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New principal is walking history book fcy Helen Mrra When Karl Sury starts talking history- listen to him He knows what he s talking about yearseld the new principal of Acton High School found himself tram ping through the Bohemian forest In Cxech to escape the communists who had taken over his country And 19 years later Sury found himsdf in the some country when the Russians took over It was these events and the Influence of his father which led him to study history in university Politics was a supper hour discussion around his table and he naturally flowed into It and history in high school He eventually got his masters of art in history University took over the reins of the local secon school on Wednesday replacing Betty Moure who was transferred to M M Robin son in Burlington After several years as vice principal at various schools this is his first job as principal was bom in Chechoslovakia a country not exactly known for political peace In there was a coup detat takeover of the state by the communists forcing his father a businessman to flee the country much the same as Halloa member of par bam en otto and family fled In 1M9 Sury explains anyone who owned anything substantial was suspect and they were the first to be arrested by the communists Mr SurySr business which he had built up from nothing and said goodbye to relatives to escape the and establish a life on the outside It took him a year but he eventually made plans to smuggle his wife and two sons out of the communists grasp In the meantime the family business had been nationalized and the remaining family members watched by authorities In 1W9 plans were finalized The Sury with nine other families would escape under cover of nigh I through the mountains and the Bohemian forest to West Germany remembers the day and night as vividly as if it happened yesterday he says Even though he was only six It is something he will never forget The family hid In the back of a truck as it drove across the countryside most of the day until they met up the other families From there It was by foot recalls walking all night through the mountains and forest and while he understand the political situation be knew they were in danger Hesensedeveryonesfearandknew it was no picnic It was not until he became older that he grasped the political side of that long night His brother then three was earned in a knapsack the bedraggled group met up at a predetermined spot with a jeep which took them to a refugee camp in West Ger many the same camp father had been in Tor a year It was a very emotional reunion hi says They remained in the reiugee camp from March until June while awaiting a visa for entry to Canada Their first stop was Toronto where they lived in an attic The summer of was the hottest one he can remember Many other families in the Burlington area took the Surys in until they became established in a place of their own Sury says his father worked at a variety of jobs such as dishwasher and hotel and factory work in Toronto before buying a farm and getting into the market gardening business which he did the rest of his life In Sury says there was an amnesty Riven to all those who bad fled the country illegally He was in university at the time and anted to see the relatives he had left so abruptly so many years before lie to the embassy in Canada and wanted to know what risks were involved should he return to his homeland Even though he was a Canadian citizen by then he found out there were no guarantees Once there the government could detain him Tor a number of reasons including military service However Sury reasons the country was In a financial mess and had been advertising for tourists He felt they would try doing nothing to a tourist under those stances not have any trouble lis econd and last visit back was in 1968 at the same time Russians went marching through the of Ihe major cities Sury Karl Sur says he witnessed the military buildup and knew something was happening However the actual invasion still came as a surprise Fortunately he was in the countryside when occurred He dldn bother to wait for his vacation to end he left the country im mediately Surry doubts if he will be back to Continued on page 13 a e Lepage REAL ESTATE REALTOR GUELPH STREET GEORGETOWN 8770173 GEORGETOWN BUCK GMC TRUCKS GEORGETOWN 8770149 One Hundred and Ninth ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY FEBRUARYS 42 Pages Thirty Cents Town response to citizens grou Council plans to close Stevens land purchase Free Press but be and his wife latest triumph on the blades it appeared a few years back In the e still skating luce the wind See story In sports for their Hal ton Hills council intends to proceed and close the controversial Stevens land purchase at the next month Monday night councillors voted to adopt the building committee Town staff response to the citizens groups brief of a month ago wh criticized the purchase and tentative plans to build a municipal complex on the site The report read to the packed crowd in council chambers by Clerk Administrator Ken Richardson concluded by warning that the town faces costly litigation if the deal completed In the only comment made by a lor Finn said the building com mil tee honestly believes its moves have been completely legal He said he felt he was speaking for the other members of the committee too Mayor Miller and Councillors Whiting Sheldon and Marilyn Members of the citizens research com mittec declined to make any comments to councillors on the issue Monday night No Surprises Afterwards spokesman Norm Elliott said there were no surprises in the response to their brief He said they study the Town report and decide where we II go from here I think we know where were going but there nothing official to say yet It is rumored legal action taken to stop the deal We re disappointed they are going to proceed with the purchase There are areas of glaring concern This the response has not persuaded us otherwise There are areas of their del Derations on itus which we questioned which have not been responded to Us a general synopsis of what council attitude has been all along on this Elliott added Besides closing the deal the report recommended and council adopted the that building committee continue to pursue the subject as directed with rep orts to be presented to the council for motion purposes and direction as re quired Addressing the question of if council can buy more land than it needs and plans to sell the excess for housing the report says it until late In the negotiations that Stevens offered to sell just seven or eight acres instead of the entire acre site The cost for just the land needed for a complex would been to an acre so buy ng the whole site was more economical Voted Tor building Some councillors have said publicly and privately that they voting for a municipal complex just a land purchase It goes without stating that the exercise wis to acquire a parcel of land to facilitate in the future a site for an administration centre The space needs study recommended a building seven to a acres in size depending on the involvement of Hal ton Hills Hydro Since the 000 is coming from a reserve fund approved by the Ontario icipal Board years ago council I tying up future councils with a debt No time frame Council has established no time frame for a or development of the site S design of the building and casts haven the subject of detailed discussion If the town was borrowing money then ap proval would be needed Councillors who say they I m Town could buy just the land needed for a Continued on page 9 Fire loss up in 83 Fire damage to property in Hills totalled SI in an Increase from the previous year Fatalities dropped from three in 1982 to two in 1983 The fire in a house on Willow Street Acton accounted for the two deaths But firerelated Injuries to the public doubled this year rising from five to 10 while injuries to firefighters rose from three in to In S3 Most or these injuries to liremen were suffered in the blaze at Thomas Video in Acton Several firefighters suffered heat prostration and collapse Halton Hills responded to IB more calls of all kinds in with calls answered compared to the previous year First tax forecast 29 average hike The first tentative forecast of the Town budget predicts an increase on the average house of An average assessment Is in Georgetown in Acton and Gil in The final budget will come to council March Between now and then the budget committee will be paring items in an at tempt to keep spending down to a 5 per cent increase However the towns revenue will be down because assessment has barely in creased and some provincial grants will either stay at last year rate or decline This means according to Treasurer Ray King that the five per cent spending in crease combined with less revenue actually means a 117 tax Increase In addition this year the Town carried over a surplus of the smallest amount in many years Councillor Pom Sheldon sparked a long discussion when she claimed strict to the five per cent ceiling was eroding the condition of roads She suggested there should be a tradeoff within departments so one department was in good shape an other should get more money She cited specifically the recreation department which she claimed is In good shape and suggested the roads should have a part of their share She wondered if the Town was wise to spend money on roads only when the work is full subsidized The Ministry of spoliation and Communications pays 50 per cent of approved road work The increase has to be related to level of service she maintained Councillor Ross Knechtel said many cap tat projects have been delayed over the past five years andclalmedthereba20mllIion construction backlog But we don have million He noted aso largely bedroom community without a great deal of industry there are limitations on what the Town can do Councillor Mike Armstrong raised the question of for road work suggesting the interest rate could be offset by Inflation Treasurer Roy King said Georgetown Acton and were ahead of their time in not Issuing debentures but rather paying as they go He noted other munlci have started following the same method to avoid the burden of Interest on the debt He noted Hills has only one debenture at this time Knechtel suggested an Interest rate of per cent might make debentures reason able it was hard to justify Sheldon termed some roads as in an emergency state and wondered if the cost of maintenance would be offset by the Inter est on a 20 year debenture Councillor Harry Levy disagreed with any Idea of returning to debenturing pointing out the Town was a leader in payas yougo financing He claimed the Town is already budgeting within departments so the needy one gets a bigger share Court rules motocross track legal The controversial track on the Sixth Line of is legal an Ontario Provincial Court has ruled operation was round Monday not to be in contravention of the toning bylaw and Justice of ibe Peace Allen dismissed charges laid against the property owner by the Town of Milton Nellla bad been charged in the fall titer an October to race neighbors A public meeting was bald at which time It was pointed eat NeUis has for many yean let lb his property known as the free of charge There were arguments on both tides ranging from excessive noise and hurting the environment to the racing being a healthy sport for youngsters Milton council ruled the track was against the bylaw and ordered it dosed Netlis and his partner In the venture Lome took the matter to court Neighbors agreed to live by the court at be fall meeting Two weeks ago Milton argued be track was not legal and said the only track permitted by the bylaw was be Mohawk Race Track lawyer argued the track came under the open air recreational use J Allen agreed after wo weeks of consider a lion explained after the ruling was handed down Monday hat no dates have been set for the I9M motocross season because the association governing the sport was waiting for the case to be settled He said will apply for four races for sure the same amount as last year and maybe a few more inside this week Thursday February 2 was Groundhog Dav when legend says the furry creature pops out of his winter burrow and forecasts the weather for the next six weeks If he sees his shadow the legend says it means another six necks of winter Brrr if he we 11 an early spring and balmy weather is on its way ff he emerged from his hole early Thursday he saw his shadow But he slept in a bit then there s plenty of more winter coming 1 The Free Press won a provincial photo graphy award for its coverage of the fire on Willow SI North which tragically took two lives Seepages Councillor Bonne I and the Chamber of Commerce are going all out to get VIA trains to stop here again More on page 3 Naomi a mid term AH grade Is an Ontario Scholar Story and photo on page It oral residents are telling Councillor Whiting they want Acton to have lis own ambulance Seepage Rockwood Icademy ha been left lo the Ontario Heritage Foundation Story and photo on page I Before going to hb year Auto Show be tare and see he wo pages of coverage In today paper pages 14 and IS Sabres have made he playoffs by he margin of a single point and now play OakvUtc In be first round Former Sabre coach Gary Hudson back this times Ttirntopagell Don sweetheart next Tuesdav February Town engineer Robert Autlin explains the policy dealing with snow removal A sidewalk much higher than the road on Church St may be lib year Details on pages flag