6 ~ Friday, August 12, 1988 - North Shore News INSIGHTS ‘Sorry to be so fate — [’ve been rather busy!’ THE LEGION HAS A FROBLEM nowadays. After 43 years of peace, can it fnd enough younger members ready to carry on the traditions of the old World War soldiers who are now fast fading away? But if Bert Rawsthorn of West Van is any indication, maybe the Legion doesn’t yet need to concen- trate SOLELY on kids in their 30s and 40s who've never heard a shot fired in anger. British-born Bert, an early 20th century immigrant, joined the Medical Corps in 1915, serving with the 7th Canadian Cavalry and later the Lord Strathcona Rifles in France and Belgium during the remainder of World War One. By the time World War Two rolled around, he was already getting a little too mature for active service. He retired 31 years ago after a sales career with a big paper- making company. He’s now a Hollyburn House resident, a famil- THE NEW RECRUIT...Bert Rawsthorn (centre) welcomed to West Van Legion by president Peter Cherry () and membership chairman Mel Oughton. iar figure walking the Seawalk twice a day and a regular at the Ambleside pitch-’n-putt (where he recently scored a hole in one). And this spring he finally got around to joining the West Van Legion Branch 60 — excusing his delay in applying by pleading he'd ‘‘been rather busy”’ up until then, Last May !4 Bert celebrated his 96th birthday — which just goes to prove it’s never too late to become a Legionnaire! KILTS AND SPORRANS are purely optional — the welcome mat is also out for all Sassenachs and other visible minorities at the 2 wa photo Aay Colpitts Herbicide opposition HETHER OR not the herbicides mecoprop and diacamba are deadly death-dealing tox- ins or benign chemicals used to control weed “Day in Scotland’' revelry this Sunday, Aug. 14, in Lonsdale Quay’s Waterfront Park. Spon- sored by the North Van Kiwanis, the day-long family entertainment kicks off with a pancake breakfast from 8:30 a.m. followed by nine hours of Scottish culture — Gaelic talent like Audrey Gordon, Nan Wilson and Jimmy Sim, country dancing, pipe band contests, game competitions and tots more fun. Plus a cook shack for lunches and a beer tent for the thirsty. Art We- seen and his festival committee are promising you a pipes-jig-’n-reel day you'll long remember. kwh SORRY ABOUT THAT, sir! Typo gremlins briefly invaded Wednes- day's item on our ‘North Shore army’’ by spelling Col. Tony Humphreys’ name wrong at first mention — though right each subsequent time. If we catch the rascals, Colonel, we'll sentence them to a week of potato-peeling! kkk POSTSCRIPTS: Warm wishes for many Golden Years ahead to Capt. G.R. “Gordy” Sheils who's just retired from the West Van Fire ».partment after serving there for three decades. Feted two weeks ago by family, friends and col- leagues ata Gleneagles Golf Club banquet, he’!] find the years all the more golden for the fact that wife Betty has also just retired from Woodward's, Park Royal, and they now plan to spend a lot of time cruising the Gulf Islands in their sailboat ... Happy 27th an- niversary today, Aug. 12, to West Van's David and Beth Mathieson — back any moment now from the wilds of Prince Edward Island after driving across Canada last month on a six-week vacation ... And the same again today to North Van's Joe and Jean Yearsley who our calendar tells us are celebrating their 52nd. “© friday focus © WRIGHT OR WRONG — that good old Scottish proverb coined long before they invented plastic: “In the absence of moncy there are no alternatives to thrift’. @ Photo submitted GOLDEN WATERS AHEAD... after 30 years as a West Van firefighter Capt. Gordy Sheils is going sailing. growth, the opposition of North Vancouver residents to the application of the herbicides on the lawns of their townhouse complex must be considered. To date it has been a battle of spray guns versus sprinklers. Every time the Greater Vancouver Housing Corporation (GVHC)-contracted crew arrives to put down the herbicides, the residents respond with water to dilute the chemicals. The 50-unit Pinewood Place is home to many children. The parents are rightly concerned about the long-term effects the herbicides might have on their children. The GVHC, which owns the Pinewood complex, contracts the spraying of lawns at 43 of its properties and the company’s manager argues that it is the com- pany’s right to spray. The residents, who live with the results of the spray- ing, believe they have a right to say no to the chemicals and have offered to pull the weeds out by hand. While the blanket application of herbicides and pesticides may be the easiest method of controlling unwanted weeds and insects, the approach is no longer socially acceptable or environmentally responsible. The GVHC should listen to the collective voice of the Pinewood tenants. They are speaking for their children and they are speaking up for an increasingly beleaguered environment, Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor Barrett Fisher Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an :ndupendent suburban newspaper and quitittivd under Schedule 114, Paragraph Woof the Excise Tax Act. 1s published eacn Wednusday, faday and Sunday by Nottn Share Free Press Lid and disttibuted to every door on the North Shore Second Class Mail Registration Number 4885 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 pet year Maing tates avattable on tequest. Submissions are weicome bul we Cannot accept esponsibility tor unsolicited matenal including manuseripls and pictures which should he accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope THE VOICE OF HeORTH ANT) WEST VANCOUVER et SUNDAY + WEONESDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) a SDA DIVISION + FeIDAY Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Cistribution Subscriptions 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER North Shore owned and mgnaged Entire contents © 1988 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved.