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Georgetown Acton Wednesday May The TELEPHONE EthtouM Oh Founded in 1875 every J Lid l Sum Acton OotWb 17J 1519 17 par in Caned 30 eieScountnea other than Canada Commonly The Ken Bellamy Don Ryder Pubirsher Hartley Coles Director of Advertising Managing Editor The Acton Free Tea One of the and ft Ltd at winch The Newt Advextiaer Aurora Banner Tha Entarpnea Brampton Guardian The Burangton Pot The Burlington Pom Th Etobicoka ArvmeerGuenftan The Georgetown Independent The MaxkharnThornhel and Sun The Mifton Tha MnoMuga New Tha Eeonomut and Sun Tha M4ton Champion New Eta Tha North York Minor Baavar Othewa Wee Weekend The Richmond The Scarborough The Tnbuna EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Murray Nawa Edttor Helen Murray Rooai Paul Nolan Charte Darkroom- Nancy Pimctaack ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Ratal Manager Cook Sale Davy Sunn CancMed Advancing- Caroryrt BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Jean Shews Have we lost faith Nassagaweya Councillor Bill Johnsons dire warning of radical public action if the province didnt smarten up in general and smarten Up in particular on the aggregate issue may yet come to pass Johnson warned people only take so much from Queens Park especially after the province imposed regional government and cut in half with a big power He predicted this area could witness civil disobedience people lying down in front of machinery etc He gazed into his crystal ball back last fall when the aggregate issue first erupted Certainly Johnsons prediction took on more credence at the recent public meeting with Alan Pope The audience nearly 300 strong was in no mood to put up with weak assur ances and platitudes from the Tory Ontario govern You could amost reach out and touch the anger the crowded auditorium They have probably never said it so eloquently Theyve lost faith in the democratic and public participation processes They feel it is futile to play the political game by the book a waste of time and breath talking to govern ment But have people had it with jusC Ottawa and- Queens Park We think not While regional and local coun cillors are in no hot water and justifiably so over the aggregate issue we think there was still a message that night for them In fact the mood helped solve a puzzle for us On two issues which have cropped up in this first year of the new council term there wasnt the public eruption we expected Council is now following a proper well considered and apparently public process in dealing with the central administration or munici pal complex issue How ever we were expecting a huge uproar when it came to light we admit the con troversy was fueled some what by our obvious indignation that for council had been study ing the possibility of locat ing its new building on a parcel of land in George town but didnt make this a matter public record with a deposit on the land until two weeks after the elec tion Well there was no uproar To be sure we heard from some citizens quest ioning the legality and ethics of the action There were lots of people grumb ling about the land deposit and 20000 spent on site studies But just as many people commented that what could you expect that was politics and polit icians The recent study and million price tag has also produced grumbling but no delegates to council When the property tax reassessment issue came up again backed by convin cing evidence that Acton industries and business were paying more taxes than those in Georgetown we again expected a big uproar All we heard was thats what weve been saying for years Actons paying more than its share We suspect people have lost faith in the public participation process with all levels of government Part of the problem may be our local politicians have been tarnished by the ac tions of those in Ottawa and at Queens Park painted with the same bad brush Some say theres no point complaining they always have an explanation or ex cuse Weve heard people cant talk Jo n issue while its still its infancy because it is being studied and theres no need to worry But by the time an issue has come close to the decision point most council minds are made up and they have their justifica tions solidly in place We believe that protest ing to our councillors still works not every time but often enough to make the exercise worthwhile At the same time citizens must be realistic You cant go to council or dropin and ex pect instant results But if the message is that people are fed up with talk ing to their councillors too then councillors had better stop assuming everythings fine if they arent hearing a lot of beefs and viewing packed galleries Maybe the message of the aggregate meeting crowd to all politicians was to not talk just listen and try to take the pulse yourself a lit tle more often G M From the editor s To print names or not Part Owe So the Free Press doesnt print names of people charged with crimes for fear of people Try and tell that to the people whose names were printed and Ihelr cases covered in this news paper in Try and tell that to their families for that matter I went through all of last years editions of the Free Press and surprised myself I didnt realize wed carried as many court stories as we had In terms of general crimes we published stories arrests remands in court preliminary hearings being held trials tencings which ate up column Inches of space there are 10 columns on sage and columns areatuuS Among the charges were deer poaching criminal negligence causing death noise bylaw viola lions car theft theft of goods of high value and cash vandalism to sacred public property assault police and obstruction of police Then there were stories deal with arrest and court ap pearances trial and sentencing of two people charged with murders last year Coverage of these cases consumed over column inches Add to all this nearly 1100 column Inches of coverage of the Dominion Hotel second degree murder trial sentencing and appeals This story was broken down Into articles and earned the Free Press a second place finish in the Best News Story in toe Ontario Community Newspapers Association competitions in which our coverage was judged against the best news story entries of all community papers In the province Our hotel fire trial coverage beat out articles on subjects such as Canadas first teat tube babys birth and the Litton plant bombing We also covered the legal Involved in the appeal of the lenient sentence given to a Burlington man who ran down several women riding their bicy cles in that city in I960 One of the women killed in that accident was a former There were two stories taking up column Inches dealing with that case Several of the cases we started covering last year werent settled until this year a few are still pend ing So Id say we do print names and cover court cases though ob viously not as many as some readers want I wont explain our policy again or delve into the reasons why we dont print more names or the criteria for a case being covered in court Instead Id lice to turn to some personal experiences Ive had dealing with this contentious issue I mentioned one reason why after printing a name we cover the case continually in court is that peoples names are cleared on technicalities I can tell you people do get off on technicalities because I dm six years ago was car accident I causedjt and was charged with falling to yield The day I went to court I pleaded why not I was guilty when it was all over I wasnt fined I didnt lose any points My name was instead totally cleared After hearing the evidence and learning I agreed with it the judge said he was entering a not guilty plea on my behalf I was stuiuied as he explained the summons period for this crime was days and I havent received mine until days after the offense Why hadnt I re ceived my summons on time It was delivered on time but I wasnt home I was away on vacation Alas the guilty arent always punished Turning to another personal experience I remember one Acton mother who was always telling me we should run the names of all people charged Wed discussed or maybe argued is a better the point a number of times However her tune changed quickly when her own son was charged with an offense and the name wound up In the paper be cause it was a serious crime carry the accused did go to jail Suddenly she could see all kinds of arguments for not printing names In a small town She pointed out she was taking a lot of abuse from friends and it fair ber son was an adult now bed lived away from home for several years Why were people holding her re sponsible for what hed done she couldnt possibly control him any longer To boot while she was very embarrassed her son dldn t seem to give a hoot Another experience weve had here wasnt personal the family involvojOnew Hartley and not me so they failed him But passed on all the details to me for my own information We ran a teenager s name who was charged with a crime which outraged the public The parents were taking a lot of abuse The kid didnt seem a bit embarrassed when we saw him in court This youth had a long record of trouble Hed been a big problem for his parents for some time Theyd tried everything they could think of to straighten him out Nothing worked for very long They were at end The wanted him behind bars the hopes some one else would have more luck There were other extenuating circumstances surrounding his be havior too But now after trying their very best end enduring a lot of pain caused by this punk they were faced with public humiliation Its no picnic for an editor hear Ing a story like that and It really makes you think about never runn a name again because every time you run a name you dont know what extenuating cir cumstances might be in play you don t know about what increased pain you may be going to inflict on the innocent There was another case I discussed with a close friend of a family whose childs name ap peared In print This youth had admitted to police he t per the deed alone but re- Continued on pane The flour mill has been here from the beginning hilt hnntneu thin fltahlit1 mn- The old flour mill at the bottom of Mill Street has been sold to a new owner and the business will continue Just as It has since the Adams brothers founders of Acton built first one on the site over 150 years ago And of course it is from this mill that Mill St got its name It was happenstance rather than design that Mill St became the main street in Acton with most of the business places on it The street intended for the main business section was Main St more suited for the business sec tion But villages in those days grew like Topsy in every direc tion Natural growth turned Hill into Main and Main Into highway It was water power that attrac ted the Adams brothers Rev and Rev and Adams who settled here In IBs Fairy take then was a purling trout stream to quote Actons Early Days By purchase of acre and the damming up of the stream It was converted into a water r r mill Just below the dam but business there was discontinued about years after the dam backed up the waters of the mill pond Into the SB acre body of water we call Fairy Lake today No mention of that mill would be complete without saying some thing about Dave Lindsay who operated It for decades and turned out some of the best flour in the province Dave was abo an avid horseman and hunter and both his horses and hounds were familiar He had a bam at the back of his house on Park St where be kept Suodardbreds and his hounds were constant companions in the Packard be drove which was frequently parked at the mill It was a common sight to see trucks lining up at the mill when Dave Lindsay operated it wheat to be ground into the flour which made the mm famous The owners since bare kept the business nourishing if It is not a bad pun Now a new taken over a buatoen bete wh Acton was only a probably fashioned out of logs from the thick woods which enveloped this part of the province Fairy Lake snores were also heavily wooded with cedar hem lock and hardwood Stumps still In the lake attest to that Actons Early Days says In the subdivision of the Adams farms when Acton was largely surveyed Into village lots the pen- Jutting out into the hike west ward from the section of lots on Mam Street was secured by Ranson Adams a nephew of the founders This property contained 14 acres as it does today Its shores were also wooded as I can remember quite distinctly Then were cedars and birch and wild cherry and balm of and In those we boys after a dip in the lake at the present old swimmtn bole would regale our selves with cherries from Urn black and fire cherry trees and with carrots from the field of white carrots wbkfa was Invariably the grown by Old Ran som on bis land which now comprises Actons public park Mr Adas always had of horses used the crop carrotsleft by the boys after their summer feedingto feed during the winter months to the horses In those early days there was fine trout fishing In the old mill pond Speckled trout and no amount of other fish abounded there There were a number of boats and punts on the pond and these facilitated the sport of the fishermen when in quest of speck led beauties Theres no trout in Fairy Lake today but lots of pike bass suckers catfish and When I was a Ud occasionally someone would haul in a rainbow or a speckled from the waters of Fairy Lake but the anglers invariably said it had escaped from the Mi ponds on the Third Line on the property bow occupied by the family If you want to catch speckled beauties today try on of the spark ling dear streams that flow in angler aays be two on siM from the River up the First Line last week- iif thou on column on this pat air TV i dual The pfoctd on your wall out for dent bottom of your bird to your can nil lit or rcn used at insulation the cruel cold world They ere realty artificial Murray to look pirmant Mem mm by the lens while I r trying A took inrriUtrnt en task for either of us aavrdmttomcoOeefue years ago MayMtTS Acton Bowling Leagues Super stars were the winners of the league championship Members of the team included Norbett Kevin Clarke Jerry Buchanan Barry Doug and Captain Donna Gordon Johnson long time mechanic at L Ford and Thompson Motors was honored with a special retirement party at Acton Meadows Golf Cub last day More provincial grants means less taxes for property owners in Acton Pat McKenzlc chairman of the towns Budget committee said council decided to pass the savings on to the taxpayer rather than use the extra funds for town projects years ago May I ltd John Goy has been named Ciliien of the Year by Acton Cham ber of Commerce Mr Goy is the fifth Acton citizen to receive the award About 30 head of dairy cattle were saved Just minutes before fire engulfed a barn on the farm of Mr and Mrs Sam Snow of Erin Township Thursday evening Ah oriental theme was chosen for Acton High School At Home held Friday evening Students and guests were greeted by Principal and Mrs A Hansen Trustee and Mrs Dwight Mayor Lea Student Council President Bonnie and vice- president Randy Daly Chun saw her bride groom for the first time only weeks before they were married at Knox Presbyterian Church this week She and Acton resident Kong Wong had been pen pals for about a year They became engaged while she was still Hontf Kong and the bride arrived InvGfton at the end of March to meet tier groom to- be 50 years ago May IBM Black Creek Fishing Club has I been formed with J M McDonald Graham and Jos vicepresidents G A Dills secretary treasurer and com members W D Talbot Harrison and E J Nelson The club has secured fishing rights to practically all of the Tannery Creek from the second to the fourth lines and it is their Intention to place fry in the creek each year A rehcrsal was held In the Town Hall of all the music to be presented by Acton scholars at the Music Festival There was a crowded house Among those singing solos were Ethel Franklin Dora Hansen Jackie Bruce Sam- mle Marie Bertha Brlstow Beatrice Taylor Jean Evans Gordon Gibbons Mel Hall Vernon Robert Loutett Jessie Coles Dorothy Dunn Charlie Tyler Bella Rostell and Victor Acton Baseball club has some newcomers The Morton boys Bus and Norman have moved here from Toronto Dave Atnslle and Mr Giffordminlsterof the Baptist church are also turning out 75 years ago April 1MB A stack of hemlock bark caught fire at Acton Tanning Co The steam engine was promptly on the scene Only or 30 cords of the bark were destroyed There are J about cords of bark in this section of the yard and it Is worth between and Messrs have I closed their chopping mill on Mill St and farmers are obliged to go elsewhere The old Adams residence at the comer of Main and Church erected over years ago is to be moved nearer to the new bouse on the property and converted Into a double tenement This will leave a very eligible building lot on the I 100 years ago May 1 ins A list is given of all those who planted a total of shade trees In the village this spring Tberewere trees planted a the public school grounds Through the untiring efforts of our reeve Mr Storey Messrs Beardmore and Co Toronto have been induced to re establish their very targe sole leather manufactory In the village Mr c employs a during the entire season and has without doubt the finest garden In town The old stone school was