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FRE L2 Plas , : 8 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, May 9, 1989 | Letters to the editor Lig f 3 TURE BE § } Closing of historic Brougham Church a sad occassion To the Editor: : Letter in Port Perry Star, April 25th re St. John's Church, Brougham The closing of this historic building has been a sad occasion for each church in the Claremont- Brougham Pastoral Charge, but this letter did nothing to comfort or help those of the congregation who are hurting from the events which led up to the final services of St. John's church. No purpose was served in this letter by scattering the blame for this action onto the Federal Government, United Church Presbytery, Rev. Louise Barrie and the Claremont United con- gregation. The St. John's con- gregation at the time of closing was very small, and meeting all their operating expenses, plus their 20 percent share of pastoral charge expenses was no longer possible. The members at St. John's are feeling angry, alone and lost. Most of the present members of this congregation have spent all their church lives at St. John's. They were baptized and married there; their children were baptiz- ed and married there and loved ones were remembered in funeral services there. It surprises me that the writer of this letter is either unknown by your paper (in which case, I wouldn't think you would print the letter), or that he/she doesn't want his/her name to appear. The writer made two errors I would like to correct: our minister is Rev. (not Mrs.) Louise Barrie. She is ordained clergy. Also she is not and never has resided in Uxbridge. She is a resident of Claremont in R.R. No. 1. We at the Claremont United church know all these people, love them and want to share with them the burden of their grief and loss. An invitation has been extended to them to become part of our church family and until the members of St. John's indicate otherwise, their membership is now in the new pastoral charge at Claremont United Church. We are a busy, active, caring fellowship, growing spiritually as well as in numbers under the pastoral care of Rev. Louise Barrie. As in all loving families, there is always room for more and we welcome with joy all who come into our midst to worship our Lord and Saviour, particylarly those from our sister church who are feeling so lost and alone right now. God doesn't promise that we will never suffer loss and disap- pointment, but He does promise to comfort us and give us wisdom to see our way through our grief and back into joy again. Trust Him. Walk with Him. He has the lamp for our path. Sincerely, Marina Rodgers, Pickering, Ont. GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY . Over the past four summers, one of the largest and most popular attractions at the Festi- val Days events has been the the Golden Grid- dle Pancake Breakfast. The traditional Festival Days breakfast (pancakes, syrup, juice and coffee) began in 1985 when Golden Griddle was approached with the idea of hosting a breakfast in the park. Agreeing with the idea, Golden Griddle Pancake Houses put all their resources behind the idea, and that first summer over 3,000 peo- ple lined up under bright sunny skies to take partin the event. . 'In addition -to the breakfast, they supplied 105 pounds of batter to help create the Largest Pancake. The 7' pancake was flipped in a specially cast 250 Ib. frying 92 by a team of seven local men, including Golden Griddle president Harold McDonnell. The feat was regis- tered by Ripley's Believe It or Not and run in their sydicated column in 1985. Since that first incredible year, Golden Grid- dle Pancake Houses have been a part of the Festival Days activities each year. Their dedica- tion to community events, and their generosity (they donate all of the ingredients, manpower, tents, cutlery and plates) has seen the Scligog Chamber of Commerce raise in excess of $12,000 over the past four years, which is used for community betterment. Last week, the man responsible for arrang- ing the Golden Griddle breakfasts, Jack Cottrell and his wife Patsy, Nancy and myself were invit- - ed to the 25th Anniversary celebrations of Gold- "en Griddle at their first store in Toronto. We were delighted to get the invitation, and when we arrived there was a long line-up stand- ing outside waiting to get in for supper. Our special invitation allowed us to sneak past the line, and when we arrived inside we were Namiy greeted by Golden Griddle's vice president of operations, Paul McGeough and Robert McDonnell, manager of the store. Paul explained that it had been an exciting day for them, although very tiring. They had started the day at 7:00 a.m. (it was 8:30 p.m. at this time) and they would close the doors at 10:00 p.m. and then take the staff out for a well orid's Random Jottings by }. Peter Hvidsten deserved celebration. As a promotion for their 25th Anniversary, Paul explained that they had advertised and sent out invitations offering FREE meals for the entire day at their original location. A disc jockey (the name escapes me) from Q107 broadcast live from the restaurant, and they released $25,000 worth of helium balloons with coupons attached worth $10 each at noon hour. In addition to these promotional ideas, Gold- en Griddle Pancake Houses have agreed to pick 2p the admission charges to the CNE (Canadian ational Exhibition) for all Senior Citizens this summer. "Talk about generosity and community involvement!" , With Festival Days only. about two months away, we look forward to working with Paul and Rob again on the 5th anniversary Golden Griddle Pancake Breakfast in Port Perry. Our thanks to Harold McDonnell and his staff for their past generosity to the people of Port Perry and area, and we wish them every success as they start into their second 25 years of busi- ness. Hopefully one day soon, we'll see one of the Golden Griddle Pancake House signs take its place in this community. ARTFEST '89 Another community event which will make its debut in Port Port Perry soon is the Rotary Club's Artfest '89. The event takes place the weekend of May 20, 21 at Port Perry High School with over 30 art- ists displaying their original works. According to Kent Farndale, one of those helping to organize the event, the show will fea- ture a Low variety of work by fan) talented art- ists. "There should be something for everyone's taste", she said. Rotarians Ted Blanchard and Jim Grieve have been working very hard the past few weeks arranging for the promotion of the event around central Ontario, and if all of their efforts pay off, they expect about 10,000 people will visit the town over the two days. The Star extends best wishes to the Rotary Club for the success of this event and hope that Artfest '89 will be the start of an annual event that will be the envy of other communities. Editorial Comment (from page 6) There is a very clear message in that. The province is not going to bankroll the boom times in certain parts of On- tario. The burden is placed clearly on the shoulders of the property tax payers. One can't help but wonder just how much more of a burden the average home owner can shoulder, especially those saddled with huge mortgages at the same time. Unfortunately in Durham Region, the outlook over the next three or four years is not very good, from a fiscal point of view. Nobody knows how much it is going to cost to sort out the garbage problems, but the estimates are numbing. Where is this money going to come from? If the popu- lation keeps increasing the way it has since 1980, how big will the budget be in nine years? How much property tax will you be paying in 1998? We all know the fiscal mess the federal government is in right now with a debt of over $300 billion. The provincial government is far short for funds to such essential things as health care and new schools. And now at the municipal level, where the largest source of revenue is property as- sessment, there are indications that a severe financial crunch has arrived. Politicians at all levels like to say they are just re- sponding to the need for services demanded by their con- stituents. But are they? Are the people of this country, this province, this Region demanding levels of service that put the country in debt $300 billion, or hike their taxes 19 per cent? Somehow, we doubt it. 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. XE We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name.'O 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 let- ter to the editor. While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. For Better or For Worse® SOMETHING'S THE. by Lynn Johnston GET SOME.WARM KNOW WHAT, "7, IT LOOKS LIKE A DEEPCUT! | WONDER THAT HAPPENED! "| MATTER WITH THE Dog; MOM. HE KEEPS LICKING AT A SFPOTON HIS LEG. WAIER, SOME. ANTISEPTIC ANDTHE EMMERSON 4 <4 INSURANCE BROKERS LIMITED 193 QUEEN ST., PORT PERRY, ONT. 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