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jgjps 2i ptiidfih p4 weekender december 26 1994 stux- ltiion send your letters to the editor to 9 heritage rd markham l3p 1m3 or tax them to 2941538 the longest night is upon us then dawn we expect a great deal from christmas since the plaza pumpkins were transformed into christmas lights two months ago the malls have been blaring carols acceler ating our anticipation and its not just the com mercial aspect of christmas that builds our hopes many of us have a store house of poignant memo ries of times when the spir it of christmas truly touched them the delight on a childs face as he fell in love with a new teddy the ohs and ahs around the dinner table as the steamed pudding was lit the unexpected call from relatives abroad the sanc tity of a candlelight ser vice memories are ours to viewpoint jo ann stevenson enjoy anytime they cant be taken from us people who are facing a christmas alone may find themselves feeling blue if they compare their present prospects with those of the past others may have fallen upon hard times and may be struggling to find ways to look forward to a day which has been lavish with extravagance before these people can take heart that they have won derful memories which are still very much a part of them they are in a posi tion to experience some of the little joys that may have been overlooked in the past the truth is that christmas is an internal celebration it has nothing to do with the surround ings or the trappings and everything to do with going where you live and loving it there when you are able to touch that inner place youll know how to cele brate that feeling perhaps youll create a poignant memory for someone else who was the philosopher who said be the change youd like to see happen whoever it was i think they held the key to the kingdom this addresses the adam by brian basset it is wws odd ohfcqf l awstve bswsut it pcwnstaks we kftthi rcc mistake majority of people in our readership area who will celebrate christmas tomorrow but the many other world religions that celebrate the dawning of light at this time of winter solstice must share in these sorts of feelings around their holy days too the longest night is upon us and at dayspring a new dawn markham economist and sun stouffville tribune uxbridge tribune weekender edition a metroland community newspaper patriciapappas publisher jo ann stevenson editorirchief paula crowell editor andrew mair editor debraweller director of advertising barry goodyear director of distribution vivian 0neil business manager pamela nichols operations manager markham 942200 sake t7624 clasal- fled 2m4331 stouffville 6402100 uxhridge 852974 2948244 distribution and adnunistratlon 9 heritage rd markham l3p im2 fax markham 2941638 stouffrille 640- 6477 uzbridge 8s24366 the markham economist and sun stouflvule tri bune and uxbridge tribune published every wednesday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing group of subur ban newspapers which includes ajax pickering news advertiser barrie advance brampton guardian burlington post coilingwood connection etobtcoke guardian the liberal georgetown inde pendentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week milton canadian champion mississauga news north york mirror oakvilie beaver onllia today oshawawhitbv this week peterborough this week scarborough mirror the era banner contents not to be reproduced without written permission from the publisher youre in bunnock country on the off chance that you might one day find yourself tool ing down hwy 17 along the albertasaskatchewan border south of lloydminster a word of caution in your ear pretty soon youre going to hit the town of macklin now you may miss the wel coming sign to macklin but youll know youre there all right because suddenly right through your windshield you will behold a ghostly massive apparition looming up against the prairie sky it looks sort of like a grain elevator thats hit puberty specifically it looks quite a bit like a voluptuous female torso except that its 30 feet high and its not supposed to repre sent a female torso its sup posed to represent a bunnock pronounced bunnuck the giant structure is macklins way of letting travellers know theyve entered serious bunnock country whats a bunnock a bunnock is a horses ankle bone they arent 31 feet tall bunnocks are roughly hourglassshaped bones about the size of a beer can as near as anyone can figure the game of bunnock is a russian import the story goes that back in the early 1800s russian soldiers posted to the desolate tundra of siberia des perately needed something to while away the hours they did nt have snowmobiles they did nt have hockey skates they didnt have curling brooms what they did have is an awful lot of horse bones lying around siberia was at least as tough on horses as it was on men the soldiers discovered that horse ankle bones could be stood on their ends and then you could use other horse ankle bones to try and knock them down stupid you bet but this was siberia and the men were bored out of their minds besides have you ever checked out the rules of cricket soon the russian equivalent of the nhl board of governors horned in and what had been a mindless peasant pastime became the official game of bunnock it was decreed that 52 bones must be used that some bones would be throwers and sorive bones would be guards and some bones would be sol diers and that the bones would stand in two parallel rows exact ly 32 feet six inches apart and that two teams would then lob their bunnocks at each others row until one teams row was utterly creamed and the game was over the russians passed the game on to the germans and german settlers brought it across the atlantic when they came to set- tle the fertile west you wouldnt think such a deceptively simple premise would capture the hearts and minds of prairie communities but then you probably havent put in a prairie winter either truth is prairie communities around macklin took to bunnock like ducks to a slough if you want to know just how popular nunnock is arrange to spend your summer holidays around macklin this year make especially sure youre in town the first weekend in august if you can find a motel room to rent that is thats the weekend of the bunnock challenge so far 128 teams have registered for a shot at the bunnock championship title and the 10000 in prize money that goes with it bunnock is serious sport around macklin and when you think of it why not bunnock isnt lethal like box ing or dangerous to your front teeth like hockey you dont have to lay out money for expen sive gear the way you do for foot ball and baseball how much can a horses ankle bone cost bunnocks got a lot going for it either sex can play it and it doesnt much matter if youre in kindergarten or the old folks home its noncontact doesnt need american imports and its unlikely to attract steroid junkies as a matter of fact with baseball dead the cfl football season over and hockey in limbo bunnock is just aboutperfect bunnock canadas new national game pass it on