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Wednesday Fab 29 avary Wadnaaday by On at Straw Acton Ontario Telaphona 519 Snot par In Canada i countnaa than Canada ragoffauon Number Ken Bellamy Don Ryder Hartley Coles Director of Managing Editor The Acton of group of suburban when Tha Aurora Now Tha Bolton Tha Guardon Burfngton Waekand Tha Etobacofca Guardian Tha Gaorgatown Indapandant Markham Econonuti Sun Tha Milan Champion New Tha Newmarket Era North York Mirror Beavar Tha Woofc Richmond HA IJbaral ThomhM Ubaral Tha Scarborough Mirror Tha Stouftvwa Tribune and Wood- Matroland Printing a of EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor Gold Murray Hawa Editor Habn Murray Sport Mark Darkroom Nancy ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Ratal BM Coo Kit Davy Sandra Wtaon CtaaaWad MacDouoal BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE S newel Bad tax news coming Local taxpayers had best brace themselves for a flood of bad news this spring- Preliminary estimates from Halton Hills Halton region and Halton Board of Education put this years property tax hikes in the neighborhood of an average increase of about Of course by the time the budget process is com pleted reflecting various cuts and refinement of tax increases for all three levels in accordance with local mill rates the average boost will have been slashed down considerably Probably the average tax jump in Acton will be some where in the order of to in 84 Councillors and trustees are wasting little time in pointing the finger of blame for this situation Queens Park is the culprit We agree Inflation may be down requiring smaller increases grants from the province to the municipalities and school boards but what is happening here is ridiculous Provincial grants at least in Halton wont be even remotely close to the inflation rate The increase over last year will it ap pears now be miniscule Because Queens Park which calls the shots so much on education and municipal matters is try ing to practise restraint on the backs of local taxpayers and hide behind councillors and trustees while perpetrating the crime ratepayers can expect not only to not see services im proved for their increased investment or even remain at 83 levels but in fact slip a notch or two This slip in services will be most noticeable where they hurt the most Halton Hills The most fiscally responsible over the past 10 years the Town will be hurt the most Halton Hills desperately needs fresh revenues which only increased growth will bring safely Growth is a long way off in the future In fact more new assessment would be good news for all taxpayers It might not be so bad if our provincial taxes were going to reflect the fact were paying for the same local services a different way now But that wont happen either Ontario Treasurer Larry Grossman has been issuing regular warnings that it will soon cost us all more to be residents of the Province of Opportunity With the school board and regions budget meetings completely open and speculation that Town budget sessions will also be open to the public soon there will be a flood of bad news for six to eight weeks this spring It will be of no comfort to Acton ratepayers to be reminded that their collec tive tax increase will be larger than necessary because a modern and fairer assessment system hasnt been introduced through Section of the Assessment Act Instead of tuning out on the bad tax news this spring Acton should prepare to vigorously back their councillors when the fight for Section resumes thisAprilGM Changes confusing Here we go again Proposed changes to pro vincial riding boundaries would see Halton Hills included in a new riding with part of Brampton and a corner of Milton and the northern end of Burlington above the QEW would stay in the pre sent HaltonBurlington turf The proposal probably re- flects demographic changes as Julian Reed points out but they are another confusing change for an electorate just informed last June that federal electoral bound aries would change after the next federal election Hills Is split down the middle now federally with Acton and Georgetown in different ridings The change in the federal elec toral boundaries would reunite the Town with Milton and the northern end of Burlington in a new riding Now along comes the changes in the provincial riding boundaries Milton and that northern arm of Burlington will stay in Hal- tonBurlington and the whole of Halton Hills with part of rural Brampton and a sliver of add ed form a new riding called Hal tonPeel Why in the name of all that is sane and sensible couldnt the federal and provincial electoral bound aries be drawn so they are almost the same It is true the Town of Hills will be reunited in both federal and provin cial elections when the pro posals are implemented but in both cases theyll have different partners Surely the community of in terest does not switch when voters troop to the polls either federally or provin- cially The proposed provincial riding will be more compact and give the easier ac cess to his constituents but only the core resembles its federal counterpart Surely some day down the line we should be aiming at identi cal boundaries for both jurisdictions when demo graphics permit HC Wake up VIA no letter to Jl Rick a ffled the noma Free lot tat to On trains Gear- read the report aetownnirfUtolinpoallitotoiwto Omega Botaett and Ilia train aunt to my lad Tafia Imt do d are lack From the editor des Fleeing for the south As youre reading this your cor respondent Is heading for the hopefully sunny south to enjoy spring training baseball style In act If you are a Wednesday morning reader of the Free Press youre probably getting to this page at about the same time Im warming up for he new ball season by touring the Hall of Fame In Coopers town New York Those who know Im going down to Florida keep asking why Helens not going too Not long I fill them In about my plana for the next 10 days they usually know why Helens staying here First off with both of us working together in the news department here It Is a little hard now for us to vacation together But even if she could go with me theres no way she would She might be able to stomach a boll gome or two but not a minimum of 13 Last year with the exception of two days spent at the White Sox camp In Sarasota I devoted my time to catching games at Atlantic coast camps I saw the famed in Vera Beach as well I visited the Expos and Braves at West Palm Beach Astros In Cocoa and Yanks at Fort Lauderdale This year I decided to save myself some driving concentrate on Jay watching Toronto and the Phils were supposed to start their exhibition season with a three game set in of all places Panama Well that fell through and now theyre playing the games In Clearwater and Ill see Jays face the East champs four times in all In ad dition Toronto will meet the Mets Pirates Red Sox Tigers and Cardinals at games I plan to sec A couple times I skip Toronto to see the White Sox Using as a base 111 be visiting camps in Winter Haven Lakeland St Petersbcrg Bradenton and Sarasota As If that wasnt enough of a reason for Helen to bid me fond adieu without any theres an added bonus for this trip Ill be Florida in the midst of a presidential primary Ive always been fascinated with American politics Its such a complicated process which leads to the White House Where else does a person go through roughly warm up heats before getting to the main event Ive often thought the American system of picking a president is sort of like the NHL Dozens and dozens of mini elect ions to whittle the field down Then theres the playoffs conventions and finally just two people vying for the crown Anyway Im hoping some of the campaign takes place In the Tampa area so I can get out and watch Mondale Govern Glenn Hart etc do their stuff I expect Reagan will even make a visit to the sunshine state while Im there Baseball In the afternoon politics at night Now do you see why Helen thinks Im for planning this kind of vacation She figures she might as well go to Florida alone as go on a trip like this with me theyd both be the same shed be alone Now not to worry about the little woman being on her own all that time Shell be busy doing her work and a lot of my regular work too and besides her Mom Dad are coming down separately for long visits She wont have chance to get bored or lonely Guess Im not the only person fleeing to the south either Duval told me the other day a pile of local folks are going to Florida and good many of them are going to visit the Jays training facilities Considering 1 see someone from here on Just about every other vacation take I expect 111 run into a few in the stands Anyway Im not planning to write mounds of copy about spring training again this year I can hear sighs of relief But I am going to stick my neck out and handicap this years baseball races as well as fill you fans In on how high our Jays will be soaring this season See you all when I get back Our readers write Reed backs VIA study Dear Sir It was with great pleasure that I learned through the kind offices of Councillor Rick Bonn rite that the Acton Chamber of Commerce is commissioning a study on the potential viability of renewing rail service in the Town of Acton When Actons population was about 3000 there was an active railway station with traffic In both passenger and freight service The population of the town has now nearly tripled and access to Metro politan Toronto by rail Is becoming increasingly attractive Anyone who finds it necessary to drive into Toronto during rushhour must naturally be in wholehearted agreement It Is therefore my sincere hope that the results of this Chamber of Commerce study will provide a basis to bring pressure on VIA Rail to once again Include Acton as a stop and to perhaps look a little farther towards the future when GOTransit may be expanded Acton should not be cut off from any form of access which will en hance Its longterm viability Julian Reed MP P HaltonBurlington Bring back the trains The following letter was sent to the Chamber of Commerce and filed with the Free Press for publication Acton Chamber of Commerce Re VIA Rail Stops in Acton Being resident of Acton for many many yean I certainly would be one of many who would use the train service if we got It back again I have family living In Toronto and with the heavy road traffic these days I prefer not to drive to the city 1 also have a who lives in Acton but works In Toronto and must com mute by car or by GO train from Georgetown daily Parking hi the city Is a problem and very expensive On top of that the cost of gas and the hit cost of now reason why many would be glad to ate the train if it stopped here AH we Deed is a lew stops a day east and west With this it would service all of those using the GO train from Milton or Georgetown to get to work or for those who wish to shop in the city With Acton being so close to so many big cities with good shopping in the bigger stores our own down town has suffered as people prefer to go where there are large depart ment stores Many tourists would be attracted to the Olde Hide House and to their newly acquired Jack Tan ners Table to spend a part of a day browsing through it The train stop would be so convenient for this alone With the being closer to Milton and Georgetown for In dustries to establish this la another reason why Acton needs VIA to stop in Acton and encourage more growth here Many people still prefer to live in small towns where it li safer and quieter than in the busy cities I am pleased to learn that the Chamber of Commerce and Rick are trying very bard to get train service back to Acton Thanks for support Dear Sir On behalf of the Parent Advisory Committee of School we would tike to thank U local businesses including the Acton Free Pros which sop- ported our recent Tunes and Talents evening Your in tha selling of tickets and was much appreciated by all years ago February For years there has been a shoe store on Mill St in the same mid- block location This week ownership changes again for the fifth time but the commodity and friendly ser vice remain the same Bill Benson is selling his business after and a half years to Alma and Dave Swet- man of Dr The second highest award in Guid ing the all around cord was presented to Wilson at the Guide and Brownie Mother and Daughter banquet last week She is a member of the Second Acton Guides What does a full time fire chief do In a town where during the normal week there was only one minor fire Mick Holmes has established his new office in the former town offices and is finding plenty to do 20 years ago February For the second time the name of Elizabeth Force has appeared on the All A honor roll at Michigan State University in recognition of the highest attainment of scholarship for She is In her Junior year In Social Science Robert Little public school will display a large pennant presented by the Recreation Committee Wednesday night They placed first among five of eight schools scheduled to compete in the first public school Ice carnival held at the arena Close to people Including children taking part paid admission to the arena Many fond memories were re called by Mr and Mrs 1 Acton a bride and groom of 50 years when they held an an niversary party at their home Satur day afternoon 50 years ago February 1134 Ice has been shipped by Wm Evans from Acton to Churchill llnafad Stewarttown Milton val and Guelph This ice was all removed from Corporation Pond a week or so ago and It is now being taken off Fairy Lake The Continuation School literary society met in the First Form room The school orchestra played and principal Herbert spoke On the pro gram were Velma Blair Barbara Taylor Lillian Woodhall and Nor man Bra I da Prominent citizens of the town will be attending meetings to speak on their professions Dr Buchanan was the first speaker and gave a very Interesting account of dentistry with drawings Veterinarian Dr Bruyn Is next On the program at the Worlds Day of Prayer service In Rockwood were Mrs McNabb Mrs Robert Williamson Mrs Wm Dunbar Mrs Fred McArthur and Mrs J Ayles Large crowds enjoy skating at the arena on band nights 75 years ago February IS Ittl Mr George Tubby who has held an important position on the en gineering staff of the Panama Canal the post three years has severed bis connection and taken a position with a large firm with in San Francisco Co Mr Tubby Is one of the most successful of our Acton boys Old residents will be glad to know of his continued success A number of dogs In town have been poisoned lately but on Sunday morning the poison took effect in a somewhat wholesale manner Mr WS Chfsholms wellknown pure bred pointer Sport came home In great agony and died In a few min utes Mr John Clarks spaniel and Messrs Smith Brothers collie also I died about the same time Mr Glmsons was poisoned on Saturday 100 years ago February a 1884 Forty or of our citizens attended the opening of St Johns church In last Sunday The measles axe now following up the scarlet fever among children In town There are several cases re ported Petitions were drculaled in town last week praying Parliament to enact more stringent laws for the observance of the Sabbath Where can I find a good house to rentbaquestkmfrequenUyaskedto Acton The only answer to he question is Every bouse in town Is occupied A minute race took place the Georgetown rink last night between Messrs Speight of Acton and Ge orgetown resulting la an victory ft The Adas boys begin to think that their bum with a fair take the championship of the county