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Bam an Rl ea Ey PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 28, 1986 -- 15 Take a Look Back a 2) . * ~ SE a PRs » aa £¥ Fat SN EATEN SRE 3 8 \ Fe SNE 3 X ade { . A 8 J ' > sma? kk ro BAY # 0) , 3 ». Tod £2) LSP Fa a TH : oN \ ' & : This week's photograph is of the general store and post office at Myrtle Station. As seen in the picture, taken Circa 1925, it was quite a thriving business. James Beacock owned the store and acted as the area postmaster from 1906 until 1936 Photograph courtesy of Whitby Historical Society when after over 30 years of service, he was unexplicably fired as postmaster. Beacock continued to live in Myrtle Sta- tion until his death on November 3, 1943 at the age of 83. Mysteriously, his wife of over 60 years died three days later. The weather last week was s0000 beee ... utiful, it is hard to imagine the month of Oc- tober is almost over. Kind of silly that we should have had to wait so long for some nice weather. It sure was heartening to see area farmers in their fields, salvaging what was left of this year's crop, planting winter wheat, or just plain plowing the ground in readiness for next spring. The weather would have had a great significance if I had not felt a little under the weather myself (if you'll pardon the pun). You see, I have a told in my node and it wond go 'way. To be precise, I have had this dumb an- noyance for nearly five weeks now, as have the rest of my family. Itstarted out with number one son. A kind soul who believes in sharing everything .... even the germs. So now, the whole rotten lot has it. We have all swallowed enough an- tibiotics for congestion, inflammation of ears and throat, and sinus infection to kill a horse. And yet the persistent bug remains. Horrible as it sounds, I am actually pray- ing for cold weather. I mean real cold crisp weather that will hopefully kill the darn thing. Other than that I think I am going to have to succumb to hubby's suggestion that we leave the house for a weekend and have the darn place fumigated for germs. This subject of sickness brought to mind a little ditty recently read by Trish Worron of the Canadian Press. The headlines read «Walk-in medical clinics gain popularity in U.S.. Canada, patients seek alternative to long waits, emergency wards." Well, after what happened recently, that headline caught my eye and propelled me to read the body of the article. You see, a little while ago, I asked hubby to open a tin of food for our thinks-he-was- starving-to-death cat. Ziggy the Piggy. is his name and he lives up to it one hundred rcent. . Anyway, the pesky can opener, which George is convinced hates him, decided it was once more going to be totally uncooperative. A Viewpoint by ROXANNE REVELER It made it almost all the way around the can, leaving only two little dots of closed space, as usual, on directly opposite sides of said can. No problem for the engineer in charge. A lit- tle twist, a little pull would fix everything, and shut Zig up for another day. . Well he twisted and he pulled, and needless to say, lost the battle with the can. It got him a dandy, and one look said it all .... stitches my lad. Wrapped in an undeterminable amount of paper towelling, and still dripping blood everywhere, the wounded soldier was push- ed unceremoniously into the family truckster - and we headed to our nearest hospital, which shall go nameless. When we arrived at emergency that Sun- day, there was no one in sight, save for an athlete-looking sort of young person who was waiting for a ride home. It was up to the desk. post haste, where an obliging nurse asked every question imaginable save for the colour of my grandmother's eyes. We were told to take a seat in the waiting area, which we did, trailing blood behind us. When a voice said "this way Mr. Reveler"' about five minutes later, we couldn't believe it. We were actually getting looked after right away. Well that's the end of the good news, I'm afraid. Hubby followed the nurse and I waited where I was. And I waited and I waited, and I waited some more. I was actually starting to get worried, because I knew there was a doctor there. He had been behind the "counter" when we checked in. All sorts of crazy things went through my mind. "Blood- poisoning has set in .... they're amputating. In the meanwhile, the waiting area was filling up. There was a chap who was hobbl- ing and waiting for X-rays; a young tot who was carried in by her father; yet another youngster they had to bring in, in a wheelchair because she had hurt her leg and couldn't Turn to page 17 Reflections of a golden age by Mabel M. McCabe Keep Smiling | mention on many occasions that | make a strong effort to keep busy and active. After spending most of my adult life married to a loving husband and surrounded by my children, it is hard to come to grips with living alone. | know many are in this position and if they do not strive to beat the blues, it can be devastating. So you spend some months in the depths of despair and then you have to take a firm grip on yourself. I've been there and | went through all the phases. | finally realiz- ed that nobody wants a person around them who is always near tears. | found that if | was not to be the biggest bore in the world, I'd better pull myself together. That's when | decided to go back to school. An clder person can take courses at nearly every night school for free. That's a plus. It does not matter what you take if you find subjects that interest you -- go for them. Just get out and do something. You'll meet many people some much younger than you and that could be an added advantage. We can learn much from the new generation including what their slang means. You'd be surpris- ed at how the English language has changed. You all know that | took creative writing and art and even though I'm still learning in both subjects | have enjoyed the experience. | know | have not mastered the art of writing for someone in Brooklin sent me a card to a mail order writing course. Maybe | wrote something they did not like, or it could be that my bad grammar showed up too often. It did prove to me that somebody out there reads what | write and that is indeed a thrill. My painting is still very much a good-bad-and-indifferent situa- tion. | have the ones | like framed and the bad ones | keep to look at when | get too impressed with myself. That brings me down to earth in a big hurry. | have a habit of watching what goes on around me wherever | am and it is with some dismay that | see so many older folks just sitting staring at the walls or a TV set all day. This is the road to senility if it is not stopped and turned around. Please if you are one of those who are now on that path, get up out of your chair and find some hobby you can do. It could he the saving of your life and the start of a whole new and happier life for you. Many days | find it just too much trouble to get out of bed but when | push myself | find that a little walk and conversation with others brings me back to the land of the living. We all have down days and we have to fight to make them go away. Soon we find that we are looking forward to each new day with relish and expectancy. We are alive again. So life will never be the same as it was when we were young but it can still be pretty darn sweet if we make a little effort. Do yourself the biggest favour of your life. Look outside yourself and see what lies around you. You may be surprised at the glories to be found after the bloom is off the rose of life. Reach out your hand to someone else who needs a friend or a bit of help, you'll feel great about it and you'll see others will start to notice and follow your lead. Just a little smile is worth so much and an added word of encouragement could make someone's day. You could do worse you know. Region bans all smoking (From page 14) concluded there should be smoking areas set aside in lunchrooms. While the separate lunchrooms will hold a ban on smoking, there will be smoking allowed in the public cafeteria, located in the base- ment of regional headquarters, as it is shared with the province of On- tario who lease space for the courts and crown attorney's offices. Likewise, areas surroundjng the courtrooms and crown attorney's of - fices will be exempt from the ban. The policy also calls for the region to sponsor a voluntary "quit- smoking" program for employees who wish to kick the habit and to test the air in offices where employees have complained about poor air circulation. In a recorded vote, 16 councillors voted for the recommendation, five against, eight were absent and Mayor Bill Mclean was unable to vote as he was acting chairman that day. Among those who voted for the recommendation was Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor. Those voting against were Mayor Attersley and councillors Armstrong, Cowan, Jackson and Robertson. Similar policies, which will even- tually lead to a total ban on smok- ing has recently been adopted by the Durham Region Separate School Board and the Durham Board of Education. Crime Stoppers (From page 14) Similar amounts will be paid for TIPS leading to an arrest in any other serious crime. Callers do not have to give their names or testify in court. Crime Stoppers has a toll-free number 1-800-387-8477. There is no charge for calling. A citizen board administers the program, one of more than 600 Crime Stoppers programs across North America. The award money is raised through tax-deductable donations which may be sent to Toronto and Regional Crime Stop- pers, P.O. Box 54, Oshawa, Ontario. I Toa 423 ge Cm ~ - we Sl y TL ml ll Te TT TT TO a aa, Jape, Sore. Py AG. 12 Ei Mn nl ll Jl UT 30 pe LS air Si (i IP ei PRT LD Tom a --- a