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The Acton Free Press Wednesday Nov 28 Don McDonald Publisher Founded in Wahud every by In jnd Co 17J Telephone 863 SuL pet Canada an im tod Street Ac Ion each The Acton coo P the Inland Publishing Co Limited group of which include The myPickering Newt Advertiser The Brampton Guardian Tha Burlington Poet Gazette The Georgetown Independent The Iron Canadian Champion The Mrawsauga New The Era Oakville Week 0hawa Weekend bono Advertising a accepted on tha Hon thai In the oven error thai portion of tha space occupied by the item together with reasonable allowance f not tut charged for but balance of the advertisement wiB be pai for it the applicable rate In event of a typographical error advertising good or eorwca at a wrong price goods or services may not bo sold Advertising merely en of for Second clan Registration EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor Harney Cotes MMrt Editor Helen Murray EruBstone Sports Editor- Rob ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT CtKaHhd Maryfcn BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Office Manager- Fran Thornhill Shirley Carolyn CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Manager MaryKn TELEPHONE Business and Editorial Action needed Merchants in Acton s downtown have had it up to here with loiterers Not the people who stand and talk along the shopping area or wait for buses or do business downtown The problem is with hoodlums who smash windows curse and swear throw debris over the streets and generally make the downtown a place to avoid Business people have a right to be protected from those who de face and mutilate their property block customers from entering their place of business or keep the public from patronizing the downtown Police have been hampered in the past by a loitering by law which has no teeth They haul offenders to court The judge often treats the matter lightly and throws cases out Naturally of become discouraged So Halton Hills council general committee recommended Monday that council adopt a new loitering bylaw which has been successful in other municipalities in prosecuting those who just want to be obnoxious to business There is a provision for fines ranging from to in the by law A few of those tacked onto some of the rowdy element would soon clean up the downtown If it then harsher measures should be considered There no reason why a few people should be allowed to bully merchants and make downtown streets inhospitable rather than a pleasant place to shop Lets have some action The problem has been around too long February holiday What have a February holiday and the restoration of Acton s old town hall got in common Ask Pierre He knows Berton is chairman of the board of Heritage Canada which has launched an allout campaign to make Heritage Day the third Monday in February a national holiday Few Canadians Berton says woujd quarrel with the idea of a midwinter holiday to help battle the February blahs But why a heritage day and why would a national foundation entrusted with the building of a built up heritage be asking for a holiday Berton says preservation is the wave of the future and is also a labor intensive industry He says we are seeing the bankruptcy of a philosophy which held that once a building was written down on the company books after a brief life of 30 years it could be dispensed with and replaced by another We can afford that any longer nor waste the energy and man power it involves It simply make sense to destroy a building any building church warehouse bank railway station hall or private home that is still struc turally sound All over the country such buildings are being preserved The past lives on giving our com mumties an histoncal texture a feeling of continuity and as a bonus provides new jobs for thousands of workmen But why a holiday A holiday makes people sit up and take notice It provides a criance for celebration in this case the celebration of our history Berton notes buildings are living history lessons They tell us something about our roots They remind us of who we are Thats why Heritage Canada wants a holiday in February to say nothing of the therapeutic effects of some relief from mono tonous winter Surely we can take one day out of the year to drive a history lesson home In Acton we could take that day to celebrate the saving of the old town hall That s what a February holiday and the old town hall have in common Why high beef prices Annoyed at the price you pay for beef According to the federal minister of Agriculture John Wise prices are hih because cattle are in short supply and con have a preference for beef over other sources of protein But just where does the beef The meat packer purchases at auction a 1 pound live steer for 71 cents per pound or After slaughter the head hide and offal are removed and are sold as by products for about per animal The carcass is aged and the shrinkage from this process reduces the carcass weight to about 576 pounds The packer then sells the carcass to a retailer for per pound or 76 The sale of the byproducts and the carcass must cover the packer s cost of slaughtering chilling aging and delivery to the retailer The retailer converts the carcass into the familiar retail cuts of hamburger steaks roasts etc About pounds of the carcass is saleable meat The other pounds are bone and fat which are sold for about to a Tenderer When you divide the the retailer pays by the number of pounds of saleable cuts you find that this cost is 1 70 per pound The retailer must set his prices at the supermarket to cover his expenses which include labor refrigeration and packaging costs There may be as many as 20 to different retail beef cuts The average retail price for all cuts works out to about 2 35 per pound It is important to keep in mind that beef prices will vary cording to the supply of slaughter cattle and the consumer demand Thanks to all Its over for another year for organizers of the Santa Claus parade The Acton Men club have once again brought the first of the Christmas spirit to town with the financial help of some of the in town Its a lot of hard work to put on an event such as were showered with Saturday and even more last minute worries and hassles However when all is done the public is entertained in a way in which a small town has a monopoly Everyone knows everyone in a parade such as that if they t in it themselves Hopefully the s Men will cont organizing the annual event They have done a fantastic job in the past and will only gain from past experiences for future parades Thanks Men We hope you care enough next year too HJM ft LITTLE OH Trie THIS gin IN A Were turning into sobs says Smiley There has been a tremendous change in the mores of Canada in the past three decades This brilliant though came to as I drove home from work today and saw a sign in a typical Canadian small town and Tavern Now this dldn t exactly knock me out alarm mc or me In any way I am a part of all that is in this counlry at this time Bui it did give me a tiny twinge Hence my opening remarks I am no Carrie Nation who stormed into saloons with her lady friends armed with hatchets and smashed open what a waste the barrels of beer and kegs of whiskey I am no Joan of Arc I don revile blas phemers or hear voices 1 am no Pope John Paul II I am not a Joe Clark who rushes up to a barricade prepared to jump for some votes then decides to go back to the starling line and send in Robert an older athlete to attempt what he knew he do And the he is Joe I am merely an observer of the human scene in a country that used to be one thing and has become another But that I mean I don have opinions have nothing but scorn lor the modern ob jective journalists who tell it as it Is They are hyenas and jackals who fatten on the leavings of the lions of our society for Ihe most pari I admire a few columnists Richard of the Toronto Globe Allan Folhcringham of Macleans not because they are great writers but because they hew the wood for which this country is famous and let the chips fall where they may That the way it should be Lei gel back on topic as I tell my students The Canadian society has roughened and coarsened to an astern degree in the last years Firs the and Tavern As a kid working on the boats on the Upper Lakes I was excited and a little scared when I saw that sign in American ports Detroit Chicago I cam from the genteel poverty of Ontario in the s and I was slightly ap palled and deeply attracted by these signs the very thought that drink could be publicly advertised Like any normal curious kid I went into a couple ordered a twobit whiskey and found nobody eating steaks but a great many people getting drunk on the same Not the steaks In those days in Canada there was no such creature The very use of the word tavern indicated Iniquity It was an evil place We did have beer parlors later exchanged for the euphemism beverage rooms But that was all right Only the lower element went there and they closed from to or some such so that a family man could get home to his dinner In their homes of course the middle and upper class drank liquor Beer was the working mans drink was around then that some wil reversed Ihe old saying and came out with Work is curse of the drinking class a neat version of Marx Drink is the curse of the working classes If you called on someone in thisc misty days you were offered a cuppa and some thing to eat Today the host would be humiliated he t have something harder to offer you Now every hamlet seems to have its complete with tavern It s rather ridiculous Nobody today can afford a steak But how in Ihe living world can Ihese same people afford drinks at current prices These and taverns are sometimes sleazy Joinls on a par with the old beverage room which was the epitome of sleaze Its not all the fault of the owners though they make nothing on the steak and per cent on the drinks minimum It just that Canadians lend to be noisy and crude and profane drinkers And the crudity isn only in the pubs It has crept Parliament that august institution with a prime minister who used street language when his impeccable English failed or he wanted lo show how lough he was It has crept into our educational system where teachers drink and swear and tell dirty jokes and use language in front of women that I a product of a more well Continued on Page Few tee free days left for fishing on Fairy Lake Photo by Eric EUiont Back Issues 10 years ago Taken from Issue or the Press November 1969 Fears that a gas explosion like Ihe blast lhat shook was imminent caused near panic among some householders in Acton last Friday Fumes in Ihe Elmore Drive area drove people from Ihcir homes Attempts to reach the United Gas Com were fruit less It was an hour before residents found out the smell caused by a chemical in lines was relatively harmless The incident was caused by an oversight by workmen A drag strip is proposed for the Mat Ihews farm on the Fifth Line of The old Tennis Club building was demolished to make way for the new Food land supermarket Becker and five stores were approved but another plaza was turned down by planning board A middle school program for was approved by the board of education There will be no election tor Rock wood trustees Lloyd Ken Murray and Bert Smllh will hold the reins 20 years ago Taken from the issue or he I- Press of Thursday December For the first lime a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous was held In Cook was returned as mayor headed the polls for council with others elected George Jack Greer Hugh Lowe Ed Pope and William Gordon and Gordon Iwo pohclcal newcomers were added to the new hydro commission wllh former P C member Ted Tyler and Frank Oakes The public school board re mained unchanged with Tom Watson Wolfe and Murray Smith returned Reeve John Deputy reeve Jack Mar grave were returned by acclamation Nancy Norton will enjoy her first white Christmas his year Born in South America she has never known snow at this time The family is back from Iran for a visit Peter is the new president of the County Liberal Association New Jackets were presenlcd lo Intermediates ball club at a banquet in Stalion Hotel The banquet was sponsored by Sam Bnfnelle manager and ardent sports fan A bronze plaque was dedicated Knox in memory of Rev and Mrs J C Their five children attended he 50 years ago Taken from the Issue of ihe Press of Thursday November 1D29 The Town Hull was filled to capacity for three nights for the concerts lo raise money for a piano for Ihe school The nomination meeting on Monday was well atlended Many ladies were also in In municipal affairs All candid ales spoke and councillors and others reported on the year s activities There will only be an election for school board A Mason reeve again by lion Councillors arc J Nelson C Hansen E T and C Harrison wilh L G King acclaimed Ihe Public Commission Running for the three school board seats are Geo Blow Ilavill and J M McDonald Now is the time lo join the Majestic Christmas club provide on electric radio for your family on Christmas morning Highboy model Talbot corner Mill and Main Mr J sold his residence on Church St to Mr and Mrs W A Young of Erin Mr Seynuck has sold his light lunch and confectionary business and will all his lime lo Seynuck Valley Oil Wells 100 years ago Taken from the Issue of Ihe Press Thursday 1879 The workmen on Messrs Storey and Robert Little new residences succeeded in gelling the sheathing on Ihe Our local sportsmen Messrs Speight and E Nicklin brought home three deer from Muskoka Sinccwehavcnopubllcbell would be a wise move to secure the use of the Congregational Church bell and appoint some party to ring it regularly England seems unable to frame a law thai will be just lo all parties in the Irish land rent problem In Ireland some tenants seem gel more lawless and bloodthirsty over ihetr problems than their English brethren The crop of slippers Is getting ripe Acton is said be one of Ihe pretties I villages in Ontario Why deface its beauty by allowing its streets lo become a storage place for waggons huge piles of wood for consumption and other articles