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1 page 2 the tribune thursday december 24 1970 wna i established 188r c h nolan publisher jim thomas editor published every thursday by inland publishing co limited at 51 main st stouffville one tel wo2101 single copies 15c subscriprions sioo 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 0896 editorial improved public relations sssksaseffiaj with an elevated sign as big as a peanut and pavement marking obliterated by snow stouffville downtown shoppers seeking a place to park have found themselves tagged in the area of the main street crosswalk in a single day police touched nine motorists for prechristmas fines some it is certain were in dignant several merchants too were noticeably annoyed made aware of the problem village council has responded or dering the erection of three curb signs at a level the driver can see without staring into the sky until this job is completed we would suggest police warnings would suffice and the ones who have paid this penalty should be accorded a refund in the interest of improved public relations if nothing else an invitation to injury residents in the buttonville area of markham township are con cerned for the safety of children who utilize the school bus transportation system there and rightly so for bus drivers are not allowed to use the twoway amber signals in zones of 35 miles per hour or less because according to the dept of transport the practice would im pede the progress of throughtraffic this ruling a ridiculous one in our opinion places the entire respon sibility for safe crossing on the shoulders of the child is it any wonder parents have complained cant you just visualize a 6 or 7 year old attempting to cross don mills road around 8 in the morning or 4 in the afternoon and other areas where the same rule applies are every bit as hazardous in an effort to combat this obvious weakness in the law school patrol programs have been organized at dicksons hill ballantrae mark 11 unionville and other areas while some safeguards are better than none at all this is not the answer the answer is change the law and place the safety of the child in top priority where it morally and legally belongs seven days to go the village status of stouffville will be history in just seven days this metamorphosis the creation of a new town with expanded bor ders encompassing a much larger area should instill in residents a feeling of expectation of pride but has it on the surface at least we would have to say no it has not for two reasons those who really care the minority are not only more in terested in the past but theyre openly skeptical of the future they liked the village as it was a com munity unto itself theyre afraid of what lies ahead something less personal more costly and then there are those the majority who couldnt care less they never attended a council meeting and they couldnt be bothered to vote they never served on a board or committee but were always quick to criticize the actions of those who did these are the parasites of which stouffville to its shame has more than its share at one minute past twelve jan 1 the village wiii become part of a larger municipality the town of whitchurchstouffville who can forecast the benefits to be derived wouldnt it be nice if that togetherness attitude so prevalent in rural areas would rub off on residents here season to be jolly but this is the season to be jolly but theres nothing very jolly about death injury fines and licence suspensions while those one and two hundred dollar fines and three month licence suspensions may make some people think they fall far short of making people think about the death and injury they may cause by being a drinking driver festive parties will be the order of the day for the next week or so and police surveillance will be stepped up while the officers have no desire to spoil anyones fun they also have no desire to knock on doors to advise people that their loved ones have been killed or seriously injured when a policeman sees an erratic driver he has two choices either he can be subjected to insults and complaints by hauling the impaired driver out from behind the wheel or he can take the risk of letting him go and hauling his broken and bleeding body out of a wreck later on its really not much of a choice is it while the onus is still on the driver there is some responsibility which must be shared by the host to ensure that no one leaves his home impaired the one for the road might very well put the guest off the road or in jail or in hospital lives depend on it editor 9 mail ijear editor the greatest 65 cent travelling show in town has been playing last week on the cpr torontohavelock commuter line the railway claims the service loses money and has applied to the transport com mission for permission to discon tinue commuters claim the train is overcrowded i have offered to rent an extra car as a private charter coach on the train the commission assigned an inspector to check the train for a week to see what was really going on light humour was provided as the inspector checked the crowded conditions while cpr represen tatives tried to rearrange the standees evenly and assure all and sundry that things were really not crowded the hilarious finale occurred december nth when about 182 passengers boarded the 90 seat train inspector polley couldnt get into the passenger section and rode with the engineer whatever happens when the ctc hearings resume january 5th the cpr has another first its the only railway providing first class en tertainment with audience par ticipation free while you ride john c medcof mt albert i yn quiet serenity let us reflect on the true message of christmas may your home and family be blessed with the spiritual joy and happiness that his birth taught us to cherish with our greetings goes our sincere appreciation j james thomas peter harris tom vernon bill stephenson audrey smith dorothy moyer margery mertcns h nolan publisher glcnys davis bert jackson stan schmidt wilbcrt gower harry hodge carl mantz myrna curran betty acton elva nighswandcr mary saudcr connie blacklock joan marshman george baker glenn thompson 535ji2 sugar and spice christmas a joy once works done by bill smiley christmas seems to emphasize our basic natures if were slightly skeptical we become deeply cynical the closer the day approaches if we are inclined to be optimistic and cheery we are apt to begin wallowing in sentimentality it seems to get me both ways my natural skepticism hardens into a surly misanthropy as the annual parade of gifts and greed cards and carols begins creeping toward me not to mention the holy old jumpin putting up of the tree my annual struggle to avoid insanity from frustration and hell from blasphemy but my natural optimism sneaks in and once the dirty work has been done i wax sentimental to the point of tears over the wassail bowl the log in the fire the smell of singed spruce needles and the loved faces around me neither attitude is right of course both are base christmas is a celebration it should be neither cynical nor sentimental but joyous in the real sense of the word it could and should be the one day in the year when we can creep closest to the warmth of the basic teachings of the mangod love and peace it should be a day marked by solemnity and jolity prayer and cheer it doesnt really have much to do with turkey and trimmings and tinsel though these dont hurt anybody nor does it have anything to do with the number of cards you receive or the value of the presents you garner indeed two or three cards mean more to some people than two or three hundred to others and a homeknit scarf from someone can mean more than a mink coat from someone else hope my family doesnt read this easy enough to say what christmas is not its more difficult to say what it is because it is in tangible you cant reach out and dear jim we have been readers of the tribune for many years but never can we recall more being said in such few words as in last weeks dec 17 issue your editorial comment living up to predictions was loaded with truth we also noted reeve laush- ways remarks we also appreciate bill smileys column on utopia its here for the oldtimers no more need be said or should we claude kerr ringwood ont mr thomas in your roaming around column dec 10 you told about all the wonderful things we taxpayers were doing for your five children you sounded like one yourself spoiled you parents with kids seem to think the world owes you a living if you cant support them why have them im getting tired of paying for their education their clothing their food and in your case adding to their bank accounts tell me mr thomas who can i transfer my vote to carl smith box 879 stouffville editors note if its any con solation just think ahead to the day when my five children will help to pay a portion of your old age pen sion no holds barred members of the paradise riders motorcycle club returned to stouffville saturday this time to engage each other in a hockey game at the arena the only problem they encountered we are told was trying to find someone brave enough to act as referee grasp the spirit of christmas you must feel it if you dont youre dead spiritually naturally children get most out of it perhaps its because they dont look for gimmicks there is a wonderful combination of the mystic and the materialistic that entrances them little realists that they are they are fascinated by the thought of goodies they love the hideandseek aspect of gifts theres a great thrill in opening the stockings and squeezing and rat tling things under the tree but they are equally enchanted by the aura that surrounds these material jollies the carols the pageants the neverstale story of the birth in the manger the very smell of christ mas all these increase their inner excitement to the bursting point its also a day when they can get away with anything short of murder and they know it this year after the big family gatherings of other years well have a slim crew but three generations granny wont be there but well be thinking about her therell be just grandad and us and daughter kim at time of writing we might wind up with eighteen therell be early church then the opening of gifts and thoughts of son hugh 1000 miles away and the smell of turkey and music and perhaps friends dropping in for a drop theres too much talk about dropouts these days and not enough about dropins well have a big fire and lie on the rug groaning after dinner i hope it wont be as big a fire as last year when my wife set fire to the evergreens on the mantel and nearly burned down the house this is all qualified by the word hopefully it could be a complete schmozzle like the year i dropped the turkey on the kitchen floor as i took it out of the oven but i hope its peaceful and i hope with all my heart whatever your situation that your christmas will be blessed by peace and love mh i please santa one shovel and a pair of snow tires by jim thomas rev alex adam our church pastor is a recent arrival in the stouffville community from australia here for him snowclogged streets and sidewalks are or were as much a novelty as a nuisance naturally the first heavy fall caught him slightly by surprise he had neglected to purchase a pair of you go or we pay the tow kind of tires now faith is a wonderful thing and ministers i believe are more blessed in this way than most there are limitations however to be bogged down in a five foot drift- between somewhere and nowhere is a most frustrating experience at least thats what folks have told me but ive never paid their warnings much heed in fact ive never yet owned a set of snows nor do i even carry a shovel i just try to stay clear of such problem areas the pastors brow furrowed and he shook his head obviously questioning the sincerity of my admission i assured him not boastfully mind you that up to that time the good lord had always seen me safely through however at 915 pm wed nesday dec 16 my good fortune came to a silent but sudden end i buried the car in a bank up over the bumper the location was an openspace area on concession 7 markham near 18th avenue and the distur bing thing about it i neednt have selected that route at all i could have headed east to highway 48 where i learned later the way was completely clear but oh no the rural road presented more of a challenge and besides i had sailed along it with ease less than two hours before as illequipped as i was for such a crosscountry safari i might ac tually have made it but how was i to know that a volkswagen and a ford would be blocking the way i had no choice but to hit them or the brakes i chose the latter after pushing both free one driver agreed to call a tow truck one arrived he got stuck he radioed for another he couldnt make it either i had nothing to do but sit in the car and wait what for i didnt really know at least in there it was warm as long as the gas held out and the motor kept running ten oclock eleven then midnight nothing by then the drifts had barricaded both doors suddenly out of the misty white blackness a beam of light just another pesky snowmobile i thought to myself and so it was but in another form a tractor and front- end blower the driver was none other than harry lewis my old hockey playing partner of fifteen years ago following crosswind salutations he went to work the big machine throwing a steady stream of the white stuff high in the air the final breakthrough wasnt easy but when it came what relief like stumbling into an oasis after crawling across the sahara i arrived home at 1230 am exactly five hours to the minute from the time i had left what a night so thats the reason for the added items on my santa claus list this year two snow tires and a shovel if old st nick doesnt see fit to fill this eleventh hour appeal my only hope is that januarys thaw will last through till spring for a mississauga driver dec 6 just wasnt his day while southbound on bayview avenue markham twp he sud denly sneezed catapulting his false teeth up against the windshield in attempt to catch the escaping j molars he lost control of his 1971 ford sending it crashing into a steel stop light pole the car wasnt insured neither were his teeth