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WIIITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1987, PAGE 5 Friends and family started gathering in the..tiny hall before 8 p.m. that Saturday night. Outside, the wet snow had turned to rain; apprehensive eyes looked up into the dark, black sky, fearing the worst. The worst,- in Decem- ber in southwestern Ontario, can be most unpleasant. In- side, though, the warmth was just starting. Family members stood guard by the door, greeting strangers and relative alike. "Will it be a surprise?" someone asked. The in- vitations had distinctly-said, Surprise 30th Anniversary, but everyone understood the question: would the children be able to keep the surprise? On the small stage in front of the hardwood dance floor, musicians began to gather. Fiddle cases were opened, in- struments tuned. The piano tried .out a few chords, a .guitar strummed. Nineteen -count'em- nineteen fiçi- dlers put fiddles to nineteen chins. "Pull the curtain and we'll give 'em a real surprise," someorie suggested. A bit of scutrying followed. The cur- tain bulged, as though hiding a stageful of first gr'aders. Someone giggled. "They're comin'!" The crowd gathered in a semi-circle around the dance floor, the better to give the couple the surpise view of one hundred friendly faces. They waited. Thirty years before this same couple had warmed the pre-Christmas days with their wedding. Some of the same people had gathered on that occasion; many others, alas, no longer dancing. Back in those long ago days, half a lifetime ago, the bride's grandfather had been overjoyed. For many Christmases now this granddaughter had been playing piano chords to Grandfather's old tyme fiddle music; now she was marrying a man who could play tune for tune with the old man and then some. Then seventy-nine, the old man must have known the tunes would continue. Continue they did. Piano and fiddle became the centre of the home. The couple played for their own amusement and joy; enter- tained friends; jammed with other musicians. One year, not ten years after the wedding, the fiddle placed in,the top ten at the Canadian Old-Tyme Fiddle Contest in WITH OUR FEET UP by Bill Swan 30 years, 19 fiddles Shelburne, Ont.; another year, he was Ontario Fiddle Champion. She played piano chords for him, sometimes for a whole field of competitors, too. He played in old tyme and country swing bands. This was miles away from the rock which was shrouding the world, but it was real. "They still comin'?" The crowd in the dance hall had begun to shift restlessly. "False alarm," someone quipped, as a look-alike relative entered. The crowd returned to their seats and the bar. "What is this?" the bartender asked. "Thirtieth wedding anniversary," someone replied. "The couple's children have taken them out to dinner and will bring them back here after to dance. They'll be here any minute." "And this will be a surprise?" "We sure hope." "I hope, too," said the bartender. On the wall opposite the entrance, family pictures told of the arrival of the couple's three children, their gran- dchildren, a. lifetime in Kodak prints. Beside this, someone had enlarged the black and white five by seven of the original wedding party. A moment frozen from nineteen fifty-seven: the twenty-one-year old bride; the scrubbed and grinning face of the groom; the two giggling bridesmaid sisters; the thoughtful maid of honor; the handsome best man, brother of the groom; the brother of the bride, fresh faced . and eighteen, polished in his military college tunic; his -cousin, serious about being an usher. Kids. The whole wedding party of kids. Thirty years had added pounds, wrinkles, joys, sorrows, deaths, births. "They're here!" This time it was for real. The couple entered the hall, their eyes darting from one familiar face to another. "My Gawd!," the bride shouted. The groom g'inned. The couple ran the gauntlet of hugs and kisses, han- dshakes and welcome. Someone started the strains of "Happy Anniversary" to the tune of happy Birthday. It sounded unrehearsed. "What a surprise!" she said. "Move right on in," said one of the relatives. "Get right in there and see everybody. The couple were eased to the corner of the dance floor to a round of applause; a standing ovation. Slowly, the heavy red curtain at the front of the stage began to part; slowly the piano struck a chord. As one, nineteen old-tyme fiddles struck out at once in a hoedown, a tune the bride's grandfather played in the living room those many Christmases long ago. Nineteen fiddles in unison sang across the thirty years as the curtains parted and the couple saw the full force of the welcome their children had brought. Nineteen fiddlers and friends from across the province and across the years. The couple wept, counting the faces, pointing out the friends. The fiddlers on stage continued. "Now," said the band leader, "here's a little tune just for the bride and groom. They may just find it familiar." The nineteen fiddles then played "Anniversary Waltz" -not the one everybody knows, but the one the groom had composed himself. The couple danced to, their own an- niversary waltz, to nineteen old-tyme fiddles. The bartender polished the Formica. Then, thinking no one was looking, he wiped away a tear with the back of his hand. No one noticed. Bus depot approved off Highway 12 in Brooklin Whitby council has paved the way for construction of a bus depot for servicing buses and a yard for the parking of buses on Hwy 12 in Brooklin just south of Columbus Rd. White Sterling Investments Ltd. plans a depot 5,985 sq. ft. in size. Services will be provided by an in- dividual well and septic tank. The application approved by Whitby council, now has to go $600,000 for work at harbor The federal government will spend $600,000 on floating dock con- struction and wharf repairs at by as part of its harbor revitalization program. The project calls for construction and installation of steel floating dock sections which will increase the capacity of the marina by 100 wet berths. In addition, the east wharf and pier will be resurfaced to make them safe for the public. Minor dredging associated with the service area of the marina will also be carried out as part of this project. The project is part of the federal government's new three-year harbor revitalization program which makes funds available above and beyond regular small craft harbor program levels to catch up on the backlog of accunulated damage and deterioration and to meet increased demands for ser- vice. The facilities are leased by the federal government to the Town of Whitby which is responsible for their day-to-day management. Ransacking at Cedricks A person who broke into Cedricks Lounge at 173 Brock St. N. on the weekend attempted to open the businesses safe but failed. Damage to the safe is estimated at $700 while police report the per- son did steal a small amount of cash. An office was also ransacked. before regional council for ap- proval to amend the Region's and Whitby's official plans. The amendment is required because the parcel of land is now zoned special purpose commercial. A bus depot does not fit that description but Whitby's planning department noted the depot is similar to various permitted special purpose commercial uses, particularly automotive uses. Whitbv council has also petitioned the Ministry of Transpor- tation and Communication to reduce the speed limit in the area of the depot and north to Columbus Rd. to 70 km/h from 80 km/h. The reduced speed is.for an entrance to be built to the depot from Hwy. 12. Mon. - Wed. 10 -6, Thurs. - Fri. 10 - 9, Sat. 10 - 5:30 1- - qi