I Nr I Rh ows « om ddan Community rallies to raise money for costly operation Without being asked, the entire Prince Albert community has put its brains and energy together for one special reason -- the health of a sick little boy. In a heart-rendering display of unity, people of all ages have been working together to raise money for Mathew Geer, a friendly Mary Street lad who has been stricken with cancer. The Geers began having medical pro- blems in June and in July doctors discovered a cancerous tumour inside young Mathew, according to Sarah Elliott, a neighbour who lives two doors down from the Geer family. '"The neighbours found out and said prubably we should do something to help them," she recalls. Since then, dances have been organized in Prince Albert and in Uxbridge, along with various raffles, dona- tions and sales. : The key to fundraising efforts, to help finance Mathew's treatments, is a dance at Prince Albert Hall on November 10th. At $10 each, tickets are already sold out, but Mrs. Elliott says any- body who still wants to donate the cost of a ticket is more than welcome to do so. A special trust fund has been set up at the Bank of Commerce and 'although Mrs. Elliott (who with Peggy Bredin has been instrumental in fundraising) isn't sure how much the fund has collected, she says the response has been . overwhelming. "Generally, people have been bending over backwards to help out," she says. One woman, with an unusally large collect- ion of Cabbage Patch dolls, has sold between seven and eight thous- and $1 tickets on a Cabbage Patch doll, which will be raffled off the night of the dance. Other people have donated a food hamper and a handmade Tiffany lampshade for the cause. Although the Geer family is reluctant to talk about Mathew"s condition, not wanting everyone to know of their problems, father Ivan Geer is thankful for the help the comm- unity has proffered. For more information about what you can do to help, call 985-3017. PORT PERRY STAR - October 30, 1984 -- 3 New school for Scugog (From page 1) tion suggests that the provincial government likely will not approve all of these projects. The statement notes that last year, the provin- cial government approv- ed just two projects for building capital at a cost of $4.5 million, while the number of projects re- Fact finder to settle dispute A fact finder has been appointed in the contract negotiations between the Durham Board of Education and the 1450 teachers, principals and vice principals in the Durham Elementary Teachers Association. Dr. Harold F. Jakes of Ottawa was appointed fact finder last week by the provincial Education Relations Commission. The teachers contract with the Durham Board expired on August 31 of this year and negotia- tions have been on-going since last spring. Dr. Jakes will have un- til November 26 to sub- mit his report to both sides. John Hinch, principal of Cartwright Central School in Blackstock is the chairman of the Teachers Association Economic Policy Com- mittee, and he said there are three outstanding issues at this time: class size, salaries and work- ing conditions. Details - of these outstanding issues will not be made public until after the fact finder presents his report to the two sides. quested amounted to $11.3 million. The Board says that while school enrolments are dropping in many parts of Ontario, the op- posite is taking place in Durham Region because of new residential development and shifting population patterns. Because of this growth, the Board calls the need for new schools 'urgent.' But last year across Ontario, the Ministry of Education received re- quests for capital grants amounting to $452 million, and approved $87 of the total. In Durham Region, there are presently 153 portable classrooms be- ing used. Just ten years ago, there were 80 por- tables in use. A little bit of Scugog Sunshine The kids on Valorie Freeman's bus route sure are proud these days. After all, it's not every student who has a Sunshine Girl for a bus driver. After Val's bathing suit clad figure appear- ed in the Toronto Sun Oct. 22, one young lad bought up eight copies of the newspaper and stuck all eight photos of Val on his bedroom wall. This, according to his mother. But the kids on Val's route aren't the only ones proud of her accomplishment. The whole town hasn't stopped talking about Scugog's Sunshine Girl -- at least everyone assumes that Val's the first. Nobody can remember a local girl ever appearing on the notorious page three ever before. Val, on the other hand, can't understand what all the fuss is about. The slim 23 year old bus driver with hair the colour of sugar, has her sights set on being a model and considers the Sunshine Girl shot a first step in the right direction. After taking a modell- ing course in an Oshawa school, Valorie distri- buted pictures of herself all over the Toronto area, so she wasn't really surprised when the Toronto Sun phoned her up one day and asked her to be a Sunshine Girl. She didn't know at first what to say. "I wasn't really sure what to do because I wasn't sure how people would take it," she says. And then she decided, what the heck, and with three bathing suits she bought in California in tow, Val headed into Toronto on Thanksgiv- ing Saturday. The photographer was Stan Behal, a "real professional"' who handled his out-of-town model with special con- sideration, showing her how to develop the negatives and display- ing the final results on a screen--sort of a video- fied contact sheet. She even knew which picture the photograph- er finally chose for publication, although she didn't know when it would be printed. '""He said it might take two weeks or two years," she says. "It took two weeks." Although all Sunshine pictures are shot in colour, Mr. Behal told Val that only the really i -- Although it isn't the shot that appeared in the Toronto Sun, there's certainly nothing wrong with this photo of local Sunshine Girl, Valorie Freeman, taken by ace photographer Stan Behal, Thanksgiving weekend. This the Valorie Freeman everyone is familiar with ---- the prettiest bus driver in town and part owner of Freeman Bus Lines, Scugog Island. outstanding photos are (Turn to page 6)