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Georgetown Acton Wednesday Dec 26 The TELEPHONE 853 O Founded in 1875 Don Ryder D ectO of Advertising Ken Bellamy Hartley Coles ng Ed tor by ft at Straw Acton Tetophono wm each 18 par in Canada a countries than Canada Ontario Com Second mad The Aeon a one he of which Trt Aurora Banner The amp on The on The Bu ng on Weekend Post E totcote Guardian The Gemot own Ml Econonus El Sun Tha Milton Champion The The Oakrtle Beaver Osnawa Wtw by Tha Week Weekend Richmond Hid Libera a The Scarborough The vile Triune The or and Woodbndoe Libera Me otind is a of En EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor Spona Mart Tad Brown ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Rata AdvattWng Manage Sand Jamie F Ink Claiuliar Advaftnmg Jan Bru on Ci Manager Hick Circulation BUSINESS OFFICE Oftke Manager Accounting Pit Ken Meters ugh The Free Press last week earned a banner headline indicating the Town would ask the Business Improve ment Association for then- opinion on the need for parking meters in down town Acton But it was all in error Councillors from Ac ton with the help of more far sighted colleagues killed that part of the resolution before voted on it However downtown Georgetown long afflicted with the change bandits will get new parking meters on Townowned lots and the charge will jump from the present cents an hour to cents as soon as the meters can be changed It was a move approved by the Georgetown Business Improvement Area BIA however what may be construed to be good for Georgetown does not necessarily mean it will benefit Acton Mean vandals Surely some of the meanest people in this com munity have to be responsi for vandalizing the str ings of festive lights at Villa on Elizabeth Drive last week Not content with destine tion there the home next door was also vandalized the vandals stealing flood tights erected to welcome home a daughter and son in aw from their home in Europe It is hard to know what kind of meanness comes over people especially at this time of the year when most people try their best to be kind and show their con cern for others If the culprits are caught we hope the full force of the law is exercised It could prevent further vandalism especially on senior citizens many of whom spent a considerable amount of money from fix ed incomes on providing the community with festive lighting The perfect gift by Captain Wilson Perrlo All of us hove been caught up in the buying and receiving of Christmas gifts Some of you were excited your gilt others of you were or either surprised In any case the various reactions to the Christmas Spirit has again rem me of a very valuable and perfect gift The gift of God Son Jesus Christ to the World During the past weeks I have been involved in s nging Christmas carols at different Institutions During those times I have shared a meditation with many different people My meditation was based upon St Luke which says And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn kjv I then asked them a question What do you feel is the best Christmas ft you have There were a good mixture of responses some said Having good health being together with family being with friends I was so pleased when one person said having Jesus Christ In my heart I thought yes that the best gift to receive that is a perfect gift for all of us What a priceless gift Gods Son Jesus is Godsglttohumnni ty came wrapped up In swaddling clothes and was also wrap ped up in all the Love of the Heavenly Father to a world that was a hopelessly wandering around looking for a deliverer Jesus is in essence the gift of Salvation to the world St Mat l says She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus because He will save His people from the r sins During this festive season It is my personal prayer that you will receive the perfect gift Money cannot buy Him hard work alone cannot obtain his favor God is saying by faith receive my Son and live May this Christmas be the tune when you will receive the Perfect Gift and the New Year will be the time when you will enjoy Him Downtown shopping areas in towns all over On tano are competing with malls and plazas for the consumer dollar Part of the appeal of the malls is the ease of parking and the freedom from worry about tickets Shoppers worried about how long they have left on a meter aren t liable to spend much time brows through stores and browsing is often a good part of sales Shoppers will just make their purchases and leave It would seem ridiculous for council to authorize parking meters in the down town when it should be more accessible not dif to use We con gratulate the Acton coun for seeing through the carrot of revenue from meters to the real concerns of the downtown peace be yours in Letters Want Ethiopian aid stopped Dear George Galloway of the British charity War on Want has reported that he and British television crews have witnessed evidence of a huge m of Western food aid In Ethiopia Galloway who is just back from Ethiopia reports seeing hundreds of bogs of Canadian German and American skim milk that have been smuggled across the border into the Sudan and sold Corrupt officials of Ethiopia Marxist government have stolen the food Canada sent them for their own hungry people and are prof leering from its sale Galloway has revealed that Sunflower seeds entice grosbeaks Federation of Ontario Naturalists If you haven t set up a backyard b rd feeder there still time A simple feeder made out of a piece of plywood with a 1 railing around may be attached to a window ledge With any luck you 11 have some Evening grosbeaks come right up to your ndow if you stock the feeder with sunflower seeds Moke sure you have an ample stock of sunflower seeds on hand One large flock of grosbeaks will consume hundreds of pounds of seeds over course of a winter at considerable expense to the delighted birdwatcher Evening grosbeaks ore about the size of a starling and have an extremely large conical whitish bill The male is largely dull yellow with black and white wings The female Is silverygray but with just enough of the yellow and black to be recognizable Their call is a ringing f nctilike chirp cleer or ip People wonder why the birds are called Evening grosbeaks because they seem to be more active in the morning than toward evening When they were named they had been heard to sing only In the evening Formerly this was primarily a western species but In recent times It has rapidly pushed its breeding range eastward In Ontario it was first known to nest at Lake of the Woods In 1920 first the Muskoka district in and first in Algonquin Park in It now breeds east to Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia Other birds you might expect at a window feeder particularly f the feed mixture contains a high percentage of sunflower seeds- are Black capped chickadees bluejays Whitebreasted nut hatches cardinals and Purple finches If the feeder contains a suet rack Downy woodpeckers should visit it regularly Among Ontario winter birds there arc several species that prefer to feed on the ground Thus the seeds spilled by the sloppy feeding habits of other birds at the feeder ore utilized by these ground feeders such as coloured tree sparrows mourning doves and even pheasants Several feeders are always better than one Larger birds may dominate a single feeder so that some interesting species may leave your area In search of food Of course IT you get info bird feeding In a big way have your credit card ready Letters are welcome Please keep them brief Canadian grain is being made b ts that are later sold This misuse or Canadian aid sad to say was entirely predictable for Fore gn Aid Reform has urged the Canadian government not to go overboard Past experience with government togovernment aid has not been a happy one In Ethiopia The Ethiopian govern Is Marxist brutal and hope less ly corrupt Over the past several years there have been numerous reports of food aid being stolen and sold by Ethiopian officials As well grain sent from the European Community was trans ferrcd at docks I and sent to the Sov Union to pay for guns The sad reality is that government aid to Ethiopia Is merely keeping In power the tyrants and corrupt of who are at least partly to blame for the famine Canada should cease government to govern aid to Ethiopia and put the or so thereby saved toward reducing the huge federal deficit Aid of the sort we have been merely rips off the Canadian tax payer and enriches some corrupt Ethiopian off Sincerely yours Paul Research Director C FAR tizens for Foreign Aid Reform Xmaa its Just at well we dont know If Santa Claut venison Back issues years ago Dec 25 in Mrs Evelyn was appointed to Hallon Hills library board Thursday night to fill a vacant spot among council appointees Rosa Cooper 27 was hired as Area Recreation Coordinator or wards one and two at a salary of and a monthly car allowance 20 years ago Dec Acton Reeve H H will toa his hat into th- ring for Warden of County It Is expected he run a two way race against Herb Merry of Oaltville J Brilliant lights and Chrislmaj decorations visible for blocks light the front entrance to Beardmore ana Co Ltd and many have admired display Santa Onus made annual visa to Acton Saturday to distribute eddies and gifts to over children whose parents are employed and Co Ltd 50 years ago Dec ISM Bert Hayes rural mall carrier was seriously injured after starting his route Monday afternoon when a car driven by Dr Borden of Alma collided with the sleigh in which Hayes was riding throwing him out and fracturing several ribs A farmer In Township injured his about haying time He worried about it for he had alfalfa that he wanted to cut The alfalfa went to seed and later he cut and threshed It Alfalfa seed la on product that Is in high price this year on account of Its scarcity and farmer received for the alfalfa seed from one field The severe winter weather yesterday has made the roods rather hard to travel 75 years ago Dec 109 The citizens committee nasi arranged for a meeting of tha of town to be held In the town hall December when Mr James Simpson of Toronto known champion of labor Interests In that will address the meeting The schools closed yesterday for the Christmas holidays They will reopen Monday January Reeve Is erecting another building for Morris Sax on his property on Main St years ago Jan 1 1885 An exciting runaway on Main St on Sunday Mr Joi Price of Harding s grocery was just starting out for a drive when the became frightened and dashed away at a furious pace The cutter was completely destroyed and now thinks Sunday driving is not a paying business Erin village was the scene of a shocking accident Friday last The victim was the son of Mr George late of Nassagaweya aged about 12 years He was left the house for a short time in charge a of sick lady while his mother ran a an errand In the mother absence her son was amusing himself by a rolling about the floor when kicked one of the legs from under a large self feeding coal stove which rolled over upon him At present he lies in precarious condition Thermometer readings were degrees below zero last week and degrees above this week Smiley would n t trade todays Yule for old Like practically everything else in the frantic century Christmas is vastly overdone A day that was for our an a simple observance of the birth of Christ combined with a family get together of reasonable jollity has grown to the proportions of a nightmare in which shopping for gifts exchange of cards Christmas entertainments highpowered advertising and a steady and relentless stream of socalled Christmas music make up the accumulation of horrors In Ihe good old day the family rose early and went to church where the parson gave them a twohour appetizer They then went home and took a nip of something to take off chill While the servants were sweating In the kitchen preparing the vast dinner to come they took a bite of lunch Then the ladles set off to distribute food to the poor while tho men pat their tails to the fire and went after that chill again Thaia your ancestors Im talking about Mine were among the people tbe ladies were taking the food to I can ee them kicking the pigs under the bed when her ladyship came in tugging their forelocks scraping their feet and saying milady mum as she pulled one of the geese that had died of disease and one of last year battles of blackberry brandy which had turned vinegary out of her basket Today of course my ancestors descendants will eat turkey on Christmas Day until they bear a resemblance to purple pigs while the descendants of milady who have managed to hang on to the old home only by taking tourists through at a shilling a snot will be dining meagrely they can affort to heat on a nice bit of brisket and some brussels sprouts And serves them right However that a not what I started out to say but I cant remember what It was anyway Oh yes about the old days and today Well despite all and throwing of bands in the air at tbe paganism and commercialism tfng our Christmas today I wouldnt trade it for the oldfashioned one of a hundred years ago And dont forget I said our Christmas Sure our kids believe In Santa Sure our preparations are getting more and more beetle and more and more subject to com But our grow out of Santa without any dire effects And we get over tbe panic and celebrate the day with just as much reverence and fax as much family fun at ever our ancestors did ITI warrant our youngsters know just as much and maybe more about the story of Christmas and the coming of the Christ child as their counterparts of a hundred years ago know Mine do anyway thanks to thdr Sunday School teachers And 111 bet we re not half as smug and selfish despite our muchtouted material Ism as our Victorian greatgrandfathers were Bitting on their fat rumps by the fire on Christmas day and letting the poor worry about themselves On this coming Christmas Day in our Band will be out In the cold playing for ihe old people and shut ins GroupsofladleBandmenfromadozen different organizations will be scurrying about with vast baskets of food and treats for the needy And tbe needy are pretty few and for between these days simply because we have a whole lot more social conscience than our ancestors had Outside that warm cosy jolly Pickwickian Christmas of a hundred years ago lay a world of cold and hunger and degradation We t let It exist today So don t let the worrywarts Christmas with their perpetual com plaining that Christmas is being paganized Nothing can sully Christmas because Christmas Is In your heart In the simple story on that day In the shining eyes of a child in the loveliness of the carols Yes and It is in the Christmas tree and the gay windows and tbe colored lights against the snow and perspiring Santa at the Christmas concert and he card from a friend you haven seen in years If you the giving of gifts run your self sway into debt ore happy In family reunion attend church on Christmas Day stayed away front the hard stuff and a pig with tbe turkey you go far wrong