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Tho Acton Free Press Wednesday Dec 19 The Don McDonald Publisher Founded in 107S ruled Vilknw Street prions copes each Pi one bo Inland Co Limiid flogp rwrws The Whitby Pickering Newt Advertiser The Brampton Guadiar The Peril Gacne The Georgetown Independent Economist and Sun The Mill of Canadian Champion The News Tho Oihowa This Weak Tha Weekend Tribune on portion of paca by for win not bo chained tor paid for at rats In of at a wrong goods or services ma totea time class Regatro lion Number the event of typographical error thai erroneous item together with reasonable Hit the of the advertisement bo a error advertising goods or not bo sold Advertising is merely offer EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor Hartley Coles News Editor Helen Murray fteportsrPhotographor Erie porta Editor Robin ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Advertising Manager Cook Classified Advertising BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE OH tea Manager Fran Gibson flhona ThorriMf Shu ley Jocque Carolyn CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Manager TELEPHONE Business and Editorial Office Avoid the rush by Robin There was a time when people would take a day a short time before Christmas and do their annual shopping for the holiday season This is fast becoming an impossibility In todays world of fast escalating prices it seems you must start saving as soon as one Christmas is over for the next High prices are evident at this time of year even more so than only two and three months ago This Christmas season I thought I would try something different at least for me It was October when I trekked out to do my Christmas shopping this time around There were no Christmas SALES or even decorations lining the aisles in the stores I visited From shop to shop I travelled looking for just the right item size and color The prices were high but complaining about it is totally useless I made my purchases and prepared to sit back while others I know began preparing their lists and getting ready to head into the totally crazed world of Christmas shoppers When December came my gifts were all wrapped and put away waiting for the 25th but curiosity got the best of me and I headed to a nearby mall just to watch the crowds and maybe pick up a few odds and ends that I had over looked like something for my dog and cat At the mall I found Santa decorations galore the Christmas SALES and shoppers by the groves You couldnt move for bumping into someone The line ups and the check out counters were unreal but the the most surprising thing I found was how quickly prices rise especially at this time of year I checked out the prices of some of the items I had bought two months earlier and despite being marked with a big red SPECIAL sticker the prices were still in creased by ten per cent On sale no less I wonder what the regular price would have been increased to can no longer see how anyone can go out the beginning of December and buy buy buy It is becoming a time when a buck is not so easy to come by and saving a couple here and a couple there are very important Maybe the time to start collecting Christmas gifts for next year is now or the middle of June Christmas can no longer be a holiday of giving and receiving that people think about for one month of the year If you dont start making purchases early you wind up paying through the nose for things and it is not always what you are looking for Shopping early saved me many headaches this year I know I would be upset if I had to pay ten per cent more for things one day when I know they were cheaper a short time earlier I also had little trouble finding what I was looking for they certainly werent sold out of the size I wanted or the type of game I was looking for I have shopped both ways in the rush and long before and believe it was much easier this time around All things considered I feel last minute day or week shopping is fast becoming an impossibility See you next July when Im doing my Christmas shopping Christmas wishes By Eric Elstoae What do you want most for Christmas is the question you as parent ask of your son daughter or children Most often I think replies are for things such as books records toys camera trips and well you know what you have to buy between now and next Tuesday What if number one son or dau ghter asked you what do you want most for Christmas what would you say Heres what Id say- if I had a son or daughter to ask I wouldnt know at first The question means different things to the grown up than to the child Thats natural Ive got all the things one really needs to get by in the late 70s Things are no problem Id like for us to stop scaring ourselves with mon sters such as what ever it is in the Alien a movie Star Wars Star Trek are moneymaking entertainments which amuse us for about two hours at a showing So what Id like to see people return to entertaining themselves with music conversation story telling and other human scale activities We do not need the milliondollar apparatus to keep us happy The return in terms of enrichment for the spirit is puny compared to the investment I d very much like to see the so- called me generation wake up in whichever bed it slumbers in and understand there is much more important studies than the pursuit of narcissism For Christmas Id like someone to erase all the dull death and in jury happy statistics insurance companies thrive on People who think with their wallets could be filled with the spirit To life Life today I want the killers of all nations to take a page out of the book that was written this week in Lon donthe book on the new peace in Rhodesia Out of a most difficult complex and tragic war someone has worked the nuts and bolts correctly to stop the slaughter Look on Cambodia and hope No less seriously I ask for Christmas a set of politicians who will mean exactly what they say when they mouth the words I promise If they cant promise I should like them to say so If not the only way were going to be able to tell if someone is telling truths is if we get him to swear so on the Bible The words Peace on Earth Good Will to Men come from one of the seasons nicest carols Ive sung them so have most of you For Christmas this Christmas Id like to hear them backed with as strong a connection with what we foolishly call reality as the concerns behind the everyday question Where do we go from here Whats for dinner Why do things always seem to go wrong Do you love me Do we have enough I also hope the children under stand their replies from Moms and Dads Temperatures which dipped below free I rig put a glassy surface on the north arm or Fairy Lake Canada Geese found he mirrorlike surface a Some landed and skidded to a stop Others flopped and Hipped unable to fiet firm rooting on the ice The comedy watched with by residents along Elizabeth Drive The night Snoopy froze by Helen Murray Learning the true meaning of Christmas is an emotional time in ones life especially when the truth comes out with the near death of someone you love very much My family had acquired the mutt Snoopy that summer He was an inquisitive dog and liked to get into everything Thus he was usually covered in something casting a repugnant odor Being a sensitive teenager I preferred to just ignore the dog rather than risk the chance of getting the smell on my clothes as I headed out to school Our relationship grew no further than letting her out everyfew hours Christmas Eve in Collingwood is just not right without a snow storm As a young child even if the ground was green when we went to bed we felt assured it would be white by morning That year was no exception I let Snoopy out for his regular run as my family and I were heading out to the midnight church service When we got home we all presumed someone else had brought her in In the morning the snow was drifted high and cold winds shuddered the entire house The back door was pinned shut with the pile of white stuff mother nature had so kindly dumped It was my sisters job to let Snoopy Out for his morning constitutional It was only then we realized he was nowhere to be found We all immediately got dressed and trudged out in the storm to find him My Dad spotted him first frozen stiff by the garage door We thought our pet was dead Our Christmas mor ning was devastated Then a faint heartbeat was discovered and we rushed him into the house I set Snoopy in my lap while I opened the massive pile of gifts As the morning wore on I could feel life come back to his body He sort of thawed out It was like a miracle The gifts around me seemed to fade as I realized how much I loved my dog All the presents in the world could not replace that animal if he did not survive his wintry ordeal I patted him for hours helping the circulation return to various parts of his body Then when all the gifts were unwrapped and the cleaning up process going on Snoopy stret ched his body out slowly stood up turned around and gave me a kiss and walked over to her favorite spot beside my Dads chair My last gift was the bestthe reassurance ray dog was going to be okay As with every dog we ever had a small present sat high on the tree for Snoopy However in the worry to revive him we had forgotten about it Around nine oclock Christmas night Snoopy stood at the foot of the tree and did his little give me something jig I looked at the tree and noticed his gift I lifted it down and he took it from my hand knowing it was his Snoopy wasnt around the next year A rash of dognappings in the area claimed the life of many pets in town and Snoopy was one of them However even though we only had him ten months Snoopy taught me more than any other pet we ever owned Christmas is a day to show the love you are unable to show the rest of the year A Christmas pot pourri Christmas Joy May the of the holiday guide the way for everyone by Hartley Coles When I awoke last Tuesday morning I could see large flakes of snow falling softly in the spruce trees in the back yard The flakes reminded me Christmas would be a reality in less than a week last minute shopping would soon be necessary and it was time to wash my hair The flakes also reminded me of the late Crosbys Yule hit Im dreaming of a White Christmas Only a few minutes before radio announcers predicted we would have a green Christmas The weather is going to turn mild and continue in that vein until Boxing Day wiping out all the thoughts of the traditional Canadian with its soft falling snow reflecting myriad of colored lights festooning homes and business places Somehow most of us like to have snow for Christmas and then except for the ski and snowmobile buffs curse it for the rest of the winter Both moods are traditional Despite the relatively short life of this country we treasure traditions To me the coming festival of Christmas is fundamentally religious Although I enjoy the secular and profane parts of the holiday as well it is the religious message which is paramount in my mind despite all the fluff about falling snow and Dickensian characters singing carols under flickering gaslight It seems to me radios and TV did themselves proud this year by holding back on the carols and secular Christmas music until a week or so before Christmas Other years Ive heard the familiar carols and Rudolph the Red Nose around the end of November which disgusted me Probably part of the reason for my disgust is I havent got the time to listen properly in the weeks before It is a busy time in the newspaper game and frazzled nerves dont appreciate the message behind all the music and glad tidings of great joy If I had my way all radio stations would not be allowed to broadcast any Christmas music until two or three days before the big event Then they would be allowed to come out all systems blazing that triumphant Christ mas music by Bach Beethoven Schubert and other great com posers including Handel and his Messiah They should continue playing the festive music until New Years Usually they dry up after Christmas Day and I miss much of the enjoyment of the season But these are selfish thoughts I know there are other people who enjoy the spirit and music of Christmas for all the weeks before the big day erect their tree weeks ahead of the event and generally enjoy themselves for a month At our place tree is up It stands forlornly in the living room sans any decorations And it will likely sit that way until a couple of days before Christmas In deference to my neighbors I threw some outdoor lights on the cedars beyond the front thresholds Each evening I throw the switch that sets them aglow with greens reds and blues helping to turn the street into a winter fairyland So you see Im not such an old grouch after all And in that spirit I wish you and yours the very best in this season and with the heavenly chorus sing Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of goodwill Back Issues years ago Taken the blue The Free Pre of Wednesday December Did Price was presented with on autographed axe coffee tabic and life membership in the fire brigade at ladies night He is retiring alter years on the fire brigade Hurst at the town office will accept DDT now banned for home use He expects to Just keep it until he hears from Che At Ihe Christmas meeting of Dublin life memberships were presented ti Mrs Alex Near Mrs William Mclnlyre and Mrs Willard Due to new provincial legislation I here be no Christmas tree burning this year Safety pa troll era rrom ihe schools tended a special dinner arranged by Cons Woods They gifts crossing guards Cam George Paul and Jack Scnven Norm is chairman of the Canadian Shoe and Leather Fair The largest crowd ever attended the Christmas Band concert Guest artists were the Legion Choralicrs Congregations of the United and Anglican churches will join together for Christmas Eve communion 20 years ago Taken from the Issue The free or Thursday 1959 Christmas stockings were the kindergarten classes of Miss Alice and Miss Betty by ladles Aclon HI Mrs G was hostess to Dublin for their Christmas meeting Mrs impersonated Santa Claus The annual Son la party was held at the fire hall Sunday Fire Chief Jack Newton was A gold wrist widen was presented lo Mrs Bay by the and Acton council prior to her resignation at he end of the year Over 300 crowded Ihe auditorium of he Legion for the annual parly Sam and his committee had everything well organized About JO girls took part in annual CGIT service Knox church The can- dlcllghting ceremony was conducted by Linda Parker Mary Wilds and Colder employees Christmas part Tor about children was held in Ihe Robert auditorium years ago 50 years ago Taken from the issue of The Press of December All of childhood and much of the older was out full force on Christmas Eve and assembled the corner of Mill and Main at the Community Christmas Tree Old Santa arrived with a big sleigh load of Christmas treals with the band playing Jingle Bells Each of over GOO children received a real and the band led in the singing of Christmas Superintendent Wilson had made an excellent job of lighting tree The True Blue Lodge will distribute Ircais to any children who were unable to be there Treats In the value of were given out ihe Town Hall in connection ihe Shoemakers Concert and Christmas Tree During the distribution of prizes solos were sung by Miss Jessie Coles Mr Erncsl Coles and Cross Actons new arena was formally opened by Reeve Mason on Christmas night After the speeches there was a carnival with prizes Cost of Ihe arena is and Ihe curling rink has two splended sheets of ice All the usable is retained from Ihe old rink given by who have also helped in many ways 100 years ago Taken from the The Free Im of Thursday lecemberlB IS79 The shop windows of our merchants are resplendent with beautiful things Do not lhal there are the poor among us who should be remembered A concert will be given in the Temp erance Hall on Saturday evening inst by Concert Troup of Ihe Mohawk and Chippewa Indian Vocallsis of the New Credit Grand River reservation The company includes Mr Mah the renowned Basso Proceeds in aid of the organ fund of the New Mission church Indians to appear in full costume The anniversary of the Sabbath School of the Mcihodist church will be held on Christmas Eve The will consist of music by the Church Choir dm- school and a Christmas will be un laden at the close of the Entertainment Tea Monday evening residence Glasgow House Acton Proceeds in aid of Knox church Sabbath School Sleighing is splendid and hurrah for Ihe Christmas rides