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THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1998 GRAP Battle of the Books Question: What Canadian book features a girl with red pigtails who lives on an island? You can bet the McKenzie-Smith Bennett students competing in to- day's (Thursday) Halton Hill's li- brary Battle of the Books know the answer is Anne of Green Gables. Literature trivia is the focus of the round-robin contest in Georgetown, this year featuring teams from nine schovls including the MSB senior team of Cassie Hunter, Synnoeve Stockinger, Sarah Lewis, Hayley Green, Dawn Stevenson, Rebecca Lewis and Jenny Keats. They are Acton's only entry in this year's con- test, the 15" annual. Students win points for correctly naming book titles and authors from questions submitted by library em- ployees. Subway spic and span There's no such thing as too clean for Gus Galimanas. His relentless scrubbing, disinfecting and polish- ing has earned him the cleanest Sub- way Salads and Sandwiches fran- chise in Southern Ontario award five years running, ever since he and wife Marie opened in Acton after relocat- ing from Parry Sound. The Halton Health Department is also im- pressed, giving Subway top marks for cleanliness. "We've had people use our wash- room and say that it was cleaner than theirs at home. Now that's clean," Gus said recently. Acton Subway also rates tops on almost all monthly spot inspections by head office checking for efficiency, output, si knowledge and customer service. product Kinettes camp out Kinettes from far and near gath- ered at the Blue Springs Scout Camp on the weekend for their Zone Nine Spring conference, hosted by the new Acton club. Mayor Marilyn Serjeantson -lunched with the Kinettes and thanked them for all of the community work that they do. "Since the Acton Kinettes have been in existence they've really done a lot, helping the arena and holding a teen dance at the Acton Legion. I ae appreciate all the work they lo. The Acton Kinettes have 15 members. Survey Says... _ Grade 2 and 3 students at Robert Little school used a feature in the March 19 issue of The New Tanner as a teaching tool and came up with suggestions on how to make Acton a better place to live. Teacher Kathy Mayo used the Tanner's regular fea- ture "Our Survey aoe and the ques- tion. "What would you change or improve about Acton?" as part of a project with the Credit Valley Con- servation to improve the community. While Tanner respondents wanted more development, a reno- vated downtown and the Red Dog Café to re-open, the students opted for making Fairy Lake "all sparkling and clean," and drinkable, cleaning up the school yard and Black Creek, less development with more green grass and a bigger toy store. "Our Survey Says..: Last week, The New Tanner celebrated its 10" issue. This week we asked you how you like the paper, is there something you would like to see more of and if you read ° the advertising? Here's what some of our readers said... I like reading the local news. Maybe less sports. I would like to see more people ori- ented stories. Michael LeBlanc, Acton I enjoy reading The New Tanner. It's nice to read Acton news instead of Georgetown news. I do read the advertising. Cyndi Frame, Acton I like the paper. We're between sport seasons, but keep covering the local teams. I find the advertising helpful. I'm glad the paper's back. Mary Anne McGrath, Acton We think there should be more sports. The kid's page is cool; we want it back every week. We tried the crossword, but didn't finish it. An easier crossword for kids would be good. Mike Gerrow and Brendan Dick, Acton This weeks New Tanner survey by Angela Tyler THE NEW TANNER MY ft ~-- REMEMBER WHEN Acton and District Hockey League played in the old arena? A nursery for the intermediate hockey team this one, "The Jones Boys', photographed in the 1932-33 season, played for "bush league" honours until World War 2. Front row, left to right are George Molozzi, Jim McGeachie, Herb Woods, Jim Jones, and Leo Marzo. In back are coach "Doc" Pearen, Thos. Gibbons, Gord Cook, George Footitt, Herb Cook and manager "Pop" Jones who sponsored the team. Photo loaned by Bob Marshall. Not long ago, I was part of a group discussing some local situ- ations involving the government. "Why bother," said one man, "they aren't going to listen to me. They'll just do what they want anyway." I thought at the time, is that true? Can one person no longer made a difference? I won- der. Isn't history defined by men and women who disregarded they theory that you can't fight city hall? Most of these "heroes" were just plain folks who through am- bition or circumstance rose to the occasion. Most were doing the right thing, Against incredible odds they stayed the course and in the end triumphed. Tyrants, how- ever, surrounded themselves with armies and riches. (Power cor- rupts?) So who are these people who left the world so much better than they found it? Here are a few of my heroes. I'm sure you have your own list. My contemporary hero is Mother Teresa. Born to poverty, she dedicated herself to the poor- est of the poor in Calcutta. Sin- gle-handedly she built her order into a worldwide effort. I wonder, if early in her life, someone said, "This is a hopeless task"? I'll bet there were plenty. After all, who cared about the poorest of the poor? Undaunted and armed with only her understanding of God's word, she forged ahead. From what I have read this seemingly frail, unassuming nun eschewed all temporal rewards. When she died she owned only two saris and yet, the rich and powerful trooped into India to pay her homage. (A spectacle I'm not sure she would have approved of.) This one woman, against incredible odds, made a difference. Last week marked the 30" an- niversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. Can you im- agine how terrifying it was for = ~~ You can make a di The Way I See It with | Mike O'Leary King, a black preacher, to make his voice heard in the American South? In his time, uppity black folk were shot or hung if they became too much of a nuisance. In the end, they got him, too, They killed the man but not the dream. His memory became the conscience of a nation. I grew up listening to stories of Winston Churchill. He saved Eng- land in her darkest days. At a time when his country was in deepest de- pression and many were recom- mending a negotiated truce, Church- ill rallied his people by force of his own personality. "We shall fight on the beaches, etc." Granted, Churchill was to the manor born but so was Chamberlain. Churchill couldn't conceive an England under enemy rule. All of the breeding and education couldn't pro- duce the depth of dedication to his country that Churchill had. Those emotions come from deep inside. Against all odds he rallied a world to victory. It's also interesting that after the war he was dumped from office. Perhaps peace doesn't need a conscience. Down through the centuries the common thread of heroes is their be- lief in their own vision, an ability to rally others to the cause and the cour- age to defy the wisdom of the day. Ghandi brought down the Raj. What were the odds against that? When before had the might British Empire been defeated without force of arms? If Columbus had listened to the scholars of the day, he would have stayed in Spain. Lincoln had no great shakes of an education. He fought a civil war on principles. If 1 had told you 25 years ago that Nel- son Mandela would be president of South Africa would you have be- fference lieved me? Assuming of course, that anyone of us would have even heard of Nelson Mandela 25 years ago. At this time of year we should also be thinking about someone who made a huge difference. Al- most 2000 years ago a simple man walked the earth. The son of a car- penter, He would not defer to the movers and shakers of the day. His radical message was that we shouldn't kill each other. We shouldn't steal, lie, commit adul- tery or worship false idols. We should respect and love each other. He took on not only the Roman Empire, but also, the dominant re- ligious thinkers of His times. He was not looking for riches or com- forts here on earth. He only wanted to guide us to a better life in the hereafter. His reward was to be tortured and crucified. To- day His name is used by one per- son as a prayer and the next as a curse. I wonder what He would say about the world we have cre- ated. Have we really come very far in 2000 years? Would we crucify Him again? We do seem to slaugh- ter the righteous. So how does all this relate back to the original question? It's just this: I believe one person can make a difference. I'm not saying we have any Churchills or Kings or Ghandis in Acton and I'm pretty confident we don't have a reincarnation of the Son of God in these parts. But each of us, in our own way, can use our talents to make this little corner of the world a better place. Is there a senior or widow who needs help? Maybe just a visit and a smile. The Cancer Society, United Way, Arthritis Society, etc. are always looking for help. ASSIC might need drivers. Maybe you can't free the slaves or save England. But you can make a dif- ference. But first you have to try. Perhaps Easter weekend would be a good time to think about it. a