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page 2 the tribune thursday october 21 1971 01b established 1888 chables h nolan publisher james thomas aul- publisher kobkkt mccausla and fiutor advertblns manager r 5srsii injand publishing co limited at 51 main st stouffviue 0n wo2101 single copies 15c subscriptions 500 per ear in canada s900 elsewhere member of audit bureau of circulation canadian weekly newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association second class mail registration number 0896 editorial school closings premature while the york county board of education may attempt to blame the department for the current over crowding at ballantrae it would seem that the trustees too must share some criticism in this regard for it was they that authorized the closing of both vivian and shrubmount schools to the north a decision that now appears premature this move plus increased residential buildup in the community has shot the ballantrae enrollment up from an ac ceptable 195 to an intolerable 386 and still no contracts for classroom additions have been let or tenders for prices called it is no secret how members of the york board feel towards one and two- room rural schools they consider them costly to operate difficult to staff and substandard in facilities they look on them as back woods this being the case the policy has been one of close them and sell them as quickly as possible but with respect to the current situation at ballantrae the policy has obviously backfired for instead of an improvement facilities for some students are no better and in some cases worse far better for the board to have maintained these smaller schools until such time as improved accommodation could be foreseen more accurately a secret service some motorists nabbed for speeding in whitchurchstouffville have complained that at the time of the alleged offense no cruiser was visible in the area nor did they see a radar unit at the site j these drivers are probably right they saw no cruiser because there was none at least not the regular kind common to the york regional force instead in some instances unmarked cars are now being used they saw no radar unit because the set is located inside rather than outside the cruiser and almost totally hidden from view so what in our opinion the kind of police car used is not relevant nor is the location of the radar devise the important thing is that speeders endangering your life and mine are being apprehended the means by which this is being done is not cause for com plaint in fact we hope the practice is continued even if were the next deserving driver to be caught a bad influence just how far out are the opinions ex pressed around university campuses reached what we would think was a climax last week when posters appeared around one university telling students not to vote dont vote the signs read and these are supposed to be our highest seats of learning we have already pointed out editorially that those under 21 who have recently been added to the voters list would have little affect on the outcome of the election and such action as this only strengthens our opinion those who are easily led are easily pushed to excess and it is a sorry com mentary that such nonsensical rubbish is the best that socalled smarter heads can produce democracy can be threatened just as dangerously from within as from without and urging persons not to vote is about as fast a way as there is to lead people into a state where freedom is unknown campaign was too long we must fully support premier william davis contention that current election campaigns are too long its just too much of the same thing we venture to say that at least two weeks ago the majority of voters knew which way they were going to cast their ballots we are surprised and disappointed as well at the number who express little interest in the campaign one way or the other true there were always a certain number who knew little and cared less about what was going on but it seems their numbers are growing the devil may care attitude ex pressed by many is undoubtedly typical of our times and it appears in many forms both in everyday living as well as in the overall attitude regarding the welfare of canada candidates are wearied to the point of exhaustion as the campaign finally grinds to a halt and our guess is that both they and their constituents would have been quite ready to go to the polls several days ago etitor mail dear sir i would like to thank mr allan a wall for his article in the oct 7 issue of the tribune under the heading farm land assessment mr wall is not a farmer but is in a position to know and understand the situation as far as the farmer is con cerned this article certainly shows that he does understand the position of the farmer which is more than can be said of many writers on the subject if any resident did not read it look up the paper and read it carefully and thoughtfully and if you did read it read it again the same way carefully and thoughtfully the last two paragraphs really show what the farmer has for some time considered unreasonable and difficult to accept he is so right about the services in order to have water the farmer must dig his own well and maintain it he must also put in his own sewerage system and maintain it all this at his own expense over and above what he has paid for in taxes and if some evening he decides to walk down the road to visit his neighbor he has no sidewalk to walk and no electric fixtures to light the way mr walls last paragraph is par ticularly noteworthy and speaks for it self may i quote so i hope this change in assessment isnt looked on as another mythical free ride or subsidy for far mers mrs i m beach r r 3 stouffviue dear sir i am writing with regard to an article in last weeks tribune concerning the problems of the recreation committee you quoted mrs vannostrand as saying that the community of ballantrae is a lost cause the committee does not seem to be aware that ballantrae is not represented because the represen tative for that area resigned some time ago and council has not yet appointed a new representative 1 would suggest that part of the com mittees difficulties arise from the way in which members are appointed i believe more effort should be made to find people who are directly involved in recreational program and who have expressed in go two blocks north on timpson avenucuirn ieit on hodgson blvd- then right on lewis road circle roman crescent then left again on deacon drivethen straight ahead to clifton court sugar and spice the moods right in golden days by bill smiley early autumn when the weather behaves itself is a time when no canadian in his right mind would care to live anywhere else this fall after a moody summer has been as close to perfection as anything this side of heaven golden days to sit around and listen to the acorns fall weeks of frostless nights when it was sheer delight to be out and breathing that ineffable scent of fall golf course almost deserted and of fering magnificent vistas of golden trees and lush fairways and off in the distance vivid blue water of the bay and speaking of water i can scarce believe it but we swam at the beach until well into the first week of october and thats no heated swimming pool dear reader but the water of one of the greatest inland lakes in the world the beach in october is something no howling kids whove stubbed their toe on a rock no mothers screaming at kids who have gone out too far no beach boys horsing around with a football no distracting bikinis no fat old ladies with varicose veins staggering through the sand carrying more beach junk towels umbrellas lawn chairs than you could load on a mule no transistor radios blatting the latest rock no teenagers lying around smoking dear knows what nothing just miles of clean sand with the odd piece of driftwood the sun is warm gentle not scorching abrasive the water is uh refreshing but so clear you can stand up to your bellybutton look down and tell whether your toenails need cutting my wife and i and another couple swam all through september and set our eyes on breaking the october swim barrier usuauyc by october 1st the water would freeze the brains of a brass monkey on the first saturday in october we swam and drowsed and talked and read and argued for seven hours good company is just the little frill to such a day when even the gulls seem to co operate by sitting quietly on the water bobbing gently rather than screaming around looking for potato chips and ends of hot dogs which they do all summer our friends have children and many of the same problems with them that we have had she is scottish with a lot of good sense a good sense of humour and a refreshing indifference toward owning things and keeping up with the joneses and what the neighbours think he is german and we have a lot in common he was captured in north africa and spent most of the war in a prison camp in the states i was a prisoner in germany we compare notes he is a doctor of philosophy teaching high school mathematics i needle him by calling him herr doktor and oc casionally click my heels he just plain needles me we walked down the deserted beach hes a great walker hes about six feet two and i have to take one and a half strides to his one he talks while i puff what is it with these teenagers he asks they talk all the time about how they love nature and how they want to get away from it all and theres not one in sight on such a beautiful day i puffed back that the boys were in the poolroom and the girls were strolling the main street in hot pants trying to get the boys out of the poolroom perfectly normal then i was betrayed we rounded a spit and there was a male definitely young because his moustache was just a glimmer of hope lying back against a driftwood log reading i couldnt resist asked him what he was reading c s lewis of all things a brilliant english writer and theologian once again my faith that young people are complete hedonists was shattered lewis is tough reading as the lad admitted this has been a very inconsequential column but when i think of the way in which nature can recharge our rundown batteries all i can say is thanks god youre a pretty decent sort after all interest in serving on the committee the committees idea to improve communications with the community is a good one i wouid certainly like to have a clearer understanding of what the goals of this committee are and in what way the committee relates to the various recreational groups in this area mrs lee wong rr3 stouffviue dear sir premier davis extension of go train service to brampton is an act of death bed repentance designed to save political life for years the government delayed go extension although the need was clearly demonstrated barrie go service now runs about 2600 daily latest canadian pacific figures show torontoagincourthavelock business increasing at agincourt there has been a 208 percent increase over september 1970 in addition to the new cn stouffviue service which is running at capacity after two months unfortunately government progress appears related directly to elections the 1967 election produced the eastwest go line the 1971 election has produced the brampton go line only the imminence of an election and the danger of defeat appears to move the government to action elections every four years produce action every four years perhaps if we had elections every six months we could have action every six months at present rates it should take about six more elections to complete the commuter network required for the toronto area election campaigns and panicky governments may have their drawbacks but in some curious way they also produce results john c medcof mount albert home away from home by jim thomas it is seldom i take advantage of any self-appointed- assignments that could send me any distance from stouffviue mind you i could there are occasions like conventions receptions etc when i could toot off to halifax vancouver or even toronto but i dont for tribune readers i believe arent vitally in terested in occurrences so far from home at least not to the extent that they should want to read about them so the day this newspaper appoints me as its foreign correspondent in moscow algiers of havana is undoubtedly many years away on friday however i did embark on a crosscountry jaunt to a place called nanticoke never heard of it neither had i in fact i never did find it the truth is i came very close to not reaching my- original destination the farm site of the international plowing match it took me three hours to travel 115 miles v dont laugh have you ever tried to work your way from clappisons corners on the northeast to cayuga on the southj west its a route no driver other than a naturalborn native could ever hope to- negotiate without getting lost at least- twice i was so completely mixed up so many times i finally pulled the car off to the side of the road and called on a far mer for help why son he said youre headed towards woodstock turn around and take the grand river road down to no 3 mind he advised its a might twisty but itll get you there if you take er easy he was right it did at 345 pm but better late than never i had plenty of time to gather up the weeks results in all classes the awards banquet was arranged for the arena in hagersville i was lucky tol obtain a ticket so great was the demand i arrived in the town an hour early j allowing ample opportunity to look j around j where do most folks head when they t enter a totally strange community i suppose if youre a baptist minister you look for a baptist church if your i- interests tend towards politics you go searching for the municipal offices or if youre a high school principal you look j for the high school naturally i enquired 4 for the printing plant of the local v newspaper appropriately called the hagersville press after some searching i found it located on a littletravelled street across from the commercial hotel hummm j pity the poor publisher on a hot midweek 3 afternoon j but the proximity of the two outlets has its rewards at least in hagersville if the mayors election photo appears in the j obituary column the editor has some j excuse in stouffviue bings coffee isnt quite that strong ij but aside from the papers how else do the two towns compare very similar in many respects j for example in hagersville like in j stouffviue theres the teen group with 1 nothing to do the front step of joes f pool room appeared popular even though joe had obviously locked up early and gone home and hotrodders vrooom vrooom up j and down main street truck traffic stouffviue has nothing j on hagersville in that problem area s either jj but the town is obviously topheavy in barbershops and beauty parlors four in half a block theyre also overloaded i with hotels and taverns if theyre all j operating and their public library appears almost primitive these points on the critical side are j j more than offset by the availability of the west haldimand general hospital a j beautiful building located at the entrance i from hwy 3 s how do we compare for size well answered a young lady in one it of the stores the sign reads 2200 but the total hasnt been changed for about five years there have been a lot of births but come to think of it there have been a j lot of folks die too id say 3000 would be pretty close so four corners and 3000 people still i took the wrong road home if my car had pontoons for wheels id have floated v clean across lake erie to cleveland