THE HERALD Wednesday April 5 1389 Page ulroney on apower trip 30 years ago Members of the North Halton High School district board meeting in Acton approved a 1959 budget up mills and finalized a much discussed four classification salary schedule for teachers with a minimum of I think were unduly afraid of future pressure trustee Force Acton com mented to the suggested increase in the minimum Halton Manor Board officials have obtained permission from Hon Louis P Cecile Minister of Welfare for Ontario to proceed with the construction of a 139bed addition to the county home for ag- ed residents Last week county ofj ficials signed the construction con- tract with Dell Construction Total price of the contract was Halton Homes were unable to contain the powerful Glen machine Sunday afternoon as they relin quished the industrial hockey league title to Glen Williams in a best of five series three games to none 15 years ago At the annual awards dinner of the Central Ontario Drama Leagues festival held at the Toronto Downtown Holiday Inn Saturday evening Derek president of Georgetown Little Theatre was one of the three per- sons nominated for best director The nomination was in recognition of Dereks work in GLTs produc tion of Plaza Suite by Neil Simon In a spectacular display of talent and color Acton Figure Skating Club wound up the season with its annual ice revue at Acton arena Trophies were awarded to four skaters for achievement through their own hard work cooperation and attitude towards skating and the teachers The winners were Carol McKenzie David McGilloway Karen and Heather Mickey History from our files 10 years ago The Halton Board of Education approved a study of the mid dle school concept to determine if it is more effective than other school systems BramptonGeorgetown Conser vative hopeful John burst from the starting gate in the young federal election campaign as he was the only local candidate involved in any main campaign work Mr McDermid visited with local merchants last week and also shook a few hands and kissed a few babies on Main and Guelph Streets Regional Police will be tendering for 34 new police cruisers in 1979 The force intends to stick with the fullsized vehicles and there have been few changes from the specifications 5 years ago The Georgetown Optimist Club is planning to have a parade to kick off their eight annual Entitled Our Heritage the parade is in celebration of On tarios 200th birthday and Georgetowns 120th birthday It was a teenagers dream come true won her weight in rock The 16yearold Georgetown womans name was drawn from a ballot box at the Shoppers World Brampton Music World store Nicki was in vited to pick records and cassettes off the store shelves Church group wont let sleeping dogs lie Kelts Korner Donna Kefl United Church Ministers oppos ed to ordaining homosexuals will not let sleeping dogs lie The Community of Concern ministers and 30000 lay peo pie strong is continuing its light in Ontario to set the record straight The group opposed to any move by the United Church governmental body to ordain selfdeclared prac tising homosexuals is wanning up for the annual spring meeting of the churchs general council Members of the Community of Concern met locally last Friday in The battle according to Rev Frank of the Communi tys strategy committee Is to en sure that the United Is not promoting homosexuality When I spoke with Rev Lockhart last year in Bowmanville he highlighted some of the concerns of the Community The Community of Concern isnt a radical rightwing group that has stagnated in the 1950b Its a group of ministers and congrega tion members aiming to preserve the dignity of their church When I interviewed three ministers while I was working for the Canadian Statesman newspaper in Bowmanville last spring Rev a down-to- earth man with an honest face and a humble home and office backing the United Church said the local ministers found the whole issue to be ari outrage I dont discuss in public what my wife and I do said Rev He wondered what would make a practising homosexual any dif ferent But while the media on the meaty issue of homosexuality it ignored a crucial element of the United Churchs stand According to a document released last year- Chris longer to be the cen tral figure of the church Ministers in Bowmanville discussed their disappointment with the paper published by the United Church internal govern ment This paper was up for ap proval at last years annual con ference In British Columbia The United Church officials modified this document following the protest of the Community of Concern This large reactionary group is opposed to what they say is an upstart trend in the church to strengthen inner government and weaken the churchs base So its much more than a fight to stop gays from preaching in the pulpit Speaking with United Church ministers in Halton Hills last sum mer I got the impression that danger to the church was not as Imminent here as it was east and west of Toronto Ministers- here felt the decision ultimately rests within each parish But whether or not fears are ap parent the two sides of the United Church have been set adrift from one another A radical core floats toward a new definition of the United Church of Canada while a reac tionary Community of Concern cl ings to the premises of the past And the principles of individuali ty and union that brought United Church followers together are slip ping away EDITORS NOTE The following letter to MP Garth Turner was filed with the Herald for publication Dear Mr Turner I read with interest and anxiety your column in the March edi tion of the Georgetown Herald You tell us we are bankrupt and that your government feels its cheating the future to run deficits and build up debt Why then has our Prime Minister delayed our openirig of Parliament until April 3 The last House of Commons was dissolved on October 1st SIX MONTHS AGO The government has spent million or more on a Commons that was given nothing to do There will come a day Im sure when your government com plains about the opposition obstruction and the shortage of time to get approval for legislation and whose fault will that be Has Brian moved our capital to Meech Lake for private meetings with his inner cabinet What kind of a democratic process does Canada have with Mr Mulroney Perhaps his govern ment just isnt ready to face the Commons after six months of reorganization You say that Canada should be operated as a business How many businesses take a six month day and still remain solvent I do not wish to criticize your efforts thus far but I have some very real concerns for the direction our government is taking Our PM I feel is on a personal power trip and our members must always keep in mind what is really best for our country Yours truly Eileen Weldon Come join the Artisans Dear Sir I wonder if people find the Credit Valley Artisans name in timidating They shouldnt I remember when first moving to Halton Hills flipping through a parks and recreation book- and see ing the CVA advertisement I had little confidence that the CVA would be impressed the speed at which I could tie a knot Now I had been doing Arts and Crafts since I could remember and family members had been long suffering recipients of my selfproclaimed master pieces Yet somewhere deep in side I knew that the Group of Seven would never change their name to Sections of Eight to ac commodate me The thirst of knowledge creativity and friendship won out over selfdoubt and I went to sign up Still I approached the cottage with grave trepidation Once I met the members all my doubts were waived aside Here were everyday people who were enjoying pain ting weaving pottery and stain glass and wanted to promote the visual arts in Hills To en courage the novice they offered artisans courses For the ac complished artisans they provide a strong support system by pro viding a work area art and craft sales and encouragement The has always participated at community events This helps to attract new members and keeps us in the public eye Our membership consists of a good crosssection of the surrounding community in cluding nurses teachers busj drivers housewives laborers sales agents engineers accoun tants professional artisans and office people Many talented and successful members started as novices with the CVA If you want to join the CVA then put aside your doubts and come and meet us The annual membership fees are low cost and you will obtain your moneys worth We need you to help to con tinue promoting the visual arts We are also interested in hearing from people who would like to have their art guild join the CVA or would like to start a new guild For fur ther information please contact our Registrar Joanna Dobbin at We invite everyone to come out to our open house on Sunday April from am to 4 pm at the Cedarvale Cottage in Cedarvale Park Georgetown Not only will we have members demonstrating and ready to answer any questions you may have we will also be serv ing coffee and refreshments Come enjoy a cup of coffee and see ar tisans at work in their home The next meeting for CVA members will be held May 730 pm Kath Peace Thanks for support from service groups Dear Sir I would like to take this op portunity to thank two local ser vice clubs in our community who provided a valuable service The Acton Rotary Club and the Georgetown Optimist Club spon sored Free Skating at the three arenas in the Town of Halton Hills In total residents took ad- vantage of this generous op portunity On behalf of the residents Hills and the Recreation and Parks Department thank you for your continuous support and for the contributions you make to our community Sincerely Joanne Wilson Supervisor of Special Events Write us a letter The Herald wants to hear from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a comment to make on something you read In the Herald send us a letter or drop by the office with your sign ed letter to the editor at Guelph Street Georgetown The mailing address is Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario L7G Were waiting to hear from you Its hard to be romantic about todays sports heroes Thomson Service It was such a joy toopen up the newspaper the other day and be reminded that there is still one Canadian sports hero who can serve as a genuine rolemodel to us all The sad fact la the woods are no longer particularly full of sports stars we can look up to Over the past decade a lot of them seem to have left the woods and moved to clinics It was different of course in the old days Everything always was Back then we had all kinds of legitimate sports heroes stur dy decent men with crewcuts and Now its certainly possible we may have overestimated these guys Its conceivable that at least some of them werent quite as stur dy and decent as they seemed when we were six But at least the crewcuts were real and the teeth were false which has to tell you something Nowadays Its obviously a little harder to be so romantic about sports heroes Here in the sports pages chronicle the activities of baseball players who stalk off in a huff and refuse to play if their salary dips below the Gross National Product of Luxembourg Theres the Commission which has helped us answer the knotty question of whether Olym pic athletes can truly be con sidered amateurs And it turns out the answer is yes and no they may be professional athletes but at least theyre amateur phar macologists In short give or take a Gretzky or two professional sports offers nobody a can truly look up to Especially us kids in our thirties and onwards And thats when we open the paper and read that Canadas greatestever athletic rolemodel a paragon of decency and integrity whom we should have had the wisdom to elect prime minister is still alive and well and living in happy retirement In Kentucky I refer of course to Northern Dancer Its possible my wild admiration for the Dancer arises in part from mere nostalgia since be ran dur ing the brief Golden Age of horse racing This Golden Age began around 1963 when I grew old enough to watch the Kentucky Derby on TV It ended around when I grew old enough to go to the track and bet It was Groucho Marx who com mented on the thrill of visiting the wealthy race tracks which were considerably wealthier when he left Still just consider the pertinent facts about Northern Dancers career Here was an undersized horse who won both the Derby and the Preakness without performance- enhancing chemicals When other worldclass athletes were already on the verge of the era of chemical experimentation the Dancer was resolutely saying neigh to drugs Here was also an athlete who retired in the very core of his prime at the age of three Ive always found this par ticularly inspiring since it stresses a truth so often denied in our unhappy society that three is an excellent age at which to give up strenuous physical exercise Its a biological fact that human- energy reaches its peak at the age of two Physical exercise can in certain cases be safely attempted until the age of seven or eight After that its madness But most inspiring of all is the way the Dancer adjusted to retire Where so many athletes have fallen apart after their play ing days were over the Dancer simply got on with the business of providing stud services for fees of up to 1 million an appointment Lets be perfectly honest A guy could learn to live on that In short were not just talking about a rolemodel were talking about a shining beacon to all Cana dians Northern Dancer Sigh If this werent such a rotten and unfair world you too might be able to have a son just like him