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6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, November 17, 1987 One Woman's View by Chris Carlisle Looks like marriage has joined the ranks of toaster ovens and food processors. No, I don't mean entering into a marriage will get you burnt or chopped to pieces. (Some might disagree.) I mean that marriage partners appear to be disposable. No sooner does one pick up the latest partner than one is already scanning the horizon for something better--brighter, shinier or more sparkling, efficient or exciting. These days, no sooner does the spouse become the proud "owner"' of a new partner than the novelty starts to wear off and one begins to tire of the latest item in one's life. Heaven forbid something should go wrong with one of the elements or attachments. It means certain banishment. Gone are the days of taking the appliance for repair. One simply goes out and gets a new one--a better, more modern one. Now I only mention this because the romance of the century is supposedly on the blink. The fairytale romance, as they were call- ing it when Prince Charles and Lady Diana were wed, might be heading for an unhappy ending. When I was a kid, fairytales had been around for centuries. They lasted forever. And so did love with the fairytale prince. But if all the media speculation is correct, this modern day British fairytale seems to have only lasted six years. (Don't anybody tell poor |. Cinderella. She'll roll over on bookshelves all over the world to hear that modern day princes and princesses don't live happily ever after.) So what happened? How could two people who appear to have been so in love now appear to have lost it? How could the two, who seemed to have everything going in their favor, now be having troubles? (Maybe they were so busy checking everything else, they forgot to try on the glass slipper.) One of the most common marital arguments is over money. Sure- ly the Prince and Princess can't be squabbling over paying the bills. They have a nice home, two lovely, healthy children. They have their health and a full set of grandparents on each side. Prince Charles doesn't appear to be facing a layoff at work. Princess Diana surely has enough help with the vacuuming and cleaning and she must not hae to nag at Charles about taking out the garbage. Life should be bliss. So what's the problem? Boredom, selfishness, media madness? Or have they\succumbed to the toaster oven and food processor complex? Perhaps Charles is annoyed that Diana doesn't get all warm and glowigg in the mornings any more and perhaps Diana is upset because Charles' touch no longer turns her to mush. Her heart no longer bleeds for him. As the media will, now they're making excuses for the royal pair. I'm sure that I remember hearing when the two were marrried, how much in love they were. How it was a marriage made in heaven and all that. A marriage based on love, not politics. But now, to read the reports, they weren't in love at all. It was just another marriage of convenience--convenient that Diana was pure and convenient that Charles was a prince. Excuses, excuses, all this speculation and theory. It could easi- ly be the Twentieth Century Marriage Malady. Anyone will tell you they aren't making toasters and appliances (Turn to page 8) NJ Crime Stoppers and the Durham Regional Police are asking for the Public's help in solving the Theft of Boat Motors and equipment from the Sunderland and Beaverton areas. During the night of May 17th this year, an 85 HP Mariner Out- board Motor, an AM-FM Stereo Radio, a Big John Down Rigger, 2 life jackets, a Lawrence Depth Finder and a rod and reel were stolen from a boat which was parked beside Regional Road No. 2 just North of Sonya. Value was $9,200. Between September 7th and 14th this year, a 60 HP Johnson Motor was stolen from a boat at Cedarhurst Beach, Beaverton. It was valued at over $3000. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1000 for information leading to the arrest of the people responsible for these thefts. Similar rewards will be paid for information leading to the arrest of the people respon- sible for any Criminal Offence. 1-800-387-8477 Toll free for all calls including from pay phones Viewpoint by John B. McClelland (From page 5) . But you can have your say in front of local council. You ca rant and rave, call them fools (or worse) and demand that they make the decision that pleases you. It happens, believe me. Can you imagine a delegation of fuming mad citizens walking into the House of Commons to confront Brian Mulroney face to face with a problem? No way. It's been said before, but it's worth repeating. If you run for local council and are successful, the first thing you need is a damn thick skin. Local councils deal with issues that most greatly impact on- the average citizen: zoning, by-laws, drainage ditches and so on. Councillors get angry phone calls at all hours of the night (most of them right after the local paper hits the street each week) they are expected to be at every social function and rib- bon cutting, remember anniversaries, attend funerals, and deal with every day issues that are tremendously complex. And for this, they are paid the princely sum of about $10 grand per year. Here in Scugog, local councillors have no "ex- ecutive assistants' or private secretaries. They don't have the luxury of a huge bureaucracy to crank out background or "posi- tion papers." There's not even a planner or lawyer on staff. Local councillors can't walk down the street or go out to dinner without some irate citizen taking the opportunity to rake them over the coals for '"'that bone-head decision." Yet, when nomination day rolls around next November, ex- pect to see a full slate of hopefuls scrambling for a chance to sit on the Township council and have a lot of fun over the next three years. If past elections are any indication, there will be about 20 candidates for the seven seats on council. I hope they've all got thick skins. With some of the issues floating around Scugog Township right now, they're going to need em. Electronic thieves A house in Prince Albert and cottage at View Lake were hit by thieves, last week, according to Regional Police. Thieves got into the house on King St. Prince Albert by forcing open a window and they made off with about $2,000 worth of musical equip- ment including a guitar, tape decks and a couple of distortion boxes. The theft is believed to have taken place November 8 when the house was unoccupied. And a Scarborough owner of a View Lake cottage found a TV set and tape player missing after thieves broke into the cottage some time before November 11. 3rd Studio Tour this weekend If something warm and woolly, handknit or handwoven, soft and durable appeal to the Santa Claus in you, you are invited to check out the Scugog Shores Fibre Artists third annual Christmas Studio Tour, this Saturday and Sunday, November 21 and 22 in Port Perry. The members of the Scugog Shores Fibre Artists will be display- ing and selling their handmade wares at three locations over the coming weekend. Marilyr. Baker will open her house at 464 Kent Street; Frances Solar will open her home at 178 Cochrane "Street and Doreen Stainton will also open her home at 84 Chester Crescent. All three homes will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, with selections from all members of the Fibre Artists at each home. There will be a lucky draw and refreshments available at each location. For more information about the tour call 985-7285, 985-9093 or 985-8318. Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten DU DINNER Just got back from attending my second Ducks Unlimited Dinner, and once again I am overwhelm- ed by the number of people, the calibre of auction items and raffle items this promotion attracts. Up until about three years ago, "Ducks Unlimited' was merely a term I had heard bantered about somewhere, and really had no knowledge of how extensive this organization is throughout Canada and the U.S.A. DU is responsible for invaluable work, spending millions each year, on the preservation of the wetlands, marshes and waterfowl habitats throughout the country. No one can argue that the work they are doing - is very important, but somehow I can't help but feel that a lot of the money being spent on the wetlands is really only to improve the breeding habitat of waterfowl so there will be more ducks available to hunt. So on one hand, we have the DU organization try- ing to save the wetlands, and on the other hand, the hunters who go out into these wetlands to shoot the game birds. Maybe that's over simplified, but none the less it is pretty accurate. But getting back to the dinner. Ducks Unlimited has to be the slickest fundrais- ing organization that I have ever encountered. When they put on a dinner to raise funds they are not talk- ing about raising $500, $1000 or even $5000. On this particular night last week, it is estimated that the Port Perry and District Chapter of Ducks Unlimited raised over $50,000 in one evening. Impossible, you say. Well, no it isn't! Take some of these things into account and you can see how that number is possible. Cost to attend the dinner is $40 per person. You'd think at that price they would have a hard time fill- ing the hall, but I have been told there is a long waiting list of people who would like to go. When you arrive at the hall, you are greeted by a number of attractive young women selling tickets on the five draw tables lining the room. On average, I would estimate that everyone in the hall (about 225 people) spend somewhere near $50-$60 on draw tickets before the night is out. And then there is the auction sale, with some very valuable items going off the block. There are signed, limited edition prints, DU rifles and shotguns, hand carved decoys and birds and a host of other beautiful items. Throughout the room there are probably over 200 items that will either be raffled-off or auctioned dur- _ ing the evening, and all of these items have been donated to Ducks Unlimited. Now you can see how such a large amount of money can be raised at the five-hour dinner. The organizers of the Ducks Unlimited dinner deserve a lot of credit for the manner in which they conduct the evening. It's first class all the way, and one can not help but have a good time at this classy fundraiser. My concern is not with the amount they raise. but that there are so many other local projects which are in need of funding, that I find it difficult to justify the amount of money people spend at one of these functions. Locally there is talk of a new arena pad sometime in the future; a banquet hall; expansion of our hospital and dozens of baseball, hockey and soccer teams that are always in need of money. Our Girl Guides and Scouts, the schools are frequently trying to raise funds, but none of these can begin to even get near the funds in 10 years that the DU takes out of the community in one night. (Turn to page 8) o