PAGE 8, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20,1987 whitbybusiness PAT CERMAK shows 3-year-old Christopher Janca one of the children's books available at Sign Me, Seal Me, Send Me, a new business in Whitby. Free Press photo From home to store What started out as a business at home has grown for Pat Cermak in- to Sign Me, Seal Me, Send Me, the 'newest store to open in the Thickson Place plaza. This is the first store for the Hamilton native who was previously in the hotel business for il years. Cermak and her husband have lived in Whitby for the past year and a half. The Thickson Rd. S. plaza was a logical location for the store since "there was not store in the mall like it," saiys Cermak. Besides selling cards, inexpen- sive gifts, stationery and children's boo~ks, eventually patrons will be able to buy a cárd, sign it, address the envelope then leave it at the store to be mailed. Even if it is to be mailed a month later. "There are a lot of people out there who are always forgetting to mail cards and letters," says Cer- mak. As for the name, Sign Me, Seal Me, Send Me, Cermak says that was her idea, "People may not remember all of the name but they will remember some of it." Just for the halibut By DONNA DONALDSON People can come to this new store, just for the halibut. Open for only four months, West Lynde Fish & Chips, is located in the West Lynde Plaza in Whitby. Owned and operated by Rosemary Halliday of Whitby and Stan Wontor of Markham, they say their store is more specialized than a general restaurant. They serve halibut fish only, scallops, shrimp, chips and coleslaw. "People come in and are im- pressed with how clean it is and the decor. They like to sit and eat in a nice environment," says Halliday. Halliday, originally from Lon- don, England, has lived in Canada for twelve years. Her grandparents owned fish and chip stores in England and made it their life business. Before starting their new business, Halliday managed the Whitby Squash Club for four years, and Wontor, a Squash- Club in- Markham for2½1/fryears. "We've known each other for a few years. We get along well together and have the same tem- perament," Wontor says of starting their Fish & Chip business together. "We do have a lot of fun here," says Halliday. Stella Mainolfi works along with Halliday and Wontor and they all share in the cooking. Halliday's two sons, Simon and Mark, also help out at the store. "So far, so good,"says Wontor. ROSEMARY HALLIDAY prepares a piece of halibut "We've had no complaints, ex- for frying Free Press photo cept that we give out too many french fies !" Nurse GM import dealer How food choices affect health was the subject of an evening of films, speakers and discussion recently arranged at the Whitby Public Library by the Durham Greens and the Marigold Organic Food Co-op. The evening featured a fast- moving slide show, 'Hamburger U.S.A.'; 'The Vegetarian World,'* a film narrated by William Shatner; and speakers Russ Christianson and Michelle Meyer from the On- tario Federation of Food Co-ops and Club. Hamburger U.S.A. is an incisive analysis of the North American food system. By dissecting a typical cheeseburger layer by layer, it reveals the -economic con- centration that has taken place in the food business. It shows who controls what in the food industry and why tomatoes these days are often more square than round. It reveals that beef, lettuce, and farm workers have been subjected to heavy doses of chemicals. Speakers provided detailed in- formation about how citizens can gain control over food sources and quality. Vegetarian World, a highly ac- claimed film recently made by Toronto film-maker Jonathon Kaye, takes a look at vegetarianism from a global per- spective. As the film shows, the number of vegetarians is increasing-whether. because of concerns over health (the danger of heart disease, for in- stance); ethics (the matter of animal rights and the question of freeing more protein - by cutting back on meat- for the world's hungry people); or economics (The vegetarian diet is generally cheaper than a meat-centered one.) The film examines the history and practice of the vegetarian lifestyle and includes footage of such famous vegetarians as Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw ("Animals are my friends...and I don't eat my friends."), and Mahatma Gandhi. Contemporary vegetarians featured in the film include Canadian tennis star' Peter Bur- wash, Nobel Prize winner Isaac B. Singer, Frances Moore Lappe (author of 'Diet for a Small Planet') and, of course, the film's host and narrator, William Shat- ner, of "Star Trek" fame. Shatner dispels myths about vegetarianism - it is possible to eat a well balan- ced, protein-rich diet based on plant sources of protein and be at least as active and healthy as any meat-eater... "Much of the information con- veyed reveals problems connected with our present food system. People, I think, come away with a feeling of tremendous optimism, that they are not powerless to do something about their own and their children's health," says Edie Gomille, a publie interest resear- cher for Durham Greens. With the plow blade of*the 1987 Isuzu Trooper II 4 x 4 wagon, sod was turned recently on the site of General Motors of Canada's new Import Operations Division net- work. In the driver's seat was 30 year old Anne Nurse, one of the new im- port dealers. Assisting were George A. Peapples, president and general manager of General Motor of Canada and Joji Mizusawa, executive vice president, Isuzu Motors Limited, Tokyo, Japan. Since 1986, Nurse - has been training at Nurse Chevrolet Old- smobile Ltd. in Whitby. She has worked in every department. She was raised in Whitby and holds a bachelor of arts degree from Queen's University at Kingston. Later Nurse studied fine arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax and received degrees in art education. In addition, 12 other newly ap- pointed GM import dealers representing communities across Ontario and Quebec joined in the ceremony. General Motors of Canada "is responding to a particular and im- portant market segment" ... the consumers interested in buying only an imported car, Peapples told the invited guests at the event,~held at Dundas Street East and Glen i-um Drive in Whitby. Products available at the dealer- ships will be I-Mark passenger cars made by Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan and Trooper-II 4 X 4 wagons, from the same company, as well as the Korean-built DaeWoo Optima subcompact, designed and produc- tion-engineered by Opel in Ger- many The dealer network is indepen- dent of other GM dealerships already in existence, but will-have the full backing of General Motors of Canada and its worldwide resources. Peapples said 100 such dealer- ships will be opened in the next three or four years across Canada with a total capital investment of $30 million. Almost 2,000 jobs will be created in the new import dealerships. He said Isuzu will explore oppor- tunities in Canada in an effort to establish Canadian-based parts or componentry sources to meet some of its North American or offshore auto-manufacturing requirements. Devall conducts ceremonies to mark Miracle expansion CFTO-TV weatherman Dave Devall of Whitby conducted ceremonies for the opening of the newly expanded Miracle Food Mart at the Whitby Mall last week. Floorspace was expanded to 25,000 sq. ft. from 15,000 sq. ft. after months of construction work on the 17-year-old supermarket. Store manager Jack O'Rourke, a Miracle Mart employee for 29 years, says the expansion improves convenience and customer service. New speciálty sections added in- clude a fully-serviced butcher's counter, an in-store bakery, a specialty cheese and pizza bar, bulk food department with more' selection, a larger fruit and vegetable area and fi esh fish market. O'Rourke say- a takeouL suup and salad bar will be "especially welcome" to employees of EDS of Canada who occupy the complex next door, as well as to other area office workers. "With today's consumer in- creasingly concerned with nutrition and eating healthy foods, our specialty departments cater to and reflect just that trend," says Leslie Mann, group vice president and general manager of Miracle Food Mart. A Dixieland band entertained a large crowd of shoppers who atten- ded the opening. Food choices and health considered at film session