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6 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2007 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 hopeless feeling It doesnt seem that many years ago when Ontario Hydro first proposed a hydro corridor from the Bruce nuclear power station to the switching station in Milton running through Halton Hills and Erin between the Fourth and Fifth Lines. There was strong and acrimonious opposition to the corridor, which in its original form, envisioned two or three transmission lines running side by side along its 180km route. After many meetings over years there was some sort of compro- mise that scaled the ambitious proposal down to one line of towers marching from Bruce to Milton. It allayed some fears but the spectre of another line of towers to join the original line has always been in the background. Much depended on the performance at the Bruce nuclear power station which has had its share of problems. Now that Bruce is operating at close to optimum efficiency and two more nuclear units will soon be in service, Hydro One, succes- sor to Ontario Hydro, says there is an urgent need for a new 500kV line with a target in service date of 2011, four years down the road. Estimated cost of the double-circuit line is $635 million. To accommodate the new line of hydro towers requires another 175 to 200 feet on the east side of the existing line which will im- pact 66 properties in Halton Hills and three in Milton. Two-thirds of the 66 properties have been identified as farm land, as well as 10 single family detached residential properties and seven industrial properties including the Towns 401 corridor. Some residents will be severely affected. Some will lose their homes and property by expropriation, not a pleasant outlook for those who are happy with their circumstances. Halton Hills Council has asked Hydro One to deal with local resi- dents and the Town in an open and transparent manner, no doubt recalling the acrimonious disputes from the original corridor. But the whole exercise leaves the Town and affected property owners in an impasse. There is no recourse except to complain and anyone dealing with bureaucrats in large corporations know how futile that is. Briefly Congratulations to Maja Vermeulen of Acton and her partner Andrew Doleman who won the coveted Gold Medal in Novice Mixed ice dancing at the Canada Games in the Yukon last week. The couple placed first in each of the compulsories which led them to an easy win. They won the right to represent Ontario by taking the Silver medal at the Junior Nationals in Brampton in February. *** March 10-11 weekend was Gold Week for Acton athletes as the Pee- wee Galvcast BB Tanners hockey club won the gold at an international hockey tournament in Niagara Fall, New York. The Tanners met fellow Canadian Kitchener Junior Rangers in the final, edging them 2-1 to take the championship. The same weekend the Yourway Muffler Novices competed in the AMJ Campbell OMHA tournament in Erin and brought the championship home. Well done, and congratulations. *** Acton minor hockey teams also did well in the OMHA playdowns. None won an OMHA title but the Bantam BB Tanners advanced to the semi-finals against Petrolia which edged them 3-2 in the best-of-five series. The team lost the series but had a fine season, finishing first in their league and division, and eliminating Saugeen Shores and Lincoln Blades in the first two rounds of the OMHA playoffs. As the old saw says it isnt whether you win or lose but how you play the game. *** People have seen robins, mallard ducks are chasing each other, side- walks are bare, creeks are emerging from under thick coats of ice; theyre all sure signs of spring which officially arrived on Tuesday at 8:15p.m. Warmer weather is also on the horizon, in fact the probs on Tuesday said today (Thursday) will be in the teens on the plus side of zero. Angela opts for real fur Lately, Ive been noticing people doing something that some have chosen not to for the last little while. I really noticed it just after Christmas. There was an older lady waiting for the traffic lights to change at the four corners. It was a bitterly cold day and the lady was wearing a wonderful fur coat. I was with a friend and I men- tioned my observation to her as I figured since she was from the North, and would appreciate a fur, she wouldnt be offended by it. She wasnt big on fur, however, she wasnt offended either. As we chatted she asked if I would ever get a fur coat. I was almost drooling at that point. I grew up with women in my fam- ily who had and wore fur coats and stoles. It was what women of that era did, so I had always loved them. I told her my dream was a full-length black shaved mink fur coat. My problem is that Im far too cheap to splurge on something like that. My mom got a new fur coat a few years back. When she puts the hood up, she looks like she should be riding on a horse- drawn sleigh in the middle of a snow covered field. The coat is beautiful but she doesnt wear it enough in my opinion. Another lady at work has been wearing her fur jacket. She said she had had enough of it just hanging in the closet and was going to wear it. After all, it has been a frightfully cold winter and she might as well keep warm. I remember a few years back that it was not politically correct to wear fur. If you did wear a fur coat, you could risk having your coat spray painted by activists. I think now, people who have fur coats are ignoring what is politically correct and opting for their coats. The other day in the news, actress Pamela Anderson was hoping people who own Ugg boots would stop wearing them because they are made from sheepskin. She has decided to wear fake Ugg boots instead. Being the tightwad I am, I bought my Payless shoe store version of the fake Ugg boots and in retrospect they were junk. My feet were always wet or cold. The Dude however, who is a go big or go home kind of guy, surprised me at Christmas with a real pair of Ugg boots, which I thought were ridiculously ex- pensive. After wearing my Uggs almost daily since Christmas, I have come to a couple of conclusions. The first is Im joining the think- ing of older ladies who wear their fur coatsI am not going to be politically correct and wear fake boots just because the real ones are made of sheepskin. And if I ever have a fur coat, I will wear it. The second thing is that some- times one does need to go big or go home. I may have thought the Dude was insane when he told me how much he paid for my Uggs but after wearing them, I know now that you cant put a price on boots that keep your feet warm and are comfortable, especially in Canada. BRUNCH BUNMCH: Members of TOPS (Take Pounds Off Sensibly) helped cook, serve and cleanup at the Kinettes Community Brunch on Sunday at the Acton arena/community centre. For their work, TOPS will share proceeds from the popular all-you-can-eat brunch. Frances Niblock photo