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ptgt 2 the tribune thurjj apr 11 1968 hiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiuuiuiiiiiiiiiiiiihiiiiiuiiiiiiuiiuiihiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiiihiiii luuiiuulitluiiluuituuiuiiiuiuiiiiuiuiiiuuiiiiumiiiiiiiuuilliu a pageant of color the executive of the stouffville drum and bugle corps is to be com mended on the success of its first an nual pageant of flags program in the auditorium of stouffville dist secon dary school saturday night the entire evening was well organ ized and the performance the most colorful of anything seen here in years there were twelve entries in the pageant including six from the unit ed states several representatives from across the border expressed en thusiasm over the reception they had received here and said they would be pleased to return again the audience was thrilled by the show and showed its appreciation through generous ap plause one corps followed another onto the parade square with clockwork pre cision and the finale prior to the presentation of awards defied de scription the two area entries markham collegettes and stouffvilles cen turions performed wonderfully well their promoters have just reason to be proud th e wrong impression a fivecar accident occurred early sunday morning on a drag strip stretch of pavement north of island lake bordering whitchurch and ux- bridge townships property damage was heavy but fortunately no one was killed or even injured due to the positions of the cars at the scene it was difficult to learn im mediately how the crash had occur red it was obvious however that several drivers had come to the area for the purpose of racing none of the bystanders we talked to seemed cer tain of whether a race had started or was just about to begin drag racing on a public highway such as this is not permitted while these lads are obviously breaking the law we would not be too quick to jump to the wrong conclusions these boys are not teenage punks as so often termed the majority in fact are pretty good kids rather than roam around in gangs on motorcycles their interest lies in automobiles they know more about the intricate parts of a car than most class a mechanics to prove this skill and knowledge they use this section of roadway as a test track residents in the area know it the police know it officers patrol it but they cant con trol it while any suggestion of a legalized dragstrip in either uxbridge or whit church would stir up a storm of pro test it seems regrettable that an or ganized program of this kind cannot be established drag racing under strict rules and regulations is not a dangerous sport the same thing per formed on an open road is dangerous the drivers know it but wont stop it the police know it but cant stop it the solution allow a drag strip to be built and operated properly retiring p m has proud record prime minister lester b pearson who will shortly retire has been a great canadian statesman but not a great prime minister these words have been echoed many times across the country but wait a minute lets look at the facts a closer look at the prime minis ters five years of office reveal that he achieved a great deal in fact he did more in a shorter time than many predecessors some of these accom plishments would have been viewed as impossible only a few years back possibly the one task which mr pearson achieved that is best remem bered will be the canadian flag in 1964 the canadian pension plan took some faststepping to get agreement among the provinces many countries have thought about unifying the armed forces but can ada has done it that long overdue matter of re distribution of electoral districts was accomplished the enactment of medical insur ance is well on its way though it may not be fully activated for a couple of years these are a few of the highlights of his term of office there are more and mr pearson can surely look back with pride on his achievements he has also begun a series of confer ences which if followed through should make this country more united than ever before prime minister pearson is probably the most widely known statesman this country has ever produced he de serves the gratitude of all canadians y i fjsjiiiis rv v -v- duffin creek flows free with the ice now gone from the waters of duffins creek pickering township the stream flows free toward lake ontario this is a view looking north from cone 5 at whltcvale staff photo wfte wrifmnt established 188s c h nolan publisher jim thomas edilor noel edey advertising published every thursday by the stouffville tribune limited at 51 main su stouffville om tel 1o2101 single copies 10c subscriptions 400 per year in canada s600 elsewhere member of audit bureau of circulation canadian weekly newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association authorized as second class mail post office dcpt- ottawa p t i i 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 c r 1 1 1 1 1 r i i i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 c 1 1 m i r 1 1 1 1 j i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r c i t 1 1 m n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 c 1 1 i m 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 f i r n 1 1 1 t h r 1 1 1 1 e 1 1 1 1 j 1 1 1 m i u 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i m 1 1 1 ri t m n 1 1 t r i n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 sugar and spice lets hear from you by bill smiley received a letter recently from the managing editor no less of the pe- trolia ont advertisertopic one of the papers that runs my column gee i wish i were a managing editor and dash off memos that would make people shake in their shoes once upon a time i was a man aging editor it meant that i was al lowed to carry the bags of newspapers up to the post office on press day but i never got to write any terse memos the letter reads smiley j im getting so weary of those col umns on education and teenagers talk about adults i distrust teachers who talk about school and students youre better as a nonexpert one more education column and i cancel regards chas whipp now who could resist answering such a belle lettre i couldnt my dear mr whipp thank you for your warm and cour teous letter it brightened up my whole day but i think you have me confused with columnist richard needham of the globe and mail who preaches rank anarchy day after day exhorting students to drop out see the world forget about a formal edu cation live and love im as straight and square as they come as my daughter whoops theres a teenager will assure you i deplore the use of drink drugs and demonstrations by students i urge them to drop in not out and find out what the mysteries of life are all about now lets have a look youre weary of columns on education and teenagers why were you once bit ten or hitten by a teacher when you were a teenager second education takes about half your tax dollars and within a couple of decades adults will be outnum bered by adolescents a couple of hor rible thoughts but surely worth a col umn occasionally third my columns about these top ics bring more mail than any others the letters are funny poignant sym pathetic tragic one lady wrote tell ing me id helped her son another poured out her heart over the death of her sixteen year old fourth i think a check would re veal that these topics are far from dominating the column id get sick of them if they did why not let your readers decide all your readers not just a couple of cranks you know i do write about sports the family the church politics the seasons and anything else that is part of modem life next you say talk about adults i do but adults are merely teenagers out of their teens ive nothing against them some of my best friends are adults but how would you like your sister to marry one then you say i distrust teachers who talk about school and students i dont distrust managing editors who talk about newspapers or den tists who talk about dentures who would you trust to talk about school and students managing editors plumbers doctors hair dressers again youre better as a non expert dear mr w thats exactly what i am in the field of education and any other field you can mention and i think thats why so many other nonexperts read the column theyre a little disillusioned with the glib so lutions of the experts and identify with the amateur like me finally you threaten to cancel un less i comply others have tried to lean on me before politicians adver- tisers preachers the educational es- tablishment to name a few but never before a managing editor maybe i should be flattered but i dont flatter or flatten that easily education school students teen agers there ive said all the dirty words its a free country cancel if you will never mind about my wife and brains and regards without rancour to you dear chas bill smiley is mr whipp right im often wrong readers are invited to give their opinions to him at the paper petrolia ont or me at 303 hugel ave midland ont or to their local editor lets hear it this week next u s guessing game a smooth transfer of power is un derway in canada this week following the liberal leadership convention and the naming of a new prime minister but for the united states an agoniz ing seven months lies ahead before the new president is chosen followed by another three months before he takes office for the next ten months the united states and the west will thus be led by a lame duck president who will be pursuing policies which the world knows could be reversed overnight when the new president is sworn in next january while president johnsons with drawal parallels president trumans action in 1952 in stepping down amidst the korean war there is also a fantastic similarity with john dief- enbakers years in office in canada mr diefenbaker was elected with the greatest parliamentary majority in canadas history in 1957 six years later he was out of office having lost the massive support he had enjoyed by ousting the liberals from 22 years of power mr johnson was elected president in his own right by the greatest ma jority in american history in 1964 having taken office in 1963 in one of the darkest hours of the republic six years later he too would be out of office unpopular and unmoarned although president johnsons ac tion hit like a bomb shell his popular ity had been dropping fast the latest gallup poles showed only 26 per cent of the people in agreement with his vietnam policies and only 36 per cent approving of his overall handling of the presidency any president has the right to re tire gracefully when his policies be come unpopular it is therefore some what surprising that political observ ers did not more widely anticipate the likelihood of lbj stepping down last october i wrote in this col umn that there was a serious possi bility that lbj could step aside at the end of his present term i cited the trend of the polls the deepening viet nam quagmire and concluded by not- by ray argyle ing that president johnson could surprise the world by retiring to the sidelines in 1968 now that this has happened what does it mean in terms of the vietnam war and in the likely outcome of the republican and democratic races and the november election ii must be presumed that presi dent johnson burdened with the weight of an unwinnable war in viet nam recognized that his continued presence in the white house both div ided america and made a settlement in vietnam impossible the united states has lost the war militarily but now there may be a chance of a political victory although somevhat tainted undoubtedly the war has cost mr johnson the presi dency however the world can be grateful he had the courage and in sight to realize this now comes disclosure by hanoi that it will come to the conference table to discuss peace in vietnam about the lone stumbling block to a compromise in vietnam is the amer icans continuation of bombing be tween the 17th and 20th parallels if the us eliminates the bombing com pletely peace will come and it is likely president johnson will agree to a cessation of the bomb ing giving the new president a clean slate with which to begin his duties at home the johnson withdrawal and the unimpressive victory in the wisconsin primary by senator eug ene mccarthy has been viewed in many quarters as a knockout vic tory for senator kennedy but as the senator said when he heard the news it is a long way to the convention and even further to the election there is now room for a strong rightwing winthewar candidate in both parties the republican spoils will certainly no longer be left to richard nixon to feast on in solitude the democrats will not leave the no mination to only kennedy mccarthy and humphrey the us is in for a wide open race in both parties and it would be foolhardy to try to predict the outcome so soon batman for p m its spring that strange topsy turvy time of year when everything goes through a major period of change when i say everything im referring not only to the outside world of greening grass and leafing trees im speaking about the inter ior as well when my wife gets that house- cleaning gleam in her eye look out for about three weeks on end our home was transferred into a veritable shambles of shifted furniture upend ed mattresses and rug rolls this year was undoubtedly the worst yet she embarked on a com plete redecoration job of our bedroom and i was displaced to the much less comfortable confines of a studio couch in the basement i accepted the bou doir eviction notice without complaint for i was well aware that the term of residence in these compact quar ters would be only temporary but something else was also des tined for belowground relocation the living room television set itll be better for everyone she said the children can watch their favorite programs in the morning ill see what i want in the afternoon and you can watch it at night in theory the whole idea sounded wonderful and i readily consented besides she paid the changeover bill of 900 and even helped the repair man haul the heavy machine down stairs im really no tv bug during the summer months i hardly ever turn it on i do have a few favorite pro grams however and when im home in the evening which isnt often my choice of channels is given priority over the wishes of the others or i should say was ever since mr pearson announced his intended resignation i had been looking forward with enthusiasm to the upcoming liberal convention in ottawa i was determined to catch as much of the three day deal as possible and with it suitably arranged at the end of the week my chances appeared good on thursday i burst through the front door so far in advance of the supper hour my wife nearly plum meted facefirst into a batch of fresh ly rolled pie dough is it turned on i asked tossing my coat across a kitch en chair is who turned out she asked slightly terrified the tv the convention the liberal convention dont tell me youve forgotten all about it i enquired in an exasper ated voice with six mouths to feed ive got more to think about than that she said besides the kids are watching something im not sure what theyve been as quiet as mice i raced to the basement two steps at a time and there they were ringed around the set in absolute silence all four they were watching the flint- stones unthinkingly i switched the dial to channel 6 and in unison a cry of disapproval went up to rock the rafters i quickly relented and peace was restored after that came a re run of lassie then i love lucy and my three sons this was immedi ately followed by the flying nun and a prehalloween comedy called bewitched interference with this kind of programming was out of the question i returned from whence i had come and caught a few comments on the car radio tomorrow it will be different i muttered to myself but it wasnt on friday i ran into equally strong op position from gilligans island gen tle ben and tarzan i tried the persuasive approach it didnt work i then resorted to an un ethical bribe that didnt work either as a last resort i adopted an attitude of educational insight do you re alize i asked my five year old that one of these men will be the next prime minister of canada i dont care he replied dancing up and down i like batman better i threatened to tell him that batman was a progressive conservative saturday was worse how does an already outnumbered father compete with such rivals as the three stooges the lone ranger flipper top cat cartoons and jackie gleason youre right you cant and so my humble apologies to you mr templeton and to you mr depoe and ten thousand regrets to you mr winters and you mr hellyer but take heart a runnersup role to pierre elliott trudeau cannot com- pare to playing second fiddle to don ald duck