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

4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 11, 1985 editorial comments Helping Others It will be a long time before any of us forgets the images of that deadly tornado that tore apart homes last week in the Barrie-Orangeville area, and claimed more than a dozen lives. Entire homes were literally destroyed in the span of five minutes, cars and trucks smashed beyond repair, along with furniture and appliances. The loss of life amplified the tragedy a hundred times. The dead can never be replaced, of course, but the people of Barrie are starting slowing to rebuild their homes and replace the belongings that were lost. It will be a long and difficult task, and every dollar will help. For these reasons we take our hat off to Sandra Hamilton, a former resident of Port Perry, who last week just decided to do something to help the people of Bar- rie in their hour of need. Sandra went up and down Queen Street in Port Perry asking for donations and was overwhelmed at rais- ing about $300 in less than two hours. She was amazed at the generosity people showed, and in fact wrote about this experience for the Port Perry Star this week. Now, $300 may not not seem like a lot, but every penny is going to help, and the amount raised isn't im- portant. The fact that people opened their wallets on the spur of the moment is significant. Brenda Carter is secretary of the Ridge Runner Truck Club, and she says club members have decided to sent $500 to the Barrie Relief Fund. Mrs. Carter says the Club has issued a challenge to other clubs and organizations in the Township to match this amount. That's a pretty good idea and we hope that others in Scugog respond to this challenge. Sandra Hamilton decided to do something to help others when they need it most. So did the members of the Ridge Runner Truck Club. How about the rest of us? A little generosity will go a long way, and we're sure the people of Barrie will put every penny to good use. The Same Mold Canadians who tuned into the question period in the House of Commons last week might be excused if they thought the Stanley Cup hockey wars were still going on. The insult hurling, the threats and the near brawls that took place suggested that the Speaker may soon have to don a striped jersey and hire a couple of burly linesmen just to keep order in the Parliament of the Land. Too bad the Speaker doesn't have the power to hand out a few season long suspensions. The vituperation may have hit a new high (or low) last week when Justice Minister John Crosbie railed away at Sheila Copps, at one point, calling her a *'tit- mouse,' referring to her as "baby." _Ms. Copps. the Liberal member from Hamilton, was not amused, and rightly so. Crosbie's words were more than just insulting in the usual way that MP's insult each other. The Justice Minister also had a few choice words for Robert Kaplan, and in fact suggested to Mr. Kaplan that they get together in the parking lot behind Parliament to settle their differences man to man, presumably the way they do it on the street corners of St. Johns, Newfoundland, which 1s Crosbie's stomping grounds. And just what was it that got Crosbie so fuming angry to the point where he insulted a female MP and threatened to punch out another? Just a little matter, really. The Liberals wanted to know how come two law firms in St. John's which employ Mr. Crosbie's sons land- ed contracts from the Conservative government to per- form legal work on behalf of the federal Justice Department. When he stopped jumping up and down and poun- ding his fist, Crosbie proclaimed there was nothing wrong with the legal firms who employ his sons receiving federal contracts. And after all, he said, the firms have only billed the government something less than a $1,000 for work done to date It John Crosbie can't understand why Liberal MPs would be pressing for information on a matter such as this, then he really is walking around with blinkers If there was nothing wrong with the contracts to the legal firms, why were they withdrawn when the heat in the Commons went up a few degrees? And why did he nearly go 'bananas' when the Liberal MPs questioned the government on these contracts? The affair involving Crosbie's sons 18 symptomatic (Turn to page 5) -- Canta Panter PolrferZrnv od terbox by John B. McClelland SEXY GUYS Nora Richards and Judy Jensen will be pleased to hear, I'm sure, that the men of Scugog Township are going to get 'equal time' this summer, with a **beauty contest' just for them. Ms. Richards and Ms. Jensen last week wrote let- ters to the editor of this paper knocking the proposed Miss Port Perry Fair Pageant as 'sexist "" and even demeaning to anyone who takes part in it. Personally, I think their claims are nothing more than a lot of balderdash, but that's just my opinion. I can't understand how something like the Miss Port Perry Fair Pageant is 'sexist.' Those taking part are hardly being exploited. It's not a bathing suit contest; they won't be parading around in string bikinis. The winner will act as a good will ambassador dur- ing Port Perry Fair weekend in September. I don't see anything sinister about that. Would Ms. Jensen and Ms. Richards find it more to their liking if there was a Mr. Port Perry Fair Pageant as well? Or should the boys and girls compete together for the title of Port Perry Fair Person? I find it difficult to link something like the Miss Port Perry Fair Pageant with bona finde women's issues, these days; issues that are important to all women in 1985. But enough said on that. Anyway, I understand that there are plans under- way for a 'Sexy Man Competition' which will be held over the Festival Days Weekend on July 11-13 in Port Perry. Proceeds from this 'Sexy Man" affair will go to the Ontario Kidney Foundation and I think it's a heck of a good idea. Mainly, because the Kidney Foundation does need funds for the work it does for people with kidney disease. but also because a contest to see who's the 'sexiest man' in Scugog Township could be a lot of plain old- fashioned fun. I may just decide to enter the darn thing myself. But no doubt there are some who will turn their noses up at the competition, frown and say 'tut. tut. tut = "Beauty contests" (if you can call them that. are a no-no these days Sexist . demeaning and all that stuff Well. those who think that way are welcome to their opinions But I think there is no reason in the world why the Miss Port Perry Fair Pageant can't be fun for those taking part. and the same goes for the "Sexy Man Contest I hope a lot of ladies will decide to enter the Miss Port Perry Fair competition. in spite of the letters from Ms Jensen and Ms Richards And I'd hike to see all kinds of guys in the "Sexy Man Contest." just for the sake of a little old-fashioned fun That's not breaking any law, is it? A PATCH OF GREEN I don't know about you, but I'm kind of pleased to see that Township council decided last week not to ac- cept an offer for the old lawn bowling green on Queen Street. You are probably aware that the Lawn Bowling Club is now in the process of moving to a new facility near the arena, probably by the end of next summer. - The old green on Queen Street is municipal proper- ty. and the council last week turned down a $40,000 cash offer from the Port Perry IGA store. The store manage- ment wanted to use the old bowling green for additional parking. While I have always been a firm believer that the local council must do what it can to assist and enhance the commercial sector of the community, in this in- stance, I'm happy to see the bowling green left as it is, for the foreseeable future, anyway. Hopefully, it can be turned into a small park with a few flower beds, benches and some picnic tables. In any event, I'd like to see it remain "green." There has also been the suggestion that in the winter months, it might make a nice area for a natural ice skating rink. Again, a good idea, and something the Township council should consider seriously. Of course, I live just around the corner and if there was a rink there, I wouldn't have to build one in the backyard for my kids. Heck, I'd even volunteer to help shovel the snow off. Why not? I spend half the winter shovelling the snow off the backyard ice. anyway. Seriously. leaving the bowling green as a patch of green in summer and turning it into a skating rink in winter suits me just fine. FESTIVAL DAYS You may have noticed the news story in this week's paper about the upcoming Festival Days. That's the new name for what used to be known as Western Weekend. and there are a numerous fun-filled events planned for July 11 to 13 in Port Perry. Western Weekend. of course, has been around for the past dozen years or so. and organizers decided it was time for a change. Frankly, there wasn't much "western" about Western Weekend. So. the name has been changed to Festival Days There are still many of the events lined up that have proven popular over the years. and with some of the new ideas. there's lots of life in the mid-summer affair Goodbye Western Weekend. hello Festival Days Make a note of July11-13 just four short weeks away) Watch the paper over the next few weeks for more info (Jurn to page 6) a _--