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" Na -Y 4 i) ¢ | { | 3 » 3 | | ud ® i a \ | { 3 ! § ® "Above are the students of Utica Public School, located on Durham Road 21 west of Utica Store. The property is now owned by John Croxalls. This was the class of 1925 and the students are: Back left, David Woods, Edwin Skerratt, Stariley Christie, Miss Hickling, Katherine Welsh, Doris Oakfield, Mary Manuel, Helen Christie, Amy Manual. Second from back, " Edward Hutton, Fred Clarke, Elmer Wagg, -Jessie Walker, Muriel McKercher, Frances " Olga Lakey, Cora Christie, Dleza Lakey. Front Jones, Verenice Smith, Alverta Mitchell, Helen Butson. Second row from front - Frank MacGregor, Melville Lakey, Margaret Jones, Dorothy Medd, fow - Robert Skerratt, Robert Walker, Dennis: Steer, Jack Butson, Hanford Wagg, George Skerratt and Edward Mitchell. . Photo courtesy Mrs. L.B. Roberts, Port Perry. F Goodness, here it is the middie of July. While we're not quite into the ttue dog days of summer, things are, shall we say, a little laid back. The pace seems to have siéwed'¢ a step or 0, the days hang around a little longer, the kids are out of school, and the teachers are off on their annual two months of R and R, much needed I suppose, after a year of combat in the classroom. Parliament, the hottest thing to hit TV since the Gong Show, has taken a summer recess. The Parliamentarians (God bless' em all) have scattered to the far corners of the land, content to while away the time and mend a few political fences at the endless rounds of strawberry socials and beef barbecues organized by the local riding associa- tions. While a fall dlsclion is still very much in the offing, politics seem to be the last thing on people's minds these days. Why, even our local council has slowed down a step or two, and a week ago Monday night, the seven men who rule the fiefdom of Scugog actually concluded the King's business at the unheard of hour of 9:00 p.m., which must be ~something of a record since the twice-monthly council meetings have been known to carry-on almost up to the witching hour. Ah, yes, summer. The hot sun seéms to loosen the strings that stretch the psyche of the nation. The baseball season is half over (already) the football season has just begun, there are line-ups at the beer store, and with a marked lack of politics to cover, the press turns its attention to the lighter side of life. Just last week, for example, I read where a lawyer for a provincial government committee looking into health care in Ontario is being rewarded at the rate of $700 PER DAY. (That should pay off the mortgage on the cottage). .It adds up to $22,680 for 36 days work, and, get this, the committee chairman, a Conservative M. P.P. from York East, is quoted as saying that the rate was the cheapest the committee could get. Oh, sure. The lawyer, a 35 year-old chap by the name of Donald Rogers who works out of a stable on Bay Street defended his fees as "fair," and added that he could be making more in the private sector. Is that a fact, Mr. Rogers? It's now becoming very clear - just why the association that represents lawyers is so opposed to any kind of advertising of services. With bucks like that coming in, who needs to go after a little extra business. Anyway, can't you just see a newspaper as saying "All "kinds of legal services dvailable. Reasonable rates s starting at $700 a day. Call anytime." My, oh my, 'tis indeed the funny season. From lawyers at the public" trough to another kind of summer huckster, this one down in Orlando, Florida, who has a brainy wave to make a penny or two by having young female singer undergo plastic surgery to end up looking exactly like the late not-so-great Elvis Presley. If "Elva" works out, he also has plans to come up with a female look-a-like for the late Jim Croce. It could only happen in America. But just watch, if the a- bove stupidity catches on in the land of the free and the brave, some Canadian with a streak of the entrepreneur in him will end up doing the same thing with Don Messer. .. Imagine that. » You know, it has been said that life is a comedy for those who think, and 2 a tragedy for those who feel. Up to a point I LI editoriol page continued Persecution of those who dare to criticize the Soviety regime is nothing new of course, and the, history of this repression dating back to 1917 Revolution has, been minutely documented by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, himself forcedtinto exile by the authorities. That a man could be stripped of his freedom and condemned to ten or 15 years of hard labour in a camp in Siberia simply for speaking up against human injustice, is n itself a crime of the highest magnitude. Aside from PECTIN in horror at the thought, there is, sadly, precious little that Canadians, or anyone else, can do to reverse this hideous course of Soviet "justice." Despite the fact the Soviet leaders have put their signatures to such documents as the Helsinki Agreement, which Is supposed to guarantee some measure of human rights, it is obvious that the men who rule 250 million Soviet citizens with an iron fist have no intention of altering the course of barbarism that started with Lenin and was magnified to gigantic proportions under Stalin. While men and women everywhere who cherish freedom may be powerless at this time, it is "imperative that they at least let voices of dissent be | heard. They would also remember two things: the performance of the Soviet political leaders runs C otter box oy Job agree with the latter half of that little statement. Good Grief, there is enough madness in the air these days that if one took itall at face value, life would indeed be tragic. Far better, I think, to sit back, observe, and take all the nonsense with a hearty grain of salt. For as the song says, "If we couldn't laugh, we'd all go insane." There was a writer of some repute, who made a very famous name for himself in the '20's and '30's by cutting his prey to pieces with the tip of his pen. He spared few, and when asked once why he continued to live in America if he seemed to hate it so much, he replied "why do people visit the zoo." That answer was pure Mencken, of course. But it is something that all of us should maybe keep in mind as the world gets zanier with every spin. In the meantime the summer of '78 meanders along at its "own measured step, and Canadians take time to soak in the sun that is denied them for so many months of the year. However, before you get too comfortable in the big lounge chair on the back porch or patio, consider this: in just about seven weeks the kids will be back in school, and there are only 139 shopping days left until Christmas. That should make you feel better. 1 No doubt by the time you get around to reading this column, you'll have read all about the silly ending to the - Midget Softball Tournament which had to'be called off because:a few hooligans could not keep the lid on their contrary to every fundamental condition and right of our free and democratic society. And finally, the next time Canadians get a little cheesed off with the way our system functions, 'maybe they should stop and remember that thank- fully, the Gulag doesn't live here. McClelland childish tempers. If you read the story on the sports pages, I hope you kept in mind the fact that the players at the Midget level are 15 and 16 years of age, old enough to drive a car, but, thank goodness, not old enough to vote. "It really was disgraceful situation, and while I couldn't care less about the "players" involved, I really did feel sorry for the tournament organizers. They worked hard . getting ready for the three-day affair, lined up some local sponsorship; and, as one of them said afterwards, every- thing went smoothly up until the fighting started. But it was a volatile situation. You take a group of young men who are physically mature, throw them into a highly competitive contest, goaded and taunted by leather-lunged fans sitting' no more than ter feet away, and it is little wonder that tempers flare into fisticuffs. " It has been said. before and it should be said again, but violence in all 'minor sports is not entirely the fault of the players. If only the coaches, managers, parents and fans would leave the kids alone, much of this kind of stuff wouldn't happen. I was at the two final games Sunday night, and some of the taunts coming from the bleachers nearly made me sick. There's nothing wrong with fans trying to get under the skin of players at the pro level, but kids 15 and 16 years old just aren't mature enough to cope with it. AY port perry star Company Limited Phone 985-7383 Sam, Gon : (0A): "ag 4 Serving the Township of Scugog J, PETER HVIDSTEN _ Publisher - Advertising Manager J. B. McCLELLAND | Editor , Subscription Rate: In Canada $8.00 per year Elsewhere $10.00 per year. Single copy 20c - es i ' 4 ; 3 % Te a. a A wi £8 i VX ~ VE, vy, py my Boy one 2k bd py ed of pif i; fi we 33 \ yh A *¥ oes POS a Sry " . -. YSERA id va y- yor TA AN a . ot A SS er eli prises c te eA Af Fn a Ar od Sr Fe a urhe - ree y. AL aT 5 DIRE poy - Ag