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F--m------ 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 9, 1988 Editorial Comments hh, . 8 Ty 4 # am ee A Few Good People The pay is lousy, the hours can be brutal, and sometimes there's not so much as a pat on the back for a tough job well done. But if you aren't afraid of a challenge, don't mind getting a littie grit under your fingernails and want to do something positive for your community, the Port Perry Unit of the Scugog Fire Department wants to talk to you, now. - The department is actively trying to recruit new members to serve with the volunteer force. Specifically, the department needs members wha live and work in Port Perry. While the department is not short in its overall compliment of firefighters, there is a pressing need for those who work in Port Perry and would be available to respond to emergency calls during the weekdays. The requirements are fairly straight forward. A volunteer should be in good heaith and reasonably good -physical condition. A 'D' drivers license or the ability to get one'is a big help. Full training in firefighting and rescue techniques is available as are courses in CPR and advanced first aid. And since you will be required to respond to calls during weekdays, you must be able to leave your job for short or longer periods of time. - Finally, a sense of community spirit, the willingness to give some time to do a tough job is a pre-requisite. Although known as volunteers, Scugog firefighters are officially called "paid part time." Their pay is based on a point system for the number of meetings they attend and the number of emergency calls they respond to. But nobody is going to retire in the sun on the wages earned as a _ firefighter in Scugog Township. - The fact that the Port Perry Unit is now searching for new recruits who can be available for calls during the work week opens up the question of whether this department should be looking at employing a certain number of full time firefighters. _ As Port Perry and Scugog continue to grow, eventually, the force will move in that direction. But that's a decision the local politicians will have to make some time in the future. Right now, the need is immediate for several new recruits, who ideally, live and work in Port Perry. If you think you'd like to serve the people of this community in a demanding job, get in touch with your local Fire department. The community needs this vital service, and right now, the depart- ment needs a few good people. Eight & Counting Lurching along from one scandal to another, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney must fast be reaching the point of wondering with friends like this in Cabinet, who needs enemies. Cabinet ministers have fallen like ten-pins in the 42 months since Mulroney and the Conservatives swept to a landslide victory at the lis. | Po The latest to fall was Michael Cote, fired from his post as supply and services minister last week for taking a $250,000 personal loan from a Quebec City businessman and failing to notify the federal watch-dog on conflict of interest guidelines. That brings to eight the number of fallen ministers from the federal Cabinet, and their indiscretions run a fairly wide gamut from financial wrong doing to tainted tuna to silly visits to a strip-tease club © in West Germany. : v The Prime Minister himself is being badgered without mercy about the fact that he took a personal loan from the Conservative Par- (Turn to page 8) Port Perry Go A STAR g 7 [om | 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 P.0.Box90 LOB 1NO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager Member: of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association. Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario. J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash CATHY OLLIFFE payment of postage in cash. News & Features : . Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 > . A Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year. pr Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50° ry \O, $2400, a330Li © COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver- tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright "Hey, How ABOUT A GAME OF SHINNEY, OR SOMETHIN? " |Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND It's tough saying goodbye to a hero. Captain Steven James McIntyre was a hero. Not in a literal sense, because he didn't rescue any fair maidens from railroad tracks. He didn't lead any troops to victory. He wasn't Superman. He wasn't invincible. Steve was merely human, and ultimately he succumbed to that which all humans eventually succomb, the harsh reality of death. And while he wasn't officially a hero, he was a hero to my husband, myself, and his countless friends. To us, he was someone to look up to, to admire, to count on. Steve accomplished so much in his 27 years, things the rest of us only dream of doing. We ad- "mired, and partially envied, his adventurous love of life, which was constantly tapered with respon- sibility, honesty, and a caring soul. I know, it is easy to rhapsodize about a per- son after his death. But I could have just as easi- ly said the same things about Steve while he was still alive. And I wish I had. | You see, Steve was almost impessible to criticize. He may have had his faults -- they say everyone has those -- but Steve's weren't readi- ly apparent. In fact, I can't think of one. He was simply too fine a person, and I knew this from the first moment we were introduced. I met Steve about three years ago, although Doug, my husband, has known him most of his life. I'd heard story after story about Steve McIn- tyre. How handsome he was. How smart he was. How he had signed up with the Canadian Armed Forces and had rapidly made his way up the military ladder. I think he had just been promoted to Lieute- nant when I met him first, and I was plenty ner- vous about the introductions. But as he crossed the room at a local restaurant, his hand held out, a dagzling smile stretched across his handsome face, my fears vanished. I felt his natural warmth immediately. He talked as though he was genuinely honoured to make my acquaintance. He listened carefully to every word I said, and made me feel interesting, special. Our conversation lasted into the wee hours that night, and while I can't recall what was said, I do remember how impressed I was with Doug's friend. Charming may be too shallow a word to app- ly.to Steve, but charming he was. The kind of young man every mother wants her daughter to marry. He was so confident about life. Nothing seem- ed to frighten him. He grabbed onto each moment, wasted nothing, conquer2d new challenges as easily as the rest of us switch on the TV. 'As a boy, he was forever leading Doug and his other friends into new experiences. There'd be nights when he'd show up at Doug's doorstep, and suggest a spur-of-the-moment camping trip. Doug would moan and say, 'Are you kidding? Just like that?" But he'd let Steve drag him away, and never regretted it. No angel, he was just as mischevious as the guys he hung out with, and his friends will always remember Steve's infectious, if not somehow ridiculous, giggle, when pranks were underway. During quieter moments, Doug and Steve learned to play the guitar together. My husband recalls many hours sitting in his backyard in front of a campfire, playing Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot songs on acoustic guitars, well into the night. Years later, Doug visited Steve at his base in Petawawa, and was completely impressed with his old friend's role as a pilot and officer with the Air Force. But after the tour of the base, when the two were alone in Steve's apartment, they pick- ed up their guitars and it was Steve's turn to be impressed. : While Steve had been busy learning to fly, # Doug was concentrating on mastering the guitar. Steve envied Doug's musical talents. Doug envied Steve's position with the military. Both made a pact to see each other more often.' Unfortunately, they didn't get together as often as Doug would have liked. Steve's job with the armed forces was all-consuming, and while his commitment led to yet another promotion, that of Captain, his trips home to Port Perry were infrequent. We really hoped Steve would be able to attend our wedding, but that proved impossible when he was sent to Norway. But he didn't forget about us, and sent a special letter of congratulations soon after. That was just the kind of guy Steve was. Never forgot his friends. The last time we saw Steve was just before Christmas. He was in town with his new fiancee, Kelly, and both of them were in high spirits. A writer, a music teacher, and herself a pilot, Kel- ly was an equal in vey way to the man she plann- ed to marry. We were honestly thrilled Steve was so happy. | At that last meeting, Steve invited us to the Ottawa winter carnival, Winterlude, in February. He was insistent that we come and wrote his telephone number down along with the order "CALL US. PLEASE." He said he was sorry he hadn't seen us for so long, and made us promise to get together more often in the future. it would have been a whole new relationship for Steve and Doug. The boyhood adventures would be replaced by a more adult friendship, that (Turn to page 8)