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COMMUNITY CALENDAR « LIFESTYLES • SPORTS • COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENCE • TV LISTINGS CHOOSE YOUR OWN RIDE - Don't ride in a hearse or a police cruiser this holiday, holiday, advises Durham Regional Police Sergeant Rick Bates. Better call a cab or a friend if you plan on drinking. Officers from the Durham Regional Police and OPP kicked off their Christmas RIDE program last Friday. They'll be operating roadside spot-checks in Durham's eight municipalities until after the New Year. by Lorraine Manfredo Staff Writer The holiday season RIDE program kicked off in Durham last Friday with police vowing to put an even bigger dent in the number of alcohol-related accidents this year. The problem of drinking drivers has been in decline over the past few years due in part to the R.I.D.E. (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) program, but there are those who are still not getting the message, says Sergeant Rick Bates of the Durham Region Police. "Most people understand it is a criminal offence and costs lives," he says. But among those charged, many are repeat offenders. During last year's holiday RIDE program, 35,000 drivers drivers were stopped at roadside spot-checks across Durham, resulting in 64 impaired driving charges. An additional 93 drivers were handed 12-hour licence suspensions suspensions for blowing borderline Breathalizer tests. Another 45 drunk drivers were arrested by regular patrols. Over the next six weeks, police aim to stop even more vehicles in a bid to get all drinkers off the road. A special team of nine officers will be setting up the roadside checks at various locations through the eight municipalities municipalities in the Region. ■ "We want to remind people who are drinking that they have a choice in what 'ride' they take, a taxi, a police cruiser or a hearse," says Sgt. Bates. All three vehicles were lined up at the front entrance of Durham Regional Police headquarters in Oshawa on Friday where Durham Regional Police and OPP set up the season's season's kick-off spot check. One of those stopped was tow truck operator Chris Robinson, who says he been called out many times to accidents where alcohol was involved. He's been stopped by RIDE patrols plenty of times and never minds the delay. "As long as they get drivers off the road who are impaired, I think it's great," Statistics show alcohol was involved in over 43 percent percent of fatal collisions in 1995. Drinking drivers continue to cause a significant num 1996 RIDE Program Statistics (Christmas Time Only) • 35,359 vehicles were stopped by RIDE • 597 people were given roadside breath tests • 93 were given 12-hour suspensions for registering a "warn" • 59 people were charged with driving over 80 mgs (impaired) • 5 people charged with refusing breath test • 45 impaired drivers arrested by regular patrols ber of injuries and deaths on the road, say Bates. "This year, we've increased the number of officers tin the RIDE program and we're making use of auxiliary officers officers as well." A total of $1.2 million has been committed to the RIDE program by the Ontario government. Durham Regional Police Service will receive a $19,800 grant to cover overtime costs incurred by officers. THANKS FOR NOT DRINKING -- This year's ■RIDE campaign will again include the "Passport to Ride" coupon books which will be distributed to all drivers drivers who have not been drinking. Proceeds from the coupon books go towards the youngsters of Variety Village. ifredo do age 82, this maternal leg- unforgettable figure. Many end hasn't forgotten a sin- Clarington residents will the gle one of the hundreds of recall-the national atten- grand- other children who once lion aimed at Bertha, and idehil- called her Mom Whyte. her husband, Robert, 40 Bertha She herself is quite an - years ago when they cared for over 60 children at a time on their 100-acre ter children who once lion aimed at Bertha, and farm straddling Hwy 401 lied her Mom Whyte. her husband, Robert, 40 west of Bowmanville. That She herself is quite an is, until the government ------**■" » closed them down. Ex-neighbors might not have known that Bertha Whyte went on rfighf CfiiWren *£■ ©B r a st ïnS FSr the-. t with, understate 1 tinyvte home» .three . ^ rowsl une near Bowman. ° he tTniest-tota. eMap^Grove aide^ >rth °f SlKevotiorifiirm: Yfants^$.800^ yte> , v ho:iSï" ;r unselfish d« v d U U ildln|.. -"children' WeJ ôw providing a ildren ranging rit w >- K.WhyV' Why" YY »/ ------ _ r lenna wnyie went on to spend 13 years running running an orphanage and doing charitable 'work in Africa. They might . not have known it was surviving surviving drought, on the Prairies as a girl in the 30's that gave her a sympathy for people living in harsh surroundings. surroundings. This still-vibrant humanitarian plans to devote what considerable considerable energy she has left to drumming up support for her latest effort, a Texas mission building homes for desperately desperately poor families. You can read her fascinating life story in an autobiography autobiography due out in January. It's titled "Mom Whyte: One Woman's Fight Against the Injustice of Poverty," and it's written in the third person because she dislikes dislikes books that say T all the iimmiri--»n time, As a woman devoted to helping others, she never planned to make headlines just by doing her Christian duty. "Nobody seemed to know about the vow I had made that I would never turn anyone away from the door." People asked for a hand; she gave it. But write-ups in The Statesman and in Toronto dailies earned her a reputation reputation as a compassionate soul, and more and more hard-luck cases turned up on her doorstep. "They heard about me and came from Hamilton, Toronto...from all over." She remembers people in terrible straits, abandoned abandoned mothers, abused kids, couples with kids broke and hopeless with nowhere to turn. "One family had actually picked a spot on the bluffs where they were going to drive their car over," she said But how did she, with children of her own, feed and shelter so many without without government aid? • Well, they had chickens and a huge garden, and that helped. But mainly they got by on miracles. "It was absolutely a miracle every day," Whyte says. "Robert earned $65 a week at his job. One miracle miracle after the other happened happened that allowed us to continue," * Mom Whyte -- Bertha Whyte, known to hundreds as; "Mom Whyte," has written an autobiography which is! due out in January, Bertha and her husband, Robert,! gained national fame in the 50's when they took in! dozens of neglected and poor children aV. their; Bowmanville farm. " ; For her, it was nothing short of miraculous that so many willing volunteers pitched in to help the steady stream of desperate cases who found their way to the Whyte farm. Construction workers took time out from building building the Oshawa Centre' to build a large dormitory. And otlicr caring individuals individuals offered help, like the bashful cop who asked i tasseaux i mnÊÊimmuzzzj.:. Whyte if she could use a" few potatoes and then; threw open his trunk to; reveal several bushels of; freshly-harvested potatoes.- She remembers them all' and considers their actions! miracles. ; But, over her years,; she's learned that some; people tend to question; good deeds, ! "Fanatic or Living! Continued on page 12! I iSCKSCXBI lit'lUlWW-- UHj* j