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Because if the merchants aren't willing. all the pink flamingos in the world won't help the BIA in its noble aim to inject some life and color (pink. yes pink. sure pink!) into our Uptown corp. But most of all. what the BIA must do is collectively grab the merchants by the scruff of the neck and impress upon them the need for creative displays that in both quantity and quality will make customers want to come back for more. The solution? First, stick with what appears to be hard-working individuals behind the BIA planning of the event. Attempt at all costs to select a date that avoids conflict with other malls or improvement areas - in fact, why not call a Twin City-wide co-ordinating meeting each February? Next. follow Kitchener‘s lead and block off King St. for the duration of the sale, certainly creating more of a friendly, casual, here-and-there atmosphere. And while we're speaking about duration. we couldn't agree more with the comments made in this week's Chronicle by Herb lless of Herb Forester Men's Wear about the sale being too long. There is no need for a four-day sale, and by collapsing it for a day or two, that would minimize alternate artery overflow and the few delays caused by the closing of King But if the merchants of Uptown were looking for a surefire way to promote their business or products, they missed the mark by a mile by presenting a dreadfully unappealing show. Once again, to be fair, there were stores here and there with solid displays, but the majority (and this is speaking only of those who bothered to have sidewalk displays) fashioned card tables of trinkets, racks of hard-to-sell clothing or other items that wouldn't make passersby even turn their heads, never mind stop to shop. In contrast, Downtown Kitchener held its sale “coinciden- tally", and merchants succeeded to a far greater extent in capturing a festival-like atmosphere. Displays were better in quantity and quality, shoppers mingled at their leisure on blocked-off King fit. and the feeling there was that everyone came to have a good time and pick up a good bargain. ln Waterloo, that feeling was at best, forced. Let's face it. At a time when malls hold sidewalk sales in the middle of February, and no less than four or five major sales are held each summer, sidewalk sales aren't about to generate the interest they did, say, two decades ago. Hold it right here. Yes, there were some simply outstanding sidewalk displays, particularly those like the one set up by longtime BIA booster Wayne Deyarmond at ow Sports. Would that a few others had even half the spirit If ever there was a candidate for the bricks and bouquets department, last week's Uptown BIA Pink Flamingo Sidewalk Sale is the, er, animal. On both counts. Using those lovable little plastic pink flamingo yard ornaments as a theme to build on, the BIA worked long and hard to promote the angle, and deserves full marks for bringing the Uptown area more publicity in four days than it normally would receive in a year. Love 'em or leave 'em (most left 'em) the flamingos were a visual success, drawing shoppers, reporters and curiosity seekers to the Uptown area. Everyone, it seemed, got their two cents worth in about the plastic pinkers. But while we were pleased to see the namingos cause such a stir, it was disappointing if not downright disturbing to see such mediocre merchant enthusiasm for the sale. Letters policy The Chronicle welcomes letters to the editor. “they should be individually and with name, address and We number and will b “ruled for accuracy. No unsigned Itttert grill be published and -ttse Ch rtgttt toedit. PAGE 6 - WATERLOO CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1985 Second Class Mail Registration Number 5540 Pink, not rosy - n, L.. - published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of Kitchener-Waterloo Record Ltd., owner, I 225 Fairway Rd. S.,,Kitchener, Ont. Waterloo Chronicle omce us located m the Haney. Whate Law Omce Building trear entrance. upper floor) Parking at the rear 91 the building. Open Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 500 pm 'address correspondence lo Waterloo office: " Erb St. E, Waterloo, Ont. NIU 1L7, telephone 5862830 The Chronicle u "out of its tradition of accuracy and fair play but does acknowledge the possibility ot m m. Con- structive ertttetsmtttt-,ttrtht. 'tass-tadvertising-tmeta' hopes that m complain can be mocked Those who he! further m1: at“ M mMretta thefremte-tthe0qtarHPrest, MI. IM mm St., Suite 10:. ottawa,thtt.EtPtM8. Publisher: Paul Winkler Manager: Bill Karges Editor: Rick Campbell established 1 854 In every respect. he is a selfmade. selCedu cated and widely read man He's my idea of what somebody with guts and initiative could. Born in 1892 on the island of Calumet. in the Ottawa River. in the lumbering days. he graduated from the school of hard knocks His father was sluice master at the Roche Fondue. a rapids in the river. where the logs were diverted down a wooden sluice so they would not he smashed to splinters in the rapids Young " an had to work on the family farm abutting the river In his youth he was an athlete. playing hockey for Shawville. which produced NIH. Mar Frank Finnigan With little formal education. he went into business. did well during many years in Montreal, retired, and bought some land along his beloved Ottawa River. where he built, mostly by hand. a beautiful log cabin which he still visits every summer You don't think of a bright mod. lively, keen minded fellow who could walk people like me up a mountain and leave them, gasping. about halfway up. as he reached the summit When you think of a 90 year old. you think of an old man. huddled in a shawl. womb“, senile or almost. sitting in a rocking chair. eating gruel After the reunion. on the way home, there's the usual obituary "My God, wouldn't you think that Plum-r would stop, after having seven in I0 years " And, '"rina's got lurriblo fat She's due for the big slab if she don't stop eating Seven pivres of pie after a feed a shanty man couldn't handle .. or. "Too bad Wilbur's got so fonda the stuff They found him out behind the barn at H a m ' and hadda USP a block 'n' tackle to get him up to the table" And so on Well. I avoid family reunions like the plague, but nm' summer I was guilty of attending one My reasons were three fold, a M'nsc' of responsi bility, love, and a chance to spend sum:- time with my only and beloved daughter, The occasion was the 90th birthday of my uncle. Ivan Thompson, patriarch of the clan, last of a family of eight. and a remarkable man Summer is the time for family reunions. Other people - fighter pilots, newspapermen, Legion- naires, Women's Institutes. Librarians - have them any old time. But in almost every weekly newspaper across the land, every week of our two-month summer. you can read that the Jojes family, or the McIntosh family. or whatever. had a reunion. followed by a list of who w.. there, who came the farthest, who was th, oldest, who was the youngest. who hosted the reunion, and everything down to what was on the menu. Not too exciting to the average reader, but important to the family, so dutifully reported. ACCORD/MG 70 Lore; Fseueis _ HEX Dotl'TAcu0tvYS 60 up THE Hit.t. FOR WATER Letters welcome Bill Smiley Syndicated columnist Reunions She told me Ottawa was a beautiful city. as she drove me around. but you cqpldn't prove it by me My eyes were shut tight "and my tists, clenched in my lap She drives a heat up old Datsun as though she were in the Grand Prix Most of us slow down when we see an orange light. She speeds up to beat the red one And everyone else in the city drives like that Anyway. that was a big summer adventure I was shaky from that driving tor days. but won recovered enough to start making peanut butter and honey sandyiches again, We ate at an outdoor cafe We went to a horror movie We ate a gigantic pizza in Ottawa's burgeoning city centre We went to hear a rock group in which an old friend of hers. and a former student of mine was playing My ears are still ringing. but I must admit I enjoyed it We ate and drank in a swanky cocktail lounge at the Chateau Laurier and heard some excellent jan And we talked and talked and talked. without her kids or other interruptions That was a treat She was m areal spirits. doing well in her university CourNP'r, and had found a place to live in a good section (but in a erumby basement apartment) I had two bonuses in going to Ottawa for my unrlo's birthday I got away from my grandchil dren for a couple of days. just about the limo l was going to crack up. and I had a good visit with my daughter After serving in World War l, he worked hard in forming the Canadian Legion to make \ure "you boys" of the second war got a better deal from government than his generation did He was also active in politics, and is a great environmentalist, He is beloved by his huge collection of nieces and nephews, daughter and grandchildren, and hundreds of cousins Dear Uncle Ivan. I salute you as a great Canadian. and will be there for your 1mm, (won if I haw m take. an ambulance On my way overseas, I visited him in Montreal, was treated like a son. and slipped a m , cash donation, When I got back from (m eas, same thing. His lite has not been all roses. He lost a brilliant young son who was m his 20s. His Wife died in an automobile accident, But his spirit, though deeply hurt, bounded back At Mt, he seemed 60 At 90. he seems about a year older than I And we look alike When I was a kid, about half the time my mother called me Ivan before she remembered I was Billy But, beside those virtues, he has charm, wit, and great vitality. And these are why I've loved him since I was a kid, not because he "made and still can do, in this great country