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E22 COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, July 15, 1986 Editorial Comments ~ Community ~~ Spirit ~ Congratulations, Scugog Township. You proved you know how to enjoy a great party. The sights and sounds of the Caribbean took over in Port Perry last weekend for the community's annual Festival Days. And even though the weatherman did not co-operate complete- ly, that didn't dampen the spirits as people seemed to be in a truly festive mood. From our observations, that's what made Festival Days the good time that it was. People got involved. From the many businesses who went to a great deal of effort and expense to decorate their store fronts in the Festival theme, those who took part in the numerous exhibits and attractions, and to the thousands of people who just came out to enjoy themselves: there was a feeling of involvement. Everywhere we went over the weekend, we were impressed by the fact that Township residents were in attendance. That was good to see for it means that people who live in Scugog are supporting these community activities. There was a time not too long ago when a lot of people would dream up any excuse to get out of town when the community staged an event. In an age where some people have a ho-hum attitude towards their community, it is gratifying to know that this is not apparent in the Township. It is difficult, of course, to accuratley measure the extent of com- munity involvement in an event like Festival Days. But here are just a few examples. The live Wintario Draw, last Thursday night at Port Perry High School, was a virtual sell-out. More than 600 people en- joyed an hour of local entertainment, then the televised draw itself. The dance Saturday evening in the Festival Tent in Palmer Park attracted a large crowd, estimated at over 500. ~The Sexy Man contest, which wraps up during Festival Days, raised more than $10,000 for the Kidney Foundation. The Sexy Lady contest, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, raiséd about $7,000. That's involvement. : The rain, no doubt kept some away from the Golden Griddle Pan- cake breakfast Saturday morning, but despite the dreary skies and wet weather, more than 1000 people enjoyed the cakes and maple syrup : There was a diversity in the events this year which was refreshing. The car crush by "Big, Bad and Bouncy; karate demonstrations, arm wrestling competitions, scuba divers in a tank, the art and craft show in the Latcham Centre, the helicopter rides. They all helped to add something to the weekend's events. We salute the people of Scugog Township for their efforts and their involvement in this community activity. oo Of course, Festival Days did not just happen overnight. A great deal of work by the Chamber of Commerce went into the preparation and the planning: work that started back in February. The Festival Days committee members who spent endless hours getting this thing off the ground deserve a vote of thanks from the people of the community. Community spirit dead? Maybe it is somewhere, but not in Scugog Township. _ PORT PLATT §TAR CO (FNT1D f OO) 133 Guatw sreet? 20 0190 cn PORT FLEET ONT ABO fr (08 WO =D (60) 903 738) A -- -- the J. PETER HVIDSTEN Member of the Publisher Canadian Community Newspaper Association Advertising Manager and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the LA Port Perry Star Co Ltd . Port Perry. Ontario J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by ine Post Office Department, Ottawa. and for cash © CATHY ROBB payment of postage in cash News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 A Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year A > Elsewhere $45 00 per year. Single Copy 35° ] 4 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 ---- MN oa eo. - ---- -- -- ---- = -- -- Mosopy UNDERS;aNDs ME! * Chatte rbox by Cathy Robb ¥ By the time you read this, my fate is sealed. Either I: am the Sexiest Woman in the, Township of Scugog or I am not. I suppose it shouldn't make any difference to me if I win or not, but it does. It really does. Pain- fully so. You see, despite what the newspaper said last week, I was NOT wrestling with my conscience about entering the Sexy Woman Contest. I thought about it for one brief moment when the contest was first announced, but immediately discarded the notion the second it entered my head. I don't get involved with anything unless I can get into it wholeheartedly. And these days I'm so busy with my job, Festival Days and my upcom- ing wedding, I really didn't feel I could devote enough time or energy into canvassing. That all changed last Monday night, however, when the Star staff found itself staring at a sizable hole to fill on page 31. Sometimes the Star has so much copy and so many photos, we have to leave things out. Other times, like last Monday, we find ourselves scrounging to fill the pages. To make a long story short, we had nothing, absolutely zip, to fill the two column space on page 31 (Editor's Note: Not Quite). It was eight o'clock at night and we had zilch. So we did what any red-blooded Canadian newspaper staff would do. We entered a reporter in the Sexy Woman Contest, took her picture, developed it at a high rate of speed, and plunked the print in the hole. Beauty, we said. Mission accomplished. Except that, lo and behold, I suddenly found myself faced with the prospect of fundraising. Geez. And I was really behind the eight-ball too. All the other candidates had been campaign- ing for a couple of weeks. Which meant they were all a couple of weeks worth of cash ahead of me. I felt like David, up against the giant Goliath. Until, that is, I looked up the Sexy Woman story to discover how much the other candidates had already raised. At the time, Marsha Whitehouse of Crandell's was in the lead with $169, with Marie Wilson not too far behind. I was elated! One and hundred and sixty-nine bucks! I thought, that's not too hard to beat, and immediately began pestering the people in the of- fice for casi donations. Peter and John B. kicked in a fair bit right off the start and after I picked on the other people in the office, I had about $30 -- within a half hour. After that, I headed down to Emiel's Place and promptly set up a polling station there. And then, accompanied by a pal. I headed out to all the late night spots -- the donut shop and the police station, and managed to beg a few more dollars. : Three hours later, I had more than $70 or 7000 votes. On Tuesday I hit up just about every store along my newspaper delivery route and rung up another fifty 'bucks or so. And on Wednesday I went all out, phoning every person I know in Port Perry, canvassing door-to-door at night and generally bugging people until they gave me money just to get rid of me. By Thursday morning I had accumulated an incredible 40,000 votes or $400. At this point I knew Marsha was well over the $300 mark, at the least, but I figured she had a lot more than what she was letting on. As Linda Grills, one of the contest organizers pointed out, many of the candidates were stockpil- ing their votes, saving them until the last minute (Saturday at 3 p.m.) in order to blitz everyone else. : I was just as guilty of this as everyone else, and the problem was, nobody knew how much anybody else was collecting. It became a real game for me. Trying to outguess the competition. It also became a real obsession. Never in my life have I been quite so pushy. And you know what? I'm not sure why. I kept telling myself "It's a good cause." That's why you're putting so much effort into this whole thing." And it is a good cause, no doubt about it. All the funds from the Sexy Woman Contest go towards the Chamber of Commerce for events like Festival Day, the Canada Day fireworks, the San- ta Claus Parade and other community activities. But deep down, it was more than just "a good cause." Since I was nominated in the Sexy Single category, it was my last kick at the can. This time next year, I'll be getting close to my first wedding anniversary and might be running in a different category altogether (people have been kidding me about running in the Sexy Expectant Mother category next year. Ha Ha). Not only that, but it's probably my one chance in a lifetime to do any good in this type of contest. Let's face it, a beauty queen I ain't and there's very little hope of me ever being Miss Canada. On the other hand, being the Sexiest Woman in Scugog might just be enough consolation for me to forget all about the beauty contests of the world. And let me tell you this, it sure wouldn't do my ego any harm. (Turn to page 5)