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8 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 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. Another fine fair After enduring some bouts of inclement weather over the last few years it was good to see the Acton Agricultural Society enjoyed three days of typical pre-fall weather for the 93rd edi- tion of the Acton Fall Fair. Although the sun was reluctant to break through the clouds in any length until Sunday afternoon the weather was pleasant and helped swell gate receipts to an all-time high. Theres a lot of work put in by the members of the agricultural society to make the annual three day event the social event to which so many look forward. The society has been hampered by a lack of a building to display homecrafts, childrens work and produce, etc. as well as a venue for entertainment since Actons old arena was torn down. Two good-sized tents have served as a temporary replacement but they can never replace a building which not only protects from inclement weather but better controls the sounds which are so important in entertainment. The first shovel for the new Fair building is due to be dug this afternoon (Thursday). The event heralds a new era for the officers and members of the agricultural society. Its a multi- purpose building which can be used year-round, especially for soccer, but it was through the initiative and perseverance of the Fair Board that it is being built. Acton Agricultural Society was named the 2006 Acton Citizen of the Year early this year. Its an honour they truly deserve. Weak link Sometimes when politicians announce they are responsible for an admirable turnaround in peoples behaviour, this editorialist is left scratching his head. The latest announcement concerns figures from Health Canada indicating that per capita tobacco consumption in Ontario has fallen by 18.7 per cent since 2003. It didnt take long for Health Promo- tion Minister Jim Watson to link the year 2003 with the year the McGuinty government came to power in Ontario. Our Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy has surpassed everyones best projections for success, said Watson. Tobacco use has fallen by 18.7 per cent since the McGuinty government was elected, and we are well on the way to meeting our target to reduce smoking rates by 20 per cent before the end of 2007. No doubt there is some correlation between the Ontario Heart Health program and personal decisions to quit smoking. In fact since it focuses on cardiovascular and chronic disease that can be modified by, among other things, quitting tobacco use. However its a stretch to link the turnaround in tobacco use to the election of a new government. GENEROUS DONATION: Brisk sales of Nevada tickets at the Acton Legion allowed members of Branch 197 of the Royal Canadian Legion to present a $1,500 cheque to the Georgetown Hospital Foundation last Thursday. Accepting the generous donation were Foundation executive director K.C. Carruthers (centre), and foundation member Josey Bonnette (second from left). Legion members included Dave Crook, Tom Grant and Joyce Buchanan. Frances Niblock photo Is smaller always better? My gardener friend and I were playing remember when the other day. Everyone knows the game once you reach a certain age. I am at that age now. We ended up talking about when portable cassette tape players were the big thing and when they first came out how expensive they were. To own a Walkman you were certainly privileged. Now, even C.D. type walkmans are passIf you want to be part of the in scene you need to have an MP3 player or an IPOD. Last fall I mentioned to the Dude that I thought I might like an IPOD, even though at that time I really had no idea how it worked. I only knew that you could listen to music with one. He surprised me at Christmas with my own MP3 player that was 1 GB. I guess I was officially apart of the in scene, unfortunately I was also at that age where my knowledge of electron- ics was diminishing with all these new things. It took me about a month or two to understand how to download music on it. So as the gardener and I contin- ued with our remember when discussion I started thinking about how progress seems to be all about making things smaller. Years ago it was impressive to own a big family-sized car like a Mercury. Now those shoe box sized smart cars are looked upon as the thing to own, although I keep thinking Id hate to get into an accident with one. Cell phones are another thing that has gone from massive to tiny. I remember my dads first cell phone. It cost an exorbitant amount of money. It was be- yond monstrously large and you couldnt really call it portable or wireless. Now, the cell phone I had two years ago seems to be too big. As smaller seems to be better, and more convenient for people, and as excited as I am to be MP3 savvy, there is one smaller-is-bet- ter convenience to which I refuse to conform. Have you ever been, maybe in the grocery store and you see somebody talking to themselves? More than likely they do not have multiple personalities living in their head. They probably have one of those blue tooth things like an extension for a cell phone that fits like an ear piece. These things boggle me. They maybe small and convenient but they are odd looking. They look like something from Star Trek. Its just odd to see somebody walk- ing around in public appearing to be having a perfectly normal conversation with what appears to be themselves. Ive drawn the line on how much technology I can handle. I already talk to myself on occasion so I definitely dont need to be using a blue tooth and talking to myself in public. Briefly... Forget those old wives tales about immiment signs of record-breaking cold winter when the mountain ash trees are loaded with berries. Not so, say horticulturists. When the trees are loaded with berries its a sign of a hard summer. The trees react by producing loads of berries to ensure there are more trees down the lane. So even if theres more fur on your pet bunny its probably because it was cold this summer. *** Some forecasters maintain the summer of 2006 was another sign of global warming. Outside of a week of really hot, humid weather in July, this summer was only moderately warm.