The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Community Groups Get $53,825 Orono Town Hall Turns 100 Overtime Heartbreak SMEWS pg- 3 PHOTO FEATURE....**, s, pg. 1 SPORTS..., Sec. B, pg. 6 Clarington's Community Newspaper Since 1854 • A James Publishing Community Newspaper Wednesday, May 27, 1998 144th Year Issue 21 School Starts a Week Early School bells will ring early for public school students in Clarington this rail. September 1st will be the first instructional day at all elementary and secondary secondary schools in the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. That's a week before the traditional back-to- school date, which has generally been the day after Labor Day. This year, Labor Day falls on September 7th. "Part of the reason for the early start is the Ministry's removal of five PA days and turning them into five instructional days," said Trudic Lum, superintendent of cduca- . tional services. Schools are going from 185 instructional days in the classroom to 190 for the -98-99 (September to June) school year. The year ahead will see teachers dealing with an unusual load of curriculum curriculum changes, Lum notes. They will use their four PA days throughout the ■ year to sort through a- number of new teaching Continued on page 2 700 + 50 G.S.T. = 750 Let the Games Begin Clarinaton Backs Bid to Bring Summer Games to Durham Region by Laura J. Richards Staff Writer Clarington councillors have thrown their support and a total of $22,000 behind a Durham Region bid to host the Ontario 2000 Summer Games. The money will be placed in a reserve fund for disbursement disbursement as required. One-half of the commitment will be used as a cash contribu-, tion, and the other as a; back-up in case there is a; shortfall in fundraising. Clarington is, of course, not the only! , F municipality which will; help foot what will be a; ^ " $100,000 bill, states a report; ' • from the Director' of Community Services, Joe Caruana. All eight municipalities will be paying a share, as will Durham Region. Shares in the project are: Ajax $11,000;. Brock $5,000; Oshawa $15,000; Pickering $11,000;; Scugog $5,000; Uxbridge $5,000; Whitby $11,000 and the Durham Region at $26,000. The province is to kick in 50 per cent of the costs to host the games, up to a maximum of $400,000. Participant fees in the games are not to exceed $60 per person. The maximum number of participants would be 3,000, says the report. It is noted in the report that corporate fund-raising and sponsorship will be "critical to the revenue funding' Continued on page 2 ; The Write Stuff -- -- ~ Pen Pals Meet After 47 Years by Lorraine Manfredo Staff Writer They've been best of friends for nearly 50 years, but they only laid eyes on each other a month ago. Marilyn Couch, of Newcastle, and Pat Cadman, of Stoke-on- Trent in England, have shared a lifetime of experiences experiences in regular letters across the Atlantic since they became pen pals back in 1951. They met for the first S Y ' ÆY;: YÏ3 1 v "é,. " , ~ .-uj> Y V *' i 1 t /Y- ' f ; ' ... Y ' ' V: ' i : ■ ' i ■ trmmmrr ■' ' "E'S XCsjÉtim' Y$$??iY* DEAR PEN PAL -- British resident Pat Cadman (standing) spent the past month in Canada visiting Marilyn Couch of Newcastle who has been her pen pal for almost 50 years. The two started exchanging letters when they were 13 and have never run out of things to write to each other. They both turned 60 this year. time May 1st when Pat got up the courage to take her first-ever airplane flight to Canada to meet the pal sjie's only met in letters and photos. "It's been great," Pat said sitting in Marilyn's cozy kitchen. "She's treated treated me like I've always lived here."- Marilyn says: "After all these years it is like she is part of the family." Pat (formerly Pat Wild) was a 13-year-old schoolgirl schoolgirl living in "The Potteries" district of Staffordshire -- where Wcdgewood and Royal Doulton have factories --- when she took up her English teacher's invitation invitation to start correspondence correspondence with a Canadian girl her age. Six pence for a stamp got her a little strip of paper with Marilyn's name and address on it, Marilyn (then Multon) was a student attending Ontario Street Public School when she received that first letter in the mail. "I thought it was great. I wrote back and told her all about myself, my family family and my interests." The two women, who both turned 60 this year, have been writing ever since. Dozens of their classmates classmates started pen pals at the same time, but lew if any have kept it up. They can't say. exactly what it was that made their friendship survive, unless it was that they both appreciated appreciated the letters so much. "If I didn't get a letter from her once a week I'd want to know why," said Pat. Unfortunately, most the early letters Marilyn wrote were accidently lost when Pat and her husband Fred moved several years ago. But Marilyn still has every one of Pat's notes stashed away in old cigar boxes. Her grand-daughter . finds the letters fascinating to read. They record major milestones in Pat's life, like sewing her own wedding wedding gown and later watching with pride as her Continued on page 2 Thieves Hit Post Office And Convenience Store On Saturday; May 23, police responded to two break-and-enters -- one in Newcastle Village's east end and another in Orono. The first was reported by a representative of the Piggly Wiggly on King St., East, Newcastle, who said there had been an attempt to enter the store by smashing out the glass. in the front door. When that failed, considerable time was spent in trying to. pry open the lock, police said. No entry was actually actually gained, but there was about $1,000 damage damage to the front door. The second incident took place at the Post Office in Orono at the northwest corner of Church and Centre Streets. The building was broken broken into and numerous coin sets, stamps, sweat shirts and a telephone were taken as unknown suspects ransacked the - office. The two doors -- one to the building and one inside -- were damaged to the tune of $800 and items taken were valued at $3,000. Durham Regional Police arc continuing their investigation of both incidents. ANTIQUE CARS AT MUSEUM -- The Bowmanvillc Museum will be an ideal backdrop for the historic cars which will be cruising into town this Saturday, May 30th. Approximately 50 vintage vehicles will be on display on Silver Street (which will be closed for the event.) You can also see the cars on the museum lawn and in the Central Public School parking lot. Admission is free and refreshments will be sold. The museum will be open for visitors, with regular admission admission fees in effect, SAFE KIDS DAY -- This Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m„ members of the Durham Regional Police Service will host the annual Safe Kids Community Day. It's at the Bowmanvillc Police Station on Highway 57. You can see demonstrations by specialized police units and emergency crews. You can tour the station and even meet a few local celebrities. Hot dogs and refreshments will be served free of charge and there will be free draws. The day is produced with the support of Carol Hallman and Susan Forsyth of Excel Realty Inc. CONCERTS WILL RETURN TO ROTARY PARK -- Those of you who enjoyed last year's line-up of free outdoor concerts are in for another treat. The Thursday night concerts in the gazebo arc back. A total of 12 dates have been arranged, commencing on June 11th, with the local country rock group, Chaser.. POEMS PUBLISHED -- At 83 years of age, Cobourg resident Jack Allin has published his first book, a volume volume of poetry entitled "Between You, Me and the Gatepost." Long time residents will recall that his father ran a grocery store here for many years. Jack left Bowmanvillc when he enlisted in the army, later settling in Cobourg where he served as governor of the county jail and later founded the A.J. Allin Insurance Company. The book is dedicated to his late wife, Louise. Copies arc available at The Book Studio. We hope to run a picture picture and a larger article on Mr. Allin's book shortly. SET SAIL FOR ORONO -- This Sunday, May 31st, ' the Sea Cadets of Bowmanvillc fall-in for their annual inspection. The program begins around two p.m. in the Orono Arena. It's always a highlight of the Sea Cadet year and an opportunity for the group to show family, and friends what they have accomplished over the year. BIG BIKE HERE SUNDAY -- The Heart and Stroke Foundation's 30-pcrson "Big Bike" is in town this Sunday, May 31st. You can see the 100-fool bike in action in front of the A&P store at the Bowmanvillc Mall from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Three teams arc ready to "pedal their hearts out" in order to raise money for stroke. The disease is often described as Canada's most neglected killer. No doubt, the riders would appreciate your support. Why not drop by and urge them on? Shop thé Rest Buy from the Best! MNÏIAC • ÜUICK LTD. wnmmmmmSB Your local General Motors dealer 166 King St. E. Tolophono 623-3396 COMPANY LIMITED Printing Professionals Since 1854 Telephone: 623-3303 62 King St. West Bowmanvillc Telephone 623-4433 Stork Market Report Canfield - "It's a Boy" Clyens "It's a Boy" Roberts -- "It's a Girl" Kane - "It's a Girl" "LmAW.-U lM,fc "Uu.w