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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2005 THE NEW TANNER 7 NATIONAL ICE DANCER Congrats to Acton's Rebecca Nelles and ice dance partner Dylan Simpson who will compete at the Skate Canada Junior Nationals in Moncton, New Brunswick in February. Nelles, 12, a Grade seven stu- dent at St. Joseph Catholic School, is amember of the Guelph Skating Club. They earned a trip to the Nation- als with a recent sixth place finish in Pre-Novice Dance at the Skate Canada Western Challenge. Nelles has been skating for five years, two of them with Simpson who skates out of Kitchener-Wa- terloo. Their strong performance at the Western Challenge also earned them a booking with a touring ice show featuring Kurt Brown- ing, Brian Orser, Elvis Stojko and Shae-Lynn Bourne that will be in Guelph on December 20. SHARING/CARING There will be many more smiles in Acton this Christmas'morning, thanks to the generosity of people who have donated gifts to the Acton BIA's fifth annual Sharing Tree program featuring six local businesses and banks. All of the toys and gifts placed under the trees at Starlight Café, Acton Optical, Reg Marsh In- come Tax, Mill Street Crossing, TD. Canada Trust and. Prosperity One will be donated to the Acton Hamper program and distributed to the needy. SUPPORT AVAILABLE Support is available to caregiv- ers of people with schizophrenia and other'serious mental illnesses at a monthly drop-in offered in the second floor board room at the Milton mall. The Halton branch of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario provides support and information on resources available in Halton in a sale and non-judgmental en- vironment on the fourth Thursday of each month -- December 20 is the next get together -- beginning at 7 p.m. CLINIC SUCCESS Acton blood donor clinic chair Julia Roehrig says thank you to the 77 people who came to the Legion to give the gift of life at last Thursday's clinic where 64 units of blood were collected. Roehrig also says Merry Christ- mas to one and all; the next clinic is February 16, 2006. AN HONOUR TO BE ASKED Halton Hills Catholic school board trustee Irene McCauley has been nominated for the Ontario Catholic Schools Trustees' As- sociation 2005 Award of Merit by Joyce Savoline won't run again In an announcement at Halton Region Council meeting Wednes- day, Region Chairman Joyce Savoline announced she would not run for office in the next municipal election. More next week. her fellow trustees at the Halton District Catholic School Board. . McCauley has served Catho- lic parents and their children in Halton Hills for 25 years, as trustee and as board chair. The OCSTA Trustee Award of Merit will be awarded in March to the winner. In other Board business, Trustee Al Bailey was re-appointed as chair and Oakville Trustee Alice Anne LeMay was appointed vice- chair. SHOPPING HELP Acton area seniors and those_ with disabilities who want to Christmas shop at the new Milton Power Centre can catch a ride with the new North Halton Rides service that is offering a Saturday shopping bus until Christmas. The door-to-door fully acces- sible service, operated by Halton Hills Community Support and ~ Information and run by Milton Red Cross, includes shuttle service around the stores at the outdoor mall. North Halton Rides is also of- fering Christmas light tours for Acton area seniors and the dis- abled tomorrow (December 17) and December 23. Call 905-875-1459 for details. GEROME UPDATE Acton's Gerome Giudice, an underage forward playing with the Sudbury Wolves has an assist, 23 penalty minutes and a growing respect for the discipline of high- calibre hockey in his first year of Ontario Hockey League play. The former Acton High School student played for the Wolves Ju- nior A farm team earlier this season --scoring five goals, one assist and 54 penalty minutes -- before being signed to an OHL contract. Giudice now has 17 OHL games under his belt and his line has yet to be scored against. CALENDAR GIFT Heritage Acton has a Christmas gift for The New Tanner's Acton readers -- a historic calendar that will be distributed with either the December 22 or December 29 issue. This is the first time that the his- toric calendars -- depicting scenes from Acton's past including the Knox Church Sunday School or- chestra, the Acton Citizens' Band and Force Electric building -- will be given away for free. The cover photo is a picture of the old Town Hall, circa the late 1800's. In 2002, '03 and '04, the cal- endars were sold as a fundraiser for Heritage Acton, which did not produce a calendar this year, but plans to print 5,000 of the 2006 edition, allowing it to put some on sale in the New Year. Canada wae December 2, 2005 _ 3} asketeans Phaleboand Park FS = Oe Se 222 {109 Dollars BANK'S BIG BUCKS: Acton's new TD Canada Trust branch has doubled its initial pledge to the Acton skateboard park project to $5,000, and branch manager Hugh Calderwood (left) delivered the cheque to grateful park promoters recently including Monica Galway, John Eddolls and Councillor Jon Hurst with TD's Karry-Lee Racki. - Francis Niblock photo How was your week? Mine was anything but dull. Let me tell you about it. Most annoy- ingly, it all started about 2:30a. m. while I was fast asleep. Something woke me up and I knew I was having difficulty. So | woke Mary, that was no mean feat on its own, and she called 911. That set things in motion. Halton Ambulance arrived in minutes. They quickly deter- mined I wasn't having a heart attack or other breathing diffi- culty. They took a few readings in my room, stabilized me and transferred me down to the ambulance. All I could worry about was I wish I had kept the bedroom neater. I must say that the ambu- lance people were excellent. I noticed they were very calm and reassuring. I appreciated that very much. I think that's when I started to relax, which is half the battle. Off we rolled to Georgetown Hospital. A little advice for the ambulance guys, if they don't mind. In- stalling shock absorbers and springs in the van might be an _idea. Just a suggestion. The timeline comes into play here. I arrived at Georgetown Hospital about a half-hour from the time I left the bed- room. Once in emergency I had an expert diagnosis and Brampton Hospital was called. Arrangements were made and I was again dispatched by ambulance accompanied by a nurse. Once in Brampton I was wheeled directly in for some specialized tests. Fortunately they all showed negative. All of this happened in less than two hours from the time I left the house. This is the "magic two hours" that doctors talk about when treating a patient whose diagnosis is unsure. The Georgetown Hospital staff gets ; Praising Georgetown hospital) The Way I See It with Mike O'Leary full marks for acting profession- ally, quickly and decisively. I know that cops are looking younger all the time, but it was unnerving to see a doctor who looked like she should have a note from her mom to be out late at night. Just foolin', like all the staff at Georgetown Hospital she was very professional and competent. "The bride" talked the staff into keeping me for a day "for observation." I think she just wanted a good nights sleep. I had pre-arranged some tests at Toronto Western Hospital for the Thursday. It was agreed that I would keep the appointment so I was up and at 'em at 5:30a. m. I'm pretty miserable at that time of morning but the nurse and ambulance attendants soon had me smiling. The attendants, Elizabeth and Brenda from Voyager Patient Transfer, were delighted to hear that I wrote for The New Tanner. I promised I would mention them so I have. But that's not the only reason I tell this tale. : When I got home I had a follow-up call from Toronto Western. Medical tests are sel- dom pleasant and mine was no exception. So when the lady told me the test didn't register because there wasn't enough re- cording tape in the machine and I would have to re-schedule I was not impressed. That's prob- ably an understatement. Mary observed that she has a com- puter printer that alerts her when she's low on toner. Wouldn't you think a multi-million dollar from doctors to nurses, order- installation would come with the same enhancements? A word about the medical staff in Georgetown. Everyone lies and housekeeping staff | were pleasant and professional. I expect these jobs come with lots of stress and more than enough heartache. The fact that they can carry on in the midst of all the chaos is a testament to their character. I'm sure they don't look at it that way, but I sure do. During my two day stay in hospital I did a bit of a straw poll on the upcoming change- over in management. Although there is always some resistance to change and some fear of the unknown, staff are generally happy about the switch. They feel they can relate better to the smaller hospitals in Milton and Oakville. I think staff will feel more a part of a smaller corporation than they did the Osler Centre. 2006 is going to be an exciting year for the folks at Georgetown Hospital. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my friends and well-wishers. I regret the scare you must have gotten from the article in last week's Tanner. It was a false alarm. I have more tests to do before a diagnosis can be made. It's times like last week that you begin to realize how important friends are. I know, and I do appreciate your concern. I intend to slow down through Christmas and smell the roses. I want to examine the effects of stress on my life and, where possible, reduce it. I want to spend time with friends and family. I want to enjoy my life. You might want to try a heaping helping of the same thing.