The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

LETTERS Eyesight a most precious gift I‘ve been a general practitioner and ophthalmologist for 40 years. During that time I‘ve worked in remote regions delivering babies on kitchen tables, perâ€" formed eye surgery in primitive refugee camps and practiced in cities with the most modern equipment. I‘ve had the satisfaction of treating thousands of peoâ€" ple and even saving a few lives. But, one of the greatest thrills of my life was to hold a small card with the name of a third world person whose signt I had restored with a mere $25. Operation Eyesight Universal, based in Calgary, offers Canadians a unique opporâ€" tunity to help the 40 million people in third world countries who are blind. Even a small donation can have astonishing reâ€" sults. Twenty five dollars will pay for a cataract operation, ten days in hospital and new glasses. The surgeon personally signs a card which contains the name, age and address of the patient, and the card is mailed to the donor. Two years ago, when my wife died, our family decided to ask for donations to Operation Eyesight in lieu of flowers. It was a great satisfaction to our family and friends to see pictures of a special mobile eye clinic given in her name. (Donations are matched by the Canadian Internationâ€" al Development Agency.) You can give a Christmas gift this year to a friend or loved one, that they will Different kinds of long underwear for different kinds of activities? Yes, indeed, says Traudie Kauntz, Manager, Merchandising Services and designer for the venerable Stanfield‘s Limited organization. Longjohns have come a long way from 1896 when Stanfield‘s â€" then known as Truro Knitting Mills â€" introduced the legendary heavyâ€"rib wool "shrinkâ€" proof‘ dropâ€"seat model that gained its fame with prospectors opening the chilly Klondike Trail. Now, if you‘re a skier or a hockey player â€" outdoors and active â€" you‘ll want undies made of polypropylene. This miraculous petroleum fibre "wicks" away perspiration from your body and transfers it to the next outer layer of clothing‘ Carrier Corner Wearing polypropylene, you remain It is written ... Quite often I don‘t have toilet paper in the upstairs bathroom and paint is peeling off my eavestroughs." A space of our own Mike Wilson never forget. The gift of sight for a blind person in the Developing World! Write to Operation Eyesight Universal, Box 123, Stn. "M", Calgary, Alberta T2P 2H6. J .T. Cruise, M.D. Victoria, B.C. Ald. John Shortreed complaining about the proposed property standards bylaw being too Distillery‘s comments invade their territory A TV program, on a local station, of the opening of a distillery museum in your city prompted this letter. Your mayor and some of the distillery officials appeared on the program. One of the officials said something to the effect that a lot of love and care had been put into the making of their product, and he hoped it would be used in the same way. The statement has been made that in the United States the use of alcohol is costing more in dollars and lives than either cancer or heart disease. How our society can allow anything so devastating to mankind to be promoted and made to appear respectable is beyond me. The message that comes across loud and clear from the liquor industry is that drinking is a perfectly acceptable social custom, and a harmless way to have a good time. Some of us know better. You may wonder why I am invading your territory with my protest. It is because you invaded our territory with your program. This week‘s Chronicle carrier is 13â€"yearâ€"old Mike Wilson. Mike is a grade 8 student at Lincoln Heights and delivers in the Meaford/Chelford area of the city. s tennis, playing golf at Elmira â€" and also likes to watch TV. music, especially on his new ‘"ghetto blaster" which he purâ€" chased with money saved from his Chronicle route. One of Mike‘s favorite subjects is Math, and he hopes to continue to do well both in school and in hockey. Best, of luck, Mike. dry â€" as does the underwear next to you!‘ Thus, your body movement doesn‘t have to fight dampness to keep you warm. "I wear polypropylene crossâ€"country skiing and downhill skiing." says Kauntz, "and not only is it very dry and warm, it‘s light. ‘"We sponsor the Canadian Alpine Ski Team who wear our polypropylene under their racing suits." And according to Kauntz, various professional hockey players wear the fibre during season games, then shower after in their underwear to wash it, wringing it out to dry quickly before packing and moving on. If, however, your outdoor activities are rather more sedentary â€" ice fishing. toboganning, snow mobiling or if you‘re just out shopping â€" your best underwear bet will be thermal, a product inâ€" Can you tell Mike‘s into sports a Douglas H. Russell, President Alcoholâ€"Drug Education Association of Alberta â€"SEE PAMGE 3 For some, it may be Michael Jackson (bleah). It could be television‘s Mr. T. (why, I‘ll never know). It could even be the entire Toronto Maple Leaf hockey team (now that‘s sick). But me? Don‘t laugh. Don‘t even smirk. When it comes to choosing objects of passionate devotion, my vote at this time of year goes to a man in a big red suit, with rosy red cheeks, fluffy white whiskers and big black belt. Goes by the .name of Santa Claus. I have an extremely healthy and genuine affection for the man, because 1 firmly believe he is every bit the source of magic and wonderment surrounding this best season of the year, the coming of Christmas. It is not too great an ideal to remember to keep the Christ in Christâ€" mas, to understand and pass on to younger generations the importance of the birth of Jesus. But if any tradition deserves to be preserved, it is the symbol of Santa as the gentle, fatherly figure who makes our dreams come troduced by Stanfield‘s in the 1950‘s (along with the scoopneck undershirt â€" remember Marlon Brando in "A Streetâ€" car Named Desire‘;?). One of my most vivid childhood memories is of lying with neighborhood chums like bacon in a fry pan in front of our black and white Admiral after school before Christmas. The set was without question tuned to channel 4, and precisely at 5 p.m. the room fell silent as sleighbells started jingling, announcing the arrival of the jolly old man for a half hour of sheer nirvana. Santa‘s Workâ€" shop, brought to you by William H. Hengerer Co., starring Santa, a handful of elves, and occasionally Mrs. Claus too. Most of the time Santa just sat in his big, big chair reading letters from kids like us, but then he‘d reach into his bag and show up some toys he was building for good little girls and boys. Six sticks of dynamite couldn‘t have unglued us from the tube. While fabric blends vary from manuâ€" facturer to manufacturer, the Stanfield thermal consists of two layers: wool/cotton outside and poly/cotton inâ€" side. Trapped between the layers: air â€" an excellent insulation‘ ‘*Women tend to favor thermal underâ€" wear," Kauntz points out. "It‘s very bulky and soft. Some people associate bulky with warm, but that‘s not necesâ€" sarily true. So, more and more people choose the underwear appropriate to their activity. Then there were the visits to Eaton‘s, or Simpson‘s to see him in person. Wow. First visit, awestruckâ€"city. 1 was about three, handâ€"meâ€"down pants bunched at the ankle, eyes bulging, mouth agape, hair on end. Total amazement. What did I ask for? If 1 recall, a safe return trip down the redâ€"carpeted ramp past that funnyâ€"looking lady flashing fire in my face. Oh, and the ability, once having received that consideration, to be still, a la coeur, and live to tell about it. Wow. ‘‘*Northern farmers, for example, tend to wear wool underwear. Wool remains a tremendous insulator. But it does have a Our love affair grew and grew over the years. I always made sure the fire in the fireplace was out early on Christmas Eve. Set up barricades after 8 p.m. â€" no more logs, can‘t have Santa burning his bum. Always made sure my parents left Cocaâ€"Cola and cookies for Santa and Rudoiph and the gang. Always gave thanks as a kid that the jolly old fella saw fit to look me up each year and drop off a gift. He always had time for little Ricky, who was always a good little boy, it goes without saying. Over the years, I‘ve always kept the kind old gent in perspective. Oh sure, during my turbulent teens I rejected his Everyone has an idol. * woare . men â€" muare a alare a anara anare araner aP WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1984 â€" PAGE 7 Rick Campbell My idol existence (then, I‘d take bets against the sun rising in the east). Boy, what a mistake that was. The gifts started coming in the wrong color, or the size wasn‘t right, or I‘d ask for a crewâ€"neck sweater and instead get a Nehru shirt. Nightmares. But the movie, no, more than a movie â€" a classic â€" Miracle on 34th Street, changed my thinking 360 degrees. Now over 40â€"yearsâ€"old, that movie and the message it conveys is one acutely apropos in our world today â€" that we must never stop believing if we are to receive and achieve our desires, beâ€" cause when we stop believing, the dream dies. Of course, the central theme of the movie is that yes, there is a Santa Claus, in this case in the form of Kris Kringle. And in the end, when Kris in fact does prove his magical powers, the chill that goes down one‘s spine is indescribable. It‘s a movie I love more each time I view it, a mustâ€"see festive season gem. Watch for it. While my faith in Santa has been born again, there are those only too willing to desecrate the image, in the name of cutesy, modernâ€"day advertising, sullied themes, or misrepresented in highlyâ€"imâ€" probable circumstances. Losers, all. I was outraged Sunday to see in a Toronto paper a photo of ‘‘Santa picketing" outside Eaton‘s Centre in attempts to gain the sympathy vote. Brilliant. I‘m sure the striking boneheads got a lot of support from adult shoppers with a move like that. And think of the impression he left with the kids, eyes aâ€"popping one minute at toy shop windows, minds confused the next by a selfâ€"centered numbskull. Likewise, cries ring out ‘"don‘t tell me about a Santa Claus when I‘m raising three kids on welfare, or when I see the numbers of starving kids in Ethiopia." 1 don‘t understand people like that. Not when they sit in their foxholes and criticize, without recognizing the efforts of food hamper groups, the Sally Ann, and the many other charitable organizaâ€" tions which continue to raise thousands, even millions of dollars to help others less fortunate, whether in their backâ€" yard or across the world. You don‘t think the spirit of Santa Claus isn‘t in these wonderful workers? How can you not? How many times have you been out in the front lines, curbside at the Santa Claus parade, toâ€"see the imagination dancing in youngsters‘ eyes? Have you stood and watched the kiddies in the line to visit Santa at the various malls? Were you on hand in the hospitals to see the wonderful work Santa did on the chilâ€" dren‘s ward? Did you see the smiles of happiness on the faces of the seniors singing carols through Waterloo Square last year when Santa joined them for a few carols? coarser hand, so men will wear regular ribbed underwear next to their bodies, then the wool. then their outer clothes. I suppose, now, active people will have to collect a complete underwear wardâ€" robe to complement their various activiâ€" ties. I know I wouldn‘t want to be caught dead watching a November football game in polypropylene. And I‘d certain ly blush like a rose (and feel wet and heavy as lead) wearing thermals for an afternoon skate‘ Take a look next time. Yes, go take a look. Then come back and tell me there is no Santa Claus. You can catch me at home, making sure there are no plans for a fire in the fireplace Christmas Eve. I asked Kauntz if she ever got teased because she designed men‘s under wear. Thus the times progress, challenging the ancient assumptions. **Sometimes," she replied. ‘"but 1 love my work and besides â€" the person who designs Wonderbra is a man‘" _ Russ Kisby Participaction s an aram an