Ninety Fifth Year No ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY MARCH 18 SECOND Nearby jaunts Visit country to view tranquil living COMMON SIGHT in the farm Ontario Perth and Waterloo countiesOld Order riding to church in their topless buggies while the world speeds by all around them The Canadian province has more than GOO inhabitants its first settlers emigrating from Pennsylvania id covered wagons 180 years ago Photo by Ontario of Tourism and Information Kitchener marked are advised to be there early on a Saturday morning to shows Staff Photo some Shakespeare in Canada Stratford What better way to redeem a little sweetness from a sometime souring world Summer visitors come droves primarily to sec Shakespeare in Canada other Stratford and to shop in Kitchener famous market But by exploring further they can be whisked into an era even sentimental oldsters have In Ins unique pucket of the Canadian countryside somberly attired men in broad black hats some with Old Testament beards shun convention ways and try to live is did their ancestors years ago Their women wear coal scuttle bonnets and plain ankle length dresses The children arc exact replicas And bundled shawls ride in topless buggies while the world speeds by all around them These people basically Swiss German and German Dutch in background comprise a large segment of Ontario more llian Memmomtcs its earliest settlers emigrating from Pennsylvania in covered wagons 180 years ago There are 17 separate groups among the province Mennonites 12 different avoid pitting as this picture brandies in Waterloo County alone And while most of the With Spring only a few days on the cilendjr it people from the district drives through the countryside ire many within a few miles of Alton and district tourists from thousands of mites For inst hill how about drive through the farming communities of Waterloo and Perth counties into the lie of the district with a side trip to the Kitchener marketed perhaps to absorb county 14 members longer conform entirely to the strict doctrines of their faith the peace loving Amis pronounced and conservative Old Order continue to spurn everything modern If they buy firms with well appointed houses they tear out electric wiring and bathroom fixtures remove oil Turn ices and telephones Tliey won own a idio or a TV set They don go to movies will turn their backs on a camera They won t even own a tractor because for the only mode of transportation is the horse and buggy Though they pay taxes they refuse old age pensions family allowances They won vote federal or provincial elections They have conscientious scruples against particip in military service or violence of any kind Instead they go all out money for world wuc All they isk is to be left alone and find everlasting security in their faith their fi mi lies and their prosperous farms The best ireas in which to sec these simple folk at their daily tasks are at and St Mary east and west of Stntford respectively north and west of the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo it where a major maple syrup is staged every spring Kitchener is just miles west of Acton while Stratford farther west is Both are within easy driving distance An ideal summer weekend outing is to visit Kitchener and its renowned Mennonite market on the Saturday morning tour the firm communities north of there then head for Stratford just miles distant for an evening performance in he Stniford Festival The Kitchener market tour is a must The tantalizing aromas that fill the air come from the kitchens of the Mennonites Succulent meats luscious apple butter pickled cornon and many other CiiAitefe tliisSarket is to Kitchener Nlaqamlali Canada German Dutch delicacies are among foods you can buy at this well itronized market German is so freely spoken here that vendors thank you with a danke and bid you Another trip highlight is to visit an Old Order Mennonite meeting church house on the Sundiy where all parishioners arrive by horse and buggy There is even a buggy factory in the district moderates who dress similarly and worship in the same type of meeting house iditionally of wood and painted white permit the use of cars but encourage their adherents to choose somber colors and paint the chrome trim bl ick to dcemph isize evidence of luxury ornamentation and pride Just how long the Mennonites can hold out the prevailing pressures of culture is anybody guess Ironically he unpretentious clothing they weir is of their continuing quest for obscurity but now this is making them more and more the subject of attention in an society For the time being however their community still is one part of the world th it truly takes you back and worthy of a visit if only for the sake of nostalgia Nielsens Clothing YOUR EASTER LADIES crpknh PANT SUITS 2500 LADIES BABY POLL PYJAMAS HUM FABULOUS I REG OUR MfNS DEMRTMENn TAILOR MADE PANTS 1998 Nielsens Clothing Mill St E Acton 8532280 TANTALIZING aromas fill the air at the Kitchener market where bearded rub shoulders with gay people from the towns and cities to buy market staples and delicacies of the area German is freely spoken here and sometimes the vendors thank you IMWMWraWWOTWWWTOWWWiS FREE AUTOMATIC CAR WASH WITH ANY FILLUP OF SHELL GAS AT Hibibe Investment Ltd CORNER OF Churchill and Queen St E Acton Drive in now say fill er up with a or bid you These gentlemen are typical of those who make the market unique Staff Photo agrees verbally to Hornby Park pavilion council lias verbally agreed to provide for the construction of a pavilion in Hornby Park but put off passing a resolution authorizing the expenditure until a written agreement is received for the spending of a simitar amount from the town of Hornby park is owned jointly by Esquesing and Oak lie share in the cost of the building is to be taken out of the township capital reserve fund The remaining 56 for the building is expected to be provided through a government grant However Reeve George reminded councillors at Monday night regular meeting that the purchase of the land for the park was government subsidized in the first place Can you get a second subsidy he wondered The square foot pavilion will house washrooms and dressing rooms One side of the building be open and contain picnic tables I S HOLDEN Coct SI