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| Scugog Township residents are about to embark on a four-day World Tour. Festival Days incorporates a world tour theme this year. Along with the Bahamas - Great Britain Vol. 124 No. 33 Copy 50¢ theme of years past, organizers have added Spain and Mexico to the itinerary. All the fun starts on Thursday night and winds up on Sunday. Helping to kick off Festival Days is (from left) Linda Emmerson, Bill Barr and Nellie Stell. (See story and advertisements for detalls.) Commuters feel abandoned The president of the Toron- to-Havelock Passenger AssGcia- tion says that for the second time in less than a year, com- - muter rail travellers feel they have been abandoned by senior levels of government." Paul Pagnuelo made the comments in a toughly worded statement released the day af- ter he met with Ontario Trans- portation Minister Bill Wrye. Pagnuelo and the Associa- tion he heads have been work- ing to try to set up a privately operated commuter rail net- work in southern Ontario, in- cluding service from Peterbo- rough to Toronto. "Thousands of weary com- muters and day travellers who have been VIA refugees since the federal government aban- doned them on Januaury 15 have now been dealt a second fa- tal blow, this time by their own provincial government," said Pagnuelo. He went on to say that his Association feels that plans to introduce the private sector in- ter-city commuter network in Ontario "have been de-railed because the province wants to be the principal player in the commuter rail network." A $33,000 feasibility study commissioned by the Passenger Association concluded that a privately run network could break even at least in providing Turn to Page 3 ¢ TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1990 Port Perry welcomes Bahamas, Mexico Spain, Great Britain fo a summer festival Festival Days is just about here. And with a record number of events and attractions, orga- nizers are predicting that Port Perry's annual mid-summer celebrations will be the best ever. All the fun starts this Thursday morning when the midway opens, continues with the official opening ceremonies in Palmer Park in the evening, and then goes virtually non- stop through to Sunday. Posters are splashed all over Port Perry outlining times and location of the events, and this issue of the Star contains complete schedules as well. Festival Days will be a four-country tour this year: Great Britain, the Bahamas, Spain and Mexico. Many businesses will be decorated to reflect the culture of the countries, and through- out the weekend, there will be plenty of chances to sample the food and drinks. Many of the activities will take place in the huge Festival Days tent in Palmer Park, in- cluding the Bahamas fashion show and dance on Friday night and the Spanish party complete with flamenco dancers on Sat- urday evening. There are enough events and attractions jammed into the three days to interest and delight all ages. And with Queen Street closed to traffic for the entire Festival, this is the location of many of them. Festival Days has grown in size over the last few years, and has attracted thousands of visi- tors to the community. Everything is ready to go, so check the posters and the ads, and have yourself a fun- filled weekend. Cureatz announces Less than four weeks after he was nominated to carry the Conservative colours for a fifth time in a provincial election ex- pected this fall, Durham East MPP Sam Cureatz is getting out of politics. He surprised riding offi- cials Sunday night by saying he will not be a candidate in the coming election, and when the election is called, he'll be giving up the Durham East seat he has held for 14 years. , Mr. Cureatz told the Star Monday morning that his deci- sion to get out now "was an ex- tremely difficult one." He said he spent a week mulling it over in his mind and Turn to Page 3 he's leaving politics