WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESIAY. DEC. 10.1986 PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson Advise and Dissent iune cuange m uuiwUtown witny from iast unristmas to this is simply amazing. Last week, for the second year, I was involved in judging the best Christmas window displays. The judging was being done for the Downtown BIA by members of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. As the four of us made our way down the first of many blocks. we realized that the task ahead would be far more dif- ficult than we had anticipated - virtually every window was decorated to some degree and most had put considerable thought and effort into their displays. Last year fewer than half of the stores had done anything, but this year more than 85 per cent had decorated their windows. What was perhaps more surprising was that service businesses, which do not have a "Christmas season" and hence have no particular in- centive to decorate their premises, were decked out never- theless. The insurance agencies, the real estate offices and the barber shops were all decorated. The only consistent holdouts are the convenience stores which still have their windows plastered with cigarette and softdrink ads, and the foodstores whose only concession to Christmas is that the price banners in their windows are red and green. After much deliberation and in trepidation of being lynched by all the losers, we selected Olde Silver Thimble, a quilting store which has only just opened, as the winner. Tne window contains an imaginative fireside tableau in which a family of handmade mice are caught in a variety of mischievous ac- tivities. Though not as colorful as some othér windows, it bas the ability to amuse and titillate both young and old. It reminded me of the windows that Eaton's and Simpson's used to have in downtown Toronto, though on a much smaller scale. The runners-up were Bowman and Gibson, an insurance and real estate company, and Celebrations to Go, ariother new store which specializes in party arrangements. Celebrations has one window devoted to Christmas with giant colored blocks and a selection of toys, and the other with streamers and balloons for New Years' Eve. The Brock St. window at Bowman and Gibson, though small, displays a delightful collection of stuffed plush animals wearing hand knitted scarves and hats, while their south window on Colborne St. has a carolling scene. The choice was not easy, nor unanimous, and several other windows stood out for their ingenuity, their simplicity, or their imaginative use of the mundane. Garbo's has a tall narrow window in which numerous small plush stuffed moose have been suspended; Baby Shack, another new store had an effective well-planned display of their wares; Judy's, which always has good window displays, features brass and wicker; and Integ had a simple but pleasing display of office gifts. As would be expected, the florist shops - Van Belle at the four corners and Towne Florists in the Towne Plaza at Fran- cis St. - had their windows filled with beautiful Christmas arrangements. Another attraction to the downtown this Christmas is that the BIA arranged for a number of businesses to be decorated by students at local elementary schools. The window at the Whitby Free Press was decorated by children in Grades 3 and 4 at R.A. Sennet School; and kids have constructed a large Santa descending a chimney in a barber shop across the street. There is a lot to see in downtown Whitby this Christmas and the merchants must be commended for the effort they have made. If you have not been downtown for awhile, even just a few months, you will be surprised by the changes. The junk shops have been replaced by quality merchandisers and the Main Street program has engendered a real sense of pride among the businessmen and womeri. Those shops, though depend on customers. This Christmas, come downtown to do some of your shopping - the parking is free and so is the at- mosphere. WITH OUR FEET UP By Bill Swan Lucas Letterpress, editor and prop, of the Beaver Flat Tail, looks up from the pasteup board where he is Scotch-taping a period into place. "Page One is just about done, and almost on time, too," he says. "'l'Il be with you a moment, sir." The gentleman to whom he speaks shuffles his feet, clears his throat authoritatively, and generally puf- fs up his physical size by swaying forward and back, up and down, huff and puff, on his toes. "Mind I haven't all day, Lucas," says the gen- tleman, his snowcovered galoshes starting to weep on the floor. "And what I have to say is about your precious Page One." Now finished his task, Lucas looks up. Since he is four feet ten inches tall, Lucas looks up to everyone. "Well, Bigblow Bigelow," he says, reaching out his wax-covered hand. "What brings you this way, and on a busy Tuesday morning, too?" Bigelow accepts the hand but gives it the shake on might give a cockroach. "l'Il be blunt," he says. "And I say this as a God-fearing man who is worried about the salvation of our fair community of Beaver. And I believe you are a man of conscience who stands up for the betterment of our com- munity." Lucas interrupts: "If it's about the Gay Rights bill, Bigblow, you can forget it." Bigblow puffs out his cheeks, his neck reddens. "...I don't even want to remind you of how much ad- vertising I put in your newspaper." "Sure. Now go ahead and tell me about the Bishops, Bigblow." Bigblow, as an Fundamentalist Intermediate Traditionalist, believes in one of the literal interpretations of the Bible. On most issues he is at odds with the Church of Rome. But on Gay Rights, as on abortions, Bigelow and the Bishops see eye to eye. "I won't even mention the Bishops," Bigelow replies, "nor will I mention that your bank manager is the chairman of our Family Rights campaign and that your bank loan is now close to being in arrears. In fact, if you were to lose, say, one big advertising account this close to Christmas you might just find your payments pretty steep." "But," says Lucas, "if the editorial stance on the Gay Rights Bill, as you call it, were properly savage and unsympathetic, then the advertising would remain and the bank manager would be more un- derstanding in any case. Do I have the'position clear?" "Now, Lucas, my boy," says Bigelow, putting his ham-size fist on Luke shoulder, "no one. said anything about trying to exert editorial control "You do," blows Bigelow, "what you feel is proper." Lucas finds himself in a quandary. Should he bow he will lose his credibility and his self-respect. But if he stays true to his conscience, he may lose the Bigelow account. And his bank loan. And the Flat Tail, most likely. Lucas thinks for several minutes after Bigelow leaves. He sits with his feet up, his arms linked behind his head, his hat tilted back just so. Finally he walks.Ayer to the Editorial Page, rips out the syndicated column on Easter Island, and proceeds directly to the phototypesetting machine. He types: "A certain man went down from Beaver, Ont. to Tombstone and in the process passed through a por- tion of town frequented by all manners of people at night. And while there, this man was robbed, and kicked, and stripped naked andileft for dead. "And he ended up in the hospital, and recovered. But verily, there wsre many where this man lived and worked who said, Io! this man fell victim because of his perversion. "And they said many wicked things about him, and abused his family, and bore false witness at his place of employnient. "And so it came that the man's employer said,' 'I cannot risk losing business over stuff like this.' So he fired the man. "And the next day a priest met the man on the main street, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "And a Fundamental Literalist, too, came, and looked at him, and passed by on the other side. "But a politician saw him and said, 'Hey, look, this person's been unfairly dealt with.' And so he got support from the reasonable members of the com- munity, and from other politicians, and passed a law which said no person shall ever be fired in On- tario for sexual orientation. "Now," Lucas concluded, "which of these was a neighbor to the man? And who in this story is the Christian?"