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The Acton Free Press Wednesday Oct 8 1380 Tommy col has spent the last years fooling around with rocks and stones He recently on Labor Day celebrated his fiftieth anniversary as a stone cutter and last January he was honored by the Acton Curling as a golden ago member Pretty good for a guy Just years old who hasn t even retired yet Although Tommy was born in Guelph he was transported to Acton in He lived In the until 1952 when he moved to Brampton Now he back I ving in the new Acton Seniors Apartments enjoying being home again and reminiscing His father ScottyNicol was a large part of the Acton scene He set up his stone cutting shop In the spot now occupied by the His mother Marian was wellknown as a singer She song as part of the Presbyterian choir and entertained In the Acton theatre in the 1ms After attending Acton Public School studying under Minnie Bennett Tommy and his brother John Bus to his friends started working for their father Tom was 15 and having trouble with the truant officer James Henry who lived next door He said Tom could quit school providing he went to work for his father Tom obliged by starting work on Labor Pay the day before school started he grins At this time the shop had been moved and the tombstone cutting business was located near the comer of River and Main Street next to the house now occupied by Hal ton Hills Veterinary Clinic The shop was so tiny Tom recalls It was impossible to squeeze more than one cutter a time Strictly in the monument business then and now Tom learned from scratch the way to cut a hunk of granite or marble into some semblance of a monument an old hammer and chisel man according to his son started Tommy off shaping a hunk of stone He taught his sons well roughing in letters and leaving successive steps to the boys they to try more He was a good teacher Tommy nbers Dad was strict but I often wish he was stricter The shop was expanding from the little tin shack that housed the town original water works to a proper stone cutting shop Then hydro supervisor Charlie Wilson wired up an electric compressor for Tom tells but he forgot to put in a ground Without grounding the elec found the easiest way to run was through the metal clothes lineond wet clothes Mymomgotquileabclt he remembers Pocket money or salary 3 an apprentice Tommy earned a dollar a week and his room and board remember this Tommy NIcol was 1030 HU salary was raised a dollar every year I he had fnlshed his five year ap prenticeship and was earning the grand total of weekly In he and his brother bought a 1Q3G V8 Ford for pay ng a month Their salaries hardly covered the payments but chipped saying It lime I gave you boys a raise The Nchol boys Tom and John were often called the twins being only a year apart There were four other young Nfcols but Tom and his brother were the closest They enlisted together for World War II in 1940 with the artillery and saw action in England Sicily Italy Holland and Germany We were the only set of brothers in the whole damn outfit of men to come back together recalls Tom Once home again in Tom married Ethel his best Thecouplchavc one daughter and two granddaughters who call Thirty two years ago in the late 0s Tom started to work for Brampton Monument Works and has been manager there for the past 1G years He intends to go on three days a week next year and gradually slow down till he retired Design manager His work docsn Involve much cutting now although Tom likes to get his hands on the chisel He designs and does layouts advises customers and acts as a psychologist to grief stricken widows He deplores the quality of workmanship In todays tombstone business where have you heard that before and explains many monuments are sawn instead of chiselled Tom says his main Interest Is making sure the quality is kept up at Brampton Monument I m a stickier for quality I have work done over I more interested in quality than production What kind of atone is used for grave markers Granite of course Marble t used too much any more because although it lovely to work with soys Tom it t last as long as granite Prices of marble are almost as high as although It used to be much cheaper a fact which surprised mo Granite comes in all colors pink red black and grey The best pink granite In the world comes from the Lauren Mountains in Quebec says Tom The biggest change in the monument business Tom replica rapidly prices Fifty years ago a tombstone could be bought for a hundred dollars or less bought a beautiful stone A widow could have a thousand dollars have a real nice funeral choose the stone and have a hundred a hundred and a half left over Tom comments Not now A cheap stone costs and goes up from there The most expensive Tom done was 7 but he knows of many costing or more Once Tom slows down he have more time for his activities that range all the way from long distance running as a youngster to the Acton Citizens Band during the and He spent 20 years ploying alto and waiting for Dills to handout thee gars at the annual meeting He was on the last village council and was f town councillor in the early He been a member of the Acton Curling CI for years and is extremely proud of his telegrams and plaques I m not a great curler but I love it I wouldn he grins One of the strangest stories Tommy tells and hchsaalotofthem concemsthe sited at the Acton Cemetery several years ago There were considerable stories floating around at the time about ghosts in Cemetery and Tommy knows the true story One night he was working on a stone and looked up to see a green dragon head floating around He kept his cool and discovered two more heads near the grave of a Ch nese boy He startled the ghosts who took off the dragon heads and Jumped into a ear He found evidences of some sort of ceremony on the Chinese grave and believes he tnessed a memorial ritual When you re working late in a grave yard my dad always said the only ghost you meet yourself Tom counsels Tommy plans for the future include a wish to become a consultant for people choosing a memorial stone There doesn t seem to be anyone I know who could fill the bill better Nielsen ponders choices including OMB appeal The lack of landing by some south Hal ton councillors plus the tactics of the municipalities staff added up to defeat for a proposed 13lot sub division near Acton High School Cedar Road Develop ments President Paul Nielsen however is not through yet Nielsen said after last weeks denial by the region that he Is likely to appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board It a completely ridiculous situation said Nielsen Halton Hills the local municipality has given the project an amend ment under the towns official plan Many north councillors in cluding Ed Wood and Hills Mayor Peter gave a good defence of the project said Nielsen The region said Nielsen takes the position that Its hands are tied because of the case against Jerry plaza on the eastern of Acton That project failed to receive a planning amendment to Hills official plan With the exception of Ookville councillor Teny most of the southern politicians failed to grasp the meaning of the housing project said after the vote Earlier the region planning turned down Nielsen project however it gave a green light to an IBlot nearby subdivision owned by Peter Civlero What defeated the project in Nielsens opinion is that the southern councillors Council agrees to pay for Sally Anne lunch Hills Council agreed to pay toward the cost of a luncheon for Salvation Army Commissioner Norman Marshall of London England at Monday night a meeting Each councillor how ever will repay the cost of their own dinner to the town The luncheon is being held to mark the sod turning for a Salvation Army Citadel in Acton Commissioner Mar shall whose grandfather Landfill hearing Halton is in effect suing following the decision last Tuesday in a Toronto Division Cour to allow the Town of Milton an Injunction which may hold up an Environ mental Assessment Board hearing slated for Oct 15 That meeting to be held In Centennial Manor is to delve into a Halton regional tion to turn 246 acres 95 hectares of land at Tre nt and Britannia Rds into the next regional landfill site However the Town of Milton has in Its in Junction asked the hearing proceed under the rules of the Environ mental Assessment Act while the Region has prepared all its evid ence including an engineering study under the regulations of the Envlromental Protection Act EPA The EPA deals only with the lnpact at and immediately around the proposed dump site The EAA deals with the total impact including social and economical on the entire Region of Halton After a day long ses sion before Mr Justice James Southey last Tuesday the decision made at was to defer the question of which act the hearing will proceed under directly to Environment Minister or Harry Par rott for the final decision was born in this area will be proclaimed an honor ary citizen of Town Lome Pritchctt Salvation Army Lieut explained to council the total cost would be since people at six dollars a plate ore expected at the civic luncheon Councillor Walter Biehn who had opposed the sponsoring of the luncheon explained he was opposed to voting money to any group to entertain members of council and is not op posed if councillors pay for themselves and were unsure of the degree services for Cedar Road We have said the developer a 3 population excess at the sewage treatment plant Nielsen charges that it Is grossly unfair to compare his Infilling subdivision to the proposed Sprackman plaza That project he said has no services in place It does not have an official plan amendment from Hills Ha does said he has a 000 investment half for studies on the proposal half on carry charges and such This is the story of development in Hills right now charged Neilscn would call this total obstructionism on the part of Halton Region staff Nellaen also noted that the region s staff spoke six times concerning Cedar Road Develop ments while he the owner got only to give Borne opening remarks History photo winners Nancy Little right or the Thela Phi chapter of two oy boxes and com packages to Peggie chairman of the board or Women s Place The presentation took place Thursday at the Community Services Centre Contents of the convenience package was donated by Gary Barton of Glenlea IDA More dump money Two townspeople correctly answered all the questions In The Acton Free Press History Contest The winners are Denny Mill St E Musselle of CobblehUl They will receive copies of Halton Sketches the book by Hills historian John McDonald and Acton Free Press T shirts The contest which was run during the fall fair Shelter Halton Women Place will officially open Thursday Oct There will be an open house from until drew a number of en tries The Acton Free Press thanks everyone who took time to test his knowledge of local history The contest consisted of photos which had to be identified The winners correctly Identified or answered questions con all seven photos The answers in order are for when the town hall was built Shoemaker Funeral Home the post office Trinity United church Tannery the Mill and Main St in the parade along Bower Avenue RACEWAY Regional Council has approved spending as an extra for the construction of the leach ate collection system at the Georgetown landfill site There are reports the dump closed and Covered over Is now leaking a black ooze That report Is expected into the Credit River today at a regular meet Although the ing of he Public Works was approved Councillor Johnson he wants staff to find out If there is any financial re sponsibility on the part of the contractor which did the work on closing off the dump THE ACTON FREE PRESS Authorized as Second Class Mail Postal Reg on Number 0515 HARNESS RACING Post Time Thursday Sunday Evening Afternoon 2 pm T facto Exactor Air Club out Correction It was incorrectly re ported week paper that an Acton man was shot by his own gun at the Maple Rock snooting range Regional Police report the Incident happened near Maple Rock but not on the range property This paper apologizes for the error CHECK OUR SUPER FOOD VALUES IN OUR FLYER DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR THIS WEEK UlXS For Thanksgiving Select One Of Our Fresh lb average Turkeys You are cordially invited to attend a SPECIAL PREVIEW of the 1981 Mazdas featuring the all new 81 GLC Come and Join Us October 11 00 pm until 5 00 pm View Complete Mazda GLC 626 and Pick Up The more you look the more you Like VISIT THE FRIENDLY FOLK AT Sales and Service 347351 QUEEN ST EAST ACTON 8530200 1980 Home Improvement Show Wednesday Oct 8 to Oct 1 1 Shoppers World K MART SIMPSONS SAFEWAY DOMINION PLUS 150 STORES SERVICES OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY AM SATURDAY