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Will Compete in International Pre-Teen Pageant Lindsay Lianna Walter displays the trophy she won earlier in the month at the Miss Pre-Teen Toronto pageant. Lindsay was the 4th runner up in a contest which included 36 other participants at the Ryerson Theatre. She will be going on to compete in the Cities of America pageant which is in Orlando, Florida January 6 to 12. Lindsay- Lindsay- is a grade five student at Newtonville Public School. Ganaraska Countryside Adventure From page one You can learn how to make candles or butter and how to carve leather on both days. On Sunday, a special treat is in store for tour-goers -- local farrier Anne Negri will be forging horse shoes. On the other side of the tour is Dorothy's House Museum Museum where doll houses will be on display. If you're like - most of us, you have watched them being built at the store during the past year. Some of the working demonstrations will be a 1900's threshing machine, machine, quilting by the Lake- shore Quilters and weaving by the Pineridge spinners and weavers. For those looking for food along the way, stake out the Kirby United Church for a com roast, Floradale for cool cucumber sandwiches and iced tea, Rutherford Farms for home-grown popcorn, The Bam Yard for cookies and lemonade, and Quinton House to savor a proper English Cream Tea. "Last year, people kept telling telling us that they felt safe and felt a sense of community while out on the tour," Reid said. She describes it as a feeling of "true farm hospitality." You can experience that kind of hospitality too, by taking taking part in the second annual Great Ganaraska Countryside Adventure. For information, call the organizers at 983-9339. If looking for tickets, head to the Clarke Museum and Archives to get your tickets and tour book to plan your route now. Lost and Found From Page One In this case, hè noted, the person might have forgotten where the cart was placed and may be still looking for it Other items that have found their way to the lost and found are license plates, audio speakers for homes and cars, and two racy looking motorcycle motorcycle helmets. The rest of the metal storage shelving units were given over to housing evidence. While items in the lost and found were interesting, the items tagged as evidence were more so. Sgt. MacKinnon pointed out the number of plastic pop and beer bottles bottles and parts thereof that had been collected at different crime scenes. The shelves are stuffed with articles. articles. Among the items that could be seen by short people was a melted green oil container stuffed with a blackened rag that Sgt. MacKinnon said had been used as a molotov cocktail -- an explosive. There were butterfly knives, nan- chuka sticks, tire irons, tin snips, radar radar detectors, purses and wallets, shoes and boots, pieces of wood with blood stains and fingerprints on them, key chains, a bull whip and machetes. Walkie-talkies, a high school yearbook, CDs, a couple of acoustic guitars, a bundle pornographic magazines, magazines, a credit card and receipts, fishing rod and tackle, a lawn mower mower and even a camp stove. While there were hundreds of items in the evidence area, there were still other items awaiting an inspection. inspection. In another area there is a room filled with file boxes and another one where they put guns that have been confiscated. It is in this room where the guns are broken down. The parts are then taken to LASCO steel two or three times a year for "recycling." Sgt. MacKinnon pointed out a cross-bow, rifles, and a fully automatic automatic assault weapon. The facility where all the items are kept is fully alarmed, Sgt. MacKinnon noted. Also, the public is usually not allowed past the bicycle bicycle storage area, he said. "This is a limited access facility. We can't allow people to walk through as we are now." With that the interview and stroll through the building concluded, and Sgt. MacKinnon said to remind readers to mark their property properly properly so "we can track it and return it." Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, August 24,1994 11 $50 Mllion Renovation Makes Mall Bigger. Brighter and Better Oshawa Centre Hosts Re-Opening Festivities When the doors of the Oshawa Centre are thrown open at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, August 24, visitors will enter a new world of shopping experience. The Centre has completed $50 million worth of renovations, creating creating 1.1 million square feet of refurbished refurbished shopping space. Re-Opening Celebration August 24th to August 20th At the official opening, there will be antique cars, clowns, jugglers, terrific entertainment and opportunities opportunities to win a mountain of merchandise, merchandise, a trip or a car. Official opening festivities continue continue to August 28th The "new look" Oshawa Centre offers new stores, new community services and a new "City Diner" food court. Over 170 stores can be found at the Oshawa Centre, with even more shops to come. A unique feature of the refurbished refurbished Centre is the Information Oshawa booth which will provide valuable information about government government social and cultural services in the Oshawa area. Over 300 different brochures are available from the knowledgeable staff at the Information Information Oshawa booth. Information Oshawa is a United Way agency. Original Centre Was Launched Nov. 1st, 1956 The Oshawa Centre opened for the first time on November 1st, 1956. At the time, it was called "one of the five outstanding Shopping Centres on the North American continent". In fact, the first ever shopping centre had been built only six years prior. Built as an open-air, pedestrian walkway, the original mall was 450.000 square feet of leaseable area with 50 stores. The cost to construct the plaza was $10,000,000.00, a sizeable sizeable amount in 1956. Of the original group of stores, those still here after 37 years are: Eaton's, Eaton's, Reitman's, Bank of Montreal, Zeller's, Fairweathers, Canadian Imperial Imperial Bank of Commerce, Agnew Shoes, Bassett's, United Cigar Store, Jack Fraser's and Loblaws. In 1968 the mall underwent a major major transformation. The mall was enclosed enclosed and renovated with new floors, finishes, and mechanical systems. systems. Shortly thereafter, Sears became became the fourth anchor store, located at the north end of the mall. In 1971 another expansion added the six floor office tower, the Famous Players cinemas and more retail stores. Due to the success of the "enclosed "enclosed mall" concept, in 1978 the south end two-level mall was added including the Hudson Bay store and a new Loblaw's grocery store. In 1989 a new Zeller's store and a new eight-cinema Famous Players Theatre was added. As the mall grew, so did the city of Oshawa and Durham Region. In 1956, the population of Oshawa was 48.000 people. The whole Oshawa Centre trade area was estimated to be about 83,000 people. Today, the Oshawa Centre sits in the heart of Canada's fastest growing metropolitan metropolitan area (18% from 1986 to 1991). The City of Oshawa now has a population population in excess of 130,000 people while the trade area has ballooned to over 260,000 people. This unique market is still served by only flilfi regional regional shopping mall, the Oshawa Centre. The City Diner brings back shades of the 1950's with a food court featuring 15 new restaurants guaranteed to offer something for every taste. Chrome and neon fixtures, accented accented with black and white floor tiles will take shoppers back to the nostalgic 1950's at the City Diner. A 48,000 square foot Office Galleria Galleria replaces the Shops Up Top. The result of the Oshawa Centre's Centre's renovation project is a bigger, brighter, and better place to shop. The centre has been transformed through a wide variety of added 1990's features such as majestic skylights, porcelain floors, pastel colors, lush trees and tropical plants. But the best way to experience the refurbished Oshawa Centre is to see it in person. by Brian Costello CONFEDERATION LIFE AND TRUST Thanks to the collapse of Confederation Life and Trust Company, Canadians are going to rethink the way they handle life insurance, group benefits and their pensions. We'd come to treating insurance companies in this country as "guaranteed." Now we know that isn't the case. Just as we think about the deposit insurance limits when we deal with banks, trust companies and credit unions, we will also have to think about diversifying our life insurance and benefits coverage. Obviously, the Confed problems are going to result in a flight to safety as many of those seeking coverage on large numbers will restrict their dealings to the largest companies. Unfortunately, many who believed in the system are finding out too late that the life insurance industry can have difficulties. By the way, most of us who deal with Confederation Life or Trust can rest easy. Many may fear they are going to lose benefits but most won't. If you have money on deposit or own term deposit type investments you are safe provided you didn't exceed the normal $60,000 coverage. Beyond that there are no guarantees, however it's expected that the assets of both companies will be sold to others in the industry. If you own $60,000 worth of term deposits with an institution that merges with another you will normally get extra coverage with the new institution until your investments mature and are ready for reinvestment. reinvestment. At that time your coverage will revert to a maximum $60,000 coverage. If you bought a life insurance policy with a death benefit greater than $200,000 you are, for the time being, restricted to a maximum $200,000 coverage. However, you should not reduce or stop making your premium payments. Once the assets of Confed have been sold to the rest of the industry you will find out from your new company how much coverage you will actually get. We don't have much track record to use here as there are only two modern life insurance problems to use for comparison purposes. However, in those cases those who were exposed beyond the guaranteed levels lost, on average, only 10% of their coverage or benefits. If past policies are followed you will probably see a pro-rated rebate of extra premiums you have been paying. In the case of term insurance, some individuals are already shopping the market to get extra coverage in case something happens before the amount of their coverage is clarified. Remember though, that not everybody is insurable. For some, these policies may not be replaceable. While those who purchase individual benefits will now realize that it pays to deal with an independent financial planner who can diversify your coverage the same as you would do with your investments, the people who may be hit hardest are those with group benefits. They don't get to shop around. They accept the benefits package provided by their employer. If you have a pension, a Registered Retirement Income Fund or a disability income from Confed you have nothing to worry about provided your monthly payment does not exceed $2,000. However, many have been receiving more than that. They, quite naturally, are full of fear. You should plan on seeing your payments cut back to $2,000 a month. It might not happen but you should start looking at your finances to determine what payments you can defer temporarily until each of the divisions have been allocated to other players in the industry. At that time you may only see a reduction of something like 10% of your normal payment. Those who are just retiring now who have been receiving no payments should plan on getting no more than the maximum quoted coverage. Hopefully, that will change in the future. In the meantime you should be talking with your financial advisor about diversifying and getting additional coverage. Many Canadians have mutual funds with the companies and self directed RRSPs. Segregated mutual funds are kept separate from Confed's normal funds. As a result, your mutual funds remain just as good as the investments held inside them. There are, of course, mutual funds that held investments affected by the Confed collapse. But, your money is safe. In addition, those who have self directed RRSPs administered by Confed don't have to worry. The investments and the monies involved are held in trust regardless of the amounts involved. You may have to wait a little longer and do a little more paperwork to get the assets transferred to another trustee but you can rest easy in that your money is safe. Canadians constantly ask about deposit insurance limits. But, they've seldom worried about the safety of their life insurance and group benefits. From now on they will want much more disclosure as to the strength of their company. And, they will want to think much more about spreading the risk around. ■■