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Orono Weekly Times - 5 South of 49° by Jeanne Burnside Party animal On my last visit to Buffalo for follow-up on my knee surgery, surgery, I stopped in the local party store looking for some Superbowl paraphernalia. The very large store seemed to have an aisle dedicated to just about every holiday on the near horizon--Superbowl, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and Mardi Gras. This was of course in addition to the regular aisles for birthday parties, parties, weddings etc. Americans love their parties parties and can pretty much find any excuse to have one! I didn't didn't realize that the Mardi Gras had become a national celebration celebration over the last few years. When I left the States it was really only acknowledged in New Orleans and of course ' Rio. Although I have never been to Brazil, I was lucky enough to attend the Mardi Gras in New Orleans during my first year at university. My roommate was dating a senior who had just received a Volkswagen van from his parents parents and decided it needed a road-trip. Fourteen of us piled in from upstate New York and thus began the longest journey of my life up to that point. It only had two front seats so the rest of us positioned ourselves similar to a can of sardines in the back. I'm sure that at many of the stops along the way, other patrons viewed us as a. clown car as the bodies filed out of the back and we tried to get the circulation back in our legs. As we traveled traveled deeper into the south, we weren't always greeted with the same warmth as we were up north. I have to admit we probably did look a bit menacing-to menacing-to some. It was mostly guys with long hair, tie-dyed shirts, fatigues and probably a bit stinky after the first day! I . hate to admit, it but it was the early 70's. We stayed at Tulane University for the festivities in New Orleans and they really do know how to party in that town: Of course, being eighteen eighteen and legal in the States might have helped. I was covered covered in beaded necklaces, mementos thrown from all of the floats. The parades go on for a week and we attended most of them. My roommate and I did finally secure a spot oh one of the floats on the last day. Although the colorful paper : mache costumes had to be returned, we left town a bit blurry with lots of necklaces--some necklaces--some I still have to this day. By the way, I did pick up a football pinata and filled it with mini-footballs, whistles and lots of other goodies for the Superbowl. It was lanced by one of the guests who unfortunately was inspired by viewing the game arid was demolished as if he was on the offensive line. It then became a fight between the guests and my puppy, Angus, for the treats--and you can guess who won! MS lives here. MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults in Canada. Conceptual drawing of the office building planned for the corner of Station and Main streets Redevelopment of former gas station site . A public meeting dealing with the re-development of the former auto repair garage on the south east corner of Main and Station Streets in Orono, was held on Monday morning. No one took the opportunity provided to speak for, or against, the proposal proposal to demolish the existing building which is situated within the road allowance and replace it with an office. The gas pumps and tanks had previously been removed from the site which Mayor John Mutton and Councillor Gord Robinson referred to as an 'eye sore,'. The property, which is just 600 square metres in area, is owned by 'Mr. Terrance Timmins. His plans are to construct a 120 square metre office building, on the site. The property is on a corner that is slated for road widening widening in the very near future. Station Street is slated for reconstruction this year, and will require one and a half metres for a portion of the frontage along this property. A two and a half metre widening of Main Street will be required at some time in the future. As the property is currently currently zoned 'Service Station Commercial' Timmins had to apply for a Zoning By-law Amendment to permit the erection of an office building on that site. The building will be used as an administration office and call centre for Race Mechanical Systems, and will accommodate four employees. Race Mechanical Systems provides heating and air conditioning for commercial, commercial, industrial and institutional institutional uses and has offices across the country. The new building has been designed with a residential roof-line and will be landscaped landscaped to compliment the existing street scape. Parking is proposed for the rear of the building. Provided he gets the necessary necessary approvals, Timmins hopes to start construction of the office building this spring. Efforts renewed to bring doctors to Clarington MS Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada 1'800'268*7582 www.mssociety.ca Though Frank Wu, Clarington Clarington Chief Administrative Officer, doesn't know how many physicians are presently practicing in Clarington, he knows we are 13 physicians short, based on a population of 80,000 residents. Since it is felt that access to a family doctor is important to the quality of life of Clarington residents, Wu proposing proposing council put $131,000 toward recruiting 13 additional additional physicians within the next two years. To achieve that goal, Wu has recommended that the Municipality hire a family physician recruitment service. Wo recommended the Municipality hire the services of Organization Consulting Limited from Toronto, but due to confidentiality and disclosure disclosure limitations with respect to their campetetive position, the details of the agreement could not be released. However the contract docs include performance guarantees. guarantees. An annual budget of $15,000 is recommended for administrative and miscella neous expenses. This money is also intended to cover the costs incurred for a welcoming welcoming reception for visiting doctors, doctors, their meals, accommodations accommodations and other expenses while in Clarington. Wu recognized that neither he, nor the council, had the expertise to go about recruiting recruiting doctors to come to the municipality. "That's why we need professional people to help us out," he stated at Monday's General Purpose and Administration Committee Committee meeting. The Physician Recruiter will prepare a game plan which will become a template on how to recruit doctors, according to Wu, The recruiter will also actively go out and get doctors. They will 'be looking at doctors from other countries that have the necessary qualifications to practice in this country, according to Wu. Doctors from South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom are prime targets, he claims. Wu said, according to the information he has received, many doctors who have left Canada to practice in the U.S. are willing to come back, due to the exorbitant cost of malpractice insurance. It was the general feeling of council that while the delivery delivery of health care is a federal and provincial responsibility, it has ultimately fallen on the DOCTORS seepages Orono Amateur Athletic Association FUND Saturday, February 12,2005 Orono Arena & Community Centre *' 8:00 pm -1:00 am • Light Lunch • Door Prizes • DJ • Spot Dances ► 3-. Tickets $20/couplo • No Smoking call: Mario Wood 983-6020 *Arena983-5617^^^