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page 2 the tribune thursday mar 19 197c a dream worth considering the main street of stouffville to become one large shopping mall not tomorrow agreed but certainly a possibility in the foreseeable future not only in stouffville but other villages and towns of similar size throughout the province the idea has been introduced by- planning board member reg mackay and at a meeting march 12 it was accorded much favorable comment we feel the suggestion has definite merit we all know however that such a dream can never become a reality until a new bypass system of roads is com pleted to the norci and south this two- way connecting link between con cessions 9 and 10 is already on the drawing board and as development proceeds construction will be com pleted roads around the town will relieve the present bottleneck that now exists and eventually make it possible to close off the main business core to all vehicular traffic the area under consideration by mr mackay would extend from obrien avenue on the west to church street on the east in effect it would mean the complete redevelopment of the entire downtown section it has to come sometime planning board is to be commended for thinking in this direction now abandon the wolf bounty during recent years people have allowed themselves to become more involved in governmental issues and decisions they speak out against legislation that they personally feel is not in the best interests of the municipality a county a province or the country as a whole its a thing called participatory democracy and its good providing opposing views are based on fact and alternative proposals are practical one decision that has suddenly aroused the concern even anger among many residents in both york and ontario counties is the placing of a bounty on wolves that supposedly roam this area the decision is by no means new in fact to our knowledge its been in force for years but the longevity of a law doesnt make it right in fact we feel its archaic a policy born out of a fairy tale it should be abandoned man or some men gain delight from the sheer act of killing place a price on the wouldbe victims head and the desire to destroy is increased no other reason or excuse is necessary the county claims too many wolves kill too many deer the dept of lands and forests claims that there are too many deer around anyway so approval is granted to kill off both it doesnt make sense keep the cork on excessive consumption of alcohol affects different people in different ways some become unusually gay and play the part of a clown others become increasingly abusive a source of irritation to everyone around there were samples of both in the stouffville arena saturday night the gay patrons caused no trouble the abusive ones could have and would have if given the opportunity fortunately police personnel were out in force and discouraged conduct of this kind several arrests were made it seems strange that hockey games like so many social functions cannot be enjoyed by a certain few unless their presence is accompanied by a bottle since the arena is a public place this practice is illegal and rightly so we share no sympathy whatever for those who are caught we do sympathize however with the players and legitimate fans who must endure this type of aggravation editors mail dear sir although i lived in the stouffville area for nearly ten years and although ive often been proud of this fact im beginning to have second thoughts about it as a nonresident i realize i may be speaking out of turn but i feel that public attention needs to be drawn to a news item which appeared in your paper feb 26 this item seemed to be congratulating deputyreeve dowswell of uxbridge township for increasing the bounty paid to hunters for wolves taken in the township while i realize that they probably have increased in number probably due to the related increase in the number of deer i cannot see why they must be the object of a mass eradication program wolves are one of our counties fast disappearing species especially the more civilized and in this context i use the term loosely areas they prey mostly on small mammals rabbits moles mice etc and seldom if ever are a threat to sheep if they have sufficient food from normal sources i cannot see that they would be a threat to cattle or that poultry which are mostly kept confined in egg factories would be endangered wolves are no threat to man in fact they probably would have as little to do with him as possible being as he is such an unpredicatable species i realize that most people are in timidated by big wild animals but because we fear something for no good reason is no justification for killing it its like killing snakes that consume tons of harmful insects birds and rodents in a year wolves have been shown by lands and forests biologists to be highly in telligent animals they have disproved the allegation that they prey mainly on large animals theyre just too hard to catch wolves have a very regulated life they mate for life if a mother and father are destroyed another family will take over the care of the orphan kits one biologist even recounts seeing the male and female leave the den and in their absence an unmated uncle of the kits baby sitting nature has set up a miraculous system of balances so that no species becomes overabundant and encroaches on the life of another species when there are no predators like the wolf to feed on plant eating animals they become very abundant and overrun even mans plants getting him enraged and causing the whole system to break down the increase in the bounty therefore serves no useful purpose except to incite thoughtless men to eradicate a majestic animal that we could all learn a lesson from i would ask that this stupid move be reversed and that concerned people of your area let reeve dowswell know that hes not doing your environment any great favour furthermore ask that these animals be protected as they are part of gods or natures way of keeping itself clean and healthy and in check john sargeant chilliwack bc sj2j wht wrihum established 1888 c h nolan publisher jim thomas editor noel edey advertising published every thursday by inland publishing co limited at 54 main st stouffville ont tel 6402101 single copies 15c subscriptions 5500 per year in canada 750 elsewhere member of audit bureau of circulation canadian weekly newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association second class mail registration number 0s96 trying o wa walfer ouf of a effet sugar and spice sun shines a day at a time by bill smiley this has been quite a winter in more ways than one cold snow cold snow when it wasnt cold enough to freeze the brains of a brass monkey god or the weatherman or somebody let fly with the confetti as though it were the biggest wedding in the world and im stucknvith three females broody wife a moody daughter and a pregnant cat so things havent exactly looked up as spring hides well around that corner however there are always bright spots and ive had a fair share of them terry barker took me to task in a long intelligent letter in rebuttal to a rather disgruntled column i wrote about teaching he didnt convince me but lets say that i am a little more disgruntled than i was there are deep and satisfying rewards in teaching along with the frustration red tape and the feeling that youre hopelessly entangled in a huge cobweb theres a real thrill in seeing young people grapple and grope with new ideas and light up as the ideas get through then i had a thoughtful letter from a qualium beach bc reader enclosing a clipping from the north battleford sask newsoptimist stating that bill smiley is by far our most popular syn dicated columnist thats great for the old ego which needs a little balm once in a while another egobooster was an invitation to speak to the vimy branch royal canadian legion a unique organization in london ont it meets only twice a year to observe remembrance day and vimy day a charming and kind chap called joyce roadhouse made the contact pointing out that it was a tossup between me and some majorgeneral the branch is studded with brigadiers colonels and wing commanders and there was a terrible temptation to take advantage of this chance to stand up and tell the brass what ive always thought of them but i had to decline however the brightest spot of all has been the tremendous and moving response to a recent column about my daughter every day letters have been coming in from all over canada full of sympathy and warmth many of them have been addressed to kim herself old friends have rallied round and complete strangers have taken time to write cheering encouraging letters and cards this has not restored my faith in human nature because ive never lost it but it has bolstered it heres an excerpt from a typical letter whatever happens dont blame yourselves its very easy to do this as parents you did what most of us try to do you taught her to stand on her own feet and let her go she fell so shell get up again and be twice the girl she was before and heres another dear bill detected grave concern beneath your casual request for a prayer i have solicited our father on your daughters behalf and i feel that he has answered your prayer may god bless you and yours in the name of his son jesus christ that was all from a complete stranger from red deer came a long letter full of scriptural comfort and the assurance that his or her prayers would be with us others sent prayers that had helped them in time of trouble this is only a sampling i am not an emotional or sentimental person my wife calls me old stoneface but it has touched me deeply that so many people have tried to communicate with and help a stranger sometimes a columnist feels that he is writing in a great cold void its not a good feeling now i know better and i will be of good heart meanwhire we live a day at a time the sun shines spring is on its way thank you all its good to know that there is still a great deal of human kindness in a world that sometimes looks a bit bleak dear sir may i take a little of your time to find out if anything has been done to return the handle to the pump at the well on windsor drive at musselmans lake i have three children ages four three and two i have to get my water from a neighbor when they go away and lock up their house i have to wait till they come back my husband is a truck driver and only makes 85 a week by the time we pay our rent buy food and clothing we dont have much money left for water i have been talking to the man who took the handle he has water at his cottage id like to know what right he had to remove it he apparently didnt get permission from anyone here i guess he only thinks of his own comfort he doesnt even live up here in the winter he doesnt care about the poor people with children who do maybe if we all join together and fight hard enough we can beat this thing im fed up with having to go out every day and beg for water mrs j mclntyre rr2 stouffville editors note the tribune has beer in touch with the gentleman who dismantled the pump he acted under instructions from the cottager who looked after this previously it was done to prevent damage by freezing the problem will be placed on the agenda for discussion when the association meets this summer dear sir i would like to know what is going to be done about these stray dogs roaming around valley road and whitchurch twp i for one have had plenty of trouble with dogs taking off the top to the gar bage cans and tearing at the plastic bags and find garbage all over the property we have even moved the bags to the back of the house and on the ninth of march we have picked up at least five times i have an animal of my own and am a great lover of dogs etc i hate to see any of them hurt but when they start throwing your garbage all over your own property it is about time something was done about it many people here are complaining about the stray dogs it is bad enough that we cannot walk up the street without being bitten and jumped on but when they tear up your own property i hate to see what my place would look like this summer i only wish people would take care of their own animals so as they would not have to get into garbage cans etc for the sake of people who like to keep their property clean and respectable how about others helping out by taking care of their own pets thank you valley road resident one way suspension bridge spans rouge river this on sew cable suspension bridge south of steeles avenue ells road was built at a time ivhen the horse and buggy was still king over the motor car the steel span over the rouge river was erected around the year 1915 wafys night to shine by jim thomas it was saturday night and bobby orr was playing the toronto maple leafs it was also hockey night in stouffville and thirteen hundred fans had pried themselves loose from in front of their tv screens to watch the hometown juveniles take on suttonkeswick in the sixth game of the ontario semifinals i was the 1299th person to enter the rink sandwiched like a proverbial sardine between a sutton womans left elbow and a semivertical roof support it hurt to breath as the two teams emerged from their respective dressing rooms led by their respective netminders the lady in question leaned over to her companion and whispered quite audibly and almost seriously hey look at that stouff- villes got a girl in their goal the reference was obvious she had spied the great wad of black wavy locks emerging from under the rear of a protective face mask and flowing down to partially cover the wearers shoulders while the woman didnt know it she was soon to learn that harold wally crowder was certainly no girl but surely all guy for sixty stoptime minutes he guarded his meshy bastion faultlessly turning aside every assort ment of missle his rivals could lob his way not only was he bombed from below but also from above rival fans in an upstairs balcony used him as a target for their pentup frustrations for wally one of the colorful hockey characters to come stouffvilles way in many a year it was all in a nights work harold crowder 19 stands an even six feet tall and tips the scales at 180 pounds hes a jacques plante type of goaltender who holds to his crease when under attack and forces the forward to make his move on occasions however he gets the wanderlust and strays far from his cage to pick up a loose puck wally has come up through stouff villes minor hockey ranks first as a forward and then in the nets because as he puts it i didnt skate so well if he had a choice however hed much rather play out front and has on several occasions at midseason this year he suffered a broken right hand during a game with coppins corners in the uxbridge league when the injury had mended he performed at right wing showing the same kind of en thusiasm he now displays between the pipes playing forward is more fun thats all i play for the fun in goal its too tense wally is the kind of player that ex cites crowds be they friend or foe on saturday he skated to the boards and exchanged words with an over- exhuberant fan the guy challenged me to come so i went he said at the other end of the rink he was pelted with paper cups peanuts and other miscellaneous missies the police were called by officials to restore order i dont mind their talking he said but when they start throwing things thats different you never know what they might throw hes the first to admit that even his cushion of hair would afford little protection wally admits that his longish locks are the subject of some ridicule not from his own mates but from visiting players and fans he has no intentions of lopping them off however even after the hockey season ends right now the only thing that separates wally and his team from an ontario championship is a club from aylmer they treated stouffville rather badly last year when the two met for the title i was bombed he recalls wally has this score and two others hed like to settle its his last season in juvenile ranks hed like to leave a winner but first and foremost its for jakejake harman the coach he deserves a championship hes given hockey a lot of hours a lot of years hes a good coach a great guy the next series were playing for him we al are