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The Acton Free Press Wed December Great welcome for Santa A happy community event was the Santa Claus parade which brought out crowds muffled in their warmest clothes on Saturday after noon The weather was perfect for the parade and even though the paving wasnt finished the arrival of Santa was done with a flourish Many participated in the parade and many worked in preparing for it Three churches took part and that was an important part of the parade Many other groups made a special effort in cold weather to contribute to the affair The construction crews werent able to have the road paved but they were certainly able to co operate They did all they could to prepare the road surface for the big event The set up in the was perfect there was plenty of room for parents to take pictures of their own tots and Santa took plenty of tune in talking to the wideeyed chddren There was none of the rush of the big department store Santas where the main goal seems to be to sell pictures Hours of meetings phone calls plans donations and decorating were behind the smoothrunning parade Organizers say sure things went wrong but nothing that the people along the route would see The people along the route saw a great parade and pass along their thanks Meetings open to public Elections are over now until Dec ember A problem is pointed out in The Municipal World a magazine which circulates to elected of An editorial argues that in the elections on December 6 the voters lacking knowledge of the complexities of local government may have voted into office persons who have no greater knowledge than they themselves of the duties required of them There is no particular way which a newlyelected official can obtain a good quick grounding in the work facing him or her Retiring councillor Joe Hurst has passed on his voluminous files to newcomer Peter Marks and this will be a great help to him But some people who will be started new posts in January have seldom even attended meetings of the group they now belong to There is no better way to know what area and regional councils are doing than by attending the public meetings It would seem very reasonable that any people remotely considering running for office two years from now should begin attending meetings now and observing Any persons in a particular problem could do no better than attend committee and council meetings to listen to discus sions on this matter and others There are fewer pat answers to specific problems when people realize all the angles to be con We reporters representing the public are usually the only people at meetings who are not councillors or staff people We get lonesome The highpitched Christmas Jet plane engine noises are pitched so high that they cannot be heard by the human ear Of course there is the familiar jet roar that does get through but most of the sound is beyond our range The community is filled with the sound of Christmas carols Radios TVs street corner speakers churches school rooms and a thousand common dwellings all vibrate with the sound of familiar Christmas songs Part of the carol gets through but part of it is beyond our range The happy melody gets through The power to awaken memory of bygone days gets through The plain homely images of the manger the star the shepherds the wisemen the mother and the lovely sleeping child are reinforced by our singing of the carols Almost any ear can catch these sounds But there is more At a higher frequency that only the heart can hear there is born in upon us the assurance that our world is wrapped in love But this word is high pitched and is entirely lost on those who hear only the obvious No ear may hear His coming But in this world of sin Where meek souls will receive Him still The dear Christ enters in Perhaps this is why at the first Christmas it is said that the carols were sung by a chorus of angels The Christian message is more than a group of people chattering theology or school children singing carols It is the subtle sound of God compassion It is assurance at depth that human life has im mortal meaning and joy is rooted not in colored tissue paper and escapist celebrations but in the pre sence of a hardy holy love to which we can commit ourselves Joy to the World the Lord is come In the occasional moments when any man has the confidence that this is really so it is as if an angel bending o er the earth had touched a harp of gold The higher frequency be comes audible Confidence in God and his yearning over man is the high pitched word that sounds every simple pleasant carol we sing Listen for it now SNOW TRANSFORMS THE township dump now vacant its scars healing The former landfill site looks very Christmassy and picturesque these days the season Next week s Free Press will contain many greetings ads from merchants businessmen and friends We hope you have time to enjoy reading it As Mrs Claus complained to Santa Why don t you save a few of that Ho Ho Ho for home It s overwork time overshop time overeat time overdrink time In all the hustle find for yourself find time to enjoy Save some Ho Ho Ho for yourself A prejudice is a vagrant opinion without visible means of support Ambrose Bierce Many books require no thought from those who read them and for a very simple reason they made no such demand upon those who wrote them Charles Caleb Colton means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people Oscar Wilde No person in the world has more courage than the person who an stop after eating one peanut I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head Theodore Roosevelt OUR READERS WRITE Reader left confused It Hi it he know from llii next whit lit has sitd If reflect govern nun I thin i of govern mini If however thcv ire of Mr eipatitv what we need d lIi of Ministers Is this lie mm win to piper he rifjit li In Hi tin rthtrn forests Intidml wh never happened to that fellow lh we elttltd rim Wellington Hi sums to have Mr Demur should follow his Peine virion It Tin i Press Sir In It iv me Ion 1 riL inline the lilts in our confused ill irks mm mi 111 Dinner Ahi one lea an iinl conclude the Mr My separate Sam I I say a little prayer r I of milk and limit I I for im the fin inn m it lends me all the monev I m to unserve curb the debts I we in see spree His I lw Ik rm sod ikes the ml Mis vestment mi well I rich he nukes tin pileh I r I sell Si imnn s bought Councillor at games I needed S immv Me awful nice he pair m Hi iverfhw I I hi I need ins it s s lo Im si deep in i I d the mortgage He will f lim pes with St irs Stripes 1 In knows In the tin Press This is written for those who in not I nitre for they ibK don know I followed for i full about fi vtars igo md hue frequented the nitre sneml other over Hit pis Istone I it tin referred to for two full My wife and I had a lenfic fight the other night She always reading articles and watching television panels One week it how you can guarantee thai your baby will be a boy or a girl The next lime It how to avoid dying in your sleep by positive dreaming As you can imagine some of these topics don t really send me and she gels quite annoyed when I don I wax sufficiently en thus as tic I try to participate in the monologue by reading her one of my favorite articles something like Is The Real John Turner Just a Shy Humble Little Boy Underneath it Air She just retorts Who cares and goes relentlessly back to her own article which Ihis week was about battered wives The article was entitled Couples That Batter Each Other Matter to Each Other or something equally ridiculous Its gist was that married people who fight even are far happier than those who hold in their resentment and become psycho logically warped as a result For once I made a stand I told her in words to that effect that that was a lot of women magazine soapoperacrap on to cite some of our friends who used to baiter each other regularly and are now happily divorced from each other and re married to batterers For some reason this irked her I don t know whether it was the male chauvinist crack or the fact that some of her friends are happier with a new mate but she started a fight Her article said anything about battered husbands I II draw a veil over the next few minutes Tor those with lender sensibilities who have never been hit by a sneak punch from a woman when they weren t looking Sugar and Spice by bill smiley Anyway when I had picked myself off the floor wiped the blood from my nose and locked myself safely in the bathroom I issued an ultimatum If you ever lay a finger on me again I leaving I m going home lo your father Her reply Go ahead you crumb If you walk out of this house you 11 never get back in It s in my name So the car I clean out our Joint account garnishee your sal hire a lawyer and put you on Skid Row where you belong I ncedn t tell you here that she had recently read some shyster article about how to go about doing just that to your husband I was so mad that I was adamant for quite a while If there been a phone in that bathroom I have called the police for an escort and walked right out of there But there I Ignored her further taunts all of them on a similarly low despicable level and maintained a dignified silence She calls it sulking Fortunately there was a good paperback novel on the back of the toilet and I was soon absorbed She can stand this Bitter invective coarse comments even bad language rolls off her shoulders But she nearly goes out of her skull when there nobody listening to her Do you want tup of v cowardl bum I t make sound for i full minute then grunted What cist I meant a lull apology and ibjeet ad mission of her guilt in instigating the do nny brook And a piece of apple pie she snipped With theddar cheese I gave up How cm you reason with someone like that Well OK But no more battering or I call the cops After a while wt bad cooled out a fair bit and she me in ice for my nose was willing to forget it but underneath I was still simmering and I thoughts of cashing my two bonds the next day skipping off to the Islands and leaving her high and dry But like every woman I vc ever met she wanted to talk things out That one of the most disgusting phrases in the nghsh language Right chaps was finally decided that wed make a list of our worst faults let the have a look at the list Ihen try lo do some thing about it I worked away assiduously for what seemed hours my tongue out of one comer of my mouth My list went some thine like this too forgive wife should he firmir too generous with must be tighter too fond of grandchildren must be sterner ditompliin too much ibout irlhnlis should complain more about hemorrhoids too ready to sec good side of others must be more ilistic Well mv list went on and on on I realize v it a truly guy I is until I started pul it down My wife finishtd quickly and resumed overt affair with her sewing machine lone of the things that arc driving us ipirt inded over my list She started to read it with a benign smile The smile began to down on the corners Her face got red Why little she exploded I didn point out thai she was being redundant I like to you this little miritat i hid a ending thai it wound up in Will it did wind up in a clinch I had her amis so tied up thai Muhammad All have thrown a punch in the same situation So she kneed me you know where When I had stopped grunllng and to my knees I picked up her list of faults which shed thrown in my face as I lay prostrate I hull that she d write some thing like My only fault thai I don ap preciate what a wonderful husband I pen lis ited i Sports Pulse mv s pins for the Georgetown imi knows the lineup for the mis rctogmzt the reisuis fir lie me then not poliln to son play is I i Iii Heel Russell Miller Free the parents I In nph to I tin i Robinsons rem irk in the lomntoSlir Novembers reported in the press to ivt blamed parents who art the products the regimented school system of the late ind fir tin destructive permissiveness adopted by who reflect life styles attitudes of their parmts I tt us lit fair tins In 19CH the Hull Dennis became the of Ihe iducitionsjsttm This impressive Report if one fine pi ml mil all v is for one re ism to free the The instructions pirtnts received from informed them tint they no longer bid to their children with dins is religion politic il It of course we were not them to Due I these pressures parents did of their responsibilities because the educators know what is best thai to stand wire under nfront ilion their This vacuum wis lefi parents with priority to I pay the mil Tcithersvvtre to believe in Thc had lo it without influtnet Hit reform the effective contented txpress their views it their jobs promotions This left the roll of Hit icher in confront cithers like parents have the most import ml 1 in the world We should be constantly of each other if we an to produce a responsible generation tint vvi kn who is in control are the order of tilt day the lime is ripe for Mr Dennis lo write report to the parents Sincerely G Hams The Free Press Back Issues 20 years ago Taken from the of tree Thursday December 13 1B56 The mild weather has ruined the coating of ice underway in the arena causing can collation of Ihe Junior Hockey game for tomorrow evening Friday Town em had ice shaping up well two weeks ago but higher temperatures changed the picture Despite all the changes and increased cost of living In the past years hydro power cost here has only doubled An Item in the years ago column this week reports councillors discussing entering into a contract with the Hydro Electric Power Commission for power for the town At that time Acton was generating Its own Council learned that power could be delivered from Niagara Falls at from 12 to per horse power per annum The cost now exactly years later per horse power per annum rite Christmas meeting of Ihe Acton Women Institute was held at the home of Mrs Main St Mrs George Fryer presided and welcomed the large turnout Miss Bennett as the guest speaker brought a lovely Christmas message based on the motto God gave us memories that we might have roses In December On his way back to Montreal from a business trip to Ihe United States Jack Mainpnze stopped over to spend the week end with his parents Mr and Mrs Harry and Bill 50 years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press December IB Every commencement of the high school has features of special interest the of the year and Iheir parents and friends The one of last Wednesday in the town hall was equal to any of its predecessors Tmslees Hartley Harrison George Mann and Bes wick grdced the platform Miss Marjone Switzcr played the piano Miss Helen recited a negro melody Mr W Campbell and Mr B Shorey made the presentation of field day medals to Dons Campbell Fred Cook Mary Chalmers and Mason Mrs Mew the popular principal of four presented diplomas lo Misses Clara Savage Olive Cooper Hurst Jennie Wiggins Muriel and Messrs Charles Kirkness Neville ind Archie Kerr Neville was the valedictorian and his address was an ex one sword dance by Jack Mc was cleverly done Tht unfair and undesirable condition existing whereby Canada is flooded every with United States magazines is the of Canadians every where Sheriff Webster ofice in Milton Jail was the scene of an interesting wedding when a Presbyterian girl from Scotland married a Catholic Angelo was dressed in in clothes for this important event and not in his prison garb 100 years ago Taken from Ihe Issue of the ree December Municipal matters are still quiet No new are mentioned for years council either in village or neighboring townships Nominations on of next week Hurry up gentlemen and show your The Lion No place like the Lion Blankets verj large stock a pair very cheap Quills great vnnetv Bed comforters cheaper than ever before Sheetings bleached and unbleached Cottons grey and white splendid value I argest stock of flannels In the province Our buffalo robes are famed throughout the whole of Western Ontario steer dark red steer rising three years old the farm of Scott Es quesing Shingle Stave and Heading Mill Best quality shingles P and Sayers Tenders will be received by the Acton School Board for the supply of cords of good dry hardwood two feel long cut from green limber All the wood lo be split and free from rough knotty pieces The teachers of tht Second and Third depart are reengaged for the ensuing year Miss at a salary of and Miss Moore at the latter being an increase of over last year salary THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office at if llow Si Acton i rcu Com IMn top n mm lmtiprww SkckI i hi whirl no ex CUP 4 by nit II b paid lor CM rait Inint arror or cat a wrong may LM Dili PuMUwi Copyright