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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2005 THE NEW TANNER GRAPEVINE BLOOMS MOVES Blooms Away Flower Shop is moving one door east into the Mill Street store that was home to the Paintin' Friends studio/store until last Tuesday. Blooms manager Kelly Wilson said they'd been looking for a bet- ter working facility, and when the store next door became available, they decided to take it. Renovations are underway and Wilson, whose MacDonald fam- ily has owned the store for nine years, hopes the move will hap- pen before the end of the month, allowing them to expand the giftware selection, with plans for more home décor items. RK Paintin' Friends co-owner Bren- da Larose said she, and her partner Ruth Kranendonk, are ready to "pursue other things," which could include teaching some more classes. "We had a lot of loyal painters --we'll miss them and they prob- ably will miss coming to paint, but we just always can't have what we want," Larose said, adding they hope to offer their teaching skills at retreats or seminars and have been invited to teach some decora- tive painting classes at studios in Oakville and Guelph. VIDEO TO MOVE Video 99 is moving to the former Bargains Bazaar store in the.former. IGA. plaza.as.of No- vember 4. Owner Hajong Kim is relocat- ing his business across Main Street because he has sold the building at 99 Main St. North, where he opened the video store and moved into an upstairs apartment two years ago, to an unidentified buyer. Kim said the new owner's plans for the building are a "secret." YOUTHS BENEFIT Acton's Off The Wall youth centre will-reap the benefits of Prosperity One fundraising ac- tivities during the annual Credit Union Charity Week from October 17-21. Along with a weeklong raffle, Acton staff will raise money for youth programs and services with a garage sale, bake sale, and on October 20 and 21, a barbecue. SOBEYS MANAGER His first month as store man- ager of the now corporate Acton Sobeys store was just what Mark Latimer hoped it would be. "T love it. I love the store, I love the people in the store -- a lot of the customers are very friendly and it's been quite enjoyable so far. I knew it would be." Latimer, 41, took over Sep- tember 10 when the Acton store became a corporate, not franchise store with the sale from owner Bill Graham, who purchased another Sobeys franchise in Mis- sissauga. Latimer, who has 21 years in the food business -- much of it man- aging conversions of IGA stores into Sobeys -- lives in Georgetown and said he let senior management know he wanted to work closer to home. 3 Latimer said the Acton store's community involvement would continue with. sponsorships of local students, donations. to ser- vice clubs and sports groups and a commitment to, be "ready to serve." WALK THIS WAY Almost three-quarters of the students at McKenzie-Smith Ben- nett School' walked to school last Wednesday to help celebrate the national walk to school day. The previous week, almost 51 per cent of students walked or biked to school, and that matches the Canadian average. "One day (walking) won't make a big difference, but we are try- ing to improve awareness of the benefits of walking or biking to school instead of getting a ride," teacher/organizer Megan Reid said, adding the goals of the walk to school day include increased physical activity for students, increased safety in the school parking lots and less potentially harmful environment emissions. DRIVERS NEEDED The North Halton branch of the Canadian Red Cross is looking for volunteer drivers who are willing to spend a couple of hours a week to drive frail and elderly people to medical appointments. Volunteers -- who are paid a per kilometre rate -- need to have a clean driving record,'a reliable» vehicle and a police check. The Red Cross also wants to recruit two or three part-time drivers to take part in a new six- month transportation pilot project, working with elderly, supportive housing and mental health cli- ents. Call the. Red Cross for more details. KNOX CELEBRATES 1845 Country entertainer Gordie Tapp will help Knox Presbyterian Church celebrate its 160th an- niversary with a musical show on October 22. Tapp, a Rockwood area resident named to the Order of Canada, ~ was a staple on the Hee Haw TV show and is a master of dialects and accents. He shares the bill with the Knox Chancel Choir at the show, hosted by Knox Ladies' Aid, which will offer refreshments after the en- tertainment. Knox will mark the anniversary with a special service, led. by Father Mark Curtis -- known as the Singing Priest - on Novem- ber. 27. SCHIZOPHRENIA HELP Caregiver support and informa- tion about mental health resources available in Halton are offered at a monthly drop-in at the board- room in the Milton Mall. The Halton branch of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario runs a support group for friends and family members affected by schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses in what it calls a "safe and non-judgmental" environment. The group meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. DRESS REHERSAL: Shipping off to summer camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake on the S.S. Cayuga one summer during the 1930's were this platoon of Acton members in full dress uniform of the Lorne Scots regiment. The waif in the front, a battery at the camp, will go unnamed. Left to right, Privates George Simpson, John Robson, Bob O'Hara, Doug Maplesden, John Black and Lieutenant John Barber from Georgetown. Militia regiments from all over Ontario attended the camp in two-week stages. Summer dress uniform were issued to the troops when the arrived at camp,.located just outside Niagara-on-the-Lake. The Lorne Scots Regiment used the S.S. Cayuga, which plied Lake Ontario on a regular basis from Toronto to Niagara-on-the-Lake and Queenston, as transport. | - I spent a few days last week up north doing some end of season chores. Driving back the fall colours were just coming into their prime. The reds this year are spectacular. I suppose by the time you read this the colours in Muskoka will be | past their-prime. But if you venture another hour or two north-west into Haliburton another breathtaking vista awaits. Fall is*a beautiful time of year and always makes me proud to be a Canadian. Surely, we live in the most beautiful country in the world. I encourage everyone to get out and enjoy it even with the price of gas. We have six months of winter to grouse about the lousy weather. Alarming news from Toronto Food Bank. Donations this Thanks- giving are substantially down. Locally, there are several food bank drives still under way. If all of us would just remember to drop an item or two off the needs of the less fortunate would be met. I'm sure the price of gas and fear of energy costs with winter approaching has been a factor. The unknown increases has everyone I know on edge and angry. But the less fortunate have those same fears and face the same increases. Anything you can do, even a couple of boxes of macaroni, would be appreciated: While most of us enjoyed our families and friends over Thanks- giving many Canadians spent the weekend frantically waiting for news from the earthquake devas- tated regions of Pakistan and India. The death toll is 40,000 but the real- ity is the region is so isolated that's just a best guess. Pakistani President Musharraf took to the airwaves to plead for help from the world. Specifically needed are helicopters and heavy lifting equipment. Television footage from the region shows why they need additional helicopters. Any roads in the region have been rendered impassable by rockslides. Bridges have been destroyed. The world has answered and rescue squads have been flooding into the region. These small teams are able to react quickly \because they are literally the differ- A disaster-laden year The Way | I See It with Mike O' Leary. ence between life and death. Not surprisingly to me, one of the first world leaders to react was the much beleaguered President Bush. He promised mtney, of course, but also heavy lift helicopters. As+I write this (Monday) I watched 10 large double-rotored American troop carrier helicopters land close to the stricken region. They immediately started flying in food and water and airlifting out critically wounded. + Canada will send two Hercules 'planes with blankets, tents and medi- cal supplies in a couple of days. We also pledged $300,000 in immediate cash then upped the amount by $20 million two days later. What we haven't done is commit our D.A.R.T. team which wasn't sent to New Orleans either. I find this hard to understand. This team's specialty is water purification and is supposed to be ready to go on short notice. I think the government needs to publicize the conditions under which the D.A.R.T. team would be sent to an area where they are needed. The money would be better spent sending specialized teams to disaster areas than on extravagant expense account spending on bureaucrats. Tf you think this year has had more than its share of natural disasters you would be right. The United Nations estimates the death toll starting with the Tsunami in Indonesia through the many Atlantic hurricanes, floods in Mexico, mudslides in Guatemala and the recent earthquake and more are three times the yearly average. Some are trying to further their enterprise by laying claim'to these disasters but I think these are cyclical events. There may be a 100 or 200 year cycle but they are natural disasters. The affected area in Pakistan is the same general area where Osama Bin Laden is reported to be hiding. Maybe the world will get lucky and P bring Stanley" home, Now fen a he'll be one of the casualties. The price in suffering of the innocent wouldn't be worth his miserable hide. Another sure sign of fall is the boys are back. Yes, fans, after 500 days without a game at the A.C; even with an opening record of 0-3 (2 by shootout) there is no cause for despair. Au contraire, I think they're just lulling other teams into a false sense of security, When coach Quinn decides the time is right, just you watch out. Amongst all the new rules perhaps the two most contentious are the increased calling of hooking and interference plus the "shoot-out" in case of a tie game. Most fans support the clamping down of hooking and interference. Already you can see the so called "skilled players" have more room to maneuver. In fact, the rink looks bigger. The scoring also seems to be going up which should meet with fan approval. The higher scoring is also due to the changes in goalie equipment. I've noticed many shots squeezing through the pads. Give them a few games and that should improve. Perhaps the worst change is the shoot-out. Maybe-I should get my bias up front. I think the shoot-out is crap. This is hockey -- not soccer. The shoot-out is one more reason why that twerp president of the N.H.L. should be kicked out. N.HLL. administration say the fans don't want to see a tie. Balderdash! Fans I've talked to think the shoot- out sucks. Polls taken after games agree. But we're stuck with it for a year. Grumble, grumble. Last Saturday Tie Domi scored his 100" N.H.L. goal. I say hah to those doubters who say he wasn't a skill player. Last Tuesday he scored his 101* goal while playing on a power play with the ae E." Hah --I say. Hah! And lastly, to finish on a high note, my readers who are CBC fans were delighted to hear the CBC strike is finally over.Both of them went out to celebrate. _ They were home by 9. 25: