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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 24, 1987 -- § oe Vie WP oO I Nn t by John B. McClelland THIS PHANTOM BUSINESS Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I am not the Phantom. For some reason that escapes me, a lot of people in the eommunity suspect that.l am the Phantom. Let me put that idea to rest here, now and forever And T have no idea who the Phantom may be. nor do I want to know. However, I'm pleased to note that the Phantom has thrown his/her support behind the Great Scugog Fitness Challenge coming up at the end of May. I received a let- ter from the Phantom last week, which is printed in this edition of the Star. The Phantom was apparently in good spirits when the letter was written. And this summer, I hope to be able to enlist the sup- port of the Phantom in another worthy community pro- ject. Plans are now in the works for a big canoe race around the Port Perry waterfront in July. If this pro- ~ ject gets off the ground, as I hope it will, I will be call- ing on the Phantom for moral support to generate some publicity. But more on the canoe race will be forthcom- ing in the future. Although I have had several letters from the Phan- tom, a rock for my office desk and another rock delivered to my front porch, I have not a clue just who this character may be (in real life, that is). I can make some basic assumptions. The Phantom is clever, well-informed about events in the communi- ty, resourceful and patient. The Phantom is also a graduate of PPHS. Thus, I can also assume that he/she will be present in some shape or form when the High School Reunion is held at the end of June this year. But let me repeat for the benefit of all those people who have been pointing their fingers and whispering behind my back: I am not the Phantom, O.K" HAZARDOUS SPORT Probably the most wrenching image to appear on the television screen was that of Canadian skier Todd Brooker earlier this winter. The film clip was repeated -dozens of times on television in the week after the horti- ble accident on the slopes, and no doubt it will continue to crop up inthe future. Anyone who has seen the clip of Brooker taking the spill will never forget it. At something like 100km/hr., he lost control, fell and literally cartwheeled through the air, landing several times on his head before com- ing to rest against a safety fence. It was a sickening sight, to say the least, and a miracle that the young skier wasn't killed. Brooker came away from that mishap with a knee badly torn up. The injury was so severe that a promis- ing career as a world class downhill skier is over. He was lucky. Two weeks ago, another Canadian downhill skier, Liisa Savijarvi took a terrible tumble in a training run in Colorado. She suffered a terrible fraéture in.the leg and severe spinal injuries. Doctors say she may recover enough to be able to walk or possibly ski for recreation, but she will never compete at the world class level again. i Brooker and Savijarvi are extremely lucky to be alive. Downhill skiing at the top competitive level is ob- viously a hazardous sport. The design of the clothing, the skis and the poles used by world class competitors has increased the speeds they can reach coming down the side of the mountain. The courses are designed for speed. In fact, the en- tire name of the game is to get from the top of the moun- tain to the bottom in the quickest time. There are no marks for style or technique. Speeds of 100 km/hr. are common place and when someone is moving that fast down the side of an icy mountain track, the margin for error is zero. The'risk factor is very high, yet even in the wake of potentially fatal accidents like the ones suffered by Brooker and Savijarvi, I don't hear a great hue and cry going up about the need to change the rules to reduce ° that risk factor, to make competitive skiing at the world class level safer. I don't even hear anyone complain- ing about the number of serious. injuries suffered by recreational skiers out on the slopes on a Sunday afternoon. On the other hand, every time some kid suffers a serious injury playing hockey, there are those who think we need a Parliamentary Commission to find out why. There are those who want to put the sport under a microscope, change the rules or take some of the fun- damental elements out of the game at the competitive level. - I don't want to downplay the seriousness of injuries that can occur in the sport of hockey, but it bugs me when fingers start wagging each time someone gets hurt. There is a risk factor in every action sport. But I would say that factor is many times higher in sports like skiing, sky diving, car racing, boxing, hang-gliding (Turn to page 6) Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO. Letters Catholic schools given advantage . 'Wed.'March 28, 1917 Mr. William Hope is leaving Scugog Island for the west. Mr. James Short, Seagrave, has vought the house owned by Mrs. Joe Tripp. - B Miss Anneta Buckler, Scugog, has gone to Chicago to visit her sister, Mrs. (Rev.) Crane. Co Mr. Norman Bradley who is on the staff of the T. Eaton Co., Win- nipeg, has been to New York on a buying trip and on his return trip spent Sunday in Port Perry with his parents. e Beare's Garage has installed a new Delco Lighting System. i F -~ Li TI 45 YEARS AGO Thurs. March 26, 1942 Mr. Ernest Gilroy of Fort Erie spent the weekend with his parents at Prospect. Scugog Community held a miscellaneous shower for Miss Luella Jeffrey who was recently married to Mr. Malcolm Bailey. Mrs. A. Ploughman read the address. Warriner Lodge sponsored a dance at the High School with music by Russ Creighton. ' : At the seed judging contest held in Uxbridge Town Hall, Mr. - George Beare was in charge of the competition in the morning and Mr. F.H. Westney was chairman for the afternoon session. 30 YEARS AGO Thurs. March 21, 1957 Members of the [.0.D.E. attended the ceremonies at the Court ere Whitby, when a group of 75 people received their citizenship Is. PD Mrs. Alan Jackson, Manchester, accompanied the Honeydale In- stitute to Fairview Lodge and assisted in the programme. At a meeting of the Greenbank Fidelis Club held at Mrs. Ruby Beare's, Mrs. Myrtle Rennick gave a demonstration on making felt decorations. | : i Mrs. S. Cawker and Mrs. Paul Diamond were appointed delegates to the Guelph convention. 20 YEARS AGO Thurs. March 23, 1961 a Two young orators from RH. Cornish Public School, Frieda Stein and Jayson Madsen, proudly accepted their trophies from Port Perry Lions Club President Gord Thomas, for their outstanding efforts in public speaking. oo The "W. M. Letcher' Rover Group of Port Perry provided some fine entertainment for approximately 400 residents of Port Perry and district by sponsoring the North Mount Northlandia Concert Band in the High School Auditorium on Saturday Capt. and Mrs. Ian Fotheringham and Craig. who has spent the last four years stationed in Germany are spending -a week with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Philip. Utica. before leaving for their new post in Comox, B.C. : Mr. and Mrs. Roy Cornish are spending a month's vacation in Florida and Nassau, (Turn to page 6) To The Editor: I am writing in response to a let- ter in your March 3, 1987 issue, from - the Coalition for Public Education. In his letter Renton Patterson ac- cused the Prime Minister of hypocrisy, for condemning South African apartheid while there is "religious "apartheid," being entren- ched by law in Ontario schools. While I agree with Mr. Patterson that the funding, by government, of Roman Catholic schools is the most discriminatory piece of legislation I can remember in my 35 years liv- ing in Ontario, I think he is wrong in going after Prime Minister Mulroney. I believe the blame lies squarely at the feet of the Ontario legislature and particularly on 'David Peterson. While all three political parties in Ontario seemed to be persuaded that the time had come to grant special privileges to Bingo! To The Editor: I am very disappointed with the people of the Port Perry area. After a special anniversary Bingo at the Oddfellows Hall, giving away a trip to Las Vegas with over 150 people playing -- only 50 people came to the regular Bingo on Tues- day, March 10, less than the usual low number. This is a very good Bingo and if it isn't supported they will probably have to discontinue it. I know there are a lot more peo- ple out there who even travel to (Oshawa to play Bingo. Why not sup- port your own Community? Then they could make a.good Bingo even better. I hope to see a better attendance in the future to bring back the Com- munity involvement in Port Perry A-disappointed Bingo player Betty Steinmueller . the Roman Catholic school system, it was the Liberals who did the dir- ty.work. Of all the. non-public schools, which include Protestant, Christian schools, Jewish schools and others, only the Roman Catholic schools have been given this great financial advantage. I fail to see how any person in On- chosen school, while my neighbour who is.a Roman Catholic should: able to send his child to his chosen religious school without having to pay the extra tuition. If the government decides to allow segregating children in education, at the very least all religions and all taxpayers must be treated equally. It's only common sense! tario who believes in equality, or fair play would agree that in order Sincerely, to send my child to a Christian school I should pay my Public Les Saunders School taxes plus tuition fees in the R.R. 4, Port Perry The Phantom Responds EDITOR'S NOTE: The following letter, addressed to Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor, arrived at the Port Perry Star offices one morn- ing last week. The letter is from the Phantom and he/she continues to pledge support for the upcoming Scugog Fitness Challenge on May 27.. : ' Dear Jerry: The Phantom hears we are on a first name basis. How is Darryl (that's with two r's, by the way). The Phantom leaves you alone for five minutes and look what happens. The Phantom compliments you and Bette Hodgins for a first rate job March 11. The Phantom is pleased with the amount of support the Fitness Challenge has received, but we will get more, won't we? The Phantom is planning to do his/her part on May 27. The Phantom has also noticed some residents of Port Perry, who, like the Phantom, have expanded their borders over the long, cold winter. ' | would like to take this opportunity to.encourage some of you personally to get involved in the Fitness Challenge. Come on, let's see what you can do. The Phantom loves Port Perry High School and would like to.see +100 per cent involvement in the. Fitness Challenge by the staff and the students. The reason the Phantom is so proud of P.P. High is because the Phantom is a graduate, so don't let me down. Kathy, Shanette and Heather, keep up the good work. The Phantom loves you, too. - Let's all get together out there and leave Ajax and Newcastle standing in our dust. We can do it. The Phantom