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Is wildlife, waging a losing battle? Almost daily, we are confronted with scenes and evidence of man's inhumanity to his -- fellow man. And-almost with the same degree of frequency we learn of senseless slaughter of wildlife species as a result of various reasons: deteriorating environment, wanton killing, "etc. Hopefully, most of us are alarmed at this. Conservationists, naturalists, and even business and industry are working to save threatened wildlife species. Is it a losing battle? Sometimes it takes an insignificant incident. to pinpoint the adverse affects of so much that. man does and believes to be harmless. "'Ringo" the female mallard in Toronto's High Park with the beer can ring around her "bill is symbolic to what wildlife is forced to contend with "in the face of man's spread 3 across the land. Fo fer Too many of us have a mania for so-called * improvements to the land, without any con- cern for wildlife that inhabits. the fields, forests, marshes and lakes. Underbrush among trees and aquatic weeds along shorelines are often cleared away until nothing remains. Marshes .are drained or "(continued on page 5) © PORT PERRY STAR' COMPANY, LIMITED Sa, (wha © i(owm): - Kar Serving Port Perry, Reach, Scugog and Cartwright Townships P. HVIDSTEN, Publisher - Editor JOHN B. McCLELLAND, Associate Editor WM. T. HARRISON, P. HVIDSTEN, Jr., Plant Manager. Advertising- Manager Member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Member of the Ontario Weekly Néwspaper Assiciation Published every Wednesday by The Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario. Authorized as second class maill by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rates: In Canada $4.50 per yr; Elsewhere $6.00 per year. Single Copy 10¢ - WHOEVER HEARD - OF BUBBLE PIPES Never fails. Had barely written a column - --extolling the grand, mild weather we'd been having, when the wind came out of the north with a bone in his teeth, and the snow flew, and the car and I both started coughing. And almost before I'd begun rueing the writing of such a jinx column, my wife yelped something like, Whackers! It's almost Christmas." An sure enough; it almost is. ---- ; Christmas, when we were all young, was something. There was looking forward to . school holidays, associated with sleighs and toboggans and skating and coming in soaking wet, rosy as a cherub, hungry as a hynea. There was the anticipation of decorating, hanging stockings, rustling paper, and a vast, magnificent turkey dinner, a once-a- year treat. y Christmas shopping was no problem. Nobody had any money. Of course, the _ agonizing decisions were there, even then. For adults: should it be something practical -- a new sweather or long underwear: Or should it be something magic and en- chanting -- a game or a book? No question of both. For kids, with maybe 85 hard-earned pennies to spend, there was no problem. A bubble-pipe for your brother ( 10 cents and: supply his own soap); a colouring book for your sister ( 15 cénts and find her own - crayons; a beautiful cup and saucer for your mother at 35 cents; and a purple and yellow tie for your dad, at 25 cents. If the family were bigger, you cut your cloth. And you did all your shopping on the day before christmas. There was never a frantic thought that the stores might be sold out of _ bubble-pipes or long underwear, Then there was the symbolic significance, though we didn't even know the meaning of either word then. There was the church concert, usually held in the Sunday School Hall. There were games and carols and choirs. There were the telegrams from Santa Calus, read aloud periodically, with mounting excitement, to say that he was getting closer and.closer, from the North Pole, though Donder had come up lame. Then the entry of himself, the wild clamour, and the dispensing of those string bags with candy and an apple in each. "Holy Old . And the Christmas pageant in the church, the nativity scene, invariably broken up by a tiny angel piping, "Hi, Mommy. Looka me. I'm a angel," while Mommy blushed deeply "between embarrassment and pride; -- I still look forward to Christmas, but there's a difference. It's about the dif- ference with which a prisoner would look forward to (a) getting out of jail, or (b) going to the electric chair. Nowadays we anticipate Christmas, all right. But what we look forward to is a 'hectic, expensive scramble, with precious: little of the mystery and delight remaining. The Christmas turkey is now just a dirty great bird that has to be stuffed and then stuffed into us, and then cleared up after. A turkey today is not a gruesome, fascinating thing hanging head down in the woodshed,- by its claw-like feet. It's just something you buy and stick in the freezer, anytime during the year, in case you have unexpected weekend guests. : Shopping has changed immeasurably. The panic button is pushed about the end of October and we are warned, shouted at, and scournéd by the various media until we have a tremendous guilt feeling if we're not Christmas hopping by mid-November. 'The agonizing decisions are still there; but most people have some money now, which quadruples the decisions. Every year, at our house, we firmly decide, about Dec. 1st, that there will be no gifts or cards this year. And every year, at the last minute, we plunge into an orgy of both and wind up Christmas Day feeling that we were right in the first first place. Every year, the big problem is What To Buy Grandad. It's not that he is The Man Who Has Everything. The trouble is that he's The Man Who Doesn't Need Anything: - He doesn't smoke or drink. His slippers are good as new. And he has at least six shirts in his bottom drawer, not even unwrapped, bought on previous desperate birthdays and Christmases; =) : ¥ The symbolic significance is still there, of course. And the Christmas concerts and pageants. But what's a bag of candy to a kid to-day? He probably collected eight times that amount on Hallowe'en, and also has an allowance, so that he can buy his own, not that cheap stuff in the Christmas bag. And the pageants, more's the pity, tend to become second cousins to lashings of liquor, phoney TV Christmas programs, and sheer greed: "I wanna snow-mobile!"', 50 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 15, ° 1921 1 Mr. and Mrs. C. A, Clay left for Buffalo, where Mr. Clay is going 'into the fish business with his brother. Mr. Ross' Roach goal tender for the St. Pats, had the misfortune to meet with an accident while in a practice game. It will necessitate his laying off for a few days. ._...A_ten-pigeon shoot was held on the old fair grounds conducted = by Percy Williams of Whitby. George Bowerman won the match = - with John Williams second, George shot 14 out of 15 and John Williams 13 out of 15, 25 YEARS AGO Thursday December 12 1946 Mr. Joel Aldred Sr. of Scugog is plastering the new 'church with Mr, Victor Aldred assisting him. A shower was held in Memory Hall, Utica in ) ~ honour of Laura Rodgers and Melville Lakey. Statistics to - Community Memorial = Hospital for --$§-- October and November of this year: Patients admitted 65, Operations 6, Minor 20, Medical cases 20, Births 19, Deaths from July to _. November 30th, none. _ Mr. Roy . Robertson a. member of the Ontario County Flying: Club, Oshawa has received his- private pilot's license. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 13, 1956 . Dr. M.B. Dymond was installed as Master of Fidelity Lodge. Brother L.D. Colbear was the installing master. =e This year the Lions Club and their ladies held their Christmas party at the Flamingo Restaurant. Rev. R. Graham and sister Miss Graham of Epsom have moved to their new home in Port Perry. SED Mrs. Murray Holtby was elected president of the ----prosepect U.C.W. with Mrs. Margaret Holtby as vice president. Mr. Hugh Baird, Green- ~---- bank Champion Tractor ploughman was presented with a piece of luggage by Greenbank W.A. 10 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 14, 1961 Fire on Tuesday destroyed the workshop of E. G. Mit- chell at Bird's Eye Center. At the annual meeting of the Hospital Auxiliary the 'new slate of officers were as follows: Pres. Mrs. M.D. - Dymond, 1st Vice, Mrs. Lavern Martyn, 2nd, Vice Mrs. Geo. Smith, Sec., Mrs. B. L. Wanamaker, reas., Mrs. Don Crozier. A program of choir music was presented at Utica United Church under the direction of Mrs. Frances Sandison.