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PAGE & â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18. 1987 Second Class Mail Registration Number $540 In all sincerity, we applaud the Seagram Museum for its resourcefulness in applying to the city grants review committee for a oneâ€"time "‘donation‘‘ as a symbol of recognition for the enormous contributions the nonâ€" profit organization has made to Waterloo. But we stop short of supporting it. The donation requested is $14,375, which would directly offset the property taxes the museum pays to the city. â€" o o _ _ A novel approach (albeit at a bad time when the city‘s preliminary budget is coming in at a bloated 11.38 per cent) and one which raises the questionâ€"how far should a municipality go to reciprocate support it directly or indirectly receives from corporate facilities and institutions? But we find the request difficult to support for other reasons: eJThe city has offered to support an application from the Museum for full exemption from property taxes under the Assessment Act, which, commencing in 1988. could see the organization receive up to $55,000 in annual relief if city, regional and school taxes were waived. e The museum itself has an annual $1 million operating budget. Such a grant approval would be difficult to justify in light of the city‘s need to cut considerably from its 11.8 per cent preliminary budget projections. e While the Museum claims the request is oneâ€"time in nature, it would hardly be a oneâ€"time situation for the city, which, after the Museum had gone the Assessâ€" ment Act route, would still be facing other wolves at the door, crying precedent and seeking similar consideraâ€" tion. e For a $1 million operation, is $14,375 that crucial? The Seagram Museum is a professionallyâ€"run, classy organization. It doesn‘t wash that its operators would appear cupâ€"inâ€"hand at city hall‘s doorsteps, unless it was hoping to break new "symbolic gesture‘‘ ground. And if so, those avenues appear to be available through the Assessment Act. In theory, the Seagram request seems not out of lineâ€"â€"if made clear that the request is coming from the nonâ€"profit Museum, and not, as has been reported, from the distilling giant because it is facing and will continue to face an economic downturn. e The crucial question is, who is behind this grant application? If it is Seagram Distillers Ltd., a company that because of societal trends is facing tough times, we would dismiss the request outright. If however, the request comes solely from the Museum, we would most certainly listen to their concerns. Then, as the city is willing to do, we would direct it to existing alternatives, and, in a show of support and appreciation, walk with it handâ€"inâ€"hand to ensure they receive every consideraâ€" tion in that respect. The Seagram Museum was conceived, and in fact thrives, on visionary thinking. In the case of this grants application, that thinking seems to be lacking. But still, Address all correspondence to Waterioo office, 45 Erb St. E., Waterioo, Ont. N2J 117. Telephone 886â€"2830, News and Sports . line 886â€"3021. 1 Waterioo Chronicie office is located in the Haney, White law _ office building (rear entrance, upper floor). Parking at the rear of the building. Open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ‘ Publisher: Paul Winkler Waterioo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of JEMCOM Inc., owner. Publishing address 225 Fairway Rd. S., Kitchener, Ont. 46 A 99 ‘A‘ for effort Managing Editer: Rick Campbeli Sales Manager: Bill Karges Reporters: Mark Bryson (news) Richard O‘Brien (sports) Circulation: Jerry Fischer 1y Composing: Fairway Press Gerry Mattice While airports outâ€"ofâ€"town and shopping malls inâ€"town are jammed this week with March breakers looking for places to go and things to do, we at the Chronicle are breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, for the first time in weeks, we are back at full staff. Our snowbirds have returned to home base, and where the office last week at times looked like Chernobyl three days warmed over, it once again looks like a Hill Street Blues outâ€"take. Phones ringing off the hook, journalists jostling, the front counter frantic as ever. But while we‘re in the March break mode, thought it would be both entertaining and educational to pass along some tidbits picked up by various world travellers from our office. Around Town columnist Ted Rooney, as you‘ve been reading in his column of late, toured Down Under to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji before returning home last week. Ad reps Helen Smiley and Paula Humme! also broke up their winters with recent jaunts to Florida and Venezuela respectively. The fourth account will be of a trip I took, myself, and we‘ll get to the details of that at the end of the column. As you‘ve been reading in his columns, Ted had a marvellous few weeks enjoying late summer in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji (see page 16). He dropped by Monday and offered additional glimpses about his fascinating adventures: e Golf courses are plentiful in New Zealand, but they are seldom used by anyone but the odd tourist or two during "summer months‘‘ down underâ€"too many other activities are happening. New Zeaâ€" landers golf mostly in the "winter‘" when temperatures are 65â€"70 degrees. Green fees, Ted notes, are about $6 to golf on courses equivalent to our own Westmountâ€"â€"and the day he went, he saw about three other folks on the course. ‘"*Probably American tourists, too," he mused. e In Australia, their ‘"{all" TV season begins now, and programming is roughly comprised of oneâ€" third Australian, oneâ€"third British and oneâ€"third American shows. However, with the late start as compared to their American counterparts, if the Aussies see an American show bomb out over here, they have the luxury of giving it a pass, thus reducing their gamble. e Ted made quite a game of guessing whether folks he talked to were Aussie, Kiwi, or Britishâ€"â€" but when he guessed wrong, several appeared slighted. One thingâ€"they were all more hospitable when they heard he was Canadian, not Ameriâ€" e Fiji was simply beautiful, Ted reports, and slowly showing the effects of world influence. ‘*My," he told a friend, "the native people are so friendly, they don‘t have a %on their shoulders at all."" Replied the friend: * should they, they already live in paradise." Ted Rooney: All over, Down Under Rick Campbell What I did Chronicle Editor Paula Hummel: In Love With Venezuela Paula returned from two weeks in Venezuela on Monday, with stars in her eyes, an allâ€"over tan, and Tim Horton coffee for everyone. We failed to detect a fever, but soon found out the reason for her euphoria. In her own words, here are capsulized comments on a trip taken with longtime friend Dorothyâ€"Anna Orser: Is a vacation two weeks? Where we travelled, it was a lifetime. Warm, wonderful people, the beautiful natural setting and ideal climatic conditions soon won our hearts. We became natives for what seemed a glorious eternity, and only on departure did we see it as a "holiday." What more could one ask for than to visit a country where people open their hearts and homes to you, to humbly offer you what is theirs. The dining is inexpensive, the service unbeatable. Seafoodâ€"garâ€" nished tables with merengue music in the background. Immaculate accommodation at the Melia Caribe, cuddled by the mountains, warmed by the morning sun. Everyone and everything, from the beautiful people to the beautiful golden coastal beaches, carried the same message: Welcome to Venezuela. If there is a prettier place on earth, we‘ve yet to see it. Venezuelaâ€"â€"we truly recommend it. Helen Smiley: Our Florida Flamingo Helen, as she has done for the past five years or so, broke up the winter by spending 10 days travelling to Plant City, near Tampa on the Gulf Coast side of the Sunshine state. She comments that while temperatures hovered around a comfortable 69â€"72 degrees, nights were cool and it was often extremely windy. She passed on a lot of shopping, finding that prices on many items matched those up here, and that with the exchange, they were often more. Price for gas ranged from 69.9 to 1.14 for the U.S. gallon, and that even before March break, she noticed all kinds of Ontario plates on Florida roads. Interesting of note as well, when she returned Friday evening, travelling east on the 401 from Windsor, traffic in the westbound lanes heading for the States, was "bumperâ€"toâ€" bumper‘‘ for miles. No, my trip wasn‘t as long or as far as the others in the officeâ€"â€"it was to the dentist office one night early in March. As I was late, I flew down King St. with my wife and upon arrival we were met at the reception desk and then ushered into a tastefully decorated room with lovely decor, cosy reâ€" cliner,bubbling fountain nearby and soft backâ€" ground music. The hostess then came on the scene to give us a guided tour of our mouth, and afterwards we got absolutely sloshed. Then, with souvenirs from our trip in hand, we returned to the reception area, booking a similar trip six months down the road. Travel tips, from Kookaburra to King St., all for your very own. You‘re welcome. Rick Campbell: A Night to Remember