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PlA rV!1 n aWU ITR Y PREF-PRESS. lWNESAV .TTLV 15.1987 ri Brooki Alright folks. This week there will be no enlightenment, no funny stuff, possibly nothing that even makes sense. Blame it on the weather (everybody blames everything else on the weather). Cal it literary license. Or call a spade a spade and tell it like it is...There are a lot of things that have been bugging me for some time and it's time to unload.1 First and foremost. I love our Canadian summers, but I loathe one thing that comes with them - namely 'Beer Bugs.' Oh, I know that isn't the right name for the little critters. I don't admit to knowing the real name. But they are those flying beetles with the white polka dots that inevitably bmbard you every time you show up on the patio with a drink (of any type) in your bands, bence the name. And apart fror making the highlight of their day a few lengths of the dog paddle in your drink, they worm their way into anything else that happens to be laying around. P.S....they also can hand out a dandy bite. Just another of their attributes that makes them so loathesome. Next on the list. Can you believe the news that hit the papers last week with regards to the chance of having a junior B hockey team piaying out of Brooklin's Luther Vipond Memorial Arena? The guys that spearheaded the proposal know what they are talking about. They have proved themselves in the past, and who knows, they probably could have carried the whole thing off. If they lost it was only their money on the block. But there was a minor (choke, choke) stumbling block - the Brooklin Whitby ,Minor Hockey Association. Not only is their credibility in question, but they compounded the matter VIE.WPOINT by ROXANNE REVELER bits and pieces by refusing to give the proposed new team any ice time in Brooklin. The proponents of the Junior team bave gone on record as saying they will follow Up their initial poposal next year and I wish them luck. And from my dealings personally with the BWMHA over the past 14 years I wish them the best of luck. They will surely need it. I an also getting pretty fed up with the growth ratio of weeds versus cultivated plants. To coin a phrase, somebody bas got to give'me a break*,somewhere along the ne. It just doesnt seem fair that the crabgrass, creeping charlie and clover has a head start on anything I attempt to grow. I am an amateur gardener - very amateur to be sure - but that is aside from the facts. It burns me to think thiat the plants I baby and prompt and spend all my time on, struggle for existence. Meanwhile the darn things I plot and plan against and try my dar- ndest to murder year after year, thrive. It would appear that man (or woman to keep all you feminists happy) would be much better off if we switched our thinking and turned our act around. After all, there has to be some pret- ty weeds somewhere on the face of this earth. While we're on the subject of unfair, I would really like to know why, after an undeteiminable hot spell, we have to get a month's worth of rain in a one-hour time fraie. I mean, get real. At the beginning of last week we were all begging for a little precipitation to help the proverbial garden grow. The prayers obviously got crossed somewhere along the line, because the deluge we received was not exactly what I had bargained for. I have saved the last 'bug' for the last. At this point I am taking off my journalistic hat and-replacing it with one of householder. I am so sick and tired of picking up newspapers cleverly wrapped in yelow plastic frorn the front of my property that I arn ready to scream. Four times a week, there they are, willy niily, everywhere, un- solicited, cluttering up my property. it wouldn't be so bad, perhaps, if .they were properly deposited on the front doorstep, or back doorstep. But no! I have watched the gentleman (I've taken liberties here) drive down the street in his pick-up truck, throwing them out the window week after week after rnonth, etc. They land where they will. I'r sick and tired of picking up someone else's cut- ter and I wish it would stop. If you and I were to throw junk from our vehicles as we traversed the streets of Brooklin of anywhere else, we would probably be charged by the first police officer who saw us. This too is littering and the neyspaper that encourages it should be ashamed of itself. At least that's they way it looks to me. i ~ Py~ CANADIAN CHAMPION equestrian Ian DeGruchy of Myrtle gives Krislar's Commander, more affectionately known as Kris, a pat and with good r'eason. DeGruchy hopes Kris will help him earn a gold medal at this year's CNE equestrian competition. See story for details. Free Press photo L4NDEGRUCHY Tallitn the saddle Reflections of a Golden Age By MABEL M. MCCABE Let's all give a rousing cheer for those responsible for the new look of the downtown core of Whitby. The four corners area is coming along very nicely. There are, however, a few details that should be addressed. First and foremost, is the unsightly mess of the hotel that has its windows papered over. Clean windows and a coat of paint on the outside would be a great help. Then there is the old movie theatre. Why .is it not possible to make it into a proper place for our young folks even if you have all forgotten how great the old Saturday matinee was years ago? I recall many happy hours spent clutching a package of newspaper-wrapped french fries in the darkness as all my heroes and heroines struggled out of impossible situation. Those are times I'll never forget and many others my age remember them too.. That building at present is an eyesore and something must be done with it soon. It's like the old saying about idle hands, it will draw trouble soon if not remedied. I believe the police should look closely at the goings on at the cen- tre of town on Friday and Saturday evenings after 9 p.m. While I was getting a drive home a few weeks ago at 10 p.m. my companion andi I both were shocked to see at least five men whose ages were unknown falling to the grotnd and being sick on the building on the southeast corner. One had slumped to a low step on the Brock side while another was barely holding himself up by grasping the win- dow ledge on the Dundas side. I was thankful I was in a car and told my daughter-in-law to make sure she went a different route home. We of the old school want our town to be the best but if we cannot walk the streets without fear al is lost. There's one more point I'd like to suggest to the powers that be. The Town of Whitby is blessed with many senior citizens and I am one of them. From my building I can walk to the plazas on Brock St. or the opposite direction to the Miracle Mart plaza. My one com- plaint is that there are no seats provided for those of us who need a short respite as we stroll along. There are gradual grades rising from both thes&plazas to our building and a few benches on Dunlop, Colborne and Brock St. would be very much appreciated by those who have rather shaky legs. Just a few spots where we could sit and refresh our flagging wind. There used to be a few benches at the IGA plaza but they have gone. It's possible to get a lovely coffee in that store to drink at your leisure but no place to set your weary bones to enjoy it. Why? If the shopkeepers only knew how often we come to their area they would be clammoring for the privilege of making a place for the older~fölk to be comfortable. I know that in times past, if places were put in, they were umonopolized by teens and trouble makers who did not understand. I f<-: that problem could be worked out with some proper management and a small sign. We want to walk and get around on our own, but we do need some co-operation from those who-are doing all the refurbishing. Remember us. The job sa tar as it bas gone is good, now let's finish it to accommodate all ages. This article is the outcome of overheard remarks of the tenants of senior buildings around the area. I listen and get ideas from the bits and pieces I hear. Hope somebody with clout reads this and does something about it. equitation. DeGruchy has been taking lessons since he was six years old, the timne his father first put him in the saddle, and competing since he was around 11. His parents used to lease him a-pony from a friend in Stouffville which he took to small shows in the area. But when he was 14, something happened that changed his life, so to speak. Somneone suggested tr~the DeGruchys a riding teacher by the name of Gloria Nighswander of Golden Stallion Acres in Sutton. She specializes in equitation saddle seat and put the young lad on a sad- .iebred horse for the first time. "I tried it and really like it," says DeGruchy, "It was far more ex- citing than anything I had ridden before and I was hooked." - He had owned his own horse, a quarter horse, since he was 12 years old, but soon sold it and pur- chased a saddlebred. He now has two American saddlebreds, Krislar's Commander, a gelding he shows in equitation and three- gaited English pleasure, and I'm A Stormy'Genius, who won him the Canadian championship in three- SEE PAGE Il By ROXANNE REVELER Ian DeGruchy has spent more than half of his life in the saddle, and wouldn't have it any other way. At the tender age of 18 he has a collection of more than 500 ribbons, 85 trophies and innumerable quan- tities of silver trays and plates, in- cluding several from the Brooklin Spring Fair, on walls, tables and shelves, and stored in boxes and trunks. DeGruchy is an equestrian but not just any equestrian. He is the Canadian champion for three- gaited western pleasure riding and Ontario reserve champion in 1 in Profile