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Yearin Review through the camera lens. corner: rock concert at Mosport; se from the upper left hand business and apartments hit by fire The Durham Regional Police have taken charge of policing three for- mer townships within the area municipality of Scugog. The expansion of the police force into Scugog is part of a plan which is expected to bring the entire Durham Region under the jurisdiction of one. police force by the middle of 1980. However, the Ontario, Provincial Police will continue to patrol major ry for Regional Police provincial highways in Durham their headquarters at the police such as Highway 401. department s Uxbridge detachment. At the beginning of the new year, New territory now being covered by the Regional Police took respon- the Regional Police had previously sibility for the former townships of been patrolled by the OPP. Cartwright, Reach and Scugog. The recent expansion of the police A spokesman for the Durham force has brought its total strength Regional Police explained last week to 350 persons. The final phase in the that 17 new officers have been hired expansion of the force is scheduled because of the expansion. Officers, to take place in the northern part of patrolling the Scugog area will have the Durham Region in Brock Town- ship. Regional Police are expected to move into that area in about another r and one-half. One year ago, Regional Police completed a major expansion into the Town of Newcastle. Santa Stays foi Post-Christmas Party Most people probably thought that Santa Claus returned to the North Pole to rest up after his lengthy Christmas travels, bbt he was still around on Thur- sday night at a staff party for Flying Dutchman Motor Inn employees. Here, he receives a royal welcome from Marg Rand before handing out gifts. Another year has come and gone and it is time for us to dust off the old files and take a look at some of the events which have occurred during the last 12 months. Following are some of the year's top stories from 1978 as selected by our staff. Since there are many events in a year's supply of news it is possible that not every major story will be listed here. However we hope that the following summary gives a bird's-eye view of the past year. To many persons, 1978 will likely be remembered as the year of the fires. Downtown Bowmanville was hit twice by major fires in the sum- mer months. The first major fire oc- curred in July when offices, stores and apartments were damaged on King St. East. The loss was estimated at about $100,000. Not many weeks afterwards, there was the $300,000 fire which almost completely demolished Bowman- ville s Stedmans Department Store. Both buildings hit by fire during the summer are in the process of being rebuilt. There were times in 1978 when it appeared as though a federal or provincial election could take place in addition to the municipal elec- tions. However only municipal voting was held during the year. In the Town of Newcastle, the voters ousted almost every incum- bent councillor and re-elected only Newcastle Mayor Garnet Rickard and Ward One councillor Jasper Holliday. Nineteen seventy eight marked the first complete year of construc- tion at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station with excavations for the $3.5 billion project getting underway. And 1978 was a year of Ontario Municipal Board Hearings into development in Courtice; a major overhaul of Bowmanville's main street; the construction of new schools and the nearly 24-hour rock concert which attracted 100,000 music fans to Mosport. A month-by-month summary of some of the years most important stories is as follows: JANUARY: You may recall that January was the month in which the municipality completed its first ex- periment into public transit. The town of Newcastle finally voted to give up its in-town bus service after Turn'to Page Two Town's First Baby Born-New Year's Day Bowmanville Memorial Hospital reported this week that the first baby of the year arrived shortly after four p.m. Monday, January 1. Shown here are Janet Forsey and her son. The Forsey family lives in Bowmanville. Young Mr. For- sey tipped the scales at seven pounds. From the expression on his face in this photo, he does not seem too excited over the prospect of being the town's New Year's baby. Propose Fund for Purchase Of Land by Durham Region The Region's public works com- mittee proposed Tuesday setting up a reserve fund out of current revenue to be used for purchasing lands identified as being required for future regional construction projects. ine Painting to Cost $65,000? The Durham Region is looking for a better way to paint more than 1,000 kilometers of lines on regional and local roads each year. The Region of Durham's public works committee agreed Tuesday that a more efficient pavement marking machine should be bought for the region and will recommend such a purchase to council later this month. The machine the committee has in mind is being offered for sale by Roadline International Ltd. for $65,000. The committee is suggesting the money used to buy it come from the Region's equipment reserve fund. The pavement marker currently used by the Region is almost 20 years old. It was bought from the Ministry of -Transportation and Communications in 1974. Bits And Pieces HONORED - Bowmanville lawyer, Alan H. Strike was one of only two Durham Region lawyers to be awarded the title of Queen's Counsel by Attorney General Roy McMurtry on New Year's. Mr. Strike has a lengthy history of community service. He has just completed his 11th year with the Durham College Board of Governors and served for 18 years as a school trustee. The other recipient was Terrence Joyce of Whitby. GREAT SHOW - Civic Auditorium in Oshawa was jammed to overflowing on Friday morning with young and old attending the Maple Leaf hockey practice and helping the Bosco Residence for Boys in Oshawa. Unfortunately, we didn't make it. The office was closed to make up for working on Boxing D9y. We happened to drop in and found customers pounding on the door and ringing the phones, we had to stay around and take care of them. One staff member came back to lend a hand. Congratulations, Terry Kelly on another successful project. PAPEII DRIVE - Maple Grove Cubs are planning a paper drive this Saturday, January 6th, starting at 9 a.m., for Maple Grove residents only. IT'S CLOSER - A report came in on Tuesday morning that eight robins had been seen in Moun- tain Ash trees near the Ontario Ilydro office. And Erv Gill of Port Darlington Marina says the ice went out following that heavy rainstorm on Sun- day. So, maybe Spring is closer than we think. From the way the snow is falling and the temlier- ature dropping as this is being written, don't bet on it. HAPPY PEOPLE - We have no idea how all those New Year's eve celebrants felt the next morning, but they certainly were having a good time at par- ties and dances all around the area on New Year's Eve. We visited 15 of them but you'll see only a small part of the festivities in this edition in a full page of pictures. Hope everyone returned home safely, it was a rainy night. Then the fire siren sounded about eight the following morning when somebody's oil burner was overheating on Martin Rd. Fortunately, there was no damage, other than a loss of needed sleep. SOLD OUT - We've just been binding the year's editions together for posterity and find we are short of three issues for Feb. 6th, July 12th and Nov. 22nd. If anyone has saved any of those copies, we'd be delighted to buy them back. They were all special feature issues. JAMBOREE - The first country and western jamboree of 1979 will be held this Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Orono with an outstanding program arranged. These have been growing in popularity this season, so it might be advisable to be there early to make certain you have a good seat. Sterling Mather will be the popular Master of Ceremonies. TRIP WINNERS - The draw for Newcastle Arena's three AIl-Expence trips was held during their Lions dance New Year's Eve. The first trip worth $2,500 was won by Gary Woodbeck, R.R. 1, Orono, with ticket 2115. Second for $1,500 was won by Brian McAlister, Cornwall, ticket 2501 and third worth $500 went to Don Jakeman, Belle- ville, ticket 2942. The arena netted $1,888. First prize winner sold himself the ticket and Ed Majer sold the other two. Full parcels of land, complete with buildings, have in the past been acquired from owners who, aware of the Region's future construction proposals, have offered their property for sale to the Region. However, noted Commissioner of Public Works Bill Twelvetrees, in a report to the committee, these pur- chases "have been made without the benefit of firm guidelines and with no source of financing, other than a land purchase contingency in the budget for roads and structures." Mr. Twelvetrees cited several ad- vantages to having a pro ram of ad- vance land purchase. Adance pur- chase of property in an area of future reconstruction project "tends to create a chain reaction. Other property owners in the area become aware of the future disposition of their land and make offers of sale to the purchasing agency." Such a program may also eliminate the need for costly and time consuming expropriation. Set- tlements could be made much more amiably. Cost savings to the Region would also be involved. "Properties acquired well in advance of con- struction will be paid for on the basis of the existing zoning and market value. If purchase is delayed until construction, land may have been rezoned or acquired by a developer thereby inereasing its cost. Such savings may offset the holding costs." At present there is no method of acquiring properties required on projects beyond the five-year period even though they have been iden- tified as coming on stream at a later date. A reserve fund, points out Twelvetrees, will provide the flexibility for such acquisition. Another aspect is moral obligation on the part of the Region to property owners. "They are generally proud of their land and ivish to maintain landscaping and buildings argued Twelvetrees. Robbery Here, Police Seek Holdup Man Durham Regional Police are sear- ching for a person who held up an at- tendant at the Champlain Shell Ser- vice Centre on Waverley Road at Highway 401 early Tuesday morning and took a quantity of money from the cash register. Police say a young man in his early 20s, about 5' 10" to six feet taîl and wearing a light blue ski jacket pointed a gun to the ear of attendant Edward Bruno of R.R. 6 Bowman- ville and asked for the keys to the cash. Bruno was working alone at the service station with his back to' the door and didn't hear the man ap- proaching. The man removed money from the till and fled.