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2 Friday, February 17, 2017 brooklintowncrier.com Less than Half the Picture By Richard Bercuson The "Fine-r" Side of Drop-offs On behalf of Brooklin High School, whose principal Warren Palmer did not give me permission to do this, I wish to thank the many fine folks who've recently donated $160 to the Town of Whitby coffers. Some may not yet know of their donations, but the proof will be in the mail shortly. First, a clarification. Your $160 does not get siphoned to BHS for educational accoutrements such as traffic bouncers. If such a person existed, they would be large muscle-bound people who glare at you when you park where you shouldn't to let your teenager off at the school. No, those dollars go to Whitby where they probably slosh around and squirt out as a decrease to the proposed tax increase. Thanks to your generosity, we will each pay a fraction less in taxes next year, perhaps as much as $2.74 (rounded) per household. Mighty big of you, all for the sake of a really poor parking decision. Meanwhile, BHS wrestles with this: Where oh where should people drop off their teen snowflakes to get them as close to their lockers as possible? We have the correct answer, the bad answer, and the good-grief answer. The correct answer is to use the school's circular roadway, designed for this very purpose. It has three kiss 'n' ride areas, as inaptly named as one could have chosen for high schoolers exiting cars. Hug 'n' Ride would have been acceptable. Fist Bump 'n' Ride even better. The bad answer is what folks are doing. It's become such an issue that the school has had to add a Traffic Flow bulletin to its website to explain ever so politically correctly that folks are parking illegally and, well, dumbly and to please get with it. Getting with it translates to, "Teenagers do not need door-to-door service, except for the prom, in a limo." The good-grief answer? Teenagers are generally ambulatory. BTC's Research Department has uncovered studies which show that the typical adolescent can manage a one kilometre walk in about 14 minutes. Add 20 seconds for each transported math textbook and perhaps another minute to account for dawdling, chatting and texting. But it's still a reasonable time frame. This contrasts with research about elementary age children who are incapable of walking in straight lines since everything in their path becomes a plaything. Thanks to the prescience of the town and developers, sidewalks throughout Brooklin have made walking so much safer and cleaner than in the old days when kids had to dodge piles of horse patties on the cobblestones. And don't get me started on the truants who'd harass students with pointy sticks. The only exception to teens walking I could abide by would be the BHS hockey players and their equipment bags - even the wheeled ones - on game or practice days. At least they need to conserve their energy for their run to the provincials (see the story on page....) The others? Good grief. "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 and published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: Marissa Campbell at 416.839.0248 Email: yeswomanbrooklin@gmail.com Next Issue: Friday, March 3, 2017 Deadline: Friday, February 24, 2017 Open Evenings & Weekends Saturday Appointments Monday to Thursday 8 to 8, Friday 9 to 4, Saturday 9 to 4 Whitby Awarded Bicycle Friendly Status The Town of Whitby, along with Cambridge, Collingwood, Cornwall, and Temiskaming Shores, has been recognized with a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) bronze award, as announced by The Share the Road Cycling Coalition (Share the Road), a provincial non-profit organization working to build a bicycle friendly Ontario. Kingston, London and Markham were all renewed at the Bronze level designation, with Honourable Mentions being given to Belleville, Essex, Midland and Norfolk County. The Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) Program, an initiative of the Washington-based League of American Bicyclists, was launched in Ontario in 2010 by Share the Road with support from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) South Central Ontario. The program provides incentives, hands-on assistance and award-recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. Municipalities are judged in five categories often referred to as the Five "E's" of being bicycle friendly: Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Encouragement and Evaluation & Planning. A community must demonstrate achievements in each of the five categories in order to be considered for an award. The award categories are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. Applicants for awards ranged from smaller than 10,000 residents to more than 366,000 residents and represented all parts of Ontario. With 15 applications, this was also the largest round of the Bicycle Friendly Communities Program since the program began. "Share the Road is thrilled to recognize this new group of Bicycle Friendly Communities," said Jamie Stuckless, Executive Director of Share the Road. "The continued expansion of the Bicycle Friendly Communities Program is indicative of the growing interest in cycling across the province. With 66% of Ontario residents agreeing that investing in cycling benefits everyone, not just people who bike, the case is clear for communities of all shapes and sizes to invest in providing their residents with the option to choose cycling." For information, contact: Jamie Stuckless, Executive Director (905) 233-2273 ext. 100, jamie@ sharetheroad.ca Justin Jones, Bicycle Friendly Community Program Coordinator (905) 233-2273 ext. 110, justin@ sharetheroad.ca Male Attempts to Lure Child in Vehicle in Brooklin Investigators have released a composite sketch of a male suspect who tried to lure a child into a vehicle in Brooklin on January 24, 2017. More images of the suspect vehicle have also been released. The suspect is described as male, white and approximately 65-years-old with grey hair and a full white beard. The suspect vehicle is described as a four-door grey or silver vehicle. The licence plate may contain the letters BTTV. The images can be found at drps.ca under Newsroom. Anyone with any new information regarding this incident is asked to contact D/Constable Sullivan of Central West Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 1847. Anonymous information can be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca and tipsters may be eligible for a $2,000 cash reward. Join the local Rotary Satellite Club at the 2nd Annual Service Club Meeting upstairs at the Brooklin Pub on Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:00 p.m. This is a community meeting open to all. Service groups are welcome to come share ideas. Community members are welcome to attend to see what Brooklin has to offer. Please RSVP to mulcahy42@rogers.com