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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009 6 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 Mike OLeary Frances Niblock Angela Tyler Rebecca Ring Publisher Editor Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Ken Baker Tracey Gardner By Angela Tyler Editorial 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. A media release from the Ontario Greenbelt Foundation celebrating the results of an opinion poll conducted by Environics in partnership with the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, showed 93% of Ontar- ians support the Greenbelt on the fourth anniversary of the Greenbelt Act and Plan. The Act, imposed on 1.8 million acres of land in Ontario wrapped around the so-called Golden Horseshoe, aims at protecting farm land and water sources from development. It takes in the Niagara Escarp- ment, the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Rouge River and hundreds of towns and villages in the rural areas as well as some 7,000 farms. Of those surveyed, 98% said protecting the natural water system is an important goal or benefit of the Greenbelt while 96% aid preserving agricultural lands is an important goal/benefit. About 36% of Ontar- ians said protecting the natural water systems is the Greenbelts most important benefit. Few would disagree with the intentions of the Greenbelt. Who doesnt want clean water and good farm land preserved? However, the Greenbelt did no favours for Acton which is completely enveloped by the legislation, probably because the town is on the lip of the Ni- agara Escarpment. A sign on Hwy 7, just east of Crewsons Corners, announcing the start of the Greenbelt, makes it well known. The Greenbelt stifled all growth in Acton except for the land which already lies within the urban boundaries. It effectively muzzled any real growth for 10 years when it will come up for review. Meanwhile, along with water restrictions, the needs of Acton people whod like to downsize in their later years and a shortage of affordable housing has required leaving friends and family for other places that suit their needs. Unlike the Province of Quebec where a similar Act allowed a com- mon sense look at the land involved the Greenbelt just arbitrarily drew a line and imposed the restrictions for 10 years. Its particularly galling for some of us to accept especially when we see some of the best farm land in Ontario south of Georgetown and Milton being gobbled up by development. The provinces growth plans call for Haltons population to increase to 780,000 from 439,000 by 2031. And guess what? Most of that growth will take place on some of Ontarios best farm land. Does that make sense? It has long been thought that schools in areas where parents have lower than average incomes tend to have poorer results and lower ex- pectations. However, according to the Fraser Institutes Report Card on Ontarios Elementary Schools 2009, that aint necessarily so. The Institute found that 20 of the fastest improving elementary schools in Ontario are found in neighbourhoods that have among the lowest average parental incomes. The average parental income for all Ontario elementary schools is $73,500. The schools the Fraser Institute discovered had average incomes ranging from $23,800 to $47, 300. Teachers and administrators in these schools have found ways to beat the odds and help their students do better, says Peter Cowley, the Fraser Institutes director of school performance studies. The study clearly shows that elementary schools dont need to be located in wealthy neighbourhoods to improve and be successful, Cowley says. Schools named in the Report Card come from all across the prov- ince including Espanola, Kingston, Niagara Falls, Welland, Toronto, Cambridge, Brantford, St. Catharines, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, and Seaforth, among others. Eleven of the 20 schools are public, nine are Catholic. Of course, economic factors can contribute to a schools performance but as the Fraser Institutions Report Card points out good teachers and administrators can find a way to do better than might be predicted by income. Intelligence is not the prerogative of the wealthy. It started on a whim. I called the local greasy spoon to order lunch. Apparently I ordered there too many times as she knew who I was and knew my order. I was just thinking of you, she told me. I honestly never even really knew her name at that point. With that I offered these words of advice. You should get a lottery ticket something tells me. Before I knew it WE were in the weekly lottery pool. Give me some numbers and well start to play she told me. I picked numbers that were important to me. My first date with the Dude.. his birthday, my birthday, my agehis agethe dogs birthdays. It seemed frivo- lous. With that, the unknown woman who knew my greasy spoon order was off and run- ning. Greenbelt approved Schools and income Five bucks for a lottery win She told me of tales of her father who played the lotteries for years and his numbers final- ly came up. It was the BIG win. The problem was, a few weeks before he had changed his numbers and his winning ticket wasnt the winner even though his family thought it was. we cant change our num- bers. Ms. Greasy Spoon told me. I already had doubts about my chosen numbers. Quite hon- estly, my numbers sucked. They were too much in order, follow- ing one another. The Dudes birthday is the 12th. Our first date was the 12th. The one dogs birthday was the 11th and so is our anniversary. There were too many 11s, 12s, 2s and 1s. I knew they were not winning numbers. Each week I go into the greasy spoon (by the way, when I say greasy spoon I dont mean it in a bad wayI love their food but somehow it best describes a din- er). And, every week I give Mrs. Greasy Spoon my five bucks in anticipation of the big win. Then this week she told me, We didnt win. She tells me the same story every week. Once and a while she says we won a free ticket or an encore but noth- ing big. I keep telling her well win big and she agrees. The day we win big is the day that she no longer needs to flip burgers and I no longer need to drive a school bus even though I know I probably still will. You know I start to tell her, I dont need the big REMEMBER 1943-44? World War II was raging but the students in Grades 11 and 12 at Acton Continuation School found time to pose for the camera. They included, back row, left to right Jack Stewart, Ralph McKeown, Jack Mainprize, Dave Dills, Don Force, Fred Crewson, Ken Allen, Principal M.M. Leitch. Third row, Anna Graff, Lorna Frank, Annie Thompson, Jean Harris, June Talbot, Annetta Evans, Lorraine Hargrave, Jeanne Brunelle. Second row, Mar- garet Robertson, Helen Holmes, Joan Rumley, Betty Britton, Joan Pargeter, Marg Blow, Joyce Dessureault, Dorothy Pallant, Marjorie Bilton. Front row, Mac Sprowl, Clayton Fryer, Hartley Coles, Doug Davidson, Jack Gordon, Earl Masales. - Submitted photo Continued on Page 7