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

a a g 9 9 G MOTOR PRODUCTS 1995 Taurus Wagon Susan Allen, Inez Brennan and Anne Moore serve up a spaghetti dinner at Knox Church last weekend. The dinner went over big, espe- | cially with the couple | pictured on Page 2. Rockwood ° 856-2222 Town wants more information on restructuring | | Wont be 'spooked' into discussions By FRANCES NIBLOCK The New Tanner Yep, Mike's back after his sabbatical all summer. He wants to know whether you missed him, especially barber shop patrons. See Page 5. GET THE MESSAGE: October is fire prevention month in Halton Hills. Seen with a department banner advertising their program are from left, Halton Hills fire fighter Doug Andrews, Sparky (a.k.a. Christopher Scully) and Halton Hills Fire Prevention officer Brian Ellesworth.- Maggie Petrushevsky photo The memories five Acton seniors will be included in a book to be published next _ month -- a living history project to mark the Interna- tional Year of the Older Per- son. While the book will be a tangible result of the intergenerational project, the process of getting the stories was more important accord- ing to Halton's Elderly Serv- ices Advisory Committee co- ordinator Maria Antonakos. "They learned so much from each other. We wanted to get these generations to- gether because there's al- ways been this gap and it was a great opportunity for a bonding to take place," Antonakos, who is writing the forward to the book, said on Friday. As part of the celebrations of the Year of the Older Per- son the province made ap- proximately $20,000 available to community groups in each riding to pay for international projects, like the book. Grade 8 students from Halton schools interviewed seniors -- many of them Citi- zens of the Year --to ask about their history, their youthful memories and opinions on life today. "T've read some of the sto- ries and they are just sensa- tional. The students received an orientation to suggest some questions they could ask but they shaped the sto- ties," Antonakos said, add- ing Sheridan College journal- ism students are doing the editing and layout of text and photographs. McKenzie-Smith Bennett teacher Mike Johnston of- fered the enrichment project to his Grade 8 English class as an interesting look at his- tory. "The students liked it be- cause it was living history. They got to question people who were able to tell them what life was like when they were kids," Johnston said. Grade 8 student Ryan Stroud, who interviewed long-time Acton resident George Elliott, said it was "pretty cool to learn how peo- ple lived back then, compared to us." Another interviewee, Joan Waldie Jenkins, was sur- prised the students showed so much genuine interest and were so curious in the lives of local seniors. "The students were very well prepared and had put a lot of time and careful thought into their questions so they'd get a real sense of what life in Acton many years ago," Waldie said. The Halton Living History book launch is tentatively slated for Nov. 7 at Indigo Books in Burlington. Acton students and seniors are in- vited to the ceremony and each participant, and the lo- cal libraries, will receive a copy. The other Acton sen- iors interviewed for the book are Mac Sprowl, George Lee and Nan Hurst. Finally, a Minivan you actually want to be seen in. Nicely equipped with: e Power windows & locks e Tilt steering e Cruise control e CD player e 4 Captain chairs - bench e Hideaway rear seat e Power rear windows & more * Lease based on 20,000 km/yr, 4 yr. term. $3142 down, total due upon delivery $4349.64 "irs WORTH + THE DRIVE What was it like to play hockey, pro and amateur, 50 years ago? Ilio Marzo remi- nisces on Page 9. ZiToO == 1997 Plymouth Neon Town councillors want clarification from the Province about its intentions, if any, to restructure the four regional munici- palities within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but refused to be "spooked" into opening discussions about the future of Halton. Ina letter to the mayor, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Gilchrist, detailed how special advisors will recommend restructuring plans in the regional munici- palities of Haldimand-Nor- folk, Hamilton- Wentworth, ~ Ottawa-Carleton and Sud- bury after they failed to come. ap with plans on their own. e decision, Gilchrist said, is based on the Ontario gov- ernment's commitment to easing the burden on local taxpayers by reducing the number, size and cost of mu- nicipal governments. Ward 3 Councillor Jane Fogal called the letter a "wake-up call" and sug- gested the mayor and CEO open informal discussions with their Halton count s to decide how to deal with the restructuring issue. "Tt's time for us to enter into some discussions with our municipal partners in the Region in order to protect our interests we need to. be proactive...the Province is going to tell us to do it any- way, Fogal said, adding the issue isn't going to go away. Mayor Marilyn Serjeant- son agreed the issue must be "out on the table," noting it will be discussed at the Re- gion's strategic plan commit- tee. Town administrator Steve Andrews said he shared Fogal's concerns, adding there is "great urgency" for beginning discussions with regional partners because the new minister of municipal af- fairs is "very eager" to make changes and the Town must have a strategy and position to respond to any proposed legislative changes in GIA governance. Ward 2 Councillor Kathy Gastle argued the whole issue is "purely speculation" and urged: Council: to take a»wait and see position and ask the Minister for more information. Acton Councillor Norm Elliott agreed with Gastle, adding the public must have a say in how they will be gov- emed, Elliott questioned what control Halton Hills would have on its destiny if the On- tario government is going to "orchestrate a government of -city states" that would leave the Town the "callous on the hind end" of Burlington and Oakville. Elliott also. asked the mayor what posi would take in the proposed informal talks since she doesn't know what's on her council's mind. "There was sure no una- nimity on the part of council- lors before when we almost got spooked into cutting our own throats up here because someone at Queen's Park sneezed," Elliott said, refer- ring to Council's narrow te- fusal in the spring to an over- ture from Burlington to look at restructuring. Council directed the mayor to write a letter to the minister, with copies to Halton's MPP and mayors, asking for more information on potential restructuring plans and their impact on the GTA regional municipalities. eS 357 Queen St. Acton (519) ioe jo y=0) 6}