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

sa4 wednesday march 7 1984 editors mail enjoyed through your newspaper i wish to express our familys appre ciation to the principal and staff of dicksons hill public school for caravan night truly an eye- opening experience not being native to this country our children are the program gave us a much broader view of what other cultures have to offer and how fortunate we are to have folks from other lands besides our own in our midst admittedly this mingling of races cultures and creeds can cre ate problems particularly in big cities projects like caravan help to break down these barriers and dis pel petty bigotry from the people i talked to everyone seemed pleased and proud of the program offered by dicksons hill school that evening according to the comments i read in your newspaper you were im pressed also kathryn palmer rr 2 markham education dear mr thomas on feb 23 i was proud to be jamaican i am proud also to be canadian and so are our children i would have been equally proud to be african french or swiss these and other races were part of the caravan concert at dicksons hill school it was an exciting ex perience the teachers and the students were totally involved in this project and from the number of people in attendance their enthusiasm obviously rubbed off on their pa rents this was not just a program it was an education adults as well as students learned a lot more than the principal and staff will ever know sincerely anthony ribeiro fincham avenue markham feb 28 1984 a school day or fun day the tribune james thomas editor established 1888 bruce annan publisher pat pappas advertising manager editorial dept jim holt audrey green display advertising dept terri bernhardt real estate classified advertising joan marshman circulation manager doreen deacon national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 published every wednesday by metroland printing publishing distributing at 54 main st stouffville ont te 6402100 single copies 40 subscriptions 1650 per year in canada 4500 elsewhere member of canadian community newspapers association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press coun cil and suburban newspaper of america second class mail registration number 0896 thestouffville tribune isone of the metroland group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press the aurora banner ajaxpickering news advertiser the bolton enterprise the brampton guardian the burlington post the burlington weekend post the etobicoke advertiserguardian the georgetown independent markham economist sun the milton champion the mississauga news the newmarket era the north york mirror oakville beaver oakville friday beaver oshawa this week oshawa this weekend richmond hill liberal thornhill liberal the scarborough mirror the stouffville tribune and woodbridge liberal metroland printing publishing distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises limited 6402100 6402101 smile awhile any port in a storm by audrey green editorials good news for town good news comes in threes as the saying goes except for maybe triplets the cliche usually holds true the less optimistic might also say the same of news thats bad unfortunately this often holds true also on the positive side two good news reports came to light in whitchurch- stouffville this week at least we consid er them good were now awaiting the third no 1 is the fact phase ii of the dulver- ton development fairgate heights will proceed this spring the demand for quality homes already completed or in the process of being completed has been such as to convince the builder its economically feasible to continue con struction the building moratorium during the winter months was in our opinion an excellent decision it allowed workers and realtors an opportunity to finish up and sell whats already there and at the same time permit the developer to feel out the market for the future theres no denying the fact builder frank mauro of stouffville has a quality product the faith town council placed in him after viewing several of his sub divisions in scarborough has been strengthened by the beautiful homes now established here since the develop ment was started back in june 83 this newspaper hasnt received a single com plaint from newhome owners this in deed sets it apart from many subdivi sions in york region where repeated callbacks for repairs and alterations have been common even anticipated not so in stouffville and theres no reason to believe this quality workman ship will not continue no 2 on the good news front is the dis closure that the satellite village prop osed by the firefighters bethesda group is not dead rather it would seem very much alive sufficiently alive to prompt the towns planning advisory committe to call a public meeting poss ibly late april or early in may this selfcontained community would if approved include close to 100 lots and when completed about 1500 people the site extends from cone 4 woodbine avenue through to cone 5 warden avenue on parts of two golf courses currently owned by the firefighters club this is a daring proposal one that either boggles the mind or sparks the imagination we trust the town and its residents will regard it in the latter light stranded in a single word thats how im spending this evening its almost midnight and here i sit at my desk trying to churn out words from my befuddled brain all day long radio announcers warned motorists to stay off the roads because of an impending blizzard becoming more alarmist as the storm approached until finally it hit and routes were jammed crammed and treacherous as the weather steadily deteriorated i frantically worked faster to complete my assignments hoping against hope i could inch my way home before dark however darkness closed in the storm closed in and i never made it out the front door on two previous occasions this winter i found myself caught in the mist of heavy snowfalls and although they didnt appear all that serious the visibil ity or lack thereof tended to make driving extremely dangerous tonight i argued with myself on whether or not to take such risks my destination either to toronto or king city one of the two places i stay seemed light years away major high ways had been closed and the mtc con tinued to repeat warnings of hazardous driving conditions the great debate became less difficult as i imagined myself stranded alone on a deserted road buried in a six foot deep drift my mind was finally made up when i received a telephone call from my mother telling me ordering me to stay put spending the night at the office isnt quite my idea of fun but it sure beats the chills and thrills of old man winter our editor jim thomas and sports writer jim holt bundled up about five hours ago to make their way down to the north york plant where the paper is printed they invited me along but i flatly refused the invitation after sitting alone for awhile i de cided to organize my survival kit food is a number one priority so i headed for the local iga a few steps down the street arms full of groceries i returned to the office ready for anything since i knew i would probably spend little time sleeping i made sure to buy a deck of cards to help occupy my time as i un packed a box of crackers a package of soup apple juice fruit and donuts i fi gured if boredom hit at least i could keep my stomach busy pacing about the office i contracted a case of itchy feet i wanted to get out and do something anything as i sit here writing i glance at my watch and wonder if jim and jim are okay or if theyrestuck in a snowbank somewhere oops just a minute i think i hear something yes theyve returned and in one piece jim holt has decided not to risk driv ing home to ballantrae so now at least i have someone to keep me company as we munch on donuts and drink tea jim and i keep eyeing each other wondering what the heck were going to do so out comes the deck of cards twenty games of gin rummy later we figure enough is enough its 3 am and since im not tired i think ill work on my expense account to do this however i need a book from my car excuse me while i talk jim into accompanying me as the hour strikes four we decide to get some sleep jim being a gentleman offers me the sofa and he gallantly takes up a rather unorthodox position in a bat tered old chair as i open my eyes that look like road- maps the time is 815 am and i feel terrible by now the winds have died down and i consider it safe to depart you can bet however that when the next blizzard hits ill be gone with the arrival of the first snowflake yes theres no place like home but in an emergency any port in a storm is acceptable window on wildlife sure signs of spring by art briggsjude display of dedication school teachers at both the elementary and secondary level are often subjected to criticism some of it justified most of it not last weeks storm that closed several schools in york region introduced a prac tice that while known to the profession had not been revealed to the public its a policy whereby stormstayed teachers travel by whatever means avail able to the school closest their residence while not included in the regional boards list of procedures instructors reacted to an emergency situation in an extremely professional manner their effi ciency was such that programs normally reduced or cancelled for want of inclass instruction continued as scheduled in a couple of instances emergency staffing outnumbered the vacancies and in others teachers outnumbered the students we appreciate this kind of dedication its another positive aspect of an often maligned profession a successful show another success story for staff and students of sdss variety show 84 this year extended into a third evening attracted large au diences every night the organization that must go into a program of this kind is tremendous in that participants are of different age and grade levels and different locations- some living in markham added to this was the snowstorm of feb 28 that cre ated further problems all adversitieswere overcome however resulting in three evening of excellent entertainment this show has established itself as an annual event at stouffville high may it long continue one day last week while bringing in yet another armful of firewood from the pile behind the house i saw something that we havent seen in nearly four months though it was only a house fly its appearance on the outside rather than the inside of the window was a cause for mild jubilation for this small seemingly insignificant observation in the midst of a mild spell was by itself just a wink in old mother natures eye however when coupled with other signs of the times it revealed the first trace of weakness in that stubborn wild bull moose of a winter weve all experienced this season oh it hasnt finished yet itll bellow and blow and kick snow around for poss ibly six weeks or so itll cha rge out of the north at times with cold calculating fury and itll drive you inside with its threatening gestures yet in between these savage attacks when youre re- sistence is all but spent and youre be ginning to wonder how long this crazed creature called winter is going to con tinue its cold capers therell be the odd good break days like today when the thermometer shakes of f the marks of the deep freeze the creeks start to sing again and the birds at your feeder change from competitors to compati bles so if you want to close your eyes for a moment to the balance of winter blahs and open them to the overtures of spring you dont have far to look for starters take a peek at the setting sun its hang ing on the horizon a little longer each evening and that gradual increase in sunlight will soon bemaking sugar out of the deepest snow drifts another kind of sugar soon in the making too is that coming from the sap of the maples if you havent noticed the syrup people poking around in the woodlots getting things ready youll sure see the new spiles and buckets in the hardware and feed stores and while your 1984 seed catalog may have come early in the new year its the appearance of the seed packets themselves in these same stores that really starts you thinking positive about spring but there are other sights and sounds outdoors that give rise to optimism in regard to the changing season the swelling of the tree buds the mating calls of the great horned owls the double sets of fox tracks and the occurance of the horned larks along the roadside all provide proof and promise of good days ahead cause while were cussing the cold the good earth is quietly going ab out its business changing little things hero and there and one day in the not too distant future its going to boot old man winter right out in the aspens and come up itself all smelling like roses sights lines where is your dog tonite this question should be fore most in the minds of pet owners these late winter evenings its a proven fact that neighborhood dogs kill more deer than wolves do in our area a dead dog or a very live summons are two options you might think about hoping the ministry of natural resources wont cut the budgets on outdoor education program mes is not enough write to mnr minister alan pope and tell him to days kids and tomorrows country needs it editors mail a twoway benefit dear editor ive heard many suggestions as to the future of the former cards hardware store on main street i feel the lower floor should be come a walkin mall six or eight small shops with apartments above this way it would be both a com mercial and a residential benefit to the downtown core it would also produce a substantial income for the owner that in time would more than compensate him for his invest ment sincerely harry colby north street stouffville