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Carnival concerned with survival By MICHAEL KNELL Free Press Staff Drastic changes are going to have to be made if the County Town Carnival is to survive according to its current president. Robin Lyon, who has headed the 16-year-old event for the last two years, said in an interview last week that the carnival has many problems - problems that must be overcome or it will die. "I have to say that this year's carnival was good with a few disappointments," Lyon said. Among these disappointments, he said, was the apparent lack of participation by the town's service clubs and other community organizations, especially at the meetings held by the County Town Carnival Committee. "I was disappointed at the amount of club partici- pation at the carnival committee meetings," he said adding, "In leading up to this year's carnival, it was doubtful as to which clubs were participating." Lyon also said that while a couple of clubs drop- ped out, a couple of new ones got involved. Two of Lyon's biggest disappointments were the Whitby Lions Club's "Lions Den" and the program published by the Brooklin and District Kinsmen Club. According to available information, the Lions Den was not as well attended as was hoped. "I don't know how badly they suffered," Lyon said. "I feel for them because it is an event that they have tried to improve upon each year." Recently, many people throughout the town have expressed their concerns over the accuracy of the County Town Carnival's program which was distri- buted by the Whitby Free Press although it was not written or put together by it. "The biggest headache I had this year was the program," Lyon said. "That program is definitely going to be the thing that gets the most revamping next year." Lyon also said that there are "many problems with the carnival set-up" and that it needs "a cold, hard look and revamping." Besides getting greater service club participation the president said that he would like to see the Town of Whitby become more involved in the project. "What I'm looking to achieve this year is to sit down with the mayor to see how we can unify the relationship between the carnival and the town." Mayor Bob Attersley has said recently that he is willing to meet with Lyon and the other members of the County Town Carnival Committee. Lyon said that he would like to be able to make more use of the expertise of the town's staff especially in the areas of marketing and co- ordinating of the events. ROBIN LYON "The town has people with greater skills," he said and points to the town's industrial promotion pro- gram as an example. p Vol. 11, No. 34 Wednesday, August 26, 1981 20 Pages e Lights, camera, action! Under the program they part 0f a $1 million ad- were iew senior C1L1ZWA5 Hollywood came to Whitby last week to film a television commercial for the Ontario Ministry of Revenue. According to the ministry's director of communications, David Stone, the commercial is designed to promote the ministry's Tax Grants for Senior Citi- zens program. The commercial was being filmed in down- town Whitby on Brock Street South. The program is for senior citizens who own or rent their own home. Lyon would also like to see the event concentrated at the Iroquois Park Complex - instead of being scattered throughout the town. He also suggests that the clubs participating in the event, which has become two weeks long, move their activities to the complex even if it means that the committee has to rent two or three large tents to accommodate everyone. A recent accident at the Oshawa Whitby Agricul- tural Exhibition in which a local girl was seriously injured, may have caused some people to hesitate in coming out to the rides that were held at the com- plex, Lyon said. He added that the company putting on the rides last year were not invited back this year. "We were not happy with the performance of the ride people last year," he said adding that the committee believed that Crown Amusements Ltd., who put it on this year, "would care a little more." Another major problem that the carnival has, ac- cording to Lyon, is funding. This year the committee received a grant fron Whitby Town Council of $4,000 which was $1,000 less than they received in 1980 and was $3,000 less than they had requested. Lyon said that the committee does not receive any share of the proceeds raised by the individual clubs and organizations during their events. The committee, he added, is hesitant to request money from the participants because their money is put back into the community. "If they paid us, then some need of the com- munity would suffer," he said. "The thinking behind the carnival was that it was done for the benefit of the town," he added saying that it was one of the major ways in which these clubs and organizations raised the revenue needed for their community work. Lyon also pointed out that some of the clubs in- volved do not make any money on the carnival. The president also said that the carnival's costs are increasing and pointed out that hall rentals cost $2,500 approximately, the fireworks display costs $3,300 and the parade costs about $2,500. "And there's no way you can put on a good parade for less than that," he observed. Under the program they are eligible to receive grants of up to $500 to compensate for proper- ty taxes that they have to pay. The program also in- cludes a $50 sales tax rebate. The commercial is part of a $1 million ad- vertising campaign that will see over $500. million distributed to the province's senior citizens over the course of the year. Stone said that last year's campaign was so successful that there On.fteraosta h ol iet e h One of the reasons that he would like to see the event held at the Iroquois Park Complex is that the area could be fenced off so that admission could be charged. These fees would help defray soe of the costs that the carnival incurs. "there's a lot that can be done witothe carnival but you can't ask the committee to do things that would strain its budget or put it in the hole," Lyon said adding that: "Nobody underwrites the car- nival." He also confessed that he had thought about giving up the post but has since changed his mind. "I will only seek the presidency again only if the structure of the committee is changed and the parti- cipation of the clubs in the Town of Whitby is greater." "You see, I'm no quitter," Lyon concluded. North American Steel workers reject company offer North American Steel Equipment Company Ltd. workers started picketing last Friday following a breakdown in negotiations. A total of 32 full-time workers were absent from work Friday mor- ning when the em- ployees, members of Local 6662 of the United Steel Workers union, set up a picket line outside the Hopkins Street plant in Whitby. Contract negotiations broke down Wednesday night despite the inter- vention of a provincial mediator. The union, whose average wage is $8.50 an hour, is seeking, amongst other deman- ds, to stop the company from hiring students to do regular employees' work. A union spokes- man is quoted as saying that the use of students is "simply cheap labour" and that they (the students) are being paid between $4.50 and $5 an hour. The employees, whose contract expired May 31, rejected the final company offer at a Thursday night mem- bership meeting. were few senior citizens that did not apply for their grants. While some local people had been used as extras on the set, the majority of the ac- tors/actresses ap- pearing in the commer- cial are from Toronto._ Collision sends two to hospital A Thursday night Brock Street North acci- dent sent two people to hospital following a motorcycle-auto colli- sion. A motorcycle driven by Roger Tennant of Oshawa collided with a car driven by Carolyn Snoddy, of Palmerston Avenue, Whitby at 6:10 p.m. on Brock Street North at Starr Avenue. Tennant and his passenger, Diana Thompson, were taken to Oshawa General Hospital and were reported to be in fair and satisfactory condi- tions. Durham Regional Police have charged Snoddy with making an improper lef t turn. mI 1 m Ic E P'RýE S'ý 12