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

"20 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2005 am RIDING IN STYLE: These children enjoyed a ride to school on a fire truck. The ride was a silent auction item donated by the Rockwood Eramosa Fire Fighters As- sociation in support of the Rockwood Centennial Playground fund. Their Christmas sale and silent auction was a resounding success, raising over $7000. Combined with a recent battery sale ('tis the season) and generous donations, such as Druxler Construction's gift of $300, the fund has reached over $40,000 toward the $50,000 goal. Pictured are fire fighters Bernie Liebig and Gilles Allarie, with Jamie, Penny, and William Richards. Photo by Rebecca Ring 41-year-old West Gary woman dies in single car crash Monday A 41-year-old West Ga- rafraxa woman died as the result of a single motor ve- hicle collision on the Sixth Line of West Garafraxa Twp. on Monday shortly after noon. Wellington OPP said the collision occurred when a 2002 Hyundai travelling south on the Sixth Line skidded off the roadway, rolled over and struck a tree. Claudia Hildega Brebaum, 41, the driver, was pro- nounced dead at the scene. The Sixth Line was closed between Side Road 20 and Side Road 25 while officers conducted their investigation. Members of the Wellington O.P.P. Traf- fic Management Unit along with the Western Region O.P.P. Traffic Management Unit were called to the scene to assist with the in- vestigation. Firefighters from the Center Wellington Fire De- partment were at the scene and assisted with extrica- tion of the deceased. The coroner, Dr. J. Ewen, was also there. An autopsy was or- dered and took place at Guelph General Hospital on December 20, 2005. Next Open TPS --e RoR oe Le Saturday January 21st, 2006! 1 to 3 Gaol ele re iaun This ad is your pass for | free class (value of $30.00) Call: 856-2058 * visit: www.rockwoodkarate.com Departing principal asks Council to help fund Eramosa P.S. By Rebecca Ring The Rockwood Miller At the last meeting of Guelph Eramosa Town- ship Council, principal Cheryl Van Ooteghem and supporter Ron Hawkins re- quested funds for Eramosa Public School's playground needs. The Ministry of Education removed play- ground equipment deemed unsafe but will not fund its' replacement. The Up- per Grand District School Board is not responsible for its' replacement and has no available furids. The onus is on the community to pro- vide playground equipment for its' children. Van Ooteghem is going to leave her position at Eramosa Public School in January. As one of her last acts in office, she came to council to stress the dire need for this equipment and requested $1000 "in cash or kind." She stressed the stability and success of this school, as it re- cently celebrated its' 40" anniversary. She said "it will be around for at least another 40 years." She said the community should be proud of the students, as they were the best she ever taught. She added that there are only about 90 families with children at the school so they need to look to the larger community to share the responsibility, using the adage "it takes a village." Chris White said he sup- ported the past motion to donate $500 to each town- ship school playground and would support another $500 each. He said this is a "school board versus township issue but in real- ity no government is taking responsibility. In this era of growing obesity and diabetes in children, it is a shame there are no [school] playgrounds in the com- munity." Les Foote asked if there was any donation funds left in the 2005 budget. CAO Janice Shepherd said there is $1450. David McCrae said "I don't like this aspect of getting into this domain. It galls me that I already pay education taxes and the Ministry of Educa- tion doesn't step up to the plate." Van Ooteghem re- sponded with "If we don't take responsibility, then who will?" McCrae asked if the bet- ter value was $1000 in cash or kind. White said that families are volunteering time and cash is harder to get, so cash is better. Mc- playground Crae asked what it would take to get the province involved. He said "school boards have no money -- so they say. Is there anything to be done?" Van Ooteghem said she does not know what else can be done. Hawkins suggested that council ap- proach the county. Council resolved to do- nate $500 from the 2005 budget and $500 from the 2006 budget to both Eramosa and Rockwood Centennial Public Schools. The motion 'carried, with Theressa Gibson Smye opposing. She said "It is a tough call. We are be- tween a rock and a hard place. Municipalities are bearing the brunt of the province's downloading of responsibilities. This is a motherhood and apple pie issue and I hate to be the bad guy but provincial and federal downloading is resulting in higher property taxes." She added that she has contributed funds on a personal level. Mayor Clint Martin sup- ported the motion but said "T don't like doing this but I see no choice. The federal government is not taking care of this." Van Ooteghem thanked council for their support "from my- self and the children." | Slee e . 273 Alma Street Tel: ERI rye? Chyna] + ROCKWOOD 2 Value. Snow volt Multi Tool Drill Jig Saw & Sander Dec. 22-31 No rain checks available for this sale. Thanks to all of our loyal customers Sor their business in 2005 and wishing all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. From all your friends and neighbours at Rockwood True Value TODS TR a INS Hardware 519.856. 9551¢ neg * blowers es 2. et at % 6.5