The Citizen, 1989-08-16, Page 13THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1989. PAGE 13.
Friendship begun at school continues for women
Buddy s buddies
Linda Hackett (left) and her guide dog Max and June Foran and
her dog Buddy set off for a walk from the Foran’s McConnell
Street home. Lindaand June met last year at guide dog training
school and became friends.
‘The King and I’ opens
at Country Playhouse
The acting company at the Huron
Country Playhouse has swelled by
66 with the opening this week of
“The King and I’’.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
“The King & I’’ which ranks
among the top 20 longest running
musicals in American theatrical
annals, will round out Huron
Country Playhouse’s 18th season
starting August 15.
The King & I is based on the
real-life story of Mrs. Anna Leon-
owens, an English governess who
went to Siam in 1861 with her son
on an assignment to tutor the
Siamese Crown Prince. She stayed
seven years and did as much
tutoring for the king as she did for
his son.
Anna Leonowens wrote two
books relating her experiences in
Siam; “An English Governess at
the Siamese Court” and “The
Romance of the Harem”.
In 1944, 70 years after Mrs.
Leonowens books were published,
British novelist Margaret Landon
found these published accounts
and re-wrote them into an enor
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mously popular book of fiction
titled “Anna & The King of Siam”.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein
stage musical version The King & I
opened in New York and ran for
three years - minus 9 days - from
1951 to 1954.
The original New York cast
starred Gertrude Lawrence as
“Anna” and an unknown actor,
discovered by Richard Rodgers
during audition - Yul Brynner. In
the Huron Country Playhouse pro
duction, Peggy Mahon will play the
wise, hoop-skirted English govern
ess, Anna Leonowens and Jack
Northmore will play the semi-bar-
baric King of Siam who turns out to
be the tutor’s most interested
pupils, learning to govern his
country in more enlightened ways.
The King is a mixture of ruthless
ness and goodness, of pride in his
own native tradition and an eager
ness to learn of Western ways.
The King & I is a semi-romantic,
semi-political battle of the sexes,
focusing on the conflict between
Western Victorian gentility and
Continued on page 19
When Linda Hackett left Toronto
to visit her friend June Foran in
Blyth last week, she brought along
an unusual friend with her to enjoy
the country air: her Golden Re
triever guide dog, Max.
Linda met both June and Max
last year at guide dog school in
Oakville. June was there to take
training with her new dog Buddy.
June and Buddy have become a
familiar sight around Blyth in the
past year as Buddy helps June
overcome her handicap of blind
ness.
Max meanwhile has been guid
ing Linda through the hazards of
the hectic day life where she rides
the subway and buses and gets
around the city. The pair visit a lot
of new places in the city, Linda
says, and generally make out well.
Linda tries to find out in advance
the route she’ll be travelling, if she
can. She’ll call the Toronto Transit
Commission to try to find out
information of the area she’ll be
travelling and “utilize whatever
resources I can before I start out”.
If she finds herself lost, she’ll stop
and ask questions.
Although Max helps Linda get
around the city, she still finds that
travel very stressful and so she
looks forward to getting out of the
city for her “annual vacation” with
June. Still even a small town has its
THE NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERS FUND.
TOGETHER,
WE CAN MAKE
A DIFFERENCE.
Created by the Government
of Canada, the Partners
Fund will make $50 million
available over the next five
years for projects to help
local groups protect, pre
serve, enhance and restore
our environment.
Anyone can get involved.
If you're a member of a
service club, community
organization, environmen
tal group or a school or
youth group, discuss the
Partners Fund with your
leaders. If you have a good
idea, organize your own
group and apply to the
Partners Fund soon.
How much can a Partner
receive?
Partners can receive up to
$200,000.00 over three
years, depending on the
size of the project. In keep
ing with the idea of partner
ship. the federal contribu
tion is limited to 50 per cent
of the total cost.
challenges if you’re not used to it,
she says.
One of the challenges for Max
was learning a new set of rules, she
says. Guide dogs are generally
trained for getting around cities
where there are sidewalks and
curbs. The Forans live in a new
area of town without any sidewalks
so Linda and Max had to use the
road. The trouble for Max is that he
was trained to go down the centre
of the sidewalk. Max treated the
road as a sidewalk at first.
But with June and Buddy leading
the way, then Linda and Max soon
became familiar with the trip
downtown in Blyth. By the third
time they had made the trip, June
and Buddy were able to leave Linda
and Max uptown while they went
home early. Linda and Max found
their way home with no trouble at
all. Linda says she remembered
some of the directions from visiting
June last summer and Max quickly
picked up the directions.
Both women have seen big
changes in their dogs since they got
them a year ago. June, who initially
had problems with Buddy and with
other dogs challenging Buddy as
they walked on the Blyth back-
streets, says that Buddy has ma
tured now and people are being
careful to keep their dogs from
causing her and Buddy problems.
3k
Snoiwifa#
Wtas
Canada
Environment Environnement
Canada Canada
Linda says she can see a lot of
improvement since she’s had Max
and says it’s really nice to see the
changes take place. Max was just
over a year old when he first went
into training so he’s still a young
dog. He’s also very friendly and
loves people. That is one of the
difficulties, she says, of using a
guide dog. People come up to her
and Max on the street and want to
play with Max. When Max is out of
his harness he’s free to play and be
a normal dog but when he’s in
harness, he’s trained to be all
work. When the dogs are young
you have to remind them of that,
Linda says.
Monday morning Linda and Max
were downtown in Blyth again, this
time to catch the bus back to
Toronto where Max will take up the
more difficult task of guiding his
mistress around the city again,
least until a return visit to Blyth
next summer.
inflation in the Clasalflads
Many ways to be effective.
Clean up local parks, lakes
or streams. Develop new
community or office recy
cling programs. Use your
imagination and get
involved!
Apply soon
The first deadline for appli
cations is September 1st,
1989 with awards to be
announced in early
autumn. Beginning in 1990,
there will be three deadlines
each year: March 1st; June
1st; and September 1st.
For more information or
for an application kit to get
your ideas into action, please
write or call the Environment
Canada office in your
province or territory.
Ontario:
Environmental Partners
Fund, Environment Canada,
25 St. Clair Avenue East,
Toronto, Ontario
M4T 1M2
Phone: (416) 973-6467