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mm. i od PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 22, 1987 -- 5 Viewpoint by John B. McClelland Some day many years from now when (God will- ing), I am comfortably retired to the rocking chair, I hope to have many grandchildren, at least a few of whom will be hockey players. And when, as I hope it will be, the talk some cold winter's night turns to hockey, I suspect those hockey playing grandchildren will say to me: '"Tell us what the game was like when you were young, Grandpa." They will then have to forgive me if I lean back in the rocking chair, strike a match to the pipe, close my eyes and try as best as an old man can to relive three nights in September 1987, when the sport was indeed raised to a new plateau of excitement and excellence. My grandchildren, I suppose, will have read and heard much about those three games, because there is no doubt in my mind that people will be writing and talk- ing about them in the months and years to come. They are destined to become part of the lore of the game, an integral part. I'd be willing to bet a pair of old skate laces that 30 or 40 years down the road, a lot of grandfathers will take great delight in remembering those three games for the benefit of their off-spring. The passing of the years may blur the details of much that happened in a man's lifetime, but should I live to be 100, I doubt I will ever forget those three games on September 11, 13 and 15 in 1987. And so, when my grandchildren say to me "tell us The weather had been warm the first couple of weeks that September and there had been an election in Ontario with the Liberal Party winning a big land- slide victory. But the hockey was on the minds of a lot of us when the best from Canada met the best from Russia in a three-game series for a trophy called the Canada Cup. Now the Canada Cup series only came around every three or four years and the Russians always said it was no big deal. They liked to tell the world that the Olym- pics meant more to them, or the World Championship in Europe. But hockey fans in Canada knew better and only smiled when the Russians said it meant more to beat a bunch of amateurs in the Olympics than it did to beat the cream of Canada's professionals. Anyway, kids about those three games. Yes, they really did all end up in the same 6-5 score, two in over- time, and one decided in the final 90 seconds of the third period. But it wasn't the fact that somebody won or lost (though we sure hooted and cheered when it was Team Canada and not the dreaded Russkis), it was the inten- sity of every minute, the speed, the contact, the* goaltenders stops, the precision of the passes, the shots on goal, all of which came together at exactly the right moment in time and space to form as perfect a synthesis as one could ever hope to see in a game of hockey. The games were a complete sell-out, not an empty seat anywhere, and those silly fans, you know what many of them did? They waved huge Canadian flags, they sang and cheered. A few even used red and white paint to put a Maple Leaf on their faces. Can you im- agine that, kids? And even when Canada went down 3-0 in the first eight minutes of the final game, they didn't stop cheer- ing and waving those flags. | must admit, kids, that with the score 3-0, I was sorely tempted to turn off the TV and tune in the Blue Jays-Orioles game on the radio. The Jays were in a pennant race that September, as | recall. But I stayed in front of the TV set and soon it was 3-2 and Team Canada had a power play. Oh, the chances they had. But the Russians, as they were able to do so often, held the fort and came right back to score a goal. It was 4-2 and my heart was sinking. I reached for the radio. Then three tired work-horses took over from the thoroughbreds and by the end of two periods, Team Canada was on top 5-4. We hoped it would hold up, but it didn't and the Russians tied the game mid-point in the third. Overtime again, I sighed. Suddenly with only 1:26 to play in the third, Wayne Gretzky (you've heard of him, kids) raced away down the left boards. One of the Russians got skate-tangled and fell at the blue line. A defenseman named Larry Murphy was racing for the net hoping for a pass, but Gretzky held the puck, drew the last Russian defender to him, then so calmly delivered a pass back to Mario Lemieux (he's in the Hall of Fame) and he fired high over the catcher glove of the goalie. The net bulged, the puck came right out, the fans went wild, the flags about those games, Grandpa," I will answer thus. (Turn to page 6) Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO ~ Wednesday, September 20, 1917 Commencing October 1, milk will be 10 cents per quart. All bot- tles will be 10 cents if broken, as it is impossible to buy bottles. Mr. C.L. Vickery received official notice of his appointment of the court to be a member of the local Tribunal at Port Perry under "The Military Service Act.' Messrs. A.J. and D. Carnegie have bought the jewellery stock of J.D. Robertson, and will sell it at a sacrifice. : 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 17, 1942 Miss Lola Gerrow has gone to Toronto where she will attend Den- tal College. : Mr. and Mrs. Henshaw Sr., have moved to Port Perry. The first double wedding was held in Blackstock United Church when Susan VanCamp became the bride of Stephen Saywell, and Olive VanCamp was united in marriage to Rev. W.F. Riding of Montreal. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 18, 1952 Rev. J.C. Clough of Toronto was welcomed to Port Perry this week as new Rector of the Church of the Ascension. At the Port Perry Fair, Ralph Honey of Seagrave won first prize for the best Holstein Heifer Jr. Cow. Miss Jessie MacArthur, Blackstock, will attend Toronto University. Dr. J.B. Lundy has been on a motor trip through Ontario and Quebec with his brother, Mr. T.H.D. Lundy of Vancouver. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 19, 1957 Mr. and Mrs. W. Stone and Mr. and Mrs. Bob Flett enjoyed a trip to the United States where they visited the Pabst Dairy Farms and Chicago. | Mr. Hugh Baird is in Peebles, Ohio, where he is representing Canada at the World's Plowing Match. At a recent council meeting Mr. John Jefford requested of Coun- cil on behalf of the Boy Scout group committee a grant for $100.00 and permission to canvas the village to raise funds for an extension to the Scout Hall. Permission was granted. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, September 21, 1977 e establishment of a sheltered workshop for mentally han- dicap adults received a minor set-back when the building they were looking at in Uxbridge was sold for a Ford dealership. After nine years as a government backbencher, Ontario Riding M.P. Norm Cafik was sworn in as the new minister of state for municipalities. , Dr. Tom Millar is to give two piano concerts at the Town Hall 1873 on September 30 and October 1. Musical selections will be by Chopin, Schubert and Debussy. ; Doug Farndale was elected chairman of Town Hall 1873 for the 1977-78 year. Past chairman is Bill Brock. = \ Letters Haven't received warm welcome To The Editor: On September 1, 1987, my family and I became residents of Port Perry. Already I am very disillu- sioned regarding the people of this town. My neighbours, of only three (3) weeks, are extremely hostile towards my family and I. You see, we own three (3) Bouviers and One (1) Schnauzer. My neighbour has repeatedly threatened to kill them, shoot them as well as a whole slew of other terrible threats. This neighbour was shooting his pellet gun one day, so naturally I was terrified he was going to harm my dogs. So terrified in fact, that I called the police. The police responded immediately and ques- tioned both my family and our neighbour. Out of this questioning, we learned that our neighbour had a few complaints. One of which was for us to "poop-scoop,'"' which we did that very same day, while he watched. Well, two days later, I received a visit from the Health Department pertaining to a complaint about the '""faeces" in our yard! The gentleman from the Health Depart- ment inspected the yard and in his opinion felt that the accumulation of "faeces" was "under control" and that he could tell we had in fact recently scooped. We received a warning to scoop every two days. Which by the way is what we nor- mally do. Being from Toronto, we are aware of the by-laws and we also respect our neighbours rights of not having to smell the unpleasant odor of faeces. In all of my twenty-eight years of owning dogs, 1 have never ex- perienced such pure antagonism towards harmless creatures. Of course, it would be different if the dogs were left unattended for ex- The sport of canoeing Editor's Note: The newly formed Scugog Canoe Club is gaining popularity among Township residents of all ages. Last month, the Club held a very successful war canoe and racing demonstration on the lake and on September 27, the Club will host a regatta on Lake Scugog. The following letter was sent to one of the Canoe Club members from the Mayor of Carleton Place, a small communi- ty near Ottawa which has a rich tradition with the sport of canoeing. We thought the letter is timely and would be of interest to our readers. It was good to hear from you and to know that your experience in childhood and youth in Carleton Place have made a lasting interest in the sport of canoeing. Certainly, the Carleton Place Canoe Club has fostered that kind of interest. It has been evident, through the years, that many families--indeed all members of some families--have made the Canoe Club the centre of their recreation and leizure life. (Turn to page 6) treme lengths of time, running on- to neighbour's property or barking continually. But these dogs are show dogs, who are kept in the house ex- cept to go outside to void. Yes, they are protective and bark at strangers but is that not what they are suppos- ed to do? This neighbour is extremely unreachable, so what is my next move? Does this mean, for the en- tire time my family and I live here, that I have to constantly out maneuver my neighbour? Or play "tit for tat" with him? I dread the thought that our new neighbours are a representation of the populace of Port Perry. But somehow I can not imagine that this is the case. I have already ex- perienced the warmth and seen the rarity of 'feeling as one' from Port Perry residents. I just hope that by drawing atten- tion to this matter, that the great residents of Port Perry remember to strive for co-operation amongst our neighbours and live up to our reputation of 'Port Perry is one big happy family!!" Sincerely yours, Wendy Johnston, and The Johnston Family, Port Perry. ter to the editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters col- umn helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous let- While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.