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7 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,S eptem ber 12,2019 theifp.ca LESLEY BARRON WELLINGTON-HALTON HILLS Join us for our Choose Forward campaign launch! Sat. Sept. 14, 4-7pm • 106 Guelph St. Georgetown There's a radio adver- tisement that runs from time to time, regarding cleaning up trash in the house, basement, or ga- rage, pretty much any- where that trash can accu- mulate. And every once in a while, when I go down into our basement at home, I'm tempted to give 'em a call. The radio ad claims they'll be at your house within a very short time (from the Toronto area I be- lieve) and once there, all you gotta do is "point." Yup, you point to the stuff you want tossed, you point to the stuff you want saved, and you point to the stuff to be recycled or do- nated to an agency, and the guys are galvanized into action, and all the 'stuff" magically disappears into thin air. OK, that seems simple enough. I've been hearing that ad on the radio for some time. A couple years ago, when The Sidekick was outta town to visit her dad in Ot- tawa, I seriously consid- ered making the call to sur- prise her with an empty basement. I was actually on the verge of dialing the 1-800 number to have them do battle in the basement. But one more walk through the "stuff" and I felt overwhelmed. Not only was I concerned about the accumulation of Brown family "stuff" I wasn't real- ly sure I'd keep the correct items from The Sidekick's "stuff" as I let them go into the dumpster. Another reason both- ered me - a portion of the stuff in the basement came from my parents' house when we cleaned it out af- ter my dad died 16 years ago. So I chickened out. Over the years, from time to time, The Sidekick has given me a gentle nudge about cleaning out the basement, and I'd al- ways return the reciprocal "Yes, I'll get to it ..." with the very best intentions. It just seemed there was always something that was more fun to do at that mo- ment in time. On occasion, I felt a bit guilty, like when the fur- nace technician came to clean the furnace. At one point, the guilt did over- come me and I installed a light fixture over the fur- nace burner access, so he didn't have to hold a flash- light in his teeth anymore ... This overloaded base- ment has been an ongoing issue between The Side- kick and me for a long time. But Labour Day Mon- day morning, I woke in a state of weakness. Perhaps I had an extra sound night's sleep, or I was distracted, but when The Sidekick tossed out the old "So, since we have no plans today, you wanna sort some stuff in the basement, and load the truck," I found myself re- plying, "Yeah, sure, we can do that." "What?!" The words came out of my mouth be- fore I could react. I was committed. Now we have a walkout basement, making the task easier than carrying heavy "stuff" up the stairs and out the door. Instead we carry it straight out the base- ment door to the waiting F150. I marvelled at the prolif- eration of "stuff" (OK, "junk") that has accumu- lated over the years. Finding some items, I texted a message to my daughters to see if they wanted them. And I also re- discovered toys and elec- tronic items I'd had de- cades ago, no longer run- ning. The truck filled up as the day progressed, and when it was full, we agreed to call it a day. To date, the basement is not finished, and we'll cer- tainly have another truck- load or two. But there is one helluva a difference in the base- ment. And after going through this exercise, I know we'll find it much eas- ier to complete the job. There is one upcoming event that I'm looking for- ward to witnessing. I really wanna see the look of disbelief from my furnace guy next cleaning - I'm betting he'll think he's in the wrong house. Ted Brown is a free- lance journalist for the IFP. He can be contacted at tedbit@hotmail.com JUST POINT THE FINGER, THE REST IS SIMPLE OPINION CLEANING BASEMENT NOT THAT EASY, WRITES TED BROWN TED BROWN Column THE WAY WE WERE This 1962 photo shows the last group of staff and students to use the 1870 Hornby School house. Students were then bussed to Pineview School in September. Halton Hills (Esquesing Township) is celebrating its 200th birthday (1819-2019) this year. EHS photo