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C oun.cil Columnu Submltted by members of WHITBY TOWN COUNCIL -By REGIONAL COUNCILLOR TOM EDWARDS Chafrman, Finance Department It occurs to me that the significance of the Christ- mas season with its 'message of hope for ail man- kind, is far too significant to be wasted on mun- dance plilties, s0 I cast about for some other.topie more worthy.. First may I wish, ail readers 0f-the Whitby Free Press the very best of -the season's compliments, and a fervent hope that the New Year wiil carry out its promise of a resurgence in our economy, so that deprivation is reduced here in Canada,'and so that we ican turn to help those who are so much worse off inother lands. Many newspapers are soliciting from their read- ers stories of past Christmases which they would like to share with others. Surely few wiil exceed in poignancy and drama the st o0f the littie girl found under a truck' in North York the other day. You are a very strange Ontarian indeed if you are not puuling for that little girl to make it, and are desirous of helping out in some way. Let us hope that Hoily grows to a lady who can help others over- come the kind of adversity she has sprungfrom. Anyway this business of Christmases past was going through'my mind the other night when, I was representing the Council at the Annual 'B anquet of the Navy Cadets. I looked'around at'the "lshiming morning faces" of those youngsters, and instantly, perbaps because of the military connection, I was transported' back to a Christmas I experienced when 1 was their age, about 16 years old. I related the story to these young people, and they seemed to enjoy, and I hope you wiil too. There'is a tradition which commenced centuries ago in the British Army which is stiil carried on Have' a fire-safe Christmas' WHITBY FREE PRESS,,WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 22, 1982, PAGE 7 BusY' week at, DO'C today, and bas been carrled on in the Canadian For- ces. On Chrstmas day the roles of officers and that of other ranks is reversed. On this one day officers attend the O.R.'Is Mess and serve the food, and dis- pense good cheer., In, 1942 Rommel bad chased the British Bth Army ail the way back into, Egypt. Prior to El Alamein',-our'officers with thé forthcomlng. Christmas.ln mmid had made arrangements with some farmers in what was then Palestine, now Israei, tofîatten up three piglets in preparation'for our Christmas dinner. As this was a country popuiated with. Semites who bave cietary laws which forbid the, eating of pork, the documents referred. to a shipment of veal, but everybody was consciousof the real meamnng. What our officers had not taken into account was the mobllity of modem wafare, because when the tixne came for these amimals to be slaughtered and delivered to us for cooking, we were on the move from place to place. Instead of being at El Alamein, by -Christmas .'w e were just south of Benghazi bogged down by a sea of mud which unusuaily heavy rains haIurned the normaily rock dry desertfi'to. Weil those three pigs were moved from place to place trying to' catch up with us without refrigera- tion. By the time they caught up to us there. was no secret any longer. They were pork alright, and you could smeil it from yards away. I was devastated. As a 16 year old, the issue 0f Christmas ruin had no appeal to me. It was only.. a couple of years since I was struggling with the busi- ness of Santa Claus, and I was so much looking for- wýard to, a feed of ice tender pork with ail the' crackling. I regret to tell you that'our Christmas dinner, in the Libyan desert just outside of Benghasi on Dec. 25, 1942, despite being the conquerors 0f El Alamein, was the same old monotonous Buly (cor- ned) beef and bard tack. But those three pigs had the finest military funeral that any army anywhere in the world couid mount. Returning to the evening ini the Legion Hall in Whitby, I could only'thank God that the prospect of these young people being involved' in the same kind of struggle is remote. May I urge that al of us in Canada no mnatter what our persuasion, and even if church-going is not something we do as a rule, make a point of attending a place of worship this -week -of Christmas and pray that armedconflict of that magnitude neyer happenis again. Merry Christmas to ail from the Edwards family. a sockhop. As you can see, we've had a very busy final week -here at DO'C. Let's hope that the houi- days are fiiçd, with snow, relatives, frlends, parties, turkey, glfts and good cheer. The question is - wlll we get any, studylng done for the January exam.? To al of you 1 wlsh ,a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in January. A happy Christmas can change in a few mo- ments mnto a family tra- gedy if f ire prevention is ignored during the fes- tive season, the Wihitby Fire Department war- ns. "Christmas .brings temptations to many parents, while- visiting with neighbours or com- pleting last* minute shopping, to leave'small children unattended for short periods,"' says Fire Chief E.M. Crouch. At the same time, decorations, trees and wrapping paper bring jan increased threat of fire danger unless con- stant care is exercised. The Fire Chief urges ail parents to recognize the fire danger of this season, and not to leave small children alone in thehome even for a moent. j Parents are further Bridge The foilowing are the results of last week's play at the Whitby Du- plicate Bridge Club. North and South: Mrs. Doug Maundreil and L.E. Evans, 121½; Mrs. Richard Ketcheil and John MeLean, 95; Mrs. Hugh Baker and Mrs. Janet Cary, 91%k; Mrs. L.E. Evans and Harvey Winter, 89%~. East and West: Mrs. Harvey Winter and Hlugh Baker, 99; Mrs.ý Helen Spratt and Sandy Lynch, 90%; Joan Lyn- ch and Don Tithering- ton, 85'h; Mrs. Bruce MeCoil and Pat Davies, 84. The results of dupli- cate bridge play are reported each week in the Free Press. Dupli- cate bridge play wil resume Jan. 5, 1983. reminded that under certain conditions, a Christmas tree can be igmited by a single mat- ch to burn furiously to charred wood in a few seconds. Care. must be taken to keep butts of natural trees immersed in water and to"ensure that the tree itself does not obstruct access to a door or window. Families are alsoý urged to eview their home fire escape plans for quick exit in an emnergency. The Whitby Fire De- partment wishes ail a vemy merry and fire- safe Christmas 11 Until December 31, 1982 you top can get a free second .320k disk drive with the purchase of an IBM Personal Computer system worth a minimum of $5,000. So corne into Computerland and find out why so many people are cho<sing the IBM Personal Computer for their business and personal needs. ... an.dmy sec Maybe it's the IBM keyboard-rhey like so> much. Perhaps itCs the powerful IBM rnemory they're thinking about. Or the 16 bit processor and advanced languages that IBM offers. Pickyour own reasons to 'et the IBM Perso)nal Computer. But do it son at Q>)mputerland and get a free $956. value to boo)t. OomputofLn 111 SIMCOE ST-- NORTH "The OId Firehail" OSHAWA 433-0800 We knom mlÏcmues.Ltu IntISrodmce yu By COLLEEN CREIGHTON DO'C Hlgh School By the time you read this it wiil beChristmas Eve and we will be "out of s chool"l for the Christ- mas hoiidays! Boy, bas this last week of school been a hectic one. Thursday was the Christmas Formai at Heydenshore Pavilion. The music was excellent and, al who attended had, a great time. Thanks to the M.G.'s D..Service for tliee Music, and to the Stu- dent Council and -the supervising teachers for a festive evening. Fmi- day, however, was back to school. Those Who, at- tended the formai could be seen catching a few Z's during classes. Monday was set aside for spirituâl matters. Ail students, were given an opporturuty to parti- cipate in the Sacrament 0f Reconciliation. On Wednesday, the last school day of 1982, we celebrated our Christ- mas Mass. Then it was time for celebrations of a different kind - the Grade 13 entertainment and a special Christmas dinner with our home- rooms. ' (The Grade 1's listened to the music of Double Take, a band composed of five 0f, our fellow class- mates.) In the afternoon we moved to the gym for THE CORPORATION 0F THETOWNOFWHITBY WHITBY TRANSIT THE WHITBY TRANSIT SYSTEM WILL NOT BE IN OPERATION ON'SATURDAVI DECEMBER 25, 1982 AND SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 11983 BECAUSE 0F THE HOLIDAY SEASON. THE EXTENDED EVENING SERVICE WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT ONFRIDAVI DECEMBER 24,1982 AND FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31,'1982. R.A. KUWAHARA, P. ENG., DIRECTOR 0F PUBLIC WORKS.