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Tho Acton Press Wednesday Nov 121980 Don McDonald Publisher Founded in 1675 Suh i Tho Acton Frno of I ho Inland Publishing Co Limited group of suburban news pa pets which Include Aim lib ring Tho Brampton GuBfd tan iTho Burl Post Burlington Weokond Poal town Indopondont Economist Sun ho Milton Canadian Chamoion MississnusJ Aurora Era This Won This Weekend and Tnbuno portion advertising occupied by lor i II not bo charged lor but paid lor at applicable into In the a services at a wrong price goods Or services may to Ml end may bo withdrawn at any of Audit Cucutot on on end Ontario Weekly fi EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Murray Editor Sporti Dunn Wo Jonn Contilhutor Ken Dust ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Cook Solos Clsaslfled BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Manager Thomhill Carolyn CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TELEPHONE Business and Editorial Office Daredevil bicyclists problem Drivers can soon breath a sigh of relief Bicycle season is quickly draw ing to a close Driving the streets of this town spring summer and fall espec ially when schools are operating can be a real nail biting nerve wracking experience One reader who called recently about the problem of irres ponsible bike riding by local youngsters it well when she declared it makes you fear for the kids sometimes The children obviously either dont know the rules of road or else simply have decided not to bother following them They seem to think they own the road Kids ride their bikes down the wrong side they ride out from between parked cars they ignore stop signs ride double and cross from side to side without looking for cars One of their most distressing habits is riding in pairs down the middle of the road and then split ting just in front of an oncoming car If a youngster ever fell where would the driver go The problem doesnt seem to be localized to any one part of Acton It happens on virtually every residential street Possibly the police and teachers arent doing a good enough job of teaching the children the rules of legal and safe bicycle riding More than likely the youngsters have been taught and know the rules they just find Its more fun to play chicken with cars Thus the problem is one of attit ude And the responsibility for changing a childs attitude about bike riding must rest with the par ents Parents before the bikes are put away for winter sit down and have a long talk about bicycle safety with your child Reinforce the lesson again in the and then review it at least every month until the bikes are put away for winter again But dont just talk about bike safety to your child Go out and spot check your childs bike riding habits now and again And when you see your child riding dangerously take tough action A few weeks without the bike should produce wonders with most children The young daredevils arent hoodlums They arent other peoples kids either Theyre your children So far Acton has been lucky We havent had many accidents yet involving careless bicycle riders and motorists The few accidents there have been resulted in only minor injuries for the bicyclist and scares for drivers Why push our luck longer Its long past the time for par ents to start laying the law down with their careless bike riding children- Recalls Actons early days Dear Sir By way of introduction I would like to say lama native son of Aclcn having been bom there in 1S04 During the summer my wife and I made a visit to Toronto and also Acton and Guelph My cousin in gave me a copy of Actons Early Days which I have Just finished reading with great in lerest It wa3 first purchased by Miss Alice Cook who lived near the cemetery Later her sister Mrs Eva laugh in obtained it and then my cousin As I look back on those early days I realize not many will remember what I would like to say but to some it may prove interesting To begin with I passed Sr when MLis M Z Bennett was teacher in June 1918 I went on to Continuation School till early in left there to become the printer devil at Acton Free Press Mysaarywos per week In the closing page of your book you mention the date of March 1919 before the Addenda as the first column being published of The Old Man of the Big Clock Tower At that lime Mr H Moore asked me If I would take a picture or the clock tower I had a Kodak box camera and on my lunch hour took the photograph that was used in the paper You will notice the time as five minutes to one There was a hydro pole in the picture of course but when the cut was made for the Free Press It was taken out Everyone was curious of who the writer was I remember one day looking especially at the copy and recognizing H P Moores writing although I believe there was someone else who also wrote for It Of course at that time I kept this to myself Such is my claim to fame At that lime there was a linotype machine but I remember when there was a staff of five or so and the type was set by hand I work when Arlof Dills was foreman and also Earl Vincent My father died in 1912 and mother married again in 1919 to a farmer In Glen Williams Wise or otherwise I left Free Press later in to live on the farm My parents my grandparents and my baby brother arc all burled In Fair view I could go on but I will close with one recollection of Armistice Day November Tho tannery whistles blew there was a parade through the town led by the school children and great rejoicing In the evening there was a pile of slumps which had been pulled out of Fairy Lake and were quite dry It made quite and one of the storekeepers donated five gallons of coal oil Someone made an effigy of the Kaiser and there was quite a celebration that evening watching it all burn George Taylor Burnaby B C Prevent animals breeding Dear Sir As an animal lover I waa happy to read in your paper that the towns budget committee are examining a request from the Humane Socity to help fund research development of a chemical to prevent animals from breeding However Councillor Waller comments on the matter show his callous disregard for helpless creatures It could be the concern of every municipality Jean Hawthorne Following the sun I CANNOT THE of exigence I REFUSE TO WIS Polar Bear Express trip for wife gives Smiley the freeze It like being a shipyards worker at the launching of the Titanic Or an usher at a Hollywood premiere Or a nurse at the birth of a baby You are part of it all but an insignificant one compared with the central drama My wife is going all the way to lo visit her daughter grandboys for two weeks and I feel about as important in the entire tour do force as the people men above Im quite sure that Scott s preparations for getting to the South Pole didnt cause nearly much fuss in Britain as have my wifes for getting to in our house Mind you Its not Just like jumping on a bus and going to the city for a day or two Getting to is only slightly less difficult than gelling to the Galapagos Is lands You can fly of course for an arm and a leg ItschcapertoflytoEnglandandback than to and back And to catch your plane you have to be there at some unearthly hour like a That meant for us me getting up at 5 a driving 16o miles round trip and being at work at nine airport for Add that to the airfare going and coming and you could fly to Hawaii which would make a lot more sense this time of year Or she could down the night before spend for a hotel room and then take a cab to the airport for Plus a couple of meals These ore some of the alternatives I put forward I no skinflint But my wife is in some respects When I go to the city alone I lake cabs everywhere When goes alone she takes the subway or walks I said in some respects She save string bargain for prices In the super The students or the E C Drury School for the Deaf extend a big thank you to the people of Acton for their contribution of keys Barton a well known Acton resident and teacher at the Milton school was ecstatic over tho response to requests for keys about a month ago in this column Over keys were received for use in the classroom Marguerite Taylor was tremendous help says She went door to door and collected a fair number from neighbors and friends Others brought in old keys to the Glenlca Drug Mart where husband Gary market like an Oriental cook abhors wastage of three cents worth of food But then she hit me with something that keeps me staggering for a week One day when I was a student and our total In come around 100 month she blurted rather fearfully I must admit that she had bought a new sewing machine There wcntamonthslncome It dldn upset me really because I never been much in money However It did plant a little seed of something in my mind so that when I came home one day and she announced shed bought a grand piano for approx one year Income at the time I was not bowled over Just slightly stunned I digress Anyway she going to pay that kind of money get to Moosonee and back The return trip by air is Just as bad The blasted plane gets in around 7 at night and If you II just turn all the driving time and cabfare and stuff around It s the same deal Getting this out of the way took two weeks as she relentlessly tore apart every suggestion I made She decided to go by train This is a Utile cheaper but Just as complicated Again She have lo go to the city to catch Ihe train travel overnight change at Cochrane spend two or three hours in that salubrious resort In the fall doing lordonly knows what before boarding the Polar Bear Express and a Journey of any where from four to six hours to Moosonee The Express la probably the last of its kind In Canada It stops in the middle of nowhere to avoid hitting a moose to pick up a trapper or to drop supplies for a pros pec tor That why it run right to Ihe minute Alternative The train she to catch stops at some god forsaken Junction out in the mlddleot nowhere miles from here works and almost all the donors had a story to tell about the keys The keys are varied some old Borne new some colored some very odd shaped The deaf children uso the keys to help Ihem count and Increase their visual memory acuity Just noticed tho other day Spoyslde resident Pierre is a model in the winter Sears catalogue Pierre a former Is modelling hockey sweaters Yesterday was Remembrance Day with the formalities being held in most places Sunday This year the day meant some thing more to me For I think the first lime I finally grasped the true meaning of it In the past year my father has started to discuss the war a bit telling the odd story ho has kept lo himself all these years He told me of the day he was waiting to go into battlo and received word brother in low his sisters husband had been killed on Day To me my uncle John was just a name but as my father described his sad ness and concern for his sister back in Canada with two young children I began At 11 Thai was her final decision It would save the time and money of going to city and catching it there But she dldn I want me to drive her and get home at l a m She knows how I hate night driving and figured I go off the road if she t there to shriek There which had seen five seconds earlier K Gel a cab Thirty five bucks Too much A week after the decision I hired a student to drive her to the junction Only fifteen bucks Then he wanted to take his girlfriend Then my wife wanted lo know If I were coming to say goodbye at the junction Holy Old Moses Or Holy Old Home Week Those were only the travel details The others are too numerous and mi seel Inncous to mention She had to iron two weeks supply of clean shirts for me Had to buy presents for the boys First presents verc useless and I had to take them back as usual and get the refund Should she wear a trenchcoat with sweater under or winter coat with boots If it were piercing cold in the true north she d freeze in a trenchcoat If it hap pened to be Indian Summer she d swelter In a winter coat and on and on She bought three months supply of meat its all in the freezer so I wont starve usually dine on a couple of eggs or some sausage or beans when shes away 1 know sincerely that she expects to come home and find the house burned to the ground and me either in Jail or the mental health centre as we tically call the loony bin nowadays Migawd I could get ready and make a trip to Outer Mongolia with onetenth of the fluster But when I think of the phone bills from every night checking on me my blood runs cold to feel remorse for an uncle I never knew But with the trials and dangers of war my father could not dwell on tho death and not frightened to face possible death it was something he had to do no matter what the outcome And then the bullet hit him in one leg and out the other He was somewhere In France waiting for someone to come to take him away from the fighting Now when Remembrance Day comes around on the calendar I think more of faceless names I think of my uncle who did not get to sec his daughter I think of my aunt receiving the news of the death 1 think of my father gunned down in his early 20s only to suffer the rest of life from the results of the bullet I think of my grandmother who received a second tele gram within one Somehow when someone brings Remembrance Day to a personal level tho day means so much mure always observed the day but I never remembered My generation may never understand war but that doesnt have to stop us from appreciating what the men and women in vofved did for us Back issues 10 years ago iSovemberlllTO The Michigan Bulb Co will completely close its Acton operation Friday and move to Quebec Will the airport be close lo Acton Mayor asked Minister of Transport Don but received no new Possibly the bestorganized walkathon yet raised money for Saturday as walkers strode along a 20mile course Tramping teachers were Gerry and David Boycott First in were Mike John Hansen Taylor Michael Masters Jim Gentles Steve McKnight Terry Charlie George Binder The traditional club green Jacket was presented to Acton Meadows champion Mike years ago 1000 Girls copped the largest share of the awards at high school commencement Louise valedictorian received two scholarships and was presented with the valedictorian medal by student council president Barry Kirknesa Bene Varcy Gloria Latimer June Davidson Mary Lou Jean Moffat Jean Hart Mary Beth Elliott and Alan Hay ward received special awards The school board turned thumbs down on the suggestion a driver instruction be held striding the three in stead Trustee M Cole felt the plan might have some merit but it was thought Ihe students academic standings might suffer The Silver screen in Acton will be blacked out Nov Roxy manager Murray Harrison has been informed the theatre has been losing money for two years and will be closed 50 years ago November 13 1030 and men teams are in the playoffs The girls defeated Brampton and the men defeated Hewetsons of Brampton All unemployed residents are asked to register at the clerk office Mr D Robertson and Mr Bert Robertson of Osprmgc won prizes at the plowing match The man who led gang which burglarized the clothing store of M Cooper was sentenced to two years A portrait of the late J C Hill was veiled In the Band Room years a member of Ihe Band for many years the Bandmaster A Mason was elected Bandmaster C Mason assistant bandmaster and Archie Kerr president The first six who organized the band in were Messrs J as Nicklin Jake Dave Chas Hill John Hill and John Cameron who each pledged 6 large sum in those days 75 years ago November 19 Moore presented to council the petition signed by 150 ratepayers requesting Local Option This is the largest petition ever presented to Council during the years since incorporation It asks council lo submit a bylaw granting the ratepayers the privilege of voting whether the legal sale of liquor would continue in Acton Mr C A Goodevc spoke of the large aggregate of money now being spent in the bars in town Rev G W Barker spoke in Ihe interests of the young manhood of the town When the drunkeness prevailing had been referred to by outsiders he had been ashamed that the fair name of Acton was besmirched Councillor Warren said the hotels have not been providing since too much attention was given to the bar Councillor Lackey said he has seen Ihe failure of such laws in other centres The School Board has requested council to arrange that the room in the lown hall presently used as a lawyers office be handed over to Ihe Public School Board for their use 100 years ago November 11 1880 Our village rulers estimate expenses at for the coming year This includes 40 for Ihe new constable who will enforce order The sum of two dollars will be collected as statute labor tax from each male Inhabitant of the village Street lamps will bo erected not exceeding the number of 20 The offer of J McGarvin of fitly cents a lamp for the privilege of ad vcrtising on the lamps was accepted Arrangements will be made persons opposite whose homes they are to bo erected with a view to making them as inexpensive to the corporation as possible The rate of mills Is a very low rate when compared to other villages and our streets and sidewalks are in very fair A gold watch and chain was presented to Mr Robert Little P S 1 at Teachers Convention In appreciation of his nine years work