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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009 9THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009 8 Call Guelph office to book your appointment (519) 836-8111 With Us www.arnoldhearing.ca ARNOLD HEARING CENTRES 77 Westmount Rd. #104, Guelph Ontario N1H 5J1 (519)836-8111 25 MAIN ST. N. ACTON Hearing Health Services: Hearing tests Programming Battery Sales Fitting Repairs Counselling SEE YOU JAN. 16 Pamela Ashton BC-HIS Hearing Instrument Specialist DeMelo Wellness Centre Tristan Countway Hearing instrument Dispenser ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS Layla D. Lidstone - 03/28/94 to 12/13/08 At 5-weeks-old, she sat in the palm of my hand and Layla D. (D for Dog,) her name became. For more than 14 years she would amaze and entertain people with her frisbee catch and retrieval talents. A friendly girl who would al- ways bring you something to throw. She loved the car and going to the Drive-thru. They must have needed a frisbee dog in Heaven. Besides thanking God for allowing us to be there the morning he came for her, we would like to thank Dr. Hess and his staff at the clinic, Chris and her staff at Tam- mar and John for being the guy who freed her the day she climbed up on our fence and got her leg caught. THANK YOU ALL! Anthony and Debby Lidstone Angel Gala at Glencairn raises $63,000 to fight SMA Dear Editor: We hosted the 3rd An- nual Angel Gala for SMA on November 15, 2008 at Glencairn Golf Club. A sold out crowd of 250 guests were in attendance to help support Spinal Muscular Atrophy. There was such a great vibe in the ballroom that night, created by the positive energy and goodwill that comes with helping a worthy cause. Spinal Muscular Atro- phy is a progressive, neuromuscular disease that affects our nine year old daughter, Rebecca. It has left her confined to a wheelchair and becoming gradually weaker over time. We are in a race to find a cure which will benefit Rebecca and other children who are affected by this devastating dis- ease. Our wonderful com- munity helped us to raise $63,000 for Spinal Mus- cular Atrophy at this years Angel Gala. It brings our three year total raised to almost $180,000. In the seven years since Rebecca was diagnosed, we have cumulatively raised over $1.2 million which goes to research to find a cure. The support we receive from the community is unparalleled. So many local businesses donated items to our silent auc- tion. An updated list of our sponsors is available on our web-site www.angel- gala.com. Please help us to show our thanks for their generosity by patro- nising their businesses. Together we will find a cure. Sincerely, Theresa Van Fraassen Angel Gala Coordinator Bennett residents say thanks To the editor, On behalf of the resi- dents of The Bennett Care Centre I would like to thank all the choirs, school groups, families, church groups, minis- ters, community groups, volunteers and individ- uals who donated either their time or gifts to help make their Christmas season special. It is easy to see that the spirit of Christmas is alive in our community. Also I would like to thank our staff who work extra hard to make our days special. We appreci- ate all that you do for us. Sincerely; Charles Roe, President Residents Council, Bennett Health Care Centre. No fun now in house league Dear Editor I am 12 years old and I have been playing Acton House League Hockey for 4 years. My first three years were a lot of fun. I got to play hockey with my friends, and make new friends. This year has not been so great. I feel that the teams were not fairly made up. My team mates and I are very discouraged. The reason we feel this way is because we dont even have a chance against a couple of the teams in the league. There are only 6 teams and one is clearly better than all the other teams. I dont think that we have ever scored against the best team and the final score is usually 0 for us and 10 or more for them. I dont al- ways know the final score because they stop keeping score on the board when it is 4 to 0. But we usu- ally have a good idea how badly we are losing. I thought house league hockey was supposed to be a little bit of competi- tion with lots of fun. I did not know that it was going to ruin my Saturday after- noons. Not to mention the teasing I get at school by the kids on the winning team. I am pretty sure that is poor sportsmanship. Next year I dont think I want to play hockey, at least not in Acton. I want to play some where I can have fun. Sincerely, House league hockey player, looking for a fun and fair place to play. BE CAREFUL: Winter driving conditions have kept police and ambulance busy this week. This colision east of Acton on Hwy 7 between the Fourth and Fifth Lines on Monday morning between a pickup truck and car is just another example. No details were available at press time. Food banks in E. Wellington feed more families this Yule Perhaps nothing illustrates the spirit and stress of Christmas more than working at the two area food banks, says Brenda Carson of the East Wellington Community Services. The num- bers of families in need this Christmas increased to 64-up nearly 15% over a year ago. Moms and dads sick with worry often break into tears of relief at the gifts and food that meant their children would not be going without this year. I was so inspired by the won- derful generosity of people here. Some would just show up at the office with gifts for an entire family. I needed gas gift cards for some men on my list, I just made a couple of phone calls and before I knew it, I had all I needed. It was amazing to see. Says Kelly Stockdale, food bank coordinator. I just hope the fore- casters are wrong and we dont see further increases in people needing food bank services. Not one family went without gifts, a full turkey dinner and enough food to make their Christ- mas season specialall because the community responded with overwhelming generosity. Many volunteers came forward to help put the hampers together. It real- ly was a community effort. Staff at East Wellington Com- munity Services also went above and beyond, putting in many extra hours to make sure each family was well taken care of this year. Staff and volunteers deliv- ered hampers to families who find themselves part of alarm- ingly increasing number of working poor. Staff made emer- gency shopping trips on behalf of donors to ensure the often-over- looked young men in the families received gifts too. The Star Light, Community Bright annual Christmas appeal also resulted in some very gener- ous donors. Although the number of replies was significantly down from last year, it was still a suc- cessful campaign in light of the current economic environment. When people are worried about their jobs its difficult to write a cheque to a charity, even one they care about. Its totally understandable. I just hope things are better for all of us next year. says the agencys Executive Dir- ector, Glenyis Betts. East Wellington Community Services is grateful to the many individuals and organizations who gave from their hearts to help families in need. Getting organized... Continued from page 6 I then proceeded to fill the bag and as I tried to ziplock it, I realized I had over-calculated. It wasnt working. I was trying to space bag too muchbut I was determined. So I did what any other woman in their right mind would doI sat on the bag and tried to force every- thing into it until I made it do what I wanted it to do. It wasnt pretty and it didnt look like the picture and it defin- itely wouldnt fit under the bed as the ad promised. However, I still maintained successthe space bag worked, well, it sort of worked. It worked as well as the easy to assemble cubes.