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A THI, an Lon "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice © " a THES COTTAGER c. 1992 by CRAIG NICHOLSON - All Rights Reserved "can and those who can't, or yourself and all the rest. The first is [ ROADSHOWS Location is the main reason I love my cottage. It is also responsible for the biggest disadvantage of cottaging: getting there. The hours spent traveling can either be an onerous frustration or a heightening of anticipation. Mostly they are a bit of both, and all part of the cottaging experience. I try to make my drives to the cottage fun. The wife wants | them to be safe. "Fear is not fun," she says, which is why she drives. That leaves The fear and the fun to me. Fun options in a moving vehicle are mostly restricted to sleeping, telling yourself old jokes and watching others. The wife says that makes her uncomfortable, so I look outside instead. The physical and social isolation of the automobile result in many strange behaviors which are easily observed when the cars are hurtling themselves along bumper to bumper at 100 km/hr. Especially when the wife is constantly taking evasive action against her pet peeve: being stuck behind a van or truck. Drivers seem to fall into main categories, aside from those who those to whom the automobile is strictly transportation, the means to get there efficiently. These drivers are characterized by basic utilitarian vehicles, focused, concentrated expressions, and trailers, roof racks and back seats piled high with stuff. They are more likely. to be the van people in front of the wife. The second group is those to whom the car is a means of self- expression, an extension of personality, an alter ego. They are characterized by fancy, souped-up vehicles, a distracted, oblivious manner, and Givenchy luggage. They are more interesting to watch because of their toys and the finger signals they are prone to make. Usually, I see them bopping along to an invisible CD player, looking like seizures under glass. Some sing-a-long wildly like a silent movie. Others have a cellular phone wedged into the crook of their neck and gesticulate their conversation with no thought to hands on the wheel. Many have vanity plates with cute coded messages that make you drive too close to read. These drivers are prone to tinted glass and the ensuing privacy for scratching, picking and anti-wrinkle facial contortions. On summer weekends all drivers become traffic. Radio stations send up planes to report on them, police lie in wait for them, and tow truckers pick up their pieces. There are no highways wide enough. All roads lead to the cottage and they are all full. It's not only volume, it's also inconsideration. It's too many people trying to get there first. It's too many rubber-neckers backing things up for miles to check out a kid taking a potty break. It's puttering under the speed limit, unexpected lane changes, tailgating, driving on the shoulder, and not keeping to the right except to pass. It's unnecessary break downs, running out of gas, and stopping for dandelions. It's inattention. Like reading, or putting on make-up, or eating or playing tug-toy with Rover. How about when two lovers both sit in the driver's seat? It's driving as if there was no one else on the road. Which is only a fond wish, never a reality. The result is chaotic, dangerous and frightening. More fun than fear. This situation could be alleviated by social interaction. Like group games: "I Spy With My Little Eye" with team members in various cars. Not so Trivial Pursuit, the OPP game. Modem- linked Nintendo via cellular. A scavenger hunt/car rally. Or sing- a-longs: inter-vehicular rounds of "Row Row Row Your Boat". Everyone tuning in to the same oldies station and driving along on one massive, open window sing song. Or road aerobics. Or show and tell. Or trading sandwiches. Or places. Or drivers. How about a mobile flea market? Maybe every car should have the owner's name on prominent exterior display. Its tougher to get angry at someone you know, but if you do it's always more personal to use their name with the swear words. Perhaps cars should have destinations listed in their windows so you could meet neighbors, or cottage pictures to share renovation ideas, or pets on show so others could tell who 1s the passenger and whos the dog. Anything to humanize the driving experience. The wife suggests intelligent conversation. | don't know who she's been talking to. All of which would make getting there more personal, more social and more fun. The wife says that I'm distraction enough. My theory is that happy drivers have more to live for. ) ( ( PAUL VAN CAMP CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT Financial and Business Planning Corporations - Farms - Small Business Income Tax - Planning and Preparation 204 CASIMIR ST., PORT PERRY LOL 1B7 NO) 985-9725 Letters to the editor Ambulance may be cut To the Editor: The concern for the patients | have cared for as an ambulance attendant has compelled me to write to the editor with the hope of informing the people of Port Perry and Uxbridge the pend- ing cutbacks in the Port Perry Ambulance Service. The loss of one of Port Perry's two ambu- lances will have a direct impact on residents of both Port Perry and Uxbridge, by substantially increasing the ambulance re- Fight now Letter to the Editor: Land has baen the one securi- ty of Canadians for centuries. . Farmers, homeowners, recrea- tionalists, naturalists have all taken this important commodi- ty for granted. Sad to say our rights to own land are being at- tacked in many different ways by our so called democratic sys- tem. At the same time this sys- tem makes it easier for wealthy outsiders to buy up our land. They receive grants, loans, sub- sidies and tax deferrments not available to ordinary Canadi- ans. The Federal Government has intentionally left "property rights" out of the Charter of Rights. The present Ontario Government states in its man- date all land belongs to the state. Our local and Regional Governments place costlier lev- ies and taxes on our land and property each year. Presently we see our neigh- bor losing their farm or their home. But it hasn't hit us yet so we remain indifferent to it all. Down the line it might easily be our farm or your home that is ost. Too late then. We must start to fight for our rights now. The first step is right in town and region, "Low- er taxes and less government." Join the taxpayers coalition. and work with your neighbor in defending your rights and your family home. That farm or that family home is yours by hard work and saving. Don't lose it through lack of interest. Doug Wilson, R.R. 2, Port Perry. ORT PERRY auto glass & trim ud, sponse time to many emergency calls and routine transfers. The ambulance will take longer to respond because it will be start- ing from the standby location at Epsom. Presently standbys are a nec- essary evil in the ambulance in- dustry. They can be related to roulette, where you place your assets in a position to give you the best odds in covering what may come up. The cutback will require more than 1,400 stand- bys, to be done in, this area. A short standby mal only last 30 minutes, however three hour standbys are corfimon. On an average, four times a day, all of Scugog, Uxbridge, Cartwright and part of Brock townships are being covered by one ambu- lance sitting at Epsom. The re- sulting delay in emergency re- sponse times is obvious. Additionally, patients awaiting will likely have to wait until the standby is over to be moved. Uxbridge used to have two ambulances in town. Now it has one. Port Perry has had two am- bulances since 1988. It appears the axe may fall in the very near future reducing it to one. This will leave our areas with the same number of ambulances it had during the 1970s. It is un- fortunate that the Provincial Government's failure to meet the financial requirements of operating the ambulances has to'impact the people of our area in'such a direct way This is not satisfactory. If you agree, please make your concerns known by contacting our local MPP or the office of our Provin- cial Minister of Health. Roy Teer, Emergéncy Medical Care Attendant, Port Perry Ambulance. transfers, emergency or not, program. of the old building. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 County Milk Committee, was held at the farm of Mr. and Mrs. John Batty, Brooklin, with approximately 600 people taking part in the An application to begin a branch of the Navy League of Canada in Port Perry, has been accepted from National Headquarters in Ottawa. Charter was granted effective July 5, 1972. This issue of the Star reported that the old Port Perry Post Office was doomed to demolition and a new single-storey building was being considered. No actual date had been set for the tearing down Former students and teachers, some from as far away as Vancouver and Nova Scotia will be getting together for a once in a lifetime reunion of the old Section 12 Public School in Greenbank. The school was. built in 1874 and is still serving the needs of education to present day students. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, August 4, 1982 A local group of young actors working under the name of School's Out Productions, will be presenting the popular Neil Simon play California Suite at Town Hall 1873. Lisa Weatherall, 17, of Stoney Creek, was crowned Regatta Queen at the 50th anniversary of the Lake Scugog Regatta in.Caesarea. Runners-up were Penny Hyland of Cedar Grove, Rose Bryden of Caesarea, and Angela Reeder of Caesarea. Nineteen young women entered the pageant. A 26-acre estate on Scugog Island owned by Patrick Harrison is being offered for sale for $725,000. Some of the selling points include an impressive fieldstone and wrought iron entrance, a 28-room principal residence along with four other homes and a two bedroom cottage, five barns, two greenhouses, a boathouse, a tea house and several utility buildings. ££ F 139 Water Street & 6 High Street, Port Perry FINALLY! 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