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Wedesdy eceber2-3, 1998 - i O RONO WEEKLY TMMES Subscriptions $21.50 + $1.50 G&S.T. = $23.00/year. Publications Mail Registration No. 000368 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB IMIO E-Mail Address: oronotimes@i,,speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/ Editor Marg Zwart We'l 'rÎg re Ifl utBy: John Thomison The begîinigs for this columrn camne from an innocent com- ment tô Marg Zwart, this paper's publishier, abouit how tired shie looked and how the holiday and a break for hier were fast approaching. Shie indicated the holiday was two editorials away. Well 1' offered to write one. Subsequently, I notice shie got Roy Forrester, this paper's long timie publishler and contributor, to write last weeks. Mar, that leaves only 50lefi to writite, next year!! 1 offered to discuss with Marg the subject 1 had chosen, a piece on our commun ttiity. "Wiite whiatever you want"sshe replied. WeIL,1 thoughit, l'il just do a piece on hiow shie, the Editor/Publishier, cut ail the fun stuf from mny last piece!!!ý This piece bas chaniged, an-d hopefully grown. That's al part of the process. Take an idea, mnuil it over and consider. Bill, an old friend of mine, a corniedy w;riter, Once replied to fihe question, "How's the script coingiý?" w,,ithi "Slo,I've been working on il for mlonthis". "Whien is il due? queried the questioner, "day after tomorrow," replied Bill,'"but 've finially figured il out, l'il type il toniiit," The point being, it somnetimnes takes a long tinie to figure it out, but nlot very long to type it. It's ail ninfthe process, the figur- ing out. So, when 1 said to Marg 1 would write about comimunity, mny first thoughts were of the nice moments we al share, the friendîy wave, the momning greeting, the charmning village and surrounding country we al share. But, it is more than geography and a friendly wave. This coin- mnunity of Orono is the people of the village and thic old Clarke Township. This community lias a long history of fundraising, involvement and communuty generosity. The arena is community- run. When the Orono Amateur Athletic Association, who run the arena, decided to add facilities, they didn't go to the municîpality and ask for new facilities. They informed Clarington counicil of their intentions and begani raising the funds in the community, as they, and we have done so many times before. Th e playing fields are commnunity-run; the grass cut, lines marked and nets installed, ail by volunteers. The Town Hall is community-run. Every year it hiosts miany gatherings. Last Friday evening, a Christimas carol concert brouglit ids, parents, grandparents and mnany folks from places as far flung as Leskard, Kendal and Newtonville (1 didn't see anyone from Crooked Creek) together for a free concert, a wonderful evening for ail. Thle next m-orning, the floor was washed, the building cleaned and readied for the next event. The Board of the Townl Hall hias been asking the miunicipality for a sink for over a year. A large used sink bias been donated. The municipality lias, stili, to approve its installation. This comniity would have installed il in an aftemnoon. Recently our local counicillor, Troy Young, approachied counIcil with the idea of installing video camneras in Orono, Newcastle and Bowmanville's business cores. I hiave asked miost of the people on the Main Street and the BIA memrbers in thç village where this idea carne fromn, nobody knows. Troy, the village doesni't need any cameras, but we could use the sink. Twenty-five years ago, the townships of Clarke and Darlington, along with thelowns of Newcastle and Bowmianvilie, were comu- bined fo form- the Town of Newcastle, whichi was renamied Clarington. Clarn gton is now designing it's own flag, in celebration of the amalgamation. As 1 went through the process of writing this col- umn, I kept asking long-timne residents, "do Orono and Clarke Townîi hlave anything to celebrate?" The aniýwer I kept getting was 'NO, noth ing." We would be just as well, or better off without' the amialgamation." As I stood in the Town Hall last Friday night, the thoughit kept runniing hlrough my mmnd, "Ibis old Hall would probably bc avail- able one or two Monday ighots a mnonth and a new Clarke Township council could mieet, and once again admrinister thec Township. I bet they ail would be volunteers and we would figure il out, on ce again. This village an-d fthe surrounding Township define the word commnunity. The-arwo-d notrun ithou voluteer.Wal through fhe Dear Marg: Jim Stutt's passing has caused iii mé mioment for pause and reflection f or which 1 hope you will allow me the space to indulge my sense of loss for a commnuni- ty member. M~y faily lias been. a regular customer of Stutt9s pharmnacy for nearly 20 years. hI part because we believe in the id ea of sup- porting local business. But more împortantly, a pharma- cist must be -a person you can feel comfortable wlth. Quite a few years ago, when mny eldest child was but a few weeks old, 1 accidently burned my wrist over the steam of a kettle. The blister, mudli larger than a silver dol- lar, was immediate .and painful. With a new baby, and living only across the street at the time, my immediate reaction was to see JIm Stutt. He was virtually always avail- able. Always accessible. And always frlendly. He didn't have to, but lie salved the burn, dressed it, and 1 returned home feeling very weil cared for. B3efore big chain pharm-a- cies Iook an interest in the patient as a pers on, rather tlian as customer, Jimr seemed to always take an interest. My mother, a retired nurse, used to tell me about lier teleplie conversations wýitl i m on tliose occasions slie'd caîll in prescriptions or repeats. He neyer met hier, didn't -even know who she was, but she thouglitlie was pleasant, lie sliowed a caring interest in lits patients, includlng folow-up, and that lie seemed to understand wlio lits customers were, wlio bis community was, as part. of bis job. She says of him lie stood out as among the few wlio took tlie time and liad tlie patience to do his best for the patients. 1 arn also rerrinded by my eldest son, Kyle, of Jim's gen- erosity toward a number of cliarities and communlty organizations. For instance, eacli vear our family bowled in the! Big Brothers Bowl-a- Thon, Jim always sponsored Kyle witliout hesitation. In tlieir friendly 11111e chats for over a century anda lhaift left us a legacy of a greal community and a communiitiiiy-runi infrastructure that requires the continuing support of ail of uis. John Thomnson hias been a r-esident on andc? oJ, ortenly years, he is pr-oud to cali Qomno home. Seasons Greetings Whiat a fitting way Io end the year. (Thanks Johin for thal moîher of all editorials.) As Ibis, the last paper of 1998 goes to press, I would like to thank ail whio have contributed in so many ways to the pages of this paper. The 'Last Word' colum-n was inspired by a contributing reader, and its been a lot of fn. The sports pages rely solely on your input. Roy Forrester's regular columrns and editorials continue 10 be a treat; thanks Roy. To ail of you who send in regular reports, columins, lips, and story ideas, thank you so much. Have a wýonder-ful Christmas and a blessed and happy New Letter to the Editor) from )Jirectors & Staff Durham County Co-op T\Af~J fM~i about the BowI-a Thon Jim helped Kyle leamn the art of sellinig' his efforts for a wor- thy cause, leaving a lasting positive impression on hlm. The poignant pliograplis Jim took in China and which hunrg over him, the Norman Rockweil sketches, and a mortar and pestie are arnong the images 1 carry of Jim's. pharmacy. Reflections of but a few of lits lnterests and even of lis sense of humour. In large measure, what Frm try- lng to articulate, is Iliat even wlien 1 was ili, or worrled about an fil dhld, Jim showed not only care but also some- how seemed to make me iaughi and, if you will, feel a little better simply by liaving made the tri n mbthe phar- macy. And lsn't that, really, the best medicine? Sincerely, Helen V. MacDonald