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I 0 I TAA IAD SAG ANA BLD DI NI 0 NINN rg Bs NN 0 PR AVE SAN J 7 VR SET NEI STN 0 A a »- a TA. PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 27, 1989 -- 7 THE DOG DAYS On a steamy Friday afternoon with the heat of the office closing in around me and the D-word (that's deadline) peering over my shoulder, | strug- gle to put words to paper, my mind a blank, void of any ideas to inform, amuse, or anger you. Can't be the days of summer, yet. Good grief, it's only the middle of June. But it feels like mid-August tucked away in the corner of my office on the second floor of the Star building. From my window, | gaze out to a lazy haze on Queen Street, the kind of haze that seems to trap the heat and leaves it clinging to everything like a damp shirt clings to the small of your back. The haze has turned the blue sky slate grey. Nothing moves in the still, heavy air. Even the peo- ple and the cars on the street appear to in slow mo- tion, like the workings of my brain. | am stuck for: an idea for this column, the dréad of anyone who has ever met a deadline, or tried to.. Arriving at. the office this morning, | had - planned to devote this space this week to a column about a public meeting | attended last night. It was a meeting about a feasibility study for recreation facilities in good old Scugog. But much of the talk was not about swimming pools, ice rinks . or squash courts. A lot of people were there to talk about their taxes, and a lot of them were clearly in - an angry mood. .... It is 'a: complex issue, and though | had - planned to attempt a serious column, quite frankly, on this humid, stifling afternoon, | don't have the nti: td Ls IR TS ME "SF. « mental energy necessary to even attempt to tackle it. | suspect, however, that we will be hearing more of this debate in the coming months, so there will be grist for a few Viewpoints. Have you ever heard that old expression that things seem to happen in threes? Sure you have. Waell, I've gone one better than that. | have had a four-item string of bad luck over the past month or SO. And it started when the bike belonging to one of my kids was stolen. A nuisance to be sure. Here it is the start of summer and all of a sudden, one of my kids is without wheels. Thankfully, my house- hold insurance covered the theft of the bike fully, and within a week, he was back on the road. Then, a week or so later, my wife Joan is driv- ing along Highway 401 in the middle of a Friday af- ternoon and out of nowhere a tow truck, pulling an- other car, rams her from behind. | thank God that Joan was wearing a seat belt 7d aside from some aches and pains, was not urt. But our poor car, the beloved Pontiac that has been almost like a member of the family, was so badly crumpled in the back end, the insurance ad- fustr declared it a "write off," not worth even trying to fix. | notify my insurance company, and they take care of everything. The other driver was at fault, "and the settlement for my car was fair, but I'm still forced to spend a lot of time poking around car dealers looking for a replacement. I had to say fond farewell to the beloved Ponti- ac (gee, it was a good car, so comfortable, nice rid- ing, and mostly reliable) and felt badly that it would come to such an inglorious end in a salvage yard. | still shudder a bit to think that my car is now ~ just salvage destined to be picked apart piece by i iece until there is nothing left but -an old rusty rame that will then be flattened and jammed into a compactor and shipped to its final destination as scrap metal. First, the stolen bike, then the crumpled car and the insurance settlement. But that's not all. One day recently, | find to my dismay that the fridge in the kitchen up and quit. Great, that's all | need right now is to have to go out and buy a new fridge. Turns out it's only the compressor, which can be replaced. Meanwhile, we live out of a couple of coolers filled with ice bags for three days. That's not an easy job for a family of five, be- love me. I'll never take the fridge for granted, again. To top things off, | broke my glasses. While they were being repaired, | had to make do with an old pair so badly scratched | could hardly see through the lens. It made me very irritable and cranky. Those who know me know that is totally out of character. First, the bike, then the car, then the fridge and finally my specs. What next? Maybe that's why this column started out as nothing and ended in the same way: empty words to fill an empty space. And you want to be a writer? Be my guest. - I Viewpoint by John B. McClelland oe 0%] CXS to the editor i 6 mluhy £3 EL i] PLE BE 2 ad ARNE ANG 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, July 3, 1919 lu Peace has been declared and it would seem to be a right and 'vproper thing that. Port Perry should-hold a day of rejoicing'in:. | . «tion of the League of Nations." -wevarybody is singing its praise.. NLT as YEARS AGO... The Port Pert Thirsda ia tobe pleased ~ ...;1he Fort Perry Lions Club has good reason:to.be plea 2 ith the results of air and ant The Pon Lions Club h; the Stréet Fajr and Dance held here Jast F {The soe baiis - The financial r 'were most gra . ealized for the Lions club, Work, jie some $500 pa LORE Vie irbrother's cheese factory snd Bruce ih a canning factory. oid i Ration books must be takén to surnmer: hotels Jorlongers:. fv i GOO Et SPRTOVETI BIRT BR CI TVR Fig dF I Lot SEIT ELIE 35 YEARS AGO voor on oir Thursday, July 8, 1954 4. 0 © y/The work of pouring the concrete in the Memorial Gardens ~ i8 now completed. The arena will now be available for a number of summertime activities. =~ = | Fry 47-7 On Wednesday night, June th, a dance was held in order "to'give Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kight the donation of the communi- * ty to help inthe rebuilding of their barn after the fire. The Port Perry Yacht Club held a very successful program 'of powerboat races on Sunday. A large crowd thronged the :- Scugog lakefront. al 30 YEARS AGO - .'. 'Thursday, July 9, 1959 Port Perry Guides and Brownies were hostesses to American Scouts and Scout Leaders as they stopped overnight in Port 'I'Pért'y on their way to Camp at Doe Lake. § : "1A bis load of Cubs and Scouts under the guardianship of Mr. ""gnd'Mr4. Allan Martyn and Mr. Al Craig, journeyed to Orillia ' 'to seé Her Majesty the Queen, on Saturday. : fii 'Mr, and Mrs. Stan Ploughman had an "At Home" for their . niversary, July 11th. <= VAG ahionty on A +E tos 7 { a tH oC) L's [y san Lo (Turn fo page 14) . 1 « af :ionour of the histery, the signing of the Peace and the forma- The St. Charles hotel has been open two weeks "and ' Fin Mrs. Elmer Ploughmah won'1st prize of $100; {it the draw." wit ©) Messrs Emmiérion MacMillan arid Bruce Hull ave Sond edst for. the: summer months. "Emmerson is working in his | . | or boarding; :1cplaces when guests plan'to remain for a period of two weeks or' friends and relatives on the occasion of their 40th Wedding An- ah a RE ny "To the Editor: As a mother and a concerned citizen of Port Perry I was glad to see today that finally the lines which make up the crosswalks in - ..7 town have been painted. i :».~Hopefully. in the: future the township will maintain and even better these crosswalks. : Last month my 20 yr. old -daughter was:struck by a car in . the crosswalk on Queen St. beside "1. . the 1.G,A. on the east side. . The lady who hit her promptly got out of her car, asked if my daughter was okay, stated that * "she "wasn't evey looking" and I "guess when her conscience was 'won over by her fear...She left!! "No follow up - no information +*changed hahds - She just left. Thankfully my daughter was not seriously hurt, she was in -» shock. for a- while and didn't realize what had happened to her. Hopefully, in the future her hip and her hand will not develop ar- thritis and bother her for the rest of her life. . I pray that this lady will think about her actions & hope to God that this will not happen to one of "her children and if it ever did; what recourse would she take? She "left the scene of an accident!!" Though charges would pro- bably never be laid it would have been nice if she took my daughter's phone number and name to at least find out how she was. I didn't even know myself that these *'crosswalks"' existed until «this unfortunate incident, and then when I really looked, I saw only about 12" of sandcovered white on either side of the in- tersections. Did the township finally realize how important the upkeep of these crosswalks is to it's people and to the visitors who frequent streets = on weekends? I sincerely hope that a lesson has been learned and eyes open- ed regarding safety on our roads by the writing of this letter. Shame: on the township for our Didn't know crosswalks existed their neglect; on the lady for her lack of concern & conscience; on me for my procrastination regar- ding this letter. Thanking you, P. St. Jean, Scugog Plea to governments This is my personal plea to the various levels of government which are taxing the hearts and souls out of all of us. In comparison to many of the other letters and articles about un- crats that is Ward 4, Scugog og since I was 6 years old. Through their father, my chil- dren are 6th generation Cart- wrightians, That justified tax increases it is very be in one place. passive. But then as Canadians But the reason for that is simple - aren't we usually? we like living here. I have lived and worked in Cart- We like Cartwright; we like Onta- wright Township (for you bureau- (Turn to page 8) Smile For The Day "IT'S MY MOM'S FORTIETH BIRTHDAY -=AND NOW THIS!" ay ~~ _~ Ss a long time to-