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2 - Orono Weekly Times Subscriptions $33.02 + $1.98 GST = $35.00 per year. No Refunds. Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 · Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs." Wednesday, March 18, 2009 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Donna Anderson Wood Classified Advertising - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Death in a village Guest editorial by J. E. Graham When we moved from the Big City to Orono, there were many adjustments to make. At first, all seemed to be bad adjustments. For example, there was no delivery of mail to the front door. Thus, we resented the nuisance of having to go to the post office every day -- rain, snow or sleet -- to get the mail. But as time goes by, the trip to the post office becomes a sort of focal point of each day. As a first advantage, it gets one out of the house. Secondly, on a fine day, it is a wondrous excuse for a walk. Thirdly, since the shopping area is so compact, it is easy to also walk to the drugstore, the bakery, the restaurants, and the bank. Also, each week the death notices appear in the window of the post office. Everyone stops and reads them. Being new to town, I know very few of the deceased, so I check to see if they are older, or younger than I. People joke, "Well, as long as you do not see your own picture, you are O.K." Then, last week, Aunt Emma died. Her photo will not appear in the Orono Post Office because she lived in Fenelon Falls, and died in Lindsay. However, her death made me think of the difference between the city, and our villages. As I was born in Coboconk, which is even smaller than Orono, I have never really been a city slicker, even though I lived in the Big Smoke for 52 years. The small town influence was always there, deep in my soul. A death in the Big City is a crime, or an accident, or an exception. It is dealt with excitement and maybe with respect, but quickly, and then everyone goes back to work, to make money. I sense something different in Coby, or Fenelon Falls, or Orono. Here we see that death is more a part of the fabric of life. Aside from the occasional regrettable death of a young person, we see the departure from our circle of a soul, who has lived most or all of their life here, as a natural part of the events of the village. We know these people, we are aware that while they were only residents of a small community, nonetheless they achieved huge accomplishments. For example, we read, in the post office window, that one gentleman went toe to toe with the forces of Nazism, and won. We younger people can hardly imagine the intensity of that adventure. We see that a lady who passed on left seven children, sixteen grandchildren, and even more great-grandchildren. We think of the challenges she faced with those births, the drama of all those lives, and the pride and love she would have felt for that brood. Those stories in the post office window are the stories of Canada. It was not primarily our leaders who built this country, it was those people. My aunt's generation saw the victorious Canadians come home in 1919, then they persevered through the terrible recession, and then they had to fight their own war in 1939. The generation which followed saw the post war prosperity and pressured the politicians into building better schools and hospitals, introducing health care for all, and insurance for the unemployed. These were the people who made Canada into the best country in the world, and paid for it with their taxes, their sweat, and sometimes their blood. The photos of those folks are now appearing in our post office window. These generations achieved all those national gains while slugging every day at hard jobs. They kept the churches going as the centres of community, they built highways and homes, and overall they -- honestly and persistently -- did their duty, day by day. We owe them a great debt; it is now up to us to carry the torch and keep our beautiful country, and our wonderful villages, prosperous and caring. We need to achieve that the same way they did: by working hard, honestly paying our taxes, and helping our fellows at all times. That is what makes a village, and a country. Letters to the Editor MPAC assessments Dear Editor: It amazes me the number of people who simply look at their tax bill and pay it. They don't question where the numbers come from, they just believe the system works, accept it and don't look back. As a citizen who looks at the local economy with great concern, I don't understand why people don't want to know more about their taxes. Why are Canadians so complacent? Are your property taxes rising due to your Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assessment? Have you investigated whether maybe the system is wrong or unfair? Everyone can make mistakes, even the MPAC people. Do you know how MPAC determines your assessment? Who really determines the amount you pay in property taxes? Is it MPAC, local council, provincial government or just bureaucracy? The Durham/York /Victoria Landowners Association, the local chapter of the provincial group, is holding an information session in Bowmanville, on March 20 at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex, 2440 King St. W. Doors open at 6 p.m.; the meeting starts a 7 p.m. sharp. This is a great opportunity, right at your front door. Bring your assessment and we will help you understand it, and if necessary, complete the paperwork to request an assessment review, or challenge the MPAC system. As property owners, you can do something about your assessment, which may result in a reduction of your property taxes. The recent ongoing economic issues of local employers and business will have a significant impact on everyone's pocket book. Get involved in the system. Don't sit by and watch the system swallow you up. There are opportunities provided. I suggest you take advantage of them to try and make things better and less costly for everyone. Sincerely, Jo-Anne McFarland Courtice Camp 30 mounument Dear Editor: I read Bill Tomlinson's letter in the Orono Weekly Times last week, and the more I read, the more I agreed, and the more irate I got. My brother died in Germany, six days before the end of WWII. He is buried in Holten Cemetery in Holland, and the Dutch take lovely care of his grave there. I have never seen his grave, but hope to go there some day. We have been trying to get a street named after my brother, S. Donald Powell, for him in Newcastle. There are streets here named after people I have never heard of. There is even a street named after someone who fought in the American Army and returned. I really think there are better ways of spending money than building a monument to Camp 30. Russell Powell Newcastle