The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

- VIEWPOINT by John B. McClelland THE PLAYOFFS A couple of weeks ago in this space I boldly predicted that my favourite hockey team from Montreal would be fortunate to win a game or two in the "Battle of Quebec" against the Nordique. So, what the heck do I know? After the first two games of the series, the Canadiens were making me look pretty good as they went to defeat. But after that, four straight wins to send the Nordique packing for the summer. Like just about everyone else with an interest in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I also picked Boston and Chicago. And what happens to those two season long powerhouses? They go into the tank and lose in four straight to Buffalo and St. Louis respectively. Had a person known that before the series, that person could have picked up a huge chunk of dough in Vegas. Judging by the way spme of the playoff series have progressed so far, there is more credibility to the notion that the long regular season means absolutely nothing these days. What counts is the final eight weeks of playoff madness. Boston and Chicago worked like the dickens to finish first overall and look where it got them---a quick exit to the nearest golf course. As for the Maple Leafs, what can you say of that dramatic seventh game victory. I predicted in this space the Leafs would be lucky to win one game against their rivals from the Motor City. So, I was a bit off target. Have you noticed when the TV camera moves in for a close up of the players bench, many of the guys are sporting ugly cuts, welts, bruises and black eyes on the face. That's stick-work at it's best and the NHL playoffs this year feature more clutch and grab and blatant stick fouls than at any time in the past. And the reason, plain and simple, is the tougher rules against fighting. This debate about fighting in hockey has been around for decades and now it's turning the NHL into European-style hockey where nobody ever dropped the gloves, but carving an opponent's chin might result in a penalty. What we are seeing in the NHL these 'days is a lot of chicken-ble p players poking their sticks in the face of others. And why do they do it? Because they know that if somebody drops the gloves to settle accounts, there is the danger of an "instigator" penalty. In a word, these visored chicken bleeps can operate with complete immunity on the ice these days because a good old- fashioned, bare-knuckle dust-up is a no-no. Not too many years ago if a player took too many liberties with the stick, he would eventually face the music in the corner when somebody would drop the gloves and say "OK, jerk, let's go." Don Cherry is right on this count. The game has become a' joke because some guy in New York who never laced on a pair of skates is afraid TV advertisers will back away from hockey because of fighting. The same advertisers, by the way, see nothing wrong with the WWF. Next time the TV cameras pan along the bench, take a close look at the players faces. Those cuts didn't happen by accident. One final thought, Dale Hunter's attack on the Isles' Tuggeon was one of the worst hockey muggings of all time. Hunter needs to sit half of next season (40 games) as a reminder that he grossly stepped over the violence line. Turgeon is lucky he only suffered a season-ending shoulder separation. He could have lost his career, maybe his )ife. CLOSING ON A SAD NOTE: I want to use this space to extend personal sympathies to Darlene Hlozan, her brothers Ernie and Ron and their Mom Elinor on the passing of Don Ellis last Thursday night after a struggle with cancer. Darlene is office manager at the Scugog Citizen and also does the newspaper page lay-outs on computer, an often tedious" task that takes us well into the night each Monday. Over the last few weeks, Darlene has been working with the additional strain of her Dad's illness, yet was able to keep this hectic office on an even keel. There isn't a lot one can say to a person who is watching a family member in failing health. Darlene's efforts around the office while under so much personal strain were amazing. People with dedication and commitment like that are rare these days. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge Darlene and again to extend sincerest sympathy to the family during this very difficult time. All of us at the Citizen have been thinking about you. wo Scugog Citizen -- Tuesday, May 4, 1993 Et) rd LETTERS TO EDITOR Information wrong To the Editor: A number of recent articles and letters to the editor regarding the Sexual Health Awareness Fair - "Decisions" included information taken out of context and erroneous. "Decisions" was developed jointly by the Durham Region Health Department and the Durham Board of Education, with input from secondary school #udents. This resource is available to Durham Board of Education schools and complements the family life education curricula. It provides an opportunity for students in small groups to discuss various topics with Public Health Nurses and each other. Topics include - self-esteem, relationships, getting to know your body, birth control and sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. Abstinence is promoted as the only choice that offers complete protection from unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Students are encouraged to identify and share their own reasons for remaining abstinent. For students who have chosen or will choose to become sexually active, Public Health Nurses offer information about other forms of protection, e.g. oral contraceptives, condoms and spermicides. In general, Public Health Nurses work with School Boards and students to encourage healthy lifestyles and provide opportunities to practise skills that help students make responsible decisions. Health initiatives such as "Decisions" are developed in accordance with Ministry of Health Guidelines and School Board curricula to meet the needs of all children and adolescents. Jean Nesbitt and Judy Murray Public Health Nursing Supervisors Durham Region Health Department More on public meeting To the Editor: Picture if you will a typical rural countryside. Gently rolling hills, cultivated fields with barns and farmhouses nestled between rows of corn, horses and cattle grazing and a scattering of goats and sheep. Gravel roads pitted with potholes and ruts. A large flat expanse of cattails and water running through the center of this quiet agricultural community. Envision a property low at the perimeter slowly slanting upward to form a drumlin and rising to the highest peak in the area. Add flocks of migratory birds resting in the marsh, which abuts this natural land formation, and place regionally and provincially rare species like the least bittern and black duck amid the cattails. This is a description of the Marsh Hill community through which the Beverton Wetland Complex runs. Imagine the drumlim defaced, with gaping holes and mounds of dirt. Put up to 50 pieces of heavy construction equipment on the land. Back hoes, excavators, bulldozers and even a 70 foot crane dotting the landscape Listen to the sound of heavy machinery which mask the birdsong. See the dust settle on the water. Watch the wildlife leave in search of a secure, quiet resting place. Look for the people who were once seen outside their homes and now take retuge in their houses, with windows closed hoping to lock out the noise and dust. Observe carefully an agricultural ity changed by the encroach of industrial development. Accept that the need for development supersedes the need to protect the environment. Refuse to question the necessity of locating this type of facility beside a Class 1, Provincially Significant Wetland situated in the heart of a rural community, and we all will live with the consequences. Be on guard and recognize that this scenario could be your neighborhood, if not now in the near future. I would welcome the opportunity to express my sentiments directly to Scugog Council at a public meeting which I expect to be held in the near future. Nancy Byers Cragg Road Marsh Hill LETTERS To THE EDITOR Wildlife a joy to behold To the Editor; I would like you to have a Public Meeting so that the residents could bring their concerns about the Environmental Impacts of noise, dust, lights, road traffic, visibility that the Engineers' Heavy Construction Equipment Training School in Scugog would have. I took a walk to the wet land on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. The sounds and the wildlife were a joy to behold. I feel that we are Living in To the Editor; I think we are all appalled by what is going on in South Africa and the former Yugoslavia. Yet here in our own backyard things are not much different. I am referring to the constant onslaught by Mr Aldred against the First Nation Community. We are lucky, very lucky, to live in a free country but freedom comes with responsibility. 1 for one am tired of his comments and opinions. Were Mr Aldred's opinions and the caretakers of our natural wildlife and should not sell our souls for the ten pieces of silver. If there were no other areas to have the school we should still think very long and hard at losing one of the last remaining wetlands for the migratory birds. Yours truly, Dawn Jeffery R.R.#3 Uxbridge, Ont peace comments levelled against any other ethnic group would we so quietly overlook them? Enough is enough. Let us live together in peace whatever our differences regardless of colour, race, creed or religion. God's garden was not planted with only one kind of flower. E Haagaard Scugog Township = SNAPSHOT OF THE WEEK df We don expect of ou readers to b able to identity the young gentleman in this picture, but we are very curious about the uniform he is wearing. It is British pre-turn of the century, but aside from that we haven't .got a clue. Are there any military experts out there who can help us out? Give us a call at 985-6397.