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Fotis 7 ae ay Twenty-three year old Heather Hodgins of Prince Albert will be recounting all her European back-packing adventures at the Scugog Memorial Library, February 14th at 7:30 p.m. Her stories are guaranteed to delight old and young alike. See story for details. PORT PERRY STAR -- Tues. January 29, 1985 -- 3° It's one adventure after another when you're Heather Hodgins can tell a story like nobody else can, and she's in the midst of a great one-blue ' eyes sparkling, long hair tossed back over her slim shoulders, and: a " wide smile bursting from "one ear to the other. She's talking about her trip to Europe last sum- mer and at the moment her topic is Greece, where she and a backpacking friend Julie Balen, 23, of Elliott Lake, came across an Italian guy playing Neil Young's '"'Helpless" on the guitar-- and singing with an Italian accent. : '""'He didn't know a word of English, really, but here he was singing Helpless, you know the song, where it goes 'there's a town in north Ontario..." And we went over to him and said, 'Hey, we're from On- tario,' but he didn't even know where Ontario is," she laughs. "He was just singing." And then there's the story about the two girls wanting to rent scooters, also in Greece. They decided not to rent the machines, however, when they were told about the way people drive in Greece, and specifically about the Greek water truck driver, who, during his lifetime killed 11 people. Outraged, Heather Areaindustrial growth unlikely,says chairman It is unlikely that the small municipalities of Scugog, Brock and Ux- bridge Townships will experience any dramatic shifts in the rate of in- dustrial expansion, ac- cording to Durham Region chairman Gary Herrema: Mr. Herrema was guest speaker at the an- nual meeting of the Scugog Chamber of Commerce January 22, at the Latcham Centre in Port Perry. He said large in- dustries which are locating or expanding in Durham prefer to be close to the Lake Ontario waterfront where ser- vices are available in- "cluding road and rail transportation corriders. However, he said the small municipalities like Scugog, Brock and Ux- bridge can experience economic growth through the development of service industries, tourism and new residen- tial projects. "Let the people come here to live. There's nothing wrong with that," he told the meeting. Mr. Herrema touched on several topics in his address to the meeting, and said that not only is it important for municipalities to stay within five per cent spen- ding limits, they must also concentrate on get- ting top value for tax dollars spent. ~ ""This is what Durham (Region) is striving for," he stated. And one of the priorities that Durham is facing at the moment is a push to get more pro- vincial subsidies for road maintenance. "People are entitled to good roads," he said, ad- ding that road repair and reconstruction could cost in the neighbourhood of $50 million over the next ten years. Mr. Herrema, who is in his second term as Regional chairman, said that while Durham may not be growing at the same rapid rate as other Regional municipalities, the growth has been steady. But Durham is still suf- fering somewhat from an identity problem, and Regional officials and politicians must continue to work hard to improve the image of the municipality. The annual meeting was the last for out-going Chamber president Bill Barr who stepped down after completing his two year term. He noted that net revenues from two ma- jor Chamber events in 1984 were down (Western Weekend and the Bass Derby) and he challeng- ed members to work hard for fund-raising in the coming year. Mr. Barr said the Bass Derby may have been hurt by the fact that several other similar fishing contests are be- ing held in Ontario at about the same time, and the Western Weekend committee took a gam- ble in booking Ronnie Hawkins into the Arena for one of the dances at a cost of about $8000. If about 200 more peo- ple had attended the Hawkins Dance, this would have greatly im- proved the net revenue picture. However, he said that revenues from other Western Weekend activities increased in 1984. One very positive high- light for 1984 was the completion of the decorative lighting pro- ject on Queen Street, Water and Scugog Streets. Mr. Barr noted that commercial activity seems to be very healthy in Port Perry, compared with some other towns of comparable size. He said there is about 135,000 square feet of retail store space in the community, and just 2900 square feet of this is not occupied. However, even this figure will soon be reduc- ed with the opening of new stores in the near future, he said. The Chamber of Com- merce board of directors held their first meeting on Thursday morning and selected Peter Hvidsten as the new president for a two year term. ) Mr. Hvidsten is publisher of the Port Perry Star, and has been a Chamber of Commerce vice president for the past couple of years. New members on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for a two year term are Ron Compton, Larry Em- merson, Bill Fritz, Wayne Luke, Alex Shep- pard, Larry Taylor and Elgin Knopp. Two special plaques were presented at the an- nual meeting January 22. Former president Miriam Price received one for 12 years servi with the Chamber of Commerce. And Ralph Wilbur, who is a pretty popular guy with the children of the communi- ty just before Christmas also received a plaque. Mr. Wilbur has been San- ta at the annual parade for the last 20 years. Parade Marshall Gerry Nelson will be presented with a plaque for his 20 (Turn to page 6 asked, 'Why don't they take his license away?" But the man she was talking too merely 'shrugged and said, "Nahh, they're just tourists." And then there's the story about touring Ger- many and meeting a fellow backpacker from Whitby "who knows Port Perry as the town with the stoplights going into the beer store." * Twenty-three year old Heather spent two and a half months touring Europe last summer and on Valentine's Day, February 14th, the Scugog Memorial Library, she'll recount her adventures at a Travel Club meeting. While touring Europe the expensive way isn't as unusual as it once was, backpacking through Europe is still one roller coaster adven- ture after another. and Heather will be detailing those adventures, plus offering backpacking tips and advice to anybody who shows up at the library, free of charge. It wasn't the first time Heather has backpacked through foreign coun- tries (including Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Denmark), since she ' toured Greece in an im- promptu trip with then- boyfriend David Red- (Turn to page 14) id ve vie TT ) 3 id AE gh FER . \ TAN ie, AS 1 Hh GEERT ANY Isn't this just like the movies where you expect Heidi to come bounding out of the mountains? This photograph was actually snapped in Switzerland by Heather Hodgin"s back-packing partner Julie Balen, as the girls shared a picnic with Allan Stolaryk, a Canadian working in Switzerland. Allan is a brother of Port Perry Star employee Marilyn Wood, and is staying with their sister San- ~ dy, who now lives in. Switzerland. Heather _ -.and Julie stayed with Sandy and Allan for a while during their summer tour of Europe. There were a couple of special presentations at the Scugog Chamber of Commerce Annual meeting last week. Ralph Wilbur (right) received a plaque for his 20 years service playing Santa in the annual Christmas Parade. Miriam Price was honoured for her 12 years service as a director with-the Chamber of Commerce. At right is William Barr, who is stepping down as president after com- pleting his two year term. Tr