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I I = I || me Ae tl mee 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 27, 1987 Editorial Comments A First Step Last Thursday evening, a group of people got together to discuss an idea .... a concept rally. The people in the group live or work in the community of Scugog. That much they had in common. But they also had one other thing in common. They are all in- terested in someday seeing some kind of a fitness-sports-recreation facility built in this community for use by the people of this communi- ty. We use the word 'someday,' because all those present last week at the meeting are realists and they know that facilities such as this don't spring up overnight. It was an interesting meeting, low key, informal. Everyone had ample opportunity to express his or her ideas and opinions on the topic at hand. Those present did not come to any unanimous agreement on where such a facility should be located, who will pay for it, who will operate it, or even what kind of sports-fitness facilities might be con- tained within it, if it ever gets off the ground. They didn't try to reach agreement on these kind of details. But they did agree on one very important thing. They are prepared to start working towards it. They agreed to meet again in three weeks time to form committees and sub-committees. They are prepared to start talking about the concept to their friends, neighbours, co-workers in an effort to generate broad public awareness and sup- port for the idea. In short, they are prepared to go to work on this, not just sit on the sidelines and watch. That's important. It's the critical first step in what no doubt will be a very long process, one that could take three to five years to realize, if at all. The group also agreed that anyone in the community of Scugog interested in seeing this concept become reality someday is more than welcome to attend the next meeting. But only if those people are prepared to roll up their sleeves and pitch in over the long haul. We wish this group of interested citizens well in this endeavour. There's a very long way to go, but the important first step has been taken. - \ The Right Move ..... Durham Regional chairman Gary Herrema may not be a very popular guy around Oshawa City Hall these days. But Herrema obviously made the right decision last week in the Region's councillor chambers when he broke a tie vote to reject a motion that would have moved the Regional Headquarters to a new building in downtown Oshawa. After discussing this complex issue of whether to move the Region HQ for the better part of five hours last Wednesday afternoon, Regional councillors finally got around to a vote on the matter. And that vote ended up in a 14-14 tie. Herrema, as chairman, broke the tie against a move to Oshawa. Needless to say, Regional councillors from the city of Oshawa, led by Mayor Allan Pilkey; were less than pleased. In fact, Pilkey was furious, and suggested that the Regional council was displaying an anti-Oshawa bias. He then told members of the press that since the Regional council has turned down a HQ move to Oshawa, the city will immediately start legal action against Durham Region over who owns the present HQ building on Rossland Road. Oshawa claims it as one-third owner- ship in that building and accrued rents, and the city wants $3.3 million from Durham to settle that claim. The courts will decide. But getting back to Herrema and his tie-breaking vote, he did (Turn to page 14) Port Perry Gow | {CO | wy 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 PO Box90 LOB INO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager 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 J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Ottice Department Ottawa and for cash CATHY OLLIFFE payment of postage in cash News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 0 AN COM pry NUN Gn Roz aos . oe Subscription Rate: In Canada $20 00 per year ye Elsewhere $60 00 per year Single Copy 50° COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limaed are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher I Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe THE SPORTS FAN I don't know what's coming over me. Suddenly, I'm interested in sports. I actually watched, with great interest, the demise of the Blue Jays on TV. I actually care how my husband's hockey team is faring (he's help- ing coach the Port Bantam B's). I haven't turned the TV off during the sports segment of the news for some time now. Why is this? Am I sick? For 27 years, I have looked down my nose at anything sports-related. I've made a hobby of detesting anything that involves sweat (well, almost anything). So why the sudden interest? Am I going through the change of life early? Maybe I should check myself into the nearest psychiatric institu- tion before it's too late. If I don't watch myself, pretty soon I might be reading John B.'s column. Why, the other night I actually put a hockey stick in my hands and attempted to play -- sort of. What I mean is, I goofed around on the ice a bit before my husband's Sunday night game. And I actually scored. Yes, I did. I won't mention the fact the goaltender 1.) doesn't know to play, either, 2.) he was in the middle of a conversation with somebody, and 3.) I was two feet away from the net, moving in slow motion. Still, it was the most fun I've had in a long time. I went home with flushed cheeks, tired ankles and sore legs, but hey, I was happy. So now that I'm a member of the Tenderbuns Skating Club, and learning how to skate, I think I want to play with the Sunday night team all the time. It's no big deal, really. A bunch of Doug's friends simply get together at 11 p.m. every Sun- day and kick the puck around, mostly to get some exercise and have a bit of fun. (By the way, they can always use more players, so if you're over the hill and interested, pop by the arena some Sun- day at 11 p.m.). I think if I was a little better on blades, I too could play. Couldn't I? Well, one of Doug's buddies, the male chauvinist pig, doesn't think I can. He told me that straight out the other day. "Women can't play hockey. You can't play with us." I felt'the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Then I relaxed. He must be joking, I said to myself. Nobody is this blunt anymore about sex- ism. Women's Lib changed all that, right? Heck, I haven't run into a real M.C. Pig since, well, since the seventies. "You're kidding, right?' I asked him, smiling. "No," he replied. "I'm not. Hockey is a man's sport. It's rough. Women would get hurt." Again, I felt the old hairs bristling. This time, they didn't budge. Just stayed as taut as a hydro wire in a snowstorm. "Whaddya mean, women would get hurt?' I lashed back at him. "I'm twice as big as some of the guys on your team. I could bodycheck 'em just as good as you. In fact, I probably could do it you as well." 0 The debate had officially began. His points revealed common belief that men are fundamentally stronger than women. He said hockey was no good for girls over the age of seven or eight, when their bodies start to change. 'But what it came right down to was, he didn't want "the wives' playing when the whole idea of Sunday night was "getting away from the wives." Well, la-dee-dah. I saw it very clear ... so did his wife and his two daughters, who were sitting around his kitchen table, just as bristled as me. He was out-numbered, and he knew it. "What would you do if I wanted to play,' his wife piped in. "I wouldn't let you," he replied. While his wife's mouth was still hanging open, his eldest daughter broke into the conversation with a few opinions of her own. Pretty soon, a plea- sant talk was completely forgotten, and a bat- tleground raged. Eventually, he simply got up and left the table. We had driven him away -- we hadn't won our point. So, I guess no matter how good we get on skates, we won't be allowed to play hockey on Sun- day nights. Which is too bad. I can understand the guys wanting to be by themselves. I mean, everyone jionas a little time, a little space to do their own ing. : But what gets me riled is the old attitude that keeps men from accepting the fact that women can play hockey just as well as they can ---- if they have some training and experience on the ice. ~The problem is, women don't get the same training. Instead of signing up with g hockey team at the age of five, they're turned to offer ice sports like figure skating and ringette. Not that there's anything wrong with figure skating or ringette. It's just that, well, they're not given a choice. And speaking of ringette, it really makes me made how some men think of it as a lesser sport than hockey. A couple of Sunday afternoons ago, I was in the Uxbridge arena, watching the Bantam B's lose to Uxbridge. Standing behind me in the benches were a couple of Port Perry fathers watching their sons in action. The whole game was peppered with penalties. (Turn to page 14) ---- LJ