2 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, May 15, 2002 A ocna Serving East Clarmgton and beyond since I 937 (0NA Subscriptions $28.04 + $1.96 G.S.T. = $30.00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs." 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Ôrono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Orono Weekly Times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Reason to cry We're not talking tears, the red eyes and runny nose kind of crying. This is the shout it from the rooftops kind of crying. Councillor Trim stated at Monday night's council meeting meeting that it would be nice to have a Clarington Town Crier. He'd been to an event in Courtice on the weekend,, where the Town Crier from Whitby was on hand to announce the celebration of a new Rotary Club in that community Trim says he will put forward a motion at council shortly asking for a staff report looking into the feasibility of a town crier to serve this municipality. Off the top of his head, Trim said he could Come up with at least four events in Orono alone -- the chili cookoff, cookoff, the Fair, the Lighting of the lights, and the Band Festival, that could benefit from the colour and pageantry the presence of a Town Crier could lend. And there are similar events all across the municipality that could be heralded by a Town Crier said Trim. The Town Crier concept is not new to the village of Orono. Years ago, the much respected former M.RP. Gord Mills, bedecked in flowing cape, bellowed proclamations in this village. Our own John Thomson has also donned cape and hat ; on a few occasions to announce the annual Christmas Lighting of the Lights in the Village. More recently, the Orono Crown Lands Trust dressed Newcastle's A1 Grey in cape and top hat last December to announce that Stewardships in the Trust were on sale. Criers, or bellmen historically, were usually people of some standing in the community, as they had to be able to read and write the proclamations. The crier would read a proclamation, usually at the door of the local inn, then nail it to the door post which is where the expression 'posting a notice' comes from. The Town Crier is an idea whose time has come again. In this age of instant electronic communication, there is something comforting about a loud mouthed bell ringer hollering with decorum on Main Street. At the outset, candidates for the position might wish to know if they are still protected by the law. "Don't shoot the messenger" was a very real command; anything that was done to a town crier was deemed to be done to the King and therefore a treasonable offence. From Around Home by Roy Forres The bird of the week in this area definitely has to be the Rose Breasted Grosbeak Judging from the number of calls I have received over the past seven days. Indeed the bird does stand out both in its dress and when vocal by its call. It would be rather difficult difficult for the male bird to be present and not seen. The vivid rose, white and black colours are easy to follow as the bird moves about. The bird arrives in early May and stays till late in September. There is little doubt that a sizeable number number have been on the move of late. At the same time Scarlet Tanagers and Baltimore Orioles, equally as colourful, are moving in on this surge of migration. The VanLiths, north of Orono, on Best Road, had a pair of Rose Breasted Grosbeaks stay the summer and no doubt they did nest near by. Where possible the bird will nest in a fork of a deciduous tree or shrub. The male bird of this specie is somewhat of a homemaker and does assist with the incubation of which is somewhat unusual in most species of birds. Enjoy them while you can and likely some will remain in the area if they find the environment suitable. suitable. Another interesting sighting was reported by Jean and Leonard Hoy, 6th Line out Kendal way, it being a pair of American Woodcocks. They are nesting nesting along the edge of a field in the grass with the female laying three eggs in four days. The long beak for prodding for food in the soft ground is a give away for this bird. As well it does have some nice colouring. It is not a rare bird but it is not one you will see every day. Received a phone call from Frances Jose of Newcastle on Saturday reporting a near blackening of the sky by Double Crested Cormorants at the Newcastle waterfront. Don Lycett and I made a trip down and to be sure there had to be in the hundreds hundreds flying about and into a couple of thousands in total. They were out in the lake, in the harbour proper and a big raft out front of the Wilmot Creek where it flows into the lake. This reminded me of years ago when Bill Bunting and I at Presquile Park had four or five such birds pointed pointed out to us. These birds were part of a flock of eight birds, which had taken up residence, forming a small colony, in the Kingston area. Perhaps twenty-five/thirty years ago. Of course that was then. Today they seem to be everywhere. everywhere. Why such a large flock blackening the sky and diving diving in the waters, especially in the flow from the Wilmot? We decided it had to be the smelt run to the creeks flowing flowing into the lake. That brings up another question of "why do the smelt come to the creeks?" I'm only guessing, at this time, but we did met a trio undertaking a fry count of Chinook and Coho Salmon in the upper Wilmot a number number of days earlier, who stated stated and showed us some of their catch which did go right back into the creek. As I understand these one inch fry would be three inches in length when they reached the mouth of the Wilmot. At this point they were targeted by larger fish. Some do survive survive and we were told the Wilmot is healthy. I leave for this week with an unanswered question. A good musical evening is being presented tonight by the Clarington Winds, Orono Town Hall, at 7:30 p.m.