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ERs "A Family Tradition for 128 Years" ---- from our readers Is executive hijacking union? To the Editor: ~The Local 222 union execu- tive in Oshawa are at it again. They want to have another vote "on having our union dues go to the New Democratic Party. The membership voted more than 84 per cent a few years ago, not to support any party with our union dues. Abe Tay- lor, a retiree, made the motion at the last membership meet- ing. The N.D.P. agenda leaders at our union hall are again backingit all the way. ~ They will vote on this motion in January, 1996. Before this vote to fund the N.D.P., be pre- Thieves ruin Halloween To the Editor: Here I sit, on the day be- fore Halloween. I have just discovered I have been robbed. It's an aw- ful feeling of invasion and personal disregard. I know this was not a crime free town, as the whole of so- ciety, worldwide, needs help desperately, but I did feel it was safe for my Halloween decorations. I like Halloween. I always have. Not the commercial- ism, but the true spookiness of it, so I decorate the house and the family. Today I discovered my huge character pumpkin and a dozen hand decorated masks, that survived Eng- land and Toronto, did not survive Port Perry. I can only hope someday they will learn the value of good neighborly relations. Maybe it will be one step in helping to save our world. Sincerely, Patrice Gibson Kirby, Port Perry pared to hear from Bob White, Buzz Hargrove, Gord Wilson and the lesser lights. Brothers and Sisters in the plant, I urge everyone to go to the Union Hall on Jan. 4, 1996. Will they finally realize anois a no? I am counting on another vote in the plant. Be prepared. The union executive will try to stack the union hall Jan. 4, 1996 with their radical, self- serving cronies, as they did at the last attempt to squash the membership"s wishes. They will again try to stop the vote from being held in the plant as be- fore. This is the way they operate. Very undemocratic. They want no input from people working in the plant. Is this what your union dues are being used for? So they can make decisions that you do not agree with, and where your dues should be spent? Why should they care, as everyone 1s very well paid. They are not in- terested in your input and wish- es. Please be at the Union Hall ondan.4. The decision should be yours, not theirs. Harold Reid, Whitby Elderly should move over To the Editor: I'm sick and tired of going into businesses and stores and doctors and dental offices and seeing men and women work- ng, and they're over 65 years old. I look at them and it really makes me mad, knowing they're taking work away from young college and university grads. There are men and wom- en between the ages of 19 and 35 who can't find work because jobs are taken by people that should be retired. By that age you should be en- Joying life and relaxing a bit. If they're bored there is lots of vol- unteer work in the community that they could be helping out with and they would feel good about it. Also, I'm fed up with families where both people hold jobs when one of the jobs would easi- ly support the family. Again, if she or he is bored, there is plen- ty of volunteer work to be done in your area. There are only so many jobs around. What incentive is there for our youths to stay in school to secure a future when there are no jobs to be found. Please re-think your goals in life, our children's future de- pends onit. " Happiness is not having to have everything you think you want. Name withheld by request A thanks to our vets From Page 6 tam, standing silent and erect at the door of the grocery store. Everything I'm feeling about you is coming to me all at once and I'm afraid I'm going to cry. [ want to talk to you, but | don't know how. [ want to hug you and, thank you for saving my life and my country, but I'm sure you'll think I'm insane. Instead, I'll just smile cour- teously in your direction and head on into the store, like | always do. Then I'll buy a poppy from you on my way out and leave you standing there with- out saying a word, like I always do. But I won't forget what you did for me. Thank you. Shaaron Cox Rensink, Port Perry by Jeff Mitchell AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE WE REMEMBER THEM: It's that time of year again. The cold wind blows and a stinging rain sprinkles from the leaden skies as the people hurry along the streets, huddling behind their collars. And on virtually all those collars there is a bright red poppy, symbol of remembrance and respect for the men and women who have served their country in foreign wars. It's a tribute which is remarkably simple, yet goes a long way toward showing a knowledge of our history, and our national identity. That sort of self-awareness seems most critical right now, with the country reeling from one separation referendum and, supposedly, steadying itself for yet another, all too soon. A sense of national pride and awareness needn't be overbearing, or jingoistic. It can be displayed with the quiet dignity for which we as a country are supposedly known; simply. As is the case with the POPPY. With Canada so torn and full of self-doubt, it's interesting to look at the historical figures sent us this past week by the Royal Canadian Legion. It says here that 628,736 Canadians, including 4,518 women, enlisted and served in World War One. And one in ten, more than 66,000, died. Scores more -- 138,000 plus -- were wounded. In the next World War, more than a million men and women enroled and served, and nearly 45,000 of them didn't come home. A further 53,000 were wounded. And to Korea we sent 26,791 soldiers, more than 500 of whom died. So what about it? Is this a proud legacy, or merely an accounting of the tragedy that occurred on such a massive scale when the powers running the planet failed to get along? | think the point is that it shows there is a common history and experience here, despite our cultural differences. And that heritage outweighs every internal slight, imposition, or threat, real or imagined, to have come along since. Next Saturday there are services in Port Perry and Blackstock; a ceremony takes place at the library's memorial plaque in Port at 10 a.m. and is followed by a wreath laying at the Legion Hall. In Blackstock, the parade for the wreath laying at the Cenotaph forms up at 10:30. Plan to be there, if it's at all possible. Come out and show that you are aware of the journey the nation has made, and that you give a damn where it's going. And pay respect for the brave souls who took part in those epic conflicts of so long ago. \ EE EE CE Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten speak from an hour later. Although all photographers were cleared from the stage before the PM arrived, we were still given acc- ess to the area where he would make his entrance. In fact, when he arrived, | was a mere five feet away from him as he shook hands and made his way IT'S TIME FOR A SECURITY CHECK My first thoughts about securi- Pi ty for our Prime Minister came last ' | week while attending the Crusade it for Canadarally held in Montreal. Being aphotographer for a newspaper has its rewards, and a simple flash of my press pass (out- dated by almost two years) gave me access to the same stage Jean Chretien and his entourage would through the crowd. There was security, plenty of it, but at no time did anyone question what | had in the camera bag dan- gling from my shoulder. If had been a disturbed gun- man, bentonkilling the PM, there was plenty of opportunity. But | was more than surprised to learn that a man had gained entry into the PMs home at 24 Sussex Dr. without any knowledge of the RCMP. It's hard to fathom, in these times when so many take the law into their own hands, that the PM doesn't have tighter security. While it's frightening to think what could have hap- pened, it's a sign that Canadians still don't think ter- rorism can happen in this country. It's time to wake up! Fortunately our PM and his wife came away for this confrontation unscathed, but they might not be so lucky next time. Canada might not be the hotbed of terrorism found in other parts of the world, but we can no longer ass- ume our Canadian leaders are not targets for an attack by aderanged assassin. THE CHANGING SEASONS It's hard to believe six miles (sorry, that's 10 km) can make such a difference in the weather. Saturday morning in Port Perry was pretty ordinary. Alight frost on the ground, which disappeared as the sun warmed the air, and the final, stubborn leaves drifting to the green grass. Such was notthe case with our neighbors only minutes north of town. Friday night many communities from about Seagrave north were hitby winter's first snowfall. Anditwasn'tjust a skiff of snow. There are reports ranging from three to eight inches of the white stuff depending exactly where you lived. ltwas quite a sensation, watching people raking leaves in Port Perry and just minutes up the road. kids playing in the snow and building snowmen. (or should thatbe snowpersons?) I know our kids took great delight in jumping out of the car in Seagrave and throwing their first snowballs atone another. Winter has arrived, at least is some parts of Scugog.