The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

rr - EE rnnnn., PE IE. ST TINIEST PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, April 5, 1988 -- § by John Viewpoint B. McClelland | have been in a grouchy mood all week, which very short period of time? Can't we make anythin has Je same damn flu bug that turned me ugly this week. is a bit out of character. All those who know me will attest that most times my disposition is as sunny as a new day in spring; frowns and scowls seldom darken my mug. Maybe it's this damn touch of the flu bug, just serious enough to make me feel out of sorts, but not serious enough to keep me under the covers for a couple of days. So be forewarned. This column is going to re- flect the way | feel right now. Here are just a few peeves. Parking in downtown Port Perry is getting worse by the day. It's a dog's breakfast out there. Last week | watched two motorists both going for the last available spot in the lot behind the Post Office. They glared daggers at each other, and for a mo- ment, | thought they might come to blows. The lack of parking in the downtown area is causing tempers to run thin,and it's not going to get any better. . One solution that | see would be to take the land behind the Post Office and turn it into a proper parking lot: get rid of the old garages and sheds, take down the fences and the scrub trees and pave the entire area. OK, here's something else that has got my goat. Disposable contact lenses. Can you believe it? Some company is getting ready to market con- tacts that you wear for a week then chuck into the trash bin. Cost is about $10 per week, the company says this is comparable to the yearly cost of main- taining conventional contacts. Maybe so, but must we continue to develop products that are designed as throw-aways after a that lasts longer than a week or a month or a year What a wasteful bunch we have become. Use it once throw it away. The Leafs. No question about it, the worst pro- fessional sports outfit anywhere. As | write this the Leafs have two games remaining to snare a playoff berth over the second worst sports outfit masque- rading as the Minny North Stars. You could take both the Stars and the Leafs, combine the best "talent" and still have nothing more than a mediocre hockey team. Both teams should be thrown out of the league for a year for abusing their loyal supporters. The Blue Jays. In my opinion this is a team on the way down. The Jays will be better than most in the AL East, but not good enough. Too many question marks at key positions, and it's only a mat- ter of time before the MVP fron last year throws an- other $2 million tantrum. _But keep your eye on the Expos. They may be a little short on pure talent, but they make up for it with chemistry, that special glue that binds a team together. Politics. It has become a bad word in this coun- try, and little wonder. | tuned in Question Period one Syering 1st week and was disgusted at the behavior of both government and Opposition mem- bers. Three year olds in a day care centre have more manners. But | guess that gang up in Ottawa merely re- flects the country as a whole: a country which in my opinion takes the cake for petty bickering, carping, and mini tantrums. | sometimes think this country In a moment of weakness | found myself wishing that Pierre Trudeau (gasp, horrors) would make a return to the political scene. At least when he was around he raised the bitching to a higher intellectu- al level. The stuff going on now is right out of the gutter. Enough on that sorry topic. Garbage. Now there's a hot topic in Durham Re- gion and Metro Toronto right now. Incredible as it may seen, both Durham and Metro could find them- selves without a place to put several millions of tonnes of garbage generated by their citizens each year. The clock has been ticking for the past couple of years, and the hands on that clock are danger- ously close to mid-night. I's not an impossibility, but we could be faced with the incredible cost of having our garbage trucked or barged south of the border for disposal. If you think your taxes are high now, wait til that day arrives. Some questions that have not been answered about this garbage crisis. Why have Durham and Metro let the situation go this far. They knew the landfill sites were filling up. They knew it takes five years and millions of dollars for environmental hear- Ings to get a new dump approved. The crunch will be here in two years. Why is re-cycling still in its infancy, accounting for about 20 per cent of household trash? And when will the federal and provincial governments start getting tough with manufacturers who insist on wrapping their products in materials which are a threat to the environment when thrown away. (Turn to page 8) Yesterday's Letters Memories 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, April 5, 1978 Work is expected to get underway this spring on a $300,000 project which will improve the delivery of water to homes and businesses. Port Perry High School student Ed Canning placed 2nd in the Legion Public Speaking contest held at Millbrook over the weekend. Suzanne Saulnier received her All-'Round Cord last Wednesday evening at the Scout Hall. Following a meeting with members of Scugog Township council and the arena board, Dave Snodgrass of Oshawa has agreed to make changes to the sound system at the new Scugog Arena. A delegation of 14 concerned parents approached council last Wednesday to ask that the township hire a crossing guard for children crossing 7A at Ash Street. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 4, 1968 Carol Wotten, a grade 11 student of Cartwright High School, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wotten, Blackstock, was chosen Queen of the 10th annual "At Home" held in the Recreation Centre on March 29. Joanne Shaw, 17, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Shaw, Port Perry, was Sreserted with a $150 watch by the Oshawa Independent Order of Oddfellows for her attempt to save the life of Mr. Manel, who was the branch treasurer. Mr. Manuel had suffered a heart attack while playing golf at Sunny Brae Gold course. Rev. L. H. Fowler, D.D., secretary of the Presbyterian Church Administrative Council of Toronto was present to lace the stone in the Burns Church, Ashburn, on Sunday, March 30, 1968. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 3, 1958 On Thursday, March 27, 38 members of the Ladies Curling Club enjoyed their annual banquet. At the head table were past President Doris Beare; President marie Snooks; vice Pres. Marg Hayes; 2nd Vice Clare Martyn; act- ing secretary Aileen Dawson and Treasurer Grace Love. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 2, 1953 Port Perry's first separate Public School in 80 years will be opened on Tuesday, September 2nd. Prior to this opening Public and High School in Port Perry were in a sin- (Turn to page 8) Deserves praise for honesty To the Editor: ~ This letter may be a little late on what I have to say as this inci- dent happened before Christmas. But I could not help but tell you about this after hearing of the people scooping the money which fell of a truck on the highway in Toronto recently. I want to tell you that all peo- ple are not like this, especially in Port Perry as I had an experience while shopping downtown just before Christmas. I had been to several stores then went to dinner at a local re- staurant. When I went to pay the bill, my wallet was not in my pocket. I searched the car and then went back to several stores to see if I had left it there. Welcomes the Star Dear Sir: Giving a three months subscrip- tion to the Port Perry Star to wel- come newcomers to town is a wonderful idea, especially for peo- ple who can't get around to well by themselves. It is an interesting paper, and I have really enjoyed reading it. It has helped me lear a lot about the area. You are right, I do look forward to each issue. Please accept my thanks, and I am subscribing for another year. Sincerly, Dorothy M. Johnston Port Perry I had almost given it up for lost when I went back to one oth- er place of business. As 1 started to inquire, the young lady clerk asked if I was Mr. Fish. She said she had been trying to locate me, even called the po- lice. She said that when she had arrived for work she had found the wallet on the sidewalk outside the store. The wallet contained over $500 and a signed cheque. I was so grateful and she seemed so pleased that I had re- covered it. People such as this de- serve some praise for being so honest. Yours truly, Doug Fish, Little Britain. Get your canoes out To the Editor Spring has just turned around the corner. As snow and ice give way to green grass and flowers, the antici- pation of children and adults shall give way another marvelous sum- mer canoeing, with the Scugog Canoe Club on Lake Scuogog. Judging by the number last sum- mer, people come from many parts of Ontario. With snowmobiles, snowshoes, skiis and skates fresh in everyones mind it-is difficult to imagine people preparing for canoeing. yet that is exactly what has been hap- pening with the (we need more) many people from the Scugog Ca- noc Club. More information about the Scugog Canoe Club shall be available from Comming Events in the Port Perry Star. Hope to (Turn to page 6) Letters to the Editor ... our policy - It has always been the policy of this newpspaper 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 con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. --