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RN ran eine SO aap TT Eee ge 4 a aa ES a al ate a a i bE ec Eh an aa PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, July 22, 1986 -- § \i = WP oO i mM - by John B. McClelland WHERE ARE THE HEROES? I have two sons. One just turned eight. The other will soon be 11. They share a bedroom in our house. Venturing in there can be hazardous to my health, especially in the dark. Have you ever s on a hockey in your bare feet, or a golf ball? Have you ever walked shin first into an open dresser drawer, or become tangled in the wires that sprout from the back of one of those "ghetto blasters?' ~ Yes,s ng into the boys room can be likc walk- ing on a mine-field of untold dangers for an unsuspec- ting Jaber I try io avoid the place. ut I was in recently looking for something (probably my wallet) and I happened to pay close at- tention to the assortment of posters the boys have pinn- ed to their bedroom wall. _ Rock stars, of course. They are mandatory in any kids room these days. Michael J. Fox in a poster from "Back to the Future." A delightful movie. I've seen it twice myself. Wrestlers. Kids love wrestling, and they have posters of King Kong Bundy (a villian) the Hulkster (a hero) and some guy by the name of Ricky Steamboat (I'm not sure if he's a good guy or a bad guy). Rocky is a big hero these days. That's Rocky who - battles an evil Russian giant in Rocky IV (or is that Rocky V)? Yes, there is a poster of Rocky and the Rus- ~ sians slugging it out Hollywood style. Standing there looking at the colourful around the room, I couldn't help but think if these are the people my kids are off, then maybe something is not quite right. Not one of these , in my estimation, is a real, live, genuine bona fide h Rocky and Back to the Future are right out of the movies. They don't exist, except on film. Wrestlers like and Bundy and Steamboat are simple. They the role of good Siiy ar vila every Sime Wey alep to the ring. Same with rock stars. Their entire public life is spent play- ing a role. Who knows what they are like when they the office come home office. . Wayne Gretzky used to be on a poster in the boys room. But poor Wayne has disa his poster no doubt at the bottom of a pile in the closet you Floyd Patterson or Sonny Liston, you could cut their photos from Sports Illustrated. But rock stars, characters from movies? I don't remember any rock stars when I was ten. And Randolph Scott seemed to be in every movie I ever saw when 1 was a kid. I didn't have a photo of him on my wall. 1 EaTE hp hit Wands abil the Jia 8) people that are exerting an influence on kids these days. there any heroes out there? aside from a very few notable excep- tions, are no longer heroes to the younger generation. And why should they be with drug and million- dollar contracts for pitchers who can't pitch, hockey 'Prize for solving the Suez Crisis. I may [ayes Who can't ski, atid {amis BOYErs who throw ntrums when a call doesn't please ' Politicians and international statesmen? I'm quite leased my kids don't role model after Mulroney, ow about Kissinger as statesman, or Waldheim who spent nearly a decade as United Nations general 8 . No thanks. . Mother Theresa or Tutu are the kinds of that kids could look up to. But I've never seen ei of them on a poster. What is lacking in the world today is that kids don't seem to have any super-powerful in their lives. When I was a youngster, figures like Churchill, de Gaulle, even Lester Pearson and John Diefenbaker played a role in my life. Even as a ten year old, I knew that Churchill had rallied the free world in 1940 and stemmed the terrible Nazis. I knew that de Gaulle had been a figure in Europe. I knew that Mike Pearson won a Peace not have known what Suez was all about, but I sure as heck knew that H 2 Prime Mi on arts wed to e was a , a my speak of with (Turnto page 6) Yesterday's Letters Memories 60 YEARS AGO - Thursday, July 22, 1928 The Port Perry rink of S. Jeffrey were successful in bringing home the first prize from the Uxbridge tournament, Skip D. Carnegie andhis rink brought home the third prize. A lucky day for Port Perry bowlers. Congratulations to Mary Smallman who passed the primary piano examination, and Albert Cawker who passed the elementary examinations. Both are pupils of Mrs. J.E. Jackson. " - The plans of the proposed new schools will open for inspection at the Treasurer's office on Monday and Thursday next week. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 21, 1966 Pat Salters and Margaret Terrett are this year's swimming in- ~ structors at the Poplar Park swimming lessons. They are in charge of 125 who have enroled in lessons. A reunion of former students of Port Perry Public and High Schools was held recently at the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Harris, at View Lake. A number of those present had not seen each other in forty years. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 20, 1961 Congratulations to Mr. Ronald A. Willerton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Willerton, R.R.2, Port Perry, who recently graduated from the Toron- to Teachers College. He will commence teaching at Greenbank Con- solidated School in September. Miss Donna Johnson, teacher at the Port Perry High School is Ontario County Dairy Princess for 1961. Chosen from seven com- petitors June 28. Miss Johnson will represent Ontario County in the Provincial Dairy Princess contest at the C.N.E. The Warden of Northumberland and Durham Counties, Bruce Ashton, was chariman at the opening ceremonies of an additional 28 miles of Highway 401 between Highway 28 at Port Hope and Highway 30, North of Brighton. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 19, 1951 Congratulations to Joan Real and Jane Samelis for passing grade five harmony examinations of Toronto Conservatory of Music. They are theory pupils of Mrs. V.P. Stouffer. Other passing examinations of the Royal Conservatory of Music were Grade 6, Gloria Hastings; Mary Stevens; Grade 4, Mary Lou Robertson; Grade 2, Margaret LaHive, Helen Routley. These are all students of Miss Helen Willard. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, July 21, 1976 An 18 ton, sea-going weed cutter owned by Limnos Ltd. was laun- ched in Lake Scugog on Monday. From here it went to Lake Chemong where it is taking part in an environment ministry plant control Port Perry Fair has become a 2-day fair in order to accom- modate all the new attractions. At a special dinner party last week at Emiel's Place, Archie McMaster was honoured by Bill and Storey Beare for 30 years of ser- vice to Beare Motors. Dale McQuade, Allan Faux, Paul Beare and Randy Knight beat out a veteran team of golfers from Oshawa to win the third annual tournament for the Oshawa and District Association for the Mental- ly Retarded. Port Perry needs smaller homes Dear Sir: Having read in a recent issue of the Port Perry Star, that another development group wish to begin building homes to the south end of town; I'm wondering, "are they planning for more huge homes (4 bedrooms)?" so called family homes! Many people of retirement age in our town; would willingly sell their big, older homes, but are not ready for the confinement of an apar- tment building. What we really need are some 2 bedroom, detached, either split- level or bungalows, with large living and dining rooms, eat-in kit- chens, good dry basements (for storage space) or, if desired, to finish off as a spare bedroom. After viewing the variety home styles and sizes at the "Teskey Estates' in Uxbridge, Chatterbox by Cathy Robb (continued) They're not little, like an ant, and make a large crunchy sound whenever you step on one. The sound is almost as gross as the in- sect itself. They're not slow and stupid, like a mosquito, and can't be swatted. Invariably, when I go to hit one, I miss, and it usually winds up down my shirt or something. Which sends me into screaming fits. They don't drown like dragonflies, and when I scoop them out of the swimming pool, the darn things are still breathing. Worse, they pop up in the darn- dest places. Every time I hang my clothes out to dry I wind up with one in my underwear or something. One of these days | fully expect to find one in my bed. That'll be the day I go complete- ly insane. Frankly, I can't bear them, and am looking forward to the winter when they will all disappear. I'm sorry that developer didn't come to Port Perry. He has taken into consideration the younger, growing families, as well as the so called, "Empty Nesters". Please, developers, give this some thought. After so many years in our larger, comfortable, older homes, we cannot settle for mat- Dear Sir: Being a concerned resident of Birch Island, today I made my an- nual telephone call (July 16, 1986) to the Municipal Office in Port Perry regarding the lack of main- tenance on the causeway leading to our Island. This road gives us the only access to our home, and is a Township road. At this time I was told I could speak with Road Foreman of Ward 4 shop, Colin Haines. I explained that there had been no more than one road grading to the causeway this year, although the roads in the area had been serviced several times. The comment from him was that the causeway should have been done at the same time. Perhaps Mr. Haines is not aware that his road crew has missed this service for the past five months. If his job involves sitting at a Letters to the Editor ... our policy chbox, row-housing; but desire well-built, nicely finished homes, with rooms large enough for our good furnishings that we will use daily. Sincerely, : (Mrs.) Jean McDermott Port Perry Lack of service... desk taking complaints with the 'I don't care" attitude that he projec- ts, and which takes very little ability, then it's no wonder that a man has been hired for that position because a woman, in all probability, would lose her position immediately. I can hardly understand a road being under a foreman's super- vision and not being maintained for that period of time, much less being unknown to the foreman or crew As a taxpayer, I resent being treated as a lower class citizen because I'm complaining about the the lack of a service that I'm paying for and am entitled to. 1 would like to ask Mr. Haines if he has ever considered a course in Public Relations. S. Hartley irch Island to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. It has always been the policy of this newspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make. a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter to the editor. While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must continue Sc Rr