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HERALD Wednesday January The other side of it LETTERS Ice a team but not the fans by Winston G Robinson Holy Cross Parish On the day after Christmas the death column of one of Torontos daily newspapers listed among others people who died Christmas day Families and friends were now mourning their losses Several people at a local bus stop were complaining that once again this Christmas was a real downer Further from here in the west end of on Christmas night a number of billiard parlors were open and packed to the hilt In a snack bar at a local gas station several tables were occupied by individuals star ing into the night The people mentioned above all shared something in common even if they didnt initially realize it loneliness Im quite certain that other feelings were also pre sent anger rejection abandon ment separation feelings of being unloved not being appreciated not CLERGY COMMENT Perhaps just as sad as their dif ficulty in coping with loneliness under these or other cir cumstances is what the world has to offer as solutions to their loneliness a glut of socalled self- help manuals offering instant remedies butso frequently falling short of the mark Most recently we heard much on the New Age Movement which suggests that we are in control of the power within and can heal ourselves even tap into a crystal for peace-of- mind or whatever Then there are the latest in tapes presented by certain TV gurus offering tapes providing means to alter the minds negative thoughts or it is suggested which can reprogram ones subconscious mind to give an individual power to change ones lifestyle As so often happens with wordly solutions or endeavoring to play ing God seldom is the loneliness resolved seldom are the hurting feelings communicated so that true healing can be experienced What has helped me immensely in dealing with such feelings has been coming into the truth and the answers for which I was searching namely that of a personal rela tionship with Jesus It was making a choice taking a risk as it were to enter into the silence of loneliness and letting to of control and in all of this coming into the reality that God truly and unconditionally loves me and always has This is not an intellectual idea but an idea that is a truth that has to be sent from the head to the heart Over the years as Ive gotten to know Jesus more intimately He has demonstrated time after time occasion after occasion that He is true to His Word He is the Way the Truth and the Life This rela tionship with Jesus has provided a sense of belonging a source of comfort and understanding in my loneliness one who can always identify with me wherever Im at So what am I attempting to say friend as you read this That God continues to offer salvation to you and me and everyone through his only Son Jesus Christ Jhe hope is that we need not be afraid to res pond to the spiritual dimension of our lives Take the risk that I did friend and allow Jesus to touch you to be your personal Lord and Savior of your life Your loneliness wont go away and youll still ex perience not only the good feelings we all do but the painful feelings of your But the differn- is this Where the world has so often failed to provide you true peace joy and love for which you so often hunger with Jesus as Lord of your life you will like me come to know and experience what God has said from the very beginning in his Word Long before your father mother brothers and sisters or anyone else was around I was there to love you He will fill the void and touch the pain of your loneliness And so friend my prayer for you is this May Jesus touch you where youre at May He touch you in the pain of your loneliness May He grant you unwaivering faith constant hope and love that en dures to the end May He grant you His grace and every blessing and keep you safe throughout the New Year I ask this for you friend in the name of Jesus who is Lord for ever and ever amen Dear Sir I have watched the junior Gemini now Raiders for the last several years I am continually amazed at how hard some of the people work to in sure a hockey team in town while at the same time others seem to do their best to discourage support for it On Tuesday evening Dec the support group went to a lot of work to put on a Kids Night For the first time this season the arena was full of kids and their parents This big crowd seemed to give the team who have been playing a lit tle spotty the last while a big and well deserved lift and they responded with a good show for the fans As I said the stands were full of parents and kids Unfortunately the people in charge of the arena thought it was the of July not the 27th of December It was cold in there I was freezing and I heard several others complaining Presi dent Dave Kentner was at- the front of the arena selling tickets and welcoming the fans so I mentioned the lack of heat for the fans to him As is Mr Kentners habit it was seen to in less time than it takes to talk about it and- the heaters were soon glowing red glowing that is till Mr had to leave near the end of the second period All of a sudden we were back in the frigid zone again Around where I sat try ing to keep warm and watch a pret ty good hockey game a lot of people couldnt take it anymore and got up and left The boys on the ice put on a good game and showed a lot of character by not retaliating when Milton saw the game was gone and started to try and intimidate the boys I think the team and the people who work so hard to provide it deserve better cooperation on a night when they could have made a lot of new fans To me It showed a total disregard for the guy paying his four bucks at the door This is not the first time this year this has happened On another oc casion that I can recall the local arena was the local ice palace in more ways than one I walked out after an earlier game this year and there were four scouts who had watched the game I overheard them talking about some of the players they had seen and also wondering if Georgetown was ever going to get hooked up to the gas line I have failed to see those four at any games since We may need more offices in the recreation department and maybe a new assistant or two but we also need the juniors as they are the on ly game In town now A Disgusted Fan RonLoucks Tree loss hits close to home Dear Sir I would like to acknowledge the letter in the Dec issue of the Herald by Aird Lewis Director Trees for Today and Tomorrow The points made in his letter were very true But how can you find out what ails a tree when it and thousands of others are being chopped down by greedy developers I live in Moore Park and myself and many of my neighbors fought the best we could this past spring to save the stand of trees behind Joycelyn Crescent We wrote let ters drew up petitions and went to all the town council meetings re The Development to save this tiny but important forest In the end it was the town council that decided to accept a cash pay ment in lieu of parkland trees from Relisco Its written in black and white in the bylaw So Im sad to say that the real enemy of the trees is plain old greed for money Just take a look at the two developments going in right now south of Hungry Hollow Looks a bit like a moonscape doesnt it In a few years if the developers have their way you wont recognize Georgetown and area It will be remarkably similar to Brampton or worse All concrete and no glorious trees So Mr Lewis you wont have to worry about acid rain getting to our trees because soon there wont be any trees left to poison Joycelyn Crescent Georgetown USC needs Canadians support Dear Sir Overseas agencies seldom highlight positive and hopeful pro jects to win public support Ethiopia is a case in point Mention Ethiopia and most Canadians think of a wasteland of war and famine without hope This image is misleading There is hardship but there is also Canada is helping to supply funds so that farmers and scien tists can work together through Ethiopias Plant Genetic Resource Centre to conserve the countrys traditional seeds and select the best for development and storage in times of drought Director Dr Worede describes the program as the only way to sustainable agricultural growth within Ethiopia Local seeds have been developed by centuries of coopera tion between man and nature to resist drought pests and disease and improved varieties will be us ed to increase agricultural produc tion The Ministry of Agriculture Fanners Associations and the Ethiopia Seed Cooperative are working in close cooperation with The cost to USC of launching and coordinating this important pilot project is million We need the financial support of Canadians to help Ethiopia put its own resources to work Please send your contribution every dollar counts John Martin Chief Executive Officer Canada Snorers just cant seem to get any rest It never fails Never Just when youre sure that medical science has exhausted its supply of horror stories about new and unexpected health hazards they drop yet another bombshell on you- This time doctors have announc ed to the world that snoring makes you stupid Good lord For all these years weve supposed that snoring was a perfectly harmless hobby Orat besta subtle form of revenge upon spouses who have cold feet Now we the ever Zzz2 knocks another few braincells into next week Catch Zzzzs and you are doomed to wake up one morning with the vague notion thai Zra is the letter that comes bet ween and Ffff in the alphabet Apparently most heavy snorers are afflicted with a condition known as obstructive sleep apnea which causes the sleeper to stop breathing for periods of up to seconds This reduces blood- oxygen levels and it has long been suspected that there might be some impact on the brain And now researchers at the University of Florida have come up with a hideous piece of con firmation a study of snorers has revealed that the who snored most heavily were juso the ones with the lowest Granted this correlation bet- By Ian Weir Thomson News Service ween snoring and low IQ doesnt necessarily prove that snoring causes stupidity its always possi ble that the causeandeffect rela tionship works the other way round In other words Its possible my snoring is not making me dumber by the night Possibly I snore because I was thick as two planks in the first place But either way there isnt much consolation You still wind up perceiving a whole new resonance in that familiar nighttime snarl Stop snoring stupid On the other hand this sudden concern about a possible link bet ween snoring and stupidity raises a much deeper and more fundamen tal question To wit who among us really knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he snores in the first place It goes without saying that I have scarcely need identify the per son who tells me this Which the second question how reliable is this particular source Like most of us my tendency is to shrug in sheepish acquiescence when told that I snore At best I fl ing back a witty rejoinder like yeah Well you make silly little whiffling sounds But still there is always the nag ging suspicion that this accusation about snoring is just another one of those Big Lies that crop up in rela tionships like the claim that yourre pigheaded absurd or that you sulk if you dont get your own way vile falsehood Granted the Love of My Life had a ready comeback when I finally put my foot down and insisted categorically that I never snore She consulted my mother who du ly reported that I have snored since I was a kid But keep in mind that my mother was the one who foiled my childhood attempt at vegetarianism by telling me that grew on trees So were hardly dealing with an unimpeachable source here There may be a difference of years but certain Historical Society which will hold Us first meeting of landmarks like the Georgetown High School are still the new year on Wednesday Jan at pm at the recognizable from this vantage point looking east Glen Williams town hall Speakers will be from the Street the Street Jowl commlHcp welcome I am told repeatedly that I snore This photo was provided by the Esqueslng tend like a chainsaw