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\ ( Editorial Comment ) Hospital Needs Our Support Memorial Hospital, Bowman- ville, Corporation is to be commended commended for a very successful year. All the data presented at the annual annual meeting of the Corporation in last week indicate that the hospital is maintaining peak efficiency while coping with an increasing number of patients. A few highlights include: a 4.1 per cent growth in patient care; a surplus of almost $100,000; and a three-year accreditation by authorities authorities responsible for surveying hospital facilities to see that they meet all of the necessary healthcare healthcare requirements. The hospital's high quality can also be seen in the upgrading of equipment, the dedication of volunteers, volunteers, and the professionalism of all members of staff as they work in a "team" atmosphere. Each of these areas was singled out for special praise during last week's annual meeting. The facts indicate Memorial Hospital Hospital is doing its very best with the facilities which are available. But facts also point to the need for improved facilities. For one thing, there are so many new developments developments in medicine that hospi tals such as ours may find it necessary necessary to upgrade even if they are not faced with future expansion of the community. As a building reaches and exceeds exceeds its 20th year of operation, it's only normal to think about repairs and renovations. The need is greater at Memorial Hospital because of the demonstrated demonstrated increase in hospital use and the necessity of putting into service portions of the building which were damaged in the fire of 1980. And, of course, the growth of the municipality as a whole must also be considered. Frankly, Newcastle's Newcastle's residential and commercial expansion in. the past few years is less than might be hoped for. But we can expect better things in the future, especially after the two or three years that it will také to get the renovations and building activity activity finished. Before long, we'll be hearing more on the subject of hospital construction, construction, renovations, and financing. financing. And the evidence points to only one conclusion: Memorial Hospital needs our support so that it can do a good job even better. Byline... By Peter Parrott x Between 1971 and 1981, the number of Ontarians Ontarians over age 65 jumped by 35 per cent or 900,000. That's just one of the statistics available today on how the population population is aging. And experts experts on the subject tell us we are only at the beginning beginning of the trend. They are blaming the so called "baby-boom" on a predicted crisis which will occur as the baby boomers reach retirement retirement age. That's because because those of us who clogged the universities universities and high schools during the 1960s haven't disappeared. We're out there in the real world, raising kids, earning a living, and also heading towards the retirement crisis. Already, people are making dire predictions predictions as to whether there will be enough pension funds or senior citizens' housing to go around. Just thinking about it is enough to make you age 10 years. If we keep looking at aging as some kind of incureable disease, then I guess there will be problems in the future. future. But as one who has suddenly realized that he has a vested interest in the outcome of the issue, I am hoping for some changes in the way we look at the aging process. The baby-boomers revolutionized our way of thinking'during the 1960s, so perhaps we can perform a similar service when we reach the golden years. I don't expect we'll see picket signs or sit- ins making a comeback. But there's strength in numbers and we baby- boomers have enough clout to achieve changes. Perhaps the best place to start is in the area of retirement and the question of when old age really begins. I can recall meeting a man in his early seventies seventies who was walking from Montreal to Toronto Toronto three or four years ago in order to publicize the Policé Games. This robust sep- tagenarian was clearly ignoring common misconceptions misconceptions about aging, senility, and retirement. retirement. And, it seems to me that as time goes on and medical science gains knowledge, we'll be able to push the compulsory compulsory retirement age back a few years. Rather than deciding all must leave the workforce workforce at age 65, perhaps there's a need for a more, flexible viewpoint. viewpoint. For some, retirement retirement at age 50 may be the only alternative. Others may wish to s.tay in harness longer. To my knowlege, there is no law decreeing decreeing when an indi- Mr. Peter Parrott, The Canadian Statesman, 62 King Street, West, Bowmanville, Ontario. Dear Peter: On behalf of all of us involved involved in the French Immersion Program I'd like to thank you for the well-written article in a recent edition of your paper. You provided a balanced, and I feel accurate, view of the program for the reader. Also, you represented our interview very well. vidual may start working, working, aside from legislation legislation against child labor. Some people join the labor force at age 16. Others, attending universities universities and graduate schools may be close to 30 before they enter the work force full time. So why set dates for compulsory retirement? retirement? Retirement will be one of the.: Slain subjects subjects facing the aging baby boomers. But there will be other matters matters such as different tastes in food, housing needs, culture, recreation, recreation, politics, and much more. I guess it all depends on how you look at it. With the vast army of baby-boom kids marching marching towards retirement we might wring our hands and make dire predictions. Or, on the other hand, we can take up the challenge challenge and expect this group to make a unique contribution to the way we look at the aging process. It is this second course of action that I hope to see Your By-Line in the last edition of The Statesman was also appreciated. Your perception perception and positive view was remarkable for one not directly directly associated with the education-process education-process (maybe for that reason?). Again, thanks for two very professional, exceedingly fair examples of responsible journalism. Sincerely, S. Green, Principal. Letter to the Editor 198403 30 Stye (Eanahian Statesman 623-3303 (0Na Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 130 years ago In 1854. Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62-66 King St, W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 < E D U L * JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher GEO P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition ol advertisements produced by the employees of The Canadian Statesman, The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must nol be reproduced without written permission of the publishers, $15.00 a year -- 6 months $8,00 strictly in advance foreign -- $45,00 a year Although uvmy precaution will bo lakun to avoid onor, Tho Canadian Statesman accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will nol bo liable lor any error in Iho advertisement published hereunder unless a prool ol such advertisement is requested In willing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian filatesman business oflico 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 Uni Canadian Statesman its liability shall nol exceed such a portion ut the entire cost ol such odvoilistmont as Iho space occupied try the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement Chipmunk Photo by Don Howarth z SUGAR and SPICE Let's Stop Grumbling V Is your life a cultural wasteland? Do you do the same old things, talk to the same old people on the same old subjects all the time? Are you scared to take a risk, smile at someone you've never seen before, do something the neighbours will mutter about? Do you want a decent tombstone, not flashy, but dignifiéd? Of course you do. You're a good Canadian. You believe in personal decorum, censorship, the family as a unit, and capital punishment. On the other hand. Do you go for a swim at midnight, sing a song at dawn, smoke marijuana, drink fairly heavily, march in protest parades, live in sin, abhor censorship and capital punishment, and contrive to do something that will offend friends and neighbours? Of course you do. You're a good Canadian. You believe in individual liberty, acid rain, dirty movies and sexual irresponsibility. It doesn't matter which group you belong to, or whether you're somewhere in between, you all have much in common. You despise the government, but won't elect an alternative, since you despise it even more. You are caught by inflation and high interest rates, whether you are a sixty-year- old farmer trying to keep the place going, or a twenty-year-old punk trying to maintain his habit. You are basically anti-American, though if you were asked why, you couldn't give an answer that was articulate. You feel frustrated, in this land of wood and water, not to mention nuclear power, because, if you are getting on in years, you see everything eroding around you, and if you are short in years, you see nothing but a stone wall between you and your aspirations. You wonder vaguely, if you're old enough, what became of the Canadian dream : "The twentieth century belongs to Canada". And if you read the papers and analyze the news, you realize that, while Canada still has a high standard of living, we are very low on the totem pole when it comes to production, strikes, economic stability, peace, happiness and goodwill toward men. If you're very young, you don't give a diddle. There's lots to eat, warm clothes, and the old man will kick in a decent allowance so you can feed the video machines with their war games. But if you're a young adult, just about ready to launch into "real" life, you're so bewildered about unemployment, and excalating university fees, and the increasing shadow of the computer, and the wealth of choices of a future (all lacking in security) that you can become so depressed you drop out, or dive into a stream, and fight against the current. This isn't a doom and gloom column. It's merely a look at our nation today. It is so rife with suspicion, fear of nothing much, anger over nothing much, that we are becoming paranoid. From the Prime Minister, through the head of the Bank of Canada, right down to your local alderman, you have lost trust, and feel that the ship is heading for the reef with nobody at the helm. This is nonsense, of course. Canada has been going through this miasma ever since 1867, and before. Maybe the guy at the helm is blindfolded, and maybe we have scraped a few rocks, but the ship's bottom is still sound, and we haven't hit the big reef yet. If we do, we can always scramble into the boats, and become the new Boat People of North America. We've had the French-Canadian separatism thing with us for generations, John A. MacDonald almost put the country on the rocks, financially and politically, but he dared to take a chance, and had vision. We survived a terrible dépression, and came out smelling of roses (and the stench of our dead young men), in two world wars. Cheer up, you dour, gloomy Canucks. When you have to settle for one meal of ground wheat a day, and have to huddle around a charcoal brazier to keep warm, then you can whine, though few will listen, just as few of us listen to the people of the world who are doing just that, right now. Forget about the Yanks. If you don't like their culture invading us, turn off your TV set and get out your Eskimo carvings. The Yanks won't invade us physically. Unless they have to, and there's not much we could do about that. If you can't afford your mortgage increase, you were probably overextended overextended in the first place. Get rid of that monster, with its swimming pool and rec room and pitch a tent. Preferably in the local cemetery, to suit your mood. Pull in your belts. Dump that extra car, the boat and the cottage. If you look at it objectively, they're just a big pain in the arm anyway. Walk to work. Take a bus to the city instead of your gas-gobbler plus parking fees. Learn to do your own elementary plumbing and electric work at night school. Ladies. Get the knitting needles out and make lots of shawls, sweaters, scarves and wool socks. You did it for the troops overseas. And god-awful itchy and ill-fitting some of them were, but they kept us warm. Stop spoiling your children with allowances. Let them earn their own money through odd jobs, or do without. Let's stop grumbling, and get back to a spartan, rewarding life, where ideas are more important than physical comfort. After you, he said. Allan Lawrence Asks House of Commons to Reinstate VIA Service Ontario Street School Cooks Over 600 Hot Dogs TORONTO- PETERBOROUGH SERVICE Allan Lawrence, M.P. VIA Rail passenger service on Canadian Pacific's Have- lock-Petcrborough-Toronto line could be economically sound and would meet a public demand, Durham-Northum- berland M.P. Allan Lawrence lias told the House of Commons. Mr. Lawrence and Peterborough Peterborough M.P. Bill Domm urged federal Transport Minister Lloyd Axworthy to follow up on his commitment to upgrade VIA service by re-instating the Havelock- Toronto service that was cancelled cancelled three years ago. Recently, the Minister has announced restoration of VfA service to certain parts of tho maritimes and western Canada, Officials of several municipalities along the CP route, which served a number of communities in the northern northern part of Durham Northumberland, Northumberland, have been requesting a meeting with Mr, Axworthy since last December, to discuss discuss how their passenger service service could lio restored, While the Transport Minister Minister bus promised to give the request serious consideration, Mr. Lawrence said, just Iasi week, before the Commons Transport Committee, VIA Rail President Pierre Franche stated he was "not even looking at" restoring passenger service on the Havelock-Peterborough- Toronto line. In replying, Mr. Axworthy suggested that Mr. Lawrence should talk to the Government ■ of Ontario. "That was a ridiculous evasive evasive answer," Mr. Lawrence staled later outside the Commons. "I've already discussed discussed this with (he Premier and other provincial officials, and Mr. Axworthy knows that." "VIA Rail is a federal agency, and the province has nothing to do with its opera- lions. As matters now stand, it's not likely this area could qualify for Ontario's GO train service in the foreseeable future," Mr, Lawrence added: "The Peterborough - Toronto trains, though never advertised or promoted, were very well patronized and probably were more sound economically than any other service run by VIA Rail." "These trains should be restored, mid we'll keep pushing the government until it does so." ' Teachers and staff from Ontario Street Public School in Bowmanville cooked 600 hot dogs during during the school's annual Play Day held Thursday, June 21. Front left are Bruno Gourde, Frank Barnes, Bert Watson, and Principal Stan Green at work with the barbeques. The day also included games such as relays, obstacle course, kangaroo hop, sack races, and spoon races, for all the students. students.