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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 23, 1986 -- 17 Published Brooklin Port Perry Star Company Limited P.O. Box 567, Brooklin, Ont. LOB 1CO Serving Brooklin and Area ROXANNE REVELER News & Features Editor Phone 655-3637 or 985-7383 since 1983 § New director has great plans RY £ ES CE Ul yi i RT and x E PB + Larry Morrow has been on the job for a month now and during that 'time has accomplished a great deal. Morrow is the new director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Whitby and has been working around the clock to familiarize himself not only with the operations of this mammoth department, but also with the town and the people themselves. A little background information. Morrow came to Whitby in mid- August from Canata, a town of some 28,000 residents, just west of Ottawa. ~~ He held the position of parks and recreation there for four-and-a-half years. Although there was a great difference in the size of Canata and Whitby, Morrow likens the two towns, because of their rapid growth patterns over the past few years. Prior to his move to Canata, Mor- row was parks and recreation direc- tor, the first we might ad, in the Township of Innisfel, located bet- ween Bradford and Barrie in the Lake Simcoe area for six-and-a-half years. He graduated from the recreation program at Centennial College in 1969 and took a three year municipal administration course by cor- respondence through Queen's University. After graduating, Morrow has worked in the recreational field for over 17 years, taking many upgrading courses, particularily in the management area of recreation. Morrow is exceptionally pleased to be a part of Whitby. He stated he § considers this to be his final goal and : not a stepping stone to a larger il . community. . "I love this area. I have looked all around and I like what I see. This is it for me and I hope I can do my job well enough that I am wanted to stay," said Morrow. According to him, the first thing he has attempted to do is contact all community groups within the municipality. "I want them to know who I am without being just a name,' he said, "I want them to know how I think." Morrow sent out about 90 letters to various groups during his first week in Whitby and has been gratified by the response. Slowly, as time permits, he has been meeting with those groups to learn first hand what their concerns are and where they think they can be most readily helped. "Before I can form any solid con- clusions, I need to know what the people's needs are so I can advise council how we can best address the problems," says Morrow. He added both he and his staff have to be accessible to communi- ty groups, must be responsive, and work together for the betterment of all. Morrow was on hand last Satur- day at Ashburn Community Centre to participate in the official opening of the playground there. He express- ed his enjoyment at the rural set- ting, commenting that Whitby had a great atmosphere with its mixture of old and new, urban and rural. He said his top priority for the north ward would be to sort out the second phase of renovations at Brooklin Community Centre. Mor- row stated he was extremely pleas- ed with the way the facelift of the historic structure was shaping up and wanted to see it completed soon. 1 Ii | Never enough hours in the day Welcome Larry Morrow, the new director for the Whitby Parks and Recreation Department. As ususal, Morrow, when not out on the job, is busy on the telephone speaking with the people from his office at the Municipal Building. He also said he has been speaking to Jack Woodward in the hopes the arrangements for the Brooklin Spring Fair and the fairgrounds in Brooklin can be sorted out. "The Recreational Master Plan is looking to the fair with respect to the entire park. The fair is an institution and we must pay heed to their needs,' said Morrow, "I'm available to Brooklin and responsive to meet their needs." Morrow added there were many things he was mulling around for the Brooklin area, including additional facilities at Luther Vipond Arena and larger hall facilities in the future. He explained that the construction on any new fai ities was the least of his concerns. That it was the maintenance of these facilities that cost money. "It's the taxpayer that must foot the bill for maintenance forever,"' he said, "it is a delicate balance so as not to alienate either users or taxpayers." He also stated it was getting harder and harder to get grants from the provincial government, ad- ding that he had just received word ~ a that day that his department had been turned down in their applica- tion for grant money for repairs at Ashburn and Spencer Community Centres. "We bit the bullet and put a new" furnace in at Ashburn, but the pro- vince said no to money that would let us do anything else," stated Mor- row, "Now I just have to get my priorities in order and be sincere with the people about what we can do and what we can't afford to do...you can't lead people on with promises you know you can't keep, you have to be honest and up front." (Turn to page 22) A star in our midst Myrtle resident Anne Franklin waves merrily from her 1937 Chev Superior, a star in "The Arm." See story on page 21 for fur- " ther details. Lynde House future finally settled The fate of Lynde House Museum was finally settled last week when Whitby council approved a 99-year agreement with Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village, owners of the North Ward properjy to which the building was moved last month. The agreement formally stipulates that Lynde House be opened by April 25, 1988, however, it also points out that "the town must use its best efforts to have the building refurbished for full display by May 2, 1987, the date set aside for Cullen to open a new component at the tourist facility. This ceremony is to be attended by Ontario Lt.- Governor Lincoln Alexander. A special report is to be made next Monday by the Operations Commit- tee outling steps that should be taken to renovate Lynde House, either as a historical house and museum with provincial grant eligibility, or at a reduced cost without provincial assistance. If council chooses to renovate the historic landmark as a period home and museum, the cost of renovation and refurbishing will cost some $200,000. The agreement also calls for the operating hours of the house to con- form to those followed at Cullen Gardens; that repairs after the in- itial restoration along with the in- surance be borne by the town; that Cullen Gardens pays for heat and power as well as the surroundings, which includes parking; that the town reserves the right to set the price of admission, or install an of- fering box; that Cullen Gardens Turn to page 19 Ashburn residential estate given blessing of region An Ashburn resident has been successful in his attempts to have a 35 acre parcel of land rezoned to allow for a nine lot residential development. At the last meeting of regional council, members voted in favour of the proposal put forward by Bill Burgess, thereby paving the way for the development. The proposal was originally brought forward by Burgess in April of this year and since that time has been circulated through the proper channels. The property, located on Town Line Road, immediately west of Heron Road, is designated under the Whitby Official Plan as 'Rural' and required no amendment changes. However, under the Regional Of- ficial Plan, the property is classified as "Major Open Space," and an amendment to this was required before the property could be developed. The site is almost entirely wood- ed with a variety of trees and has a tributary of Lynde Creek flowing through it. The surrounding uses consist of active agricultural lands to the north, an estate lot and some new agricultural operations to the west, wooded lands to the south, and the Andrew Antenna site to the east. At previous meetings held on the matter, several neighbouring lan- downers, on the opposite side of Town Line Road in Scugog Township, voiced their objections to the re-zoning of the property, claim- ing that the proposed development would destroy the natural wildlife habitat the property has created. Turn to page 19