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saturday oct v 2003 19 economist sunsuntribune diversions power of the pen brings pair together by joan ransberry staff writer a 45year pen pal relation ship laid the ground work for a stouffville marriage history has proven boy meets girl in many ways when janette steele was a scottish lass of a mere 12 years she wrote the first letter to her pen pal marion a student at sandford public school in uxbridge the year was 1945 at the time neither child knew the letters would crisscross the atlantic for 45 years nor did janette know one day shed emi grate to canada to make a new fife for herself with her new hus band the widower of her beloved penpal when in 1995 ted barry crossed the pond to marry his fiance in scotland and bring her back to stouffville he gave some thought to the two girls who had written back and forth since grade 5 in many ways his new bride had known hijn a lifetime ted knew theyd be happy and happy theyve been standing on the back step at the country farmhouse at the corner of the ninth line and bethesda road janette suits the place i was a city girl i knew noth ing about farming before i came here but here i am janette knows farm life is the good life ted teased teds first wifeof 31 years died ofcancer in 1990 the couple had three children ted has 10 grand- children meanwhile janettes first hus band and her 21 yearold son died in 1984 janettes daughter and two grandchildren live in scotland tucked away in a box in scotland are many of marions letters including the first and last sent to janette staff photosjoerd witteveen janette steele of scotland married her penpal marion barrys hus band ted after marion died in- 1990 janette and marion had corre sponded since november 1945 when both were 12 years old the pic ture in the foreground shows ted and marion with an old letter from janette congratulating them on their first grandchild while its rare to have a pen pal connection end in wedlock many writing friendships have lasted a lifetime mary webster of markham and margaret reeves of england have been pen pals since the girls were 10 their spe cial friendship has spanned 45 years and is still going strong weve shared the births the deaths the marriages and all the inbetween mrs webster said in all these years the two only came facetoface once we met in 2000 in england i was attend ing a convention with my hus band john markhams town crier margaret drove six hours to meet me it was a wonderful experi ence and shes coming here to canada to visit us next year mrs webster said terri lynn brown a markham mother of two boys considers her pen pal of 22 years her best friend the pair started writing while in their early teens we went through the turbu lent teen years a few longterm relationships with all the drama that goes along with that finan cial woes and successes my mar riage arid the birth of rriy children and we both had to deal with the loss of a parent recently the phone calli received from her when i lost my mother was better than arty hug or comforting word given by anyone else mrs brown said the pair met once when mrs brown was married i plan on visiting her in wales sometime next year she said having a pen pal is exciting its a very positive experience mrs brown said id love to see the youth of today experience the satisfactiort of a true friendship she said elaine van dyks pen pal lives in holland the aurora resident has had her writing friend for 29 years my grandmother was visiting relatives in holland and one of her sisters grandchildren wanted to learn englishso the friend- ship began mrs vandyk explained after writing for more than 10 years the two girls met i visited her in holland for a week since then we have continued to write we have a bond were friends the letter writing and the friend ship have survived all these years mrs van dyk said lillian byer 93 of parkview viuage in stouffville and her see pen page 20 sheryl greenspan notes on a napkin enigmatic eatery satisfies big appetite cousins food emporium restaurant and deli location 110 pony dr newmarket phone9058958053 type casualfamily entree selection excellent takeout price range entrees 365 1895 average 79 hours restaurant closed sunday monday- saturday 8 am 8 pm for the first tiirie in my eating career im at a loss as to how to describe this restaurant in fact trying to define it took up a lot of our dinner conversation my dining companion likened the atmosphere to being in the local diner of a small cottage town better than expected food fair prices arid generous portions i thought it was more of a bring the family for a casual night out place everything was on the menu from eggs 495 to burgers 425 to veal parmesan 1195 and prime rib 1495 plus an extensive childrens menu 495 then of course there is the dell part of the name which we assumed referred to the openstyle kitchen and the large variety of sandwich salad and bagel offerings 325 add to all of that the fact cousins has been operating for the past 14 years from a nondescript location in the mid dle of an industrial park near davis drive in newmarket and you have one interesting place after starting with an irresistibly thick andheartybowl of homemade beef bar- see skyhigh page 21 ki 1 i h in mayor don cousens fofan exciting ening of deliciousffood with wines 3oii evening contpjpf ntjheach lours and musjc with pgir abbott of ganaffian air a fafceasour master of ceremonies 9500 per person supporting the arts and culture in our community today will enrich the mayors dinner for the arts a call 905305show 7469 to reserve your seats today 1 j corporate fables are i alsoavailabe rjtor information contact lesleyaominico 1 at905a4u7i i m eve foctobcr174003r ntc q markham