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CLARINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY A . COMMUNITY SERVICES .IBRARIWj'J; f.ÿ 62 TEMPERANCE STREE T BOWMANVILLE. ONTARIO L1C3AP NEWPU2 99032 A James Publishing Community Newspaper Clarington's Community Newspaper Since 1854 Monday, December 23, 1996 142nd Year Issue 52 700 + 50 G.S.T. = 750 ristmas Is.. Elementary School Students Discuss the Reason for the Season by Laura J. Richards Staff Reporter When you were a child, how did you view Christmas? Last week, in speaking with children from three different schools and school systems, The Canadian Statesman surveyed a total of 10 young people about what they think of Christmas. At Knox Christian School on Old Scugog Road, Grade 8 student Carin Vivian, Grade 5 student Holly Stoter, Grade 6 student Jake Woudstra and Grade 3 student Kyle Hohmann emphasized that Christ is the reason for Christmas. The students are active in the churches they belong to and have The Optimist Club of Newcastle presented its annual Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, Dec. 21, starting starting at 8 a.m. Many folks were already there at eight, along with their children. Everyone was enjoying pancakes, pancakes, sausages, bacon, syrup, and beverages Then, about 8:20, the main attraction dropped in from the cold. Santa Claus had, indeed, made it for the annual breakfast party at the Newcastle Community Hall. First up were the members of the Rankin family -- Joshua and Justine (standing), and Shannon and Kirstian on Santa's lap. There was also a helpful elf (Andrew Martin) who was handing out candy canes and keeping the kids in an orderly line. -- Photo by Laura Richards The 1996 United Way campaign campaign goal of $3 million may be out of reach this year. But organizers are counting on a big January to push them over the top in 1997. Without it, they're looking at a shortfall of $600,000. Campaign Director Robert Howard said the corporate campaigns campaigns at General Motors and a couple of other companies have been pushed back a month due to the recent autoworkers strike. "It's important that these campaigns campaigns go well," the Campaign Director added. Howard and his team of volunteers volunteers remain hopeful the public will respond to the need in their community. United Way donations support 40 agencies year-round. More than 80,000 people receive help through member agencies in Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington. The United Way helps people in a broad cross-section of areas, from seniors to children. United Way activities range from counselling counselling the abused, to helping families families in crisis. Campaign workers in Clarington are doing a good job, Howard says. "The Goodyear campaign was superb," he notes. Workers managed managed to raise around $20,000. "They are almost at last year's total and they're doing it with fewer employees." The fact that several companies in the region have downsized staff is also taking a toll on the campaign. campaign. "We're getting a lot of that. There are a lot of companies out there leaner than last year." However, he is thankful those who can give have continued to be generous. Bowmanville-based Avery Dennison was up over 100% from last year, he says. Credit is also due to the Ontario Hydro Darlington Station United Way fund-raisers, he says, who helped bring in pledges in the neighborhood of $80,000. "And the staff at St. Marys Cement always does a good campaign." campaign." Mr. Howard urges individuals to phone in their pledges before Dec. 31, if they want a tax receipt for 1996. Call the United Way of Oshawa Whitby, Clarington at 436-7377. ours Around Town To help you through the hectic Christmas rush, we offer this reminder of some of the holiday hours in effect around town. Post Office The Post Office will open from 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. on both Monday, Dec. 23' and Tuesday, Dec,. 24 It will close Dec. 25 and 26 and will re-open on Friday, Dec. 27 from 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Liquor Store The Liquor Store will be open Sunday, Dec. 22 from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; open Monday Dec. 23 from 9:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. On Tuesday, Dec. 24, the store will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Dec. 31 the store opens at 9:30 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m. Garbage Collection Garbage will be collected on Tuesday, Dec. 24, but there will be no collection on Dec. 25 and 26. Residents who normally normally leave their garbage, and blue box recycling bins at the curb on Wednesdays may leave them out for collection on Saturday, Dec. 28. Residents Continued on Page 2 parents who have taught them, the Christmas story and its meaning. Kyle pointed out no matter what else, the serious issue with Christmas Day is that "Christ came down to take the sin of the world." He added, on Christmas Day his family members get together at a relative's house. (They take turns hosting the celebration.) Kyle also noted that this year, at his church's pageant, he will be a Wise Man. In Carin's family, the emphasis is on reading the Christmas story, participating in church activities and being with relatives. On Christmas Eve, her siblings and parents go to their church talent show. Holly's family has an advent calendar to count-down the days to Christmas. And, while her family does many of the things most people people do on Christmas Day, there is also something a little out of the ordinary. "We do a birthday cake for Jesus, because it's his birthday," Holly said with a smile. Although her family does give gifts on Christmas, Holly stressed, "We do get excited, but it's not like Santa. This is the season to give rather than receive." Jake noted in his family his relatives relatives get together to celebrate the day. He said it is the time of year when the tree is put up and decorated, decorated, when everyone goes to Continued on Page 2 »»icr;-mia:iaKScxacwsacf£s.mm A L . | ^ M r) _ . A Christmas Story presented to our readers f--\ J r j j J j rjQj J J é é é with the compliments of the Season by Peter Parrott Editor "All is calm, all is bright." From his perch on the top of the tree, Sparky, the Christmas star merrily hummed the words to the old carol. It was, indeed, calm and bright, It was calm because it was Christmas Eve in Mr. Peabody's department store, The last waves of shoppers had finally surged out the front and home, Perhaps there is nothing as quiet as a depart ment store aisle on Christmas Eve, after closing time It was bright because the tree and all its ornaments shone so clearly in the front window of the store. Outside, even the night was bright. For it was lit by the perfect lantern of a full moon. _ What a perfect night before Christmas! It was the kind of evening when anything might happen, thought Sparky. In fact, exciting things had already occurred. Up until a few minutes ago, the decorations on the tree had been positively buzzing with talk of the changes at the department store, They had learned that this was to be the last Christmas for Peabody's. It was to be torn down to make room for an expressway. A new store was to be built somewhere somewhere outside the city's downtown. Nobody knew for sure, but the decorations on the big tree in the front window thought this might be their last Christmas all together. The bells, balls, toy soldiers, blinking lights, tinsel ropes, angel and star had been a team since the first Christmas the store opened, But now, they were looking rather old and tired. When the janitor plugged in the ancient string of lights, there was a spark from the socket and she made some comment about having to get some new decorations to go with the new store. The decorations figured they'd be retired soon. But, it didn't bother most of them. The red-coated sergeant- major, who led the toy soldiers, boasted that lie was old enough to be a valuable antique and that he and his comrades would probably have a place of honor in some collector's cabinet. There was little doubt the porcelain angel would join them. The bells and balls figured they'd just end up on another Christmas tree somewhere else and would hang from the branches year after year until they fell and broke. Such was the fate of such fragile ornaments. The sleek coils of Christmas rope said little. But, whether they basked in the glory of the Festive Season or slept in a dusty box in a dark closet, it didn't seem to matter to them. And, as for the lights, well the implications of closing the store Continued on Page 3 CORRECTION -- An article in last week's Statesman concerning washroom vandalism at Bowmanville Senior Public School incorrectly incorrectly stated that teachers had been leaving classrooms unsupervised to escort students to the washrooms. Principal Hilary Walt advises us that this, in fact, is not the case. Teachers were in the classrooms at all times and the classrooms' were not left unsupervised. There are, however, teacher escorted breaks at mid-morning or mid afternoon afternoon when the entire class can use the washrooms. Our apologies for this error. PARK FREE AT HOSPITAL -- Memorial Hospital Bowmanville will continue its tradition of offering free parking on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Gates will be open from 7 a.m. on December 25th to 7 a.m. December 26, and from 7 a.m. January 1 to 7 a.m. January 2nd. HOLIDAY SCHEDULE -- In view of the New Year's holiday, The Statesman's final issue of 1996 will be published Monday, December 30th. Please note that the deadline for display and classified classified advertising will be noon this Friday, December 27. Our offices will be closed Christmas and Boxing Day. But we will re-open with regular business hours Friday, December 27 and Saturday, December 28. In view of the earlier publishing dates, we'd appreciate appreciate receiving any press releases, sports write-ups and other editorial copy as early as possible, preferably by Friday, December 27th. By the week of January 6th, schedules should be back to what we jokingly jokingly call normal. THANKS A MILLION -- Anyone with a cynical view of Christmas (and that's got to be about ninety per cent of those over the age of four) should have seen the small mountain of new toys collected from our readers in The Statesman/Independent Toy Drive. The donations were turned over to the Salvation Army late last week. Your generosity is even greater than it was last year! We also thank the many students and adults who took the time to write short articles of a Christmas nature. We are printing as many as possible of them in today's Statesman and tomorrow's Independent. Your Christmas thoughts are touching. They should be required reading for anyone who, by now, is not quite into the spirit of the season. AND THE WINNERS ARE... -- Congratulations to the following young people who won prizes in our Coloring Contest. Each winner will receive four tickets to the Walt Disney World on Ice show. They are: (Category One) Madison Almond, Stephanie Mavin, Ashley Guertin, and Jaycce Rowe. In Category Two, the winners included: Natasha Woodman, Angie I-Iaass, Michael Hossack, and Benjamin Clements. MIRROR, MIRROR -- When Jim and Shirley Lachance, of Bowmanville, decided to repair an old wall mirror handed down through Shirley's great-grandmother, they uncovered a newspaper backing from the mirror which dated back to 1879! The page seems to have been torn from the New York Times sports and financial section. section. Sporting events included a billiard tournament at Tammany Hall with a $2,000 prize and pigeon-shooting, as well as a yachting regatta. In what remains of the financial column, we read that money was available to loan at six per cent. Totals for 1996 Boys 86 Girls 88 F« LESSOj Specialists In Heating and ^ ^ Air Conditioning SALES «SERVICE* INS! 350 Lake Road, Bowmanville ■ G23-Ü5ÏG Shop the Rest Buy from the Best! 'Bam Your local General Motors dealer for the past 25 years. 166 King SI. 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