The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Acton/Georgetown, Friday, May 9, 2008 9 Recently, I wrote about our barn cat Paige, who was missing in action for a couple weeks. I recounted how she had returned, the only apparent change in her was a loss of some weight which wasnt a bad thing at all. (As far as any other changes go, Ill keep ya posted in the next 8-9 weeks or so...) After telling the story about Paige, I received some e-mails about other cats going missing, or annually taking off for the winter, etc. One was from Brandon Muir of Grand Valley who recalled an old cat they had on the family farm in the Caledon area. This fine-looking barn cat appeared one day and happily stayed all summer, but disap- peared when winter landed in. In time, they just assumed the cat had met with an untimely end. When the following spring arrived, he wrote, we were amazed to find her back in the barn one day, with all the evidence of a hard winter fought in the wild. Her ears had frozen off, and was missing a toe, but appeared to be in good health. Brandon went on to tell how this cat left the food and warmth of the barn every winter for several years, only to return the following spring with yet another war wound from the elements. Over the years, Ive seen cats come and go in the barn at home, all with their own stories. But my dads cat stories used to top them all when he talked of cats of his childhood days. I couldnt help but smile when hed talk about his uncles cat, Sore Paw, who used to curl up in the warm oven of the old kitchen wood stove. But there was his all time family favourite. They called him Ol Grey. Ol Grey was one of those special cats my dad and my grandfather took a particular liking to, making allowances for him all the time. Ol Grey was a cat that feline legends emerge from, having more than his share of lives. You see, one time, Ol Grey went missing. Like The Sidekick and I felt when Paige dis- appeared, my grandfather was concerned, and searched the fence rows and fields behind the house, in hopes of finding him all in vain. Weeks passed, and eventually, like a prodi- gal son, Ol Grey did return home, skinny as a rake, and missing all the toes on his left front foot except for one. My grandfather deduced the cat had been caught in a trap somewhere. Regardless, he was delighted Ol Grey had returned, and before long, the cat once again took his place in the household, minus his toes. Dad would always laugh out loud as he rem- inisced about Ol Greys annoying little habit. You see, before he disappeared and lost his toes, hed regularly beg from my grandfather while he was eating dinner at the kitchen table. The cat would reach up under the table, flex his paw on his leg, while waiting for his treat, which my grandfather would slip under the table out of sight of my grandmother. But when Ol Grey returned with one single solitary toe, and an equally single solitary claw protruding from it, things changed. Apparently the first time Ol Grey pulled his cutesy begging act with that one toe, my grand- father nearly went through the roof. You see, Ol Greys single claw was some- thing of a weapon, like a darning needle, and it pierced deep into my grandfathers leg. Over the years, many old cats have come and gone, but Id guess Ol Grey probably left the biggest mark in the Brown family history. And probably on my grandfathers leg as well. (Ted Brown can be reached at tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Ol grey and his single toe Ted Brown St. Albans in Glen Williams recently presented their annual funds to local charities, and donated a total of $4,850 to five charities. Taking part in the presentation were (from left) St. Albans treasurer Diane Hamilton, Sandra Mehuish of Links2Care, Doug Bryant of St. Albans, Sheila Smith and Bonnie Covert of CAShh, St. Albans priest Rev. Grahame Stap, Pauline Robinson of St. Albans, Lynn Petruzzella of Habitat for Humanity, Ina Stap of St. Albans, Denice Dillbey of Literacy North Halton, Barbara Bryant of St. Albans and Sue Carpin of Georgetown Bread Basket. Photo by Ted Brown Cheque-mates The Town of Halton Hills had $1,675,000 in investment income in 2007, with an average rate of return of 3.9 per cent. In 2006, the rate of return on investments was 3.55 per cent. The Towns portfolio as of Dec. 31, 2007 looked like this: $1.4 million in cash, $11.2 invested with Region of Halton; $32,000 with ONE Money Market Fund and $22.9 million with ONE Bond Fund. The Town is required to release publicly its municipal investments annually. Town investment income for 2007 was $1.675M A noise bylaw exemption has been granted to Chance for Change, an Acton youth group, plan- ning a daylong celebration on Saturday, May 24 in Prospect Park. The events purpose is to show- case youths strengths and talents to effect posi- tive change. Part of the planned activities includes youth bands performing until 8 p.m. and a performance by comedian Jeff McEnery. This is the first time the event has occurred. Council also approved a noise bylaw exemp- tion for the 2008 Relay for Life that will be held at the Gellert Centre overnight, June 6-7. This is the third time the event has been staged by the Canadian Cancer Society in Georgetown and no public complaints had been received to date. This years event is expected to attract about 700 par- ticipants. Acton youth group, Relay for Life given noise bylaw exemptions