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8 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2006 EDITORIAL Distributed to every home in Acton and area as well as adjoining communities. 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Frances Niblock Mike OLeary Angela Tyler Janis Fread Rebecca Ring Publisher Editorial Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Bruce Cargill Danielle McIsaac Janine Taylor By Angela Tyler with Hartley Coles (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors or omissions 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. All articles, advertisements and graphic artwork appearing in The New Tanner is copyrighted. Any usage, reproduction or publication of these items, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher of The New Tanner is a copyright infringement and subject to legal action. That greenbelt again Ever since the Liberal government passed greenbelt legislation in February of 2005, weve been critical of the boundaries imposed on Acton. We feel the legislation, an attempt to thwart urban sprawl, has been grossly unfair to this community which was just beginning to emerge from the paralysis of previous constraints. Now we see we are not the only ones who felt the legislation was unduly restrictive. Durham Region is asking the province to remove about 1,400 hectares from the Golden Horseshoe greenbelt, one each in Ajax and Whitby and two in Clarington, so they can expand urban boundaries. For development of course. Expansion here on the other hand, has been a relatively modest request that the present urban boundaries be expanded at least as Far East as the Fourth Line where there are already several homes in a community at Bannockburn. It makes common sense. The decision to cut off development at the present boundaries has crushed hopes for a self-sustaining community which needs some room to grow so it can enjoy amenities other towns of the same size take for granted. As weve said before its ironic that a greenbelt was imposed on land that serves no other purpose than to sustain population. On the other hand some of the best farm land in the Province of Ontario south of Georgetown has been earmarked for development. Some more in the Town of Milton. It makes no sense whatsoever. Of course, the province is hiding behind the suggestion that de- velopers are putting pressure on politicians to carve up the greenbelt for their profit. If the greenbelt is to survive, the province must hold firm, said the mayor of Ajax, an opponent of removing land from the greenbelt. Come on. Most of the population supports imposition of a green- belt but if they believe in common sense there surely is a need to fine tune boundaries imposed almost willy-nilly. Family, home attacked In a bid for more focus on home economics in secondary schools, home economics educators in Ontario note that the United Nations set aside May 15 as the International Day of Families. Its a propitious time, families are under attack despite the fact cultures around the world view the family as the basic unit of society. The educators point out the family unit is continually weakened by do- mestic violence, pressures of increased economic and market demands, unemployment, obesity, illness and other factors which the movement to high-tech and out-of-home experiences does little to alleviate. They suggest our frenetic lifestyles crave the return of home-cooked meals and the embrace of family at the end of a day. They acknowledge that the word home offends some people, conjuring up images of oppression, ignorance and inequality. How- ever, the educators ask: Where should we look forward to going at the end of a days work or study? Where should we spend time with our families? And where do we choose to invest most of our earned income? The answer is obvious. Of course, its the home. Theres no reasonable substitute. The teachers think the answer to the problems besetting todays families could be solved with more emphasis on family studies in the schools. Family studies classes have never been more important, they say. Education is indeed part of the answer. However, to safeguard fami- lies and the home, Canadians who value home and family life and can see the social costs of either ignoring or promoting contrary values, should be on the offensive against the factors which war against stable home life. The family is the basic unit of society. Strong families make for a strong country. Canada was never stronger than when the home was considered the most important component of this country. I didnt make the waitress cry! The Dude and I have got into this conversation more than once. Like any married couple, we were having a discussion about money. Unlike most married couples, these were full of questions about tipping. I was a little disgruntled with the Dude about the amount of tip he gave the waitress when we were out with my family and the Dudes mom (Dude Sr. was working), for Mothers Day dinner on Saturday night. What started off as a nice evening out was riddled with disastrous oc- currences. At the restaurant we were greeted with the expected waiting time as it was 7 p.m. on a Saturday. However, two other groups whom we knew happened to be there. Even though all the groups were almost the same size, we were given different times to wait. After finally getting a table, the waitress came for our drink orders. My dad was elated and doubtful when she told him they did serve Labatts 50 beer. Moments later she returned with the bad news, so he ordered another kind. The beer showed up but it wasnt what he ordered. Then when she showed up again, she told us she had spilled the Dudes moms drink. We had to tell her she also brought the wrong beer. She went to get my dad an- other beer to replace the wrong one delivered and another drink for the Dudes mom. While we enjoyed each others company we waited for our dinner order to arrive. Then we started to notice we were really getting hungry and it was approaching 8:30 p.m. We had ordered a long time ago and the waitress hadnt even brought our soup out. As we thought about it more, (she walked by us several, maybe 10 times) she never acknowledged us once, never even asked how our drinks were, or anything. After what felt like hours, our soup appeared. The problem was all our appetizers arrived at the same time as our entrees. Thats when my low blood sugar became noticeable according to my sis- ter, because I started to get quite grumpy to the waitress especially after she told us she forgot to place the orders, hence everything arriv- ing at the same time. After she left the manager stopped by to offer his apologies. We, at last were eating. After din- ner, however, the waitresss luck or, lack thereof, continued. When she returned to clear the plates, piling them into a tower, her left hand hit a glass that still had a portion of a Caesar in it. The blow knocked the drink onto the table and the down the pant leg of the Dudes dress pants. I couldnt believe her luck. At this point, her eyes started to well up and she quickly gathered up the disaster and left. Angela made her cry, my sister informed everyone. I wasnt sure if she was joking or not but I wasnt going to take the blame for her bad luck. I dont regret anything I said, I informed my sister, which in all wasnt much. The Dude informed me it wasnt what I said, yet rather how it was said and the nasty glare on my face. Continued on page 9 SCHOOL DAZE: This photo taken outside the old stone Acton Continuation School involved the entire staff and students at the four classroom school. There are many recognizable names in the photo, loaned by Stella Brunelle including in back: Ken Blow, Tom Watson, Ken Hassard, Sam Brunelle, Dora Wood, Principal Mac Leitch, Marjorie Nelson, George Taylor, John McHugh, Alex Frank. In front, recognize George Hollinger, Charlie Rushmere, Ken Fryer, Gord McCutcheon, Tom Lamb, Jack Bruce, Charlie Borber, Bob Pearen? Other rows have Evelyn Braida, Fran Lamb, Flo Salt, Rena Braida, Marg Somerville, Mary Ritchie, Marie Brunelle, teacher Miss Bell (Hazel Orr), Pat Bayliss, Shirley Duval, Olga Dyriw, Dora Hansen, Inez McLel- lan, Freda Harris and a host of others unidentified by name.