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TINIE" EI oy One Woman's View by Chris Carlisle We all have our private Hells. I'm descending rapidly into mine. Every year, for the past three years (this is summer number four), I've broken out in a rash. Poison ivy to be more exact. It starts as one little water blister and I scrub and tend to it carefully so it won't spread. As yet, I've had no luck. Within a month, it spreads everywhere, conquering and destroying my skin like a merciless army over a defenseless land. Until this year, I considered myself lucky. While it had ravaged almost every other area, it hadn't hit my face. Ha ha. All good things come to an end. Yesterday there it appeared in a smug little patch over my lip. Today I look like the victim of a big smack attack. And my eye. What a joke. Here come the itchy little blisters all around it. By tomorrow there'll be no telling me from Frankenstein. And lo and behold, there are more patches hatching under the other eye and on my cheek. Soon, all over my arms, neck, legs and behind my knees, go the pink lotions. I even bravely smeared it on the infested spots on my face so now I look like a twelve-year old summer camper. How can I walk to the post office like this? I could hide away but it's visiting season and guess who's hav- ing company today, and a fresh batch every day for Lord knows how long. My friends won't care what I look like but I'm wracking my brains for poison ivy jokes and smart answers to the questions as to how I got it all over my body and face. And who was I in the poison ivy patch with anyway? And did I have fun getting it? And was it worth it? All over town, they'll be looking for someone with matching poison ivy. I wonder if it's really poison ivy. Even though it grows all over here worse than any renegade dandelion patch and my dog and cat roam freely all through it (and then fool, that I am, I pat them). I'm wondering if it's poison sumac. I've let it grow up all around the place because it looks so pretty "in the fall, all red and blazing. And last weekend I plucked up stray sumac shoot after stray sumac shoot from my garden. With my bare hands. : I've never believed those old wive's tales about sumac being poison, but maybe: it is. Maybe that's why I'm such an itching mess this week. : Or maybe it was the wasp nest I discovered in my yard -- by stepping on it. When I was a young, foolish papergirl, I was stung in the eye by one of the bees I was watching flying in and out of a nest. My face not only swelled up, I broke out in poison ivy -- or so the doctor said. " So maybe this poison whatever it is, is a result of the wasp stings 1 got a couple of days ago. Nervous reaction and all. But why on my face when I was stung behind the knee and below the ankle? And why did it first-appear weeks ago on my leg? Oh such fun, country iving. : Whatever it is, I'm desperate for a cure. My cottager neighbour swears there's a weed that works like magic. Only I can't find it. I keep plucking up plants I think could be it and rubbing it on only (Turn to page 8) Letters Appalled at action of council To The Editor: As a resident of Sunrise Beach on Scugog Island living in a permanent home, I am absolutely appalled with the decision of Council to join Aldred"s Beach North with our neighbourhood by means of a roadway. It was never the original Council's intent back in the 50's to connect these two areas. The intent was that they would be separate neighbourhoods, each with their own character. Hence the one foot reserve between the two parcels of land. The uniqueness and tranquili- ty of our neighbourhoods, along with the safety of our children, is now at risk for the sake of one land brn ly On July 28, 1987, Mayor Taylor had the nerve to state, at a Council meeting which I attended, that this reversed decision by Council to now approve the "Fitchett Freeway," was in the best interests of the Township. He then insulted us fur- ther by stating that we lived in an area of starter homes. Well, excuse me, Mr. Mayor, but most of us have lived here for many years. It's too bad that you and Councillor Cochrane, can't seem to get north of the 7th Concession, and find out what your ratepayers feel, have to say and how they live. By secretly changing a by-law, with no notice to hundreds of people affected by it, you are chipping away at our democratic system. We deeply re- sent this Council's grievous deci- sion, without notice. I would like to also point out, that following Joel Aldred's letter printed in last Wednesday's Star, August 5, 1987, by 7:30 a.m. Thurs- day, August 6, 1987, the Township started to construct the roadway for Mr. Fitchett's subdivision. By Fri- day, August 7, 1987, the hundred's and hundred's of feet of roadway was completed by the Township, to so-called Township standards. However, the roads on Sunrise and Aldred's Beach North are siill as pot-holed and untended, as before. Would that we hundreds, could get the same attention to our wants, as Mr. Fitchett gets for his. Mr. Fitchett was supposed to con- struct the road. Why did the Township do it for him? What was the cost? Will Mr. Fitchett pay, or will we the taxpayers have to pay for a totally unnecessary road? When one reads of the constant gaffe's by this Council since its elec- tion several years ago, it would be a comedy plot for the Borelian Dramatic Society, this coming season. Yours sincerely, Laurie Blaettler, R.R.3, Port Perry. Scugog, a great place To The Editor: Not for one second do I doubt the power of the pen. As you know I do not get payed for writing letters to the editor. I may be the person who sends the most subscriptions, you see for birthdays, community showers, friends, in- laws, out-laws and just plain gifts. It is the Port Perry Star. To me, no greater value. I would like to thank the "Powers That Be' in Scugog Township and the Region of Durham, for the repaving of Ontario St. (Regional Rd. No.2) in Port Perry. It is not to long after, my letter to the editor ap- peared in the Port Star (July 22), that repaving was done. I do believe that letter shall have some bearing on reconstruction of Ontario CRENSHAW // / W FIRST pay," St. in the future. We all know plans must be made well in advance for any project. It is many, many months ago I suggested a sidewalk frorh Rosa St. to the Port Perry Community Memorial Hospital on Paxton St. No sidewalk. The homeowners on the west side of Ontario St. between Ma- jor St. and Alva St. still need their sidewalk more than ever. As walk- ing has been made more difficult for children, mothers with baby strollers and Senior Citizens. Now repaving has been done on Ontario St. With very little money and material the Region of Durham could very well have put in a Left Turning Lane into the Apple Valley Project. Please remember the Ridges on Durham Regional Rd. No.2, Townline Rd. (Mud Lake Rd.) on Highway No. 12 are the Gateways to Scugog Township in that area. Also Oyler and Prince Albert Roads are the "Gate Way' to the Town of Port Perry from ihe south. To all thank you. I shall keep writing letters just as long as I am permitted and if the Grim Reaper doesn't interfere. Co Where is there a better place to be than the Township of Scugog. No need to dream. Just being here is enough. Happy Fair times? Roy Walker Smith, Port Perry. Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten ARE WE TOO SENSITIVE? A letter in this week's issue of the Star takes ex- _ ception to the use of the word "kids" when referring to some clients of Central Seven who took a bus trip last week. Michael Steward, president of People First makes a very valid point that the people that we are referring to in the heading are not kids, but adults as most were over 20 years of age. For that mistake, the Star apologizes, as it was not the intention to sug- gest they are "kids."" But personally I take exception to the insinua- tion that we, or others are referring to those con- nected with agencies dealing with challenged in- dividuals (such as Central Seven Workshop) consider those individuals immature or second class. That point is far from the truth! I personally have had dealings with the organizers, management and "clients" (the prefer- red name of the day) since the inception of Central Seven Association for the Mentally Retarded almost 20 years ago. Incidentally, Mentally Retarded is no longer accepted as proper, although when the organization began two decades ago it was. In all that time, we at the Star have gone out of our way to make sure that when dealing with the Association, we handled any publicity with sensitivity. Mr. Steward goes on to say in his article that words like "kids" and "handicapped" and other in- accurate labels used in reference to people with challenges, only serve to misinform society even more. Possibly I am too much of a realist, but to me the word handicapped is not a demeaning word, but one that explains the situation of the individual. Webster's dictionary explains "handicapped' as: "one having a physical or mental disability that substantially limits activity in relation to employ- ment or education." ~ Perhaps society is just too sensitive to the situa- tion to realize that people using words like handicap- ped, mentally retarded, etc., do not use them to degrade these "people with challenges," as Mr. Steward suggests. And it is not just words in reference to the physically disabled that people are sensitive about. Words like "chairman' and "salesman" now have to be changed to bow to the pressures of the women's movements. Yet, in the dictionary both of these words refer to the positions as those held by a person, not specifically a "man" or '""'woman."' But because the word has the suffix "man" instead of the word being a title, it has to be changed to suit the sex. A president of a company can still be a president, but no longer can a "chairman" of an organization be simply a "chairman." We must now call them "chairperson," or "chairwoman," or a "chairman," depending on the sex of the individual. T'think it's great that people like Mr. Steward are trying to educate the public about "people with challenges' as he describes them, but sometimes it appears that there is an over-reaction to the use of words. : 'The use of the word "kids" in our heading was definitely an error, and we apologize for its use, but let's not get paranoid about people's intentions. For the most part, I think the public in Port Perry and area are very aware and supportive of the agencies dealing with our "challenged individuals' and are happy to have them as a part of our community. oa LE Ta Db