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4 The Acton Free Wednesday Nov 1380 Don McDonald Publisher Founded In Pub mind every by Inland Co Limited How Stroot Acton Ontorio L7J 8532010 Sincjlo each per year In Canada In all countries than Canada The Acton Fioo Inland Co group of suburban nows papers which include TdoAianWhitbvPickBttriofVBwiAdvontsoi Tho Brampton Guard an The Burlington Post Burl Post Gniotto Tho town Econom and Sun Tho Canadian Champion Tho News Now market Aurora Era This Week Oshawa This Weekend and Tho Stouffvillo Tr Advertising is accepted on ha condition In tho event of portion of varus ng occupied by the erroneous torn together allowance tor II not bo charged lor but of paid for rate in ho event of typographical pneo floods or may not be sold Advorttsmg ISDN of Audit Bureau of Circulation Canadian Community Newspaper ition and Ontario Wookly Newspaper Association EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor Cord Murray Editor Eric Elstono Sport flock wood nlawi Jennifer Contributor Helen Murray Darkroom Kan Bun in ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Manager Cook Seles Jennifer Advertising BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Manager bona Thorn hill Shirley Carolyn Art am CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Manager Woods defeat Actons loss With the defeat of Ed Wood in the recent municipal election the community has lost a caring hardworking man who will be sorely missed at both regional and Halton Hills councils Had the results been reversed the community would have still lost The winner Dave Whiting is an equally concerned caring citizen We suspect had he lost in his third try for public office Whiting might have decided to quit politics altogether and we think that would have been a loss for the town the same as Woods defeat has been Besides honing his campaigning skills in the three elections Ac tons new regional councillor has given both local and regional issues a lot ot consideration and study and we have high hopes that with experience and more study he will develop into a good councillor In his low key quiet way Wood was a good councillor He and his colleague Terry Grubbe and Ross Knechtel have carried the wishes of Actonians to local council and kept in touch with the ratepayers In some cases they have been successful in having measures pushed through for the benefit of residents One regional observer noted Wood always voted right he supported positions ad vantageous to North Halton Politics at any level is something of a crap shoot Wood like regional councillors in other areas of was swept out of office on an region tide Most observers believe this tide is the result of voters frustration with the regions financial woes and personnel problems Also as the incumbent and thus the perceived front runner Wood was hurt by the pathetic voter turnout in Acton Sirce coming to Acton and establishing a growing business Wood has been very involved with the community He was a strong voice on the now defunct ActonEsquesing recreation advisory committee prior to entering politics During the past two years he has been a hard working con scientious councillor who gained considerable experience and knowledge of local government and concerns As Wood pointed out during the campaign the community has made a two year investment in his municipal education While he wont be able to pay a dividend at council Wood can still serve the community well In the next few weeks council will make a number of ap pointments to boards and com mittees Woods former colleagues on council would be well advised to consider him for one or more of these posts for example a seat on a conservation authority or land division com mittee if Wood is interested His knowledge and experience especially with regard to planning matters would be an asset to the community in an appointed position Wood and his wife Pat have been in on the ground floor of the new Acton Beautification Com mittee and then- involvement should help not only that group but the entire town It is indeed fortunate that Wood has indicated he will continue to maintain his interest id at least twff year vacation from council Wood is to be thanked for his efforts and dedication to Acton He demonstrated in office and in the campaign that he is a man of integrity and principle He faced the issues head on formed his positions on concerns based on facts and not political considera tion and did his best to make the region work for the benefit of Acton Businessman raps police Dear Sir Sometime through the night of Friday November 14 someone come on my premises jacked up a truck and removed all four rims and tires They even brought along their own cement blocks to drop the truck on The police were called the next morning they recorded the problem and suggested we call our insurance We will pay the first and our Insurance company the balance Justice has been done To our knowledge our neighbors were not asked if they saw or heard anything definitely no finger printing that only happens in the movies Just another successful petty crime Perhaps one of downs happening every week in Acton In the past few years we have had apart from the above front torsion bars and steering linkage removed from a new Bronco the hoods of three cars smashed one evening wheel covers stolen from a used truck one or two break ins batteries stolen from new vehicles countless gas caps stolen gasoline from cars on the lot hood or broken or twisted off It has got to the point where we dont bother to call the police unless we need a report for insurance purposes I called the police department a few weeks ago and spoke to the staff about my concerns I was cordially received but got the impression that although they sympathized with me he felt they were doing all that was necessary to maintain law and order Sir with all do respect the people in this town pay a lot for good police protection and I at the moment do not feel we are getting it Halloween night we had no problem because police were very visible However tho next night our cars were splattered with eggs which unfortunately ruins the paint unless removed im mediately Which would lead one to think police work is on every day job I have yet to see or hear of the doors of my establishment being checked I can go into my building at any time of the day or night and never be questioned and yet only a few of the officers would know me A fellow car dealer near Georgetown tells me that If his neighbors hear a strange noise and call him he will try and get there immediately because the police are Invariable a half hour late and arrive with sirens and flashing lights He ap parently has been successful on his own In apprehending one set of break enter thieves The one local policeman everyone know Constable Bob Andrews has apparently been transferred out of town Perhaps he wanted to go or maybe It was a promotion but who could take his place that would know the town and people as he does One day we checked a car for a customer and felt it was very unsafe to drive We advised the customer but he said he would drive it Afraid someone would get killed I got in touch with Bob Andrews and knew It would be checked out with some discretion Perhaps the next constable would do as well but you dont know Ihem and you wouldnt be sure The officers used to live in town they knew what was going on You also knew who to go to for help They were far more visible on and off duty Fewer men could do the job They and laughed and grieved along with the rest of us and if in the course of duty they had to arrest a friend they did it and town understood What we have now is commuter policemen What do they know of our What Is the answer Perhaps answer is in belter training pollcemcn Perhaps encouraging them to Perhaps a full time police office Perhaps like the old west a vigilante group of concerned citizens who only want a safe place to live for their families and are willing to fight for it Perhaps tho answer Is asking the OPP to come back opting out of Regional Government Perhaps the an is in better public relations by the police department Maybe they are our friends and do core about Jos Public Perhaps the is a part of all of the above I may be reading the police department wrong and someone will ell me of all the good points apparently missed They would find me a very receptive audience and I could start thinking posiUvcly about our police force H Doberthlcn President Mercury Sales NOW SON ABOUT Smiley has lots of successful buddies I sometimes wonder if my college con temporaries are as I or happier or just walking the old treadmill until they reach the end of the road and the dust to dust business My wonder was triggered by a recent letter from no less a body than Sandy Cameron Ambassador to Poland He seems happy but that only on paper We used to kick a football around when we were ten or twelve until we were sum home in the gathering dusk Hes since returned to Ottawa after three years in and two in Warsaw and has Invited us to drop around I shudder Ihe cost of that If my old lady thought she was going into regions Can you rent a mink coat for an evening Another guy I knew at college has emerged fairly huge Job much in the He Is Jan now John former Queen professor who has been appointed head of the CRTC and Is deter mlnedtomovcthatmoribundbody Jan is as I recall a Czech gentle brilliant fairly frail but strong in spirit Let some mure Jamie Reaney is a playwright poet novelist and professor of English at Western Two Governor General Awards for literature but hes Just Ihe same sweet kooky guy he was at nineteen a real scholar absorbed in childrens games yet a first rate teacher and writer Alan Brown has been a dilettante with CBC producing usual radio programs from faraway places and lately emerging as a translator or French novels He came from Mill brook a hamlet near Peterborough How we small town boys made the city slickers look sick when it came to intellect George McCowan was a brilliant English and Philosophy student who was kicked out of school for writing an exam for a dummy who happened to live around the corner from me when I was a kid He went off to Stratford as an actor and director and suddenly disappeared to Hollywood after marrying and being dl from Frances He is now on his third or fourth wife has an ulcer and directs Grade movies 1 knew Don casually Hts first wife was a classmate of mine who later married that Hungarian guy who wrote In Praise of Older Women made into a movie with lots of talent energy and ambition has parlayed his Charley into a mint and is producing a lot of creative stuff Another the drifting mob was Ralph Hicklin a dwarfish kid with rotten teeth- and a wit with the bite of an asp He still owes me because he had no scruples about borrowing money He be came a movie and ballet critic and a good one but died In his late forties There were other drifters in and out of the gang including my kid brother who wus mainly there for the girls And boy Id better not start on the girls or I in trouble I was the only one who was about half jock that sweaty and anomalous name that is pinned on Ed teachers today 1 ployed football and my intellectual friends had nothing but acorn for this I loved It And I made some friends among the jocks or the hangerson the sports writers Notable among them was Dave Mcintosh who still writes a mean letter to the editor from Ottawa and spent most of his adult life working for The Canadian Press and newspapers I also had other friends In the college newspaper I was a couple of years behind the bumptious Wayne and Shuster but knew Nell Simon and others whoso names appeared as bylines from all over the world What I wonder is whether I would trade places with these bright guys I used to hang around with 1 think not I doubt if three of us are still married to the same woman not that that is any big deal I don have the ego to hustle myself as some of them have done nor the brilliance that many of them had When I go up and shout at my noisy Grade or try to coax my four year elevens into some sort of Intellectual movement Isimply haven ttimetowlshl was the Ambassador to Poland a director of B In Hollywood a translator of rather obscure French novels or the head of the CRTC I havent time Tomorrow night I have to drive MO miles and gUc a speech about honor to the Honor students of another school To I have to go to a Depart ment Heads meeting where we will for the fourth time this year discuss Smok ing in the school Tonight I have to coll my old lady In Moosonee tell her Ive been a mode bachelor and have only burned six holes in the rug Thursday night I have a Parents Night at which the parents of bright kids will come to hove me praise them and parents will slay I bought the paint for the back stoop but It been too wet to paint Yesterday had two lady visitors who caught me in my pyjamas bare feet and dirty dishes oil over the kitchen No Theres no I Just haven time to be an intellectual a success a good father or a good husband But I m going to keep an eye an all those old friends of mine and If they stutter or stammer or stagger under the load 1 be Tho membership drive for the Chamber of Commerce has barely begun yet secretary Janet Fleming reports six brand now members signed up in addition to renewals The new members are North American Piggyback lnc Stuckey Photo graphy Charette Custom Furniture Todd Associates Dimension and Als Catering Anyone wishing to join the Chamber Is asked to get in touch wilh Mrs Fleming at The recent municipal election kind of got me wondering what former politicians for the area are up to Long time councillor and school pal Pat has been travelling coast presenting scholarships for the s Men The scholarships arc to financially young people dedicated to serve the Any expenses Pat claimed he donated to the scholarship fund Another former politician I haven heard from lately is former MP Dr Frank Philbrook Dr lost out to Otto In the May 1979 Conservative sweep of Ontario Not one to sit idle is chairing a conference on Education for Jobs Saturdoy November at Erindale College in Among the speakers will be Haltons Director of Education Em Lavender and Sheridan Colleges president John Porter Despite sale of Dills Printing and publishing to Inland Publishing Co Limited two years ago tho Dills name is still widely known in newspaper circles Steven Dills son of Jim Dills formerly of Acton and now of Milton has made a name for himself In newspapers right Canada something which makes us all here In Acton proud Steven grandson Mr and Mrs Elliott on Bower Avenue has rccenUy been publisher of the Drayton Valley Western Review a weekly in northern Alberta The Western Review la no stranger to Acton residents as that was newspaper farmer Free Press columnist and dark room technician Wendy Thomson worked on for several years after her move west A graduate of Steven worked as a reporter in Woodstock New then served as assistant to the executive director of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association in Toronto Stevens introduction to the west came over a year ago when he was appointed publisher of the Highway Tribune at Steven s aunt Kay Dills former editor of this newspaper is busy working on the CCNA newspaper The Publisher Stevens father Jim Dills former co- owner of this newspaper Is executive director of the CCNA Dave Dills former and coowner of this paper also as his finger in the business as he Just fin ished editing Community Market Canada the CCNAfl biggest sole tool Belated birthday greetings are extended to Eugene who turned years old recently Hills mayor Pete eroy presented a letter to Mr Bralda on of the town Back issues 10 years ago November IB1B70 Top award winners at the Junior lacrosse banquet were Fred the teams rookie of the year Bob Gowland Bob Tur kosz Dave Cooks ley and Bruce Murray A crofts exhibit was held at the home of Mrs Jean Denny in Esauesing with crafts dlsployed by Mrs Denny Florence Wilkin Laura Dittrich and Sisko Kockx Eden Mills senior ball team winners of Ihe Eramosa league received their trophies at a banquet in the Pres byterian church Rodney Bell presented individual trophies on behalf of the Com Club Fire has destroyed the King Calcium plant at Campbellville After a career on council that dates back to 1927 George Cuxrie 80 decided to step down even though he was nominated as reeve of 20 years ago November The new United church sanctuary was dedicated with a crowd of 500 attending Folded chairs lined the aisles the Junior and senior choirs filled the front of the new church for the first tune Rev Engel and Rev A Brook took the vice The keys to the church were formally presented to Mr Engel by the chairman of the building committee Alf Long and build ing supervisor Tom Gordon Others in volved in Ihe new building were Orwell Johnson Manseli Nellis Kenneth Allen Walter Woodburn J Beatty J Mc H R Force Dick Bean Jim Ledger Bernard Veldhuis Gordon Beatty Bruce Shoemaker Frank and Cyril Leighton The former Churchill home next door to St Joseph church is being demolished to make way for the new BeU Telephone ex change North Association for the Mental ly Retarded president Gerry Addison an nounces a site at Hornby has been purchased for a school for the retarded 50 years ago November IBM In Georgetown arena the Acton Ladies showed a crowd of ardent rooters why they arc leading the Softball league when they defeated Brampton Knox Church Finals Friday Tor both the ladles and men teams A report from Miss M Z Bennett Principal showed school fees In arrears of over from nonresident There are residents who have regis tercd as out of work Council will discuss the matter of unemployment relief Mill Ltd which took over the Harris Mills Is now well into production About hands are employed A public meeting was held In Rockwood United Church in the Interests of Pro hibition The Ladles Aid of the Baptist church served a bountiful supper filling the tables three times Churchill orchestra played Margaret Brown Harold Leslie Swackhamer Roy Johnston Archie Kerr Anson Thurston McCaustand and W Landsborough 75 years ago November 1905 Mr for wheat from the Worlds Fair at St Louis Rev Matthew Wilson is the new rector of St Albans There have been some very fine deer shipped to Acton from the past week by Stalker Percy Wilson Fred Wilds Harry Sayers and C A Mrs J Carry has disposed of her splendid residence on Queen St to Miss Bella Gordon Miss Gordon no doubt will eventually change the name from Cony Hall to Gordon Hall the name of the family homestead at Baiinockbum The first parade of the teams enlisted In the Wheeled Transport of the Canadian Militia at Acton was held at the drill shed Five teams were declared well suited for militia and more are sought The teams belong to Councillor J M Warren Donald Mann George Roszell A T Mann and Richard N Brown 100 years ago November IB The great rowing race In England bet ween anion and for pounds sterling was an easy victory for Haitian If gambling be a vice the whole world was full of gambling Every Canadian heart Is filled with and pleasure The sidewalk on Main Street Is in condition The council should have the planks repaired at once The days are now getting considerably shorter and tho cost of light at the present high prices Is no small item The Georgetown Herald has greatly Improved since the new proprietor got hold of it Several hotel keepers have stopped taking the Herald owing to the firm it takes with reference to the temperance The latest winter pastime Is roast apple socials Dont go on the pond skating yet boys