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Rl i a I aH EE I II rrr ee eth 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 22, 1987 - One Woman's View by Chris Carlisle If I want to go out to the backyard and spend all day digging worms, is it anyone's business? If I love worms so much, I fill my fridge with jars stuffed with fresh worms, should anyone care? If I'm so nuts about worms that I build glass-fronted worm farms all over my living room, should my friends worry"? I'm operating, of course, on the principle that I live alone, I'm not asking anyone else for help with the worm collecting, I'm not digging on anyone else's property and I certainly don't expect anyone else to love my worms. : I'm assuming that I'm not hurting anyone. I'm just quietly en- joying my worms and not knocking door to door trying to interest my neighbors in my worms. I'm minding my own business, perfect- ly happy and content and filled with a great deal of personal satisfaction. Ann Landers would no doubt suggest I see a psychiatrist, just as she did for the man who collects everything. His "friend" wrote in to say Bob collected dolls, comic books, coins and old car parts. He was restoring an old car in the garage, so his truck which was kept on the street, was stolen twice. He drove 600 miles in a weekend to go to swap meets, garage sales and wreckers'. The friend said the apartment was stuffed so full of *'junk" there was barely room to get from the front door to the kitchen. When his mother was in town, she had to stay in a motel because there was no room at the guy's house. The place was a fire trap. Bob, who was 37 and who had a job, never dated and had no in- terests except collecting. Ann sided with the letter-writer who thought Bob had serious pro- blems. Ann said he was in dire need of counselling for his obsession. But why? If the guy's happy and not bothering anyone, why should the friend care? It appears that because the guy doesn't live up to the friend's standards and isn't married or with a girlfriend, there must be something wrong with him. That's like saying Pablo Picasso was sick. Wasn't he obsessed with his art? Didn't he rush up from the dinner table after eating a fish to immediately make a plate with a design of the fish skeleton baked into the clay? Didn't he wear pants with the stripes going horizontally when the rest of the world was wearing vertical? Didn't he paint what could be easily called weird paintings? Picasso wasn't labelled as obsessed or sick. He was called a genius. Maybe this collector is as much a genius in his own way. Who knows what treasures he's assembled. Apparently -he has twelve Edison-type phonographs. Won't the friend look silly if it turns out this guy had an eye for real treasures and his place is worth a mint? Not that monetary value should have anything to do with it. The friend didn't approve of the fact that Bob had to borrow money to buy all this junk. But people borrow money to buy fancy cars, boats, clothes, shoes and furniture and toys. They'll borrow hun- dreds of thousands to buy a house. Bob just has tons of material possessions instead of a few. g As for the fire trap, what are libraries if not fire traps? Rows and rows of books, magazines, documents. Should we close the libraries? . ~ (Turn to page 8) Chatterbox (From page 4) baked goods, cucumbers, and all kinds of other delicious look- ing stuff. ' The stand fairly overflows with food, and The Vegetable Man sells it with equal mixes of jokes and hard-core sales techniques. And even though you arrive home with less money in your pocket than you anticipated, you can't help but say to yoursell, "I really enjoyed that." What's Cy his prices are fair, and he tends to throw In a lot of freebies to his regular customers. The Vegetable Man is a full-time farmer and fixer-upper, so he needs to do well in Ontario's short growing season, in order to support his young family (although his wife does work at the hospital). So you don't begrudge buying more than you need, and you tend to admire his business sense (he has three locations -- one at his home north of North Nestleton, one in Blackstock, and one near Greenbank). But above all, a trip to The Vegetable Man's vegetable stand is just plain fun. The banter that goes back and forth is sometimes hard to keep up to, but it's always a good time. If you're planning a visit, however, you better get moving. Corn season is almost over, and the way I consume "Big Jim, there may not be any left for anyone else. Viewpoint by John B. McClelland (From page 5) waved, the players milled around. They hoisted the trophy high in the air and the synthesis was complete. And what did you do, Grandpa? Me? I don't really remember. I was glued to the big chair beside the TV set. Oh, I guess I let out a cheer or two. But I don't really remember what I did. It was a long time ago. But Grandpa, if it was such a long time ago, how come you can remember the dates, the time of the goals, who passed the puck to who, the waving flags. How can you remember all those details yet you can't remember what you did when the Cana- dian scored the winning goal? I put down the pipe, sit back in the chair and close my eyes. Are you getting tired, Grandpa? No. No, I'm not really tired. The story over, the grandchildren quickly scatter to other parts of the house, and I'm alone in front of the fire with my thoughts and a smile on my face. Suddenly, from the doorway, I hear a small voice ask. 'Were those really the best three hockey games ever played, Grandpa?" I think for a moment or two and without opening my eyes, turn to the direction of the small voice and say, "trust me." But did I ever tell you about another hockey game between Canada and the Russians, this one also played in September, way back in '72 in Moscow and a player named Henderson tessestranaas Postal cheers To The Editor: Canada Post has received much negative press lately. For a change I would like to offer a big thank you to local postal workers. My daughter just received a post card which was mailed in France Even though it was addressed incor- rectly, someone at the Post Office took the time to re-address it and forward it to us. Thank you, postal workers, for _ giving that extra service. Pat Duchemin, Port Perry. Canoe (From page 5) To the Town of Carleton Place, the Club has meant that good sport- smanship, exercise and com- araderie have had a character- building effect on hundreds of our young people. It has meant that parents knew their children had 3 "place to go" in the summer months-a supervised, programmed place, invaluable to working parents. It has meant that we have shared in the pride of national and international achievements. And, as one concerned with the tax dollar, it has been a source of gratitude for the fact that the Club supports itself. For all of these reasons, the Town was pleased to designate the new building a Community Centre, thus paving the way for available grants to improve the facility. Of course, our wonderful Mississippi River-Lake system has made it all possible, and we recognize that those of us who are fortunate enough to have such natural facilities are very, very blessed. Sincerely, Melba J. Baker, Mayor. SMITH-CORONA TYPEWRITERS Manual or Electric Ribbons for most makes. PORT PERRY STAR 3 235 Queen Street 985-7383 Random Jottings members of the business community. It would be a shame to see the concerts stopped oe A ie TE by J. Peter Hvidsten CONCERT SERIES Well, the Concerts in the Park Summer Series ended on Sunday night with over 200 people attending the last concert. Unfortunately, the final concert of the summer had to be held indoors, at Town Hall 1873, due to the uncertainty of the weather. This was only the second concert of the entire summer to be affected by weather, as the other twelve were blessed with warm summer nights and the skies full of stars. But even though the concert was moved inside, there was something very special about Sunday night. It was the Peter Appleyard Concert, and as he said in his own words, he would feel he had miss- ed something if he had not been able to play in our beautiful Town Hall. Mr. Appleyard has performed here on two previous occasions, both to sell-out crowds at Town Hall 1873, and it was obvious by his remarks he was happy to once again grace the stage of this old, historic building. While saying he did enjoy playing in the hall, he also admitted the bandstand at the lakefront would have been nice to entertain from, and that he would be willing to come back again to play there. For Bill Barr, Sunday night's concert ends his duties as bandstand chairman, and he has every right to be pleased with not only the number of con- certs he was able to book, but also the quality and variety. It was a disappointment for Bill to have to change the location from the bandstand to the Town Hall at the last moment last Sunday, as he hoped to see a crowd of about 500 attend the concert. Attendance to the concerts throughout the sum- mer has been a little disappointing as less than one hundred people came out to enjoy the music under the stars for most concerts. But the small crowds should not deter Scugog Township council from proceeding with a smaller program next summer. The $35,000 bandstand sits in Palmer Park all winter, vacant of any activity so it was nice to see it being used this past summer. The cost to the township was very small (about $3,000) as compared to the overall cost of the concerts this summer. Mr. Barr estimated about $12,000 had been spent on the different bands and promotion this past summer, with over $9,000 being raised from now that Bill has got the ball rolling, but it will take someone with a lot of time and interest to keep it going. Council should start looking right now for a bandstand chairman for next year, so bands can be booked early. Maybe this is the time for the Township to seriously consider the fact that Scugog Township is in desperate need of a recreation chairman, with staff to take on this type of responsibility. At any rate, for this year it is all over. Con- gratulations Bill Barr on a job very well done. Your energy and perseverance is an inspiration to us all. TOLL GATES Spent a few days last week travelling through parts of Vermont and New York States. It was to have been a get-a-way weekend to view some of the colours down through the mountains, but we ex- perienced no more sunshine south of the border than you did back home in Port Perry. If there is one thing that bothers me while travelling in the grand ole U.S. of A., it is their damn "toll gates." It seems that you are' forever pulling up to a gate and handing over money for travelling on their interstate highways. ' ~ Can you imagine every time you travelled on Highway 401, you had to pay for its use? Getting on (Turn to page 13)