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B2 The Acton Free Wed Dec So that was centennial Well that was Actons centennial year Its nearly all over It was well over a full year before the auspicious date that a group of keen citizens got together andbegantodrcamupplans Their ideas were big different and fun The spoof of Acton bidding to host the Grey Cup game was may be the best laugh En town during the whole past century Officials laughed too and went along with It Another whopper of an idea was a brewerys western show In the park on July weekend The p r man in charge came to the Free Press and said he thought the site was perfect So the plans grew Committees were set up A history was to be written A reunion arranged What happened No one can add it all up for sure There was complaining Nit picking Problems The committee resigned For our centennial year the town no longer had a council with its own finances for Acton alone So the Rotary had their barbecue and the firefighters their fireworks plus a band and choir concert on the July 1 weekend Many came but were vaguely dls appointed there wasnt more to it than hat The Legion coins are the only generalcirculated souvenirs although a few of the centennial flags still fly The plaque at the library was a gift of the Province not a project of the townspeople Other towns our size such as Bolton had week long celebra tions Jack Carpenters imaginative vision of a terrific celebration with a big dollop of was brought down That was it our centennial year Can you believe your census Once upon a time there was a writer who liked to tell stories Often he would link up the events in a story with some contemporary happening The writer was a doctor named Luke One of his best known stories was about a pregnant girl at the time of the first Census It was a peculiar kind of Census There were no mail in question naires No Census takers knocked on your door was the other way around you knocked on the door of the Census taker If you insisted upon doing that today you would likely scare the government out of Its Census However the Census takers today have sophisticated methods for collecting data and feeding it into computers along with pension cheques and the time tables of high school students The government has more reason than ever to be scared out of its Census Canada has a population of over twenty two million According to the whole thing got started by Asian tribes who migrated across the Bering Strait The way we treat the Indians and Eskimos the descendants of the Asian Tribes we seem to have lost our Bering The world population is about three billion Every month we add another six million Were pretty good at counting people but were beginning to get concerned about how we re going to educate clothe feed and house them provide medical care social security employment and look after their garbage In Bethlehem right in the midst of that first Census a young couple had a baby While the whole country thought the important task was to count people this child came into the world to tell us that people count Rev Wilbur K Howard Moderator The United Church of Canada Jump on that bus Merchants and business people are doing their very best to en courage people to shop at home They proved it by absorbing the total cost of the town bus service which Halton Hills council felt it could not support People who shop in the big plazas meet Acton friends there often But one thing these shoppers can do for their Acton friends who are in business here They can try here first Often merchants say they know of people shopping out of town to bring back the very same article that was available here And at a higher price too Acton store keepers will order things will exchange will repair They make a living here and they deserve first consideration Jump on that bus shop at home But would anyone go Has holding a meeting at Halton Hills council in Acton ever been considered Mayor Anne MacArthur arranged a couple of meetings out fide the town of Milton One in her old territory was very well attended However few local residents came to watch council proceedings when they were held at The Boyne If a meeting were held here theres a good possibility the same number of interested citizens would attend as used to come to former Acton council meetings You need many fingers to count them Of this and that The nurses in charge of the senior citizens health clinic were very disappointed at the turnout in Acton last Thursday Free transportation was offered too Not very encouraging for the Health Unit staff to return Christmas lights are blooming all over town and the district The fact that the hydro commission isnt holding its lighting contest this year hasnt dampened anyones enthusiasm for color and gaiety at Christmas Home is a castleand some gorgeous romantically lit ones we have too these days Our polls have become a popular feature since bearded weekend worker Peter McCusker has taken to the streets with his camera slung around his neck People are getting to know him and are willing to discuss things with him Hell be out even more during his Christmas holidays UNITED CHURCH Sunday School presented their Christmas pageant during the morning service hour Sunday Playing Mary was Wendy HiTfman Joseph Russell Allen inn keeper Gail star holder left Karen Coats angels Kathy Coats Wendy Lynda Dunn Marie Lamarche Debbie Murchison Nancy Patterson shepherds Jimmy Allen Kevin Clow Clifford Dedman Nancy Frank kings Connne Andrews Gary Dunn Jones children of the world at the front Ricky Allen Carmen Ciow Rodney Dunn Wendy Dunn Barbie Mellon Michael Ormsby Linda Sawden Ian readers Robert Allen Andrews Mark Sawden Sugar and Spice by bill smiley In Hie socalled good old days a great many who arc now middleaged men were In the newspaper business That is they had a paper route and made a bit of spending money even In the depression years 1 was closely associated with a paper route myself all hough I t exactly have one My kid brother did I was sort of his business manager or financial adviser Every Saturday night after he made his weekly collections I would inveigle him into the lock the door so nobody could hear and give him some sound business advice I d remind him that he was too fond of candy and pop and other tooth rotting confections that he had no willpower and that only squander his hardearned fifty cents if he didn invest at least part of it every week He didn know much about investments and wanted to put some of his money into a piggy bank I tell him severely that that was no way to make his money grow He should give it to me and watch the interest pile up He d bawl a bit then he come around after a bit of arm twisting and see the point The point was that I was stronger than he was Id always let him keep part of it maybe twenty cents I take the other thirty cents and invest it I invested it In the Saturday night ic a bottle of pop and a chocolate bar It was a wise investment and paid good dividends The many movies I thus enjoyed enriched my experience of the human condition enlarged my vocabulary and added to my personal pleasure in life It took him about two years to catch on two of best years of my life There was of course a confrontation He swore I had conned him out of at least sixty dollars I scoffed at this and told him it was about fourteen But the little devil had been keeping his books Last time I saw him in Germany las spring he Informed me that with compound interest I now owed him and if I come up with It he be interested in taking it out of my hide I am still an inch taller that he but weighs me by forty pounds So we compromised I told him that if he paid all my expenses on my trip I d dig up the money somehow He did And goodness I haven t seen him since All this has been brought to mind by a recent development in the delivery of daily newspapers it is Just another sign our affluent age when even the kids have so much money they don t have to work For years taken two daily newspapers morning and evening They lake opposite political stands and both are so warped that If I take a stand in the middle of their polarized points of view I am right the temperate zone which I prefer At any rate it seems that titans of the press cannot simply can not secure young carrier girls or boys to peddle their papers The monmg paper has simply given up No delivery The evening paper has hired independent agents operating their own vehicles This means guys who drive around in their own cars and hurl the paper out he car window in the general direction of your house ago I fell little tingle of warmth when the door bell rang An the paper I would remark wittily And it was The boy or sometimes girl was faithful and loyal even in the foulest weather I knew the country was going to hell in a hearse but I felt that this was one hummock or decency and vlrlue in the morass of miseries Now I feel a very strong tingle not of warmth but of rage at paper delivery time It Is my custom when I arrive home a hard day on the assembly line at the pupil factory to take off my Jacket and my shoes and take on a cola beer before proceeding to peruse my paper This entire routine has been spoiled to say desecrated by the new delivery method still go through Ihe first parts of the procedure out the beer tastes flat as I stew around waiting for the paper It arrives any time between four and seven That means I have put back on my shoes and gone out in my shirt sleeves in trie winter wind lo search around in the snow for my paper as many as four times This is not conducive to lowering a mm blood pressure At least they thing in a plastic bog But I his Is covered in three minutes when it s snowing which it always seems lo be when I go out to look for my paper To add Insult injury I receive a letter from the circulation department of the big fat rich lousy newspaper telling mc that he price is going up ana that We feel this is a reasonable price to pay for dependable delivery to your driveway six days a week Well let mc just say to the circulation manager that don want the paper delivered to my driveway but to my house My car can read And let me add that the service is not dependable in its present condition And let me further add that if you can do belter lhan that I will shortly tell you what you can do with your newspaper Sideways This is a direct appeal to all parents Please cut off your children allowances so that at least some of them will be available This is a cry from the heart Civilization is sinking Must this last vestige of normalcy go down with Letters welcome Yes your letters are welcome on topics of general interest Please keep them short and be sure to sign your name Pen names are acceptable for publication provided the editor knows the Identity of the writer but they are not recommended NOT A creature was stirring not even a mouse Just a slight click from Wendy Thomsons camera The Free Press Back Issues 20 years ago Taken from an lime of the I- of December it IK4 ling after bog of Christmas mall Is leaving Acton post office this week but flood of cards and parcels whkh swamps the staff the week before the holiday not begun yet Helping the regular staff are Mr and Mrs Cam man Mrs Terry and Mrs John Chapman All experienced they are ready to cope with the overflow of envelope that will deluge office before long The meeting of ihe Acton Junior and Junior Farmer wan held at Ihe home of Don Matthews on Wednesday evening December Wives of member of the V Men club and tho members of the Auxiliary to lie Men re entertained at the regular meeting the Men club on Thursday evening last week A snow safari was made by about a dozen mtn on Saturday who trcketl out Into the bush hunting for a Christmas tree for the town They were recruited by a Chamber of Commerce committee under Ted Tyler Saturday Iwo Junior teams from Acton M A ravelled to lo open their season Both teams lost lo more ex teams there were few faults which game experience will not Iron out A break In at Garner Mo ton late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning via a side window was reported by local police yesterday The thieves or Ihicf took some cash a radio a considerable amount of ammunition and four guns from a case in the garage office 50 years ago Taken from an of Ihe f Pre December in 1024 The growing business and increasing staff of Hank of Montreal under Ihe administration of L the energetic manager has taxed Ihe capacity of the premises at the corner of Mill and Willow streets for months past Contracts hove just been left for the enlargement of The oar al the rear of he block are to be added lo the bank it a length of sixty feet As soon as Corporation Pond had a coaling of Ice last week skating began at the expense of a cold to somi This should have been warning it seems as if ventursomeness is as catching as the measles Bert Gibbons broke through the ice was rescued by McArthur Then Johnle Robertson got a foot In These fine nights bring on more skaters Later Herbert Hughes of Georgetown got in but was hauled out by Campbell Curric Gibbons then broke in managed to get out himself Mac got a dip as well The bazaar in the Parish Hall on Saturday was a good success in spite of the storm The hall was decorated very prettily and the a logo was arranged as a Japanese tea room The contest caused much fun An orange was given with each guess and the prize of a handsome cake went lo Mr Jack Chapman who came very near to tho exact number guessing and it was found the close of the contest that there were nuts In jar 75 years ago Taken from the lime of the Free Press of December 14 IBM The annual Christmas examinations will be held in Acton public school next Wed ncsday afternoon The five departments will be open to the public presence or parents the scholars will be appreciated by teachers and pupils President L Grant of Georgetown met with the superintendents and workers of the various Sunday schools in town in vestry of the Disciple church last evening to complete the programme for the coming Counly Convention on the 1st and 2nd of February Mr A T Brown president and convener of the literary Com mittec entertained the members of the Fpworth League Reading Circle in Mat thews Hall last evening It was a very enjoyable occasion of Norval has sold his farm in to George Leslie for 300 and has purchased a farm in East Chinquacousy for Invitations have been issued for the opening of the new Toronto Western Hospital on the evening of December 15 A meteor of exceptional brilliance crossed the heavens last Wednesday evening and was observed by many residents of this section Work is progressing at the flour mill and very shortly Messrs Humphreys and Hawk will commence operations with a firstclass mill modem in all Its equipments THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office iiauntrmoOMrmMCmM Alton cant Mr iremt m