Created & Published by Observer Publishing of Port Perry
188 Mary Street - Unit 201, Port Perry, Ontario - L9L 1A2
Phone 905-985-8585 email: focus@observerpub.ca

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JULY 2008

Thumbs Up to 18-year old Thomas Morrison of Port Perry High School. His dreams of making the Canadian Olympic team edged closer last month after he won the 1,500 metre race at
the Central Regionals at York University. Our readers will probably remember Thomas from an article featured in Focus last December.

Thumbs Down - To the new “Biosak” Compostable Brown Bags which break down and leak far before you can get them out of your composter. Possibly earlier bags were a little slow in breaking down, but it would be nice to be able to pull these new bags out of the composter before they start to disintegrate. We’re hearing that people who previously bought into composting are now starting to withdraw from the program due to the mess and smell.

Thumbs Up - to members of the Port Perry Artist’s Association who have provided free art supplies to the residents of the Community Nursing Home. Also to Pam Henshall and her mother Jean who, without fanfare, volunteer their time to assist these ‘budding artists’ with their new found talents.

Thumbs Up - To John Pellis who fell and broke his ankle last month while taking pictures during Canoe the Nonquon. Although in pain, the feisty 77 year-old Compton Cable TV photographer continued to shoot pictures of the racers while sitting on the side of the road waiting for the ambulance. Talk about dedication to the job! Heal quickly John, we already miss you.

Thumbs Down - to the mess being created along Water St. across from the ball park where water has been
puddling for the past couple of months. The puddle is creating a danger for pedestrians who have to jump to avoid
being splashed and for drivers who are swerving around the
wet spot. This situation needs immediate attention!

Thumbs Up - to Reid’s Independent for their concern and commitment to the environment. The local grocer has set up bins to collect and recycle the plastic garden pots and trays which hold flowers and plants at the garden centre. This is a great service for the community and helps save all that plastic going to landfill sites. Congratulations to those responsible at the Independent! (submitted)

Thumbs Down - One of our readers asked us to give a ‘thumbs down’ to the driver of a car who hit a female turtle on 7A Hwy. and left her badly injured and upside down to die. We agree this is unfortunate and would urge drivers to keep their eyes open for these slow moving monsters of Lake Scugog.

JUNE 2008

Thumbs Up to Bill McKee of Port Perry! Bill was proclaimed North American champion “town crier’ last month from a field of 24 competitors from Canada and the USA. The “Town Crier Competition” took place at Annapolis, Maryland. In addition to Port Perry, Bill also represents Uxbridge and Oshawa as a town crier. His next objective is the world title, for which he will compete in Bermuda in April 2009.

Thumbs Up to Port Perry’s Jayde Nicole for being selected as Playboy’s Playmate of the Year. Whether you agree with her career choice or not, to attain such a lofty world-wide title is a tremendous achievement. Simply by shedding her clothes this young 22 year-old beauty has put Port Perry on the world stage. We’re sure many a mom and dad would shudder at the prospect of their daughter being featured on the pages of Playboy... this one included!

Thumbs Down - while on the subject of Jayde Nicole, a thumbs down to the “ridiculous” article in last month’s Toronto Sun headed “Pride of Port Perry”. The word ‘pride’ was an obvious reference to impersonator Craig Russell who has roots in the community, but had nothing to do with this young woman’s success. The article was confusing and unintelligent, but what else would you expect from the Sun.

Thumbs Up to our good friend Larry Doble of Greenbank who has worked so diligently to slow traffic down going through the small community. The stretch of road through the village was recently designated a ‘community safety zone’, resulting immediately in a slowdown of traffic along Hwy. 12 through the village. Three years of work paid off big time for the safety of the residents. Good work Larry!

Thumbs Up - Accolades to another young Scugog woman who has won international recognition. Allison Irwin, an accomplished hip-hop dancer was recently chosen to attend a one week session at “Be Discovered” in Los Angeles in late July. While there she will receive instruction from some of the top choreographers in L.A. Congratulations Allison... keep on dancin’.

Thumbs Down - to the officials at Hydro One who knocked the nest from under a pair of Osprey, which were nesting on top of one of their poles on Scugog Island. A number of Island residents reported the sighting and were upset with the uncaring way in which it was handled. Unless the nest was creating an immediate danger, we would think they could have waited until the young were hatched and old enough to strike out on their own. Bah, humbug to Hydro One!

Thumbs Up - to Dana, of Dana’s Goldsmithing, who is at it again... giving back to the town that’s been so good to her. Everyone knows how generous she’s been through her sale of “Guardian Angel” ornaments at Christmas. Now she’s set her sights on helping fight breast cancer by donating $5 from the sale of every ‘Dragonfly’ pendant to the Dragon Flies Boat Festival. Thumbs up to you Dana!

MAY 2008

Thumbs Down to having to stand in teeming rain to fill my gas tank with raindrops splattering on my dome... before sliding across my brow and down into my eyes. A most unpleasant experience to be sure! Whoever is holding up approvals for a canopy at Flieler’s Service Station needs a kick in the butt! Obviously, whoever signs the approvals doesn’t purchase their gas at Flieler’s, or this situation would have been resolved long ago.

Thumbs Up to the ‘mysterious’ woman in the green car who paid for my order at the Old Simcoe Centre coffee shop, while going through the take-out line. Surprised? You bet, when informed that the car in front of me had picked up the tab. What a great way to brighten a dreary morning. Like the movie “Pay It Forward” suggests, doing nice things for people without being asked is a reward in itself.

Thumbs Down to the very thought of cancelling Canada Day celebrations or the Santa Claus Parade. Surely between the chamber, township and other organizations something can be arranged. Latest word suggest the Santa parade is a go, but Canada Day is still a little doubtful. We’re sure the public would appreciate a scaled back version of Canada Day, rather than nothing at all.

Thumbs Up to Rick Forbes and the staff down at Crabby Joe’s who are doing their part to make sure Santa Claus comes to town again this fall. After an announcement by the Scugog Chamber of Commerce saying they might have to cancel the parade due to lack of funds, Rick offered to donate $1 from every meal on Monday nights to help offset the cost. What a great little elf he turned out to be!

Thumbs Down to the troubling reports that some residents have taken it upon themselves to target Scugog Township roads workers to take out their frustrations about the spring road conditions. Lighten up folks! It’s spring... pot holes, flooding, mud, debris, sand and dust are as certain in spring as is the warmer weather. Staffers do their best to make the roads passable. Yelling at them won’t help. Slow down and relax!

Thumbs Up to the Scugog Choral Society for their great showing at the recent ACT-CO Awards Gala. Winners of the prestigious THEA awards include Michele Jones “Mrs. Higgins” (Best Female in Supporting Role); Todd Appleton “Freddy” (Best Male in Supporting Role) and Michael Schneider “Mr. Higgins” (Best Male in Leading Role). The awards were for the production of My Fair Lady.

Thumbs Down to petroleum producers who must be gloating each time a motorist pulls up to the gas pumps. They appear to have us “over the proverbial barrel” as they raise the price at the pump almost daily. Don’t you just hate being gouged to the point you think you’re getting a deal if prices are under $1.20 a litre. And the fact that our American cousins are only paying the equivalent of 90¢ a litre doesn’t help. Unfortunately there’s little the consumer can do!

APRIL 2008

Thumbs Down to the mindless drivers who keep you waiting at the self serve gas pumps after filling up. At the local Pioneer gas station it’s not uncommon to find yourself sitting ‘impatiently fuming’ for lengthy periods for the car in front of you to move on. All the while the driver of the obstructing vehicle is inside the kiosk picking up coffee. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

Thumbs Up to our great readers. Last month we published a picture of four people making maple syrup in the 1950s near Uxbridge and within hours the calls started coming in. No less than three people called to provide names for all four individuals in the picture. Just for the record, they are, left to right, Charlie Clarke, Terry Moore, Jack Terry and Don Clarke. Thanks to everyone who called in. You’re the greatest!

Thumbs Down to the safety hazard created by cars exiting onto Queen St. from the parking lots behind the stores. The accesses beside Brock’s, Re/Max and Home Hardware should all be made entrances only. Vehicles exiting onto Queen St., from the rear of the stores are a danger to both pedestrians and passing cars and should be discouraged with “one way” only signage, as is the case at the post office.

Thumbs Up to two of Scugog’s hard working and dedicated volunteers. Chuck Mercier and Elgin Knopp have spent more than two years heading up efforts to bring the Ontario Special Olympics to Durham Region and in the process raised close to $1 million to finance the huge undertaking. Scugog is indeed fortunate to have energetic people like Chuck and Elgin. Our hats are off to them. Way to go guys!

Thumbs Down - It appears a few of our youthful residents have taken up new professions of an artistic nature. Unfortunately the canvas they have chosen to paint is the sides of buildings in downtown Port Perry. Better known as ‘graffiti’ or ‘tagging’ the scrawlings are nothing more than vandalism. Anyone knowing or seeing the perpetrators at work should report this to the police immediately.

Thumbs Up to Terri Venner of Luke’s Country Store and Birgitta MacLeod and the girls of Meta 4 Craft Gallery for being recognized by the Port Perry Business Improvement Area, for their contributions to the downtown organization. The two business owners were presented plaques at the recent annual general meeting of the BIA for their efforts in helping promote the downtown business community.

Thumbs Down - to this ‘friggin’ cold/snowy spring that just won’t seem to go away. Enough already! Here we are moving into April and the “weatherperson” is predicting another month of unsettled, cold, wet weather. As if January, February and March weren’t enough, now “they” are saying not to get too anxious because April is going to give us more of the same.... Give us a break... we really deserve it.

MARCH 2008

Thumbs Up to Reid’s Independent Grocer in Port Perry which received the Foodland Ontario Retailer Platinum Award for creativity in marketing Ontario fresh fruit and vegetables! Of the more than 1,200 grocers who competed, Reid’s was one of only nine to receive the “Platinum Award.”

Thumbs Down to snow plough operators who leave large ridges of snow across streets after ploughing residential driveways. The ridges create a dangerous situation for motorists who are forced to veer around or brake without warning. Dumping or leaving snow on streets is prohibited in most municipalities as well as along regional and provincial highways.

Thumbs Up to the knowledgable readers of Focus on Scugog who are always happy to let us know when we “screw up.” Last month we had three former politicians, Jerry Taylor, Lawrence Malcolm and Walter Beath call to let us know we made a 10 year error in our “Time Warp” column. The events were from 1978, not 1968 as published. Thanks guys!

Thumbs Up to Scugog’s roads staff for the great job they’ve done keeping our streets cleared of snow this winter. Due to numerous heavy snowfalls, there may have been occasions we’ve had to wait half a day or so to have our roads ploughed, but with over 410 kms of roads to clear, they did a remarkable job keeping us moving.

Thumbs Up to the members of the PPHS Robotics Team who took the initiative to encourage our town fathers (and mothers) to take part in “Earth Hour” and turn off all lights and other power consuming devices for one hour - between 8-9 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. Last word we heard was that Scugog is ready to “turn off.” What a great idea!

Thumbs Down to the thoughtless, unrespectful individuals who have been using Pine Grove Cemetery as an outdoor toilet for their pets this winter. Cemetery staff have been forced to scoop up to 50 piles of ‘dog poop’ each and every week the past few months. The practice of allowing dogs to ‘dump’ and not pick it up, is disgraceful and a desecration of sacred ground. Please “stoop and scoop.”

FEBRUARY 2008

Thumbs Up for the great ambassador Port Perry’s Santa Claus is for the merchants of the downtown. Scugog’s jolly old man has been greeting kids and adults alike to his little house in front of the post office every weekend throughout December for the past 18 years. Young and old, big and small, they all get a dose of Christmas cheer... and a special treat as they pass by his house. See ya next year Santa!!!

Thumbs Down to the apparent inconsistency and enforcement of the business signage along Queen St. More than one storeowner has voiced their frustration with having been put through the hoops to conform to the township’s sign bylaws... only to see other businesses, such as Tribal Voices, hang out a plastic sign for months on end. If the township’s aim is to keep the street attractive... the bylaw and regulations regarding signs should apply to everyone.

Thumbs Up to the Scugog roads department for the quick and efficient job they did of clearing up the streets and sidewalks throughout the township after “the big storm of 2007.” More than 24 cm of snow fell in about 12 hours clogging all of Scugog streets and roads. But our ‘guys’ had the main arteries cleared by morning and secondary streets later that day. Thanks a lot guys - great job!!!

Thumbs Down - on the other side of the snow issues, we’ve had a number of people complain about snow clogged sidewalks in front of many residential homes for days after the storm. So, we’re giving a thumbs down this month to anyone who failed to clear their sidewalks in a timely fashion, forcing pedestrians to walk along slippery, wet roads.

Thumbs Up to Marina and Julie Brock for their concern about the future of our planet. The owners of Brock’s Department Store in Port Perry have initiated “fully degradable” plastic bags and reusable fabric bags at the store for packaging customer purchases. The attractive fabric bags are manufactured from recycled pop bottles. What a great idea! Hopefully more businesses will follow their lead.

DECEMBER 2007

Thumbs Up to council members for turning down a ‘code of conduct’ that would put restrictions on how and when our elected representatives could communicate with the press. The last thing Scugog residents want is a ‘muzzle’ on the views of their councillors. The implementation of such a ‘code’ would have been a step backwards in democracy and the public’s right to freedom of speech.

Thumbs Down to anyone who uses our streets as their personal trash can. Recently, we watched as three young lads threw chocolate bar wrappers to the ground while walking along Queen St. It just takes a look at our sidewalks and streets to realize there are many others who are too lazy and inconsiderate to use the garbage cans provided.

Thumbs Up for council’s decision to put an indoor swimming pool for Scugog on hold. There are far more pressing things in this community right now which are already hard to finance. The last thing we need now is another burden on the taxpayer. With roads in need of a cash infusion, a planned library expansion, a museum which is in dire need of upgrades and a not-too-distant hospital expansion... an indoor swimming pool is a luxury we just can’t afford now!

Thumbs Down to what appears to be an over-use of Taser guns. The recent death in B.C. of a Polish immigrant, after being tasered with 50,000 volts, brings the number of deaths attributed to this device to 17 in Canada. From a public perspective it appears as if use of the taser has become routine, rather than an option of last resort. It’s not our intention to second-guess the police, they have a hard enough job as it is. But, with the growing number of taser-related deaths, we would think mot police officers would welcome a review of this weapon... before it happens again!

Thumbs Up to Scugog councillor Jim McMillan who has recently been elected by acclamation, president of the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) in Toronto. Jim has worked hard for both the CNE and Canada Blooms for the better part of a decade and deserves the honour. Congratulations Jim for the well deserved honour!

Thumbs Up to the local business community and the Township of Scugog for making downtown Port Perry one of the most attractive Christmas destinations in Durham Region. Also, a special ‘thumbs up’ to the Chamber of Commerce for another fantastic Santa Claus Parade. Hopefully many of the thousands who enjoy this annual parade will think to “shop locally” to show their appreciation to the businesses for all they do for this great community!

Thumbs Up to local watercolour artist, Karen Richardson who won an “Award of Excellence” at the Pine Ridge Arts Council’s 9th Annual Juried Show. Karen’s large watercolour titled “Cuban Rhythms” comes from her ‘Havan Series’. Karen was also honoured by being named the first recipient of the “Artist For The Arts” award from the SCA.

NOVEMBER 2007

Thumbs Up to the ‘gals’ at Meta4 Craft Gallery for the success of their second annual Scarecrow Festival. The festival grew this year in both the number and quality of scarecrows, all of which have been enjoyed by everyone throughout October. What a great idea... by four creative and energetic business women. Congrats girls!

Thumbs Down to the practice of leaving loose asphalt heaped in pot holes. We appreciate the holes in our roads being repaired, but car owners would appreciate the loose mixture being ‘tamped-down’ so the undercarriage and sides of their vehicles don’t get covered with sticky, oily tar. We wonder whatever happened to this practice?

Thumbs Up to Scugog’s hardest working (and probably oldest, “sorry Dave”) landscaper. Dave Petrie, owner of Analda Landscaping, could be found early almost every Sunday morning throughout the summer weeding and watering the beautiful display of flowers and plants in front of the Post Office. Great job Dave... we tip our hat to you!

Thumbs Up to Pizza Pizza for going the ‘extra mile’ to make the exterior of their new business blend with the downtown theme. We applaud the extra effort gone into the conversion of the building. Their effort proves even chain stores... if willing, can shed their traditional corporate images to create a pleasing, yet recognizable appearance.

Thumbs Down to Durham Regional and Scugog Township officials who refuse to give Flieler’s garage permission to erect a canopy over their gas pumps. Every gas station in town has a large canopy to protect the public from harsh weather, but it seems bureaucratic red tape is getting in the way of common sense. Where there’s a will, there’s always a way... C’mon, give the guy a break!

Thumbs Down to grocery shoppers who ignore the signage for the Express Lane (1-16 items) and use the shorter line to have their cart full of groceries processed. Being the passive people we are, not one person lined up behind the culprit pointed out the very visible signage.

Thumbs Up to all the candidates who put their names forward in the recent Scugog by-election. Despite concerns during the campaign about some of the criticism levelled at township staff and council, it’s nice to know all candidates were passionate about our township. We extend congratulations and best of luck to Donovan Smith who will now have an opportunity to make his voice heard.

Thumbs Up to the owners of White Feather Farms who have taken a major step in helping the environment. They have completely done away with plastic bags for packing groceries, becoming the first company in Durham to do so. If you want your groceries or other items packed, you’ll have to bring your own or purchase a re-useable bag.

OCTOBER 2007

Thumbs Up to Scugog's "Birdhouse Willy" for his generous donation of new Purple Martin houses to the Rotary Park. Not only does ‘Birdhouse' build the houses at his own expense, he provides the poles, the installation and yearly maintenance and has been doing so for the past 21 years. Why? Because it's "his thing." Hopefully these wonderful assets along the lakefront trail and in Birdseye Park will not be vandalized as they have been in the past.

Thumbs Down to anyone who walks around in public spaces with one of those ridiculous "bluetooth headsets" clipped behind their ear, appearing to be chattering away to themselves like they've just been released from an asylum. Aside from looking a little weird... it's annoying and inconsiderate. They may have their place, but on the street or in other public places they're a nuisance.

Thumbs Down to the penny-pinchers at Canada Post (not our terrific local posties). Over the past year we've watched as the aging roof of our historic downtown Port Perry Post Office has gradually turned from grey to rust-red. "Rust" being the key word here! Surely the feds have enough of our hard-earned tax dollars socked away in the vault to give this aging structure a little face-lift.

Thumbs Up to all the enthusiastic participants and organizers of this year's Terry Fox Run. To date, the local run, which has been taking place since 1994, has raised a whopping $333,000. In addition, local schools have raised another $261,000. Of this amount, 87 percent goes directly into research and to continue the fight against cancer.

Thumbs Up to the Borelians Theatre group for holding a special Mystery Dinner Theatre for the Port Perry United Church to help them raise funds for a new elevator. The Borelians, along with members of the Port Perry United Church Players, provided two great nights of entertainment in Sept. Just their way of saying thanks for helping them out when the Town Hall was closed for renovations.

Thumbs Down to ex-politicians who don't know enough to stay out of the political forum once they've retired. Former Scugog mayor Doug Moffatt and councillor Larry Corrigan's recent news conference in oppositiion to the west-end SmartCentres development accomplished nothing, aside from unnecessarily stirring the pot on a dead issue. The land is zoned for this commercial use...

Thumbs Up to Durham Region Transit's new 950 Uxbridge-Port Perry-UOIT (University of Ontario Insititute of Technology) route, which provides weekday service from Uxbridge, through Port Perry to Oshawa every two hours. What a great service for students and employees who require transportation to jobs or university classes along this route. We're sure it will be well used.