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

PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1982, WHITBY FREE-PRESS whitby wr Volce of the County Town Michael lan Burgess,F Publ Publisher - Managing Editor blished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing ad Photography Ic. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206; Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL J. KNELL Community Editor MARJORIE A. BURGESS AdvertlsingManager Second Class Mall Registeation No. 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Fareweil to our "seventh councilior" Next week, a dedicated public servant wili retire. Politicians, town and regional officiais, digni- taries of ail kinds wili bid a fond farewell to Forbes McEwen at a special retirement dinner to be held at the Municipal Building. For the last 28 years, 'Doc', as he is affection- ately known, has served the town of Whitby in a varlety of capacities including deputy 'cierk- treasurer, planning officer, welfare officer and finally as director of special projects. During his tenure he has more than left his mark My wife and I have recently returned froma three week trip to England and Scotland. Quite by accident, we stumbled on a small hotel in Skye which someone ought to write a book about. It was the family home of the Col- onel of a Scottish regiment who died a couple of years ago. He must have been a wonderful man, according to guests who knew him, given on occasion to donning his kilt, taking up his pipes and pacing up and down the large tiled hall, playing his lungs out. His widow, a wonderful woman with a fuisome English accent, a convulsive sense of humor and a cane, was our hostess. She was born in Poona, India. Her husband, the Colonel, when he was alive, divided his time between a tea plantation in India, two wars, and this, the family seat, on Skye. One end of the house was old Skye stone, perhaps 300 years old, and the other end, with a massive stone portico and tower, was century-old Victorian. Inside, its huge, high- ceilinged rooms were stuffed with mahogany furniture, prints, crystal, silver, and an incredible welter of Victorian memorabilia - hunting trophies, spears, walking sticks, Indian brass - that would keep a Canadian antique store selling flat out for five years. We siept in a huge room with a large double bed known by the hotel as "the Sahara desert", among furnishings that would have equipped a museum. The bathroom, complete with fireplace, was down the hall, and the "convenience" was in a room of its own - a huge mahogany bench-like thing with a sign near the chain in the Colonel's.Own printing: "The Thunder Box", it read. "Three gentie pulls in quick suc- cession do the trick. Then stand clear." No idle warning that. Three moderate tugs, and it was like unleashing Niagara Falls. Our hostess, with dry Anglo wit, regaled us with stories about the perils of hotel-keeping as we sat in front of the fire in the drawing room hàving tea. One about the elderly guest who had been watching the rabbits on the front.lawn, when her daughter tapped her on the shoulder, and said "look at this". The lady wheel- ed around to look at "this", which tumed out to be a stuff- ed tiger head, on the wall just behind her. She uttered a fearful screech, staggered back and clutched the first ob- ject within reach. A grandfather clock. The clock fell over on top of her, and our hostess, hearing the shriek and the crash, ran from upstairs to see what had happened. She found her elderly guest pinned to the floor by the clock, lying face down on top of her. When she extricated the lady, she tried to reassure her about the damage, saying that the clock hadn't run in years. They stuffed the spare parts back into the thing, put it upright again, and forgot about it. At midnight, the clock began to chime, for the first time in years. Then there was the time they had a tour bus arriving, and the linen wasn't back from the laun- dry on the mainland. They used 40 damask tablecloths to make ap the beds. The colonel- used to say, apparent- ly, that any guest who came back for a second visit was something of a maniac. ill, put me down as dotty, please. If I'm ever privileged to go again, it will be for a month at least. That's not news, but that too is reality. on this community for In many ways he was Instru- mental in making Whitby what It Is today - a growing, vital community with great hopes and potential for the future. In Introducing him last week to the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, town administrator Bill Wallace said that McEwen "is going to be sorely missed as a member of our management team." For those of us working in the "Fourth Estate", McEwen is a hard man to figure out, but his dedication and love of this community has always been more than self-evident. DurIng his talk to the chamber last week, one of his final public appearances as a town officiai, McEwen spoke of civic pride and the need to in- stili it in all our peole for the benefit of the com- munity as a whole. McEwen's achievements more than adequately speak of his civic pride. He was instrumental in the establishment of the new touruist information centre, which will be of- ficially opened next Tuesday. Whitby residents, politicians and business people have halled this centre as one of the things that makes Whitby one of the most progressive municipalities not only in the Region of'Durham, but in the Province of On- tario as well. He has been a moving force behind the town's attempts to have Port Whitby - too long regarded as a poor relative - developed to its full potential. In the last year, a developer has announced plans to make the harbor a vital, vibrant community of- fering residential, commercial and recreational facilities. Another of McEwen's accomplishments is the estatffishment of the marina. This marina has become one of the finest on Lake Ontario and provides the town not only with a source of ad- ditional revenue, but with a fine recreational facility as weil. Far too often, civil servants are unjustly criti- cized for being too complacent- or too closed to new Ideas. One can hardly say this about McEwen. In fact, he ls one of the few people who have ever had two streets named for him while he was still actively working for the municipality. Forbes Drive and McEwen Avenue are located in the heart of the Whitby Industrial Estates at the corner of Thickson Road and Wentworth Street. It is also in- teresting to note that most people only get one street named after them, if at all. - His hard work and dedication has even earned the title of "The Seventh Councillor" by some members of Whitby Town Council. At times, some politicians were even inclined to speculate that he had a little too much influence in town af- fairs. (It Is even possible that he might run for council some day.) McEwen is a man in which this community can take some pride if for no other reason than he has so much pride in this one. It is not very often that a municipality receives the service from an in- dividuai in the way that McEwen has served, whether that individual be in private or public life. In fact, few politicians can match his record. McEwen willi be sorely missed as Wallace so clearly stated, but the influence of his achieve- ments will be with us for many years to come. On behalf of its readers, the Whitby Free Press would like to take this opportunity to wish 'Doc' well on his retirement and to thank him for his support and his contributions to this community. ~EYDOV~ABt/,~/,14~ & / I