Editorial... M award sho uld not be acircus Marion lrwin is right. The Peter Perry Award has become a competi- tion. It almost has a circus feeling to It. Quite frankly, this is more than wrong, it Is a disgrace. The Peter Perry Award is given to the Town of Whltby's outstandlng citizen of the year. The person honored is given the award because of his or her selfless contributions to this community. Because of their ef- forts, Whitby has become a better place to live. In this newspaper's opinion, the Chamber of Commerce should never have entertained the idea of announc- Ing the nominees for the award the week prior to the dinner. When the chamber eibarked upon this course we believe they were full of good intentions. It was their desire to create more interest in the award. Unfortunately, the reverse has hap- pened. Four years ago, when Bert Heaver was honored there were ap- proximately 200 people in attendan- ce. There was a sense of anticipation and excitement in the air because of the confidentiality surrounding the award process. Last week, the audience numbered about 60. Most of those In attend- ance were former Peter Perrys, local politiclans, members of the chamber and representatives of the press. The current system of announcing jhe finalists presents another pro- blem. What of the "losers?" They shouldn't be "losers" in that sense of the word. In fact, they are as deserv- ing of the award as the "winner." Fur- thermore, there shouldn't be a "win- ner." This is an honor, a gesture of thanks and appreciation for their con- tributions to our community. One of the "finalists" for this year's award was also a "finalist" for last year's award. It seems to us strange that this person was a "final- ist" twice and yet did not receive the award. To us, this seems most unfair. This situation In itself warrants a return to the old method of present- ing the award. In all fairness, this person should not have gone through this process two years in a row. In fact, she should either have been given the award (for she does deserve it) or her name should never have been brought forward. This has given the award its competition air. Recognizing the town's outstand- ing citizen is an excellent Idea, but turning it into a competition to be won does nothing for the "finalists" and nothing for the town. i cf *1 m Pl RES 71 f Z.PVol 12, No. 30 il Wednesday, July 28, 1982 16 Pages