The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

» -- - ------ ----- e1k-- ---- ----- ----- ----- ---- ----- ----- ----- ---7 Arthur Black 1 was sitting near the rear of a cross-town bus pretend- lng to read my paper, but actually, covertly, spying on these three young teenage kids across the aisie. They were ail boys, ail dressed ti the regulation watcli cap, hooded sweatglhirt and baggy pants that seem to be de riguer for ail young teenage rugged- individuallsts these days. The boys were scrunclied over i their seats, like medieval supplcants, heads. down, frantically manipulating plastic lozenges tI their laps -- lozenges that beeped and blipped inces- santly. Nintendo addicts. They didn't know I was alive -- and that's okay., I doubt that any teenagers ti history have ever been aware they sharedthe pianet wth other, older or younger peo- pie. That's the nature of teenagerdom. But it made me sad ail the same, because looking at these kids, these electronic surfers, 1 was pretty sure that none of themn had ever known the pleasure of owning a good, oid-fashiÉoned sltnigshot. I can't Imagine being a young boy and flot havlng -- or at ieast coveting -- a siing- shot. It was wýhat boyhood was ail about ... gotng down by the creek and -searching aniong the saplings until you found that elusive tree crotch that formed a perfect -Y". Cutting it down, peeling back the bark, whittiing perfect notches to hold the rubber band. Slingshots were forbtdden of course. Parents warned us neyer to fool with them. Police men confiscated them on siglit. Teachers would send you to the principal if they saw one jutting out of your back pocket. So naturally weadored tliem. I was totally infatuated with my siingshot. Riglit up until 1 knocked'the window out of Old Manri Wntlirops garage wlth it. It wouldn't have been so bad if Old Mani Wlnthrop hadnft been work- ing I the garage at the Urne, looked up at the sound of tin- kling glass and seen me standing there witli eyes as 'big as golf banls, tncrimlnattng slingshot In my hand, the ruliber band still swlngtng ti the breeze. Later that nlght, my father convinced me that my future would be lnfinitely -brighter, If 1 eschewed playing w th siing- shots tlienceforth. Not so Hew- Kennedy. Kennedy lives on a farm In Shropshire,- England, and aitliough he's approaching xmddie age,é he's neyver lost his Which explains the tre- buchet in lits back yard. Trebuchet? That wouidthie granddaddy of ail slingshots. A huge, liulkIng behemoth of a catapuit that looks like a kind, of iant, 6-foot-long spoon attached to a five ton weght. Hew Kennedy's Ire- buchet can throw vexy liea'vy objects up to 150 yards at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. How heavy? Oh, heavy like a sofa, a grand piano or a dead plg. "A good, big 80W is really aerodynamlc" says Kennedy. And lie sliould know. Hes liurled ail of those and more on lits trebuchiet. He's not thie frst -- not by several centuries. Back in Roman times, legionnaires employed trebuchets to iay siege to casties.* They would lob liuge boulders, burning bundies of liay -- even dead liorses -- over the castie walls to wreak havoc among the inliabitants. But Hew Kennedy isn't lay- ing siege to any casties. He just likes slinging thlngs around thie countryside. "It's bloody good fun" says Kennedy. It's also lucrative. Hew Kennedy and lits trebucliet have become a bit of a tourist attraction i Shropshire. Film crews from Japan, Germany and thie Scandinavian coun- tries keep knocking on Kemedy's door, asking if he'll activate thie trebuchet white their cameras record the event for posterity. He also gets requests from thie odd rich Aïperican famnily which is happq7 to pay just s0 -thie kids get to see it fling somethiing". Këpnedy~s happy to oblige __ if th@ pri<De is riglit. It's not a bed living, but. when I taiked to Kennedy he indicated that he's getting a littie bored with Hie repetitive nature of his heby. Posslbly because hes p~st bought an elephant. Actually, its a mechanicai elephant, pjow@red by a Ford engine, powered with what looks like elepfiant sIn and featuring four pylon-sized legs that clomp aiong just like a real lephant. "Jumbo", Kennedy's Robot Elephant cari ctrrY up to four kids at a Urne 0on it's back. It's quite popul@r as well. . .but truth to tell, Kennedy is beginning to tire of Jumbo too. He's lookiing for new thrill horizons to cofiquer. Now if he couild just figure out a way to leer Jumbo into thie trebuchet.. Corne to the Orono Fair this Sept. 4, 5, 6, 7 Cail or Fax- Us at' 983-5301 Your News, T hé -e r7lhe CAL in Ciarin gton P Î Cehieatathe Town liai! on 7emperance £Street f-,2 .9owznanviiJ Mondayg, Julq 21,1997j fum froin 6.00 pjnto !i00pm~ Funi for the whole famnily! , ntertaimneni for everijonel Bands,, Clowns Etc.! ONTARIOI Date of Publication: WednesdayJuly 16, 1997 ay!_ J. Cooke, MTED Telephone: (905) 623-3379, 7I Municipality of Cia rington 40 Temperance St Bowmanville LiC 3A6 PO #6268 Clarington Fire Cails The Clarlngton Fire Department answer'ed to hie following calîs during the period of July 7 to Juiy 14: 2 structure fires: 2 fires; 8 motor vehicle accidents: 8 medical assistance caîls; 4 alarm activations; 1 haz- ardous materlals cal and 4 check-out cals. TRIPLE R DOLLAR PLUS 531-3 Main Street, Orono New Summer Hours 7M7onday e Tuesday - Wednesday - Saturday 9a.m. - 6p.m. Thursday & Frday 9a.rn 9 p.rn VENDORS BOOTHS INCLUDE... More l'endors * Silk& Died Flouwers Welcome *Upper Canada Soap/Gandle Products ~ -f~ *We & Beer Supplies Cail 983-9462 4LHan dMade Jewelt7y FUNERAL SERVICES PRE-ARRANGED AND PREPAID Funeral Director s Paul R. Morris Robert E. Williams Gary M. Conway Doug R. Rutherford Newcastle PIiotograpIiic REPINS49 Ce7t 135-74 FIMI (rnlrgeMens* 19 King 5t', e0st N.-wcdstl.e Colour full frame only 110.126, Disk &135mm 97.-3 40O9 Offerexpioe. SEPT 15e17 J1ean Sim on e School oflDance now reg/stering for Summer C.amp Dance -Craîfts aDraman Songs5 Mo vies -DaiIy Ouiting Sunimer camp provlded at Kld's Paradise An Indoor playground closed to the public. *Begins JuIy I 4th and runs to August 22nd *Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. *3 years of age and up *Arrangements can be made for early drop off Pri va te daycare pro v/ded fui/- t/me (infants welcome> for more information ca/k JEAN SIMONE SCHOOL 0F DANCE 122 Waverly Rd., Bowmanville (5)697-1943