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6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, January 30, 1990 - EDITORIAL The Roi Levey Say Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley RADIAN COMMU. ¥ Editor - John B. McClelland Accounting - Judy Ashby Nw, A oH 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO News/Features - Julia Ashton Billing Department - Louise Hope A700 a330C) PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 News/Features - Kelly Storry Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl, Tracy O'Neil i Member of the The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the i i ati Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. PRODUCTION ADVERTISING Gaal an Com iy sews pays f Ass0giasion Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Annabell Harrison Advertising Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Published every Tuesday by the Subscription Rate: InCanada $20.00 per year Trudy Empringham Advertising Sales Representative - Anna Gouldbum Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario g p! Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ Darlene Hlozan Editorial Comment ANY TAKERS? Surely, there must be somebody out there with a few hours to spare each school day. Surely, there is somebody who would like to earn some extra money; somebody with a sense of civic duty, and somebody with an interest in the safety of a most precious resource, our children. We're talking about a school crossing guard, specifi- cally the need for a guard to work the crossing at the inter- section of Highway 7A and Lilla St. in Port Perry. Presently, the guard working that intersection is there in the morning and at noon hour, but due to a full time job commitment elsewhere, is not able to work the afternoon when children are returning home from class. This is far from a desirable situation, and parents of children who have to cross that intersection to get to and from school are understandably upset. Letters have been written to the Township, phone calls WE MAY HAVE LOST OUR NATIONAL DREAM BUT NOT YHE PIONEER $PIRIY to council members, the administration, the schools and lo- cal Board of Education trustees. There have been suggestions that students who live in the Apple Valley subdivision should be bused to school, "though it is highly unlikely the Board of Education would consider this. Busing is an expensive proposition and besides,Apple Valley is too close to the school to be considered for bus- ing. Other parents in other areas of the community no doubt would demand their children be bused. The answer is to find crossing guards willing to work this intersection. The Township, which has the jurisdiction for hiring (and paying) school crossing guards, has advertised exten- sively for a guard, without success. Township employees have asked individuals to take on this job, also without suc- cess. , That's why we are appealing here for somebody to step forward and take this job on. The job involves slightly more than two hours per day, in the morning, at noon hour and after school lets out in the afternoon. it pays $15 per day, and that includes the days when there are no classes (PD days, stat holidays that fall on a school day, Christmas holidays, March Break, etc) The Township provides vests, whistles and signs, and kicks in another $15 per month for clothing expenses for the guards. Let's face it, you won't get rich being a school crossing guard, but you may just get a sense of satisfaction worth more than money: knowing that you are helping young chil- dren get to and from school safely. This is not the first time this paper has appealed to the public about the need for crossing guards. The last time we appealed, it worked. We are hoping this appeal will yield results, too. The pressing need at the moment is for a guard at the Highway 7A and Lilla St. intersection. But the Township would also dearly like to line up individuals as "back-up," people who can be called on short notice to work if one of the six guards must be away from the job due to illness or any other reason. We understand fully that working conditions aren't that great at times when it's pouring rain or freezing cold, and there Is a degree of responsibility in helping kids across a busy intersection. But surely there is somebody willing to take this on. If so, get in touch with the Township administrator, please. ONE OF THOSE DAYS For anyone who has done much travelling, you're well aware the worst part of the holiday takes place at the airports. - The morning of our trip last week, Nancy and | were awakened at 5:00 a.m., quickly washed and dressed and hauled our baggage to the lobby of our hotel on the airport strip. Here we waited patiently (with about a dozen others) for one of the shuttle busses to take us to the airport. Finally it arrived and everyone began push- ing their way to the bus, dragging all kinds of baggage behind them. We were then squeezed like sardines into the van for (thankfully) a short drive to Pearson's Terminal 2. When we arrived, the driver opened the door to let us out and we almost crashed to the ground, the door being the only thing holding us in. With bags in hand once again, we stumbled our way along the long corridor of Terminal 2 until we found our airline and checked in. A couple of hours later, we were in the air and on our way to Florida, the land of fun and sun. And in fact, our holiday was great (al- though too short) with temperatures soaring around the mid eighties for three days and few clouds in the sky. But all the sun, good food, entertainment, golf and shopping was Quickly forgotten when we got bogged down at Tampa airport for over 18 hours. : We arrived at the airport about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, returned our rental car, grabbed our bags and checked in for the flight home. With this all done, we still had about two hours to Kill (our flight was scheduled for 8:50 p.m.) so we decided to see if our flight was on time. An airline employee politely told us there was about an hour delay, as there had been some snow and ice in Toronto, and the plane had to be de-iced. They then issued us a meal voucher ($16.00) and apologized for the delay. After a nice dinner in one of the many Tam- pa airport restaurants, we again checked in to see how our flight was progressing. It was then we learned that it would be midnight before our departure. Disappointed, and tired we sat in the Jottings by ). Peter Hvidsten waiting area until about 10:30 p.m. when an an- nouncement came over the public address sys- tem informing passengers the flight was now de- layed until three o'clock Monday morning. Each time there had been a change, we honed home to let our babysitter, my sister, and ancy's mother know of the delays. The long dis- tance calls kept ringing up, and up, and up. With 'the announcement that we would not leave until 3:00 a.m., the airline issued all - sengers vouchers for a room in the hotel adjoin- ing the airport. After getting our room, we asked for a 2:30 a.m. wake up call, and crashed on the beds for a few hours sleep before our three o'clock flight. The telephone in our room rang about 2:00 a.m., and a voice on the other end informed us that our flight had been delayed again. This time the delay was blamed on the curfew hours be- tween midnight and 6:00 a.m. at Toronto airport. We were told to be ready to leave at 11:00 a.m. Monday morning, and there would be a voucher for breakfast at the front counter. Waking in the morning, we cleaned up as best we could (all our personal items were in our checked baggage), went for breakfast and then headed to the ticket counter to get the latest news on our flight home. ~ Once again the flight had been delayed, and we were informed there would be a change of airlines for our flight home, which would leave about 12:15 pA 'e were then asked to pick up our checked baggage, bring it to the new airline's ticket counter, have it checked in again, and ar- range for new seating. Following that ordeal, we made our way back to the room and watched movies, read books, or snoozed trying to put in the time. Arriv- ing at the prescribed departure gate about 11:30 a.m., they announced there was a further delay, as the 747 that would be taking us back had ar- rived about & half hour late. Then finally, after a long night of delays and waiting, we boarded the plane and flew home. Glad to be on Canadian soil again, all we 'had left to do was clear customs, pick up our bags, take a taxi to our car and drive home. Sounds simple eh! Too simple. (Turn to page 10)