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Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, November 30, 1983 3 Editorial Comment Hay don's Club 21 Carries On Recently, we received a letter, plus an enclosure from Mrs. Janet F. Meyer for Club 21 of Haydon. It was not only an invitation to their Potluck Christmas party on Saturday, Dec. 3rd, but also enclosed was a most interesting publication, produced by the club in 1982, filled with historical details of the Haydon Hamlet, plus recipes from local women. Haydon, according to the book, is not the bustling place it once was when grist mills there were in full operation. But, they still have a distinctive character and they are very proud of Club 21 and the 'old one-room brick school house' that gives their community a sense of unity. 'In 1969 when our church and school were closed, we felt like we had lost our identity - but Club 21 was formed, the school renovated and turned into a small community centre and we're still here', writes Mrs. Meyer. No doubt most of the 40 families in Haydon and surrounding area will be out in full force for the annual Christmas supper and later will enjoy a live play 'Miss Oodle Noodle & Crumdum and Santa' presented by the Borelians Community Theatre of Port Perry. We too will do our utmost to be there for at least part of the evening to record the event on film for posterity. In the i meantime, our sincere thanks for the invitation and best wishes for many more years of successful endeavors by the women of Club 21. It's a traumatic loss when a community loses its church and school and we must commend Club 21 for keeping their community spirit alive; it's important. None for the Road It's a fact! Drinking drivers kill hundreds of Canadians every year. It's a fact! Over 35 per cent of all fatal traffic crashes involve booze (alcohol). It's a fact! Something CAN be done about it. YOU, the general public can simply stop drinking and driving. "NONE FOR THE ROAD". That's the theme of the Canada Safety Council's 28th Annual National Safe Driving Week, December 1 - 7,1983. All road user's are urged to drive sober during Safe Driving Week. If you must party and drink liquor of any kind, get a sober person to drive. Better still, take a taxi or stay with your host until sober. Remember, there is no quick remedy to sober a person after drinking alcoholic beverages. It takes TIME! ! It takes about 1 hour to eliminate each 12 oz. (340 grams) bottle of normal strength beer, V-k oz. (42.5 grams) spirits or 5 oz. (142 grams) of table wine. Many people are impaired, to a degree, even with one drink. Play it safe. "NONE FOR THE ROAD" and do your part to reduce the tragedy of traffic crashes. A Message to Parents You are your child's first - and most important - teacher. When you speak the first words to your infant son or daughter, you are a language teacher. When you help your child recognize colours or shapes, you are teaching reading skills. Before your child enrols in kindergarten, you probably also teach math, science, social studies, the arts, and physical education. Even after your child enters school, you continue to be the most important influence on his or her life. Most teachers see children only a few hours a day. Parents are constantly teaching their children. But some parents seem to think that once a child enters school, the only "real" learning takes place inside the schoolhouse. Of course schools teach children much of the important knowledge they need. But because parents play such a critical teaching role, we know that children can learn even more when the school and parents work as a team. We want to encourage you to become an active member of our school community. Here are two ways to become directly involved in your child's school life : 1. Be Visible. Attend parent conferences so that you and your child's teacher get to know each other. Join and support your school's parent association. When children see that their parents think school is important, they do, too. 2. Volunteer. Parent volunteers enable schools to provide many of the extra touches that can make the difference between a good education and a great one. Even if you are very busy, there's a job you can do. (More suggestions and possibilities for parent volunteers will be discussed in the future). Be a partner in your children's education. Here are some ways you can help the school do a better job : -See that your child attends school regularly. -Support the school in its efforts to maintain proper discipline. -Be aware of what your child is learning in school. -Let us know if your child has any problems outside of school that might affect his or her schoolwork. about any aspect of our school program, share them with us. Your child's teacher can often give you the information you want. The principal is always available, too. -Speak well of the school when your children are present. If someone on the school staff has been particularly helpful to your child, let that person know. Everyone likes to hear good news now and then. Much of the above has been excerpted from PARENTS . . . PARTNERS IN EDUCATION a publication of the American Association of School Admin- istrators. - ' At times Wing the year I'll share other ideas and suggestions from this booklet. Yours in education, Stan Green & Staff Ontario St. Public School reproduced from their publication 'The Oyster The Mourning After R.R. 1, Enniskillen, Ontario November 25,1983 Dear John: The morning (mourning) after: I woke up this morning wondering what had hit me. Felt rather nauseated, disillusioned, disappointed, etc., and wondered what the cause was. Now I know, I saw the production 'And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little' last night and it didn't help my physical or mental digestion very much. Good points - acting, well done, props excellent, advertising team, excellent work (with three packed houses you should be able to sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo). Content, lousy! Perhaps I could share with you my experience re language used - as a dairyman we call it barn language, use some and it adds flavour to our product, too much spoils production. Come on Drama Club, couldn't you choose to invest your precious hours and abundant talent in a play more uplifting and entertaining to the general public? We love to shop Bowmanville. Yours truly, Wes Hills <Ht|e Canadian Statesman 623-3303 (+ck Durham County's Qry t Family.Journal Established 129 yssn ago In 1854. Alio Incorporating The Bowmanvlils News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62 86 King St, W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 .1 1 » f i/i^ JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publishor RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. DONALD DISHOP Plant Mgr. All Isvouli ind cgmpoiillon ol advaitlumenti produced by the employees ol The Canadian Slalnsman, Thu Newcastle Independenl and The James Publishing Company Untiled ere protected by copyright end must not be reproduced without written permission ol (he publishers. 115,00 a year -- 6 monlhe 11.00 strictly In advance foreign -- 146.00 a year Although every precaution will be taken lo avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising In Ils columns on the understanding that II will not be liable lor any error In the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof ol such advertisement Is requested In writing by the advertiser and returned lo The Canadian Statesman business olllce duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted In writing thereon, and In that case It any error so noted Is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman Ils liability shall not exceed such a portion ol Ihe entire cost ol such advertisement as.the space occupied by the noted error bears lo Ihe whole space occupied by such advertisement. -'.W. i _ j , ,r Fort Anne, Annapolis Royal, N.S. SUGAR and SPICE Why I Became a Teacher Friends of mine in all walks of life can't understand how I can stand teaching as a vocation. With striking originality, they ask: "How can you stand it?" So, with another few months of my chosen way of life under way, I though I'd look at it, and try to give them an answer. Perhaps we could start with elimination. It would take an act of God, or,a change of sex, or something something equally dramatic, to make me an engineer. I have just completed the job of trying to change a typewriter typewriter ribbon. It took me 39 minutes. minutes. I wound up with ink all over my fingers, my face, and a clean shirt. And guess what came out when I began typing? Red words. It was one of those half-red, halfblack halfblack ribbons, and I'd got it upside bassackwards. The only reason you are reading this in black is that it is being reproduced by someone else. My lack of engineering skills precludes precludes my making a fat living where the real money is these days: as a repair man. If you have a son or daughter pondering a career, for the dear goodness' sake, steer it into fixing things --plumbing, electricity, electricity, TV, cars. Took my lawnmower to a repairman the other day. It wouldn't start. Picked it up three days later. The bill was $41.16 -- one dollar and 16 cents more than half what I had paid for the new machine a few years ago. The bill for labor was $27. You could have a baby for that not so terribly long ago. I've never wanted to be a scientist. scientist. Can't see spending my life in a lab trying to find a new additive that will make clothes whiter than white or a new chemical that will make deodorant dryer than ever. ,!■. Medicine, since I hâve never had a secret desire to be God, held little appeal for me. It's a noble profession, profession, and you can make a pile of money by peering into people's apertures, proving their flab, making making their blood spurt, and writing prescriptions among other things. None of those things turn me on, though. Dentistry, ditto. I can see no particular particular charm in standing at an angle most acrobats couldn't maintain maintain for 10 seconds, gawking at gums and crumbling renovations. One look into my own mouth would give me nightmares for a week. To heck with the $50,000 a year. Then there's the law, of course. There's a great deal of poppycock about majesty and the integrity of the law. All of it stems from lawyers and judges. But I wouldn't care to be associated in a profession where there is, despite all disclaimers, one law for the rich and another for the poor. Shakespeare said it nicely: "Let them hang all the lawyers." Another field that brings in a mighty good buck is accounting. But where's the future in that for a fellow fellow who can't even account to his own wife for the way he behaved at the party on Saturday night? Quite a good career these days is "working for the government." Certainly Certainly you'll never be fired, unless you turn up drunk four days in a row and rape four different secretaries. secretaries. Even then, you'd probably just be."transferred to a less sensitive sensitive area," or put out to pasture on a pension. When I was a student, we used to say scornfully that if you couldn't do anything else, you went into the ministry. This was a base canard, of course, but the delights of the parsonage never really got me exr cited. I wouldn't have minded pounding the old pulpit a bit, but I couldn't have stood the old biddies and the back-stabbers and the constant constant mendicanting. What I thought I might be was a professor of English. Sit around in a book-filled study, dispense wisdom wisdom to awed students, and give the occasional brilliant lecture. Well I've since met some of my old friends who chose that path. They're more boring than the guy who comes to fix my furnace. What I really and truly wanted to do when I was young and romantic was to become a foreign correspondent. correspondent. Influenced by movies, I wanted the works: trench coat, snap brim felt hat, bylines from Hong Kong and Nairobi. Nearest I got to that was editing the country correspondence from contributors to a small-town weekly. That wasn't a bad vocation, except that you worked 60-odd hours a week and never made any money. I guess my secret desire for years was to be a writer. Preferably a pipe-smoking, enormously popular, immensely wealthy one, several times divorced, a world traveler, a lecturer in great demand, yet with a depth, a plus quality in my novels that would put me up there with Hardy, Conrad, Heminway. With three or four of my novels turned into smash hits on Broadway and in Hollywood. And all my own hair and teeth. Only trouble with that wish was that I was too lazy. Oh, the talent was there. No question about that, as we novel-writers manque can assure assure anyone. So instead of becoming becoming a Hemingway, I became Bill Smiley, a chronicler of the tribulations tribulations and the trivia of the mid-20th century. And not a whit bitter or disillusioned about it. That Wasn't quite enough to keep a body alive, so I became a teacher. Not only because most other professions professions fill me with nausea or loathing. loathing. But because I like young people, words, ideas, and two months holidays. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Mr. James: The members of the Bowmanville and District Horticultural Society wish me to extend to you their sincere appreciation for the coverage which you give our meetings. We appreciate the accounts of our monthly meetings appearing in The Statesman as well as photographs of special events. It is our hope that others may read these accounts and decide to join us at our meetings. Sincerely, Doreen E. Perrctt (Secretary of Bowmanville and District Horticultural Society) R, R, No. 4, Bowmanville, Ont Nov. 25,1983 Dear Mr. James: I've never wrote a letter to you before but this time I just lmd to. For it makes me very angry to think the town Council thinks the rural residents should pay for street lighting in town. We live In the country and 1 have two yard lights 1 have to ■ have on at night and no one in town helps me pay for the hydro they use. And another thing, Rural Residents pay much more for hydro, than the people who live in town. I agree whole heartedly with Mr. Woodyard that rural residents residents shouldn't have to pay slreet lighting in town, 1, for one, never shop at nights so why should I pay for something something I don't use. Rural residents pay more taxes than town residents plus we pay more for telephone, garbage pick-up. So, please give rural residents residents a break, we'll pay for what we use. Thank you Mrs. 0. G. Coburn, R.R. No.4, Bowmanville, Ontario. Attention: Mr. James Re: Rural Residents Street Light Payments This letter will probably serve no purpose but to let off a little steam, even if it had 3,000 signatures. But, rural residents who have no street lights should not pay for them. People in rural villages who have lights benefit. People in town who have lights benefit. Those who don't have them on their roads benefit very little. Not enough to warrent a 30 percent payment. Rural hydro rates arc higher than urban in the first place. We have to look after our own water and septic tanks, no one in urban areas pays for that. The lights are only of use lo rurnls if they drive to town at night. Most do business during the day when the lights are off. Hardly anyone will he doing business at night, all the time, as town staff report. What about "dusk to dawn" lights in rural areas? Urbanites Urbanites don't help to pay for them, They benefit from them when they drive at night. They can see the road and buildings more clearly. Ann Cowman said it would be "a major step forward." To what? Can rural residents expect expect to help pay for more of this in the future? (Garbage collection, water systems, sewers, etc. Town staff would probably say we benefit from this too.) If you live in places with streetlights you should expect to pay for them. Don't expect rural residents to pay your hills because we don't expect you to pay for ours. Whether council likes it or not, rural and urban are different! There are more votes in the urban area hut don't expect the rurnls to look after them! Ron Vice Rural Resident Official Plan To Be Changed For , Maple Grove Durham's regional council council has agreed to change its official plan so that infilling would he allowed in Maple Grove. The change in the regional regional official plan approved by council Inst week would give Maple Grove the status of a hamlet. Further studies in the form of a Immlet development development plan will describe in detail the land uses and boundaries of the community. community. Byline... By Peter Parrott Ever noticed how it is that the older you get, the faster the hours fly? For some unknown reasons, the years roll downhill after about age 21 or so. And when you are a parent and can measure measure time against the growth of a child, the years fly by not in days or hours but in first steps, first words, smiles, and inches and dutifully rein rein baby's first album. It seems as though just last week I was writing a column about the birth of our daughter. daughter. But that was really a year ago. Yes, about five thousand diapers and two thousand bottles bottles ago. Sixteen or seventeen seventeen pounds ago, two hundred nights of interrupted sleep ago. Then there were ten or twelve weeks of colic and a few colds and bouts of teething. Lately, there has been three or four miles of crawling, along with a few bumps and bruises from the early attempts to stand and sit. I remember how one year ago the baby was home from the hospital all of twenty four hours and I settled down to watch the Grey Cup final while mother and baby were upstairs sleeping between feedings. feedings. Now, it's another Grey Cup and in between between the touchdowns, Stephanie is as much fun to watch as the Argos and Lions. And she certainly beats the halftime show hands down. She sprints for the television, outflanks coffee tables, dodges chairs, tackles teddy bears, and generally makes a cute, four-legged four-legged pest of herself. And it was this Grey Cup that she actually took two or three steps before collapsing into her grandmother. That move brought more cheers than Joe Barnes and his entire offensive line. Yes, we're through our first twelve months. And we arc rapidly discovering discovering that life with a one-year-old is more exciting than the Cup. Grey SCORE A POINT FOR HEALTHY LUNGS Support your'local Lung Atttioclîillon 723-3151