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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 1983, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town Týhe onlv Whitbv flewstnan)r Indeundntv nu- [~ub Michael Ian Burgess, Publishier - Managing Ed itor imoucpqriuq vvti unen nau pritu uyWhvvnuvrestaents for Wfitby residents. bilshed every Wednesday by N.B.M. PublishIng and Photography Ic. Phone 668-6111 The F"ree Press Building, 1:11 Brock Street North, 1>0. Box 206, Whitby. Ont. Registration No. 5351 TIMOTHY BAINES Communlty Editor ANDY THOMSON Advertising Manager Second Glass Mail Margod est-ivalanoinly imprôve The Marigold Festival is now but dust ln the wind. It là diffîcuit to gauge the success of the four- day festival. There certainiy were both ups and downs. One tough barrier for the festival organizers to crack was the popularity of the County Town Car- nival, discontinued in favor of one big event - the Marigoid Festival. The County Town Carnivai -had apparentiy grown too big to survive. Held in eariy August, it grew from a two-day event to a 10-day celebration. L ainstreÏÀmam Canad'j Egads! ti fq 9 el n ,Look at the uanis n By W Roger Worth national series of advertise- ni For years, the nation's ments blatantly naming the n banks have been assuring Royal, Commerce, Toronto- le governments and the public Dominion and Scotia banks that they .really do compete among those charging fees, biE wit h each oàther. Yet 'interest, while its cards were free. hi! rates were generally the samne, What's more, the heading Mt althe banks offered the saine on the advertisemnent claimed wi service at'similar costs andl the B of M's card was "The In- po bankers spent millions and telligent Choice." The im-",P millions of advertising dollars plication: individuals dealing in% attempting toconvince Cana- with the other big banks are h dians that real competition less than. intelligent. <ve. exists in the financial s ector, B of M,- of course, seems to even though the varying dlaims be on the side of the angels. The were shallow at best. public dislikes charge card It ws on bak's nne user fees. In a recent survey, Murray against another's forexample, 71 percent of wholesome and down-to-earth" members' of the Canadian employee named' Mary. Few Federation 'of Independent people believed there were real Business turned thumbs down differences. on the new charges. But like a breath of fresh air afterbein coopd upin a It's true, B o f M charges an amefi edng oop, ed pin ar outrageous 21 percent inÎerest on in real competitive free enter- whete Moters arebalan18.6 prise are finally able to watch wieteohr r i1. percent. But user fees arethe what amounts 10o a *savage, competitive war among the issue thaf s1 getting attention. bankrs. î's weîome The Bank .of Montreal has cange, and folaow by ofew gone further. Il is now adver- moanghsaank olos atifcton tising that its mortgage rates rtngpreareby sthefatio are lower than those of most of memnber Canadian Federation lis competitors. And in a novel of Independent Business, move,- it is allowing home- which compared the quality of owning mortgage customers to service among the major pay back 10 percent of the banks. The Bank of Montreal' principal amount once a year, tinished last. at any lime, with no penalty.ý During the last year there That's an unheard of policy in have been minor skirmishes in Canadian banking circles. the bankers' battle to maintain Who knows? Perhaps we'll a competitive edge. But the eventually have bargain base- real breakthr(ough came when mient mortage boan sales, or the Bank of Montreal decided after-building-season spccial- to refrain from charging user rate boans, or, like the depart- fees on its Master Cards, ment stores, a sale because refusing to follow Visa and (money) inventories are 100 the other banks. Nevertheless, high. the Bank of Montreal was still Wish fui thinking? Mavbe. generally acting as a member But the public t'inally seems to of the club. Bank execuhives have ai leasi won a liuîle real were flot outwardly boasting competiion in a sector that about the policy. badly needed a jolit. Then came the bombshell. Its about lime. The Baçj lf,.qMontr.cal ran a ; ptiç Whlle the varlous carnival events were well atten- ded on a whoie, attendance was scarce at certain functions. it was becoming a rello, ready for change. The Marigold Festival' sprouted- as an ex- travaganza, a gala event that wouid become a tradition ln Whitby. The truth. is, it has a long way to go. Organizers encountered miany problems with the festival, but they can only iearn by theirmistakes. Perhaps the blggest problem was the shoestring budget the festival publicity people were granted. The sharp little pamphlets whIchi were dlstributed through town cost More than an- ticipated, and posters, which may have given the festival a Ilttie more publicity, were shelved. People ln the north end.,of Whitby - Brooklin is a good example w compiained they were being ieft :ut ln the cold ln the festivities. They have a "poinht. Why not schedule a few )vents next year for some of our outlying com- nunities? They are a part of our town s0 why egiect them? There was no lack of'editorial copy ln the local iewspapers so the probiem dld not lie there. Ban- iers publicizlng the festival did not appear until qss than two weeks before. 'Certain events ln the. festival ý were busts. The ýthtub race, which has the potentiai to be a ýighiight, was a farce. -OnlV two e ,ntries circled leir way around the route in Whitby harbour. It rould certainiy be much more interesting If local oliticlans and well-known citizens were invited to articipate. Town Council' members were not even ivited until a few nights before the event. This is ardiy enough time to round up a seaworthy ýsseI and prepare for a min i America's Cup. International '83 was a success and should become a focal point of the festival. The soap,,box derby (an annual Whitby Jaycee event> attracted, over 25 contestants, but wouid have anyway even If there hadn't been any festival. The-pancake breakfast was predictably a suc- cess as it usually Is.. The Whltby Theatre Company showed off their fi1ne talents With a Variety Show. Other events Included a jamboree, church ser- vice, lO-kilometre run, casino'night, Legion Dance and program at Ou lien Gardens. The parade on Saturday was another-frustratlng experience. As many'people lined' up'aiong Dun- das St. expecting to see the parade, they were ln- formed that the route actuaiiy ran from Chestnut St. to Burns St., on Brock St. People, were visibly upset and this epitomnized the whfoie weekend. Probably the, most 'confusing aspect of the festival was' the passport coins which were on sale. These coins could be purchased for $3 each and allowed the bearer to gain reduced or'free admission to varlous events. Why don't they just say the coins aliow free admission to ail events? As a colleague said foliowing the festival,,"You need a calculator to filgure out how much you pay for each event." There are undoubtedly othersuggestions which WlIN allow the festival to biossom -Intoa true suc'- cess. Orgariizers must,.take.a;hard 'look at. the whole thing, and they have a whoie year to do it. Given the time, we're confident that next years festival wili be 100 per cent lmproved. Never-the-less, we will always memories of the 'old-' County Town then we stili think we're living in WE WELCOME RESPONSES TO OUR NEWS S TORIES AND EDITORIALS. JUS T SIGN YOUR LETTER AND MAIL OR DROP OFF AT THE- WHITB YFREE PRESS, 131 BROCKII S T. N., WHITB Y, ONTARIO LIN 5S1 BOX 206. have fond Carnivai, but the 'County ~~~1' i ML