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[ a I i Yap ai try : 1LoA%, Vit raipe iad ted itdi olla dN sr intiunitd doar acte oy Abdubuiohs RR TE SPACER A : » v / \ . : 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 24, 1919 It was decided at a special meeting of the Council to oil Queen Street this. year instead of using water to keep the dust down. A reception and presentation were accorded to Port Perry returned soldiers on Wednesday, April 16th. The Ladies of the town had made bountiful provision for the soldiers and their parents in the Methodist Church. Students from SS #1 Scugog in the year 1922. Photo courtesy of Clarence Carter. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 27, 1944 The Literary Program given by Grade IX was un- "der the direction of Mrs. Rapson, Mrs. Coulter and Mrs. Bielby. The program consisted of a play and musical numbers. Mr. Thomas Wilson had the misfortune to have his | brooder house completely destroyed by fire on Friday night. (Turn to page 6) Bobbi aoe dab ahiradidtmante sda buy ' » PTE NL ME PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, April 18, 1979 -- 5 letters Deserve coverage Dear Sir: I very much enjoyed the editorial of April 11th, 1979 regarding the fact that hockey, baseball, and football receive much more media exposure than the feat accomplished by Canadian Gilles Villeneuve when winning his second Grand Prix event of this season. However, it seems that your newspaper is very much guilty of the same sort of thing. Police changes Dean Westbrook, formerly inspector of detectives with the Durham Region Police force, is now commanding officer of District Two which includes Scugog Township, Uxbridge, Cannington, Ajax, and Pickering. He replaces Gerry Oulette, who takes the position of night duty inspector. Dave Fleming, formerly night duty inspector, re- places Westbrook as inspec- tor of detectives. The changes were an- nounced by the Durham Region Police last week. 'chotterbox ....... Well the big day finally arrived. I've been on pins and needles, scarcely able to contain myself, waiting with breathless anticipation for the literary masterpiece of the year, maybe even the decade. I'm referring to that gem of a book by you-know-who that finally hit the stands on April 9. Beyond Reason, from the silver pen of Maggie T, arrived smack in the middle of an election campaign, and immediately a Canadian public hungry for all the worldly insights and pearls of wisdom from our dear Maggie began to snap the book off the shelves with total abandon. Or did they? I'm told that Beyond Reason was hardly on the shelf in a couple of large Toronto book-stores and already it was being sold at a discount of three dollars off the $13 jacket price. Here at the Port Perry Star Stationery shop, we got 12 copies from the distributor, but for some reason the good people of Scugog Township are not exactly breaking down the doors to buy the darn thing. In fact, as I write this, the book has been on prominent display on the counter in the store for the past three days and not one has been sold; not one. I just can't figure out why. Leafing through the book, reading snippets here and there, gazing at the pictures of Maggie herself, all dewey-eyed innocence, Beyond Reason. is a must forthe library of every thinking Canadian. Written in scholarly prose, a majestic literary sweep, it will make you laugh and cry, and compares favourably to any of the great classics of our time. ' If this book doesn't win at least a Nobel Prize this year, not to mention a Governor-general's award, then I just don't know what will. In all seriousness folks, I'm getting a little carried away. The truth of the matter is this. Beyond Reason is a dud, and rightly so. All the hype, all the publicity, all the serializations on the front pages of a large Toronto newspaper aren't going to save this book. The Canadian people can spot a sham, and while there may be a lot of interest in the whole process, Canadians don't appear to be falling all over themselves to part with $13 for the hard-cover edition that is essentially nothing more than a rather juvenile account of a rather juvenile and shallow life. A couple of weeks ago, I suggested in this column space that Margaret Trudeau's behavior culminating in the publication of this piece of nonsense was nothing more than a hard-nosed business decision designed with one purpose: to make her a bundle of money. I still feel the same way, but I think I under-estimated the Canadian people who maybe are not going to fall for all the publicity generated by the hucksters who talked Maggie into writing the book in the first place. Oh, sure. The book will probably sell fairly well and make her enough money to live on for a year or so. But a runaway best-seller it won't be. And that is good. If Maggie's book turns out to be a bomb and hardly worth all her trouble, Maureen McTeer might get the hint and decide to stick to her law career rather than trying to bore the public with her memoires about life with Joe. PRICES, PRICES, PRICES Oh, boy, the mean old Ontario government has done it to us again. The price of high living is going up and up. Beer, a dime more for a case of 24, cigarettes up a couple of pennies a package, the price of imported spirits hiked, gasoline up a couple of cents. Gad, we have it bad in Ontario. The government is slapping more and more taxes on all our small luxuries. It is getting to the point where a guy won't be able to afford to drive to the beer store or the local watering spot for a few cool ones. Goodness, what is this country coming to? It's time for a revolution. oo We do a lot of carping in this province and the rest of Canada about the price of just about everything. Imagine the cost of gasoline for our gigantic guzzlers at still less than a buck a gallon, and an increase in the price of beer that works out to less than half a penny a bottle. When will it ever end? Yup, we may think it is tough all around in Canada, but Pete Hvidsten Sr. just returned home from his annual trip to Norway and was telling me about some of the prices in that country. A bottle of Scotch fetches $24 in the liquor stores. A pint of beer in a restaurant will set you back $2.50, and buying beer in the store will put a dent in the wallet to the tune of $1.25 a bottle. Food prices are generally higher, and gasoline goes for better than $2 a gallon despite the new found oil fields in the North Sea. It is really little wonder that many Norwegians keep a small still going in their homes, and the police will turn a blind eye so long as they don't try to peddle the home-made brew on the streets. Granted, wages in Norway are high, as they are in all of Scandinavia, but off the top taxes are staggering. A person earning $15,000, for example, will lose about one-third in income tax to help pay for the social welfare programs. But getting back to prices for such things as booze, gasoline, and cigarettes. I wonder if Canadians appreciate just how well off they are, and how little of our disposable Our community has several members that are involved in officially sanc- tioned racing events here in Ontario, such as snowmobi- ling, stock-cars, motorcycle events, modified tractor pulls, and so on. These involved people spend a lot of time and effort supplying entertainment for the general public, and most of them are doing quite well at it. I, for one, am proud to say that I know some of these competitors and wish them and all others the best of luck in future events. ° Yours sincerely, Kevin Willis, Port Perry, Ontario Thanks for the comments Kevin, they are well founded. Unfortunately, we have neither the staff or time to cover the many events which happen outside of our community, even when local people are involved. But we would be more than pleased to publish anything submit- ted about area residents who are doing well for them- selves away from home. Just give us a call and let us know, or drop us a line. Publisher h ne dead dani inlaw 8 sy 4) income is required for the so-called small luxuries like a bottle of Scotch or a case of beer. We even complain about thefbost of OHIP, but where else in the world can a family getfirst class medical care and attention for less than $500 a year? I know it is dangerous sometimes to make bald comparisons between standards of living and prices in two completely different countries. But I can't help thinking that if things are so darn bad in this country, why are there long line-ups of people from just about everywhere in the world waiting for the chance to come here to start a new life? If that is not proof of just how well off we really are, then what is. It is little wonder that our Prime Minister gets a little impatient with people who nag about our "problems". Canadians need to be scolded. In fact, they need to be spanked, especially those who cry poor in the richest country in the world. - (port perry star Company Limited Phone 985.7383 SIG E SAE, G CNA (0mm) = Serving the Township of Scugog 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 02465 Subscription Rate: In Canada $8.00 per year Elsewhere $10.00 per year. Single copy 20c