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8 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, March 15, 2000 Blast from the past! Just seems like yesterday doesn't it? This picture of students at Orono Public School was probably taken around the year 1944 according to John Shetler's sources! Back Row; Anna Marie Hall, Chas. Armstrong, Raye West, George Jones, John Forrester, Gordon Ransberry, Donald McLaren, Bob Goode, Florence Linton; Middle Row: Joan Neilson, Carole Cornish, Maureen McKenna, Joyce Sutton, Lois Dean, Patsy Moffat, Kay McKenna, Jean Wilson; Front Row: Smith, Jean Moffat, June Cooper, Joan Cooper, Betty Cooper, June Glanville, Eileen Jones, June Neilson, Shirley Flintoff. BASIC BLACK by Arthur Black SIESTA TIME - DO NOT DISTURB Canada isn't the only country country that's being homogenized these days. There are 14 nations in Europe that are undergoing the same process, melding themselves into one oleaginous mass called .the European Union. Depending on your point of view, it's an idea whose time has come; or a juggernaut juggernaut that can't be stopped. ' Consider the might the European Union has displayed displayed already. It has forced Germany to give up its beloved deutchmark. It has made the Englishproduce a sausage that is actually edible. Hell, it's convinced the fractious French to sign a binding agreement withnon- French nations - that in itself is a miracle. The European Union is a powerhouse alright. It has transformed the face of Europe as we know it. It seems unstoppable - but by God, when they take on the Spanish siesta, they go too far. Spaniards have been treating themselves to long sensual mid-day breaks for centuries. Which doesn't exactly jibe with their new Euro partners - those hard-working Belgians,- Swedes and Austrians who get by with a half hour for lunch and a couple of short coffee breaks. Well, I know which tradition tradition is barbaric - and it's not the Spanish one. The siesta is, in my humble opinion, the greatest gift the Spanish have given the world. Each working day in Spain, at precisely two p.m.. work...stops. Banks close, gas stations shut off the pumps, bricklayers droptheir trowels, painters put down their brushes, office workers turn off their computers and matadors' hang up their capes. It's siesta time, and no work will be done until 5 PM. Do Spaniards simply sleep the siesta away? Some do - - but more often they go to their homes, have a leisurely lunch, play with the children, read a book, drink some vino, make love to their spouses - in a word, they live. And the European Union nabobs would like to change all that. They want to deep- six the siesta. Why? Because it's inefficient, of course. All those people at home enjoying enjoying themselves when they could be hard at work? Sacrilegious. What the enemies of the siesta don't acknowledge is the fact that Spaniards work as many hours as any other Europeans do. They come back to work at 5 p.m. and stay on the job until 8:30 in the evening. They still put in an eight-hour workday. They just do it in two manageable chunks rather than one backbreaking stretch. Sad to say, the anti-siesta- ites are gaining ground. There was a time Owhen most of Latin America observed the daily siesta, but no more. In Rio de Janeiro, Bogota and Buenos Aires the normal work day runs from 9 to 5, five days a week. And last spring, Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo flat- out cancelled the siesta, by passing a law that requires all Mexican government officials to be at their desks from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. The irony is, the siesta is in danger at a time when North American business gurus are extolling the virtues of Power Naps,' meditation and a whole host of mid-day breaks from the workplace. - * So is it doomed? I doubt it. Efficiency experts have been trying tooutlaw the Spanish siesta for ■ ages - Ernest Hemingway wrote aboutanti-siesta campaigns seventy years ago. It didn't work then and I doubt it will work now. It's a brave soul who gets between a Spaniard and his siesta - as cpnstruction contractors working on new buildings in the town of Plasencia learned last year. The citizens were so concerned concerned about 1 construction noise interfering with their siesta that the mayor, of Plasencia actually issued a decree calling for silence between 3 and 5 p.m. ' Well, he's got my vote. And 1 fervently hope that the siesta survives. The world has enough baggy-eyed, junk TSN searching for ultimate sports fan Toronto, ON -- Are you a sports fan who follows your team's every move? Are you unable to miss an event -- even a single round? Does your passion warrant an appearance on national TV? TSN is giving you the chance to prove it in the second second annual TSN SuperFan Search. TSN is encouraging fans to submit a 100 - 200 word description outlining why they think they are the ultimate ultimate sports fan. Entrants are also encouraged to submit videos or photo demonstrating demonstrating their love of sports which may be featured on TSN's web site or screened on TSN's Off the Record. Two entrants will be selected as grand prize winners winners and will receive a sports lovers' weekend for two in Toronto including roundtrip travel, accommodation at the Renaissance Toronto Hotel at SkyDome, tickets to a major sporting event. Hockey Hall of Fame pass, plus an appearance on Off the Record with host jMichael Landsberg. In addition, for six straight Tuesdays beginning April 25, TSN sports packages will be given away to three SuperFan Search entrants during Off the Record (airs at 6:30 ET). Participants can forward their entry by email, including including name, address, telephone number and age to super fan@tsn.ca. Videos and photos photos can be mailed to TSN SuperFan Search, 2225 Sheppard Ave. E., Ste. 100, Toronto, ON M2J 5C2. Information is also available at TSN's web site www.tsn.ca/ superfan. Submissions must be received by May 31, 2000. Entries will be judged by June 5, 2000. •food gobbling, horn-honking, ulcer-cultivating ' niné-to-five working stiffs. We' need to be reminded that work,is just a part of life - not the whole enchilada. Viva la siesta! I'm not sure exactly what the word 'siesta' means, but I like to think it translates as "What's your hurry?"' COLLISION REPAIR PROFESSIONALS Fred Devries Proprietor FRED'S AUTOBODY LTD. Estimates • Repairs • Restorations 163 Baseline Road, Unit 1 Bowmanvilie, Ontario L1C 3L4 Tel: (905) 623-6353 Fax: (905) 623-3913