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PORT PERRY STAR -- Wed., February 21, 1979 -- § By the expressions on the' faces-of these children it doesn't look like school days in Myrtle were 100 much fun. I The class is from S.S. 1, 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 27, 1919 Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell and family are moving from Prospect to a new home in Seagrave. Mr. Robert McClintock, Detroit and Miss Hender- son, Kingston, were guests of Mrs. Jesse McClintock, Manchester, on Sunday. Mr. J. Miller, Myrtle, had the misfortune to lose a valuable team on Monday. While drawing ice from Mud Lake, the team was drowned before assistance could reach them. Mr. and Mrs. John Jeotol celebrated their sixty- "Maybe it was Photo Myrtle Station on June 4, 1926. something the photographer said." courtesy of Mrs. E. Heron. second wedding anniversary on Wednesday, February 27th. Although in his ninties, Mr. Rolph still goes to his business everyday and Mrs. Rolph manages to con- tinue with her home-making. - Miss Grace Davis was in Toronto last week at the Rexall Clerks' convention. She also attended the Men- delsohn Choir concert. Mrs. Norman Palmer and Miss M.E. Murray, Sonya along with Miss Eva McDermott, Caesarea, b were the guests of Mrs. W.F. Crosier, Utica, last Thur- sday. (Turn to page 6) letters Critical hockey views Dear Sir: As a parent who has two boys playing and two coach- ing teams and also I am, and have been an executive member of the local minor hockey for many years, I wish to answer a letter from Mrs. Lorraine Perrin in last weeks Star in the hopes of enlightening her very criti- cal views, concerning her son in hockey. Her son plays house league in the Port Perry Minor Hockey system which is governed by the local association and not the O.M.H.A. Only the travel- ling teams are governed by the O.M.H.A. For many years it has been the policy of Minor Hockey that all house league teams would get one hour ice time a week (usually Sat.) for which the parents pay a registration fee of $50.00 this season. When the new arena was built, I personally encouraged the executive to try to give the house league two hours a week where possible. Mrs. Perrin claims she paid $55.00 because they were at a soccer tournament during registration, last fall, but she fails to explain that the soccer tournament was only for one day and we had registration for three days. (Turn to page 7) Express appreciation Dear Sir: On behalf of Scugog District Big Brother Associa- tion I would like to express sincere appreciation for your generous coverage and assistance in the January 31st edition of your paper. I think public awareness has been greatly aroused and with effective communi- cation 1979 should see outstanding results. To date this appeal urging | chatterbox ....... ITEM: In Iran, a 78-year old religious leader returns from 15 years in exile to topple the regime of the Shah, one of the most powerful and despotic leaders in the world today. ITEM: Thousands and thousands of people in Latin America turn out to greet Pope John Paul during his recent visit to that part of the world. The display of adulation was astounding, and the Catholic Church at this moment is in the midst of a controversy over political activity in Latin America on the part of bishops and priests. ITEM: A church pastor in Ajax leads a group of his flock on a binge of smashing rock records, claiming they are evil and the work of the devil. By the time they were finished about $5000 worth of rock lay in pieces on the ground. There is a connection between all three events, although the record smashing in Ajax has absolutely no 'historical importance, while the revolution in Iran has already changed the course of history, and the activities of the Church in Latin America may very well do the same in the not too distant future. It is obvious that there are very powerful spiritual forces at work in the world today. Religion, which took something of a nose dive during the Sixties, is making a comeback, not only in the poverty stricken areas of the world, but in the highly industrialized, so-called wealthy nations of the west. To Western observers, the events in the past couple of months in Iran are nothing short of remarkable. The Shah, financed by virtually unlimited supplies of oil, built an armed forces more powerful than any other in the Middle East, and said to be among the top-half-dozen or so in the world. The Shah's secret police, the Savak, had almost unlimited power of arrest and confinement, and used brutal tactics of torture and oppression on enemies of the Shah who were crowded into the country's prisons. And yet, despite this military and police power, despite the untold millions spent on American weapons, a 78-year- old holy man, the Ayatolla Khomeine, has forced the Shah into exile, dismantled the Savak, told the army to lay down its weapons, and pledged to turn Iran into a republic based on the laws of Islam. He enjoys the support of the people, or at least a large number of them. And the reasons are obvious. The new-found oil wealth in Iran came too quickly. While Iran modernized at a furious pace building sky-scrapers and super highways, precious little of that wealth filtered down to the masses. While a few lived in absolute splendor, many Iranians grovelled in their poverty, and when they dared to omplain, the Shah's police clamped them in prison. All the ingredients of a popular uprising were being mixed together in a large volatile package fused with the fervor of Islamic fundamentalism. The Ayatolla merely had to light the match. The vast majority of the people tuned to their religion because there was no alternative to their political and economic oppression, and this phenomena is gaining strength in several other Islamic states in that part of the world. In Latin America, almost the same ingredients are surfacing, and that part of the world may soon experience a bang almost as big as the one that went off in Iran. Most of the masses in Latin America live in squalid poverty, have little political power and even fewer human rights. The one force that unifies the people through their poverty is the Catholic Church which over the years has turned a blind eye to political, social and economic injustice. But no more. Bishops and priests are beginning to organize the people into political activism. Some are urging open disobedience and armed revolution against the ruling governments. The godless aspect of theoretical Marxism is being ignored, but the movement is geared to the notion that wealth must be re-distributed and shared equally by all, and private ownership of resources must be eliminated. A popular revolution cemented by religious fervour is a phenomena that the Western mind finds almost impossible to comprehend. The divisions of power between state and church in western political philosophy have been so clearly defined and so long standing that the notion of any church attaining political power in the United States or Canada or in western Europe is absurd. For one thing the relative social, economic and political well being of the vast western middle class sustains our political traditions. But the western world has seen recently a few signs that some people anyway are turning away and looking for something else. The record smashing binge in Ajax recently should be taken as a warning: not that our political, economic and social structures are in danger of toppling, but rather that values are being examined closely, and in some cases rejected. The smashing of a few rock records is hardly a revolution in itself, but nonetheless it represents an act of political and social violence. Smashing records is a stronger form of protest than simply refusing to buy them. It is an invitation for others to do the same: others who may also be taking a hard look at some of the values in today's society and finding them lacking. It is a symbolic gesture, and anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of the mechanics of protest and revolution knows the importance of symbols. While there is no comparison in real terms between the SATE HE PIAS ND involvement has brought forth four prospective Big Brothers in the Port Perry area. This being the inter- national year of the child makes your support com- plimentary to you speci- fically. : Thank you, again. Sincerely yours, Big Brothers Association of Scugog District Dorothy Forder political and economic climate in Canada and that in Iran or Latin America, one can at times sense that there is a feeling of increased frustration and even resentment among people in this country. Traditional symbols of authority are coming under attack, often very subtle attack. People are beginning to suspect that politicians and especially political parties just aren't delivering the goods, they aren't keeping up with our expectations. Dangerous? Of course not. Well, not yet anyway. But one cannot help but feel that underneath the apparent calm in this country and others there is a mood brewing, fermenting, tossing and turning, and it would take precious little for that mixture to come bubbling upinto the open. Six months ago, who would have thought that the Shah of Iran would be toppled from power and forced into exile? Two years ago who would have thought that the head of the Roman Catholic Church would be greeted like a conquering hero by the people of Latin America? 8 port perry star A Company Limited Phone 985-7383 {x CNA Serving the Township of Scugog \0 RY ley SEA : (IU): "i []; oe J.PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager J.B. MCCLELLAND ' Editor Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association \ and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Published every Wednesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $8.00 per year Elsewhere $10.00 per year. Single copy 20c _ LI NEARS LTE TL VR J TT PRR.