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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PUBLISHER - J. Peter Hvidsten GENERAL MGR. - Don Macleod ) OoCna MANAGING EDITOR - Jeff Mitchell REPORTER - Chris Hall Member Ontario C OFFICE MANAGER - Gayle Stapley Oo nly ADVERTISING MGR. - Deb McEachern PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-MAIL: port.perry.star@ sympatico.ca 1 Year - $37.45 (includes GST) EDITORIAL POLICY: Opinions expressed by columnists, contributors and letter writers are not necessarily those of The Port Perry Star. Letters must be signed and the will be corrected if brought to the editor's attention. We reserve the right to edit or refuse publication of any material submitted. ADVERTISING POLICY: The connection with any advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. All claims of error in publication must be made publisher is Newspaper Association Publications Mail Registration No. 07881 Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - LIL 187 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Six Months - $19.79 (includes GST) Ewan oll BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby, Kathy an y Community {ws CN A Dudley, Janet Rankin, Heather Callan. Foreign 1 Year - $96.30 (includes GST) telephone number (which will not be published) included. Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only if there is a compelling reason to do so. Errors not liable for sight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher is not hable for other BImors Of OMISSIONS by Wednesday, noon, prior to the next week's publication, and, if not made, will not be considered. No claim will be allowed for more than one insertion. ADVERTISING: Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin, Gail Morse, Heather Mack, Linda Clarke, Janet Archer PRODUCTION: Trudy Empringham, Pam Hickey, Daryle Wright, Robert Taylor, Richard Drew, Scott Ashby, Editorial comment Another look at gas price gouging We hear this week that the provincial govern- ment is about to take another stab at the issue of fluctuating gasoline prices, this time with Durham MPP John O'Toole helping to lead the charge. That's okay... so long as the exercise amounts to something more than another expression of our collective disgruntlement over the situation. You have to wonder about the federal govern- ment's seeming lack of will to do anything about this. An outcry that arises each long weekend, when prices at the pumps jump suddenly for a couple of days pefore settling back to their pre- vious levels, goes largely unanswered. It's price gouging, and only an idiot would believe otherwise. Yet we're fed pap about rising crude prices and other extenuating factors, patted on the head, and then sent to the back of HAVE No FEAR BoYs AND THER PICK-POCKETHMON | PRICE GOUGER! the:line where we wait, with our cash at the Torie Pokémon "T. RIES Q cole 3000 Politician Fokémon Weapon: 8 Thunder gust sleep with non-stop blather. Lul Ss opponents to : Ropdn Port Perry STAR ready, to fill up again. Maybe the petroleum companies are just too big and frightening for the feds. Maybe, as with the tobacco industry, public sentiment takes a back seat to big money, and big players. Here's hoping the province's report can bring to the table the grassroots response to this rip- off, and that it will be listened to. Some of the things Mr. O'Toole has said so far sound as though he's already making apologies for the petroleum giants, but we'll give him and his col- leagues a chance, hoping they'll speak on our behalf. It's gone past the point where griping will suf- fice; we have to demand protection from market manipulation, and the feds are the body with the legislative power to do something about it. We'll watch this latest exercise with interest, and hope for something of substance. Volunte To the Editor: During our summer residential door to door campaign, our volunteers were not able to get to many of the Port Perry resi- dents and surrounding districts mainly due to people being away on summer vacation. By the time summer was over we were well under way with our next fundraising campaign. Your donations received are appreciat- ed to help raise $40,000 to $50,000 towards a skateboard park planned for the spring of the year 2000. We have raised $9,200 since our vol- unteer group was organized last May. Our volunteers have already contributed 8 ASA A A Se Se A A ers working A BL Lh ii toward goal so much towards the estimated 5,000 hours required to complete this project. Each sponsor will receive an official income tax receipt for this gift from the Township of Scugog. All cheques should be made payable to the Township of Scugog and can be mailed to Port Perry and District Skateboard Park Group, c/o Pauline Young, R.R. 2 Seagrave, LOC 1GO. For any more information regarding the fundraisng or any aspect of the park planning, please call Pauline or Ferron Young at 985-2681. Marg Lamb, Port Perry Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten LAKEFRONT MOTEL PLAN PIE-IN-THE-SKY IDEA | was a little perplexed last week to leam that, according to our mayor, two proposals have crossed the township's desk, to build a motel - complex near the lakefront with the township as a prime tenant.: Let's get real! All well and good if there was some substance to the report, but the fact is, at this point it's no more than a pie- in-the sky idea. Even if such a proposal existed, there are a number of obstacles in the way. | First of all, the property on which this "motel complex" is proposed to be built is not presently for sale. Secondly, if the property ever did come up for sale, it would mean tearing down Port Perry's oldest and most historic com- 'mercial building... the old grain elevator, which now hous- es an auto supply dealer. The plan would also mean the removal of one of the town's main community centres, the Latcham Centre. To the best of my knowledge, there have never been any formal proposals about such a project put forward to council... so one would have to ask, why would such a project be announced publicly? What was to be gained by stirring up residents with such a far-fetched plan? * Anyone who has lived here for any length of time can remember what happened when plans to tear down the old post office surfaced in the 1971. A tremendous public outcry at the thought of losing this historic building result- ed in it being saved from the demolition man. Another historic building, our Town Hall, also came under the scrutiny of the public after it was announced back in 1974 that it would not be restored. Once again, committees were formed, council was petitioned and the historic building was saved. I suspect it will be no different with the old grain eleva- tor, should there ever be a serious plan put forward to remove the building from the waterfront. This building, which has withstood destruction by fire on a number of occasions, and in fact is the only commercial building downtown to have survived the fire of 1884, is far too . important to have torn down for a motel complex. Granted, the building in its present state is not an attractive asset for Port Perry's beautifully refurbished downtown. But under the right ownership, it could be restored and modernized to some degree, and developed into a living landmark on the corner of Water and Queen St., where it has stood for more than 125 years. This present day success of the Port Perry business community has been built on the legacy of its pioneer businessmen. The groundwork they laid more than a cen- tury ago, by constructing some of the most attractive buildings in southern Ontario, which flank north and south sides of Queen St., makes it the popular destination for tourists it is today. The old grain elevator is part of that past, and any talk about replacing it with a hotel complex will be met with the same energetic opposition as did the proposed demo- lition of the town hall and post office. Fortunately, all this talk means nothing at this point in time. The property is currently privately owned, and the future of the building is in the owner's hands alone. Only if the mill were purchased by the township, or by a devel- oper, could we even begin to discuss the future of this historic downtown landmark. For my part, we can only hope that if, and when, the. building does change ownership, it will fall into the hands of someone who can ensure a bright future for the build- ing... not dispose of it like an old shoe.