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8 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, October 1,2003 Basic Black by Arthur Black CROSS-COUNTRY HIKING: THE NAKED TRUTH Well, the summer of '03 is history- and so are the adventures we all had during it. So how did you spend your summer vacation? At the beach? In the hammock? Touring cathedrals? Fighting forest fires? Ifs always handy to haVe a nifty comeback to the what-did-you-do-on- your-hblidays query and I reckon Steve Gough has one of the niftiest comebacks of all. Steve can tell his pals around the water cooler that he spent his entire summer hiking. From Land's End in the south of England all the way to John O'Groats, high on the flinty forehead of Scotland. Impressive enough, as odysseys go - we're talking nearly 1500 kilometres kilometres of hills and dales, not to mention lorry exhaust and ankle- biting canines - but Steve gave himself one extra handicap. He made the trek au naturel. Many Britons out for a drive were undoubtedly undoubtedly nonplussed to see a figure doggedly trudging trudging along the English wayside toting a heavy backpack tad dressed in a floppy army fatigue hat, good heaVy work socks, sensible hiking bootstad nothing else. But being British, thèy mostly averted their eyes, stiffened their upper lips and drove on by. Not that Steve was always naked during his trek. He did don a pair of shorts when it came time to knock on doors and ask for permission to recharge his cell phone. Ah, it's a splendid saga and I'm pleased to report that there's even a Canadian connection. Although born in Britain, Steve did his basictraining in Vancouver. A trip to that city's famous Clothing-Not-An- Option Wreck Beach got him interested in nudity as a lifestyle. Pedicures/Manicures Waxing Nail Extensions Air Brushing Eyelash Tinting Electronic Muscle Stimulate (EMS) Paraffin Wax Pretty soon he was lounging starkers around the house with his girlfriend girlfriend tad their two children. children. Then he got up the nerve to hang around in the backyard nude. And finally, his big breakthrough: "1 Went to Blockbuster to return a video" he recalls with a grin. It was only a matter of time before Steve Gough, Occasional Nudist became Steve Gough, Bareass with a Mission. "I wanted to raise awareness about the paranoia we have about our bodies" he told a reporter. "Man plus naked equals pedophile or pervert or both. I hoped I might widen those conclusions. "I wanted people to become conscious that we are ashamed of our bodies." So, naturally, he decided to stroll the length of Great Britain naturally. Not that it's been a total walk in the park. Ten times over the -- -- summer the ■ coppers threw Steve in the back of a cruiser and toted him off to jail. And two blokes in Brigitte Brown *** Gift I I I IWU Lancashire Available took violent 15% DISCOUNT with coupon 171 Mill Street, Orono, ON LOB 1M0 • 905-983-8169 I I J exception to Steve's skinny safari and put the boots to him. "You can't do that" one of them growled,"In front of kids no less." "They pushed me down and kicked me in the face" Steve recalls. "Theft was blood everywhere." But Steve's a stubborn guy, as nudists go. He just picked himself lip, dusted dusted himself off tad kept walking due north. Call me perverse, but L find it kind of inspiring that a body could walk from one end of a county county to the other without a stitch of clothes on. Not that he'd never try it in Canada. It's a lot farther from one end of the country to the other, for one thing. I suspect our Mounties would be a little little less forgiving and then there's the wildlife. Can you imagine walking east to west through Canada in early summer? Whatever the Northwestern Ontario blackflies left would be carried off by the mosquitoes mosquitoes of Winnipeg. Not that I want to discourage discourage Steve Gough. Far from it. 1 like to think that Steve could expand his nudist horizons horizons from naked trekking to. . . I don't know. Nude golfing perhaps? Nude curling? How about nude music? Sure! That's the ticket! ticket! Steve Gough should take up a musical instrument! instrument! Although I'm betting it won't be the accordion. YOUR BREAST II E A LT H AT* II MORRIS FUNERAL CHAPEL LTD. SERVING DURHAM REGION SINCE 1841 ALL FUNERAL SERVICES PREARRANGED AND/OR PREPAID BURIAL - CREMATION - TRANSFERS "WHERE PROFESSIONAL ETIQUETTE IS IMPORTANT 1 ' FUNERAL DIRECTORS PAUL R. MORRIS GARY M. CONWAY DOUG R. RUTHERFORD DEBRA D. KELLEHER 905-623-5480 4 DIVISION ST.. BOWMANVILLE - AT QUEEN ST. B E .AWAREA Vv v " '■■■ To-' - vOAiâilPi Know your body. Learn the risk factors. V - : V : / l • BE PROACTIVE Follow breast-screening guidelines; Practise a healthy lifestyle; ' : .T-' GET THE FACtS a* Call the Canadian Cancer Society to get the information you need about our Seven Steps to Health, screening, TÉsl! early detection and protecting your breast health. CALL OUR CANCER INFORMATION SPECIALISTS WITH YOUR QUESTIONS ,0,É TO CONNECT WITH OUR SUPPORT SIRVIC1S. I 8 8 8 <119 llll • WWW f ANC I H CA Sill II I \ ilii I .mi The first fall meeting meeting of Community Care was held on Sept. 24, in Orono United Church. President Dini Schoenmaker called the meeting to order and and opened in prayer. The lovely fresh flowers on the table were donated by members and the meal was catered by members of Kirby United Church. Diner consisted of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, salads, tomatoes, ham and cheese,, fresh tea biscuits, biscuits, coffee, tea, apple crisp, and pudding pudding topped with whipped cream for dessert.. Guest, speaker for the event was Samantha Peerse, a very interesting young lady described for those present her great display of teddy bears. . Our guest . was thanked as were all the busy folks from Kirby for the lovely luncheon. Next meeting is on Oct. 29th. Women in Abusive Relationships For help please call: "The Denise House" for Women & Children Toll Free 1-800-263-3725 or 905-728-7311 Confidentiality Assured Qanngtm Ltadlng Iht War v-P CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON PUBLIC NOTICE www.municlpality.clerington.on.ee ■ ORONO COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUP Clarington Council has initiated a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for the Orono area. The main purpose of such a plan is to articulate a vision for continued prosperity of Orono, based on an assessment assessment of part experience and future prospects along with realistic implementation implementation policies, programmes and steps. To guide the development of the CIP a community community focus group will be appointed. To ensure we have a cross-section of representation representation from the community, we are looking looking for volunteers from Orono stakeholder groups, property and business owners, residents residents and including those that live outside the core urban area of Orono. The Committee will provide advice to Clarington Council, from a community perspective, perspective, regarding the draft Community Improvement Plan Work Program and bring to the table their unique interest and perspective perspective for incorporation into the CIP. We are seeking representatives with knowledge of environmental, social/historic, cultural/recreational and economic issues associated with Orono. Application forms are available at the Municipal Administrative Centre, Orono Lumber Yard, Clarington Board of Trade or call Faye Langmaid at 905-623-3379 x216. If you are a resident of Clarington and are interested in an appointment to this Committee, please submit your application to the Planning Services Department Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3A6 by 5:00 p.m., Monday, October 6th, 2003.