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obra PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, December 8, 1987 -- 5 '4 iewpoint by John B. McClelland CABBAGES So, you think the price of land and housing is high in Toronto, or even Port Perry, for that matter. How about three acres of prime real estate in « Tokyo, just two miles from the heart of the financial district from which the world's economy is now run? Those three acres are worth a cool $118 million. And you know what those three acres are used for right now? Cabbages. The guys who's sitting on $118 million in real estate has put the land into cabbages, just like his father and grandfather did before him. Why won't he sell, take the money and retire? Right off the bat, he likes growing cabbages. Says if all the farmers sold their land, what would the teaming millions in Japan put on their dining room tables? Secondly, as a farmer he enjoys certain tax benefits. If he sold the land and turned it into housing or com- mercial properties, he'd have one heck of a big tax pro- blem on his hands. In fact, he already has a big tax problem. When his mother died this summer and left him the land and far- mhouse, he was immediately faced with an inheritance tax of $1.4 million on the house. He had to borrow from the bank to pay that. He's exempt from the same tax on the remainder of the land so long as he keeps put- ting in the cabbages. You have to admire this guy's spunk, sitting on a small fortune like $118 million just to avoid paying cer- tain taxes and to keep on doing what he likes doing best : growing cabbages. I guess farmers in downtown Tokyo are not unlike their counterparts elsewhere. Tough, independent with a stubborn streak right down the middle. But in a city where land prices have nearly doubl- ed in the last year, where some real estate sells for $135,000 per square metre, where huge companies have billions in cash sitting around, but can't buy land because there's none for sale, one wonders just how long this farmer will continue to tend his cabbage patch. I hope he'didn't have to put his land up as security for the $1.4 million bank loan to pay his inheritance tax. God help him if he misses a payment. You can bet the bank will swoop down on him, gobble up his three acres and toss him to the wolves. MORE FOOD How many restaurants are there in Port Perry"? Lost track? So have I. At last count, there were about 20 places right in Port Perry where one can get grub, and another is soon to open its doors (take-out chicken) in the new plaza on the south side of Highway 7A. When I first came to live here several years ago, I think there were four or five eateries. Now, one can have lunch at a different place each day and still not use up a month of Sundays. How many will there be in five years, or even next year at this time? That's anyone's guess. No matter what your taste in food, you can get it in Port Perry; everything from Chateaubriand for two to pizza and subs. I often wonder how all these places survive, financially. Are the residents of Port Perry and Scugog Township heavy eaters? Or are the people flock- ing here from other towns just to sample the wide range of culinary delights on the shores of Lake Scugog? The only thing missing on the eatery landscape in Port Perry is one of those big golden arches. But the way things are going, you can bet it won't be too long before one of those pops up too. Of course the proliferation of restaurants and fast food outlets is not unique for Port Perry, by any means. Food is a gigantic business in North America, and fast food the leading edge. Some pundit not too long ago wrote a piece that all of Southern California will soon be one giant taco stand from San Diego to San Francisco. There are a lot of reasons why eating out is so popular these days. Firstly, who has time to cook at home? The pace of everyday life, even in so-called small town Port Perry is such that more and more people simply don't have the time to prepare an evening meal. In most families, husband and wife are working. It's simply easier by a long shot to bundle the kids into the car at 6:00 p.m. and hit the fast food spot. And it's a lot easier when the kids are heading in different directions each evening. The traditional sit-down family meal in the dining room each evening at six sharp is a thing of the past, gone forever like black and white TV and fins on GM cars. It's no longer a treat to eat out, it's a necessity. Kids are weaned-off pablum right into burgers, pizza, subs (Turn to page 6) _ Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 6, 1917 Mr. Jas Leask of Seagrave, again won the Grand Championship at the Guelph Winter Fair with his entry 'Black George."' He was then sold to a Toronto firm for $1.00 a 1b. His total weight was 1360 Ibs. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 10, 1942 Congratulations to Pilot Officer Bruce Beare who received his wings last Friday at Uplands. He is spending a few days at home before leaving for Rivers Manitoba for further training. Miss Dorothy Graham of Scugog has completed her course at Canada Business College, Toronto and has accepted a position with Canadian Fairbanks-Morse Ltd. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 11, 1952 The date has been set for the official opening of the Community Memorial Hospital, a member of the board announced today. The inaugural ceremonies will commence at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 7th, 1953. Veteran garage owner and car salesman in Port Perry for over 30 years, Murray Williams, of Williams Motor Sales has announced the sale of his Queen St. business to Art and Vern Bryden. Ernest Hayes ended six years as Reeve of Port Perry at a special meeting by resigning. His post was taken over by Harry Peel, who was officially declared Reeve at Monday's regular meeting. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 12, 1957 The Ontario County Jr. Farmers, brought praise and honour to the County when they provided the entertainment at the National 4-H Review at the Eaton Auditorium, Toronto. Mr. and Mrs. I. Haugen, daughter Sharon and son Bruce left last week for Europe. They will travel through England, Norway, Den- mark, Germany, Belgium, Holland and France. Mr. Haugen expects to call on various Lions Clubs and is to be the guest speaker in Oslo, Norway. 2 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 7, 1967 Sam Oyler has been re-elected as Reeve in Reach with a total of 648 votes. The opposing candidate, Larry Doble, received 336 votes. A meager 22 percent of Scugog Township voters cast their ballots in Saturday's Municipal elections and returned all of the 1967 Coun- cil Members with Victor Aldred as Reeve. Lawrence S. Malcolm defeated Merrill VanCamp in the race for Reeve of Cartwright with a voter turn-out of only 29 percent. Rev. E. and Mrs. McNeil arrived home in Seagrave last week after a visit of more than 2 months in New York. Congratulations to Miss Freida Stein of Oshawa, formerly of Port Perry. Her essay, 'Our Community Centennial Project," entered in the Ethel Brant Monture Essay Competition took first prize at Port Perry Fair. (Turn to page 6) Central Seven requests The Central Seven organization has applied for a re-zoning to open a variety store in its workshop on Durham Road 8 as a way of raising money and training Central Seven's clients for employment in the community. But the plan may run into op- position from some members of council who don't want to see the store franchised to a chain like Mac's or Becker's. Central Seven's executive direc- tor James Duncan presented the proposal to Township council at a public hearing Monday afternoon and he did not rule out the possibility that the store space could be leased to an outside operator. However, Mr. Duncan did make it very clear that if the organization gets into a lease arrangement with an outside operator, Central Seven clients would have the chance to work there and learn skills that could lead to employment in the com- munity. Following Mr. Duncan's presen- tation, council found itself in a ticklish procedural position when Lawrence Malcolm and Harvey Graham put a motion on the table to have the administrator prepare the necessary by-law. However, councillors Don Cochrane, Howard Hall and Neil McLaughlin raised objections, stating they want time to think about the proposal before setting the wheels in motion to prepare the by-law. They expressed concern about the possiblity of a leasing arrangement with a chain like Mac's or Becker's. Councillor McLaughlin said later he favours the idea of a variety store in the workshop, but only if it is operated independently by Central Seven. When councillors Malcolm and Graham realized that three other members likely would not support their motion to have the by-law prepared, they withdrew the motion. Councillor Yvonne Christie did not take part in the Fish & Chip store to open all year-round Redman's Fish and Chip Restaurant on Scugog Island may soon be open year-round and will serve customers on the premises, rather than strictly on a take-out basis. The owners of the take-out restaurant at the intersection of Concession Six and Durham Rd. 7 have applied for zoning permission to have seating for 14 patrons and to be open year round to serve ice fishermen, snowmobilers and other tourists during the winter months. Stewart Ford and Carolyn Pax- ton told council Monday afternoon the Regional Health Unit has ap proved seating for 14 in the restaurant There were no objections raised at the public hearing into the ap plication held Monday and mem- bers of council had no serious con- cerns about the plans for the restaurant. variety store re-zoning discussion or presentation after declaring a conflict of interest on the grounds that she is a member of the Central Seven Board of Directors. Mr. Duncan told the council that if the re-zoning is approved, the variety-convenience store would use about 1500 square feet in the workshop at Durahm Rd. 8 and Simcoe Street. "We hope it (the store) will boost the employment opportunities in the community for the develop- mentally handicapped,' said Mr. Duncan. He also said the provin- cial government wants ~ organizations like Central Seven to find way to become more self suf- ficient financially. Mr. Duncan said that with the amount of new residential development in north Port Perry and the construction of a new public school in a year, a variety store in that location may be needed. At Monday's meeting, there were no objections to the re-zoning raised by nearby property owners. Mr. Duncan told council that along with the usual items sold in a variety store, it would also be a retail outlet for goods made by the developmentally handicapped. Council will make a decision on the re-zoning application some time in the near future. ter to the editor Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters col umn helps make a better community newspaper We insist, however, that a fetter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so ('nder no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous let- While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer Jo