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Orono Weekly Times, 10 Apr 2002, p. 8

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8 "t" m C 1 fe t ft Times, i'/Wèu îi6 s ci âÿjf Apru : BASIC BLACK Leave it to Beaver by Arthur Black Just ran into a guy I know down at the coffee shop. He was handing out cigars. "New baby?" I guessed cleverly. "Yup" said the guy. Eight-pound baby girl. We're calling her Charity". Which would be fine, I guess - if the guy's last name didn't happen to be Case. Maybe the nurses will talk them out of it. Mums and Dads...think long and hard before you saddle saddle your newborns with monikers they have to carry for the rest of their lives. Keep it in mind that there are two Frank Zappa offspring who will, 'til they draw their last breath, answer to 'Moon Unit' and 'Dweezil'. Never forget that there's a university student in New York whose name is Rosetta Stone. And a chartered chartered accountant in New Zealand named Genghis Cohen. And a Catholic Archbishop in Malta who answers to Cardinal Sin. Names are like hand grenades. You never know when one is going to blow up in your face. Ask the folks at Beaver College down in Pennsylvania. It was an innocent-enough name back in 1853, when the college was founded. And the institution came by the name honestly ~ the college was originally situated situated in Beaver County, Pa. But the college has moved, and so have The Times. Tell someone you 're going to Yale, Harvard, McGill or Simon Fraser and you get a little respect. Tell them you're studying at Beaver College and you get snickers, smirks and remarks like "You gotta be kiddin'!" David Letterman has made fun of Beaver College on Late Night. Howard Stem has mocked it on his radio program. program. Freshman Aimee Drumheller says it's hard to live with. She says when friends erupted in laughter at the mention of her Alma Mater, "I'd just kind of blow it off. But when they hear the name, they always want me to get them a Beaver College T- shirt." For the beaver, it's been a long, slow slide down the river bank. Back in the days before the big ships full of white strangers came, the beaver was plentiful -- and a kind of living food bank for the Indians. They knew the creatures were fat, nutritious and easy to catch, The white men didn't give a damn about the meat. They just wanted the hides so they could send them back to Europe to be turned into high fashion head- gear for style-conscious fops. And they took the hides by the millions. The beaver population population plummeted close to extinction. Fortunately, European haute couture gave a flip of its frivolous head and poof! -- beaver hats were suddenly out of fashion. But fate wasn't finished with Castor Canadensis. The poor little guy, through no fault of his own, became an involuntary charter member of scatological slang. Time was when our national emblem was just a shy and roly-poly rodent. Nowadays, as U.S. linguist Reinhold Aman has noted, "When someone writes about beavers, one assumes this person person is a zoologist, a Canadian, or works for a pom magazine." magazine." Some critics say we never should have chosen a beaver for our national emblem., but let's face it -- most of the blue chip beasties were spoken for. Britain had the lion, Russia had the bear, India, the tiger. Our neighbours to the south had the magnificent bald eagle. Magnificence, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. Listen to this description of the bald eagle: ".. .he is a bird of bad moral character...like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy..." I didn't say that. Benjamin Franklin did. The late Robertson Davies opined that Canada should have chosen the Canadian lynx. "It is a daring, wily, beautiful animal, swift and potentially ferocious, tenacious tenacious in defense of what is its own and never caught asleep." Bold attempt, Robertson -- but try as I might, I can't picture picture Canada as daring, wily, ferocious or particularly swift. And anyway what exactly is wrong with celebrating an animal that is quiet, hardworking, hardworking, doesn't try to kill and eat it's neighbours, minds its own business and spends it's working hours building homes and creating new fish habitat? Sounds like a pretty decent neighbour to me. Say it loud and say it proud: we come from Beaver country. by Isabel Challice The monthly dinner sponsored sponsored by Community Care was held in the Orono United Church Hall on Wednesday, March 27th. A well filled table of "Food Bank" donations was displayed displayed and Mrs. Dini Schoenmaker thanked the crowd for their thoughtfulness. thoughtfulness. An excellent attendance of 50 - 60 folks sat down to a delicious dinner of meat loaf, vegetables, rolls and dessert. The dinner was catered by the "Ladies Time Out," of Orono United Church. These busy ladies were thanked by a splendid show of hands! Ladies Bowling Monday Night Newcastle Bowling Alley - April 8th GAME GAME GAME 1 2 3 Ann McGuey 195 Anne Arsenault 186 Betty Major 198 201 Joan Moffat 183 198 Karen Collier 190 Karen Geboers 200 Leah Wood 178 Lenore Beckmann 190 177 Marie Wood 178 Sharon Bester .181 50/50 Winner - Julie Price Q My tax preparer (not your office!) made a mistake on my tax return, and now I find I owe a huge amount that I didn't know about, plus interest and penalties. And to top it off, I'm sure I told them about the income when I brought it in. Can I sue them for the amount? A There is a huge difference difference between offering "expert advice" and offering "expert tax return preparation". Tax return preparation is the act of mechanically entering T4s and other information into a computer. There is some advantage to having an experienced person type the values into the computer. computer. But if a mistake is made, even if it's the fault of the tax business, even if they were careless, it only changes the tax you thought you owed. Your real tax liability or refund is the result of your earnings and expenses during the year, and it's too late to change that in April of the following following year when you are preparing your tax return. If a mistake was made entering Dini Schoenmaker introduced introduced our guest speaker for the afternoon, Ruth Anne Miller, who has owned and operated a dog training school and a breeding kennel of Siberian Huskies and Mini Wire Dachshunds since 1981. She is the founding member member of Canadian Association of "Professional Pet Dog Trainers." The speaker that data on your tax return, and you thought you owed less until CCRA catches it, well, the tax isn't the fault of the tax business - you had a good year. The only liability you will be able to peg them down on is the interest and penalties that their mistake caused. They have no liability on the tax owed. You owed that anyway, they just gave you the wrong number on your return. They did not "create" the tax, you did, so they do not have to repay it to you. The exception to the above is where you received tax advice, as opposed to mechanical mechanical assistance preparing the return. If you received advice that you acted upon, and the advice created tax to pay that brought along a lively and most attractive big white 3 year old "Standard Poodle" named "Poet." A very interesting interesting talk on the benefits to be gained by owning a dog! Proper food and exercise are always necessary! With spring and summer coming, always remember to leave dogs out of your cars! Ruth Anne Miller also gave a good example of playing games with her pet! A very enjoyable afternoon to the audience. would not have been created had you left well enough alone, then you would have a significant case against the tax advisor, and could make a claim for the tax paid, the interest and the penalties. A lot of basement tax-preparers tax-preparers find themselves on the wrong end of a multi-thousand multi-thousand dollar lawsuit because CCRA disagreed with some advice they offered trying to be helpful. Due to the complexities complexities of the Income Tax Act, and the fact it changes almost monthly, tax advice is better left to the pros. The above article is for general purpose information only. Before acting on this, or any other information, readers should seek competent. professional advice. Em CA Mark L. Hendrikx Chartered Accountant • Certified Financial Planner • Accounting and Auditing • Computer Consulting • Planning & Taxation Services for businesses, Individuals, Corporations, Estates and Farms • business Start-ups • Free Initial Consultation 37 King St. West, Newcastle, Ontario LIB 11-12 Fax:(905)987-9809 • Phone: (905) 987-0570. Accounting Corner (advertisement)

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