PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1981 WHITBY FREF PRESS whitby r Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher . Managing Editor The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents For Whitby residents. l>ublîshed ever.% Wednesday ( and I>hotographN loIn.. P'hone 669-6111I lth F'ree P>ress Building. 131t Brock Street North, Il,(). Box~ 206. 4Vhitby. (Ont. Michael J. Knoll Community Editor Marlorie A. Burgess Production Manager Karen Thompson Advertising Manager Mailing Permit No 480 Member of the Whitby Chamber of commerce Attersley deserves congratulations for success of industrial seminar The Town of Whitby and Mayor Bob Attersley deserve a warm round of applause for the success of the "At Home industrial Seminar" that was held at the Municipal Building last week. While it is granted that the seminar probably did not immediately produce one additional dollar of assessment for the town, it did provide an oppor- tunity to recognize those industrial concerns that give Whitby its economic life. The seminar has also made it clear that the town is prepared to take a more aggressive ap- proach to attracting new development, develop- ment that is badly needed. Last Wednesday's gala affair was the climax of an industrial development promotion program funded by five prominent, mostly residential, land developers. These companies have realized that while it is ail well and good to have residential development, industrial and commercial development is also needed to create a viable, thriving and growing in a community are paid by these industrial and commercial property owners. The seminar sought to make Whitby's "family A Wo*i nws ernetary fr=m EEST OP Agrmt r AW OR GIO/T L TNl!WS I read a line in the paper recently about the Islander's Mike Bossy that made my blood run cold. The writer mentioned Bossy's "ever-present cigarettes" in a kind of throwaway line. I've come a long way from my innocent youth, when I supposed that professional athietes don't drink or smoke, at least while they were in training. Mike Anscombe, Global's Sports Director, has long since dis- illusioned me about that. But I must admit that I am still somewhat shocked to learn that on the eve of the Stanley Cup finals, Mike Bossy was still smoking incessantly. I know. I know. In professional hockey, you've got it or you haven't. Eyes, reflexes, speed, power, superb co-ord- ination, and an aggressive competitive instinct. Combine those things with the right xperience, and you've got a pro hockey player, mavbe even a super star. But when it comes to the Stanley Cup finals, after a gruelling 80 game schedule, l'Il take a super star who doesn't smoke or drink over one that does. Mike Anscombe says nuts. I can take purity, he says, and he'll take the money. Look at Guy Lafluer, he says, smokes all the time. I may be right, Anscombe says, if I were talking about average people, with average abilities, but if I think a few cigarettes are going to make a difference to a Bossy or a Lafluer, I don't know what I'm talking about. Maybe he's right, but if I were depending on my body to make me a quarter of a million dollars plus each vear for the next decade, I cer- tainly wouldn't poison it during training. Would A.J. Foyt dump a little sugar in his gas tank just before the Indy 500? I jog a little, to stay in some kind of shape and main- tain a toe hold on sanity. I didn't smoke anything for seven vears, and then, about three vears ago, I took up the pipe again. In one week, my resting pulse rate went from under 50 to over 70. And l'Il tell you something, if I were depend. ing on my body to make me a couple of million dollars, I'd feed my pipe collection into one of those machines that makes wood chips out of heavy brush. That's not news, but that too is reality. industries" more aware of each other and to make each familiar with the product, service and role of the others. In this age of ever-rampant inflation and high in- terest rates, it was good to hear that two-thirds of the industrial concerns of the Town of Whitby had grown in the last 18 months. Surely, this is a good sign that our community Is in good stead economically. This is not to say that the town does not have its problems, but that someone, Mayor Attersley, has taken an interest in these problems and is attem- pting to combat them in a realistic and positive manner. In fact, Regional Chairman Gary Herrema recen- tly said that the other seven municipalities in Durham are closely watching what Whitby is doing and will take their cue f rom us. Herrema also said that he knows of atleast two of these communities that want to start a program similar to the one begun here in Whitby. It is a pleasant change for this publication, it- self one of the industries that were honored at the seminar, to be in support of something that politicians are trying to do. This does not happen often. The industrial development promotion program seems to have a lot of potential to do a lot of good for the community as a whole. One point that should be mentioned is that this program is funded by the same five developers mentioned earlier and does not receive one penny of the tax dollars raised by the town. While it appears that Whitby is better off than most of her neighbours within the Region of Durham, this does not mean that we need growth any less than they do. We need to encourage the development of new industry in Whitby to provide a broader tax base, create more job opportunities and give the town's economic future a brighter glow not only for our- selves, but for the generations that will follow. What is being done today will have a direct im- pact on the .Whitby of tomorrow and it is the people who live here now that will determine what this town will be like in 50 years. Will this program be successful? Attersley is confident that it will. We share in that confidence with the realization that only time will tell us for sure. The success of this program will be determined by how many new assessment dollars are brought into the town, by how many jobs are created, and by the standard of living that will be enjoyed. It would be detrimental to the interests of the residents of the Town of Whitby if we said that the program would not be successful because of the current national economic problems. However, does it not sound better to say that this idea should succeed in spite of the current economic problems facing Canadians? This one project is undertaken by a level of government that this publication would en- courage the citizenry to support. If this program is successful all of us will benefit because of the creation of jobs and the in- creased assessment. For the program to be successful it will take time, effort, care of planning and sound management practices. It appears as if it is off on a sound footing. Mayor Attersley deserves the congratulations of all of us for.his efforts, to date, in this regard. We can only hope that the success will be con- tinuing so that all residents of the Town of Whitby will benefit. - /- / E <7E "d m a - mi