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Old-Fashioned Christmas Downtown Acton was all a-bustle after the Olympic Torch Relay on December 19 as the Acton BIA hosted the annual Old-Fashioned Christmas. Carol groups and bands performed Christmas favourites as shoppers browsed for presents and built gingerbread houses. The event was also the scene of the Wiener Cup, Acton's annual street hockey tournament. Congratulations to the winners! Photos by Ron Stiel 7 In Focus, January, 2010 Former NHL ref Bryan Lewis drops the puck (ball) as Mayor Rick Bonnette and Gord Bruce take the first faceoff of the Wiener Cup. Audra Jander shows off the gingerbread house she made during the festival. ABOVE: Santa and Councillor Clark Somerville talk to torchbearers George Henderson and Shawn Stillman about their relay experiences. LEFT: A team from the Acton House League Hockey Atom division checks out the artificial ice provided by Synthetic Ice Solutions. RIGHT: The road hockey participants gather around the coveted prize: the infamous Wiener Cup. Photo submitted by Josey Bonnette Life insurance: it's for the people who live Life insurance is a practical way to protect your family's financial hopes and dreams. The death of a family member can be devastating to survivors both emotionally and financially. Life insurance can provide cash to help with your family's immediate and long-term needs. · Immediate needs include funeral expenses, unpaid medical bills and taxes. · Long-term needs include care for a disabled child or elderly parent, university/college expenses and, in general, the chance for members of your family to continue to live the life to which they are accustomed. Life insurance is not for the people who die, but for people who live. It's wise to explore options while you are still healthy; health problems can make life insurance expensive or unavailable. Three forms of life insurance are most common today: Term life insurance. This is temporary life insurance for a specific time period (one, five, 10 or more years). It can provide short-term coverage on a limited budget. Term insurance, however, costs more to buy as you get older. There are two common types of term life insurance: · Level term: the amount of protection remains the same during the coverage period. · Decreasing term: the amount of protection gradually declines during the coverage period. Whole life insurance. Premiums are generally level with cash value growth throughout the life of the policy. Cash values can be borrowed (with interest charged) during the insured person's lifetime to help meet temporary or emergency needs. Funds borrowed reduce the death benefit and cash surrender value. Universal life insurance. This offers many traditional advantages of whole life insurance (such as protection for life), but also offers flexibility. Coverage amounts and premium payments are flexible to help meet changing needs during an insured person's lifetime (subject to certain conditions). When you buy life insurance, you buy a promise of protection against financial loss caused by death. The promise is only as good as the company that stands behind it. In today's marketplace, life insurance buyers should be concerned about: · The financial strength of the insurer. · Customer service. Contact your State Farm agent for more specific information about life insurance. By Lora Greene CIP, CFP State Farm® Agent Lora Greene, Agent 211 Guelph Street, Unit 6 Georgetown, ON L7G 5B5 Bus: 905-873-1615 lora@loragreene.ca