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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2010 7 GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It Breakfast for Haiti Proceeds from a fundraising breakfast on Saturday at St. Albans Anglican Church are earmarked for Haitian relief ef- forts. The breakfast, organized with the help of Church parish- ioner Cindy Blades, St. Albans rep on the Primates World Re- lief and Development Fund, and members of Beta Sigma Phi, runs from 8 to 11 a.m. Tickets for the Breakfast of Hope and Relief for Haiti are available by calling the church at 519-853-2711 or Cindy at 519-853-0133. Dance party Kids aged seven to 14 can boogie at a video dance party tomorrow (Friday) night at the Acton Town Hall Centre from 7 to 10 p.m. The adult chaperoned event features two screens content of the music and video is edited for age along with a light show, contests and prizes. Tickets are available at the door or online at videodanceparty.ca Family Day fun Making plans for Family Day on February 15? The Towns Recreation and Parks depart- ment has a fun schedule of events scheduled at the Acton arena/community centre includ- ing family zumba (a Latin-based cardio dance class) from 1 to 2 p.m., face painting from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and crafts and games from 2:30 to 4 p.m. At the Acton pool theres a lei- sure swim from 1 to 2:30 p.m., and a family swim from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Thanks to the Royal Bank, skating is free at the Ac- ton arena from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Family drop-in Families with kids aged birth to six are invited to a free, in- formal Family Day program on Saturday at the band hall on Wal- lace Street. From 9 to 11 a.m. there will be family activities including art projects, sensory play, active play and storytime. For details call Jennifer at 905- 873-2960. Spring is coming While faced with drifting and frozen ground, its not too soon to think about gardening, and the Acton Horticultural Society can help. All gardeners and aspiring green thumbs are invited to the Societys next meeting on Feb- ruary 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Knox Presbyterian Church. For details call Ruth at 519-853-0009. Literacy help Do you have three hours a week to spare to help someone with his or her basic literacy skills? Literacy North Halton (LNH) is looking for volunteers to train to help people with basic reading, writing and math. LNH also has tuition-free college prep classes in English, math and biology. The part- time classes are held Monday to Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. in Georgetown. Call 905-873-2200 for more infor- mation. Green competition Halton students who hope to help the environment are invited to earn tuition money by sub- mitting an entry in the annual Regional Chairs Environmental Awards an honour that aims to inspire youth by promoting leadership and celebrating en- vironmental initiatives. Sponsored by Bell Canada and TD Friends of the Environ- ment Foundation, the awards are presented for Environmental Ex- cellence $500 to the winners school and for Environment- al Scholarship $1,000 for post-secondary environmental education. Complete award entry details, including an application form, are available at www.halton.ca. Restaurant request Local restaurants are being asked to donate a portion of their Valentines Day proceeds to SAVIS - the Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Ser- vices of Halton, formerly known as the Halton Rape Crises Cen- tre. While SAVIS gets 75 per cent of its funding from the province, it needs help to provide services to youth, men, seniors and mar- ginalized women. The third-party fundraiser is dubbed Dining to Make A Difference; Have a Heart this Valentines Day and Support SAVIS of Halton. Canadian pride Congrats to Actons Danielle Cooper who, along with her Orangeville Tigers girls hock- ey team, captured first place at a recent hockey tournament in California. The Tigers won three of their five games and tied two to make it to the finals, a pretty excit- ing experience Cooper said. Maybe it was Canadian pride, but we played better than we have all season, Cooper said, adding that they had sev- eral decisive wins after going into the tourney as the perceived underdogs. The Tigers defeated a team from Vancouver for the cham- p ionsh ip . and Cooper, a 16-year-old Grade 12 student at Christ the King high school in Georgetown, had a point in every game. I first met Harley Coles over 20 years ago through St. Jo- sephs Knights of Columbus where we were both members. I remember thinking, here was a quiet fellow, very dignified, a consummate gentleman. He seemed to take an interest in everything that was going on around him, but preferred to stay on the edges of discussions, sel- dom preferring an opinion. My first reaction was that he must have been shy. In those early years, I would see him at Church and various social functions. Gradually, I learned that he was in the news- paper business and others told me he was very good at what he did. Once he retired from the Metroland Publishing Group it wasnt long before he was back in harness. Hartley was a much sought after consultant to several small newspapers in Southern Ontario. To this day, Im not certain exactly what he did for these businesses. When asked he would only say he was helping out in various areas of the busi- ness. I wish now I had probed a bit more. Hartley was a curious man. By that I mean he was curious about the world around him and especially about other people. He was also a great listener. Those traits helped make him a successful newspaperman. For someone in the public eye it also made him somewhat unique. Many people with a high pub- lic profile, which he surely had, tend to be more type A per- sonalities. Perhaps it was his years spent as a journalist that caused him to hone this particu- lar skill. The art of listening is a skill, something to be practiced and learned. Hartley was a mas- ter listener. I got to see the professional side of the man when he began to help out when the Acton Tanner was in its infancy. He would pay particular attention to the editorial content of the paper and gave much needed advice to its founding publish- er. Almost immediately the contents of the paper began to improve. It wasnt until sever- al years later, when I began to work more closely with Hart- ley, that I realized it was his touch, his way with words that had made the improvements to the original product. Hartley was the consummate journalist. Never one to use sharp words with me, he was quick to point out if he thought I was dancing too close to the ethical line. Hartley, for in- stance, never really approved of columns I have written in the past endorsing Federal or Prov- incial candidates. His opinion was that a news- paper should present all sides of the issue(s) fairly and dis- passionately. The voters should then be left to consider their options and cast their votes for the person they thought most accurately represented their view. But then, he would say that mine was an opinion col- umn, not news. That seemed to satisfy his need to stay true to his ethical considerations while allowing me free rein to express my views. But, in the interests of fair- ness he would not let me publish anything partisan unless dis- senters had an opportunity to rebut my opinions. He would always stipulate that my opin- ion column had to appear at least one publishing week be- fore any vote, preferably a week and a half. I never could come up with any logical reason to refute his prohibition. Believe me, I tried. Will Rogers Jr. is credited with the saying I never met a man I didnt like. In all the years Ive known him, Ive never heard Hartley say anything deroga- tory about any other person. If we were talking about someone I was sure he dislike the most he would do was set his jaw in a determined way and shake his head. If he was really angry he would heave a huge sigh. A ser- ies of sighs was tantamount to an Irish curse. I dont want to claim that Hart- ley and I were close personal friends. Besides the generation- al differences, we had different social interest. Hartley and his wife enjoyed travelling with friends ever since Ive known him. An itinerary of the trips they took would make a travel agent drool. They had a great time judging by the few pictures I saw. He will be greatly missed by his family and, his travel- ling friends as well. Hartley was always excited as a kid when one of his trips was pending. Hartley was a dedicated family man. He maintained close ties to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchild. When my youngest daughter graduated high school Hartley was there taking pictures of his grandson, the gang of kids and the stretch limo they had hired to go to the prom. He was beaming with pride as he showed them to me. He was a kid himself at heart. When I think of Hartley Ill remember his love of family, loyalty to friends, joy of living everyday and his wonderful smile. Fond memories indeed. Sharing a few memories BEHIND THE SCENES: It was a busy morning for the Kinette Club and T.O.P.S. on Sunday mor- ning as they co-hosted the Community Brunch at the Acton arena/community centre. Some of the cooks included, from left: Fern Jory, Rose Luoma, and Marie Gamble. - Nancy McLelland photo