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2 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville. January 18, 1978 Section Two Mb't CEanaban ~acn *CNA Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 123 years ago in 1854 Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mail registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62-66 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario LIC 3K9 JOHN M. JAMES Editor- Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. 1oe O +.UL ,%1 JOHN E. JAMES General Manager BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. "Copyright and-or property rights subsist in the image appearing on this proof. Permission to reproduce in whole or in part and~inany form whatsoever, particularly by photographic or offset process in a publication, must be obtained from the publisher and the printer. Any unauthorized reproduction will be subject to recourse in law," $10.00 a year - 6 months $5.50 foreign - $21 .00 a year strictly in advance Although every precaution will be taken to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable for any error in the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof of such advertisement is requested in writing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted in writing thereon, and in that case if any error so noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesmarfits liability shall not exceed such a portion 0f the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisemenf Editorial Comment Let's Have Facts Not Rumors In the last few months there have been many reports hinting that the Pine Ridge Training School will be closed. But in spite of what you may read or hear, there is still no official word on whether or not the training school facilities here in Bowmanville will be phased out. This newspaper has attempted to find out the future of the school and has not uncovered anything definite. Nor have any of the other local newspapers in this area. What we have found out is this: The training school system across the province is under some kind of review. The provincial cabinet is going to make decisions on traimng schools some time in the future. Durham East MPP Sam Cureatz said recently that the school is unlikely to close its doors for two years and it may not close at all. In all of these facts, there is nothing definite - nothing that we could hang our hats on, so to speak. And we prefer not to print more vague articles about the fact that the school may close. The training school may close and then again it may not. Snow may fall tomorrow and then again it may not. Spring may be early this year but on the other hand, it may be late. So we think whoever is in charge of dispensing facts to the public on this matter should give us a few solid facts about the Pine Ridge School. And by the way, we would prefer not to hear that the matter is under review because in bureacratic circles where studies are conducted Once upon a time, there were only a few professions in the country, doctors, teachers, lawyers, ministers, engineers, etc., but lately there has been a change with the introduction of expert planners. And even more recentiy, consultants. Before, during and after this area became part of the Region of Durham and in the second tier the Tâwn of Newcastle, the planners moved in to study everything about the district. Zoning reguiations, building restrictions and aIl the rest followed apace, until you were forbidden to do anything much with your property without going through all the rigamarole of obtaining permits and having everything nspected regularly. It all took a great deal of time, expense and frustration but had to be, according to the authorities, possibly to keep the eager developers from running wild. That period was bad enough but now there's a new and costlier trend. Not that the planners are out of the picture, just another layer seems to have been added. They are called consultants and for varying amounts of money will provide studies or On Saturday, January 14th, the Solina Women's Institute held an anniversary party to mark their 75th birthday. Unfortunately, the weatherman didn't cooperate too well but blowing snow and drifts didn't deter the ladies one iota, they still had a good crowd of enthusiastic supporters at the dinner. The fact that Solina W.I. is 75-years-old isn't all that important. What we found most interesting in the report of the session was a recounting of the activities in which these ladies have been involved over the three quarters of a century. It daily and consultants work constant- ly, what isn't under review? We would like to hear exactly what the current status of the school is. We would like to know when reviews ofthe training school system will be completed and we would also urge that a decision be made as soon as possible so that the issue isn't like a sword dangling over the head of the community. We are sure that the employees at Pine Ridge and their families are also anxious to know the future of the facilities. And while we are mentioning employees, we think that the owers that be ought to explain w at will happen to person- nel when or if the school locks its doors. Will they be transferred to other employment? Will new jobs be found locally? Finally, what is the future of the government-owned land at Pine Ridge, assuming that the place is to be closed? When we first heard of rumors that the buildings will no longer be needed by the Province it occurred to us that they would be an ideal location for sorne kind of civic headquarters for the Town of Newcastle. Pine Ridge has sports facilities and plenty of buildings that could be used for municipal headquarters. But first, of course, there are answers needed on the future of the Pine Ridge Training School. An official reply from any qualified authority is nothing less than this community deserves . . . if indeed anyone knows the answers at this time. advice on almost anything. Most of these firms are large, with experts on call to deal with almost any situation you can dream up. They i analyze your business or your community, tell you whether or not you would be wise to dig a ditch here or there, if a town would be better off with a town manager or not, and so on ad infinitum. Right now, several of them are in action in the area, participating in the Hearing con- cerning hous subdivisions for Courtice. An er group is to be hired by Northumberland County to study whether the school boundaries should be changed. Frankly, councils don't seem able to get along any more without these experts. And the nice part of it is if the consultants prove to be wrong, councils don't take the blame, they hand it on to the consultants and they are long gone on another study somewhere. Wasn't it nice in the old days when you had some control of your own affairs and didn't call in an expert every time sométhing was to be done. Life is certainly getting more and more complicated. made good reading in these times of stress, when the dailies are filled with stories of murders, weird deviates, communists in the postal service, et cetera, and renewed one's faith that there are still more honest, hard-working people inter- ested in improving their community, than there are those whose only ap- parent objective is to destroy our society and themselves. We extend congratulations to Solina W.I. on their anniversary and wish them well for many more years of involvement in the af airs of their conmunity and their nation. It must be nice to be one of those eople who sail into a new year with igh hopes, great expectations, and firm resolves. I am more inclined to back into it gingerly, head ducked as though awaiting a cuff from fate. I think, from experience, that you have to be young and naive, or old and religious, or just plain dumb, to expect the next year is going to be any better than the last. For example: I know I'm going to be one year older and uglier; I know I'm going to have fewer teeth and less hair; I know I'm going to be utterly flabbergasted at the arrant thievery of the government when I make out the cheque for income tax on the last day of April; I know that more and more of my friends, relatives and colleagues are going to be struck down by cancer, heart attacks, a broken marriage, or the crud. I know that my daughter won't be able to get a job as a teacher, after a gruelling year of preparing for same and raising two kids on the side. I am quite certain that my two grandboys are going to get steadily more difficult to handle. (One of them, not quite four years old, made a dreadful suggestion to a lady in a store not long before Christmas, as my wife and I looked around wild-eyed, pretending we didn't know him or each other). Dear Sir, Hurray for Dennis Sadler! May I take a moment to thank him for his article in The Canadian Statesman January 11, 1978. As a ratepayer in Courtice I believe I can speak for many when I say we were delighted to read such a refreshing, open and factual summary of the Courtice concerns. After so much technical jargon, it was a relief to read facts that were so clearly presented. At a time when the almighty dollar sign reigns supreme it is heart warming to hear from people like Mr. Sadler who obviously care about the "little guy." I hope Council, and the 0.M.B. will take note. (Mrs.) Myrtle Barnard Open Letter to Mayor Garnet Rickard. Dear Sir, On the subject of the proposed arterial north-south route to the east of Bowman- ville, Bennett road would seem a likely possibility. The 401 access bas already been completed, and is the least used access in the history of time. I got a raise this year, but am perfectly aware that it doesn't allow me to keep up with inflation. I saved some money this year, for the first time in 30, by continuing to drive a 10-year-old car, but I know every dollar tucked away ( and paid taxes on) will be worth 82 cents when it comes time to spend it. I know full well that during the coming year I will have to undergo the ordeal of a federal election, in which a bunch of nincompoops try to convince me that they can run the country better than a bunch of turkeys. I am fully cognizant of the fact that my wife is going to be on my back in 1978 for moral turpitude, physical lassitude, and mental ineptitude, not to mention a number of other things that can't be classified in a family journal. Economically, the country is, depending on your point of view, either up the creek without a paddle or going over the falls with a motor stuck in high gear. Next fall, my students will be the absolute worst I've ever had, there will be more of them, eight will be on drugs, six will be alcoholics, five will get pregnant, and Il be taken off to the funny factory. Why don't I just shoot myself then, instead of heading into 1978 with all these bogeymen riding my to public information about this proposal is completed it is time for the town to make a firm statement for or against the refinery and accompany- ing dumpsite, to be included in their Phase Il presentation. I urge the town council to say 'no' to Eldorado's proposal. If there is a major division of opinion, for or against, the Eldorado refinery proposal, then this should be clearly recorded in the council's presentation. A division of opinion may well be the case, and would reflect the division of public opinion regarding nuclear development which was discovered by a recent SEAP survey of Bowmanville. Yours sincerely, Peggy Clark S.E.A.P. - Darlington in- vites members of the New- castle Town Council to attend a film night on Jan. 17, 1978, at 8 p.m., Courtice Secondary School cafeteria. Two '2-hour films from the National Film Board will be shown: 'A Matter of Choice' - documentary and interviews with the community around the Bruce nuclear develop- ment; and 'The New Alche- mists' - showing actual de- monstrations of safe, renew- able energy sources. We are relatively new to the area. It strikes me that Bennett Road must have been considered, and the possibil- ities discarded some time before our arrival. I'd be most interested in learning, if this is the case, the reasons why Bennett Road is not under consideration as a logical north south route. Yours very truly, Patricia H. Irwin Hwy. 115 Jan. 7, 1978 S.E.A.P. - Darlington Box 256, Bowmanville LiC 3L1 To the Newcastle Town Council: I am writing as a member of SEAP - Darlington. As you know, SEAP is a local citizens' group interested in respon- sible energy planning, and concerned about the problems of nuclear industries. I understand that the New- castle Town Council will be participating in the second phase of the Eldorado ura- nium refinery hearings that will begin this month, and am pleased that the town council bas shown such interest and concern about this proposal. However, now that Eldorado's shoulders? You may well ask. Because life is the life. As my daughter once remarked at the age of six, and which I have since considered one of the great philo- sophical gemsofthe 20th century. Of course l'Il be one year older. But l'Il be one year srnarter, at least in theory. It's not true that l'Il have fewer teeth. Ilil have more. I'm getting that euphemism called a "partial plate." Less hair, but I can always get a toupee or a fall. Uglier, for certain, but there comes a point when ugly starts to become beauti- ful. "His face has a lot of character," they say, meaning that you like something that just swarn home from the Crimean War. Sure my buddies will be stricken with everything from a slipped cervix to a swollen colon, but a couple of thern were marked up for the big final registration last year, and came through with flying colors and a heightened love of life. Maybe my kid won't get a job teaching. Maybe it's a good thing. How would you like to spend your working hours with a bunch of teachers, as I do? O.K., my grandboys are really rotten. But they aren't any more rotten than their mother was 20 years ago. She's just now beginning to admit to us what she was doing the Discussion will follow. New- castle and Courtice Ratepay- ers are being invited. Please permit me to clarify some points made in the press last week concerning the Darlington Nuclear Station issue and my decision to go to jail. It was not a last minute decision, but one made in early December, after arrang- ing for the care of my daughter. To save her some anxiety, about the unknown (jail), I waited until I was released to publicize it. Now that I'm home again, we've had ample time to discuss the matter at length and have both learned a bit more about the meaning of 'civil disobedience.' I had nothing of importance to lose by going to jail and have gained something of value; I felt as free in jail as I do outside. I did not intend to say that 'my family does not approve of it' (going to jail), rather that they were concerned about my personal wellbeing, about the stigma 1 might acquire and about the possible difficulties it might create for my daughter. Although some acquaintances have made jokes about my being a jailbird' and 'tilting at wind- mills', I have had no unplea- sant experiences. My family and friends have given me moral support at the most difficult of times and I thank them. Most importantly, they have indicated their support of efforts made toward an exam- ination of the nuclear issue, specifically the damand for a hearing into the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station project, according to the Province's Environmental Assessment Act. I went to jail because I was charged and happen to live in this area; I sincerely believe it is necessary to publicly and actively show that the protest against nuclear policy is continding here in our midst, that the issue most definitely and personally affects the people of this area as much as it does the direction of life in Ontario and throughout Canada. That's why Dorothy Boden, Peggy Clark, Rose Lilley, Jeff Gold, Larry Allen, Bessie Shackleton, Ed Sch-mmer- horn and many othu- s-lave worked, sometimes oeyon. their limits, arranging meet- ings, films, writing letters, when we thought she was at Sunday School. I'm slipping behind financiallyg but who isn't? My prisoner-of-war pension soared b y7.5 per cent on Jani. 1, so im on the glory trail. It is now almost 60 bucks a month. No question, we'll have a federal election. But what's to worry when our Grand Guru, Pierre Himself, says that if we all think positively, the economy wiil pick upWho can argue with something as solid .as that? Certaiply not the poor dope who has been out of work for two years. He's probably not thinking positively. No doubt, no doubt at all, that my wife will be on ny back through 1978 for all the things mentioned, and some new ones she'il think up. But what the hell? I'm used to it; and we're still man and wife, although she might quibble about th e designation, or parts of it. As for my students next fall, they will undoubtedly be the same mixed bag of mixed-up adolescents they have always been, and we'Il get along fine once they realize that Mr. Smiley is a'bit senile and must be humored. Last year was pretty bad, and this year will be worse, but life is the life, and it sure beats lying there in the graveyard with your hands on your tummy. phoning, sorting clippings, filing, preparing briefs and surveys, speaking to groups and discussing the issues with individuals by the hour. This is the nature of the groups throughout the coun- try, who are working hard to expose the nature of this issue and to reveal the immense possibilities for genuine growth through conservation, alternatives and reevaluation of lifestyles. Naturally, it is satisfying to read complimentary letters such as Ron Amyotte's and to hear that he and his wife did attempt to visit me in jail; they know I appreciate it. Going to jail was for me a bit of an adventure, admittedly. If the publicity stirred a little thought in the populace, so much the better. But the real heroes are those who work behind the scenes. The public displays are momentary; the perseverence and dedication are what count in the end. They know it may take years; they know that change never comes without a long struggle and I believe they are prepared for it. Maybe this is a good time to thank them for their efforts, their support, their friendship. Sincerely, Ms. Jikke L. Miedema 3ugar Life Is The Life and Spice First Came The Planners Letters 75 Years of Good Work Editor