Joyce Carpenter Dancers share more than limelight Acton Free Press Feature Page by Murray More than talented dancers come the Carpenter Dancers Lifelong friendships and unseen bonds hold students together more than tap dancing numbers or acrobatic feats Joyce Carpenter of Elliabcth Drive has been leaching hundreds of girls in and area for years giving selfishly of her me and energy Many of her children have been with her practically all their lives starting out as preschoolers and de parting the Monday evening classes only when entering college university or the working world As the girls grow older Joyce ex plains they grow closer By the time Ihey ore teenagers the mould has been set for life Over the years they have endured the same problems at trying to learn a particular step travelled the long roads to various engagements shared embarrassing moments and the limelight after the girls discontinue ing lessons many visit Joyce and hus band Jack regularly and some even re fer to them as their second Mom and Dad The Carpenters have attended the weddings of students and enjoy the company former students children However as the girls meet at St ban s for their weekly session it is strictly a student teacher relationship Joyce stresses There has to be that between us where no one can cross she says Joyce has been teaching or years beginning her career in England where she grew up attended strict dance schools and practiced under three dlf fercnl teachers To earn her teaching credentials she had to pass stringent exams something which is not nee in Canada was while on tour a panto mine that she met husband Jack then a well known comedian The couple were married and a few years later moved to Canada The two had lived by the sea their lives and wanted to live by water A subdivision home backing onto Fairy Lake was the only answer They have lived there ever since Joyces true love however is choreo graphy something she was just getting into in England before they moved here In Canada however the only op portunities for this are in the city and she the quiet life of Acton rat her than her dream Through the years her dance school students have not limited their work to St Albun Parish Hall They have made floats for various parades enter at Senior Citizens Homere- and performed in various shows across southern Ontario Every other year the group puts on a spring show with not only local young girls but also guest entertainers In the en tire town became involved in a show with over In the cast from all walks Acton Some2000peonle turned out to sec the show Most of the girls are not put in the school to learn how to dance only They coordination and selfcon fidence and how to work with others Joyce has never refused to teach a child who has no talent As long as they are willing to try she says she will come them If Ihey arc only there be cause their parents want them to learn how to dance in most cases it will not work out for anyone Involved The bonds of friendship developed in her school are not readily given They must be earned on both sides over the years As she watches her students grow she comes to understand what makes them tick and vice versa Joyce is proud of all her students both past and present The fact none of her girls have entered the dance field on a professional basis does not bother her The limelight should be on all of them equally They deserve it she smiles Joyce Carpenter Joint right In with her students The Joyce Carpenter Dancers in ft Q Hundred and Fifth Year No 6 ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY AUGUST SECOND SECTION blind wait Vital radio service may soon cease By Lome Canada first radio reading service for the blind and print nan will go off the air within the next six weeks unless additional sources of support arc found The rejection of application for partial ongoing support by the Ministry of Culture and Recreation two weeks ago could be the fatal blow for the 15month old organization Closure would be a serious blow to our listen says Gordon Norman executive director of the service which operates from a studio In the basement of Woodside Library on Rebecca St in Oakvllle The service provides dally broadcasts of new papers magazines and current books read aloud by nearly 150 volunteers Broadcasts go to 300 handicapped persons in the Golden Horseshoe through special receivers which are distrubuted free of charge to the users Within the broad cast area there arc more than print capped persons For some of our listeners this is the only access they have to the print medlu says Norman citing the case of a couple in Kitchener iolli of whom ere blind who rely on the service almost exclusively for their dally news They would be denied something that we take for granted Norman stressed Another regularc user of the service Jeff Gunn of says I truly devastated at the thought that It could wind up 1 use it nightly and on weekends when I in town I can get news headlines but where can 1 get the editorial com Radio Reading Service initially was operated by the Oakvllle Public Library for tho South Central Regional Library System and was estab lished with special grants from libraries and many corporations foundations and indlv dual donations These grants are now runn ng out and funds for operating expenses are proving difficult to raise The service is currently In process of becoming an Independent charitable organization and is not directly funded libraries Norman feels the provincial ministries are having difficulty fitting the service into existing program structures Although there arc over such operations in the United States funded mainly by federal and state agencies this is the only one in Canada It In no way duplicates the services of the Canadian National Insilution for the Blind says Norman Our request was denied I suppose keeping with the trend to cut back on everything these days he ex plained The buck is being passed Meanwhile many people who depend on the service for access to the printed word are in danger of being denied that access In its proposal to the StetkamngtrGortoaNartnantn4vofauteer they seed money government Radio Service requested percent of its budgeted expenses of for Ihe seven month period from Sept 1 1979 to March 1380 For the 19B0 fiscal year assistance percent of its budget was reqested Denial came as a complete and total shock to us says Norman always had a more than sympathetic view from the govern ment It was probably naive of me but I always felt we wouldn have any difficulty fitting sup port Listeners are now being asked to write Premier William Davis expressing their concern over the possible loss of the service which lies on a closed frequency The signal is sent from the Oakvllle studios via a special Bell line to bascd transmitter Transmission faculties are donated without charge by C1NGFM and the signal can be received from east Toronto to Niagara Falls and into the Kitchener Waterloo area An additional receivers were to be put into operation in 1080 and if unexpected funding becomes available number would be In creased The bulk of the work both on and off the air is accomplished by a group of volunteers some of whom travel from Toronto and Hamilton on a regular basis to per form their duties The station paid staff consists of five persons- two tors a tech nician an assistant and the executive director One staff member is on duty at all times during the broadcast day Programming is sched uled seven days a week with a total of hours of broadcasting per week In addition to asking listeners to voice their concerns Norman and the service s board chairman William Moore have set up a meeting with provincial Liberal leader Stuart Smith and have requested a meeting with Premier Davis We tried not to pro mote a confrontation says Norman The proposal was put forth without fanfare but now eve only got about six weeks left If we don get funding Several Acton people took part In the Simcoe Can Pageant on the long weekend recreating the by John Graves Simcoe the founder of Toronto and the first Lieutenant Gover nor of Upper Canada 1 Peter Arfalc and Cliff Brit ton of Acton took part In the ceremonies held at Soldier a Bay High School teacher Paul Tamblyo and friend portage 3 Rowley former Acton High School teacher loada gear into faU canoe Christine Arblc Acton paddles can Photos by Hansen Newmarket bra Acton enthusiasts in pageant Several Acton people took port in a weekend long canoe trip August 3 to following the original route of the by John Graves was the founder of Toronto and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada The route followed the shoreline from Soldier Bay on the Holland River north on Lake Simcoe to Peseta Bay The original journey lasted 26 days The modern four day version included stops where Simcoe and his companions were met by costumed descendants of the region a first pioneers and today community leaders It the first year the journey has been held and is sponsored by the John Graves Foundation in cooperation with the citizens of Jncoe County Simcoe was portrayed by Charles umber pres ident of the Governor branch of the United Empire Loyalists and a teacher at a Toronto high school Special commemorative ceremonies were staged at Innlsfil Shanty Bay Mldhurst Big Chute and Historic Parks There were four sail rigged canoes and a party of recreating the journey