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THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2007 THE NEW TANNER 7 Poster Prize Congrats to Actons Travis Baker and Brant Cropper, Grade 4 stu- dents at St. Joseph Catholic School whose Explore New Brunswick project earned them a Visions Canada Award on Monday at a ceremony held at Halton Region Museum in Milton. The pair, whose work showcased the history, natural resources, tour- ism attractions and interesting facts did you know chocolate bars were invented in New Brunswick? received a certificate recognizing their outstanding Canadian project, a family pass to the Museum and a Canadian coin set. The boys were among 30 award winners whose work, including poems, essays and art, was on display during the ceremony and reception. Food for Thought The Breakfast Club at McKenzie- Smith Bennett School has been a resounding success since it open mid-May volunteers are feed- ing a healthy breakfast cereal, breakfast bars, juice, milk, fruit to approximately 150 students each Tuesday and Thursday morning prior to the bell. The program is funded with a grant from the Halton Food for Thought program that helps provide nutritious snacks to students, rec- ognizing that willing, able learners need to be well-nourished. Camp Kids Two lucky Acton boys will be heading to a Tim Hortons Founda- tion camp this summer, thanks to yesterdays (Wednesday) Camp Day. Proceeds from every cup of cof- fee sold yesterday will help send 12,000 kids to one of six camps for a 10-day stay. Dance Divas Acton sisters Kayla-Rae, 18, and Kandace Russiani, 13, danced very well but did not finish in the top five at the 29th annual Sweetheart of the Year Pageant in St. Louis last weekend. The sisters, who train at the Ronda Copeland School of Dance in Acton, qualified after competing in a senior dance competition at an international pageant in Niagara Falls in April. In St. Louis, they took workshop classes and rehearsals with dance masters and performed nightly in a stage show at the I Love Dance event. Rabbit Alert Tickets are now on sale for the June 23, 10 a.m., performance of The Velveteen Rabbit at the Acton library. Masks, puppets and props will help Erewhon Theatre stage its adaptation of the modern childrens classic of a stuffed bunny learning what it means to be alive. For ticket information call the library at 519-853-0301, or visit www.library.hhpl.on.ca Baby Tales Rhymes and rhythmic music to stimulate your babys verbal de- velopment are offered during the Baby Tales program running July 4 to 25 at the River Street branch of the library. Baby Tales is geared to babies six-to-23-months and their parents. Registration is required, in person or on-line. Diabetes Classic Organizers of the inaugural Acton Golf Classic for Diabetes Research are soliciting local businesses for donated prizes and hole sponsor- ships for the tournament, slated for August 26 at the Acton Golf Club on Dublin Line. All proceeds will go to the Ca- nadian Diabetes Association for research. Fashion cares Raffle tickets are still on sale at Staying Alive Fitness for two passes valued at $100 to a fashion show on Sunday to benefit the Acton Angels. The Angels are a group of 11 Acton-area women who are raising money for breast cancer research by taking part in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer in September. The raffle tickets are $1 each and the winning ticket will be chosen on Saturday. Community treats The Acton Corps of the Salva- tion Army wants to do something nice for you, and your car, on Saturday. Its hosting the second annual free car wash and barbecue at the corps downtown location enter from Church Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We want to make a difference in our community, said one of the organizers. Fairy Lake Fairy Lake its history, beauty and future plans will be discussed on June 13 at the annual potluck supper of the Esquesing Historical Society. Noted local historian and author Mark Rowe will lead a walking tour around the Fairy Lake neigh- bourhood following the supper that begins at 6:30 p.m. at Knox Presbyterian Church. The walk begins at 7:15 p.m. and all are welcome. Taste of Acton Great food, face painting, horse- drawn carriage rides and sidewalks sales are some of the highlights of the Taste of Acton on June 23 that will close Mill Street from Main to Elgin from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Hosted by the Acton BIA, the event also includes Samplefest, which offers tasty treats from the menus of five Acton eateries for $10. Its been a tough two weeks in the city of Toronto. Thats how long its been since 15 year old Jordan Manners was murdered in the hallway of his school. Two suspects, juvenile offenders, were arrested days after the murder. The matter is now before the courts. The young lads funeral looked to be heart wrenching. His mother appeared distraught and destroyed by her sons death. Parents who have not lost a child can only imag- ine the depth of her despair. I wondered what could possibly have been going through the minds of the alleged shooters? What pos- sible motive could lead them to take up a gun and shoot another child. One of the two assailants evidently knew Jordan from the neighbourhood. That didnt stop some of the To- ronto Intelligencia from dragging out some of the trite suggestions. Mayor David Miller trotted out the same old we must ban all handguns crap as if that would solve anything. He parroted the same old chestnut when Jane Creba was gunned down on Young Street while she shopped for bargains on Boxing Day! Miller is not a stupid man. If memory serves me correct, hes a lawyer and a Rhodes Scholar to boot. But hes completely absorbed by the touchy/feely philosophy so ingrained in the politically cor- rect generation of today. The gun problems in our cities will not be solved by a group hug. Millers suggestion of a ban on handguns shows his complete misunderstanding of current fire- arms legislation. Buying a handgun today is extremely difficult, The first thing the police ask is why do you want one? Your answer bet- ter be compelling and reasonable. Self-defence is not an acceptable answer. In actual fact, handguns are al- ready banned theyre so difficult to obtain legally. Once bought there are conditions as to how and where you can transport it. To a shooting club for instance. Once you are finished practicing you have to return directly home. Break the rules and you lose your privilege of ownership. The handguns being used in our cities are, for the most part, unreg- istered and illegal. While a small percentage come from break-ins at gun shops and legitimate collec- tors, most are smuggled in from the States where controls are laxer or non existence. Millar also suggested that customs clamp down on smugglers. Now theres a unique suggestion. Canada customs officers are now being criticized for being too diligent. Ask anyone who has $20 more purchases than claimed on their customs decla- ration. Can you imagine the howls of outrage if every car and truck were stopped for a thorough search? May- hem would rule our borders. So what is the answer? I wish I had a quick fix but I dont. I do know that you cant solve any problem by attacking or reacting to the symptoms of the problem. You have to attack the root cause. In this case, and many others, I think we have to understand how and why many of todays young people have little or no respect for the lives and/or well being of their peers in particular, and other human beings as a whole. Its a societal problem. Take for instance the case of Dave Plaskett who has been a teacher at Jordan Manners school for 25 years. While school administrators, the board and even the community claim the school was safe and orderly Plaskett disagrees. Plaskett claims he, and other teachers were regularly threatened and once a student even made threats on his life. According to Plaskett intruders had easy access, students were bullied and robbed and discipline requests were rou- tinely ignored. I know many teachers and their complaints are similar to those noted by Mr. Plaskett. It is interesting to note the re- sponse from the Boards Trustee. She said she was unaware of any serious incidents at the school .If there were, she said, it would have been the responsibility of the prin- cipal to inform the superintendent. One thing is for sure, these guys have got the buck passing two step down pat. The school unions are no help. They are less interested in solving teachers problems than they are at maintaining the status quo. Many schools are turning into a battle ground but the unions appear to be content to sit on the sidelines and advise their members to keep their heads below their desks. Many school administrators are more concerned with public im- age than instituting policies which might keep their staff and students safe. Those who try to discuss such measures with senior board staff are quickey dissuaded. In the face of such resistance most principals fold. Being a thingdisturber is definitely a career-limiting move. The sad thing is that nothing has changed in the last decade. When one of my daughters was in high school she told me there was a handgun brought on to school property. I went down to the school and spoke to the principal. At first he denied the incident had happened at all. When pressed he confirmed the presence of a gun on school property. He said if was an Isolated Incident, nothing for me to be concerned about. I asked if the po- lice had been called and he looked at me like I had two heads, How would that look, he asked, if our parents saw police cruisers in the parking lot? I remember thinking at the time; oh I dont know. Perhaps they- would think you care enough about your staff and students to protect them, and to hell with your P.R. concerns. We must address the real prob- lem with our youth. We can blame T.V., violent video games, absentee parents, political correctness, what- ever. But unless we stop reacting to the symptoms of the problem, or better still admit there is a problem, we can expect even more violence and death in schools. All the hand wringing in the world wont help. Asocietal atti- tude adjustment is sorely needed. Now would be too late. Just ask Mrs. Manners. A never ending story Sisters Kayla-Rae and Kandace Russiani, GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It At the last Dinner at the Acton Seniors Centr e the Abruzzi Folk Dancers of Guelph entertained us with their intricate traditional Italian folk dances. The dance with the flags was very impr essive. Maria Bar - tolomucci, the gr oup s dir ector and her partner Felice Cado ar e pictur ed taking a bow and the end of their p e r f o r m a n c e . S h e w a s d e l i g h t e d t o t e l l u s t h e y w e r e a l s o a l l S e n i o r s , a l t h o u g h y o u w o u l d h a v e f o u n d i t h a r d to believe when you saw all the energy it took to complete the dances.-Julie Conr oy photo BRUNCH BUNCH: Members of the Acton Seniors Centre helped the Kinette Club of Acton cook, serve and clean up at the recent Community Brunch at the Acton Arena and Community Centre, and shared in the profits. Frances Niblock photo