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| | ! i W i 3 { 1 | it f PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1990 Copy 60¢ 56 Pages Frightened deer pulled safely from icy Scugog Traffic was backed up along Highway 7A and more than a hundred spectators watched as a deer was rescued from theicy waters of Lake Scu- gog late Saturday afternoon. The deer, a large six-point buck weighing about 176 pounds, almost certainly would have perished were it not for the efforts of numerous people who risked danger themselves to get it out the water at the cause- way, just east of Port Perry. And once out of the water, the exhausted animal was lifted onto the back of a half-ton truck and taken to a wooded area on Scugog Island, where it was freed. The drama began about 3:00 PM when the deer appar- ently went through the ice near the shore at the causeway. It began to move away from shore, breaking through the thinice. Some 300 feet off-shore, the animal was unable to pull itself up onto the ice, and by this time was near exhaustion from the effects of its struggle and the frigid waters. Three local residents, Mi- chael Fowler of Port Perry, Ed Till of Greenbank and Willy Houthuys of Port Perry, along with a fourth man whose identi- ty is not known, used a boat be- longing to Mr. Houthuys to res- cue the deer. But it was no easy job. Mr. Fowler told the Star later the four men in the boat tried with- out success to get a rope around the deer's antlers. - Finally, two of the men were about to grab hold of the deer's head and get it partly into the boat, while the other two paddled back towards shore. Turn to Page 2 Trustees with the Durham Board of Education have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new $26.8 million headquarters building to be called the Educa- tion Centre. The vote to proceed with the plans was held December 10 and carried by a 16-6 margin. Both Scugog trustees Joyce Kelly and Bobbie Drew threw their votes behind the project, which is set for completion in 1994. Lake claims life of ice fisherman An Apsley area man has died after plunging through the cold waters of Lake Scu- gog Sunday evening. According to a spokesper- son for Scugog Fire Depart- ment Hall 2, Aleksanders Mednis, the deceased, and Edgar Verokis, of Peterbo- rough had been ice fishing « for the better part of the day, before going through shortly after 5p.m. According to Durham Re- gional Police, the two men were fishing approximately 1600 feet off the shore of Cae- sarea. The Caesarea Fire De- partment was alerted at 5:35 p.m. by a Caesarea resident who heard screaming com- ing from the lake. Members of the Fire De- partment ran out to the scene with ladders. poles, and ropes to rescue the two men. Fireman Gord Gettins placed a ladder in the water, and was able to waken the Mednis, who by this time was barely conscious. Firefighters pulled the man to safety on the ladder, and then to ambulance which rushed him to Port Perry Community Hospital. Aleksanders Mednis, 78 of R.R. #1 Apsley, was con- scious at the time of rescue, but later pronounced dead at Hospital at approximately 8p.m. According to the Caesarea Fire Department, Mr. Vero- kis was able to pull himself out of the water, but was un- able to rescue his friend. He remained at the scene, and screamed for help. (Turn to Page 9) Members of the Cratchit family prepare Christmas din- ner in the Millar Lights musical version of the Dickens clas- sic, "A Christmas Carol." The childrens theatre group staged five performances last week at Town Hall 1873. King- $25.8 million Education Centre approved And both said that going ahead with the Centre makes sense from a financial/economic point of view. "Over the long range, yes, this makes sense," said Mrs. Kelly. But she added the deci- gion was a tough one for her personally, and it was just the day before the vote that she made her mind up to support it. And she said she is satis- fied the estimated cost of $256.8 million is a realistic one. and the project will not wind up over-budget. But she acknowledged there is opposition to the pro- ject. And in this community, that opposition came for the Cit- izens Against Unjustified Taxes (CAUT) a grass roots organiza- tion with over 1,000 members who are concerned about prop- erty tax hikes. In fact, last month, CAUT member Colin Kemp of Nestle- ton presented the Durham sley Malcolm had the role of Bob Cratchit with Kim Rollo as ot, his wife and Katie Burns as Tiny Tim. (More photos from A Christmas Carol are in this edition of the Port Perry Star) Board with a brief that ques- tioned the figures, especially the anticipated revenue from sale of property now owned by the Board, revenue that will be used to help finance the project. And the brief said that with high unemployment, inflation and a general recession in the local economy, this is not the time for the Board to be build- ing anew headquarters. Trustee Bobbie Drew de- fended the decision, saying that for the Board to continue to rent or lease office space is not eco- nomically viable. If leasing costs go up just three per cent per year, that will add $12 million over 20 years. "I'm convinced this is a good deal for the Durham Board," she said, adding it will eliminate inefficiencies by bringing all education staff un- der one roof. The Centre will be built on Turn to Page 3