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Coles Slaw Its unfortunate for but our sins of omission and commission have a way of popping up when you least expect them this fuzzycheeked fallow took some pictures of spring floods and overburdened creeks and then Incorporated them all in a collage on the editorial page Among the shots was one of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority bird holding a fish In its mouth I referred to the bird as woodpecker Monday morning the phone rang Joan fallings public relations officer for the Authority asked politely Since when do woodpeckers eat fish A bell rang tn my head The bird must be a kingfisher with tufted crest on its head Id committed the cardinal no pun intended sin of calling the kingfisher a woodpecker Joan was willing to concede I might have been so dam busy I hadnt been thinking properly But alas it was not so I Just thought the CVCA symbol was a woodpecker and it never occurred to me they eat fish The lessor from this little story is that you should never take anything for granted If there is someone who Is really observant Theyll trip you up every time Joan mentioned Bruce of Acton Is the newest provincial appointee to the Authority and is serving on the Reforestation Land Use and Wildlife committee chaired by Alec of Georgetown with Harold Darraugh of Orangevflle vicechairman Jack Crelghton of Acton is also on the same advisory committee The Authoritys latest land acquisition Is 23 acres of land In Georgetown following Silver Creek where it passes beside St Georges Anglican Church end behind the Georgetown high school The land Is low and unfit for building and quite likely will be leased back to the community for park use Actually it would be excellent parkland because it Is almost In the centre of Georgetown As a young lad this scribbler lived In Georgetown and remembers when Silver Creek was referred to as the Colored Creek because of the dyes from the papermlll which were dumped into the waters holusbolus with no treatment whatsoever One day the creek would be red another day blue sometimes a chalky white another day It would be grey Outside of spring floods I cant really remember if It ever did possess the natural water look I dont ever remember hearing anyone about the pollution then and there was no doubt Silver Creek was polluted Fish were nonexistent unless you went up beyond the paper mill outlet where shiners and chub abounded Now the creek has been cleaned by action of the Authority and could one day be one of shows attitudes change ana pollution can be controlled when the determination is there Youve probably read where Hillsburgh Is planning a Potato In the fall to promote the area where some of the countrys best spuds are grown A committee has been busy arranging details for what is hoped will be an annual event Wonder if they thought of giving Stomptn Tom Connors a call Connors was named the Prince Edward Island Goodwill Ambassador for that provinces centennial this year and has been presented with special citation which credited him with boosting the provinces tourist Industry Connors first big hit was Bud the Spud which Is credited with doing more to promote PEI potatoes than anything to date So if Tom can do that for Spud Island it is quite possible he could tout spuds Just as well A personal appearance would ensure a crowd One of the most worthy causes The Acton Branch of the Canadian Cancer Society is making a concerted drive during April to raise fund for research and assistance to fight There are few families that hove not been touched by the ravages of so the societys appeal has a special message for all people Anyone who has the disease or those who have conquered It can be conquered have good words for the efforts of the Canadian Cancer Society Unfortunately some donors do not ruallzo that a dollar today does not represent the sum it once did Thia mokes It Increasingly difficult for the to raise adequate funds to maintain the research work which Is bo important In the treatment and eventual defeat of cancer The Industries of Acton are contributing towards covering the campaign expenses Now it Is up to the general public to contribute to this most deserving cause Those who have had the comfort and aid from the society can vouch for the important part It plays in the treatment and prevention of the disease When canvassers knock on your door and solicit your support be as generous as you can The day may come when cancer is a dread name out of the past and it will be those who hav assisted In the fight that can claim the credit Editorial Page The free Wcdnoidny March Hydro line ball in publics court In the event the committee does manage to snare Tom or someone of his ilk I have composed a little ditty which can be sung to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel Now Im no Vic Smith so If Pop Goes the Weasel doesnt scan properly try the Minstrel Boy Tune Here goes On farms Youll find the marms Are always cookin Haters Pound for pound The best around They are appetizing baiters Fry em boil em bake em Eat em any way you want Them spuds Will swell out your duds And youll label them first raters You may have noticed Hollander is finding the road to riches immeasurably easier since all the recent publicity regarding bo- proposed visit to the campus of Sheridan College The unfortunate part of It is that she la using those opposed to her visit to spread her notoriety and this particular scribbler is not going to add to It has been my that those who sponsor this type of entertainment under the guise of edu use it to sneer at the squares the interests of levity and their own Spring on the farm WHEN SPRING DESCENDS on the farm the animals rejoice Patrick Barr centre photo demonstrates that even a steer becomes friendly in the radiance of a spring sun a thought shared by a Jersey bull calf top left and Anna Belle the Barrs donkey top right Below a swan two grizzled sheep and a barn cat all bask in the suns rays Photos were taken by Jennifer Barr at the farm of Kir and Mrs Eric Johnston 2 with the exception of Anna Belle who temporarily graces the corral at the farm of Mary Hatch RR 5 When ihc Coalition of Concerned Citizens first started campaigning for active public partici pation in decisions relating to the proposed hydro transmission line from to Pickering few would have given them much chance of success Most people likely ticked them off as another special Interest group with a political axe to grind It is to the credit of the Ontario Government that they listened recog nized the need for the people of the province to have a voice In public matters which would have a direct bearing on their lives The Government appointed a one man commission under Dr Ormond Solandt to investigate the concern over the route Ontario Hydro proposed It originally would have gone through some of the most scenic and arable land in the province passing through Erin Eramosa and townships in a series of five abreast towers Following a series of meetings and submissions by citizens and environmental protection groups the Commission decided further study of the route was needed Bruce Hewlett Inc an Independent consultant firm was hired to conduct an environmental study before any route was decided for the foot wide corridor This study Is not confined to examining the routes originally proposed by Hydro It takes in the entire 3500 square mile region where the lines could possibly run Information on environmental features has been collected and a series of public meetings is to be held to examine the information and enable citizens to take part In planning a route which will be least harmful and more harmonious with public opinion This type of participation must gall some of the oldtype politicians and civil servants who are used to bull dozing their way through public opinion with swaths of backhands They likely never will understand the new politics It was obvious last week however that Ontario Hydro got the message At a public meeting In they actively sought opinions and seemed eager to run the power corridor from the Bruce Generating Station on Lake Huron to this area in a manner which would be the least damaging to the environment preserving that part of Ontarios heritage which can never be replaced They got a few lumps from the crowd but it was patently obvious that most people In attendance found Ontario Hydros new posture convincing perhaps even slightly patronizing But it was welcome Hydro has said that the route of the power corridor will eventually be their decision and not that of public opinion but they will use all the pertinent J information they can accumulate to ensure the best route is selected Forearmed with the knowledge that increasing demand for power has made oil these power corridors necessary It seems to us Ontario Hydro is doing more than is necessary to invite public participation in the decision The ball is now in the publics court What is there to celebrate Why man its Spring Not only by the calendar which happens every year but by the signs which happen about once a decade The cat wants out And Ive lost my gout The snow is gone I can see my lawn want to sing It must be spring The subject is too serious to be bandied about by toe crowd so the Happy Hooker be darned and pot on their house There A Canadian who does not celebrate the actual as well as official arrival of the vernal equinox should be run out of the country as a baseborn traitor Each time winter comes around which it seems to do about four months I think we ail have a little secret dread that this time it might never end that winter will go on and on and on until we have shrivelled Into arthritic gnomelike creatures with permanently dripping noses and a perpetual cough Maybe Id feel differently if I were a fanner but I could have kissed that first craw I saw drifting over the drifts In February That muchmaligned creature the crow is to Canadian winterhaters what the warm breath of a maiden is to a juvenile Just before his first kiss This year the whole dream seems real so crack open that crock of vintage stuff do a little softshoe shuffle and go out and kiss the mud in your back yard It may be the last time you can celebrate such a miracle for the next fifteen Marches Thats the celebration part Now for some condemnation With the disap pearance of the snow we can see what Nature so gracefully covered for a few months all the filth that man has been sweeping under the white carpet Its a paradise rags bones and bottles A few companies who appear to have some semblance of are announcing plans for recycling of cans and bottles but the great majority of canners and bottlers are rolling right ahead with their apparent project of covering Canada to a depth of one foot from coast to coast with empty cans and nonreturnable bottles Congratulations are due to those who are making an effort and the utmost contempt must be awarded to those who show their contempt for everything except the bucks by defecating their cans and bottles In our living room Canada Strange Isnt It how respond Let a little guy burn some leaves in his back yard and the law Is right on his back Hes broken the bylaw hes a rotten polluter hes a disgrace to the community and he shall be punished promptly and ruthlessly But when It comes to taking on a big guy a vast corporation government stands by deploring and wringing its hands and oc casionally administering a slap on the wrist with a velvet glove In the form of a tiny fine that makes the companys direc tors roar with laughter before they go happily back to pouring their poisons into the environment In the matter of bottles government could show a lead that would not imperil a single politician which seems to be the Canadian Dream It could Insist that liquor and wine bottles be returned for use over and over again Im sure the distillers and vintners wouldnt quarrel with such a practice as long as it didnt cost them In fact theyd be ahead Some of those fancy bottles must cost as much as it does to produce the poison that goes into them Thats my condemnation bit for this week Now some observations on these peculiar days in which we live A couple of bigleague American base ball pitchers decided according to the news to swap not only wives but families Then one of them tried to back out The other was indignant I thought he was my buddy he wailed Wifeswapping particularly In suburbia is no new phenonmenon These chaps merely extended the custom Its one that has never appealed much to me There have been occasions and I know its mutual when I would have swapped my wife for a secondhand pair of hip waders But for another woman Weil I look around at the wives of all my men friends Theyre lovely girls the wives every one of them However Im one of those old- fashioned chaps who can see little ad vantage to deserting the fryingpan for the fire And you know what Ill bet my wife wont understand that as a compliment GERTRUDE ar trogp What is sauce for the goose Further to the Governments concern for the environment which was buttressed by the Speech from the Throne it is unfortunate the same philosophy is not practised In imple menting regional government Although we have been rebuked for our concern over many of the regional decisions it is obvious many people In the province have similar views The results of two recent provincial by- elections should be food for thought for Mr Davis and his Cabinet In Hal ton for instance the Government has decided the county pie should be divvied into four slices while neighboring Peel despite loud outcries from Streetsville was cut up into three sections Although we have made every effort to see where differs from Peel the evidence is lacking that could show why Milton should be the centre of a central Halton region any more than Streetsville in PeeL There is a wide community of interest for Streetsville as well as Mdton The province ob viously Is discriminating when it can give with one hand and take away identity with the other We have yet to meet anyone who could explain this to our satisfaction If there are some hidden motives behind the divisions it is time the public was aware of them but we suspect what is sauce for the goose is not necessarily so for the gander in this case Back Issues of The Free Press TOOK I 20 years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press of Thursday April Bennett head of Beardmore and Co was elected president of the Royal Winter Fair for Its silver jubilee year When a brooder house at the farm of Walter 1 burned to the ground Monday night chicks were lost In the blaze Contract for the Junior swimming pool for the park was awarded for to Jones and Van Gils Jack Greer has been named to head Acton Men with secretary Jack treasurer Jones and J William Mainprize observed his 96th quietly at home Tanning and glove making were the only industries In town when he came her years ago from Brace bridge Joe Hurst reports the European Flood Relief fund closed with total contribution A crowd of attended a band concert for flood relief in the theatre Sunday evening Bob announced numbers including Joseph who played the and Garnet Rose cowboy numbers Sheila Paul violin Frances and Peggy duets Freddy who played the guitar and sang Crawford Douglas was accompanist gold stars for the months were won by Jim Lindsay and Grace Clow Perfect attendance has been attained by two girls Edith and Sheila Paul Acton Jersey Dairy has commenced pasteurizing Its new building on highway years ago Taken from the issue the Free Press of Thursday March Robert J was appointed Municipal Officer and Chief of Police with salary toed at per month The also appointed Mr McPherson as special officer to enforce the Ontario Temperance Act There were applications for the position Mr McPherson Is a son of the community He has been for years a member of the Board of Education and a prominent member of the Fire Brigade He is a propertyowner and the father of a family and is therefore naturally interested in maintaining the moral status of the community and the preservation of the public peace Mr Lindsay is about to machinery for a flour mill of 100 barrels capacity in the premises where be has operated a chopping mill for several years On Saturday the twoyearold babe of Mr and Mrs Nelson Lambert fell down the stairs fracturing the arm The little one is running about with the fracture safely bound up and making very little fuss over the injury Rev and Mrs Hackett and Mrs H P THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office Moore took to Toronto Mildred and Evelyn Watson the orphaned daughters of the late John Watson and Installed them in the School a famous school and home for Utile girls They will receive loving care and attention and be taught deportment domestic accomplishments and with the common sense discipline to valuable to growing children years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press No visitor would have imagined that a keen contest for the chair of Chief Magistrate of this municipality was in progress Saturday so quiet orderly and goodnatured It was The result was that ex- reeve J Pearson was elected reeve by a majority of out a total vote of 272 Ex- councillor Denny was not snowed under by any means as some predicted he would be A lecture was given in town hall Introducing a spray method to fruit The singing school at Evertou has dosed after meeting weekly for three months Millinery opening Is one day of the early spring that the ladies like to sec bright and pleasant However what yesterdays weather lacked in brightness and was amply mid up to the beautiful creations of the skilful fingers of the milliners At Henderson and Campbell of presided Jordan is again in charge at J This season both hats and booneta a profusion of flowers Blue arcana and reds are all color feathers are hardly seen at count Kkndute must enter and you will rind the fa color The boys nan thww recti by the game lain Eggs are a trifle on toe Easter price