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a4 tribune may 20 1987 editors mail growth through the tribune i wish to commend ward 3 alderman jim rae for arranging the public meet ing in the lemonville community centre april 15 as a comparative newcomer to the neighborhood i found it ex tremely informative also it allowed my wife and i to meet some of the folks we knew only by face and not by name regardless of the outcome id like to see our node grow but not to the extent of ballantrae or even bloomington new homes bring new residents and new neighbors it makes for a more viable hamlet and could lead to future get- togethers such as the one i enjoyed so much last month fred edwards whitchurchstouffville popular an earlier letter from mrs joyce edwards could start rumb lings in stouffville that will be heard all the way to queens park while mrs edwards made some good points problems that deserve attention i feel theres no reason to become alarmed over the use of portable classrooms a tour of school sites around york region will show just how popular these temporary classroom facili ties really are my daughters most enjoyable school year was spent in a portable some parents seem to view such structures as a form of second class education its what goes on inside a portable not the portable itself that makes it first or second class mrs gladys ritchie stouffville the tribune jennifer hu7t distribution msnager established 1888 james thomas bruce annan patricia pappas editor publisher advertising manager community editor chris shanahan sports edit6r alan shackteton display advertising dept lome hillier retail advertising lome hillier manager charles canning real estate classified advertising joan marshman real estate manager dorothy young classified manager debra welter distribution lea kitler doreen deacon business office manager chris bertram national sales representative melroland corporate sales 4931300 the stouffville tribune published every wednesday and saturday at 5j mam si stouffville ont 15 one of the metroland printing publishing distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajax pickering news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian burlington post etobicove advertiser guardian georgetown independent markham economist sun milton champion mississauga news newmarket era oakville beaver oshawa whitby this week richmond hill thomhill vaughan liberal scarborough mirror topic newsmagazine willow- dale mirror metroland printing publishing distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd single copies 60c subscriptions 21 00 per year in canada s5500 elsewhere member of canadian com munity newspaper association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press council and sub urban newspapers of america second class mail registration number 0896 6402100 6492292 roaming around students a top priority by jim thomas- editorials taxes keep climbing the average homeowner with a prop erty assessed at 20000 will pay an addi tional 21 taxes in 1987 doesnt sound like much does it cigarette money as some politicians would say dont be fooled a 20000 assessment isnt average any more this means most will pay more and the buck doesnt stop here this is only the towns share what council re quires the board of education will con sume another 78 now were up to 99 york regions been kind they nickle- anddimed us by only 194 just enough to put the average owner past the 100 mark increase what does this mean in total taxes in round figures wed say 1500 some more some less admittedly council worked long and hard in an attempt to hold the tax hike to a site for people too we visited stouffvilles flood control site saturday the area lies north of the millard street extension our onthespot inspection was promp ted by a discussion held earlier with mayor fran sainsbury concerning the future of this project adjacent resi dents new to town had questions too mayor sainsbury was straightforward in her replies on some points we agree on some we dont mrs sainsbury says the property still belongs to the metro toronto and region conservation authority its operation however was subsequently turned over to the whitchurchstouffville conserva tion authority this latter organization as wellmeaning as it once was obvious ly needs a shot of geritol weve seen little signs of activity at this location or anywhere else mayor sainsbury sees the site as a wildlife sanctuary so do we wc con tend however that wildlife and humans should share the property at present few residents venture near the place its too rough we feel the town must assume con trol a portion of the site should be seeded treed and transformed into a public park the remainder should stay as it is the dam should be painted a task that could be associated with other commun ity projects during strawberry festival week in short a general overhaul is re quired to make the property habitable for animals birds and human beings right now theres a scarcity of all three 54 per cent this they would have done except for a one per cent slush fund for roads totally unnecessary in our opinion road work is a service that should be geared to income if the moneys avail able you do it if it isnt you dont its unjust to create a financial cushion at taxpayers expense also demolition of the old arena should have been put on the back burner as a place for storage its presently serving a valuable purpose and could continue to do so nothing urgent in this project but it will cost us money money we dont have excluding these needless expendi tures all proposals warrant the priori ties received the library the com plex the clock tower the swimming pool community centres the museum the fire department latcham hall sidewalks and so on all things people see require and appreciate i enjoy attending school events all kinds of school events it can be an operetta a band concert a graduation track and field any one of a dozen different activities i dont care to me each is top priority many times people have asked dont you ever get tired of seeing the same old thing never is my reply first because no things ever thtf same and second the programs never grow old sure the songs and the dialogue may be repeti tious but the participants are always fresh and new the world of education never stops turning but whats the attraction first young people teens and pre- teens are cooperative they enjoy being interviewed and their replies are straightforward and honest they dont have the hangups common to we olds ters and they dont forget once seen al ways remembered it gives me a great feeling to walk into a school or onto a playground and have children call out everything from hi jim to good- morning mr thomas to hello sir thats a reception usually reserved for church theyre sincere nothing put on about a five or sixyearold they give it their best a 100 per cent effort sure on occasions they hit sour notes and botch their lines but who cares not i no ones perfect its great experience performing on stage is an opportunity many of us never had thats why most myself included arc so nervous speaking in public but not the class of 87 they take it all in stride they possess great skills when it comes to singing playing and acting this generations superb and theyre getting better all the time thanks to the patience of those who provide direction oh yes let us never forget the instruc tors those folks behind the scenes who bring out the best in kids without their help there would be no operettas no band concerts no music nights when i attend one of these activities i look for two things one performance on stage and two reaction by the audi ence usually the level of acceptance is equal to the quality of the presentation usually but not always admittedly stouffville crowds are ultraconservative when it comes to re sponding to anything dont ask me why they just are this doesnt necessarily mean they dont like it or they detest it it means they find the seats more com fortable when sitting on their hands unfortunately this type of reactions disheartening to student stars the stage might just as well be set up in a cemetery this is what i observed at the orchard park operetta monster madness may 6 and i said so some of the children and maybe the staff took exception they seemed to think i was criticizing them believe me kids and teachers this was the furth est thing from my mind i thought the acting the dancing the singing the cos tumes and the scenery were excellent and i said so at least i thought i said so one student in particular didnt think so first he came in and spoke to me then he wrote me a letter while im not sure the personal appearance and the correspondence be long to the same boy he didnt tell me his name and his letter wasnt signed the writer let me know in no uncertain terms what he thought of my report it reads in part im disturbed by the way you criti cized a school play that young people worked so hard to practice and perform to their best efforts the cast had to get up great courage to perform in front of adults how do you expect them to learn and expand if you criticize them so harshly you put down the best perform- j ance by children my family audi have seen in a long time so there that should hold me for awhile i thank the writer whoever heshe may be for the rebuttal but i repeat most parents were there in body and maybe in mind but certainly not in spirit my praise of the participants and cri ticism of the audience still stands editors mail similar dear editor variety may be the spice of life but when it comes to homebuilding lookalike houses are a necessity in the good old days large and small homes could be tossed together because they were located on large lots with wide frontages and spacious backyards not so now rather residences arc crammed together with barely sufficient room to walk between imagine the unsightlincss of a subdivision if the houses differed radically one from the other no mr editor it wont work rupert avenue west and park drive north were developed in a different era you cant compare the old and new neighborhoods of town any more than you can match up a 1987 cadillac with a 1939 lasalle in my opinion close cooperation is the key to a happy community thats all were asking sincerely gordon paule stouffville examples celebrate arbor day with treeplanting ceremony the town of whitchurchstouffville celebrated the re turn of arbor day with a treeplanting ceremony may 8 on the site of the recreation complex the event was orga nized by the recently established tree committee with several school children taking part including eight-year- old cameron ribblc of dicksons hill denisc mcdonald dear editor there arc those who laugh ive seen them at your anti- alcohol editorials and columns they think theyre part of the in crowd because they enjoy boozing it up with their friends if they only knew what some of these same socalled friends were saying about them not to their faces but behind their backs believe it or not theres a trend away from alcohol consumption and believe it or not the students arc leading the way i wish to praise young people like jane anderson jane while janice peterson and doreen chcc for the example theyre setting for their peers and i wish to commend you also for giving them the editorial support they deserve sincerely mrs mabel boyle stouffcr street stouffville i