- Order of Canada Country salutes Belleville man Bill Mayne gets his big Christmas gift in the New Year. That's when he goes to Ottawa to receive what the unexpected letter four days ago to his Dunnett Boulevard home, announced. He's to be awarded a rank of his country's highest honor-membership in the Order of Canada. Some time in January, with his wife Cecilia, he will be at Ottawa's Rideau Hall for investiture by Gov-Gen. EdSchreyer. The honor goes for outstanding service in fields of human endeavor. For many of his 65 years Bill's been involved with work for the blind and war veterans~a soldier himself, stricken with blindness as a wartime prisoner. He'd never had an inkling he'd been selected for the Order, and the letter from Ottawa was a total surprise-"but quite an exciting one," he admits. "I'm really thrilled for him to get that recogni- tion," says his wife, a native Bellevillian, back in her home town since last year after Bill retired. Born in Manitoba, he served with the Winnipeg Grenadiers in the Second World War-and was posted to Hong Kong. He was taken prisoner when the colony feu to the Japanese in December 1941. His release came when the conflict ended four years later. But, by that time, malnutrition had cost him much of his vision. Back home, he went to Toronto University for his B.A., joining the Canadian National Institute of the Blind (CNIB) for 28 years until his retirement two years ago. Among his posts was directorship of CNIB services for the country's war blind. Also ac- tive in veterans' affairs, he was chairman in 1975-76 of the National Council of Veterans Associations. His previous decorations have included the Queen's coronation medal, the Royal Jubilee and Canada's centennial medals. The Maynes married in 1947 in Toronto. Mrs. Mayne was the daughter of a Belleville physician, Dr. Arthur Proctor, and the couple selected the city for their retirement years. Bill is now on the Belleville and District CNIB ad- visory board, a member of the Saganoska Kiwanis and the Army, Navy and Air Force veterans. BILL MAYNE