TaeReview Wednesday, November 28, 1990 — Al4

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DISTRICT OF NORTH SAANICH
INAUGURAL MEETING

The District of North Saanich Inaugural Meeting will
be held in the Council Chambers of the Municipal
Hall, 1620 Mills Road, North Saanich, B.C. ong!
Monday, December 3, 1990 at 2:00 p.m.

After incoming members of Council have been
sworn into office, refreshments will be served.

The only one in town
Citizens of the District of North Saanich are cordially

I was trying to organize a vegetable garden _ the barrel of little Louis’ sawed-off shotgun, invited to attend.
when a courier arrived. The parcel he left _ poking out from a bunch of tough carrots, people
contained a dozen slim volumes of poetry, three —_ bought.

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fat first novels, and The Mafia Encyclopedia. I started a review of The Mafia Encyclopedia, S
There was a note included from the Book Editor — aware of my awesome responsibility. If I upset the or oo?
saying there had been 35,000 books published in wrong person my editor could end up slumped NYS we
the English language this year, and his newspaper over his desk, the bullet holes in his body \ \o ae « ay
did not have space to review every one of them. streaming blood onto Saturday’s Living Section. pe o e i ea
He left it to me to decide which books to do — The safest thing to do was to concentrate on ve oe os
“as long as you review The Mafia Encyclopedia dead family members, such as crime boss Joe & ee: ae
— favorably.” Colombo. Colombo got into the laundry racket AX ae
My reality as a book-reviewer seemed akin toa —_ just to have a supply of laundry bags for his stiffs. Axe
situation faced by Canada Bill Jones, a nineteenth As I read further it became apparent that even
century gambler who, stranded in a small Louisi- dead Mafiosos had connections, and that I would :
ana river town before the Civil War, hunted up a _ have to concentrate on policy, not personalities. I : of
faro game at which he proceeded to lose consis- | would write about how the syndicate got rich on ee
tently. His partner tried to get him to stop. “The _ prostitution, gambling and extortion. EMERGENCY NUMBER 655-4459
game’s cooked,” he whispered. Then I uncovered the Parsley Racket. New York 5-10025 GALARAN RD: 656-1313
“I know,” Canada Bill replied, “but it’s the _ restaurants and bars have to buy under-world
only one in town.” supplied parsley to garnish their dishes. They have

The package of books had arrived in the middle _ to heap the greenery on meats and salads and
of my mid-week crisis; this week it was my career. _ serve it during Happy Hour with all mixed drinks.
I wanted to give up writing book reviews Some restaurants try stinting on orders by rinsing
altogether. There had to be an easier way of their parsley off and reusing it, but a count of

making ends meet. tablecloths and napkins by the Colombo family LUNCH 2 SPECI ALS EVERY DAY

I put on my Green Thumb gardening gloves and _ laundries prove which restaurants are not ordering

went back to plotting. A cash crop was what I enough greenery. Those that fail to pay tribute to Include@S SOUP Ge JOUN..........sesecesseneee. $9.95
a needed and I opened my Pacific Gardener to see _—‘ the Parsley Racket are threatened with a fire- DINNER SPECIALS Y
4 which vegetables preferred a northern exposure _ bombing. - ROAST LAMB

with total shade and poor soil. When I got no The next day I went for lunch at a local family

encouragement I consulted my neighbor “Try restaurant. The only green thing on my plate, next > FILLET OF SALMON =

parsley,” she said, offering me the loan of her _to my Grilled Cheese Sandwich, was a limp dill INCLUDING SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Herbal. “You can never have enough of it.” pickle. During the week I sampled other eateries

Parsley was fatal to serpents and a deadly in town: I found no parsley ona pizza or with SOUP JOUR on SARASS WIN) LOAF 1 0.95

poison to parrots, I learned from my neighbor’s my Halibut and Chips or in my take-out Chow OPEN FOR LUNCH & DINNER EVERY DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK

book. Neither serpent nor parrot had been a pest, Mien. At the hotel bar I got celery with my SUNDAY & LONG WEEKENDS 5 PM - 10 PM

but in the past I’d had deer, and slugs were always Caesar, but not the smallest hint of parsley. YOUR HOSTS COSTAS & MARY CAVARAS

a problem. “The slugge escheweth parslee, too,” Sensing a whole new career opportunity, I went
the ancient Herbal informed me. And, given the straight to the nearest garden shop on the
right climate, I could reap five harvests a year. weekend and bought every packages of Italian

But what would I do with so much parsley? A _‘ Flat-Leaf parsley seed in the joint. I sowed the

couple up the way had built their empire selling seeds, as my Pacific Gardener recommended, @
aspatagus at a roadside stall, but I couldn’t forsee between rows of short-lived crops. It wouldn’t be Lo on. cal
a big future in selling bunches of parsley. long before I was kicking on restaurant doors,

By the end of the day I had found an alternative _ staking my own territory. TAKING THE TIME TO MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD
approach to my marketing problem in The Mafia In the meantime, I finished my review. “If you
Encyclopedia, that of Louis (Pretty) Amberg of only buy one Encyclopedia this year,” I wrote in
Brooklyn. He'd go from door to door, kicking, summation, “make it The Mafia Encyclopedia. At
until someone opened, and, with his hands full of least the Book Editor would live to send my
vegetables, he’d snarl, “Buy.” After staring down __ pay-off.

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Students
receive

scholarships

Scholarships of $500 each were
presented to two Stelly’s students
and one Parkland student Nov. 17
by the non-teaching staff of School
District 63.

Joe Nunn Memorial Scholar-
ships went to Shelley Galloway, a

emergency repair services -
in store tinting

Stelly’s graduate now attending Ny co Optical Problems? Let us solve them!
college and training as a legal
secretary and court reporter and to Zs S
Jason Smith, a Stelly’s graduate =
attending college and training for Ea ir [ e rc | N 8 |
hotel management. re
The third recipient was Alynn
Shanks, a Parkland graduate now ae
attending college on a cook’s
training course.
Each of the students also eS
received a plaque. O Nn ly
The scholarships were presented
ee aates Vie one ee with the purchase of any
The scholarships are offered by H F
district 63 members of the Cana- Bio Care earrings .
dian Union of Public Employees to for sen sitive ears. Sidney — 9779 4th Street 656-1413
students entering careers in any of = ean ap anny
the service professions or trades. = SH OPPERS MON.-FRI. 9: E - 9:00-4:
a
2341 Beacon Plaza, Sidney THE REVIEW — “y3
Tound Your Lung Association ss 656-1 1 02 fosacss = e }