Whitby Free Press, 9 Apr 1975, p. 5

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Thedirectioins were quiteeéxplicit. I was 10 spread die fertilizer equally on the lawrî just as thiehast of winter's sflow was nielting. In the iruest tradition of procrastina- tion 1 thougl aboutl h for a miinute and decided to get aI the jobtomnorrow. Tomiorrow came, and so did haîfthie snow in the worid. Now 1 know how Custer felt. Whierever it is she spends lier off hiours, Moîher Nature rist have beeiî sitting back laughing 10 hierself as she said "ýGotcha!" while she gieefuliy waiched us fioundering througlî ail that snow. When il first started to snow 1 fig- 'urcd il was a personai vendetta against only nie because i have been comiplaining long and bitterhy this winter about the lack of snow for skiing. But after watching the news the first night of die storn I1 realized the wiioie province and ouîlying areas were rcally gelîing dic white stuff to the fullest extent. Within a miat 1er of oniy i12 liaurs spring suddenly be- came dic lartiiest thoughit from my mind. Goodbye ncwly bloorning Crocuses, forget about making maple syrup from the maple sap wlîiclî was flowing and forget about dic patio cieanup job. Actualiy I can forget and forget about thc patio until sometime in Juiy. By thal tinle the four and a liaif feet of snow shouid be complete ly melted. Il was amazing, before Uic storm i was thinking of a good cleanup to gel ready for spring and sunîmer barbecuing and two days later 1 had no patio - just this huge' four and a haif *foot snow drift over most of the backyard. Perhaps some- anc up there, sald, "You wanted snow for skllng - now you've got it!" Strangely enough I had to make many trips lnanard out of Toronto during the height of the storm and I1rnanaged ail of thcmn successfuily and wiihout taking too much additionai time. 1 arn stili v'ery suspiciaus about that. Ail along the highways 1 was passing cars which wcre inthe ditech sidcways, cndways, haif rolled over and on the odd occasion ail I could sec was part of a fender or a shîiny bumnper sîicking out of the snow. For soi-ne reason tie baseline road near the J.O. Ruddy hospîtal had ditches just full of cars which rnay, have losi thieir way because the wind wvas blowýing the snow int a white curtain. N4othcr Nature may flot liave endeared hierseif to us but slic ceriainly îaugh t a lot of nun iicipal i ties a lesson about laying off road sait and sanidiig crews. ln Scarbor- ough' the crews hiad been laid off and the trucks put away a scani îwo days before the storm istruck. 1 carii onrl1y assume Oshazwa made thc sainîernistai!:e. Eilier tihat or ihey were out 10 set a new record establislling thcmnseives as the slowest cornmunity to gel dug ouI froiîî under. Eveni though the unpaved road in fron 't of miy lhouse had been piowed ai leasi threc limes by Saiurday, residential strecis in some of the highiesl properiy tax paying areas in Oshawa were not plowed out for the first lime until Sattirday rnorn- ing and even lien tic piows cleared away only the worsi. The one aspect about the sîorm that was enjoyable was that everybody was forced to take il slow and easy and in somne cases, just stay home and relax. Whiie crawl ing along in traffic on die Danforth in Toronto during the storm 1 noticed things i wouid not hiave seen on a sunny clear day with tie îraffic whipping along. At a used car lot a sign extolied die virtues of one model which was on sale ai a ba.rgain price and the big seiling point was Ihai the car was t.equipped with air condilioning! Ail thai could be seen of any of the cars were the shiny rooffîops and even the sign was haîf buried in the drifting snow. 1 also noticed rnany businesses inciuding restaurats closed up, 1 assume, because the help couidn'l make il in 10 work. Aldhough i'm not onc to, poke along because of a WIIITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 1975, PAGE 5 littie snow 1 was surprised a couple of times during the storm to have -transport trailers'passing m ne on the. 401 and, they were' bulling their waythrough at a speed far ,too' fast for the conditions. One Wilson TransportLUnes driver found out how slippery the roads were when hie apparentiy lost control tid flîpped the entire truck over on it's side. The scene was die same evcrywhere, cars in ditches, snow plows going crazy to keep the -roads and driveways clear and businesses closing up for iack of lieip or lack of customers. And whiat did the stores that were open have in their catalogues and show room windows? You guessed il - Spring fashions and Summer beachwear. i shiould worry about a new bathiing suit wlien 1 know that somcewhere oui ini my backyard under four feet of snow is a bag of fertili- zer and a spreader. Free Wheelchair CIinic. The March of Dîmes Ability Fund and the Oshawa and District' Handicapped Club are sponsoring a free wliîelclîair clinic on Saturday April -16 from 9 a.m. 10 4 P.1fil. The purpose of the clinic, 10 be lield at Durlîam Coilege is for people ifn wheeichairs ho have mninor repairs donc to the chairs. lu addition, tiiere will be entertainmeut, refresh- meuts, counselling by the Durliani Region Social Ser- vices Departiment and assess- ment by occupational riierapisîs from Oshawa General Hospital. For mnore information and regisiration details, caîl Marie McCanfî aI 576-0771. For Ideas .-On Financial Security using LIFE INSURANCE Cali Bob Morrow 668-7517 1 or inToronto 494&1844 1 Prudential Assuance L - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOW1IVO-PENIII'e :::: 11, ý WwVIV >1

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