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at toe tribune thursday december ii 1s81 editors mail safeguards jnpar sir while i seldom travel 18th avenue scene of the tragic traincar crash three weeks ago i agree wholeheartedly with your view re safeguards at all level crossings sure the onus is on the motorist to stop look and listen but few do for failing to comply the penalty shouldnt be death this on most occasions is the end result theres no denying that the town of markham is a progressive municipality because this is so it seems strange that councils thinking with respect to signalized crossings barkens back to the horse and buggy days sincerely jim beavis rrlstouffville kindness dear mr thomas i was touched by the page l photo in the dec 23 tribune showing santa claus councillor bill kamps holding two children on his knee one can imagine the joy mr kamps must have brought to dozens of kiddies during his visit to scarborough cen tenary hospital during such a busy period its wonderful that anyone would take the time to perform such a kind ness i also saw the same gentleman on the main street of stouffville the day before in my opinion he represented the real spirit of christmas spreading happiness wherever he went on behalf of our family thanks sincerely agnes campbell rr 1 unionville prayer dear mr thomas through the tribune im asking every family to unite their hearts in prayer for the complete recovery of our margie and courtney we love them both a stouffville mother towns star will rise in 82 wte wtthunt established 1888 barry wwallace andrew p cook advertising manager i james thomas i editorin chiel publisher editorial dept jim holt jim irving greg coates display advertising dept rod spicer bryan armstrong classified advertisingcirculation joan marshman office manager doreen deacon business office eileen glover national advertising representative dan poyntz 3631 051 published every thursday at 54 mam st stouffville ont tel 6402101 toronto phone 3611680 single copies 25e subscriptions 12 00 per year in canada s30 00 elsewhere member of canadian community newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association second class mail registration number 0896 the stouffville tribune is one of the metroland printing publishing ltd group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press aiaxwhitbypickenna news advertiser aurora bannernewmarket era aurora bannernewmarket era weekend edition the bolton enterprise bramp ton guardian the burlington post the burlinton weekend post the etobicoke advertiserguardian the etobicoke consumer the georgetown independent markhamthornhill economist and sun the milton champion the mississauga news the mississauga news weekend edition the north york consumer the north york mirror oakville beaver oakville friday beaver oshawa this week oshawa this weekend peel consumer the richmond hillthornhill lberal the scarborough consumer the scarborough mirror the woodbridge vaughan news roaming around the true spirit of christmas 6402100 3611680 editorials a better year lies ahead j it is better to give than to receive how many of us believe this or put it into practice i can name you threethree people who with the help of four others made christmas very merry for more than 400 senior citizens here in stouffville it all came about last thursday a hand written note plus several phone calls told of visits by santa claus and two elves to park view home and parkview apartments green gables manor stouffville nursing home church street nursing home testa villa apartments and the sr citizens apartments on elm road however it wasnt until i ac tually saw the jolly old gent myself that i decided to find out what was going on and im glad i did for it has to be the kindest story to come out of stouffville this christmas season while the persons involved will un doubtedly be embarrassed that their iden tities are being revealed this column would not be complete if their names were not in cluded anyway it will come as no surprise to many to learn that bertha slaughter watson drive actually got the whole thing going shes been making prechristmas visits to parkview home and apartments for the past six years this time around she was joined by diane peak rr 3 stouffville and kitty evans blair road they in turn com mandeered the services of ron robb musselmans lake tom winter rr 3 stouffville and toms two sons tom jr and john with three sacks to fill donations soon poured in from all overoranges chocolates candycane men all simple things that can mean so much this allowed the three santa clauses to include private homes on their calls bring joy and happiness wherever they went hesitant to accept any praise diane told instead of the personal satisfaction each had received in seeing smiles light up the peoples faces there has to be more to life than eating sleeping and working she said we thoroughly enjoyed it it was fun time she questioned you just have to make time she recalled how she and the by jim thomas others stayed up until after midnight making stockings for distribution to residents at park view diane admitted that some things around home were let slide calling her kitchen a disaster area regardless none in the family complained too much realizing the im portance of the project at hand she praised bertha for initiating the scheme and going it alone for so long when she asked for a little help we readily volunteered she said diane sees the program growing to such an extent the whole community must get involved she feels too that a master senior citizens list should be prepared so that no one in town is missed good ideas for the future for the present however lets give credit where credit is due to bertha to diane to kitty to ron to john to tom sr and jr a tip of the hat to you all for a job well done this is surely the true spirit of christmas a gesture of goodwill that except for a handwritten note and a couple of phone calls might have gone unrecognized the year that was or the year that wasnt make your choice unfortunately the negative aspects of 1981 held a wide edge over the positive as far as whitchurch stouffville was concerned in fact except for an occasional bright spot the first eleven months were writeoffs for our town strange as it may seem the misfortunes that plagued this municipality from january through november were for the most part not of our making they were brought on by decisions from on high decisions over which the local politicians had no control first and foremost is the sanitary land fill site that controversial mountain of gar bage that poses a threat to adjacent private wells in addition to the artesian water supply for the village of stouffville this coupled with minus population growth tended to create an unhealthy business climate thats been felt primarily in the towns main urban community the extension of hwy 404 through to gormley has been a plus for our town but again this has been partially overshadowed by the federal governments decision to cancel the viarail commuter service next fall as fatalistic as our summation may seem we predict a turnaround in 82 in fact the up swings already underway for that reason weve removed december from the gloom anddoom period just past and added it to the year that lies ahead why the optimism for a start work will soon begin on a new sewage disposal plant that will increase stouffvilles immediate population potential to 8500 people one thousand more than originally anticipated secondly the longdelayed dulverton development of 500 homes now looks like a sure thing further we predict the viarail system will become part of gotransit and contirue to serve residents here we also see a glimmer of hope with respect to positive government action on the landfill site spearheading our certainty for a brighter tomorrow is our confidence in the leadership being provided by mayor eldred king as he goes so goes whitchurch stouffville in recent weeks hes shown a tenacity for dealing with problems that had barely sur faced before and the results are very much in evidence by taking the offensive in townrelated issues hes gained the confidence of even his strongest critics so now we have a municipality thats working together instead of pulling apart when such an attitude prevails all things are possible so welcome 1982 a year of potential of progress and promise by adopting a positive attitude we can make it happen window on wildlife birds need shelter at night in shock not since the accident to stouff villes wayne feasby has this com munity been so shaken word of the serious injury to margie griffiths and the hospitalization of courtney wallis following a car crash sunday has left young people here in a state of shock in response to many requests the tribune is calling on all residents to offer silent prayers for their recovery as one teenager put it thats all we have left when the winter sun dips behind the lowest horizon the resident bird life seek out their shelter for the long cold night and as we watch the neighborhood house sparrows wedge themselves under the eaves or slip into an unused shed or barn loft we often wonder where the other feathered creatures spend the dark hours where for example do the late feeding cardinals retire not far it seems for they are back under the feeder by the first light of early morning and what about the boisterous bluejays where do they go to sleep or those little puffs of energy the chickadees or those carpenter cousins the hairy and downy woodpeckers they all have a favorite nook or cranny to help stave off the cold but the query is where here are some of the answers to these questions based on my own studies and observations over the years lets look first at the colorful cardinals at one time we had no less than 18 of these beautiful crested creatures corning to our feeder regularly what a sight to see them grace the bare branches of the bushes like so miny longtailed scarlet bows of course all were not the brilliant red males however the pinky goldenbrown females were no less attractive as stated they were always the last to leave the feeder so i knew they were roosting not too far distant but every evening as we watched them depart into the near darkness our curiosity increased finally late one afternoon i donned my winter gear mukluks parka fleecelined mitts and heavy quilted pants then i quietly slipped down the ravine behind the house and took up an in conspicuous position among the shrubbery there in the fading light i watched in satisfaction as one cardinal after the other swooped over the crest of the hill and disap peared into the thickest centre of the multiflora hedgerow some years ago while on an owl outing i chanced to be in a grove of mediumsized pine in midafternoon now if you want to find roosting owls a good bet is to check out the thickest evergreens especially those in a sheltered location so while peeking up among the branches i was surprised to see several bluejays huddled against the main trunk these crested clowns were already settled in to our readers a happy and prosperous new year by art briggsjude for the night yet a check of my watch revealed it was not yet 4 pm now lets take a look at the so called cavity nesters those birds for example that either chisel out a nest site or utilize an existing hole often they will find a crevice in a neighborhood stub or even a back yard bird- house to use as a night shelter we frequently build wren nesting houses but of whole coconuts and by making a va inch hole through the heavy ropelike fibre they serve wonderfully well as insulated winter homes for birds ive seen as many as three downy woodpeckers retire for the night in one of these natural looking devices and while on the subject of family groups seeking winter shelter together i once talked to a friend in niagara who had a half dozen bluebirds going in one of her nest boxes every night during the cold weather months so thats where some of our feathered friends spend the cold dark hours but there are so many more that space will not permit the discovery of these secrets is another reason that makes watching wildlife such a never- ending fascination im thinking of the late afternoon i was heading home from a snowshoe ramble in the woods and had a ruffed grouse literally explode from beneath my webs you guessed it he had plunged into that snowbank a little earlier as a protection against the cold and darkness