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a4 tribune july 24 1985 editors mail location dear editor i dont believe people donated to the markham stouffville hospit al fund with a particular site in mind they gave because they felt such a facility was needed somewhere in the markham- stouffville area in my opinion location within reason is not of prime importance all one need do is check hospital sites in other communities most are in what one might consider out of the way places however such facilities are constructed with the future in mind whats out of the way today could be the centre of population tomorrow sincerely walter brennan rr 1 markham tovn of iwhrrcrlurchsto recreation centre assumed dear jim i am writing in reference to the article in the tribune of july 17 related to gravel truck operators being charged with fraud and ob structing police in the story two of the accused were said to be living on north street in stouffville as it is your newspapers policy not to publish the names of accused i think you should also omit other identifying information this item caused my next door neighbor also a gravel truck oper ator much embarrassment he is not the accused but since his truck is the only one visible on north street many people of course may have come to the wrong conclusion in future perhaps the only iden tifying information should be resi dent of whitchurchstouffville sincerely fran baker north street stouffville the tribune ontario n james thomas asocion editor established 1888 bruce annan pat pappas jenn hutt publisher advertising manager distribution manager editorial dept chris shanahan kelly connelly display advertising dept lois wideman real estate classified advertising joan marshman distribution doreen deacon national sales representative metrotand corporate sales 4931300 published every wednesday by metroland printing publishing distributing at 54 mam st stouffville ont tel 6402100 single copies 50 subscriptions 1700 per year in canada s4750 elsewhere member of canadton community newspapers association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press council and suburban newspaper of america second cass mail registration number 0896 trie stouffville tribune is one of the metroland groupof suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxpickering news advertiser the aurora banner brampton guardian the burlington post the 8urlington weekend post the etobicoke advertiserguarrjian the georgetown independent the milton champion the mississauga news the newmarket era the willowdale mirror oakville beaver oakville friday beaver oshswawhitby this week oshawawhitby this weekend the richmond hill liberal thor- nhill liberal the scarborough mirror the markham economist and sun and woodbridge liberal metroland printing publishing and distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd 6402100 6492292 roaming around julia started it all by jim thomas editorials priceless commodity a property with a polluted well is worthless until the situation is cor rected in the ballantrae area of whitchurch- stouffville 76 wells have been or are being tested for contaminants forty- one of these have been condemned while 28 others are listed as not desirable property devaluation is one thing this can be rectified health problems are another the risks are great where a well any well is suspect re sidents should be advised not to use the water but for how long this is the question members of council want answered if the situation facing homeowners at ballantrae is compareable to that of re sidents in claremont wed suggest a long long time the claremont situation has been going on over two years with no solution yet in sight while public health authorities of the region of york and officials of the pro vincial environment ministry have amassed a volume of facts and figures on the ballantrae case were mystified by two missing links with respect to fri days meeting one relates to an incom plete testdrill report particularly with wells tapping into the middle and lower aquifers the other was the absence of a representative from the ministry of transport since its a known fact that highway salt is a main pollutent an offi cial from that department should cer tainly have attended as for an immediate permanent solu tion forget it the environment minis try doesnt have the money and neither does the town at this time of year homeowners too might find additional funds in short supply the main requirement as chief admi nistrative officer edward lundman pointed out is to submit an application prior to the oct 1 deadline so money can be allocated in 1986 in the meantime residents with sus pect wells must buy their waterand keep the bills who will pay directly or indirectly we all will but who can put a dollar fi gure on pure water its a priceless com modity with due respect to susie our family beagle i have to think horses are the most intelligent ianimals in the world also the most beautiful i care not the breed the color or the class theres something about a horse that commands attention while more acquainted with the work variety clydesdales belgians and percherons im just as attracted to pac ers trotters hunters and jumpers even moreso when the occupant in the sulky or the saddle is someone young and inex perienced whitchurchstouffville has many of these for even the cathi hargraves the cindy kennedys and the julie roys didnt attain champion status over night practice makes perfect years and years of practice aiding the cause is the ballantrae and district lions club the ballantrae lions hosted their 5th annual horse show sunday it was a tremendous suc cess although time wouldnt permit me to spend the entire day there i was pleased to view the morning classes also watch ing from the sidelines was a lady who more than anyone is responsible for this competition she started it all said a club mem ber pointing in the same direction i was looking the centre of our attention was julia plewes formerly of stouffville and now manager of lincolndale farms rr 1 goodwood minutes later id cor nered julia and under the shade of an old maple tree we talked about her asso ciation with horses and young people bringing the two together to form a mutual admiration society born on a farm in england julia was practically raised seated in a saddle i did pretty much the same as these kids are doing she said reflecting back on her preteen years then at age eighteen she came to canada but horses took a back seat for awhile however the interest was still there as a public school teacher in the region of durham she established a horseback riding course involving stu dents from five high schools as many as twenty young people a night would gather for personal instruction at the hockey ranch in pickering then daughter suzanne now twelve arrived on the scene and julia put aside her classroom career in favor of full- time motherhood while this remains allimportant to julia so also are horses she finds she can combine the two interests after 2 a years as manager of the eglinton equestrian centre in north york julia was offered the position of manager at lincolndale farms good wood she sees this as the best of two worlds working with horses and rais ing her daughter in a rural environment will suzanne be an avid equestrienne like her mother i asked i dont push her julia replied right now shes enjoying it thats the main thing this is what julia stresses enjoyment participation is more im portant than winning she says and this is what she likes about the ballan trae show participation is top priority one thing incenses julia those people who insist on being paid for everything they do she fears this is a trend today and it bothers her this is why she holds lionism in such high regard everything the members do is volunteer theyre terrific she says julia says people helping people is im portant this practice is disappearing in a monetary world she notes some what dejectedly shes pleased such is not the case with respect to the ballan trae horse show and she hopes the event will continue members dave probert and charlie warden are prime pushes behind the project however both dave and char lie are the first to admit that except for the enthusiasm shown by one julia imewes it may never have got off the ground the town says thank you r- on wildlife paying for stupidity ringtailed robbers by art briggs-jude- two fire vehicles and two police cruis ers were despatched to a private demoli tion derby sunday near the intersection of cone 5 warden avenue and the stouffville road while the alarm wasnt called in by any of the participants the f ct one cars burst into flames was reason enough for someone to summon assistance so who pays the same people who keep on paying for others stupidity from what weve been able to learn this highrisk event was held without au thority few if any precautionary safe guards were taken organizers are for tunate no one was seriously injured or killed town council is continually criticized for negative attitudes most of us feel were overregulated and over- legislated however if the green light was granted every request major prob lems would result if there were no reg ulations chaos would occur had organizers of sundays derby asked permission they undoubtedly would have been turned down so it was held without approval and the munici pality was called in after the fact it was obviously an error on someones part for which he or she should pay town needs a motto our town needs a motto while the recommendation has prompted little in terest among the general populace were convinced an identifiable feature is required other municipalities have one why not whitchurchstouffville to this end mayor tom wood has a suggestion the friendliest town in ontario wc like it its all encompassing it stircs community pride and its true a survey conducted recently indicated we are indeed the friendliest town in ontario through the tribune mayor wood puts his suggestion forward as just that- a suggestion he wants to know what others think and so do wc so please let us know if you agree say so if you dont then offer alternatives wc feel the mottos ordination should be made part of our festival program in 1986 hes been called a lot of things de pending on the occasion ringtailed cat blackfaced bandit and little masked bear are all common names for the well- known raccoon the indians named it aroughcun which means he scratches with his hands they prized it for food and its thick fur for warmth its one of the few examples of wildlife that seems to thrive in the face of encroaching civilization its equally content in woodlands the suburbs or metropolitan centres in all likelihood the raccoon is more numer ous today than it was when the early ex plorers first charted this continent it ranges over most of the south and cen tral parts of our province and its hand- like tracks often lead from a hole in a tree to a heap of big trouble in the cities its garbage cans gardens attics and chimneys that command their mis chievous attention while in the country its corn crops feed bins and melon patches naturally inquisitive this trait often leads it to a tasty lunch in three different sets of circumst ances recently i have observed the re sults of ravaging raccoons the first was the robbing of a secondbrood bluebird nest situated close to the house i felt a spe cially constructed raccoon guard wasnt necessary how wrong i was fortunate ly the parent birds escaped to nest nearby where protection was available unfortunately this type of thing often happens when a raccoon discovers such nest boxes are potential meal centres it makes periodic visits wood duck nests arc particularly vulnerable they re quire a large metal collar on the support ing pole even when these units are placed in the water the second example involved birds of a different species in the steep side of our sand pit dozens of bank swallows and a pair of king fishers had excavated tunnels for nest ing later we noticed some of these holes had been enlarged and a few dug out completely resulting in losses of eggs and young under each clawedout cavity was the telltale fingerprints of a raccoon i expect the kingfisher caused the in vestigation when it left an aroma of fish after feeding its young other evidence suggesting raccoons arc more than a little nosey arc turfed- out turtle nests were never sure just how many sur vive because those i find have already been victimized such disrupted nest sites arc usually located in sandy places with clusters of broken white egg shells scattered about a close look at the prints identifies the culprit one nest that has so far escaped be coming an egg omelet for these light- fingered furbearers is a snapping tur tles clutch near our house a last ritual every night is to put a wire cage with heavy rock weights over the site theres a fine balance here while the raccoons are busy searching for turtle eggs theyre allowing the wild ducks to hatch there is always speculation as to why animals have certan colors or features in the case of the raccoon its thought the black mask cuts down the glare when foraging beside a stream much the same as a football or baseball player ap plying shadow under his eyes the tail rings also stand out against the greyishbrown body fur signalling a mate or its young while the raccoon population nose dived after a severe distemper outbreak several years ago theres no shortage of them now trappers in the carlcton place district for example harvested close to 2800 during the past season the average pelt price is about thirtyfive dollars the switch to corn from other crops in some parts of ontario has been a boon to these sometimes mischivcous and often playful creatures that can grow in ac cess of thirty pounds apiece