INSIDE
‘COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

Sea

REG HORNE

The grass is
always greener

T HAS BEEN a great day for

looking out my window. So far I

have seen an oriole, a goldfinch,

several grackles performing a
maling rouline, a couple of red wing black-
birds, several types of sparrow, a pine sis-
ken and the ever present robin. This is very
goad for a city lot but we have a number of
feeders on our trees to attract them.

Below this collection of winged splendor
sits my lawn. It does not fare so well as it
has to fight shade, piles of bird seed (birds
are messy eaters) and the wear and tear of
my children and their friends.

Fortunately 1 am not grass proud. I cut it
when it needs it, water it if it tums brown
and try not to poison my animals or chil-
dren with weed killers or fertilizers.

They say, like father like son, When I was
young, my father would but the grass every
weekend and water it occasionally, but that
was the limit of his lawnaphobia.

The neighbour across the strect on the
other hand spent most of his days on his
front lawn. He weeded, seeded, fed and
watered as well as cut and trimmed and just
patrolled for flaws. - ;

When our lawn was yellow with
dandelions, he would come over and make
casual comments to my father like, ‘“You
seem to be having problems with your
dandelions,’’ meaning of course get rid of
them.

My neighbours, childless and animal.
less, are lawnaholics. They weed and
feed and cut every Saturday morning
or every Thursday night if they are
going to the cottage for the weekend,
They even vacuum their driveway.

My father was most obliging, He would
cul the grass and remove the offending yel-
low heads for a few days, if not remave the
root of the problem.

My neighbours, childless and animal-less,
are lawnaholics, They weed and feed and
cut every Saturday morning or every Thurs-
day night if they are going to the collage for
the weekend. They even vacuum their
driveway:

I am surprised they don’t come and tcll
me off about the condition of my lawn,
Telling me to keep my kids off their grass
is as far as they have gotten so far. One day
T'll tell them if they can’t stand the traffic
they should put up a fence.

This dedication to lawns is a fascinating
subject. In suburbia, it is common to find
front lawns of several acres in size requir-
ing a riding mower to cut, These same mid-
dle class homeowners prabably decry the
loss of farmland around our expanding
cities withoul recognizing their contribution
to it,

In Arizona the desert overcame the lawn
and lawns are often replaced by landscaped
stones and sand. Some people paint the
stones green.

When this trend moved to Florida it be-
came necessary to cover the ground with
plastic before putting down the rocks to
prevent grass form growing. Thus the lawn
has come full circle.

In Toronto, an area where immigrants put
their front yards to more productive use
was’ given the derogatory name cab-
bagetown. Ironically this is now a popular
area of the city. Granted, both the im-
migrants and the cabbages are gone.

I grew tomatoes in my flower garden and
let the squash run out over the lawn one
year and no one seemed to notice, but I
suspect a great big orange pumpkin would
have been treated like my father’s
dandelions and the nieghbours would prob-
ably burn me at the stake on Halloween.

Take

your

diploma and run

By TIM PHILLIPS
Valedictorian
THE GRAD class of 1996
consists of an outstanding
group of individuals.

For the last 13 years
we've endeavored to sur-
vive this whole school busi-
ness, until its end, and now
we've alinost achicved thal
goal,

This is truly a Kodak mo-
ment — something we can
rightfully be proud of.

I hope that someday we'll
be able to look back on
these years together as some
of the best of our lives,

We've all made some
good friends (and maybe
even a couple of enemics!)
and have grown as individu-
als, both in mind and bady,

T can still remember all of
us filing meckly into grade
eight — how people can
change in a few short years.

But we made it through
that mine ficid, publicly
recognized as Skecna Jr,
and now here we are: ready
to kiss Cal goodbye and
move an.

fant Sat

It’s been a great experi-
ence, but there comes a time
when you've got to say to
yourself, “enough is
enough’? and go your own
way.

So take that diploma and
run with it guys, because
you’ve to try. and catch your
dream before it pets away
on you.

Sec you at the reunion.

SECTION B
CRIS LEYKAUF
8-7 283

GRAD NIGHT AT LASTI (Clockwise from tha top) Parents probably didn't even
recognize their children during Friday night's banquet. Grads looked impressive in
their formal dress; Lindsay Bailey and Leah deWalle were relieved the big day
had came at fast; After graduation Frank Gration plans to head off for an Austra-
lian holiday. His girlfriend-Karlavan-DeVelde will be attending NWCC; Goral-Jean
Dennis brought half her relatives to the banquet. She's pictured here with proud
parents Linda Earl and Dave Dennis.