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Vol. 129 No. 06 | PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1994 Operation Scugog aids needy at Christmas time Great response for food drive By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star Several Scugog Township families had a more enjoyable Christmas holiday this year thanks to the generosity of oth- ersin the township. Operation Scugog's annual Christmas food and toy drive saw "tremendous response", ac- cording to food bank volunteer Kathy Gundry. "The amount of donations was wonderful, especially the amount of toys donated," she said. Several area families were sponsored by residents, who provided families with a com- plete Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. The hampers were arranged and handed out at the Victory Christian Centre on December 21. The hampers were distribut- ed from the Kinsmen Hall in other years, but volunteers say the new location worked much better this year. Donations from residents also flowed in to the bank, mak- ing the local food bank volun- teers very pleased with the drive. Mrs. Gundry called it one of the best it has had, probably better than last year. "The whole month of Decem- ber was great, Mrs. Gundry said. Adding that she had a full time job collecting donations de- posited in the drop boxes at the local grocery stores. The response to the drive was so great, volunteers were still unloading boxes at the bank on Tuesday morning. The success of the drive will restock the shelves and hold the bank over until Operation Scugog's next big drive at Easter. Volunteers feel this year's drive was so successful due to the number of individual drives held throughout the township. Along with individual dona- tions, drives held at local high schools and public schools, and by hockey leagues, Scout and Guide groups, the Port Perry Star and at area apartment buildings, gaw a great amount of donations being brought to the bank for which Mrs. Gundry said they are very thankful. Early morning break-in at Brock's Christmas was not a day of rest for at least one thief, who boldly kicked in a store front window and made off with merchandise in Port Perry. Durham Regional Police said residents of Queen St. were startled to hear the sound of breaking glass around 1:45 a.m. Boxing Day, Dec. 26, after a man kicked in the front door of Brock's Department Store. Police said the suspect gained access to the store and grabbed between eight and 10 men's coats from a rack just inside the door, then got into a car that was parked on the south side of Queen St. and drove off, turning north on Water St. It was dark and the lights of the car were off so witnesses couldn't relate the model of Thief kicks in door In bold Christmas heist the vehicle, but provided a sketchy description of the thief, police said. He is a white man standing around five feet, eight inches tall, and was wearing a three- quarter length coat, police said. Value of the stolen coats has been estimated at around $2,500. Island cottage hit Also on Boxing Day, police were called to investigate a break-in at a cottage on Scugog Island. An Etobicoke man arrived at his Prentice Lane cottage Dec. 26 to find thieves had forced a rear door and broken a couple of windows to gain entry. Stolen were a television and a VCR. The cottage had been closed up since October, police said. - . 1% IE EY Ye = bo ERC oP ee 4 + . I i it bt do . a 3 P) PR Gad Home for the holidays JEFF MITCHELL / PORT PERRY STAR Kevin Zengleln of Port Perry enjoys some quiet time at home last week with dad George. Kevin, a 23-year-old member of Canada's armed forces, just returned after a two-month stint with the United Nations peacekeeping contingent in Bosnia, where he came under fire four times. We've 5. got a feature on his experiences today oq page Local government open, says Hall By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Open government doesn't have to be legislated in Scugog, says the township's mayor. Howard Hall said in an inter- view last week that a new provincial law requiring local council to do more business in open sessions won't change the way things are done here. - 5 4 >on wy j ; Thar gp Oshawa Centre is open New Year's Eve til 6pm... Re-Opening January 2nd at 10am. That's because very little of Scugog Township's business in conducted behind closed doors in caucus sessions, he said. "We've always been very open here," said Mayor Hall. "We have very few closed- door meetings, if any." Local councils have tradi- tionally had the option of excluding the public and press am from debate on sensitive issues. While most are above-board in their actions, the legislation -- Bill 163 -- is aimed at shining light on the few "bad apple" councils that are doing too much business in secret, provincial Municipal Affairs minister Ed Philip said in a statement released last week. Turn to Page 2 [EEE EEE EE