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--T --_ _ 0 I .,. Yesterday's Memories 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 3, 1925 Mrs. Kyle left this week for Thetford Mines, Quebec, where she will spend the winter with her daughter. Mr Jonas Smith has just about completed his new greenhouse in Prince Albert. Mr. John Miller of Ashburn is attending the International Stock Show in Chicago. Miss Ruth Studaford of Ashburn won the scholarship for the highest standing in 1925 at the Whitby Collegiate given by the Board of Education. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 7, 1950 At the Port Perry High School Commencement this fall, the following received their honour graduation diplomas, Bill Brock, now attending the University of Toronto, Eleanor DeNure and Miriam Peel are taking courses at Macdonald Hall in Guelph, Roy Slute is teaching, Jim Smeltzer is attending Queen's and Mary Wilkinson is at Normal School. The new president elected for the Greenbank W_.A. this year was Mrs. E.L. Hook, her vice-pres. will be Mrs. G. Beare. Elected presi- dent for the United Church W.A. in Port Perry was Mrs. Grace Love. Mrs. Art Brock will be her vice president. Two Scugog girls, members of the Junior Homemakers Club, Jean Samells and Doreen Reader, enjoyed a trip to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. This was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Riverdale. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 1, 1960 Congratulations were extended this year to J.J. Gibson and Son, who won numerous prizes this year at the Royal Winter Fair. They received the Cryovac Challenge Trophy for the best packed Cyrovac poultry of all kinds. They also, received other prizes. The Port Perry Registered Music teachers entertained the Oshawa Branch of R.M.T. at their regular meeting. The guest speaker was Mr. John Order. Those responsible for the success of the evening were Mrs. McClintock, Mrs. Helen Stouffer, Mrs. Bar- bara Baxter, Mrs. D. Rice and Mrs. Marie Taylor. Mrs. Mac Christie of Manchester, attended the opening of the Legislature and the team given by the Lieutenant Governor in his suite at Queen's Park. The financial statement for the Township of Scugog showed a credit balance of approximately $4,750.00 this year. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 2, 1965 In Ontario Riding, M.P. Michael Starr was reappointed to the post of House Leader of the Progressive Conservative party. Residents of Reach Township will go to the polls this year to ballot for the Reeveship. Incumbent Sam Oyler is being opposed by Allan Crosier, who has been the Deputy-Reeve for the past three years. Greenbank Community Hall has been approved as a Centennial project for the Township of Reach. The Hall, a former Anglican Church, is over 100 years old. (Turn to page 6) L.etbers PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, December 10, 1985 -- § Santa Claus Parade for the kids! Dear Sir: In last week's issue of the Port Perry Star the Scugog Chamber of Commerce and one of its directors was criticized for not permitting a taxi cab with the slogan 'Don't drink or drive, Call us for a ride' to enter the Santa Claus Parade, although it was allowed to in Uxbridge. We do not know what the policy is in Uxbridge, but it is the policy of the Chamber of Commerce in Port Perry to request entries to refrain from commercial messages and to decorate their entries with a Christmas theme. The local Santa Claus Parade is Sports Complex overdue Dear Sir: I have to agree with Mr. Har- rison's letter last week. 'Why do we travel to other towns for fitness and sunshine? I have lived in Port Perry 13 years, raised my children and it often puzzled me when they built the new arena that was great. But they should have built a pool and fitness centre with it. Then they built a new library which we also needed, now they are talking about a new lawn bowling centre. What about our young teens? Wouldn't it give them a place to go? So come on Port Perry we need one. Mrs. C. Collins organized and financed by the Chamber of Commerce through membership fees and donations from the merchants, and in a round- about-way the businesses benefit from the parade. But the main reason for the an- nual parade is to make Christmas a time of excitement and joy for the children, and to bring Santa to town. It is not, and has never been design- ed as a time for pushing commercialism. We are sorry the drivers of Village Taxi took offense to our policy, but the directors of the Scugog Chamber of Commerce stand firmly behind the director making the decision not allowing the taxi into the parade. We would like to point out that we feel the idea behind the taxi com- pany slogan, to make people aware that drinking and driving don't mix, is commendable, and we fully agree with their intent. However, the parade organizers did not feel the parade was the place to advertise the evils of alcohol and the availability of the taxi service to give people a ride home if they have been drinking. For over 20 years the Scugog Chamber of Commerce has attemp- ted to make Port Perry a nice place to visit and shop. The Santa Claus Parade is one of the ways the mer- chants are able to give something back to those people who have been loyal customers over the years. It is our way of saying thanks to these people without asking them to buy something. We hope that this small incident does not marr the reputation of an organization which has been putting smiles on the faces of thousands of youngsters over the years by bring- ing Santa Claus to town each Christmas Season. Sincerely yours, J. Peter Hvidsten, President, Scugog Chamber of Commerce. THE WORLD OF Bill Smiley A STRANGE BIRD A strange bird is our Hugh. An odd bird, indeed. He can be as cunning and wily as an Egyptian bazaar mer- chant. Next moment, he can be as naive as a six-year- old who has been slapped for doing something un- thinkable in our rectitudinous Canadian society. I observe him more closely than I have in years, because of geography. For some years, he attended, oc- casionally, various universities, from Toronto to Halifax. He worked on a boat on the Great Lakes, and another on the Vancouver-Alaska run. He spent five years in Paraguay. There were side-trips to Mexico, Israel, Guatemala, Costa Rica. He's been to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia As a result, we didn't see much of him. Now he has rented a winterized cottage on a beach near me, while maintaining his practice in the city. Nobody but Hugh would rent a cottage which he must vacate from mid-June to Labour Day. But he did. He arrives from the city on Friday evening. Does he rush out to his beloved cottage, which he rented to "get away from the city?" Not on your life We have cups of tea. some food. a little yatter. He plays the grand piano and some new tapes he's discovered We watch late TV He sleeps late, showers, brings me a cuppa in bed. plays more piano or guitar, and halfway through Saturday afternoon, I almost have to kick him out to go to his retreat in the country He returns to my place Monday evening and the same routine is followed Tea, shower, music, TV He catches the early bus Tuesday, usually, and goes back to work in the city, where he sleeps on a bed in the clinic he shares. A tough life We spat, infrequently, but fairly fiercely. I'm a sceptic; he's a believer. In everything: holistic medicine, astrology, reflexology -- the mind boggles when he gets on to the relation between music and the entire body. I ask snarky questions until his dark brown eyes begin to smoulder. But he has a great personality, and a wonderful curiousity. He is very fit, because he eats only the right foods, except that every time he leaves, my refrigerator is almost cleaned out. He charms people, and opens up to them. He is an excellent listener, except that he gets a bit of a glazed look when [ go on about something he doesn't agree with, or has heard before, or doesn't fit into his scheme of things. He is completely amoral about money. He receiv- ed a small inheritance from his grandfather, and ad- mitted that it was just enough to pay his debts (It wasn't, of course). He has friends all over Canada and the U.S | and sees nothing wrong with 'dropping in for a visit' and staying a few days And he's iust as hospitable with his friends. He's asked them all up to his cottage, where he has an electric piano, courtesy of you-know-who, a TV, all the appliances, and electric heat. This may sound as though I thoroughly dislike and am suspicious of my son. Not so. It's just that he has a human spirit that is not easy to pin down. He loves his sister (who is another weirdo), his nephews, and, at times, his father. He went on a long trek to see his grandfather, who is in his nineties. He came home the other night, and found his father draped in his favourite armchair, with a wet towel on his head. Was aghast "Dad, what's the matter?" I informed him that I had come home late, left no lights on, carried four bags of groceries, had made a mis-step on the back porch, and fallen (still holding two bags of groceries), and had cracked my head on the sharp side of the porch. By the time he got there, it had almost stopped bleeding down my neck. My mother taught me that a cold compress would ease the bleeding, years ago, when there was no such thing as an emergen- cy ward. But Hugh was horrified. He insisted, over my ob- jections, that we go to the hospital. (He loves driving my car.) It turned out that the cut was fairly deep and wide, and the doc stuck some stitches in it. Did you ever try to get a bed in a hospital? It's like getting an engraved invitation to a garden party at Buckingham Palace, except that I doubt the Queen's signature would get you in. I'd been waiting three weeks for a bed, and there I was, with a little cut on my head, being cosseted and sewn. Oh, it was worth it. They put a great, flapping bandage on the cut, and then tied a thing around my forehead, so that I looked like a hippie or an Indian or a long-distance runner My neighbour was delighted by my band But it fell off in a few hours. It was apparent- ly designed only to hold me head together. So. You see" If Hugh hadn't come home, and wanted a chance to drive the car, I could be sitting, dead cold, in my own blood, still reading the paper