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Oroo Wekl TiesWedesdy, eceber9,1998 -13 Chamber sponsors Chrstmas concet Santa takes the kids at the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce Christmas party for a 'Rock Around the Christmas tree' Sunday afternoon. Steve, Bey, Bruce and Bonnie of the 'Down on the Corner Gang' provided the musical entertainment for the party which was hield at the Newcastle Community Centre. Arthur Black CELEBRITIES AS JERKS Those whom the Gods WOUld destroy they first make famous Anon. What is it about being fam]ouls, aniyway? Idon't mean famous like the mayor of Kelowna, goalie on the Junior 'A' team or editor of the local paper. I mean really famous. Like an international rock star, a member of the Royal family or a world-renowned fashion model. Most of us will neyer know. We plug our way through life weathering our personal peaks and troughs, trying not to cause anyone else too much grief in the process. 1We get -ahead by getting along with most of the people we meet on the way. Civility is the 1 OW40 that makes it hap- pen. We try to be'decenit to one another. Unless w'efamnous, For celebrities. the rules doni't seemn to apply. Stars are allowed Io act like ers In fact, it seems, stars are SUPPOSED to act likec jerks. ITEM: Singer Alanis Morisette swans into a night club in Boston where she is to, sing that night. First move: she orders the entire club staff off the premises while she and her crew carry out a sound check. They stand in the street for two hours until Alanis Et AI are sat- isfied that the venue is up to their standards. ITEM: Naomi Carnpbell, internationally famous fashion model, is sued by her personal secretary, who alleges Campbell "verbally abused her, hit her on the head several times with a telephone, grabbed and punched her, threatened to have her deported and slashed ber clothinig." 1You think this is just a case of little people who have sud- den-ly b)ecome cbig and ca't han-dle it? A sad example of no-class inouLveau r1ichle? 1AuI conitraire -- the vieuIx richie are noc classier. Conisider- thie case of SalwàI Qahaniti, daughter of a king Iii the Saudi royal family. Princes Salwa was recently frned and put on probation for §cratching and choking a flight attendant on a Trans World Airways flight from Paris to Bostonl. Seems like there 's some- thing about air travel that brings out the nuclear mnoron in some celebrities. Liam and No el Gallagher, stars of the grOup Oasis, will flot be flying with Cathay Pacifie for the test of their nat- ural lives. Theüy earned them- selves a lifetimie ban for their drunken and rowdy behaviour aboard a Cathay Pacifie 747 flying 1from Hlong Kong to Australia. And fan Br-own't, formier ead singer wi1th the gOroup Stone Roses, went to the siammier for four months -- for threatening to eut- off the hands of a stew- ardess aboard a British Airways flight. Hard to figure -- these clowns have got millions of dollars, thousands of fans and dozens of groupies, yet they behave like baboons in a saloon on Free Beer Night. And then there's Reuben Pardo, of Los Angeles. Chances are very good that you've neyer heard of, or run into, Reuben Pardo. If you have, you must have been hang- ing around the Wiltshire Tower building in downtown Los Angeles. That's where Reuben spênds his working days, eleven hours at a time, five days a week. What does Reuben do there? Weli. he hands out philosophy, for one thing. He tells visitors nuggets such as "Don't think anything negative about your job. Just conceen- trate. " A fashion designer by the name of Susan Parr dlaims Reuben Pardo changed her life. "He'll take you up and dlown" she says. "When you hit the boftomn floor, he tells you 'from here, the ehoice 15 up to you'." Urs Bauer, a California film- maker, recaîls "I was full of questions about my career . . then 1 met Reuben. He's spent all these years in the same box, and yet he hias that perfect inner peace we're ail searching for." That's the other thing Reuben Pardo does -- he oper- ates the, elevator in the Wiltshire Tower. He's been doing it for twenty years. Perhaps one day -- if Naomi, Alanis, the Gallaglier brothers and Princess Salwa every grow up -- Reuben will let them ride in his elevator. RECYCLE Remember to have a designaîted driver. Search and rescue agency seeking new volunteers Are you interested in j oin- ing one of the most mentally and physlcally challenging volunteer positions available? Would you like to save the life of a missing child or some- one else in need? If so, then jomning the Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team (OVERT) will provide you with opportunities to help your comimunity in ways you neyer thought possible. OVERT is a non-profit agency that specializes in urban, suburban, and rural search operations for missing persons. Responding to over seventy calîs for assistance a year, this emergency search and rescue service is provid- ed under the authority of the Durham Regional, Cobourg, Port Hope, and Lindsay Police Services. OVERT also pro- vides specialized services to other police agencies th1roughout Ontario. OVERP is currently accept- ing a limiîted number of new volunteers that will start training in January 1999. New recruits can expeet to volunteer at least one hun- dred hours a year and will be required'to initially complete a twenty-four hour course that will certify them as Level One-Search Technicians. If you are over twenty years of age, have completed your grade twelve or equivalent, and have no criminal history then we invite you to apply by sendlng a resume. Resumes must be received no later than December 11, 1998 and may be sent to OVERT at P. O. Box 54062, 8 King St. E., Oshawa, Ont., L1H 1A9. Only those resuimes received on Urne will be invit- ed by mail to an informnation session that will be held ini the evening of December 17, 1998. OVERT is also a registered charîty and is looking for donations to help cover the op erational costs the agency mecurs. For information on how to make a donation please cail our office (905) 404-2889. IT PAY-N vS To ADVERTISE 983-5301, E{E-mNDEIKS ON CHRISTMAS TREES geofeh Pihe & gprgîe -Open Daily tili Dec. 24th - Pre-cut or cut your own -FREE Shakçing & Baling 01 A [..jIcalf St. Watchfor signs... Meteaif St., Newcastle (905)1987-4867 Favour0t oo~~~4 Psi eW«cat ~ Asof eceber31 t e wil8.0c-s at our present location and will re-open - in our new location at S1684 Newtonville Rd. S., Newtonville. (4à As a special thankyou to ail our valued ç custonwrs of the past three years WîIl be offer- in> J~Up to 20% odiscount on selected store in ventoiry from no w ntfil December 3list Darlne and Maryann would hke to wish you ail a Ssafe andjioyous Holiday Season and look forward to seinigyou a t the ne w location in the Ne w ilear. We will con tinu e to offer casesinial leCvels as Grand Re-Openinlg 0 aj% Januaryl15, 1999.