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2 the tribune thursday oct u um wht wtihxm james thomas- edjtorlnchjef barre seacock advertising manager established 1888 charles a nolan publisher editomaloept jtahekjtolnrfng display aoverticmo dbt lab wdmh hod spies ctasstlb advbttbinooiculatioh joa ma office manaoeftoormndmcoa business office ebmo qlonr pubotlmd avary thursday at 54 uafal st stoutmoa om tal 6402101 toronto phoao m116s0 slngls oopiaa 25 subscriptions s1240 par yaar la canada tsooo sha tl ol canadiaa community hawsoapsrs association and ontario waaidy nawspspars assodstion sacond dassmafl registration numbar 0896 tha trlbuna is ona of tho inland publishing co umttsd group ol suburban nawspspars which in- ebidm tha ajaxwnhbypfekarlng haas advartlssr bjaa ouardlan burbngtoa post burlington waaksnd post etobtcoka oazstta markham economist and sun nanbarkatauroraeraoakysbaamr oshm this wsak hlislatsuga nam oshawajhb wssksnd acton fro prsss mtton canadian champion and tha oaorgatom indapandaolafeqa 6402100 l 3611680 editorials get town moving again the upcoming november municipal election in whitchurch stouffville is above everything else the ratepayers opportunity to get the town moving once again there is no question but that the present council has been footdragging to a degree that has the municipality moving backward rather than forward business has been severely hurt and grumbling among progressive members of the community is widespread building has reached a virtual standstill and people continue to leave town because of lack of accommodation while it is true that permits have been granted for a number of hundred thousand dollar homes in some rural areas this is certainly not the answer to the problem of the urban centre large paying commercial taxpayers the backbone of any community are severely frustrated as council has continually shilly shallied around any effort to increase the towns tax base it is clearly evident that new blood is needed on council if the situation is to be turned around and a host of new candidates are presenting themselves with scarcely an exception they are anxious to bring the back sliding to a halt and voters will have their chance next month to put them in office for mis purpose those who would maintain the status quo show a severe lack of municipal governing ability since a town must either go backward or forward it cannot stand still voters by electing a new council have their chance to put the town on an upward track let 1980 be the end of our backsliding explain assessment system councillor jim sanders call for a public meeting on market value assessment and other related subjects makes sense for we believe as councillor sanders believes residents are seeking information a meeting would indicate who has the power to do certain things he said and we agree many politicians we contend take the wrong slant on matters such as this because they understand it they assume everyone else does but most dont for most taxpayers its the bottom line that counts the amount of dollars they must pay how that dollar figure is arrived at is as foreign as swahili is the tax differential between new homes and old a major issue it is to those who feel many properties are assessed unfairly but how many residents are we talking are there a dozen one hundred a thousand council should call a meeting and find out requesting the revenue ministry to study the various classes of properties to determine the degree of inequities in the assessment base within each class whatever that means is in our opinion a quiet way of sweeping the problem under the rug uncommitted being unfair at this point in time oct 13 three in cumbent members of whitchurch stouffville council remain uncommitted jim doble ward 1 bill mcnalley ward 3 and june button ward 5 had up until monday refused to indicate one way or another if they would stand again this is grossly unfair for those intending to run and those who would like to run for lets face it even in the light of past mistakes a sitting member has a better than average chance of being returned while theres undoubtedly irritation within the ranks of committed candidates in wards 3 and 5 it must be exasperation for the lone office seeker in ward 1 should he campaign or shouldnt he that is the question with no answer until such lime as he fmds out who if anyone hes campaigning against we dont believe for a minute that the three incumbents havent yet made up their minds they have but they havent said the deadline date for nominations is monday oct 20 it shouldnt be necessary to wait that long guest outhouse served o purpose at auction sale the secluded outhouse even in the country is almost a thing of the past bat one for visitors only is even more rare unusual or not it served its purpose saturday at an auction sale on the property of mrs les ogden north of island lake twelve year old george lacoste accepts the welcome posted en the door jim thomas roaming around- thanksgiving day for ducks by jim thomas it was a day of thanksgiving at our house a time of muchneeded togetherness mat extended over the entire weekend everyone was home and we all sat down to dinner sunday evening as a family something that unfortunately doesnt happen often enough i dont know about your house but at ours we eat in shifts while ones jumping up to go babysitting anothers sitting down after bowling guitar and piano lessons paper collections ballet school phone calls and homework to mention only a few keep the confusion pot boiling continuously the end result is that anyone arriving a halfhour late usually eats alone however if his timings off he may not eat at all for our front halls a high risk area get caught in the stampede and its game over but there was none of this sunday not even the customary phone calls we were together all eight of us and it was great however had a stranger entered our humble abode at precisely 6 pjn he might have wondered and for good reason for smack dab in the centre of the table was a delicious butterball turkey just oyer eighteen pounds and done to a turn twentyone dollars and sixtyfour cents it cost so what nothing so strange about that you say such was the setting in many a home agreed but not every wife and mother as frugal as ours would spend that kind of money on a turkey while two plump ducks waddle about the backyard yes thats the way it was and is a pair of pet ducks and no one with enough nerve to ruffle a feather let alone lop off a head donald and daffy like everything else that quacks andiafks around our place came from the sales barn both were kind of homely at the start a sombre jennywren brown with no out standing markings to catch the eye then just last month donald went through a start ling change he we think hes a he shed his- outer coat revealing an inner plumage comparable to a peacock his mate we think shes a she remains much the same drab but beautiful they require little care a feeding every day fresh water every other day theyre excellent watch ducks soun ding off at the approach of any stranger be it on four legs or two neighbors cats take turns patrolling the perimeter of the pen so far none has dared venture inside on a couple of occasions weve been aroused in the middle of the night by loud flapping and quacking even skunks and coons it seems give their boudoir a wide berth p on the practical side then donald and daffy have earned their keep but more than mat theyre a source of daily enjoyment strutting their stuff like two kings in a castle so thanksgiving to us was two ducks in a pen not on a platter and something tells me that was their preference too window on wildlife- witney to nature unspoiled theres nothing quite like a northern ontario river in the early hours of an autumn morning your light canoe buoyed along on the crest of the sweeping eurrent asks only for the occasional thrust of your paddle to keep its bow in trim and as you knife through rising mists and slip past stunted silhouettes of former forest monarchs the sounds of your surroundings come wafting over the water yet these are not harsh tones but rather introductory intonations of the wildlife in that area the awk of a great blue heron as it lifts from a sand spit in the river bend and the hushed whistle of ducks already airborne sves an added dimension to the wilderness ndscape from the highest point of a nearby pine ridge a single wolf bowls a protest at your approach letting its drawn out call echo along the rocky bluffs then its silence for awhile save for the hollow plip plop of water running off your paddle blade the wolf begins again but its howl is lost in the excited honking of a flock of geese from our mid stream position the whitecheeked canadas are an unseen voice moving low over the marshland beyond the treefringed river but the evermoving river carries you on as it has many such craft from the earliest of times indian trapper couerdebois lumberman all travelled these water routes in days gone by some say the archie belaney or grey owl as he was betrter known spent some time on this river while he formulated a plan to rehabilitate the beaver certainly the quietness of the surroundings would give anyone uninterrupted con centration his visits though must have been in summer or early autumn for the mighty mississagi river can change her moods to meet the different seasons evidence along the shoreline shows the wrath it can inflict when riled by the melting winter trees piled high with debris and sandbanks scared from the rushing force by art briggs-jude- of last springs flood- in fact so great was the volume of water during that peak period the town of iron bridge many miles to the south was literally cut in two and the trans- canada highway at that point was closed due to the high water swirling around the bridge abutments but such things as highways and the civilized centres they link up are furthest from your mind only the bleached remains of some rotting boat and the rustcoated chain of a long gone logboom give any indication other persons from outside were ever here yet the signs of the wildlife inhabitants are everywhere you see them in the wellused slide of an otter family the heavy pad print of h a hunting bear the huge bird tracks of the sandhill cranes and because theyre where they are you like to think these signs will continue to be pressed into the moist shoreline sand long after the marks of man have rotted and been etched away