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a4 tkusuimk sept 28 1984 editors mail bad taste dear jim as a member of music mania and as members of this community we were greatly saddened by the tribunes unfortunate cartoon re garding music manias 25th reunion year surely the messages of tolerance and concern for others should be guiding principles for you and your editorial comments this is espe cially important now when we are welcoming so many new residents to our community sincerely lovanna and jim sanders obrien avenue stouffville editors note music mania was originally a black face show a fact that will be recalled by those associ ated with the cast back in the early 70s and by this newspaper in re quested photo reprints of concerts staged at that time certainly no offence was intended concerned dear mr thomas the proposed industrial subdi vision at the westerly entrance to stouffville sounds greaton the surface the fact open storage will be per mitted albeit to the rear of the site bothers me i object to open storage anywhere particularly in an area so visible as this i appreciate the towns protec tive policies with regard to plan ning i trust members of council will give the above matter careful consideration sincerely basil pettigrew rr 2 markham the tri bune established 1888 james thomas bruce annan pat pappas editor publisher advertising manager editorial deptjim holt chris shanahan display advertising dept terri bernhardt real estate classified advertising joan marshman circulation manager doreen deacon national sales representative metroland corporate sates 4931300 published every wednesday by metroland printing publishing distributing at 54 main st stouffville ont tel 6402100 single copies 40 subscriptions 1650 per year in canada 54500 elsewhere member of canadian community newspapers association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press coun cil and suburban newspaper of america second class mail registration number 0896 the stouffville tribune is one of the metroland group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxpiekeringnews advertiser the aurora banner brampton guardian the burlington post the burlington weekend post the etobicoke advertiserguardian the georgetown independent tho milton champion the mississauga news the newmarket era the willowdale mirror oakvillo beaver oakville friday beaver oshawawhitby this week oshawawhitby this weekend the richmond hill liberal thor- nhill liberal the scarborough mirror the markham economist and sun and woodbridge liberal metroland printing publishing and distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd 6402100 6492292 f roaming around an historical event by jim thomas- editorials honor for our town thanks to mayor eldred king the town of whitchurchstouffville has at long last won a place of distinction with- in the regional municipality of york in addition to the honor bestowed on our municipality mayor king has also distinguished himself and it couldnt happen to a more deserving individual as chairman of york region mr king becomes the fourth person to hold this important post since the system was established following in the footsteps of garfield wright bob forhan and anthony roman were confident hes equal to the task eldred kings success as a municipal administrator came by the sweat of his own brow the leadership he provided here was admireable and while some times criticized by this media for his ultraconservative policies his way in almost every instance proved the right way no one is irreplaceable eldred king would be the first to admit this still it will be difficult to find his equal his suc cessor will undoubtedly admit this also york regions gain is whitchurch- stouffvilles loss however theres some solace in the fact that our towns a much better place for his being here in thirtythree years of fulltime jour nalism thursday was a first yes in three decades plus theres still some virgin soil left unturned im learning something new every week however thursdays experience was completely new i succumbed to the pleadings of a muffled conscience and attended a meeting of regional council ah i can hear the groans from bethes- da through to balsam and from bogart- town through to brougham how bor ing you say surely theres something more exciting to write about than that wait this was no ordinary regional council meeting this was special very special in fact this was the biggest thing to hit lower slabovia whitchurch- stouffville in years our mayor who back in 1966 began his political career as a trustee in markham school area 2 was going for the top job in the region of york is that such a big deal you ask you bet you bouncing boobies it is if it wasnt big i mean big big big why would i bother to attend ive more im portant things to do than listen to en gineer bob hodgson and mayor angus morton argue over a the size of a culvert on the sharon road and that to be honest is the real reason ive never frequented the haloed halls of regional hierarchy our town so seldom makes the meetings agenda theres nothing of importants to report but thursday woooeee this was our one occasion to rise and shine i wanted to be there and hopefully share with mayor king his moment of glory i tried to disguise myself as a veteran regional newshound holding a camera in one hand and a notepad plus three pens in the other ten steps inside the front door however the charade was un covered i walked straight into the ladies washroom fortunately for me the lone occupant was only combing her hair the regional council chambers can best be described as like a horses hoof with the chairman at one end and the gallery at the other the press are situ ated halfway between the spectators and the politicians presumably to absorb the impact of eggs tomatoes and other shortrange missiles on entry i fully expected some media clown to holler out hiya jim what brings you here or long time no see but none did in fact the press boys were unusually quiet expecting along with me the biggest story of the year five minutes after id settled into my seat the troops filed in mp tony ro man with his conservative smile and liberal handshakes anything but inde pendent markhams carole bell fifty- two going on twentynine metro chair man denis flynn durham chairman gary and others v r markhams bud bonner came over and shook my hand youre sure not particular about the company you keep he said good naturedly with re ference to the economist and suns don atanasoff seated at my right it was the only place left i replied and that was a fact the press desk and the public gallery were packed includ ing all members of whitchurch- stouffville council for one reason and one reason only it was dday decision day theres your man don stated shoving an elbow between two previous ly fractured ribs eldred king had just walked in taking up a position between ron moran of markham and lorna jackson of vaughan he was immaculate a blue pinstriped suit contrasting his weathertanned face and silvergrey hair after eldred and his lone opponent allan duffy of richmond hill had addressed the delgates a showofhands vote was taken it was king by 116 the council in unison rose and ap plauded i stood and applauded too it was whitchurchstouffvilles finest hour preserve landmark i f the trustees in charge of the altona meeting house the 132yearold alto- toa mennonite church are currently wondering what the future holds for this historic building they are seeking the advice of the community if such in reality exists on the following options 1 preserve the building on its present site 2 move it elsewhere perhaps to a museum 3 demolish it 4 find a practical use for it at the present site leaflets requesting recommenda tions were distributed following a ser vice sunday its a difficult decision due to the fact many families once directly associated with the church are scat tered hitherand yon across the province still an interest remains this was proven by sundays attendance the lit tle country chapel built in 1852 was almost filled through the process of elimination dealing with each of the options a deci sion can be reached ouropinions follow no 3 demolish it is definitely out too many historic sites eg the stouffville railway station have been demolished already no 2 moving it isnt practical the cost would be considerable more than a service club or the municipality would be prepared to pay besides the pickering museum already has a church on its grounds we see no reason for two no 4 find a practical use for it fits the same category as no 2 it isnt practic al the hamlet already has a community centre thats little if ever used this brings us down to no 1 preserve the building on its present site this is our choice the churm and the cemetery should remain as one the building appears in reasonably good condition- immediate repairs should be minimal the property is not governmentowned it was excluded from airport expropria tion the trustees working in close co operation with pickering town council should ask that the site be assumed by the municipality a memorial to the society of mennists who established it one hundred and thirtytwo years ago it was mayor jack anderson who at the opening of the green river commun ity centre pointed with pride at coun cils involvement in preserving land marks in pickerings rural area no building fits this criteria more than the altona meeting house let this part of our rural heritage live on for once gone its gone forever fair time its markham fair time an event thats as much a part of this community whitchurchstouffville as the town where its located in recent years with urban expansion to the south the fairs importance has increased for it represents an inter mingling of urban and rural interests a common ground for two completely di versified cultures however the fact re mains its a meeting place for people a people place whether its a relative across the province or a neighbor across the street markham fair means togetherness be a part of it window on wildlife swans not so mute by art briggsjude j this is the time of year we notice huge white swans on local waters the sight of these royal birds often presented to municipalities as gifts may look good on the surface lemonville for example has three of them cruising on a pond within that hamlet although these are privately owned other centres have such birds as property of corporations in private ponds public parks and along the shorelines of the great lakes there are about 100 of these majestic mute swans thriving in ontario inciden tally the toronto waterfront hosted half of this provinces mute swan population last winter this despite the general be lief that most mute swans are sedentary or are taken into shelter for the cold weather they come from places likt presquille oshawa long point and pri vate sanctuaries across ontario the largest and most noble of the waterfowl swans are also the most familiar and long lived their associaton with man dates back at least to the stone age where archaeologists have disco vered tracings in the rocks pertaining to that period swans are not only promin ent in greek mythology they have al ways- been held in high esteem down through the ages because of their pure white plumage they are looked on as sacred the socalled swan song a prolonged cxhaltation of air from the wind pipe of a dying swan that produces a scries of musical notes was also first mentioned by the ancient greeks mute swans were domesticated in the british isles some time just previous to the 12th century as the exclusive prop erty of the crown they could only be possessed and reared by persons holding a permit from the royal swan master later royalties were granted to corporate groups to own swans which they marked with their registered sym bols or swan marks on the upper bill thus any unmarked mute swans on the thames river were the property of the reigning monarch the annual and col orful ceremony marking the young swans was traditionally called swan- upping during this ritual the adoles cent birds were also pinioned a painless process that renders them flightless unfortunately due in no small mea sure to protectionist groups this pinion ing process was largely discontinued some time after the mute swans were brought to this continent in 1919 today local numbers of these swans have swel led and spread throughout the country side there are for instance about 100 birds in vancouver some 1500 in michi gan and well over 4000 along the mid atlantic coasts this ever increasing feral population of mute swans is already causing great concern among ornithologists and waterfowl managers on both sides of the international border these inspiring white aristocrats traditionally pro tected for their beauty and aesthetic qualities have long been favorites in zoos parks and waterfront properties to label them aliens along side the house sparrow starling carp and dutch elm beetle is not easy or readily accepted yet today in several us states such as michigan and new york mute swans are already beyond recall driving na tive whistling or tundra swans off habi tual feed beds their domineering na ture also seriously limitsother species of our native waterfowl from nesting near by at upwards of 30 pounds the male mute swan or cob as they are rightly called is a formidable opponent and a controlling competitor because of this aggressive nesting nature and its effect and threat to other forms of wildlife in the wetlands doctor harry lumsden of the ministry of natural resources ma ple research station has been monitor ing mute swan behavior in ontario for a number of years his findings and subsequent study of our own native swan species has led to the program of reintroducing trumpe ter swans into ontario waters the pain staking research by this dedicated scien tist uncovered enough evidence to con vince even the most skeptical of ontar ios naturalists that the trumpeter swan did originally nest in this province and quebec in fact since 1982 trumpe ter swan eggs brought in from grand prairie alberta have been placed under some brooding mute swans when this fostering project is perfected in a few years the results will be twofold first the mute swan population will be con trolled and second the trumpeter swan will once again return to its rightful place as part of our native scene a scene that not only includes remote wilderness lakes but also waters closer to home i