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"A Family Tradition for 131 Years" a PORT PERRY STAR - Wednesday, May 21, 1997 - 7 I _ETTERS Thanks, everyone, for the hockey To the Editor: Thanks for the hockey! Thank you to the Port Perry Minor Hockey Association exec- utive, coaches and managers for your long hard hours spent to provide such a worthwhile ex- perience for the youth of Port Perry. Q Thank you to the legion for helping to make the hockey ban- quet such a success with the in- timate atmosphere of your hall and the wonderful dinner you provided. QThanks to the township and Mayor Hall for your recognition of the Bantam II players and their championship win. QThank you to Pete Christie - "Coach of the Year," Bill Van Camp and Brian Stevenson, as- sistant coaches, for your never Fact versus fiction To the Editor: Once again, Jann Flury confuses fact and fiction (let- ter, May 6). The trustees formed the majority on the last interview team for FLEAC. The two parents and the community member who were chosen, in fact, support many, if not all, of Flury's positions. This gave a strong voice on FLEAC to an abstinence-based message. As far as Mr. Flury should be concerned this was an ex- ample of the system working, since the new members of FLEAC are strong, indepen- dent advocates as he well knows. FLEAC, as Mr. Flury knows, represents many voices and only Mr. Flury ap- pears "high handed" in his consistent public denigra- tion of the trustees and the board. Beverley Freedman, Superintendent of Education/Programs ending support, praise and ad- vice to the boys of the Bantam II All Ontario Championship Hockey Team. Your dedication to the sport meant a great deal to your team. Q Thank you to Steve and Ca- thy Caldwell for your excellent organizational skills in manag- ing the team and for your inspi- rational shirts. a Thank you to Kim Thomp- son for your uplifting newspa- per articles and for your relent- less pursuit to assure that they appeared in the paper each week. Thanks to the Port Perry Star. 0Thanks to the parents of the Bantam II All Ontario Champi- ons. Your devotion to your sons and the team was unsurpassed. Your exuberant, motivating cheers shall echo in the arena for years to come. We can't wait to see that All Ontario Champi- onship banner flying. 0 And lastly - Thank you to the young men of the Bantam II All Ontario Championship team who gave themselves (and us) a year to remember. Not only did you rise to the occasion when it really counted, but you did it with maturity, drive and full team spirit. Enough can't be said of your all-out effort. You represented Port Perry with excellent sportsmanship and we are very proud of all of you. oHave a great summer every- one. Rest up for next year. Judie and Bob Cooper, Port Perry Fond memories of home To the Editor: Itis with sincere appreciation that I wish to thank the town of Port Perry and its fine folks for their part in the hand over of Hong Kong to China. This statement on the surface certainly will raise a few eye- brows. Many of your readers will know to what I refer, but for the others, perhaps I can ex- plain. Some 18 months ago I left Port Perry to commence work on one of the most unique build- ing projects in Asia. The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibi- tion Centre Extension is unri- valed in its scale and complexi- ty. As this site will be used for the Handover ceremony of Hong Kong back to China, the political ramifications for on time completion are immense. This percolates down to the building trades, thus causing extreme stress levels for com- pletion. Hong Kong is a very fast paced society, and building construction is caught up in the momentum. Port Perry was a major factor in stress manage- ment. . Having many relatives and friends in Port Perry and the surrounding area, I was fortu- nate enough to receive great support during my tenure here. A difficult job was made easier with the numerous letters and phone calls, not to mention the memories gained during the eight years living in Port. The added bonus was to re- ceive the Port Perry Star on a regular basis (thanks mom and dad). If you could see the smile on my face as I travel to work, on a crowded bus with mobile phones and pagers constantly. ringing, while reading the lat- est issue, just thinking to my- self if these people only knew where this newspaper came from. This has truly been a life ex- perience for me, and I wish to extend my personal thank you to everyone who shared in the success of the project. Looking forward to a summer holiday in Port Perry, the best place in the world. Douglas F. (Freddie) Randall, Sr. Project Manager - HKCEC Extension Hong Kong Editor's Notepad 7 by Jeff Mitchell START WITH THIS FINGER PRINT THIS: It says at the top of the front page here that Premier Mike Harris thinks fingerprinting all Ontarians as a means of creating an identification base might be a good idea. Okay, Mike (he said, holding up his middle finger). You can start with this one. | think you'll find this idea fading away as folks here -- as | am -- begin to declare they'd go to jail rather than submit to fingerprinting by the government. Used to be you at least had to be charged with some crime -- not convicted, mind you -- before they printed you. Now the government thinks it's an effective means of keeping track of you. But doesn't the government keep its eye on us just a little too closely anyway? Isn't the Tory philosophy to burden folks with less government, not more? This idea should be aimed at the waste basket, where it belongs. It stems from a wrong-headed scheme by Metro politicians to cut down on welfare fraud and the problem is that, while it might make welfare less attractive to freedom-loving people, it won't do a damn thing to eliminate the fraud that's perpetrated by weasels who obviously have no self-respect, anyway. Get real. AIR"S THICK WITH IT: Had enough politics yet? Or are you, like junkies everywhere, waiting for the real campaign to begin as the run to the June 2 election unwinds? It's a dreary campaign, to be sure. Nothing of any substance has happened, with the exception of the moderator's passing out during the French language leaders' debate, just as the issue of Quebec was to be broached (surely a sign?). We need something heavy to happen, and it could be that it will. Don't be surprised if you see people like Preston Manning, frustrated with lack of movement in the polls, resorting to extreme tactics as the days wind down. Even extortion isn't out of the question: "Vote Reform," he might drawl in a television ad toward the end of the month, "or I'll squish this hamster!" The other parties would soon follow suit: Vote Charest or the seal gets clubbed! On June 2, cast your vote for the Liberals, or we'll stomp on these kittens! Vote NDP or -- or -- we'll do something, darn it! Alas, we can only hope, and dream. The campaign creeps inexorably toward a hum-drum conclusion, and we all ask ourselves if anybody really cares. It's hard to tell. - The first long weekend of the | year is history, and although it appears as if there was a lot of ple heading north to their cottages for the holi- oct most are happy to see it end. weather continues to plague southern spring and like most, I'm beginning to we're going to start getting some of sunny days we've had, and a great amount of rain, 0l temperatures and eks into May and we could count on one er wrong! "On the brighter side, only 10 days left until June, so those lazy, hazy days of summer really can't be by J. Peter Hvidsten ort " GrassHas Riz... Wonder. fo ri beta lot of 'green thumbs" were wail Where The Warm Weather Is? _ 10" {is past weekend to start planting their gar * dens. Not being an avid gardener myself, it wasn't on my agenda, but | always remember my grand- mother saying nothing should be planted until after the Victoria Day weekend... and too far off. Can they? This mention comes a week late, but due to the tremendous number of letters to the editor we received last week, this column was pulled to make ARTHUR'S GREAT FEAST room for our readers comments. But, better late than never: Members of the Port _ Perry Rotary Club provided a wonderful, fun-filled CCC grandma was nev- evening a week ago Saturday at their annual ninth ~ annual Art Fest dinner/auction. ~The Rotary Club was able to raise close to ~ $20,000 from the fundraiser, which it has earmark- ed to local projects including the "Light The Way" thumbs" were waiting campaign for traffic lights along 7A, as well as a donation to the Winnipeg Flood Relief Fund. Many local businesses and individuals contribut- ed to the success by donating articles and services to the auction, once again proving generosity is alive and well in Scugog. Congratulations to the Rotarians and volunteers who made it a great night for the 200 who attended the $50 a plate dinner/auction. IN CLOSING Did you hear about the man in an American city who lost his job as a WalMart greeter after calling customers unflattering names. He referred to one customer as a "snob" and another a "fat elephant." But it wasn't until he told one woman pushing a cart that she had to be "smarter than the cart," that he finally got the hook. Greetings!