The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE HERALD Wednesday February 14 1 WO Page Opinion Page -LETTERS- 30 years ago Georgetowns Kinsmen Club will furnish a room in the proposed Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital The young service club founded in Hamilton in became the latest to ease the high cost problem facing hospital fundraisers The decision to furnish a room com plies with the Kinsmen dedication of service to The Communitys Greatest Need The February meeting of the Countess of Chapter was held Monday Feb at the home of Mrs Leslie M Clark Main Street South with members present The meeting commenced with the annual meeting and reports from the secretary and treasurer and the various convenors Nominating committee Mrs Ed win Wilson Mrs Charles and Miss Margery MacKenzie presented the new slate of officers for the coming year Mrs Hilda Erwin is the new regent 20 years ago For a second year Mayor has accepted an invitation from North Bays Mayor to compete in a snowmobile race one of the features of the Ci Fur Trapper carnival Council voted on Monday to have the mayor represent Georgetown in the festival Albert Guguay of Chapel Street West has been engaged to issue dog licenses Georgetown this year Mr Duguay was appointed by council on Monday night and will receive per cent of the license fees George Hernngton was re appointed to be in charge of animal control at the council meeting The Norval S for Guides and Brownies held a successful Valen tine Tea and bake sale on Satur day Feb in the Norval United Church Mrs D Hethenngton opened the tea and bake sale with Mrs Ridley in charge of the bake table Mrs Peter Pomeroy and Mrs K Ewen were in charge of the tea room and the Rangers served the tea A draw held for a hand made quilt donated by Mrs Marg was won by Mrs T 10 years ago A long evening of contradictory tallies and confusing reports ended early Tuesday morning with re elected Progressive Conservative MP John McDermid crediting Georgetown voters including two Halton Hills politicians he singled out for his return to office by a scant 300vote margin North Halton District Cubs held their annual Kub Kar Rally Feb 9 in the Acton Scout Hall The event was organized by the 1st Acton A and B Packs with Ross Haltons from our files Walsh and Bill Ingles in charge In all Cubs from Acton Georgetown Glen Williams Limehouse and Norval took part and many parents came out to cheer on their boys Eighteen years after con to the first art exhibition at Georgetowns newly opened Gallery House Sol artist Frank Black has lined the gallery walls once again for a threeweek oneman introspective renowned as a content porary of the Group of Seven and much respected locally as a dynamic catalyst to the Georgetown art scene Mr Black was greeted with a warm round of applause at the opening of his new show in the Charles Street gallery Saturday 5 years ago With a sudden bang square feet of roofing collapsed at Products injuring seven employees and causing over million in damage Wednesday morning as 12 of the day shift employees began work at 7 a the entire roof of the wooden and concrete block machine shop gave way in seconds Investigators from the Ministry of Labor and Halton Regional Police are looking into the cause of the accident Thirteen yearold Bob was awarded the trophy as this years Herald Athlete of the Year Donker set three records in the On minor track and field circuit He was also undefeated this year in the elementary school cross coun try scene winning all nine of hts races including the North and Halton championships Owner Murray and breeder Ward of Georgetown were the recipients of a superior production certificate recently Holstein Canada rated dairy cow Ridgebrook Fond Anita as very good She yielded as a seven year old in 305 days on twice a day milking kg milk fat and tested with a 3 per cent Pinegrove Community Club met at the home of Bessey and Marg Tost on Monday night dent Keith Webb conducted a short meeting and Gertrude McGee read the minutes Chester Early thank ed the group for the flowers he received while he was in the hospital Workers will seek big wage gains Continued from Page 6 these service employees work reduced hours by choice Many are students with part time jobs or spouses earning a second income for the family There are about two million part timers in the economy But even full timers in the ser vice sector are on average not making a fortune Try to get by on a year Mr Wilson Proponents of the toughguy ap proach to wages argue that recent pay hikes have been running ahead of inflation of about five per cent Wage settlements for the coun trys largest unionized groups Finances quarterly review says averaged 5 9 per cent higher the third quarter of the largest rise in six years Octobers year overyear in earnings was six per cent according to Statistics Canada On the other hand the Finance Department s own numbers show that personal disposable income that s takehome pay after income taxes and pension and unemploy insurance deductions fell in the second quarter of last year and recovered only modestly in the third And wage settlements in the private sector in the third quarter stood at only 4 3 per cent It was hefty provincial government pay hikes that pulled up the average Most workers have had no real wage increases after inflation is removed since say economists for the Conference Board a resrarch agency There have been signs that workers will be out after big gains this year to make up for past losses due to the erosive effectB of infla tion But its clear Messrs Wilson and Crow will have little sympathy for their demands Water growth pollution are top three issues rural councillors survey shows Dear Sa in early December I mailed a newslettersurvey to 3100 households in Ward 2 to provide in formation on what was taking place in our town As part of this survey I included a questionnaire to which I received a great response I would like to thank all of those that took the time to mail back the questionnaire and the constituents input will help me to formulate my opinion on important issues The questionnaire covered five topics In regard to rural garbage pickup and whether people would be willing to pay for this service through increased taxes 63 per cent responded No while 37 per cent were willing to pay for this service Many of the respondents to my survey expressed concern that rural garbage pickup would be counter productive and would erode a longstanding rural at of keeping garbage to a minimum The rural garbage issue will be discussed in our town budget deliberations which began Feb At this time it is proposed that rural garbage pickup and blue box recycling be provided in the hamlets of Norval Stewarttown and Glen Williams The second question asked If a blue box were provided to you with rural garbage pickup would you use the blue box to recycle The response was 86 per cent Yes and 14 per cent No There is a clearly demonstrated need to provide some form of recycling system for the rural area In the event that the blue box program is not extended beyond the hamlets it is my intention to make Regional igloo recycling containers accessible and conve nient to all rural residents 3 I also asked Do you feel that recycling should be made man datory for all those who receive garbage pickup A significant per cent responded Yes This type of mandatory program is in place in some communities in On tario and may be considered by town council in the future I am pleased to report that on my question of snow removal per cent of the respondents said that they were satisfied with our level of service Our municipal crews work hard to meet the challenge of salting sanding and plowing the 118 miles of roads within our municipality Their ef forts are recognized by this response and my note of thanks for all their long hours behind a wheel will be passed on 5 I asked what three matters should be the highest priorities for Halton Hills Of categories the top five responses were water quality future growth pollution garbage pickup and taxes As to water quality I can assure you that this matter is being monitored at all times with the ministry of environment and Regional staff I will be meeting this month with ministry staff to address some local isolated pro blems Some of the problems have been the result of the cumulative effect of a lack of rain and snow over the last few years Regarding future growth the town and Region are both under taking Official Plan reviews This is the publics opportunity to en sure that you have a say in the planning process of our ty Public meetings will be held and I encourage you to attend and offer your input Pollution has not been a problem in Halton Hills and concerns about maintaining a high standard of water and air quality are para mount to me Any future develop ment in Halton Hills must take the environment into account The En Assessment Act and the Environmental Protection Act along with government policies and agencies will ensure that ap plications like the RSI Acton Quarry landfill proposal will not be successful Garbage pickup is addressed in questions 1 and above and I in vite further input through letters or submissions to town council There Is little good news with respect to town taxes because of the impact of upper tier govern ments provincial and federal policies and legislation The cost of services to the municipal ratepayer will be increased by ap proximately four to five per cent this year simply by new tax measures imposed on local govern In my opinion we must face a new reality in the 90s that being a reduction in the demands placed on all levels of government and a reduction in the bureaucratic layering that drives all costs sky high Only with the publics help can we tackle the serious financial crisis that is facing Canada On and Hills if our governments spending is not reduced Our ability to compete to create jobs and to attract good business to Halton Hills depends on a recognition of this new reality of the 90s and to ensure a future for our children Yours truly Joe Hewitt Regional Councillor Ward More letters on Page 8 Science is humbug You cant imagine my joy when I opened the newspaper the other day and discovered that science has been unmasked as a fraud Well this may be a slight over statement The paper didnt quite debunk the entire accumulated scientific knowledge of mankind Perhaps it didnt feel it had the authority to do so since it t The Globe and Mail It did however print a story revealing that Johannes Kepler the father of modern astronomy fabricated data in presenting his theory of how the planets move around the sun Apparently Kepler adjusted a few crucial figures to provide more striking proof that his theories were beyond question thus mark ing himself as a man who might have been a brilliant defender of the GST had he only been born years later The story went on to reveal that other great scientists engaged in similar creativity including Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton Well This is proof enough for me Science is humbug This comes as a wonderful relief I ve always detested science and have never believed that any good would come of it I liked science well enough back in kindergarten when it was a matter of pouring food dye into glasses of water and watching it turn neato colors After that it v as straight downhill Shortly after we started dissec ting frogs I was hiding out in the library By the time we were learn ing the elementary principles of physics I had transferred to Boys Cooking Now it t easy to exist in this particular century if youre so meone who knows next to nothing about science and is determined to avoid tampering with natural ig norance It was Lady Bracknell who observed that ignorance is a delicate flower touch it and the bloom is gone It s no fun for instance having conversations with fiveyearold nephews who want to show you how to program a computer I con sole myself by reflecting that such unnatural precocity almost always leads to Reform School Fortunately those of us who feel this way have an admirable role- model In one of the Sherlock Holmes stones watson is flabbergasted to learn that the great detective assumes the sun revolves around the earth Upon being set straight Holmes proclaims that he will endeavor to forget this new in formation at once on the grounds that it is of no use to his work and he doesnt want it hogging valuable brain space This shows wonderful perspec tive Let it be an inspiration to anyone who is ever tempted to ponder why say a jet stays air borne The plain fact is that jets do not stay airborne Logic dictates that they cant possibly fly so some sort of mass hypnotic experience is involved The same applies to the rest of technology There is of course a benefit to this sort of scientific skepticism It means you can approach the world in a nearly constant state of religious wonderment if you havent got a clue how bank machines really function then receiving money from one seems like manna from Above Thats why I approach them with head bowed humbly uncertain whether to enter my Instabank number or just sacrifice a fatted calf Now that science Has been debunked were left with an ob vious and delightful conclusion Technology is just good old- fashioned magic In short everything we really need to know about socalled technology is contained in the Walt Disney version of Sleeping Beauty Nasty things like hydrogen bombs are explained by Malificent and her wicked spells Nice things like pain free dentistry are ex plained by the Three Good Fairies and their benevolent spells The world being what it is the Three Good Fairies are a bit outgunned just at the moment But dont despair Some day your prince will come And he wont be bearing a white labcoat bless him