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*~\ 10 — The Gukville Journal Record, Friday, ‘September 19, 1980 Why not give anelephant eae ~ for Christmas? Have you considered the possibili- ty of giving’an elephant for Christ- mas this year — a home-made macrame elephant of course. You may groan at the thought. After all, there are still 82 shopping days left ‘til Dec. 25. But this is the time of year to get started if you plan to give gifts made by hand. There are several advantages to giving home-made presents if you’ve £ got the time to devote — and let's face it, there isn’t much else to do in this in-between autumn weather. Home-made gifts are always cheaper than their manufactured equivalents and usually of better quality — assuming you're not all thumbs. Besides, the love and care that goes into a gift you’ve made yourself can’t be equalled by a store- bought item. Sentiment is everything here. A unique present can be hand- made for every member of the fami- ly from a knitted afghan to keep grandmother’s knees warm this winter to a wooden toy train for the new nephew. “The old crafts are coming back,”’ according to Heather Armstrong, owner of The Wool Bin, 136 Lakeshore Rd. E. ‘People are getting back to making family heirlooms. They're doing tapestries that they know will be harided down through the family. They’re making lace tablecloths again and smocking is back.” As an example of the savings that can be incurred by making your own, a child’s dress with smocking # that last year sold for $100-dt Holt- Renfrew in Toronto can be hand- made for $6, she said. A French designer vest that sells for $125 in Hazelton Lanes can be made in five hours at home for about $40. Needlepoint on stiff plastic can- vas, which can be made into an eye- glass case, handbag or Kleenex box cover, is a popular new craft this year. A more traditional craft that appeals to many men is rug hooking. The macrame elephant mentioned earlier is a more ambitious project. But materials and lessons are both available at Harbourcraft, 30 Bronte Rd. Macrame is another craft pop- ular with men, who've been known to make everything from hanging tables to lampshades. Another novelty item carried by Craft Stores are loaded with gift ee now and working on a Christmas project can brighten up dreary fall weekends. original gift he the store is dried bread loaves, which may be decorated with anything from pine cones to ribbons to nuts for less than $4. Corn husk wreaths you decorate yourself make another good household gift for a neighbor or relative. “T think people are making more of their own crafts now,” said Har- bourcraft owner Bev Honchar. ‘‘We have a very large book library to get ideas too.”’ no equal. For the novice craftsman, courses - offered by the Halton Board of Education and the Oakville YW- YMCA this fall may be of interest. ' OJR/Tom Barley This ecru Oitrespes takes a little time and skill to make but as an Consider, for instance, combining a genealogy course offered’ at T.A. Blakelock High School with a calligraphy course at the Y to produce a unique hand-lettered family tree that will be treasured by - a history buff. Other courses offered cover everything from brass rubbings to stained glass quilting to woodwork- ing to sewing lingerie. For more information on the school board programs, call 827- 8403. Information on the Y programs may be obtained by call- ing 845-3417. Off ” thetop Richard Moses A*. As I write this I have not heard whether the search for the four people missing in the latest boating ‘‘accident’’ hasbeen successful. The suceess is, in any case, moot. at this point: No-one missing on the lake could have lived since last Friday. Two men and two children, aged nine and twelve, now presumed drowned, and somewhere a woman who has lost both husband and children. Why? Let’s talk about it. First of all, there is almost never a boating ‘‘accident”’. There are boating stupidities and boating ig- norances, but most often there are boating carelessnesses. The number of boaters is in- creasing each year and silly salmon-catching contests attract oe more. How can we Oe ae fe eee | possibly convince these hordes of tyro boaters that there is something monumen- tally different about boating. Driving a car is risky enough (tens of thousands are killed each year even at that relatively safe pastime, but sailing or piloting a boat is nowhere near that safe.” Would you compare flying a plane with driv- ing a car? Of course not. Yet any yahoo who can burn rubber at the red light thinks he can take off on to the lake any time at all with as much foresight and preparation as he puts into going to the movies and be guaranteed a safe return. Sailing on the 1g€t, out of sight of land, I have been hailed on at least two occasions by such a yahoo, in shirt sleeves at the wheel of his 200hp inboard and asked questions like, ‘Which way to Port Dalhousie?’’ No chart, nothing but a dime store compass, probably no’ extra gas, certainly no spare water or provisions, let alone emergency flares, etc. ete. And every summer tragedy strikes. Perhaps not because of a lack of water or a compass; maybe just because nobody thought to check the weather forecast for the day — not the simple-minded weather check after the news (“Sunny and warm, chance of showers’’), but the near-shore ee rp eee f= ah marine forecast which said, ‘‘Caution advis- ed because of high winds.’’ And off they go, the kids in tow, to do a little fishing. * But there may be someone else to blame for these tragedies. Maybe we ought just to assume, once again, that in this area of ac- tivity, the human race is not ready for self- government. Maybe outfits like TOWARF should take it unto themselves to do a little more prevention instead of just waiting for someone to rescue. For years, our harbors have, ‘on occasion, been socked in with fog. On-one pea soup day, after struggling into the harbor with near zero visibility, I stormed over to TOWARF to inquire politely why in hell somebody wasn’t out there blasting a car horn or blowing a whistle or something to help these boats in. The reply was that the men were all out rescuing lost boats! Finally, we have foghorns, but not through the urging of the rescue services, If you have passed the Toronto Harbor Authority tower on the East Gap, you may have seen one or more red pennants flying from the staff. One pennant means SMALL CRAFT WARNING, two means STORM WARNINGS, and so on. Would it be such a formidable task for our TOWARF to mount a flagstaff, tune into the marine forecasts and let the unwary boater know by means of these visible signals whether or not it is safe | Writer pleads for more boating safe Suards to go out? Come on TOWARF; this was mentioned some years ago. What's the holdup? Now then, if we were really interested in preventing ‘‘accidents’’ on the water, why don’t we, for goodness sake, get out on the water on risky days and warn people verbal- ly or even with a_large sign that conditions are. unfavorable r craft below a certain size. Again, with that big new TOWARF boat, why is the squad not out on the lake actually checking boats for safety equipment, crack- ing down on overloading, watching for dangerous practices. There is absolutely no reason for such _tragedies as occurred off Burlington last week. To be charitable, let’s say somebody gocareless, but to share the responsibility, let’s say somebody else was not around to make sure nobody got careless. All boats in Oakville harbors must be launched from a limited number of ramps and/or must pass through two narrow harbor openings to reach the open lake, Natural ‘‘checkpoints” already exist; let’s use them. Somehow, in some way, those who choose the !2ke to live neanor play on must learn to have for it the eformous respect it com- mands. Only thus will it become a true friend instead of the bitter enemy it now is for at least one Burlington family.