The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE 8, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1978, WHITBY FREE PRESS Whitby Downtown By John'Roberts I ;alw.ayaned to be a policeman. When I was a kid my father was a conservation officer, rounding up. the ba 'd guys who caught too many fish or poached pheasants. But noneof * this for me. 1 was going to get out there and collar bank Srobbers and the like. Obviously, though, I'm not a policeman. I couldn't pass the physical. Or at least my eyes couldn't. Se my * only alternative now is to write about them. It's possible to say that flot too many people In a small businèss area such as ours realize the value of the local cop who walks the beat, orthose that patrol the area in their shiny yellow cars. Now I'm not talking about the fellows who man * the radar traps or those who mnvestigate and apprehend criminals. I'm talkîng about the guy that we see walking around town talking te people and just generaUly making his * presenoe known. He is flot only a deterrent, but also a symbol -of the protection that we are afforded, and that our - business community, without whom we would have a great cleal of difficulty carryina on business in a, civilized manner. No bars on the wmdows here. No merchants with guns under their counters to ward off hold ups. No burglar alarma rigged te every door or window. We don't need them. And the presenoe of the police is the reason that we don't need theni. The idea for a colunin on the police first came to mind about two weeks ago, and. it involved a lest dog. Apparently the officer on the beat here in town found a stray with a license at the corner of Brock andDundas. Rather than calllng the pound te take' the dog away, the off icer got te touch with the humane society, obtained the dddress of the owner, and made sure that the dog was returned to where it should be. The ewner wasn't home, and the dog was tied up where it had broken loose froni. I don't think the owner even knows his dog was missing. This was a kind thing te do. It didn't have to ho done, but it shows hew much the police in this tewn care about the place and the people in it. If someene said te me that the police should be ou.t catchieg crooks rather than returning stray dogs, I would have to say that I couldn't agree with that comment. Public relations is a major part of police work, I1 think. They not only have te be competent, in their duties, but also prove themnselves as efficient and trustworthy members of the cemmunity. If they care enough te send a-stray home, they would certainly care enough fer your needs in time of emergéecy. The second incident which prompted me. te write about the police came a while ago, after I ha1d written a letter te the police department asking for information on police patrols and protection for businesses in the downtown area. The police didn't just write 'me a letter in return; they in fact sent two e,-v. 0 11 officers toniy store, and sat dowq, with me explaixiing what was 'belng done in regards te, foot and car patrols, investigations, and prevention. 1I was most lmpressed, and came away fromx the meeting assured that, even though there had been a number of break-ins downtown, everythlng possible was being done to apprehend the parties, everythig possible was being done to prevent such occurrences, and that the rate of apprehension te these cases was very -high.i I was quoted in a local paper as saying, at the timeï, that 1 thought police proteetion was 'adequate.' 1 said that, but I also said more than that. To me, the terni 'adequate' means that 1 think that they are doing their job, and no more. In other words, they're doing just what they have te do and get by. Not so. They are doing much more than they have te, and alI for our benefit. The first example in this colump proves that. Se, it isn't 'small town' te have a cop on the beat, smiling and being helpful. It isn't'small town' to have a policeman see that a stray dog gets home. It's good business, good people working for the downtewn and the copimunity. We're fortunate. Wood 'for sale Quantities of mixed hard- wood and softwood firewoed are currently being sold at the Heber Down Conserva- tion Area in the northern part of Whitby.' The Central Lake Ontarie Conservation Authority is selling the wood for $25 a cord. A face cord measures 18 inches by four feet by eight feet. This wood has been removed from the conserva- tion area in dead tree removal and plantation thinning operations and the conservation authority is making it available for sale to the public. Anyone interested in purchasing f irewood is -asked to contact*CLOCA's water-, WHITBY FABRICS' CUSTOM DRAPES. ~~ patternls Dress Goods ýi : 'Excellen t prîces on made drapes. 21S'Dun-as St. E. 668-4821 shed supervisor at 655-4843 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday te Friday te make arrangements 'for purchase and pickup of the wood. Kartway 0 issue tabled Cont'd from P. 3 the. expansion 0f these facilities. The fact that there was a lack of attendance at the- September 28th, 1978 meeting was due to the fact the invitations 'meeting were net 'received until Tuesday or, Wednesday of- that week!'- Itwas aIsepointed eut that parking had been a problem on the site and that the proposed expansion of the track facilities would only serve te augment this exist- ing. problem. The three mate objections te the proposed enlargement of the, track *facilities are; noise, pollution and property deval- uation.. CAPRICE CLASSIC: STUDIES IN STYLE -- Caprice Classic, Impala and Bel Air feature. new front and rear styling for 1979, along with several engineering Improvements. The Classlc (above>ý grille is new, segmented te fend emphasis te a more vertical appearance and a new reinforced f ibregiass molded header panel gives crisper definitiori te the front while providing weightsavings. The standard 4.1 litre L-6 engine combineswith a new 2.56:1 axie ratio, replacing the 2.73:1 ratio for improved fuel economy. The optional 5.0 litre engine has new Duallet carburetor, featuring a more accurate metering system dlesigned te improve driveability and aid in emission control. And bath optional 5.0 and 5.7 litre V-8's have new cold start Improvement systems and are calibrated te Canadian emnission standards for improved driveability. UALMSREPS. 0 St.. Wesifu *PU Stemmso *Bob Ardher TO T..lom of Nova Scotia Financing Avoulable. 8SONST, Chorolet - OIdsmob Hwy. No. 7 Kinsele u3t.àn 5-321 0 Whatever your money proble. Whatever you need in money service - a loan, a mortgage,. high interest savings, estate executorship, personal estate management - brlng your probiem to specialists who keep Up to date on swiftiy changing* financiai probiems. In'ailrnoney matters look to Victoria and Grey - for four generations -the preferred "home based" financial house. n oi aEm LAWES Dundos S w.. M5-3435 ,À. 1 : > lk