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a ---------------- a ------------ a -------- § FS b [3 8 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 19, 1991 The Port Perry Star 188 MARY STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: InCanada $25.00peryear Elsewhere $70.00 peryear. Single Copy 60¢ EDITORIAL Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten Editor - John B. McClelland News/Features - Julia Dempsey Billing Department - Louise Hope News/Features - Kelly Lown Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Lynda Ruhl, Tracy O'Neil PRODUCTION Annabell Harrison Trudy Empringham Darlene Hlozan BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Accounting - Judy Ashby ADVERTISING Advertising Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Advertising Sales Representative - Anna Gouldburn Du (=| Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario Editorial Comment LOST JOBS The community is still struggling with the shock of the re- cent announcement that Johnson Controls is closing its Port Perry plant as of April 15 this year, throwing more than 280 people out of work. The loss of that weekly payroll will be felt in the communi- ty and will have a trickle-down impact on just about every as- pect of the local economy. But nowhere will the impact be felt as deeply as for the in- dividuals who find themselves out of the street, without a pay- cheque coming in each week. Sure, there are severance packages for some and unem- ployment insurance benefits. But these never replace the loss of the steady income, nor do they every make up for the hurt one feels on getting "pink-slipped." i's like getting kicked in the gut to be working one day and then hear that in a few short weeks the factory will be moth-balled and your job shipped 1500 miles away to a facto- ry in North Carolina or Indiana. Co 5 Another plant closing in Ontario. How many have there been in the last year or two? How many more will there be? The number of jobs lost in manufacturing alone is well over 20,000 through closures or re-locations. And the loss is permanent. These are not temporary lay- offs, subject to recall when the economy perks up. These jobs. are not coming back. And what are the chances for those employees to find work, what with the deepening recession? In Durham Region, the prospects are grim at best, especially in manufacturing. In fact, most plants that are still operating have employees on lay-off, and if the economy ever perks up, obviously they will be called to work first. So what happens now? When the gates close for good in mid-April, the 60,000 square foot plant, located on a good highway with easy access to the 401, will sit vacant. The Mayor of the Township said last week he has put out feelers to the provincial department of trade of commerce, hoping that there can be some assistance in finding a compa- ny to re-locate here and bring some jobs with it. But the Mayor conceded it's a long shot at best. And he's right. There are hundreds of empty factories dotting the Onta- rio landscape these days. If there is a company thinking of set- ting up a manufacturing operation, it could take its pick of any number of factories in prime locations, and move right in. Though it is of little consolation to the soon-to-be-out-of- work Johnson Control employees, the shut-down brought home a fundamental weakness: a lack of diversity in the local economy. Farming remains an important wheel in the local econo- my, but offers few permanent job opportunities. Tourism is also important. It does provide jobs, but they tend to be seasonal and mostly of interest to students willing to work at or slightly above minimum wage. There is no single "high profile" tourist attraction in Scu- gog Township to bring visitors here and keep them here for longer than a day. Most "tourists" come to Scugog to do some fishing, boat- ing or snowmobiling. And the tourist industry all over Ontario and Canada is reeling for a variety of reasons such as high costs, a "boring image" and the fact that our traditional tourists, the Ameri- cans, have decided to be patriotic and spend their holiday dol- lars at home. The manufacturing base in the Township is low, no more than 150 full time positions, and as we noted before the chance of luring more factories to this area is poor to nil. About the only real growth Scugog has experienced in the last decade has been in residential housing (more people) and the corresponding growth in the service sector to meet the needs of those people, most of whom, by the way, work out- side the Township. The Township is in danger of being painted into a corner (Turn to page 8) SRR RRR A NN ANN NN EF WEN NO $ 1 \ . RN AAS "Ie THIS ROOM)-UNTH~ A-VIEW CO5T% A BILLION BUCKS A DAY, PHONE THE. DESK AN' GET THE CHECK-OUT TIME ! " Random Jottings "SCUD" IS A FOUR LETTER WORD The war in the middle east has been on the minds and lips of almost everyone for the past five weeks, and since it started.a number of new words have become almost common place. Words that most people never heard of be- fore, like sortie, patriot and scud have become everyday language to most readers and watch- er of the happenings in the Gulf. But the one word | find has become most prominent is a new four letter word. "Scud!" Little more than a month ago if the word "Scud" had been used on the street, some would have assumed it to be another four-letter word of profanity. But today the word can be used to illustrate a number of things in everyday life. For instance: just the other day when | walked into our family room after returning from a day at the office | remarked "it looks like a Scud blew up in the middle of this room." Books, toys, couch cushions and clothing were scattered in disarray over the entire room. There was laundry, kiddies bathtub, booster seats, empty dishes, pots and pans strewn about. Our mutt Dolly lay snoring on one corner of the couch and the cat (notice | didn't say 'our cat') sat out of harms way on the window sill. The room literally looked like we had taken a direct hit from a 'Scud' missile. "Where were the 'Patriots when we needed them?" Now before | get myself into a lot of trouble with my wife or any other woman who may think | am taking a shot at Nancy's housekeeping - forget it! The scene | have described above has nothing to do with housekeeping. It fact, it is an everyday occurrence around our house whether it's our babysitter, myself or both Nancy and | at home with the kids. There was a time a few short years ago when our house was neat as a pin almost all of the time. In fact, it might have been a good can- didate for one of those colour spreads in "Better Homes." But that was before "number one" son came along. Even then, we were able to keep things tidy most of the.time, although we had barricades placed In strategic spots so he wouldn't fall down stair$ or get into areas we wanted to keep free of children's curious hands. Then just about two years ago, the twins arrived. Things weren't too bad for the first year, because like all babies they just lay on their backs and laughed or cried for those first twelve months. A few empty baby bottles and a large pile of dirty diapers was about all the mess they were able to create in those early days. But they've both been on their feet for the better part of a year now, and since they've learned the art of walking, the entire house has become Hels persona) playground. Nothing in reach is sacred. I'm sure many of you have experienced the laughter of a young voice coming from the bath- room and upon investigation find 323 feet of toi- let paper wrapped around the arms and legs of a kid whose having a ball trying to tie it back onto the empty roll. | would also expect most parents of two or more kids know, it's almost impossible to keep a home neat when the pitter-patter of little feet are pounding the floor all day long. As fast as you pick up after them, they find something else to pull out of a cupboard, the laundry room, bath- room etc. Just to survive until bedtime has now be- come our biggest challenge. Only after the last one is down and the bedtime stories read can Nancy and | relax doing the dishes that have ac- cumulated during the day. By the time the kids are settled in bed, the dishes done, toys and assorted debris filed away and baby's bottles filled, there are but a few quiet minutes left before we crash for the night. We've even given up looking at the "Na- tional" most nights to catch a few extra winks. But even our nights are eventful and not without interuption. Just last week during a 12:30 a.m. trek to the 'john', | stumbled over the cat curled up in the middle of the floor. | silently cursed as the cat took-off like a shot down the hallway out of range of my poorly aimed foot. Then at 3:00 a.m. a call from Matt rang out of the darkness. | rushed down the hall to find his sleep was being disturbed by the 'same cat' (Turn to page 10)