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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2009 5 TORONTO DEPARTURES January 29 - March 31 Save $600 per couple. Limited time offer, valid for new bookings only. Toronto departures January 29 - March 31, 2009. Savings valid on above listed destinations only. Flights via Air Transat, Skyservice, Westjet or Canjet. Prices shown are per person based on double occupancy in lead room category. Advertised prices include savings of $300 per person. Taxes are extra and noted above. Space & prices are subject to availablitiy at time for booking to change without notice. For full descriptions and term and conditions refer to the Transat Holidays 2008-2009 Sun Brochure. Transat Holidays is a division of Transat Tours Canada Inc. and is registered as a travel wholesaler in Ontario (Ont reg #5000948888) Valentines Dance at the Acton Legion 8pm to 1am Saturday, February 14 (Light lunch included) $15 in advance - $17 at the door Tickets available from your local Service Clubs and Charities. Acton Youth & The Cancer Society at Links2Care, Men of Heritage at Yourway Muffler. Acton Seniors Centre, St. Josephs School Acton Highschool Drama Dept. Tickets also available at Profile Beauty Salon, Mill St. Crossing and Blue Springs Spa & Salon Organized by Blue Springs Funeral Home, Home of the Undertakers Ball. 519-853-2399 $5 of each ticket will go local service clubs. Its not to late for your organization to participate! Halton snowday system overwhelmed - needs work The Halton District School Board is problem- solving with the provider of the Boards Home Noti- fication System because it failed to operate as expected on Wednesday, January 28. The system failed to noti- fy many of its subscribed households, either by email or phone, or in time for par- ents to be aware of the snow day decision. Only 44% of telephone subscriber calls were made to homes within the Halton District School Board on January 28, with many calls made to late to be of value to parents and guardians. This is far less than the 94.8% call rate the Board experienced on the previous transporta- tion cancellation message of December 19, 2008. The Home Notifica- tion System supplements traditional communica- tion methods, such as the website (hdsb.ca), radio, and TV notices. The Halton District School Boards Home Notification System is provided through an outside party, which pro- vides similar service to other school boards in Canada and the United States. The vendor has responded to the Boards two main con- cern, the lateness of telephone calls (many did not receive a telephone call), and the late delivery of email. The vendor admits they were over-subscribed, too many messages and not enough capacity within their system. While the vendor cites the significant number of messages being sent out by other boards in Canada and the US as contributing to the overloading of the sys- tem, they recognize the wide geographic area storms can affect, and have provided solutions to prevent this telephone system overload from occurring in the fu- ture. The timing of email delivery may not be as easily resolved, however the vendor is also work- ing on solutions to address this shortcoming. The Halton District School Boards priority is to ensure the telephone calling capacity is ad- dressed in a time-effective manner. Region investment to help local groups Halton Region has a new investment fund that will provide multi-year, stable funding for community based programs in Halton, to help non-profit and vol- untary sector community groups that contribute to the health and quality of life for people in Halton. Regional Council approved the new funding framework at its meeting on Wednesday, January 21. Interested community groups can apply to the Halton Region Community Investment Fund by sub- mitting a letter of intent for funding starting February 2, 2009. The Halton Region Community Investment Fund will provide funding for programs and related operat- ing costs for non-profit and voluntary sector programs that align with Halton Regions Health and Social Service Strategic Directions. There is a two-step application process for interested applicants. Step one is a letter of intent. Halton Region will begin ac- cepting letters of intent for the fund from February 2, 2009 to March 18, 2009. Only applicants who meet initial screening eligibil- ity criteria will be invited to submit a full application for funding. Interested community groups are encour- aged to review Halton Regions Strategic Plan and the recommendations from the Roundtable on the Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector prior to submitting a letter of intent. For more information about the Halton Region Community Investment Fund or to learn more about the application process, visit our website at www. halton.ca/communityinvestmentfund or call Halton Region at 905-825-6000. Toll free: 1-866-442-5866. TTY 905-827-9833. Don t push snow back on road With snowfalls continu- ing to come throughout the winter months of 2009, homeowners are struggling to find areas to put the snow when clearing away drive- ways and sidewalks. Twice within the past week, in the County of Wel- lington, police officers had to speak with homeowners who were pushing snow back onto the road. The last thing an un- suspecting driver needs when driving down the roadway, is to come upon a large pile at the end of a driveway. Striking this pile of snow may cause the driver to lose control resulting in a crash. Under the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario, it is against the law to shovel your snow back onto the roadway, and if convicted for doing so will result in a ticket costing $110. Help keep the roadways safe by keeping the snow off the roads. Frugal Five You dont have to spend big bucks to have fun in the Acton area many groups offer events for free, or at a price thats easy on the wallet. The New Tanner weekly offers five of these inexpensive events to our readers. 1: Wednesdays, all February, 2 p.m. Acton arena/com- munity centre, Free The library is offering a 30-minute drop-in Family Storytime program. 2: Saturday, February 7, 2 p.m. Acton library, Free Valentine crafts for kids aged six and older, Register at 519- 853-0301 or at 17 River Street. 3: Wednesday, February 11, Halton Hills Cultural Cen- tre, 1-2 p.m., Free concert George Grossman will perform jazz standards in the Gallery. Donations will be accepted. 4: Thursday, February 12, Blood donor clinic, Acton Legion, Free Give the gift of life at the clinic. Make an appoint- ment by calling 1-888- 2DONATE (1 888 236-6283). 5: Monday, February 16, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Acton arena Celebrate Family Day with a free skate at the Acton arena sponsored by RBC. If you have a fun and free or at least under $5 event, send your suggestion to Frugal Five at angela.tyler@bellnet.ca or niblock @eastlink. ca