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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, July 28, 1987 Editorial Comments Preserving Our Heritage Without doubt, Port Perry has one of the most attractive business sections of any community in the Region of Durham, and for that mat- ter, it probably ranks high in its appeal across the entire province. In order to keep our community heading in the right direction it is our contention that council should soon take some steps to ensure that what has taken so long to achieve, does not get ruined by ill- designed development or renovations. The residents, council and business community have every right to be proud of Port Perry's thriving business section, which has been developed without any assistance by way of government grants. The business people and the council and the Scugog Chamber of Com- merce can be credited for what we see today. But the time has now come to do some serious planning for the future of the town. We wouldn't want to see anymore of our Queen Street buildings torn down, as was the old hotel where the Bank of Commerce now stands, to make way for new buildings. Neighbouring communities such as Port Hope have already taken steps to make sure they maintain the preservation of their historic communities by setting up Heritage Conservation Districts. This enables the local governments in these communities to say what and what cannot be done to buildings within the designated area, when it comes to restorations and improvements. The Ontario Heritage Act, permits municipalities to protect areas of historical and architectural significance, and the establishment of a Historic Conservation District ensures that the irreplaceable heritage resources of a community are not destroyedgs a result of ill-designed development, thoughtless destruction or alterations with the use of discordant materials. The council of the Town of Port Hope, being concerned and aware of the historical and architectural importance of certain areas -- and buildings established a local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee in 1977 to begin the process of preserving their past. The time is right now, for the Council of Scugog Township to take the necessary steps to set-up this type of committee here for the same purpose. | Port Perry is fast becoming known as a great place to come and visit on the weekend, and people by the carloads use our parks and shops. Much of the charm of shopping in a small community like Port Perry is the quaintness and friendliness of the stores and clerks, but if it were not for the strong architectural heritage of the town, we doubt that the business community would be as strong as it is today. Port Perry is a very fortunate community. We are situated on a lake with beautiful parkland, we have facilities throughout our township that are the envy of other small communities, and have a downtown that is architecturally intact since the last fire in 1896. Our buildings are remarkable for this consistency, their formally- treated facades, and the great variety of ornamentation and decorative brickwork. Let's not ruin what it has taken almost a century to achieve by being short-sighted. Let's plan for the future by setting the wheels in motion to have a Heritage Conservation District identified. The Eaton Centre may look good in downtown Toronto, but | doubt that the glass, chrome and steel that has ruined so many nice buildings over the past decade, would do little to enhance the beau- ty of Port Perry. Port Perry (QQ CNA STAR f= 235 QUEEN STREET > Phone 985-7383 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO PO Box90 LOB INO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Momber of the © = Publisher Advertising Manager Community Newspaper Association nunity Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co tte Port Perry Ontar JB McCLELLAND Editor AGthorized as second Class maa Dy the Post . Otfice Department payment of postage in cash Ottawa and tor cas! CATHY OLLIFFE News & Features Second Ciass Man Reg stration Number 0265 Subscription Rate In Canada $20 00 per year Elsewhere $60 00 pet year Single Copy S50 COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver ising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher . Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe LOVE BIRDS Our cockatiels are in love. Never have I seen such a pair of smoochers. Now I know where the expression "Love is for the birds" comes from. Love IS for the birds, who positively roll in it, revel in it, completely enjoy it. They're like a pair of newlyweds, kissing and cuddling all the time. I'm sure if they had hands they'd hold them. Which all comes as a complete surprise to me and Doug, who were entirely. confident Rochester was a boy, and Buddy likewise. Buddy, as it turns out, is not a boy. Buddy i is a Budd-ess. As we discovered one morning last week when we caught them doing what the birds and bees are famous for doing. On top of the door, no less. In broad daylight, at 7:30 in the morning. With one of our budgies watching. (These birds have no couth.) It was at this moment, that we knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that we had a couple of love birds on our hands. Even if they are cockatiels. We should have known earlier, I suppose. I mean, Rochester and Buddy have been acting, how shall I say, a little strange lately. There was a time when Buddy would rather spend time with us humans than with Rochester, but this has changed over the last month or so. Now, even when the two birds are separated for just a few minutes, they make such a commotion calling to each other, squawking and squealing ---- it's enough to shatter one's eardrums. Rochester has also been acting rather protec- tive about Buddy, who enjoys having her wee head scratched. If we lay one finger on Buddy's head, Rochester .puffs himself up and chirps menacingly. There have been other signs of impending romance as well, but until the other day, we were too stupid to notice. Now, suddenly, we are faced with the prospect of bird babies. Needless to say, we're in quite a flap about this situation. Even though the birds do the actual work of raising babies, Doug and I are faced with a fair bit of work ourselvés. "The first thing we had fo do was build a nesting box, just a wooden square box, with a hole big enough to fit the cockatiels, and a perch. It is in this nesting box that Buddy (hopefully) will lay her eggs, incubate them and raise her chicks. The box has been up for a couple of days now, and Buddy hasn't even noticed it. The books we've read say it takes awhile so we're waiting ---- patiently. After the box was built, we decided it would be better for the happy couple if they moved in together, rather than living apart. Since neither Buddy's or Rochester's cages are big enough to accommodate two cockatiels, we decided to build one big cage, sort of a mini- aviary. This new cage, which we built in one night of sweating and cursing, takes up one whole corner of our back porch. Covered with chicken wire, it certainly doesn't add much to the aesthetic value of our home, however, it has made the birds ex- tremely happy. Buddy and Rochester really seem to enjoy their new digs, and have already checked out each corner of their house (as well as dumping in each corner), except for the nesting box, which Buddy still ignores. The new cage is big enough to fit a built-in swimming hole, several additional perches, and many toys. Doug and I also have left enough room in the back porch to set two lawn chairs -- where we sit by the hour and watch the newlyweds as they prepare for parenthood. It's all rather exciting ---- the pitter-patter | of tiny feet. I'm just glad it's Buddy who is preg- nant, and not me. kok oe fe ok ok ok fe kk ok Speaking of animals, there's been quite a flap about dogs, in particular pit-bulls, recently. The media has jumped into the pit-bull terrier frey with as much enthusiasm as the Buffalo news covers fires, and it was with some reluctance that the Port Perry Star covered a pit-bull attack in last week's. paper. The Star has never been know, in my estima- tion, to exploit a news story, so when it came time to write about this attack, I tried to cover it as fair- ly as possible, talking to both the victim and the dog owner. - It was a sad story, to say the least, for both the woman who was bitten (and who must have suffered unbelievable fear at the attack), and for the family who owned what they thought was a gentle, loving pet. I personally feel badly for both parties, and for the pit-bull breed in general. I can't help but feel the breed has been victim to a bad rap by the mass media of late. After all, pit-bulls aren't the only animals who are known for bites. In Scugog and Uxbridge Townships, for example, police handle on average of one dog bite case per week. And according to one police spokesman, last week's pit-bull attack was the first he had heard of in this area. Which makes me wonder, what dogs were responsible for the other attacks? From what I've heard, dogs of German Shepherd descent are among the most vicious, and yet we rarely hear of these attacks. Why? I hate to say it, but I blame the media for the public's sudden interest in the pit-bull ter- (Turn to page 6) th