Council opposes Durham Centre closure plan Whitby Town Council has voted to oppose the closingi of the Durham Centre for the Developmentally Han- dicapped. In a sharp change of policy, the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services an- nounced almost 18 mon- ths ago that it would close six regional cen- tres throughout the province that are charged with caring for the mentally retarded. One of the centres to be closed is the one in Whitby which is expec- ted to cease operation sometime next year. The motion was brought forward by Reg. Coun. Tom Ed- wards who said that the closing may begin as early as later this year. He said that he was not satisfied. that the government was providingadequate care for these people after the facility was closed. However, an opposing view was heard from Coun. Ross Batten (Nor- th Ward) who seemed hesitant to interfere with the policy process of another level of government. "They do have some alternatives in mind," he told council adding that "not a lot of Whitby residents are involved." Batten also pointed out the employees of Durham Centre will be offered employment in other ministry facilities throughout the provin- ce. "We should not try to override the decision of another level of gover- nment," he said. Coun. Joe Drumm gave strong vocal sup- port to Edwards' motion. "I'm not satisfied that they (the provincial government) really know where they're Progress Report As part of today's edition of the Whitby Free Press, we are pleased to present our 1984 "Progress Report." This 16-page pullout supplement is a chronicle of those local business enterprises that are continuing to make valuable con- tributions to our local economy. The Progress Report has become an annual feature of the Whitby Free Press and it is one way that we believe local residents can become more aware of the industrial and corn- mercial services that are available to them. Our town has grown substantially over the last year, we now boast some 40,000 residents and with these new people have come new business enterprises that should ensure a prosperous future for us ail. going," the East Ward councillor told his collegues. "This move will not help the com- munity and will not help thesé children." Council will now send a letter to Community and Social Services Minister Frank Drea voicing their opposition to the closure. Vol. 14, No. 11 Wednesday, March 14, 1984 36 Page Mayor Bob Atter8ley in real life Young cartoonist draws What would be a 12-year old's percep- tion of an important local figure? Especially if that gifted youngster was a budding cartoonist. Well, last week Cindy Edge drew her caricature of Mayor Bob Attersley and the resuit is the drawing shown here. Working from the live model, Cindy, a student at Whitby Senior Public School, gave us her impression of "The Mare". Cindy is one of 20 local youths taking an introduction to cartooning course taught by Ken Lennox, a local artist. He also draws the editorial cartoons for the Whitby Free Press. The course is sponsored by the Durham Region Family YMCA and is held at Henry Street High School. Lennox teaches these talented youngsters such things as basic figure construction, how to re-create expression, how to make drawing humerous, motion and compostion as well as allowing them to experiment with various media. The course lasts eight weeks and a new session is scheduled to begin on Apr. 9. The cost ls $24 and registration infor- mation can be obtained from the YMCA's 'The Mare" office on Centre St. S. When shown the drawing, Mayor Bob Attersley was visibily impressed and merry giggles were heard from his wife, Joan, who accompanied him to the session. Cindy is a shy, quiet girl who was reluc- tant to talk. Then again, she has no need to, her pen does her talking for her. However, she did say that she has been drawing for some time and got her f irst in- spiration from her sister who also liked to draw. "So, I did it myself," Cindy says. Her drawing, most will agree, is a prac- tical application of the old saying: "Out of the mouths of babes." the mouths 0f babes." * M J Cindy Edge drawing her masterpiece F >Mm