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2 - Orono Weekly Times Subscriptions $38.09 + $1.91 GST = $40.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs." Wednesday, June 23, 2010 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Roxanne Johnston Classified Advertising - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Kendal Ponds revisited The world of weekly newspaper publishing is so random, we never know from one week to the next what the paper will look like, or what the content will be until we go to press with it on Tuesday night. Hopefully there is enough going on to write a few stories about, and hopefully some of our readers felt passionately enough about issues to write us a few letters, to fill up part of page two. That leaves the right-hand side of the page, with a lot of white space staring us in the face every week. A guest editorial is a real bonus here. Last week our Clarke High School Co-op student Maggie Savage finished her placement here and wrote the editorial for her last assignment. It was great having Maggie here, and we are confident she will make great contributions to print journalism as she pursues her dream. With nothing obvious to write an editorial about, I went to the post office to pick up today's mail. Low and behold, in the mail was a manila envelope with 'Letter to the Editor' written on the front. It was a letter from Roy A. Foster from Port Hope which included a newspaper clipping from the October 4th, 1967 issue of The Canadian Statesman about the Kendal Crown Lands, except he referred to the property as the Kendal Recreation Area. John Thomson had just been in this morning asking if I could do a little piece in this week's paper about the Meet-N-Greet and BBQ next week Tuesday at the Kendal Crown Lands, which is now being called the Kendal Ponds. At the BBQ, a committee will be formed from local volunteers to work in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to manage the property. The newspaper clipping provided by Foster stated that Durham MPP Alex Carruthers had just announced in the legislature the acquisition by the Department of Lands and Forests of 814 acres in Clarke Township as a Recreation Area. The project, as described in the clipping, included the dam and mill pond site in Kendal Village and the range of hills and land to the west of that community. Carruthers gave credit in the Ontario Legislature to the Ganaraska Conservation Authority and in particular to Roy A. Foster, Reeve of Clarke Township and Elmore Scott, member of the Authority. These men, he said, were the first to visualize the potential of the area and worked closely with him and the Department in the development of the project. The article went on to say the outstanding topography lent itself to a variety of year-round recreational pursuits, and the area could be managed for multiple-use activities such as timber production and farming to a limited degree. Existing small creeks and artificial ponds could be further developed to provide swimming and trout fishing, while the undulating wooded hills would beckon nature lovers and hikers. In his letter, Foster says, to show off the property, he put bales of straw in a small trailer and loaded up Mr. Carruthers and three senior staff members of the Department of Lands and Forests, and took them on a tractor tour of the 814 acres, because it was too large to walk over. "The men were very impressed with this," states Foster, "and in a few months they disclosed the deal to purchase the property." I called Foster at his home in Port Hope. He tells me he is 83years old and has been an Orono Times subscriber for 50 years. Prior to being elected to Clarke Township Council in 1965, Foster says he sold real estate in the area. He told me in 1965 he had a chance to list the Carscadden Farm in Kendal, but he felt rather than list the property, it would be better in the hands of the public. That is when he approached MPP Carruthers and took him and the Department members for the wagon ride on the property. Foster said he last visited the property 15 years ago, and says it has grown up a lot since 1965 when it was purchased as farmland. When asked what he felt of the plans to form a local volunteer group to work with the MNR to manage the property, Foster said, "That is what I had in mind all along -- let the people of Kendal look after it, and put their influence into how it should be managed." Almost 40 years after the Kendal lands were purchased for the community's enjoyment, Foster's vision for the management of the property is being realized. And somehow every week the stories present themselves, filling the white spaces and making headlines. The gates to the Kendal Ponds open at 5 p.m. on the 29th of June, and the BBQ begins at 5:30. Letters to the Editor Saving grace To The Editor: This is a letter to the heartless cowards that threw a small defenseless kitten out of their car onto the grounds of the Orono Arena Sunday night. You hear about these things happening, but when you actually see it, you really can't believe it. How could you be so cruel? All you had to do was take the kitten to the Animal Shelter in Bowmanville and they could have found it a proper home. Instead, you discarded her like a piece of trash for God knows what to happen to her. You should be ashamed of yourselves. My son brought her home, we gave her something to eat, bathed her and all she did was purr and cuddle with us until we went to bed. We just recently adopted a cat last October and cannot take another cat permanently; however, we will keep her for a short time to see if she can get a better home than the last one she was in. If you are interested, please contact the Orono Times. On behalf of "Grace," thank you! Orono Resident Tread lightly on our roots To The Editor: Nobody likes to pay taxes, but nothing is more fair than a user tax - the buyer pays. If we dump on the Liberals too much, Harrisclone Hudac will end up taking the reign. Taxes - and everything else - will be cut: shades of the SARS fiasco (hospital staff running between part-time jobs), dangerous de-regulation of vital services. The Bobbsey Twins, Hudac and Harper (who cut the GST against all economic advice) leading us away from our true, caring, Canadian roots. Yours very truly, Pat Irwin Lycett Stick them in your own backyard To The Editor: I would suggest that Roger Yates place as many of the attractive turbines on his own property as possible. An alternative solution for the environmentally benign turbines would be to replace the trees in the Ganaraska with these attractive 10 year wonders. Paul Rutherford Listowel