The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

SINCE 1917 EMMERSON INSURANCE BROKERS LIMITED “Scugog’s locally owned and operated General Insurance Broker” With over 130 years of Broker experience, Emmerson Insurance Brokers Ltd. have been serving Scugog Township and surrounding areas with Competitive, Comprehensive and Personalized service since 1917. 193 Queen Street, Port Perry, Ontario 905-985-7306 1-800-387-5642 JULY 24-25 ELGIN PARK UXBRIDGE MASSED BANDS — HEAVY EVENTS HIGHLAND DANCE LIVESTOCK DOG SHOW — LIVE MUSIC wa KIDS PAVILLION = POOR ANGUS AND MUCH MORE! 18 FOCUS - JULY 2010 Thugs Thumbs Down - We've noticed over the past month or so a number of skateboarders, on their popular long- © boards, risking serious injury racing down Queen St. from the high school. While this risky practice may provide an adrenaline rush for the young boarders, we just hope it doesn't take a serious accident before something is done to regulate these boards on the street. Thumbs Down - It's the time of year for yard sales and many of these popular roadside markets are adver- © tised by placing posters on telephone posts, fences, etc. around town. And while this is a great way to promote these weekend sales, some operators neglect tak- ing the posters down after the yard sale is over. So one of our readers suggest a ‘thumbs down’ to those who ‘put up’, but don't ‘take down’ their posters. Thumbs Down - to those responsible for making the deci- sion to tear up the old parking lot at the rear of the © CIBC at this critical time of the year. Earlier reports indicated this work wouldn't be done until the fall, if it didn’t get started before the end of April. But here we are in the middle of a crucial season for local retailers and 80 parking spaces have been all but eliminated for the next couple of months. As Homer Simpson would say... D'oh! Thumbs Down: One of our readers was heart broken when she called Focus with a ‘thumbs down’ to the © careless or thoughtless woman who ran over and killed a mother duck and most of her ducklings as they were crossing the Port Perry causeway. She says, “There was more than adequate time to stop your vehicle... shame on you”. See her letter on page 2. Thumbs Down: A recent newspaper article reported council is considering hiring a ‘consultant’ to help © determine how to get rid of Canada geese in Palmer Park. Thumbs down to this costly idea. We Googled “getting rid of Canada geese” and came up with 231,00 items related to this issue... it's a no brainer. Hire a student for $12 an hour and come up with our own solutions. Thumbs Down - Finally, we hate to pick on the township, but sometimes they make it so easy. So another © ‘thumbs down’ to bylaw officials for ticketing cars along Mary St. during the recent Dragon Boat Races. When a couple of thousand people come into town to raise money for cancer research, it's unfortunate that local officials used the opportunity to ticket cars illegally parked along some of our sidestreets. Thumbs Up - You may have noticed all our ‘thumbs’ this month, except this one, point down. So we wanted to give a ‘thumbs up’ to our faithful readers who so often email or call us about incidents or ideas that they feel strongly about. Our ‘thumbs up’ to you all.