The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2000 - 7 LETTERS Lest we forget: To the Editor: Nov. Il seems to be an embarrass- ment now, to be squeezed in between Halloween and Christmas as the more important commercial holidays. About the only remainders in Port Perry of the effort our fathers made in 1916 and again in the 1940s are two buildings still labeled as 'War Memorial.' The older is now the home of the Chamber of Commerce, and the more recent and better planned is the library, which to its credit maintains the 'Farndale Gallery,' a dynamic rolling exhibition room for us to see the results of various artists' efforts. If you go to Flanders Fields and to where cemeteries of the European wars that Canadians fought in, you will see the older ones were planned as informal gardens, with blossoming fruit trees and walkways among the aging graves. There is a deep symbolism to the trees with their blossoms in spring, and fruit in fall. They remind us of the cycles of life, and the duty future generations have to flower and bear fruit worthy of the sacri- fice of those who served and died. Those graveyards are still maintained by the Imperial War Graves Commission (of which Canada is an honoured member). The commissioners know the symbolism of both gardens and blossoming trees. They wouldn't dream of cutting any down merely to accommodate bicycle parking or inconvenience by the igno- rant over fallen fruit. When our library was built, blossom- ing fruit trees at the front doors were added as an important part of the set- ting and the symbolism. They flanked the library's entrance and showered patrons in spring with falling petals, and in fall bore fruit by the basketful. Trees are gone And now through officially approved vandalism, they have been cut down by insensitive and ignorant people. | was shocked to see their sudden removal, and outraged when | heard that the rationale was 'because apples were being crushed and carried into the building on patrons' shoes and marring the new carpet.' A second reason offered was that 'the trees were infested.' What, a few bugs? No one had a clue of the trees' sym- bolism and the options. The only infes- tation I know of was tent caterpillars, a problem easily dealt with with soap and water. But it does require awareness and effort. The fallen fruit was an opportunity to invite the public to come and gather crabapples and see a demonstration of how fine fruit jellies are made on any kitchen stove. The jars of jelly could have been presented in the Farndale Gallery much like Gingerbread Houses are at Christmas, and the focus could have been on Nov. 11 and its motto 'Lest We Forget.' But already someone in authority has forgotten (or worse, never knew). Pavement is to be preferred. No wonder Scugog's local govern- ment is about to disappear, leaving us as simply another suburb-in-waiting, to be annexed by the voracious provincial government and its drive toward urban- ization, to be controlled from some- where other than the small towns that used to be run by people who cared about their heritage and passed it on. But now ... 'Best We Forget'... Well, not me ... Shame on the library board. David Foster Port Perry Trustee's not anti-Christian To the Editor: Our public school trustee of 12 years, Bobbie Drew, has been publicly sniped at by other trustees for supposedly uttering an anti-Christian remark, namely, by chal- lenging the "Christian slate of candidates" in upcoming school trustee elections to reveal their evangelical platform to voters. No one who knows Mrs. Drew, an elder of Port Perry United Church, could ever accuse her of being anti-Christian. What she and many other people object to is the misguided Christian right exerting influence at the school board. Instead of practicing the true Christian way of love and acceptance, these "Christians" regress to fear-mongering and negativity, even hate - all the base natural emotions that Christians try to rise above. When the Christian right obtains seats on the school board the resulting behaviour is, to put it kindly, most unprofessional. They obsess over the sex-ed program, prayers in school, and condom machines (there are none). Their most recent witch hunt uncov- ered the devil's work in the wildly popular Harry Potter books, which have turned thousands of children into avid readers. Their crusade to ban these books from Durham schools mercifully failed, but not before the board was held up to national ridicule and wasted a great deal of precious time straightening out the mess. Christian right trustees are a drag on the board's productivity. Their childish out- bursts and slanted statements distract the board from its true work of providing the best possible education for our children. Mrs. Drew, as always keeping this goal in sight, has rightly and bravely advised voters to grill candidates on what they stand for. If they object to or want to ban Harry Potter or other books, do our students a favour and don't vote for them. We need to be vigilant when we cast our votes for trustee. The general quality of can- didates has declined since Mike Harris brought in Bill 160 and capped their hono- rarium at a paltry $5,000. Unfortunately, you usually get what you pay for. Kay Fisher Langmuir, Port Perry Caring community boosts team To the Editor: Community spirit is sometimes hard to define, but my experience with the people and businesses in Port Perry has led me to conclude we live in a caring, supportive community. The Port Perry Scorpions Hockey Club, starting its inaugural year, was founded on the belief that through sports training and competi- tion, mentally and physical- ly challenged athletes can participate fully in sports programs and be a vital part of the community. I have found the Port Perry business community is interested and generous in their financial support of our program. This support was demonstrated recently when Shawn Eade of the Baagwating Community Association presented the team with a $5,000 cheque. Our program also counts on volunteers from the com- munity. Port Perry has pro- vided an abundance of indi- viduals who are prepared to freely give of their time to provide these players with the training necessary to develop new skills and interact with others. | also recognize that we are just one of many organi- zations that are supported and it is nice to live in apd be part of a community that cares. Dave King, It's autumn, and election fever fills the air Election fever is certainly in the air. Sunday's federal election announcement will see the race for "space" get a lot more difficult. The "space" | am referring to is not just media coverage, but lawn and roadside sign space as well. It is interesting that a couple of candi- dates are taking the high road by not putting out lawn signs in the interest of protecting our environment, which is a laudable goal. It also appears that some candidates are recycling their election signs, which is a novel re-cycling initiative and arguably, a more environmentally- friendly approach. In addition to getting your name recognized, it is critical that your message and commitment to the electorate is clear. There are several methods that are traditionally used to achieve this, like newspaper advertise- ments and flyers which can be expensive and not always read with much interest. Media coverage can be difficult to get, especially for important positions like local school trustees. Our local papers do the best job of addressing the municipal elections and are often read more thoroughly. In all cases, the effort and expense must be executed in a short, well organized period of time. It all takes a lot of enthusiastic volunteers and hard work. I still believe that the best approach is going door to door and attending public meetings - the Staying in Touch JOHN R. O'TOOLE X, ae MPP DURHAM EAST 4 N electorate wants to meet their candi- dates. Actually, the elections to watch will be the local municipal and regional elec- tions. With Mayor Diane Hamre deciding not to seek re-election, we have an inter- esting race for the position of mayor of Clarington. | must say that Mayor Hamre has made a very valuable contribution to Clarington, as well as the Region of Durham over the past 20 years. | want to publicly express my admiration and thanks for her years in public office, "Your decisive style will be missed Mayor Hamre. | know from having worked with you over the years under the threat of your gavel." There are four very good can- didates and each brings a mix of qualities and talent, like experience, energy, youth and commitment. In some parts of the riding, the incumbents must be satisfied, but feeling somehow left out. | know the feeling of being reaffirmed through re- election and have good memories of serving on council. Another challenge in this municipal election is the new mail-in ballot. Council made their decision to proceed with this for all of the right reasons, mainly as it is reported to reduce the cost of the elec- tion process. In the past, municipal elec- tions have been plagued with poor turnout for a variety of reasons. The con- venience of mail-in ballots is intended to increase public participation in municipal elections. At the same time, we have had a number of calls at our constituency office questioning the reliability of this process and some security issues. Traditionally, people like to put their "X" on the ballot and deposit it in a pri- vate manner. | am confident that the municipal election staff are well trained to ensure complete confidentiality. If you have any questions, you can call our office at 697-1501 or 1-800-661-2433 or call the municipal clerk. I am sure they will assist you. The issues in this municipal election are very important. One matter is the pos- sible amalgamation, or governance, in Durham Region, as well as Greater Toronto Area pressures. Growth and plan- ning are other pressing challenges because growth brings more people and the need for increased services. Taxes and accountability in government are also important questions. | pledge to listen to and work with.whoever is elected to serve on council. What I have learned since first being elected in 1982 as a school trustee, serving two terms on municipal and regional government and now five years working at the provincial level is we must sort out which level of government deliv- ers what services. We have to avoid dupli- cation so that each level has clear respon- sibilities, but most importantly, everyone must resolve to work together coopera- tively. | congratulate all of the municipal can- didates for having the courage to put their names and reputations on the line. You are to be commended. The Federal election is another matter. Our current federal member for Durham has exactly the same riding boundaries and population to serve as | do. It is a large and diverse riding, serving the north part of Oshawa, the Township of Scugog and all of Clarington. With just over 30 days to canvas, it will be difficult to cover the riding extensively. | know first hand since | was just re-elected a little over a year ago. | know that I will miss all the excitement but as a voter, | will be watch- ing with more than a passing interest. And finally, to add to "election fever," there is also the Nov. 7 presidential elec- tion in the United States. I'm glad that our election traditions are generally more respectful.