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We still call the story "Elvis and the Shoemaker" in our home. it lnsbecovmmohflym&:pmisndbvjoh. Mhflmfisdhhfl;hhmmm all, 1 joke is no fun unless everyone understands it. who died alone in his bathroom, or under smiling Grand Marshall of the local parade? I had a heck of a time getting my youngest to understand that the guy in the polyester outht represented a cultural inâ€"joke on one man‘s showbmmsmagc,Nodigm.flvsuylnvep'vmmyala of Cadillacs in his time, but 1 don‘t want her believing he was the southern Santy Claus. Thmmnodeeporpm‘omdhsouhat.odnd-hmmg- mition that what we may toss off as glib and cute is, to the children, working pieces of the puzzle that they are building towards underâ€" standing the nuances of their world. In this age of information, our children are inundated with a myriad of symbols that we, as aduits, may take for granted. I certainly did. Maybe we should take a second pop references Now, personally, | must admit, 1 like seeing Elvis in the parade. 1 find it kind o(klwhytidm&,mms.mwhip.b- perung and humnorous to adults is taken as real and authentic to those too young to grasp the realities of sarcasm. Hence, the mistaken undcmndmgolmym.yoqmdnflvismriflu up there m(hthtl'oothFauxEuBumxmdyB‘mnd\tjofly old fella himself, Santa Claus. I am not suggesting that we nd ourselves of these tongueâ€"inâ€"check hmb * down King Street, with all the conâ€" / m summate skill of the Vegas veteran, greeting the kids with a heartfelt, "thank you very much" as he passed. ‘ Whoever was working the crowd that day, and really under that suit, had my daughter convinced. Elvis P lives! And right here, in Waterioo! Come to think of it, Elvis has made an appearance at almost every festive _4 ko venue my young children have ever attended. Inevitably there seems to be someone, who for a lark, dons the trademark suit and cape, bouffants out his hair, and waddles down the street, to the cheers and amuseâ€" ment of hundreds Fax "Momma®", she explained to me exasperatingly, "Elvis is a characâ€" ter, like Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald. Momma, he was in the Santa Claus Parade!" Dumbâ€"founded, I stared at her. She was right. Elvis had been in the mwibdhhhfl.dnmfl; my thoughts turn to Elvis. More specifically, ‘Elvis and the Shoemaker. That‘s the titlk my youngest child assigned to the classic, "The Elves and the Shoemaker" years ago. Given her developing reading skills and growâ€" ing recognition of cultural icons, she reasoned that the story was somehow related to the "King of Rock and Roll". Never mind that 1 Mqfiflbhhflwvâ€"tmlyaki'dd-hz wasn‘t a mythic figure, she would have no part of it. She‘s heard, and r " _4 CC Lisa O‘Connell 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J IP2 Orr us FENCE Elvis and the nwm@mmm his signature rhinestoneâ€"encrusted Pete Cudhez (Sp. Ed.) Tim Gardner Millie Martin Lynin Mitchell (Supervisor) The layofls are tragic news to the workers w involved and bad news too, for the community. The only semiâ€"bright spot is word that Schneider‘s will demolish the unneeded part of the sprawling plant. Kitchener taxpayers feared that, say, four boosters would urge that the plant be turned into a Three Little Pigs theme park. Then, true to form, counâ€" cil would buy the plant, spend umpteen zillion on it, underâ€" Wage and benefit concessions could be a facâ€" tor, but many employees feel the age of the plant will ultimately prove decisive. They hold little hope for a future at Schneider‘s. St. Mary‘s Hospital is threatened with closing, but a $4.5 milâ€" lon renovation program will continue. The work is nearly done and the hospital will probably remain in the acuteâ€"care business for several years, a hospital official has said. Fine and dandy, but the mixed signals are a mite confusing. Say, there used to be Queen‘s Boulevard signs saying SLOW â€" HOSPITAL They may have been anticipating the wait for the St. Mary‘s decision. Bad to Wurst: Speaking of decisions pendâ€" ing, the remaining J.M. Schneider workers are 0NCE gloomy about their fate. You‘ll recall that 600 have been told they‘ll be laid off and the fate of L]G] the 900 plant workers left is murky Add frostbite to smoking risks a «% Sharon Wakter Jerry Fischer Rick Campbell Andrew Pearen Heather Mitchell _ 1‘ve been‘laid off before... I‘m heing now ... And l!! be lald off again... e In Canada now call the "Cihrele of The Fairway Group Subscription rates 240 Holiday Inn Dr., Unit F ~$45 yearly in Canada : Cambridge, On. $90 yearly outside Canada N3C 3X4 +GS1L The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represn the views of the newspaper. f The Fairway Gr 240 Holiday Inn = Cambridge, On. N3C 3X4 Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Waterloo Chronicle is o a division of Sor 75 King St. S., Suite 201, Waterk OcE over LIGHTLY ‘VSH °0 se Video gambiling machines into bars, _esting to know how he casinos and tracks. § .. on how 1 voted. Why the hurry? As a matter of fact, why are they ",, _ 1 voted against Regio the machines at all? True. they‘re supposed to net the lection from January ment $365 million a year but that may be a costly return. Region‘s contracts do n The machines, because of their allure, are known 2s . ation until the year 20( "cocaine of gambling" and among the last things , , If we did, we would e needs is more gambling addicts. The social costs of the workers to Region or can be incalculable. ,, Region to contract ou A poll (albeit a Liberalâ€"sponsored one) shows that .. neither of which wouk two«lfi:d;dm;znd»kndim,rhm ;;, but would hurt the wor be powerful interest behind them to have the government f is prepared to contract 1 ahead, come what may. " . .. tender price that is Money talks, you know. And if you play the video maching Kitchener/Cambridge f you know what it says. "Bye, now." * We also fully agree to e« ‘aming a Chance: ihe Hams seems In a wwgm@mmmm premature demise. Say, they should take those mirrors off front of cigarette machines: no one likes looking at a weald Bronx Cheer: Some school trustees and teachers were all that enthused about my recent comments about sch boards. Probably I shouldn‘t have written them. Not when trustees will face soon enough the one real challenge of movies now. Gda,chcym be spectact u They‘re bigger than life. And a lot of them dirtier than life. Taking a Chance: The Harris government seems in a i quent mentions in the Record as a semi Reel Person: 1 was reading in the Record other day of the sereening a century after of first film shown in Kâ€"W and 1 chanced upon name of George Odlin Philip, the impress who brought the film here. 1 was baffled for a fleeting second and the struck me. George Odlin Philip was Pop Phil a local character who had a smoke shop Frederick Street, across from the market. My mom and dad did mention to me € Pop Philip once had a theatre and he rated 1 yvondzr what Pop would think of We also fully agree to *Region in 2002. So w As to water and se t x | officials, it‘s easy to their voice and vote {a and leftâ€"wing in the quantity and content are more effective at vote than in changin Add to that the lack 0 the laughably weak cc you have a perfect rec In American politic is the primary themselves to vote people, it is the feel can‘t be bothered to leader of the Free continue to struggle and the right of free that itself is fed Just under half LETTE Bair tions have an even (about 30 per ¢ in the country invented the idea. result will do Another factor in last week. The U.S