Bruce Levett By BRUCELEVETT The Canadian Press There's just no easy way to say it — Christmas is just around ‘the corner: First there was that tree with lights — “but it’s only the ideas ides of October!” — then came the realization that board games and wheeled toys were being advertised on television with increasing frequency. And then — Christmas stories began popping up in your daily newspaper. Deadly serious is the piece from Ottawa in which it is contended that Christmas pageants and singing carols in school can be harmful for non-Christians, contributing to feelings of isolation. Well, let me tell you it can be pretty traumatic for Christians, too. So, if the non-Christians who object can make the objection stick, then congratulations. Who among us does not remember the: weeks of costume-fitting and lines-learning under the gimlet eye of parent and teacher, as a sigglin; small sister hangs around i? And, for a real feeling of isolation, try standing there in flowing robes, dish-towel turban askew, and clutching a shepherd's crook assembled from your brother's old cast-off hockey stick. “We three kings of Orient are, “Puffing on a rubber cigar “It was.loaded, it exploded . . .” “Madam, I don't believe your little boy is really trying. And we must do something about that crook'— can we hold it so the ‘Victoriaville’ doesn't show?” And then came the real crusher: “No! Please! Not a SOLO, Miss Baxter? Out there all |] alone? Good King who?” Talk about your crue! and unusual punishment — it ranks right up there with compulsory piano lessons. “The whole thing is enough to make one symphathize . 4 with Circuit Judge Arthur (Scrooge) Rosenblum, whose pre-Christmas tale sad also ‘surfaced in print recently. The judge, after six years of torment, has announced that he is having his telephone. number changed to something not quite so close to that of the Chicago Santa hotline. Why? he is tired of covering up for the bearded one. “This thin, piping voice on the line pleading, ‘Hello— Santa Claus?’ ” finally got to to him. “What amI going to do? Sold say, ‘Yes, this is Santa Santa ‘ His excuses for promises not kept by the ‘old fraud . ranged from “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a cold,” to “my bag was too full.” It is all reminiscent’ of a long-forgotten comic who § ended his Christmas routine with the snarl? ~ “I don't care what your name 4s, fat man, get those reindeer off my roof.” CELEBRITIES DONATE FOR LION L’S CLUB MEADOW LAKE, SASK. (CP) — Several residents of this tiny northern Saskat- chewan town have spent the last year collecting such things as Karen Kain's ballet slippers and Charlie ‘Farqu- harson's socks. To these they added Ker- mit the Frog’s T-shirt and Buddy Hackett’s night shirt. The list goes on. The entire collection, from personal items to autograph- ed pictures, was donated to the Meadow Lake Lion L's Club. All will be auctioned off Oct. 29 with the proceeds going to the local -hospital. -“We wrote more than 1,100 letters,” said club member Donna Aldous. “The postage alone has been something. It's cost us about $850 so far.” WORK PAYS OFF But it has paid off. miers sent books or ties.. Numerous mayors, senators, MLAs and MPs chipped in | miscellaneous items. DONATES BUDGET Included in the list is a copy of the 1979 federal budget that helped bring about the defeat of the short. ed Progressive Conserva- ri government. It was donated by its au- thor, John Crosbie. - From the sports world came a tie from Gordie Howe and cuff links from Jean Beli- veau. The Washington Red- skins, 1983 Super Bow! cham- Pions, donated pieces of.|. autographed equipment, as did the Edmonton Eskimos, five-time winners of the Grey. Cup. Ballerina Veronica Ten- nant kicked in her slippers, * Jamie Farr of MASH fame - she’s pretty pleased with the results, said there was a lot of work involved. Volunteers poured over newspapers, - library refer- ence books and magazines to collect the names and add- resses of their targets. Response from Canadian politicians was oiered a tongue depressor and photo. Comedian Dom DeLouise parted with his recipe for ‘Dom's Meatballs; Bob Hope a money clip. + | BOOKS POPULAR The Dalai Lama donated a ballpoint ‘pen. Former West German premier Willy Brandt, former Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin and evangelist Billy Graham gave books. Attention Men & Boys! For All Seasons It’: Boys & s 2) Bonnett’ smens Weor 233 Columbia 365-6761 10% OFF for Cash top television shows children TORONTO (CP) — Quaint, feeble, grandparents or wit-: almost, Research *Counell, which. : awarded Many individuals, organizations and businesses have expressed an inter- est in doing their part to help ease. Canada’s unemployment problems. are designed to turn P! this interest into action. Canada’s 12 Gacionuen programs. have been streamlined into four: Each of these p: focus on Canadian youth. Canada Works Canada Works will provide immediate ‘term employment to thousands of i rograms has been designed to make it easier for job seekers, and to encourage private sector participation. Each generates long term employment benefits, and ‘helps people now. And all'sharé a 8 $25,000 grant * in 1SeO ite As the woek.) 3 Canada Works projects will ordi- narily employ three or more workers for up to 52 weeks, and be cligibie : See eee ame aueupbort chu £9 : $325 per worker, per: Applications 'for. Canada Mec ; projects miust be submitted to'your local Canada Employment Centre or Employment! Development Branch office no later than October 28, 1983. ‘Th LEAD program provides the * tools for communities, (usually those: » with populations under 50,000), to . build their. own solutions to their unemployment problems. LEAD™ -involves local residents in the plan- ning, management and ownership of , ew. ventures designed to.create employment now, and‘in the future. ol * merce, economic development asso- ciations, band‘councils, municipali- ties and LEAD corporations will result in nearly $200 million being invested in community ventures over the next two years: \ Job Corps ‘is designed to help organi- zations, businesses, individuals, ~ municipalities and school boards introduce severely employment disadvantaged people to the world of work.'A combination‘of life skills. controlled work situations will\help ease this group into the labour mar- - ke laid-off workers, people whose . Unemployment Insurance benefits . have run out, those who now depend on social assistance, and job experience, mental; phy- sical or social eee people.who need work badly. Summer jobs for students will also be made available through this program. Over the next two years, more than $865 million will be spent to employ workers in pi that either add to Canada’s productive capacity, or benefit individual commu- nities. Sponsorship from organizations, businessesjand indi- viduals is required to make it happen. it Employment and Immigration Canada John Roberts, Minister Emploi et Immigration Canada John Roberts, Ministre Naa training, and actual job experience in: ~ main focus of the Job Corps outh, : ose lack Of education, He 365-2155 V TRAIL AREA 364-0213 have prevented them from ent dishing other p: ~the work force will benefit. O ‘Over the + Next two years, Job Corps will pro- - vide over. $66: to give the as designed ii premio real the'disabled and the disadvantaged a chance to prove themselves.. The program provides wage subsi- " dies which can be as high as 85% and extend for up to 12 months, to employers who provide 'the suppor- tive on-the-job learning and expe- rience that these people are looking. for. Over the next two years, more than $210 million will be spent on _ this program. The main focus Of GarverAcoess is youth: By helping these Canadians increasé their. skills, the business community can help itself by devel- ‘oping experienced employees for future growth. The Government of Canada will spend over $1.3 billion on direct job creation programs in'19B3-84/84-85. “ More than’300,000 individuals will benefit from a’ combination of fund- ~ ; ig from government; and €1 : prising ideas from the business: community-and the non-profit \;* sector.: EDITOR's NOTE: CasNews, Publisher. Burt’ Campbell's trip'to the B. snd. Yukon Community Newspaper's incouver included a tour of B.C: Place. His ropa of thi tadlum foll lows. The $126 milion Std ples Reaernat “Vancouver. is an und rundown industrial ‘property on'the ‘shore of False Creek * and is transforming it into an exeiting\new community ‘ where some fortunate British Columbia tn’ the Lower’ Mainland can live, where yet others can work, and where scores of thousands of others mia; enjoy their Jeisure time. © 3 Rising between the old Cambie Street Bridge ‘aid S ° ‘the famous Georgia Viaduct, the Stadium at B.C:-Place is the most modern: and attractive multi-purpose stadium ever built. A tour guide explains that it can be converted from a full stadium, seating more than'60,000, to a half-stadium, B seating 90,000, ina matter of hours. Members of the Castlegar Selkirk Lions Club‘would be envious. ‘Major trade and i consumer ‘shows ‘can be accom-, modated with 800: booths, each 10-feet' by.10-feet. With _-160,000'aq. A on the playing field and another: 80,000 29. +ft./on the second level 2 available is 230,000 a. ft" ‘Up 600 people workod on site dirng construction and hundreds more off-site as architects; pre-casters, etc. ‘ihe Canadian | configuratio: football field measures 110 yards Jong and 65 yards wide, with 20 yard ‘end ‘zones. The international ‘soccer field measures 100 yards long and 76 yards wide. The major league baseball field ‘measures 825 feet down the foul: for such events as professional’ basketball or tennis, a circus or rodeo, smaller concerts, public or : religious meet Poligras synthetic turf has .been installed for professional sports. The turf is designed so that it can be ; “quickly and efficiently rolled up and stored when ‘the stadium’is needed for non-sporting events. ‘The stadium at B.C; Place is a “full service” stadium. There are 86 food and beverage stands, eight vending ; depots, 72 washroom areas and three public elevators, On Level 8 good seating areas are easily acceasiblo to the handicapped. There are two press boxes, each having a capacity of 45: —one press facility, fe football Sed poeeet at the BOSTON (AP) — The much-awaited Peanut home computer from International Business Machines, Corp. will sell for a “moderately competitive” price and:boast a cordless keyboard, a Boston market research firm says. Many analysts believe the machine will set a new pace for the volatile $2-billion home-computer market just as IBM's successful Personal Computer ‘has done in small computers for business use. The research firm, The Yankee Group, says the name of IBM, the world’s largest computer maker, is the new product's biggest asset. “The past has shown us that as long as the product is, moderately competitive, having the IBM logo will assure that the product will be'successful,” said Yankee Group _ analyst Frank Gens. The new B:C, Plai Stadium will be te of this year’s Grey Cup and was the scen the 1983 rr Bow! Publisher Burt, Campbell's tour through: the stadium coinci with a soccer practi as the Tampa Bay Rowdies tuned up for “the Soccer Bowl (bottom : right). Photo at top right, | shows aerial view of of the stadium location.on, False Cre hI bottom phot: smoked glass ai beams of the’ haere area which gird! '! stadium and overlooks': Vancou: concourse, total’ exhibition: space.” cure ar i ite seating balconies. ey accommodate about 12 people and have en area for dining, drinking and lounging. ae A Mitsubishi! Diamond Vision electronic message board is located at the north end of the stadium with an 18-fodt by 40-foot videq replay screen, ‘Although the teflon-bonded fibreglass roof allows 20 per cent of natural Nght through, 672 metal halide fixtures using 1, pressure pounds per equate féot above atmospheric, by. re clasts fora each of 100 hip, Thee ot ahi ie finish ° For a mortgage ® Debt consolidation © Car insurance ° Home improvements ; The building covers 10 acres.-The maximum width is 628 feet: (190 metres). The height is 200 feet (60 metres). The circumference is 2,500 feet (760 metres). The length is 760 feet (282 metres). A 860 degree walk around the concourse at Level 4 provides a breathtaking view of the surrotinding ¢ity through the glass exterior, some 62 feet al” - above ground. - The stadium is centrally located in the downtown area, with easy access. Public -transit is being emphasized. To complement the existing bus service, which now has up to 9,000 vacant seats going downtown during the time of most stadium events, a “park and ride” terminal for 200 additional buses will be provided adja- cent to the stadium. * In addition to the 82,000 existing parking spaces within's 1,000 metre walk from the stadium; of which _. 16,000 are now vacant at night, some 2,000 parking stalls will be developed as part of an office complex between the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts so that office workers can park by day and stadium patrons by night. A computerized parking system helps make going to CASTLEGAR: 365-3375. Across from Post Office SOUTH SLOCAN: 359-7221. Highway 3A . the stadium that much easier. And the new ALRT system, scheduled for completion in:1986, will handle up to 80,000 people an hour with a station's short walk from the stadium. . ‘The capital funds required by B.C. Place, and for the stadium at B.C. Place were arranged through a $205 million equity investment by the B.C.. Buildings Corp. through cash borrowed by that corporation. This equity investment, which will be supplemented by direct borrowings by B.C. Place if they become required, is merited by the large increase in land values already generated by the redevelopment project. If there are no major delays and no major changes to the proposals, say officials, B.C..Place expects to show a positive cash flow by 1987. It expects to have repaid all of its by 1993 out of revenues earned from leasing its lands to private developers. B.C. Place will thereafter provide a perpetual return, says the provincial government. The profits can then be invested in somewhat similar development and renewal projects throughout the province. “cen Mt Cn oaks com tas bested details abeat the Peanut, an industry nickname for what IBM is believed to call the PC Junior, and discussions with “people from the dealer community and third-party software people.” He said IBM has started distributing price lists and information on the new product among dealers, and plans to introduce the new model on Nov. 1. He added that IBM plans to limit Production of the new computer to 90,000 this year but anticipates. sales of up to two million units next year. The 64,000-character PC Junior model would sell for $760, Gens said IBM will offer add-on equipment, including a printer and a telephone connector that will allow the computer to send and receive over the phone lines. IBM declined to comment on the Yankee Group information. “All we're saying is that IBM has not announced a product called Peanut,” said a spokesman who asked not to be identified. “It is not our practice to speculate about possible future product plans.” The arrival of the PC Junior before Christmas would hamper the success of another anxiously awaited’ computer called Adam, from Coleco Industries Inc. Adam combined the main console with a printer and other features, costs about $700 and is expected to hit dealers’ shelves by Nov. 1. “In some ways they didn’t want to sell Peanut this year,” Gens said. “But a key reason to announce before Christmas was they don't want to see Colecos and Apples under consumers’ Christmas trees.”