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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1998 THE NEW TANNER GRAPEVINE Fruitful fundraising Kudos to the hard-working mem- bers of the Acton Proud Committee which has raised $155,000 of it's $230,000 goal for the new Acton Arena and Community Centre, The list of cash donors to the Arena is nine pages long- evidence of a very dedicated committee and a generous community. Many Acton residents supported the fund-raising efforts by purchas- ing Acton Proud Commemorative coins and attending fund raising events and Acton businesses have made cash donations, bought seats, sponsored teams and donated prizes. To date 342 of the 416 seats in the Arena have been "sold" or spon- sored and all of the applications for the remaining seats have been dis- tributed. Move on back Three hundred and twelve people took advantage of a free shuttle os Tide to the opening of the new Arena and Community Centre on Sunday, courtesy of Tyler Transport. Parking on site was tough so the bus was the better way. You know spring is coming when... Despite all the snow and ice, the boys (and girls) of summer are gear- ing up for this year's ball season, The Acton Minor Ball Associa- tion holds its registration for T-ball, soft and hard ball beginning Satur- day Feb. 21 from 10 until 1 p.m. Registration continues on Thurs- day, Feb. 26 from 7 to 9 p.m. and Satu.day, March 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. All registrations take place in the lobby of the new Acton Arena. Last season more that 350 Acton kids played on 24 teams. The sea- son begins in May. For more information about the Acton Minor Ball Association reg- istration call Debbie or John Burgess at 853-2481. Think fast Find out how to handle an aller- gic reaction as the Halton Hills Ana- phylaxis Association presents "Life Threatening Allergic Reaction" at McKenzie-Smith Bennett on Wednesday, Feb, 25. Learn what happens, what to watch for and what to do. For details and to register call Janice at 853-4086. New craft store Looking for wool and other knit- ting supplies? - Well look no further than 8 Mill Street, the new home of Readi-Made-K rafts, Acton resident Kathy Carter and her daughter Shauna Fitchett of Barrie held their grand opening on Monday. Cater will manage the store for her daughter. The store also features a large se- lection of hand-made crafts includ- ing baby sweaters, cotton dish clothes and dolls. : Fitchett said they will feature free delivery for seniors and shoppers can enter a monthly draw for prizes. Readi-Made-Krafts is open Mon- day to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. ig more information call 853- "Round and About.... Wiarton Willie saw his shadow Monday and those poor people on the Bruce Peninsula can expect another six weeks of winter, according to old folk lore. However, if any groundhog emerged from its burrow in this mild neck of the woods it would never have seen its shadow, Monday was grey and cloudy with temperatures above freezing. Well, according to folk legend we can expect an early spring. That well may be but the sus- Picion lingers that if these creatures really do meet their February 2 weather date it's because of amorous designs on the females of the spe- cies, as a University of Guelph ah showed a few years ago. Spring still won't arrive on the calendar until March 20. Spring weather? Who knows. * * * In the scramble to get the first is- sue of The New Tanner on the press some unedited copy slipped through and there were numerous booboos. Unfamiliar software, new computers and human errors all contributed to the mistakes. Our apologies. This issue should be much better, In any event the publisher and staff appre- ciate all the kind comments and en- couragement from people in all walks of life. Their enthusiasm for The New Tanner certainly contrib- utes to our own. + _* ok Many readers have said they'd be willing to buy subscriptions for The New Tanner, but for the next few months anyway it will be delivered to every home. How many homes get the Tanner? WII, about 5,000 are distributed and most of them have been grabbed up. The first issue may well be sold out. Of course, the strength of the newspaper depends on the amount of advertising it gen- erates. So if you patronize our ad- vertisers then we'll be the little pa- per that just grows and grows. Hey, enough of this heavy stuff. Thius is Lighten Up Week. It's Red Nose Day tomorrow (Friday) and enen® on will surely help you ighten up. The red nose campaign, a pet project of Acton beacons Jack nter, has spread across the country. Hamilton, for instance, is celebrating for a whole week. Van- couver is getting in on the fun. So why not join in? An open letter of thanks To the Editor: The most severe ice storm in mam bec without power for several weeks years left Eastern Ontario and Que- and now we realize that Mother Na- ture is more powerful than most of us want to believe. In fact, for some 19,000 residents in Quebec, power is still a week away. Towards the end of the first week my son, a businessman and resident of Greely, Ontario, just outside Ottawa, was in pe ame need of a genrator. Within a few hours of frantic phone calls we ha received six generators from good friends in the Acton area. Needless to say my arrival in Greely was most welcome and the families were grateful for the use of those gen- erators. Thanks to Acton's Halton Hills Electric, R&M Construction, Mr. Ralph Reinders and Braden Homes of Rockwood. Your generosity was appreci- ated by many in Greely, Betty Farr and Family Leathertown Lumber, Acton DOWNHILL DELIGHT: Robert Hynds (with beard) prepare to boar -- Frances Niblock photo Little Public School Grade 4 and 5 students and teacher Paul d the bus for their third and final ski trip to Glen Eden Ski Area. Dear Reader: After last week's paper, it struck me that many people were not subscribers (and we know who you are!) to the original Tanner. Here then is an updated version of the first column I wrote for the Georgetown Gemini, which gives expect to see in P The Way I See It, pretty well tells you what we do here. My agreement with the publisher is that I am free to write about any- thing in the world that I find in- teresting. Obviously, I hope you will be interested also. Mostly, I enjoy putting my some times quirkly view of things into the public eye and, ho ly, promot- ing some debate. If I were reading this paper for the first time, right about now, I'd be saying "so who is this guy and why should I care what he thinks!" It's a good question. I'm not sure Ican fully answer it. But let's give it a try. I'ma 40 (metric) year old self- employed, harried father who has lived laste Hills for over 23 years. Like many of you, we moved here to escape the city and because we thought this would be a better place to raise our children. I am not opposed to growth in our town generally, but lam sed to any- thing which would decay the small-town community feeling which we have. I will be for ex- ample, the first on the ramparts to fight any move to force us to join any kind of mega-metro Toronto. I hate Metric! I have been happily married for 29 years (I was a child groom). Did I say " ily"? I meant esctatic, grateful, blissful, enchanted, hal- cyon years. After all this time, I know how to suck-up. My long suffering wife is a smali town (Picton) girl who had deliberately moved to Toronto to get away from a small town. When I dragged her out to live she thought Acton was a suburb of North Bay. She came to accept "country living" but I doubt her enthusiasm is going to be long term. I, for instance, see us retiring to some secluded lake. She reminds me you can see the lake from Yonge and Bloor and you don't have to. walk down to it. ~ .an. indication of pea you should [A Sew words of introduction The Way 1 See It |) "We could take the subway", she observes. Oh well, you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't ... etc., etc. Toften write about my family and the trials and tribulations of living with five females. I had hair when I was single. I don't think it fair though, especially for the girls, to put their names in print. It's tough enough being a kid in a small town without your name being in the pa- per regularly. As a compromise, all the ladies have a "nom de plume". Let me introduce you to them since they have a big influence on my atti- tudes. Obviously, for instance, I'ma feminist. We draw the line at many of the proposals of the radical N.A.C, types though. I refer to my wife as "The Bride" since I still see her that way. Our youngest is 18 and in high school. Which school is unimportant, I think teenage problems are system-wide. You'll come to know her as "The Kid". Our next youngest daughter is 23 and is studying advertising and sales as Sheridan College. She is known as "The Big Kid". Daughter number 2 is cruising towards a de- gree in environmental biology. at Laurentian in Sudbury. She's "The Old Kid". Our oldest would kill me if I put her age in here but sufice to say the actors on "Friends" can soon start calling her "M'am". She's left the nest and is an economist work- ing and living in Toronto. She's "The Ancient Kid" That's my crew on life's voyage and I write about them for two rea- sons. Firstly, I dearly love them all and am pee of their accomplish- ments. Secondly, I think we adults have to stick together and share in- formation. The kids, you see, are meeting in the schoolyards every day and are plotting against us. If you're looking for politically- correct, mushy, feel-good commen- tary, you are definitely on the wrong ,,Some ley bog : ey page. Not that you'll find any su- perficial reporting anywhere in our paper, mind you. I think this whole P.C. attitude has darn near Tuined our country. I don't think there should be any issue we can't discuss in an open, honest and constructive way. Particularly, if v esl SSpecl Tinvite letters to the editor, es- pecially when you disagree with me. That's what opinion columns are for -- to promote dialogue. I should warn you that if all you're going to do is write and call me names, you may as well save your crayons. I've already been called many imaginative names by the people I live with and who love me. . I write a lot about current events and politics. I'm an equal Opportunity political basher. I've written both for and against all the major parties (to be honest I'm hardly ever for the N.D.P) I'm not a member of any political party. I'm mostly Liberal on social is- sues but fiscally I'm pretty Con- servative. I think defiecit spend- ing is stupid. We have to live within our means. I refuse to be pigeon-holed to any , but I think of myself as a Liberal who can count. I'm a law and order type guy, but although I usually support the officers on the streets. I have res- ervations about the ane the department is going in. I'm not impressed with the cop-as-social- worker program. I favour life terms for murderers with no chance of parole. I'm fiercely Canadian, but I must admit to enjoying my Irish heritage; usually on St. Patrick's Day, with a pint in my hand. I don't like state-sanctioned multi- culturalism and the attendant idea of hyphenated Canadians. I think old hatreds have no place here. We're a young country. Let's go forward -- to the future in- ee of refighting long past bat- tles. That's a little about me and what you can expect to see in this space. Thank you for having us into your home. We hope to hear from you on the issues you are concerned about. iy