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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, Janvary 21, 1986 Editorial Comments Tea-Pot Tempest If there ever was a tempest in the tea-pot (or should we say thim- ble) it was the minor controversy last week over whether Durham Region councillors and senior Regional staff should attend a two-day think tank at the Pinestone Resort in Haliburton. Some publications in Durham made'a big splash of the fact with banner headlines on the front page and "tut-tut" editorials wailing about the fact that the think-tank was going to cost the taxpayers of the Region $4000 to $6000. In actual fact, the total cost was less than $4000. it's very easy these days to be cynical when it comes to politi- clans, but this trip to Pinestone was not an example. Durham Region has an annual budget of some $150 million. Bringing councillors and senior staff together for a few hours of closed door informal meetings . -where all can speak their mind is a worthwhile exercise, especially in the early weeks of a new council term. The fact that Regional councillors and staff were spending tax- payers money on this think-tank is a legitimate new story that needs to be reported. But the suggestion that it was a waste of money is foolish. We do not hesitate in saying that the ideas and discussion kick- ed about at this meeting will save the taxpayers of this Region far "more than the cost. For once, let's give the elected representatives and senior staff the benefits of the doubt, and even go so far as to make the assumption that they are responsible when it comes to spen- ding the tax dollars prudently. ~~ Snowarama A Good Cause The 12th annual Snowarama for Easter Seals will be held in Port Perry on Sunday, February 2. The event, as most people know, involves a 100 km snowmobile ride that starts and ends at the Latcham Centre on the Port Perry waterfront. Riders are asked to collect pledges and all the money raised is split among several regional service clubs for their good work in the communities and half the funds go directly to the Easter Seal Socie- ty, which helps look after the special needs of children with physical disabilities. Snowarama has been around for more than a decade. There are 30 similar events held across Ontario each winter and over the years, some $7.5 million has been raised in pledges. Organizers this year for the Port Perry Snowarama have set a target of $25,000 which in reality, should not be too hard to meet, considering the number of snowmobilers in the area. In fact, we would suggest that there is no reason why an even greater amount can't be raised on February 2. But it won't be unless a lot of people decide to make the effort. The decision to make that effort might be a lot easier if people could see exactly where their money is going and the kind of good work it is doing. : - There are a lot of children with physical disabilities. Can you im- agine how many of these children would just love to be able to hop on a snowmobile and ride 100 km? Can you imagine just how many would love to be able to walk without crutches, or get around without a wheelchair? (Turn to page 6) the : NN PORT FLEET $TAR CO LIMITED (@ | 233 Queen stent #0 80190 OR0N | | PORT A EEY ONTARO | oa EJ (48) 083 738) a J J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association , and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Advertising Manager Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd . Port Perry, Ontario J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as. second class mail by the Post Office Department. Ottawa. and for cash CATHY ROBB payment of postage in cash News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year Elsewhere $45 00 per year Single Copy 35 f OCOPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher a TTY HE SHIT TT HTT HHH HHH iM i HH HY Ee IE == oe tT = I Rm yy ee i enn Fi edi it ee iia Shi Gaia ES - * LS " I) Se by Cathy Robb Chatterbox WHERE'S RON? Birthday time again. Ron Larkin's birthday. You know, the guy who writes a food column for the Star sometimes. So it's his birthday on January 7th, and his wife Donna and I are plotting for the event about - two weeks beforehand, somewhere in the middle of the no-man's land between Christmas and New Year's. "We have to do something different this year," she sez. "Different," sez I. "Well, you know what a practical joker Ron is, always pulling stunts on other people," Donna sez. "Stunts," sez I. "Yeah, we have to think of something really good," she sez, smirking. "To get even." 'Hmmm,"' I smirk. "Something good." The boob tube was blathering on in the background while we were having this extreme- ly intelligent conversation and somewhere along the line a '"Where's Herb?" Burger King commer- cial came on. We giggled. We always giggle at ""Where's Herb?" commercials. "Y'know," I sez, "We could make a movie about Ron for his birthday. Something like that commercial." "You mean like, Where's R on?' Donna sez, her ears perking up like Spock at a Vulcan convention. We figured we could do the film with my Dad's Super 8 movie camera, and put it together like a W5 documentary, interviewing all his friends and co-workers with the premise that Ron has disappeared. Easier said than done, although we did even- tually get it done. Trouble was, it was a lot of trouble. To start with, we should have used a video camera with sound included, instead of trying to sync the Super 8 with the sound on the cheap tape recorder we carted around with us everywhere. We THOUGHT it would be cheaper to do it the, Super 8 way, since we already had a camera, in- stead of paying $25 a day to rent a video camera. Turns out we spent more than a hundred bucks on film, developing and gas running the film out to Brampton, and worked twice as long editing the film once it was finished, than we would have if we had of used video. Oh well. Next time we'll know. And we ran into a few other minor problems ---- like using screwdrivers and pens instead of an editing machine; scotch tape instead of splic- ing tape; and total lack of syncopation between the film and the soundtrack. The one problem we didn't have was coerc- ing people to appear on the film. Absolutely everyone we asked said yes. Even people who "don't know Ron agreed to act. Mayor Jerry Taylor, for example, agreed to star in the film. Ron's a real bowler, or at least he thinks he is, so we asked the Mayor to pretend Ron had pro- posed a by-law to legalize street bowling. So there he is, possibly the most important man in Scugog Township, dressed in his chain of office with gavel in hand. : "Where's Ron?" he asks in the film, after banging the gavel angrily. "We can't start this meeting without him. After all, he's the one who proposed this darn bowling by-law." When Ron eventually saw the film, he laugh- ed his socks off at this. "The MAYOR?" he shrieked between laughs. ~ "You got the MAYOR to be in this thing?" Darn right. We also got Bill Barr, the owner of Stedman's Department Store, who turned out to be the best actor in the entire film. "And insurance salesman Chuck Dewhirst, whom we called an "insurance tycoon' and described how Ron had taken out a million dollar policy in his wife's name just before he disappeared. i "By jeeze, you'd better find Ron,' he quips in the film: '"He's only paid one gosh darned premium!" Even a couple of Durham Regional Police- men agreed to make an appearance, supposedly checking snowbanks for bodies. In the confu- sion, however, I never got around to doing the filming. Star editor, John B. McClelland, was the first person we filmed. He must have yammered on and on about Ron's inability to get his columns to the paper on time for at least five minutes. In a good-natured way, of course. "Oh, that's perfect!" Ron hooted when he saw John B. in the film. Later, he added more reflec- tively, 'I guess I really should get working on my next column, eh?" Publisher Peter Hvidsten also got into the act with a speech persuading Donna NOT to put a full- page Family Finder ad in the Star to try and find on. "A full page ad in the Star, Donna?" he says, (Turn to page 6)