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30 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, August 20, 1991 "Stugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Education key to safe boating By Scott Anderson In the wake of a number of boating-related deaths, a pri- vate member's bill has been in- troduced calling for boaters to be licensed. Simcoe East Progressive Conservative MPP Al McLean is calling on the NDP govern- ment to consider his legislation that requires the testing and li- censing of all people who oper- ate motorized watercraft. Mr. McLean's bill was intro- duced earlier this summer at Queen's Park, and made it to second reading before it died. Bob Rae, premier of Ontario, told reporters recently that he would consider any sugges- tions that would bolster safety on the province's waterways. But many people connected with boating say it is not laws that are needed, but proper ed- ucation. Norm Vanstone, Director of Technical Services for Allied Boating Association of Canada, says the association is opposed to the bill. He says licensing boaters "will not improve the situation." Mr. Vanstone says it would be very difficult to license the various types of boats and es- tablish proper criteria for all the different kinds of craft. "It would be just an adminis- trative nightmare. It won't im- prove safety on the water," he said. He adds problem boaters are much the same as problem drivers, and the fact that they are forced to be licensed would . not change their habits. Mr. Vanstone says there are many things in place at the present time that adequately control the waterways includ- ing laws and good policing. Instead of licenses, the or- ganization believes there should be an increased focus on F====-----x f ! l 1 $2 00 OFF ey BirD Seep! ? includes | 25 kg Premium Mix I 50 Ibs SunflowerBlack or Striped | MF) PORT PERRY FEEDS | 985-7363 40 Vanedward Dr., Port Perry | I ------ enforcement and education. Mr. Vanstone points to statis- tics that show that the number of boating-related accidents de- creased as the amount of en- forcement increased. Figures released by the On- tario Marina Operators Associ- ation back up this claim. Ac- cording to Michael Shaw, its executive director, the number of reported boating accidents have decreased over the past year. As of August 4, there were 33 boating deaths, for the same period a year earlier there were 44. Mr. Shaw cred- its this 25-per cent decrease to a heightened education pro- gram. Mr. Shaw says his organiza- tion does not support the idea of licensing saying it would be difficult to administer, and in- stead pushes for increased edu- cation. "We firmly believe that edu- cation produces more careful, prudent, responsible boaters." He says there are many pro- grams, offered by a number of organizations that stress boat- er safety, including the Onta- rio Marina Operator's "Enjoy Your Boat" course which to date more than 8,000 have tak- en. "Voluntary education pro- duces not only more informed boaters, but also more careful boaters." The Ontario Provincial Po- lice has a slightly different the- ory on the effectiveness of li- censing. Staff Sergeant Larry pS Smith, provincial marine co- ordinator for the traffic and marine branch, says a license could serve as "another control measure." Staff Sergeant Smith says a license can be "physically taken away" from somebody. There is already a license re- quirement in some States and he says this is working quite well. But he admits a tremen- dous amount of study needs to be done before invoking such a policy in Ontario. At the present time there is already a number of deterents including the loss of the right to operate a vessel by a court decision. He says the theory of licensing is good however, as it would "force them (the public) Local teenagers graduated'from the YMCA's eight-week Work Orientation Workshop (WOW) on Thursday. The students, aged 14 to 16, were presented with a group photo and a T-shirt. Present at the ceremony were, in front: Travis Mitchell, Victoria Vinkle, Josie Read- er, Mandy White, Tammy Grant, and Jenna Norton. In back: WOW assistant trainer Bob Jones, WOW co-ordinator Lori Gowans, Mike Postma, Bill Zaparanuik, Ken Orr, Canadian Job Strategy project officer Joanne Luchuk, and Mayor Howard Hall. Pee Wee/Bantam league Greenbank Bakery captures title Greenbank Bakery led by Tim Ir- win's three scoreless innings of no-hit pitching, Jaime Donnelly's spectacular fielding and Joe Timm's two home runs defeated a spirited Port Perry team 7-6 to capture the Pee Wee/Bantam division title. It was the second time during the play-offs that the "'never say die" Port Perry team battled the Forder-Parks Insurance Brokers Inc. (CN HN OX 5 YEAR Personal attention to all of your general insurance needs. 26% our YT 4 9865-8471 34 Water Street, Port Perry, Ontario LIL 1J2 rate Subject to change whhout notice. wurharn 985-8552 Cleaniiyg BROADLOOM UPHOLSTERY 3M Scotchguard undefeated Greenbank team to a one-run loss. The clutch hitting of Derek Christie, Craig Rowntree and Chad Murphy allowed Port Perry to overcome a four-run deficit to make the championship game an exciting affair for fans and players alike. Greenbank Bakery had advanc- ed to the title game by surviving a 15-12 slugfest against Brigar. In this semi-final game the Greenbank attack was sparked by Trevor MacSween's two hits and three runs scored and Carl Phoenix's three RBIs. For the Brigar team, the batting stars were Greg Rankin, Josh Duncan and Stephen Heemster, each with a run producing hit. Close action featured in final Squirt game by Judy MacSween On Saturday, August 13 the Perfect Heating Squirt boys team from Greenbank played their last game of the season against Anderson Chev Olds. After four complete innings, two overtime innings, totalling 2! hours of baseball, Andersons came up with the win 20-19. All the boys from both teams have to be commended for their offensive and defensive plays made during the game. As the coach for the Perfect Heating team I would like to con- gratulate each and every player on my team for improvements made throughout the season. Because there were 14 players on this team there are too many to mention your names but I would like you to know you make coaching worthwhile and I truly enjoyed the season. Perfect Heating would like to thank Penny Kutlik our convener and Carolyn Best for all their hard work. We also thank the Port Perry Star for letting the people of Port Perry know how our teams were doing during the season. into a certain amount of learn- ing." But Staff Sergeant Smith says the OPP has always be- lieved the best way to ensure safety is through proper educa- tion, followed up with enforce- ment. He says the OPP has used education to teach the people how to be safe. He points towards the recent drop in boating-related deaths. As of Friday, 37 people were killed in 28 recorded accidents on Ontario waters. For the same period in 1990, 45 were killed in 41 accidents. "I would like to think that the message of education and enforcement is helping," he said. "I hope people are being more cautious." 9-10 Mites end season in fine style 9-10 Mites ended their season in fine style on Saturday, August 17. Congratulations to J.J. Brown, Sean Jeffrey, Nicholas Pelyic, Kameron Cooper, Alison Kutlik, Daniell Bobcock, Rosmarie Sax, Lauren Christie, Joshua Hartin, Jordan McKay, Terry Alarcon, Greg Manns, Brent Reesor, Braden Tarbotton and Bob Taylor who lost only once through the whole season, including play-offs to win first place for Philp Pon- tiac Buick. Special thanks to Rose and Jeff Brown who coached these fine ball players to that impressive victory. Honorable mentions to: Diane Brown and her team, Saintfield Machining who were runners up in the 9-10 Mites season. Special thanks to coaches and team sponsors: Gordie Ireland - D.J. Taylor Insurance; Debbie Storms - Flieler Petrocan; Diane Harper - Ray Rankin Carpentry; John Jolicoeur - P.P.M.S.; Pete Edwards - Greenbank Variety; Al Wray - Seagrave; and all the assistant coaches and umpires (parents) and children who pro- vided this fine entertainment every Wednesday evening. Congratulations to all the 114 ball players who participated in the high five fundraising program. There was a total of $7,852.50 sold for a profit of $3,237.24 for PPMS. For the ball players who par- ticipated they received a Dave Stieb pester. Twenty-two children received a free ticket to the July 27 Blue Jays - Kansas City Royals game. Nine year old Beau Jolicoeur for selling the largest amount ($415 worth) participated in the third annual High Five Minor Ball day clinic, practiced with the Blue Jays and was part of the opening game ceremonies at the SkyDome before the game. Beau credits Ed Sprague of the Blue Jays for his improvement at the plate in his remaining 9-10 Mites schedule. SPORTS NEWS SPORTS PHOTOS SPORTS WRITE-UPS When your club or team is in need of additional publicity, photographs etc. Contact Kelly at the Port Perry Star - 985-7383