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4 the tribune thursday february 1c 1978 fte wrtfmne john montgomery editor established 188 charles h nolan publisher barre beacock advertising manager editorial dept aaaeret la mure keith rolender oisplav aovertisino dept lais widemaa art 0on business office jul marmmaa derm deacon eileen clover published every thursday at s4 main sf stouhville ont tel 1402101 toronto phone ml ims single copies mc subscriptions sit os pr year ia canada lit m elsewhere member o audit bureau ol circulation ctmdim community newspapers association and ontario wnkiy newspapers association second cuss mail registration number otn the tribune it one of the inland publishino co limned group ol suburban newspapers which includes the aiaiwhtty pickering news advertiser brampton guardian burlington pest etobicoke gaiette markham economist jnd sun newmarket aurora ett oakville beaver oshawa this week and mississauga news 6402100 3611680 editorials we told you so is music to our ears although it is ungracious to gloat it is occasionally very pleasant to point out in stances where we have been proved correct it was very gratifying to read the con servation authority report on lehmans pond the tribune as well as a goodly number of townspeople opposed councils decision as part of the planning for the dulverton sub division to fill in the pond in editorials we took the position that the 30 years ago this week excerpts from the february 12 1948 issue of the tribune what happened to five fish when prov cons harry kift and merlin mackie finally did get home after spending an anxious night on the frozen surface of lake simcoe when they couldnt start their pljie because of subzero weather they had five lake trout they had caught during their en forced stay on the ice heres what happened to the five fish two went to prov const hodgson and keast of oshawa for searching the beaverton area for the missing men one went to george hurren manager of the ontario county flying club who spotted them 14 miles from shore and then flew them out to duclos point the remaining two fish went to the families of kift and mackie kift and mackie had landed on the ice with a light plane but the engine froze up and they couldnt take off we borrowed some coals in a pail from a fisherman and attempted to warm up the engine but it was no use mackie said one dollar per fly a reward amounting to 1 per fly to anyone who can find a fly in its plant has been offered by a fish packing plant in tilgham maryland our company is offering 10 to anyone who can find 10 flies in our crab fish and canning plants warehouse or machine shop at any time said a recent announcement ddt was employed to spray the entire plant and the surrounding area to date no one has qualified for the award pond would be a boon to the school to be built a short distance away whereas council members felt the pond might constitute a drowning hazard the report dovetailed almost exactly with our own views on the subject the document does have a few disclaimers on it though as it was produced on an informal basis on the request of the mayor and is not an official authority report however it does provide a thorough over view of the area and its authors are experts at assessing land for potential park and con servation uses the study indicated that the area is already well used as a passive recreational area we cannot understand the continued opposition of councillors bill kamps and bill mcnalley it seems to us that mr kamps who apparently feels the area might be used for nefarious purposes is suggesting that the town make all plans in order to accommodate the worst elements in the community rather than the majority who are lawabiding residents we strongly disagree with mr mc nalley s statement that the pond preserved would be a duplication of the flood control pond we would say rather that lehmans pond would be a fine addition to that parkland although the conservation area consists of 100 acres the greater portion of the property is constituted of swamp which is impassable at most times of the year only the area south and east of the darri is actually used on a regular basis for walking that is why it is important that the town take steps to ensure there will be a good system of nature trails in the town before it is too late our final i told you so comes in at this point in the dec 19 issue of the tribune we printed an editorial urging the town to provide a link between the flood control dam leh mans pond and the town park that is exactly what is suggested in the conservation authority report if this idea is followed through stouffville could end up with a model park system if this land is destroyed it will be an inestimable loss to the community especially to the young people who will turn increasingly to antisocial behaviour if access to a handy and unspoiled outdoor environment is cut off winters light winter isnt all snowdrifts and traffic jams as this untrameled expanse of snow and woods at braces mill illustrates john montgomery editors mail strandedinstorm given bums rush helped by others dear sir please find a little corner in your paper for this letter it is hard to believe there is such a difference in people however in this case the good outnumbered the bad on our way borne from a three day trip in the winnebago we were caught in the storm on highway 48 thursday jan 26 we were tied up in a bad accident for two hours or more in the meantime our beating fuel for the winnebago ran out we were cola and badly shaken up the police directed us into stouffville here we stopped at the shopping plaza where we had to stay until friday as no one could see to drive in the terrible storm even in the plaza you could hardly see or walk due to the high winds and blowing snow i started into the liquor store and as i entered the manager bellowed out that they were closing and before i could explain our trouble to him he pushed me backwards out onto the street with such force he hurt my neck no humane man would put a dog out in that storm never mind shoving a 65 year old woman out in it i went into the drug store and i sincerely want to thank the lady in the drug store for helping us and giving us water also the people in the variety store for their first aid help and to mr simpson of the a p store our sincere thanks for without your help mr simpson im sure we would have frozen before morning he realized we were in trouble and came to our rescue to all those who helped in the storm we thank you with all our hearts gratefully yours mrs gwen watson mrs y baudrealt mr c baudrealt gary ave hamilton ive been clara macaauff ined you look like joe commented my young brotherinlaw tom of my beard and hair which have become drastically shorter since friday joe who i innocently inquired not meaning any reference to the joe who in ottawa joe stalin now wait aminute which reminds me of the time i was clara macmuffined by gord ness into appearing on the stouffville show which is aired on cable 10 in the midst of what proved to be a brutal interrogation bob lewis asked me if i was an environmentalist actually at the time it sounded like an accusation and in response to some wellspring of paranoia deep within myself i found myself stoutly denying it although i do in fact have considerable in terest in environmental issues oh what makes you think that i mumbled well youve got a beard he replied which was probably the high point of what proved a very bad business indeed most of the interview involved complicated multi part questions answered with slurred monosyllables and followed by painful silences film crew members on the sidelines would occasionally exclaim in tones of bewilderment he seemed normal enough a few minutes ago luckily i did something else that so outraged the shows viewers that it completely wipes from the minds any recollection of my mr potatoheadstyle performance it was of course the tribunes bane beer that caused the problems i decided to quaff a beer as a means of relaxing myself and as the crew had taken prolonged measures to relax themselves to an amazing degree i could see no harm in it i was given a bottle and sat down to drink by john montgomery anyway since i said very little the principal impression the shows estimated 13 viewers have is of me sitting there not saying much and taking hearty swallows from the bottle bob lewis of course came off looking okay as he sat there primly sipping from a coffee cup rr which by the way did not contain coffee oh well as my old philosophy instructor sed to say thats the difference between appearance and reality but of course nobody ever listened to him either clara macmuffin is stouffville show producer gord ness portrayal of the perfect mrs stouffville my look how literary were getting footnotes and everything window on wildlife snow buntings appear by artbriggsjude kids stuff daring rescue by two persian cats by sheila cober one fine snowy day i decided to go skating the pond was behind the house i got my skidoo suit and my skates on i walked staggered and tripped my way down to the pond by myself i got to the pond and started skating after a while i decided to try a spot further over everything was ok then suddenly as i skimmed along something dreadful happened the ice cracked sending me into the freezing water meanwhile back at the house my two pet persian pussies ruffus and puffus had a sudden urge to come to the pond they trotted to the door begging to be let out my mother immediately opened the door the pussies clambered down the hill to where i was stranded and found me puffus put her tail into the water ruffus grabbed onto puffuss and pulled and pulled gradually inch by inch as i was hanging onto puffuss tail they pulled me out my darling adorable persian pussies i cried hugging them then i slowly crawled up to the house after i got into warm dry clothes i tried to thank them but they just purred contentedly glad they had done their good deed for the day tell us what it is this nifty item is still available in bard- ware stores it looks like a cross between a cow and a rhinoceros bot is actually quite practical the first correct entry drawn wins a 5 prize no multiple choice answers or adult entries will be considered the winners name will appear in next weeks tribune sheila is in grade 6 at dickson hill monster at our house by jason feddema once there was a monster at our house he looked like a bear eating red ice cream i looked at him out of my bedroom window and he frightened me out of the door i tippytoed past him and i went and got my dad my dad went and got his gun and shot the bad bear the bear was really nice and my dad only used a plastic bullett before he went home i gave him some more ice cream jason is a goodwood ps kindergarten pupil at one of the many outdoor bonuses derived from feeding the wild birds in winter is the arrival of a new or unusual species as mentioned before it may only be a common robin or some other such bird but the ap pearance of it in the blustery days of winter creates quite a stir often it triggers a whole chain reaction of questions whatever would a robin be doing here in the snow you ask yourself when it could be down in southwest florida having a ball on the berries of the brazilian pepper bush why didnt that cowbird continue its migration to the southern states did the recent storm with its drifting snow drive those mourning doves to local feeders this past week many of these and other queries remain unanswered and we can only speculate on the real reasons for the creatures being in these abnormal situations at other times the riddle is solved by the general appearance of the bird itself often a slightly dropped wing a noticeable limp or missing tail feathers signal the fact the bird has met with an ac cident an aerial collision with a wire tall structure or window glass although often a fatal encounter sometimes only sets the stunned birds off their migration schedule in other instances a hawk or cat will strike merely a glancing blow and their intended victim though slightly injured will escape later when others of their kind have gone south these now recovered birds find local feeding shelves there is no doubt the weather sometimes has a strong influence on birds there are cases on record of high winds carrying seabirds many miles inland or severe storms bringing western birds to eastern backyards such happenings were much in evidence after hurricanes hazel 1954 and donna 1960 these catastrophic winds carried many tropical seabirds along in their cyclonic eyes depositing them dead or exhausted thousands of miles from their usual habitat possibly the prime reason for many northern songbirds to arrive at winter feeding stations is a dwindling natural food supply when the keys of box elder soft maple are stripped clean evening grosbeaks literally pour into feeding shelves for sunflower seeds the trim little tree sparrows and the red- capped redpools also arrive when the weed heads in the fields and hedgerows are covered with snow sometimes it takes a series of unusual circumstances to lure unaccustomed birds to feeding stations such was the case in our area when recent deep snows covered almost all the vegetation in the neighbouring fields normally a walk across these open spaces will reward you with the sighting of a flock of snow buntings these polar snowbirds of ann murrays vocal rendition do not normally perch in trees and rarely if at all appear at feeding stations this time however they changed their routine for when a wagon bin of grain was being moved into the albert heise farm a half concession north of gormley the deep ruts in the railway track caused some spillage a wave of wandering snow buntings moving as they often do along the railway line spied the loose piles of oats and barley making repeated visits the hungry birds swept in and out of the crossing until in a day or so all the dropped grain was gone now roy heise who has more than a passing interest in birds decided he liked these nomadic wanderers running around on the snow just outside the front gate he also noted the food they had first come for was almost all gone so he sprinkled another pail of cull wheat and cracked corn in the lane to say the birds appreciated the mans offering would be an understatement in fact from a flock of six or seven dozen birds the buntings have increased until there are well over three hundred individuals not only that but when the feed is low in the lane the rusttinted birds come tumbling into his feeding station here they perch on the trees wires fences and cover the ground all within 30 feet of the front door snow buntings are a handsome addition to our winter scene whether theyre flashing black and white underparts against a clear blue sky or running like animated leaves across the snowy fields sometimes when a sudden squall sweeps in from the north the plump oriolesized birds crouch down in the snow like sleddogs riding out a storm for like all life forms of the arctic barrens they have learned to utilize the protective properties of the snow this past week roy heise told me he now has some idea of how jack miner must have felt when the wild geese began to arrive in such numbers as to exhaust his seed supply and like that kingsville conservationist roy has also experienced a quickening pulse for its a sight not soon forgotten when hundreds of trusting wings swoop in to his offerings this week it was especially so as two lapland longspurs also dropped in to join the feast 0 a