Halton Hills Newspapers

Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), September 10, 1980, p. 4

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4 The Acion Free Press Wednesday Sept 101980 Founded In Tim Frio Press is one of Ihu Inland Publish Co Limiiod group suburban now which News Brampton The Post GoofgDtown Indnpondonl and Sun Tho lion Canadian Champion News Tho Beaver This This Sloutf villa Tribune end The Post Don McDonald Publisher i EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Murray Sporla Dun Advertising is portion the occur ad by allowance of nol bo tor paid or at cable rata In the of services at a wrong price goods or services mn Second class ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT TELEPHONE 2010 Business and Editorial Office Mar I Cook Sales Bon Cat BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Thotnhil ShrloyJocquo Carolyn Moryl n CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Manager Come clean on deficit Judging by the rumors frequent sessions and the unresponsiveness of regional councillors to probing questions it would appear the final chapter of the Halton deficit saga is a long way yet from being written Two senior officials have already lost their posts over the huge deficit discovered just a few weeks ago Taxpayers reactions to the news of the deficit which is ruin ing region budgets and will result in service cutbacks and projects being shelved has been varied Many are shocked at the in competance of region staff and councillors to keep a grip on purse strings Ratepayers cant believe region bookkeeping measures were so lax Others are concerned about the impact of the deficit on services long awaited projects and the eventual impact on their already hefty property tax either in a special levy later this year to tide the region over or else in 1981 Many arent really surprised to hear of the big hole in the regions finances Many never thought the politicians or staff really knew what they were doing and so arent surprised to hear they mis placed 700000 or possibly more While most are concerned or disturbed by the deficit few are really boiling mad Most voters and ratepayers are waiting for the whole ugly mess to come out before making their final pronouncements However facts are only trickl ing out at best Council and committees are continually meeting behind closed doors of late Presumably discussing the deficit staff and the ramifications of the hole in the budget Its time for the region to come clean with the voters its just a little over a month until nom inations open for the municipal vote and the election is two months away today The region should lay all the cards every bit of the bad news known to date on the table Then they should outline solutions to the deficit dilemma now being con sidered It can only be hoped the pol iticians arent scheming to keep the real truth from coming out un til after the November 10 vote and then plead an incompetent staff and council and impose a special levy to cover the budget hole Before the election battle starts to heat up regional councillors must fully air the dirty laundry so voters can assess the situation and both incumbents and fresh candidates for region seats can develop their positions Deficit jokes at region Lots of politicians in Halton are making jokes these days about the region deficit Its such a sad mess theyd be crying all the time about it if they didnt find a little black humor in the situation There was one joke at a meeting recently when one councillor was outlining a favorable financial picture and a regional council member asked you dont have a spare around you could loan a guy Another time a staff member gave council a cost figure and later in the meetmg revised it The staffer was kidded by a councillor that you must have had Don Farmer former treasurer figure that out It can only be assumed that Oakville Councillor Ron Planche was making a joke when he recently suggested the deficit ridden region consider the budget of the Halton Board of Education Now the Halton public school system isnt cheap Last years irsadlsirs Conflict of Interest Dear Sir Is It a conflict of interest With all the publicity that both and Ted Tyler have received through your paper over the last months t there a conflict of Interest The fact that Ted Tyler is the spokesman and for one cannot help but wonder if there is not a direct conflict of interest when the big prize a trip worth 1 1200 to 1 1800 each month is arranged and sold to by Ted Tyler Travel Mr Tylers efforts on behalf of Actario are and should be appreciated We know his intentions are honorable and his Integrity goes without question However I do not believe that it might be In the best interest of all concerned organizers sellers and ticket holders If the big prize of to would be in Cold Hard cash that both young and old can use than to have a trip that not everybody or many reasons can take advantage of Larry Acton Profiles very interesting Dear Mrs Jennifer Ban- Thank you for the most interesting way you managed to Profile me In the last Acton Free Press You are truly amazing In that you were able to come up with something as coherent In spite of my rumblings You will be pleased to hear that we were able to keep schedule with VK6IR this morning at a In spite of a thunder storm that threatened to put us off the air The lights blinked twice on us but all was fine after that The News Fred and Eileen were happy to talk with daughter Mary again Signal strength was not too great at first but Increased over tho hour of our contact and at signoff it was a good strengths Due to a trip Mary New is about to take about Australia our next proposed schedule has been set for October Things have gone so well that we now ex pect this next schedule to come off without incident Incidentally you made only two small errors in your call sign is VE3ACB and the amount of concrete cubic ft or nearly 3 cubic yards Im sure your readers would never know the difference Again my thanks your profiles have been very interesting the past while and Im sure you will find many other local people have fascinating hobbles too WlloNear FAMOUS TRICK AM Simpson novels excellent budget over million Many a taxpayer has found fault with board spending in the past The boards bite accounts for 60 per cent of the local property tax bill However the board cant boast what the region has accomp lished a massive deficit after just six years of operation Before the region ventures afield and takes over any budgets other than its own it had better learn to keep its own house in order The board may not spend every cent as carefully as some feel it should but at least the trustees havent lost in the books close to threequarters of a million dol lars Planche got the idea from for mer maverick trustee Dick and Goodin feel the region should either con trol the boards swelling budget or else force the board to collect its own taxes so ratepayers will realize just how much is being spent on education Had time to do some reading this summer though precious little in between losing my wallet entertaining my grand- boys being almost torn limb from limb by mosquto3 at a lake up north and being thoroughly whipped at golf by some old guys who should be in nursing homes but can still hit the pill right up the middle Highly recommended is Farley Mowat account of his personal World War II Its title alone would have made me read it Its called And No Birds Sang borrowed with a slight change from Keats ballad La Belle Dame Sans First part of the book Is typical Mowat very readable but merely an account of the training and bumbling experienced by tile average Canadian soldier and sprinkled with a few highly improbable Incidents Bjt when gets his feet Into the real war the Invasion of Sicily the brutal fighting up through sunny Italy where the men were half frozen most of the time he hits his stride and I dont think hes ever written anything belter No one could have written this book who was not there Ho conveys with chilling accuracy the exhaustion the bitterness the dogged courage and yes the wry humor or the real fighting men in a cam palgn that had little of the drama and dash of the Invasion of France Just tough bloody fighting over range after range of mountains against some or the toughest and best troops in the German army seems to have put himself back Into the mind and the emotions of the young Canadian lieutenant he then He drops his posturing and eloquently and movingly reveals the anger the bewilder ment the savagery and the suffering of the Poor Bloody Infantry Narrowly missing death himself a bcr of times he makes no effort to put himself in the heros role and Indeed deprecates his own ineptitude In many sit uations Rather he writes with an On the From inside the house it sounded tike the sound track of Apocalypse now a con troversial but realistic movie about he Vietnam War From outside it almost looked the same on the night Acton was Invaded On Friday night at 14 army- looking helicopters flew over Acton in two neat formations They were loud but quite a sight as their green contrasted against the Hue and white sky Sure was If they were army helicopters they may have been heading towards Base Borden near Barrio but I certainly hope lor a drill or maybe an air show Lets at Ion that Is almost love of his friends and fellow soldiers and sufferers He flares with rage at the Incompetence and stupidity of senior officers and in a couple of paragraphs strips all the gilt from that pompous little idiot darling of the newspapers General Montgomery It an honest book and a good read It had a little special interest for me because one of his friends Major Campbell was in his unit and died just as he would have wanted to In a mad single- handed hopeless charge against a Ger man position It could only be the same Alex Campbell I knew We grew up In the same town Perth Ontario Alex lather had been killed In the first World War From the lime he was a nipper he wanted revenge He joined the militia as soon as he was old enough and by the time I was In high school he had a commission Alex used to help train our high school cadet corps ferociously but with an under lying decency A few years before he had been a tiger on the line of the football team a vast man with great strength and no fear of anything or anyone Ill bet he was the happiest man in the country when Canada declared war on Germany And he died exactly as he would have wished hurling his bulk against machlneguns instead of opposing linesmen Another author I discovered this sum mer was Leo Simpson He lives in the village of Ma doc Ontario and I knew of him but hadnt read his novels probably due to the incredible ineptitude of Canadian publishers when It comes to pro moting good books He Is an excellent writer much more literate than the famous Farley who knows how to promote his own books and keep his name alive in the papers with various stunts and burning causes I managed to grab two of Simpsons novels and read them straight through hope they werent an actual military mission They may have been hired by regional councillors who want to bomb off the map before anymore deficit boo boos turn up Got former Free Press sports editor Robin married off on Saturday to Cheryl White On hand for the wedding were Robins grandparents Mr and Mrs A Inscoc all the way from England A hearty welcome Is extended to them At least two Acton homes arc the subject of a television research questionnaire this week Television Is being monitored this week at the home of Dolores and and Noah to determine the hours of viewing the type of shows etc much like all soimportant ratings Adscom Research of Canada is looking after the Acton area Other homes in town were approached but have no way of knowing now many are taking part in tho week long survey Enumerators have been out in full force iho past few weeks taking down essential Information needed to get They were The Peacock Papers and Kowalski s Last Chance Buy them or borrow them or steal Theyre great Simpson came to Canada from Ireland but you swear from his novels that hed lived in a small Canada in lowi or city all his life He knows the vernacular he knows the petty ilttle hypocrisies and he knous often peculiar attitude toward life of Canadians In The Peacock Papers he explores with wit and irony and pity a decent successful Canadian busi ess man who starts to come apart at the seams as so many of us do In Last Chance he peels off layer after layer of the social strata In a small city and dabbles with leprechauns until you are convinced the next short guy you talk to might be one Both books are very funny but a great deal more than that And my book you ask Well its going swimmingly One night in a rage about nothing my wife cleaned all the copies of my columns out of various drawers top of my desk vegetable bin and other likely spots bundled them into a green garbage bag and threw them Into the attic This produced some complications Sitting around the are about eight shoe are labeled Pol Weather Celebrations Family Sex and soon I sit In my easy chair reach into the green garbage bag produce a column scan it and hurl it toward the appropriate box The one marked Miscellaneous is overflowing The one marked Family is full The one marked Sex Is virginal And the floor looks Just as the backyard does In October when the oaks shed But we re getting there By Christmas I reckon I bo halfway down that big green name on the voters list for the November 10 municipal election Entries are only trickling In for the Free Presss Fall Fair Photo contest The dead line is sneaking up this Friday so anyone interested Is asked to get their entries to Free Press office by p m Photos must be taken in the Free Press coverage area No negatives please In post years we have always had the stragglers those who hand In their en tries two or three days late and then are disappointed because their entries could not be Judged One or two years they have even sneaked in and were able to be Judged This year though judging will be taking place Saturday so any entries not in my hands by Friday will not in any waybeconsldered Winning entries will be featured in a special display at the Fair Oops I goofed Last week I reported Jake an Actario ticket to Colin from Nassau Bahamas Actually it was Vic who sold ticket Jake was merely reporting It tome Sorry about that Vic Back issues 10 years ago September The success of Sunday sportsmens show and preliminaries Saturday night ensure a repeat of the event again next year Chamber of Commerce president John says The show attracted almost 3 visitors Events started with a dance and Monte Carlo night and ended with the model flyers aerial combat The gun show was the best effort yet There were exhibits and boat events on the lake Mayor kicked the first ball In the soccer match There were show dogs and golfing There were entries in the model plane contest Council is still playing a waiting game as far as senior citizens housing is concerned Councillors arc groaning over the delays Georgetown applied after us and their senior citizens are already living in the new apartments moaned the mayor Ed Fish and Chip Restaurant has opened Response was so good Ed Huxley ran out of food There were four hands on two knives when the wedding coke was cut at the marriages of Shwry and Trudy Morris and John and Alan McNabb A farewell gift was presented to the by the Golden Age Club 20 years ago September 15 mo D Night for Walker Lodge was a special occasion when Dr A J Buchanan newly appointed D G M of Wellington district visited his mother lodge He was specially welcomed by M Jack Held and past D G M Dean Leslie Council is seeking approval for a extension including a million gallon reservoir from the Churchill water supply School trustees Cliff Bradley Tom Watson Ernie Marks and Doug Manning arc concerned at the danger to children at the Mill Main crossing since the in stallatlon of the traffic control system Acton OPP officers will temporarily duty at the intersection to assist the children Corp Ray Mason was there the first day Four Acton Guides joined others at Camp near Dunnville for the weekend They were Jill Hurst Pat Jean Hart and Janet St John Ambulance corps church parade was held in Acton Sunday About high school students left early this morning by train to see Romeo and Juliet at Stratford 50 years ago September 1030 When Provincial Constable Lawrence Carr was driving into town he was over taken by a car on Young St going sixty miles an hour The Kitchener commercial traveller requested a speedy trial so he was taken before Magistrate Moore at his residence After pleading guilty paying a substantial fine and on en dorsement on his drivers licence he proceeded homeward In the Public School there are three hundred scholars enrolled in various classes There are eighty eight pupils enrolled in the forms of the high school Mr D H Lindsay s horse Baron made a good showing at the Mary Is one of winners in the Womens Christian Temperance Union poster contest for An informal meeting of council was held to discuss the interests of beneficiaries under the will of the late A J Murray A delegation met with council concerning the condition of the cemetery at the park Following the building of the arena the cemetery grounds have been in deplorable condition Work commenced this week on the remodelling of the Wonderland theatre for the installation of talkies 100 years ago September librarian of the public school library requests that all parties who wish to receive books would make out a list of the books they want from the catalogue before coming to library The public should have the courtesy to do what they can to facilitate the work of the librarian especially as they have the free of all the books library Catalogues cost ten cents each The library now has 1400 volumes The Board of Education Committee on Finance submitted their of ex for the Acton School Division for the current year teachers salaries salaries of sec and caretaker fuel and repairs to school property school apparatus 5 school library Interest on school debentures con tingencies Less legislative grant grant to rural section 20 municipal 20 clergy reserves to rural section clergy reserves Int to Acton To be raised by assessment Hop picking is in full blast It Is almost Impossible to get butter The farmers wives arc holding It In hopes of getting higher prices

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