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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, April 19, 1988 -- § ) Viewpoint by John B. McClelland THOSE GREAT SUMMER JOBS | note with interest that Canada's Wonderland has been forced to go to Nova Scotia to recruit stu- dents to work at the park this summer. It seems that despite strong recruitment efforts locally, Wonderland is still about 100 students short of the number it needs to operate. Most of the va- cant jobs are in the food booths and pay just under $5 per hour, plus an incentive to stay the entire season. Young people are very fortunate to be living in Ontario in 1988. Any high school or university stu- dent who is serious about a summer job and not af- raid to work, will have little trouble landing a good- paying job this summer. And some jobs are paying up-wards of $10 per hour. What a contrast to the days when | was a stu- dent. Summer jobs were at a premium, and to land a good one that paid even a bit more than minimum wage, you had to have some kind of "inside track." You had very little choice. | recall vividly the choices | had as a college students in the late 60's. During the month of May, | would sign on as a tree Blaptsr in Algonquin Park with the Lands and Fo- rests. For planting tiny red pines, the pay was 2.4 cents each, and on a good day with weather condi- tions ideal and easy terrain, you could plant 1,000, if you really busted your butt. That worked out to $24 per day plus room and board in a bush camp, which wasn't too bad in those days. Often the work week would be six days, and on Saturday night the Lands and Forests would truck the crew out of the bush into the nearest town, which was a waste of time because there was noth- ing to do except walk up and down the main street. It was often cold and wet the first couple of weeks in May, and on some days, it was impossible to get more than 200 or 300 trees planted. Anyway, I'd work as hard as possible during that short planting season, save my money, and have enough in the bank to tide me over during June and July when I'd laze about the beach and play a little golf. My summer holiday would end abruptly August 1 when it was time to head to southern Ontario"s to- bacco belt. The going rate for a primer (picker) was $16-$18 Ref day plus room and board. And the day's work would often start at 5:00 AM. The only good thing about working the tobacco harvest was that in the evenings | was too exhausted to go into town and spend any money. By the time harvest was over by mid- September, | was able to salt away enough money to pay my tuition, my books and cover living ex- penses for a few months. Looking back on those summers now, | wouldn't trade them for anything. At the time | sim- ply had no choice. It was either plant trees and pick tobacco or not work at all. | used to think how nice it would be to land a steady summer job, 9-5, Monday to Friday. | don't blame students these days for being se- lective when it comes to summer work. | wish | had that luxury 20 years ago. Of course | still maintain to this day that working the tobacco harvest for several summers was the | only reason | ever managed to get through college and university. | used to tell myself that if | quit or flunk out, I'd end up picking tobacco for a living, and that thought was more than enough incentive to keep my nose in the books. he best summer job | ever had was in '65 when | worked at the golf course at the Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. The pay was dread- ful. | believe it was $6 per day, plus room and board, and train fare home at the end of the summer. But what a great job it was for a teen-ager. | used to clean locker rooms early in the morning, line up the caddies for hotel guests, then patrol the course in the afternoon as the "ranger."There were no days off, but ample opportunities to play golf every evening on a great course. | was supposed to take my meals in the staff caf- eteria with all the other hotel employees where the food was atrocious. But the chef who ran the golf course dining room took pity on me and kept me well fed with steak and lobster sandwiches. As | said, the pay was lousy, but the tips were pretty good and it didn't take me too long to twig on all the little ways that | could make a few extra bucks around a golf course. Myself and the assistant pro used to watch the parking lot like a couple of hawks. When a big ex- pensive car with U.S. plates would pull in, one of us would be out there like a flash, offering to lift their clubs from the trunk, carry them to the pro shop and set them up on the cart. Sometimes we'd get noth- ing more than a "thank you" for our efforts, but most times the tip was a Yankee greenback or a silver half-dollar. . And while atrolling the course as ranger | used to find a lot of lost golf balls. | was supposed to turn (Turn to page 10) Yesterday's Letters Memories 70 YEARS AGO ~ Thursday, April 18, 1918 Mr. and Mrs. John Leask have returned home after spen- ding some months in Florida. Mr. W.U. Carnegie has erected an up-to-date Ford garage at the rear of the Bank of Commerce building and has put in a gasoline bowser in front of his hardware store. Take notice that all parties using cars must carry a 1918 licence or they will be punished according to the law. Signed: Wm. Nesbitt, Constable. Mr. Wm. R. Murray has opened his garage on Queen Street and will be prepared to do expert repairing. He is selling Gray Dort, Paige, Hupmobile and Detroit cars. Ladies stylish spring coats made of Donegal Tweeds from $13.50 to $18.00 at F.W. McIntyre. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 15, 1943 Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Owen of Maple, have moved to Mr. Kelp's farm, Myrtle, where Mr. Owen will take over the manage- ment of the work. There appeared in last Thursday evenings edition of the Toronto Daily Star, a picture of Capt., The Rev. J.C. Clough, former rector of the Anglican Church of the Ascension. Aunt Tillie and her retinue travelled to Bowmanville on Wednesday evening to put on a performance for the entertain- ment of the soldiers at the Internment Camp. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 16, 1953 One of this districts most famous sons, Dr. Alexander Graham Christie, a native of Manchester, Ontario, was featured in a recent edition of "The Vector," the official publication of the John Hopkins University of Engineering where Mr. Christie has served for almost 40 years. Port Perry Council has in recent sessions approved building permits for 15 new homes at an estimated cost of $100,000. The most popular building site in the current spring rush is along Simcoe Street where local residents plan eight new homes. Cartwright Township Council is considering a request from the Community Memorial Hospital, Port Perry, for a grant towards the completion of a nurses' residence and a laundry. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Jones, Pine Grove, who celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary recently. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, April 17, 1958 Mrs. Florence McClintock, Mrs. V.P. Stouffer and Mrs. J.E. Jackson attended the Ontario Registered Music Teachers' Association Convention held in Toronto last week. (Turn to page 8) Ministers against Sunday shopping Editor's Note: The following let- ter was sent to M.P.P. Sam Cureatz, with permission to print in the Port Perry Star. Dear Mr. Cureatz, The Scugog Ministerial Association of Scugog Township Clergy passed a motion to send you a letter expressing concern over the potential extension of Sunday Shopping. We believe that legislation on this subject is a Provincial responsibility and should not be left up to Local Councils. We believe that legislation should protect a day of pause, when people can have a common time away from their jobs. NDP feel Durham riding winnable At the inaugural meeting of the Durham Federal NDP Riding Association held April 6 at Durham College in Oshawa, Federal NDP Council Member, Marg Wilbur, indicated that this new riding whose boundaries will go into effect July 14, is con- sidered to be very much a win- nable seat for the NDP. '"The riding which takes in Ux- bridge Township, Scugog Township, Whitby north of Taun- ton, the Town of Newcastle and the City of Oshawa north of Rossland Road, has seen a growth in NDP support in recent years and all indications are that this riding can be won by the NDP," stated Wilbur. Guest speaker Gillian Sandeman, former MPP for Peterborough and Federal NDP candidate in Peterborough echoed the same thoughts as Wilbur but suggested that before the election is called a lot of hard organizational work was needed. She was happy to see this meeting take place, the purpose of which was to form a steering committee to form an executive and began _ preparing for the upcoming federal election. Oshawa MPP Mike Breaugh, who also attended, felt the strong NDP vote from Oshawa that will go to this riding plus the fact that polls indicate that one in three Canadians will vote for the NDP in the federal election should point to a win for New Democrats in this riding. Our appeal is based on a con- cern to maintain a quality day for people to be together as families and friends. . It is also based on the teaching of Christian faith that people need a day of rest. This understanding is shared by other religious faiths. Sunday has traditionally been the day set aside for this purpose in Ontario. Because of this, we believe that Sunday should con- tinue to be the day in which most businesses are closed. If Sunday openings are extend- ed, people can be pressured to work Sunday when they would rather have the day to be with their loved ones. No law can pro- tect them from such pressures. We urge you to defend Sunday as a day of rest and a day for peo- ple to be together. Sincerely, Rev. David Shepherd, Chairman, Scugog Ministerial Association. to the editor. 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 nelps 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 While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.