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ithaugj fm st stouffville stouffville team needs our help tt his week the stouffville merchants fastball team will be representing our town at the national finals in newfound land and there is a good chance the team could be dubbed the best hi the country as represehtatiyes of the town these young men will do their best to bring back the first- ever canadian tide for a stouf- fyille sports team it behooves us all to lend any support we can to mis fine club the team is dbing its best to raise money for the trip with car washes and the like but more can be done to make the trip easier for them so they can concentrate on the task at hand this sort of opportunity for stouffville comes rarely we can all pitch in to lend the club a hand if you can be of any assistance at all please contact the club they boys are set to do us proud the least we can do is give them a helping hand ht his past week i attended the a provincial competition for lifeguards in wasaga beach being of the old guard myself i often like to watch the best lifeguards in the province battle it out in a match of wits strength and skill and if i gained one thing from the experience aside from a sunravaged nose was the reaffirmation that the best thing parents can do for their children is to have them niade water wise and it is never too early to start i used to teach a class of tots some as young as six months old it is remark able to see them take to the water even if your children dont like swimming a full regiment of lessons should be mandatory for them we are surrounded by water in ditches creeks rivers and even whirlpool what you dojjj know can hurt you tubs and knowing how to swim makes the same sense as looking both ways before walking across the street august 3 was drowning prevention day which is a mild way for the royal life saving- society to say learn how to swim but there are some lingering mis conceptions about water that still crop up at events like the lifeguard compe titions and the competitors complain bitterly about them parents put their children in the full care of the guards using them as babysitters as one who has felt the effects of eight hours in the sun let me tell you that a life guards senses become overwhelmed and if you think he or she has a keen eye fixed on your offspring all the time you could be making a deadly mistake i know how to swim real good is another common phrase they still complain about many people believe that a few lessons the rudiments of a front crawl and an ability to float are all you need not so if you put your children in swimming lessons force them to finish the entire program right up to the bronze medallion level or beyond not only will the child have a complete grasp of all swimming styles they will have the- basics of selfpreservation instilled and a good grounding in lifesaving as well v but dont kid them it is going to take years to do it rightbut again it is worth it not only that but they could wind up witha great summer job after all that training the guards also said they still see small children in boats with no sign of a lifejacket even if they are a junior mark spitz they and you should be wearing them if you dont think it is necessary just ask the corpse i pulled from the water in 1984 after he fell put of his canoe a lifejacket was floating nearby when we found him but probably the biggest concern of the guards i spoke with was the lack of knowledge there is with regard to diving there are dozens of accidents each year involving people diving into shallow or unknown water i have a- friend from high school who can attest to the perils involved in this activity hehas spent the last two years recuperating in thelihd- hurst centre in toronto with a severed spinal cord when ast ispoke with him he said he would learn how to swim properly if given the chance again its not true you know he said what you dont know can hurt you y stouffville tvibune publisher editorinchief editor advertising director business manager promotionsdistribution mgr operations manager patricia pappas jo ann stevenson andrew mair debra weller vivian oneil jennifer hutt pam nichols staff reporters tracy kibble enzo oi matteo julie caspersen roger belgrave photographers sjoerd witteveen steve someivfflo real estate joan marshman classified doreen deacon debbie amundson uxbridge retail salar joan marshman doreen deacon steve randal uxbridge dis tribution arfene maddock published every wednesday by metroland printing pubishing and distributing at 9 heritage rd markham ontario l3p t m3 tel 2942200 second dass registration number 1 247 the stoufmbe tribune pubished every wednesday at 6244 main st stouffville is one of thometroland printing pubsshlng and distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxplckertng news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian burfngton post etobicoke advertiserguardian georgetown independent kingston this week lindsay this week maikham economist and sun mc oiampjon m hews nowrnaitu era fokvino beaver oshawa- whjrby twt week peterborough tn week hcfimond hftnornhiwauglianucralsrfxrooghf ror topic newsmagazine wioowdalemnor and uxbridge tribune metrctaml printing pubishing and distributing is admslon of harlequin enterprises lid hattonal sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 6402100 6405477 fax houseboat was not a home cj ummer is when everyone can relax take some wellearned hol idays and rekindle close relationships with their nearest and dearest right wrong while cottage life can be idyllic holidays that throw you into constant proximity with your family can play havoc with your sanity several years ago we took the illadvised step of booking a houseboat vacation with my inlaws we arrived on the dock at the appointed hour to survey a fleet of vessels scarcely smaller than the qe2 crammed together like sardines backing out i reflected was going to be an adventure in itself our float ing abode was the terra nova which turned out to be a distressingly prophetic description of the ensuing trip blithely throwing my feminist principals out of the porthole i will ingly ceded the role of captain to my spouse after an alarmingly brief driving lesson our instructor jumped ship and left us to it things were fine howev er until we encountered a lock watched by a small group of fascinat ed locals our fearless leader secured the front of the houseboat but a per sistent tailwind kept the terra nova straddled across the lock denying access in either direction to other traf fic the growing audience warmed to its task of shouting advice encourage ment and the occasional insult while my husband fought to gain control of the boat he was not helped in this by his willing but incompetent crew whose efforts at assistance tended to make things worse rather than better my motherinlaw spent the entire holiday convinced we were going to capsize one afternoon as we carried out docking manoeuvres she noticed we were getting perilously close to a shiny superbly maintained yacht which rejoiced in the name of perfect too brandishing the boat hook menac ingly in the direction of its unblem ished fibreglass hull she caught the eye of the horrified owner get that thing away he roared ignoring the social niceties essential to civilized society dont you speak to me like that young man retorted mainiaw loftily as the apoplectic yachtsman unceremoniously shoved the boat hook aside our gratitude at returning physically unscathed from our watery adventure overcame the tension and hostility that had been building up oyer the seem ingly endless four day breaktt was we all agreed an interesting experi ence now i know what people mean when they say absence makes the heart grow fonder