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Queens Park should make good Its the only swimming pool in town so far Bill SMILEY What a in name Quite a bit if you re going to be stuck with it for the rest of your When the young people were trying to think of a name for my new grandson I started pondering on this whole business of Christian monikers Naming of children seems to go In cycles And the names In one generation seem cither ugly or affected to the people or the next generation There was a lime when girls were quite happy to be called Peorl or Ruby Mabel or Myrtle or Elsie If girl were given a name like that today a run away from home at the age of five The same period produced boys names like Elmer Horace Marvin not to mention those two great poets one Greek one Latin Homer and Virgil That was known as the bad period to be tagged Before that was the romantic period In my mothers the boys were dubbed things like Drayton Emerson I Kan On my wife side her mother was Sophia and her mother sisters were Charlotte and Esther Those ladies wound up as Sophie Lottie and but the damage was done My wife mother named her Ivy her sister Iris but they dldn turn out to be a couple clinging vines My wife hates her name bo I call her Suse which seems to suit her My own mother was on the ebbtide of the romantic period but did name her daughters Florence and Norma They wound up Floss and The Brat so It wasn t too bad With the boys names my ma too bad but my brothers arc Byron Not loo awful really but my brothers emerged as Blake and Ihavobecn called Billy Bill Willie and Will among otherthings but known as William except in legal documents I was the lucky one I grew up in an age of Jacks and Bobs and Bills and Joes and Toms A Gordon was suspect and a Homer was hooted out of the gang unless he could find a nickname like Stink or Piggy or or some such affectionate nomenclature In my croup there was a Harold an Arnold and a Clayton They were tolerated because they became Coon and Pappy Warren After generation a new wave of snobbery set in as women started calling their kids after heroes in the Ladies Home Journal British novels There sprouted a whole crop of Peters Stevens and Michaels and Jeffreys Christophers and Marks and Matthews and Nicholases and Davids Inns There a George or a John in the lot And the girls got it too There were and Natalies and and I ises and Pamelas and Eliza Janes and and Deborahs My God were there Deborahs I have five of them this year in a class with twelve girls in it Oh I not blaming the parents nil that much It no joke choosing name Wo were going to call our firstborn Judy because it was to be a girl It didn t have the right plumbing so we named it Hugh after r Hugh Smiley in Ireland And do you know the old skinflint didn I even pul our boy in his will Second time around The kid was to be Kim which would suit either sex We thought it was different The only Kim around was Kim Novik A dozen years laltr there was a Kim on every street corner Well like all grandparents not wanting to interfere just trying to be helpful we tried to ram name down my daughter throat for her infant But most of the good ones were gone In her own family connection there arc a Peter and Paul a Dividend a a Steven and a Patrick a Matthew and a Darcy All the good ones were gob bled up suggested Geoffrey and Mark and Michael and others at each shed soy that reminds me of The kid was week old I was getting desperate 1 asked my students to help me They really tried They came up with Charley and Cool hand uke and Jim and Oscar Big help Well I know the suspense is killing you so 1 11 tell They named the poor little kid Nieove Chen pronounced Knoecove is in a novel Chen pronounced Shen means in Chinese first born Her mother s face fall more than a foot Mv blood pressure went up only points However he said it s kinda when you get used to it Russian Chinese his last name is Sieber which is German A real conglomerate Back Issues of The Free Press 20 years ago Drainage of existing or existing cellars in Warren will create a problem for residents there unless council warned depth guides pro vided by foundation footings made during discussion on sewer conduit installations scheduled for the subdivision next spring A local man appeared on popular television show Tabloid Micro Plastics Ltd staff appeared on the show as ehair man of the international convention of the Society of Plastic Engineers county road committee was empowered to investigate the of employing for tlton an engineer on a full time bis is which would preclude his taking on any outside work At Knox Evening Auxiliary meeting a twopart play was given by Mrs Main as the mother and Mrs Arm strong as her daughter showing the right and wrong way to treat New Canadians Mrs Robert is now and Mrs Peter Smith Official guests at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey spent their seven hour sit on some stools made especially for the occasion Recently L Wright who with Mrs Wright was In England for the Coronation June received one of these handsome stools which were made available in limited quantities for purchase throughout the Commonwealth The chair is now on McCutcheon window Past President Amos Mason sent a box oranges from Florida to the Rotary Club members Constable has been detailed for duty at the opening of the Legislature 50 years ago Tilt report of J M School Inspector presented at thi meeting of Council was review of tenth of his inspectorate in rural schools in was last salary in the in schools had risen from to 1 Hi said It has become to me that the efficiency of our schools is not necessarily to be found in the of information in the courses not facility with which the practical work these subjects accomplished The highest success is found rather in the degree which the boys and girls are imbued with the of honor truth morality trailed in of in dustry application and clear think It is these ideals and habits which make for good citizenship and that is the objective of all our teaching Last Thursday ended the fenngs of William one of our oldest residents There much sunshine on Can Day for the bear to see his shadow The rural mail have had another week of bod roads and tedious experiences The Clyde restaurant operated Messrs Mills has been opened on Mill St in the premises lately occupied by M Brown as a clothing store Knox church voted in favor of a new vote on Church Union It is stated that those in favor of union refrained from voting A heating system which is quite satis factory has been installed in St John church Rock wood The patrol gang opened up the new highway from corners to 75 years ago Willi whose face has been fum liar on Acton for more than is been withered to his fathers He us of and his parents from Though not of belonged tocol ronkcll reg ment in the Mackenzie rebellion Jnd in later recalled many of the occurrences in those stirring mis Ih father nut his lib is a result of exposure in that struggle He was one of the farmers who wis compelled by the enemy to drive with his team to one of the prisoners who was afterwards executed Mr came to Acton in 1W7 He was always in in progress and was repeatedly returned as a number of the Municipal Council elected one year Street on salary to manifest fear of defeat if outs their own rink the Milton Hockey Team backed out of the match to be played at George town last Thursday evening with Acton At Berlin on Saturday the Inter mediates and Acton played an exciting game They scored goals their strong defense keeping Acton down to Our team was goal point Jago cover forwards Ryder Mcintosh 1- McDonald res were Ed Berlin and George Lawbon D Graham was reengaged as municipal officer at a salary of his duties being Assessor Collector Sanitary Inspector Caretaker town hall public school cemetery public park making monthly collections cutting weeds repairing and building sidewalks Village Constable Pound Keeper Truant Officer ind whatever other duties that may be required The dilemma in Hills over where money is to come from until the municipality Is able to collect interim taxes will likely be resolved by borrowing from the bank a retrogression into years when councils did not have the financial acumen to perceive the savings resulting from the early collection of taxes Councillors are aware the assessment department has been bogged down with appeals on title transfers so the tax roll could not be finished However they felt Queens Park would come through with grants Before regional government was introduced promises of aid from Queens Park were profuse and had a ring of imminence about them that convinced negotiators it was genuine We have no doubt they were made with the conviction the money would be available when needed but a letter from the Hon John White last week was not very definite about the date grants would be available Councillors thought he evaded the question rherc was also no more said about transitional grants which wire hinted at rather strongly when negotiations between the province and councils of North were in a vital stage It may suit the Government to forget about these promises now but municipal politicians have long memories At this stage of the game the town of Halton Hills is dependent on revenue left after expenses that had no designated tag from the former town of Georgetown When thai runs out the treasurer Lloyd Peterson says the town will likely an overdraft at the bank It could be substantial unless the province decides it is time they got off their collective and made good on some of the promises so freely given before regional government was plcmentcd Meanwhile local taxpayers will pay the difference an occurrence we suspect may become more as time goes on Editorial Pag B2 The Acton Free Press Wed Feb Trainmen in a trance No one should be really prised Canadian National is ap plying to take the two commuter trains servicing passengers from to Toronto out of service railway has been trying to reduce passenger service lor years in favor of the more lucrative freight business The latest move is just another an outdated policy which makes less sense than ever during the energy crisis when governments are urging people to take public transport rather than use their cars Why doesn the federal government step in and clean out some of the duddtes who operate the railways under rules that would have been considered obscure in the 19th century As you recall a federal mediator just ruled the railroads were trying to make their employees subsidize them by refusing to grant idequate pay for work which used to be considered attractive and broadening It is mean things such as this which have contributed in great degree to the deterioration of rail service in this country In the case of taking the two eommuter trains out of service in favor of them using the soon to come GO trains from Georgetown to Toronto the railroad has no consideration whatsoever for those who commute from and Acton It is a policy of non service that infuriates the public especially from the CN which boasts so mightily about a national railway Wellington M Hales put the matter when said It seems an asinine idea to me to terminate the GO train at George own Why stop at Georgetown when the equipment is in operation the staff aboard the tracks are there and all other railway laeilities available Mr Hales also took a crack at a proposed bus service which would link with the train at Georgetown Stupid he said Who s going to get on a bus for miles and then have to transfer to the train It would be a different matter if the tracks were not already there You 11 recall when the CN closed down the Acton station and managed to fob that off as con to the efficiency of the railroad little mention was made A nod at womens lib Not to be outshone by the ap of a woman to be Lieutenant Governor of Ontario members of Acton Chamber of Commerce also nodded in the direction of a lib by electing not one but two women to head the organization this year The election of Betty Eastwood to the chair was more good sense than genuflecting towards the women libbers She has been an active and enthusiastic member of the Chamber for several years and a sparkplug for increased par in community affairs Her enthusiasm has rubbed off and given the Chamber a more m approach in dealings with problems Assisting Mrs Eastwood as secretary is Staley the second woman to join the executive in a key role They II be joined by three from the male side of the ledger which should lend the Chamber a balanced approach to the projects and problems which face them during the year Our Readers Write Someone cared someone didnt about Ihe inconvenience it was going to cause travellers and commuters The transport hearing concluded the railway had to keep the station partly open to provide accommodation to catch the two trams which still stopped in Acton It was part and parcel of the old eat and mouse game Given the wedge it wasn t long until they had the removed and a cold glassed in phone booth erected in the station stead Now if they cut off the two icmaining trains they can sell the glass kiosks from and Acton to the phone company because they will be of no further use here It is the taxpayers of the country who are subsidizing the railway under their unique system of always declaring losses but it seems the men at the top are concerned only with supplying the cities of the country with adequate service The romance of railroading has been replaced by the trance of the trainmen in an era when we need wise heads charge of It is fitting at this time to congratulate the officers and members of the last year s executive who participated in a fruitful round of activities Not all were successful but most followed the Chamber motto of building the community Now Acton is incorporated in flic new town of Halton Hills it would have been easy for Chamber boosters to throw up their hands and bcabsorbed by a larger unit It speaks well for them that they should decide to continue keeping the community as the focus of their work and prepared to broaden their horizons by making contacts with their sister Chambers in George town and neighboring Milton Dear Mr Someone cared but by the m someone t big black cat a family pet no doubt being carefully lifted up into the arms of a truck driver and placed off the road How I and thoughtful of him how utterly thoughtless of the driver of the other the cat was not killed by the Impact and another car could have come along and run over it again As one of the general public my praise goes to an unknown truck driver for being so thoughtful about this incident If he was so considerate about a stunned animal you can rest assured he would be the first to render help to a human being I hope you have space for this in your paper especially after reading about a dog being hit near Balhnafad while being walked by its owners Some people do care thank God A Pel Owner tea your letters to the editor are wilcomeontopicalsubects Please be sure to sign your own name and address to permit us to confirm by telephone A pen name is permissible but it reduces the effectiveness of your message We don recommend it rhe Free Press reserves the right to reject letter it considers libellous or slanderous to shorten lengthy letters