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BY MICHAEL HAYAKAWA mhayakawa @yrmg.com Spring certainly came early thisyear. In fact, during the seven years Roy Chan has been the head pro- fessional at the Maples of Ballanâ€" trae Golf Club, he couldn’t recall the tulips coming into bloom and grass turning green as early as this year. For Mr. Chan and others involved in the local golfing industry, not to mention those who like to take their swings on the fairways. spring’s early arrival has been most welcomed. Especially since it has enabled public golfcourses in Whitchurch Stouffville to open their front gates a little earlier than normal. At the Maples of Ballantrae. which hosts an 18-hole, 6,625- yaid championship course and a nine-hole executive facility, the first rounds of golf were played April 2. Early birdies gettingjump ~ on season - “It's definitely been the earli- est opening since I’ve been here." Mr. Chan said. While this year’s opening at Maples of Ballantae was a little ahead of the norm, he was quick to note it’s not the earliest on the club's record. In conferring with cohort Tom Aird, a 27-year veteran of the course who is involved with tournaments and other events at the club, Mr. Chan said they've had openings as early as March. Bu} in opéning that early when the weather can be unpredictable (SWi-W'ibune Set ausmsss, pagv 11 Dancer Sandra Remme catches some air Sunday rehearsing Step in Time for the 50d tion of Music Mania at Stouffville District Secondary School. Tickets are now on sale. COMING UP Music Mania welcomes back alumni for 50th variety Show STAFF PHOTOISUSIE KOCKERSCHEIDT WHTTCHURCH-STOU common. In 1959, a group of people from the Stoufiville United Church Couples Club was itching for a creative outlet and decided to stage a minstrel show, with the first production hitting the stage on April 29, 1960. It was called Minstrel Mania 60. Segments of humour and dancing separated the solo and group musical numbers. - Minstrel 61 and 62 were also staged for large audiences, before the curtain closed on them. Minstrel shows were no longer acceptable forms of performance. however, the local thes- pians knew there was something special about a show that utilized humour, music and dance in a unique way. After a year away from the stage, the people who helmed the local minstrel shows came back with a new production concept. one the whole family could enjoy, and called it Music Mania. The group is celebrating its 50th show later this month with a retrospective entitled Solid Gold. “It's a big thing for this community and it’s a big achievement for its participants because it's uring the 19505 and ’605, minstrel shows, in which white actors, dancers and singers wore stylized blackface makeup and performed stereotyped imitations of African Americans, were BY SANDRA BOLAN sbolan@yrmg.com Sec SHOW, pagc 24 LE PUBUC LIBRARY HALF PRICE TRUCKLOAD $ALE! BOXWOOD STOUFFVILLE 631mm (905)