The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

# ' JOHNNY AND JOHNNY | felt a twinge of Shmermsing when | opened my morning paper one day last week to read that Johnny Wayne had passed away. Johnny Wayne, one half of perhaps Canada's best known comedy duo Wayne and Shuster, dead at the age of 72. | say | felt a twinge of something on reading of his passing. | certainly would not count myself among the legions of Wayne and Shuster fans, back when they were big on the small screen. - In fact, if the truth were known, | thought Wayne and Shuster were pretty hokey. | could never under- stand why people laughed at their particular style of humour. As a rebellious young man in my late teens and early 20's, the Wayne and Shuster Hour was some- thing my parents watched, along with Don Messer, Front Page Challenge, and Earl Cameron reading the CBC National News. |, like so many others of my generation who came of age in the 60's had far better things to do than waste time on such banality. | suppose we thought we were just too busy changing the world. Today, some 20-odd years later, the world cer- tainly has changed, though not for the better. As the 60's generation tries to cope with fast-approaching middle age, the fact that Johnny Wayne has passed away is just one more indicator telling us in no uncer- Jain lars that the hands of time continue their march 'orward. As a young man, the passing of time was the last thing on my mind. These days, the ticks from that big clock on the wall sound like thunder-claps. suddenly show up again on the tube, perhaps replac- ing the vulgarity disguised as humour of Andrew Dice Clay, or Arsenio Hall, whose entire show I'm convinced is some kind of code designed to drive cra- zy anyone born before 1955. : Johnny Wayne dead. Hard to believe. Maybe the CBC will do something really daring and roll out some re-runs of the Wayne and Shuster Hour. Almost on the same day that Johnny Wayne passed away, another Johnny from the past was in the news. Johnny Bower retired from hockey. Johnny Bow- er retired? Can't be, | thought to myself. He can't re- tire, he can't grow old, he's part of an era, a corner- stone of the sport. -- | can't picture Johnny Bower, the goalie, in a rocking chair. Remember Johnny when he played for the Leafs without a mask, throwing himself in front of 100 mph slap shots from the stick of Bobby Hull. Remember the Hockey Night in Canada an- nouncers speculating about Johnny Bower's age? He's 43, they used to say. Nope, said another, he's really 46, maybe even 48. No matter, he played for the Leafs, a middle- aged man at the toughest position in a young man's sport. For some reason, | can't pleiles hockey without Johnny Bower. | can't picture the Gardens on Church Street without Bower, even though his playing days ended long ago. But retired from hockey, out of the game? Never. Say it isn't so Johnny Bower. Like the other Johnny (Wayne, that is) Bower to me is part of an era in hockey when players wore tube skates, played with- could buy a decent stick for under three bucks, roll of tape included. Hockey players looked like hockey players in his era. Minus teeth, their faces criss-crossed with scar tissue, and they actually spent years learning their trade in the minors before making it in the NHL. The open-ice hip check delivered by a defenseman was something to behold, and goalies like Bower used to get stitched up by the trainer without benefit of even ocal freezing. Today, they sign 18 year old kids out of US high schools who shave with Kleenex and wear full face masks. Or over-the-hill Soviets who get paid more for one season than Johnny Bower made in ten. There is talk of putting a hockey team in San Diego (next it will be Mexico City) and coaches need degrees in psy- chology or early childhood education. Ah, yes, Johnny Bower. His was the glory era in the sport of hockey, and | can't believe he's retired. | guess | thought he'd stay 43 or 46 forever. Time moves on. People die or retire, things change, rebels grow up and can't understard the new generation of rebels. | am convinced it is inevitable that when a man reaches a certain age (or state of mind) he finds him- self looking back with a sense of longing. And when something happens, like the death of a Johnny Wayne or the retirement of a Johnny Bow- er, the trigger mechanism is tripped. Amazing, isn't it, at just how fast the years slip by. Johnny Bower and the Leafs win a Stanley Cup in '67. You blink, 23 years pass and suddenly he retires from the game. Blink again, another 23 years go by, and it will be me looking at retirement. | guess that's It is surely an indication of my years that | find myself secretly. wishing that Johnny and Frank would out helmets, learned the game on frozen ponds somewhere in Ontario or askatchewan, and you what is really scarey about all this, watching the sun go down on Johnny and Johnny. |. Remember When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 2, 1945 Port Perry has been selected as one of 55 Ontario Fairs at which special prizes for native handicraft exhibits will be offered. On Thursday of last week, an Anson bomber made a forced landing on the Fraser farm north of Sonya. No one was hurt but the plane was badly broken. Misses Dorothy Tristram, Helen Peel and Mavis Kerry have returned from holidaying at Oak Lake Camp near Stirling. Miss Mary Lou Robertson is in the hospital having had an appendix operation. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 28, 1955 Mr. and Mrs. Paul Diamond were at home to their family and friends on the occasion of their silver anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. Robert James, Detroit, Mich., were visiting with his brother Mel and other relatives for a few days last week. Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Robinson and son Kit arrived by plane on Sunday from Fresno, California, to spend two weeks with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Crosier. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 28, 1960 A surprise supper and social evening was given to Mr. and Mrs. Jack Forster on the occasion of their Silver Wedding An- niversary on Saturday, July 16, by their children Marion (Mrs. Donald Wallace), Eleanor, Robert and Linda. The Milner family held their annual picnic Saturday, July 9 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Aldred, Scugog. The Family Fun Night which was sponsored by the Maybelle Rebekah Lodge was held on the spacious lawns of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Snelgrove. All the convenors and their assistants wore western costumes. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 29, 1965 The Port Perry Legion Softball Team are to be congratulated on their fine efforts of the past two weeks. They won the Annual Markham Tournament and the East Gwillimbury Tournament. As of July 1, 1965, marriage licences will cost $10.00 instead of $5.00. Clerk-tresurer J.F. Raines, who has been issuing licences in Port Perry for 28 years, told the Star that this is the first increase during his time in office. Epsom News - Miss Linda Pridham of Sarnia, was with Miss Betty Munro for the weekend. She is a Junior Farmer Exchange guest from Lansing County. (Turn to page 10) Letters io the editor M.P. responds to recent letters To the Editor: In response to the letters from Kenmar Shills, and Butler and Cathy Perkins in your July 10 issue, I would like to assure your readers that MP's have not "'just given themselves a 30 percent in- crease in tax-free expenses." My understanding is that the House of Commons' Board of In- ternal Economy -- a committee on which all three major political parties are represented -- has been considering a proposal to ex- tend MP's travel allowances to cover such things as accommoda- tion and meals, within strict limitations. However no decision has been made by the Board, the Cabinet, MP's or anyone else. Frankly, I doubt we'll see such an increase. While MP's are always fair game for comments about "bloated compensation," I'm not aware of anyone who's got rich on the pay and benefits. Most people don't realize that the great ma- jority of MP's must maintain two residences, in Ottawa and at home in the constituency, and that there's a great deal of enter- taining and other out-of-pocket demands and expenses. I'm not complaining about this -- I understood what was involv- ed when I stood for election. So far as I'm aware, Ottawa has just about the only administration in the western world, including the Province of Ontario, that does not compensate elected represen- tatives for the cost of a second residence. This means that those MP's from in or near Ottawa in effect are better off by $12,000 to $15,000 per year than those of us from the rest of Canada. Obvious- ly Ottawa area MP's also have considerably less stress on their family and personal lives because they live at home and don't have to travel as much. For many years MP's from other parts of Canada have been pointing to this anomaly and sug- gesting they should receive a special allowance. While there has been much discussion about it, I personally think any signifi- cant change is unlikely until the national debt situation has im- proved considerably. But your readers might keep the following in mind: com- ulatively since 1984, MP's salaries have increased a total of 13 per- cent, compared to a 21.6 percent increase in the cost of living (Con- sumer Price Index), while the average annual wage rate rose 28.3 percent across Canada. Ross Stevenson, M.P. Durham writers sign their name. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Star encourages our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and Viewpolnis on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter ry, no anonymous letters will be printed. elps make a ap *"The 900 calories diet | put you on was not supposed to be in addition to your regular nteals." a EE PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, July 24, 1990 -- 7 oint an I as _ wi