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oh LL pao a --------_ ER EERE FER BAAR LORE + %Y F a TOES pA 1 hd LSE i pA Ed yi REE aleid hid gaara. 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 20th, 1920 Port Perry Board of Trade will give two prizes for best slogan to be used in developing Port Perry. A few auto owners are still using last year's licence number. They are liable to be fined for neglecting to se- cure a new license. Mr. A.E. Rogerson, proprietor of the St. Charles Hotel has bought the Sebring House. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 24th, 1945 Watch your clothesline as there have been things taken off lines lately which are very hard to get. Mr. and Mrs. N.P. Aldred have received word from their son Joel who is overseas telling of his pro- motion from rank of Flight Lieutenant to Squadron Leader. The fifty-ninth anniversary of Port Perry United Church was a successful and enjoyable event. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 26th, 1955 Five year old Timothy Brunton of Port Perry was the winner of a 10 horse power Mercury outboard mo- tor at the Trenton Lions Club Jamboree on May 23rd. Week-end visitors with Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Doupe included Miss J. Doupe, Toronto; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mann, of Trent River. - Mrs. H.N. Pare (Joan Marie Bentley) who ha been visiting her parents for the past month, sailed from Quebec on the ship "Samaria" for England, May 18th. Joan is joining her husband who has been drafted to the Royal Navy for two years. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 26th, 1960 ) Two public school girls Judy Manns and Janice Dowson were attacked by a black squirrel while they were on their way to school. They were taken to the doctor who advised rabie shots and this treatment has been started. oo 'Mr. and Mrs. A. Roach, Eunice and Susan, Mr. and Mrs. Don Carnegie, Beverley and Karen were at the former's cottage, Haliburton, for the weekend. remember when ...¢ 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 27th, 1965 Winner of the Lucky Draw for either a man's or a lady's watch at Pentland Jewellery Store Opening was Mrs. H.R. Bullock of Caesarea. Seagrave News - We understand that Mr. Robt. Nodwell is polishing up his Scottish accent in prepara- tion for a trip to see his 'Ain folk". Daughter Rosemary and her bag pipes are included in his plans. Mr. Yaremko, Dr. Yaremko and sons of Toronto spent the holiday at McLaren's Beach, Scugog Island. Blackstock News - Dr. and Mrs. Allan Noble and family, Scarboro, spent the weekend with Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Taylor and family at the latter's cottage on Gull Lake. Ashburn News - Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Heron spent three days last week in Ottawa, when Mr. Heron attend- ed the assessor's convention. 10 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 28th, 1970 Ian Beare, son of Mr. and Mrs. Storey Beare, Port Perry, received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from the Waterloo Lutheran University at a convocation on Sunday, May 24th. Ian is returning to the University Graduate School to continue studies towards a Master's Degree in Sociology. Convocation was held at the University of Guelph on Wednesday, May 27th. Receiving a B.Sc., (Honours Physics) was Thomas B. Cawker, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Cawker, Manchester. Ross Carter, a grade 12 student of Port Perry High School has been selected the winner of the Port Perry Centennial Flag Contest, sponsored by the Centennial Committee. A Leo Club was formed in Port Perry last Wednes- day with eleven of the 20 applicants attending the meet- ing. Elected to head the Leo Club for the first year are: Sheryl MacGregor, treas.; Mary Lynn MacMaster, vice pres.; Paul Stone, pres.; Joanne Prentice, sec.; Janis Carrier, director; Brent Heard, director; Orvin Smith, director. Susan Smitherman, Marylyn Hayden and Heather Coates received 4-H County Honours at Uxbridge on Saturdya. They are members of Prince Albert Home Maker's Group. Janice Rahm, Donna Bruce and Shirley Short were 4H County Honour Winners at Uxbridge also. They are members of the Greenbank group. Sheila and Shelly Williams of the Manchester Group also won PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, May 21, 1980 -- 5 County Honours. chotterbox .... QUEBEC: OUI-NON? As I write this, the Quebec referendum campaign is in its dying moments. By the time you read this, the results will be known. Suffice to say that the polls are probably right this time around: the outcome is going to be very close no matter who wins this peculiar political campaign. I use the word peculiar because referendums as a political tool are seldom used at the provincial or federal level in this country. And as far as I'm concerned they are not a very satisfactory way of doing things. But this is a biggie: the people of Quebec are in a sense voting on the future of the entire country. If the Oui forces win this vote, negotiations will begin to take Quebec out of the Confederation we have known for over one hundred years, yet at the same time keeping the province within a kind of economic union with the rest of the country, even to the point of sharing a common currency, presumably the one adorned by Queen Elizabeth, who as we all know is not the most popular figure in la belle province. If the nons win, we will also see some intense negotations begin over the future political and jurisdiction- al make-up of Canada, because everyone agrees that our old trusty British North American Act just ain't good enough for Canada in the 1980's. ' And that is just about the way I feel over this long and arduous debate that has been raging in Quebec. At one time not too long ago, I felt very strongly that Canada must stay together no matter what the cost. The very idea of splitting this Confederation asunder made me angry. I was convinced in my own mind that those Quebeckers who thought "they could go it alone," in a sea of North American English language and American culture were simply whistling in the dark. But today, I'm not so sure. In fact, I'm not so sure that the entire country wouldn't be better off if we loosened the bonds of Confederation for everyone: the west, the east and the centre. Maybe I'm just getting older, or maybe I'm just getting tired of all the rhetoric that's gone on in the past decade, to the point where I think that action, any action, would be better than the status quo and would put something of a damper on all the jibberish we've been hearing about Canada and its future. Quite frankly, I don't think it is going to be the end of the world if Quebec decides oui to negotiating sovereignty association. Nor do I think the world will end if Quebec in the future decides to go it alone as a political entity and severs all ties with the rest of Canada. There would no doubt be a few technical problems to iron out like who owns the Seaway, the railways, and the trans-Canada Highway. But if our political leaders in their infinite wisdom are mature enough to settle the big question amicably, then small house-keeping matters like the CNR and the Seaway can be resolved in due course without an appearance in front of the International Court. I make these statements in all seriousness. I strongly believe that the decade-long unity debate (longer in fact, if you go back to the mid-sixties and the bloom of Quebec nationalism) has sapped the people of this country of their vitality. Bit by bit, Canadians are being consumed from within. We have known for a long time that constitutional change is necessary, but nobody seems to know where to start. The very noble idea of a bilingual civil service has caused resentment in all parts of Canada. I think the height of this inner death struggle over unity was displayed a few years ago when a guy in western Canada complained about French on a cereal box, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is reported to have replied "if you don't like it, turn the box around, you dummy," or words to that effect. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we have all been whistling in the dark. Canada as it exists today is almost ungovernable, and certainly unmanageable. It is too big, too scattered, rife with competing and conflicting interests that cannot be accomodated, all of which has led to a lack of that all-important "community of spirit." It just doesn't exist in this country, never has. The problem was not addressed by past generations, because they failed to see it a a problem, or if they did, thought that by ignoring it, it would go away by itself. So, in the meantime, we have seen the creation of what I call artificial bonding agents for this "community of spirit". The CBC makes an effort to tie us all together by Fl 8, E48 Thanks alot One good turn deserves another. When the circus came to town last week and was not able to operate at the Fair Grounds, the directors of the Scugog Cham- ber of Commerce asked Mr. Charles Pavlik if they could set up on his property on Lilla Street. Mr. Pavlik said 'sure, go ahead', and a lot of youngsters who enjoyed the circus owe him a vote of thanks. The Chamber of Commerce decided to show their appre- ciation by giving Mr. and Mrs. Pavlik a set of garden chairs. Bill Beare [left], Bill Barr and Guy Latreille made the presentation Saturday morning. McClelland beaming mediocre and half-rate made at home program- ming from coast to rugged coast. While in the meantime, Canadians are falling all over themselves to watch shows made in Hollywood. Hockey as a bonding agent lost its grip with the expansion of the NHL a few years ago, and there are many who think the game as it's played now isn't worth the time of day, anyway. Football, more precisely, the annual Grey Cup, has always been touted as a great unifying force. But that is one day out of the whole year, and with the amount of liquid refreshment passed around on Cup Day, most revellers could probably be convinced that cosying up to the Soviet Union wouldn't be such a bad idea. And besides, more people in Canada play baseball than football. By a long shot. I'd even guess that more people play broomball than organized football. In short, our community of spirit in this country is not a natural one. The bonding agents are artificial and contrived, pushed at us by people who go through life whistling in the dark, and others who have created a Canadian culture based on be-moaning the fact that we have no culture. . A nation is created by people who have truly something in common. A country is created by drawing lines on a map. In my opinion, we in Canada have been trying for 100 years to create a nation, without success. Now, I fear that the lines on the map are going to be changed. If Quebec votes oui this week, have we failed? Some will say we have. Others, like myself, will say it was inevitable, a logical continuation of events which began on the Plains of Abraham. I may not like the idea that my country is undergoing change of this kind. But as I said before, maybe it is necessary at this time. We need to know where we stand. We need to know where we are going, no matter what form or political shape that takes. 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