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~Opinion Editorial Winterama threatened b Winterama, Ontario's oldest annual festival, is in danger of becoming nothing more exciting than a euchre tournament. That's the concern voiced by some Winterama organizers, who have been fac- ed with getting insurance coverage for their events. With any physical event that may, just may result in some kind of injury, about a million dollars of coverage is needed. For a committee that's under the Chamber of Commerce, which is under- funded by Penetang and not funded at all by Tiny Township, getting insurance coverage is impossible. On the other hand, the organizers are ex- pected to put on an exciting and entertain- ing weekend, which is hoped to be even better than last year. Snowmobile and scoot races (a craft that skims the ice surface, driven by a fan-like propeller) are likely going to be cancelled because of the potential for injury suits. Helicopter rides are being offered, but Letters PGH service was wonderful Dear Editor: I am writing this letter to express my ap- preciation to the administration and staff of the Penetang General Hospital. Our lit- tle hospital is truly a great service to our community. The treatment and service which my mother received has been absolutely se- cond to none. It makes me feel proud to be a part of this community and to be serv- ed by our PGH. Sincerely, Don Roszmann Penetanguishene due to the present situation, the pilot must land on the ice, outside of town property so the government isn't liable if an acci- dent occurs. The helicopter may also be cancelled if the weather is too mild and the thickness of the ice can't be trusted. The only reason the smash-up derby has the green light is because it's covered by the Lion's club insurance policy. Unfor- tunately, it can't be adapted to cover the other events as well. The Winterama weekend draws thousands of people to the area every year. That influx of people undoubtably puts money in the cash registers of many businesses. It is also an excellent way to showcase the town and entice people to make it their home, which is good for the municipality. In order to continue the high standards and popularity of the event, both the businesses and the local governments must commit more funds to help cover in- y insurance costs surance costs. As it stands now, Penetang wants to have all the fun without paying for it. Un- fortunately, lawsuits for any kind of injury have become commonplace and the set- tlements have sometimes involved outrageous amounts. Winterama has been the town's premier event for many years and it would be a shame to see it forced to hold only safe and non-threatening events, just because an in- surance policy couldn't be arranged. --4~ x _Risky_ business One more of Canada's traditional spor- ting pastimes has been experienced (though not conquered) by myself recently. This happened when some people from the newspapers decided to enter a curling bonspiel at the Midland Curling Club. It was touted as a "funspiel," and since only two of us had ever curled before, it certainly wasn't going to be a serious spiel. I have regularly watched curling cham- pionships on television, which gave me some insight into the strategy of the game. I thought this might be of some help to my inexperienced teammates, but I failed to think this through. It became rather obvious soon after we began that in order for strategy to be us- ed, the rocks had to be put into play ~ a feat more difficult than I had believed. At first, we all threw (slid? pushed?) our rocks right through the house at the other end (the red, white and blue bull's eye thing). Trying to compensate, we barely cleared the hog line (a red strip about 12 feet from the starting block, which is probably the incorrect term for where you put your foot). The rules say you can't be holding onto the rock when you cross the hog line, which was the least of our worries. You see, in order to slide forward in a crouch while you aim, a special slider or shoe has to be worn, which only one of us had. Come to think of it, by the end of the bonspiel, we were glad we didn't get to wear one. ; The one guy who did, obviously wasn't used to walking with one on and kept forgetting about it. As a result, he did some amazing acrobatic collapsing. All told, he flipped onto his posterior five times, with one combination fall down, get halfway up, fall down and thrash around in frustration move. Once we got that settled, the next task was to avoid running right off the side of the rink. You figure that wouldn't be too hard, but keeping proper balance with five or more drafts in you is a task in itself, never mind trying to aim a round rock at some other rocks several yards away. After a while (two games) we seemed to get the hang of it and we put several rocks in play. Unfortunately, the other team knew how to remove them on their very next shot. It was kind of sad watching the toils of our labor being bumped out of the way like it was some mere nuisance. The highlight of the day, and I think I speak for the whole team (maybe), was when I got our first two points. I was playing skip and had the last two shots for our team. The first rock was plac- ed well near the center of the ring, but they bumped it out. To make it worse, their rock now rested just to the left of the centre ring. I consulted with my teammates about how we would try to play the shot (not that talking about it really made our shots bet- -- Penetanguishene Citizen Published each Wednesday by Telemedia Communications Ontario Inc., 309 King Street, Midland, Ontario Subscription rates: 40'/single copy; by carrier home delivery (where applicable) $36.40/year, 35'/copy; by mail in Canada $39.00/year; by mail outside Canada $100.00/year. _ 526-2283 General Manager: Judy French Managing Editor: Tim Kraan Asst. Managing Editor: David Krayden Senior Writer: Murray Moore Staff Writers: Chris Harries, Michael Sports: Arnold Burgher ~- Sales Manager: Grace Kidd Sales Representatives: Karen Caldwell, Nancy Downer, Peter Hamelin, Denise McCluskey, Don McIntyre, Joy Turner Circulation Manager: Jim Baker Other rates available on request. CNA ee tee ane saeeaee Second Class Mail Registration Number 2327 cn (=) Member Page P4, Wednesday, February 8, 1989 Curling: shuffleboard on ice ter) and we went ahead according to our plan. I think we were just a tad more surpris- ed than our opponents when my rock hit perfectly and stayed for two points. Some curlers I talked to didn't seem to like my comparison of the game to shuf- fleboard, but I have played it a lot and couldn't ignore the similarities. What helped me make the shot was remembering how I did it in shuffleboard, but on a much larger scale. I think it was getting in the right frame of mind that helped too. After all, where do you often play shuffleboard? At the bar. And what's at the bar? Booze. What was at the curling rink? Booze; Needless to say, I've played shuffleboard a little tipsy. In the cold curling rink, a nice rum or three helps your blood from freezing, so I quickly got in the same state as I've been while playing shuffleboard -- hence the comparison. --Eetters The Penetanguishene Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. They must be legible, signed (by hand), and carry the writer's address and telephone number for verification purposes. Pen names are not allow- ed and anonymous letters will not be published, but names will be withheld if circumstances warrant. Letters published by this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the opi- nion of this newspaper, its publisher or editor. aL abi