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a4 the tribune wednesday december 24 1997 st wednesday december 24 1997 vol 109 no 85 the tribune is a member of the ontario press council the tribune comment send your letters to the editor to the address below editorial may we all enjoy the luxury of peace this season the frantic race through the malls is over the preparations are nearly finished and now with the big day is upon us its time to relax and enjoy the ultimate and most precious gift of the season peace its something we in canada too often take for granted in too many countries dec 25 is just another day of tears fears and bloodshed the idea that families of different religions and cultures could each worship and celebrate in their respective traditions is an impos sible ideal the season of good will towards man is just a dream as neighbour fights neighbour or sect distrusts sect in too many of the worlds hotspots the most joyous day of the year is marked by the same torturing and killing as the other 364 days of the calendar there is no respite no good will towards oth ers no escape from landmines no peace your holiday may not be perfect perhaps theres not enough food on your table or presents under the tree perhaps theres a silent fam ily fued going on at your highlight dinner or tensions of the day makes you yell at the kids maybe a loved one is ill why not put aside these concerns and reflect on how lucky you really are think about other families who cant even dream to spjsnd one day enjoying the luxury of peace jell those close to you how much they really mean to you say trtenk you to a parent or relative who has always been there for you slow your children what the joy of the season really means 1 j vandalism has hit more than just christmas lights children do dear editor i 1 have just read in our local newspapers about acts of vandalism unfortunately there are some people in stouffville who dont enjoy rhristmas decorations due to vandalism we have had to remove pnost of our lights from the stouffville station jand christmas hadnt even arrived yet we have-managed- to-deal- witttallthe bulbs have gone missing on several occasions ut the final straw was whcnwe arrived at thef station to find some of the strings had been jripped down vandalism didnt start and wont stop with the christmas lights at the station i i think we have the most popular public tele phone in stouffville how do i know that students almost have to line up to use it and this is on school days this goes on most days and quite obviously at night j due to our popular telephone we have a phone covered in graffiti i luv eric jenny loves mike etc they have now started writing on the side of jthe station and the posts if you wonder where students buy their lunches just look on the twalk at the station on certain days j we are very proud of the new station it is an added attraction to the main street in jstouffville how long will it stay nice if this continues j there is a lot of time being spent to beautify the main street and it will be a shame if all the work falls prey to vandalism has our society deteriorated to the point that we have lost all respect for our own and every one elses property tenant of the stouffville station understand about giving dear editor my name is katie di tosto and i am eleven years old and i would like to say something to mr bell who wrote to the paper about how kids dont give enough at christmas do chil dren understand message of giving dec 18 i think that it really isnt fair that mr bell made it sound as if all kids dont give enough but what about those kids who do give at christmas what about those kids who do give an unwrapped gift to a church or charity what about the kids who do know it is the cel ebration of jesus birth at my school we have all tried to help the sleeping children around the world charity i sec all the time when i go to the mall little kids giving to the salvation army ill admit though that there arc a lot of kids who arc selfish and rude but who wouldnt be happy if they got a nintendo 64 or sony playstation under the christmas tree i think kids know that giving is important even without always being told so mr bell yes a lot of kids do understand the message of christmas i am one of them thank you mr bell sorry if 1 insulted you in any way have a merry christmas katie di tosto stouffville ode to freedom letters dear editor with all of the hustle and bustle at this lime of year sometimes we do forget if you have a minute read this and remember dedicated to all those that serve the night before christmas twas the night before christmas he lived all alone in a one bedroom house made of plaster and stone i had come down the chimney with presents to give and to see just who in this home did live i jookcd all about a strange sight did i see no tinsel no presents not even a trecno stocking by the mantle just boots filled with sand on the wall hurig pictures of far distant lands i with medals and badges awards of all kinds a sober thought came through my mind for this house was different it was dark and dreary i found the house of a soldier once 1 could see clearly the soldier lay sleeping silent alone curled upon the floor in this one bedroom home the face was so gentle the room in such disorder not how i pictured a soldier was this the hero of whom 1 just read curled up on a poncho the floor for a bed i realized the families i saw on this night owed their lives to these soldiers who were willing to fight soon round the world the chil dren would play and grownups would celebrate a bright christmas day they all enjoyed freedom each month of the year because of the soldiers like the one lying here i couldnt help wonder how many lay alone on a cold christmas eve in a land far from home the very thought brought a tear to my eye i dropped to my knees and started to cry the soldier awakened and 1 heard a rough voice santa dont cry this life is my choice i fight for freedom 1 dont ask for more my life is my god my country my corps the soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep i couldnt control it i started to weep i kept watch for hours so silent and still and we both shivered from the cold nights chill the soldier rolled over with a voice soft and pure whispered carry on santa its christmas day all is secure one look at my watch and i knew he was right merry christmas my friend and to all a good night author unknown nancy digiovanni stouffville stouffville tribune a metrolaml community newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra welter director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about us news 9056402100 retail sales 9056402100 classifieds 905 6402874 distribution 9056402100 fax 905 6405477 email thetribistarca 6244 main st stouffville oni- l4a1e2 the stmiltviile tribune pub- lishcd every tuesday 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occupied v letters policy the tribune welcomes your letters to the editor please keep letters to no more than 300 words note that letters may be edited for space libel spelling gram mar while wc endeavor to print as many letters as possible we regret that not all letters may be printed twas the week before christ mas and the shopping was hardly begun spasm was back at the vets and the atmosphere at lc chateau was not so much tense as explosive to add to the fun malcolms high school decided to hold commencement last thursday the one evening i was free to go shopping mr wallcthcad meanwhile had spent much of the day vain ly trying to stuff a misshapen christmas tree into a stand which refused to accommodate it and was venting his feelings in a manner that would have gone down like a lead balloon with the naughty and nice selection committee at the north pole earlier in the week he had tried to attach his fax machine to one of our phone lines and had instead succeeded in cut ting off all telecommunications to the outside world further de pleting our dwindling supplies of good will comfort and joy shrewdly recognizing that all was not calm and bright i sug gested wc should vacate the old homestead and go out for din ner firmly relegating the pro spect of a sizeable veterinarian bill to the large area of my kates corner kate gilderdale brain reserved for denial we agreed to patronize some where inexpensive reasonably close to the school and unlikely to feature phil spectors christ mas album and similar musical stalwarts of the holiday season our ultimate choice was a haven of mediterranean kitsch one of those themed eateries which arc made in california from polystyrene panels papier mache pillars and wall murals depicting unbelievably blue skies and oddly proportioned fisher people massive primitive chande liers festooned with christmas lights plastic grapes and vine leaves hung from the ceiling and ancient civilization accord ing to hollywood abounded crumbling walls in a white so dazzling you needed sunglasses were offset by faux trees coylyplaced statues of male nudes and a raft of medallions and decorated urns the decor was so busy it made my eyes hurt the background music al though mercifully lacking fes tive ditties by the ronettes was of the thin wailing variety you seldom hear outside themed restaurants and package vaca tions for people who prefer their europe northamerican style the food however was ex cellent and reasonably priced the waiters were attentive and we left for home in a more mel low frame of mind by saturday afternoon the score was mr wallcthcad i christmas tree 0 our charlie brown spruce was upright as straight as it could be given its natural incli nations and firmly anchored to the genuine plaster wall spasm continues to star in his own medical soap opera and is currently back on drugs four pills a day and wearing a catheter given his continuing health problems efforts to curtail the usual expenses of the season to be jolly have been implement ed instead of exchanging gifts and cards this christmas wc arc letting our friends know that a pill has been swallowed by spasm in their name there arc two types of people in the world 1 figure tree types and nontree types tree types arc those who insist on trekking into the woods each december with an impossible ideal of what a christmas tree should look like firmly wedged into their minds and nothing will deter them from locating that particular tree among the thou sands that annoyingly have grown up around it pre sumably to protect this pinnacle of coniferous evolu tion from the axe nontree people are those willing to make the gloomy descent into the basement drag the tree box from the cobwebs and spend the better part of a per fectly lovely latefall day sticking little plastic branches into corresponding plastic notches i am a tree type just last weekend i encouraged friends of ours pat and kirtscn to get over their boms of the flu drop their plans to drive up to the gas station to pick out a tree in favour of hopping in the truck with kim and myself and of course our dog they brought along their basset making the party an even six it was a beautiful day as 1 said so i encouraged pat- and kirstcn that trundling around a tree farm could be hard work they on my advice wore fall coats and no hats i took over the expedition at once i am somewhat obsessive about my holiday traditions i was willing to let others in on the treegetting action but at a price wc would look until i found the perfect scotch pine no matter what the cost i could feel my plan began to unravel immediately on arrival at the tree farm the wind picked up viciously and when the wagon driver who was taking us out to the main cutting area asked if vye needed anything to make the job easier like a saw pat chat tered dddo you have a sweater wc got 10 feet into the trees when a shivering minute with mair family cat is not so jolly ideal tree impossible dream andrew mair kirstcn piped up found one were done 1 was incredulous not only had they found a tree which i might add was not even a scotch pine but they claimed it was the nicest tree theyd ever had while pat set about sawing his find 1 dragged the rest past trees of all sorts firs spruce and pine all the while ignoring the murmurs from the group trail ing behind mc saying whats wrong with this one i was looking for a really big tree since moving into our new house in fall ive been staring into one corner of our living room the corner is ideal for a christmas tree and with 10foot ceilings it is ideal for a really big christmas tree after two hours of going from tree to tree under increasingly dark skies pat and kirstcn were patient ly sneezing the two dogs were whining quietly fine i sighed mere it is 1 announced with a just a sprinkling of bitterness its too big suggest ed kim i really should have listened to her it took two of us to cut and all four to carry it must have weighed 300 pounds the tree salesman wanted to charge mc more it hung off the front and back of the truck it almost blew off twice i finally got the behemoth home but it was ten feet one inch it had to be cut by he time i finished cutting trimming and pulling out branches my tree was reduced to a dismal six feet two inches the same height as the one pat picked up last year at the gas station happy holidays