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"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, June 6, 1995 -3 EE hl hh 4 PORT PLRIY STAR COMMUNITY Festival Days being planned now Chamber all set for busy By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star The Chamber of Commerce is busy planning for two of its . biggest events of the year, Can- ada Day and Festival Days. With Canada Day falling on a Saturday, the Scugog Cham- ber of Commerce is planning activities throughout the day. The plan is to bring the pub- lic into town early and keep them occupied all day and into the evening. Children will be entertained with a field day and coloring contestin Palmer Park, as part of the weekend of family fun. The fireworks display will remain the main attraction, once again being let off from the Conway site. The Chamber is also busy planning for Festival Days 1995, to be held July 13 through 16. summer This year the Chamber is planning a return to family fun and a 50s and 60s revival with classic cars and vintage auto- mobiles lining the streets. The biggest change to Festi- val Days will be the kiddie rides which will be setupin the parking lot between the li- brary and Birdseye Park. The regular midway will remain on the old arena pad. The Palmer Park parking lot will also be used this year for the basketball tournament, creating more room for other events on Water Street. Arrangements have been made so far for basketball and volleyball competitions, a car cruise, mutt show and a Kins- men Dunk Tank. Organizers are hopeful that they can secure a drive-in mo- vie to keeping with its theme. Howden Growing naturally Some Scugog residents heed green message and opt out of lawn spraying By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Local environmentalists say they've met with success in their attempt to convince their neighbors not to spray their lawns this summer. The Scugog Green team hit the streets throughout the township this spring, circulat- ing letters and visiting doorsteps as they urged people not to apply pesticides. The environmentalists cite research by the American Cancer Institute which they say concludes lawn spraying releases carcinogenic materi- als. "We think lawn chemicals are dangerous and cancer-caus- ing, and we want to talk people out of doing it," said Janet Banting of Greenbank, a Green Team founder. "We think neighbors talking to neighbors is the best way to do that." Doorstep campaign The Green Team circulated 1,000 copies of a letter in which they cite Cancer Institute research and findings. And they went door-to-door in a number of neighborhoods around the township, telling homeowners about their cam- paign and urging them not to spray. Most people were accepting of the message, even if they decided to continue spraying, said Mrs. Banting. Others were swayed by the message, and let dandelions pop up on their lawns this spring. The weeds are considered unsightly, especially when they go to seed and their fluffy white heads dot lawns. It has become convention in many neighbor- hoods to take action and elimi- nate them through the use of chemicals. Mrs. Banting said many folks have simply complied with the status quo without $e Marie Powell with son James, 3, at her Greenbank home. The family no longer sprays to kill weeds like dandelions in the foreground. "A healthy family is better than a healthy lawn," she says. thinking of possible conse- quences of spraying. "We're so like sheep," she said. "We really are. It's dis- turbing." However, "I think (the infor- mation campaign) is really having an impact. I think peo- ple are realizing, it doesn't make sense to spray poison on my lawn." Greenbank resident Marie Powell heard the message and took it to heart. She and her husband, who have lived on Ianson Dr. for nine years, have sprayed just once in the past, but this year decided to forego lawn treatment. "I did it for my children," she said last week, as she and three-year-old son James knelt among the dandelions that sprout in her back yard. "I thought, I don't want to expose his young lungs to car- cinogens... a healthy family is better than a healthy lawn." Best turn out in a decade 86 canoes hit the Nonquon The best turn-out in years marked this JEFF MITCHELUPORT PERRY STAR WHEW!: Guiness the puppy can't wait to get out of the canoe as masters Caroline and Chris Jones approach the finish line after completing the Canoe the Nonquon course Saturday afternoon. The people were kind of glad to hit dry land, too. past weekend's running of the Canoe the onquon river race. Dozens of hearty souls braved the elements -- the morning dawned ay and wet, but the real deluge held off until late in the afternoon -- to take to the river, and raise funds for the Scugog Shores Museum. e end result was 86 canoes taking to the course, and early estimates of around $3,000 raised for the local museum. "This has been our best year in a decade," organizer Paul Arculus said during the wards ceremony Saturday afternoon (June One special trophy was the Yvonne Christie Award, presented for the first time this year to the team that raises the most money in the recreational class. Two local men -- David Shepherd of Greenbank and John Brown of Pine Point -- won it with their contribution of $335. We'll have more pictures, and details on the winners in the various classes, in this coming Friday's edition of the Weekend Star.