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letters Cat killer Dear Sir: He was only a cat, after all, who cares? We do, very much, and I address this letter to the despicable idiot who ran him down on Simcoe Street on February 20. You hit our cat, passed on without stopping, and left him, broken and bleeding, to die in a corner. I can only hope that you, too, suffer the kind of loss we did that night. I can only hope that you, too, will someday carry the image of the broken skull of a maimed pet in your mind, small as it is. It would be too much to suggest that you should suffer the kind of agony that our pet did until he was found, rush- ed to the hospital but too late. Our cat was our pet; you, I suggest, are the animal. (Turn to page 6) Nuclear films Dear Sir: This morning, February 24, on the CBC news, I heard Mr. David Peterson (leader of the opposition) and the Hon. John Robarts complain about the roadblocks the American Government was putting in the way of the showing of three of our NFB films, including the one that is up for an Academy Award "If You Love This Planet." I wish their indignation would carry them in the direction of making sure that we Canadians could see the same films.. I have written Mr. Juneau, President of the CBC to ask him about the showing of 'If You Love This Planet." His reply was that it was still under consideration. It would be nice if we, the taxpayers, who not only underwrite the NFB, but the CBC could see this film, that is judged ex- cellent enough to be up for an Academy Award. I would ask anyone who is interested in get- ting the facts on the Nuclear Buildup to write '""Mr. Pierre Juneau, CBC, Box 8478, Ottawa, Ontario. K1G 3J5 and ask to have this film shown. Yours sincerely, Barbara Smith R.R. 2, Port Perry PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 1, 1983 -- 5 the sto PORT PERRY STAR CO. LWMITED 235 QUEEN STREET PO. 80X90 (+ CNA PORT PERRY. ONTARIO LO8 INO -- J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager J.B. MCCLELLAND Editor ANADIAN COMMU. y A Ne w o pica PERS As30CINN (416) 985-7383 =n) 1 CN Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd, Port Perry, Ontario. Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash payment of postage in cash. Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year. Elsewhere $45.00 per year. Single copy: 35 Dill smiley MY LAST FIELD TRIP Recently went on my last "field trip'"' with students. A field trip is something a teacher lines up, fields all kinds of base hits, and I do mean base, and trips over some little item, like six kids didn't make the bus home and how come and what about my little girl and what kind of an eductional system do we have, anyways? To some, a field trip is a day, or a week off for teachers, and a waste of time for students. "Frills" snarls one parent. "Never hd nona that runnin' round in my day, seein' half-nekkid wome and fools in long underwear, and I go a good eddiction. Never outa work in my life," says another. And they're right, of course. Field trips are frills. They cost money which would be far better spent in drilling them on how to spell "receive" even though after five years, they still spell it "recieve." Or to put toantoo together and eventually wind up knowing what a two-by-four is. But maybe the pinch-mouthed lady who refers to "frills" would be a different person if she'd taken a page from Lady Macbeth's book and put a little guts into her old man. And maybe the other guy would not be so smug if he'd travelled to the East Coast and see what a fisher- man must do to earn a living. Mustn't digress, though it's tempting. Wait'll I retire. Boy, this paper will burn as the column is being written. I'said it was my last field trip. Good reasons. I gave them up about ten years ago, and let the younger, idealistic teachers batter their brains and bods out against the mass of paperwork, the planning, the endless coping with teenagers, the lower-age drinking privilege, and the soaring wage and fuel prices that make bus trips to a major centre such an ordeal. A trip to the city used to be a delight, when I began teaching. (Always have to use that clause: I was never a "young teacher."') I'd tell the principal I wanted to take all the Grade 11's to see Richard Burton in "Hamlet." He'd say, "Sure, I'll phone about buses." I'd phone and order 120 tickets, at two bucks each. The bus would be another two bucks. We'd have seats in the orchestra, close enough to see the foam flying from Burton's face as he spat, "Oh, most pernicious woman.' The kids would run around to the stage door for autographs. We'd head home, all present, replete with culture and inner excitement. That was all there was to it. Nowadays, the field trip has become alsmost as complicated as one of Rommel's campaigns in the Western Desert. It's become a microcosm of our socie- ty, in which the words, "I come. I see. I conquer," have been replaced by '""'Cover-your-ass." Today, one must apply to the county school board, on a form. Then, one must get the principal's approval, ususally a matter, of course, unless your're taking a group to study the latest pornographic movies, or the latest development in topless dancing. Then one orders a block of tickets. Then one sells them to the students, along with a formidable price for the bus. Then one fills out further forms, with the name, home rooms and individual numbers of the students. Then one tries to collect the money from the students who are away sick, or have forgotten, or have changed their minds. Then one must pay the bus company, up front. Then one must send a cheque for the tickets. Then one must fill out more forms, declaring exactly who is going to be on each bus. And so on. And on. _Then one must count and recount the students, make sure they get to the theatre on time, round them -up for the trip home, count them again like so many cat- tle, scour the nearby taverns for the stragglers, leave behind those who have vanished, and return to a tor- rent of tirades. I've had some great trips, years ago, to the O'Keefe Centre, the Royal Alex, Stratford, before the purpose of the trip became smothered in a paper snowstorm. Frances Hyland, Richard Burton, Alex Guinness. Great plays, students high on theatre. Never mind the bus breakdown on the way home. It was part of the adventure. Then the troubles began. The permission era. Lowered age for young drinkers. Bus prices going out of sight. Creeping bureaucracy that made it a paper hor- ror for the organizing teacher. Took my last trip to Expo. Students puking beer all over the bus, after an evening in Montreal. Students ac- ting like old maids who had just tried their first dry mar- tini. The hell with that, I said. Who needs it? This time, I was forced into it, by the sudden illness of the teacher who was organizing it. I think it was the organization that knocked him out. I hate to admit it, but I enjoyed the trip, after the last-minute hassle over the paperwork. The kids were a delightful, friendly, on time. The show was pretty good, live Shakespeare, the only way to enjoy the bard. (Turn to page 6) 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 1, 1923 Church services at Raglan were cancelled due to the pastor having the flu, and the flu epidemic was so prevalent in Blackstock that services were cancelled there also though the minister was not sick. The congregation was ill. Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Larmer of Blackstock had a baby boy. Mr. and Mrs. John Carter of Blackstock became parents of a new baby girl and Mr. and Mrs. H. Mahaffy, also of Blackstock had a baby boy. The flu was not the only thing keeping people home from church. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 26, 1948 Port Perry Businessmen's Association president Harry Peel kicked off a campaign for a local skating rink by telling his association "We need a new rink in Port Perry and we need the support of every organization and every citizen to start the project and keep it going until the building is actually erected and paid for." Red Stallion in glorious technicolour and starring Robert Paige, Ted Donaldson and Noreen Nash was playing in Port Perry. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 27, 1958 Hon. Michael Starr, of Oshawa, was unanimously nominated the Ontario Riding Progressive Conservative candidate at the convention held in Whitby Town Hall. Neil Raines, Blackwater, was one of the three con- testants who tied for top position in the All Star Junior Judging Competition held in connection with the selection of All-Canadian Holsteins with 534 boys and girls from all over Canada participating. At a Scout's Father & Son Banquet held at the Scout Hall, Mr. Stanley Ploughman was presented with the Scout Medal of Merit by Scout Commissioner Jack Atkin- son. Vince Otto was elected Commodore of the Port Perry Yacht Club. The Group Committee, Scout and Guide Leaders plan a financial campaign to aid in putting an addition on the Scout Hall. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 28, 1963 At a recent meeting Mr. J.E. (Ted) Jackson was elec- ted president of the Port Perry, Reach and Scugog Liberal Association and Mr. Robert Archer, as Secretary- Treasurer. : Three well experienced men on local village council matters were elected to the Municipal Hydro Com- mission. They are Arthur T. Cox, J.E. (Ted) Jackson and J.J. (Jay) Gibgn. Council passed a resolution to rent the old Legion Building for $1.00 a year to the Senior Citizens Club of Port Perry at a recent meeting. The Port Perry Public School held a successful Ice Carnival, under the direction of principal Roy Cornish and his staff of teachers. Some 480 students and 260 parents made the event a success. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 29, 1968 : The *""Yellow School" on the 8th Concession of Reach Township will come under the auctioneer's gavel March 9th. S.S. No. 9 was originally a one room frame building painted yellow which burned on December 2nd, 1930 and was rebuilt with yellow brick in keeping with its nickname. Three Holstein bulls were shipped via Air France cargo aircraft from Toronto International Airport to Paris, France with shipping arrangements being handled by Interag Food Exports of Canada Ltd., Port Perry. One of the bulls was bred and raised by Smith Bros. of Port Perry. Doug Hillier, Sales Manager of Peel's Poultry Farm' Ltd., has just returned from a successful two week business trip through Western Canada visiting customers in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Van- couver. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, February 28, 1973 Town Inn Restaurant on Queen Street, Port Perry an- nounced its official grand opening with free coffee and egg (Turn to page 6) ee -- FR A ENTE Awan. ep Sens a ® a Sr ns