The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 Editorial with Frances Niblock THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011 VOLUNTEERS THANKED: Twenty-two Acton and area residents received Volunteer Service Awards from the provincial Ministry of Culture and Immigration on Tuesday night in Mississauga. Among the recipients who have donated at least 25 years to Heritage Acton were, from left: Stella Brunelle, Bill Sanford, Kathy Sanford, Ted Tyler and Dr. George Elliott. ­ Submitted photo Congratulations Volunteers A large group of selfless Acton area residents got some much-deserved public thanks when they received Volunteer Service Awards from the provincial Ministry of Culture and Immigration on Tuesday night in Mississauga. Among them, the 22 recipients of service pins and certificates have donated more than 325 hours to the community ­ the longest service pin went to Acton's Brian Robertson, a Rotary Club of Acton member for 30 years. Volunteers are often called the glue that holds society together, and these awards underscore the vital role they ply in helping create and sustain the quality of life that draws and keeps people in Acton. While almost all work quietly, often shunning the limelight to promote someone else, the time and talent they donate has built a safe and caring community. This group are not the only volunteers who are being thanked for their efforts. Congratulations as well to the local volunteers who will be honoured at Links2Care's annual volunteer appreciation ceremony on April 21 at the Ballinafad Community Centre. On Monday, Karen Gerrie of Limehouse, will accept a Community Volunteer pin recognizing the 3,000-plus hours she has donated to Halton police over 12 years as a member of the victim services unit and the Phone Patrol program. One of Acton's selfless volunteers ­ Dorothy Rognvaldson ­ received some of the thanks and recognition she deserves on Tuesday when she was selected as the 2011 Rotary Club of Acton Citizen of the Year. Well done. Mail, elections, salaries - Irks of the week I'm having a few more issues this week. First, I was very excited last Thursday. I couldn't believe it when I went to get the mail. I was a tad hesitant writing about my postal issues in fear of postal personnel going a bit "postal" with our mail delivery. Instead, I was absolutely thrilled to find my beloved People magazine in the mail box, not just one day early of delivery date, but four whole business days before normal delivery of late. However, my thrill was short-lived when I discovered the magazine came out early to celebrate the life of the late Elizabeth Taylor. Oh well. I lived the moment for all its glory. I feel like I'm starting to rant like Mike O'Leary used to about some things. First, this election nonsense...am I the only Canadian who seems perturbed we are having yet another election? It seems like every time we turn around there is another election with horrible voter turnout. Sadly, I admit that I'm not even sure how this one transpired. I think what irritates me about our federal elections is we don't specifically vote for our Prime Minister as, for example, the Americans vote for the President. How can one say they are voting for Harper or whoever, when really we don't. We vote for the local guy and hope that they stay true to their party lines. I suppose the good thing about all these elec- By Angela Tyler tions is that the old cable building across from Giant Tiger actually gets used and doesn't sit vacant all year. The next thing that is really starting to irritate me about this election particularly is that I am getting pre-recorded telephone calls at home from the candidates and poll takers asking me to push one if I am voting a certain way or two if I am voting differently, etc. I am positive that these pre-recorded calls are annoying me more than any tele-marketers' calls. My other irk of the week is the $100,000 club. This is the group of public sector employees who must disclose their salary publically if they make over $100,000 per year. Have you ever looked at these lists? Boy are they interesting. The lists can be found at this website: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/ en/publications/salarydisclosure/ There are many ways of searching online. You can search school boards, colleges, municipalities, police departments, and more. I've been quite taken by these lists and it is actually surprising what jobs are deemed worthy of such a wage. Now I will be the first to admit my mathematical skills are some- Looking Back Ten Years Ago · Magna International ex tended the closing date on a possible site for an Acton truck plant until April 18, raising hopes the plant ­and its 500 jobs- will come to Acton. · IGA sponsored a contest to name the proposed plaza in Acton East, rumoured to include a McDonald's and national drug store chain. · Halton's Police Chief promised to put more cops on the beat in Acton ­ to make officers more visible as a crime deterrent. Five Years Ago · Acton veteran Dave Crook travelled to Korea with a CBC film crew to record his war memories. · A 19-year-old Rockwood mother died in a house fire after running back into the Main Street home, mistakenly believing her babies were still inside. · Acton tax fighters Mac Sprowl and Lou Bonnette hope that the Ombudsman's scathing report on MPAC ­ the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation ­ will mean fairness for tax payers. times lacking, however, I took a look at one school official. I only did some quick math and didn't include things that they do after hours or P.A. days, getting ready for the school year, etc. I understand figuring this out isn't as simple as I have made it, however, if you take the number of school days and have each an eight-hour day some of these officials earn around $600 per day, based on these very rough figures and thoughts. One I took a look at from last year to this year received a 6 per cent raise in salary. Now given last year's CPI (consumer price index) was 2.5 per cent, the salary, shall we say, caught my eye. Most of us aren't even getting raises, and if we do, we probably aren't getting six per cent, I guess what makes me wonder or irk me is minimum wage is $10.25 per hour currently in the province. The job of mayor of Halton Hills does not pay $100,000 per year, and when it comes right down to it, he is ultimately responsible for over 55,000 people and millions of tax dollars each year. What makes a "manager" worth over $100,000 per year at a school board or a paramedic in Kenora worth over $111,000 per year? I'm not sure what the answers are. These are just some thoughts I've been rolling around in my head but either way if you want some interesting reading, I suggest trying the website out. Publisher Ted Tyler Editor Frances Niblock Distributed to every home in Acton and area, as well as adjoining communities. 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. Editorial Contributors Mike O'Leary Angela Tyler Kelly Kennedy email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 Advertising and Circulation Marie Shadbolt (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Composing Ken Baker