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"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" L 'RS from our readers Loved Port's Palmer celebration To the Editor: This year, 1995, has been a very important year in the chi- ropractic profession as we cele- "brate the birth of the founder of chiropractic, D.D. Palmer, the 100th anniversary of the chiro- practic profession and the 50th anniversary of Canada's pre- mier chiropractic educational institution, the Canadian Me- morial Chiropractic College. _ Our celebrations began early in the year and culminated re- cently with the most important function of the year -- the recog- nition of Port Perry as the birth- place of our founder. My wife and I were fortunate to be in attendance at the cele- bration hosted by the Township of Scugog to honor Dr. D.D. Palmer, and to observe the un- veiling of the new commemora- tive stamp issued by Canada Post. It was delightful to see the enthusiasm of the many organi- zations who had a hand in mak- ing this day special for us. To the mayor and all elected officials, particularly Karen Puckrin and Ken Gadsden who were the masters of ceremony, the guest vocalists, the 1st Port Perry Boy Scouts, Durham Re- gional Police Dept., South Port Gardens and finally all the township staff who helped to make this day a success, you de- serve a big vote of thanks for a job well done. My wife and I want to thank everyone for all their efforts. Port Perry is to be commended for its enthusiasm and warmth. We will always remember Sept. 17, 1995 and especially Port Perry. Thank you so very much. Dr. and Mrs. Brian Croft, Stouffville MPs keep going to pension trough To the Editor: September 11, 1995 was a day taxpayers must remember. That was the day that every Member of Parliament had the chance to opt out of the outra- geously rich parliamentary pension plan. The good news is that 57 MPs - 51 Reformers and six Liberals - had the guts and principle to put their conscience ahead of cash. By doing so, they saved taxpayers an estimated $33 million. The bad news is that the oth- er 238 MPs who decided to keep clinging to the pension trough could potentially cost taxpayers more than $218 million in life- time pension payouts. That's the only tactic many It's wrong for MPs to keep a MPs seem to understand. pension that's far richer than anything Canadians in the pri- vate sector could ever hope to af- ford. Even worse, Liberal MPs are keeping this perk while hypo- critically preaching restraint to the rest of us. It's a case of "do as Isay-notasIdo." Fortunately, taxpayers can still have the last word. When the next federal election rolls around, remember Sept. 11, 1995. If you MP refused to do the right thing and opt out on that day, then make him or her pay with your vote. Sincerely, David Somerville, President The National Citizens Coalition Wake up, Mrs. Pearce To the Editor: Here we go again. I am a native of Port Perry and have lived here all my life. I am hoping to spend my senior years here. We desperately need this convenient seniors housing on by Jeff Mitchell -- i THE COWFLAP FLAP A PUBLIC APOLOGY: Since our local politicians probably just want to sweep this whole issue under the rug, I'll take the bull by the horns, here -- as it were -- and deal with an unpleasant matter that was raised last week in a letter we published in the Weekend Star. ~ Seems a certain Mr. vanderBij, from Don Mills, brought the family up to Port on the Labor Day weekend, and they all decided to take in the fair. Upon arrival, Mr. vanderBij et al were "ordered" to shell out three bucks for parking. Then, another indignity: They were charged admission to come in and check out the sights and sounds of the fair. As if that weren't enough, our visitors from Don Mills were appalled, upon visiting the livestock displays, to find "cow patches" littering the grass. Add to that the volume at which the announcer bellowed during the harness racing, the lack of things for visitors from the city to buy, and a general lack of organization, and you've got a recipe for disaster. | am troubled by this, most particularly the bovine deposits around which Mr. vanderBij et al were forced so gingerly to step, lest their Nikes become sodden . On behalf of the township, the fair board, and those few irresponsible cows who can make life so miserable for the rest of us, my sincerest apologies. SO LONG, OLD FELLAH: Sad news this week from Seagrave, where Gretel Cameron reports she has lost an old and faithful companion. You might recall back in April, we carried a story in the Weekend Star about Tinker, Mrs. Cameron's cat, who had just turned 20. When | met him he was a tad creaky, but still able to get around, eat some tidbits of forbidden cheddar cheese, and rumble like an old Harley when his belly was scratched just the right way. Well, old Tinker passed away peacefully last week. Anybody who's ever shared years with a pet knows the deep and reciprocal bond that develops between people and beasts. Our condolences. RISE ' N SHINE: The early morning has always been my favorite time of day, and right now it's better than ever. Each day there's a chill as | crash through the door and into the dawn, Crossing guard calling it quits To the Editor: I appreciate the opportunity to use your space to thank all those who made my time as a crossing guard so enjoyable. I thank the staff and teachers at R.H. Cornish School, the staff in the finance department at the Municipal Office, the mothers who crossed with their children, the guardians from the Stone- and moving down the country roadways near my house the mist is everywhere, rising prettily from the lake and river. The sun, rising sluggishly from bed these days -- later and later, as if his alarm clock is steadily losing its gears -- finally | - highlights the leaves, which are beginning their transformation i from that uniform, banal green to _the chorus of colors that mark the Pavlik site. Why is it that any worthwhile project in this town have so many barriers, resulting in further delays and extra cost to the builder, which is therefore passed on to the and afternoon. Thank you all for eight wonderful years. Yours very sincerely, Roy Grierson Wake up, Mrs. Pearce. Pat Rowe, Prince Albert ; hasers? Autumn. oor Day School who marched their tots to school every day and Pi : : iumn. : : mostly if all the children who greeted me every mormng hoon ha at options do seniors God is in Heaven, and the Season is changing. ve? Everything is all right. FINALLY: Plan ahead now. The ag experts are warning of a pumpkin shortage as Halloween approaches. Oooh. Scary. ee-------------- A ---------------------------------- Random Jottings | by J. Peter Hvidsten L | THE MORAL DECAY OF TV AND MOVIES As the parent of young children, 1 I'm finding it extremely frustrating Te athow few television shows are yl aimed ata family audience. 2 sitting down after 7 p.m. some night to "watcha show withsix to 10 years olds. Atthe very st, you can be assured of being troubled by the jectmatter, language and gestures, used in any ofthe primetime episodes. | Gone are the days of Bill Cosby and Mary Tyler 'Moore where families could sit and laugh together without having to worry about poor taste. There are still a lot of great shows, but almost all seem to feel there is a need to inject profanity, vul- garity and exposure of excessive amounts of flesh. In the right time slot (after the kids are in bed), most of this subject matter would be of no concern. But when I'm sitting on the couch eating popcorn with my kids, there is no need for some of the rude, crude material being transmitted onto the screen. And while TV producers have stooped to new lows this season, the movie studios are releasing movies ~ which are no better, and in many cases worse, than their small screen friends. Our 10 year-old son Matt, who isn't satisfied with Saturday morning cartoons anymore, wants to see more exciting shows, so we occasionally allow him to watch, with supervision, an action movie we've already seen. ry Unfortunately most of the good action movies have excessive profanity and at some time during the film, sexually explicit scenes. This summer he's watched two action movies, "Speed," and True Lies." Both of these are great action movies, but fall into the class above. So even before the movie began | found myself explaining to Matt, "justbecause I'm letting you watch a movie with swearing doesn't mean your mother and | condone the use of these words." And in fact, | went one step further and said if | ever heard him using profanity he'd be grounded and there would be no more movies. Having already seen True Lies, we knew what to expect, and at one point stopped the movie and sent him to the kitchen for a snack, while we fast-forward- ed the movie pasta slinky dance scene. True Lies was agreatmovie for adults, and would have been a good movie for lots of kids Matt's age, if the producers had only used their heads. The swearing and the sex scenes were notnecessary to make it a box office hit. As always the networks and studios defend the material they produce with the cliche "it's what the publicwants." Sorry, buti don'tbuy it. Society as awholeis in a state of decay and it's time producers of the material being flashed intoour homes assume some of the responsibility for lower- ing the standards of acceptability. We don't necessarily have to goback to the innocence of | Love Lucy or The Andy Griffith Show, but there's room for alot of improvement.