NO COMPETITION More than a few people (myself included) won- dered why a group of youngsters from Hamburg, Germany, was playing an exhibition hockey game Oct. 22 against the Port Perry Midget 1 squad. The game, if it can be called that, was a joke, as the German boys were simply out of their element. The German squad was made up of boys 13-15 years of age. The Port Midgets are 16-17 years of age, so right off the bat, the visitors were at a distinct dis-advantage. And in terms of playing skills, the difference was night and day. So much so that the Port players were making every effort to "take it easy" on the guests. Had the Port boys played their usual game, they probably could have run up 20 or 30 goals, without reaking much of a sweat. Hosting this German team for a game at the Scu- gog Arena cost Port Perry Minor Hockey money. The organization had to pay for the ice time, rent a hall for a supper for both teams, pay for the bus transporta- tion for the German boys from Lindsay where they are being billeted, pay $100 to the OMHA and let the OMHA take a cut of the gate receipts. Port Perry Minor Hockey is not destitute, but the organization needs every penny to develop hockey in this community. What happened with the exhibition game is that word was out the German squad was very weak, and presumably fans stayed away not wishing to pay money to see a game that was little more than a light scrimmage. The Germans were in Ontario for two reasons: a chance to see part of Canada and to learn something about hockey. game against the Port Midgets. They would probably get more benefit playing a Pee Wee squad or taking part » a two-hour on-ice clinic with some of our top coaches. Hosting a visiting team from another country is fine, but the game should be of interest to both teams and the fans who pay to watch. And | don't like to see the local organization have to dig into its coffers to host one of these games. But enough about that. Here are few items that might be of interest about the German team. | was told the players pay $2400 per year to be part of the team and the schedule is 18 games, most of them on open air rinks. Before arriving in Ontario for the two-week visit, the German players had just four hours on the ice back home. | should end this little discussion on a positive note. The players on both the Port and the German team conducted themselves very well during the game. The Port players were more than gracious in not "punishing" the guests too badly on either the score- board or along the boards. And the German youths seemed to be having a fine time out there. They didn't seem to care about the score-board (which is great) and I'm sure they'll take home some memories about the games they played against the big, strong, smooth-skating Canadian boys. Whether the visitors learned anything to improve their hockey skills is another question. Still with hockey for a moment, a lot of people in Port Perry are watching the fortunes of the Oshawa Generals this season. It's nice to see that Port Perry native Clair Cor- nish is off to a fine start with the Gens so far. Clair had the hockey thrill of a life-time last year when the club won the Memorial Cup. The only thing to top that is back-to-back Cups. Don't rule it out as the Gens are a powerful gang of hockey players this year. We wish Clair best of luck personally in his play this season, and who knows, maybe the team is destined to repeat last year's incredible story. THE COST OF CANADA I caught a brief clip on the TV news last week about how the city of Buffalo and its Western New York environs are actively courting Ontario bus{ness- es to pull up stakes and head to the States. One big point in their (the Yanks) favour is the cost of industrial land. According the news report, serviced industrial land can be bought for $30,000 per acre. In the Toronto, that same acre of land can cost up to $500,000. If you add in all the other costs of doing business in Canada (taxes, etc) is it any wonder that there is an exodus of Ontario companies heading south of the border. Over the last couple of decades, prices have gone up so much in Canada, that we are now facing the bleak prospect of having priced ourselves right out of the marketplace. And it's not only land. Housing, food, clothing, entertainment, recreation are all considerably cheap- er in New York State. And likewise wages, especially for un-skilled or semi-skilled labour. | hate to say it, but the big fat golden Canada Goose is in the process of rolling over and smother- ing us in inflated dollars and sky-high costs. We have built very flimsy house of cards, and there are some who think it's about to come crashing down. | can't see how the team learned anything in their Remember When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 15, 1945 We found this amusing article in the Day by Day jottings of the Editor: A woman came into a leading dry goods store one day and spent hours questioning the salesgirls and having them bring out bolt after bolt of material without spending a penny. Finally one salesgirl asked "Madam, are you shopping?' The lady spoke indignantly, "Certainly! What else would I be doing?" To which the girl purred, "Well Madam, we thought you were taking inventory." Mr. Charles Reesor won the Junior War Workers Draw held at the home of Mr. R.J. Woods. First prize was a quilt. S/L James Kerr, Mrs. Kerr and daughter, have moved into their new home in Toronto. Mr. Victor Aldred, who has been in the Western Provinces helping with the harvest, has returned to his home at Scugog. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 10, 1956 The members of the United Church Choir presented a musi- cal program in the Public School Auditorium. Songs and music from various lands, and the narration of Mrs. Frank Godley tied all into the "World Brotherhood of Song." Selections from Brazil, Australia, Germany, France, Africa, etc. were enjoyed. Mr. Gordon McLean, who has been the County Assessor for the past six years will retire because of ill health. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 10, 1960 Commencement exercises were held in the new auditorium of the high school. Valedictorian address was given by Miss Lin- da Clements. Mr. Volodimir Hatschinski was awarded the Board of Education Scholarship for the highest standings in nine Grade 13 subjects. At a recital held in the Oshawa McLaughlin Public Library, Mrs. Marie Taylor was congratulated on having the highest mark in Grade 9 organ in the Province. Two Top' Club members, Lillian Leach and Betty Ashmore, were Division Winners and two ladies, Reta Brown and Shirley Cummings received honourable mention at the annual Ontario Provincial Recognition Day in St. Catherines. They also brought home a plaque for the most pounds lost per person in Canada. 26 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 11, 19656 For the seventh time in thirteen years, Michael Starr cap- tured the Ontario Riding for the Progressive Conservative Par- (Turn to page 10) Letters io the editor Committment to waste reduction To the Editor: Here I am for one last effort at defending my position with respect to the recent announce- ment of two candidate areas for landfill in Scugog Township. I say it's the last because I intend to make all the comments I have on this subject, and then to get on with the many other things my life consists of. Although I said in my previous letter (October 10th) that I didn't think it was necessary to go-into details of my long-term personal Nov. is Diabetes Month in Durham To the Editor: November is Diabetes Month. It is estimated that there may be as many as 20,000 people in Durham Region alone, who have diabetes, and about half of them don't know that they have it. Diabetes and the many com- plications that accompany it, such as blindness, kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes, and am- putations, is the third leading cause of death among Canadians. The Durham Region Branch of the Canadian Diabetes Associa- tion is "kicking off" this year's Annual Appeal with a "Wine and Cheese" Evening on Friday, Nov. 2/90, 8 p.m. at the Oshawa Ar- mories Officers Mess. Please call 436-6648 for details. We are also in need of door to door canvassers in all areas of Durham, to help us reach this year's goal of $50,000 for research. Yours sincerely, George Cackette, President, Durham Branch Diabetes Assoc. commitment to waste reduction, events have since changed my mind. It may help some people to understand a little better where I am coming from, so bear with me for these few details. My husband and I have been keen recyclers since the late 70's, when we lived in Toronto and were able to drop off newspapers, tins, and glass at depots that were located around the city. For our first nine years in Greenbank, we continued to drop our recyclables at a depot in Scarborough not too far from where my husband works. Since June of 1988, of course, we have been fortunate enough to only have to drive them as far as Port Perry, quite a step up from lugging them to Toronto! We used cloth diapers for our two children (now 9 and 7) both for money-saving reasons and because it was impossible not to see how much garbage disposables create. I mention these things merely as illustra- tions of the fact that concerns about garbage are nothing new to this household. My children have been raised from birth with recycling, and are probably as fanatical about it as I am. When my eldest child started Grade 1, for example, she kept coming home with pop cans she'd found on the side of the road so that they wouldn't wind up in the garbage! When I saw that the recyclables at the Greenbank/Epsom Schools (cans and fine paper) were going to land in the dump unless so- "Turn to Page 8 (7332 THIS HALLOWEEN... DRIVE WITH CAUTION