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

a4 tribune february 17 1988 editors mail protest the following is a letter written to mayor fran sainsbury a copy of which was received by the tri bune it reads dear mrs sainsbury we dont know who else to take this matter up with so as harry truman once said the buck stops here i have enclosed a copy of a docu ment that a guest at our home found on his windshield dec 28 1987 a late christmas gift from the town of whitchurchstouffville the friendliest town in ontario or words to that effect this has happened twice since we moved to this community each time our guest has pointed out they think the municipality has one heck of a nerve ticketing people 300 or any amount for that matter when one can stand and look at a rotting wreck on the same block a black celica and trailer there are numerous examples all around town of this same situation yet you ticket a holiday reveller we have waited a month to write because we wanted to monitor the streets around us to see how vigi lant this defender of the public good really is there are every night usually the same ones parked on the street all night but guess what nary a ticket to date we do not intend that either we or our guest pay any amount to park on streets that we as taxpayers own the vehicle was not unsightly nor was it blocking traffictherefore i have enclosed the original so that you or your delegated official can arrange to cancel sincerely brian foley 219 second street stouffville the tribune established 1888 james thomas bruce annan patricia pappas jennifer huh editor publisher advertising manager distribution manager editorial dept denise mcdonald retail advertising susan berry manager charles canning real estateclassified advertising joan marshman real estate manager doroihy young classified manager debra welter distribution lea kitler doreen deacon business office manager chris bertram national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 the stouffville tribune published every wednesday and saturday at 64 mam st stouffville ont is one of the metroland printing publishing distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press aax pickering news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian burlington post etobicqe advertiser guardian georgetown independent markham economist sun milton champion mississauga news newmarket era oakville beaver oshawa whitby this week richmond hill thornhill vaug ha n liberal scarborough mirror topic newsmagazine willow- dale mirror metroland printing publishing distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd single copies 50c subscriptions 52100 per year in canada 55 00 elsewhere member of canadian com- munity newspaper association onfario weekly newspaper association ontario press council and sub urban newspapers of america second class mail registration number 0896 6402100 6492292 roaming around- too much at stake by jim thomas- editorials a political decision its an election year boys ruffle as few feathers as possible uxbridge council has obviously taken the safe approach in rejecting a christian horizons group home in testa heights i to their shame all members present with the ex ception of councillor cal avery voted against the application rejection was 51 councillor avery chose not to play politics even in the face of opposition he spoke in favor of the proposal j to his credit councils reasoning was weak not properly zoned no livein counsellor members excluding councillor av ery were so much putty in the hands of opponents whitchurchstouffvilles been this rijute there was public opposition to the horizons home on north street but the application was approved re gardless weve heard nothing de rogatory since quite the contrary gamble era ends at last the gamble era has ended for the good of the pc party in genera and the markham riding in particular the end couldnt have come too soon john gamble gave up the ghost mid way through a pc riding founding meeting at markham dist high school thursday supporters were described as stun ned by the gamble action we wonder why diehard gamble bannerwavers would be the first to admit moderation was never a visible characteristic quite the opposite his views on many issues could best be described as radical too radical for more tranquiiized pcs to sto mach on thursday they regurgitated john gamble for a last time jf the former mpp had wished to re tain a thread of party loyalty he des troyed that too in accusing don couscns of engineering his defeat- jvhether couscns did or didnt who knows what plotting goes on behind closed doors gamble should have bit ten his tongue and remained silent for don couscns is held in high regard by the party and by the electorate make no mistake about that if mr gamble wished todo any finger- pointing that finger should have been pointed squarely at himself he en gineered his own defeat support of this project is now an accepted goal of several churches in town individuals as well and so it should be its a marvellous program sponsored by a compassion ate organization the uxbridge ap plication should have been received with openarms by council and the community instead some residents due possibly to ignorance criticized the plan five politicians went along for the ride its our understanding that group homes regardless of zoning must be accommodated in residential areas the ruling is legislated by the pro vince if so and we hope it is the issue presents an excellent opportunity for mpp bill ballinger to flex his muscles and assert his authority on the side of human rights and commonsense as a former mayor and now a pro vincial parliamentarian he can see both sides of the coin we trust hell see the situation for what it is and act accordingly this isnt an election year for him remember your final year in grade 8 or senior fourth as i knew it recall your first day in grade 9 or first form doug mccammon does mr mccam- mons the extremely personable and very knowledgeable head of guidance at stouffville high i honestly believe hes doing an excel lent job filling a very important post i listened to him address a grade 8 parents night wednesday at sdss he made me think doug mccammon mentioned the fact it was simpler back in the 60s to choose academic courses at the secondary level because there were fewer courses from which to choose you took this this or this like it or lump it thats all there was the selection was limited while mr mccammon was un doubtedly speaking for the majority of moms and dads in the audience he was undoubtedly looking past grandpa tho mas seated two rows from the front i relate not to the 60s or even the50s im a product of the 40s way back when the choice of courses was more limited still for me it was commercial or latin unfortunately i choose the latter peer pressure i guess only girls and sissies took typing what a disaster from the first day to the last i wallowed in roman gobbledi- gook squeaking through only after my final exam paper was obliterated by a timely leak in the roof back in 1944 markham high didnt have a doug mccammon on staff i doubt it even had a guidance depart ment the choice was solely up to the student i chose wrongly following graduation i had to start from scratch go back to school and take the course i should have taken five years earlier one that could possibly lead to a career yes it was a bitter pill but i swal lowed hard took my medicine and fully recovered that was 40 years ago but i havent forgotten right now our marylynn stands at the same sensitive threshhold shes in grade 8 at orchard park unadmittedly facing similar fears and trepidations however her situations ten times worse for not only must she choose a list of optional subjects but also decide on the level best suited to her skills this is grossly unfair no 14yearold should face this kind of pressure in a day and age when many senior students havent a clue as to permanent vocations the education bureaucrats place this responsibility on the shoulders of kids in grade 8 ridiculous its time for a change no marylynn wont admit to con cerns neither will her peers we can handle it they say can they not if therere depending on their pa rents all moms and dads i spoke to wednesday had the same reply its too early to tell sure the grade 8 teachers at orchard park summitview whitchurch- highlands and so on will help so will mr mccammon and mrs sherman but the decision utimately rests with the stu dent at so early an age its idiotic marylynn didnt want to accompany me wednesday ive seen and heard it all before she said besides none of my f riendswill be there i insisted and im glad i did for the place was packed mothers fathers sons ajid daughters all anxious to get a handle on the situation while i appreciate what administra tion and department heads are trying to do i wonder if down deep they con sciously believe what theyre doing is right i or do they feel like puppets on a string being manipulated by people in higher places for the sake of thousands of mary- lynns across this province i sincerely hope not but i wonder those people in the know educators within the system make it all sound so simple they use words like option com- pulsory advanced general and basic as i we would talk about the weather cold hot wet and dry too often we fear with i the same result the forecast so far iiitj advance is unpredictable even incor- rect we all hear so much about getting back to the basics its a cute vote- catcher usually tossed out by wouldbe officeholders who if pressed as to what they really mean become evasive i doubt if they know heres one area where getting back to the basics can apply i feel grade 9 should be basic the same basic subjects at the same basic level then at grade 10 in the sophmore year of secondary education let each student choose the subjects and subject levels geared to hisher interests and skills such a practice is not uncommon in colleges and universities so why not in high schools think about it people in high places remove the responsibility and the press ure from elementary pupils and their pa rents its more than they and we can handle guidance heads like doug mccam mon are hired to guide and guide they can and will but give them a year to do it rather than arrange the components before the mold is cast editors mail no rights markham barn goes up in flames it was 1963 when a large barn on property owned by harold and don boyington hwy 48 and 18th avenue mar kham went up in flames the farm is now owned by har vey brown and family firefighters could do little but stand and watch due to the fact the blaze had such a head start before they arrived jim thomas the following letter addressed to mayor fran sainsbury was re ceived by town council feb 9 it relates to the sunday shopping issue and reads as follows dear mayor sainsbury im in my seventies and have worked for 50 years i never had a car and yet i always managed to get my shopping done most people today have cars and can easily do their shopping after work or on saturdays have the rest of us no rights in my opinion we dont need the noise pollution of sunday shopping or the additional pollution caused by cars why should we have to make our way through heavy traffic on a sun day in order to get to church this is the way stouffville would be if stores were open a family needs one day to be together families have become so fragmented many storeowners want to re main closed im sure theyre enti tled under the charter of rights god said there should be one day of rest i dont believe any govern ment has the right to say stores should remain open so lets say no to the sunday opening of stores a few people will scream and cry and act like spoiled brats because they cant have their own way but theyll grow up in time i look forward to stouffvilles stores remaining closed on sun days sincerely evelyn rusncll ninth line south stouffville