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Citizen comment Nature trails are for How does one explain to a child that an animal as cute and loveable as a beaver just doesn't have a place in a waterfront nature park? That is just about the problem faced by the Penetanguishene town council as a result of a letter from the council of a grade seven class al St. Joseph's school, asking that a beaver dam in the waterfront park be left alone. The children have been studying the area, and have discovered that the beavers have built a dam which is causing flooding on the nature trails the town has built in the area through the park. They feel the beavers will perish if the dam is destroyed, and they may be right. The town is in a bit of a bind, in that it would cost a lot of money to relocate the trails on higher ground and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources says it won't undertake to move the beavers to another location because there is an overabundance nature of beavers in Ontario at the moment. The town will try to find some humane way to deal with the problem, but it may be forced, in the end Lo resort to allowing trappers to go in and take the beavers for their pelts. It's not a very pleasant solution, and it is cértainly not a solution which is going to be easy to tell to the group of children who have taken such an interest in the animals. It's really too bad, a trifle ironic, that nature is getting in the way of a project which is designed to enable people to see nature at close quarters. Surely some solution can be found which does not involve the elimination of the beavers, even if it means spending some money, or leaving some sections of the trails submerged for a year or two. If man and nature cannot co-exist on a nature trail, where can they co-exist? That's 'something which, for some reason, children seem to see much more clearly than most adults. Halloween madness Thank goodness some of us have our heads screwed on properly Penetanguishene Town Council has resisted the latest wave Of madness which was started in the big city and picked up in Midland It seems the powers that be in these places think little children would be better off trick- or-treating on a Saturday night than on the 3ist of October, which happens to fall on Sunday There are a number of reasons for this, some of which have some validity, others of which are ridiculous, The main reason seems to be that with the switch over from Daylight Savings Time to Eastern Standard Time, it will be lighter on Saturday night than on Sunday night. This, of course cannot be disputed; but what self-respecting ghost or goblin would be caught dead in the broad daylight Another reason offered is that Monday is a school day, and it would be unwise for children to stay out late on a Sundy night. But, as was pointed out at Monday night's council meeting, when Hallowe'en falls on a week night, as it does now and then, nobody tries to have it moved to a Friday or Satur- day night. Why should it be any different this year? Hallowe'en, or All Hallows Eve, as it was originally called, was scheduled on October 31st for a reason. Our government has seen fit to have Queen Victoria's birthday celebrated on a Monday for the convenience of the working man, and to a certain extent, that makes sense, although one might have a difficult time convincing Queen Victoria of that. But if we don't draw the line on Hallowe'en, before we know it, we'll be celebrating Canada Day, and even Christmas, on some day convenient for all involved. Crazy weather, eh? Who says Penetanguishene doesn't have something for everyone? Where else in the world can one see, in the space of a few hours, brilliant sunshine, overcast skies, rain, snow, hail, and sleet? Last week was a meteorologist's dream, or nightmare, depending on whether he was just studying the weather or trying to predict it. It's really too bad such brief periods of unpredictability could not themselves be predicted, because the town could surely figure out some way ot marketing them to schools of meteorology. The budding weathermen could come from miles around, camera's and notebooks in hand, to study the freak occurrences. Naturally they would spend their money in the town's stores, restaurants and hotels. They would certainly find it interesting here, provided of course they didn't mind coming loaded down with sunglasses, um- brellas, winter coats and boots. Letters to the editor Don't destroy beaver dam \ Pediteu : Des castors ont construit un barrage a Vembouchure du ruisseau "Copeland's Creek" et les sentiers de la nature au pare Municipale ont ete inondes, Nous apprenons que des employes de la ville songent a détruire ce barrage Si ce barrage est démoli, les castors n'auront pas le temps de reconstruire ailleurs. Ils vont mourir de froid et de faim Nous vous demandons de faire tout en votre pouroir pour proteger ces castors Nous vous remercions d-avance et de votre coopération Conseil de la classe 71) Noel Duquette Celia Dyer Observe Energy Week Editor his year, the people of Ontario will spend an esUmated $7.5 billion on all forms of energy In short, we've been spending about $900 annually for every man, woman and child in the Province on energy. Up to 20 per cent of that could be saved through properly maintained vehicles, better driving habits, more careful consumption practices and properly insulated homes. Through con servation we could reduce the rate of growth of overall energy costs dramatically The Ontario Government has proclaimed the first week of November Energy Con servation Week ir order to increase public awareness of the need to conserve energy. An increased public awareness should stimulate Dear people to take steps to reduce their energy bills this winter ; We hope that the savings that can be made will ullimately add up to a billion dollar reduction in the Province's overall energy bill by 1980 : I would like to invile your readers to write to you and share their own reasons on how energy conservation can be achieved in everyday situations | hope that during Energy Conservation Week you will publish some of the best ideas your readers have on energy conservation for personal and community benefit D Ontario Mi is K. Timbrell y of Energy The Penetanguishene Citizen BRADIAN COMM uA ¥ B..,, Ea Pipe ERS ASSO CWsPapeRs COM S x << ge 4 75 Main Street TELEPHONE 549-2012 Andrew Markle Publisher > Victor Wilson General Manager Sue de Stein Managing Editor Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations Member of the Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Subscription Rates: Home Delivery: 20c Weekly, $10.40 Year Mail Subscription $9.50 yearly in Canada $16.00 in USA Audit Bureau of Circulations regulations require that mail subscriptions be paid in advance Second Class Mail Registration Number 2327 Sugar and Spice A few fall notes of superlative unin portance. My elder grandson. Pokey. Is now, at two and a half years. in the pre Kindergarten Class at the day-care centre he attends. He gets vers annoyed when someone, needling. says: "Oh. you're in the Senior Toddlers' class now." With a curl of the lip, he retorts vehemently, "No! I in pre-Kindergarten." I ven at that age, there's an immense con- cern with status. To the Senior Toddlers, the Junior Toddlers are just punks. To the pre- Kindergarteners. the Senior Toddlers are practically babies You remeniber how it was? If you were in Grade 9 at school, it was the supreme insult if someone asked if you were in Grade 8, back with all those little kids It was the same in the service. When you joined. you were a raw. ignorant rookie. In six months, you were looking with tolerant scorn at the new recruits. When you finally gol your wings, you looked down from Olympus at those mere children who were starting their training Vhen you went overseas, and were sud- denly a raw. ignorant rookic again. Aftei operational training. which ensured that you were a dashing fighter pilot, you were posted to a squadron, and learned to your dismay that you were just a "sprog," the term fora baw. ignorant rookie Same thing as a prisoner of war. You d jus! been through a fairly traumatic experience. and a very dramatic One. being shot down, captured, perhaps being beaten up. You got toa prison camp, and were looked at with the utmost. contempt by old-timers (of perhaps 23) who had been shot down in such exotic places as Crete or Yugoslavia or Norway. and had been "in the bag" for three or four sears. You felt like a five-year-old on his first day al school Back to Poke. Al day-care. they gave him a psychological label that midly amused his mother, infuriated his gran. and delighted his grandfather. It was "Sneaky Aggressive." II doesn't sound too nice, but he's tiny for his age. and has to look after himself somehow What it means, I gather, is that when some bigger kid has pushed you around. you wail! until he's not looking. then sneak up and bite him on the ear, or anything else that's handy Well. the postal workers are al it again After one of the most futile strikes ever seen in Canada. they settled. a year ago, for a 29 per cent package, far above the maximum allowed by the AIL. Others. teachers. mill workers, were rolled back. while the uncivil servants of our postal system kept their loot As I write, they are holding rotating 'and illegal) walkouts. cocking a snook at Fall Notes yovernment injunctions, and acting like the Spoiled children of rich parents. Maybe they've been coddled too long. I'm not yet at the point where I would single out every tenth nian or woman in the postal department and shoot the person. Bul I'm getting there. If Yrudeau were smart, he'd call back Bryce Mackasey. eat humble pie, and kill two birds with one stone 1 am ambiguous toward the postal people. which takes some of the sting out of my at- tack. Most of those in small towns are friends and sometimes neighbors of the people they serve, They're friendly, reasonably cour- teous and as efficient as the system. one of the most inefficient in the country. will let them be It's in the bigger towns and cities. where there is no personal contact between servers and served, that the militancy among postal workers is fostered. The workers feel themselves mere cogs in a big machine, nol individuals. The public doesnt give a damn about them, as long as it gets its mail on time. Therein lies revolution. and always has But I'm getting a little ticked off wits labor in general in this country, along with a hell of a lot of other people who once supported it Me have one of the rottenest histories of strikes in the world, over the last few years y Bill Smiley Even the British working man, for many years a real bearcat when it came to unions and strikes. has realized there is a point of no~ return, and is cooperating with government in an attempt to slow inflation in the U-K., lai limiting demands for pay boosts. Not so Canadian labor. It's "Gim Gimme! Gimme!" Maybe I'm old-fashioned, ( but I think there's something wrong with the values of a country in which a plumber makes more than a public health nurse, a meat-culter makes more than a minister. In fact, I'm so fed up with labor that if my own union, the teachers' federation, asked me to go on strike over some real or fancied grievance. my first reaction would be: "Drop dead." Where there is injustice, it must be ree- tified. Bul where there is only greed, getting as much as you can, and giving as little as possible, I've had enough: And that applies to sex and sympathy, as well as labor Last item in these futile fall notes. For two weeks I've been wearing a magnetic bracelet , which is supposed to relieve my arthritis. I'd have been just as far ahead to stick an onion in my ear, and go out and swing. by the tail, a dead cat at the moon. like Huck Finn \ colleague suggested this, He's right. And a happy Remembrance Day to each and every one of you, loo. A 'little un' -- but not to be underestimated by Ray Baker Look at page four. the editorial page. Then look al the bottom left hand corner: you will see a square. Inside this square is printed the name of the eopany, the General Manager. and the Managing Editor. It says 'Managing Editor, Sue de Stein. Well look no more, Sue is leaving the paper. Sue took over as Man-Ed when the previous editor a friend of mine, Jim Park, took off up to the frozen-north of Thunder Bay to bigget and better (hings as publisher, still within the Markle Community Newspapers chain. Now Sue is leaving the B and B things in the wilds of Oakville Ontario She took over the reigns at a time of International Women's year, an era of 'why not. And why not, indeed. All it meant was thal fron: 70 hours a week as a reporter, whe moved up 80 hours a week. That she con- sumed more cigarettes. That she found less time and inclination to eat and that she drove her car more. We'll get back to the car bit later As a reporter she recorded and _ printed things as they were. 'Told it 'like it is'. Carefully avoiding the trap of editorializing or slanting the news one way. This is not easy to do. As a reporter she has sat through seven solid hours of daytime Council meetings without squirming THE SILVER MEDAL Not only do the participants deserve a bronze medal for these marathon meeting. bul for her to set there silently taking notes lor this length of time wailing for 'The big one' that never came. well, | think she deserves a silver medal. The end result might be a few lines of newsworthy items, an exercise in patience that will stand her in good stead when she marries But it was good training. Now she could identify with the reporters working for her as she moved up, and they in turn sat down and covered the meetings She is.only a 'little un' five foot nothing in her bare feet, bul not to be underestimated hy six foot three Public Officials as they found oul when she started asking questions about the wage scales of the various municipal employees last year. Some were {rank, others not so frank. It was not all work and no play either. I have personally seen her at a Balm Beach corn ro. eal more than twice her own weight in corn-on-the-cob (or so it seemed). Under her guidance the chain continued to win prizes in the national competitions for best front page. best coluninists (why not indeed) and best editorial page....She also drives a car 1 told you we would get back to the car. It started oul innocently enough the developed into 'the most accident prone staffer in the newspaper business' contest. She was in the lead with fender-bender record, closely followed by Vic Mcodecki the Ad Manager. Having broken his leg playing tennis he leaped (on crutches) into the No. 1 spot. Sure. lighting for the title. immediately began counting pedestrians, and took the front, Vic. huying a new house stepped into his back loot and came ou not smelling of roses, but covered in poison ivy ~ ALL'S) WELL THAT ENDS WELL I think as a farewell parting gesture it should be considered an honourable draw. unless Vic sends a copy of this column to Oakville. Where someone else can take up the challenger. Seriously though, as a freelance writer | am poing to miss Sue. My own desk at home is modelled after hers in the newspaper of- fice. You can't see the top for papers, memos, reminders; random junk completely coversat and spills over the sides. I figured if it works for her, it must be a winning com- bination, When the paper moved to its new location last year it took no less than seven men to carry it...and that was with the drawers out THE TEDDY BEAR DID TI The Teddy Bear that sits on the pile of overflow of paper at the side of her desk put it all together. Where else in the stern, deadline-chasing invironment of a busy newspaper office would you find a cuddly Teddy bear? Having assured myself it was not a leftover from the previous male oc- cupant | realized it was her link back to sanily. A touch of femininity whilst doing a hard demanding job. And Why not i Iler greatest assets | realized but recently. Out of all' the dozens of columns of mine which as a freelance | just drop off once a week on her chair (don't ask why not the desk), she has not altered a word. Corrected my atrocious spelling, yes. Checked it for libel and defamation, yes. Even,crosses a few t's, and dotted an occasional i. But never chopped a word. To me this shows excellent judgment and superb literary appreciation on her part...... - what more can I say Gonna' miss you Sue. All the best Ray Baker is a Manager of Midland's RCA plant and a freelance writer for Markle Community Newspapers. He and his family live in Penetanguishene..... Autumn silhouettes The emer by Shirley Whittington Do Your kids tell you you're mean when you lay down the law to them? Prohibit your son from hitch-hiking to a rock festival in Woodpile, Montana, and right away, you're mean. ence ofam Tell your daughter she can't have a sleep over for a dozen friends, and you're mean. The next time one of them flings this in your face, tell them the kind of mean you are is the golden mean. Because if you are old enough to have kids who, disapprove ol everything you do and challenge everything you say, you're middle aged and thal has suddenly become hot stuff. This hit me like a hot flash last night when | was reading about Norman Lear, the king of television's situation comedies. "Face il," says Lear, "Mary Tyler Moore is not a child, and Phyllis - she's my age and she's a beautiful Woman."' He also considers Maude to be a very hot and profitable property. Lear really believes in the marketability of middle age and this got me thinking in a more optimistic vein than usual. Brigitte lsardot is 40 and so is Burt Reynolds. Pierre 'Trudeau captured the hearts and mind of this country when he was beginning to be middle aged. Now he's sliding down the other side of the hill, and his charisma's broken. Even some of the young people I know are _ Starting to look middle-aged. Fashion con- scious girls have cul their hair and are wearing longish flowing skirts. iddle aged sex symbol Just last week I met two young men about town who were wearing fedoras and pin striped suits. They looked about 19 years old. going on 40. What's happened is that the current tastemakers were kids in the fifties. All through the sixties, they gloried in their youth and freedom and said openly that they wouldn't trust anybody over 30. Now sud- denly, they're 30. They've reassessed the situation and decided it's okay for people to get middle-aged. Getting back to Norman Lear, his newest project is a show which stars Nancy Walker. She's 50 years old, and has been married for 25 years, to the same man. This would seem thin material for stardom, but there's more. In her new series, she plays a mature career woman with a handsome husband and a daughter who's a bit of a jerk. You get that? For once, the mother has the smarts and the kid is a ding-a-ling. This is almost tog much for me to com- prehend, but there's even more. It says right here that Nancy Walker (she's 50, remem- ber) is becoming TV's newest sex symbol. All these years I've been accepting mid-. dlescence as inevitable: When I went to the oculist to find out why they were making the print in the phone book so small, 1 cringed when he said it was because I'd passed my 40th birthday. I used to be embarrassed when sates, caught me looking through the sequined T » shirts, aid asked me what size my daughter took. When bus drivers and gas station at- tendants started calling me "Lady" instead of "Miss"', | went into a three-day decline. After a lifetime of eating carrots and wearing sensible shoes so I'd grow up to be healthy and strong, it bothered me to find my teeth crumbling, my midriff slipping and brown spots on the backs of my hands. Bul now, thanks to middle-aged Norman Lear, my worries are over. He's made middle age chic, and for once in my life I'm in the right place at the right time. My kids may think I'm inflexible and mean, \My doctor may think my eyes are past their prime. My husband may insist that I°m not getting * any better, just older. _ But I've got news for all of them. In a couple of years, I'll be a sex symbol, just like Nancy Walker. And now, if you'll excuse me, 1 think I'll go out and curl my eyelash.