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1 SECTION TWO WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6,1989 Editorial Comment à Neu)$ vfem*- In the dispute oyer •I proposed renO/m'rvj of 4x6/ rounfûp&lrry / r I Was dtLi<fed that the name Nouti * rtimin as Newcastle. s&t Canadian Statesman (0Na Durham Region's Great Family Journal Established 135 years ago in 1854 Also Incorporating The Bowmanvjlle News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second Class mail registration number 1561 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited - • ' ' " 3K9 416-1 cn 62 King Street West, Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K 623-3303 Fax 416-623-6161 John M. James Editor - Publisher Richard A. James Associate Publisher Peter Parrott Associate Editor •Brian Purd dy Donald Bishop Advertising Mgr. Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition of advertisements produced by the employees of James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Subscription Rates Six Months--$11.00 One Year -- $20.00 Foreign -- $60.00 per year Allhough every precaution will be taken to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising In Its columns on the understanding that It will not be liable tor any error In the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof ol such advertisement Is requested in writing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted In writing thereon, and In that case H any error so noted Is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall not exceed such a portion of the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. What's In a Name? . It's a question that some of us have asked for the past decade as it became apparent that "Town of Newcastle" was not the best name to give the new municipality formed with the creation of regional government in 1974. The fact is that the name causes confusion. Newcastle can refer to Newcastle Newcastle Village (which is the name that automatically comes to the minds of longtime residents of the area who hear the word "Newcastle"). Or it can refer to any other place as far as 20 miles away from Newcastle Village. ; Under this name, Bowmanville is really a part of Newcastle. And so is Gourtice, even though it is listed in the Oshawa phone book and has a Bowmanville address. The name Town of Newcastle paused some confusion, no doubt. But there is a second, more subtle reason why the name "Town of Newcastle" Newcastle" raises the hackles of many residents residents in this municipality. If the name was merely used to describe describe an area subject to a particular local government system, it's doubtful that anybody would really care what the municipality was called. If the "Town of Newcastle" was created merely to make it easier to 3ly plow snow off the roads or install drainage ditches, it wouldn't really matter whether we were called Newcastle Newcastle or Bowmanville or.Timbucktu. . 'But, 'unfortunately, we detect a move on the part of successive local governments to create some kind of new identity out of the dozens of communities communities which have once made up this municipality and will continue to form this town. Several of these were municipalities in their own right, before before 1974. i\Ve are afraid of a certain underlying underlying belief (among those who govern this municipality) that somehow the various communities will eventually coalesce into a single unit. And, we note that this objective is by no means the result of the current municipal administration but that of successive administrations. ' '• For example, why does each sign identifying hamlets and villages in this town near the symbol "A Town of Newcastle Community"? What's really important is the community itself, whether it be Hampton, Mitchell's Corners or Orono or Bowmanville. The words "Town of Newcastle" are the result result of a bureaucratic pipe dream carved into law about 15 years ago. And such a creation really lacks the century or so of history_ that lies behind behind the communities within our borders. borders. ' It seems, to us, that a reasonable compromise might be reached. If the town's administrators and elected officials officials want to see themselves primarily as a part of a newfangled government unit called "Newcastle" then that's up to them. But they ought to put to rest any thoughts they might have had concerning concerning the "Newcnstlefication" of this municipality. For example, there's absolutely no reason why the library which is in Bowmanville cannot be called the Bowmanville Library. The words "Bowmanville Branch of the Newcastle Newcastle Public Library arc unnecessary." Wisely, it was decided that the new arena complex would be known as the Bowmanville Recreation Complex. There has been considerable pride built up over the years by various conv munitics within the Town of Ncwcas tjo. And they do not wish to be thrown I A Natural Christmas I The choice between an artificial or a ronuino Christmas tree has never icon an easy one. But the following lctnils supplied by Ontario's Christ- nas tree growers suggest that the Ira- litionnl Yuletidc tree docs have its ad- /milages, . These suggestions answer the ago- ild question that can best bo summed ii'p as follows: "What do you do with Lho discarded tree?" So, for your pre-Christinas edification. edification. wo are pleased to list the following following half dozen uses for n dead Christina's Christina's tree: . , , , , , It can bo placed in the backyard or garden for use ns a bird feeder. into a single melting pot with a newfangled newfangled name attached to it. There is another, more practical reason why individual communities must be encouraged to thrive under the banner of the new area municipality municipality called Newcastle or whatever. The fact of the matter is that this is a town of great diversity. Think of a municipality such as Mississauga and urban sprawl comes to mind. Think of Manhattan and one thinks of skyscraperrs. But exactly what is this Town of Newcastle, anyhow? Well, Newcastle is a microcosm of Ontario itself. We have multi-million dollar estates, we have low income housing. We have apartments, we have subdivisions, we have mature communities of century homes and trees. We have farms. You can't just lump all of those places places together and try to govern them as if they were just another block of downtown Toronto. The only way to see the Town of Newcastle is to look at it community by community. For, you see, a community speaks of something more than acres of subdivisions subdivisions broken only by the occasional excitement excitement of a strip plaza or shopping mall. A community should retain certain certain recognizeable features, whether they are features of geography, or ar- chitecture.-r; -:• A community should be a place where it's possible to live, work, and play. A community should be a place where people have similar goals and objectives. It should .be a place that's small enough for individuals to feel that they belong and are, indeed, at home. A community is not a place that is governed, from on high, by a professional professional bureaucracy, but from below, but its citizens. A community must be allowed to retain retain its identity through its name. And, that's why the name "Town of Newcastle" strikes a raw nerve among those places within its borders who feel that they are diminished as the new name is brandished by local government. government. We hope that the "Newcastlefica- tion" of this municipality does not occur. occur. Because, if it does, it will be the end of the many traditional communities communities which have existed within our boundaries. The town of Newcastle contains well over 200 square miles of territory. You just cannot stick all of that into the mixmaster and churn out a community. community. And if elected officials believe in pushing the "Newcastlefication" of this area, they run the risk of having the worst of both worlds. They will have no collection of individual individual communities which have made up this town. And they certainly will have no cohesive large community contained contained in a territory that's probably not much smaller than New York City. We are willing to concede that the name Town of Newcastle is something that we're stuck with. We happen to believe that it would make sense to change it, but it now appears that local local government is too far out on a limb to do so. The bad news is that this portion of the fight is probably over. The good news is, however, that we can win the fight for the continued identity of the dozens of communities within this particular unit of regional government. After all, what's in a name? Former Councillor Recalls Battle Over Name Change Its branches can be used in the garden garden ns a mulch and its trunk and larger larger limbs can bo used for fuel or ground up to create n soil conditioner. Fir tree foliage can bo stripped from branches and snipped into small pieces pieces for stuffing into aromatic fir needle pillows for the sofa or bedroom. Largo quantities of used trees make effective sand and soil erosion barriers, barriers, especially at benches. Sunk into fish ponds, trees make excellent excellent refuge and feeding areas. And finally, woodworking hobbyists can use the discarded tree trunk for projects such as turning candlesticks. To the Editor: Town of Newcastle Town of Bowmanville The mailing address of the majority of residents who live in this Town is Bowmanville. This includes most of Darlington and even those "strangers" who have come to live in Gourtice have a mailing address that is R. R. something, Bowmanville. How are they supposed to relate to the Town of Newcastle? Newcastle? Where is it? Apart from a few Hong Kong real estate agents, who knows? How did this confusing state of affairs happen? In 1973, the then Davis Government, Government, without any prior consultation, advised the Council of Bowmanville that under Regional Government, Government, which was about to be implemented, the new name would be Newcastle. This, believe it or not, actually removed removed the name "Bowmanville" "Bowmanville" from all provincial official official records as a Town. Did the Davis Government Government forget to advise the Federal Post Office? Is that why all the addresses are still Bowmanville? Meanwhile in 1973, the Mayor of Bowmanville called a meeting of those councils whose areas were to be involved in the amalgamation amalgamation of the new Town of Newcastle. The purpose of the meeting was to seek support support to retain the name Bowmanville Bowmanville for the new area. Think of the psychology of that meeting. The 1973 councils of Darlington, Clarke, Bowmanville and Newcastle Village met. None of those present had much idea of the implications implications of the future growth nor did they understand the confusion the mailing addresses addresses would cause. Clarke and Newcastle Village, obviously obviously favored the name Newcastle. Darlington was led by Garnet Rickard who also preferred Newcastle. So, the vote was 3-1 against the name Bowmanville. Last month, Councillor Hooper repented that meeting. meeting. Representatives of Clarke and Darlington wore present, with different players in the form of the present council.. Parochialism Parochialism still rules. Mr. Stapleton and Mrs. Ilnmro represent Clarke/Nowcnstlo, although ns of September, Mrs. Ilnmro Ilnmro lives in Bowmnnvillo, they both staved with tho name Newcastle. Wlmt a pity the lender ol tho council, Mayor Iluhbard, who was horn and raised in Bowmanville and indicated support for tho name Bowmanville Bowmanville during tho election campaign, could not help Councillor Hooper with this very important social issue: to simply live in a town that has the same name as the mailing address. The name Bowmanville was struck from official records 15 years ago. It was then a costly and painful mistake. Time had shown that it is still an embarrass- ing mistake. Ducking this issue issue for whatever reason, was an abdication of responsibility responsibility to the majority of residents who live in this community. Sincerely, Ann Cowman We all have our pet peeves. And one of mine is hearing about the pet peeves of other people. For that reason, every time I sit down in front of my computer to write this column I say to myself: '"Andrea, no pet peeves." Most of the time, I listen. listen. Not this time. I feel as if I'm justified in bringing this particular particular peeve to your attention. attention. I feel that if I share it with you, you'll think about it, agree with me and maybe we can form a united front against it. A couple of weeks ago I went to see a movie. I crawled away from my night school homework, homework, talkéd myself out of feeling guilty, promised myself I would have a good time and prepared myself for the kick my wallet was going to receive receive when I paid the admission admission fee. Since it has been some time since I. went to see the BIG SCREEN (rented videos for the little screen are more in line with my chequebook) I was prepared prepared for a kick. Instead, I got throttled. But, that's not the point. My friend and I found the theatre in which the movie was playing, took our seats, and waited. Soon, the lights dimmed and I expected to see a couple of previews for other movies before the movie I paid to see would appear on the screen. (Keep in mind the important point that I paid to see this movie.) What did I get instead? A commercial. It was a commercial for a certain brand of chewing gum. I looked at my friend in disbelief. "Could this be true?" I asked? "Am I really at a movie theatre, to which I paid the better part of $10 to see a nio- vie? Or am I dreaming. Have I become so accustomed accustomed to the little screen that I'm seeing things." Well, maybe I didn't say it exactly like that, but you get the picture. • Julie lookëcU'jüst as ' dumbfounded as I felt. She hadn't been to a movie movie in a long time either. Christmas scenes appeared appeared on the screen next. Now, dear readers, I know what you are thinking. thinking. You think this was a preview for a Christmas movie. You're thinking Julie and I only imagined the chewing gum commercial. commercial. Not so, gentle reader. I hadn't dreamed about the other one and this wasn't a preview for a Christmas movie. This was yet another commercial. commercial. It wasn't a short, TV- styled commercial, either. This baby was full- length, in keeping with the movie theatre venue. Then the previews came. I guess if I broke up the amount I paid to see the movie and what I got in return, I lucked out. I didn't just view one thing on the screen, I was able to view four: two commercials, commercials, a preview and a movie. movie. But, you know, I didn't think of the commercials as a bonus. I was annoyed. annoyed. I'd like to know if this commercial in movie theatres routine is something something new or if I am just out of touch. Andrea Adair When I 'paid my fee to see the movie, I didn't expect expect I would also be paying paying to watch a commercial. commercial. I understand that the company supplying the entertainment in the theatre is entitled to employ employ whatever methods within the law they feel will reap them financial rewards. I have no Quarrel Quarrel with that. I do think, though, that maybe they should let the "paying 5 ' public know.that prior to the movie they are "paying" to watch there will be some not-so-brief "words from our sponsors." And, I think there should be a line drawn somewhere. I couldn't help but wonder, as I walked out of the show after finally viewing the film I paid to see, where I would feel the next tug at my purse strings. Don't be surprised if in a few years you read another another peeve of mine when I turn the page in a book and stumble upon, that's right, a commercial. Writer is Adamant About Bowmanville Dear John: It is hoped that your headline in last week's paper is not true: "We are stuck with it." Just wishful thinking of course, but just maybe if Mr. Peterson could forget about Meech Lake and concentrate on Ontario we just might get rid of Regional Regional Gov't. The only thing it has done is cost a lot of money to taxpayers. Example- the Abortion now called the Newcastle Town Hall. The building should have been tom down and a park left for the Legion members to carry out tne Remembrance Day services. The Town Hall should have been placed where they are proposing another weird project, namely The Specialty Paper property. Council s would then .have plenty of parking space'and of course there is no conflict of interest across the road from that building. Seems very queer how fast that went through when the one at the west end of Church Street has been lingering for years, frustrating the owner. If I had one of your re- r irters over here for a while could, tell people who have to get water and sewer in their homes how not to approach approach Regional Gov't. You see it is better to start over in Whitby to begin with, because because that is where you end up, save money also. They are a bit rude to you, but if you get with a fellow I know you will save a lot of time and money. Well, enough of Regional Gov't. Let's get on to the councillors. I was well aware of the fact that Municipal Affairs Minister, the Hon. John Sweeney, was very politely politely passing the buck to the locals, with only two of them smart enough to get the message. Only t Mr. Hooper and Mr. Deegan and I commend theip both highly and will know who I should vote for at the next election. I was let down by Mayor Hubbard since she promised some action when seeking office. The other councillors Stapleton, Wotten, Hamre, Turn to Page 3 WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN ON HER Holiday Shopping Tour of Bowmanville In Today's Paper We're sure you'll find, as Miss Christmas did... that Bowmanville has complete selections of the finest quality merchandise to supply all of the gift - idea shopping items on your Miss Christmas 1989--Miss Cara Lange shopping lists and to make this your best Photographed at The Velvet Bear Christmas ever!