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The Acton Free Press Wednesday August School creek is eyesore Acton council Is right Something should be done soon to clean up the school creek where it flows past the public library We have watched the creek slowly deteriorate all summer figuring that soon someone would appear and do something about the weeds growing out of the creek bed What was one of the towns beauty spots Is now an eyesore When the new library was erected in centennial yoar the grounds around enhanced the building weeds were kept down and the creek dammed so there a small lake along the front of the Robert tittle school grounds There has been a deterioration DWARFED BY ACTONS huge gnlion water tower Sharon Klrkwood and Penny Norric both The girls were among spectators who watched the local landmark fall to the wreckers hammer Inst Wednesday The tower which hasnt been in use since the towns reservoir on Churchill Road North was built had to be felled to make room for a condominium house development Photo Sugar and Spice by bill smiley For years I have been a treclovcr Not that I knew anything about them or ever planted any But I did know the common varieties And I did have a feeling that they were something special in a world steadily growing more ugly I had what you might coll the only God can make tree syndrome There was something mystic about trees I have written ecstatic columns about the trees around our place the matronly maples the magnificent oaks the towering spruce the virginly elms the lilacs the single butternut I have sat in my backyard and watched them by the hour deeply moved by the human qualities I gave them Even that dirty great cedar that drips mucus or something all over the clothesline I have been fascinated by the clunking of acorns falling by the sweet longing whispers of my two elms by the muttering of the dowager maples by the solitary arrogance of my spruce which I have to crawl under to get Into my toolshed But Im beginning to have doubts like a priest who has been swept away by something he doesnt quite understand and then discovers that theres something rotten In Denmark If not in his own backyard That snarl you cant quite hear outside my window is a chain saw The operator la hacking up one of those brooding oaks which came crashing down during yesterdays summer storm cutting telephone hydro and Indispensable of the TV cable wire both for myself and my next door neighbor All Ill get out of that Is a bill for and twelve bucks worth of fireplace wood too green to do anything but smoulder Id just got back from a long drive in degrec lugged In all the junk from the cur settled in the backyard with a cold drink and the evening paper when nature took one of her whims was enjoyable The wind came up The lawn chairs went flying The rattled and and twigs hurtled down on me I even went in and called the girls to come out and enjoy the storm Then the trees started to twist and dance Even the mighty oaks were writhing like tormented creatures I love storms but when the rain came I dashed for shelter Id suddenly remembered a storm at the cottage when I was a kid Same thing A taste for brevity The horseless carriage will greatly reduce the death rate in cities Dr James J Walsh foretold in He reasoned that since like to lay their eggs In horse manure the coming of the horseless carriage would result in manurefree streets and remove a serious source of infection The Ontario Safety League says Everyone accepted this authoritative statement except the common housefly which still seems to be circulating around lighting here and there laying Its eggs and spreading infection Meanwhile the horseless carriage also flourishing prodigiously is killing us off like flies A gas station attendant eyed a sunflower- decorated Volkswagen while the driver in beard and beads counted coins to see how much was available Finally the attendant said Some gas or shall I just water the Dowers The Readers Digest Third anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia was brought forcibly to our attention by a large postcard postmarked Carlisle It said simply Remember Czechoslovakia It was signed Eva Kraus Acton author James Hendersons new spy thriller Copperhead a hardback book published by Random House was difficult to procure In nearby bookshops An obliging colleague visiting Vancouver bought one at the airport there and presented It to us this week We are engrossed In the story Mr Henderson and bis wife live just outside Acton where according to the jacket he enjoys reading bad poetry very late at night We are soliciting pictures for Photon from the Past which we hope to Hart again soon Its a good year for political eating Tones are serving steak the Grits are giving out corn while the have an affinity for chicken snacks at recent political picnics but they were all out to make hay for the upcoming provincial election which the filberts now say will take place around the middle of October So far Premier Willie Davis the Conservative wonder boy from Brampton divulged the exact date One of our readers thinks he has politicians pegged pretty accurately He sends a clipping Understand they think Purple sky Dead calm Sudden wind of cyclone- force that knocked over giant pines like toothpick and a torrent of rain One 80- foot pine snapped about halfway up and smashed through the roof of the cottage It wasnt so bud this time but one of my oak with a girth of about inches lay there like a stricken bull It had destroyed a fence several smaller trees Fortunately our neighbors had got the kids Inside before the real fury of the wind broke and no one was hurt This morning I talked to the hydro man who was stringing new lines He said he and his mates hud worked all through the night in a driving rain and laconically remarked that it wasnt much fun But to get back to trees They provide and theyre pretty to look at What else They shower you with unwanted leaves in the fall They suck up all the juice and prevent you having a decent lawn My two virginal elms have been raped by the Dutch disease It will cost to hove them buried My giant spruce is uprooting my garage at a rate of about two inches each year My cedar It must be from Levanon Ive never seen such a gawky thing in Canada is little but a rendezvous for mating squirrels It would take wild horses to make me cut them all down but Im beginning to think that perhaps trees are for the birds some grit got into the voting machines at the recent leadership convention You could say that politics is a promising career Dont know why we always pick on the poor politician After all they havent done anything Apparently some Acton councillor think only BOO Ac tomans are Interested In Acton Rains while others couldnt care less Wonder who conducted the survey Lots of comment from readers about Lorraine Roots story about spirits along the Indian Trail Some said Ridiculous Others thought it Very interesting Certainly it brought a spate of visitors to the lonely road where it winds through the beautiful valley So the water tower on the cemetery hill has gone toppled like some spindlylegged giant Another change which some resent because the gallon tank was just painted in new colors just over a year ago at a cost of Tiroes change and the tower was unused but we still feel some sculptor or artistic workman could have made a real conversation piece out of the tank They could have plunked it down at the park or stuck it by Fairy Lake where a few yards of pipe might have made a unique fountain Now the Canadian National Exhibition is in full swing it is a fair warning that summer is waning and autumn is not far behind Summer months despite the honest measurement of the calendar seem to go quicker than the winter ones especially in the last weeks In the maintenance of the area until the librarys appearance in now affected by the look of the mesa In front The nrched bridge which once reflected in the placid pool now surmounts a bed of weeds which grow taller every week The makeshift dam can no longer hold water for any of time so the summers low levels obscure the creek in the weeds Motorists used to give the library and Its environs more than a passing stare as they Journeyed through Acton Now they continue on their way with hardly a glance Councillor Norm Elliott summed up the problem pretty well when he told council that the library la a Jewel that should have a setting that shows It off Perhaps some thought should be given to building a dam further back from the bridge This would create a small lake add a waterfall to further enhance the grounds and at the same time eliminate a flood problem over the bridge at high water Councillors seemed to think it was the Halton Board of Education which has Jurisdiction over the creek and Its banks If thats the case they should be informed of the eyesore and requested to do something about It even If it means enforcing the Noxious Weed Act Bureaucracy strangling us Anyone who has been aggravated by the complicated labyrinth created by official bureaucracy which seems to be part and parcel of modern living will agree with the comments from the fine editorial page of the St Marys Journal- Argus The JournalArgus says modern forms of government lean heavily on assorted departments to run all aspects of life and are creating a scries of insofar as numerous citizens arc concerned From all directions we hear stories of buck passing vain attempts to get any form of satisfaction from govern ment controlled bodies and a general public feeling that is slowly rnngling the entire country Two examples of public reaction have been in the news lately The most dramatic was that of the man in Chatham who ran the best part of a mile carrying a sledgehammer to systematically smash up equipment and furniture in a welfare office While we cannot condone violence as such we must admit that similar urges come to most of us when faced with some of the more infuriating aspects of control In these limes The case brings to mind a stern lecture delivered to troops In Holland after the last war Service men in England had the day previously smashed shop windows and generally tore up the town as a protest against the slow homeward transport of troops Said the Major This sort of thing will do you no good at all He paused before adding At least I dont think it will A muffled chortle passed through the ranks From immemorial protest if vigorous enough has reflected in OUR READERS WRITE Dear Sir If I may I would like to tell the Free Press of my ideas about boys and books Two boys done me a favor so I Invited them in for a rest While I was absent for a moment I heard one whisper Books and when I returned they were looking at the book shelves You like books I queried What kind Mystery The books and the Little books are not mysteries I answered and they are most interesting did not seem too familiar with these books Could it be we parents are starving our boys for books which cost so little while we indulge ourselves in expensive television libraries are ail right but a boy wants a book for his own to read it to reread It to place it on his own book shelf to prize it and change of one sort or another Some admittedly bad some for good In Toronto recently a school child drowned in a school swim pool Polico had to wait some five hours before they secured the names of the persons In charge of the poof at the time of the tragedy The Director of Education for the area was a meeting or some such excuse and could not be reached The police quite naturally were more than a little irritated by the entire affair Facts concerning the case came up at the inquest providing further damaging evidence of the bumbling officious attitude prevalent In all levels of government bureaucracy People being human will stand for only so much of this attitude on the part of people who arc after all public servants The day of reckoning may be fast approaching Thats mine The books by that young author Jean Utile of nearby Ont Mine For Keeps etc should be read by every boy and girl They arc Canadian They are good And if they want books about Pioneer school days they have a treat In store for them when they read the works of that Manitoban writer of long ago Ralph Connor His book Glengarry School Days about pioneer school life In Ontario Is both exciting and Informative lt your boy have books Yours truly Mllllcent Mllroy years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press Thursday Septembers 1951 young children are left motherless following a tragic accident on No high way Mrs Harry Ware was instantly killed near All three youngsters and their father are still in hospital Mrs Ware the former Barbara Mae Taylor of Acton She was a good student and very active in church work Rev W G conducted the funeral service Tuesda and interment followed in Rock wood cemetery From the Dominion and across the seas Rover Scouts the Boys Scout AssociaUons senior organization gothered at Blue Springs scout reserve over the weekend for the first Canadian Rover Moot More than attended the Canadian gathering Stanley Hall P Mayor ler and Lieutenant Governor Ray Lawson were on the reviewing stand for the march past on Sunday Stores were set up in large marquees by Watsons Dairy Bar and Elliott Bros to provide the men with food for cooking For four days a dad newspaper for the Moot was published at the Free Press office Copy came in at p and the copies were out by am Labor Day really had meaning Telescopes are provided at the C E where viewers may glimpse a view of the huge craters and great mountain ranges on the moon Mr James Chalmers attended a reunion at Grand Rapids Mich of veterans of the SpanishAmerican War and enjoyed meeting old friends some of whom he had not seen for M years The School room the United church was painted pale pink this week Miss Clara Grindley docked in Canada Saturday after spending the summer in Europe She was back at Acton high school for opening day 50 years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press Thursday September 1921 Frank Holmes drover has been named to fill the vacancy on council caused by the death of Councillor Mr Holmes while not anxious Tor the nomination is willing to fill the vacancy the end of the year He was in Toronto on business when the nomination was made Mr J M Roszell who has been principal of Actons Public and Continuation Schools since the retirement of Inspector W H Stewart has announced that he accepted the position of headmaster at Bradford The board is naturally somewhat embarrassed at this turn of events since they had engaged him at an increased salary of on the understanding he would remain at least two years Messrs A O Beardmore and Gordon Beardmore are contestants in the polo matches at Toronto this week As a result of a detailed explanation of how to procure Hydro light and power and the rates chargeable at an enthusiastic meeting near Postvdle a large number of farmers in Trafalgar township have decided to install the service at once THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office known as the KltchingWatsor reunion took place at Spring pork the grounds so popular in this community Over persons represented for the most part the direct descendants of the late John Kitching and Ann Watson pioneer settlers in Nassagaweya At Mr Harris is having a bowling green prepared and the men of the villdge are anxious to get started at the new game The other evening 14 of them visited to get ideas and learn how the game is played Elderberry pickers are busy these days 75 years ago Taken from the the Free September ISM Rev Hugh A Macpherson was given charge of Knox church in Interesting ceremonies at a most auspicious inaugural On Tuesday the people of Knox Church were in exuberant spirits and the occasion was a succession of events from morning till night Presbytery met in the morning and dinner was served to them The Induction service began at and was lengthy followed by a sumptuous tea The program in the evening vtss also lengthy and included many addresses from visiting clergymen Mr Jos Croft of rtockwoodhasm attack of typhoid fever Tomatoes are selling at present for cents a bushel The welcome music of the school bell heard on Tuesday morning How about civic holiday The reeve is rea to proclaim one if yon request it How would next Thursday do Two Woodstock hotel keepers have been fined for having their blinds drawn after hours The summer days are speeding fast Jack Frost is nearly due my sunburned nose will soon take on a tinge of blue It wis reported at council that fireman CampbeUs accident on Bower Ave had lost him days work to addition to Us physicians BUL Cbnncfl agreed be to granted toward defraying payment lost due to received on duty at the Ore oaoiw irrid