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p tribune august 2 19s5 open town for business stv there should be a sign outside of whitchurchstoufftille closed for business for years and years this commu nity has put up roadblocks to busi ness be they through taxation zoning restrictions or archaic sig nage laws the reputation of stouf fville as a businesskiller precedes it another case in point was made last week when the giant chair in front of sheraton antiques was hauled away by bylaw enforcement officers for the town evidently this chair constituted a sign advertising a product yet for almost a year the chair posed no problem p apparently the chair was hauled away to prevent other businesses our mew from drawing attention to the fact that they are open in similar ways it all stemmed from a mattress dealer who tied a bed to a tele phone pole outside his store bylaw officials had had enough evidently and moved on the owner of the giant chair the real issue here is not whether a six foot chair constitutes signage the issue is that this towns lead ers have not responded to the needs of the business community businesses on ringwood dr edward st and sandiford dr have tried for years to be able to put up some sort of sign letting people passing on main st know that they exist the town has refused saying that signage adds to the clutter and distracts from main sts charm instead businesses are left to flounder on their own hoping rep utation and good service alone will bring in customers according to jag bhadurias lat est parliamentary report 3 billion is available to be spent in this con stituency unless the town liberalizes its policies our share of that money will not be forthcoming these policies have been the death of many good businesses in our town when will the politicians open their eyes and open this town for business mh0s stouffvule tribune 6244 main st stouffville ont- l4a1e2 c905 6402100 905 6492292 fax 905 6405477 publisher patricia pappas general managereditor andrew mair editorinchief jo ann stevenson director of advertising debra weuer retail manager mike rogerson distribution manager barry j goodyear administration vivian oneil operations manager pamela nichols questions news andrew mair editor joan ransbeny julie caspersen roger belgrave reporters sjoerd wiiteveen steve somerville photography retail advertising joan marshman catherine dunlceki classified doreen deacon real estate joan marshman distribution arlene maddock the stouflville tribune published every wednesday and saturday it one of the metrolnd printinf publishing and distri bution croup of community newspapers which includes ajax pickering news advertiser auroranewmarket era ban ner barrie advance brampton guardian burlington post cityparent cohingwood connection etobicoke guardian george town independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week markhara economist and sun milton canadian champion mississauga news north york mirror oakville beaver orillia today oshawawhitbyclarington this week northumberland news peterbor ough this week richmond hiuthorn- hillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror todays seniors uxbridge tribune contents cannot be reprinted without written permission from the publisher it was no way to treat a lady debra surman is a con vivial 24yearold lady whose enjoyment of people and love of sport has been reinforced by the fact she is a survivor since the age of 16 she has been umpiring for the yorkdurham mens slow- pitch league an ideal arrangement for her in that she had come to know many of the players while grow ing up in stouffville she could gab with the guys between calling balls and strikes and ruling on safe or out calls it looked like her umpir ing career and her life might be in jeopardy back in 1988 when she was involved in a serious car accident that saw her unbuckle her seatbelt so she could throw herself in front of her infant nephew in an effort to protect the toddler she succeeded but sus tained lifethreatening injuries losing her spleen the spunky teen recovered and eventually returned to the field to umpire again but an event that occurred while working a game on june 19 of this year has led to debra call ing it quits with the mens slow pitch league shell continue on in her other umpiring assignments both in stouffville and in scar borough but has sworn off the yorkdurham loop it seems that an individ ual who will go unnamed took exception to being called out by debra on a technicality in a game played that night the play er who is married with a child responded by saying something about her being just a girl doing a mans job overhearing this debra suggested he act like an adult if he was going to play mens ball when he mocked her fur- from where i live ther she ejected him from the game it was only the second time she had ever given a player the boot the first involving an out of town player at a tournament the player responded by refusing to leave the dia mond he staged a temper tantrum complete with an obscene gesture and vulgar sexist insults debra finally called the game forfeiting it to the other team at the league hearing held july 10 to decide what disciplinary measures should be meted out debra was assured by supportive players throughout the send us your letters to the editor the tribune welcomes your letters to the editor letters should be no more than 500 words in length and can be typed or neatly hand written your letters can be on any topic but the tribune reserves the right to edit for length libel grammar and spelling and good taste letters will not be returned unless requested of the editor due to space constraints not all letters may be published however we endeavor to print as many as possible within a time frame that maintains news value and topical ity please send your letters to the editor 6244 main st stouffville ont l4a1e2 or you can fax your letters to 905 6405477 league that the man would get a hefty five or 10 game suspension apparently this fellow has a bit of a reputation for poor sportsmanship area resident ron ren- wick upon hearing of the incident insisted on going on record as saying the offender has also cast a pall on a local adult darts league with his behavior but in the end the player was given but a token one game slap on the wrist and was ordered to apologize to debra as of tuesday of this week that apology was still forthcoming it should be poirited out that this whole affair was brought to my attention not by debra but by a female member of a promi nent local family with a strong background in sport and civic commitment she shared debras dis gust at how she had been treated by a grown adult male meanwhile debra wont umpire yorkdurham mens slow pitch league games anymore in her eyes she was humiliated on the diamond by an ignorant man for sim ply doing her job she believes a genuine apology from this man along with a commitment to dedicate himself to the principles of good sports manship is the least that should happen here because thats no way to treat a lady things we can do without now what vtheclosct mv r old baby r vrt rs things there he goes i7mnk he has sqmethw things that are all part of lifes rich pattern that i wish were not supermarket doors that dont open automatically despite the fact you have been programmed to walk straight through them without the massive incon venience of having to lift up your hand and push perfectly nice sweat shirts which are given away free at golf tourna ments but which when unfolded turn out to have a large and unsightly com pany logo emblazoned across the chest turning the unfortunate recipient into a walking billboard concert tshirts buttons jewellery and other memo rabilia featuring some rock group du jour the pur chase of which requires you to remortgage your house two or three months down the road these same essential acces sories will be much too five minutes ago ever to be worn again by the very off spring who previously couldnt live without them store flyers featuring weekly specials which are delivered on one day but dont take effect until later in the week those of us who dont pay attention to lifes little details spend a lot of time restocking shelves with toothpaste and washing powder and then missing the actual sale altogether instructions in bold black print advising that it is essential to test a creme bleach or hair color on a small hidden bit of your self before using it on the area for which it was intended as manufactur ers surely know nobody actually follows this golden rule which is why you see so many peculiar hair col ors and ninny looking skin blemishes on otherwise sober and conservative individuals sale flyers which offer between 10 and 50 percent off nearly everything in kates corner the store but which always exclude the items youre lusting after such as stereo equipment cam eras telephones cool clothes expensive appli ances or cosmetics which make you look 12 instead of 92 the grovelling respect conferred by critics on artist christo for his works which include wrapping in polypropylene large chunks of californias beautiful coastline and berlins reichstag videos preceded by commercials for other videos which take longer than the actual movie you paid good money to rent i paytv with commer cials which allows the cable companies to have their cake and eat it too silly phrases like you cant have your cake and eat it too which when you give it a modicum of thought makes no sense whatsoev er certain news media who for the last five years have been bitterly complaining that the ndp failed to live up to most of their cam paign promises bitterly complaining that the tories are wasting no time living up to theirs the endless analysis of divine intervention in hugh grants career which was probably just a publicity stunt dreamed up by his agent to counter growing media criticism of mr grants overexposure on the screen as opposed to on the back seat of his automobile mud from molson park which has adhered like cement to the clothes boots hair and skin of my children following their attendance at lolla- palooza