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I Bill Smiley There are still a few of the old breed left thank goodness And one of them Is my friend Received a letter from him this week and as with everything bo says and writes It was right to the point He doesnt waste any words The letter ends thus Hope R OK He me bluntly that he still reads this column and Sometimes think OK sometimes off base He never had any In telling me what was wrong with my of thought To my face I remember the last time we went trout fishing together I was to pick him up at or some such hour and nave breakfast with him I arrived at a quarter to six and he gave me hell Then he forced me a andtoast man to shovel down a huge break fast of bacon and eggs enough for a logger which he had ready We had a good day I got thirteen speckles and a brown am he tilled his creel The only untoward Incident In the mornings fishing was when be stepped into a boghole feU flat on his face and hit his head on a rotten stump Dam good thing I had my hat on he quipped looking ruefully at his cigar which had been mashed In the fall Of course he was Just a spring chicken then at the height of his faculties He was only years old We knocked off for lunch I was glad I was pooped I pulled out my two meagre sandwiches and hauled out a lunch that would stagger a truck driver He forced apples bananas and great hunks of cheese on me until It was coming out my ears I thought Ill fix the old devil Id brought two beers along I knew he was teetotal It was a hot day and the beer was the color and temperature of you-know- what Offered him one He was not only a teetotaller but a gentleman He took it drank down the gaseous horror and said calmly Havent years A couple of years later we became neighbors One evening a few months later about 10 pm there was a banging on our kitchen door It was Call the Ore brigade Smiley The dam house is on fire He had his pants pulled over his flannel pyjamas and was In his bare feet Had been going to bed That gravel is bell on the feet he observed wruielreachedforthephone The road between us was paved In gravel Try running across It In your bare feet at S3 I got the Ore brigade and told them It was Ab and hung up In a small town you dont give addresses you Just say whose house It is Unfortunately the firebrigade went to old house and dithered about for ten minutes before someone remembered hed moved Unaware of this we two hustled across tbe street and started carrying out of the house such valuables as potted plants old pictures worth about on the open market Wed been doing this for about five minutes when stopped at the bottom of the stairs and yelled up Dammit Annie I told you to get down here flames were roaring in the roof by now I realised with horror that bis wife who had bad legs and trouble walking was still up there Then tbe fire brigade arrived and soon confusion became chaos We got his wife over to our bouse and into a hot cup of tea Ab nipped around like a telling people what to carry out and driving kids back from tbe flames I got our out of bed to that they could watch something theyd remember all their lives a One old house going up In a glorious pyre of blaze and smoke Theres something heart- wrenching and at the same time thrilling in such sight Many people of 83 would have been utterly daunted by such a setback Hed have been more disturbed If the Tories bad feat a byelection Pressing need for medical centre Residents of HlUsburgh and district are going ahead with plana to establish a medical centre in the village encouraged by the findings of a committee set up to Investigate whether the proposal was feasible The committee recently met with the medical officer In charge of the program for underaervtccd areas In Ontario Dr J Copeman Ho told the committee no outright grant are available but a winter works grant could pay per cent of the labor costs and a summer works program could pay 50 per cent of the cost of construction A tentative site has been chosen for the medical centre east of the ball park on land owned by the village The committee hopes to get approval of the site from village trustees Estimated cost of a 1600 cauldron Photo by J Jennings The flu and the lamp They propped me up between the sheets And mured the drug store down With watery eyes and profane cries They wanted me to drown Then finally they went away And left me there to rest A battered heap I could not sleep I spied the cedar chest I raised my head then cleared the bed And raised the fancy lid I felt around until I found The Aladdins lamp Id hid I clutched it to my bosom Then tucked It neath my gown Hearing them talk I unscrewed the cork And poured a little down Pretty soon I felt so good There was no flu left to fight My cheered then disappeared And took me on a flight I danced with all the pretty girls Id never seen before I got a cramp and dropped my lamp And it rolled across the floor Then came a big commotion They took my lamp away Then left bare without a And tied me down to stay I am now back with the living Through the Jungle I must tramp I owe a lot to what Genies got In my ALADDINS LAMP has a mind that would make many 15-year- olds look senile Hes a walking encyclopedia He doesnt pretend to be an intellectual but has read thousands of books and can still recite poetry he learned in public school Hes everything youre not supposed to be these days Hes prejudiced Hes per cent opposed to Grits booze and laziness He believes in hard work making money and leaving something worthwhile behind like a firstrate hospital But theres something endearing about his prejudices They are right out In the open Ill bet he believes In capital punish ment God and heaven Ill take him away ahead of your smarmy liberals any day And he has a sense of humor He used to winter in Texas and took great delight in telling the proud that their mighty state could be dropped into one of our Canadian lakes and not even cause a ripple It seems to me that one winter he took some empty bottles to Texas told the natives the bottles were full of Bruce Peninsula air and suggested it was worth at least one dollar a bottle for Its purity Quite a guy Hes or now and Good health Ab and long live THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE 2010 Business and Editorial Office foot two doctor centre Is It Is expected finance committee will start a formal drive In the near future and It Is hoped the venture will get a boost from the planned Potato Kelt In September since proceeds have been designated for the project Wo commend the villagers and township resident who have taken the bull by the horns and attempting to about a pressing need In the village and township There Is only one doctor to serve the area lie resides the village of Erin Hbsonduty hours a day seven days and week and has a long walling list of patients It Is often Impossible to get an appointment with him so patients arc Acton Georgetown or Guclph depending on where they live He would welcome some relief It Is a frustrating situation often causing anxiety among residents In the villages and township There Is a genuine need for doctors and a medical centre to servo these areas Eight years ago the community centre committee purchased a home In the village and searched In vain for a doctor The new committee could encounter the same difficulties The possibility exists and must be recognized However If the full weight of the two villages Erin and and township residents are thrown behind the quest we believe the committee will get positive results and a much needed centralized medical service where It would do the most good Coopcrallon Is the key and some solid enthusiasm r V- Editorial Page The Acton Free Pratt Wednetday February An ear for an ear a truth for a truth Two weeks ago the Free Press ran a lead editorial which suggested that the people In North have lost the Hon George Kerrs ear on the Issues of regional government This week Mr Kerr has replied to the editorial in a letter which Is published on another page He denies he came out strongly In favor of a central Milton borough As a Member of the Cabinet and the Government of Ontario I was simply explaining the rationale behind the proposal outlined by my colleague Arthur Meen in Hamilton on January 23 Mr Ken- says in explanation As a matter of fact I am on record as personally supporting the TECO proposals for a three borough system In Halton County Mr Kerr says He continues explaining that eventually he thought Halton would come to a single tier government along the same lines as our couty board of education However he recognized we are not ready for such a drastic step and that a reduction from seven to four municipal governments in might well serve our short term goals In municipal reform Mr Kerr said his aim was to preserve to prevent It being sliced up two or three ways in the formation of regional units and he has achieved what he set out to do I hope that no one the north will lose sight of our primary objective and Jeopardize our successes to dote by becoming too preoccupied with the question of internal boundaries he writes He assures us that despite the doubts expressed by the Free Press editorial the Government will listen to criticisms and comments from North We agree wholeheartedly with Mr Kerr in and respect his integrity as to the intent of what he said at the meeting of the Upper Burlington Citizens Forum However the reporter who attended the meeting still insists his account Is primarily a factual account of what was said and he feels Mr Kerr did come out for the four unit Halton Mr Kerrs success in including Burlington in a strong region despite strong pressures from Mayor Vic Copps and his Hamilton pressure groups Is a worthy feat We commend him sincerely on accomplishments which arc vital to the people of Acton and district He envisions one day that the Internal boundaries of Halton will be swept aside and a one tier form of government embracing all the municipalities will replace the four borough system This may Indeed come to pass All the more reason to start with three rather than four boroughs The part we cannot agree with Is the tendency to make Acton Nassagaweya and sacrificial Iambs In a regional government experiment We have played the role badly in the past and will continue to do so in the future We are the ones who will not have adequate representation in a proposed North Halton borough while the burghers of Milton and district who obviously feel internal boundaries are very important have a voice all out of proportion to numbers and area We would say they have one of the Governments ears while the North if we havent lost the other got the deaf one Back Issues of The Free Press 20 years ago Taken from the Issue of Free Prat Thursday March At the high school assembly the Student Council put on a play for Brotherhood Week Taking the main parts were Joy Peel and Jennings Public speaking trophy was presented to Raymond Bralda by Its donor B D was second and the runners up were Shirley Mason and Lynda Mann Mr and Mrs J H Reed celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Councils sunshine budget cut the tax rate over 20 per cent The rate Is mills A special meeting la being called to discuss the district changeover to cycle power Rotary club officers elected were president Vic vice president Art secretary Ted Hansen and treasurer Walt Woodbum Directors are Ed Jack Blow and Harold Rockwood Community Club held its fourth annual Variety Show in the town hall three nights Large crowds attended tbe hilarious event The theme was Mother Gooses Nursery rhymes Of cabbages and kings Br Coles only on oil slick someone said but tbe unexplained spilling of oil In the school creek had ramifications for the fowl which winter on Fairy Lake Swans geese and ducks soaked up some of the oil feathers and this can be fatal Natures delicate balance is upset by tbe presence of foreign substances it can often further disturbances of which we ore aware of only tew One of the first to get upset about the oily fowl was Esther Taylor who has had a Mother Goose attitude towards them ever since On first Mallards were procured by the Board of Parks Management to grace Fairy Lake waters Esther started a phone to get dene about tbe birds She but experts should have been catted to to clean them off Probabhtveryonetinkslamcrezy she mid but they depend on us to look after than tod we should Her phone jot results the birds were cleaned and parks manager Harold every effort to catch them with limited success since the ice safe and the birds reluctant to be handled Now Esther is worried that the Mens snowmobile races will bother the birds Shed like to see them moved to a more sheltered spot in the winter The swans of course already have moved winter quarters on the other arm of the lake and their graceful movements have Inspired someone to dub the icefree water Swan Lake You probably noticed where and Mosaics celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last week with a celebration at tbe band hall on Wallace St Of course the Free Press bad a news Item about the event which outlined some of the many activities they hove participated In during their many years in Acton but it couldnt begin to cover everything This writer remembers when and Etva used to run the old Gregory Theatre for Gregory when Actons show was situated where AB Supermarket is now It was usually behind the cashiers window collecting the dimes and quarters charged to see film thrillers would be busy ushering people to their seats seeing that the kids stayed over the white line which restricted them to the front of the theatre Those were the days when tbe Gregory used to feature such films as The Plainsmen with Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur Stand In with Joan and Leslie Howard in the Rockies with cowboy star Gene Autry And how about Mae West in Every Days a Holiday Mae West in case you never knew was the BrlgiUe and Welch of the 30s Her famous line Come up and see me sometime was widely used used to manage to keep us kids In line even when die weekly serial flicked on the screen and when the roof was raised for such occasions as when Gene Autry galloped to rescue the current In those days the movies were shown Monday Friday and Saturday evenings and they threw a matinee in on Saturday You were expected to stay home the rest of the week Another of the Masales duties was to see the kids who didnt have a dime never got into tbe theatre The really brave who dared to sneak in through the exits during the warm summer days they were open often were surprised to find Lloyd waiting for them after they had crawled on their stomach for yards apparently unob served He was nice about it though and never fid connect with the foot aimed at your backside used to do some minor baseball and hockey coaching in his day too I can remember being on the Juvenile ball team which must have caused him more grey hairs than all his days the theatre We had an airtight infield which gobbled up every hall which drove our direction and then promptly dropped them Wed run up big scores on the opposition gamer a commanding lead and then uneasily watch the opposition gain and pass us Somehow we still managed to win a few and erase some of tbe wrinkles from Lloyds brow Anyway happy anniversary Uoyd and One of the most surprised people in Acton last week must have been Mrs Browne when they named the Brownie Mother of Year gave her roses a plaque and a bean bowl to boot Doris as she is af fectionately known to her hundreds of customers has the plaque hanging up fa store where it has become a conversation got thanks to Jack Carpenters hangop Jack agreed to hang the plaque up for Mrs exits Browne and she said the air was bine before be finished Since tbe Browne store Is at the end of the school lane It attracts scores of every day anxious to shell out their shekels on gum and candy Mrs Browne is the other attraction She always baa something pleasant to say to the Jokes to trade with tbe adults and sometimes is a go- between for messages When tbe Brownies guides and decided Mrs Browne was their Den mother of the Year they bad their hearts in the right place even if she does refer to tbe mayor as Mr Dux 50 years ago from the of tbe Free Press Thursday March Mrs E J Gamble secre tarytreasurer attended regular session of the council and on behalf of the Womens Institute off presented to the town the fountain for watering horses that had been donated by the Institute at tbe comer of Main and Mill St last fall Two Chinamen from tbe Star restaurant have teased the new store In tbe Starkman block at comer of Mill and Main and intend opening a restaurant here Acton will surely be well supplied with eating bouses No one ever need wove town for lack of public eating places The roads in the country have been almost Impassable The borses have been floundering badly The blocked roads hindered the delivering of turnips for about a week Knox church Guelpb has granted its pastor Rev McGUllvray a threemonth leave of absence during which time he has planned to make a tour deli a series of addresses In opposition to the Church Union movement Bert dropped in other day to argue about regional government with Qua fellow Berts a former warden of Halton and an acknowledged expert in municipal matters which escape some of us news bounds and be doesnt agree with some of the editorials which have emanated from this poisonous feBows typewriter Bert feels Government has done the I In a bur unit I was a political favor with little for it but sentiment We went at It and long Sometimes Bert won a round sometimes I scored a point but without any antagonism There were honest differences of opinion on several matters I inferred tbe county system had never done much for Acton and area and tbe regional government proposal would do even less Bert however figured the county bad been good to Acton and the new system would even better He said govern ments was based on good sense and a Miltonbased central borough conn result better tnbuts You can make up your own mind but I havent changed my opinion See George Kerrs letter elsewhere Tbe tig issue this area now is the Indusmm dump It la something we cant cherish too warmly somehow despite an the claims for Its efficiency Inertness and what have you I fed if Acton and area has to be 75 years ago Taken from toe of the Free Press Thursday March J The general elections for the province of Ontario are over for another term and the liberal government is again sustained although the majority Is very small The latest returns give Liberals 47 Conservatives Independents 1 patrons 1 In our county where Col Kerns has bad tbe seat for 13 years the electors said by their votes Its time for a change and John Baker was elected by a handsome majority of 130 The vote In Acton was by far the largest in its history There were 300 who voted in tbe town hall and at Speights shop Georgetown is very happy For the first time they have a real live member of parliament in their midst Tbe wellknown paper manufacturer mounted a dry goods box and expre his thanks tor tbe honor The House has passed the AntiCigarette bill Tbe bill Is sweeping and absolutely pro hibits the sale barter loon or use of cigarettes or even to have these things in ones possession The bill now goes to the smote known for something we would rather It be Cor something pleasant than tbe connotation of a Toronto dump Now I know they ore calling the garbage refuse and it comes in dried bales which are su to restore the Niagara Escarpment to its original contours and it may but a dump Is a Awrtfi dump recent day set aside to honor Torontos policemen may not have been as spontaneous as some have suggested but it was a fine tribute to men who labor under great difficulties with little thanks police ore often criticized for performing their duties too jealously but It would be a poor country indeed if they were not around to preserve law and order They are human too despite what some of their critics may think An of how helpful are In emergencies was provided at the recent fire in Balhnof ad where tbe SU Spear family lost home and possessions They kept traffic moving along the Seventh Una and assisted whenever they coold In family I happened to be standby nearby when one officer of the OFF detachment approached Sid Spear asking If be couM help In locating insurance agency and then rendered the assistance he could It is touches like thai wbJch provide tbe best public relations lor police and builds up real respect among an people