The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

stouffidlle suntribune thursday nov 20 2003 7 roaming around with jim thomas farm stories birthday suits tipped outhouses what was once was a revered family farm is no more in the name of progress our property on the ninth line of markham just north of markham stduttville hospital has been trans formed from foodland to wasteland from preservation- to ruination from conservation to devastation its a war zone with rural forces fast losing ground to urban dominance as this metamorphosis continues all that remains are the memories recollections to last as long as life itself come take a trip down memory lane and consider these gems from a distant past my father was an excellent farmer whatever he did he did right no halfmeasures however when it came to building loads of corn he always stocked the sheaves far beyond the edge of jthe wagon rack on one occasion while filling a silo at a neighbours place he com pleted a load that was exceptionally wide as he turned the horse team toward the barn several cornstalk ends struck the family outhouse turning it upside down that was bad enough much worse was the fact the neighbours wife was trapped inside he was released without injury but her pride was badly hurt as for the silo fillers echoes of laughter can doubtless still beheard on our farm it was com mon practice to barn thresh in late fall or early winter oh one occasion- ah urban dweller was coerced into stacking the straw an obnoxious job at best while forking sheaves into the thresher we uncovered a nest of rotten hens eggs instead of tossing them aside we forked them into the machine with repugnant results the stacker bolted from the barn and hasnt been seen or heard from since back in the 1930s and 1940s neighbourhood telephone party lines were forms of communicatioh in more ways than one in the rural area where i grew up often a dozen families shared the same service long and short rings differentiated the homes on bur line there was an elderly gentleman who listened in on almost every call and everyone knew it it was his way of keeping abreast of local news my grandfather then in his 80s disliked this practice one day he answered a call only to hear heavy breathing at the other end get off the line my grandfather shput r tam riot me eavesdropper rephed- good bad habits my grandfather had two habits one bad and one good the bad was he always smoked a pipe he would purchase burly leaf tobacco through die mail arid cut it into tiny chunks it was potent stuff it ismelled to high heaven w his good habit was he seldom missed church on a sunday morning regardless of weather and road conditions pop could be found in his regular seat this particular sabbath it was my duty to drive gramps the three miles in a singlehorse cutter as was his practice he pulled put his pipe and lit it up the redhot ashes set the buffalo robe ablaze i stopped the horse doused pop and the robe with snow then continued on bur way like nothing had ever happened despite the delay vye arrived at church oh time and pop settled into his familiar pew my younger brother and i attended a oneroom school two miles up the road from bur farm here the most exciting event to occur was the annual christmas concert everyone came even adults with no children while the program vvas amateur in content we felt like pros doing our songs drills arid skits with great gusto v- at one the teacher discovered to her horror that the pedal strap on the old organ had suddenly snapped creating an emergency of indescribable intensity what was she to do her solution recruit one of her students my brother to pump the strapless pedal by hand through to the concerts conclu sion it worked no one in the crowded classroom knew die difference but my brother did everysaturdayitwascommonpracticeforyoungpeopleto wash off the weekday dirt at the old swimmin hole thegirls would go in the afternoon and the boys at night this one day my brother and i purposely attended early and set ourselves up at a convenient vantage point behind nearby bushes the young ladiesarrived changed had their swim and left we saw them we didnt think they saw us that evening the guys arrived but so again did the girls in the stillness of the evening they crept up to the site snatched bur clothes and ran since most of the males were skinnydipping we formed a strange- looking group slinking home clad only in our birthday suits jim thomas is a stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers for more than 50 years green hospice provides support ive care for people of all ages in markham and whifchurch- stouffville who are experiencing the impact of life- threatening illness and loss phone 905 4725014 wwwerergreeiilsospiceqrg this message brought toyou as a community service of the economist suntribune nffimm medic alert s p a k s for ycu 18dd66815d7 wwwmedicaiertca junior a hockey 730 pm markham waxers saturday nov 22 730 pm vs newmarket hurricanes win toronto raptor tickets sfoufffville arena 15 ringwood dr stouffville jsao f a f jl blockbuster j fp c a j a quiznos plaza maimo xalofm 9056402088 full a t r i x line complete hair esthetic specializing in- precision cutting foil high lights perms v gift certificate available introducing neijla tina steeani ij timbitsjhockeyrisnt about winning or keeping score fts about karning the basic skills of the gamevmaking newfriends- and mosimportantly having fun eyeryroversooqo en to discover just how great the game can bethatte why your local tim hortons v is proud to sponsor timbits hockey in stouffvillj if r m ts9 isihaving fun