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8- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, Tuesday, February 14, 1995 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Cartwright Youth Council Youth group proving over and again By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star I'T'S a Thursday night in mid-winter, and the members of the Cartwright Youth Council are carefully considering a proposal. Contact has been made by the Optimist Club in Brooklin, they're told by adult advisor Mary Boccaccio. They want to talk about forming an association between the two organizations. Mary lists the benefits of getting onside with the Optimists, such as the insurance coverage the club would be able to pro- vide for the council's numerous public events. "They just have all the resources," she says. But the members of the council are not leaping at the opportunity. "They're a little leery when it comes to adults," Mary says as an aside to a visitor. can do it on their own a i] Friv In fact, members of the Youth Council say little about the proposal. They move on to other items, fundraising ideas mem- bers have been kicking Members of the Cartwri ght Youth Council unwind after a meetin itself with a number of successful dances and fundraisers, and and far future keep on coming. They will also be discussing an affiliation with the Optimist Club in their work with enthusiasm Brooklin, a move that could open more doors for them. g recently. The group has proven The plans for more events in the near though, is that they carry out solved them. And that's why we're still in this room." RICK Davie an "adult advisor" to the council, agrees that the presence of the coun- cil is in itself an accomplishment. "Personally, I think just the very existence of this group proves something; the fact they're here," he says. He's watched the Youth Council grow and flourish in the few short years since it was created with the mandate of providing activities for kids living in the country, and con- tributing to the community through volunteer work. He agrees the council and its efforts have not always ~ been given the credence they're due from their elders. "One of the biggest pro- blems these guys have had has been with the adults in the area." Mary Boccaccio, another advisor, feels that the Youth Council and its initiatives should go a long way to dis- pelling a widely-held opinion that teenagers are trouble waiting to happen. important thing, and integrity. "Even if this group never around for airing. = Eventually, Council chair Jennifer Balser draws them back to the business at hand: "So... what about the Optimists?" she asks, then adds: "It's for a meeting... just a meeting." Reluctantly, the Council members come back to the discussion and kick the idea around. &i lly, someone addresses the chair: "As long as it's only eeting," he concedes. Avote is taken. The meeting will happen. But the Cartwright Youth Council will attend -- and talk -- only as an equal entity. This reluctance to relinquish autonomy is not just a matter of kids being rebellious, Jen, 18, says later. "I think everybody's just a little iffy on the adults," she says, recounting a bad experience the Youth Council had with one of the local community hall boards. The relationship was good at first; the board allowed the kids use of the hall for their regular dances and the kids, in turn, helped out around the hall as they could. They attended meetings of the hall board, and tried to contribute. But the relationship soured. "They (the hall board) were dictating to us what we should and shouldn't do," says Jen. "We just don't want to be dominated by another group." "It just seems most adults would rather us follow them," adds Kyle Simms. "It seems like most (adults) expect us to fail, and wait to be right there, to lead us." In the face of that kind of attitude, the Council mem- bers point to their numerous achievements: Regular dances, attended by, on average, 75 paying patrons, a growing reputation in the community as eager workers, and a tough stance on trouble-makers. That came about after some unsavory behavior by rowdies got the Youth Council booted out of one of the local community halls. The rules came down, and they are set in stone: No booze or drugs, and no "in-out" privileges; once you're in the hall, there's no dashing out to the car or the parking lot for -- whatever. At first, some of the hard-core kids thought the rules were a joke. "We charged a couple of our schoolmates, and then they realized we were serious," says Maegan Wade. And that did it. Since then at its dances the Youth Council has been self-policing, with a little help from adult volunteers, and the presence of a paid-duty cop. But the chaperones and the officer who attend dances at the community hall in Nestleton are a last resort, when a beef can't be settled, says Maegan: "We have to deal with everything on our own and when we can't we go to the adults." Adds Jen, "We've had some problems, but we've changes adult attitudes, they're learning what it's like when they are adults," she says. "Even if they don't change anybody's minds, at least they're giving back to the community." The Council has had its ups and downs. There has been trouble with booking some of the local halls, but measures were put in place to deal with troublemakers; - and now the Council has a steady venue at the Nestleton hall, and is finding other doors opening. And when a major production -- a long weekend dance with music supplied by a local radio station -- flopped, they forged ahead. The Council borrowed money from advisors and went back to work, holding their fundrais- ing dances. Now they're in the black again. And it's all done in a democratic fashion. There is a council executive with specific tasks, but all initiatives are put on the floor for discussion, and a vote. And when a commitment is made to help out with a community event, members of the council are expected to be there and carry their share of the load. "We've accomplished quite a bit," says Jen. "We do a lot of stuff for the community, and if they need a hand and we can make it, we'll be there." "It proves we can handle responsibility," Kyle says of the Council's track record. "We don't have to be led by the hand for every move we make. "This group here, in my opinion, has brought up respect for kids in this entire area." R-- All At Guaranteed Low Prices FAMOUS UNITED CARPET" Levolor® A By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Local woman in Japan when quake hits more than 20 times to meet with buyers of her fur designs."It makes everybody feel vul- Largest Carpet Selection in Scugog Township and a member of the largest carpet. buying group In Canada HOMESTEAD by Ballard & Carnegie HWY. 7A EAST - PORT PERRY 985-2451 or 985.2157 BLINDS VERTICALS « VENETIANS PLEATED SHADES A routine sales trip to Japan turned into a nerve-wracking waiting game last month for well-known local designer Paula Lishman. Mrs. Lishman was in Japan when a dev- astating earthquake hit Kobe, killing thou- sands and levelling the thriving city Jan. 17. And it was merely by chance she avoided being in the area when the killer quake hit. She typically travels to Tokyo, then makes her way to Kansai, near Kobe. But on her most recent trip she reversed her itinerary, and had left the area just before the earth- quake hit. The experience was "very unnerving", said Mrs. Lishman, who has travelled to Japan nerable to hear the ground's been pulled out from everybody and they've lost everything." She spent several nervous days in Tokyo with her son, watching television coverage of the devastation. Local coverage included lists of the dead. "People were kind of in a state of shock," said Mrs. Lishman. "It certainly shook people up in that country... Japan is a small country." It was with relief Mrs. Lishman and her son finally finished their business and left Japan. "I couldn't wait to leave," she said last week. ls ID WO 0 0 SR Sy << Fl Fo § 4 5