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SOR LA § pole editorial comments (continued) If this serious Issue about representation develops into a full-blown power play, the image of Durham Region is once again going to be shadowed. After a rocky period of serious growing pains in the early stages, there have been signs in the past couple of years that Durham was maturing "coming of age' so to speak. If the council breaks down into factions over this issue, the process of maturation could be seriously set back. With 11 reps on the 30 member council at the moment, Oshawa is not under-represented from elther a population or geographic point of view. What Oshawa fears most from the addition of an Ajax and Whitby rep is that this would bring the total from Ajax, Pickering and Whitby to 11, exactly the number from Oshawa, and effectively it could erode the power of Oshawa on Regional council. That's the heart of the problem. by Margaret VanCamp Town Hall's 1873 small but enthusiastic audience was treated to a musical delight on Fri. Feb. 26 with "Lyrachord'", the com- bination of tenor James McLean and harpist Gianetta Baril. The 1st half of the program ranged from J.S. Bach to C. Salzedo, a recent harp composer. Cing Melodies Populaires Grecqves (5 original Greek songs) by M. Ravel, really showed the versatility and sensitivity of James' singing and Gianetta's accompani- ment. The 1st of the five was sung tenderly as it con- cerned a young man awaken- ing his new bride with a The 2nd dealt with war and the voice was hauntingly lyrical. In the 3rd, a young man was boasting of his prowess and here the voice changed to be dynamic, forceful, daring. "In Praise of Youth" was the next theme, and here the voice and harp caressed the music. "Tout Gai' every- body happy, a fun, playful song, ended the set. Then the audience was entertained by James' rich, powerful singing in two selections from opera; Serenta (from I. Pagliacci) by R. Leoncavalle and Che Gelida Manina (from La Boheme) by G. Puccini. The voice enveloped us as each story unfolded. The first half ended with a PORT PERRY STAR -- Wed. March 10, 1982 -- 5 Lyrachord delights small Town Hall audience solo by Gianetta by C. Salzedo; variations . on a theme in an ancient style. Salzedo was a composer; instrumental in the develop- ment of the harp and harp music... He wrote a vast repertoire of music for harp and Gianetta had chosen wisely. The piece truly demonstrated her superb technique and musicality for the composition demanded all - from chords to running passages, to arpeggios to a simulation of a bubbling little stream, to a brilliant finale, comprised of all parts. Prelude in C by Prokofriff opened the 2nd half followed by the sensitively sung Applachian Folk Carol. Three Canadian folksongs followed; A la Claire Fontaine, The Banks of New- foundland and Les Roftsmen - the latter so musically true to life that the accompani- ment made you hear the steady rhythm of the wooden rafts going down stream, and James vividly evoked the raftsmen as they shouted back and forth in English and French. The Gianetta solved in Chanson dans la Nuit, another Salzedo selection which incorporated 3 different ways of making sounds on the harp. The piece was brilliantly played, and confirmed in this writer's mind, that Gianetta is a harpist of outstanding talent. i (Turnto page 6) braid of gold for her hair. bill smiley CONCERNED READER And you think your mail service is lousy! Just the other day I received a letter from a lady in Dorchester, Ont., dated July 11th, 1981. She was cutting me up about a column which had appeared in her local paper on July 9th. She must think that I am either an insensitive brute, or afraid to face up to her criticism. She says: "In this article you referred to Special Education as 'educational jargon for teaching stupid kids,' The lady, and I'm not going to use her name without her permission, really flays me for that careless remark, and I don't blame her. It was stupid and callous and generated by an innate disgust with educational jargon. "Special Education" acquired the same aroma as such euphemisms as "Opportunity Class," used for kids who had one of: no interest in learning, a learning disability, or mental retardation from some cause or other; genetic, brain damage, child abuse. These children, who could not cope with the daily, restricted hemispheres of their schooling, were put in a special class, shoved along, and eventually wound up in a secondary school, with the odds strongly against them, probably a year or two older than their class-mates, doomed by the rigidity of the school system to be looked down upon, sometimes affectionately, sometimes condes- cendingly, by their teachers and society. They are difficult, these children. Some are mentally retarded, others are emotionally either retarded or screwed up, still others are quite brilliant but have a learning disability of some sort, but they are lumped together, and, inevitably, wind up feeling lumpish. They are not stupid kids. They see through. Sometimes very clearly, more so than the adults who lump them. My correspondent writes: "We are the parents of four children, three of whom are learning disabled. One has had a hearing disability as well. They are normal, average people who are in no way disabled individuals. They do have a disability. There is a difference! I would say that their -- and our -- main handicaps in life are and have been not their disabilities but people like yourself who refer to them as stupid." Mea culpa. I'd like to print the entire letter, but haven't space, she says, "I wonder if you are aware. . . that the label for kids who are 'bright' or 'gifted' comes under the umbrella of Special Education?" Yes, ma'am, I am. Are you aware that almost nothing has been done about the latter, while millions of dollars have been spent on the others? I've been sore about this for years. A parent of so-called gifted children can become just as angry about the 19th century ideas of education in our country as one with learning disabled children. He or she sees these bright ones gradually becoming bored at having to march with the mediocre, rebelling and dropping out or turning off, with often disastrous results. You'll be glad to know that a great new Children's Crusade is to call those at the bottom and at the top of the heap "Exceptional Students," another euphemism that seeks to avoid the blunt truth: we are not all born equal, but everyone should have equal opportunity to develop his-her potential to the fullest. You'll also be glad to know, lady, that a great many teachers in what is now called Special Education are dedicated souls who do everything in their (human) power to help those with learning disablement. But they are not psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists. They have to cope with far too many children with far too many types of learning disabilities, whether physical or emotional. They have my deepest admiration. I have taught "slow learners" classes. Another euphemism. I liked them. They were honest, and gener- ally friendly and kind. A few years ago I met a couple of boys from one of these classes, at the bank. They were both working in construction, making almost as much as I did. They were withdrawing enough money to go to Las Vegas for a week, and try the wild life there. I felt pretty small as I plodded home with the groceries to a wild night watching television. Again, my lady writes: "Do you know that Einstein, General Patton, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci would be your 'stupid kids,' in Special Education classes if living now? These gifted and bright people all had learning disabilities. On the other hand, Einstein helped discover nuclear fission, Paton was a megalomaniac, Churchill was turfed out as soon as the war ended and da Vinci contributed to thousands of slipped discs among people straining to look up at the ceiling of the Sistane Chapel. Edison merely contributed to bad eyesight and huge hydro bills. Just kidding, lady. Main reason they made a mark is that they were able to overcome, or didn't have to go to high school. You say, finally, "The written word generates in more than one direction! You, Mr. Smiley, have a wide reader's coverage. I would hope that you could take the time to find out who "Special Kids" are. None of us need that label -- stupid." Right. Except for a few columnists. remem er wh en? © 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 9, 1922 his 93rd birthday. He still operates his harness shop. 65th wedding anniversary. Mr. Harold Archer will move the contents of his hard- remodelling for this special line of business. In the carnival for this year held at the Arena, Mrs. skating was Reta Rodman and Leighton McGregor. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 13, 1947 Seventy students of Port Perry High School travelled by bus to Toronto to compete in the Kiwanis Music Fest. Four choirs competed and Port Perry received second place in the standings. Mr. Crane, principal and Mrs. Elsie Dobson were pleased with the performance. Miss Marion Healey, Saintfield is taking a Secretary Course at Canada Business College, Toronto. Scugog has been isolated from the outside world for nearly two weeks due to severe weather. Food for stock commenced to run low and people at the Foot made a road to the lake and were able to get to Port Perry with teams. It took four days for twenty men to break through approx- imately a mile and a quarter. John Ralph, Port Perry's oldest resident celebrated Sunday, February 26th he and his wife celebrated their ware store to the St. Charles Hotel, which is undergoing Pargeter as the Union Jack won 1st prize, and Miss Stone as Strawberry girl was 2nd prize winner. Best couple 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 14, 1957 At the first annual dinner for the Port Perry Chamber of Commerce the guest speaker was Mr. Harold Kenneth Hillier of the Hydro Electric Commission of Ontario. Miss Donna Johnson, Pine Grove obtained honours on her Grade III Harmony examination. She is a pupil of Mrs. Ted Jackson. Epsom Bush League hockey team won the series. Bruce Heaslip, Blackstock resigned from the hospital board and was replaced by Art Hyland. Port Perry Junior Girls basketball team, coached by Miss G. Brock eliminated teams from Stouffville and Burks Falls to win the COSSA championship. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 8, 1962 Reeve J.J. & Mrs. Gibson and Mr. & Mrs. Jack Hope were among 127 passengers who were taken off the plane _ at Malton Airport during a recent bomb scare. Bruce Ballinger of Port Perry High School was award- ed the best actor prize in the Drama Festival in his role of Caesar. Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Weeden, Manchester have moved to Port Perry. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 9, 1967 The 1st Port Perry "W.M. Letcher' Rover Crew is sponsoring a concert by the Northlandia Concert Band in the High School auditorium. Over 100 guests attended the Hospitality Hours at Club Annrene and enjoyed dancing to Gene & His Starliners after dinner. Glyn Beddows, R.R. 1 Blackwater was the lucky winner of a radio at the official opening of Cy Wilson Ford Sales at Manchester. Ontario Provincial Police Constable David Ian Godley recently graduated from the O.P.P. College, Toronto after successful completion of the "Recruit Orientation Course." He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Godley, Port Perry. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, March 8, 1972 : The village of Port Perry has made plans for paving nearly three miles of municipality streets this year. The exact number of feet to be paved is 15,735 at a cost esti- mated to be $35,718. The Port Perry division of Masterfeeds was broken into on March 1st. The thief or thieves were after only one thing: horse equipment. Mr: Harvey Mahaffy discovered the break-in and reported it to Whitby OPP. Kenneth A. Brown of Cochrane Street, Port Perry received a General Motors Suggestion Award cheque for $10,000. G.M. President J.D. Baker made the presentation. Students at Sunderland Public School released 250 hellium-filled balloons, as part of an experiment in air currents. The balloons were tagged in hopes that any balloons found would be returned to the school: