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End. AE Oey Prod eel ee aT a 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, October 15, 1986 Editorial Comments A Great Opportunity The Port Perry Fair Board may never again be in such an oppor- tune position to assure the successful future of the Fair. Fair board members at a meeting last week voted to ask all the groups and organizations that take part in the Fair to come up with a 'wish list" in writing of what they would like to have in new facilities in exchange for giving up the lease on the present grounds to make way for a new elementary school. This 'wish list' will be submitted to the Fair Board by October 29, and at that time, the issue of whether the Fair moves will fall right in the lap of Township council. This issue of whether the present Fairgrounds becomes available for the site for a new and badly needed elementary school has been bouncing around the Township since the beginning of this year. It has caused some hard feelings, but it would appear the climate is now right to bring this thing to a successful conclusion for all concerned. We have to completely agree with the sentiments expressed by several Fair Board members last week that if the Fair is to be moved to a new site on Township land (59 acres) behind the Scugog Arena, the Fair must have some long term guarantees. And at very least, the Fair must be assured that the new site will have the same facilities, including a race track, that are now at the present site. That makes sense. : Council members are apparently willing, within reason, to make these assurances. The key phrase is "within reason". If the "wish list" now being prepared is way, way out of line, then obviously Township council will have little choice but to scuttle the plans. We sincerely hope that does not happen. And we hope the "'wish list" is reasonable and honourable for both the council and the Fair Board. If a deal can be worked out over the next three weeks whereby the Fair agrees to a move, Township council and Fair Board will have until September, 1988, to prepare the new site for the Fair. That's 23 months away, surely ample time to complete the task. And with the Township committed to developing the acreage behind the arena, further facil.'ies may be added in the immediate future that will be of enormous benefit to future fairs. Facilities like a full banquet hall and a second ice surface (enclosed) are better than distinct possibilities within the next five years or so. Where will the money come from for all this? From the present Fairgrounds, 22 acres of land that can be developed for building lots. Some preliminary studies last spring indicate that even with six acres taken for a new school, the Township could wind up with more than, 50 lots for sale on the remainder of the property which could show a net return of between $750,000 and $1 million. With a little planning, a little co-operation and some hard work, it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility to look five or six years into the future and see several things: a badly needed new school in Port Perry that will enhance the quality of education for our children; a Port Perry Fair located on a large, new site with first class facilities for exhibitions and shows that would make it the envy of most other fall fairs; a new banquet hall and second pad at the arena that would get extensive community use. To be sure, this won't happen overnight. But a splendid oppor- tunity to take the first step is now at hand. This kind of opportunity may not come along again in Scugog Township for many years. the GC CNA rer Tr A CO | RI 8 CD \ SJ J. PETER HVIDSTEN Member of the Publisher Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association ~ Advertising Manager Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd Port Perry. Ontarno J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Ottice Department, Ottawa. and for cash CATHY ROBB payment of postage in cash News & Features VAN (Oman KE Che (Qo) 0% \ Play ayvQS Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year Elsewhere $45.00 per year. Single Copy 35° 5 ' » ) 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 ------ FRANKLY, | WOULDN'T WEAR EITHER HAT / Ger AJIN one J Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe OH, ROCHESTER! This column is for the birds. Actually, it's for one bird in particular, Rochester, a sassy cockatiel me and my hubby picked up from the Port Perry Pet Shop last Fri- day night. Doug is still not sure why he allowed me to coerce him into buying a bird, but I think it had something to do with the purchase of a bird cage at an auction sale a couple of weeks ago. "Bid on it," I hissed in his ear as the auc- tioneer hoised a rusty, slightly dishevelled bird cage high in the air. "No," Doug replied, utterly firm. "Aw, ¢"mon,"' I whined, but he merely gave me a filthy look. I decided to appeal to his thirst for good investments. "It looks like a valuable antique -- probably worth a lot of money,' I whispered. His face lit up like the fourth of July. Six bucks!" he shouted at the auctioneer. And so, six bucks later, the cage was ours. "You know, of course," I said to Doug on the way home, "we'll have to buy a bird to put in that valuable, antique bird cage." He moaned and groaned a lot, which he is wont to do whenever I want something, but by Fri- day afternoon, I had him talked into it. I would have been content with a basic budgie, preferably blue, but Doug wanted a breed that could talk. He had his eye on the shop's mynah bird for a while, but it was the three hundred dollar price tag that eventually turned him off. We figured a cockatiel would be a fair compromise. Halfway home, with our new yellowish white bird safely secured in a cardboard box, we had Rochester named, after Jack Benny's famous butler. And true to his namesake, Rochester is just about the sauciest creature I've ever set eyes on. Oh, he was really nervous curing his first day at home, so we left him alone in the cage to get used to his new environment, as per the directions in a book we purchased about training cockatiels. The second day we tried approaching the cage and cleaning it out, also according to the direc- tions in the training manual. Rochester freaked out a little bit, flapping his clipped wings all over the cage, but he got over the trauma and after a half hour or so returned to his practise of waddl- ing along his perch, chirping boldly at the dog or my mom, or anyone else in the room. " Tuesday, however, was The Big Day, the day when Doug would actually take him bodily out of the cage and attempt to corral' him, a method of hand training that will teach Rochester to sit on the end of a person's finger. When I walked in the house Tuesday after work, I expected the training session to be over. It wasn't. The first sight that greeted my eyes was Rochester perched on the edge of a six-quart basket in the middle of the kitchen. "WHAT is he doing there?" I demanded. Doug shrugged. He had tried taking Rochester out of the cage, but after chasing him around for half an hour or so, he gave up and simp- ly left the cage door open for Rochester to fly out. And once Rochester escaped, Doug was unable to catch him. Well, as the old saying goes, it takes a woman to do a man's job. I had Rochester caught so fast it made Doug's head spin. And after he bit me soundly on the finger, I had Rochester handed back over to Doug so fast it made MY head spin. You can imagine how fast Rochester's head was spinning. Speaking of spinning, the poor bird was real- ly in a spin. Clamped gently between Doug's hands, he bit Doug's fingers ravenously, squawk- ing like a prehistoric teradactyle in between each chomp. To stop the bird from biting, the training manual suggests saying no, softly yet firmly (as not to scare the creature), and blowing in the bird's face. *'No," Doug said soothingly, blowing softly as Rochester took yet another chunk out of his finger. *'Noo,"" he said again, his volume increased. 'No, Rochester," he said, blowing harder still. In response, Rochester wedged his sharp beak in between Doug's thumb and thumbnail, draw- ing a fair bit of blood. "NO!"™ Blow. "*NO!"" Double blow. "NO!" Doug shried at the top of his lungs. sending out a gale of breath at hurricane velocity. Cursing, he let go of the angry bird, who still clung to Doug's thumb, flapping his wings like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. My hubby shook Rochester loose, held up his wounded thumb, and regarded me critically. I smiled and said, 'My hero." "This manual," he said dryly, "is for the birds." Well, things have calmed down somewhat since then. Rochester still isn't finger trained but he isn't squawking or biting quite so much dur- ing training sessions. Mostly, he sits saucily on his perch and chirps merrily at everyone in the family. Everyone, that is, except Doug. (Turn to page 6) Hn i Le AEE ram an SE TARE vs db rr wip i f § 4 | ¥ 3 d