6 FOCUS - OCTOBER 2018 Overwhelming support Dear Editor On behalf of Theatre on the Ridge, we would like to acknowledge the overwhelming support for Festival 2018 (July 5 to August 18) at Town Hall 1873 and other locations in Port Perry. It was a season of powerful and captivating theatre to be proud of and we would like to thank our patrons, supporters, volunteers, sponsors, partners, funders, venues and believers for making this season so successful! Special thanks to Vos’ Independent Grocers, Town Hall 1873, Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Scugog Council for the Arts, Township of Scugog, Utica Community Hall, Church of the Ascension, Prince Albert Community Hall, Pine Grove Cemetery, Scugog Memorial Public Library, M. Meyers & R. Henderson, Heather Chapman, Canadian Tire Port Perry, North Durham EcoWater, Hark Nijjar Photography, Puckrin & Latreille Real Estate, HandtoHeart Healing, Legacy Vintage, Domino’s Pizza, Framer’s Gallery, Willowtree Farm, META4 Contemporary Craft Gallery, Pamela Meacher, Libby Burns, Grant Lucas, anonymous and the golden girls of Perry St. We would have not been able to accomplish so much without the support of the above or without the commitment and enthusiasm of our actors, artistic, production, marketing and front of house teams, and the staff and board of directors, not to mention the word of mouth provided by so many patrons. Festival 2018 brought us new insights, new experiences, new friends and great theatre in a great community. Thanks again to all and we look forward to Festival 2019! Sincerely, Carey Nicholson, Artistic Director, Theatre on the Ridge Ruth Spearing, President, Theatre on the Ridge An amazing town we live in Dear Editor I walked into the Port Perry post office on September 5th to mail one envelope. A lady was there to pick up a package and I turned to her and said, “Oh great! No money at all in my wallet. I wonder if they would take debit for $1.15”. I then decided to walk over to my bank and as I as walking away, she ran to me with $1.25 and said she hoped that was enough. I told her I was going to my bank but she insisted I take it. What an amazing town we live in. With all the bad news we hear every single day it would appear like there are not many good people left, but I certainly had my faith in human nature renewed today. I did not ask her name as I was gob smacked (amazed) LOL, but she will see this and know it’s her. Thank you so very much and I intend to pay it forward. Sincerely, Sheila Moxom Lucky for us… our property owners care! Dear Editor Since this is too long for a “Thumbs” would you please consider this “Thumbs Up” for your “Mailbox” section. Port Perry has a main street which is envied by most small communities across the province. Its envy is a credit to the building owners who year after year spend countless dollars to renovate, repair and restore their 130-year-old structures. It’s an expensive process, but this past summer we have seen local owners pump tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, into restoration projects and improvements to their buildings on and around Queen St. One of the most noticeable and impressive this year was the expensive restoration by the Brock family to rebuild the massive brick parapets at the top of their building. The structure, as completed this summer, looks almost identical to pictures taken not long after it was constructed in 1885. Local jewellery store owner Dana Smith, who invested heavily to repurpose her property modernizing the entire inside of her store, undertook another excellent transformation. Dana also updated and refreshed the look of the outside of her building to complete the renovation. Other buildings have been freshened up with new paint and signage. One of these, the popular Piano Café, changed its signage and colours this year. Currently, the second phase of a large restoration project on the Puckrin/Latrielle building at the corner of Queen and Perry St., is underway. Major brick repair and replacement is underway behind a shroud of scaffold and protective cloth. We look forward to seeing it when completed. Around the corner on Perry St., Old Flame Brewery owner Jack Doak constructed a coach house-styled addition to his heritage building, creating more space for his growing business and a courtyard for customers. A nice touch to the structure was the addition of two refurbished century old cupolas, originally part of an outbuilding on Mary St. Smaller projects include Pickles and Olives, Pantry Shelf and Marwan’s Global Bistro all constructing convenient patios for their businesses this summer. There may be others I’ve missed, but these are a few of the most obvious. We, as Scugog residents, should be thankful to have such progressive merchants and building owners, who help year after year, to keep downtown Port Perry such a vibrant and beautiful place to shop, stroll and enjoy. Sincerely, Peter Hvidsten ...................... Letters continued on page 54