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letters Issue of abortion in society TIN crn A " Dear Sir Because of the prom- inence of the issue of abortion in our society today, the following in- formation was compiled to help you respond to re- cent events: The Synod of the Chris- tian Reformed Church (1972) affirmed the un- ique value of human life and the special relation- ship of humankind to God as His image- bearer. Synod condemned the wanton. destruction of any human life from the point of conception to the point of natural death. Synod called in- duced abortion only an allowable option when the life of the pros- pective mother is gen- uinely threatened. If all of this sounds rather legalistic, one can happily report that Synod did not stop there. We are urged to have compassion and to help in the following ways: Recommendations re- the role of the believing community: 1. That Synod call be- lievers to a recognition of the need for Christian compassion and under- standing accompanied by positive Christian action for the unwed pregnant girl, for fam- ilies for whom the birth of another child looms as a very special burden for those who are preg- nant because of rape or incest, and for those families who already have abnormal children or who face the likeli- hood or possibility of having an abnormal child. 2. That Synod call the churches to offer their full resources of coun- selling, encouragement, acceptance and mater- ial and financial support (Turn to page 6) PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, Dec. 4, 1984 -- 5 the PORT PLRAY STAR CO (MUTED IS QUEEN STRLLY 20 80190 PORT ORY ONTARIO LO8 nO (416) 983 738) (C CNA J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager Member of the J.B. MCCLELLAND Canadian Community Newspaper Association Editor and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port P : CATHY ROBB y rt Perry, Ontario News & Features Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department. Ottawa, and tor cash payment of postage in cash WAOVAN COMMUN y A Ve (8) W \ Pa Pins assOS > a Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year. Elsewhere $45.00 per year. Single copy 35° © COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the advertising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. remember when? iS ~~ -- TSI Ti eT eo Ca as We FI a A lO] "3 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 11, 1924 The new officers of the South Ontario Plowing Associa- tion are: President Thos. Hall, 1st Vice, E.W. Wedder, 2nd Vice, Gardham Tran, Secretary, W.S. Croxall, Treasurer, A.J. Howden. A very interesting debate 'That the automobile has done more good than the barn' was presented in Port Perry by George Crawford, Miss Susie Van Camp and Mrs. Wallace Marlow of Blackstock on the affirmative, and for the negative C. Coulter, Miss M. Goode and Grant McMillan. The negative side won. The Port Perry Band elected their officers for the season. They are Pres. George Jackson, Vice-Pres. F.W. McIntyre, Band manager Russ Roach, Sec. Treas. George R. Davey. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 8, 1949 Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Peters celebrated their 60th wed- ding anniversary, messages were received from King George and Queen Elizabeth. "6000 chicks left Peel's Poultry farm for Campbellford, New Brunswick, a trip of 800 miles. This is the largest order of Peel's Fast Feathered Barred Rocks to be shipped at one time in a single shipment. Mr. Grant Christie of Manchester attended the Warden's banquet at Brougham. Mr. Wesley Jackson has obtained a position with the Hydro office in Toronto. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 10, 1959 Mr. Alex Johns of Manchester had a very successful farm sale. Under the direction of Mrs. Francis Sandison, a pageant of Christmas Carols "Come and Adore Him" was held in Utica Church. : Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mahaffy celebrated their 50th wed- ding anniversary at Purple Hill. At Scugog Council meeting a letter was read from the Platten Island Ratepayers Association complaining on con- ditions at Lakeside Park. Dr. G.M. Rennie, M.O.H. was pre- _ sent. This was discussed and a motion passed that it be left to the New Year. ; 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 10, 1964 The members of the Official Board of the United Church honoured Mr. Roy St. John who had been caretaker of the church for eight years. Mr. Jon Hamilton was elected deputy-reeve of Cart- wright Township at Monday's elections. Mrs. Bert (Lucille) Gray received second highest in the voting for councillor in Reach Township and is the first woman ever to sit on council in the history of Reach Township. Mrs. A. Fisher was elected President of the Ashburn W.M. at the December meeting held at the home of Mrs. Edgar Heron. : Mr. and Mrs. Tuscan have purchased the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Holtby of Prospect. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 4, 1969 The sealed container Dr. M.B. Dymond, M.P.P. plac- ed in the corner stone during the official stone laying ceremony contained a 1969 silver dollar, 25 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents and 1 cent pieces. It also contained two copies of the Port Perry Star: April 24, 1969 with the coverage of the "Open House," and the issue of November 20. Reach Township is having a problem with wolves. Ap- parently the area around Seagrave is infested with wolves. One man had seen four running across a field, and so far claims for four sheep have been presented to the Township. Ken Jackson, President of Flamingo Pastries has returned from a week inspecting bakeries and equipment in various cities in England. While there, he visited Lon- don, Leeds, Ilkley and Carlisle, all large centres in the manufacturing of modern bakery equipment. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, December 4, 1974 Damage is estimated at $6,000 to a tractor-trailer owned by Hancock Sand Gravel after the truck, driven by Gary Beddows of Sunderland, swerved to miss a car. The tractor- trailer flipped onto its side and the driver sustained minor injuries. : 'Options have been taken on five pieces of Scugog Township property so that test wells can be drilled. Port Perry must find additional water if further development is to take place. Mrs. Iva Phoenix is a delegate to the Women's Institute Convention for three days this week at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto. Also attending is Mrs. Roberta Baird and Mrs. Betty Stone. ill smiley OF DAYS PAST I have come up wth some items that bring back memories and voices from the past. A few months ago, a young colleague of mine was heading off to Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) with his wife and children to teach school there. They didn't know a soul in that part of Africa. I had a thought, which occurs everys so often. "Mark," I told him, "I have an old war-time friend who lived in Rhodesia. I'll dig up his address, and maybe he can at least give you some tips on life there." So I went to my old prisoner-of-war log book, and there it was. Unfortunately, Don McGibbon lived in Bulawayo, not Salisbury, to which Mark was posted. However, I gave him the address and a note to my old friend. There was every likelihood that he was dead, or had moved, or had got out of the country, as so many white Rhodesians did when a black takeover seemed inevitable. And the other day, while I was having lunch, a member of our staff was reading a letter from Mark's wife. It turned out that they'd been sent to Bulawayo, not Salisbury. She described conditions, pretty grim -- curfews, house searches for insurgents, and so on -- and the letter said: "And we're going for a picnic on Sun- day with Bill Smiley's old air force friend." You could have knocked me down with a Spitfire. I hadn't heard from Mac since 1945, when we were both incarcerated in prison camp. We'd been on the same Typhoon wing in Normandy, where I knew him slight- ly. He'd been shot down shortly after I was, and, joined by a wounded Australian, Frank Land, we wound up as a trio doing a train journey all over Germany: first to a camp occupied by British and New Zealand veterans of Cyprus, then to an interrogation centre at Frankfurt, then off on a long haul across the war-torn country to a prison camp, where we wound up in the same room in barracks. / One forms pretty close associations under trying circumstances. We did. I had a lot of respect for the Rhodesians I'd met: their courage, their cheerfulness, their lack of swank. And, of course, they were only col- onials, so we Canadians could needle them about that. Mac was one of the best of the best. As if that weren't enough to start the juices of memory flowing, my wife, while cleaning out drawers and boxes, came across a cache of ancient letters and pictures that I'd forgotten existed. There 1 am, Leading Aircraftsman Smiley, at 21, black hair, white teeth (the opposite of the present), wedge cap tilted to one side, dashing moustache, cocky as only a young fellow can be when he knows he's go- ing to be a fighter pilot. And there I am again, on a prison camp identifica- tion card, complete with numbers and fingerprint, soon after I'd been shot down, looking bewildered and anything but cocky. And another photo, at another camp, front and side view, looking 10 years older, stub- ble of beard, mean. And finally, a photo taken soon after release, sporting the magnificent handlebar moustache I'd grown in camp. There's a picture of Freddy Wakeham, Canadian, Eric Necklen, New Zealander, and self, in front of our tent in Normandy. I am the only survivor. And another one, both leaning against a Spitfire's fuselage, of two of our gang, a motley crowd, when we trained in Shrop- shire to take off and land Spits without killing ourselves. Jacques Van der Perren, Belgian, and Singh Thandi, Indian Air Force. Van escaped when the Germans invaded Belgium, made his way through occupied France, got over the mountains into Spain and was thrown in jail for six months. He was eventually released, got to England, joined the R.A F. and was shot down and killed on a mis- sion not far from his home town in Belgium. Singh Than- di went back to India. I heard he was killed flying Hur- ricanes in Burma. We were closer than most brothers. The only one of that crowd left is Jack Ryan of Toron- to. The others were from half the countries in Europe, and from all over the then British Empire. Here's a letter, written to my mother, from Casa- jus Pascal, postmarked M. Stammlager XI, Deutschland. It's in French. Part of it: 'Ici mon ami Bill, votre fils qui actuellement dans mon stalag..."" and so on. He told her I was en parfaite santee ( in perfect health) and tried to reassure her. How good of him, although I knew a number of French POWs. He ends by saying, in French: 'I hope that he himself will be able to write you soon." Why couldn't I write then? Who was Casajus? Must dig into the memory cells. And on they go. A letter from my squadron leader describing my last mission, and holding out hope. A let- ter from a chap in Florida to my parents. He listened every night, on his short wave radio, to lists of Allied prisoners announced by the Germans, and had caught my name and home address. And a happy, happy telegram, marked Sans Origine, and Important, from 64 Squadron: 'Happy to inform you that your son F/O Smiley W B T is safe and well as prisoner of war. Letter follows." A letter of commiseration from my college presi- dent, when the first 'missing' report went out. Final- ly, a letter from a chaplain in England: *'So happy to be able to welcome and chat with your son, on his safe arrival in England." Dated May 25, 1945. People in those days really cared. And I've only skimmed the surface.