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"A Family Tradition for 130 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, June 18, 1996 - 7 I _FETTERS What's the problem with party? To the Editor: Every summer there are many field parties thrown throughout Scugog and you never hear about them in the lo- cal newspaper. They are just a large crowd of people joining to- gether in a celebration of some sort. The news this past week has greatly disturbed us regard- Ing the retirement party that is to be held on the long weekend for Bernie Guindon, a founding member of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club. Many years ago, my husband and I had the pleasure of meet- ing and working along side Ber- Thanks fo the media To the Editor: Recently the Durham Crime Stoppers program profiled a robbery that oc- curred at the Pizza Pizza at 80 Thickson Road South in Whitby. That profile was dis- tributed to all of our media partners in the usual man- ner. As of late, conversation with investigators from our Robbery Unit has revealed that. their efforts have met with success. An arrest has been made in relation to this incident as well as other sim- ilar occurrences involving one accused. The Durham Regional Crime Stoppers program wishes to take this opportu- nity in thanking our media partners for their support and commitment to our pro- gram. Sergeant Kevin Slaney, Police Co-ordinator nie. Bernie went out of his way to accommodate us and it will always be fondly remembered. Since that time, my husband has run into Bernie once or twice and they have had respect for each other and always had good things tosay. Once again, the club is being generous as they have many times in the past, this time by collecting items for our local food bank. Think of all the peo- ple they will be helping out in these stressful times. To the Mayor and the Dur- ham Police Force I'd like to ask: Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? We thought the police force was here to serve and protect, not to dis- criminate and harass. As Ber- nie was quoted as saying, "There are a few bad apples...", but there are always a lot more good apples than bad, and that goes for most clubs and organi- zations. If you ever came to our door, Bernie, it will be open for you with welcome. Our congratula- tions to you on your retirement, and we wish you every success in your future endeavours. Ron and Normajeanne Hartrick, Port Perry. It's just discrimination To the Editor: As Port Perry prepares for the Canada Day Celebrations on the waterfront, the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club pre- pares for the retirement party of one of their founding mem- bers, Bernie Guindon, at a pri- vate home on the outskirts of town. Mayor Howard Hall has shown obvious discrimination against the club and supports questionable tactics used by the Durham Regional Police to relo- cate this party elsewhere, possi- bly the Port Perry waterfront during Canada Day festivities. This club has been in the Re- gion of Durham for over 30 years and has hosted many par- ties at no risk to the public. Overall, these gatherings boost the sales of local merchants and promote tourism within our re- on. : Motorcyclists have taken their place in our country for many years and history books reveal the use of motorcycles during the same wars that en- sured the freedom our country has to offer. We boast of multi- culturalism yet discriminate against bikers. Patricia Herder, Party Organizer Congrats on prize To the Editor: Warmest congratulations on your most recent front page award. Like the general excel- lence and agricultural story awards of this spring, it is richly deserved. I'm puzzled by the honorable mention in the feature photo class. I've yet to see a communi- ty paper with pictures to match those routinely gracing the front page of "The Star." I'd like to see the winner. George MacKenzie C.F.T.O. Fax your letters to the editor: 985-3708 'Notepad by Jeff Mitchell Sy A MOST REVEALING TALE ONE OF THOSE DAYS: Listening to the radio the other day | heard on one of those phone-in programs an invitation for parents to call up and relate their embarrassing stories re: The Kids. | was in the car at the time and don't have a cell phone, or | might just have called up. Then again, maybe not. It's a pretty embarrassing story. | wasn't going to write it as a cloumn -- although it occurred to me to be a great idea a year ago, just after it happened. But now, well -- what the hey. Here goes: It was in the summer time last year, and I'd just got home and picked up my boy, who had spent the afternoon at the neighbors'. Mom and his sister weren't home yet so that left Cameron, me, and the dog. | was in my work clothes, and wanted to change so we could go goof around on the lawn, and enjoy what was left of a pretty fine day. Heading to the bathroom with some shorts and a t-shirt, | stopped to instruct the boy: "You stay right here, okay? I'll just be a minute. Don't go outside." Of course, no sooner had | stepped inside the bathroom and undone my trousers than | heard the door slam. "Figures," | muttered, and began to take off my pants. that's when | heard a tremendous CA-RASH! from outside on the porch, followed by the wailing of a small boy. Hastily grabbing my trousers together at the waist, | rushed outside -- to find my kid, stuck head-first in the blue box, little legs flailing at the sky. "Good Lord," | said, and reached out to gather him up -- and then realized my mistake as -- Shoop! -- my pants slid down around my ankles, revealing the polka-dot boxer shorts | was wearing. In the same instant | shifted the boy under my right arm, gathered up my pants with my left and straightened back up, | glanced at my neighbor's house -- to see her, sitting on her porch, watching me in amazement. With the kid under my arm | whirled about, and faced the door | had, | reached for the door knob and -- you guessed it -- felt my pants slither to my ankles once more, revealing those gaudy shorts. Somehow | managed to fling myself and the kid through the door, and shut it behind us. | leaned there, panting, my 'trousers around my ankles. | didn't feel like playing outside any more. True story. Betcha can't top that. SPEC ------------------ for some reason, closed on the way out. Without thinking, BR) Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten the Citizen closed it's doors. And just as suddenly as the Citizen closed, only two days later Metroland Printing and Publishing began distributing a newspaper called Port Perry This Week. Port Perry This Week becomes one of more than 20 community newspapers Metroland pub- lishes, stretching from Burlington, north to Barrie AND THE BEAT GOES ON... The rumor mill had been run- ning rampant the past couple of weeks with speculation that the -- Scugog Citizen was sold. A rumor which finally surfaced as truth last Thurs- day, when just a week shy of its fifth anniversary, and east to Kingston. The newspapers are oper- ated by Metroland but owned by TorStar which is subsidiary of Toronto Star. The Port Perry Star once again becomes Scugog"s only home-based, independent news- paper, and we take the responsibility seriously. Every week we receive hundreds of requests to cover and publicize area events and snap photos at schools, sporting events and other important occasions. The Star will continue, as we always have, to cover each and every request possible. We realize the Citizen, much like the former Oshawa Times, had a very faithful readership and the Scugog Citizen. He is well known and like the Times their customers will be disappoint- ed and upset at this turn of events. But the public should be aware the newspaper _industry has gone through a dramatic change over the past five years. Newspaper closures due years. to increasing costs of publishing and a slow econ- omy had dealt the death knell to hundreds of large and small newspapers across the country. Newspapers, like all small business, can only survive through hard work, commitment and with support of the community in which it serves. The Port Perry Star is most fortunate to have had the support of this community for the past 130 years and we expect it will be around into the next century to serve and inform this area's residents. CLOSING COMMENT - After close to 20 years writing, commenting and covering the local news scene, I'm sure John McClelland's contribu- tions to the community will be missed. John spent 15 years as editor of The Port Perry Star and another 5 years as editor/publisher of respected in the community and is an exceptional writer, an enthusiastic supporter of the sports scene and his efforts will be missed by the many friends and acquaintances he's made over the There's little doubt his journalistic presence will be missed, and | would personally like to extend - best wishes to John for improved health and suc- cess in any future endeavors.