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GoorgwownActon Wednday Dae TELEPHONE 8532010 Editorial Founded In rai WedneadiV by Lid at Swat Telephone 5191 Subacnpborti Snow Second mad Number Don Ryder Director of Advertising Ken Bellamy Hartley Cotes Managing Editor EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Murray Haw Helen TM Acton Fraa Pre one of Printing Lid group of suburban The Aurora Banner PckoHng New Tha Brampton Guardan The Burangton Post ThaBurtngtonWaa Etobcoke Tha Georoaiown Independent Eco- Sun Champion Mown Era Tha North York Major Oakvae Baavar Week Oahawa The Weekend Richmond HIS Liberal Tha Scarborough Tha vOa Tribune and Nancy ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Ratal Cook Setae Davy Sandra CtaaaHaxt Caratm Aitarn Debbie BUSINESS ACCOUNTING OFFICE Manager Our representatives didnt grab a raise Were generally not too slow in giving our local poli ticians the raspberry or worse when they do some thing we wrong Weve also been known to give them a pat on the back for an action we feels right Heres a switch Were giving them a bouquet for something they could have done but didnt Recently Metro Toronto school board trustees took advantage of a one week lapse in the ending of one provincial restraint pro gram and the start of an other to give themselves hefty raises considering the fact most school trustees there were only making around a year their raises of 100 per cent and more werent as obscene in terms of dollars and cents as they were expressed by percentage It wasnt so much the raise they gave themselves thats enraged many people as the way they slipped it in through a loophole and demolished the spirit of restraint We wont get into the question of whether or not these trustees needed or de- servea raise However we will acknow ledge that our trustees and regatfnflrantilocalcfjttrici are putting in a lot of hours for relatively skimpy pay Increasingly their jobs are becoming more de manding and time consum ing We doubt many are in this for the money none are getting rich on their council or school board stipeds The cynical voters will assume our local represent atives who have been fol lowing the wage guidelines even freezing their wages in the last year werent aware they could slip through a raise for themselves during that one week gap in pro vincial regulations or else theyd have done it We suspect that if Metro school board members knew about this loophole so did some of our trustees and councillors They simply preferred to do the right and honorable thing Like Provincial Trea surer Larry Grossman we hope Metro voters remem ber how their school board representatives acted re cently when they go to the polls in Of course it would be easier for voters to remember and councils and school boards might not be so bold and callous about voters feelings and the political impressions they leave if the Ontario Tories hadnt added an extra year to their term In any event we hope that when the restraint period ends voters will be under standing if our own repre- sentatives-give-themafilyes- and deserved raise We also trust the raise question will have been settled well in advance of the next elec tion An editors beatitudes Blessed are they who do not expect the editor to know everything who tell him whenever an inter esting event occurs for they shall have a better newspaper for it Blessed are they who get their copy in early for they shall occupy a warm spot in the editors heart Blessed are the merchants who advertise regularly for they have faith in their businesses and their prosperity in their businesses and their prosperity shall increase manyfold Blessed is the woman who sends in a written ac count of a party or wedding Blessed are those readers who pay their sub scriptions promptly when they expire so that the publishers can pay their bills when they are due Blessed are they who do not think they could run a newspaper better than the editor does yes thrice blessed are they because there are so few of them in the community From the Buffalo Lake Montana News From the editor des Goodbye Peter Cole Here I go again this week saying goodbye Peter No Its not the Peter who was our mayor and now is the boss of region No tins Peter was just about as prominent but he had Dr and Cole In front of and behind his Christian name Ill miss Dr Cole a lot He had a habit of opening his mouth and try ing to stick not one foot but both feet in It on a regular basis He was great for copy and rightly or figures and Heir comments liven up a news paper Id have loved to have been able tohave seen the look on Pomeroys or any of the Hal ton Hills regional councillors faces when they open ed their agendas and saw the good doctors letter of resignation It would be interesting too to hove the ability to read minds and know what our politicians are thinking these days about Dr Coles immin ent departure 1 suspect It must be relief have no doubt that Dr Cole must have accomplished some im portant things and done a good Job during his three years as Medical Officer of Health here However I suspect our polit icians and wont be thinking of any of these when they recall him In the future Dr Cole should be the standard all civil ser vants in Helton are measured against when it comes to getting Into hot water Even before coming to Hal ton he was the focus of a storm of contro versy regarding his thoughts and actions on birth control and other touchy subjects His lime here did nothing to quell the storm surrounding this man Dr Coles dealing with Acton always seemed to leave locals scratching their heads in wonder at the things he said or else fuming in anger Physicians here seemed to wince at each mention of his name councillors sat in fear awaiting each utterance Now I only met the man a few times and talked to him on the phono occasionally He seemed to me to be an agreeable enough chap But I always wondered where he was getting his screwy Ideas about us It always struck me that he didnt seem to have a clue what we were all about up here Ill admit we have some real characters in Acton some who find my head apparel odd would lump me with the characters probably I often thought Dr Cole must only be meeting the slightly bent of Acton not our general population Let me refresh your memory a bit about the man Hes the one who was the object of some scorn among parents regarding giving out birth control to teens Hes the man who carried on a running feud with some local rest home oper ators Hes the man who had some uncomplimentary comments about the way some turkeys were cooked once at the Acton Legion and at the same time also accused the em ployees of the Georgetown factory of overindulging in spirts before changing his mind In these cases there seemed to be valid points being made by Dr Cole as well as the people who dis agreed with him It was difficult to decide who was right and who was wrong in these rhubarbs always suspected both sides were right and wrong at the same time Thats common since imprecise language and not very well thought out com ments can make the truth pretty grey not black or white But the Dr Cole stories that stick out most in my mind and I suspect will burn brightly In Actonians minds for many years were the ones he made earlier this year re garding our education levels here our sexual habits and vices He raised the ire of Acton by say ing he suspected a well educated high income population In every municipality but Acton had contributed to the in venereal disease lr He had mentioned south Helton and Mlllon and Georgetown specifi cally as having higher socioecon omic levels than most communi ties in Ontario He also set off a time bomb by announcing a study to compere health levels of people in George town compared to Acton He said the study Interested him because it would show if certain assum ptions are true Those assumptions Included his suspicion that there were lower levels of health in Acton compared to Georgetown He thought re searchers would also find ians are heavy drinkers and smoke more than most In addition he sus pected the and nutrition levels were lower on this side of Halton Hills Acton doctors fired back that Dr Coles comments had prejudiced the study and made any results in valid and also countered that they believed VD was less prevalent here than in the south Dr Cole as I said earlier seemed to have some strange no tions about us He rarely seemed to be able to back up his assumptions about us with facts Anyway I wish Peel luck Theyve got themselves a real pistol someone with strong opin ions who regularly fires both bar rels from the hip- S ma 1 1 town I i ving has its adva ntages As one who gets around many other communities in this area during the festive season I have to say Acton and district is one of the most attractive in this season Both municipal and residential outside lighting add a fairy tale de- especially when theres a mantle of snow adding to the set ting Larger places have more sophis ticated lighting and decorations but they often lack that warmth and folksy appeal we see in small towns and villages of Ontario People from larger centres whom meet In the course of my work sometimes ask why people like roe stay in Acton when larger places offer bigger and better at tractions Its a hard question to answer because Ive never really thought it oat Besides I have never given much to the sug gestion that geography can make any difference in the way one Uvea As that old saw maintains You may take Jimmy out of the country but you cant take the country out of Jimmy Certainty many Acton natives have left the old home town to carve careers for In other places and done well both socially and financially Host have a place their thoughts for Acton and area Many of them sub scribe to The Free Press to keep abreast of whats happening Many still have relatives and friends both here and in the district and still consider Acton home Acton and district has its draw backs as those who have lived here most of their lives know Ive done my own share of complaining about the lack of this and the lack of that knowing at the same time if we want to improve things the first person to start with is oneself And the first place to start is at home And as you can see I havent even got the festive Yule lights hanging yet There are also a lot of advan tages to living in Acton we pro bably dont appreciate because we live with each day and they are so familiar Since we are relat ively small it is still possible to know many of the townspeople to walk the mam street acknowledg ing waves and greetings from cores of townspeople and area residents It gives a sense of be longing that people In the larger centres unless they are in similar neighborhoods very seldom of us who grew up ben know that tor community baa gone owing pains It Is no town It used to be but we are also aware fay Hartley Cole Editor that although things change they also stay the same That may be a confusion in terms but it is true Acton has never been identified as an affluent community like ville or Markham for instance but people here live relatively well Loyal industries have supplied steady work Although the wages may not be as high or benefits as many as in other places they nave been adequate in most cases for the materia wellbeing of employ ees There are other advantages such as being able to walk to work if desired knowing you dont have to traffic There are others woo commote back and forth to work larger places They fight the traffic daily but know theyll haves quiet haven to come home to in the evenings and weekends Were only a hop step and jump away from the serenity of the countryside which is virtually unspoiled In this neck of the woods It is likely to stay that way for some time to come ft be report just released by the region is correct Consultants maintain Halton Hills should set less ambit ious goals for rural industrial land use because much of the land is prime agricultural Good It has never been my desire to live in a large centre anyway al though circumstances rather than likes or dislikes can change and It could become necessary In that event like many others I would have to live with it In the mean time there are no compelling reasons to believe the greener grass on the other side of the fence Is any more than i Not everyone can live In a small town I realize people born and raised in the city for instance often find small town life dull and repetitive They dont have family ties and are used to entertainment at their fingertips They ttoea try town Bring for a and forth to the dry Some love Others more back to the dry and dose that chapter in their life as good experience Ive always maintained that the best feature of small town living is Its people There are so many good and generous people in places like Acton Once you know it is difficult to leave Sure we have our apples disagreeable and cranky men women and children here as many or more than In other places Surely all of us are afflicted with foot and mouth disease at times and moods are not always sunny I started out why I like living in a small town In this case Acton and probably it is no dearer now than when I began have a cousin who lives in New York City He says be is exhila rated by the Dow of traffic down Fifth Avenue the burly burly on the streets of Manhattan Theres nothing be likes more than to feel ebb and now of the big dry and be never hopes to leave My views are the opposite Im attracted by he serenity and lack of traffic in Acton and the fact I know something about its mots the personal stories and tragedief of many of its citizens and feel I not Many fad that years ago December II June Jansens family watched with delight Sunday as she trium phed over a set of challengers to one of the top prizes In the TV show Eye Bet June as a previous winner was back to tape the challenge match and came out with a dishwasher this time She appeared on the show before and won a one week trip to Beach Florida Aung with her to the studio on Friday went daughter Laura son David and sister Her sisters Hall Maggie Given Pat and Lorrie Ryan and brotherinlaw Eddie Ryan have also appeared on the show Satisfactory results of the drilling program for water at the west end of Prospect Park were reported by Councillor BUI Costs at Tuesdays council meeting He said he had visited the silo during the testing on Tuesday and the well was producing gallons a minute without ap preciative drop in the volume of water in the well 20 years ago Acton OPPYJorporal Ray Mason this week Issued a warning to mer chants to keep an eye on strangers who enter their places of business as Christmas time Is an opportune time for shoplifters North Issued a stern warning to hunters to be more careful with firearms following a weekend incident in which an 18- yearold hunter was shot In the leg by his companions Acton council members were greeted with open arms and promised full cooperation by the Ontario Municipal Board on their request for approval for a high school addition when the delegation A December Acton Oddfellows gave a supper dance and entertainment In the Parish Hall Taking part in the program were exWarden A Mason Spielvogel V B J Smith Miss Bessie Ernie Coles Landaborough Mrs Worden Blair Locker and Ruth Gibson with accompanists Mrs Miss J Young Miss Brown and Mr Landsborough The marks of all high school students were given Top pupils were Dorothy Phillips Amy Ander son Mary Young Hazel Wilson Kathleen Chapman Jean Beat lie Bella Margaret Arnold Jean Bennie Alien a Gibson Jessie Cross McGeachle Vera Audrey Chalmers Norman Braida Mary Paplllon Vera McEachern Marjorle Near Hugh Froser Dorothy CI or ridge Ada Sprowl Marguerite Roszell Velma Blair Helen Campbell Skating at Acton arena ceased with the advent of mild weather this week years ago December 10 1S07 Mr John Ross who was principal of Acton School from the retirement or Robert Utile In to the ap pointment of Thomas Moore In has died The glove works Is crowded with orders and the staff Is working over time The service to Rockwoodhas been considerably Improved with two moreVahM stopping there each day the 9am going west and the B23pjn going west The Free Press is delivered to any address In the British Empire for a year for one dollar The literary ladies of the Town are organizing a Shakespeare Society years ago Business is dull work Is going to be very scarce wages low and the cost of living high Those who can occupy only what are called callings are likely to be a bad way At the meeting of County Council the question of Womens Suffrage came before tfle council The resolution to petition the Ontario Legislature hi Its favor was carried by a good majority Our young men are advised to re organize thdr debating society for the winter season A room can be bad in the town ball A GueJpb boy played truant from school sold bis watch and bought whiskey with the money and was afterward found hopelessly drunk Stul Parliament will grant licenses for he sale of this cursed beverage And whose boy is not liable ta ram la the same manner Mr Thomas Cook cot four cords hardwood a saw horse one day and wants to know who can beat a