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CAREFUL CHOOSING CAN MEAN GOOD HOTEL The Barrie Examiner Monday March 29 l9767 Package tour coming into its own in 1976 By VINCENT EGAN Business and Consumer Affairs Analyst Thomson News Service Todays travel dollars dont go as far as they used to But if you try to cut your holi day costs sight unseen you run the risk of ending up in grimy fourthrate hotel that some mis guided guidebook author dis cover vacation spent in rotten hotel with soupkitchen meals is worse than no vacation at allno matter how colorful the guidebook may paint it Fortunately todays traveller is not restricted to choice between bigbudget splendor and lowbudget squalor The package tour is coming into its own in 1976 as never be fore If you carefully choose the right package of tran sportation accommodation and meals you can enjoy com plete holiday in comfortable location at considerably lower total expense than would be the case if you were buying the in dividual elements separately Lets clear up one natural misconception The group in clusive tour GIT which is one of the lowest tourbasing air fares doesnt require that you traipse around in group or that you have any connection unless its desire to get the most advantageous pricewith the other people travelling at the same fare WAYS TO SAVE If you are travelling over seas there are plenty of ways to save money before you leave The familiar European rail way pass which can be Havanas hotels meeting places where Cubans eye latest fashion HAVANA Reuter For visitors Havanas top hotels provide the closest contact they will get with Cubans For Cu bans they are unique window on the outside world Their vast lobbies are meet ing place where Cubans come to watch the latest fashion ex hibited by models from Canada or Europe Every morning groups of tourists walk briskly out of El Nacional Hotel up let Street They stare at Cubans on their way to work eager to snap pic tures Cubans stare back at the trendy clothes and platform shoes Tourist groups usually spend day or two in Havana before being driven to Varadero an isolated beach paradise 100 miles away The only souvenir of Cuban reality will be short awkward chat over the lan guage barrier with the hotel waiters or with few Cubans in the streets around El Nacional BUILT BY AMERICANS Havanas great hotels were all built by American firms be fore Fidel Castros 1959 revolu tion The Riviera was finished shortly afterward just before the nationalization Cubans say it was the best gift of the United States to Cuba The namesCapri Riviera Nacional Plazaevoke souve nirs of exoticism casinos and wild night life But under the firm rule of Castro gambling and prostitution have been abohshed The only reminder of past times are the cabarets still putting on shows every night But the only nudes are fountain statues Casinos have been turned into cocktail lounges or press rooms for international conferences Guests must show their key to be allowed upstairs by the elevator operator There is no way guest of either sex may bring friend of either sex to his room Only longtime residents may obtain special authorization after ex tensive palaver with the recep tionist and their friends must leave the rooms by pm WAS HEADQUARTERS The Havana Hilton was the only hotel to change its name after the revolution to become the now worldTamous Habana Libre where Castro and his bearded guerrillas set up their headquarters when they came to power The Habana Libre is still con sidered the top hotel although others renovated for the Com munist Party Congress last year are more luxurious 25 storey building overlooking the bay it caters to prominent IN US CONTEST guests from brotherly social ist countries and political par ties constant stream of Cubans comes in to take look make phone call or have drink at the bar behind the huge bamboo curtain Guajiros peasants on holiday from the provinces gaze in wonder at the automatic glass doors and at the vast marble foyer The posh Riviera on the seaf ront specializes in official guests from Western countries Around the swimming pool Japanese businessmen sip fro zen daiquiris next to Cuban honeymoon couple staring shyly into one anothers eyes and at the surrounding luxury GET REDUCED RATE Newlyweds are granted weeks stay in one of the top hotels at largely cut prices At the huge colonialstyle El Nacional there are strong re minders of the times when Americans were virtually the only suppliers and customers The elevators bear the trade mark of US firm and the mail box was made in Roches ter NY copper tablet attests that the stuffed swordfish nailed on to the corridor wall was caught in Hemingwaystyle sea fishing by one Edward Scott in 1958 Corridors still echo of English 30 loggers have the edge NANAIMO BC CP British Columbias top loggers will have something extra going for them when they com pete in the United States Bicen tennial National Lumberjack Championships in Fort Lauder dale Fla The contestants will be working with BC lumber load of specially cut logs was transported 5500 miles by sea from this Vancouver Island port to Florida where they will be used in the threeday com petition beginning AprillS The logs were felled and prepared by Jube Wickheim of Shawni gan BC former world champion logroller Wickheim who held the world title for 10 years before retiring in 1969 will serve as master of ceremonies at the festival for such activities as pole climbing sawing chop ping axe throwing log rolling and canoe jousting He said he expects six or more of BCs top loggers will Summer cant be too far away since fishermen were out in all gear in the Toronto area reccn travel to Florida for the festilt val the first major event of the North American logging sports season INCLUDES WORLD CHAMP The Canadian contingent is expected to include world champion steel cable splicer Alan Boyko bridgeman in MacMillan Bloedels Taylor logging division on Vancouver Island More than 140 US loggers and lumberjacks will also com pete for prizes totalling $11000 Wickheim personally super vised felling and preparation of the timber and it was so cold that the sap froze solid as it oozed out of the logs The cargo included pair of 65foothigh Douglas fir climb ing poles 10 western red cedar logs for log rolling 18 alder logs for chopping events four 20 inchdiameter cedar rounds for axethrowing targets and four 10footlong Douglas fir logs for sawing contests its SUMMERS ACOMIN tly Young fishermen out of school on their March break flocked to nearby streams and The eastern lumberjacks are used to working with Atlan tic white pine said Wickheim The stuff were sending down is quite bit different in terms of chopping and sawing events in particular This may give the Canadian competitors bit of an edge Most events in the lumber jack championships will be held in the International Swim ming Hall of Fame at Fort Lauderdale which includes 600seat stadium and large pool The big Douglas fir climbing poles will be set up on the beach and organizers expect thousan ds of people will watch the climbing events This is the first time the na tional lumberjack champion ships have been held in Florida Wickheim expects the Cana dian competitors will do well in climbing sawing and chopping events think well come home with few titles ponds Donny Aull ll carefully pulls sucker from creek during his expedition IP Photo language but guests are Cana dians Only handful of Ameri can citizens have stayed at El Nacional since Qiba and the US broke relations in 1961 The electric bowling and slot ma chines in the foyer were im ported from Spain and Japan Alongside souvenirs the na tive hotel shop sells transistor radio batteries from Japan Cu ban cigars soap shampoo books by Balzac and Karl Marx and the official daily Granma but no foreign newspapers American influence is still noticeable in the restaurant service One does not walk straight to an empty table as in other Latin American coun tries but waits until the table is cleaned and the head waiter takes you to it The first thing brought by the miniskirted waitress in the best North American tradition is glass of icecoid water But there are Cuban charac teristics The bellhop showing you to your room does not hang around for the symbolic min ute tipping is forbidden Railway car to be office ST CATHARINES nt CP Wet horse hair smells especially when used to in sulate an old railwaypassenger car says Paul Smith who knows because he owns 1927 CPR car He bought it from the com pany in Montreal for $4500 three years ago and is having it partially restored and con verted at the railways yards here You wouldnt believe how bad it smelled before we got rid of the horse hair said Mr Smith director of design and development for Conklin Shows He says he has always been fascinated with the steam era His father Gordon Smith Pro gressive Conservative member of the Ontario legislature for Simcoc East collects steam tractors cars and trains Although Mr Smiths railway car was in active ser vice until the mid1960s it has become somewhat rare because of its high vaulted ceiling And unlike todays cars which have metal roofs this ones roof is made of tar covered canvas When the work is done the exterior of the 85foot car will be much as it was 49 years ago But the inside will be drasti cally altered The car will also serve as an office for Mr Smith complete with recep tion area board room general office area bedroom fully equipped kitchen and bath room Encourage use of elm timber LONDON CI The For estry Commission says the market for elm timber is being swamped as result of the rav ages of Dutch elm disease in central east and southern Eng land So it has set up the Elm Marketing Group which is try ing to encourage its wider use The commission stresses that the disease has no effect on the properties of the timber and cannot affect other species of tree Among the desirable qualities of elm timber listed by the commission is its ability to hold nails without splitting The marketing group hopes that once the market expands it will become worth while to fell more of the dead and dying elms bargain for tourists planning extensive travel by train can only be bought in North Amer ica weeks rental of Mini 850 in Britain would cost $59 if pre purchased in Canada but $68 if arrangements are made on the spot in Britain says marketing manager Tony Cook of British Airways His company is introducing at the beginning of April new line of Enterprise package holidays designed for Canadian travellers flying to London and going on to sunny resorts in the Mediterranean the Adriatic and the Aegean typical package includes flight from London every Thursday night to the island of Malta for sojourn of one or two weeks at either of two modern beachfront hotels With all meals the inclusive price ranges from $240 for one week or $369 for two depending upon the season and the choice of hotel Transatlantic airfare is extra UNDISCOVERED ISLE Malta is an island that few Canadian holidayers have yet discovered although ighterpi lots of the Royal Canadian Air Force were prominent in the epic defence of Malta during the Second World War Knowledgeable British and continental travellers have been enjoying the pleasures of Malta in numbers that rare in creasing steadily year by year Now with political troubles besetting Portugal Cyprus and other sunspots within easy reach of northern Europe Malta is sure to become more widely known Malta was once part of chain of mountains that linked Sicily off the toe of Italy with Tunisia on the north coast of Africa Many thousands of years ago the sea moved in to break the link Even now however Malta is symbolic link between Europe and Africa The Maltese language is heavily in fluenced by Arabic the Italian favor is evident in such customs as the evening promenade on Vallettas main shopping street and the British con nection remains in everything from the great dockworks to lit tle tearooms TRAVELLERS CASH The recent sudden sharp de clines in the value of the pound sterling French franc and ltal ian lira show what can happen to the travellers budget if you had exchanged your dollars for one of those cur rencies and then travelled abroad to spend that money your purchasing power would have been sadly weakened It may seem prudent to buy your foreign exchange here so that you dont have to line up at bank in London or wherever when you should be out having fun Travellers should have small amounts of local currency to use on arrival up to $25 But its probably more pru dent this year to carry most of your money in Canadian dollars and exchange them for foreign currency as you need it Some foreignexchange deal ers would recommend taking United States dollars instead especially since thatunit seems likely to rise in relation to the Canadian dollar during the months ahead But that entails an extra com missionto be paid when you buy the US dollarsin addi tion to the inevitable com mission when you exchange dollars abroad for the local cur rency Canadian dollars are widely accepted throughout the world nowexcept perhaps in the US The best place to do your for eignexchange transactions is always bank or currency dealer such as American Ex press Your hotel will seldom if ever offer favorable exchange rate BOOKS FOR TRAVELLERS If the summer Olympic Games July17 to Aug1 are on your 1976 holiday itinerary here are two Canadian books that will help you to plan Percy Rowes Travel Guide To Canada Simon and Shus ter Pocket Book $195 The 1976 revised edition of this popular guidebook contains special section on the Olym pics with details about what will be happening in Montreal cultural events as well as spor ts about accommodation arrangements and about Mon treal itself The remainder of the 335 pages are crammed with useful tips province by province plus the territories for travellersw things to see Food and drink accommodation campsites sports shopping childrens en tertainment annual events and thelike For each area the author of fers his personal recommenda tions Kingston elebrau This City by Joan Finnigan Mc Clelland and Stewart $1795 Although Kingston Ont is the headquarters for the Olym pic yachting events it is also of special interest to all travellers as one of the most historic of Canadian cites founded in 1673 by Champlain The authors text Frank Johnstons watercolor illustra tions and fascinating collec tion of historic photographs will guide the visitor through King stons colorful past and present FESTIVALS LISTED Here are dates of four major spring festivals to be held soon in Canada April 23 to May music festival at Guelph Ont May to 18 blossom fes tival at Niagara Falls Ont May 16 to 24 festival of spring at Ottawa May 21 to 24 blossom fes tival at Ireston BC Grandmother adopted TORONTO CP Mr and Mrs Peter Ellis have adopted grandmother for their two chil dren agesii and 17 The family is participating in unique program entitled Operation Grandparents that matches up elderly volunteers with Toronto families The program was the brain child of Marilyn Bolton executive director of Senior Consultants Inc nonprofit organization whose goal is to declare war on the rocking chair foldedhands syndrome and at the same time serve community needs When the program was an nounced several months ago more than 100 applicants called Some of them were single parents some were new residents who had left their families behind in another country others had grand parents who had died Mr Ellis said We cant tell you what difference this pro gram has made Our kids are much happier now Their own grandparents are dead and all the other kids seemed to have grandparents Now we have an adopted grandmother She comes to visit us we take the children to visit her and it has been beautiful experience for us Miss Bolton said the program offers rich rewards to the vol unteer grandparents There is full participation in familys life to offset the often SHEER imported French Tergal 300 lull white or ivury 50 Per Ft Window Coverage Custom Made Colors available at additional cost Large selection of domestic and Im ported fabrics 7DAY DELIVERY CRage00d CDraper3 ORO STATION ONTARIO 4872606 solitary life of an older per son she said as well as the youthgiving stimulation of sharing memories and interests with children Cleaners as S1nger Sewmg Machines Dollar for Dollar no other brand vacuum cleaner givesyouso ma erfonnance eatures Sln Silver PO ru ed hea Versatile exactl what THIS PRICE Eso Tcademati of singer COmpany of Canada lid Singer Vacuum Theyre as good conveniences an du yxextrem youre coking for Mary FitzGibbon ethnology assistant at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto holds mosquito mask with long nose right and rattle dance Says tuning of pianos dying art By ROSEMARY PITCHER KITCHENER Ont CP Robert Bossenberry 42 doesnt need reminders that he is the third generation of piano tuners in this community but he keeps finding them The names of his grand father Frank and his father Charles confront him on the castiron harps of old pianos which are among the hundreds he tunes annually It used to be the custom for piano tuner to write his signa ture and the date of the tuning inside the instrument he said Mr Bossenberry says piano tuning is dying art despite the fact that tuners are in greater demand than ever before Pianos are costly and people who own them keep them tuned to protect their investment re gardless of the age of the pi ano Mr Bossenberry recalled sto ries his father told him of can vassing homes to drum up busi ness My father used to accom pany my grandfather on the rounds They literally had to go from door to door the way knifeSharpeners do in some communities Today can scar cely keep up with the telephone calls In addition to keeping up with requests to tune pianos in homes Mr Bossenberry makes the rounds of schools and mi versities in the area He is also on call for precon cert piano tunings in Kitchener Waterloo and Guelph Topcalibre artists insist on tuning immediately before their concerts he said Tuning is painstaking oper ation requiring hours of concen trated effort Five pianos is the daily average Consult your telephone directory tor the Singer Sewmg Centre or patio paling approved Dealer nearest you SEWING CENTRE HWY 2627 GEORGIAN MALL BARRIE 7287960 INDIANS WANT REGALIACK regalia seized from Vancouver Island Indians in 1922 The seizure by Ottawa occurred af ter mass trial of Kwakiutl band members who defied the federal law against the potlat ch dancing and giftgiving ceremony The ban has been dropped and the bands now want their regalia back CP Photo WINS FOR SECOND TIME former Barrie resident has won first prize in the Kor tright conservation writing competition for the second year in row The winner is Sheila Forster Kaighin Barrie Cen tral Collegiate graduate who is married to Outdoor Canada Pickles Ketchup Magazine editor Ron Kaighin also former Barrie resident Mrs Kaighin is the first woman ever to place in the top three in the competition in consecutive years Her entry is one of 37 in the competition for the title of the top outdoor writer in Canada Toasted Bun 347 Bayfield St Barrie 728094 ED