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page 2 the tribune thursday august 20 1970 ifliyii l c h nolan publisher jim thomas editor noel eoey advertising published every thursday by inland publishing co limited at 54 main st stouffville ont tel 602101 single copies 15c subscriptions 500 per year in canada 750 elsewhere member of audit bureau of circulation canadian weekly newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association second class mail registration number 0896 editorial the dam it works there are those who have criticized the appearance of stouffvilles conservation area at the base of the flood control dam instead of a permanent lake many had come to expect the site has often been referred to as a frog pond while we must admit during dry spell seasons at least the con centration of water is no moonlight bay this was never the real purpose of the scheme the dam was built for the ex pressed purpose of flood control not only within the limits of stouffville but farther downstream to lake ontario but people soon forget problems like hurricane hazel and the one or two flash floods that have followed the conservationists havent and embarked on projects like the one in stouffville to insure such problems would not occur again on friday this area was hit by the worst rain storm in years a veritable cloudburst the downstream deluge could have been tragic particularly in communities that escaped the storm completely and therefore would expect no rise in the water level but there was no cause for alarm the duffin creek flow although higher than normal was under control thanks to the wall of water held back by the dam foresight its a wonderful thing century city yes or no it was back on dec 12 1968 that the tribune carried a headline story on expectant birth of a new city century city the proposed project extending over an area of 7000 acres and to include an ultimate population of 150000 hit the entire community with tremendous impact land prices soared real estate sales were active speculation ran wild the suggested inclusion of a new ccm plant plus other related industries kept the rumor mill humming for awhile now all is silent except for the original signs still posted on the property activity at the site has stagnated is century city for real or merely a figment of one firms imagination a pipe dream uxbridge township council the planning board and resident rate payers have every right to a straightforward reply that reply in our opinion should come from queens park from the minister of municipal affairs hon darcy mckeough to date mr mckeough has been quite evasive on the issue he has adopted a well see approach thats not good enough uxbridge council should know whether it is proceeding towards some worthwhile goal or down a deadend street it is hoped that a meeting between the municipality and the minister will produce a few answers cer tainly the question period has gone on long enough public giving up on post office unless the current deadlock between the post office and its employees is soon halted many feel that the post office as a reliable government service will have had its day it is already predictable that many of the employees will find themselves without jobs when the strike is finally over since they will no longer be needed with post office business having been so drastically reduced this dropoff is ap proaching a quarter of the total business most people express themselves as completely fed up with the situation many believe that government made a big blunder by ever allowing people in public service to strike after all they argue the government is supposed to administer the services for the good of the public in general and this it is not doing public support for unions has dropped considerably since the strike began and it is considered that this particular stoppage in public service has contributed greatly the latest gallup poll reveals that union support has fallen from 66 percent to 54 percent what is even more significant is that approval of unions among union people themselves has fallen from 73 percent to 59 percent continued harrassment of the public by the postal strikers will do nothing to improve these figures edit jors m ail dear sir the article entitled shades of yorkville in your august 6 edition of the stouffville tribune is an example of what i call appearance prejudice to judge a person by the length of their hair is tantamount to judging a person by their colour religious background or country of origin however this superficial way of evaluating a person seems to be growing in popularity last week i had occasion to pick up two hitchhikers on the mac- donald cartier freeway who i discovered were from washington dc and were on their way to a rock festival at mosport ontario they were the typical creepy looking characters as described in the article shoulder length hair sloppy faded blue jeans unshaven during a subsequent discussion they told me of some harrowing experiences on their trip up from washington while hitchhiking crew cut types apparently some business men and other so called straight types would shout obscenities at them make rude and threatening gestures and in one instance they were spat at from a passing car full of clean cut normal teenagers these two gentlemen and they were nothing but polite at all times were impressive in their knowledge of their country the usa and were concerned over the moral issues facing society today they were not bitter about the treatment they had received but by the same token they could not understand it the article also mentions some sidewalk slouchers which the author describes as being an off shoot of the yorkville crowd perhaps it is an offshoot of the sidewalk slouchers who can be seen almost any night gathered in front of shiners on main street the only difference between the two groups is their manner of dress and the ob vious difference in their ages may i suggest to the author that the next time he finds himself judging a person by his appearance he stop and try to relate to that person as another human being any afa coartecpoas warn wmtrnm witt nw hh isucar and spice evil omens casting a spell by bill smiley this summer i feel distinctly that some malicious witch or warlock has put a curse on me dont ask me why i aint done nothin to nobody theres been nothing serious or tragic just a lot of little things that seem to wind up spelling hex why for example should there be a huge wasps nest in the middle of my hedge when the filthy little brutes have never built there before why should my waistline sud denly leap from 31 to a snug 32 why should my daughter fall in love with a guy of whom she says i wouldnt marry him if he were the last man in the world but its not just what happened to me i seem to be carrying the- spell around with me and am beginning to feel like a jonah may i also suggest that the problems encountered between people in general these days would be lessened if everyone started min ding their own business instead of everyone elses i am not suggesting we overlook obvious wrong doings but i do suggest that we stop judging before we can look beyond a per sons physical appearance and find out what motivates him dr coutts stouffville editors note the long hair style trend doesnt bother me a bit quote as long as his moptop is kept reasonably neat and clean a brush and comb soap and water can still be purchased at very moderate cost went to a delightful party everyone was pleasant except that a couple of 200pounders wound up in a state of deep umbrage thats a sort of purple one had told the other during a discussion of exer cise jogging and waistlines that he was just a big fat pig not nice but why was i the only male left to keep them from coming to carnage all 140 pounds of me went sailing with friends on a perfect summer day why did a terrific storm come out of nowhere because i was on board im sure of it last sunday went out as crew with a friend who races his sailboat he didnt figure on winning with a crewman who doesnt know a luff from a larboard but he also didnt figure on winding up two miles behind every other boat including one he beats regularly we hit every patch of dead calm in the bay while the other boats invariably caught a breeze which would vanish by the time we got there why another friend invited me for a days fishing came the day ideal for fishing came also a phone call saying hed put a rod through his crankshaft or something equally horrible and his motor was ruined you think that was just coincidence the other night i did go fishing with my brotherinlaw good boat good motor lots of worms and minnows perfect time of evening and a hot spot where hed picked up some nice bass the day before i dont have to tell you what we caught about four pounds of weeds while a chap in the next boat hauled in a lunker last night we went cut to visit another brotherinlaw theyd taken a cottage to get away from the terrible heat of the city for a week that brief visit fixed him today its sweaters and long pants weather with a howling wind and the tem perature down about forty degrees theyll have a miserable week thanks to me these are just a few incidents from a catalogue as long as your leg but im beginning to think that whom the gods would destroy they first make mad and im getting mad i can put up with my normal stupidity like a dunner from the revenue people for a 65 fine or going out to put our suitcases in the trunk of the car and finding it full of elm blocks for the fireplace which my fatherinlaw had given me last spring and having to unload them in the heat and my brand new sport shirt or having the cat claw me about the head and shoulders on three separate occasions because she doesnt like driving in a car that was my wifes stupidity but i cant help feeling that theres something sinister some kind of a trend in all the other little ac cidents somebody out there is trying to get me today im convinced of it woke up with violent stomach cramps that turn me into a white sweating wretch about every twenty minutes ate and drank the same things last night as theothers in the house why should i be the only one to wind up with dire rear why portraits of the past in 1931 eighteen years ago the village of stouffville celebrated its 75th year as an incorporated municipality celebrations marked the occasion as many presentday residents will remember this particular float by the stouriville b and p club included audrey clarke sealed rear joan llaynes and pat lehman stan ding helen snowball helen campbell and helen gcse seated front in the background in front of spoffords store is the late frank rae then of church street cadieux studio mwvx big gam fanter not me by jim thomas call it fear timidity trepidation or just plain cowardice i dont care no one will ever convince me that participating in some african safari is safer than trying to cross the main street of stouffville on a saturday afternoon while both i admit present problems id just as soon sidestep the charge of a snorting diesel as second guess the temperament of a sabretooth tiger you see the wild animal world holds a definite edge because i dont own a gun and wouldnt know how to use one if i did as a boy firearms were not permitted around our place and the same ban will always remain in my own home every year too many people are injured and killed under the strangest cir cumstances i have no desire to tempt fate in this way secondly i see little socalled sport in shooting anything be it a deer a rabbit or a red squirrel live and let live is my motto and im trying to impress the same kind of nature appreciation on my kids too aside from the neighbors cat that insists in biding its time under our birdfeeder most animals wild or otherwise are free to come and go as they wish thirdly about four springs ago i had a nightmarish experience with a moose up to my ankles in mud i cornered such a beast in a farm field south of town i had time to take only one camera shot before it charged the hunter suddently became the hunted as i sloshed through the mire in quick retreat there is no desire on my part for a repeat performance however when word came through late friday night of a bear sighted in the north stouffville woods i had no second thoughts about getting in on a piece of the action a cow moose in broad daylight is one thing but a black bear at midnight is something else dont panic i reassured myself theres strength in numbers i headed straight for the police station where uniformed reserves all heavily armed were just arriving they carried 12 guage shotguns 3030 rifles i had only a flashlight and a camera defenseless bait for a bear trap the search concentrated on the cnr line started within the village limits and extended north into whitchurch that was the ap proximate location where three boys had told of seeing the big bruin before they hightailed it home the setting out on the lonely fog- shrouded conservation moors would have done justice to a vincent price movie thriller with one exception the ending fell flat we caught nary a glimpse of the renegade beast but we saw tracks proof positive well almost positive that an animal possessing massive paws had been on the prowl in the area at least it would be something to tell the slumbering folks back in town come saturday morning but so far the reception has been one of almost total disinterest theyre skeptical like they had just been told of a flying saucer landing on gar lehmans pond a labrador dog said one an aberdeen angus suggested another and on it goes all laughing joking about it so go ahead laugh if you like but if you see a huge fourlegged form come lumbering down main street accompanied by a mate and a flotilla of cubs dont say you weret warned something nice two teenage toronto girls en joying a cottage holiday at musselmans lake decided last week to do something nice with their own money they purchased bouquets of gladioli and distributed them among the elderly at the stouffville nursing home bringing much joy to the patients there