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RA Se -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, September 7, 1988 -- 7 Viewpoint by John B. McClelland Like most Canadians, | am in awe of the accom- plishment by Vicki Keith. Unless you've been vacationing somewhere on the China-Mongolia frontier for the past two months, you should know who Vicki Keith is. She swam across all five Great Lakes this sum- mer, a total of 140 miles, wrapping up this extraordi- nary feat by butterflying 24 miles across Lake Onta- rio. That in itself is almost super-human. If you think I'm kidding, just try the butterfly stroke next time you jump in the pool and see if you can from end to the other without going under from exhaustion. To swim the butterfly 24 miles, well, that is al- most beyond belief. No wonder Vicki was halluci- nating from fatigue when she completed the Lake Ontario crossing. In fact, all her Great Lake crossings are athletic feats of the greatest magnitude, in my opinion, ranking far ahead of a marathon, or even those "iron man" competitions (running, swimming, cycling) As much as one has to marvel at this "superwoman" accomplishment, it is troubling that she fell quite a distance short of her target in raising money for an aquatic centre at the Variety Village in Scarborough. Vicki had hoped to raise $300,000 from public pledges, but at the conclusion of her Lake Ontario swim, just $200,000 had been raised. That figure no doubt will climb. The provincial government is prepared to make a big donation, and corporations likely will hop on with donations in a public relations gesture. I'm sure the new aquatic centre at Variety Village will be built and there won't be a shortage of mon- ey. Sad to say, but | can't help but wonder if the public is not becoming slightly jaded with these marathon-style fund-raising efforts. Terry Fox was the first, of course, and since then we've had Steve Fonyo doing the same thing; Rick Hansen in his wheel chair, and now Vicki Keith swimming across the Great Lakes. | don't want to downplay the incredible human effort of these people, or the cause for which they struggled so gallantly. But it tells me something when Vicki Keith, with all the publicity her swims generated, still only raised $200,000 in public do- nations. Maybe it's not fair to compare her with Terry Fox, for example. He raised huge sums simply by run- ning on public highways. Every time a car passed, the driver would drop a few bucks in the hat. Obvi- ously, Vicki Keith, swimming through the Great Lakes at night, didn't have the same chance for on- the-spot donations. Still, | wonder if we are not getting a little jaded or ho-hum about these marathon feats, no matter how noble the cause. You almost ask yourself, what next. Is somebody going to walk on his/her hands from Alaska to Mexico, or travel round the world in a wheelbarrow? Further evidence of this apathy is the fact that the annual Terry Fox runs in memory of that great individual are dropping off. Heck, this newspaper 7 ing for some group or individual to organize a run this September. | don't know if there was any re- sponse. A few short years ago, this country went bonk- ers over Terry Fox, and now they are having trouble getting people to organize a one day community run in his honour. And to raise money, of course. | know myself, as far as Vicki Keith is concemed, my interest in her swims didn't catch on until the last one across Ontario. | thought of her as just some- body swimming across the Great Lakes to raise money for a pool at a centre for children. It was only later when reports of her disappoint- ment in the fund-raising aspect of the swims began to surface, that | started to even pay attention, and of course recognize the sheer magnitude of what she had accomplished. | was fascinated by one press report suggesting that Vicki Keith is contemplating a cross-ocean swim. Maybe the world press will pay attention if she attempts that. But | still have this nagging suspicion that a lot of people are just plain bored with somebody attempt- ing a super-human endeavour to raise money for a worthy cause. So what, they may be saying. If Varie- ty Village needs money for a new pool, fine, we'll make a donation, but not because some girl is swimming across the Great Lakes. Same with cancer research. People don't mind writing a cheque, but I'm afraid that some of them don't want to be constantly reminded WHY they have written that cheque. Terry Fox, Rick Hansen and the others touch a nerve in the sub-conscious of all of us. And they make us think. had a letter from the Terry Fox organizations plead- Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 5, 1918 Lieutenant Harry Maxwell Camp of Port Perry, won the Military Cross for distinguished work in the field. Mr. W.A. Fanning will hold an Auction Sale of cattle at the Sebert House yards, Port Perry on Saturday, September 14th. Miss Gertrude Elliott, A.T.C.M., is resuming her class in piano and theory at the parsonage, Port Perry. On Monday, September 2, 1918, Mr. S. Jeffrey, Reeve of Port Perry was married to Miss Ada Ellena Broad of Little Britain, youngest daughter of Mrs. John Broad. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 2, 1943 Miss Edith Peters has returned this week after spending most of the summer vacation in Toronto taking a short course in typing at the Gregg College. She is holidaying at her parents home in Port Perry, until time for beginning her duties at Blackstock School, September 7th. Mr. and Mrs. John Bray and family of Columbus, who recently purchased Mr. Ira Anderson's house, have moved into their new home. Word has been received by Mrs. W.H. Harris, that Second Lieutenant A E. (Bessie) Crozier, W.R.C.N.S., has been transfer- red and is now stationed at H.M.C.S. Stadacona, in Halifax. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 3, 1953 On Wednesday, September 2, 1953, the new $250,000 Port Perry Public School held its opening celebrations. The first twins to be born at the Community Memorial Hospital, Port Perry, arrived on August 26. Proud parents are Mr. and Mrs. James Cameron of Uxbridge. They are calling the boy Peter and the girl Peggy. Mr. and Mrs. C.D. Purdy of Lethbridge, Alberta, left on Sun- day for their home after holidaying with Mr. and Mrs. LR. Bentley. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 4, 1958 The Clerk's Office, the Hydro Office and the Police Office have been moved to the cement block building on Perry Street North, formerly occupied by the Tease Knitting mill. 433 pupils registered last Tuesday to start classes at the Public School in Port Perry. Congratulations to Marie Taylor on being a prize winner in the knitting competition at the C.N.E. for the 4th consecutive year. (Turn to page 8) LLetters Not happy with Ward I rep. To the Editor: I have read in the Port Perry Star that Yvonne Christie is go- ing to run for the Regional coun- cil seat in the municipal elec- tions. My dealings with Mrs. Chris- tie were much less than favourable when she was my Ward 1 rep on council. I spoke to Mrs. Christie with regards to a zoning change on my property in Saintfield, after I was harassed by neighbours. At that time I was told by Mrs. Christie that if we felt my business was appropriate for the Horse pull To The Editor: The Horse Pull is not cruel. Patrick and Joan Jarvie are wrong. (Letter, Aug. 30, Port Perry Star). It is unfortunately typical of our many good neighbours who are not familiar with farm animals. Those horses are working horses and are used to pulling heavy loads. Many of them work in the bush all winter pulling logs. And when the loads get heavy they do lurch and almost fall back. But they are not miserable and will not strain their backs and legs. They are not about to get heart attacks. We humans should be so fit and healthy as those horses. And we should be as well looked after and cared for as they are. Our grandparents used horses to pull tree stumps and rocks out of the fields and to pull heavy loads. I have used a horse to pull logs. Those horses actually like the work. No. What the Jarvies saw, and unfortunately misinterpreted, _ property I was on, she would sup- port me on my zoning change. I asked her if she would back me on this (zoning change) and she said yes. Twice, I applied for a zoning change, twice there were public meetings, and twice Mrs. Christie failed to attend those council meetings. I felt that a council meeting with anything on the agenda from her ward, she should have attend- ed. If Mrs. Christie could not make time for meetings that con- not cruel was merely a tug-of-war event for horses. There were no whips and there was no cruelty. Its just the real world of animals and farming that some of us are not used to. Yours sincerely, Ted Jensen, R.R.5, Sunderland. cerned people in her small ward, how can she ever represent the Re- gion? I have since moved out of Scugog Township, but I found that I was not pleased with the representation I got on this issue. Yours truly, Jim Rae, RR 3, Little Britain. Foriner owner of Saintfield Auto. Response Asked by the Star to respond to the letter written by Jim Rae, Scugog Ward 1 councillor Yvonne Christie said "I did tell Mr. Rae that I would support his re-zoning application if he complied with the codes governing his type of business. He did not. Of the two public meetings held in Council chambers on this matter, I was present at the first, and I was away on an urgent family matter at the second." 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 column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter 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. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter to the editor. While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.