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Oron~ Weekly Times, Wednesday, February Il; 1998.~ 7 Valentine display at the Bowmnanville Museum The Bowm-anville Museum, at 37 Silver Street, is featur- ipg a colourful display of over fifty Valentine cards, span- ning 130 years, for the entire month of February. Aithougli the history of Valentine's Day stretches back almost 2,000 years, the Valentine card only had ils beginnings in the 1840's. It was at this time that commercia]ly made ones were first available (by Esther A. Howland in the United States), although handmade ones remained popular for many more years. Our earliest date fromr 1861 and are intricate hand- made cards. A large part of the exhibit features the elab- orate die-cut cards of the 1900-1920 era. It is incred- ible that some of these deli- cate masterpieces have been preserved. Turn-of-the-cen- tury Valentine postcards, as well as newer cards from the 1960's to 1990's are also featured. Cail 623-27341 for more information. BOWMANVILLE DRAMA WORKSHOP "OPENING NIGHT" Cathy and Bob Sampson present Laurie Heard (cen tre) with this year's Trillium Award. The Trillium Award, now in its 3rd year, is given to honour individuals who volunteer their FROM IPARLIAMEN HILL Alex Shepherd How low can the Canadian dollar go vis-a-vis ils Arnerican counterpart?. As an exporting country a low dollar makes our exports cheaper whlch is generally seen as an economic booster. We see this riglit lere in Durhiamn wth General Motors exporting most of Its produc- tion southwards. 0f course forelgn vacations and imports like citrus fruit suddenly become mudli more expensiv e. Some people willl argue that since forelgn vaca- tions are dlscretlonary lt's better to bave the economic stimulation liere at home. But tliere are some larger issues whlch surround the dollar's devaluation. In some ways the current pressure on the dollar is more a desire by the international community to own U.S. dol- lars than a weakness of Canadian currency. In other words the balanc- ing of the U.S. budget and the nervousness about world economies LIn general, and Southeaet Asia In particular, lias ignited a retreat to the U.S. dollar. Anyone who lias recently travelled cannot help but notice that a pre-set amount of any world currency goes a lot further in Canada than just about any other country in the world. This is a testa- ment to the Canadian dollar being undervalued. In spite of its ups-and downs, however, one cannot time at the Trillium Morgan Horse Farm in Orono. This award acknowledges extraordi- nary deeds of animal hus- bandry, farmn involvemnent and help but notice how the dollar lias seen a steady decline over the last 20 years wbiùcl points to some fundamental eco- nomic problems here at home. The first fundamental is tlie issue of national unlty. Mr. Boudhard, and is ilik, go to no end to punlsh Quebecers and Canadians as a whole. His, "We're vlctims and being picked on," logic is just so muci nonsense. But it does contiibute to our dollar's long term downward trend. The second fundainental is Canada's iniability to keep pace with producti-vity, This means tiat when the efficlen- cy with which you make and market goods declines, grad- ually, it becomes reflected in your currency. As well Canada's labour productlvlty lias not kept pace wlth many of our com- petitors. This,ýs largely to do wlth Cana da's reticence to embrace technology, as well as, continuing to live with outmoded labour relations. Statements like, "We are the most connected nation in the world," referring to the Information higliway, are not reflected in our changing economy. For example, many com- puters will crash corne the year 2000 if they are not pro- grammed to account for that calendar change. Too many unsolicited assistance in tine, of need. The award was presented at a banquet at the New Dutch Oven on Saturday night. businesses bave failed, so far, to take the necessary correc- tive action. ,Imagine something as cnit- ical as loslng your iriforma-> tion systems in approximate- ly 650 days, and' not dolng anytIiing about it, whifle the public wltnesses the inepti- tude of your falure to deal with tlie pending crisis. Along wlth our reticence to, embrace teclinology is our very adversarial approacli to management- employee rela- tions. In the civil service alone there are over 65 different ageemrents whidh govern the management- employee rela- tionship. This adversarial nature will continue to act as an impediment to increased productivity. To say the sys- tem is almost inoperable is an understatement. Then there is the reposi- tioning of the retail sector. Canada's retail industries for years sat on their laurels as newer and better retailing methods were evolved. Their slowness to adapt bas made them easy targets for mucli more competitive operations like Wal-Mart. While there will be bumps along the way Canada's dollar will continue to decline unless we address these very funda- mental issues. A good start would be to ask your employ- er if lie or she is addressing the Year 2000 problem, if znot maybe your job is in jeopardy. "Opening Night" xiii have you rolling in the aisies. Make three people's lives even hap- pier - Pat Marjerrison (the Director), Ellen Logan (the Producer), aind Norm Foster (the Author - A Canadian, no less!). Corne to the Bowmanviile High School Theatre Marcli4, 5, 6, or 7th at 8:00 p.m. to see this hilar- lous Two-Act comedy pre- sented by the Bowmanville Draina Workshop. As for the plot - Ruth (Margar'et Williams) lias dragged lier reluctant hus- band Jack (Ken Brignali) to see a play called -Whisper On The Wind". At the reception in the theatre lounges, Ruth is in seventh heaven. She meets Michael, a has-been actor (Fred Archibald), Tom, a would-be actor (Troy Young), Richard, the Director (Tm Liumes) and lis significant other, Cilla (Nicola Lloyd). They take their places in the box seats and "Whisper On The Wind" begins. lt's set in the deep Soutli, Clayton (John Amesbury) plays "0;' Daddy" and Libby (Sharon Peleshok) is his daugliter "Missy Gal". There are complications galore. Jack flirts a bit with Cilla. Cilla, wlio loves Richard, is jealous of botli Libby and Michael. Michael envies Clayto n. Clayton plays up to Rutli. And Tom? He .may appear to be ju st a walt- er-, but lie gets lis big moment in the end. If 'Wiarton Willie' lias you depressed, corne to "Opening Nlght" and have a good laugli! It's Mardi 4, 5, 6, 7 at 8:00 p.m. in the Bowmanville Higli Scliool Theatre. Admission is $10. For tickets caîl 623- 4732 or 623-5700. 1,Al F1C AS E Mi- e .ay-Miia uaaaaaau