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Friday, October 22, 2021 7Brooklin Town Crier Support Your Local Business NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW TO SUPPORT OUR LOCAL ECONOMY The Brooklin Town Crier was started in 2000 by long-time local resident Rhonda Mulcahy. Its purpose then, as it is today, was to bring the community together by announcing events and raising awareness of local issues. It began as a small mail out with a few listings and community advertisers. As Brooklin grew, so, too, did the paper in both size and distribution. Prior to the onset of online news, the page counts rose to 24. However, as the industry changed, the paper did as well, shrinking to the current, more economical size. (It should be noted that the BTC is one of the few independently owned community newspapers in Ontario.) Editor Richard Bercuson joined in 2016 and oversees the editorial component. A retired teacher, he has written extensively for newspapers and magazines and is also an award-winning fiction writer. In his "spare" time, he is Technical Coordinator for the Whitby Girls Hockey Association. He and his wife moved to Brooklin to be close to children and grandchildren. Earlier this week he became a grandfather for the 8th time! We congratulate him on his latest family addition and eagerly await to see how long until he gets her on skates. (Editor's note: Three years) One of the paper's favourite focuses is to highlight Brooklin's children. For instance, this summer we featured youths who had started their own businesses during COVID. Those kids sure are keeping busy since. We also pay special attention to our seniors. In this edition, we happily profile a 100th birthday at the Court at Brooklin. (see left hand page) How great is that? Happy Birthday Stewart Bray! Our biggest annual feature has been missing the last two years: The Brooklin Spring Fair edition. We hope we can bring it back along with the Fair next June. As a community, we celebrate our longest running event with pride. In more recent years the fair volunteers have outdone themselves by bringing in stellar entertainment and refocusing on the area's agricultural roots. While we have always loved the fair, there was a sense of forward growth on the horizon and now we will wait to see what that can be. Our next edition will feature Remembrance Day. It will promote the poppy fund and we will offer sponsor ads around the day's information. We annually proudly sponsor a wreath at the cenotaph in Brooklin and are always in attendance. We would be remiss if we did not mention our great columnists. Liz, Leanne, Jennifer and Sheree who provide us with all sorts of recipes, puzzles, children's stories and Brooklin history. If you or anyone you know has a desire to take on a column in the paper or write a feature, we are open to ideas. We know the pandemic has changed many lives and we are working to keep our sense of community alive through this paper. What stories do you have to tell? Please reach out to Richard (editorofBTC@gmail.com) with your ideas. Brooklin Town Crier Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 editorofbtc@gmail.com