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

6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 12, 1989 EDITORIAL The Porf Peery Star Editor - John B Subscription Rate: InCanada $20.00 per year Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ Darlene Hlozan Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten Trudy Empringham BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley . McClelland Accounting - Judy Ashby Advertising Sales Representative: ' Anna Gouldburn { ) La) Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO News/Features - Julia Ashton Billing Department - Louise Hope PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 News Reporter - Rob Streich Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl, Tracy O'Neil The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. PRODUCTION ADyRRY SING ator - Valerie Ellis Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Annabell Harrison Editorial Comment WHAT'S A HERO What's a hero? The soldier who performs a daring act of bravery under fire on the battlefield, perhaps saving the lives of his fellow comrades? Sure. Or how about the person who works all his/her life under horrendous conditions to improve the lot of the less fortunate of this world? Sure, again. We all have our own definitions about what a hero is. How about those ordinary, every-day, law-abiding citizens going about their own business who suddenly find them- selves confronted with a situation that demands instant action, often at great risk to themselves. They may not be "heroes" in the traditional sense of that word, and may even be slightly embarassed if some- one refers to them as "heroic." But there are a great many people like this, who AN' LEAVE US NOT FORGET THE SMALL MATTER OF 9% / WE WOULDN'T WANT TO DISAPPOINT MR. WiLsoN Now, would WE ? when confronted with an extraordinary series of events, reacted the way all of us would like to think we would react. Twenty-one such citizens from all over Durham Re- gion were honoured for their actions last Friday evening as the Regional Police held their annual awards night. Included were two Scugog Township brothers, Don ~ and Ralph Swain, who are credited with saving the life of 'an unconscious motorist last December, by pulling him from a burning car that had hit a tree and flipped over. They received civilian awards, and certainly, they, along with all the others, deserve the awards they re- ceived and our congratulations. In this day and age where society seems filled with its share of cynicism (who me, get involved? No way) not to mention what appears to be an ever increasing amount of dirty crime in our streets, it is heartening to know there are "people who will come to the aid of a police officer or do their level best to help another citizen in difficulty. "Like the Swain brothers from Blackstock, or Howard -DeGeer of Sunderland, who jumped onto a runaway five tone truck and somehow, using his knees against the wheels, managed to veer it away from a busy highway averting what could have been a loss of life. Or how about the several citizens who just happened to be in the "wrong place at the wrong time" as a crime was in progress. Four such men, honoured at the Police Wards Night, grappled with a knife-wielding suspect, suffered stab ~ wounds, yet still managed to hold the suspect until police arrived. Still others, rushed into burning buildings to carry people to safety; pursued and apprehended bank and va- riety store thiefs, or came to the aid of a police officer struggling with a violent suspect. Most, if not all, of these special citizens, had no train- ing in how to deal with violent individuals committing a crime, had no training in how to stop a runaway truck or pull an unconscious accident victim from a burning vehicle. They reacted instantly to the situation at hand, in all cases with considerable risk to their own personal safety. Heroes? Perhaps, though we suspect that most of them would blush at the term. But they are special people and it is most fitting that the Police Force chose to honour them last week for their actions. As was noted several times during the evening, socie- ty is a bit better (and safer) place thanks to their efforts. We extend our congratulations that they made the de- «cision to "get involved." AN EYE OPENER | read with interest a story in last week's sports section about the cost of outfitting a oungster for hockey, and found it hard to be- ieve how expensive Canada's national sport has become. ) Having never had to outfit a lad for hockey, although I'm sure that day will arrive soon, | was amazed to hear that people were paying over $200 for a pair skates. Sitting having a coffee recently with a couple of fathers whose youngsters play Pee- Wee, | heard one say that he had paid $225.00 for a pair of skates, while the other had only paid about $195.00. Now | know that skates are probably one of the most important Flsgas of equipment when + playing hockey, but | found these prices hard to lieve. On Sunday, while flipping through the pag- es of the Toronto Star, | came across and adver- tisement for skates with prices ranging from $59.99 to $159.99. | couldn't help wondering what was wrong with these skates, when every- one seemed to be paying much more. I'm not suggesting for a moment that the difference in price is where the product is being purchased, it's more likely to be the quality. After pondering the question for awhile, | came to the conclusion that the problem is not just skates, but almost everything. Kids (and in many cases their parents) just aren't satisfied unless they get the best. Can you imagine a kid wearing a pair of "no name" running shoes ($19.95) if the neighbours kids are wearing $80 Reebok's. No way Just try asking a kid to wear a Penman's sweatshirt for twenty bucks if their friend is wearing a $100 Polo sweatshirt. | have to believe that it's the same with sports equipment. If the Lange, or Bauer or CCM just aren't the "in skate" for 1990, then old Dad will just have to fork out an extra fifty or hundred bucks to get the right pair. I guess it's a sign of the times. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Had the Seasute of attending the 50th An- niversary of Storey, and Doris Beare on Sunday afternoon (in the line of duty), and this popular Jottings by }. Peter Hvidsten couple Jooked absolutely great. I've always thought very highly of Storey since | was first introduced to him by my father when | came to Port Perry.' As half owner of Beare Motors (with his brother Bill) back in the 60's and 70's Storey al- ways welcomed me with his bright, cheerful smile when | came through the door of their busi- ness. It didn't matter that he was my senior of about 25 years, or that | might be soliciting him to advertise in the Star, | was always made to feel welcome. - Well that feeling was there again last Sun- day as | walked through the door of their home and Storey greeted me enthusiastically. At the time of writing this column, I'm not sure how the photos turned out of Storey and Doris, but | can truthfully say, that | tried just a lit- tle bit harder than normal to make sure the pic- tures were special, because he is "special Happy Anniversary Storey! TAX MEETING TONIGHT Just in case you've forgotten, tonight, Tues- day, September 12, a public meeting is being held at Port Perry High School to discuss the high taxes in this community. | would suspect that the turnout for this meeting will be heavy, so those wanting to make sure they have a seat, should probably arrive early. Some of the scheduled topics to be dis- cussed will be the need for a new municipal building, a new sports complex, the proposal of two Region of Durham headquarter buildings, school systems, wages and many other topics. The floor will also be opened during the evening for questions from those attending. On the hot seat will be representatives of Scugog Township, Region of Durham, Board of Education, Separate School Board and the Dur- ham Assessment office. This will be a great opportunity for residents to find out what can be done to slow down the rate of our tax hikes. Maybe collectively they can send a message to the politicians that "they've had enough and aren't going to take it anymore'| This im sharp. Don't rtant meeting starts at 8:00 PM late!