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Ee a a a EE a= Cha een i me hdl LT eee, ell pr TT SEE HL a, IH AT ITT... el Ly TT. -. TT HH I I TI I TT ss 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, May 13, 1986 Editorial Comments Fair Board Vote This Wednesday evening (May 14) one of the most important public meetings in Scugog Township in a long time will be held at the municipal building on Perry Street. About 40 people, members of the Port Perry Fair Board, will be voting on whether the Board should surrender the lease it has with Scugog Township for some 22 acres of municipally-owned land known as the Fairgrounds. The meeting is an important one for several reasons as the out- "come of the vote will have serious ramifications that touch a great many people in this community. The issue of whether the Fair Board should surrender its lease (which runs to 1995) has been a topical and controversial one for the last several months. The details of the issue have been spelled out on more than one occasion in the news columns, editorials and let- ters to the editor of this newspaper. Indeed, the letters page in this week's paper contains three letters on this topic. Essantially, what is at stake is not just a new school site which the Board of Education wants on seven acres of existing Fairgrounds, but the future of the Port Perry Fair as we know it. We strongly fear that if the vote this week goes against moving the Fair to a new loca- tion and this in turn forces a delay in construction of a new school in Port Perry, the bitterness and bad feelings that have already sur- faced will intensify and be directed at the Port Perry Fair itself. That would be most unfortunate in a community like Scugog. About three weeks ago, there was a meeting between members of the Fair Board directors and executives and the Scugog Township council. All members of the council present that evening gave assurances that if the Fair is to move to a new location near the Arena, the coun- cil will do everything possible (within reason) to assist the Fair in mak- ing the move, and preparing the site for a successful Fair. On several occasions that evening, the word "trust" was used. And while it is true that specific details of how much money might be made ava able from the municipality were not spelled out, we have not one shred of evidence that members of council are saying one thing and planning something different on this issue. Indeed, it would be utter folly and political suicide for this coun- cil (or any other council) to hang the Fair Board out to dry once the municipality has taken over the present Fairgrounds. If the Fair Board votes this week to surrender the lease, the 1986 Fair will go ahead as planned on the present grounds. The move will take place over a full year which is ample time to plan-and prepare for the 1987 Fair on a new site. We would suggest that those who oppose the move should show just a little faith in the elected members of council, some of whom have had very close ties with the Fair over the years. We would also suggest that those who will be voting on this crucial issue this week should consider all the implications, both short term and long term. As we said before, this is a multi-dimension issue that touches a great number of people in Scugog Township, young and old alike. Finally, we hope and trust that no matter which way the vote goes this week, the outcome will be accepted by all concerned. If the voters decide not to surrender the lease, it will mean the School Board will have to find a new site and delay construction: so be it. But if, on the other had, the vote is in the affirmative, we hope that those opposed to let it end there. Dragging this thing out further would be most unfortunate and a source of further divisions within the community. PARANOID ! Mm note ATT PORT SLRRY STAR CO LIMNTLD DIGIT 20 #0190 PORT PLAY ONTARIO L108 WO (6%) 995.73) J. PETER HVIDSTEN / oO) Member of the Publisher 'Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Advertising Manager Published every Tuesday by the m ELLAND Port Perry Star Co Ltd, Port Perry, Ontario. E Authorized as second class mail by the ost Office Department, Ottawa, and for h AT on payment of postage in, cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 = AMC -- <3 Ommu Yeu (Qo) WO 1) 24000) 0130S Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year. Elsewhere $45.00 per year. Single Copy 35° OCOPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher Chatterbox by Cathy Robb ARGH!! I nearly did it. I came so close that it took a major circuit breaker in my brain to prevent me from doing it. : All the way into work this morning I found myself stuck behind cars that enjoyed doing 65 km in 80 km zones. This bugs me to no end, and by the time I arrived in beautiful downtown Port Perry, I was fit to be tied. Which is why my tolerance level was long gone when I was forced to come to a standstill in the middle of Queen Street, directly in front of the Port Perry Star office, because a rather large 18 wheeler delivery truck was stopped dead in front of me. : I asked myself, why is the bozo parked in the middle of Queen St./Perry St. intersection, block- ing traffic from all directions? The answer became immediately clear when the sunglass bedecked driver popped out of the cab and started unloading goods for local stores. Right in the mid- dle of the intersection. I felt my blood pressure rising. I looked to my left and saw the Star office no more than 10 feet away, my destination. So close and yet so far. To actually step foot in the office meant driving around the block and parking behind ---- a nearly impossible feat because of the moronic truck driver stopping traffic ahead. I felt by blood pressure peaking. And then, in a flash, it hit me. Why not just put my car in park, turn off the ignition, and leave it smack dab in the middle of the road? I mean, if truck drivers can do it, why not me? Or anybody else for that matter? Heck, why not just turn the 'entire main drag into a giant parking lot. Who needs a street to drive on? I chuckled devilishly at the thought and came That Close to abandoning my car in the middle of the street. Unfortunately, or fortunately, my logic circuit breaker (the one that short-circuits most illogical actions) snapped in and instead of abandoning my car, I abandoned the idea. Still, the next time I run into a delivery or courier truck parked in the middle of the street, I'm going to track down the driver and punch his or her lights out. Either that or I'll slip nasty notes under their windshield wipers, shake sugar into the gas tanks or maybe even ..... Whoa, I just felt that good old circuit breaker kick in again. Stupid thing. Always wrecks my fun. OTHER PET PEEVES Sounds like a yearbook, doesn't it? It just feels like I've collected more than my fair share of pet peeves lately, including 'Special Weeks." Have you read the Classified section of this newspaper lately? Do you realize how many Special Weeks are going on? Did you know that the month of May is Multiple Sclerosis Month, following close on the heels of April, which was Cancer Month, and March, which was Kidney Month (I think) and February, which was Heart Month. Within Multiple Sclerosis Month (May), there are several special Weeks. May 3 to 10 was Durham Region Crib Safety Awareness Week. The same week (gee, it was a special week) was also Mental Health Week. Oh, and by the way, . those same seven days also marked Nurses Week. I'm curious about something. How can the same week be designated a special time for three different organizations? Seems to me the week isn't altogether special when it is shared by every outfit in town, if you get my drift. Why don't all these groups choose different weeks to be their Special Weeks? And why don't reporters have Special Weeks? Believe me, we deserve one more than anyone else. After all, reporters spend half their time writing stories about other people's weeks and we never get any recognition of our own. Why is this? It's not like we're courier drivers or anything. Everyone knows why they don't have their own Special Weeks. It's because everyone hates them, right? Whaddaya mean, "everyone hates reporters, too'??? : Just wait till the next time you want a picture of your bowling banquet on a Saturday night. Speaking of which, you know how many Saturday nights reporters ruin taking pictures of bowling banquets, curling bonspiels, dances, hockey awards, dramatic and musical performances etc., etc. And did you know reporters receive no add- ed monetary compensations for working Saturday nights? Well, now you do. It's all the more reason why reporters deserve their own Special Week. Maybe even a specially designated Saturday night would do. MORE PEEVES Oh, yes, there's one more thing that's bugg- ing me right now. Working on sunny days. Who wants to be stuck indoors working when there is fantastic tanning weather going on outside? I think Scugog Township Council should pass a by-law banning work between the hours of noon and 3 p.m. on every sunny day, in order to allow all working stiffs a chance to work on their tans. Except courier drivers. Then, while everyone else is suntanning, they can block Queen Street to their heart's contei.t 'cause nobody will be there to care. =)