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Staff members at the Star have been very busy the past couple of weeks put- ting together the final touches of our Christmas edition. fy We hope that everyone will take the time, during this hectic season to read through this Issue. . = _ Inside you will be treated to stories and letters from the children of our a schools, and Christmas Greetings from many of the merchants and business hroughout our ~The management and staff of the Port Perry Star would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to all those people we have worked with over the past "year. We extend a sincere 'thanks for your friendship and wish you all a very Meny Christmas. | ~_* Peter Hvidsten * Gayle Stapley ~~ *John B. McClelland * Valerie Ellis * Annabell Harrison * Cathy Olliffe * Kathy Dudley * Anna Gouldburn * Pat Webster * Marilyn Taylor * Trudy Empringham *Judy Ashby * Heather Jones our area. Vol. 122 No. 4° Tuesday, December 22, 1987 Copy 50° r A Yes Virginia... There is a Santa Claus! - See page 11 Dear Santa: Letters written by the Kids! See page 21 7A light delegation § will meet N ® 2 as - with Fulton | Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor will be heading to Queens Park soon for a meeting with Transportation Minister Ed Fulton to try to get ap- proval for traffic lights at the in- tersection of Highway 7A and the Port Perry Plaza. The Mayor will be accompanied by Ward 2 councillor Howard Hall, Bill Barr representing the mer- chants with stores in the Plaza, and Durham East MPP Sam Cureatz who set the meeting up. "We will be attempting to impress upon (the Minister Mr. Fulton) that this is an exceptional situation and traffic lights are needed at the in- tersection,"' said Mayor Taylor last week. He said the delegation will not be asking the Minister for the money to install lights, only the permission. The issue of whether traffic signals are needed at that intersec- tion has been kicked around by Township council for the last several months. Earlier this sum- mer, officials with the Transporta- tion Ministry conducted traffic counts along that stretch of Highway 7A and ruled against lights for two reasons: the traffic flows are not large enough and the entrance is onto private property (the Plaza). However, the Mayor said the in- tersection is exceptional because of - the number of driveways off the highway in that area and the fact that Highway 7A is heavily travell- ed at certain times of the week, espécially during the summer months with tourists and cottagers and campers heading north for a weekend. There have been several ac- cidents at the intersection over the last couple of years and for shoppers trying to get in and out of the Plaza, it can be a headache. In fact, the merchants in the Plaza have hired off-duty OPP officers to direct traf- fic at the intersection at peak times at a cost of about $20,000 annually. "I think the Township has an (Turn to page 3) oe Kathy Monsma has a great reason to smile! The Port Perry mom won first prize in the Star's first-ever Gingerbread Conest with a stunning- ly edible gingerbread carousel. Fourteen outstanding entries were judged on December 16th, but despite the overwhelming competition, Kathy's carousel took first spot. See story for details. Blockbuster year, Scugog issues $40 million permits It has been a record shattering year for new construction in Scugng Township. The value of building permits issued in 1987 by the municipality has soared to $40 million; an in- crease of almost 100 per cent over the $20.4 million worth of permits in the Township in 1986. Inflation may account for part of the record increases in dollar values, but the actual number of permits is also way up, especially for single family homes. As of December 18, there had been 336 new single family homes in Scugog worth just over $31 million. By comparison, last year the Township issued 203 permits for new homes worth just under $16 million. The municipality breaks ils building permits down into ten dif- ferent sectors (new homes, addi tions, commercial buildings, garages etc.) and in 1987 all but one of the sectors showed an increase over the previous year. The one area that showed a decline in value and number of per- mits was for swimming pools. In 1987, the Township issued permits for 22 pools, valued at $87,000, while last year, there were 25 at a value of just over $105,000. For industrial and agrycultural buildings, the value this ydar is $1 2 million, compared with $422,000 last year. Commercial buildings were valued at $1.9 million this year, up from $815,000 last year. - The value of permits for additions 1 and renovations to family homes more than doubled in 1987 from $971,000 to $2.3 million. In total, Scugog issued 622 permits (as of December 18) compared with 435 the previous year. Gingerbread contest Judges impressed at quality of entries Scugog Mayor Jerry Taylor gets asked to judge a lot of contests, but as he told a crowd at the Port Perry Star office last Wednesday, the Gingerbread contest was the toughest thing he's ever had to adjudicate. Hik fellow judges, Kreative Kit- chen owner Helen Newlove, and gingerbread enthusiast Angie Kroonenberg, had to agree. All three were overwhelmed by the beauty and the tremendous amount of work that went into each entry, and they say they had a terri- ble time picking winners. But, as in all contests, winners had to be chosen. The judging, in this instance, took place at the Star on December 16th. There must have heen fifty or more people milling about in the mailing room, watching the judges puzzle over 15 aromatic entries. ¢ There were several complete gingerbread villages, with ginger- bread houses, people, churches and stores. There were stately white churches, cozy country cottages, a magical carousel and a tudor house fit for Hansel and Gretel. All required patience, dedication, creativity and lots of time. All were deserving of prizes. But only three could be.named winners: (Turn to page 19)