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Tha Aelon ft a Editotia budget but Ratepayers in Acton generally will congratulate council in setting i budget slashing two a half nulls off last year tax levy Acton council fell in line with the call to exercise restraint postpone major expenditures spread tax money to gain the maximum benclit from the minimum amount of money It looks good to the average ratepayer who 11 pay approximately less in taxes this year But there arc disturbing things about cutting taxes when the town needs so much in the way of improvements Postponing major expenses has often only succeeded in compounding problem and inflating costs when jobs finally must be done It is easy to trace a pattern where major improvements are called for and put off until times and the climate for spending money arc more salubrious Those times never came There always some emergency which requires large amounts of money in the developing town Last year it was the new board of education a sluice through and various small emergencies This year community centre requires a major repair job requiring at least 000 Council allocated for repairs a figure which the irks mil cum lun does not Hunk to lUitjHlu to satcU si mis tin building is nut tall down and he SI is Inn tin originally to Whos right is no to mi I lie qui si ion The hi Ins tilled into question mid tin public is entitled to know whether llure is any doubt ibout the structural safety of public building which is used by tens thousands ye We think the steel be ims in he arena arc solid but we arc not engineers There s no doubt that the inside of Acton mum rccrc centre arc dec lying rapidly and require attention if the building is not going to into the same condition it was m sever years ago Improvements have been postponed year after year in the name of economy Several members of council have said if the community centre needs the extra money to be brought up to safety standards then they II it But they believe They won accept an engineer s report Who s going to tell us whether the arena needs that major repair job urgently hear On the other hand council is to be commended for the many careful of they ve spent poring over figures in an effort to balance the town books and keep taxes at a figure where those with fixed incomes can handle them without further hardship There is a progressive program for roads and sidewalks with priorities which will eventually catch up to the demand if there is no sudden flurry of development Subdmders agreements forged over many many hours f thought and experience should protect the town from any increase m development costs all areas Taken on the whole the budget for 1970 is a realistic document with an eye on economy that reflects the cautious business climate across the province There was belt tightening for all but no one will really be deprived the OUTGOING CITIZEN the Chnrllo Thomson looks back on post months as waters of Lake Ontario surgn up on Iho bench A lover of all sports Charlie attended Saturday woo hockey In and a few minutos break In activity gave him the opportunity to rolox Stall Photo Sugar and Spice by bill smiley BACK TO SCHOOL Easter holidays but the Robert Utile school stands on the a century ago took walking same location with the bell in ace m This up the muddy to the old school photograph is lent by Mrs Gordon with its steeple and bell The school is What is middle age If you re in your teens anybody over is in that category If you re in your it anybody over At it people in their And if you re a hale and hearty you just might admit in a weak moment that you classify as middle What it is of course is a state of mind Some people arc middle aged in their and others arc young their 70s Or it a time of year I am extremely middle aged in April and November- and 1 sure you arc too Right now 1 middle aged or older The snow hasn t quite gone from the shaded corners Mud The curling season is over and the golf and fishing haven t begun There is no real promise of spring except that my winter boots arc leaking always a good sign There nothing to do but try to exist through this hiatus And one of the best ways to make it possible is to think about how young you will be in July I can see myself now at the Take off the sunglasses Stand up to my full height of five And a half Suck in the flab Saunter to water edge glancing nonchalantly at bikinis rumps and bosoms Stride straight in Swim like a for yards Pretend to float on back while regaining wind Stride out tall clean brown and not a day over 31 Or on the first lee Eight a Smell of sun and grass Flex muscles ominously Three perfect swings that would make Arnold Palmer green Step up to ball ignoring admiring awed looks of women Straight down the fairway 120 yards in flight and a 10foot roll Not a day over Getting younger every minute Let try the fishing Drive to special spot with friend how knows where the big ones arc Fight through swamp and slash to dark brooding pool behind beaver dam Lie down on beaver dam nil muscles stop Off the cuff Communications run this life With less and less man and wife Traveler I just got out of prison this morning It s going to be tough facing old friends Fellow passenger can sympathize I just getting home from the House of Commons Days get longer and longer Crocuses are opening petals in many flower gardens another sure sign of spring Soon be tune to wind the clock an hour ahead Along with it will come loss of an hour s sleep jerking Bait hook with worm No flics They re for snobs Casually and beautifully toss worm just above sunken log Not sunk deep enough Hooked Break line Swear a little On next toss caught in willows Swear a little more On third toss third hook tie into a real tiger At least eight inches not a day over Sec Its all in the mind I can forget that my wife is nagging about cleaning up the cellar that my kids arc permanent pains in the posterior and that another birthday is crawling toward me remorselessly Another trick that works is to get out the old pictures There the fighter pilot with handlebar moustache the deadly whimsical lifted eyebrow that used to slay the and the cocky look of a kid who can never be killed grow old or get married There the football picture Bill Smiley That means halfback not half baked Close my eyes and I can feci the clean smack of the ball into my hands as I leap for a high pass And drop it Not a day over Now don earry this to extremes Don get out your baby pictures or the one of your Sunday School class You II weep at your lost innocence and sob over your smeared purity Like everything else the cure for middle should be taken in moderation But lake it in the cold dull damp of April in Canadj we all need something to prevent us from going mad Neither booze nor barbiturates will help Just think young I lost at least 20 years just writing this column I not even afraid to go and look in the mirror I know that behind those dewlaps that gaunt and harassed look lies a light hearted youth of not more than 24 A sm 1c and the wrinkles turn up instead of down A wink and I ready to out on the town THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE and Ed tc Found SB WWW Si of in Bunvu el OSS Athwtnwf Copyright ill rind Pepper Some people think of wildlife at being In Acton on Saturday night Not me Wlldlire for me Is moles type that burrow tunnel In your lawn while mow drifli cover up mining Our back lawn looks like a miniature for the firit great war with upheavals shell bomb craters and enemy observation posli occupying the portion I fondly referred to as the billiard table and in rare moments green It was my pride and joy the one patch of gran that defied dandelions and grew the fewest weeds During the winter it wore an ermine white covering betraying no evidence of underneath Spring slowly advanced up the lawn snow banks receding like my hair gradually with a few strands lelt behind As the white stuff melted it revealed large gobs of earth rolled 1 balls Then came the tunnels en craters I observed this all from my bedroom window With increasing consternation as snow receded Those blankcty blank blind moles I testily ibservcd to my wife one bright morning They ve chewed up our back lawn Call the pest exterminator she calmly replied without missing a wink of sleep How the devil do you get rid of moles anyway Trap em chase cm poison cm Neighbors suggested we call someone who knew what to do one anxious eye on the ty of their lawn to ours and the ability of moles to multiply But wc even sure the arc mules Wcvc never seen them just taken the word of knowledgable amateurs wildlife observers who pointed to the tunnels and said Those tunnels were made by moles The holes might have been made by mice With evidence like that and authorities of such repute is difficult to say they t moles And wc aren t unique As the snow receded on our nearest lawn it was obvious the blind moles had also stumbled on his premises and looked for gold among his Kentucky blue blood grass as well as my lower class twitch Relating my wildlife experience to bowling lane proprietor Ken Hulford Monday morning he t bat an eye Son he pontificated from behind the safety of his glasses perched perilously close to the end or tils nose you think you got roubles At our house the deer are eating up all my fruit trees and the mice arc girdling what s left gonna do about that I admit to being stumped for one horrible moment Deer certainly presented a larger more complex problem the game laws being what are and him living over the border In Nassagaweya Why not I said uncertainly put up some No Trespassing signs That might keep cm out My face v Back shot the answer But II have to educate the mice he observed and I just haven t got the time With these words ash fell off the end of his butt adding emphasis to s I crept out of his establishment with more than gentle my mind and the mole question still paramount How could I solve it One of my hard of hearing relations asked You got moles Yep I said Get the to em Hardly hurts at all For those who discreetly inquired whether the saga of Maggie had its counterpart in true life 1 d like to slate now very emphatically characters in the plot were fictitious and any similarity to persons living or dead was purely coincidental To the lady who asked whether my daughter it let me slate unequivocally she even read it let alone wrile it To the gentleman who wondered exactly where just plain Bill went over the limestone cliffs let me explain it was just by the telephone pole with the woodpecker hole five feet six inches from the top To those who said they got much enjoyment from the story happy days and to those who the opposite better luck next time 20 years ago Taken from the issue of the Free Press Thursday April The Farm Radio Forum broadcasts for the season have drawn to a close and the committee with the forum representatives met at the council chambers in Milton to conclude business for the season Mr R S Healhcrmgton was in the chair Twenty forums had answered a questionnaire on poultry The 22 old forums were operating successfully with two new forums at Hornby and Boyne The high quality of music taught in our schools was again praised by adjudicator George Smalc speaking at the inter township festival this week The opening was at Stcwarttown on Monday with the Nelson township contest Tuesday and Trafalgar Wednesday In many of the solos and duct classes it was not unusual to see as many as entrants First place choirs in Esquesmg were Bras Patricia best singers Margaret Morrison Mary Sherlock Donnie Curry Grant Surbcy Earl Burt Marilyn Souther Maureen Hepburn Peter Pomeroy Gordon Brain McDonald Dorcen Howden Patsy Carney Nancy White Margaret Stark Wood Leonard Dale Sedore Margaret Bird Nancy White Mrs Edwin Cripps an aged Acton resident died in General Hospital as a result of shock and severe burns suffered in a fire at her home The men at Thompson Motors rushed her assistance She and her husband farmed in 50 years ago Taken the the issue of the Free Press Thursday Apnl8 The interesting drama Cricket on the Hearth was successfully portrayed in the town hall by the Young People Guild of Knox church The various characters were well portrayed by Mr Roszell Frances Hurst Florence Robinson George Anderson Worden Nellie Anderson Mr D Ritchie Myrtle Clarndge and May Robertson On Good Friday evening after Passion Week service the congregation of Methodist church held a social hour in honor of Inspector Stewart and family who are shortly removing to Milton and Mr and Mrs Wdham McNabb and farmly who left Tuesday for their new home in Toronto The Stewarts have been 17 years in Acton and Mr McNabb 30 years his wife from inianty Rev Moycr spoke followed by Mr HP Moore representing the church and Sunday School Mrs A T Brown for the M S Miss Minnie Bennett for the Epworlh League Miss Bettie Speight for the Intermediate League Mr John C Nelson for the Ladies Aid and Mrs Moycr for the ladies of the church The bazjar being conducted by the ActonGWVA is proving very successful Attendance is especially good in the evenings and with three of best days of the week still to come the affair from a financial standpoint will reach all expectations Easier Sunday gave some boisterous winter weather Mr and Mrs Harry are removing to Acton from Mr Mainprize has secured a situation here Great sorrow came suddenly to the home of Mr David Ross Main St when he was called away after only a few days illness When his symptoms became alarming a physician from Guelph was called in but no human aid was availing He leaves his wife and three sons 75 years ago Taken from the issue of the Free Press Thursday April 4 1895 Acton is proud of her six tanneries turning out sole leather harness and upper leather and belting all classes of glove leather including buck antelope macho horse cow russet sheep and kid the largest glove and moccasin doing a considerable business and also two other glove factories During the past week or so two new industries have been launched Mr A E Nicklin has commenced the manufacture of moccasin and shoe and Mr W D who does satisfactory and durable work Mr D D Mann of Montreal was here last week to spend a few hours with his father Mr Hugh Mann prior to leaving for the North West to enter upon his contract in the construction of the Hudson Bay Railway For years Mr Mann hat been one of the most successful railway builders In the North West He was also one of the contractors of the CJR short line through the State of Maine to St John N Hb firm Mann bolster and McKenzie have secured the contract of building the miles of the new Hudsons Bay railway from Winnipeg to Hudson Bay at 3 000000 the road to be completed in three years Hu Acton friends were glad to see him and congratulate him on his gigantic enterprise