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6 - PORT PERRY STAR - Wednesday, September 6, 2000 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PUBLISHER .. =. J. Peter Hvidsten GENERALMGR ....... Don Macleod ochd MANAGING EDITOR . Jeff Mitchell OFFICE MANAGER . . Gayle Stapley ADVERTISING MGR' . . .Deb McEachern PRODUCTION MGR . . Pam Hickey REPORTER ..... .. | Chris Hall PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-MAIL port perry. star@sympatico ca Member Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc 1 Year - $37.45 (includes GST) Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - LIL 187 Six Months - $19.79 (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writers are not necessarily those of The Port Perry Star Letters must be signed and the telephone number (which wail not be published) included Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only if there is a compeiling reason to do so Errors will be corrected if brought to the editor's attention We reserve the night to edit or refuse publication of any material submitted ADVERTISING POLICY The publisher 1s not hable for, sight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement The publisher is not hiabie for other errors of omissions in connection with any adverbsement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement Al claims of error in publication must be made by Wednesday. noon. prior to the next week's publication. and. if not made. will not be considered No claim wll be allowed for more than one insertion BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby. Kathy Dudley. Heather Callan. Janet Rankin, Lesley West AR Gi ADVERTISING: Ginni Todd. Cindy Jobin, Gail Morse, Heather Mack, Linda Clarke, Lisa Monk. Janet Archer, Malcolm Lennox Member Canadian Community A CNA Newspaper Association PRODUCTION: Trudy Empringham, Daryle Wright. Richard D SUBSCRIPTION RATES Arlene Cheel. Robert Taylor, Richard Drew Freelance Writers Heather McCrae John 8 McClelland. Rik Davie Foreign 1 Year - $96 30 (includes GST) Editorial Comment Problem with future Forecasts of a growing budget surplus being amassed by the federal government have, as might be expected, led to numerous suggestions on how those extra dollars, all crowding up against one another in the public coffers, ought to be spent. A few suggestions from us: Q Health care, of course. But extra funding to provinces has to come with strings attached. Primary among those caveats must be requirements that the beginnings of two- tiered health care systems, such as that already in existence in Alberta and on the way in Ontario, be abandoned. Minimum levels of service for all areas of the country should be created by the federal health ministry, and adhered to by the provinces. Failure to comply means a withholding of funds. Kind of like the way Ontario runs its education system now. Q How about a few more dollars for our athletes? In the lead-up to the 2000 Olympic Games, we're heard numerous stories of young athletes all but starving as they pursue their dream of representing Canada on the international stage. A little more help from the feds would be most appropriate. Q We all like tax cuts, and there is room for adjustment. But a pre-election sell-off would do far more damage than good. a What about a resumption of the federal-provincial-munic- ipal infrastructure rebuilding program? Some very good things happened as a result of that initiative, and a reversal of SINCE. NO ONE. ELSE SEEMS INTERESTED IN KUNNING IN THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION, UNCLE HERMAN SA FIGURED HE'D GIVE ITA SHOT! 0h 7% le Wot 7, 7; 0 the withdrawal of federal-provincial support for the basics would be most welcome. And sensible. a Continue to chip away at that national debt, please. y 7» a And child poverty has long been the topic of much exam- ination, and seemingly heart-felt pledges of action. It's high time a national strategy that actually works is put in place to address this most distressing of our problems. KppoA Per Perry STAR {13} "Ni 0 TT Residence of Dr. Geo. H. Clemens, a doctor in Port Perry during the 1880s & 180s. The house was located on Queen St., where David's Hairstyling is located today. It is believed that the house nray have been destroyed by fire, possibly between 1895-1899, when there are no newspaper cords available. Dr. Clemens moved to Port Perry in 1882 after the death of Dr. F.H. Braithwaite. Port Perry Star Letter of the Week Thanks for a fabulous fair To the Editor: I would like to thank the orga- nizers, the volunteers and the exhibitors of the Blackstock Fall Fair for the best day out I can remember having in years. Immediately upon entering the gates | was made to feel incredibly welcome by a show of community spirit seldom seen anywhere but at a small country fair. I had the distinct impression that if Ghengis Khan himself had turned up at the gates he would have been wel- comed with open arms, provided his horse had a current Coggin's certificate, that is. I met so many friends, acquain- tances and people I'd forgotten | knew, that 1 did so much talking and | missed out on many of the exhibits. Then again, bringing peo- ple and communities together are perhaps the things that country fairs do best. The more fall fairs | attend the more | realize how important, yet under-appreciated, an aspect of the country's cultural heritage they are. Admittedly, with the notable exception of the outfits worn by the unicycle juggler and the first vice-president, there was no evi- dence of exotic costumes, national or otherwise, but there was no doubt that Blackstock Fair repre- sented a very significant cultural event. Everyone involved should take great pride in that fact. Nevertheless, whenever our politicians wish to show off Canadian culture to visiting foreign dignitaries, what do they do? They take them to see performances by Ukrainian folk dancers and Maureen Forrester singing Italian opera, of course. Go figure. Bernie Gotham, R.R. I, Bowmanville