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2 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, June 3,1992 Section Two Former Publishers Rev. W. R. Climie, 1854-1878 • M.A. James, 1878-1935 • George W. James, 1935-1957 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited For 138 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James Assoc. Publisher - Richard A. James Plant Manager - Donald J. Bishop Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Editor - Peter Parrott . Production Rick Patterson, Julie Cashin-Oster, Ross Fisher, Laurens Kaldeway, Doug Lugtenburg, Sharon McMullen, Barb Patterson, Sean Pickard, Ralph Rozema, Jim Snoek, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Lavemc Morrison, Pat Patterson-Savage, Anne Susac Editorial Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Angela Luscher, Junia Carnegie, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance, Marilyn Rutherford, Barb Schouten P.O. Box 190, 62 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario, L1C 3K9 416-623-3303 Fax 416-623-6161 Pride in Heritage Dear Editor: ' I'm sure you and your staff are as proud as can be to be a part of the downtown scene here in Bowmanville. We are all aware of the vitality in our core area, but it really shines through during celebrations like Heritage Week. My Goodness!! What a task our merchants set for the judges of the window displays this year!! Everyone deserved first place. The displays showed pride in the merchant's community, with some wonderful Bowmanville memorbilia; pride in their chosen field, with artifacts from the early days of their trade; and pride in their personal roots, their family heritage whether it be from various parts of Canada or from far-off lands. Much head scratching went into the judging, believe me. Every new window that the judging team encountered posed a whole new problem. And that problem was - everyone was turning out to be a first place winner! ! Of course, we had only one first prize, so the team started adding criteria to their judging sheets. Sure enough a pattern started to emerge - not a very distinct pattern, but just enough to, give one point differences here and there to allow a winner to shine through. A session over coffee in Johnny's restaurant gave us a chance to finally find a winner. Slim margins and all, here are the results of the teams sojourn along Main St. •Third place , with two points being lost in the design and layout section (the team felt the artifacts could have been arranged a little differently) is Cathy's Gold. Congratulations! ! Second place, with one point being lost on design and layout, and with a tie that the team just couldn't break, is Hooper's Trophy Centre and My Apothecary. Well done, Indeed! ! First place was difficult, as I said we wanted to give everyone first place. But, after weighing all the facts, the decision was quite clear that Rickaby's was the Champ. Window crafting was the key! ! The criteria that set the pace included: originality, design and layout, continuity, related to the theme (Canada's 125th), related to Town heritage (after all, it is T. of N. Heritage Week!) ■ ; All other entrants came 4th, but by no means last. As the team started on its task, it became apparent that size of display was not necessarily going to be a factor in determining a winner, but the team decided that one extra award ought to be given for impressiveness. That award goes to Allouise Ladies Wear, for the wonderful array of ladies wear from our past. Well done, Louise! ! We loved your 'school m arm'! '. To all those people who took the time and patience to assemble the wonderful displays, to all those who donated artifacts and to those who adorned their windows in red, white and blue bunting in the Heritage spirit, many thanks. "•When a community pulls together, even in a 'fun' manner such as Heritage Week, it's, a sure sign that that community will weather even the harsh economic realities we have today, and will grow ™& [) ear Editor: prosper together. Bowmanville is just such a community. i a m a high school teacher at St. Metropolitan Toronto Police Trade in their Guns for Pepper Spray by Laura J. Richards Letters to the Editor Fun, without Drugs, at Wonderland It's been a simple case of shooting the messenger. Bam! Even though Victor (my college journalism instructor) told me that things like that were likely to happen when I got a job in the 'real world,' I felt it would never happen to me. Boy, was I wrong! It all started with an article I wrote for the March 28 Weekender concern- ' ing a proposed central composting fa- • cility in Darlington Township. Some of the folks who live near the compost site aren't so sure they are in favor of this facility. They came to Newcastle Council last week where they voiced their concerns. It would appear that their visit was sparked by that aforementioned article which ap-' peared in The Statesman's Weekender edition. At that point, the mayor and councillors councillors accused a newspaper reporter (namely, me) of causing unnecessary fear among the local property owners. It was time to shoot the messenger. Time to bring out the firing squad and the blindfold. Mayor Hamre asked me shortly after after she won the election last November, November, and after I wrote a column about her victory, to let her know if anything anything seemed amiss in the Town of Newcastle. Well, the compost debate made me decide that there definitely is something something wrong. I think it's a matter of politicians not really paying attention and listening. listening. Had the members of council been listening, they would have realized 1 that the information about the proposed proposed composting facility was gleaned directly from a March 23 council meeting. The facts I used in • writing the article were not the ravings ravings of some supermarket tabloid. They came from a report on the council council agenda from March 23. And they- also came from the remarks made by a proponent of the project who spoke to ' Newcastle Council that same evening. There wasn't even an interview ; with the proponent of the project or a ■ press conference on the subject, as weekend. The event was sponsored by may have been questionable. Our dili- ,v 6 vu.v„ „ j i am a mgu avuvui ivavnv, several rock music stations as well as gence, thankfully, was redundant. The ^ j t _ . Organizing Heritage Week is a task and a half. Part way through Stephen's High School and I am writ- Canada's Wonderland. It was publi- only which I could have se- speculatedby Councillor Hooper. thp celebrations everv vear we vow never to do it again But, then, ing to call to your readers' attention cized as a drug-free, a cohol-free al- nously questioned is wny anyone j am a journalist. I do the job I wa me celebrations every year we vow never to uo n again, mu, uicn, 6 j ^ graduating stu- temative to graduation. In our would want to go on a stand-up roller t ht t0 d d ^ id t0 do we are bolstered by something like the enthusiasm of our core ^STep"S2g school's case, we will also be having merchants, and we start looking forward to doing it all again next ^ was an ad n jgj, t p art y at the traditional high school Prom. year. _ Canada's Wonderland. In attendance There are two questions which you Thank you, all, for helping us celebrate not only our local heritage at Canada's Wonderland must have may very well ask yourself: (1) Why bü. for doing something so exha special for Canada's 125Utb^y. be™ «£**(•» hg, schism- «--£ 'LSg oineereiy, 0ur group, chaperoned by Mr. (not to mention much of Saturday af- Sher Leetooze, Steven Morgan and myself, left our temoon recuperating) m the company Chairman, school at 9:00 p.m. and got back at " ° Heritage Week Committee 7:00 o.m. Saturday morning this past by Rick James Mary-Clare MacKinnon Proud to Wave Canadian Flag •;>If Johnny Carson can do it, so can I. -■.No, I'm not retiring, but it is time for...The Best of Thoughts Unlimited. 1 'That may be pretentious to assume there are any "Best qf'T.U." but in keeping with the summer re-run schedules oPtelcvision, it's fair to re-hash one of the columns from the past that drew favorable comments from readers. The real reason to recycle old material is that time was îlot on my side this week. Summer brings the usual deluge of staff holidays, which means that yours truly actually has ho work hard for a few days in a row. Heaven forbid! ! All will be back to normal next week. This recycled column is also a preview of the topic to be discussed next W.eèk..."More bloopers and practical jokes from around ih'chome." ! .' Have you ever seen the movie, "The Money Pit?" ' If you are a homeowner and claim to be handy, this movie is mandatory viewing before starting any home improvement improvement project. • Prior to meeting our father-in-law, the extent of my. handiness was restricted to looking up telephone numbers of plumbers, electricians and carpenters. Since that time, I've learned that the best way to thaw frozen pipes is with towels soaked in boiling water. I've mastered the wiring of a three-way electrical switch. Most important of all, did you know that a 2x4 is actually only Ï 1/2" x 3 1/2"! Where did the extra 1/2" go? Although I've come a long way since the early days of blue fingernails and blistered palms, there are no immediate immediate plans to build a house. After all, this is the same guy that mistook a natural gas line for a frozen water pipe and tried to thaw it with a propane torch. That's when I learned about the hot towel trick. Far less explosive. This is also the same handyman who was trapped in the. new dog kennel for two hours when the wind blew the sqlf-locking door shut. That incident at least taught us to make things so that they can be taken apart if needed. When the basement needed to be drywallcd, I thought an electric sander would speed up the process drastically. It made quick work of the drywall in the basement. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, it took months to clean up the drywall dust in the rest of the house. But by far, the biggest home improvement blunder to date has been the deck with the built-in firepit. The construction team of Hancock Sr., Hancock Jr. and Handyman James combined to create an architectural masterpiece, rivalled only by the town hall. For days the trio worked at a feverish pace to complete the deck and firepit for the Victoria Day celebrations. With only an hour to spare before the neighbors arrived arrived the firepit was completed, ready for toasting marshmallows marshmallows and roasting weenies. As the guests arrived, it was becoming apparent that the firepit would be the centre of attention. Everyone huddled huddled around it to fight off the cool dampness of May 24th. The flames grew larger and the pit got hotter. I checked regularly to see that our constmction was up to snuff. Even our friend the bricklayer proclaimed the pit to be safe. After a spectacular neighborhood fireworks display, the party started to break up about 2 a.m. One last check of the pit, and it was off to slumberland. of thousands of revelling teenagers? (2) What has possessed me to write your newspaper about it? In response to the first question, it was partly a selfish decision and partly partly an altruistic one. Being a fairly recent recent resident of Ontario', I had not yet experienced Canada's Wonderland. As well, I could appreciate the difficulties difficulties of getting the pre-requisite number of chaperones, and wanted to help out. Our school chapter of Dear Mr: O.S.A.I.D. (Ontario Students Against Last week I had the occasion to Impaired Driving) was organizing the take the turn-off to #2 thru Bowmanevening Bowmanevening and it promised to be one of vMe after driving the monotonous 401 un-imp aired fun. from the East. As to why I chose to write this I must say what a treat to, see the newspaper, I must confess that it is to Maple Leaf and our Provincial flags publicize something that, to my fl ymg Proudly all the way through knowledge, has not been well-noticed y° ur l° vc ty town, in the press. In these times, when eve- , It reminded me of the U.S.A., they ry page of the average national news- sl *U Ity th c * r Bag proudly even paper has horror stories of drag- through troubled times. I hope our Ca- crazed teenagers swarming innocent nadians will buy.even a small flag and was taught to do and am being paid t For me and other journalists, that means getting the facts, and writing them down in a fashion that people will understand. That means stating the facts and . bringing them out in the open even if a great time without any incident, they might produce some negative re- That, in itself, is worthy of note. actions from members of the public As for the chaperons that night, the w ^ 0 w jjj tj| en appear before Town pleasure was all ours. council to ask questions or voice ob- Sincere/y; j ect ions. Those, in the political spotlight have to be aware that when the facts coaster more than once! In conclusion, I do not want to belittle belittle the problems of being a teenager today. However, for one evening last week, thousands of sometimes maligned maligned teenagers got together and had get pushed out into the open, someone might stop to listen and then react. It is just a fact of life. If I had invented the whole idea that a composting facility is proposed for the Concession 10 site in former Darlington Township, then I guess I would be irresponsible and guilty of putting unnecessary fears into the minds of the public. But nobody has denied the existence existence of this proposal. And it seems to me that neighbours would naturally be concerned about any specific plans to change the use of a parcel of land in their rural community. community. Even though composting facili-/' ties are environmentally desirable, that does not mean residents have no TWO hours later, nature called and I crawled from the ■-- --.~ D --~ - = nrniirtlv Hicnlav it ihrnimhnm nnr cru». mai uucs uui mean icsiuvins nave iiu bed to grope for the washroom. A quick look out the bed- shoppers, it was a pleasure to see so P y P y 8 ]ve - right to ask questions when a large - - ' " J many young people having fun with- CC ° composting operation is suggested for out the use of drugs or alcohol. Of norme problems put it s a stan. a site near their homes, course, being teachers, the chaperons aincereiy kept a close eye on any activity which E. Fraser-MacLean Continued on Page 3 room window revealed that the pit was still burning. Hmm...must have been a good fire. While I sat in the washroom thinking about nothing in particular, it occurred to me that the flames seem much larger than two hours ago. Pull up your pants idiot...your deck's on fire! In true fireman's fashion, we raced from the house dressed only in our undies to assess the blaze. Quick, call the fire department. No, don't call the fire department, those guys will never let me live this one down. Where's the garden hose? More importantly, where's the barbecue with the propane tank? I jumped over the railing and grabbed the hose. Naturally, die 100 foot hose was tangled sufficiently to reach about eight feet. From a distance, I sprayed the small stream of water to snuff out the flames. The stubborn blaze fought back and ran the beams underneath underneath the deck. Enough hose was untangled to reach the lawn and spray up underneath the flooring. While kneeling in the grass, I was reminded where the neighbor's neighbor's kid had been sick after eating too many hot dogs. The hose quickly switched to rinse mode. My spraying technique was proving ineffective in dousing the flames. From my many years of chasing fire trucks, it was obvious that the flooring needed to be cut to get at the burning beams. The circular saw was still in the garage, and was quickly put to use to gain access to the fire. But, now everything was wet and the saw worked for a millisecond as the safety breaker clicked off. Should I call the fire department now? Not on your life! Where's the chainsaw? After a few hundred pulls on the cord, the usually reliable saw ripped into action. The neighbor's lights came on as they watched a half-crazed man in his undies cut up his new deck at 4:15 in the morning. morning. Finally the flames were out and peace was restored to the neighborhood. The deck has been repaired and the new firepit doubles as a bunker for nuclear attack. The next door neighbor's house went up for sale the following day. Who needs to rent "The Money Pit" when you can make your own movie right at home.? m a We Asked... What pre your views on last week's Heritage Week celebration? ... .And You Said Sam Ovenden Bowmanville Mary Thompson Bowmanville John Smith Bowmanville "Well, I don't really "I thought it was prêt- "I think it's a good remember much, but it ty good. Everyone idea.. I really enjoyed was a classic seemed to have a good the parade. The town moment." time." should have events like that more often." G. L. Virtue Bowmanville "It's a good thing for the municipality." Next week's question: What does the summer job situation look like for you? m