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Day Care cookbooks are ready to be sold iuiul Sef wi I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the very best for 1991. Happy New Year. There were 10% tables of euchre played on Friday evening. Winners were as follows: Ladies 1st - Myrtle Gimblett, 2nd Fran Gibson, and 3rd Grace Thompson. Men's 1st Nelson Cole, 2nd Art Parratt, 3rd - Les Meyers. Freeze-out winners were Les & Edna Meyers with Ross & Grace Thompson second. Winner of the 50/50 draw was Les Meyers. Draws were won by Jean Pogue, Grace Thompson & Daisy Sellers. Many others won Christmas draws. The next euchre will be in two weeks January 4. 1'd like to thank all those who have sup- ported our euchres during the past year (some come from quite a distance). We look forward to seeing you in the coming year. The Utica Day Care Centre has their cook books printed and ready for sale. Anyone interested in purchasing one may call the $7.00. Church and Sunday School this week will be held in Epsom begin- ning at 11:00 a.m. All treasurers, group leaders, etc. remember to get those early reports ready and hand them in to me the first week in January. At the time of writing this, there arestill 4 tickets available for the New Year's Eve dance. Anyone who hasn't picked up their ticket is urged to do so immediately. Give me a call at 985-7564. There were a few Christmas parties in the neighbourhood this past week, Utica Farm Equip- ment employees and Utica Com- munity Day Care celebrated the season. Mother Nature came through. It's beginning to look more like Christmas with a fresh layer of snow. I'm sure that all those who got snow equipment from Santa will enjoy themselves now. Farm show almost sold out Organizers of the Canadian In- ternationl Farm Equipment Show have their hands full again this year. Floor space has been nearly sold out for months, and staff are working overtime to accom- modate even more exhibitors on . the roster of Canada's largest in- door farm show. The show runs February 5-8 at the Toronto Inter- national Centre. "We certainly do our best to help exhibitors with last minute bookings," says manager Dawn Morris, "but there's very little space remaining." Demand for space has been highest in Hall 1 of the Toronto In- ternational Centre. Most ex- hibitors in the centre block have asked for more room. The show features more than 380,000 square feet of commercial exhibits for agricultural equip- ment, supplies and services. All major manufacturers and distributors are represented from across Canada and the United States, with additional displays expires Dec. 31/90 12); PLUS DISCOUNT STOREWIDE by exporters and trade missions from Europe. But tours and daily seminars on-site are a regular feature of the show. Visitors who hand in their discount registration form at the door (available from farm equip- ment dealers) qualify for a chance to win $1,000 in show mer- chandise. Everyone who com- pletes and submits the form automatically receives a $3 dis- count on admission. The show is open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thurs- day, and 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday, from February 5 to 8. For visitor information and last- minute exhibitor inquiries, con- tact Dawn Morris Productions, Peterborough, Ontario at (705) 741-2536. The Canadian International Farm Equipment Show is spon- sored by the Canadian Farm & In- dustrial Equipment Institute (CFIEID) and the Ontario Retail Farm Equipment Dealers' Association (ORFEDA). ------ --_----_ < rd 2.0 PORT PERRY STAR -- Thursday, December 27, 1990 -- 23 S.A. Cawker Public School held its Christmas Concert last Wednesday evening. This . class pictured performed a litterless lunch skit, with a Christmas kick. Drinking and driving don't mix Canada is a society of drivers. Today, there are more than 17 million licensed drivers across the country who travel more than 200 billion kilometres each year. We are also a society of drinkers, consuming 205 million litres of alcohol each year. Clearly, both driving and alcohol are part of our lives. Each, on its own, can be dangerous. But when mixed together, the danger can become fatal. In 1989, more than 2,000 peo- ple died in alcohol-related crashes, nearly half of Canada's annual traffic toll. Many were the innocent victims of impaired drivers. Herb Simpson, Executive Director of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation of Canada (TIRF), a leading traffic research organization, believes fatalities caused by impaired driving are just the tip of the iceberg. 'Only people who are killed in traffic crashes are routinely tested for alcohol use. If the impaired driver is injured, for example, statistics may not record the crash as alcohol- . related. Therefore, we have ne way of knowing the true impact of the drinking and driving problem." While 80 milligrams is the legal limit for blood alcohol content across the country, it's important to remember that this level is quite arbitrary. It does not take into account body size, for example. 2 Despite popular mythology, no one drives better after a few drinks. Alcohol impairs co- ordination, judgement, percep- tions, vision, reflexes and other skills fundamental to driving safely. Societal attitudes towards drinking and driving have chang- ed significantly over the past decade. Consequently, the punish- ment for impaired driving of- fences has become increasingly severe. In Manitoba, provincial authorities seize the impaired driver's 'vehicle. Several pro- vinces also have short-term license suspensions if drivers are close to the legal limit. Auto insurance is also adverse- ly affected by an impaired driv- ing conviction. Jack Lyndon, President of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the trade association representing private auto insurers, says, "Any convic- tion for drinking and driving will increase insurance premiums. And if impaired driving causes an accident, your insurance com- pany, in most jurisdictions, is not required to compensate you for loss of income, medical or rehabilitation costs or car damages." Even in jurisdictions where the no-fault component has been significantly increased, such as in . Ontario, drivers who are con- victed of impaired driving are responsible for paying back any weekly benefits received prior to the conviction. Certainly, the drinking and driving problem is far from solv- ed. Years of public education and advertising about the problem have changed altitudes. The social drinker, who has a few drinks, is now more-aware of the dangers of drinking and driving. However, chronic alcohol abusers remain a significant cause of accidents. Statistics show that over 30 per- cent of male impaired drivers and 15 percent of females involved in fatal accidents had a blood alcohol reading of more than 150 milligrams -- almost twice the legal limit. In addition, research indicates that many of the drivers killed in alcohol-related accidents had previous impaired driving convictions. New initiatives will have to be developed to deal with hard core offenders -- those with several convictions for impaired driving and people identified as substance abusers by health care profes- sionals and other social services workers. For most ot us, the rule ot thumb regarding drinking is sim- ple. Herb Simpson of TIRF says, "There is no point in gambling with the legal limit. The conse- quences of impaired driving are simply too enormous to take a chance. We have to persuade peo- ple that if they have been drink-. ing any alcohol, they should not drive. Period." PEDERSON DISPOSAL Notice to Scugog Township GARBAGE PICK-UP for CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27th picked up FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28th FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28th picked up FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28th -- THEN -- . MONDAY, DECEMBER 31st picked up MONDAY, DECEMBER 31st TUESDAY, JANUARY 1st picked up WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2nd THURSDAY, JANUARY 3rd picked up THURSDAY, JANUARY 3rd Have a Safe & Happy Holiday!