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Page THE HERALD Wednesday February Best friends too soon gone As I approached my wife Rita I noticed that there were big tears in her eyes and she was actually sob bing as she tried to turn away Now as any regular fellow might do the first thing I did was check the date It was Feb 18 I wasnt Ritas birthday I had that one covered back in January It wasnt our anniversary And I had remembered Valentines Day I concluded there must be some other reason for the sadness and perhaps I wasnt to blame after all Actually Rita and I were atten ding EnviroWatcb1 a meeting of environmentalists from across Southern Ontario dedicated to preserving our precious air land water all of our great out doors from sly corporate polluters who would just love to fill each and every Niagara Escarpment quarry with garbage garbage from other communities garbage that would poison your environment To be sure the show was running a little behind schedule There was no great upset in that To be sure the talks were emo tional truelife accounts but there were no tearjerking tales to this point anyway So why the waterworks Rita I asked Poor Joan Poor John and Joan she sobbed So now like any regular fellow might do I thought too bad they seemed well match ed Nice people At this juncture I should explain that John Minns was the master of ceremonies of this event and he had devoted an enor mous amount of time and effort en suring Its success Joan Had work ed equally hard in the background an unsung heroine supporting her husbands efforts Split eh Too bad I said No no not that Rita cor rected Dead this morning And I stopped in my tracks Joans very upset John doesnt know yet Rita continued wiping away the big droplets from her huge pretty eyes Cancer They had to put her to sleep their dog Oh we mustnt tell John Hell be so upset He wont be able to continue What I exclaimed All this fuss Its only a dog For Gods sake its only a Now have you ever spoken without thinking Sure you have Its an alltoocommon human fail ing but I thought that Id been taught better by my parents and especially by my grandfather dur ing those private discussions and dealings on that old fishing boat on Balsam Lake back In the 50s and After all our family had a dog once a beautiful mongrel of and Collie heritage named Ginger She cost my parents ten whole dollars and was a present for my sister Christine but of course we all enjoyed the pets company Ginger had one of those forever smiling faces openmouthed hanging full of vitality and mischief After we taught her not to rip up the sofa or perform her dogduty behind the recroom bar well she had almost total rule of the house The heritage an African hunting background meant that she was very quiet rarely barking and odorless In fact she would clean herself much like a cat lick ing its body all of which seemed strange behavior for a beast blen ding the best of a Labradors stature and the friendly face of Only a dog eh Everyone should be so lucky to have such a great companion such an ardent lover of the Outdoors Who was there to clear my mind of worry and hurry during difficult times in high school and college Who would always smilingly agree to a walk so that I might think and forget that rejection by a pretty girl at the dance the other night Who would race back and forth across the ol Gibbons Place front lawn in a most unique game of foot ball Who was the best running back the old homestead has ever seen Only a dog Who always stole the show and the ball during those classic road hockey games that always got just a little too intense Gingerl Bring back that ball Now Ginger Who would look back at us big smile on her face as if to say Sure boys once you settle down and realize that its only a game Sure you can have your ball back Meantime just try and catch me Only a dog eh Ginger was put to sleep on the vets advice when cancer started to make life miserable for her She was eleven human years old and she had the of a puppy until the end And did the family cry that day for only a dog You bet we did John and Joan Minns invited us over for some wine and cheese after the meeting We looked at Johns paintings and pictures of their beloved late pet It seems that she was quite the camper and enjoyed fishing too Clothing 60S Mens Ladies Childrens Only a dog eh I thought to REPAIRS myself What a stupid thing to say transmission AUTOMASTER TRANSMISSION w Foreign Domestic Light Trucks TRANSMISSION SPECIALISTS PROFESSIONAL TRANSMISSION TUNEUP sump and pan pan gaikat trans flltvr fluid Adjust band 95 DEAL DIRECT WITH US AND SAVE NO MIDDLEMAN Front Wheel 4 Wheel Drive Experts 315 Armstrong Ave Georgetown 8776904 along with the other Minns dogs one of whom lay pensively at Johns feet And I dont think it was the wine or the cheese for that matter but if you listened carefully I swear Honest Injun that you could hear a couple of dogs barking from a place far away one as if to say You bring back that fish right now Ginger Ginger Ooo Im going to get you Ginger SHORELINES Dont forget to pick up your new Pishing Regula tions Summary for 1989 now available at all good sports stores The price Is right free Rocky nordic victory for skier ON THE HORIZON fishing at the Generating Station See you in two weeks More about Stiles winning in style Angela Stiles trophy case must be on the verge of being over crowded The 11yearold Glen Williams gymnast recently added two silver medals to an already im pressive array of hardware as she placed second overall at a pair of PreNovice competitions Angela was second overall at an international meet in Colum bus Ohio and followed that up with another secondplace finish at the Ontario Regional qualify ing meet in Burlington Angelas father Bob reports the young athlete is currently preparing for competition at the Elite Canada meet being hosted by Seneca College on Feb Most athletes are accustomed to receiving trophies and medallions for their winning efforts But for resident Tim Parker a rock will do just nicely A rock was just what Parker won when he cruised to first place overall at the annual Algonquin Marathon crosscountry ski race at Algonquin Park on Feb 1718 The rock which Parker received for his winning display is actually a piece of carved and polished granite and the student wouldnt trade it for a dozen more traditional trophies Its kind of a unique trophy he said The Algonquin event combines two races with competitors times totalled to give an overall stan ding Parker came fifth in the km marathon on Feb and com bined that with a first in the 26km loppett on Feb 19 to produce an overall winning time of fivehours 11minutes and 30seconds Parker also won first in the and Under division in the distance It was a good race said Parker of the grueling event There were some 600metre climbs where youd see stars and almost pass out by the time you reached the top The win at Algonquin is yet another highlight in whats been a strong second season back in crosscountry or nordic ski competition for Parker After competing in the nine to 11- yearold categories Parker left competitive skiing for about five years returning to racing just last year Prior to the Algonquin race he helped GDHS capture second overall in Halton by placing third at the Glen Edenbased GHAC competition on Feb 13 He pro bably would even have placed higher had a course discrepancy not played havoc with official lap- counting At the Eastern Canadian championships where Parker represented the Nordic Ski Club the grade 12 GDHS student placed out of 70 racers in the 15km classical event and 5iat out of in the 10km freestyle race Not bad finishes for a skier just two years back in com petition Continued on Page 22 Rocky APPLE WINDSHIELD REPAIRS We Handle All Insurance Claims 360 Si Unit Georgetown 8731655 Seventeenyearold Tim Parker of Limehouse shows off his trophies one of them a piece of sculptured granite after claiming first place overall In the Marathon a long distance nordic crosscountry ski race held in the park last weekend Parker will lead the GDHS Rebel ski team into OFSAA competition this week Herald photo SAME DAY TAX RETURNS 101 Guelph St Georgetown 8772217 MORE CAR FOR YOUR MONEY DODGE CARAVAN LE PW Air Auto SSCAS 84 HONDA CIVIC Door Hatchback Sp STCAS SR 84 JETTA GL Turbo Diesel Sunroof STCAS 5 Speed 85 VW GOLF 2 Dr 5 Speed Navy Blue Complementary Cloth Interior 82 JETTA DIESEL Speed Sunroof Air Con Georgetown Inc 199 Guelph StHwy at Mountainview Halton Hills Georgetown L7G 8775285 Tor 8460910