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= THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1999 EDITORIAL with Frances Niblock Academic excellence available here too There's nothing like an academic awards ceremony to make you feel hopeful about the future. The 150 or so students honoured last week by Acton High school- an eclectic group of very bright, motivated teens -- are the leaders of tomorrow, but they don't often get the public praise they deserve. The jocks and the troublemakers -- rebels without a clue -- attract a lot of attention, but the students who demand more of themselves, who have already learned the value of hard work and who aren't stung by the labels of "brain" or "nerd", often achieve their academic excellence in near-obscurity. Well, as proud parents and families and teachers clapped wildly and snapped photos, these students nervously marched across the stage and into the limelight to pick up their certificates -- and better still -- cash awards from a long list of very generous local businesses. Halton Board of Education Superintendent Al Greyson, calling the awardees the "cream of the crop" said they should be commended for their courage to make a commitment to excellence. He also suggested the students had the responsibility of turning their accomplishments into positive public relations for their school. In a candid comment moment Greyson admitted that until recently he knew little about Acton High school, which he called a "hidden treasure" in Halton. He said some people think that because Acton is small it can't possibly provide the educa- tion people want for their children and that the stu- dent honourees are living proof that is not so. Many of the student awardees were multiple win- ners and two are among the top 25 per cent of math- ematics and chemistry students in Canada. While some of the Acton High school students might not have the sophisticated veneer of students from larger areas of Halton, they lack nothing in their unfailing search for excellence. Bravo. ByANGELA TYLER The New Tanner Awesome Interiors, Canadian House and Home, This Old House, Hometime, Home Savvy, Room for Change, Kitchens and Bathrooms, Cityline, Before and After, Design for Living, The ing Challenge, the list of television shows is endless. We have become a culture of home do-it-yourselfers. It's unreal the number of t.v. shows and magazines that are dedicated to this. You can't avoid it either. You may think you can just flip through the channels and pause for a moment, but they hook you. They tempt you with wonderful sounding ideas, free tick- ets for shows or even contests to win big dollar renovations. For some, the need to paint and remodel has almost become an ad- diction. I can see it now...meetings of the DIYA (Do-It-Yourself Anony- mous group) will be scheduled at the same time as the Cityline Home Day rerun (Saturday's at 12:30 noon), to avoid further temptations. Chairing this weekend's meeting will be me. The topic, no matter how fed up you are with your living room carpet, do not attempt to get creative...hire a professional. I've fallen victim many times. be- ing over-inspired after being glued to such shows. Good Friday, around 9 p.m,, me, a great deal on paint anda spare bedroom that was drab com- pared to HGTV standards. However, with all my painting, re-doing vinyl floors, fabric deals and my trusty sew- ing machine, nothing can compare to my carpet fiasco. It started out simply enough. My carpet was wearing badly, a bad col- our for a big furry dog and I had enough. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted it gone, but under the carpet was wafer board. Then the Call The New Tanner with your news tips or photo opportunities! 853-0051 worst thing possible could happen; I went to Home Hardware and picked up their new DIY idea book. In it was anamazing floor with wafer board that had been stained. After showing the picture to practically everyone I knew, I was feeling like Super-decorator- woman and ready to recreate this. On Canada Day I had my first step towards a complete DIY emotional breakdown. I had no idea what a hor- Tific job it was to remove 50 square yards of 10 year old carpet by your- self. And of course, I had to start my project very late in the day. Between hundreds of staples, underpad that was falling apart, dust and more dust combined with tired muscles I was on the verge of tears when I discov- ered that builders are not always care- ful about the stuff under carpet. There were gaps between the wafer board, plaster slopped all over and bright blue paint gobbed where the a6) wasn't. There was no turning k. CT aes aN mca. Oo # cea Your heart beats faster when you argue than it does when you make love...so don't argue. FUN AND INFORMATION: Friday night had the return of Kinette Teen Dances at the Le- gion. Over 200 teens attended with proceeds going to the Acton Youth Centre. - Angela Tyler photo DIYer seeks professional help The next day, I hada panic trip to my paint friend Cathy. More bad news, my stain idea was officially in- conceivable thanks to the disaster left from the builders. My only option was paint, so I did. I nearly killed myself between the int/urethane fumes along with the eat advisory in July. With the help of an area rug my sister remembered she had and some overdone, but much needed encouragement, I be- lieved I was able to make it work for the short term. I avoided people asking about how my 'project' went or wanting to see it. The few that I did allow past the front door, soon realized I was not telling tales, I had all sorts of com- ments from the shocked but support- ive, 'it's not that bad' to my dad's tell it like it is comment of 'it looks awful'. Heck, even my dog hated it. It was awful and I had to do some- thing. After endless hours of search- ing and weighing my options, I broke down and decided on carpet again. The end was near. The only per- son left to view my flooring embar- rassment was Dave, the carpet guy. I warned him on the phone. When he did see it, he knew too it was awful. He never said a thing, although he did have a dumb grin on his face. Four days later, my nightmare was over. Dave was my flooring hero. He had my Berber superbly installed and my home was sweetly scented with the aroma of new carpet. However, my memory of this trauma seems to be short lived. A couple of days ago my friend Fred asked me if I had any new projects on the go. I told him I had been contem- plating trying my hand at finishing the drywall in the laundry room. There was a really neat one in a magazine on the weekend. Just because it's the laundry room doesn't mean it shouldn't look good, right? Publisher Ted Tyler Editorial Hartley Coles Tanner 59 Willow Street North Acton, Ontario Frances Niblock se L7J 1Z8 Marie Shadbolt Vicki Pope (519) 853-0051 Fax 853-0052 Composing Mike O'Leary Ellen PiehI Maggie Petrushevsky Angela Tyler Advertising and Circulation Penny Zurbrigg Karen Wetmore Distributed to every home in Acton and area as well as adjoining communities. ADVERTISING POLICY Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for typographical ercors or omis- sions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occur provided a claim is made within five days of publication.