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= Ma a Vir ie or So AIRS ay SUS SE AS nad ALLOW ale The community grows With the weekend's speeches over, the official ceremonies behind us, and all the well-wishers and congratulations delivered, Town Hall 1873 marks the end of the easy stage of its development: the money-raising, support-finding, and construction of the actual building. For the organizers and the community at large, the hard part is now to come. Making it work. . : What a facility such as the Town Hall can provide for this community is unlimited, providing an entirely new direction and scope of interests for the community. Obviously, there are people in this community who have the dedication, drive and determination to initiate these new interests. One need only look at what's been done with an old building to see proof of that. And many of these same - people have already begun preparing for a year of: much activity. But in the end, it will be the community at large that will see Town Hall 1873 succeed or fail. . While a new arena simply cannot fail because there are thousands of users most anywhere, ready to hop on the ice as soon as it's in, a development such as Town Hall 1873 often doesn't reflect community interest and enthusiasm, but must generate it. Organizers so far have met the challenge and have shown their intention to involve as much of the community as possible, to serve as many interests as possible, and in so doing providing a wide base of future support and involvement. © At the same time, appearances here of- performers such-as Maureen Forrester are providing local people entertainment of a kind almost impossible without the Town Hall. But the emphasis seems to be on a kind of community workshop scheme. A program to help the community grow and expand in more than econom- ical or numerical terms. We applaud this approach, and will do our best to support it. Monuments, after all, provide little more than something to look at. An active, energetically operated facility such as Old Town Hall will provice much more than that. And if it looks good on the side, who's complaining? 'Doublethink It may not be 1984 yet, but we're well on our way to Doublethink. US. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned that the U.S. would not stand idly by while Cuba intervened militarily in other parts of the world. Now, what country do we know that spent most of the latter '60s and early '70s intervening militarily. We readily understand how such a position can be taken, given the realities of politics. R Yet it's a bit disturbing how far we're along to that Orwellian future when the public can be given such a contradictory pill... TOA Re A a "Now iF we oNLy HAD SOMETHING ~ A LITTLE MORE LASTING To HANG EM ON!" \UIRINAREEET JID 111 Remember When. 2 50 YEARS AGO February 25, 1926 Due to the resignation of Mr. Geo. Raines, as assessor for Port Perry, a new- appointment had to be made and Mr. Norman Stuart was appointed at a salary of $150.00. Another important decis- ion was made by council, to abolish income tax so far as Port Perry municipal taxes are concerned. Two unusual hockey games were played Satur- day and Monday, when a team consisting of five sons of Mr. John Jeffrey, namely Clarence, Arthur, Cecil, Albert and Grant defeated the "Bankers" 7-3 and 4-3. Goalie on the Jeffrey team was Tony Balfour. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 22, 1951 In a beautiful setting of flowers and bunting, the first Ice Carnival of the new Memorial Gardens took of Miss Grace Davis, M H. Stone, Mrs. Armstrong and Ted Brookes. A number of outstanding figure skaters from Silver Blades, Toronto Skating Club, participated in the event, with Art Brunton, the M.C. 'Ross Evans, Uxbridge, a member of the Port Perry Junior Calf Club scored 142 points out of a possible 150 in the All-Canadian Junior Judging . Competition. He was tied for 18th position among 613 competitors. At the next regular meet- ing of Port Perry Junior Farmers, Mr. Murray Holtby will be guest speaker and has chosen the topic, "The Use of Commercial Fertilizers and Manures"'. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 23, 1961 A dinner in honour of the All-Ontario Junior "C"' Soft- ball Champions were held in the Flamingo Restaurant, Saturday. Dr. John Price acted as M.C. and the honourable Dr. M. B. Dymond extended congratu- lations to the team on their fine effort. Reeve J. J. Gibson presented jackets to all the boys on behalf of the Village. The High School Drama Club will perform the "Heiress" with the following members in the cast; Carol Nesbitt; Jim Read; Eunice Roach; Marilyn Reesor; Elizabeth St. Jobn; and Betty Couves. The director was Miss Norah McCully, B.A., head of the English Department. An -additional 95 tele- phones have been installed in Port Perry bringing the total amount to 1,645 tele- phones. 10 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 24, 1966 Two young pupils of Mrs. Grace Hastings, Lexie Love, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Love, and Barbara Taylor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Taylor have both successfully received first class honours for sing- ing in classes VI and VIII. Douglas Robinson of Sei- barth Auto body was a prize winner in the graduation class of "Body and Fender Repair" held recently by the Industrial Training Branch of the Department of Labour. Port Perry Bantams with victories over Stouffville captured the Lakeshore Bantam Championship in group B. Mrs. Jessie Robertson won $300. worth of Texmade linens when she won a guessing contest "Take a Chance" in the studio of CFTO TV. A group of senior citizens from here had been invited and Mrs. Robertson was one of three ladies selected to guess the number of chips in a jar. She guessed 275, only 10 off the actual amount of 285. ...and can't see the irony in it. place. This was the creation Bill Smiley End of an era For young folks and city folks, it won't mean a thing. But for small town and rural folks, especially the older ones, the end of Eaton's catalogue is the end of an era. During a couple of generations, the cata- logue was the key to a storehouse of treasure that Aladdin would have envied. Fifty years ago, especially for farm people in isolated locations, it was as important as their television set is today. After a day of drudgery, a leaf through the pages was a form of escape for the farm wife. Even though there was no money for more than the essentials, she could dream PORT PERRY STAR Company Limited Phone 985 738) Sa A Gin 3 (mm) : Serving Por! Perry, Reach, Scugog and Cartwright Townships J. PETER HVIDSTEN, Publisher Advertising Manager John Gas), Editor Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Published every Wednesday by the Port Perry Star Co L'a, Por! Perry, Ontario Authorized as second class mail by the Pos! Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0245 Subscription Rate: In Canada $8.00 per year Elsewhere $10.00 per year. Single copy 20¢ EE over the illustrations of fyrniture, clothing, sets of dishes, curtains. . At that time, it was literally one of th very few means of communication with the big world outside. Even if you never received a letter from one year's end to another, you could be sure of receiving mail. You carefully chose what you wanted from the catalogue, made sure you got the right number, sent off your order, and sooner or later there would be a parcel in the mail. Eaton's was as reliable as the Bank of England used to be. Besides its exotic allure, the bulky cata- logue had a dozen utilitarian values. People didn't just chuck out last year's catalogue, as they would in these careless, spendthrift days. Old copies were used as doorstops, in the backhouse, and as insulation. I have per- somally used them, at a tender age, as shinpads for hockey, stuffed inside long woolen socks. Many a boy, in those days when the only parts of a woman exposed were her hands and her face, learned all about women, or. had his first sexual experience, if you prefer, by sneaking a look at the corset ads when his mother wasn't watching. Many an older person of the gentler sex today spent happy hours as a little girl cutting things out of the catalogue with scissors and pasting them in a scrapbook, or making paper dolls. Other uses were: half a dozen pages to start the morning fire in a house where paper was scarce because there was no daily newspaper; 20 or 30 pages cut in the shape of an insole and tucked into the boot or shoe with a home in the sole. But let's not get sentimental and weepy about it. Eaton's catalogue is a hanover from the days of the outdoor Johnny, and certainly few mourn the demise of the latter. I'm sorry\for the many people across the country who will lose jobs because the catalogue has become defunct. And many a housewife will feel a real sense olNlgss for a while. But it won't be missed all that much. The catalogue had outlived its usefulness except as a strictly functional means of shopping. It was no longer a cherished household article. It had become about as glamorous as the telephone directory. I know quite a few people who will be cheered by the news. These are the small- town and rural merchants who had t compete against the giant department store. They simply couldn't, and many were bitter about it. A merchant who had a stake in his community, paid taxes, and served his fellow citizens had some right to feel a little sour when he had to go up against a faceless, impersonal titan which could operate from a hole in the wall called an order office, contributed virtually nothing to the community, and could undercut-his prices everytime because it could buy in volume. And 1 know another group that will be happy with the bad news that they will never again have an Eaton's catalogue in the house. Men like me, and they number in the thousands. : I don't care if I never see another Eaton's catalogue. Or Simpson's either. For 25 years I have been taking parcels back to the Eaton's order office. My wife never takes them back, and she rarely keeps anything she has ordered. It's a casual: "Drop this off at Eaton's on your way to work". And I'te_had to stand shamefaced in the order office, among a bunch of women, and mutter something about the three brassieres being too small, or the panties being too large, or the stockings not. being sheer enough. And then there's the monthly bill. My wife has been carrying on a running battle with Eaton's billing department for years. Every month there's a mistake in it, the old girl gets furious and I have to listen to the tirade, which can go on for an hour. She has written letters which were bril- liant, cutting essays in satire. She has writ-' ten furious, blunt letters. She has written letters to the accounts manager, the public relations vice-president, the president of the whole caboodle. She has wept with rage and frustration when they have been ignor- ed and the voiceless, faceless computer spews out another monthly bill, goofed up again. Farewell, Eaton's catalogue. You were a great thing in your day. But I, for one, say good riddance. The Argyle Syndicate Ltd. *