Between Ylu and Me wM -. f By RUTH ('OLES At the moment we see a few snowflakes, justdribs and drabs floating through the air. To the north of us the air is no doubt full of 'flakes' which blanket the ground and provide a good ground cover for the *grass. So close to the warming influence of the lake the snow dissipates as it touches the earth. At some point in time during the winter we will have a proper snowfall much to our delight. Our garden is a contrast in c9lour, the vivid green of the grass and the browns of the flower beds. We leave the autumn leaves on the wild flowérs and the ferns which in -turn retain tali brown spikes until summer time. Between'the leaves and the spikes the beds have a warm, earthy look until the snow covers it ail. What we need now is snow, and lots of it. The gar- dens need the warmth and protection of it to prevent winter kill which we had so much of a couple 0f years ago. One of our ferns stays green ail through the winter and when thesnow meits there it is al ready to soak up the sun. Surprisingly the merchandisers need a few stor- my days to enliven their trade. As soon as goodiy amounts of snow faîl people turn out in great num- bers to shop and do their Christmas buying. This year folks feel they have been lulled into thinking winter has not arrived because of the warm weather. They cannot believe the holiday season is almost upon us and January will soon be here and it will be 1983. Snow and super sales go together, and the reality of Christmas becomes a fact. Needs become great- er and very different, winter clothing, heavy foot- wear- and outdoor presents for the children, young and old. No one wants-to buy skis and skates on a balmy day, or for that matter a toboggan. On a mild' day recently I saw a young man carrying a pair 0f. snowshoes through a department store. He looked rather sheepish as he grinned ail the way to the door. This is really disappointing weather for the young fry as they long to skate or ski. I wQnder how many people bother to make their own skating rink in the gardens? Somany,0f us did doit in the past. Those freezing coid nights. when we hauled the hose through a celar.window to stand it seemed for hours spraying the ground encircled by a wall of snow. ýGenerally in the morning the sun would meit the ice but we knew in'short order it wouhd refreeze and be smoother than ever. Nice for the youngsters because they could skate after school and after din- ner without leaving home. The parents. knew the grass would be the worse for wear in the spring, but that didn't matter.*> We hear a great deal these days about sales being down in the large stores. We are not surprised as they cut their sales staff and lose customers. Penny wise and pound foolish. Several clerks have asked us to write to management and complain'on paper. Their complaints are not listened to because management says if they do not hear from custom- ers with a written complaint they can do nothing. How many of us write? This is not just common to our region; it's going on ail over. Many of us have done business over the years with the large department stores and nearly always had excellent service and deliveries. Not always s0 these days. It becomes very frustrating and uncomfortable withheavy winter clothes on to waste time because of the dearth of clerks. Some people like to wander about just looking and pricing things. We don't. When we go to shop that is it; neither 0f us feel we have time to linger. Both my husb&nd and I are rather patient souls Town gives $1,OOO' to JO0 Ruddy *The proposed expan- sion of the second floor of Dr. J.O. Ruddy Hos- pital has been.given a shot in the arm by Whit- by town council, which hast week donated $1,000 to the hospital. The hospital kicked off a fund-raising drive after the Ontario gov- ermnent approved the $380,000 expansion. The governument, however, stipuhated that J.O. Ruddy must raise a por- tion of the cost on its own. jCoundil decided to contribute $1,00')0* f public money as a ges- ture to encourage ex- pansion plans. The planned expan- sion wouhd open up the second floor of the hos- pital, and increase the number of beds to 978 from 65.* It would add 35 jobs in nursing, house- keeping, social work and therapy. Included in the plans are physiotherapy and occupational therapy aras, lounge areas and a dining room. Renova- tions would also make the washroom facilities accessible by wheel chairs. flot given to impatience or rudeness. If there is a legitimnate reason both of ius are wllling to wait. -Wç try to do as much shopping in Whitby as possible, but sometimes we have to venture afar to fulfil our needs and too we are creatures of habit especially when the habits may be fifty years old. Now we only linger In these stores for a short time as we are learning- by experience.,tWe simply walk out. Here is a case i point which can be more or less multiplied a few times over with variances of cour- se. To save time I phoned a store- to order some mugs which had been advertised in the daily paper. It is often difficult now to count.on a certain day for delivery. Therefore, if possible, it simplifies things to pick up your purchase. The clerk understood this, took my name, address and charge number and said the parcel would be put on a shelf by the cashier's'cash register to be picked Up the following morning. I arrived at the appointed time; no clerk in Isight.' That was fine until ten minutes passed and people began lining Up behind me including a dear littie oid lady. In due time thé desk was manned and I explained what my mission was and could she please hand me the parcel, a minute's transaction. No parcel and no record of It. This meant the mugs were back in storage, not wrapped nor pack- aged. Because the clerk was alone she had to leave her station with an ever ready line up of customers to alert someone in the storage department to wrap them up. Then ahl the information had to betaken' again and the bill signed. This meant the people behind me had to wait rather'than be waited on while I'stepped aside. So by this time thirty minutes had elapsed and I wandered off to find my husband who had phoned about something too. To the other side of the store and there he was, empty handed.' He needed a part for an appliance and had been told over the phone to cail at the store first rather than going out to the service centre. No one at the desk. He found a clerk who said the man had gone for coffee and she would tell him someone was waiting. He didn't return. Some time later a sales manager walked by and my husband asked when someone would be at the desk. "Not for an hour," he said. He did look for, the part, not there. He phoned the service centre, not there! Thirty wasted minutes again and, luckily for us, it happened to both of us but we were a few hundred feet apart and wondering what had happened to the other. Let's be realistic and admit this is just not good business practice. Let's put the blame where it belongs and hope they will see the light. Less staff, iess sales. e;. sHTY EW I«E e e e eeric Rpar 0 Duda tre Ws 290 DnohAe. THE CORPORATION 0F THETOWNOFWHITBY CHRISTMAS TREE PIC.K.UP1 WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 22, 1982, PAGE 9 Ruddy "volunateens"' Teenage volunteers of the J.O. Ruddy Hospital were honoured at the annual Christmas pot- luck supper for their hours of service this year.' Joy Gray was given a gold bracelet for 750. hours of service, and Linda Fowler received a pin and band.for her cap in recognition of 250 hours of service. Micheile Leung and, Angela Sidiliano were each presented bands for their caps for 100 hours of volunteer work. Caps. were awarded to Ruth Clarke, Jennifer Guthrie, Jenmifer Hui- nink, Debbie Waltham, Beth Welling and Yvon- ne Wiggers for 50 hours each. Linda Fowier and Ruth Clarke attended the convention of the Hospital Auxiliary Asso- ciation held at the Holi- day Inn ini Toronto on Nov. 28. Dr. Saul -Levine, a psychlatry professor at Sunnybrook Medical Centre, spoke honoured to the volunteers about dealing with relation- ships. U Iz Shepley and Hea- ther Link, Volunteerco- ordinators, accompan- ied the volunteers dur- ing this very worthwhile session. Whitby Hydro Electric 'Commission MONTHLY RATE SCHEDULE Due to the 8.2% increase in the cost of power f rom Ontario Hydro together with Increases in our own Internai costs, the following rate schedule wlil take effeoton alil bis for the period after January lst, 1983. The Increase to our customers has been heid to an average of 7.0%. RESIDENTIAL SERVICE ____ ____ Class of Energy Biocks & c per kwh serice - ___ ___ - Minimum F.R.W.H. srieBill Schadum First Next Ail No. 250 200 addl kwh kwh tional Regular 6.31; -3838 $4.50 # 225 No. Applicable to existing Installations only. NON-RESIDENTIAL SERVICE kw Demund Energy Biocke & c par kWh Class of Block Charge Firit Nex add'l Sevepar k 250 9750 kwh Sriekwh kwh 0-50- General 50-500o $2.U 6.31s 4.23e 2.95s (0-5000c<w)325 minimum bill- under 50 kw - $4.50 over 50 kw - $0.30 per kw for ail kw applicable to the maximum bllling demand during the previous il months or the contracted amount whichever 15 the greater. transformation allowance - rates are based upon service at utilization voltage. Where the customei provides transformation facilities, the following allowances will apply - for stepdown from subtransmission voltage - 30o per kw of billing demand per month. for stepdown from distribution voltage - 30ç per kw of bilIing demand for month. FLAT-RATEWATER HEATING SOHEDULE NO. 225 $8.10 permonth 9.11 permonth 10.13 per month 11.14 per month 12.15 per month 12.87 par month 13.55 per month 14.34 per month 15.03 per month 15.72 per month 16.50 per month 17.27 per month 18.00 per month 319.08 per month 28.42 per month 28.42 per month 42.64 per month G.P. Cox Cheimin BRIAN DEEGAN DENTUBE THERAPY CLINIC HARWOOD AVEN UE SOUTH AJAX, ONTARIO 683-6074 400-watt element 450-watt elernent 50'Jwatt element 55(-watt element 600-watt element 650-watt element 700.watt siemefit 750-watt element 800-watt element 850-watt element 900-watt eloment 950-watt element 1,000-watt element All.element sizes of over 1,000 watts to be charged at the rate of $1.664 per 100 watts per month. 1,00013,000-watt siemonts 1.500/4,500-watt elements 3.000/3.000-watt eloments 4,5004,500-watt elements H ti a *Its por aywhen we haventhelped i e.ubttumer- An additionai amount of 5% shall appiy to ait bis flot paid on or before the due date. 1281BROCK ST. SOUTH, WHITBY 688-5878 OFFICE HOURS: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday B. Thompson May, P. Eng. GêneraI Manager a Ê] a