The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4 the tribune thursday august 173 jcna tte rtbutte established 18s8 charles il nolan publisher james thomas associate publisher and editor robert mccausjland advertising director published erery thursday by inland publishing co limited at 54 main st stouffvui ont tel 6402101 toronto phone 3611680 single copies 15e subscriptions 600 per tear in canada 1500 elsewhere member of audit bureau of circulation canadian community newspapers association and ont ario weekly newspapers association second class mail registration number 0896 neighborly togetherness dying ever notice now that carefree open space togetherness between neighbors seems to be passing privacy is becoming all- important and the most evident sign of this change is the number of fences being erected between individual properties as the community grows becomes more congested with fewer and fewer people knowing one another the tendency to seek ones own privacy increases its a way of life that has been prevalent in the old country for years and visitors are always struck by the fences stone walls and hedges surrounding each property no matter how small in canada where communities were smaller there was more open space and neighborhoods changed only slightly from year io year it was different however the last few years has seen a change toronto with its booming 50000 new residents every year has sent thousands pushing out into the smaller surrounding communities towns such as stouffville and markham have hundreds of residents who have little interest in the community outside of their own fif tyf t lot they know little of their neighbors in the next street or have little interest in knowing them its a trend reflected in the declining churches community projects and general neighborliness and its done a lot to bring on the fences while its true that not all of the exploding population lives in this manner the numbers who do are increasing alarmingly and as city life becomes more and more the pattern for such communities as markham and stouff ville the trend will continue end criticism finish arena the markham centennial arena which name may be changed is nearing completion but bitter criticism over costs and management still looms over mayor tony roman the mayor also in the vulnerable position of arena committee chairman was furious over accusations by some members of council that cost were booming skyhigh and the entire arena project has been totally mismanaged in an effort to set the record straight mayor roman told the critics that anything that has gone into the arena was voted on by a majority of council sure the arena is going to cost more than expected sure the consultant had caused problems along the way and the inclusion of a lounge estimated at 72500 has posed more discontent but the fact is the building is there and almost finished in his letter to the tribune last week don deacon mpp yorkcentre claimed the arena will be a white elehpant of a sports centre if so why has ice time been booked months in advance by hockey and figure skating clubs from metro markham and other centres the only course to take is get it finished forget the high costs because it is inevitable and learn from any mistakes or misfortunes for the planning of the next sports complex in the town of markham can lewis take the risk little has been heard lately from those political pundits who would have given con siderable odds that the present liberal government would not last over ninety days even the tories show little zeal about going to the polls at present only david lewis leader of the ndp who would dearly love to oust the trudeau regime is considering the risk mr lewis is well aware that to have taken the blame for bringing on an earlier election would have spelled disaster for the ndp now as time has gone on this particular danger has lessened but a new problem has arisen the popularity of the liberal govern ment has shown signs of reviving and if this new trend continues mr lewis faces a challenge mr lewis knows too that if he should decide that the time is opportune to force an eldction he must keep clear of public service strikes when the public is harrassed and inconvenienced in a strike involving public service he knows that they dont blame the government not even the workers but the infernal ndp who agitation they believe has brought on the strike most strikes today believed by the majority of the people who are not unionized to be the wish of the ndp to sandwich an election time between these problems is the chancey risk being pondered by david lewis two sides to fairgrounds sale the recent sale of the markham fairgrounds to a vancouver development firm for 21 million has created bitter criticism from town residents and local citizen groups but like any other argument two sides must be considered the markham fair board offered to sell the 30acre site to the municipality on more than one occasion however the 21 million price tag was too steep for markham to pay simply to preserve the historic grounds and rightly so other municipal responsibilities further up the priority ladder demand available budgetary funds the markham and east york agricultural society shouldnt stand alone in the guilt circle if the fairground sale was tendered and appraised as pointed out by solicitor paul mingay on several occasions a higher price could have been secured it is understandable that the fair board felt that a llarger- site was needed to offer markham residents a better fair but negotiating a sale of such a valuable parcel of property without advertising or having it appraised is contrary to all aspects of good business kiwanis club of markham president ted napier said recently that the service group was taking a nonpolitical stand against the sale and called the closeddoor negotiation a downright shame but the fight isnt over yet when the developer applies to the town for rezoning the site as pointed out by mayor tony roman all people opposed to the sale will have an op portunity then to make known their protest sugar and spice were stupid once a year by bill smiley ecstatically thats the cat not my were stupid once a year by bill smiley theres no place like home as some wise man or woman once said i think most likely it was a man for a woman home means washing clothes and dishes eternally scrubbing dirt making beds and all those other rotten jobs that make homemaking a dirty word for a man itmeans a good hot cup of tea instead of lukewarm coffee a meal that tastes like food instead of wet kleenex clean sheets would be like asking a caribou why he runs smelling of sun and going around in his back and forth with wolves snapping at his underwear and bare feet if he jolly well feels belly wife i havent the slightest idea why but every summer when sensible people fleeing like lemmings from the city the old girl and i take off from our sylvan retreat in the heart of tourist land and head for the concrete canyons of the same city theresno intelligence let alone common sense in it we cant afford it we dont even like it but we go dont ask me for a logical explanation it like it thats exactly what im enjoying today after four days in the city ive just had a decent cup of tea a great slurpy bacon and tomato sandwich and im in my shorts and bare feet weve just had our annual splurge in the city and even my wife gave a groan of pure pleasure as we pulled into our driveway last night and the cat came running to greet us flinging herself on her back and rolling her editors mail dear sir its nice to see that after numerous complaints the town has taken the bull by the horns and at least cut the grass at the stouffville railway station after a long wait the wilderness down blake st that is the railway rightofway has also been trimmed its amazing now our railway can maintain such unkempt premises when we hear all the time that theyre trying to attract more business to the line as an oldtimer here i can well remember when this corner of grass at the station was always a picture of lawn and flowers as a- former torontonian i cant help but notice how far removed this is from the way in which the ttc keeps its properties i thought they were both in the same business nathan hickson stouffville children from all over the town of markham lake part in various activities and games under the supervision of councillors and sponsored by the towns parks and recreation department this circle of youngsters had their outing recently at the victoria square community centre mike gerhardt heels and the wolves are there in the city just waiting for us caribou unfortunately they dont look like wolves so you dont know whats happening to you until youre ham strung the look like cabdrivers and waiters and bartenders but one cant blame the wolves can one thats what they are for to weed out the cripples well i can tell you that if you are not crippled at least financially after a few days in the city youve been staying with your relatives for some reason we always stay in the best hotel after all it costs only about three days pay for each night in the swank joint this is part of the whole midsummer mad ness and what the heck its only three dollars each to see a movie and what the shoot room service charges only 150 for a pot of coffee and a meagre 150 for a sandwich and of course you cant take it with you so spread it around a little and then theres the swimming the big hotels have a swimming pool of course only the common people swim in the pool thats what we tell- ourselves every time we remember weve forgotten our swim suits this is about the point where i start to pound my head thinking of the milelong stretch of clean white sand and clean blue water back home bui theres one thing ill say about the city in summer its cool oh not out with the rabblei on the streets they i understand sweat just like the rest of us but in the big hotels and the bars and the restaurants airconditioning has worked a miracle or something you can almost go into some of them without an overcoat some of the bars are so uncool the waiters dont even have blue lips but in most of them the customers are sitting around racked with pneumonia and arthritis i dont know why im complaining nobody forced me a go to the city and if anyone tried it would be like attempting to force a mule to walk backward i wouldnt go there if you paid meespecially in the sum mer but i went i guess it was for my wifes sake she loves a few days in a big hotel no laundry no meals to cook no brains however the annual stupidity is over again and as i said its great to be home no more of that ridiculous wasting of money on things priced seven times too high no problems like that at home nothing here but the old cat and the new woodpiles lets open the mail might be a nice fan letter yike town taxes 48400 fuel bill from last winter 13000 bank manager wants to see me i guess its back to the city tie argyle syndicate 40amin 4nuunl roaming around by chnolan so youre getting old so youre getting old isnt it awful dont you believe it youll find there are many compensations true my hair is gray though im still a few years short of pension age i do have to resort to a cane but my head is working right however to a great many i can be considered old now think of the compensations of middle life right away you dont have to worry about what youre going to do with your life as youve pretty well done it hopefully youve stopped worrying about a lot of things the most of which never happen whatever your job is your ability has been established so that too can be struck off as a concern being in the newspaper business may help but nevertheless you can stop being upset about what people may be saying about you as it doesnt really matter now you may still have your likes and dislikes but you dont hate anyone anymore you remember theyre getting older too you find out that the simple pleasures are still the best after all even envy can be lift behind envy of someone with a bigger pay cheque a finer house a fancier car the income that you have established over the years seems adequate and along with reasonable health it leaves you satisfied you receive satisfaction from learning that the buildings that were new when you were a boy the movies and plays you thought were so great are now considered quite unique and may even be milestones in en tertainment and architecture political parties have a much more same sameness and you realize that none of them have the answers and the questions will continue to be asked long after youre gone you realize too that all the churches are heading in the same direction all trying to get one foot in heaven by one route or anolher any time spent worrying over whether this one is right and the other one wrong can be put aside you have ceased trying to be or wanting to be consistent with everyone else in their excitement over parties snowmobiles politics and a host of other modern day ad ventures and the feeling is gone so youre getting old dont worry its not all that bad not all bad while we know that a large number of residents look on the continual development and building of new homes in town with considerable misgivings there must be something said in favor of sctiic new areas the acreage of the former booth farm south of summit view school and par ticularly that portion stretching to main st has been an unsightly brush patch for some years to have this land developed with streets and new homes will certainly be an improvement if only to the eye the main st portion of this residential plan has been on the books now for some ten years its pleasing to know the ultimate cleanup is in sight