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ba i SEE. Le 8 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 28 1988 Calliope comes to town The calliope--it's an old gim- mick, designed more than a centu- ago to attract people from great tances to the circus. But Brantford entertainer Dale Page takes his calliope to a differ- ent kind of circus--trade shows, conventions and Friday July 15, to Great Britain Festival Days, right here in Port Perry. Using an electric-powered golf cart as a base, Mr. Page added an electronic organ, a P.A. system, gold pipes and an intricate paint job that's sure to attract attention. He fixed it so it can wheeze out the notes just like the old steam calliopes did, but he toned down the machine's great volume. And while it took a team of horses to pull the old ones, Mr. Page can drive his calliope in and out of convention or banquet halls--and the streets of Port Per- ry--with ease. The whole thing is powered by rechargeable batteries. The Hospital Board paid tribute to two members who are leaving this year. Both are former chairper- sons. Dave Muir is resigning after six years as he Is leaving Port Perry this fall, and Joy Hull Is retiring af- ter 10 years on the board, the maximum allowed un- der board by-laws. He'll be touring all through the streets of our town on July 15, at- tracting folks to the British- themed celebration. At 40, Mr. Page has spent half his life as an entertainer, starting out with bar bands and later per- forming at corporate parties and trade shows, where he played alone on keyboards or with a regu- lar band. The inspiration for the calliope came two years ago when he saw strolling Dixieland bands at a cor- porate picnic. "I saw it was something differ- ent and I wondered how I could get in on that," he said. "I needed a gimmick." Well, if this modern gimmick garners as much attention as the old-fashioned version, Mr. Page will be a real hit at Festival Days! Liability (From page 7) taxes because our homes are in- flated in value - thus they are tax- ed higher. All this is happening while the monopoly on our land grows. Worst still, that monopo- ly is slowly being controlled by offshore companies which in time will market that land back to our own people at astronomical prices. Can we consider this good plan- ning? It would seem to me that this type of planning is contrary to the well-being of our citizens, our children and the coming generations. This form of plann- ing must be not only stopped, but alsoreversed so that future plan- ning is for the benefit of people, not corporations and large holding companies. Yours very truly, Doug Wilson, Councillor, Oshawa & Durham Region. Yesterday's Memories (From Page 5) available to residents of Port Perry as well as the Townships of Reach, Scugog and Cartwright. Miss Jennifer Mumford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stan Mumford of Port Perry has been awarded first prize in a Domi- nion wide essay contest. The contest conducted by the Anglican General Board of Religious Education called for an essay on "My Sunday School." Congratulations to Mr. Bruce Mackie, Port Perry who pass- ed his final examinations and will be called to the bar on Thurs- day, June 26, 1958 at Osgoode Hall, Toronto. The new store for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario opened last Friday at the corner of Queen and Perry Streets, Port Perry. Mrs. J.H. Hardy of Port Perry sailed recently in the Home Lines flagship Homeric, for a vacation in Europe. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 27, 1963 A home built some hundred years ago by the Hood family was completely destroyed Tuesday afternoon by a fire of unknown origin. The house was owned by Christy Hardy but was not occupied. Dr. A.G. Christie and Mrs. Christie of Baltimore, Md., are at their summer residence in Manchester. Champions at the 1963 Port Perry Public School Field Day were: senior girls - Patricia Healey; senior boys - Dale Beare; junior girls - Anna Forder; junior boys - Scott Kenny. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 27, 1968 Joel Aldred, Scugog Island, has established the Santa Ger- trudis breed of cattle on his farm and is the owner of a con- siderable size herd. A welcome is extended to Mr. and Mrs. K. Mueller and fami- ly, Bay Ridges who are now permanent residents at their new home at Pine Point, Scugog Island. Edwin (Ed) R. McCaig of Greenbank, graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Arts, Honour Degree. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, June 28, 1978 Medical staff at the Community Memorial Hospital in Port Perry got their first look last week at a new emergency evacua- tion service when an air ambulance helicopter made a trial run from Toronto to Port Perry. The 6th Reunion of former Port Perry High School students' was held at the home of Evelyn and Terri Harris at View Lake. This event is held every three years and was started in 1960. Laurel Price, a nineteen year old student from Port Perry High School has been selected for the Canada World Program, and in October she will leave for four months work in Sri Lanka (formerly Cevlon). by J. Peter Hyvidsten Random Jottings GOT A BEEF? LET'S HEAR IT! Got any beefs? Want to get something off your chest? At the Star we have a Lefters to the Editor sec- tion on our Editorial Pages that is open to anyone who wants to express an opinion, and we always welcome letters. Star staffers don't write letters to the editor, so these personal columns found on the editorial pag- es are our forum for letting loose once in a while. This week | am going to use this space to point out a few things that have been bugging me for quite a while, in the hopes that by writing about them, they won't bother me anymore. Beef number one: Have you noticed the "billboard city" which has sprung up along the high- way south of town in the past couple of years. What a "bleep, bleep" ugly mess! This cluster of ugly signs, advertising various lo- cal business establishments does nothing to en- hance either their businesses or the entrance to our beautiful little community. In fact | would go so far as to say they do the exact opposite. | would venture to say the "billboard city" that has developed near the pumphouse corners south of town started about ten years ago with one bill- board being erected by a local business. This is not all that unusual on an isolated basis, but over the past few years this same little clearing has been completely deluged with signs of all shapes, co- lours and sizes. To the best of my knowledge there is no law saying people can not place this type of advertising along a highway, as long as they conform to the regulations of the various government agencies. But you would think that even those who have er- rected their billboards would realize the limited val- ue they have. Just try to read all or even one of those signs in full before you drive past at 80 km per hour and you'll find it it near impossible. In addition to making the approach to Port Perry from the south ugly, the negative impact the cluster of signs gives the town far out-weighs any benefits the businesses may derive from this form of adver- tising. Beef number two: Has anyone taken a real close look at the playground equipment in Palmer Park at the lakefront recently? It is in terrible shape, and if something is not done soon, there could very well be an injury on some of the equipment. The one that is in particularly bad condition and could cause an injury to a youngster is the teater totter. The spring mounted ride has broken away from its concrete mooring.and now the cracked concrete can be moved up and down by the move- ment of the ride. A small foot or hand in the wrong place at the wrong time could easily be crushed, causing untold damage to a little tyke. Some of the other equipment is in pretty sad shape as well, and in need of repairs and or refur- bishing. In fact, it might even be time to up-date some of the equipment to 1980's style playground facilities and get rid of old pieces entirely. Beef number three: Posters that are not taken down long after an event is over. | don't know about you, but | have had a couple of negative comments about the Sidewalk Sale posters that are still posted around town at vario locations. The downtown merchants sidewalk sale promo- tion which is now history, was a good one for both the merchants and the shoppers, although the negative impact of leaving the posters up around town for three or four weeks after the event is not good. There are laws on the books to deal with elec- tion posters being taken down within a certain time- frame after an election, and | would be surprised if it does not hold true to any type of event. Even without the law, advertising posters of any type should be removed when the event is over. And in the same context, events being promoted on our local cable television channel three and four weeks after they are over should also be avoided. Like | said at the start of this column, this was a column of beefs. Nothing earth-shattering, nothing that will change the world, just little things that have gotten under my skin, and it makes me feel much better to get them off my chest. Now it's your turn. "Where's the beef"? a