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Community \â€"=~~<~ schools 4 Waterioo Chronicle, Wednesday, May 24, 1972 There was a time when school buildings were used only for "bookâ€"lainin‘"‘ and local school boards jealously guarded their property from outside users. Community people weren‘t always deemed ‘‘responsible‘‘ enough to be in the school building without the supervision of the school principal or board officials. But all that is changing with the upsurge in neighbourhood organizations. People in various communities, including Waterloo, have realized that these groups are the perfect base for recreaâ€" tional, educational and civic programs since they live in the same area and may have common problems in fulfilling their needs, specially recâ€" reational. Examples in Waterloo are the Lakeâ€" shore Village community association and the new neighbourhood group based at St. Michael school on University Avenue. The most logical resource for organization of these groups is the elementary school. And it is heartening to see both the public and separate school boards throw their full support to use of schools for this purpose. With the available physical facilities and help from the community services board, Waterloo groups should have no problem in having the best services for their neighbourhoods. And the formation of these groups will be imâ€" portant to balance the unavoidable "big governâ€" ment‘‘ influence of regional government. The mayor of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, was quoted as saying that municipal employees shouldn‘t be allowed to strike and that comâ€" pulsory arbitration be used to settle contract disputes. Another supporter has said that the move is not antiâ€"union but "proâ€"Canadian peoâ€" ple." There are two points to be made here. One is that the right to strike for public service (and all unions) should be inviolable. It is the only method workers of any sort have to use in barâ€" gaining with management or government. Comâ€" pulsory arbitration is obviously of questionable value or the public service unions wouldn‘t have been granted strike power by governments. And returning to it might not halt strikes anyâ€" way. Ever since the strike of outside workers in Toronto and the public service strike in Queâ€" bec, the hue and cry for a ban on strikes in "essential‘‘ services has been heard from coast to coast. The group which has most reâ€" cently raised its voice is the Canadian federaâ€" tion of mayors and municipalities which is holding a meeting in Quebec City. The resoluâ€" tions‘ committee of that group has suggested support for a proposal that a study be initiated to find an alternative way to settle labor disâ€" putes in such areas as transportation, communiâ€" cations, public safety and public health. Published every Thursday by Fairway Press, a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo Record Ltd. 30 Queen St., N., Kitchener Ontario Address correspondence to Waterloo Square Watâ€" erloo Ont . Telephone 744â€"6364. The second point is that soâ€"called "labor‘ disputes are also management or government disputes. And that side has much more power than most unions when it comes to bargaining. The unions are always painted black in negotiâ€" ations and strikes but problems can be caused by the other side as well. For instance, during the public service dispute in Quebec, there was provision for government and the union to make an agreement on essential services which would then be maintained, but the government refused to coâ€"operate in orâ€" ganizing this. Public service Waterloo Chronicle SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Canada: one year $8 ; in United States and Foreign countries: one year $10 ESTABLISHED 1854 Editor Frank Goldspink Â¥%.% 10 years ago Delegates from Prince Philip‘s Commonwealth study conference had a real treat over the weekend. The group, which spent a harrowing â€" day _ touring points of local interest in the Twin Cities area, sat down to dinner prepared in the local tradition. _ The group had just toured three nearâ€"by Mennonite farms when they were invited to l ,-v y [3 Well, you can stop holding your breath. The biggest thing since the building of the pyramids, in the opinion of some people is accomâ€" plished. Our daughter is married. And off our hands after 21 gruelling years. It says here. Not that there was anyâ€" thing stormy about the wedâ€" ding itself. It was positively seraphic, and some people were smiling with sheer deâ€" light for the first time in years. I hope there‘s some anâ€" cient saying like: ‘"Stormy wedding day, sunny marâ€" riage." But the weather was something else. The day beâ€" fore was sunny and still. The day after was the same. The wedding day was the worst rotten day of a long, rotten spring. Driving rain and boneâ€"chilling wind . I know, I was there. Out in it, doing all the lastâ€"minâ€" ute chores: ice cubes, cream for the coffee, smokes, mix, dryâ€"cleaners, etc. I have neither a hat nor a raincoat and I couldn‘t find my wife‘s umbrella, so I was soaked to the skin from the navel both ways. However, I mustn‘t comâ€" plain, even though I have my first bad cold for three years. It was KIM‘S DAY, as everyone kept telling me for about a month, and what matter if her dear old Dad has double pneumonita. Somehow, as it so often happens, everything fell into "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE ONLY INFRENCH?* dine at a local steak house. place. Her old lady talked her way out of the hospital, Files of Yesteryear then went three solid days and nights without one wink of sleep. She was so nervous and exhausted she was posiâ€" tive she‘d have to take to her bed before the ceremony. But from that subterranean depth which most of us don‘t possess, she not only made it, but came through with flying colours. The meal was prepared by Mennonites from this area. The menu consisted of roast beef, cold ham, thick smoked _ sausage, â€" fresh asparagus in cream sauce, fresh stewed rhubarb, sevâ€" eral kinds of cheeses and pickles and that favorite perennial, sauerkraut. For dessert: apple pie and cofâ€" fee. The â€" rugâ€"cleaning man had been hbere and everyâ€" thing was spotless. This was bad, â€" because everybody would have muddy feet. But it was good, because everyâ€" body wiped their feet or took off their boots. A gang of boys had arrivâ€" ed the day before to rake up the lawn. This was good. But it was bad because evâ€" erybody was too wet to notice. First arrival was Shelby, an itinerant young actor, one of the men Kim had shared her apartment with all year. No, he was not the bridegroom. This was bad, because Kim was still talkâ€" ing and laughing with him, in jeans and Tâ€"shirt, with one hour to go before the ceremony. But this was good, because Shelby is a great mixer, and later on, when we ran out of mix, he went out and got some. Next guests were two drenched urchins who had hitchâ€"hiked through the torâ€" rent some 65 miles. Soaked right through. I didn‘t know what to do with them, Son Jonas Bingeman, owner of the restaurant, said the meal was of the type preâ€" pared for when ‘"Sunday company drops in."‘ 20 years ago Waterloo council approved a loan to the arena comâ€" mission of $7,500 to install a concrete floor in the arena. Hugh, all the way from Montreal for the day, proviâ€" ded a solution that no midâ€" dleâ€"aged square would have thought of. He took them downstairs, had them take off their jeans and threw them, (the jeans, not the kids), in the dryer. L.J. Shantz, chairman of the arena _ commission, pointed out to council that the cost of installing and removing the floor each Then both front and back doorbells started to ring like a fiveâ€"alarm _ fire, and yours truly, the only one dressed, sprinted back and forth, accepting giftâ€" wrapped parcels from little boys and delivery men, hanging up dripping coats, and trying to introduce perâ€" fect strangers to each other. Chaos. But chaos often works better than logistics. This was to be a Baha‘i cereâ€" mony. The bride and groom, with their typical acumen, had not even decided on the order of the ceremony, and wereâ€"well, not squabâ€" bling, but arguingâ€"until the moment of truth. Kim hissed at me, ‘"Dad, you say our prayer after Marlene. That‘s all you have to remember.‘‘ And that‘s about all I did remember. There is an old cliche: "‘The bride was beautiful in a . . .‘ Well, I‘m here to tell you that the bride was beauâ€" tiful, in a long, svelte, borâ€" rowed dress that looked as though she had stepped out of a Botticceli painting, long auburn hair, huge brown eyes and infinite youth. The groontr looked pretty good, too, but his father can write Bill Smiley spring and fall represents an outlay of $1,400. _ In addition, there is an exâ€" pense of about $125 each year to replace sections of the floor. A district firm has sub mitted a price of $10,368 to install a concrete floor with a trap rock top. It is estiâ€" mated the sale of the presâ€" ent hardwood floor and sub floor will realize about Most weddings are like funerals. This wasn‘t. There were prayers, short. Mine, perhaps subconsciously, was a â€" General â€" Thanksgiving from the Book of Common Prayer. Chopin‘s mazurkas rippled quietly in the backâ€" ground. Brother Hugh sang a haunting song in French and English. Then came the most draâ€" matic and poignant part of the ceremony. Tapers were lighted, without one ember dropping on the rug. A single candle was lit from them. The bride and groom faced each other, eye to eye, and made their personal oaths (not repeating something after a minister). They h kept secret from each oj what they were going to sdÂ¥_ his own column about that. Shelby kissed the rings, put them on the appropriate fingers. The couple kissed. Four beautiful nieces eac brought one white rose ‘ the bride. And it was over. I think it was simple, spiritual and joyous. If I ever get married again, God forbid, T‘M going to have a Baha‘i ceremony. I think my daughter said goodbye. I remember a kiss on the cheek, a deft hand extracting from my pocket the promised cheque, and my sonâ€"inâ€"law going down to the basement to pick up the double sleepingâ€"bag 1‘d bought in case nobody else did. Now, how about some grandchildren.