyone participat ed and made their own costumes have gone and nominate those best quali fied its main purpose is to keep its members informed on municipal issues but its membership is not closed any local organiza tion is welcome to send a dele gate member j spice by bill smiley of sewage and me i was telling you in last weeks column how i was shanghaied into the teaching profesison and how teaching has been good to me bui i dont want anyone to go away with the mistaken idea that it has been roses all the way when i was in the newspaper business i used to get home have a couple of drinks before dinner just to unwind a bit strictly medicinal when i came into teaching i got home from work at 4 oclock and was so unwound by dinner time i was practi cally paralyzed this year our school is working double shift our shift begins at a quarter to eight in the am i get home from work at 115 in the afternoon i have little doubt that my liver is the texture of marble and the color of a baboons behind i have great doubt that ill last until christmas people on the early shift should get hardship pay another misconception id hate to leave with anyone is that i came into teaching as a refugee because i couldnt make it in the newspaper business not so not only was i making sporadic payments on the mort gage but i was dragging home anywhere up to 35 a week clear and if i do say it myself i was a pretty important figure in the community for example i look back with unconcealed and justifi able pride to my four years as president of the bruce county publishers association thats a mighty important post with about 10 weeklies in the county well sir before my term of office the anual meetings were segular donnybrooks the publishers last of a fierce and independent breed quarreled fiercely about printing prices stealing linotype operators from each other and encroaching on each others sacred hunting grounds but during my entire sojourn in the presidents office peace prevailed there wasnt a bicker or a squabble the secret in four years the president didnt call a single meeting the association has never run so smoothly before or since so it youre having internal warfare in one of the organizations you belong to theres your solution slop holding meetings another position in which i made my mark was the resort association i was president of it too and also for four years when i look over the outfit was struggling revenue was only about 2000 a year most of this was spent on printing folders in our plant well i got keen and started drumming up more money and urging a bigger and flossier folder in the end my twin activities bore fruit right in the end we raised so much money and the folder designed was so fancy that we could no longer print it in our plant so they took it to an outoflown printer this is known as how not to get along in business by really trying but perhaps my finest hour was my career in munici pal politics the bay bordering the home town was pollut ed and unfit for swimming as editor of the paper i had harassed the town council for years trying to get action finally i ran for council carefully choosing a year in which it was obvious that election wouid be by acclama tion not votes i won within two years i had sparkplug ged the council inio installing a new sewage disposal sys tem that would end the pollution it put the tax rate up about six mills for 60 years but it was worth it there was only one thing wrong the darn thing didnt work some silly littie engineering detail about water not running uphill or something the bay was once again polluted 1 left tn shortly after and the words sewage and smiley are still associated in the minds of the grateful ratepayers not many men have a living monument like that during their own lifetime west end barber shop hours tues thurs fr s am iii 3 pm wed and sat 8 am till 6 pm len david and bill keeping 3 registered barbers 153 maix st w stouffville roamin around stouffville municipal nominations are just around ths corner nov 25th to be exact and if rumours mean any thing the election to follow should be a real interesting contest so far few of the present ofliceholders with the exception of councillor bud spang have made their future intentions known councillor spang will not seek reelec tion but his past record of popularity at the polls is quite unique he topped all comers on three occasions which is no mean feat wiicn facing a sometimes fickle electorate in 1961 his vote count was 1012 that was the year win timbers claimed the reeyeship and the controversial fluori dation question was hit over the head in a negative reply of 716 to 432 in 1962 mr spang again led the field with 877 votes and in 1963 he topped all rivals with 551 but what can we expect for thursday nov 25th climbing out on the proverbial limb we would predict that reeve timbers will once again toss his hat in the ring and defend his post for another term although acclaimed in 63 we feel that hell be opposed this time likely by the present deputyreeve ken laushway we would hint that council lor bill parsons will make his move for the deputys office if mr laushway moves up if not then he could go the lim it and oppose the reeve himself this would leave only ken belz as the lone experienced councillor and hell likely re main where he is but hell still likely face an election with at least three and perhaps more in the running bob lewis the current secretarytreasurer of the community park board will give it another try and although beaten by a scant 48 votes in 63 his chances in 65 appear quite good jim mckcliar is another likely candidate hes a workhorse and an impressive platform man that could very well maka a good impression on the voters in the cast end of town we have tom lonergau on ioictta crescent although not too well known to the majority of residents lie has shown an avid interest in council and planning board activities through attendance at most meetings he too must join the wouldbe candidates club as far as the public utilities commission and school board arc concerned we can offer very little comment we feel that during the past year the puc has accomplished much in the way of major hydro and water improvements but much still lies ahead the chairman walter atkinson has hinted at calling it quits but well predict that hell be back again for another term ken wagg will also let his name stand for reelection at least one position will be open on the school board with the announcement by lorna button that she will not be back she has given diligent service to the post and her successor will find a pretty big pair of shoes to fill chair man ted topping an extremely busy man will likely re main in office for at least another term to see the board through an expected buildingexpansion program well thats enough crystalballgazing for this week to get true facts straight from the candidates themselves be at the veterans hall on thursday evening nov 25th its only one night in two years and surely worth a few hours of your time after all these arc the folks that will be spend ing your money we were extremely impressed with the sloulfville dlst high school commencement program for the most part it is really a student parent night since we cannot qualify in either of these categories at the present time we will outline a few of the features from a neutral corner we thought that the remarks by both the chairman of the board merlin baker and the principal win duxbury were both timely and instructive indeed the principals greet ings could very well have replaced the guest speakers part in the program so thoughtprovoking was its content we liked the new leadership idea in the school glee club with students ruth parsons miriam sider john hons- bergcr linda sargent jewel stoyan and evangeline byer taking prominent parts we thought the school orchestra under the direction of staff instructor jerry waile was just great and we would still like to see the activities of this group expanded to include other community functions complete with uniforms etc perhaps some day and how about grade 13 graduate and valedictorian barbara howard she made so many trips onto the platform for so many awards that the evening could well have been named barbara howard night her name appeared no less than 11 times on the program agenda other prominent prize recipients included linda sargent ingrid schncll margaret miller elenor shirk herbert otto mary otter and janice smith in all 108 students look part in the plat form promenade for prizes and diplomas it was an im pressive sight the 75 engraved bulova wrist watch presented to student herbert otto at the conmmcncemcnt exercises on friday night by mr ken wagg was the thirteenth such award since 1952 the initial recipient was marion atkin son wells now of lcmonvilie the prize is for general proficiency a much coveted award and distinction marion attended the program on friday and her watch like marion herself is still going strong solid proof that the little red brick sclioolhouse has turned out some excellent pupils in the past was evident at the pickering dist high school commencement also on friday night the awards for top allround girl and all- round boy went to two rural students linda graham of balsam and wallace pugh of claremonl some of the ear lier winners from the north have been joe pcgg marion norton craig peters keith norton glcnys crcsswcll donald drake and beverley hawthorne although remembrance day is now past we would once again like to commend local druggist cliff aiken for his fine window display in keeping with the occasion nov 15th to 22nd is young canada book week through the cooperation of town librarian mrs tom wedseltoft and rcxall druggist john houston a display lias been set up in the window of his store markham twp police clerk bill sheridan should be about ready for a promotion that is if keen marksmanship is taken into consideration his group bagged four dec while up hunting in the north country and bill can take personal credit for two of this number proof of his skill was visibly evident protruding from under the trunk lid of his car on sunday morning chief harvey cox and officers of the markham twp force experienced one of their busiest nights on record last wednesday evening with two fatal accidents four house breakins and a pursesnatching all within a period of three hours what do you picture in your minds eye when the sub ject of car clubs dragstrips and hotrods is discussed black leather jackets long greasy hair and sideburns we do or at least we did but wc recently visited the site of the proposed dragstrip on the 9th cone of markham twp there wc were introduced to six young men all members of the injectors car club an organization sponsored by grace anglican church in markham village their jackets were not black but bright red their hair was not long but neat and trim they sported no sideburns those pres ent included chris shepherd john sherman jack phil- ley bill mccarty ed stonchouse and bruce murphy they all attend race meets at cayuga st thomas and niagara and hope some day to utilize the track in markham wc were impressed with what wc saw and in the future will not be so quick to criticize or prcjudgc liberal member john addison retained his york north scat in the federal election nov 8th hut his victory was a costly one in the true sense of the word mr addi son spent between 15000 and 17000 during the campaign in 1963 it cost him 21000 a pretty tough kind of competi tion