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Hedge around Hemstreet's plot at town's new cemetery The Canadian Champion, Frday, October 18, 2002-7 SOUR READERS WRITE dama ged by recent cdean-up TH ADINCMPO of especîally long, dry grass An important piece of Miton'-s heritage ends 04 mam"a1. fA.... Time Capsules' are gems of information extracted from past issues of The Champion and other publications to pro- vide a window into Miltons past. Explanatory comment is sometimes pro- vided f0 place the situation in conte.st. April 1898 While cleaning up the new cemetery lately the long dry grass was fired and the resuit was considerable damage to the hedge around R.L. Hemstreet's plot and to other ornantental bushes. Town Council. Jas. Landsborough pre- sented his report relating to enforcement of the curfew by-law. A petition signed by 187 townspeople was received from the W.C.T.U. asking for the continuance of the curfew bell ninging. Mesdames Robertson, Imnan and Harrison addressed the counicil on the matter, whicb was referred to the comrnittee on police who were mnstructed to confer with Landsborough in regard to the better enforcement of tihe by-law and give him istructions as to his duties as defmned in the curfew by-law and the Ontario statutes. The committee on finance recomnmended the payment to Landsborough's account of $18 for six months. The salary of Postmaster Hannant for the past year was $ 1,000.13. The Oakvilie Star says that Mms. GA. Jacobs left on Saturday to join hier husband in British Columbia. Mr. Jacobs bas pur- chased a part mnterest with Martin Bros., fonnerly of Milton, in a large tract of graz- mng and timber land. He will act as the manager. Star Bicycle Works. S. Lounsberry bas opened a bicycle works shop on the Stevenson Block, where he will keep on hand bicycle sundries and wili do al man- ner of repamrng and al kinds of vulcaniz- ing of tires. Bicycles will be available for sale or for rent. John Somervilie bas received the con- tract for the erection of the new church at MIiton li > Time Capsules ï Mutns Corners and expects to have every-t tbing complete by July. Mr. Maxted, of Norval, will attend to the brick work in is usual masterly style. The nid cburcb is down and the foundation ready for the new 1 building. The corner stone of the new building will probably be laid this montb.1 Service is at present beld in the township hall. May 1898 The Milton. Creamery Company will1 move their butter-making plant on Saturday into thse rear part of the large stone building on Commercial Street, the front part of wbich is occupied by the Elcctric Ligbt and Power Company. John Stewart, who owns the building, bas fitted it up in first-class style, sparing no expense. There are few creameries in this county as well equipped. The price of wheat is higber now than it bas been since 1888. The rise may be par- tiaily due to the war (Spanish-American) but thse chief cause is the fact that tbe sup- ply in Europe is found to be insufficient. Charles Hughes bas been awarded the contracts for two bridges in Trafalgar Road - one at Drumquin and the other at Willmott's. H-e is busy at is quarry getting out stone to fi11 thc orders. On Monday John Featberstonc sbipped from Milton Io Toronto a double-decked car-load of bogs and a car-load of butcher cattle. Mr. Featherstone paid out $2,500 for tbem. To day be ships 40 bead of the cboic- est cattle that have ever left Milton. They were bougbt from Geo. Anderson, Geo. Erwin, J. Peddie and Jas. Moffatt. Mr. Featberstone paid $2,200 for them and they wiil go to the Brtish market. This material is assembled on behaf of the Milton Historical Society by Jim Dilîs, chair of research, w/to con be reached hy e-mail atjdills@idirect.com. il IVIflI1 fUirree t1UUoi cioses, says !Uau~e Dear Editor: A sad thing may be about to bappen to Milton. Martin Street School is in danger of closing and if Uiat bappens, 81 years of community history will become a small chapter in thc local bistory books - soon to be forgotten. This may bappen in a communi- ty that's set to grow from 35,000 to 80,000 inisabitants witbin the next few years. It will be a shanse if Uiere are no more kids going to schooi wbere four or fOve generations of Milton's youth went before tbem. If the scbool is knocked down, there wiîl be no more local landmark wiUi its handsome facade - not even a bell to mount on some concrete stand. lt'll be just anoUier piece of local bistory blotted out without a thougbt. 'Mis docsn't need to happen. Despite the school board's desire to ignore growUi to Uic wcst, it's coin- ing - and soon, maybe as little as Uiree years away and less than a kilometre from Martin Street Scisool, well within the sehool catcbment area. Also, even Uiougb Uic board docsn't want to acknowledge it, due to its unique way of looking at the numbers, Uic sebool is running close to capacity right now. In addition to this, according to Uic sebool board's own data, Martin Street Sehool is a low cost sehool to mun (fourth cheapest in Uic region per square metre), wiUi a well-maintained faciiity (wiUi Uic current main- tenance budget strait by any standard for a public facility) on a paid-for site. As if this were not enougb. if Martin Street Sebool is closed and its French immnersion pupils added to the existing French Immersion population at Uie two remaining sites, E.W. Foster and Robert Baldwin, boUi of these sehools wili become bopelessly overcrowded. Parents of Martin Street Sebool ebjîdren bave been given two weeks in wbich to make an airtight case for saving their school. That would be a taîl order for fuli-tinte staff. How can a rag-tag buncb of parents, wbo bave fuil-time occupations of tbeir own, hope to do this in sucb a short period of time without aIl the facts available? The message is clear - Milton is growing. but Uic board wants to close scbools. The request from many parents in our community is clear - please don't close an efficient sebool Uiat works in a growing commumi- ty. Why break something Uiat works? If anyone in the com-munity bas any ideas whicb migbt belp us in our efforts to preserve Martin Street Sebool for future generations of our cbildren, and avoid overcrowding at other existing sehools in our town, please let us know. Or stand by at your perdl - your cbildren's school could be the next one to receive such igb-handed treatment. Tom Ousmet Mlton Reader says possible echool closures upsettlng Dear Editor: Mber have been a number of letters and articles recently on possible scbooi ciosures in the Milton This is really rather sunnmng news since it's abun- dandy clear to everyone, wbo's not an ostrich, tisat there's rapid residential growtls in Milton. Unfortwsately, with the accommodation process. thc Halton District Scbool Board must conformn to regulations set forth by tise provincial Ministry of Education. Essentially, the ies sunuounding new scisool con- struction are pretty simple. New sebools wiil only be funded by thse Province wisen it's demonstrated that the sebool board bas every pupil seat in exist- ing scisools filled. TIbis is tise commnon sense approaci tisaI bas appeaied to many taxpayers. -Unfortnately, wisat expenience is sbowing tise people of Halton, and dare 1 say many otiser rapid growtb 905 regions, is tisat thia policy is wboily inadequate. In tise areas of Ontario tisaI bave tise most need, wisere parents have macle upwardly mobile stides into new housing communities, we will fail a gen- eratioby placimgtbemin ovrcwded schOolal classruoma. My son ssin aclasof 33. His future is formatoe rowding un bis schools defined by the shortigbted policies of the Common Sense Revoution. We in Ontario have been presented with common sense solutions from our govemment in many areas incîuding education, bealtis care and bydro privati- zation. It seems to me that experience bas shown that tbis govenment's commnon sense doesn't work very well. The most telling tale of this common sense failure is tbe governmentIs iack of learng from its expe- riences and the many complaints of its people. Common sense requires that we leant from Our mnistakes. I imagine, corne next election tisaI many Ontanans wbo possess common sense will recog- nize from experience tisai poiticaily at Ieast, corn- mots sense is mierely a vacuous and dangerous slo- gais. Paul Tale Sunnlyval. Crswdn Be Part of the First Annual Milton Christmas Party Sat. Nov. 3Oth 5pm - lam at Couîntry Heritage Park s Live EntertainmentFo Book your tickets now! Frindividuals, groups & office parties Cost: $15 per person Pack Lost Tickets available at: Br*n(Dojo) Kalena Flowers 905-876-1000 Country Heritage Park 905-878-8151 5-9p Pltte Bufet ashBarComputer Brothers 905-693-1446 5-9p Pltte Bufet ashBarG.P. Music 905-299-0528 roceeds to the Canadian Champion Caaia G .Pà Mu.Sic Bij i a alvation Army Children's Christmas Fund Cbamii ' MMtio Ws c ' unwrap-ped gift