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Wednesday Dec 1982 TELEPHONE 8532010 Founded to My Wednesday by Printing Et Lid at VYftow Street Acton Ontario Telephone Subtcrejuum cop 30 each in Other Canada The Acton Free Pen a one of the Met Pubslung Lid a auburtjan newspapers includes Ajm Whitby- during News Au tm Banner Newmarket Era The Bolton amp on The on Pom The Weekend Poll The George town Independent Thomlull and Sun Tho lion Tho Hews News Weekend Edition North York Ft day Beaver Tho Richmond Liberal Scarborough Mirror Tho News Ken Bellamy Publisher Don Ryder Director of Advertising Hartley Coles Managing Editor a event error S Advertising a accepted on condition thai in portion advertising space occupied by for signature be or but balance bo paid for at applicable rata In event typographical error advertising good or Services 1 a wrong goods or may not be mold Advertising is merely an lo sad and may be awn at any Member of The Canadian Community Newspaper Association and The Ontario Community Newspaper Allocation EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Edkor Gord Nam Murray Sports Dan McGAcMrey Nancy ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT tm Cook Rata Advertising Manager CteaaffiedAdvartMng Carolyn Artem BUSINESS ACCOUNTING OFFICE Manager Jean Shewel CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT McAnhur Individual impact We re all used to thinking the only way to move government to be part of a big vocal group In most cases that is the case But every once in a while along comes an example of an individual having an impact Recently there was a shining example that an individual can move big government Lome Doberthiens crusade to have the province improve the lot of the handicapped reserved parking and institute a disabled licence plate paid off He didn t have a large lobby group all Lome had was his own hard work and conviction that it shouldnt be too hard for Ontario to follow other pro vinces and states in developing a system for handicapped licence plates Anger at the way he was treated when he wanted to park in reserved handicapped park ing at the in 1581 promp ted s campaign He wrote letters to politicians and bureaucrats at both the federal and provincial level He also enlisted the aid of Halton Hills and regional councillors He thoroughly researched what is being done in other to help the handicapped park hooked up with MPP Julian Reed and even had an audience with Minister of Transportation and Communications Jim Snow His presentation must have been impressive Queens Park virtually went for every idea proposed Handicapped people across Ontario owe Lome a vote of thanks for his efforts The entire community should be proud of his accomplish ment and thankful of his exam pie for just what one person can still get done prowling the cor of power G Short shots The price for beer has almost tripled in the last years ing from for a case of 24 to 30 in December of this year This most recent increase which comes tomorrow day makes the fifth one this year and the second increase in Ontario in less than three If prices keep on beer will no longer be the poor man s drink Only the well to do will be able to afford the suds Those who like to sip their suds will either have to start brew ing their own or switch to water Beware however The Region has plans to increase water bills too So what s a guy to do caught between two draughts Friday and Saturday warm sunny unseasonable weather surely had to be the real Indian summer when the Great Spirit gave Indians time to prepare for winter blows This scribe got his leaves rak windows cleaned and pots Inside during the balmy inter lude perhaps a trifled different than native Indian would have done but important these days anyway Some weather prophets who profess to know what in store for us this winter are predicting one of the coolest winters on re cord And indeed they may be right However if the signs this writer reads are correct we may have a mild winter Signs Spiders still weaving webs Grass growing Buds peeping out Dew worms crawl around Need more evid Federal Conservatives are again trying to snatch defeat out of victory The polls show Joe Clark and the Tones are away ahead of the Liberals in popularity but they turned on Clark in another example of knifing leaders that has mark the party in the last two de cades How can they sell Cana dian unity when they can agree among themselves There s a recount in Ward Three this Thursday to settle who will fill the two vacant seats It was precipitated by the losing candidate who trail second place by 38 votes There may be no change in the order but the recount may straighten out some loose elec practices If you haven t looked lately there are only 14 shopping days left until Christmas And if you have your shopping done there are only about shopping days left until the 1983 celebra tion From the editor desJ Council stumbled out of starting gate by Gord Murray free Press Editor If the municipal complex was an entry in a horse race the nine In cum bent members council for Jockeying the nag around the track have managed to allow their mount to stumble coming out of the starting gate To use another analogy they fumbled the ball on Ihc We by no means stopped asking questions about what some in Acton are affectionately calling but the simple truth is the whole story may never be uncovered or there may not be much more to find out There t seem to be much documen tation and councillors are understand ably a little confused about what they said when There s a very real danger here that the baby could be thrown out with the bathwater because of the way council has handled this long steaming hot potato We don t know if a municipal com is needed or not now or In the future There are a lot of theories that it is costly having the municipal operation spread all over that staff cuts con be made if the Town Is housed that the Town can make more money buying this land as an investment than it s making in interest on the reserve fund etc We re wilting to be convinced by some kind of external study of space needs for now and the future Maybe new Councillor Rick Bonnette campaign call for an efficiency study would answer not just the question of efficiency of staff and procedures but also the efficiency of the building set up of Hills I firmly believe before proceeding council should and will produce facts and figures to back their contention it wilt be cheaper in the long run to build a new administrative centre than keep everything decentralized bo if we haven given the idea of a complex a black eye then what has got local journalists in such a lather Well before we were able to jump on the bandwagon in print we had readers asking us two questions was It legal for a lame duck council to spend 000 from the reserve fund And how could councillors go through the campaign without ever mentioning this political football We re still puzzled We checked with the province about what a lame duck council can and con t do A Ministry of Municipal Affairs lawyer suggested we ask the clerk for the Justification of such an unusual step by a Halton Hills council After learning from Ken Richardson that the Town hod a legal opinion saying it was all right to spend money from a reserve fund even If less than threequarters of the councillors will be back for the new term we got back to the lawyer at Queen s Park We filled her in on all the background we had but she countered she couldn confirm the council had acted legally We were as surprised as anyone to discover that the Ministry legal branch t enforce its own Act We were informed that citizens enforce the Municipal Act through court action or a petition for an Inquiry by the province At least one councillor has told me it was cheap shot on our part to explain to people how they could find out if the Town legal opinion was correct I naturally don agree and I can seem to figure out what I was supposed to do when the province left council legal opinion dangling Just because we t take council word for it that the legal opinion was correct mean we think It t Personally I don figure council did act illegally The Town has smart lawyers Mayor Pomeroy and clerk Richardson aren t dummies either So it all comes down to a question of ethics Was it proper for councillors not lo mention this Iron they had in the fire prior to the November 8 vote We don t think so but we t convinced yet that this was completely Intentional that they actually all sat down and plotted to keep everything quiet on the municipal complex until after the election It seems a majority at least Bimply stumbled Into this mess Thetlmlnglstheproblem It appears that when it was hatched at such an time a mere two weeks after the election most councillors were aware the timing was awful and there d be questions and probably some They were faced with rejecting what they seem to sincerely believe is a good proposal or making a political blunder And to hold off the announcement of this proposal until January or February woufdn t have solved this dilemma that much either There would still be questions because their own written agreement with their agent Construction indicates as one coun put It we vc been messing around with this since June Further the agreement also in dicates that the die was cast in Scptem ber They hadn taken an official vote but they had a straw vote behind closed doors in which they all agreed they should replace Longmore deposit and pay him interest so they could take a closer look at the site They weren legally committed at that point but they had reached a gentleman s agree ment I don t think this subject was some thing which should have been raised suddenly in campaign literature at local doors or at the allcandidates meeting That would have changed it Into a real political football Once the cat was out of the bag it would be hard to put the press and public off In their quest for every tiny detail Continued on slaw Business site once had beautiful garden on it A sold sign went up on the stores which are collected under one roof and called Village Indicating this business spot which is in the huh of Acton downtown may become active again The site has long been a busy place and when Mr Pryhltka renovated the former hardware store into a collection of three stores it looked as if it would become another Tine addition to the Ac ton shopping centre For a while it was Then the economic recession hit some occupants and others moved elsewhere All the stores were vacant when it was sold last week Since the building will be situated next to the new parking lot created by the of two houses on Church Street the tenants would bat e first shot at the pedestrian traffic generated from the tot 1m hoping 11 will be another shot in the arm for the down town where boarded up empty stores have not helped merchants to make it more attractive long as I remember the building was occupied by a hardware store The first one I remember of course is the one owned and operated by Bill Talbot who a community minded man long active sports and other attorn lie seed to the Gordon amity who operated the hardware for years before they In turn sold to the family There was another owner in the store before Mr bought the building and turned it complex The first occupants were Shoes and Acton Photo and Camera and The Pine Shop Acton Photo has moved across the street live furniture store closed leaving the building vacant According to Actons Early Days which con still be purchased at The Free Press In hard cover the two lots which occupied by the stores and what was formerly the Jack Kentner residence as discussed in an earlier col umn were once unoccupied by any building They were owned by Charlie Symon and the site of vegetable and flower gardens The store was across the street where the Bank of Montreal now stands The Symon ami were prominent hardware chants in Acton for decades Apparently Mrs was the gardener The book says she super intended the garden and was a gardener of artistic taste and skill and loved flowers Like many gardeners she had a this one ac- the street at the corner of Mill and Main Streets where Henry Suchyra has bis First tine TV and Karen Sbor has Freezer The rivals name was Mrs Secord no relation to Laura and her cow Mrs Secord s garden was a riot of color In the summer but says Acton Early Days she paid little attention to order or method with planting Mrs Symon on the other hand was as precise in the arrangement and forma tion of her flower garden as she was in her dainty parlor across the street or in her personal attire The result was her shrubs and flowers showed to much better advan tage This was helped by the attractive low picket fence which enclosed the garden while Mrs Secord s pride and Joy was surrounded by a tight high board fence which on- son bored peek holes through so passersby could see the beauty of bis mother garden The flowers in those early days in Ac ton were mainly perennials with a few new annuals evolved by the gardeners of the era There were a number of roses and lilacs but most of the flowers were Sweet William honeysuckles Johnny bachelor buttons a few dahlias and English marigolds and clumps of southern wood and ribbon grass Acton s Early Days records tharMrs Secord once secured poppy which was rare and which she prised greatly Popularly called Laura operated a business where Alec Johnson real estate business is now They called it Secord Brothers Great Tea House They bought in large quant Acton residents well remember the time they brought in a whole car load of salt herrings and sal mon just before the beginning of Lent which then was a time of fish fast and abstinence A whole barrel of the fish could be bought for a dollar and a half Needless to say many Acton families subsisted on fish and potatoes that winter until the car load was exhausted These enterprising merchants also brought in a carload of tea which they sold for cents a pound and with which they also threw In a tea cup As said earlier Mrs Secord was a remarkable woman It was she who christened The Mill Pood as it was called for years Fairy Lake She persuaded the people in Acton that such an expanse of clear crystal spring water with wooded bills around it cultivated fields and attractive homes should have a more attractive name than the mill pond And she christened it Fairy Lake a euphuism which has become popular we pond Now I live beside It It has become The lake although I can t anything wrong with The Mill Pond Ihavetoadmltthenoun lake conjures up a more appealing body of water than pond which nowadays are often weedfilled and muddy Before anyone suggests that aptly describes Fairy Lake they should recall what it looked like before It was ed in a pilot project by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority Much of the debris such as old stumps and branches were removed from most of the 80 acre body of water Ihen as well as hundred of tons of ill and bullrushes Besides Fairy Lake has become more attractive over the yean since Mrs Secord and family resided here The park which juts into the lake is pictures que the Royal Canadian Legion sits next to it an tractive building on beautiful grounds Recently the new St Josephs school was built near Its shores and fine residential areas but round It This column has gone from flower gardens to Fairy Lake which Is enough of a spread for this week and besides Ted Tyler tells me that most families with ties to old Acton enjoy these col umoB but perhaps newer residents so Interested Which could be true but I can help reaching back to this a and I hope you win bear with me in further columns from time to time years ago Decembers Council decided Tuesday night shop pers Acton will have a free bus service for to days before Christmas The service will be provided by Tyler Transport Ltd Acton General Fireproofing Co has an nounced it will shut down its George town plant which manufactures steel office furniture About Acton cm will be effected by Ihe plant closing Birthday greetings arc extended to Mrs Martha Jackson who observed her ffist birthday on Tuesday The s Men Grey Cup dance In music centre Saturday night was en joyed by the crowd attending Fire Prevention Bureau annual a wards night honored Craig Gordon of Z Bennett School in Acton and Nora Summerfield of Brookvillc Public School in Nassagawaya for their fire prevention poster 20 years ago Decembers Election fever hit more Actonlans this year than any time since 1957 Monday per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots at the polls George and Edward Mac Donald were vying for the Mayor position Mr won by votes John Goy was the former mayor A proposed Christian Education building addition to Knox Presbyterian Church received the approval of the majority of those present for a congregational meeting on Thursday Max Storey was named president of Branch 197 Royal Canadian Legion during the annual election night on Monday Down from the west for the Grey Cup game a group from Manitoba visited with Mr and Mrs John and family on the weekend The United Church Women at a meeting night presented a life membership to Mrs Fred 50 years ago December I Everyone on the Voters List is en titled to a vote on the Daylight Saving question in Acton on Monday Don t forget Shooting Match on Saturday afternoon December 3 at John Black A meeting of Acton Hockey Club was held last Thursday evening Mr J Davidson manager of the Bank of Montreal here was appointed Manager Tor Intermediate team Specials this week at the fled and White Store arc lbs of seedless raisins for tins tomatoes lbs parsnips for tins Heinz pork and beans and Maple Buds 1 lb for 25c Mr David formerly of Acton was manager of the bank in North Bay which was held up and robbed of on Saturday The General Cup was won by Company of Acton and Georgetown at the annual inspection of the Lome Scottish Rifles at Burlington on Saturday 75 years ago Decembers Mr A Dickson is making prepare tions for opening a wood yard in town The Oddfellows dramo and concert tonight The Social Glass and Eddie humorist will be the at tractions Auctioneer had a busy day last Saturday He had one sale of stock at one clock and another of furniture at three clock in the Council Cham ber Mr G A Black has decided to let his farm on shares and will announce an auction sale next week sometime Miss J Drummond of is giving lessons In voice production in Acton every Tuesday The ground is well covered with snow and a few sleighs are already running years ago December The new town hall bell will arrive today Custom a authorities imposed a duty of 30 per cent on the bell Howard Clifton New York Church Choir Company gave interesting enter here on Saturday and Monday evenings Mr John Lawson of the Line Tuesday to Mr T II Harding which weighed almost pounds The old tank house has been removed to a vacant lot on Young Street and will be converted into a stable by Mr James McLellan The regular quarterly examinations at Acton Public School will take place In the First Department on Thursday afternoon and the Second and Third Departments on Friday afternoon