Page 8, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, December 27,1995 FR OM THE WHIBGUD Stone mason at forxumw Whitby's Stone Masons' Guild will give a demonstration of their art at tbe Ontario Builder Forum '96 in Richmond Hili Jan. 17- 18. Guild founder and instructor Bobby. Watt was originally scheduled to demonstrate stone masonry, but will instead take advantage of an opportunity te study stone works in Egypt. Representing the guild will be Jcbn Dix, wbo supervised the restoration of Queen's Park. The guild demonstration at the forum will include carved and _decorative stonework and gargoyles by guild members. The forum, sponsored by the Ontario Home Builders' Association, fQcuses on teclinical, innovative and practcal items for the indusitry. It will be held at the Sheraton Parkway North. A 'Case fýor Equity' The Durham Region Employment Equity Network (DREEN) will hold a workshop on Your Financial Health Derek Dutka HOW TO BE MORE PROSPEROUS IN THE NEW YEAR Anotheryear will soon be history. I truly hope thaï everyone lias the opportunity to spend some time with family and friende over this, Christmas season. For must people, love is spelled t-i-m- e. Trinkets are muce, but blow the tine budget and spend lots of trne doing things you and your loved ones erijoy. With ail the cutbacks and downsizing going on, I thought it would be appropriate to share some easy ways ta trim down your own personal budget. The money budget often gets blown at Christmas. Try this recipe for reducing financial stress (and spending): Take a large cookie sheet and place ail your credit carda on it. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees, then bakte 20 minutes. Guaranteed tQ decrease your spendîng. Studies show that, on average, credit carda increase spending by at least 25 per oent. If tbats too extreme, eut down to one or two no/low fee credit cards. You might also fftd that having one interest-bearing cbequing account is easier to manage and rnay be more profitable than numerous chequing and savinge accounts. Refuse to pay mortgage renewal fées. The mortgage business bas become very competitive and. if your bank is flot willing te waive the renewal fees, some other bank wiIl pay them for you. Buy your straw b'ats in January. You can often save 25 to 40 per cent by buying at seasons's end or out of season. If you know you will have to buy a new barbecue or lawn mower next spring, buy it now. Makte up a gift list of useful items for people that you usually buy for, and keep it with you. This does two thinge; firat, it spreads your spending more evenly tbroughout the year, and second> it's much more likely to get sometbing on sale. Use the telephone te comparison shop and save yourself literally bundreds of dollars per bour (flot to mention the Urne). The last trio of ideas involves saving on insuranoe. Simpiy put, insuranoe is te replace an aaset or future earnings. A proper needs analysis wiIl tell you if you have appropriate coverage. If you are a non-smoker, buying your own term insurance policy migbt be cheaper tban mortgage insurance through your bank. You may be able te save significantly by increasing tbe deductibles on auto and home insurance policies, or by dropping some of the "ridera" that may flot be necessary any longer. For most people, implementing even baif of these ideas should result in a significant reduction ini your spending. That way you'll improve your discretionary icorne even if your wages are frozen or cut back. The extra savinge could be put into your RLRSP which would give you a bigger tax rebate, wbich you could use te py down your mortgage faster, whicb frees up more money, wbich.. Amidst ail the chaos, there are tremendous opportunities for people willing te take control and responsibiity for their own life. Have a very happy and prosperous 1996. Derek Dutka is an independent finandial pianner with Finandial Concept Group in Oshawa. 'Valuing Diversity - the Business Case for Equity,' on TuesdayJan. 9. Guest speaker will be Carol Fenn, vice-president of Omnibus Consulting Inc., specializing in the areas of equitable employment systems and diversity management. Cost of the luncheon and workshop is $25 per person. The meeting will be held in the Harmony East Room at the Osha;wa Holiday Inn, fromn 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration begins at 11:45 a.m. For more info r pation, cail Cathy Lloyd (City of Oshawa) at 436- 5663 or Valerie Jones (Town of Pickering) at 905-420-2222. DREEN is a network of Durham Region human resource professionals and employment equity practitioners. 1 Metro Toronto, Durham, Oakville and Mississauga residents have rid their homes of an estimated 8,500 pounds of old and dangerous medications in this year's Ex Safety Days medicine cabinet dlean-up campaign. The figure, released by the Metro Toronto Pharmacists' Association (MTPA) and the campaign co-sponsor, the Ontario. Ministry of' Health, is the equivalent of 1.5 million unit doses of medications or 5,000 full medicine chests. During the Nov. 1-18 dlean-up, 300 pharmacies accepted the public's returns of old or suspect pharmnaceutical and OTO medicrine. Asthma art 4 Ail ages of asthmatics and their caregivers can take part in Inspiration in Asthma, a world- wide art competition pronioted by The Lung Association and other respir "atory health organizations. The competition is an opportunity to explain asthma and to increase general awareness of the condition. Entrants are invited to submit paintinge or drawings depicting any aspect relating to the experience of asthnia. There coul d be longer lineups in the emergency departmnent of Oshawa General Hospital as servioes are reduced until Jan. 7. Despite the changes made toecut costs as the hospital. grapples with a deficit, the emergency departmnent le staffed for the holiday season but there are usually more patients admitted at this time. The hospital says watts may be longer is cases aren't urgent. or life-tbreatening. Other services that continue te be offered are dialysis, critical care, birthîng and nursery, cbemotberapy, crisis intervention and detoification. A.surgical operating room, is also staffed for emergency and urgent surgery. Competition The closing date is Jan. 31, 1996, and 10 winners, in four categories, will be selected to receive artists' materials valued up to $700, and selected images will be sent to media world-wide and may be used in special edition printed materials to help raise awareness of asthma. Full contest details including where to, send entries are available at The Lung Association, Durham Region (905) 436-1046. Century Old SUNNYCREST NURSING HOME resident Gilbert Nicholson gets a birthday hug from daughter Audrey Potentier of, Ajax. Nicholson oelebrated his i Oth birthday earlier this njonth. Born near Blackbum in Lancashire, England, Nicholsooi was persuaded to corne to Canada by his three daughters when he was 80. He attributes his longevity to a "clean mind.9 Photo by Mark Reesor Whltby Frep Prou l' m ýmrmwim %w - J HILSTORICAL FEATUIRE in the Whitby Free Press 1. What was the first project undertaken by the Kinsmen Club of Whitby when it was chartered in 1942? 2. What building once stood on the side of Jac's Milk Store in Brooklin? 3. Brooklin had two newspapers in the i 9th century. What were their names? 4. How much land was purchased by the provincial government in 1912 as a site for the Whitby Mental Health Centre? Answers on Page 10 This feature provided by LoaIa Arrbitertu,-IJ Com>crvation Adviser.9 Cco.,,ttcc Pharmacie Longer waits jhelp drug Iaepsil clean-up ae isïl