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Children's progra Saturday was the last week of children's Programs sponsored by Sainte-Marie among the Hurons; pod Oe Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre. The free progr, operation for the last four weeks, centred o afin themes dealing with the area's cultural and natural history The last program was "'awards day" for the s end above ctklldren. Awards were given for various categories Hs gathering litter. In the centre is Doug Cameron 0 Sainte-Marie. "a Midland who supervised the course for Photo by McConnell, . Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Cars are for going places, bikes for free adventuring Ta. by Priscilla Galloway I have gone ad- venturing, and returned with a pint of thim- bleberries, dead ripe, a dozen windfall apples, three copies of the Times, tired legs, and a con- tented mind - not bad for investment of 90 memories oday, fresh in the aftermath of the morning's storm, the perfect day for a ride. Some people prefer to go adventuring on foot. I love to hike with somebody who knows all the flowers, hears and identifies all the birds, and sees most of them too, but my own vision is not. scaled quite so minute. And nobody can go country-side adventuring by car. What can you see? Mostly dust, right? Cars are for getting places. For that, they're great. For me, the bike is right. But when I set out, I ususally like to go somewhere, and to know I'm going. The little village of Lafontaine is my ideal distance from the cot- tage. Down our dirt track, avoiding the rocks, being careful not to get bogged down in wet sand and pitched into the poison ivy, I stop for the thim- bleberries, big, juicy, black. There aren't many, but if I save for a few days, there'll 'be enough for another lot of freezer jam. Superb. Low gear Up the dirt road through the woods, in low. Thin trees, woods dim- pled with sunlight, pools of shade. Last fall, a red fox trotted across in front of our car at the foot of the hill. But 'no living creatures today, at least not wild ones, not even a - chipmunk. A Buildall truck comes toward me and quickly passes, almost empty at the end of the day: (Visions of fathers on holiday, putting a new porch on the cottage, or a roof, or maybe just fixing up the patio or ordering a Bn ot faint.) * ~} I could ride up wel ear the bottom of the \ nth concession, but I've nothing to prove. It's easier to walk, hard enough on the legs at that! Better at the top, but still slow going, still in low. On my right are a herd of cows, more group than. herd, com- panionable, heads together, one beige-brown among the black-and- whites. a ee Loaded with berries The chockecherry trees are loaded, the berries purple-black, and my mind goes back to the war years when my family in Ottawa picked endless chokecherries, and my mother used our precious sugar ration to make jelly. I never was wild about it, mouth-puckerihg even with all that sugat, but we used to say that it was good with meat. Obviously nobody makes chokecherry jelly any more. On my left, boughs dangling over the road allowance, is an apple tree standing just inside the decrepit fence line of an unturned, weedchoked field. It looks as if nobody is using the apples; maybe I'll take a closer look on the way back. Milkweeds all over. I've ~ missed the stage when the pods are tiny and tender, good to chew, stripped of the outer case. Have you ever cooked those pods? I meant to try it this year, but missed my chance, and now they're too big, the seeds will be brown. Delicious florets But I did gather bags of florets early in July before the flowers had opened, when each sphere was a mass of tiny tight, curled green miniature spheres. Cooked like spinach, served with butter, they were delicious, and I let guests and husband eat and guess until they were satisfied and stumped before I told them about the new vegetable. . That's my "ideal discovery of this summer. Free, unlimited quantity in season, and eating them is a service to mankind as well as your own stomach, cutting down the future weeds of the world. Up to paved road at last, with a left turn, the air heavy, heady with clover, ditches full of goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace, the oc- casional blue of corn- flowers, deep purple of vetch. As I get closer to the co-op, the road :is bordered, both sides, with new houses in various stages of building. Oasis in wildness Most haven't got far yet with the landscaping, though some fine vegetable gardens can be seen. One little oasis of loving care stands out in the general wildness, driftwood tastefully chosen, artfully arranged, flanked by two circular flowerbeds, circumnavigated by cut- off poles, foot-high palings, brilliant with petunias. A boy rides toward me. Two others lounge in the grass, bikes behind them, grinning as I pass. I grin myself, more broadly as the one rider, aged about ten, rides briskly, ef- fortlessly past me, both of us pleased at how well he does it, how easily. I'm chicken, turning down the unspoken challenge. It's "too obviously his game. That's the difference between ten-year-old and forty-five-year-old ' And my bicycle tires legs. . are soft, no doubt about that. The wind is against me, down to the corner. Turn right for Lafontaine. I saw the church spire from way back, before I reached the paved road, even. I'dnever noticed, really 'noticed, the fire hall here, on my left as I ride. At the moment, I'm still very conscious of fire \ departments, would like 'to stop, but don't. It's ood to know it's there. t Ringing bells bas station, not fancy, but'they've got air. In the garage, three teenagers are earnestly bent over - an \ elderly blue Volkswagen, tail up, motor open, and don't even look up as I set pressure, spurt air, ring bells. . What a 'ifference it makes to have my tires hard, really, really firm. High gear is easy now, no effort at all on the good paved road. In the general store, a happy chat with' the storekeeper and a teenaged customer, three women together, talkinz about tenting in a storm, tenting in this storm, this morning. The girl hadn't wanted to get up. And the habits of pets, fearful of thunder, the storekeeper's cat who got behind the drapes, my little dog who cowered in the dark bathroom behind the toilet. And the joys. of swimming in the rain, the remembered water soft and warm, raindrops soft and gentle, or sharp and stinging on the face. Swims of other days and years, not this morning, with the lightning. Outside the store, starting back, noticing all the names, wondering if here in Lafontaine, Blondin keeps its French pronunciation, -or if it's been completely Anglicized, remembering our neighbour in Midland. The first time I looked his name up in the phone book, I went through all the C's looking for Can- nell, or Cunnell, tried the K's too, before light dawned, and I found it under "Q"' for Quesnelle. Going down the fif- teenth, the wind is in my face again. No fair, it shouldn' t change di li ! The cows: have moved apart, are Maaving con- templatively.} Now I can see only the holsteins, the jersey's gone 4 else. Showers of Davel There's fresh gravel on the road, and more of it on the right than the left. I ride in the clearest part, at the left, keep an ear open for cars, but miss the one coming up behind me until it passes with a blare of horn, showering the gravel as it speeds along, vanishes in a flurry of dust. But there's my apple tree. I try one of the windfalls. It's good, a little seabby on one side, but I don't have to eat that. Some are rotten, but the storm last night brought down lots of fresh ones. A dozen will add a little tang to the chili sauce; the tomatoes are picked and ready. Into my rucksack they go, along with the thim- bleberries, safe in their cottage cheese container, and the papers from the store. Three young women eycle slowly past. We smile at each other, but ne one speaks. Cycling on that road is hard work for all of us. The new gravel runs out well before the top of the hill, though, and the going gets much easier on the firm-packed dirt. It's years since I've biked down a steep gravel road with a sharp turn at the bottom. Once, as a child, I took a hill like that quite fast on a country lane, made my turn, and found the way blocked by a farm gate. Got a legful of gravel that time. So I brake down the hill, cautious, conservative forty-five, let go and speed up into the turn, and off for home through the woods, the shadows deeper now, supper time and all's well. I'm used to putting things in the oven, letting dinner cook (it's chicken 'tonight) while I'm busy with more things. Like a swim, or a book. Or a bike ride through a golden August afternoon. Priscilla Galloway, a consultant in English to the North York Board of Education, is on vacation at her Nottawasaga Bay cottage. important MHC director awarded grant The Ontario Mental Health Foundation has awarded $1,237,700. for research in the mental health field during 1975-76 in the province of Ontario. The program includes support for research projects as well as awards for the support of individuals who are in- terested in pursuing a research career. At the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre, research director Dr. V.L. Quinsey has been awarded $34,753. to carry out two research projects, "Studies of Institutional a a ~ study, Assaultiveness" and "The Oak Ridge Child Molester project". In the first project, aggressive behaviour and assaults on the staff and fellow-inmates in a maximum. security psychiatric institution will be examined. In Dr. Quinsey's second sexudl offenders who have committed offences against children will be treated by con- ditioning methods applied to their inappropriate sexual preference for children. by Ray Baker "The Ungodly" -- not for the squeamish reader One hundred and thirty years ago George Donner had a dream to get from Oregon to California. He advertised in the 'Sangamo Journal', Springfield, Illinois, in March and April 1846. He needed about eight men of good character to drive ox teams. His wife, Tamsen, was going with mixed feelings, from a safe secure world to an unknown one. But with the blind faith that wives everywhere in the world have always shown -- she went, along with her family, in laws, husbands, wives and kids. Thus was born the 'Donner Party'. I have read accounts of it before, Geo. R. Stewarts 'Ordeal by Hunger' and Bernard De Voto's 'The Year. of Decision 1846'. What makes thi' expedition different from the thousands of others going west is that in addition to outlaws, Indians, the worst winter in the Sierra Nevadas for 30 years and misguided guides - they survived by cannibalism. The latest book on the Donner Party is published by Charter House, New York, it is by Richard Rhodes, a writer who travelled the length of the illfated expedition and called his book 'The UnGodly'. It is not for the squeamish, or the faint at heart. It follows the Donner Party from the first advert in the newspaper in Illinois right through to the survivors in California and is divided into three basic parts. One: the trail All the heart breaks of selling up home and having wagons built, leaving friends and neighbours behind. All the accumulated roots of childhood and adulthood pulled up and a new way of life started. Meeting strangers who were to be travelling companions into the promised land. It is hard in our day and age to visualize ox teams and wagons that might average 16 miles a day. The children then, as now regarded the Aluminum Storm Doors Completely prehung in pre-drilled frame. Self-storing glass and screen. Fully weatherstripped. Includes all hardware, push- button latch-set, pneumatic door closer and safety wind chain. 11/2" Aluminum 54.88 VAL One Piece Steel Garage Doors This top quality, one-piece steel garage door is a great combination of superb engineering and good looks. Features trouble free hardware and long life nylon rollers for fingertip operation. a7 11 11/2" White 63.88 Aluminum Storm Windows Beat the wind and weather with double weatherstripping that seals tighter as the wind blows harder. Each window is custom made with expanders to fit off- square sills. Screen removal is made easy with snug fitting top sash locks. Come in today for a free estimate of your storm window requirements. Wood Windows Beaver carries an excellent assortment of wood windows. A free estimate is yours for the asking. 97 9' x 7' whole thing as an adventure. Early days were pleasant enough with Buffalo so plentiful that the plains 'seemed alive with them', pure water, sunny days, plentiful supplies. It had been a good choice. They stood in awe at natures won- ders, hot" pools and springs, verdant grazing for the animals, long summer days, and then salt desserts in Utah. Lines of abandoned wagons and bleached bones, lack of direction and an alleged guide who not only didn't show up, but sent them on the wrong track, which led to the inhospitable bleakness of the high Sierras. : Two: the camp Realizing that the mountain pass was too deep in snow to cross, that there was nowhere to turn back to, and supplies were low, they dug in as best they could for the winter. The worst winter in 30 years. No salt, no flour, little meat, no hope of rescue or relief. This is a fascinating account of man's adaptability to practially 6427 Nordic 66°' Old York Cedar Entrance Doors ae Beautiful collection of solid cedar BI aa doors inspired by Old World designs. B! j $1°" Dutchman| |! WA 79 PF earceiona He = 987... ckingnam 40 99 certain death by starvation. Three: the relief Against insurmountable fighting nature at its worst themselves, the remnants, and ultimately one man, reached 'civilization'. The city of Yerba Buena (soon to be renamed San Francisco) organized help. This meant facing the mountain crossing in winter, with supplies for people who may or may not be alive But alive they were. The sick, the old, the children. had perished one by one with a few ex- ceptions. The remainder survived by eating their dead One cannot pass judgement even having read this book. 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