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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1996 LVN WHINE Legion awarded Air Cadet honours The Georgetown Legion Branch 120 did such a good job sponsoring the 756th Georgetown Air Cadet Squad- ron that it won the Ed Christensen Memorial Trophy, presented yearly tothe top squadron sponsoring com- mittee in the Niagara-Hamilton- Halton area by the Cadet's provin- cial executive. The Legion's support helped the squadron almost double in size to 69 cadets this year so there was a full house at the Legion Thursday night when the award was presented during the Air Cadet's annual par- ent-cadet dinner. Sponsor Committee chair Joe Poirier, who accepted the ward, re- cently was recognized by the On- tario Provincial Committee of the Air Cadet League of Canada for his. - 25 years of dedicated service to the Georgetown Squadron. Applications for Mar. °97 exhibit "Healthy Halton Hills: It takes a whole community to raise a fam- ily," is the theme for the annual open house showcasing agencies and organizations serving Halton Hills. It will be held at the Georgetown Marketplace on Mar. 1, 1997 and is organized by the Halton Hills Co- operative Program Planning Com- mittee. Applications for booth. space have been mailed to previous participants. If your club, organization, charity, agency or team has not yet received the application form and informa- tion package, you may obtain one by calling 873-2601, Ext. 263. Town proclaims Youth Appreciation Week The Town of Halton Hills has pro- claimed that the week of Nov. 11-18 be "Youth Appreciation Week" as per a request by the Optimist Club of Georgetown. Youths under consideration for an award are evaluated on a variety of criteria: scholastic achievements, religious activities, handicrafts and hobbies, community sports activi- ties, activities which were commu- nity, church or service club spon- sored, clubs, community work and family contributions. Youth Appreciation Week has grown into one of the Optimist Club's successful activities, arriv- ing in Georgetown in 1977, a result of the efforts of local Optimist Bob Christie. Fitness leaders course The Town of Halton Hills Recrea- tion and Parks department has an- nounced some fall programs for resi- dents. Fitness Workshop -- Applied Anatomy for Fitness Leaders: This workshop has been designed for fitness leaders and other leaders in physical activity who wish to in- crease their knowledge and ability to apply anatomy, physiology and movement mechanics to exercise design. Fee: $68.50 Location: Georgetown District High School Dates: Nov. 26 & 28. Time: 6:30 to 10 pm. For more information, call Rec- reation and Parks at 873-2601, Ext. 276. THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI Your faithful observer of the pass- ing scene has recently noted an item for discussion. A recent trend in the entertain- ment business inthe good ol' USA has brought forth something called 'The Cigar Bar." --people congregate in these clubs to smoke cigars, drink cocktails, listen to sweet music, talk and dance. Many of the trendy show biz stars have taken up smoking ci- gars in public. Can you imagine? And ladies, too! Of all things! Smoking ci- gars is apparently now acceptable to the public and it is reported that some stars, like Tom Selleck, who have smoked cigars for some years, have now come out of the closet -- so to speak. By-the-way, we must discuss the size of these closets sometime. They must be huge, because every time you turn around, there is another social or unsociable item that has come out of one of these HEY! "Remembrance Day is just that: a day to honour the memories of : the men who went and didn't come back and those who were injured." S.A.C. Ed Culerhouse, (Ret'd), Royal Air Force, 1948-54 These cigar bars arenightclubs . 'The Big Smoke: who'd guess? Only in Georgetown With Bill Ellis mammoth closets. The greatest cigar smoker of all time, the venerable George Burns, would most likely say, "What's the big deal? Doesn't everybody smoke a cigar?" Pat used to tell me that I was out of touch on these trendy things. Maybe so, but I still think it would be disconcerting for a young gallant to land a date with his dream girl, then have her offer to share her humidor of Cuban Cheroots. Surely she would not bite off the end of the cigar and spit it out like some old-time cigar smoker. Most likely a new industry has already been established to manu- facture dainty little cigar clippers, with maybe a grand diamond or ruby setting. Ibet this will be the most popu- lar "cool" gift for your femme fatale this Christmas. I am told that the best cigars are hand rolled in Cuba. Now, just explain to me how all these quality Cuban cigars are getting into the USA, considering all the US embargoes against Cuba. A thought occurs -- maybe the same tractor-trailer drivers that bring the cheap, contraband US liquor into Canada are taking the Cuban cigars back to the States. The economics of transport dic- tates that a rig has to be loaded both ways. Boy, those folks in Cornwall sure know how to make a buck! In the meantime, it is socially acceptable for you to smoke a cigar in public, but don't blame me if you get tossed out of the Georgeview! Bill Ellis is an Associate Broker with Johnson Associates Halton Ltd., Realtor, in Georgetown. J Remembrance Day: what does it mean to you? "To me it's about remembering all the boys "that went - overseas and never came back. I knew quite a few of those boys." Pipe Cpl. Charles Valantine (Ret'd), Lorne Scots, 1937-46 | "It's necessary. If you've never gone through a war then you , can only go through the memories." Sgt. Harry Bottoms (Ret'd), Royal Army (Black Watch), 1939-45 Will ours AsI'm writing this the sun is setting on another Remembrance Day. I fear the sun may be setting on the whole tradition. Are we fumbling the torch passed on to us by our parents? Last Sunday was one of the nic- est parade days I can remember. As the final few notes of the Last Post sounded, the sun broke through the clouds. The flags, the Legion mem- bers, the vets (fewer each year) and the children stood reverently for the familiar ceremony. As we marched off, I noticed that the crowd seemed smaller this year. Is Remembrance Day going to survive the '90s? It's up to us and we're running out of time. If you talk to a veteran about it, their eyes often cloud over and they wonder why people don't seem to care any more. For them, the memo- ries are personal and vivid. Obvi- ously the war has been over for 50 years, buthas the sacrifice our troops made been diminished by the pas- sage of time? I hope not. I can still remember my family telling war tales. Not about the bat- tles, but about the adventure, the loneliness and how difficult life was be the generation to drop the torch? The Way | I See It With Mike O'Leary here. My Mom would tell me how gut-wrenching it was to go through the lists in the newspaper and find one of her friends named. My earli- est recollections are of my parents and teachers stressing the debt of gratitude I owed to everyone who served. Those who gave up their lives were to be remembered for- ever. It was a trust given to my generation. It wasn't an optional thing. . So what happened? How did we get to the point where, with the exception of the vets who have never broken faith with fallen comrades, we can only geta few hundred souls out for Remembrance Day ona dry, relatively warm day? Obviously, part of the problem is with us, the parents. If we don't take the time to teach our kids the impor- tance of those long-ago events, why should Remembrance Day seem important to them? We have to build a bridge to the present. It has to be explained that our victory in Europe has resulted in 50 years of peace and prosperity. Ithink the school boards are fum- bling the torch. All school boards should demand that students in all grades take the time to understand what our troops did for us in far- away battlefields. This is not to say we should be glorifying war. Ex- actly the opposite. The remaining vets,are the consummate experts on the futility of war and its terrible costs. We should be using this re- source to teach our children while we still can. I was furious at the indifference shown by the schools in Halton to the 50th Anniversary of V.E. Day. The children of the Netherlands: show more respect for our glorious dead than the vast majority of Cana- dian kids do. I applaud the six public schools and two Catholic schools who sup- ' ported the Georgetown Legion's Re- membrance Day poster contest. Evidently, one school declined. All schools now have parent councils. Perhaps these councils should be taking a look at next year's partici- pation. Why should any school de- cline? Participation by Acton schools was good -- individual principals and teachers appear to be making the effortto keep Remembrance Day alive. How long will this continue, however, ifthe Boards don't supply the resources and determination to honour our glorious dead? The Ontario school boards showed no hesitation to scare the hell out of several generations of kids by exposing them to the immi- nent destruction of our society through nuclear holocaust. Why won't they teach the positive results of the war? The Halton Board is quoted say- ing they don't endorse poster con- tests, so as to "reduce the impact on classroom time and resources taken up by such contests." Pardon? There is no time to celebrate 50 years of peace? This is no ordinary group asking for the school board's par- ticipation. There's no personal or monetary gain involved for the Legion. The argument that, should the Board endorse the Legion, they would be obligated to participate in numerous contests with other organizations is specious at best, and deceptive at worst. If the trus- tees of the boards can't see the difference between a Remem- brance Day project and other con- tests, perhapsthey should step aside in favour of others who can, and who are not so timid to set priori- ties for our children. The statement that "our students have a wide range of skills and abilities that are not always able to be reflected or appreciated in a contest atmosphere" substantially underestimates the ability of our kids to learn about and appreciate one of the mostmonumental events in our history. Somebody has a lot to learn here -- and it's not just the kids. These people make me want to gag. I hope all the politicians will remember the indifferent attitude shown by the Halton Board to the Legion's effort to keep Remem- brance Day alive in the eyes of our children. Mike O'Leary is a columnist for The Georgetown Gemini.