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

a4 tribune august 7 1985 editors mail confusing i dear editor i agree with the festival com- jmittees decision to group the 86 events into a shorter time frame this year while i enjoyed the activities i attended i thought there was too much of a laps be tween one main event and another valmost like the festival was over when in reality there was more still to come i think this confused a jot of people j the outdoor worship service on the sunday was excellent also the canada day social july 1 both activities allowed people to meet yheir friends which to many is what community is all about sincerely -j- lois gillespie rr 3 stouffville i admired hto the editor every saturday we drive through your town on our way to the ijflea market this summer my husband and i have often com- lmented on the beauty and cleanli ness of your main street ive never seen it look so lovely ij the hanging baskets once jiadmired only in victoria bc add a touch of color to the business area to the people or the organization j responsible i offer congratula- tions we hope some day to be perma nent residents of the stouffville community until then well have to be satisfied with just passing through one day a week sincerely phyllis davey allanhurst drive toronto wx it thetwfoune established 1888 james thomas bruce annan patpappas jenni hutt editor 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 metroland corporate sales 4931300 published every wednesday by metroland printing publishing d5tnbutngat 54 mam st stouffville ont tel 6402100 singe copies 50 subscriptions s17 00 per year in canada s47 50 elsewhere member of canadian community newspapers association ontano weekly newspaper association ontario press council and suburban newspaper of america second class mail registration number 0896 the stouffville tribune is one of the metroland group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxipickenng news advertiser the aurora banner brampton guardian tho burlington post the burlington weekend post the etobicoke advertiserguardian the georgetown independent the milton champion the mississauga news the newmarket era the willowdale mirror oakville beaver oakville skiti s ea oshawiwhit by this week oshawa whitby this weekend the richmond hill liberal thor- nnill liberal the scarborough mirror the markham economist and sun and woodbridge liberal metroland printing publishing and distributing is a division of harleguin enterprises ltd v roaming around good times recalled by jim thomas m 6402100 6492292 editorials no right to strike iambulance personnel operating out of stouffville and uxbridge have a reason to strike but no right to strike vhile these may sound like conflicting statements separated they make sense ivambulance operators are irritated by itrje fact their buddies employed by the ministry of health earn 128 an hour iiore for doing the same work twhat bothers them too is the fact theyve been without a contract since pan 1 also ministry employees are jnggotiating for a three per cent increase which if successful will widen the wage gap even more ipthe setup that sounds absolutely stu- jpjd is the fact the ambulance here and in itfxbridge is operated by private enter- ijjlise just where ministry jurisdiction fiegins and ends no one seems too sure jfhese men and women operate regula tion vehicles wear regulation uniforms pid pass regulation exams but dont re- jcoive regulation wages is it any wonder jlje province opts for an outside firm to help handle the load under this setup the ministry cant lose but the oper ators lose they do a first class job for second class salaries its grossly unfair the reason to strike has been estab lished the right to strike has not ambu lance personnel like firefighterspolice officers doctors and nurses school teachers postal employees to name only a few perform an essential ser vice when they choose these profes sions they automatically forfeit the right to strike or should lets be realistic what will happen if a child is struck and seriously injured on main street stouffville will the picket ing ambulance operators refuse to re spond surely not for the preservation of life holds priority over labor strife at least we hope it does this we suggest points out how ridi culous strikes are in essential services they must be outlawed in favor of labor courts with the decision binding on all parties reason to be proud stouffvilles main street has become a jtwn beauty spot pi weve heard this said many times this summer not only by people passing jgirough but by local residents as well voften we tend to look to other towns 3ther communities when handing out praise we also tend to make compari sons such as why cant stouffville be aike tg we can still praise other places and we tflon still make comparisons but this jsummer stouffville need not take a back iat to any town tthe flowers are beautiful the trees fare maturing the street and sidewalks arc exceptionally clean the painted hamp posts and fire hydrants are attrac- i our loss somethings missing from the tri bunes editorial page this week un- ijpubtedly most readers will have jijjready noticed for many its the first thing they turn to and have turned to for mtc past sixteen years fevcs pat wheeler our cartoonist has ftstircd not entirely but at least from cartooning for the tribune shell con tinue her humorous masterpieces for the jjprontostar and foroursistcr paper the markham economist and sun but time tjocsnt permit her to continue all three jafc arc the losers and were the first to ejlmit she can never be replaced z- in her sixteen years pat never missed deadline with holidays pending shed yftmplcto several cartoons in advance she never complained even when we re quested the impossible her cat and mouse symbols were a joy to all ages but all good things must end theres a space on page that can never be filled live theres a new feeling of pride with major improvements planned for the eenturyold mansion house and san ders block a new store opening an old store reopening and an enclosed mini- mall proposed for the towns west end all signs point to even better days ahead the month of august means the approach of fall and the approach of fall means the approach of school for many this is true however for many others it also means the approach of plowing match es junior regional international canadian and world no area in ontario becomes more caught up in match matchless plowing competitions than whitchurch- stouffville the fever has involved whole families through several generations and while threatened by urbanization an that has knocked the autumn epedemic for a loop in several communi ties town competitors continue to win more than their share of silverware doubtless its something that gets in the blood only those bitten by the bug fully understand what this means to the urbanite its boring to the ruraliteits little more than hohum but to the professional plowman the competitions so keen entries will en dure all sorts of hardships just to partici pate just ask jim clark stouffvilles man about town who was raised on the ends of two plow handles jim now 72 and a resident at elder- care manor obrien avenue and main street could fill a large book with plow ing match adventures and the names he recalls could fill a plowmans hall of fame jims association with the straight and narrow furrow goes back to age 13 as a jr farmer he was often an entry in what was then called the home plowing competition the clark family farm was located near the corner of hwy 7 and woodbine avenue more often referred to as browns corners he was a winner in classes 16 and under and 18 and under jim came by his plowing skills honest ly his father the late bill clark reeve of the twp of markham was one of the best in the business like it was yesterday jim recalls the international match on the jail farm property at langstaff in 1927 the late fred timbers father of stouffvilles george and carl timbers won firsi prize all four days and bill clark placed second who was the best of that day i asked it was like a teetertotter replied jim tactfully on any given day one would beat the other however names like fred and eddie timbers were mentioned specifically along with dave and gardham tran bert kennedy and herb jarvis herb has since switched from horses to tractor and still keeps on winning win timbers was mainly a tractor plowman jim says and a mighty good one too whos the best today jims even more careful claiming its unfair for him pass judgment on the pre sent generation because he hasnt seen them plow that much still he places floyd forsyth and herb jarvis up near if not at the head of the pack jim can relate stories both humorous and hairraising he recalls cam ken nedy now of little britain driving a team home from a match at edgele east of woodbridge when the fog was so thick he could hardly see the horses heads he didnt reach his destination until four oclock in the morning jims plowed in snow sleet and rain conditions so bad some teams refused to pull at owen sound in 1933 jim- and rich jarvis represented york county at the international there were 45 in the class rich came first and jim second i never saw so many groundhog holes in my life he said the competitors slept in tents he re called when they woke in the morning the ground was covered with frost while the weather was cool no one overwent hungry all you qould cat tor 25 cents jim remembers a brand new horse plow couuibe purchased for 35 and the shears for thirtyfive cents probably cost ten dollars today if you could find one he said jim no longer drives a car so travell ing from match to match isnt possible but he follows the progress of competi tors closely and he remembers the good days the fun and the fellowship memories that will live on forever jim clark editors mail his term too short dear editor now that the fats in the fire fran sainsbury has announced her quest for the mayoralty i suppose it will be open season as far as let terwriters are concerned i wish to make my comments brief i dont know mayor wood perso nally but i feci hes done and is doing a creditable job while the choice was his to make following someone like eldred king must have been difficult it would have been difficult for anyone even someone more experienced than mr wood i feel he hasnt had an opportunity to show his true stripes nine months is a relatively short time three years from now we all would be better judges of his perform ance i think he should be given a chance to prove himself steve archer rr 3 stouffville a summer sports and leadership program organized by the whitchurchstouffville parks and recreation depart ment has been enthusiastically received by the membership including left to right chrisy ilurrlc kelly stewart weir lori upton and andrea mcgowan jim thomas excellent program dear editor when i first learned about the leadership program introduced for a first time by the whitchurch- stouffville parks and recreation department i had no idea it would involve so many interesting activi ties our two children would have loved a few hours out on the golf course not to speak of the trip to centre island and cullcn gardens through your paper im wonder ing if the program could be adver- tised earlier next summer so people like myself could make plans well in advance most parents are thinking about camp holidays etc long be fore school is out at the end of june for many kids enjoyment and outdoor education can be found close to home through a leadership program as was provided in town this summer if our son and daugh ter meet the age criteria id surely like to enroll them in 1986 sincerely helen higgs hemlock drive stouffville