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ee THURSDAY, APRIL 2 1998 ___ 1 VIIN GRA Cancer can be beaten Despite losing a younger brother to a type of cancer that is highly curable with early diagnosis, Acton's Kim Porty knows that cancer can be beaten. Kim hopes to raise a lot of money for cancer research at a dance she's holding Saturday in memory of her brother, Kelly Jupp, who died two years ago. "April is Kelly's birthday and it's cancer month so this dance is what I thought I could do for by brother," Porty explained in a recent interview. "Kelly was a partier, but not much of a dancer, but I though that this would be a good way for his friends and family to raise money for can- cer research." The dance is at the Acton Legion from 7:30 p.m. -- 1 a.m., and will feature the music of The Music Ma- chine and a light buffet. Tickets, available at the door, are $10. Acton Cancer Society officials report that $5,000 was raised for can- cer research with the sale of 13,000 daffodils earlier this month Also, volunteers will continue their door- to-door canvassing for donations all month long. Fabulous 50's Acton High students will trans- port audiences back to the happy days of duck-tails, poodle skirts and 50°s-style summer love with their production of "Grease", The Musi- cal, playing three shows next week- end at the school. Jenn Johnson, whose talent has earned her the lead in productions for the past few years, makes her last performance in the role of Sandy, before graduating. Acton High newcomer Aaron Scarlett wowed everybody at the au- ditions and was a clear choice to play the male lead of Danny. More than 60 students and several teachers are involved in the production that runs April 23, 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information call Acton High 853-2910. Skate for CF Cystic Fibrosis research will be the big winner of the second annual Georgetown Zellers skate-a-thon at the new Acton arena this Sunday afternoon. More than just skate-a- thon, organizers have planned enter- tainment, games, a craft/bake sale, a silent auction and special guests the Ice Infinity Precision Skating Team. The public is invited to come and skate or just have fun. Although pledge sheets are not necessary to be part of this event, participants are encouraged to get a pledge sheet and ask people to sponsor them. The Acton Kinsmen and Kinettes will be on hand to help out and there will be prizes for oldest and young- est skater and for the skater with the most pledges. The event runs from 12-4 p.m. "Our Survey Says..." | What three types of stores would you like - to see in Acton? I'd like to see an electronics store and a de- partment store like the old Woolco type or Stedmans. Something other than a pizza place. Marilyn Mitchell, Acton That's a tough one. I'd like to see a clothing store and a shoe store. If the Red Dog wasn't reopening, something like that would be good. Dave Lewis, Acton We need a department store like BiWay, an- other grocery store and a shoe store. Linda Rolfe, Acton An all around clothing store with kids' and adult clothes. I do a lot of running around for sports equipment for the kids, so a sports equipment store would be nice. I'd also like to see another grocery store. Janet McCluskey, Acton | ate] THE NEW TANNER Chris Inns, and Daniel Charland. SUPER SWIMMERS: Several membe -- Frances Niblock photo rs of Acton's Aqua Ducks swim team set personal best and team records at a recent swim meet in Pickering. The team posed with the medals before a practice last week at the Acton pool. Front, left to right: Sarah Kieth, Kyla Strahl, Leanne Maxwell, Jennifer _Tummonds, and Kim Galvin. Middle: Jesse Maxwell, Alicia Roza, Kim Hulme, Meghan Colvin, Margaret Bowes and Adrianne Burton. Back: Kristi Galvin, Jason Charland, Amanda Potterton, ne After 30 years of bloodshed, peace broke out in Northern Ire- land. The fact that this latest agreement was announced during Easter, a feast of renewal and sac- can only hope and treaty will succeed. This agreement, however, sig- nals not the end of the conflict but rather sets in motion a series of initiatives whose ultimate goal is a new political structure in "the North" under which her belea- guered residents might live in peace. I have no doubt that the average person there will accept this opportunity. Much of the population is fed-up with the con- stant warring. The question is, will those who have taken up the gun and cudgel allow peace to happen? There seems to be no way for the authori- ties to impose a peace. The Brit- ish Army has been trying to do that since 1969. I don't know how often I've been asked; "Why do the Protes- tants and Catholics continue to fight a war in Northern Ireland?" I still can't answer that questions but have observed the following. The war is not a religious conflict. If it were, why would repeated leasy;for peace by church leaders ignored! The war is over power, politics and economics. Big sur- prise there. In the proposed agree- ment, both sides win and lose a little. It remains to be seen if the belligerents can rise above their own petty visions and in the words of John Lennon, give peace a chance. Those who believe they are consigned to the economic dust- bin because of their faith are liv- ing in a time warp. Undoubtedly all of Ireland tends to be more con- scious of a person's religion than secular Canada but those who still believe a religious leader can com- mand legions of follower are de- lusionary. jally in the west; the new is money. And it's money that drives the troubles in Northern Ireland. KS The next few weeks and Easter's message of hope months will tell the tale. My prayer is that the will of the majority will prevail. It remains to be seen how deep the seeds of mistrust have been sown. This conflict, based in ancient grievances, has run its course. It's time to put to rest a bloody past and direct those energies to the future. The children of Northern Ireland deserve nothing less. totok Here at home the tempest in a tortiere over Don Cherry's rant about Quebec athletes carries on and on. Recently, the CBC ombudsman (David Bazay) ruled that Cherry went too far. The CBC, its eyes on the ratings will not censure the coach. They will, however, "ensure that there is an appropriate other point of view put on the table" when Don strays into that area. Oh, great! Can we now expect to see Benedict Bouchard, after the second period, bitching that there are not enough Quebecers playing for the Mighty Ducks? Perhaps Suzanne Tremblay could rant about her dis- covery that Canadian embassies around the world fly too many Ca- nadian flags. As for Cherry, it's rumoured he wants to know who this om budsman guy is? What kind of name is that? He must be a Russian or maybe a Swede. We gotta keep those guys out so there will be room for Canadian kids in our game and the story lives on. Canada, what a great country, eh? thk It seems like every day we hear ss claims eueue overn- ment unions i state of financing for our schools. It's hard to know who to believe. One feature of the new education act is a provi- sion whereby school boards will be me required to produce an annual re- port which will tell us exactly how the board spent our money. As I look at the 1997 Halton Roman Cat! Board Director's The "report" is eight pages long, printed on very expensive high gloss paper. Couldn't they print on newsprint and put the savings into books? The only fi- nancial information takes up about one-sixth of one page. Pic- tures of Director Sweeney and as- sorted superintendents take up three times as much space as the financial info. In the "Facts at a Glance" sec- tion, Sweeney points out "The board's 1997 original operating budget of $126.9 million was de- rived primarily from tax dollars -- the province provided 43.4% through Ministry of Education grants. The pie chart shows that 98.4% of funds come from gov- ernment. Isn't that a// tax dollars? Dunh! The rest of it is mostly point- form educrap whereby the authors attempt to justify their jobs. The whole exercise is a waste of funds. Hey Sweeney, SHOW ME THE MONEY! tokk Last week's column on mak- ing a difference prompted more than a few comments for which I thank those readers, One really hit home, many of you will remem- ber Kelly Jupp, a young man who was taken by cancer. In his memory an ad hoc group is run- ning a fundraising dance at the Legion this Saturday night. You often hear about generation X and how aimless today's youth are. It's not true, you know. Kelly, herp spirit and cour- age, inspired his peers to carry on his fight His battle may have been lost but part of his legacy is a small army determined to help with the war against this killer disease. You can help by supporting the cause. The dance starts at 7:30 .m. on Saturday. Tickets are ten at the door. ;