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4 GeorgetownActon Wednesday Aug 1963 TELEPHONE 8532010 Founded in 1B75 by Punting Ltd at Street Acton Ontario L7J Telephone Sutnc Sons 30 each al count than Canada ty Allocution and The Com Second clou ruil Ken Bellamy Don Ryder Hartley Coles rector of Advertising Managing Editor Tha Acton Free One trie Prntng and group tun The Pickering Atfcertoer Banner The Bolton Enterprise Brampton Guardian Tha Burlington Pott Weekend Pott The EtotMCoke AdVartaet Guardian Tha Georgetown Independent Tna Post MarUum ThomMi and Sun Champion The Eia The North Ma or Oakvtke Boa Week 0iha Weekend Tho Richmond H Thomhll Liberal Sea The DEPARTMENT Edhor Naur Murray Sport Robin ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Rata Cook Suwn Sandra CtoMrFiadAdvartiairrg Debba MaeDoug BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Of lie Manaoar Joan Shenca Acton must fight for Section 63 Acton has a welldeserved reputation for not taking in justices lying down For that reason its puzzi why Acton t risen up and said enough is enough treated fairly and council adopted Section former ly Section to bring about property tax assessment re form Residents in all wards of Halton Hills who live in homes built since the early 70s are carrying a heavier tax load than others in town since the province has had new properties assess ed under market value assessment Homes built before the early 70s have had their assessments frozen by the province The only method of equalizing assessments and thawing frozen assessments is adop tion of Section There was a relatively mild protest in favor of Sec tion a few years ago from Bovis residents However when council narrowly voted to maintain the me qui table status quo Bovis gave up the fight They didn even follow through on mention of launching a property tax assessment reform ratepayers group Earlier this year in a complicated presentation a consultant hired by Heller s showed council that not only are residents of new homes in all wards being shafted because antiquated assess ments are still in effect but in fact Acton stores and industries are really being treated unfairly Local businesses are paying about 25 per cent higher taxes than their counterparts in Georgetown The consultant also claimed residential taxes on similar properties in Ac ton and Georgetown are whack Acton s pay about 25 per cent more than those in Georgetown That contention is disputed by the resident expert on council Ross though he says the per cent disparity definitely ex ists for business and ind ustry The implication of ctl s action earlier this sum mer rejection of a study and other backers of Section wanted so their case for reform would be more convincing is clear This study wouldn have forced council to adopt Sec so the majority of councillors were saying they prefer to keep their heads in the sand and the glaring inequities It politically safer they believe A couple of weeks ago Knechtel presented some more evidence of as he put it the royal screwing Ac ton is receiving With this kind of publicity for an issue it s puzzling why Acton hasn t been hollering Where are the delegations weekly if necessary to council pro testing this highly unfair and improper situation Where are the letters to the editor Where are the local meetings to organize pro tests Where is the lobbying of Georgetown and residents who live in newer homes and paying more than their fair share To be sure Actomans esp local businessmen have reacted to the to their local represent atives about this complex and complicated issue But they are preaching to the converted Knechtel and Dave Whitmg voted for Sec tion and have said they adoption of Section 63 Newcomer Rick Bon has offered a sym pathetic ear and while he t said he vote for Section 63 when and if it comes to a vote he seems to be leaning in the direction of delivering a third yes vote He certainly voted for Knechtel study request because it would provide council with more infor ma But Acton councillors need at least four votes out of Georgetown and Esques ing and support from councillors in the other three wards is lukewarm at best to carry the day The Acton councillors need strong visible and vocal support from Acton to win this battle Georgetown and councillors must be convinced Acton s mad as hell and won t take this anymore They must also hear from their own constituents who would benefit from property tax assessment reform It must become politically safer to adopt Section than main tain the status quo Now what are you wait for Acton Go get em GM Back issues From the editor s des While cat away ihe mice will play Helen away on vacation in Collingwood I not doing a lol of playing of any kind I doing a lot of the stuff she usually does as well as my own work so darn it all there a lot of lime left over Bui I ingoing to have a little fun never the less Earlier this year she gave me a shot in her column I can recall the specifics and it not worth looking up Suffice to say she piled I can be a little hick bet ween the ears from time to time some will tell you earnestly that il a permanent slate of affairs th me but don believe every thing you hear Anyway after that little shot a good number of people who read both of our columns regularly mentioned they be waiting for me to fire a shot back They been waiting and waiting Those who know us well are aware neither or us is inclined to hold back digs at each other so they ve been expecting a good br from me So of you I mast say must really enjoy witnessing Murray domestic disputes not the type the police are called for at least so far though she has thrown a few steak knives at me over the dinner table but that another You seem so eager for a reply Well what follows really a reply to her comment about my Intelligence level but it is a couple of slorics I long wanted share with all who would read or listen However in the Interest of relative peace in the newsroom 1 haven written them previously I admit it taking advantage of her absence So here goes Digs from my Its years ago next month that met Helen I had Just transferred lo Sheridan College In from ethnical Institute in Toronto so I could learn the skills necessary to work on a small own paper First meeting the little HellerV Helen had me thinking I made the wrong My first day here I sort of met Helen Having some training in jour was assigned to work with the second year students on the first issue or the school weekly the Sheridan Sun My first day at this new school I went straight to the Sun s news room received an assignment and buckled down to work It t easy There was a big distraction in a small package You see there was this little girl silting here talking a mile a minute And I mean a mile a minute If you think Helen talks last and long now just take my word for it she mellowed greatly Th nonstop chatter went on and on Finally I turned and looked at Ihe source more carefully It I love at first You see she was silling there Jawing away swinging her legs she couldn I touch the floor Still can in a tot of chairs What kind place is this I asked myself They let the students bring their younger slbbl to class thought from my view across Ihe room she was about 13 or Anyway 1 didn notice Helen again for a few days Then one day she was silting at the next table I concluded she must just be short which she obviously is but belonged in the school She was being quiet for a change We were both working on our assignments when that wee voice piped up and asked it I knew how to spell some word In my usual charming trying really hard to impress her I growled How the expletive deleted would 1 know Look it up Great first impression eh Anyway despite my initial impression of her I expect time I m away she 11 tell you about her first impression of me we got to know each other and fallowed the same courtship route as most couples The rest as they say Is history So his talc of the 1 woman On this case that s not a sexist or chauvinist remark she s female and little off may chest I now wait for my punishment Helen s parents the paper weekly so if Canada Post suddenly becomes speedy and she gels it before returning an the weekend Iherc may or may not by an On the Iioavell in Ihe next week edition Ihe Free Press may or may not have an opening for a reporter I might also be looking for a roommate or smaller quarters who knows how little Helen or The Little Heller as my best friend from childhood calls her will react But just to be on the safe de miss you Snugs and can wait til you get back home and back to work too Try and as good a sport about what I wrote as up pea red to be about Hartley s column last- week dear cotes siaw MillMain corner has a colorful history When makes up his mind to do he doesn t waste any time It hardly seems the old store which housed his pharmacy and apart ments came down before const ruction on spanking new build started The foundation is already laid and it t be long before a new store helps make the downtown business section more attractive The old building which went under the wrecker hammer has a lively history Date Dills and tried to trace the many businesses which occupied the premises dur a recent conversation It was Dave who revealed it had also been the arte Clark a Hotel back even before be a boy My memory of that comer only foes back to when it was occupied by the Sank of Nova Scotia and the Acton but I also remember when it was borne for the Bell Telephone exchange Std Eisen Clothing Store and Simp son a Order before BUI for his pharmacy recall any other I there but there well could have been Acton Early Days Ihe book Ho I ton Hills Libraries are making an Index for now tells of the early days of corner when it was occupied by a stone hotel which the book says was well bered Erection of this ho lei was commenced by the late Simeon Anderson but he died before it was completed He had previously kept hotel in a log building supplanted over a century ago by the Dominion Hotel bull by Robert Agnes which stood on he north side of the IGA grocery store There s only a parking lot there now since the hotel s destruction in a tragic fire After Mr Anderson a death his executors the late and well known builder James Cameron had the stone hotel completed on the corner of MID and Main The first landlord of the new hotel according to Acton Early Days was John Wallace who afterwards went Milton and kept the Wallace House where the ton Inn once stood It too has succumbed lo the ravages fire The new stone building was called Ihe Stone Hotel and It had several landlords before it too was destroyed by fire about he turn or he century Acton Early Days notes It was somewhat remarkable that nearly all parts of the building were gutted and the contents destroyed but the bar room in the northeast comer re malned almost intact until the fire was over The contents of the barroom suffered after the flames had been subdued the book comments sardonically In those days farmers from Nassagaweya Erin and Eramosa townships used to come in to hoist a few drinks in Clark Hotel before they headed back along bumpy corduroy roads to their land It is related that one wintry night about a century ago a resident of left the premises after carousing with a few cronies most of the day He took along a jug of whisky for com got Into bis sleigh and headed the mare home Somehow he got back o his Nassagaweya farm aided no doubt by the Instincts of the horse but climbed out of the sleigh with the jug and proceeded his line fence He evidently tried climb the fence but his coordination was no doubt affected because he was un able to get over They found him there later the book relates covered with snow But he was stiff In death a lesson not lost on the Look authors The Stone Hotel had many land lords including Thomas a ark Bias Clark Thomas Campbell James Campbell EC Clark A Roach and A Blhgar It Is the second last landlord named who is best remembered He was the father of the famous author Mazo dels Roche Anyway some older residents still recall the Misses Roche driving around Acton with a two wheeled cart behind a Shetland pony She later wrote her way to fame with the novel After the Stone Hotel burned down Nell Patterson purchased the property and built the block of stores and apartments which have now been demolished to make way for new home for Acton macy On adjoining lot where Acton IGA and Acton Bowling Alleys now are situated the late a brick garage which was known as the Central Garage on the of Acton first grocery store con ducted by Miller Hem street and called The Danville Grocery Acton was Danville then It is ironic the lot Is now occupied by another leading grocery super market According to Actons Early Days Acton skating rink was alio located on this lot It was known as the King Edward Rink and was flooded by using the fire engine to pump the water from town hall well before there were any w in Acton So that piece of real estate has bad a colorful history before it tarts new beginnings in the Mot years ago 1973 Ac ion Legion has received proval from Council to build a legion hall on the for mer Nelles property Bob alter has announced he will seek an area council seat in the upcoming municipal election Building in this has already hit he million mark p building inspector Tcrr Coe of scored the first hole in one at Acton Meadows this 20 years ago 1963 Street row ism has prompted a debate in Aclon council chambers centred around police protection Last FY and early morning OPI arrested and charged six persons with nine of fences as a result of two urbane Approval has been given for a home for he aged Construction for he new Centennial Manor in Milton will begin lately The new Acton and District Com munlty Centre is completed and in use Construct on costs of ITS were raised through a fund raising campaign and a grant from Province 50 years ago 1933 The best game of the Softball league so Tar saw Shoes defeated by Tanners Tannery J Woods J Gib bons Anderson A Kirkncss M Tyler J McGcachie Morton Spires Hollo way Masai C Holmes Mosaics A Buchanan T Gibbons The work at the pioneer cemetery has already made marked The wilderness is gone It seems pretty generally felt that structure to be built from the stones should be a pergola similar to that m Gait Many of Ihe slabs are broken lying on ground Subscriptions continue lo come from interested parlies A large number attended the barn dance Mr Lloyd Johnston new barn on the seventh line Park in son s played and Mr Clarence lynch called off Is now the main activity in the countryside The yield is fair 75 years ago is very rare to have two In torments in Churchill In one week but such was the case owing to the deaths of Mrs John Gibbons and George Sndcr There has been quite an exodus from this vicinity to the North weal and the harvest fields Several citizens hove complained that electric light system Is frequently very lardy In coming on the even One hundred and thirty five men were laid off last Friday by Acton Tanning Company with the Inst ructions here would be no work for two weeks The general depression has effected the leather trade seriously and ore extremely cautious The Siege of Sebastopol will be represented at the Canadian National this year with a cast of and the largest stretch of scenery ever placed on a stage 100 years ago August IK83 Messrs Beardmorc and Co big brick chimney has been completed is feet contains over bricks and cost in neigh of It is said be the largest and tallest chimney In the county The diseases most prevalent this week In Ontario Diarrhoea Anaemia Neuralgia Cholera Infantum Bronchitis Cholera Morbus During Ihe fall wheal harvest just over Mr M Bennett a man 83 years of age cradled acres of fall wheat six days at the farm of Mr Peter In The above is a fact and can be certified o Very heavy frost on Monday morning We regret o say here are a num of very bad boys and young men On Sunday no leas than six whips were stolen from vehicles In the Methodist Church shed and other similar freaks are being continually committed What Is their chief constable